Case File #1: Skeletons in the Closet
Part 9
July
Day 2 (cont.)/Day 3
Night /early morning– time unknown
Katsu shifted uncomfortably in the darkness as she tried to sit down cross-legged. But with Mai in front of her and no longer on top of the narcissist to Katsu's right, getting comfortable just wasn't an option (although the loud squeal Mai'd let loose upon finding herself in Naru's lap had been amusing, the interloper had to admit).
She sighed loudly and began to rummage through her jean pockets, finding the task equally as cumbersome as trying to sit in the cramped closet space. "They weren't kidding when they said two is company and three's a crowd, but for this to apply to being stuck in a closet is a bit ridiculous."
"I don't think now's the best time for joking, Katsu," Mai laughed nervously in the darkness.
The interloper snorted, still unable to find what she was groping for in her pockets. "Bull-hockey – anytime is a good time to keep joking. How else do you expect a person to think clearly? You can't if you keep brooding all the time. Bingo!" She extracted the item, grinning despite the pitch black of their surroundings. "And let there be light!"
A flame burst up, revealing Naru's unemotional, pale face and Mai's wide-eyed stare.
Katsu smiled broadly in the dancing light. "Well, at least we know that ghosts don't affect lighter fluid! Not yet, anyway."
Mai, however, wasn't as amused by this revelation. "Uh, Katsu? Why do you have a lighter with you?"
One pale eyebrow rose curiously into shaggy dark bangs. "Why should I not have a lighter with me? What's the matter? Pyrophobic?"
"Typically smokers and pyromaniacs are associated with carrying lighters with them," Naru supplied from his bit of darkened corner. In the dim, flickering light of the tiny flame, his dark eyes carefully observed his "volunteer".
Katsu gave him a dry look. "I'll have you know that I fall into neither of those categories. And for your information, pyros and smokers aren't the only ones who carry matches and lighters with them. Think outside the box. This thing doesn't even belong to me."
"I merely stated common opinion; I never said I held the same sentiment," returned the narcissist.
Katsu rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Where's Mr. Tall, Dark, and Typing? I thought you two were joined at the hip or something."
"If you're referring to Lin, we were separated."
"That sucks, but I guess there's no use in worrying about it now. Okay, now let's see…" she glanced in Mai's direction. "You're still shaking like a leaf in the wind, but…" she looked back at Naru with mild distaste before she shoved the lighter in Mai's direction. "Hold."
An eyebrow rose in response, brown eyes holding a great deal of confusion. But she reached out for the lighter anyway –
Only to have a pale hand snatch it up before she could.
"Naru!"
The SPR director gave no immediate response, seemingly withdrawn into the tiny flickering flame.
Katsu frowned in his direction. "Whatever. I'm getting to work."
"What are you planning on doing?" Mai asked.
"The reverse of breaking in: namely breaking out," she replied, prying her thin fingers through the crack between the door nearest to her and the frame.
"But it didn't work the last time…"
Katsu shot her a dark look. "I already told you my issue with being stuck in here. And being stuck in here with him –" she jerked her head in Naru's direction "– only makes matters worse." She went back to wrenching at the door, each jerk more violent than the last.
Mai frowned worriedly at the girl, and then cast a glance in Naru's direction. He merely sat watching the flame.
'I sure hope Naru's alright,' she thought, heart wrenching slightly. 'He only got out of the hospital a few weeks ago and he hit his back pretty hard…'
A low swear snapped her eyes back onto Katsu, who'd managed to cut herself on the old door, the slit going through her glove and into the side of her already injured right hand. A dark patch was forming on her glove. Katsu glared at the wound angrily for a moment before resuming her task.
Mai reached out a hand to take a look at the injury, but a black-clad arm came out of nowhere and grasped her wrist. She winced at the sudden contact.
"What happened?" Naru demanded gently, turning her wrist over before looking at his assistant's suddenly flustered face.
"I-it happened after the lights went out," she stammered. "Katsu and I wound up in a weird hall and started running from these thudding noises. We hit a dead end, and the next thing we knew, we were being dragged by these shadow things."
