Alright everyone, we've got chapter one of a new story out! I hope you enjoy!
Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt. Only Emi.
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File Nine
Emi
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Mai served tea to the woman who sat in front of her. Naru sat across from her with Lin next to him, fingers posed ever-so-ready over the keyboard.
"Thank you." the woman said, smiling lightly at her. Mai smiled in response, sitting in a chair adjacent to the couches that were in the office. The brunette woman sipped lightly at her tee, dressed in simple slacks and a button up blouse, hair hastily thrown into bun atop her head, though a few strands stuck out. Dark circles were under her eyes, as if she were tired beyond belief, yet she attempted to hastily cover them with makeup.
"She looks exhausted." Mai thought absentmindedly as she watched the woman sip her tea. Setting the cup on the saucer, she looked up.
"My name is Sakura Hyuaba." she stated. "I've formally adopted twelve children, so as you can imagine, it's been kind of hectic. But recently, we've been having... issues at my home, and quite honestly, I don't know what else to do."
"Define 'issues'." Naru responded.
"Knocking noises, and objects moving around. Kids will hear voices when no one's there. All of the younger children under ten are saying that they are talking to people who aren't there."
"How old are the children who reported talking to spirits?" Naru asked. Sakura blinked, then pulled out a picture. Mai saw a large group of kids and teens of varying ages, Sakura standing in the back, near some teenagers.
She pointed to four children in the front, all with black hair and green eyes. Mai immediately knew they were related. Two boys, one with long hair and one with short hair, who had their arms around each others necks, their arms latching onto two girls necks and pulling them closer, one with braids and the other with her hair loose.
"The quads, who are about seven, Rika, Minori, Taro, and Shiro." her finger moved with each name. Rika was the girl with the braids, Minori had her hair loose, Taro was the boy who had long hair, and Shiro was the boy with short hair. Her finger tapped down on a girl wearing an oversized T-shirt smeared with dirt and denim shorts with her hair gathered in a short ponytail on the back of her head. She was grinning wildly, holding up a dirty, but pretty rock. "That's Kotone, who's five," her finger fell on a little girl with wavy black hair and light blue eyes, shyly clutching the loose skirt of an older girl, around sixteen with long, wavy chestnut hair and light brown eyes. She was donned in a loose skirt and pheasant top."And that's Hana, who's four." she paused. "That girl she's holding onto is Saki."
Mai took the picture from her, smiling slightly at the other children. There were two children around thirteen, a girl with hair messily braided over her shoulder, wearing a flannel shirt with shorts, arms crossed lazily behind her head as she glanced at the boy next to her. Next to her was what Mai could only describe as a mini-Yasu. Black hair, dark gray eyes, and glasses, though he lacked a smile, face engrossed in a book. He was dressed neatly in a polo and jeans. To the side was a set of male twins, who looked to be ten, with red hair, fists clenched as they seemed to be arguing vehemently with each other, one in a green tanktop and the other in a blue one. Next to Sakura was a teenage boy, maybe sixteen, with choppy brown, shoulder length hair and freckles. He was wearing a red T-shirt with a black sweatshirt over it, fist in the air as he happily threw his arm around Sakura, laughing.
She smiled lightly.
"That's Touko," she pointed to the girl with the braid. "Next to her with the book, that's Samu. The twin in green is Kyo, and the one in blue is Naoki, and that wild one," she flicked the older boy in the back. "That's Ao."
"They must be a handful." Mai commented, smiling. Sakura rolled her eyes.
"Yes, but they're good kids."
"If you are finished," he said this, casting Mai a look, as if demanding she stop wasting their time. "Is that all?" Naru asked. Sakura swallowed.
"Well... Not quite." she swallowed, then pulled out another picture. This one showed the profile girl who was sitting with a candy bar in hand. She had on a dark gray, long sleeved T-shirt with a pink design on it that looked like the outline of a city in front of a sunset. She had a light pink beanie on her head of a similar color to pinks on the shirt. She had long, stick-straight brown hair with purple highlights slashing through it, and her mouth was open, as if prepared to take a bite of the candy, though her visible brown eye was turned towards the camera Ao flashed the peace sign in front of the camera as he took the picture. "I-I don't want to point fingers, but..." she pointed to the girl. "That's Emi."
