Author's Note:
Yep. Chapter 6 is finally here. I wrote it like a month ago. But I wanted to write more in it, but I didn't feel like writing. It was very blah. It is now rated M for violence. No sex, just violence.
Chapter 6
By the next morning, Mai had completely forgotten any resentment she towards Naru. She had had a peaceful sleep the night before, and she felt awful because Naru's parents and his brother had died. It was not pity, but more understanding and sympathy. Naru was not the sort of person to accept anyone's pity. She scavenged for tea bags and made tea for everyone except Naru who was still holding out. Koneko was in a sulky mood that day. She monopolized one couch for herself, while the others squished themselves onto the other couch. Her mood seem to have an effect on the entire atmosphere of the room. Everyone seemed slightly more sullen than usual.
Koneko stayed behind while the others went to get lunch. She was staring the ceiling, a frown on her face. Naru and Mai were the first ones back.
"Koneko, your food," Mai said with a smile on her face, in an attempt to cheer the girl up. She took the food and sat up on the couch. After taking a small bite she put it down on the floor and lay back down. Naru sat down in front of the monitors and picked up the book Karasu had left to move it out of the way. Naru froze the book in his hand.
"Naru," Mai cried rushing over to him. "What is it?"
"Karasu," he said faintly. Koneko jumped up, knocking the bowl over. The food spilled onto the floor as she ran out of the room.
"Naru what did you see?" Mai cried frantically. Without answering Naru grabbed her hand and pulled her after him as he ran out of the room and into the hallway. Koneko was out of sight. As they were running they saw Lin and the others at the end of the corridor. Naru slowed down, and stopped in front of Lin.
"Where is Karasu?" he asked, slightly breathless.
Lins' eyes widened. "She went to the dining hall, why?" But Naru was already gone, running toward the dining hall with Mai behind him. Lin stood there for a few seconds watching them.
"Lin, what's happened?" Takigawa asked. Ignoring them Lin broke out into a run following Naru, leaving the others confused and Masako wondering why Naru was holding Mai's hand.
As they ran through the sunlit hall leading to the dining hall, Mai heard a piercing scream from ahead. At the same time she heard a noise to the side. She stopped while Naru continued running, still holding her hand. The result was Mai on the floor. She looked up to see where the noise had come from, and barely had time to cover her head. Glass rained down, like perfect shards of ice. Mai felt the glass cut into her skin, some embedding itself into her. When she was sure it was over she lifted her head up. Lin ran in then.
"Naru, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Naru said as he brushed the glass off his coat. "Go check on Karasu and Koneko." Lin nodded and ran towards the dining hall. Mai used the windowsill to pull herself back up. She gasped slightly as she cut herself on a piece of glass, but ignored the pain. She stared at herself. She was cut and blood was dribbling down her skin. She pulled out the bits of glass where she could see them. She felt as if she had been pierced with a million needles. Naru watched her.
"I'm fine," she said. "I think Karasu is worse." She stumbled towards the door. Everything began to warp. She pulled herself past the window. She leaded against the wall, smearing blood on it. Why was she so tired suddenly? She tried to stand up again, but fell against the wall. She began to cry, overwhelmed by her helplessness. She fell to the ground leaving red streaks, like an artist's brushstrokes, on the wall. Naru caught her before she hit the ground.
"Mai!" He said sharply.
"Just let me sleep," she said soflty, before closing her eyes. Naru deposited her gently on the ground before heading to the dining hall. The scene was worse then his vision had shown him. In one corner of the room the girl lay on the ground, her blood splattered on the walls and seeping over the floor. Her once colourless body, was now sickeningly overwhelmed with colour. The vivid blood everywhere. Lin knelt over her. On the other side was the statuesque Koneko, her hands pressed to her face and her mouth still open in a silent scream.
"Naru, we need material to make tourniquets out of. She's cut everywhere." Lin had already torn parts of his shirt and had used them to cover the wounds and limit the blood flow. Naru took the tablecloth from the nearby table and began ripping it into pieces.
"Oh my God." Naru turned to see Takigawa standing at the entrance to the hallway, Ayako was behind him looking stunned. John caught up and simply stared in shock. Masako, the last to arrive, covered her mouth with her hand.
