gomen gomen gomen! i'm sorry this took so long!
on another note, one of my reviewers asked me why Gene's so calm about the whole thing. well, considering he's dead, he can't do anything for Kasai. so he's just going to enjoy teasing his baby brother.
"Wait, he's gone?" Lin said into the phone.
"Yes. I'm sorry Lin." John apologized. "Kazuya wouldn't tell me anything, just left with that woman on his arm and more of a scowl on his face than usual. Name didn't ring a bell."
"No, but call me immediately if you see him. This little trip is to help him relax and get some of the pent up energy in his body out without nearly killing him. I need to talk to him."
"Will do Lin." John replied before biding goodbye and hanging up.
"Oliver Davis when I get my hands on you I'm gonna…" as Lin muttered profanities under his breath his thoughts turned towards the woman John said he'd left with. Mai Matsuzaki, not only was Oliver going with her but she had seeked him out. He never got involved with women because they all turned out the same. Psycho stalkers with only one thing in mind. Lin shuddered at the mere wondering of what that woman wanted from Oliver.
"Maybe I should do a background check on her." Lin mused. He did just that, but cancelled it at the last minute.
"My hands are tied," Lin groaned, "If she isn't a threat, then why is she seeking him out? He is under his birth name alias. But if she is I can't help. I've got no idea where they'd go."
"What's the matter Lin?" Madoka asked as she walked in the room.
"Oliver." Lin replied. "Need I say more?"
Madoka shook her head, "I can only guess, but as long as he only fight when threatened and doesn't lose control of his temper he'll be fine. Besides, he'd always carry some kind of protection on him. Past experience has taught him not to go anywhere without." The pink haired woman assured him.
"I suppose you're right." Lin agreed. "But here, you work in missing persons. What on earth are you doing here?" he asked her.
Madoka shook her head sadly, "got a global amber alert from China." She replied grimly.
Lin looked up from his desk, "don't tell me…" he trailed off.
Madoka nodded, "fraid so." She replied once more as she handed the sheet to him.
"Kasai." Lin mumbled looking at the sheet. "His only living relative."
"Yep." Madoka agreed. "I checked and double checked. Your relatives put her to bed and she was taken sometime during the night. We're considering the fact that she's related to him to be a factor in her disappearance."
"Well, definitely keep me updated on this." Lin said wondering if that was why Oliver went running off this morning, but that wouldn't explain Mai.
"Will do." Madoka replied, "Has Oliver been doing, okay lately?"
"I'm not sure." Lin answered truthfully, "He's always been very bad at showing his feelings, but after the incident he's been acting more reserved than usual." He paused, "I think he feels guilty."
"He shouldn't though," Madoka pointed out, "it was a coincidence, a very sad coincidence, but a coincidence nonetheless. "She walked back over to Lin. "cheer up." She said cupping one side of Lin's face in her hand. "Oliver's a capable man. Don't worry so much." She flashed a smile before scampering out the door.
Lin picked up his desk phone and dialed the cell number. "Kazuya Shibuya enough of this. Call me as soon as you get this message." He growled before slamming the phone down on the receiver.
Naru ignored the vibrating of the cell phone in his coat pocket and looked at the advertisement he'd found on the web.
"That's really really creepy." Mai said as her eyes scanned the page.
"Why do you think so?" Naru asked.
"This event has only been going on for a little over a month and yet they knew about it."
"Probably because they made a donation to have it going on while we're on the run playing this useless little game of theirs." Naru responded emotionlessly.
Mai shuddered, "Why put us through all this if it could simply be a grudge held against our families?" she asked.
"An interesting thing to pursue, but we should save it for later." Naru told her, "right now we need to focus our attention on this."
"Alright. But I think it's really sick to abuse something intended for kids for this kind of a purpose." Mai said.
"Agreed." Naru replied looking at the 'mock dig' set up by the museum of natural history ad.