"What makes you think they're responsible for this?"
"Not they, just her." Sakura set the picture down. "It's just... these things have always seemed to happen. Strange knocking, seeing things out of the corner of your eye, all that. But it was a simple matter of respect. I figured if I respected... whatever they were... they'd respect us. But... all of this began increasingly getting worse when she came around. And the longer she's been here, the worse it seems to get." she paused, looking down. "She's a kind girl, truly, she is... but I don't know if she did something to disrespect the spirits, intentionally or unintentionally."
"Are the spirits doing anything intentionally harmful towards you or the children?"
"I'm not sure." Sakura rubbed her temples. "Your experts on these things, right? I don't know if it counts, but I think that, sometimes, Emi gets... gets possessed."
"What?" Mai asked, furrowing her brow.
"She'll wander around, muttering strange things under her breath. Stuff about spirits and how she needs to protect the kids and stuff like that... Only myself and Ao know about it, but it's weird. Sometimes the younger one's will get really sick, out of no where. I'll take them out of the house, and they're fine. Emi," she tapped the girls face. "Is the only one of the older kids who gets sick. I think she hears things too, because late at night I'll walk by her room and hear her asking something to leave her alone. I open the door, and she's alone, wide awake." she let out a shaky sigh. "I just don't want the kids to get hurt. You have no idea how badly I want to just go back to the way it was, but honestly, I don't want to send Emi back to a foster care system, but it's like she's the one making them act up." she bowed her head. "So please help us."
There was a momentary pause. Lin continued to tap out a few things on his computer, Naru taking his chin in his hand, leaving Mai to wonder what he would do. She expected him to turn down the case, blame it on rowdy kids with an overactive imagination. She watched Naru's expression, seeing his still frowning face, as if bored with the case, yet, she watched his eyes... and there was a certain softness that drifted into them as he looked over the two pictures, specifically the one lacking Emi, the one with a majority of the kids.
But it was gone before she could even register it.
"So... Will you help us, Mr. Shibuya?" Sakura asked again.
"We'll need one room for our base and enough rooms for at least five or six people to sleep." Naru stated, sliding a notepad to Sakura. "I'll need you to copy your contact information and address here."
"Oh! Yes! I can provide you room, it's perfectly fine." Sakura stated, scribbling out the requested information on the paper. "Thank you so much." they stood, Naru and Sakura shaking hands politely, sealing the deal. "You have no idea how much this means to me."
"Expect us around nine in the morning." Naru responded. "Is that acceptable?"
"It's fine." Sakura smiled. Mai could practically see the relief on her face. Naru turned to her.
"Mai, see Ms. Hyuaba out, then contact Monk, Ms. Matsuzaki, and John. Tell them to come here at..." he glanced at the paper with the address. "Eight, at the latest, to begin packing equipment."
"Okay." she smiled, getting up, and leading the woman to the door. "We'll see you tomorrow, okay, Ms. Hyuaba?"
"Sakura is fine, dear, really." she stated, turning back around to look at her. "Thank you."
"Anytime. We'll contact you if anything comes up, okay?" Sakura nodded, smiling.
Then she walked out the door.
"Mai." she looked over her shoulder, seeing that Lin had already secluded himself in his office while Naru turned to look at her. "Set your alarm to five-thirty tonight." Mai nearly blanched.
"Five-thirty?!" she exclaimed. "Why so early if I don't have to get here till eight?!"
"Because you tend to sleep past your alarm, especially on the weekends. So if you set your alarm at five-thirty, you should wake up at seven, giving you more than enough time to get yourself ready and down here." he stated in a matter of fact manner. Mai opened her mouth to protest, but ended up only to see Naru heading back into his own office, but not without his favorite order. "Mai, tea."
"Wha-?" she grabbed the teapot, staring in surprise at the considerably less amount of liquid that was in there. Did that tea-aholic actually drink it all?! "But you just drank a whole pot!"
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She absolutely hated it when Naru was right.
