Chapter 3: IQs and Drinks

Day 2

There was someone sitting on her bed.

In the mirror, Mai saw the shape of a little girl – one that she definitely had not seen before she slept – sitting next to her.

Swallowing, Mai summoned the courage to look over, her movements slow as she forced herself not to close her eyes.

Brown eyes, red hair and a mildly vacant expression. The ghost – a little girl, actually – had the face of a comatose patient that Mai had once seen at a nursing home, only her eyes were wide open. Something about the girl's expression was incredibly sad. Mai watched her, almost immobilised as she saw the beautiful little girl, who could not have been any older than six or seven, sit beside her. She wore a sakura printed kimono, her hair tied in a pair of plaits that framed the sides of her small face. The child was dressed as though she were going to a festival; if she hadn't been sitting next to Mai, who could therefore see her slightly transparent, Mai never would have known that this was a ghost.

Then, Mai saw blood form at the spirit's lips and she gasped. With the small enunciation of sound, the little girl jerked lightly and Mai's heart skipped another beat.

Slowly, almost mechanically, the little girl turned her head towards her. Mai's eyes widened and backed away from her bed immediately, falling onto the ground. She stood up hastily and her back collided painfully with the dressing table's corner but she ignored it, backing quickly towards the wall.

"No way," Mai breathed, staring as the little girl turned over to the edge of the bed, bounced down from it, and then slowly floated towards Mai's direction.

"Oh god."

Blood seemed to drip the steps that the child walked, but when Mai looked at her, she saw that no part of the child was covered in blood. Only her shoes were completely stained with the red substance. Then, as she felt the wall behind her, a sense of dread filled Mai as she realised that she'd been successfully cornered. She turned towards the open space of the room anxiously and realised that the child was now directly in front of her, hovering in order to reach Mai's height. Her face could not have been more than a foot away from Mai's.

The girl's hand reached out and as she did, blood dripped from her fingertips onto Mai's pyjamas, leaving a print against the pink flannel.

The child smiled. "Want some?" she offered.

That officially cracked her calm. Mai's breathing became heavier and she sucked in deeply, ready to shriek.

"If you scream," the child assured, an insane curve of lips framing her perfect face, "I'll slice your throat."

A light blade, one like the one the barbers used, materialised in the child's hands. The silver seemed to approach her slowly, and as it was an inch from Mai's eyes, the child moved it to a side. The child gave an insane smile and she shifted, slowly caressing Mai's cheek with the blade.

Mai shut her eyes tightly, her gaze resolutely averted from the child. Her heartbeat lashed out and Mai bit her tongue, forcing herself not to scream.

Someone. Anyone. Please save me!

The coldness vanished and slowly, Mai opened her eyes.

There was no one in front of her.

Mai straightened, now assessing the rest of the room.

The blood still dampened the carpet where the ghost child had walked, but there was no one else in sight. Light from a passing car leaked into Mai's bedroom and she continued to watch the area, noticing how unearthly quiet it had suddenly became.

Not wanting to wait for the child's return, Mai bolted immediately from the room.

Mai wasn't sure how long she'd ran for, but the wind felt normal in her ears.

She didn't know how big this house was, but she'd ran for quite some time now and somehow, Mai was still inside it. She didn't know how many staircases she'd climbed or how many paths she'd crossed; somehow, she'd managed to keep going. And now, Mai found herself standing in the middle of a darkened hallway.

And she realised that she was lost.

"Mai," a voice called out. "What are you doing here?"

At the corner, Ayami seemed to have materialised, a frown framing her face. The other girl walked slowly over towards Mai. She seemed to have a rather peculiar scent on her, but Mai couldn't quite recognise it. Mai looked around, not sure where she was. Then, she remembered back to the route that she had taken and realised that she'd strayed to the third level. Judging by the puzzled expression on Ayami's face, Mai could tell that she had entered the forbidden West Wing.

"I'm so sorry. I must have gotten lost."

Ayami frowned. "I don't mind too much, it's just not safe for you to wander alone. If you wanted to check the area out, just call me or Touya next time. And don't tell your boss," Ayami added. "I'd hate to see him abuse the right."

Mai nodded dumbly. Her emotions were still numb from the adrenaline rush she'd received from running. Ayami frowned at her lack of response, then, her eyes snapped with immediate attentiveness. With the girl's sudden focus, the lights in the room snapped on and Mai shut her eyes quickly, blinking away the spots that had appeared. A hand grabbed Mai's arm and suddenly, she felt herself being led away.