Naru's eyes flickered for a brief second before his gaze slipped back down at her captured wrist. He squeezed it gently, eliciting a small gasp from Mai.
"Does it hurt much?"
"O-only a little," she admitted. "But I think Katsu got the worst of it. We both got the same treatment, but she was already injured."
"That's only because I punched Takigawa the other night," Katsu said irritably. She let out a grunt and hit the door with her right hand, recoiling with a sharp hiss upon making contact. "What a night. First, we get lost in the dark; then, we hit a dead end, get dragged by something we can barely see, and boom! We're flung into this stupid closet and Mai hits her head and gets knocked out for who knows how long."
Dark blue eyes snapped up abruptly. Releasing Mai's wrist, Naru took the lighter with his other hand and let his free one raise slightly. Mai made an attempt to back away, but the close confines didn't allow for much movement. Blushing fiercely, she felt her heart pound more fiercely than ever as her boss's cool fingers ran through her hair and gently probed her scalp.
"I don't feel anything out of the ordinary," he said after a while. He frowned when she winced after he touched a particularly tender spot. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't at least have Matsuzaki check over you. We wouldn't want you getting any more idiotic than you already are."
"Wha – NARU!"
The narcissist smirked as he retracted his hand, brown strands of her hair slipping gently through his fingers, unnoticed by the angered brunette. From her position at the door, Katsu snickered.
"Katsu, that isn't funny!"
"Yes, it is," countered the interloped, still laughing. "And now you aren't so freaked out anymore. Nice job, Naru."
Mai wanted to snap again, but deflated a bit upon realizing that Katsu was right. She was surprisingly alright again despite her situation. Naru seemed to have that effect on her, she noted upon reflection. He'd done much the same thing when they'd fallen down the manhole back at Yuasa High.
'I guess Naru knows me really well.' She snorted mentally. 'Give it up, Mai. He's already told you at least once that you're easy to read. Like a book.'
'But some people aren't like that, though…'
The small little voice in her head caused her to frown a bit in her other companion's direction. Katsu was still wrenching at the door, to no avail. Mai could see the steady thin streamer of blood run down her forearm, and it looked to be getting on the black-banded watch the girl wore on her right wrist. Her gloves were already stained through… and she was beginning to look pale…
"Katsu, you really should stop for a moment," Mai said gently. "You've done enough."
"Thanks, Mai, but I'm perfectly alright."
"No, Katsu. You're hurt, and I know you're tired, so just please –"
"Didn't you just hear me? I said I'm fine."
"You're lying." Dark green eyes glared in the narcissist's direction. Naru, however, was unfazed, and merely continued to appraise her in the flickering light. "You've already cut yourself, and now you're bleeding all over the place. You're showing signs of fatigue, a clear indication that the stress of the situation is already taking its toll. Also, your wrists are just as bruised as Mai's, only your right wrist is considerably swollen and likely sporting even deeper bruising further on in what's covered by your glove. It won't do you any good to continue injuring yourself."
Katsu scowled fiercely. "Look, I don't need you telling me what to do."
"Considering I'm temporarily in charge of you, I have every right to do just that."
"Like I really need your approval. I'm breaking us out of here, and that's all there is to it. As I already told Mai, I don't like being locked up."
"Neither do I, but it doesn't appear as though they're willing to let us out."
"So what? I'm willing to bust this door open, regardless."
"As am I."
The interloper's lips contorted into a sneer. "Well then why don't you lend a hand, Narcissus?"
Mai's eyes widened. Katsu had absolutely no idea what she was doing!
"No!" she shrieked, earning looks from both her boss and her companion. She looked pleadingly between the two. "Katsu, just stop. Naru's right: you're hurt, and you don't look so good. And Naru, don't you dare do anything to put yourself back in the hospital!"
Naru's eyes narrowed. "Mai…"
"No, Naru! I'm not letting you use your PK and risk hurting yourself for something as stupid as a stuck closet door!"
The tension inside the closet was uncomfortably tangible as the black-clad youth and his assistant stared at one another defiantly, daring one another to go any farther. They didn't notice the stiff panic the third occupant of their confines had undergone.