"We should get going, it opens at nine." He said, "We can get a cab to take us there when it opens and it won't be too crowded unlike if we wait." He pulled out his wallet and paid for Mai's meal.
"Naru! You should have let me pay for that. After all we were only charged for my meal." Mai protested.
"Yes, and since I was given a gift in hopes that I would pay more attention to the waitress than you I insist that I pay for the meal." Naru replied in response before taking Mai by the wrist, dragging her out the door, and hailing a cab to take them to Central Park.
Unfortunately, the park was crowded, but not as crowded as it would have been if they had waited any longer. The reason for the crowds being that the exhibit was ending this weekend.
"Dammit." Naru hissed. He let out another one after he was elbowed in the gut by Mai.
"What was that for?" he asked as he rubbed his stomach.
"You don't say words like that in front of little kids Naru." Mai scolded.
"Why not?" Naru asked.
"What? Too smart not to see an answer as simple as that?" Gene taunted.
"Not now." Naru replied.
"Because they repeat it and get in trouble." Mai lectured.
"Ha." Gene laughed.
"You are really starting to get on my nerves Gene." Naru all but growled. He was taken out of arguing with Gene when he realized that Mai was asking him something.
"Any ideas on where are we supposed to look?" she asked turning to look at him.
"None presently." Naru replied, "But maybe we'll be able think more clearly if we survey the layout of this." He ushered the both of them forward.
At the entrance table sat a woman who held more of the air of a watchful vulture than a volunteer.
"Excuse me," Mai said as they approached her, "how much is it to get in?"
The lady eyed them for a second, "We ask for a five dollar donation." Before Naru could even move Mai had a ten dollar bill out and on the table.
The lady eyed the bill suspiciously, "where are your kids?" she asked.
Mai blinked; did she really look old enough to have kids?
"Um…" Mai began.
"My girlfriend and I are meeting her sister and her kids inside. Isn't that right Mai?" Naru asked her as he put an arm around her waist.
Mai was too busy trying to fight the blush that threatened to leak out to answer verbally. She simply nodded in response.
The lady eyed them once more before taking the money and stamping their hands. The walked inside with the lady watching them the entire time.
"Girlfriend?" Mai asked with a smirk on her face.
"Well every now and then it doesn't hurt to tell a little white lie now does it?" Naru asked in response.
"Smooth." Was all Mai said in reply.
"I believe it'd be best if we quickly found what we were looking for and left." Naru said as he eyed the people around him. No one seemed familiar, at least for the moment. But still those unfamiliar people were giving him and Mai strange looks because they didn't have children with them.
"Okay, have any ideas on where to start?" Mai asked looking around the piles of dirt.
"Hmm…." Naru scanned the surroundings, there didn't seem much logic in placing something where it could easily be dug up by someone it wasn't intended for. But what caught his eye was a completely abandoned plot of the dig.
"Naru, I'm stumped. All that seems to be here are fossils." Mai told him as she examined a brochure from the information table.
"True." Naru agreed.
"And what if what we are looking for has already been found?" Mai asked.
"I highly doubt it Mai." Naru replied, "All these fossils were planted her by museum staff, surely they'd know if something unintended was added to the mix." He caught the eyes of the old crone at the entrance and decided to usher Mai over to a bench.
Mai, who was busy looking over the clues she'd written down in her notebook, was surprised that he was actually moving her. From what she'd seen Naru didn't like any physical contact. In fact, he'd stay away from it as much as possible. The only reasons they'd touched before was so not as to get lost on the way to anywhere and even then they took each other by the wrist. He didn't say anything about why that was and Mai decided not to question it.
"What's with the arm around the waist?" Mai asked once seated.
"Seems like something a boyfriend would do." Naru replied. "Now give me your phone."
"Why?" Mai asked unwilling to part with the device.
"To avoid suspicion I'm going to call your sister and ask where she is. Why would I have your sister's number on my phone?" Naru asked.
