So I lied once again lol. When I really should be writing essays and studying for tests I seem to always get the inspiration for a new chapter! Now hopefully this will last you until December haha. Also I would like to say a big thank you to all of you who favorited, followed, and reviewed, I put together the chapters I have written (minus the author's notes of course) into two word documents, one in the format that Fanfic has and one the is the usual single spaced format of word and they were between 350-400 pages each. So thank you, all of you, for helping me prove to myself that I could write a novel that would be somewhat successful. I can't tell you how amazing that feeling is. Again, thank you so much, I wouldn't have done it without you! Enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 2-Senpai
December Day 1, 3:09 P.M.
The interviews had been finished and everyone was sitting in Base. Ayako and Masako had arrived not long before and something did not feel quite right to our favorite brunette. "Hey, isn't there apparently another exorcist investigating?" she asked their client, Mastuoka who was in the room as well.
"He performed an exorcism yesterday that took quite a bit out of him," the principal replied. "He said he would return tomorrow. But this is his third exorcism here and it seems that things have only gotten worse!"
"You said the activity started about a month ago?" Naru asked, looks like the interviews hadn't quite been finished.
"Yes, not long after Kaede's death. The poor boy had been diagnosed with lymphoma about two years ago. He had been doing very well until about two months ago, his blood count had dropped significantly and he contracted some sort of flu bug. He didn't stand a chance and it killed him," he explained, shaking his head. "Then the activity began, Kaede always loved school, so it would make sense that his spirit might want to stick around, but it was scaring the children. They knew he was dead, so why were they seeing him walking through the halls? We didn't want them to feel uncomfortable, so we hired a man who said he could cleanse his spirit and help Kaede move on in peace."
"And then the activity escaladed, am I right?" Naru asked.
The man just nodded. "Yes, the children began hearing his voice, I'd be lying if I said I didn't hear it as well. He sounded so frightened, so hurt. Then Yamauchi-san's class, the same class that Kaede had been in before he passed away, the children started vomiting. It was out of the blue, fifteen out of twenty-three children were sent home that day. They were all back in class the next day. Not one of them had a fever or vomited since." He sighed. "The way his investigation is going, it would be cheaper to hire the both of you and have the situation taken care of in half the time. And after the seven students getting hurt a couple weeks ago, I want this to be cleared up as quickly, quietly, and painlessly in possible. No more students are to be injured before winter break starts."
"I can assure you we will solve this case as soon as possible, however with the limited information we have, I cannot promise that no more harm will be done," Naru replied, hands folded on the table in front of him.
"But you will try."
Naru nodded.
The man sighed and stood up. "That's all I ask," he answered, giving a bow and headed out of Base. "Please keep me up to date with your findings and progress."
He left the room and Mai's eyes lingered after the door had shut. "Poor guy, he just wants his students to be safe."
"He's rather young to be a principal," Ayako commented. "He doesn't have children here does he?"
Yasuhara shook his head, as he leaned against the wall. "He does have two kids they are too young to be in school just yet. I think his oldest might be starting this coming April though." The door they were all looking at suddenly opened.
A young girl, around nine years old, long black hair and silvery gray eyes and glasses stood in the doorway. She wore the school's uniform, a dark maroon, long-sleeved sailor suit, gray tights, and brown loafers. A maroon bow tied back two locks of hair from either side of her face, leaving her bangs framing it. Her eyes lit up as she saw exactly whom she wanted to see, and she leaped for him. "Samu-Nii!" she exclaimed, engulfing the college student in a hug.
Yasuhara caught the girl as she jumped for him, bringing her to his chest in a hug. "Hama-chan!" he exclaimed, with her arms around his neck, he placed his under her so he could hold her up. "With all the excitement, we never really got to talk, have we?"
"Uh-uh!" the girl shook her head.
"Well, you have had the chance to meet our ring leader, Naru and his assistant Lin, would you like to meet the rest of the team?"
"Why else would I barge in here!" she replied with a laugh. "Kaa-chan, said she wanted to leave, but I wanted to see you again!"
"Now, you know that when Tami-oba-san, says it's time to leave, it's time to leave," he playfully scolded her.
She shook her head. "But I wanted to see you! And those guys you tell me about! Are they them? The people you go on adventures with?" Her eyes were wide with curiosity as she scanned the room of the members in it.
