Chapter 7 – Mai and Gene in Astral Plane
[A/N]:
This is what i managed to update for now...
I'm kinda busy, as my dad's assistant ^_^
and my laptop re-format itself, deleting ALL the files, and my anime! T_T
so i'm back to square one...
They are already at the airport packing the cameras in the plane while waiting for the Yukimura siblings to come, and Naru is reading his notes while stealing glances at Mai. She really is a good assistant, he remember earlier at the office when he arrived Mai already clean the office, baked some cookies and even made a thermos of tea specially for him.
"Naru" he heard Mai called and look at her
"What?"
She grinned "If I'm a police officer I already arrested you by now"
He raised his eyebrow "And why?"
"Because I noticed you keep on STEALING glances at me" she teased, and laugh when she saw him blushed.
He blinked at her, then smirked "So it means you keep on looking at me too?" he teased back.
She opened her mouth then close it again, "Jerk!" and she left him, and pack the remaining equipment. Naru felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Gene grinning at him
"It's too obvious that you're flirting, Noll, I mean, Naru" he teased. Naru brushed off his hand on his shoulder.
"I'm not flirting"
"Yeah, right! Just possessive"
He glared at him "I'm not possessive"
"Really? Then remember this? 'I can't let you have my assistant, she's mine!'" and he even copied Naru's expression while saying it. Seeing his brother's reaction, he immediately run towards the other members he don't want to see Naru's wrath.
"Idiot, she's really mine" Naru mumbled
Akira and her brother arrived exactly eight in the morning, same with Masako who proudly step out on her chauffeur-driven limousine. She immediately went to Naru when she saw him, she smile and clung onto him tightly.
Seiichi raised his eyebrow "I thought she's a refined woman" he whispered to his sister
Akira chuckled "She's not what you think you she is, Sei-nii"
"You're late Hara-san. I told you that we will meet at exactly seven in the morning" he sharply said. The medium was crestfallen at his attitude towards her.
"Well, good morning too. Oliver" she whispered sharply "Don't forget that you lied to the whole team for more than a year Oliver Davis, if you don't want them to get mad at you, you must do your duties as my boyfriend" she threatened him and smirked when she saw him blanched.
He glared at her Damn her! He mentally cursed.
"Shibuyan-san!" Akira called waving her hands, he nodded at her and noticed how she glared at Masako
He roam his eyes at the place "Where's your brother?" he asked when he noticed he's not with her
She grinned "Oh, he and Mai are already at the pilot cabin checking the navigational and communication controls. Sei-nii told me to wait for his signal so we can board the plane"
He furrowed his eyebrow Mai is alone with him is all he can think, he looked at his team "C'mon, let's get going"
Masako grabbed his arm to stop him "Didn't you heard what she said? We should wait for her brother's signal. And besides, we must give the two of them some quality time" she said, smiling.
Akira received a message from her brother, he gave her an 'okay' to board the plane
"Guys, c'mon! We can now board the plane" she called
The SPR members board on the plane and occupy the seats in the front. Naru cleared his throat and give them an instruction
"We must all occupy the window side, according to our client, some passengers who sit at the window side saw the ghost" he noticed Masako's glare "especially the mediums" he added for emphasis
"Yeah, yeah. We got it my beloved little brother" Gene said, and all of them occupy the seat on the window side and Masako didn't tried to complain. He sighed from relief
Thanks useless medium
No problem idiot scientist
You noticed?
Yup…
He sit on his seat and look at the window and think. He's thinking a way on how he will tell the truth about him on his team, he was certain that they will loathe him and Gene. He sighed and mentally shook his head, he must focus his self on the case that they will be having today.
Akira closed the door, she's the cabin crew for today's flight. She walked on the aisle and told them to fasten their seatbelts, and gave them the basic instructions while his brother readied the plane for takeoff. She sit on the vacant seat and like the others, she fasten her seatbelt.
They are already above the sky when Akira went to the pilot cabin and brought them some food.
"Here" she said as she put the food on the small table between them, and she looked at Mai "Your boss is grumpy" she said at her. His brother switched on the autopilot and grabbed the food that she brought.
