told you id update lol i must admit i had WAY too much fun writing a specific part in this fic lol youll find it and i'll explain the inspiration for that scene at the end and without further adieu chap three of this case :D
Chapter Three-Braids
August Day 2, 9:30 A.M.
"Why is it so hot, Mai-san?" an eight year old girl asked, as Mai braided her bluish black hair.
"Because it's summer, it's always hot during this time," Mai laughed, as the other girls were completing their arts and crafts, waiting for their turn to have their hair braided.
"But it's so hot!" the girl whined a little, then started laughing. "Can't we go swimming?"
"Aiko, you know the lake is closed this summer," Setsuko replied, braiding another girl's hair. "You're lucky Mai and I decided to braid your hair out of your face."
"Setsuko-san!" Aiko whined then burst out laughing.
"Nee! Nee! Can we go exploring in the woods later! Before lunch!" a little girl with her redish brown hair tied into two braids pleaded, jumping up and down.
"I don't know, Kasumi. Setsuko?" Mai turned to her companion, who tried shaking her purple bangs out of her face.
"We're not really supposed to go too far from the camp, but you guys want to explore a little, I have an idea." Setsuko agreed, a smirk appearing on her deep red lips. "But first, finish your crafts and we'll finish braiding your hair. Tamiko, you're turn!"
"Okay! I talked to Head Counselor Tamotsu, and he said it was okay that you guys explored a little, but you have to follow some rules," Setsuko explained loud enough for the ten girls to hear. "First off, buddy system! Choose your partner wisely, if either Counselor Mai, or myself or anyone else finds you alone, it's kitchen work for you!" She placed her hand on a very large and very orange sign. "You can go as far as you want, but keep a look out for this sign. If you can't see, and if you can't then you went way too far, blow your whistle and Mai will come to you. Understood?"
The children all nodded their heads in agreement. "Alright! Go!"
The girls scattered with their buddy in tow. Doing what little girls did with their curious minds. Using fallen branches as walking sticks. Looking at the little woodland creatures. Poking the dead ones with their walking sticks and watching the poor thing twitch. You know, the usual girl things.
"They aren't allowed to explore the woods?" Mai's eyes wandered over to her friend next to her, who merely crossed her arms.
"With the disappearances, and the fact that they've been happening more often with three children missing this year alone, Tamotsu-san doesn't want to take chances," she explained, looking at the girls playing, counting heads.
"Right, is it hard making sure the kids don't know?" the two began to walk, supervising the children.
"Of course it is, I don't want them to know just as much as I don't want them to fall victim to Dai or whatever is causing it."
"I see, were any of them in your cabin?" Mai asked, referring to the cabin Setsuko and herself were assigned to counsel.
"Technically, our cabin, and only one, Wakana. She was so sweet, too. And the reason why the lake is closed off. We don't want the other kids to well, you know…" Setsuko looked out toward the kids, not wanting to say the words that were most likely inevitable. "We're missing two. Yui and Itsuko."
A whistle was blown. The girls stopped what they were doing, rushing over to the counselors for guidance. "I'll go find them," Mai offered, trudging through the forest.
"Okay, meet us back at the orange sign!" Setsuko replied, guiding the girls over to the sign.
Mai walked through the trees, scanning the woods for any signs of the brunette and her sun bleached haired buddy. "Yui! Itsuko! If you can hear me follow the sound of my voice! Or blow your whistle!"
She turned back around, the fluorescent orange color of the sign was far behind her, just a small speck. Had she really gone the far?
Snap.
Mai whipped her head around at the sound of the twig snapping, ready to use the Nine Cuts if necessary. Her fears subsided after she saw a squirrel like rodent scurrying away. Breathing a sigh of relief she turned around only to be faced with a miniature version of herself.
If Mai weren't sure she was awake, she'd think she was dreaming, the shoulder length brown hair half of it up in pigtails, and chestnut brown eyes staring back at her. The girl couldn't have been more than eight years old, maybe nine. "Can I help you?" Mai asked, kneeling to the girl's height.
"You shouldn't be here!" she pleaded weakly, her hands bawling into fists. "You could be next!"
"Now, that's the second time I heard that. I can only leave, if I know for sure what is putting me in danger," Mai replied, a soft look in her eyes. "Tell me, what's going on?"