It felt like an eternity before Katsu found her voice again. "PK… as in psychokinesis?"
The two looked in her direction, both somewhat surprised at their newest addition being familiar with the acronym.
"Yes," Mai answered before Naru could, earning a sharp and reprimanding look from her employer. "And Naru's is too much for him to handle. He's already been put in the hospital for using it, and I can't let him do that again."
"That's enough, Mai…" The brunette shot him a dirty look, restarting their challenge of stares.
"I'm sorry…"
Only to be brought out of it again by a suddenly very subdued Katsu.
The two looked her again, this time shocked to see that her shoulders were slumped and her head was hanging.
"I didn't know. Sorry for provoking you." She then seemed to curl into herself, arms wrapped around her legs and hugging against them tightly. "You're right. I'm tired. I don't feel all that great, and I've been a real ass about everything up to this point. Sorry. I just really don't like being locked up. It doesn't sit well with me for some reason."
Mai's eyes flicked over to Naru, discovering that his attention was once more on the interloper. Looking back over at Katsu, Mai felt a mixed sensation wash over her. The case bothered her (they all did if she was to be honest with herself), but Katsu's involvement seemed to muddle things up in her mind. It didn't make any sense. Nothing did.
But at the same time, Katsu didn't seem so bad… just strange…
There was a brief flash in her mind: a man with a rifle… and the girl that ripped her from his intended victim…
"Hey, Naru?" His eyes shifted over to his assistant's direction. "I think I'd better tell you about my dream…"
"Good idea," Katsu said, setting her chin on her knees. Her eyes were fixated on the dancing little flame sitting atop the lighter in Naru's hand. "Maybe he can make more sense of it than we can."
…
Lin was good at keeping his emotions in check, but even that talent had begun to wear thin. He was now stalking about complex alone (something Naru would undoubtedly later gripe about, though at this juncture Lin couldn't have cared less what the boy thought), lowly cursing up a storm. Naru was missing, Mai was missing, and so was that dratted Shinomori girl!
His priority was to find Naru, pure and simple. And if past experience was anything to go on, he'd find the black-clad youth with his brunette assistant clinging to him. Typical. If Mai happened to be in danger, it was either Takigawa or Naru who'd come to her rescue.
As irritating as it could be to find his charge uncharacteristically putting himself in danger for the sake of someone (though it being Mai, he was hardly surprised), Lin ultimately decided that at least it made things easier for him.
Shinomori was another story.
Lin scowled. Why did Naru feel the need to take on a "volunteer"? The Shinomori girl gave mixed signals, and she was too odd for his liking. What was she doing hanging around a construction site at night for over a week? Why had she taken notes? What was the purpose of her searching for a strange room? And why had she been so adamant in remaining on the team? Furthermore, how had she managed to evade his shiki all this time? There was absolutely no way for that to have been possible unless…
He shook his head as if to clear the questions from his mind. He didn't have time to concern himself with a girl they'd be rid of soon enough. He had to find Naru and guarantee the boy's safety if wanted to keep his job.
He'd already radioed in the alert that Naru had gone missing as well. The others were looking. They'd find all three of them soon enough.
At least that what he was hoping for.
…
Naru listened silently through Mai's recounting of her bizarre dream, Mai again leaving out her oneiric guide and the girl with ash blonde hair. She'd also chosen to leave out the fact that in the dream she'd somehow seen SPR as the intended victims, something she saw that Katsu had noticed, but chose not to comment on.
Upon hearing of her being "yanked" out of the victim's body, Naru frowned. "And this has never happened in any of your previous dreams?"
Mai shook her head. "No. Never. That was the first time I've ever had it happen. It hurt… like someone went and ripped a part of me from myself." She shuddered, hugging herself suddenly at the memory. "The whole dream felt off somehow. Like it was missing pieces or something."
"From the way it sounded, I'd think your dream already had something going wrong with it," Katsu commented quietly. "Just from what I've heard, it's like your mind was half in the dream and half still in the present, like your consciousness to reality and your subconscious were getting mixed up with each other."
"I agree," said Naru, although the look he cast in Katsu's direction Mai didn't know quite what to make of. "Was there anything else that happened?"