True to his prediction, she did sleep past her alarm. But he was wrong on one account: It wasn't at seven she woke up. It was at seven fifteen. Which meant she only had about about twenty or so minutes to get out the door.
He called her earlier that night and told her to pack her travel bag. While she argued and insisted that it was pointless, since she would get up at a reasonable enough time to get ready and pack. He simply stated that she should pack, then hung up the phone. Mai was so mad that she slammed the landline back down, muttering cruses about her narcissistic boss before she actually began packing. Now she was thankful that her duffle bag sat near the door of her apartment, ready to be travel. Though she would never actually admit that to Naru himself.
So, in a nutshell, this is why she was running the usually twenty-minute walk with a duffle bag over her shoulder and hair still half damp. She glanced at the watch on her wrist, grinning. Only three minutes and she could see the van outside the office!
Suddenly she stopped. Something was drawing her to turn and look over her shoulder. She glanced over and saw a tall brunette with long, straight hair and purple highlights, riding a skateboard. She was crossing the street, but a car was speeding towards her. Mai saw a man yelling into his cell phone in the front seat, barely paying attention. Was he seriously going to hit her-?!
"Mai!" she heard someone calling her name as she dropped her bag, bolting towards the girl and throwing her off her feet as she tackled her out of the way of the oncoming van. The girl let out an exclamation of shock, then cursed repeatedly as both landed, miraculously, on the sidewalk. Mai looked up over her shoulder, seeing the driver, still hollering at the poor unfortunate soul on the other end, mercilessly running over the girls skateboard, bringing on a new round of shouts and complaints.
It sped off, leaving nothing but the splintered remains of what was once a perfectly fine skateboard.
"Holy shit!" the girl exclaimed, widening her eyes at the board, then turning to Mai. "Y-You saved my life!"
"Are you okay?" Mai responded, looking the girl over.
Her left eye was brown, the other one a light, light hazel, with a scar running through it. It was hazed over and unfocused, which Mai found strange, but shook it off. She was wearing blue skinny jeans with black high-top converses and a white graphic tee with the word study in bold print at the top. Under it was (verb) and under that was the act of texting, eating, watching TV, and just plain goofing off with an open textbook nearby. Mai nearly snickered at the T-shirt. Her eyes took in the silver chain attached to her belt loop, leading to something in her pocket, then noticed a hole in the girls jeans, a scrape bleeding.
"You're cut!" Mai pointed out as she got up, about six or seven skinny silver and black bracelets jangling from her wrist as she reached down to pick up her black beanie that flew off in the tumble. She blinked, staring down at her knee, then laughed.
"You ripped my jeans. I am officially," she adjusted the beanie back on her head so that it hung loosely, still showing her uneven bangs that went across her forehead. She tucked some of the hair framing her face behind her ear as she smirked. "Cooler. Thank you." She turned at the sound of pounding footsteps. Mai widened her eyes as she stared at her left profile.
"Emi!" she said, pointing at her, scrambling up. Emi widened her own eyes, turning back to look at her, then leaned down to get a good look at her face.
"Do I know you? Do we maybe go to school together?"
"No! Sakura Hyuaba came into our office yesterday! She showed us a picture of you!" Emi blinked.
"Huh. Are you a part of the ghost hunters?" she turned again, then chuckled awkwardly. "But it seems like we've got some bystanders. Ooooh, shit. Tall, dark, and glarey over there looks mad." Mai glanced over.
"Which one?" she laughed as she saw Monk, Ayako, and John running towards them while Lin stood by the van with Naru, watching the scene. She narrowed her eyes.
"Both." she stated.
"Are you both okay?!" Ayako asked frantically. Emi grinned.
"Never better! Just a tumble, that's all."
"You both could've been seriously injured." John said, glancing at the sad remains of the skateboard.
"Yeah, but she could've died if I hadn't have done something." Mai stated. Emi quirked an eyebrow at John's accent.
"You from around here?" she asked. She blinked. "Well, that was a stupid question. You have an accent and you've got blond hair and blue eyes. We're you from, stranger?"
"I'm John, and I'm from Australia."