"Hamako," a woman warned from the doorway, she had the same eyes as the girl in the college student's arms. She wore glasses as well and had chestnut colored hair. "You know better than to act this way, you're not leaving a very good impression to the people who want to make what's scaring you go away."
"Sorry, Kaa-san," Hama bowed her head.
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." The girl turned to everyone in the room.
"Please, forgive me of my rude outburst. It's very much unlike me and it won't happen again."
"Tami-san," Yasuhara smiled. "She's fine, just excited to finally meet the people I've told her about. Even more so that the school she goes to is part of the clients that we have helped."
"Oh I know, but it's still something she needs to work on," the mother replied, shaking her head. "But it is right after school so I see how her excitement may have gotten the better of her."
"Well, Hama-chan, want to see if you can tell who's who just from my stories?" Yasuhara asked the girl in his arms who nodded excitedly. "Everyone, this is my cousin, Hamako." He put her down and she raced to Masako.
"You're Hara Masako! Kaa-san says I can't watch your show because it will scare me, but Tou-san let's me on weekends!" she exclaimed excitedly as she turned back to her cousin. "You really have worked with her! That's so cool!" She glanced over to the indifferent young man in black and his tall Chinese assistant. "Those guys are Naru and Lin, but I already met them so it doesn't count."
"Count for what?" Ayako contemplated, earning a shush from the teenager next to her.
She raced over to the priestess. "You're Ayako, huh, you're not that old." Ayako's mouth dropped and Mai bit her lip to keep from laughing. "You have to be Mai! Samu-Ni always talks about you! Did you really help teach him about ghosts?"
Surprised, Mai laughed a little. "Well, I guess you could say I did," she replied, earning a grin from the young girl.
"That's so cool!" She raced over to the blonde priest. "And John, er Father Brown," she corrected herself, knowing her mother was frowning at her outburst behind her. "You're way too young to be a priest! How old are you!"
"Hamako!" her mother was appalled, but the kind priest just laughed.
"It's fine," he assured her. "I am very young, but I'll be twenty-one next month."
Her eyes widened with awe. "Wow!" she exclaimed and scanned her eyes around the room. Someone was missing. "Where's Takigawa-san?"
"He will be here tomorrow," Yasuhara answered her. "You can meet him then."
"Actually, Hamako will not be in class tomorrow," her mother interrupted.
"But, Kaa-san!" the little girl protested.
"Hamako, no buts," Tami replied. "Now come on, Obaa-chan has your bothers waiting at home for us." Knowing her word was final, Hamako gave her cousin one last hug.
"Come visit us," she pleaded and her cousin patted her head.
"You'll see me soon," he promised and she ran to her mother who was still in the doorway.
"Sorry for interrupting you, she really wanted to see her cousin," Tami apologized with a bow and took her daughter's hand. "And thank you for coming to help the school."
"It's our pleasure," Mai smiled, standing up and giving a bow. "Hope to see you soon, Hamako-chan."
With that the little girl gave a big grin. "Definitely!" she exclaimed as her mother lead her out of the room.
"She's a very sweet girl," Masako commented.
"She is, a little overbearing at times, but she means well," Yasuhara replied.
"Overbearing, huh?" Ayako remarked, turning to the college student. "What was that she was saying about me being old? Just what have you told her?"
"As I recall she did say you weren't that old."
"Precisely, just how old does she think I am? Eighty!" And the claws came out.
"Now, now, Ayako, let's not be too hasty-"
"If you two are quite done, I'd like to actually get some work done before the night is over," Naru interrupted the battle.
"We'll settle this later," Ayako warned. "What do you want us to do?"
"I would like you and Hara-san to do a walkthrough of the school, seeing as you haven't had the chance. Exorcise any place you see fit," Naru ordered, the two girls nodded and left the room. Then he turned to the other members of the team. "Many of the claims of hearing voices were in classroom 3B, Mai, I want you, Yasuhara, and Father Brown to hold an E.V.P. session."
"You want me to lead an E.V.P. session?" she replied in disbelief. Naru simply tossed a handheld recorder at her. Luckily she managed to catch it.
"Mai, don't tell me after nearly two years of working for me you haven't learned a thing?" he remarked, earning a glare from his assistant. "I'm not asking you to exorcise a demon, just to do your job and investigate."
"I know that," she retorted with venom and a roll of her eyes. "But since when do you want me leading, well, anything?"
"Would you prefer I put Yasuhara in charge?"
"Okay, guys let's go!" With that, only two were left in the room and the eternal typing had ceased.