Mai thought for a moment. Had she covered everything? It seemed so…
"DOC! DOC, PLEASE WAKE UP!"
She jolted at the sudden screaming of a little girl, earning her startled glances.
"What's up?" asked Katsu.
"I-I just remembered that there was another dream I had," she said, eyes widening. "I had it right after I blacked out, before dream I just told you about." She swallowed hard. "In the dream, I was a little girl. I-I remember seeing ash blonde hair –" 'The same ash blonde as the girl arguing with Dream Naru?' "– and I was trying to get through a group of people. I was trying to get someone important to me, and nobody would let me through."
"Did you hear anything?" Naru prodded. "A name or some indication as to where you were?"
"I heard someone say the name Kenichi… but I don't think I was in the same building as the man with the rifle."
"How do you know?" Was that panic she heard Katsu's voice?
"It didn't fit in right. It might've been a hospital…" Mai bit her lower lip, recalling the flooding desperation she'd felt. "I – the little girl I was – was screaming for someone. I think he died, but the girl I was kept screaming that he was only sleeping. Then somebody put me to sleep with a needle and I wound up in darkness with a whole bunch of orbs. And then I was yanked into the other dream."
"Do you remember who you were screaming for?" asked Naru.
Mai nodded. "Yeah. I was calling out for someone called 'Doc'. From the way it sounded, though, he was really important to her. It felt awful." She closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to spill over the renewed memory of anguish she'd felt go through the girl. Mai knew all too well the pain that came with losing someone important. Whoever "Doc" was had been extraordinarily close to the poor girl, she was sure of it.
When she opened her eyes again, her gaze landed on the girl across from her. Mai fairly panicked at how pale the interloper had become. "Katsu, are you okay?"
Before Katsu could answer, or even think to respond, the door behind her made a noise and slid open to reveal a thin strip of light coming from beyond.
…
"First we lose Mai and Katsu, and now Lin's lost Naru?" Takigawa sighed heavily. "Well isn't this a good night for an investigation…"
Whack!
"Ow! What did I do this time?"
"For starters, you were the one who lost Katsu and Mai; that had nothing to do with the rest of us," Ayako stated, retracting her hand as the monk rubbed the bottom of his skull. "And secondly, what gives you the right to complain? The only thing you've accomplished so far on this case is getting beaten up by ghosts and girls!"
Yasuhara snorted behind his hand in an attempt to cover up his amusement and failed terrifically.
"Hey, at least I tried to keep things from happening! And Yasuhara, stop laughing!"
"S-sorry," the college student snickered. "Can't help it."
"Yes you can, you just don't want to," said Ayako. "Now let's stop dawdling and keep looking for Mai and those other two. They must be somewhere in this awful place, so let's split up again and go farther up."
"Good idea," said John, who silently thanked God that at least passive civility had settled down again for the moment.
"Then I call John," Takigawa announced, grabbing the Aussie by the arm and startling the poor exorcist. "There's no way I'm working with an old hag or Yasu."
"Now that's just wounding," Yasu deadpanned. "I show you love and affection, and this is how you treat me?"
"Whatever." Ayako flipped her hair back off her shoulder, ignoring the bespectacled student's comment. "Better Yasu than a counterfeit monk."
"Counterfeit!"
"C'mon, mate, time to get back work…" John found himself all but dragging Takigawa away from committing homicide as Ayako sauntered off, taking her partner by the arm. Yasu waggled his eyebrows at the other two before allowing himself to be led away.
The monk growled angrily and shook the young priest off. "She can consider herself lucky that I'm more worried about finding the girls and Naru than I am about killing her, because if I wasn't…"
John shook his head. A joking murmur he'd heard once from Yasuhara when they were at the office was that Ayako and Takigawa acted like an old married couple. John didn't understand how that could be so: married couples were meant to love and cherish one another, not act as though they were in a caged fighting arena!
…
Katsu frowned and turned as much as the confining space would allow, using her good hand to slide the door open all the way.
She poked her head out and let out a low whistle. "Well, what do you know? Hey, Mai, is this the room from that sketchy dream of yours?"