Mai handed over the phone and went back to looking over the clue while Naru pressed a button to light up her screen. She had a missed text and Naru just pulled it up without even bothering to tell her.
"I think that might be a bad idea Noll." Gene warned.
"Not now Gene." Naru growled agitatedly as he looked at the message.
"Suit yourself. But don't complain to me when she gets you back for not telling her about it." Gene replied before vanishing.
Naru returned his attention to the message.
Yo Mai can't make lunch today, waiting for some books I need to come back. See ya back home for dinner though.
It was from somebody Mai had as Yasu under her contacts, Naru wondered at that for a moment before a sharp flare in his chest came from the idea that Yasu could be a man.
"Somebody's jealous." Gene sang in his head.
"I'm not jealous Gene." Naru answered calmly.
"Right; and I'm the queen of England. Get real Noll." Gene argued.
Naru then chose to ignore Gene for the moment because Mai was saying something and listening to her wasn't nearly as bad as listening to Gene, at least not most of the time.
"I still have no idea where we're supposed to look Naru." Mai groaned.
"I have an idea," Naru replied vaguely. "Earlier I noticed a few areas where no one was around. It's been roped off with rope a different color than the one that's open." Mai followed his gaze and saw what he'd been talking about.
"And you didn't think it would be of any use to us?" Mai asked with annoyance practically oozing out of her voice.
"It didn't seem relevant at that particular moment." Naru admitted, "And besides, if left to me alone I'd probably have everything figured out by now. But since I'm stuck with you I might as well make you do some thinking for yourself. God knows your brain cells need the workout." He concluded.
"Contrary to what you might believe I'm not as stupid as people believe I am." Mai told him.
"Oh, well in that case you'd be as dense as a forest." Naru countered.
"Whatever," Mai grumbled allowing him the small victory, "but how could that area not be important? It's almost a quarter of the dig."
"Well let's see if we can gain access to it and find what we're looking for." Naru said standing up and leading her over to another volunteer.
"Can I help you with anything?" the woman who looked no older than twenty-five asked.
"Yes," Naru answered and pushing Mai in front of him, "you see my name is Kazuya Shibuya and this is my friend Mai." Mai saw the older woman blush at Naru.
"Amelia." She answered with a sweet yet flirtatious smile.
"Well you see, Mai was here with her niece and nephew a few days ago and believes she lost something while playing with the kids."
"Oh dear." Amelia said with a look of genuine concern on her face.
"I was wondering if there was a lost and found around here that she could check." Naru continued.
"Unfortunately, we don't." Amelia replied with a shake of her head, "In the flyer people are advised to come with their belongings safely stowed before going into the dirt." She told them.
"Well that is too bad I suppose." Naru answered, "We were hoping that it would be found quickly since it wasn't a fossil."
"It hasn't happened yet and nearly all the plots are empty now." Amelia told them.
"What do you mean empty?" Mai asked.
"With a certain number of fossils buried in each plot we know when a plot is empty and when it's not."
"Really? How on earth is it done? I mean all this dirt looks the same to me and I haven't even been here for ten minutes." Mai asked.
"There's a system," Amelia explained noting the girl's eager expression, "The areas are roped off with different colors. We only let the public in to certain ones during certain times. At the start of the summer we started up there at the top," she gestured to the plot farthest from them, "and we've been working our way down the line since then."
"Oh, so you started," Mai put a little emphasis on the word started for Naru's sake, "up there at the end of the line?"
"Yes," Amelia nodded, "I wish I could have been more of a help."
"I think you've been a tremendous help Amelia." Naru said with slight emotion to drive his point home. "But do you think you could do one more thing for us?"
The New York and Manhattan areas were always good for everything, well, save for work. But this was only a recent development. Prior to the 9/11 attacks anyone could get away with murder even with substantial evidence that could be called circumstantial and proven given you had a good lawyer. But now, now everyone was far too worried and paranoid for their own good making everything in the raven-haired woman's particular line of work all the more difficult. It certainly didn't help that she was on the top of the most wanted list for more than a handful of countries.