"Emi." she stated, then turned to Monk and Ayako, the former scolding Mai for her recklessness and the latter checking over her for injuries. "You two?"
"I'm Houshou Takigawa, but everyone just calls me Monk." Monk stated, turning to look at her. Emi tilted her head.
"Monk? Aren't they usually bald?" Emi asked. Monk's nostrils flared at this.
"It's a side job, so I'm keeping my hair!" he exclaimed.
"Ayako Matsuzaki." Ayako said, turning to Mai. "Nothing that some neosporin and a band aid won't fix. I don't know what's going to fix that head of yours, though." Emi tilted her head to the side, crossing her arms behind her head.
"Didn't quite catch you daughters name." she said. Both Ayako and Monk snapped there heads up at her.
"WE ARE NOT MARRIED!" they both shouted at the top of their lungs. Emi snickered.
"Suuuuure."
"Do you seriously think I'm that old to have a sixteen year old daughter?!" Ayako practically shrieked.
"And do you honestly think I'd marry that old hag?!" Monk shouted.
THWAK.
"Ow!" Monk rubbed his head where Ayako's purse came into contact.
"I am not old!"
"I just assumed." Emi sighed, turning around with her arms still behind her head. "You two came running over here like concerned parents and all, then you, Ayako, fussed over her like a mother and you scolded her like a father, Monk. So I assumed you were her parents and that was what parents acted like."
"I'm Mai. Mai Taniyama." Mai said, cutting into the conversation before Monk and Ayako could get angry again. Emi smirked.
"Maimai?" she said jokingly, looking over her shoulder. "Cute."
"It's just Mai!" she said back. Emi, wether she ignored this or chose not to respond, walked towards her busted skateboard, frowning. She kneeled to pick up the broken pieces.
"Ao is gonna kill me." she sighed, scooping them up. "You got a bag or something? I'm going to see if I can trade some of these parts in and sell them for a new one."
"It's busted up something good, what could you possibly get for them?" Ayako asked, looking at the remains. Emi held up one end, and spun one of the wheels.
"Wheels are wheels, right? They're still spinning, so they're still sellable." she stood, holding the parts with the four wheels attached to it and the other arm holding the broken parts of her skateboard. She walked across the street, dumping the pieces in a nearby trashcan, then turned towards Naru. "Hey! Sourpuss!" she placed her forefinger to her cheek, grinning. "Try smiling! Scowling doesn't work for ya!" she turned, waving to the four as they watched her. "See ya later, Maimai. I'd like to see if you and your team can figure out what's going on." She gave a two fingered salute, then walked on in the direction she was going.
Mai watched her go, narrowing her eyes slightly. She could've sworn she saw something flicker next to the girl, something like a person... but she couldn't be quite sure. Mai shook her head, then turned to retrieve her duffle bag, laying on the sidewalk.
"Now you're just throwing yourself into dangerous situations?" Naru commented. "If you get yourself hurt, I'm not going to feel sorry for you."
"Yeah?! Well, at least I did something! If I didn't, we would be standing at a crime scene by now!" Naru ignored this, calmly placing a box in the back of the van.
"Mai," he stated, turning to look at her. "Due to your little heroic act, you're late."
"What?! No I'm not! I was right on the corner-!"
"But not here." Naru responded. "You're late."
Mai glanced at her watch, and saw the time was 8:04. She dropped her wrist, scowling as a thought that seemed to be coming repetitive flitted through her mind.
"Stupid narcissist!"
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So while writing this, I ended up rewatching a lot of Ghost Hunt. What caught my attention was episode nine, AKA, The After-School Hexer, Part Three. It was the episode where Naru and Mai fell down the well. I noticed something: When Mai asked Naru if he fell down too, he responded:
"Well, you were holding onto my hand so tightly that it was kind of hard not to."
Notice: Mai wasn't even holding his hand. He was gripping her wrist. Which means he allowed himself to be pulled down with her. He could have easily had let go of her wrist to go get help, but he got dragged down with her because he was holding onto her so tightly.
Also, watching the episodes two times faster is hilarious.
That's all.
Amy47101 signing off! ^.^