Mai stood up, her limbs stiff from being cramped in such a tiny space, and leaned over Katsu, against the door frame. She had to blink several times for her eyes to adjust properly.
"Yeah, this is it."
It was: the door just ahead and slightly to their left, the bedrooms to the right… it was all there.
"Goodbye closet; hello, Mystery Room Supreme!" Katsu dragged herself out and scrambled to her feet, Mai right behind her and helping her in the endeavor. Naru came out right behind his assistant, snapping the top of the lighter and extinguishing the flame.
"Here." He handed it to the interloper, who mumbled a statement of thanks before pocketing the item.
Naru didn't spare her a look, opting instead to gaze at their current surroundings.
"Well… at least we're out of that closet," Mai said in an attempt to alleviate their newest situation.
"Yeah, but it doesn't change the fact that we still don't know where the heck we are," Katsu pointed out. She frowned down at her injured hand and pulled her glove off with a grimace. "Geez, this looks worse than what I was expecting."
Mai took the opportunity to grab the girl's hand and inspected it. She felt Katsu glare at her, but paid it no mind. The cut she'd received on the door was deep and looked horribly against the black and purple bruising surrounding it. And Naru hadn't exaggerated when he said Katsu's wrist was swollen.
"I'm fine, Mai." Katsu jerked her hand back. Mai's eyes narrowed up at her. "I'll clean it up when we get out of here. Right now, let's focus on getting back to the others, shall we?"
Mai frowned as the newcomer swept past her in the direction of the door. Katsu really was a stubborn one.
Katsu twisted at the doorknob. She frowned. She tried again, and groaned loudly.
"Great! We're locked in! Again! This is totally ridiculous!"
"Well, at least it isn't the closet," Mai pointed out. Katsu looked at her incredulously before giggling.
"Yeah, and now I'm not alone in my observations as far as seeing this place in the dead of night. Meaning Narcissus here has to take my notes seriously, right?" she looked over in Naru's direction.
Naru didn't look back. Katsu frowned.
"Fine, then. Just ignore me." She sighed and walked back over to Mai. "Okay, so there's something bugging me about that you dream you had."
Mai looked at her questioningly. "Other than everything in it?"
Katsu shook her head. "It's about the victim you were momentarily role-playing as in the dream before you got yanked."
"If you mean how she was dragged away instead of shot, I'm interested in that as well," Naru said suddenly, earning startled looks from both girls.
"Y-yeah." Katsu leaned over to Mai, whispering, "Can he read minds, too?"
"That's something I haven't figured out yet," Mai confided, whispering as well. They looked at one another and shrugged before Katsu spoke normally again.
"The thing is, I'd normally say that he'd run out of ammunition. If I had to take a guess, I'd say he used a lever-action rifle, which are pretty common for sports hunters. You can get them just about anywhere. I've heard that they haven't got the best ammunition capacity, but I'm not an expert. I hate firearms. But honestly though, I don't think this is the case."
"And I would have to agree with you," said Naru, turning to look at the two. His eyes rested on Mai. "What was he said to the victim, again?"
"Oh, I know just what to do with you, young lady…"
"H-he knew what he was going to do with her." Mai gulped at the memory. "B-but he shot the others…"
"We know he shot the men," Katsu pointed out. "Two, at least. We don't know about the women. And another thing: he mentioned something about being a taxpayer and landowner, right?" Mai nodded. Katsu looked over to Naru, who merely cocked an eyebrow. "Wouldn't that indicate that at some point one of the multiple owners of the old building have instigated all this? At least it gives us something more to work with."
Naru nodded. "Yes, but it won't answer the question of what is going on here at the complex. Based on what we've experienced so far and Mai's dreams, the most we can ascertain at this point is that the spirits of the gunman's victims have remained behind even after the old building's demolition, thus bringing us to the unexplained events going on at the construction site."
"But why would they stay after the building was gone?" asked Mai. "I thought that after the building was gone, a spirit would simply go with it."
"If you honestly think that, you really are stupid."
"Naru! I'm being serious!"
A half-gloved hand rested on the brunette's shoulder, bringing Mai's attention to Katsu.