"She wants me to let her have more important roles in investigations then questions me when I let her…" Naru muttered to himself, Lin turned in his swivel chair.
"You continue to test her to the point she doesn't know whether to trust you or quit," Lin retorted, proceeded to turn around and type again, just as Naru turned to glare at him.
"How else am I to teach her?"
Finally, Lin stopped his typing, got up and sat on the table next to his employer. "Well, believing in her abilities and intuition secretly, while basically threatening her job and making her feel like an imbecile is probably not the right way to go about things." Naru simply opened his black notebook and examined his notes. "And your sudden change of attitude toward her investigation skills wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that she is seeing someone, would it?"
With that, the black clad boy closed his notebook, grabbed his coat and headed out the door. Leaving the Chinese man to sigh and return to his laptop. He continued to type, but was too distracted. Finally, he took out his cell phone. "Moshi, moshi!" a cheerful voice sprang to life on the other line. "Lin-san, what can I do for you?"
"Madoka, I need some advice," he said in English.
"Uh-oh. What has Oliver done now?"
"You're going to just love what I have to tell you…"
"Okay, where do we begin?" Mai asked, once Yasuhara closed the door to the classroom.
"Should we close the blinds?" John suggested.
"The sun is almost set, but it can't hurt," Mai agreed and helped him close the blinds.
"And we have a night vision camera in here, so it's probably best we turn out the lights," Yasuhara suggested.
"Sounds good," she agreed turning on her flashlight as her friend turned off the lights. She sat down on one of the desks, the boys taking a seat on the desks diagonally either side of her. One desk was left in the middle and Mai turned on the recorder and placed it on it. "In room 3B, Mai," she said, repeating what they had done a few cases back.
"Yasuhara."
"John."
"Is there anyone in the room with us?" Mai asked and waited a moment. "We'd like to know, can you make a sound for us? If you can't speak could you knock?"
A little time went by and it didn't seem like anything was there.
Tap. Tap.
"Can you tell us your name?" John asked.
"Can you do the tapping again? Two taps for yes and one for no?" Yasuhara suggested.
Tap. Tap.
"Is your name Kaede?" he continued.
Tap. Tap.
Tap.
The three investigators shared a confused look. "That was three knocks," John declared. "Are there more than one of you here?"
Tap. Tap.
"Is one of you Kaede?" Yasuhara asked again.
Tap. Tap.
"How many of you are there?" Mai asked. "Each tap represents each spirit residing here."
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Children were hurt here, was that any of the spirits here's doing?"
Tap.
"What?" Mai heard Yasuhara whisper under his breath.
"Thank you for speaking with u-" Mai stopped as the lights flickered on and off. The blinds rolled up and down. Everything was out of unison, yet in a rhythm.
"What on Earth?" John blurted, as the desk he was sitting on began to slide beneath him. "Whoa!"
"John!" Mai exclaimed, placing her hands together in the seal of the immoveable one. "Nau maku san manda bazara dan kan, nau maku san manda bazara dan kan, nau maku san manda bazara dan kan!" Yasuhara's desk began to slide and Mai held her two fingers up. "Rin, pyou, tou, shah, kai, jin, retsu, zai, zen!"
Above them the lights stopped flickering, and the blinds were rolled all the way up. Everyone let out a breath, feeling the energy in the room calm down. "Nice job, Mai!" Yasuhara congratulated, holding his hand up in a high five.
"Yes, that was nicely done!" John added with a smile, but Mai didn't smile back. Didn't answer with a witty comment, or a joke. Instead she looked up at one specific light that was flickering ever so slightly. "Mai, what are you looking at?"
Crack!
"Get down!" Mai exclaimed, as she fell to the ground in a ball. The lights above them shattered with a crash and both men used their bodies to cover the girl on the ground. Sparks flew and glass fell around them, the whole time the voice recorder was still on the desk. Still recording.
Banging could be heard from the door. "Open the door!" It was Lin. And with that, the atmosphere changed and everyone breathed easier. Yasuhara stood up and unlocked the door. "What happened?" was Lin's first question.
Mai unfolded herself and grabbed the voice recorder from the desk in front of her. "End of E.V.P. session," she said, stopping the recording.
December Day 2, 6:15 A.M.
"Alright! We did great!" Tsubame cheered once they reached the apartment. "We did about nine kilometers in forty-five minutes, that's my personal best and now it's yours."