"I can't tell you!" the girl chided, her big brown eyes becoming wider.
"Why not?" Mai cocked her head, boy was this becoming déjà vu.
"Others will be in danger!" she answered. Now that was a start.
"In danger from what?"
"I told you I can't tell you!"
The two had a stare down, though Mai hated to admit it, she was becoming somewhat like her antisocial boss. With stare downs at least. "Mai-san!" a young voice shouted, Mai blinked and the girl was gone.
"What?" she asked herself, looking at the ground to see if the girl had fallen or something, she found something else.
"Mai-san! Mai-san!" the two girl cried out, racing to the petite brunette.
"Yui! Itsuko!" Mai returned, standing back up.
"We found you!" one girl, her sun bleached hair tied in pigtail braids exclaimed.
"And I found this," Mai held up what she had found on the ground. "You dropped your whistle."
"Something spooked us!" the other girl defended, stomping her foot. "I had to drop it!"
Mai chuckled, "I'm not yelling at you, Itsuko. I'm just giving you back the whistle and telling you to be more careful. Come one, it's almost time for lunch."
The three girls made their way toward the orange sign, the event playing in Mai's mind as the walked with growling stomachs.
"Oi! Naru!" The petite brunette raced toward a very irritable workaholic.
"Yes?" he replied, outside the mess hall as the children were rushing in for lunch.
"I need to know, do you-" her question was interrupted when he turned his head as an eleven year old nearly bumped into him. And something caught her eye. "Is that a braid?"
"What?" he asked, genuinely confused, whipping his head back around.
Forcing herself to hide her smile, she continued, "Never mind, I wanted to ask you, did the files Yasuhara brought have any more pictures in it?"
He raised a brow. "Yes, the photos of Dai as well as a few others, why?"
"Well…" Mai trailed off when a little girl with purplish black hair tied up in high pigtails bounced over, no more than seven years old. The girl tugged on Naru's jacket.
Naru turned his head toward the child with disgust as she merely looked up at him with curiosity.
"You're a boy…why do you have a braid in your hair? How do you know that girl? You two look cute together. Ooh! Are you two dating? Or better yet! Are you guys married? How long have you been married? Do you have kids? How many? Or maybe you don't, but are you guys going to have a million kagillion kids and they all look like you! And you'll live in a magical castle floating in the sky with rainbows and unicorns keeping you company!" she blurted out a mile a minute.
Mai and Naru's eyebrow's both twitched simultaneously, of course with Naru obtaining his emotionless expression while his assistant proceeded to have her jaw hang open. He would have been tempted to tell her she'd attract flies, but was too disturbed.
"Why do you wear black? don't you get hot? Or are you made of ice that won't melt? Ooh! I know! You're a superhero! And your power is that you don't get hot in the sun! Am I right! Am I right!" the girl continued to jump up and down excitedly.
Finally, Naru had the composure to speak. "That seems like a dumb power."
"That wasn't nice! Do you know that? Maybe you're not a nice person! Maybe you're not a superhero but a villain! And you're power is to make children cry!" This girl was saying things to Naru many only kept within the deep corners of their minds. Mai found this hysterical.
"Why are you laughing? What did I say? Why is this man so mea-" the girl was interrupted when Riku popped up behind her.
"Makoto, are you saying things you shouldn't?" he asked as she turned around with wide curious eyes.
"Uh-uh," she shook her head, purely innocent.
Riku laughed a little, then gave a small sigh. "Go and get some lunch, you might be able to play some games with Counselor Houshou. Sound good?"
Makoto's eyes lit up tremendously, if that was even possible, as she nodded and raced into the Mess Hall for lunch. Riku laughed, then turned to two of the people his parents had hired. "Please excuse her, she's only seven. Sorry if she insulted you in any way," he apologized, bowing.
"No, no, it's fine. She's funny," Mai replied, smiling.
"Oh, Shibuya-san, I told the others about the meeting. They agreed and should be there soon," Riku reported to Naru, who was still a little out of sorts after the encounter with Makoto.
"Good."
"What meeting?" Mai asked sincerely.
"Gomen ne, Mai-san," Riku answered sheepishly. "I couldn't find you and when I saw you with Shibuya-san, I thought you knew."