"Think of it this way, Mai: someone comes over and tears your house down while you're at school, and you come home to nothing but a pile of rubble later on. You'd be pretty hacked off if that happened, right?"
"Of course, but –"
"It's basically the same concept," Naru interrupted, casting Katsu an odd glance.
"I don't get it."
"A spirit doesn't like its home disturbed either," Katsu explained patiently. "Tearing down the old building didn't do anything except maybe make the site even more active. Like I told you and Takigawa before, this place has had a reputation for being haunted for a long time now. I suppose you could think of the incidents with the work crew as a form of protest."
"That would be an acceptable way of putting it," commented Naru, still looking at her oddly. This didn't go unnoticed by Katsu, though she certainly didn't act as if she'd seen it.
"So in other words… tearing down the building only disrupted them and made them more active, right?" Mai looked at the other girl hopefully.
Katsu grinned and nodded. "Yup. You've got it."
Mai grinned back, but felt it slip abruptly. Her breath was coming up in tiny puffs again…
Katsu saw this as well and frowned. "Great, the temperature's dropping again…"
…
"Lin, John and I are on the fifth floor and haven't found anything. Want us to go up any higher?"
"Yes. If you find nothing on the sixth floor, then come back down and see if you can get to the third floor in the apartment complex section."
"Roger that."
"Hey, Lin?" Yasuhara's voice came in over the radio. "Have you seen anything yet on the cameras?"
The Chinese man groaned before answering. "No, Yasuhara. There's absolutely nothing on the monitors, and my shiki haven't detected anything."
"Whoa, take it easy, Lin!" Takigawa's voice came back, having caught the venom in the man's tone. "Naru's a smart guy and Mai's probably with him. And if Katsu's with them, I can personally guarantee that whatever goes after them will be in for a world of pain."
Lin did his level best to ignore the nervous laughter that went over the radio before it cut out again. They really didn't understand his position, did they? The only reason he even went back to base was to see if the cameras had even caught a glimpse of Naru or the girls, and he'd discovered nothing.
"Take it easy," Takigawa said. How he did expect Lin to do that, exactly?
…
"Th-there's something wrong about this chill," Katsu chattered, hugging herself around the arms as she leaned back against the nearest wall. "I don't like it."
"C-c-can we get out?" Mai stammered back, sitting next to her.
Katsu moved back to the door, twisting the handle and heaving against it before shaking her head. They were stuck again.
Katsu sighed and resumed her place next to the brunette, sinking down and falling on her bottom ungracefully. "This is so screwed up. I'm never investigating a haunted construction site again." She began hacking again, causing Mai to frown in worry.
"Katsu, are you –" she was interrupted by a flutter of black and squeaked as she felt something settle around her and Katsu's shoulders.
She looked up, astonished to find Naru looking down at them gently. He was lacking his jacket.
"Just stay there. I'll see if I can open the door."
He started towards the door –
And was stopped as a half-gloved hand shot out and grabbed him by the wrist. Naru's eyes narrowed.
"Miss Shinomori…"
"No 'Miss', Narcissus," Katsu said, bringing herself back up to her feet and pulling Naru to where she'd been before releasing his wrist. "Call either me 'Katsu' or 'Shinomori'. No more formalities. Now sit down like a good little researcher and let me break us out of here."
"Why can't you do as you're told and let me handle things?" he demanded, finally giving in slightly to his frustration with the girl.
Katsu met his disapproving gaze with a devilish grin as she produced a screwdriver from her pocket. "There's more than one way to open a door, you know. Taking off the doorknob should be easy. And if that doesn't work, I'm taking it off of its hinges."
She walked back over to the door and knelt before it, setting to her task.
"And just for the record," she said after a moment, "I'm doing this to feel like I'm doing something useful. I'm your volunteer for this wacko assignment, so I may as well contribute a bit more than I have been. All I've done so far is cause you guys trouble, so I figure I should make up for it."
Naru sighed after a moment and sank down next to Mai. He stiffened a bit and cast a quick glance in her direction upon feeling his own jacket going around him.
"Mai…" he began warningly.
