Guys, I'm sorry. *cries hysterically* I've just had so much stuff going on this past school year. I've been stressed with exams/assessments, etc. I was going to update in the New Year, but then one of my friends killed her and I've really not been in the mood to be honest, no offence. Anyway, I've been writing this chapter since my last update (about seven months ago, again, sorry about that) and I've only just finished it, so I hope you enjoy I don't know whether you want to re-read the story in case you've forgotten what happened, but whatever. I just find that always helps. I love you all. Seriously, so much love to all you followers and anyone new that has just joined us ^_^ Just don't forget to review, but I know you're all far too nice to forget to do something as important as that ;)
Also, if anyone has any good names for this story, please let me know! I'm really starting to hate 'Family Affairs' so any suggestions would be much appreciated 3
Mai POV
"Mai, tea." I heard Naru ask for the second time that hour." I swept all the various papers that were on my knees to the side of me and stood up. You would've thought that he'd give me a break after all that's happened, but no. He's far too cruel for that.
All the papers, documents and photos that had been stored in the basement had been brought up to the base for us to analyse. Although it was boring, we did acquire a lot of information. Mira used to be a live in maid, and had been ever since they moved into the house. We'd found the documents confirming it, but apart from that, we hadn't found much else. Most of the papers were just documents relating to the house and some to the marriage.
I don't understand why Shiori had told me about the basement in the first place if she knew that was all we were going to find, I mean I'm sure that Lin would have uncovered that after a bit of research. There must be some more information in all the papers, information that's relative to the case that is.
"I'm assuming you all want drinks as well." I said as I walked over to the door. They murmured in reply. Bou stood up and walked over to me.
"Let's go make hot beverages!" He said, far too enthusiastically for my liking.
"Come on Bou," I said, taking his hand and leading him to the kitchen. "I make drinks, you carry them."
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I put the kettle under the sink to fill up then put it on the stove to boil. I was surprised that Shiori didn't have a real kettle.
I went over to Bou and stood next to him. He put his arm around me and I snuggled into his shoulder.
"Bou, I want to go home," I said softly.
"I know, me too Jou-chan." I rested my head on his shoulder, and he rested his on mine. We stayed that way for a few minutes, and I was about to doze off when the kettle started whistling violently.
I finished making the drinks and put them on a tray, which I then handed to Bou.
When we got to the base, I handed the drinks out and flopped back down onto the sofa.
"You know, I can't help feeling that there was some other reason that Shiori sent us down there." I muttered. For some reason, everyone went silent after I'd said tha…then it hit me. I hadn't actually told them about the dream I'd had yet. "Did I forget to tell you guys about the dream..?" I asked sheepishly.
"Yes Mai, I believe you did," Naru said icily. "Do you think you might like to tell us about it?"
"Well, Shiori came to me in one of my dreams and told me to go to the basement…maybe…are you angry?"
Bou and Ayako looked at each other. Naru's face showed no emotion as he stood up.
"Let's go and have another look in the basement then," he said before leaving the room. We all got up and followed him to the basement. I couldn't tell if he was angry or not.
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When we got down to the basement, Naru told me to stand in the middle of the room and not touch anything. Personally, I thought he was going a little overboard, but at least it meant that I didn't have to do anything.
The basement was a rather large room, and the atmosphere was actually rather nice. It was peaceful and seemed happy. Maybe that's just because I was in a small room with a group of people that I love. I've missed having a family.
I was wandering around the spacious room, observing it from every angle, when I felt my foot dip slightly. I looked down and noticed a crack between two of the floorboards. At first I thought nothing of it, but then it hit me. I crouched down so I was next to the crack in the floor, but I couldn't see any obvious way of pulling the floor boards up.
"Mai, I thought I told you to stand over there and not touch anything," Naru said exasperatedly.
"But I think I've found something…" I said whilst trying to pry open the floorboards with my fingers."
"Careful Mai," Bou said. You don't want to get a splin-"
"Ow!" I said as the tiny piece of wood slid under my nail. I groaned as I stole a glance at my finger.
"Mai, can't you go five minutes without getting injured in some way?" Ayako said exasperatedly. "Come on, let's go and sort you out," she said as she dragged me up the stairs by my hair.
"Lin, go find a crow bar," Naru ordered from behind me.
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I was sat in the base on my own, watching the monitors. Naru didn't want me in the basement anymore, so because he's a narcissistic jerk, he decided that it would be best to lock me in the base, with various protective charms, of course.
I'd been watching the monitor displaying the scene in the basement for a while. They had just figured out that the two floorboards had been nailed into place, which was why they were having so much trouble with opening it. Looks like I'll be in here for a while, I thought to myself.
I turned up the volume on the monitor for the basement so I could hear what they were saying and went over to sit on the sofa. I picked up a book on the coffee table next to it. "Parapsychology Revolution: A Concise Anthology of Paranormal and Psychical Research".Must be Naru's, I thought to myself. I opened the first page and started to read, smiling to myself as Bou and Ayako argued in the background. It had become a homely sound that made me feel warm inside.
I was on the third chapter when I first heard my name mentioned.
"This would be more fun if Mai was here," Ayako moaned. "You're being too harsh on the poor girl Naru. She only got a splinter."
"Well, I just don't want her to get anything worse than that. Her hospital bills are much more that I would like to be paying." Naru said icily. I frowned as he said that. It's not like I try to get hurt. It just happens and maybe I would be able to afford the bills if I wasn't on minimum frickin' wage.
"You do realise that she only gets hurt for you, right? She does everything for SPR," Bou said as he came to my defence.