By the time Mai's eyes had refocused again, she noticed that she was now standing inside a room that seemed to spread out to infinity. Ayami had disappeared in one of the rooms at the end, but the room was far too astounding for Mai to keenly notice. The first thing she sighted was the huge fireplace that was left burning, then the four-poster posts of the king sized bed located at the fair centre, the study corner, a series of mint couches that surrounded a media set, and the huge dressing table. Mai recognised some of the handbags and clothing that had been dumped onto the floor not far from her and realised whose room this was. The rest of the level had seemed so eminently cold, but in this room, a warm, welcoming feeling framed Mai's peace of mind.

Ayami's bedroom was huge. Mai had thought that the room she was staying in was large but this one here was larger than Mai's apartment and the S.P.R office. Maybe even larger than the two of them combined.

Though, when Mai thought of what had lurked in her room earlier, she suddenly didn't envy Ayami at all.

Ayami suddenly reappeared. She carrying three or four bottles between her fingers that Mai recognised as alcohol.

Part of Mai was overly conscious of what she looked like. Her hair was scruffy; she could feel strands of her fringe sticking onto her face due to her sweat. Mai didn't even look down to know that she was wearing her dreary, pink and blue flannel pyjamas. Next to Ayami, Mai felt overwhelmingly bare. It was almost surreal seeing the real Ayami here now when she'd just dreamt of the same girl, wearing the same outfit, just minutes ago in her dream.

Mai heard a sudden 'pop' and she looked over, sighting the other girl seat herself at white couch that Mai hadn't seen before. God, how big was this room anyway?

"So what were you doing wandering around a house like this at this time of the morning?" Ayami asked.

Mai opened her mouth, ready to reply when she realised that she had nothing to say. She couldn't readily announce to her client that her house was haunted, could she? Mai would have to at least tell Naru first.

"Couldn't you sleep either?" Ayami asked, offering Mai an explanation for her late night wandering. Ayami smiled, taking another deep sip of her drink. "Although I do think that your reason for staying awake late at night might be just a little different to mine. A drink?" Ayami offered, holding the bottle towards Mai.

Mai disinclined the other girl's offer, calming slightly as Ayami's tone soothed her immensely. "I'm not of age," Mai replied.

Ayami blinked. "Neither am I," she told her, before taking another swing of whatever it was she was drinking. "It's just West Coast," Ayami said, seemingly noticing where Mai's gaze was. "Less than 5 alcohol," she explained when Mai continued to look confused.

"I don't think you should drink too much," Mai said, almost hesitantly. The Ayami she was seeing now was completely different to the one she saw during the day. Was she drunk?

There was a wry expression on the other girl's face that told Mai that Ayami didn't think much of rules and regulations. "I just managed to get hold of some liquor, since the house owner was so cheap, he locked the cabinet. I need my daily intake of alcohol, Mai."

"It's probably best for you not to wander around by yourself." Mai opened her mouth, her apology on the tip of her tongue, but Ayami shook her head. "I'm not reprimanding you, Mai. It's just not safe. " Ayami took a deep sip of the drink, draining it of its contents. "People have gone missing in this house and their bodies would turn up days later, wasted. I don't want it to happen to you too."

Something told Mai Ayami was definitely not drunk. She spoke with clear certainty and she obviously knew what she was saying.

"So what's scared you tonight?" Ayami asked finally. The other girl set an empty green bottle onto the coffee table before proficiently reaching out towards the other bottle in front of her. "Besides the ghost, I mean."

Mai turned over in surprise, just as the cork of the wine bottle was removed with a 'pop'. There was a slight sizzle and Ayami watched the gas rise from the bottle she was holding as she frowned.

So much for her plan about telling Naru first.

"You know about the ghosts?" Mai asked sharply.

Ayami's smile was dry. "I even know the results for tomorrow's game when Japan vs. France, and let's just say that your Takigawa-san doesn't stand a chance against Matsuzaki-san's bet."

Mai was silent. Ayami knew about the ghosts. Did that mean that she was further linked to the case? Or maybe the two were completely unrelated. Mai knew next to nothing about this girl, but it wasn't often that someone knew their house was haunted and didn't care to do anything about it. Then, Mai frowned; how was it that Ayami knew it was a ghost that had bothered Mai in the first place?

"How do you know—"

"I know a lot of things," Ayami said flatly. Mai backed away slightly, realising that Ayami was getting defensive about the topic, though she had no idea why. Then, as though sensing that she was being a little harsh, Ayami calmed her expression and looked over towards Mai, seemingly concerned. "You should go back to bed; Shibuya-san's probably going to slave you around once again by tomorrow morning so it'd probably be best if you got some rest."