"Help," Naru ordered. Wordlessly they joined him, and began tearing the tablecloth to strips. Naru took some of the pieces to Lin and handed them to him. "Will she live?"
"The wounds aren't too deep. She will probably live." As Naru bent over to help Lin he heard an almost inaudible tapping to his side. He looked over and saw that it was blood dripping onto the floor. It was from Koneko. She had her fingernails dug into her skin and blood flowed out of wounds. He pulled her hand away from her face. She was very tense and it seemed as if she had been frozen into the position, her eyes wide and her mouth open.
"What wrong with her," Lin said, narrowing his eyes, as he continued to bandage the injured girl in front of him.
"Traumatic shock, I believe."
"And Mai?"
"She's fine." Lin finished bandaging her and wiped his forehead, leaving a streak of half dried blood.
"Where's the nearest hospital?" Naru asked.
"A good ten miles from here. They also don't have an ambulance, so it would be probably faster for us to take them ourselves."
"Takigawa," Naru said sharply. "We need your van."
"Okay," he concurred, still looking slightly shaken. It was very like Naru to be perfectly composed in a situation like this. There were very few times when he lost his temper or let something get to him. Most of those involved Mai. Lin lifted the girls body and carried her out of the room.
"Take Koneko," Naru ordered. Takigawa wrapped his arms around her, lifted her and followed Lin out of the room. "Help them, I'll take Mai," he directed Masako and Ayako. They ran ahead. He turned to John. "Will you tell Amasawa that some of our members have been injured and not to go into the dining hall." John. He retrieved Mai from the hallway floor and carried her to the van. Karasu was laid down in the back of the van, while Koneko and Mai were strapped down in the middle seats. Takigawa and Ayako drove them to the hospital, while Lin, Masako, and Naru went in Lin's van. Masako blushed as she took her seat beside Naru. She wanted him to say something but Naru was as quiet as ever.
She decided to break the silence. "I didn't sense the spirit, but I might have been to far away. Do you think it was a person?"
"Unlikely." Silence again. Masako began to wish that she had never blackmailed Naru. She preferred to think of it as exchanging favours.
In the van ahead of them, Ayako and Takigawa looked ahead in determined silence. John sat in the back, with the unconscious Karasu. As they turned a corner, they heard Koneko's head hit the window with a sickening thud. They both winced.
"So…" Takigawa said glancing over at her. "Want to get coffee when we are done with this case.
"Sure." She smiled to herself. John, however, was feeling rather nervous and uncomfortable.
Mai was dreaming. She was back in the house. It was as if she was watching an old movie. Everything was black and white and had a blotchy feel to it. A man and a woman appeared, it was their wedding. They wore old fashioned clothes as did the people around them. She watched as they gently kissed, and a blush spread across the brides face. It was a year later. A strange man showed up at their house disguised as a servant. He and the wife went into a room and shut the door behind them. The husband found out from one of the servants, who had noted the strange man with his wife. Mai watched in horror as the man retrieved his ceremonial sword. The couple was dining alone in the dining hall. Suddenly the man brought up the topic of a stranger being seen in the house. The wife froze, the chopsticks halfway to her lips. The man pulled the sword out from under the table. She jumped up to escape, but she was too slow. He began hacking at her side with the sword. Blood sprayed, staining his clothes. She fell to floor crying and screaming. She begged for his forgiveness, grabbing onto his leg and pressing her face against it. He let out a maniacal laugh and kicked her, sending her flying in the wall. She lay there moaning as he strode over. He began slashing at her back and side. Mai realized with horror he was trying to keep her alive as long as possible, to make her feel the pain. She tried to get up but crumpled on the ground. As she gasped for breath, blood trickled from the corner of her lip. Deciding it was over, the man kicked her so that she was on her back. He took the sword and stabbed it through her heart. Blood gushed forth like a small fountain. He turned toward the door and saw one of the maids there. Hands over her mouth, eyes wide in shock. "You- you killed her!"
Mockingly he said, "I- I- I killed her." Before she could move, the man strode over and grabbed her by her hair. He threw her to the ground, and yanked her head up.
"You don't deserve to be alive. Women are useless repulsive creatures who torture men for fun."
The young woman was crying now. "Sir, I swear I've never done anything done hurt anybody."