"Well I don't ask her to do anything. I'd never do or tell her to do anything that would put her in harm's way." There was clearly an awkward silence after that. "Because of the hospital bills," Naru quickly added after realising what he'd actually said.
I continued reading. He's such a jerk. Is it really that hard for him to say one nice thing about me?!
"Come on Naru, we all know you care about her," Ayako said knowingly.
"I'd use a word slightly stronger than caring," Bou added, with a smirk on his face. I looked up at the camera to see Naru's reaction to all this. My heart skipped a beat when he didn't reply. Did this mean that he liked me?!
"I would never care for anyone as clumsy as Mai. She is merely an assistant and nothing more."
Oh.
I turned off the screen on the monitor and muted the sound. I continued reading, letting a single tear slide down my cheek. It fell onto the page, smudging the ink and wrinkling the paper. Another one fell but I brushed it away before it had a chance to mark the book. Naru's book.
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"Jou-chan, time to wake up." I opened my eyes to find Bou sitting next to me on the sofa. "Hey sleeping beauty," he smiled at me. I yawned as I struggled into an upright position.
"What time is it?" I asked sleepily.
"Around seven thirty." Had I really been asleep that long? I looked around the room, only to find it empty.
"Where is everyone?"
"In the dining room. Hinata cooked dinner."
"Why didn't you all wake me up?" I asked, slightly confused.
"Ayako decided that we should let you rest, after all that's happened today. I however disagree with this as you sleep far more than the average person and really don't need any more; also I thought you might be hungry.
As if on cue, my stomach rumbled.
"So, what are we eating?" I asked as I jumped to my feet.
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"Mai, pass the pickles," Bou asked from the opposite side of the table.
"What, these pickles?" I teased as I gestured to the bowl of pickles right in front of me.
"Yes Mai, those pickles. Do you see any other bowls of pickles on this table?"
"Ayako, would you like some pickles?" I asked innocently. Ayako quickly picked up on what I was doing.
"Why yes, I would love some, thank you Mai," she said, winking at me.
"Hey! I asked first!" Monk yelled.
"Oh calm down you old man. They're just pickles." She tipped some onto her plate and began to eat. "Wow Hinata, these are delicious! Did you pickle them yourself?"
Bou was clearly starting to get annoyed.
"Well, since you ask, yes I do pickle them myself. Actually…" Hinata carried on to tell us a tale of how her Grandmother had showed her how to pickle pickles when she was just a girl, I think. I wasn't actually listening. I was too busy thinking about what Naru had said earlier. Did he really think of me like that? I know we're not exactly best friends, but I thought he'd had at least a tiny bit of respect for me and what I do for the company. I know I'm not the most skilled person in the world, or the most intelligent, but I put everything I have into making SPR the best it can be.
I honestly don't think he realises how hard or tiring it is for me to have school all day and then to go straight to work, especially when I sometimes don't finish till ten! I miss my friends and I miss having free time! When I'm not working, I'm either doing my homework or shopping for groceries of doing housework. Naru doesn't even give me days off! He's the worst boss ever. "Mai." I wonder if he's even ever heard of the word kindness. "Mai!" He's probably the child of Satan or something. "MAI." I jumped and something touched my arm.
"Oh, what's wrong Ayako?" I asked, not knowing what the problem was.
"You're asking me what's wrong? You've been in a daze for about five minutes. Are you okay?" I looked around the room. Everyone was staring at me.
"What? Yeah, I'm totally fine. Just tired is all."
"Tired?!" Bou exclaimed. "You've been asleep for about half the time we've been here!"
"Oh leave her be you stupid Monk. She's a growing girl. Teenagers need their rest." Ayako retorted.
"Guys, stop fighting! The meal was lovely Hinata, thank you very much." I smiled at her as I got up from the table.
"And where do you think you're going?" Asked Naru.
"Well, I was going to go to bed. Is there a rule against this now or…?"
"Well, I was just considering the fact that there is an angry spirit around which seems to attack you every time you are alone." He said coldly.
"Oh, so you care about my wellbeing now, do you? I thought I was just some clumsy assistant." Everyone went silent after I'd said that. I felt tears brimming at the corners of my eyes and ran out of the room before anyone could see them fall.
"Mai, wait!" I heard Naru shout from behind me. I ignored him and carried on running, not caring where I was going. "Mai!" I felt someone grab my shoulder.
"Naru, get off. Haven't you said enou-" It was at that point that I realised it wasn't Naru who had grabbed my shoulder. I screamed as I was slammed against the wall.
"It's nice to see you again, Shiori," Mira sneered at me.
"What do you want from me?! I've already told you, I'm not Shiori!"
"I want you to suffer! You took what was most dear to me, so I'll take what's most dear to you. Your life."
"What did I take from you?! Tell me!"
"YOU TOOK HIM. YOU TOOK MY KAITO!"
"HE WAS NEVER YOURS TO BEGIN WITH. HE LOVED SHIORI, NOT YOU! How could you not see that?!" She hit me across the face so hard that I fell to the floor. I tried to get back up, but she kicked in the ribs and I fell back down, blotching my sides in pain.
"HE LOVED ME." Kick. "I COULD SEE IT IN HIS EYES." Kick.
"Are you sure you didn't mistake love for kindness?" Kick. I groaned and opened my eyes a fraction and saw Naru running towards me. Kick. He was glowing. My blood froze. He was going to use his PK.
DUH DUH DUUUH. Hope you all enjoyed it, and that you're not too angry about the ending, not that you would be anyway. I know you all secretly love cliff hangers. Have any compliments or constructive criticism? You know I want to know what you like and don't like, so type away in the big blue box right below this and simply click review. Simple? I thought so. Till next time :D