Mai didn't say anything again. She had no desire to return to the room she'd been staying in. The image of the ghost on the bed was still vivid in her mind. Ayami seemed to have sensed her reluctance, because she continued.

"If it makes you feel any better, you can stay in my room," Ayami said dryly. "Nothing's ever appeared here, and I doubt anything ever will."

"I don't want to intrude," Mai said quietly.

"I'm not used to staying in a room with someone else either. I'll just stay in Raidon's room," Ayami shrugged. "He won't care."

Raidon. Was that the name of the house's owner? Ayami had seemed rather reluctant to speak of him to Naru, but she'd just mentioned it casually to Mai. Was he the boy that Mai had seen in her dream too? Then again, how could a person that young own a house this big?

"You and Raidon must be good friends for him to trust you with his ancestral home," Mai said finally.

"It will be mine too if he gets his way."

Mai didn't quite understand what that meant but from the tone in her voice, Mai could tell that it wasn't her place to question further.

"This is a beautiful house," Mai said, then realised that she was repeating herself. Was she that nervous? Mai didn't even realise it.

"Even lovelier with the addition to the attic. And did you want to see the demi-goddess?"

The attic? At this time of the night? One of the doors suddenly creaked and a shiver ran up Mai's spine. The foreign sound made her heart skip a beat and she quickly turned towards the sound of disruption.

Naru's frown greeted Mai in return but at the sight of him, she couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. "Naru!" Mai let out, almost happy that he'd interrupted.

"Mai, what are you doing up so late?"

Ayami gazed over at Naru almost curiously and Mai sent out a message with her eyes. Ayami was proposing that they visit the demi-goddess at this time of the night. Mai really didn't want to go, but she couldn't really admit that she, an employee of a Ghost Hunting organisation, was afraid, could she? And that she definitely was, especially after the little girl's visit.

"Shibuya-san," Ayami greeted superciliously as she leant against the cushions, holding out her bottle. Mai recognised the drink as vodka, but she swore that just ten minutes ago, Ayami had been drinking out of wine bottle. "It's impolite to enter a girl's room without knocking. Care for a drink though, Shibuya-san?"

Naru's gaze wavered cautiously from the girl's bright, animated face to the bottle of open vodka in her hand. This time, Mai could even read her boss's mind.

"No thank you," Naru answered flatly. "I, Ayami-san, happen to like my brain cells the way they are. Perhaps you should start appreciating yours too and give up on liquor; the numerical basis of your IQ appears to be dropping even quicker than the temperature of the winter night."

"Yet the temperature of the winter night generally ascends once again when the sun rises the next morning. Relax, Naru-chan," she advised, placing a heavy emphasis on his nickname. Mai stifled her giggles as Ayami used their moniker to address him, "my brain cells won't do anything to jeopardise your case. Though if you were worried about Mai, you could have just said so."

Mai blinked, confused by the abrupt change of topic. Then, she realised what Ayami said and Mai blushed faintly, though she couldn't help but steal a gaze at Naru who in turn, appeared rather affronted.

"Let's all go to the attic together," Ayami suggested brightly, breaking through the tension. She gestured towards them with her bottle of alcohol before taking a long swallow. "I'm sure the good ol' goddess would appreciate our company."

"It's late," Naru said brusquely. "Ayami-san, Mai needs to be able to do her work tomorrow so you'll have to excuse me if –"

"Excused," Ayami cut in, shrugging. "Don't get all sensitive, Shibuya-san. I was just cracking a joke before."

Naru definitely didn't welcome the joke. Mai didn't think that she appreciated it that much either.

Naru looked over at her. "Mai, I need to talk to you."

Was that why he'd come to the West Wing? How had he known where she was anyway? Hearing what he'd said, Mai stood up quickly, rushing over to stand beside him. Without even casting a gaze towards her, Naru headed upstairs, not even looking back. Mai couldn't help but shot him a dirty look; it was as though he was confident that she would follow him, and unfortunately, she would.

"Mai," Ayami called out, just as Mai's foot protruded pass the frame of Ayami's door. Immediately, Mai turned back to look at the other girl, her face politely probing.

Ayami smiled. "What's been haunting your dreams of late?"

Mai frowned, not quite understanding Ayami's words. She looked back towards Naru blankly before her mind finally processed what the other girl was saying.

No…she couldn't have known about the dream; there was no way.