Mai chuckled "He's always grumpy when he don't have his… tea" her eyes widened and look at the time, its past thirty minutes on his tea time. She took her bag beside her, took the thermos of tea and give to Akira "Please give Naru his tea. It's still hot" she raised her eyebrow when she noticed Akira and Seiichi's meaningful grin at her, the former giggled and took the thermos with her.
"He must be special" Seiichi said
"Of course, because he's my boss" she defended
Seiichi chuckled "Yeah right, keep on saying that" and he manually controlled the aircraft again.
Akira carefully placed the cup of tea on Naru's table, and noticed his eyebrow raised, "I'm not the one who made it, Mai told me to give it to you" she said before he can give a sarcastic remark. She left after giving him his precious tea, missing to see the smile on his face.
"Akira!" Naru heard Gene called "Can I have a cup of tea too?"
"No, Mai only told me to give it to 'Naru'" she answered and went back to her seat. Naru smirked upon hearing Akira's answer.
Sorry Gene, but the tea is exclusive for me
You're really enjoying yourself Noll
Of course because I'm special
After sometime, the 'fasten your seatbelt' sign lit up and Seiichi's voice was heard telling them to prepare for landing. They can now see the runway, and the plane slightly tilted sideward and they can heard the tires' loud shriek, Masako screamed and covered her face, while Gene stared at the widow as if looking at someone.
"Gene did you see something?" Naru asked, looking at his brother's expression he must saw something
"Yeah" he softly said
Seiichi and Mai went to the passenger cabin to joined the others, they are both trembling "What happen?" Naru asked without making obvious his concerned at Mai
"We saw it" Seiichi softly said, he run his fingers thru his hair "I'm sorry about earlier, it caught me off guard and it startled me"
They were all silent, then Masako stood up and gripped Naru's coat as she leaned her head on his chest and sobbed louder "It was scary, and I was so scared" she said
Mai and Akira rolled their eyes at her eccentric behavior "Hara-san, if it scared you then you can leave" the latter sharply said, Masako glared at her
"We should get off now so we can start our investigation early" Lin said as he feel the tension between the two ladies
Akira opened the door and noticed the stairs that the Wakkanai airport personnel attached. When they are on the door way Naru asked Masako – who's still clinging on him – if she feel anything.
She took a deep breath and concentrates herself "It's faint but I can feel it. I can't tell whether it's a man or a woman, yet"
"It's a man. And I can feel a strong sense of regret and sadness" Mai and Gene both said, and they both collapsed. He panicked when he saw her collapsed and he brush off Masako's grip on him to catch Mai, and Lin caught Gene.
"Hey, what's happening? I can understand Gene, but to Mai?" Ayako concernedly asked
"I forgot to tell you, when Mai's having a vision she collapsed" Akira answered it for her
They are all staring at the two. Naru carefully cradled Mai and get off the plane, followed by Lin and the others.
Mai noticed the will-o'-the-wisp on the surrounding, she groaned "Right, the ghost wants to show me something" she mumbled at herself
"Mai?"
She turned around and saw a person slowly approaching towards her, and gasped when she saw who that person is "Gene?"
"So you can also do this huh? Amazing"
She shrugged "Uhm… Yeah, I guess? I don't even know why"
He chuckled "This is the astral plane, and we're astral projecting. We can separate our spirit from our physical body, but mostly, if the ghosts are powerful they can tug our spirit and show us what really happen to them"
"Oh, so that's why I sometimes fell unconscious every time I do some ghost hunting before and have some vision, whether I'm the victim or the killer"
Gene glare at her "But this is a dangerous ability if you're untrained, because there are malevolent spirits that strong enough to trap your spirit and it can no longer go back to your physical body"
Mai shivered "Scary…" she uttered
"Yes it is. That's why after this case you must asked Lin to help you in your training, like what he did to me before"
She nodded "Understood. But as for now, we must focus on this one"
"Agreed"
And they found their selves standing at the middle of the terminal building in the airport.