The ride back to the hospital was quiet, Mai sat in the back of the car, their old van had been left behind in Japan leaving Lin with this smaller vehicle. Lin had turned on the heat due to both of them being soaked to the bone, unable to dry off before heading to the hospital. Who knew how long the man would live. It was funny, they had just been there only a few days ago, if Mai had used her powers a bit later she could have passed the man, shared a room with him even. Well-perhaps not, she didn't end up in the ICU. They stopped and Mai looked up from her spot, the rain had slowed and Naru glanced back at her, thinking for a moment. He moved to undo his seatbelt and she followed suite before he looking back again, this time speaking
"Perhaps its better if you don't go in-just because he survived doesn't mean he's..alright." He spoke, and she paused. By the way he spoke, Naru wasn't even quite sure of his condition, by the time they came up, he could be dead. Fluids leaking into his lungs from puncture holes down his body, and while Mai wasn't keen on seeing the nearly deceased, she wanted to be of help. Naru had little connection with the spirits and Lin had his own little quirks. In response she shook her head and with a sigh he helped her out of the car, hand reaching down to the small of her back. They hurried inside with Lin in tow, coming to the receptionist whose questionable looks made Mai shy, wet clothes still sticking to her form. After some quick words the three were off again, and an elevator ride led them to the top floor, the doors opening to silence. Naru's tightened grip on her back reminded Mai of the complications of the situations and followed quickly after the older man down a set of rooms, stopping before knocking on one door. Silence.
"Mister Abbot?" Lin spoke, knocking again and the couple glanced at one another, it could only be assumed the worse and finally when the oldest of the three opened the door Mai looked away. His body was a deadweight upon the bed sheets, the smell of the corpse was already strong even though he had only be dead for a short period. Madoka was there, sitting by his side and looked over to see the three entering.
"I'm sorry, I meant to call you, he died a few minutes ago. Mister Abbot had no memory of being attacked by any type of creator, all he said was that he was pushed" She sighed, looking across the three to Mai, "Maybe it's best if you go home with Naru, it's-not fun taking care of a dead guy. Especially one with little to no family and a serious list of crimes" The pink head spoke but Mai couldn't resist looking at the man a bit longer, his stillness enough to make her almost curious. She could see into the lives of the dead in dreams, why not right now?
"Can I try?" The petite brunette spoke as she was being ushered out of the door, and Naru looked down at her for a moment, startled.
"He's dead Mai, you couldn't reach him now"
"I can try at least, I've contacted plenty of the dead, so why not him?" She questioned and he returned to look at the body with a grimace, it wasn't likely that she would suffer any harm, but the idea of placing the bubbly Japanese girl beside a dead body seemed-morbid, even for him. Still, Mai seemed sure, and with a moment Naru nodded, leading her over to the body and to the seat where Madoka had just occupied.
"If you feel something is wrong, just pull back" Naru warned Mai as she reached the hand, she looked up and smiled at him. Lin and Madoka stood at the door, two guards in case a doctor came in to find Mai clutching a dead man's hand, unconscious. Reaching out once more she took the stiff hand within her own, it felt like it was drying out, turning crisp and breakable, she didn't want to think what a body was like after a few days. Suddenly she opened her eyes to find herself standing by the train tracks, and she turned around slowly. The sun was bright, midday, while she was off with Naru's team to eat lunch. Perhaps if she went to the restaurant, the Japanese woman would find herself eating with the foreigners, but no, for now to see what happens. She walked through the past crowd, bodies moving through her, each time making her gasp slightly, and after the fifth person she began to avoid them. Finally she came upon the old man, late fifties, he sat on a bench in his work suit, phone out as he chattered angrily across the lines. He didn't look very kind. Still, she pitied him, what would he have done if he had known of his upcoming demise? It wasn't long before the train came and she followed after him, more bodies smacking into her, making the petite form gasp and cough. Maintaining her form was already hard without it being disrupted. Then he was at the platform, then he was falling, and she ran forward, trying to find some evidence. She reached out for him, and as her hands skimmed his coat she felt the cold, poltergeist.