Mai opened her mouth, ready to question the other girl. Ayami had already stood up, however, walking towards one of the doors at the end of her room. Frowning, Mai turned back towards Naru's direction reluctantly and she looked forward, realising that he hadn't even stopped to wait for her. She jogged a little bit in order to catch up to him

"What did she mean?" Naru pressed, as soon as they were out of earshot of the other girl. "Did you have another dream?"

Mai shook her head quickly. Then, when she realised that she'd just lied to Naru, she grimaced. Naru, correctly interpreting her hesitation, nodded.

"What happened in the dream?" he asked swiftly.

Trust him to not let it go. "Nothing much," she answered, her tone guarded. "I just saw Ayami and a boy around our age standing outside the manor."

Naru nodded, though she could tell that he wasn't quite buying it. Mai didn't understand herself why she was being so secretive, but a part of her didn't want Naru to think negatively of Ayami.

"Then why are you so wary?"

Was it time to tell him the truth? Something told Mai Naru wasn't going to shift until she told him exactly what she'd seen.

"The boy that was talking to Ayami–" Mai took a breath, not knowing how to place her sentence. Then, she opened her mouth and tried again. "I think the boy in my dreams actually saw me." It sounded stupid, even to her, and then Mai knew that there was no way it could be true. She glanced appealingly towards Naru. "But that can't happen, can it?" Well, it couldn't happen in her dreams, anyway.

Naru didn't reply. Instead, he continued gazing steadily at the hallway in front of them as they walked slowly back to their wing. "What else happened?"

So that was possible? Mai gazed inquiringly at her boss, though his expression didn't betray any form of emotion. She frowned, answering his question. "Nothing much. He kind of just looked at me and I sort of woke up."

Naru didn't say anything but Mai could practically see his wheel of thoughts circulating in his mind. Although his face remained passive, it was quite obvious that Naru was thinking. Knowing that he didn't like sharing his thoughts with her too often (though it did immensely irritate her at times) Mai silently walked with him through the mansion.

Her pace was a little slower so she ended up walking behind him instead. While they walked, Mai's mind went back to Ayami. The girl was so peculiar, it was unnatural. Every time Mai saw her, she uncovered a different mask that this girl wore in her every day life. Mai had no idea which one of the faces were the true Ayami, but the girl had been nothing but kind to Mai. Even she, however, could not deny that Ayami was a mystery on her own.

One thing Mai felt for sure was that Ayami did not hold any malice towards anyone.

Mai voiced her thoughts to Naru, her tone sounding doubtful even to herself. "I don't think it has anything to do with Ayami, do you?"

Naru didn't say anything, though he did abruptly stop. Mai bumped into his back, not realising that he'd paused and she frowned as her face collided with his jacket.

"What was that for?" Mai muffled, rubbing her nose indignantly. He could have at least warned her that he was going to stop.

Naru turned around and looked down at her. His face frowned, almost though seeing her for the first time. Naru's gaze, ever so condescending, brushed by her entire body before stopping by an area near her throat. Mai blushed lightly as he reached out, brushing his fingers against the flannel of her pyjamas softly. Mai didn't want to look at his face, but it would be more than awkward if she turned away. Instead, she looked down and sighted his fingers on the blood that had dripped from the ghost's hand not an hour back. Her heart was still racing, but the intimacy of the gesture didn't seem to register with him.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, his tone as dispassionate as usual.

Naru's eyes bore into hers and Mai averted his gaze slightly, realising that she hadn't even mentioned the child. All that talk about Ayami had completely slipped the topic from her mind.

"A little girl appeared in my room," Mai murmured. "That's why I ran downstairs."

His frown was disapproving. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

She swallowed, almost feeling guilty. "I guess I was scared. I think I need to get changed," Mai murmured, now trying to wipe the blood of the clothing with her bare hands. No matter how hard she scrubbed, the blood didn't seem to want to go anywhere.

Naru ignored her grievance. "Stay at base until tomorrow morning. I want you to stay with Lin and help him go through the files while I tend to something."

What? Mai paused on her scrubbing, looking up. She was dead tired, it was 3PM in the morning, and Naru was going to make her go on watch? Wasn't that a little cruel, even for him?

"And where are you going?" Mai asked, not being able to suppress the annoyance in her voice.

Naru's answer was short and curt. "Out."

12.07.2008: Sorry about the late update. I've beend doing too much shopping ;) Anyway, there was a little Naru/Mai in this chapter (well, alone, anyway) and I want to write more in the next, so yeah...Thanks for reading