"Liar!" He threw her back down. "Clean it up." Her eyes widened even more as she lifted up her head and stared at the bloody spectacle. He kicked her. "Did you hear me?" His voice was now low, with a dangerous edge. She got up quickly, slipping a bit on the blood on the floor. She ran out the room and returned with a mop and wooden bucket of water. She mopped up all the blood, and cleaned it off the wall, as the man watched coldly. "Take it outside." She glanced around, not realizing what he was saying, until her eyes fell upon her mistresses body. Mai saw her face distort in fear, and the perspiration form on her body dampening her clothes. Nonetheless, ignoring her now dried tears, she grabbed the arms of the woman and dragged her out of the hall, and through a few rooms before she was outside. It was raining, which would erase all traces of the blood. She looked back inside and realized she had left a trail of blood. She went back into the hall where her master was still standing. She began to clean up the track of blood, she body had left behind. The iron scent filled her nose and for a brief second she was overwhelmed. She looked at the mop she clasped in her hands, which was now stained a dark red with her handprints. She dropped to the floor, sobbing harder than before. She heard his slow heavy footsteps approaching her. She quickly lifted herself back up using the mop. She began cleaning again, trying to ignore his presence as he approached her. "When your done come outside." And he passed her following the trail of blood. She wondered if she should run away, but he would surely find her and punish her. Would she end up like her mistress. Cold electric fear ran through her body. Bracing herself she continued to mop up the blood. She ended up at the door which lead outside. She opened it and poured the red- coloured water into the damp grass. She then jumped over the puddle and into the misty rain. She saw her master on the far side of the garden and walked over there. He was holding a shovel.
"Dig." He commanded. She dug. Dirt mixed with tears, rain, and blood. She was not used to such work and it went by slowly. Much later she stood in a three foot hole legs splattered with dirt and her clothes stained with mud. She was exhausted and it was close to dusk. It was hard to tell in such weather, but it was definitely darker than before. She pulled herself out of the ditch. He was still there. He pointed to an area next to the first hole. Another one?! She could feel her heart pound inside her chest. What for? She stared at him, with a questioning look on her face. "Are you going to do it?" his voice menacing. She began to dig, pulling up dirt and grass. It went even slower this time. It was now twilight. She kneeled in the hole, her breathing heavy. She finally pulled herself out and lay at the edge, not caring if she got her face dirty. He stepped out of the house holding something in his hands. When had he gone in? She got up, and began walking towards him. She stopped in front of him. "Why are you leaving?" he asked a twisted smile on his face.
"What do you mean?" she choked out. He lifted up what he was holding and she saw with horror it was a knife. Backing up, she cried out, "What are you doing? I did everything I asked you to! I won't tell anyone, I swear, I swear!" She was now in front of one of the graves. The man stabbed the knife through her chest. She stood there looking stunned. As if in a trance, she touched her wound. She lifted up her hand and looked at her bloody fingers as she fell to her knees. Blood overflowed her mouth and trickled down her face, and neck, and onto her clothes. She coughed once, spraying blood onto the pants leg in front of her. Her head fell back and the rest of her body followed, and she landed in her own grave. She was still alive as she saw the dirt being thrown onto her, slowly covering her vision. Suddenly Mai was back to the man who had killed the servant and his wife. He was alone eating dinner in the dining hall. From behind a slightly opened door another man was watching him. It was the same man that had visited his wife, he had a knife. He opened the door and approached the master of the house. Behind his back he held the knife. The other man ignored him as he approached. He looked up at the last second to see the knife find its mark in his heart.
The projector suddenly stopped and all went dark. Wait what projector? The lights suddenly came back on. That was a movie? Mai was confused. Hadn't she smelled the blood, the mud, and the rain. Or perhaps she had simply imagined it. It was over now. She looked around and saw Dream Naru next to her.
"Naru!" she cried out smiling slightly. It had been a while sense she had seen him in her dreams. He smiled back and took her hand.
"I'm sorry if it scared you. It was important to show you this."
"Why," Mai asked. "Is one of them the ghost in the dining room? Was in the servant girl? Was it the man?" Dream Naru was fading and so was the theatre around her. "Naru!" she cried out, but she was now entering a dreamless sleep.
Ayako and Takigawa heard Mai cry out for Naru in her sleep. They both began to laugh. "Poor Naru doesn't know what he is missing," Takigawa smirked. John wondered if they even knew he was there.