"Mai" The small woman awoke to the grip of Naru's hand on her shoulder, tightening as she stared down at the figure before her. His lips had continued to crack in her sleep and the smell of rotten flesh was increasingly strong. This wasn't a ghost, that's why no one could figure out how to solve the case, because it was by human cause. Her mind raced with explanations, the most likely person would be around her age, younger, which meant they had a reason to be at the train stations each day, for schools or college. The night kills meant they had to live close, too young to wander around at night, a home close to the station. "Mai" The voice urged her again and she looked over to see her boss looking at her with worry and she grinned weakly, feeling the exhaustion of her trip.
"I figured it out" She managed before coughing, he reached to help her up but her knees folded as she stood so he reached down, pulling her into his arms. The giggles of Madoka were embarrassing enough, but walking out of the room made it worse. The nurses were curious, with Naru's answer being a vague 'she's grieving' which obviously wasn't true, but she decided to just hide her face away, not even daring to look at Madoka or Lin who were probably both humored by this. Getting down the lowers floors involved patients watching, and by the time they got to the car she wished she had just tried walking anyways. Anything to avoid the embarrassment of that.
"Well-"Lin spoke as he got into the car, adjusting his mirror and squinting at him
"Not a word" And with that the tall Chinese man laughed, at least she got to hear something rare, Naru helped her put on her seatbelt, weak fingers fumbling. She looked up at Naru in annoyance, "I can do it"
"Really?"
"Yes" She spoke proudly, grabbing the seatbelt as tightly as she could, the fabric almost slipping out of her fingers as she held it and tried to shove the buckle in. It took ten minutes but she refused to let him help and with one final push it snapped. "See"
"Oh yes, you did so well, those..Twenty minutes?" He responded smugly before they started on their way home. Neither Naru nor Lin asked about her dream, the exhausted girl slumped over against the door of the car, she hardly noticed the younger of the two looking back at her every few minutes. By the time they returned to the house the petite woman felt some of her strength returning enough to unbuckle her seatbelt by the time Naru came around to help her. She refused to be carried, even when Naru tried to convince her. No, she had already embarrassed herself in the hospital, it was not going to happen in the Davis house.
"You're pretty stubborn you know that" Naru spoke as she walked to the entrance and she stuck out her tongue at him, almost tripping, the man responding quickly and grabbing her under the armpits. A quick rest and some laughter from Mai got her inside the door where she sat down on the couch, a sigh of relief. It seemed everyone else had disappeared, probably to change clothes or eat dinner since it was getting late. "Now, your dream.." the young man mentioned and she looked at him, a grin at her knowledge, starting to rely the information gathered. He listened carefully, the two sitting beside one another on the plush couch through her speech. Finished, she let out a quiet cough and curled up, Naru seemed lost in thought for the moment. Glancing over at the doorways for a moment she moved to rest her head on Naru's lap. He seemed amused by her behavior, and brushed his hand to her head, fingers smoothly running over her hair.
"So does this mean we'll have to find the person?" Mai asked
"It means a lot of work, whoever this is, they're strong and dangerous. The string of murders-it's enough to say that they're conscious of what they are doing. It would require research to know about the local criminals" He continued, stroking her head, the rhythm enough to lull the woman into closing her eyes.
"We can stop it, right?" She mumbled, cuddling her face closer into his lap, a small chuckle from above gave her hope. Everything would be fine.
Mai woke up in her bed, comforter tucked around her in a tight, almost affectionate manner. No dreams, no Gene, he was quiet for the time-being, which was alright with her. She moved to get out of bed, feet stepping across the floor boards and looked out the window, a garden, and with a smile dressed quickly to head out back. Heading down the steps she looked back, the house was silent and she felt-curious about Gene. She wanted to see his room, know more about the dead boy, know more about the other half of Naru, and with that she jogged back up the steps. Everyone else was probably asleep or busy so it was the perfect time to be an explorer, though as she made her way down the hallway she became more nervous, hands gripped at her dress. There was nothing there, Gene was dead, and once she made it to a certain point she knew she had found the door.