"I'm not letting you freeze because of me," Mai snapped. Thus ended any argument that might have begun. Naru simply didn't see the need for provocation. He had too much on his mind at the moment.
For a time they sat, the assistant and the narcissist beneath the latter's jacket and the interloper several feet away, at first removing the doorknob and now working on the door hinges.
And slowly but surely, the temperature continued to drop.
"I-it's so c-cold," Mai tried to say through chattering teeth. She hugged her arms around herself tightly, trying to preserve her body heat in the sudden freeze. But the sweat against her skin only made things worse, and the fact that she'd worn only jeans, sneakers, and an old tank top didn't help any. Even with the warmth of Naru's jacket and Naru's body heat from the side, she felt like it was the middle of the winter and she'd walked outside in full summer attire.
"How much longer, Shinomori?" Naru demanded after hearing this complaint.
Katsu made to open her mouth, but a sudden gust of frigid air halted her. She dropped her screwdriver and fell to her knees, forehead pressed against the door as she breathed heavily.
"Not much… longer." She gulped, paling significantly. "If I can stay awake… I don't feel well…"
"Then sit here with Mai. I'll finished it up." He made to get up, but was halted by a shivering hand grasping his shirt. His eyes widened. "Mai?"
"N-N-Naru…" she couldn't stop shivering. That gust had gone right through her, rendering her unable to breathe and unable to feel. All she knew was that her source of heat was going to leave and she couldn't bear the thought of it.
Inside, Naru was panicking. He was trying to do his best on figuring the situation out and at the very least getting Mai to safety. But her sudden downturn here frightened him to say the least.
He heard a thud and snapped his head in the direction of the door. Katsu was laying on her side, unconscious and shivering.
This wasn't good. In such a short frame of time, this oughtn't to have been happening.
He wrapped his arm around his assistant and pulled her close against him, feeling the iciness of her skin seep through his clothes.
Not good at all.
"Naru…" his insides jolted at her weakened voice. "I'm so tired…"
"Don't go to sleep, Mai."
"I-I'm sorry, Naru," she muttered, slumping against him. "I can't help it…"
"Mai!"
…
…
…
"Mai… Mai…"
Her eyes fluttered opened, finding a concerned set of dark blue orbs staring back at her from under ebony bangs.
"Naru…" she smiled wanly. "I'm sorry. I fell asleep when you told me not to."
He smiled back warmly at her and brushed a few stray bangs back from her forehead. "It's alright. You couldn't help yourself." He extended a hand. "Can you sit up?"
"I can try." She took the offered appendage and slowly rose, feeling his free hand pressing gently against her back for support. Once she was sitting up properly, she smiled in thanks and looked about.
This time, they weren't in the dark abyss as usual. They were floating above a concrete room, somewhere Mai only vaguely recognized.
"Isn't this the basement?" she asked, looking over to her guide.
Dream Naru nodded.
Frowning, Mai continued to look around. 'What are we doing in here?'
It was a moment before her eyes landed on a semi-familiar figure, one that she hadn't seen at all her dreams since meeting the enigmatic interloper.
Katsu.
"What is Katsu doing in basement?" Mai asked aloud. "I thought she was in the disappearing room with us!"
"She still is with us." Dream Naru nodded in an opposite direction, indicating two prone figures on the floor. Mai could barely see to tell, but she knew that they were both Naru and herself.
"But how did we…?"
"Ka- Shinomori is in trouble." Her guide's words snapped her attention back to the interloper on the other side of the room. Mai's eyes went wide upon seeing a tell-tale dark black foxfire flaring up violently only mere feet away from the interloper, Katsu either completely ignorant to it or captivated by it – whichever was the case, Mai couldn't tell. The girl wasn't moving. She couldn't see Katsu's face.
"Katsu, get away from that thing!" Mai yelled, trying to get the girl's attention. "You'll get hurt if you let it touch you!"
Katsu seemed to snap out of her daze, and her head whipped round, dark green eyes scanning the immediate area before…
She locked eye contact with Mai.
Mai froze. Could Katsu see her? It wasn't possible! Was she astral projecting, like when she'd given Masako the key in Miyama Manor? Was it…?