They arrived at the hospital and John ran ahead to tell the staff. As Lin began to take Karasu out, some nurses rushed over with two stretchers followed by a panting John. Lin was brushed aside by the stern nurses and they pulled Karasu out of the car and onto the stretcher. Mai was put on the other one, and one of the nurses left to get one for Koneko. As one of them walked by Naru caught the sent on ammonia. They handled everything matter of factly, and were as sterile and stiff as the uniforms they put on every morning. No questions were asked, nor were any words exchanged. It just simply happened. A harried looking doctor came out of the building and approached Lin.
"What happened? The young girl looks like she was attacked. And the other girls?" He said this very quickly, as if there was a time limit.
Naru answered. "She was attacked. One of the girls suffered some sort of trauma and the other was hurt by falling glass."
The doctor turned to him. "We need their names." He pulled a pen and a small notebook, similar to Naru's out of one of his pockets.
"The girl hurt by falling glass was Mai Taniyama. I do not know the names of the other girls who arrived with us."
"How can you not know their names?" the doctor shot back.
"When they introduced themselves, they used only first names, and I believe it is safe to presume they are pseudonyms. They are in no way associated with me or my company, except for the fact we were working together on a case." Naru returned coolly.
"A case?" The doctor narrowed his eyes.
"We were investigating Amasawa's house for psychic phenomena."
The doctor snorted derisively. "You those type of people. I'll tell you I don't believe in such things. There is a scientific explanation for everything."
"Shouldn't you be taking care of the patients?" Naru cut in.
The other man narrowed his eyes. "The younger girl is being treated by our other doctor right now. That Taniyama is being bathed by the nurses, and as for the other, there is not much we can do for her. I will be needing your name, and the name of your company."
"My name is Kazuya Shibuya and I am the CEO of Shibuya Psychic Research." When Naru said CEO the doctor snorted, but recorded this on his paper.
"If you'll excuse me, I need to go and take care of Taniyama."
Turning to face the other members of the SPR, Naru asked, "Was anyone else hurt?"
"I think Masako was cut by some glass." John turned to Masako with a concerned look on his face.
She blushed when Naru looked at her. "They were just small cuts. One on my hand and on my neck."
"They'll take a look at it at the hospital." Naru began walking towards the entrance and the others followed.
"Isn't Koneko a bit old to be called a girl?" Takigawa asked as the entered the building.
"How old do you think she is?" Naru slightly raised on of his eyebrows.
"Twenty?"
"I would estimate she is in her mid to late teens."
"What? She's taller than me! And she looks older than Mai." Naru said nothing. "Could she be eighteen?"
"How would I know?"
A nurse approached them as they walked down the hall. "Is one of you Naru?" She unlike the other nurses wore a bright pink, that left one somewhat blinded.
"Me, why?" Naru asked.
"The doctor appeared behind the nurse. "I thought you said your name is Kazuya Shibuya."
"It is."
"We call him Naru, because he is a narcissist!" Takigawa added.
The nurse smiled. "Miss Taniyama wanted you."
"She's awake?"
"Not really."
"I see, I see," Takigawa laughed. "She was calling out for you in her sleep."
"She is fine now," the nameless doctor interjected. "We stitched her up and cleaned up the minor cuts. We also gave her a small injection of platelets to increase clotting in the open wounds."
At that moment Mai came out of one of the rooms rubbing her eyes sleepily. She was barefoot and the only thing she was wearing was a small hospital gown. She looked at the people before her and saw the real Naru. She looked away blushing.
"Mai where are your clothes?" Takigawa asked looking pointedly at her.
"Eh?! Where are my clothes?!"
The nurse let out a small laugh. "They are being washed."
"Oh." Mai looked outside. "Its dark. How long was I asleep?"
"A very long time. It looks like we will have to stay here tonight. A camp out in the waiting room!" Takigawa seemed to be the only pleased at this prospect.
The doctor looked at them disapprovingly. "I am afraid Taniyama can not. She will have to sleep in one of the rooms for patients. She is still in fragile health and her wounds will be easily aggravated.
As the nurse in pink guided Mai away from the others, Mai asked, "How is Karasu- chan?"