"Phew!" Mai let out as they climbed the stairs to their apartments. "Talk about pushing ourselves, I thought I was going to die out there!"
Tsubame nudged her. "Oh come on! You did great! We won't go nearly as hard tomorrow, but at the very least we know that we can if we want!" she laughed and put her hands on her hips. "I don't have to go in for work until nine, you shower and get ready for class and meet over my place for breakfast!"
"Tsubame, you're too kind to me, I couldn't."
"But you will, come on over when your ready and it will be on the table for you!" she said, heading for her apartment with a pep in her step that Mai couldn't help but laugh.
She showered, changed, and gathered her school bag and it wasn't even seven. She could definitely sit down with Tsubame and have a nice breakfast for once. I was a very cold day, she noticed as she walked out of her apartment. Snow was on its way and it was days like this she wished she owned a hairdryer. Her hair was turning into icicles as she entered her friend's home. "You're breakfast is on the table!" a voice called out.
Mai turned the corner of the hallway, after hanging up her coat and bag and removing her shoes. She found a nice hot breakfast waiting for her. Miso soup, rice, and grilled fish waiting for her. Her stomach growled at the smell of it.
"Thank you!" she called back, taking a seat. "Itadakimasu!"
"Girlie, your hair is going to freeze over out there," Tsubame said as she sat down at the table. "Don't you have a hairdryer?"
"Uh-uh," she replied swallowing. "I mean, I used to have one, but that was when my hair was shorter and I wasn't using it so when it broke I never really cared."
"When you're done eating, go use mine, it's in the bathroom," she offered, digging in as well.
"Thanks."
December Day 2, 12:30 P.M.
Just like the day before, Mai was waiting for whoever would pick her up and take her to the elementary school. After the E.V.P. session the night before, Naru determined it would be a good idea for him, Yasuhara, John and Lin to clean up room 3B and fix the lights, while Ayako took Mai and Masako home. Their investigation would continue the next day, when Monk was there and the other exorcist arrived to answer some questions.
It was no surprise that Ayako had come to pick her up, she had dropped her off the night before, and Naru probably had Yasuhara performing some other task. "Hop in!" the priestess exclaimed as she pulled up. Mai slid into the passenger seat and Ayako switched gears. "So, what have you done to Naru?"
"What do you mean?" Mai replied.
"He seemed annoyed last night."
"Since when isn't he annoyed?"
"Point taken, but he seemed unusually annoyed last night. When I was walking around with Masako I saw him leave the building."
"That's not really unusual for him. He probably just needed some air."
"Right after he let you lead part of the investigation?"
"Like he said, I've worked for him nearly two years, he wants to make sure I'm actually learning something."
"Who's the boy?"
"What!" Mai exclaimed. "Don't change the subject!"
"I'm not, so who's the boy?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"The flowers say different."
"What flowers?"
"Don't play dumb, Mai, I have my sources."
"I'm going to kill him."
"I would have found out whether Yasuhara told me or not, so who is he? How long have you dated? It must be a little while since he sent you flowers," she rambled smiling. "Oh, this is adorable, we can double date!" Mai just started laughing. "What's so funny?"
"You are," she laughed. "Since when are you so bubbly and giddy about my love life?"
"Since it was virtually nonexistent until now."
"Gee, thanks."
"So? Who is it?" Ayako pressed. "Yasuhara said you said he knows him, meaning I probably know him too. So, who is it?"
"If I tell you, you are sworn to secrecy," Mai halfway agreed.
"Of course! Though everyone will find out eventually."
"I'll give you hints and you can guess, in that case."
"Twenty question game, huh?" Mai just nodded. "Okay, we met him on a case?"
"Yes."
"Is he older than you?"
"Yes."
"Ooh, interesting, hmm…" She wondered for a moment what else she can ask. "Did we meet him on a case within the last year?"
"Yes."
"Within the last six months?"
"Yes."
"Is he taller than you?"
"How many guys have we met that are shorter than me?"
"True." She contemplated as the light turned red and she stopped. "Arata?"
"He's going out with Setsuko," Mai shook her head.
"Now, how do you know that?" The light turned green and the car was back in motion.
"On our last case he came to visit his cousin who happens to be in my class, after our first night of investigating, the guy in my class invited my friends to go out and they invited me."
"So you went on a date with another girl's boy? How scandalous!"
Mai laughed. "Ayako!"
"What?"
