Oh yes! I'm back! I finally got off of my lazy butt and updated! So yes! I'm back!
Random Reader: Is that a good thing?
Me: jaw drops Good point, but I'm here now and I won't go away until someone gives me a huge, huge, HUGE batch of cookies! ...or goldfish…one or the other…
Thanks for the reviews- Lewnuhhkau, Hiya24, Kyia Star, Ingrid, animeluver123, Baby Konoha Blossom, and Otaku Nayami without you guys I would have been an oblivious idiot to what those things meant, and I probably would have not updated…be grateful it's a long weekend…though I already blew off quite a few weekends without updating. Sorry!
So, enough of this boring chit-chat…
TO THE CHAPTER!
We entered a large room.
Unlike ordinary large rooms in abandoned castles, this one was filled with crystal ornaments, velvet and silk curtains, beautiful wooden sculptures, as well as sculptures made of stone and marble.
"Wow!" I gasp completely and undeniably in awe, "This place is huge!" I continue as I tilt my head until it hurt just so I could see the rafters rising high above us.
Bou-san growled. "Don't remind us Mai, we have to measure everything."
I cringed at the reminder.
We had been spending the past…gazillion…hours measuring every room and entryway.
"This place could be considered a piece of architectural artwork." Masako innocently informed…she had the time, she wasn't measuring…as she ran her pale hand delicately across a reflectively clean oak table, dating back probably one or two hundred years.
I narrowed my eyes at my famous rival and glared a glare that would almost beat Naru's.
"Mai, breathe." Ayako laughed when she saw my face.
Air? Air! Why am I holding my breath!
I open my mouth to take in huge gasps of this refreshing life saving thing.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I snap childishly.
Now everyone in the Shibuya group was laughing…well…except for a dark statue who calls himself my boss… "If you have time to talk, you have time to do your job. I don't-"
"-pay you to stand around and do nothing. If you don't like it go home." I finished for him while holding a know-it-all look and teacher like posture.
Ayako and Bou-san snickered while Naru glared at me.
"Oh, you're just mad because I stole your line." I joke.
He sighs and walks over to a secretly smirking Lin to pretend like he has engrossed himself in something that became suddenly important.
"I think you wounded his pride, Mai." John jokingly whispers into my ear.
I can't help but smile.
"Jeez, I never though I would ever beat him," I whisper back, "and I never thought he would be such a sore loser."
We exchange a few more silent laughs and snickers between each other…even though Naru was most likely cursing us to death in a silent and composed snap of embarrassed madness.
"Mai, how long is that wall?" Ayako calls.
"Seventeen feet and five and a half inches long," I inform to the miko. She was standing besides Bou-san as he drew in the correct length of the wall on a miniature outline of the building.
"Are you positive?" she inquires.
A low aggravated growl erupts from my throat.
"Of course I'm positive! I've only measured it about fifty times only to get the same results!" I huff.
"Hear that Naru?" Bou-san asks as he releases his pencil from his cramped hand, "That means we're all done!"
We all give an exhausted and relieved sigh.
Bou-san runs his hand through his long hair. "Are we completely done, Naru?"
"No."
"What!" we all scream at the same time.
Naru glares at us.
"Acording to our measurements and our rough draft outlined map of the building we recieved earlier, we still have a library, Study, bedroom, and the basement to measure and map." Lin answered our question calmly from his computer where he was still typing up final touches to our map...the question we were all to tired and fearful to ask. With good reason too! Who would want to measure all of that after we just measured all of this?
All the members of the SPR sighed at their new found depression and contemplated wether this case was worth it or not when a stoic voice broke our silence.
"Be on guard when we measure these rooms. These, if anything is here, will be the most dangerous."
We all turned to our black clothed boss.
I twitched in what I could only recognize as a cross between fear and annoyance. "Why is that?"
Lin stopped typing to look at me in a way that said "you aren't serious are you?"
No need to say this though, for Naru was already on a mission to inform me in all the humiliating ways I loathed.
"A castle like this does not have a basement like normal houses. For Mai's sake-"
I froze, irritated.
"-I'll explain. During the Medieval time, which is actually when this castle was built, it was common for the place to be ruled by people of high rank, nobility, or even royal blood. Because some many enemies and traitors were threatening these important people, their stronghold was given a room to retain traitors, criminals, or spies, where they would be then locked away for good, or tortured to find information on rival nobles. Such rooms needed to be almost impossible to escape from, and it is much harder to escape form an underground room than it is to escape from one above ground."
"In other words, Mai" Bou-san concluded as he placed a hand on my shoulder, "we have to measure the dungeon."
"Such a place!" Masako exclaimed, holding her kimonoed arm toward her mouth, as her soft skin became pure white. "Such an inhumane place!"
Ayako jumped at her sudden outbreak. "Masako? What's wrong?"
We were all staring at the dark haired medium now.
She was trying to look composed, but that hardly covered the fact that her petite figure was shaking uncontrollably.
"Even if there aren't any spirits here," she stared in a horrified whisper, "I can still tap into, no, rather I am forced into feeling the emotions of those who resided and died there. Such a place is permanently scarred with pain and sorrow. I-I don't think I would be able to handle such a place-" A few stray tears threatened to come out of the corners of her eyes as she flung herself onto Naru's stoic form.
"Why you!" I growled trying to free myself from Bou-san's restraining grasp.
"Naru, as much as I hate having to go there...I..I..." she buried her head into his dark black sweater. "I will go there to check for spirits for the sake of the case, as long as you are with me."
The little She Demon!
My nails dub into my palms and a growl emitted from my throat at the very thought of how "difficult" it would be for Masako. I can see it now...
"Naru..." Masako calls softly in her scared voice.
"I'm right here, you don't need to be afraid." Naru answers with concern.
"I'm glad."
"It seems only natural you feel so afraid. Such a burden your ability must be for you. I am sorry to have caused you so much distress." my guilty boss said with a voice of velvet as he pulls Masako into a tight, comforting embrace.
A deep crimson blush makes its way across Masako's pale, tear stained face. "Naru."
She delicately lifts her head and looks deep into the dark, mysterious onyx eyes of Naru, where in that moment, they see how much they truly lov-
That will NOT happen!
My hair vigorously whips from side to side as I try to get rid of that frightening thought.
That will definitely...
Bou-san looked from me to Masako and Naru (who Masako still had in her clutches) then back to me.
His melodious laugh bounced off the walls and echoed in the large room.
"You're hilarious Mai!"
I laugh with him in a sarcastic manner as we headed out the door to find the dungeon.
If only we knew how dangerous things would become, perhaps we wouldn't be laughing.
Perhaps we would, instead, but running for our lives.
Yeah, yeah, I know, short crappy chapter. I just thought I would update it since I haven't updated it in like...FOREVER!
I've decided to make my chapters shorter, since one of the reasons I don't update as often is because I dread having to type up huge amounts of chapter. This is long enough for a chapter right? I would like your opinions on how long it should be, because I know extremely short chapters annoy the hell out of me…so give me your input.
Sorry if there are any spelling or grammar problems. My labtop doesn't have Microsoft Word or Word Pad even, so I have to go ALL THE WAY downstairs to type, and I'm not used to that since I haven't used this computer in A LONG FERAKING TIME! So that's another reason I don't update as often. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Read and review please!