Though it was laughable to even think that just by looking at her, that and the fact that she always made sure to leave circumstantial evidence behind so absolutely no one would have any accurate info on her. That was a badge of honor in her books, a sign that she was the best in the business. She could go to parties with her politically influential family and fraternize with the bigwigs that so desperately wanted to lock her up and have the honor of saying she was caught by them. It made her laugh that people could be such idiots; in fact it was the only reason she'd decided to create an alias for her line of work. Not even her parents knew what she did for a job, and as such they provided her with plenty of money. 'Only the best for their little doll' Ha! That was where she got her alias the China Doll Spirit. Not that she needed any of it, but it was always nice to have a safety net for when she wanted out. As it was though she made plenty in her line of work.
But the reason for her being here? Na, she had enough money to support her children should she ever decide to have any and raise them with the finer things in life even if she went through a nasty divorce. This job was purely for fun, purely for the thrill of the hunt one might say. The woman pulled out an IPhone that was an advanced model way ahead of the American apple corp. the GPS showed the tracker going active less than a half hour ago, signaling the start of the game not only for the prey, but the predator as well. Not that they had any idea she was onto them. They were open for the hunt and she had as long as they did to complete her goal. If not, they walked free.
The woman narrowed her eyes and gave a smug smirk at the screen. Like that was going to happen. She followed the tracker and took a left to enter central park. Her black strapped sandals clicked on the pavement that moved beneath her. Normally she'd wear her signature kimono to conceal her weapons but she was in New York, not back home in Japan. Something like that? She'd stick out enough to be ID'd almost instantly. And what fun was that? So instead she'd opted for a kimono style shirt and black pants with Japanese kanji's decorating the left leg.
The woman was growing impatient; she didn't have her targets in sight at all. The tracker was only so accurate anyways, but the woman's principles were to rely almost solely on instinct. What kind of hunter lets technology do the work for them? Especially since said technology was constantly being advanced by one of her targets. She saw a crowd of people and looked them over, pulling up the files that held information and pictures of Mai (Taniyama) Matsuzaki and Kazuya Shibuya (Oliver Davis).
Delicate amethyst eyes scanned the people over until they settled on two individuals on the far side of the park. They eyes darkened slightly and suppressing another smirk, the woman pushed her way through the crowd.
"Impressive sweet-talking." Mai commented as the pair made their way over to the beginning plot. She was referring to the way Naru had gotten Amelia to let them search the first plot for Mai's "missing" item.
"What you call sweet-talking I call instinct." Was Naru's reply. To his delight she let out another one of those irresistible giggles.
"Mhmm." Mai said. "And the reason you got a free breakfast this morning had nothing to do with the way you were looking at the waitress." She teased.
"Why? Were you jealous?" Naru teased back.
"hardly." Mai shot back, "I just wanted you to admit it." By this time the two had reached the plot but the conversation was much more gratifying.
"What I said was neither confirmation nor denial of what you said. Twist it anyway you want and it will come out the same. Besides, I've had way too many attempts to get me interested in girls through things like that that I simply ignore it most of the time now." Naru answered back.
"Well we're here now so let's save this conversation for when we have free time yes?" Mai asked as she looked at the ground.
Naru was slightly shocked. The girl had –probably unknowingly- alluded to the fact that she'd still talk to him even after this was all over. He didn't know why but it meant something to him. This girl certainly was an interesting one.
"Earth to Noll," Gene's voice broke through, "Mai's trying to tell you something."
"How do you think we should go about this since we don't have much time to waste?" Mai asked looking at the ground.
"Maybe we need to take the meaning of the word start and apply it here as well." Naru replied also looking at the dirt he stood over.
"Alright, let's each take a corner and meet in the middle." Mai rationalized.
"Very well." Naru agreed.
"Hey Naru," Mai said when she reached her corner.
