Hey! So this is notable shorter than the first chapter, sorry... In my defence, my goal is atleast 1,000 words, I just got carried away with the last chapter. Anyhoo, thanks for all the positive feed back. R&R, please and thanks, uyay
Chapter Two
Officer Lee's wife was a cheery lady who worked as a doctor in a nearby hospital. She stopped by for dinner before going back to work. Emmi was placed in one of the spare bedrooms of the two story house. Vanessa, the wife, had lent her some clothes to wear for the night and the next night. She woke up that morning to their pet cat licking her face.
"Morning Fluffers." She laughed at the fluffy white cat and heard a knock at the door. She sat up, surprising the cat, and wiped the sleepies from her eyes. "Yeah?"
"Good morning," Officer Lee's voice floated through the cracked door. "The plane leaves in half an hour. There's a shower in the bathroom attached to the room." Yes, the guest room even had a personal bathroom. She felt spoiled.
"Good morning, and thanks." She walked in the bathroom, clothes in hand, and got ready for the day.
The shower was cold, by choice, and she let it wash away the pain of yesterday. The pain and more importantly the the filth. Her muscles relaxed, and stress washed away with the soap suds. She stepped out, turning the faucet out, but hesitated. She traced the scars that decorated her upper torso with her fingers. Battle scars. She sighed, staring in the mirror. Your away now. You aren't going back.
The pants were long jeans: dark wash with wear on the knees. tHe top had sleeves that reached just below her elbow, a round neck, and was bright yellow. Red heels, which Emmi knew was going to take some time to get used to, fit perfectly on her petite feet. A red leather belt hung around her hips for decoration, as well as a couple of stackable red ring bracelets. She put on the red sun glasses to complete the look. I wonder why she gave me all of this. Yet Emmi knew why. She had clicked with Dr. Venessa right away, and learned that she was unable to have the baby girl she, they, always wanted. She probably thinks of me like a daughter.
Emmi sighed. She wouldn't have taken it, she would have left the accessories here and just taken the necessary. Unfortunately, Vanessa had made them promise that they would take a picture before they left, with everything, and she didn't want to offend her.
She walked outside the bathroom, out to the hallway, and to the front door where Officer Lee was waiting with her bags and a camera. He smiled at her. "My wife did good." He led her outside to the car, and with that they left to the airport.
The ride was quiet and comfortable; the airport wasn't too far away. When they got there, they found that Eugene and Lin were waiting for them. Eugene opened, her door, helping her out. Officer Lee got her suitcase out of the trunk. When she asked why it was so big, he explained that Vanessa packed more clothes and such in it. She gave him a hung, surprising him, and waved goodbye as they, Eugene, Lin, and herself, walked inside.
…
Emmi nestled herself into the window seat of the plane. She stared intently out the window while Eugene, who was sitting in the seat next to her, was talking on the phone. "YEs….. I know.. See you then… Bye." He hung up, and she turned to him.
"Who was that?" He looked at her, surprised. "Sorry, I didn't mean to listen in."
"No. It's ah... it's fine. Tht was my brother. You'll meet him when we get to Japan."
"Ok." She closed her eyes, ready for the flight.
…
She stared at the blurry photo. She couldn't tell what or who the picture was of, just that they had past away. The words 'In honor of' were engraved in a gold plate beneath the frame. She couldn't read the name, but she knew it made her sad. "Why?" she heard herself ask.
"It was an accident." The voice came floating to her. Regretful, warm, familiar.
"Too young to die." The words brushed past her lips. "Too young."
"Maia!"
…
"Emmi! Emm! Wake up! We're here! Emmi!" Emily forced her eyes open to see frantic black eyes looking down in hers. "We're here, Emmi."
"Oh, gosh. Sorry, Eugene," she apologised. Lin reached a hand in front of Eugene; unbuckling and helping Emmi out of her seat. "Thanks, Lin."
"No problem." He walked off the plane with their bags.
"Gene." She looked up at Eugene, surprised. "You can call me Gene. Everybody does." She gave a prompt nod and followed him off the plane.
They led her to a grey-brown van Gene opened the backdoor for her before jumping in the passenger seat. lin was the driver. Emmi curled up in a tight ball, exhaustion taking it's toll on her.
"I don't get it: you sleep the whole way here and you're still tired!" Gene teased.
Emmi rolled her eyes. "Right. I have two questions."
"Shoot." He leaned over the seat to look at her.
"One, am I supposed to use honorifics?"
"It probably won't be expected of you. Where we are going are my best friends, and they are aware of what's going on."
"I thought no one was supposed to know?"
"I take it that's not the second question?" She stuck her tongue out at him. "I'll take that as a no. They don't know everything, just that you are from America and do not know the language."
'Now that, that is my second question."
"Third, really. What about it?" he asked, ignoring her scowl.
"Will I be expected to speak Japanese?"
"No. Like I said, you don't know the language."
"Mōichido kangaete mite kudasai." Her response, appropriately in Japanese, surprised him. ("Think again.")
"Anata ga nihongo o hanasu." Lin had to hide his smirk at Gene's words. ("You speak Japanese.")
"Hai." She laughed. ("Yes")
"We are here," Lin told them. He pulled into the driveway of an office building. The logo on the door had the letters 'SPR'. "Shibuya Psychic Research," he defined.
"This is where my brother and I work." Gene hopped out of the car and opened her door. "Come on. I guess if you can speak Japanese, speak it." She nodded, and followed him into the building.
She froze instantly. Directly in front f the door, hanging on the wall, was the picture. But not just the picture from her dreams, a picture of a friend she would no anywhere. "Why?" She choked out the question right as a man came out of what she assumed to be his office.
"Emmi, this is my brother Oliver. Oliver, this is Emmi. Emmi?" Gene asked. He obviously hadn't heard her question.
"Why?" She raised a shaky finger to the picture on the wall. "Why do you have Maia's picture?"
The man, who she noted looked almost exactly like Gene, approached her. "That's Mia, not Maia."
"No, that's Maia. She always hated her common name, so she called herself Mia. I was the only one allowed to call her Maia," Emmi explained. "Why does it say 'In memory of'? She isn't dead. She can't be dead."
"I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong person. that's Mia Taniyama. She died half a year ago," the man, Oliver, said, visibly tense. She turned to look him full on, when she noticed the shadow of a figure hanging just behind him.
"Maia?" She fainted.