"She is doing much better. It was a good thing those cuts weren't as deep as they could have been." Before leaving the room she turned to the others, " My name is Minako, so if you have any questions feel free to ask me."
"I don't want to sleep on wooden benches," Masako pouted.
"You can sleep in the van outside. In the cold weather. On the blood stained seats."
Masako shivered visibly and resigned herself to wooden benches and an aching body. She sat down on one of them, noting the inflexible harshness of the material under her. Naru sat down on the bench opposite her. She smile at him, he simply stared at her for a second before looking away. She felt somewhat disappointed but then again, Naru had never smiled at anybody. At least not that she knew of. She wondered whether he had smiled at Mai. No, she told herself, Naru couldn't fall for a girl like her. Naru pulled out his notebook, then looked back at her.
"Did you sense the spirit Hara- san?"
"No, but it was probably because I was not close enough. When I arrived at the scene, the presence was in its usual state." Naru wrote this down and then closed the notebook and put it away. The conversation had ended. Every time she tried to talk to him it came to nothing. She wished she could be like Mai and be carefree and annoying, well maybe not annoying. She heard whispering and saw Ayako and Takigawa in a corner talking about something that was evidently amusing. Out of the corner of her eye she saw John. She had almost forgotten he was there. He seemed to have realized that he was pretty much forgotten, and was staring off into space in an almost bored way. Near Naru was Lin who also looked bored. She got up and everyone glanced at her for a brief second before looking away. She left the room, feeling them watching her out of the corner of their eyes. As soon as she left the room she realized she didn't know where she was going. A bathroom might be nice. She didn't know where the bathroom was though. Masako wandered through the empty halls until she found she bathroom. It was large and empty. She wondered why someone would build such a large hospital in the middle of nowhere. She rinsed her hands and squeezed some soap out of the dispenser before scrubbing her hands and rinsing off the grime. As she reached up to grab a paper towel she saw her reflection in the mirror. She dried her hands off and the paper fell to the floor as she brought her hands to her face. She found herself quite beautiful with her porcelain skin and pretty eyes. She doubted Naru would like a girl just for her beauty, but she was intelligent as well. She could imagine herself at Naru's side as his loyal wife, almost as intelligent, and equal in beauty. Why couldn't Naru see that? She was perfect. What was Mai? Nothing! She told her self. Mai is nothing, she is a mere assistant, a nothing. She backed away from the mirror still staring at herself. She turned away, and as gracefully as she could manage, she swooped down and grabbed the paper towel off the floor. She threw it into the trashcan as she exited the room. She could not remember the way she had come so she wandered randomly through the corridors before the rediscovered the waiting room. Naru and Lin were still awake. John was either asleep or very close to it, and Ayako and Takigawa were sleeping, resting on one another. Naru didn't even glance at her when she entered, while Lin spared her a second of his time, so as to ascertain who she was.
She sat back down on the bench. She wondered how she could ever go to sleep in such an uncomfortable place. Not only was she being asked to sleep and an uncomfortable wooden bench, but she was in a hospital. The smell of ammonia was powerful, but it could not block out everything. There was still the smell of antiseptic and nameless medicines, and perhaps the slightest tinge of blood in the air. She had always hated hospitals and it didn't help she was not exactly the most healthy person. She tried to move her body into a more comfortable position, but nothing seemed to help. After trying several stances, she gave up and returned to sitting normally. Even a hospital bed would be more comfortable than this. Somehow she managed to fall asleep despite her unpleasant conditions. Between fits of sleep she had a few brief seconds of consciousness. When she awoke she had a sudden flash of memories from those periods of consciousness: a lifeless girl in a wheelchair, being moved down the corridor by an equally lifeless nurse, a handsome man walking away, and lastly a cart being rolled down the corridor by a woman with a face she couldn't make out. She was initially shocked by the precipitous flood of memories, but collected herself. She closed her eyes and reviewed the memories mentally. They meant nothing to her. Had she dreamed them? She opened her eyes and stared at the empty seat across from her. Initially, she knew something was slightly off, but it was a minute before she realized exactly what. Naru had left. That probably explained the man she saw walking away. Where was he?
Author's Note:
What a horrible way to end. I would like to thank Ajyah for putting up with my crappy grammar and spelling. And you for reading. Please review. Thank you! (By the way Princess Tutu is a wonderful anime if you are interested.)