"Oh it's-"
"That's enough dawdling, we have work to do." Naru emotionlessly walked away, heading towards Base. A pouting Mai left to stick her tongue out at him.
"Are you guys always like this?" Riku chuckled, as he and Mai began to slowly make their way to Base.
"Is Makoto always so outspoken?" Mai teased, and Riku chuckled and ruffled her hair.
"Hey, don't bring my sister into this," he replied, Mai's eyes widened.
"Makoto is you're sister?"
"Yeah, why would you think otherwise?" Riku cocked his head.
"No, sorry, it's just you don't look like siblings, to me," Mai answered, sheepishly, sorry she even brought up the excited little girl.
Riku simply laughed. "Don't worry about it, I'm not surprised that you couldn't see a family resemblance. After all there is none."
"What?"
"Makoto is adopted. My parents adopted her about two years ago, but it seems like she's been with us all her life."
"Aw, that's nice," Mai smiled, silently wishing that she had a younger sibling. Then again without her parents around, she wouldn't be able to care for him or her.
"When did you two become so close?" Monk teased, as Mai and Riku entered Base.
"Am I the only one having flashbacks to when you guys were at my high school?" Yasuhara asked, a sly smile gracing his lips. Unconsciously, John rubbed his head remembering that case all too well.
"Yeah, only, you're not the one hitting on Mai," Monk teased, causing Yasuhara to gasp and Mai to sigh and shake her head.
"Monk! You dare accuse me of cheating on you? I've been betrayed!" Yasuhara exclaimed exasperatedly.
"Will you quit doing that! It really creeps me out!"
The scene caused Riku to sweat drop with disturbed relief.
Now that sounds like his old self. I wonder why we haven't heard him make that sort of comment on our last case, Mai wondered to herself.
"If you are finished making fools of yourselves, Hara-san, can you sense anything?" Naru's cold demeanor came to ruin the fun yet again.
Placing her kimono sleeve to her mouth she responded. "I sense a spirit, a young boy no older than ten, I believe he is Dai, but…"
"But what?" the priestess inquired, impatient as always.
"As I said yesterday, he keeps hiding, I can't get a read on him, but I don't sense any malicious energy from him. It's quite odd especially with the disappearances."
"But, you didn't sense anything malicious about Kenji and who knows what could have happened to Mai when she was possessed," Monk retorted, leaning back.
"Nee, Masako, do you sense any other spirits?" Mai asked, taking her seat between John and Ayako.
"No, why?"
"Well…" Mai retold her encounter with the miniature version of her in the woods.
"One of the missing campers?" John offered, as Mai nodded.
"I think so."
Naru ruffled through his file, when he found what he was looking for he placed the items in Mai's lap. "Does any of these pictures match the child you encountered?" Mai looked through the photographs.
The first one was a boy, he was not Japanese in nationality, with bright blue eyes and carrot colored hair. She knew automatically this was not the girl she met in the woods and went to the next. A girl this time with jet black hair and brown eyes, not who she was looking for, but her mind continued to call this girl Emi, for whatever reason. The next picture was a boy with brown hair and cinnamon colored eyes. Moving for the next picture, was a girl with pale skin, bluish black hair and bluish violet eyes. She looked very much like a girl version of Naru, and her mind stated sternly that this was Chouko. The last picture of the pile stood out the most. "Wakana."
She held out the picture to the group who gasped at the sight, she could hae been Mai's younger sister! But something shocked Riku more. "How did you know she was Wakana?" he asked, as Mai's eyes widened.
"I-I don't know…" she answered and her eyes went back to the other pictures and she held them up.
"Emi." She stated, holding up the picture of the girl with black hair and brown eyes.
"Chouko." She held up the photo of the female Naru.
"Arata." She held the picture of the brown haired and eyed boy.
"Oscar." She held up the final picture.
"That's right…" Riku was amazed.
"Mai's done it again," Yasuhara sang out.
"Oops?" Mai rubbed her head sheepishly.
"Why the oops? That was amazing!" Riku's eyes were still wide.
"Creepy, but amazing indeed," the priestess added, shrugging her shoulders.
"Hara-san, are you sure you don't feel the presence of anything else?" Naru asked, far more inclined to the believe his assistant over the T.V. star.