She didn't have time to wonder any more. A dark mass reached out from the foxfire and latched onto Katsu's already injured arm, tensing to drag her back. Katsu's eyes widened considerably and the girl spun around, struggling against the force. There was a suddenly wavering, and hundreds of orbs floated into view, bursting into Mai's vision and nearly blinding her.
"Go back, Mai!" she could hear her guide shout. "Wake up!"
…
…
…
Meanwhile, back at base, the cameras in the basement of the business section erupted in static and digital snow. Lin took notice and seized the radio, yelling at the others to hurry in that direction
…
Mai awoke with a gasp and immediately began to cough, the dirt and dust from the floor she was on having gone into her lungs too fast. An arm already latched around her waist gripped her tightly from behind, pressing her up against something. It felt vaguely familiar.
"Calm down, Mai," Naru's voice gently commanded, his breath flowing past her ear and sending a shiver down her spine.
It felt like an eternity before the coughing finally stopped. Mai took several deep breaths, each one causing her to wince as her throat was sore and her chest felt like lead. Then she remembered why she'd woken up so suddenly.
"Katsu!" she started coughing again, Naru's grip tightening even more. Mai could only vaguely wonder how they'd wound up in this position.
"I'm here," came the weak response.
"Are you okay?" Naru's voice inquired, any traces of concern he might've had absent in asking.
"Yeah…" Katsu answered detachedly. "It's just… my arm…"
"It burned her, Naru," Mai said softly. "I saw it in my dream. It was a foxfire. It tried to grab her and pull her in." She curled up and began to sob, her breath coming out hitching and in wheezes.
Naru looked down at her before casting his gaze back at his unwanted volunteer. Katsu was sitting on the ground, looking more-or-less like a broken doll. Her gaze was fixated on her right arm, which sported a bright red burn that went up her forearm. The sleeve of her shirt was singed and the glove on that hand was ruined. The black-banded watch was the only thing remotely intact and even that hadn't been left unscathed. It would need a new band for certain.
His eyes lingered on the watch for a moment, something stirring in his memory. Where had he seen that watch before?
Naru's thoughts were interrupted once again, as the sound of shouts and the waving beams of flashlights pierced through the dimly lit basement.
"We're down here!" he called out, and began to cough as well. Warmth was beginning to seep back into him, and he held Mai even tighter against him, telling himself the action was only out of relief of not losing his ticket to the nice cup of tea he knew he'd need as soon as they got back to base and they were all tended to. When had he fallen asleep? He could hear Lin's voice well above the voices of the others.
For how long had they been missing, anyway?
A/N: Hehehe… I love coming up with Ayako/Takigawa interactions, especially when Yasu's in the vicinity! XD Trying to keep people like Lin and Naru in-character can be pretty difficult, though. I actually find Lin to be possibly the hardest out of all of them, considering what little is revealed about him in the anime. I'm really glad I've managed to do well thus far. ^_^
In one of the reviews, Katsu was mentioned as being odd. Actually, this was rather my intention to make Katsu seem strange. She might be a bit unlikeable at this point, but as the story and cases progress, more of her real personality will come out. I promise that there is a great deal more to her than meets the eye, but as to what her role in everything is, that must remain as secret. ;) In regards to Katsu herself, I really appreciate the feedback that I've gotten on the character so far. It's really helpful to gain some insight on my readers' opinions when it comes to original characters. ^_^
Out of curiosity (and plot necessity), would anyone happen to know at what age Gene died, and where he was? I've seen age estimations between 15 and 17, but in the anime, Naru is 17 when Mai meets him, and all I know is Gene was on a road, was hit by a car, and was thrown in a lake by the driver. I've looked at what other fan fiction authors have come up with, but would greatly appreciate for any information you guys could provide.
Special thanks goes out to lil whit, Foxgrl18, Tbonechick2011, Aoi Kitsukawa, HelloImRenee, and Moons-Chan for your input and reviews, and the same to everyone who is taking the time to read this little fic, adding it to your favorites/alerts lists – thank you so much! Until the next chapter, then! ^_^