"What am I to do with you?" she laughed as they pulled up to the school.
"How about Akifumi?"
"I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today, join us again tomorrow for another rousing episode of, 'Just Who Am I Dating?'" Mai teased, hopping out of the car.
"Mai! Get back here!" Ayako shouted as Mai raced for the school. "We're not through!"
"Father Brown will be arriving soon with Takigawa," Naru said, once the rest of the tem had assembled at Base. "In the meantime, several classrooms had temperature changes last night, Hara-san I'd like you to visit those rooms, so long as students are not in there. Matsuzaki-san, drive out any spirits Hara-san senses. Yasuhara, you and Lin will use the floor plan to dictate where the majority of the activity is. Mai will stay here and help me review the audio from last night."
"What about the other exorcist?" Mai asked.
"He will be arriving soon, once he's here we'll try to cooperate with him. The principal failed to mention whether or not he is aware there is another team of investigators." Naru headed for the wall of monitors. "If there are no more questions, why don't we get back to work."
The group dispersed, Ayako and Masako leaving the room and Yasuhara and Lin headed for the floor plan on the other end of the room. Mai took a seat at Lin's laptop, since her employer took his normal seat next to it. "I had Lin upload the audio feed last night after you left, I'm sure you can figure out the basic play, pause and rewind," he said, handing her a set of headphones. "I'm going to review the video we recorded in that room, if you need to boost the background audio, let me know."
A little confused, Mai nodded and accepted the headphones. Since when was Naru actually treating her like an investigator rather than just an assistant? Shrugging it off, Mai put on the headset and played the recording.
"In room 3B, Mai," Mai heard her own voice begin.
"Yasuhara."
"John."
"Is there anyone in the room with us?" There was a pause and a muffled sound in the background. Mai turned up the volume to try to make it out. "We'd like to know, can you make a sound for us? If you can't speak could you knock?"
She heard whispers, too soft make out words.
Tap. Tap.
"Can you tell us your name?" John asked.
More whispering, but she still couldn't make it out, though it did sound feminine almost, maybe a young child?
"Can you do the tapping again? Two taps for yes and one for no?" Yasuhara suggested.
Tap. Tap.
"Is your name Kaede?" he continued.
Tap. Tap.
"Here…" Mai did hear something that time, could that have been Kaede?
Tap.
"That was three knocks. Are there more than one of you here?"
Tap. Tap.
"Is one of you Kaede?" Yasuhara asked again.
Tap. Tap.
"How many of you are there?" Mai asked. "Each tap represents each spirit residing here."
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Help…run…" What was that? It was fuzzy but Mai could swear those were the words she heard.
"Children were hurt here, was that any of the spirits here's doing?"
Tap.
"What?" Mai heard Yasuhara whisper under his breath.
"Thank you for speaking with u-" Mai heard herself be cutoff by the sound of the blinds rolling up and down and thumping and was that footsteps?
"What on Earth?" She heard the priest's desk sliding. "Whoa!"
"Leave!" That was very clear. That was not a young boy. That did not sound good.
"John!" Mai heard herself and remembered how she had to use the warding magic she had been taught. "Nau maku san manda bazara dan kan, nau maku san manda bazara dan kan, nau maku san manda bazara dan kan!" There went Yasuhara's desk sliding. "Rin, pyou, tou, shah, kai, jin, retsu, zai, zen!"
At once the noise had stopped, there was virtually no static. "Nice job, Mai!" came Yasuhara's voice.
"Yes, that was nicely done!" John added.
Something else was there. Something that gave Mai goosebumps as she listened.
"Mai, what are you looking at?"
Crack!
"Get down!" The glass could be heard shattering and falling to the ground.
"Open the door!" Lin was banging on the door. "What happened?"
"End of E.V.P. session," and the recording stopped.
"Did you find anything?" Naru asked her as she pulled the headset off her head.
"Can you highlight, this area," she pointed to one spot on the computer screen. "And boost the background?"
Naru did just that. And he hit play. "Could you knock?" she heard her own voice say.
Thump. Thump. Footsteps.
"Help us…"
Tap. Tap.
"Here," she handed the headset to her boss. "Right after you hear me ask for a knock."
Naru put the headphones on and Mai played the snippet of audio. "Footsteps and someone saying 'help me,'" he concluded.
"That's what I heard, it sounds almost feminine, a child maybe?" Mai elaborated.