"Not within the camp, in the woods I'm not sure." The medium replied with a slightly smug attitude.
The workaholic teen merely sighed and turned to the group. "Hara-san, Matsuzaki-san, and Yasuhara-san, I want you to stay here with Lin, going over the files of research and footage we captured. Everyone else should return to their counseling jobs and join the children for lunch. Dismissed."
"Are we in class or something?" Riku leaned over and whispered to Mai, who giggled.
"And Mai, tea." Mai's pout made it's way back out again as the group made their way to get some lunch.
The Mess Hall in sight and Base far behind hem, Monk finally managed to ask, "Was I seeing things, or did Naru have a braid in his hair?"
"No, he had a braid in it," Mai replied nonchalantly. "You, me, and Makoto noticed it, I'm surprised he didn't take it out."
The group just started dying of laughter. "Did our little Mai-chan convince Naru-chan to braid his hair?" Yasuhara teased, between fits of laughter.
"Nope, but Makoto did ask if Naru was a superhero whose power was to not get hot in summer. When he said it was a stupid power she called him a villain and his power was to make children cry." Now that had them rolling. Well, except Riku.
"Makoto-chan…did she really say those things?" Riku's embarrassment obvious in his voice.
"Yeah, but don't worry about it. It's not the first time he's heard something like that, he'll get over it," Mai consoled him.
Riku just shook his head. "I'll still talk to her, she's never had a silent thought."
"Finally! Naru gets told what he needs to hear!" Monk and Yasuhara were still roaring with laughter, unable to contain themselves.
After lunch about thirty of the children were in a very large open area about to play kick ball. If the seven year olds would stop using John like a merry-go-round. "I-I-I can't see!" the priest cried as the children let go of his arms and giggled with delight as he twirled around and dizziness finally overcame up and he fell to the ground.
"John-san! Are you okay?" Nami exclaimed rushing over to him, as Monk laughed.
"I'm fine!" John replied his world still spinning.
Mai stood a small sweat drop appearing on her forehead. The teams had already been picked and the would have already started if John hadn't been used as a personal playground.
A whistle was blown. "Okay guys!" Daisuke called, holding the red rubber ball out of the reach of tiny hands. "Makoto's team will be kicking first, get in line! I'm the Ref!"
The children obeyed and Makoto urged Mai to be on her team as well as play. She waited her turn, looking around to see the other campers in their own stations. Including Naru, who was letting a little girl braid his hair. There is no way in hell I'm gonna let him live this down! Mai thought evilly. All those times making tea at his beck and call with not so much as a thank you was finally going to pay off.
"Mai-san! You're turn!" a little boy exclaimed, snapping her out of her plotting.
"Kay!"
"Is this the end?" Mai found herself asking. There was a pain in her chest and all of her muscles were sore.
"Don't worry, it won't be much longer. The pain will end soon," the same voice that had been warning Mai came.
"Dai?" Mai questioned, as suddenly the pain dulled.
"Hopefully you'll be the first to move on." Dai said weakly, as Mai's dream faded out and she was standing in front of Naru.
"Are you going to help me figure out what that was?" Mai asked, cocking her head with a smile.
Naru smiled that smile she had only seen him give once. And only once. "You're a big girl, I think you can figure it out."
"Naru, what's going on? Everyone wants to believe Dai is the culprit, but I just can't…" Mai's eyebrows furrowed with confusion. Naru's face turned serious.
"Mai, listen carefully, don't tell anyone about this dream, the vision you just had," Naru ordered sternly, his eyes serious.
"Why not? I can trust them, right?" Mai retorted, crossing her arms.
"Tell Naru when you awake about the vision and him and Lin alone. No one else. Tell him you don't feel right if the others knew about this."
"But, Naru, why?"
"I can't explain now, it's time for me to go. I'll see you in your next dream." Naru smiled as he faded away and the light of day burned through the brunette's eyelids.
yes a cliffy lol you hate them but you love them yeah this may be more obvious than i want it to be lol but you're confused i'll take it as a compliment i have some things planned for the next chapter so stay tuned and the inspiration for Makoto is Ikki from Avatar-The Legend of Korra those of you who watch that show know exactly what i'm talking about if not look it up at least some scenes she's very funny lol well please review jaa nee!