"Yes?" Naru answered from his own respective corner.
"What do ya think we need to look for?" Mai asked as she crouched down.
"Well, the area has supposedly been cleaned and emptied so anything buried would be my guess." Naru replied as he did likewise.
"Okay then. Ready. Go!" Mai called out as if this was a race and she wanted to win. Naru watched her dig in the dirt furiously for a moment before starting himself.
The two met in the middle like Mai had said, though Naru had to fight down a sudden flutter in his stomach as his hand brushed Mai's. Damn that girl for evoking emotions in him that were supposed to be kept under lock and key! If Mai noticed –which she probably didn't- she gave no indication of it.
"Wait," she said as her fingers brushed against something that definitely was not dirt, "there's something here!" she exclaimed excitedly.
After a few moments she pulled out a dusty box and brushed off the dirt. Mai looked at Naru.
"What do you think?" she asked.
"This could be it, but we should go somewhere more secluded to check." Naru added the last part realizing that they were extremely open for attack should a hunter really be tracing them.
"But what if there's more we need to do here?" Mai protested as Naru pulled her up by the arm.
"We're not going to go far" Naru explained, "just someplace a bit more closed in than right here."
Mai noticed his looking around, "Is something wrong?" she implored.
"Not sure just yet." Naru admitted, "but it's better to be safe than sorry."
Naru's gaze settled on a short raven-haired girl that seemed to be eyeing them through her shades. Something about her put Naru edge but it probably wasn't wise to alarm the girl next to him.
"Let's just leave for the moment." Naru said finally.
Mai simply nodded when her gaze fell on the same woman Naru's had.
After stepping over the rope Mai kneeled down to dust off her high-tops. The very moment she did so something sailed over her back, leaving an unfamiliar and unforgettable sensation as the deafening sound of a gun resounded through the park.
In the millisecond it took for all this to occur, it was an eternity to poor Mai. A moment of pause and her instincts caught up with her. She rolled up in a ball and screamed, though it was muffled by her position.
Hands grabbed at her in pulled at her to get up. Mai was in the middle of protesting them when Naru's face appeared inches in front of her own.
She barely caught the whispered, "Duck and run." Naru had ordered but complied nonetheless. Not that she had a choice since he was already dragging her along as he ran. The echo of another bullet resounded along with screams and Mai's maternal instinct kicked in. she hoped no one had been hurt on their cause.
Throwing a glance over her shoulder she caught the ebony mistress standing leisurely amongst the chaos. A simple revolver held lax in her hand.
Naru continued to bob and weave through the panicked people until they were safely out of the park.
"Are you okay?" he asked though it was punctured by intakes of much needed air.
Being too shocked to form coherent words, Mai nodded stiffly.
"Well I suppose that will have to do for now." Naru replied, "I can look you over for injuries when we get somewhere a little less chaotic."
"Well, what if we still need to do something?" Mai protested.
"We can look at what you found and come back when things have calmed down a little more." Was Naru's reply as he dragged her to the sidewalk.
When they were somewhat lost in the crowd Naru turned to see Mai shaking like a leaf.
"I think we should go to a hotel." Naru said as he watched her try to calm down.
"Why?" Mai asked as she wrapped her arms around herself in attempt to stop her tremors.
"Besides the security for important guests, it's very easy to get lost in." Naru replied as he offered her a hand to squeeze for the moment. She gladly took it and squeezed tightly a few times before letting it go.
"thanks." Mai said as she hailed a cab. "But can we go the bank first?"
"I suppose so," Naru answered, "but why if I may ask?"
"I count on us going places where they either won't accept credit cards or where it'd just be too slow to use them." Mai explained as the cab dropped them off at a particular band. She paid the man and he drove off.
Naru noticed that Mai simply bypassed the ATM and went straight to the bank. Over to a certain window if you really paid attention. Naru decided to hand back a little ways just for his own safety, he didn't know how Mai would react if he heard how much was in her account. It was a privacy thing.