"Gene?" She whispered, feeling shy enough to knock before opening the door. It looked like a teenager lived her on a daily basis, his clothes were on the floor, a jacket flung over the end of his bed, she could tell it was the base of a traveler leaving on a trip, expecting to return and clean his room. Her hands ran over his bed, the quilt was something she expect Lulu to make-it had been untouched for so long. Then she turned to notice a small altar in the corner, the only changed thing in this room for years. She moved to sit on the pillow and light a candle, no one would notice. Closing her eyes she prayed quietly in the still room, opening them to hear the squeak of the bed and turned around to see Gene sitting there, a grin.
"Finally came to visit, huh? The only person who ever comes in here is mom, I wish she would clean up this room. It's so messy" He spoke, looking around, till his gaze returned to her and she smiled back.
"Against everyone's will, of course" Mai added
"Of course" He responded before she returned to praying silently, the calm haze of the room continued till she opened her eyes again, turning around.
"Gen-"only to find Lulu sitting on the bed, teary eyed with tissues in hand. Mai seemed startled, fidgeting from the pillow and considered leaving for the older woman to cry in private but just as she was about to go, Naru's other pat the bed and she couldn't help but follow orders and sit down beside her.
"He was such a good boy, I always got onto him for things, but he always meant well." Lulu started and the petite brunette sat there silently, listening for her sake. It was the least she could do. "When he left for Japan..I never thought that he wouldn't come back, it seemed-stupid to think otherwise. I wish I had, I wish I had feared losing him, that way I could have..said goodbye with more heart" She blubbered, blowing her nose on a tissue. Silence and finally Mai reached out to wrap her arm around the older woman.
"I met Gene many times, and I can promise you, he wasn't hurt or in pain. He was happy, and I'm so glad I met him" She spoke softly, the tears turning into sniffled before the older woman finished and looked at her with a smile.
"Even in the afterlife Gene manages to make new friends, I'm so glad he was able to find you Mai"
"Me too" Mai responded, just in time as the door opened, Lulu's husband on the other side. He seemed anxious about this place, probably unable to accept the death of his son even more that his wife. Still, he came in.
"Lin and Madoka pinpointed the prime location for a suspect, a young girl supposedly lives there and refuses to come out, Naru mentioned that maybe Mai could talk to her" He spoke, his last words coming off as more of a suggestion. If it was the girl murdering all those people, an encounter would be danger. Lulu turned to Mai, gripping her shoulder.
"You don't have to, we can send someone else in"
"It's alright..I can do it" Mai answered firmly.
whoah. What. Heyyy there. Haha, i've returned to finish up this series cause man. I just couldn't resist you guys.
Thanks to everyone who messaged me, worrying about me, it made me super happy.
mudshake, haha yeah I miss it in a way too but I just don't personally feel like...a lot of bickering is especially healthy? I don't know, I am the kind of person who likes to discuss things like a adult when I'm mad, guess I projected myself onto this huh?
bloodrose, no. i'm dead. i'm writing this from the grave, enjoy
SymmetricalGirl8DeathTheKid, haha really? I don't live in Europe so i'm sure I got some stuff wrong writing this but I did visit Ireland during the summer so i'm hoping that might project onto this story a bit more
NaginiFay, LOL, I use to love ben10, but nah it doesnt have anything to do with that. Henry does have shit going on though.
14AmyChan, DUN DUN DUNNNN. .dun.
Gryffindor Rat, I really love when people touch up on Mai's abilities too! I have a story that I follow that really builds on it, but ya, I guess most people just assumed it was Gene doing all the work.
bookaholic5 they won't realize they love each other, and slowly float away (/titanic music in the distance) not really. They will. Don't hurt me.
Ferb O. Oche is that...is that a love triangle? I...I..can't tell.
AssailantAngel ya I should probably get better about posting longer chapters but man. Ugh. I feel like someone is gonna bring it up, they are too cuddly to be anything but lovebirds.
EverlastingRyo, I hope to write another though with college it's hard to keep up. I really just want to finish this one, feel accomplished.
Ellabellaboo124 Thank youuu 3
WhisperToTheWolves right now I really need a friend breathing down my neck for this story, oh how long I procrasinated. Two years. ahaha...
Naruisawesome, agressive laughter as I dissapear for two years.
Don't hurt me.
shayrulz, oh yes. Very soon. Laughs into distance.
thearistocrat, oh yes. unharmed. Unharmed. Very. Unharmed. 0-0
dancingfingers, welcome to the fluff army I will be your guide.