Naru nodded and removed the headset. "Maybe, did you hear anything else?"
"Yeah, move the loop over about five seconds and make it a bit longer," she replied, putting back on the headset.
"How is this?" he pressed play and she listened.
"Can you tell us your name?" John asked.
"We can't! We can't stop!"
"Can you do the tapping again? Two taps for yes and one for no?" Yasuhara suggested.
Tap. Tap.
"Is your name Kaede?" he continued.
Tap. Tap.
"I'm right here!"
"What is it?" Naru asked, once Mai removed the headset and sighed.
"Here, just listen to the loop." She handed him the headset.
Naru listened and gave her a look when it finished. "Do you really think it's Kaede?" he asked her.
"It makes sense," she replied with a shrug. "It sounds like a young child, probably a young boy, and Kaede did die fairly recently. I wonder why he feels trapped…"
"You think he feels trapped?"
"Why else would he sound so frightened? But he can't be the one behind the activity," she concluded.
"Why would you say that?"
"He's a young boy, unlike Kagome Mai a couple cases ago, Kaede doesn't have any psychic abilities. The most we've seen from a young soul like him, activity wise, is possession, which he hasn't done."
Naru pondered the thought. He turned back to the screen. "You're deductive reasoning has improved greatly, was there anything else you heard on the tape?"
Was that a…compliment? Whatever it was, Mai wasn't going to question the sudden kindness. "Uh, yeah. Here, can you show me how to loop the audio?" she asked, it would make this much easier.
Naru did just that and together they found several messages hidden in the background. Several different voices, some frightened, some threatening, some indifferent. Then there was one last thing they found.
"Right after John said 'nicely done,' what do you hear?" Mai asked her employer, trying to confirm what she heard.
He listened to the loop and looked at his assistant. "Someone is laughing," he said.
"It doesn't sound like the other voices we heard, does it?" she replied and he listened to the loop once more.
"No, it doesn't, you're right," he agreed, taking off the headset. "Lin, how is the floor plan coming?"
"The more serious activity occurred on the playground, classroom 3B, and the library where students and teachers claim books have flown off the shelves. The more minor activity, such as voices and sightings of Kaede are jumbled up in the second floor hallway, the cafeteria, the nurse's office, classrooms 1A, 4C, 2C, 3A, and 5B," Lin explained.
"The minor activity is also far more common and more residual," Yasuhara added.
"Which is to be expected," Naru pointed out, reaching for his black notebook… which happened to be missing. Internally cursing his own stupidity. "Mai, I left my notes in the van, go get them," he ordered.
"Oh, sure thing," she replied heading out the door.
"I'll go with you," Yasuhara offered.
Naru agreed to let the two go on their errand, with his assistant's track record of danger and injuries, it was probably a good idea.
"So, about this boyfriend of yours!" Yasuhara began, as the two made their way out to the parking lot.
"You're not going to give up, are you?" she sighed and shook her head.
"Nope, sometimes I'm about as stubborn as Naru," he gave a cheesy grin.
Mai just laughed and pulled out the keys. "I saw you've recruited Ayako, and she didn't find out anything this morning when she drove me here.'
"Damn! Foiled again!" he exclaimed earning an elbow from the petite girl. "Hey!"
"Watch your language! There are children around!" she teased as they spotted the van.
"Alright, alright," he laughed. "Just, know this, I will find out."
"You probably will," Mai said unlocking the door. She immediately found the notebook sitting on the passenger's seat. "But until then, I'll keep you guessing and won't give you a single hint!"
"That is so not fair!" he whined, crossing his arms and pouting.
"What are you two going on about now?" a familiar voice asked. They both turned around to see that John and Monk had arrived.
"Hey Monk!" Mai exclaimed with a smile. The brother like figure embraced her in a hug. "It's good to see you!"
"You too, Mai! You're looking a lot better," he commented.
"What do you mean?"
"Last time I saw you, you looked extremely stressed out, I'm glad to see you starting to look like your old self," he smiled, ruffling her hair.
Mai actually felt extremely comforted by the statement. It meant that she was getting better.
"Houshou-kun! I thought that was you when you pulled up!" came another voice. Mai turned around to see a man, probably somewhere in his thirties, head shaved, and dressed in jeans, sweater, sneakers, and a wool coat.
"Yuudai-senpai…"
Senpai? Mai wondered as the two men stared at each other.
No word from the cast this time, next time there will be! Hope you enjoyed!