After a few moments, the teller went and got a higher up. Mai went and got two cards out of her wallet, presenting them to the manager who took them and went to the back. Naru decided to move closer as this occurred. This wasn't normal procedure for withdrawals.
The teller had returned with the two cards as Naru approached them. He noticed that like the envelope, the cards did not say Mai Matsuzaki on them. Instead, they said that name Taniyama. Naru faintly remembered something about the name being from Japan and all, but in all honesty he really couldn't remember anywhere other than England, China, and here in New York. Though DC was where he resided currently, he was definitely thinking of going back to Japan to let his roots sink in and to forget everything and live in solitude for the rest of his days.
"Yes. Very good Ms. Ta-" the teller began.
"Could you please wait out here for a moment Naru?" Mai asked cutting the teller off.
"Alright." Naru replied.
Mai and the teller went out back. Naru watched her walk away. Something was very off about her and Naru wondered just who Mai Matsuzaki was. More importantly though, who was Mai Taniyama? Mai had two last names; it could have been understandable since she was adopted. But the fact that she was trying to hide it from him made him feel a bit uneasy about the situation.
"Ready?" Mai asked breaking him out of his thoughts.
"Of course." Naru answered as he stood and caught up with her.
They hailed a cab.
"Times Square please." Mai directed.
"You have a hotel in mind?" Naru asked.
"Yes." Mai replied, "And don't worry about the money, I got us covered."
Naru merely nodded in response. Mai watched him through the corner of her eye. She noted the way his jaw was tightened as his face seemed deep in thought. Watching him was starting to give her a headache, and surprisingly, her heart started to feel lighter.
'Focus Mai' she mentally scolded herself, 'this is no time to think of things that won't ever happen.'
The cab pulled to the side and Mai paid the driver. Naru woke from his trance and simply followed her into the building.
"Sorry miss. But we don't allow guests in until ten o' clock." The clerk told her. Mai struggled to keep her temper in check. Naru was watching her with amusement present solely in his eyes.
"Fine then," Mai said under her breath. "I need access to the Taniyama suite."
The clerk looked at her for a moment, "I was of the understanding that the suite would not be in use today." he gave a sigh, "do you have your gold card?"
Mai looked over at Naru, who had his gaze locked on one of the decorative paintings that hung in the lobby. Mai quickly flipped through her wallet and found both the card for this chain and her real ID. The clerk looked them over before handing them back along with a room key.
"Very good Ms. Taniyama." The clerk called to her as Mai made her way back to Naru.
Mai chose to ignore him.
"That was fast." Naru commented as both made their way to the elevator. "What floor will we be on?"
"The top." Mai said casually.
She steadily watched the numbers rise and noticed Naru fidgeting with something out the corner of her eye.
"Are you alright Mai?" Naru asked.
"Been better, though that will happen when we open this stupid thing." Mai replied.
The doors opened and Mai led them to the only door on the floor. She slid the card key in and opened it. They entered the dully colored, yet very nicely prepared suite. Mai heard the door click shut. Then another click that was easily ignored by her until Naru's voice reached her ears.
"drop the box and put your hands behind you." He commanded sternly.
Mai looked around to see Naru with a small pistol in his hand; it was pointed directly at her head.
"Head forward." He commanded once again. Mai complied tying to fight the urge to cry out.
"Mai, the box." Naru reminded her. Mai put the box down on the table in front of her and put her hands back behind her.
"Slip the bag off." Mai complied without a struggle each and every time and stepped forward.
"Nice to see you can follow orders," Naru's voice rang out with sarcastic amusement. Now Mai was fighting to not turn around and slap him upside the head, consequences be dammed. "Do exactly as I say and you won't be hurt." He whispered.
before you wonder why naru can't just use his clairvoyant abilities to find Kasai, that will be addressed in the next chapter. anyways, reviews motivate me to get my stories updated faster. so if you can't wait i'd review...