ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ MONK ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
"What's with this house!" Ayako let out a huff and crossed her arms close to her chest as she just finished listening to Mai's story about Ayami speaking to her doll as well as an additional spirit, listening in their conversation. "-Perhaps this house is famous in this area for being haunted."
Bou-san frowned in thought, standing in between Mai and Ayako. "Do you think Minnie has something to do with it?" the monk turned to glance at Mai next to him, "She did tell you that Minnie brought the invisible friend, right?"
"H-Hai, yeah..." Mai perked, answering Bou-san with a nod before the monk himself as well as Mai turned to glance at Naru, who stood silent all this time. "What do you think, Naru-chan?"
Silence.
"He's acting the same as usual..." Ayako muttered under her breath as she, watched Naru ignore them.
"Yep." Bou-san and Mai sweat dropped as they whispered to one another.
Bou-san suddenly held a thought, snapping his fingers as he turned to face Naru, "Hey! I know,"
'This time... this time you might respond!' Bou-san smirked inside. "-Maybe Minnie is possessed by a spirit and is pretending to be a doll? What'ya think?" and like how Bou-san wished it, Naru did lift his head to give his idea attention.
"...You might be right," Bou-san felt something inside him lit up, he was so proud. "-Do you want to take care of this, Monk-san?" heh, before Naru could even finish his sentence, the monk was already glittering and fully sparkled.
"Sure." 'Heh heh heh~ it's finally my turn.' Bou-san beamed completely unaware of what would happen next.
While the group was unaware of a certain Akemi standing in the middle of the living room, her purple orbs fully staring at a spot on the living room that is covered by the wooden floor. 'hm...'
~~~
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ AKEMI ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
Akemi lifted up her head as the darkness around her started to contort into wooden structure and a shadow of a child running around,
The sight of it made the corner of Akemi's lips lift up as she saw how happy the child was running around.
But what caught Akemi's attention wasn't the child but another silhouette coming out to chase after the kid.
It felt so motherly, reminding Akemi of the female silhouette that she and Oliver saw back in the hallway.
'They look so happy,' Akemi thought to herself as she watched them play on the backyard. "What happened to you?" Akemi whispered to herself with a sad but solemn look upon her face.
She didn't even notice she said it out loud.
And that the woman could hear her,
On cue, the woman who was playing chase with her daughter stopped mid step and stood up straight with her back turned against Akemi, leaving the child to play for herself and out of their view.
'What...?' Akemi frowned at the sight, not noticing how the wooden room around her turned ominous and looked for signs that made the woman stop playing with the child.
Akemi watched the woman closely, the room growing more darker and light only focused upon her and the woman,
Still completely unaware of what was to come.
Akemi kept her eyes focused on the woman's back, waiting for her to do something but the woman has stood still for a few minutes now that it started to get eerie.
Akemi thought that she would stay like this but when the woman's head started to slowly turn— Akemi started to feel something wrong.
Something sad.
Or maybe something bad.
The woman looked back at Akemi, her face covered but her mouth was revealed, it opened up wide as if in a state of shock and shout— she turned fast and pointed a finger directly at Akemi's direction.
The sight scared Akemi, but she knew better to fear in these kinds of situations.
The sudden action of the woman compared to the slowest one earlier made Akemi react, getting the intuition to look behind.
Akemi turned and her eyes gaped at the sight of a dark wall with different out reaching hands, extending towards her with their cries.
The sound filled her ears as she finally saw what they wanted her to see.
'-It was awful,' Akemi felt tears on her eyes as she endured hearing the wails of children wishing to see their mother as the hands moved closer.
It felt overwhelming.
Pain. Sadness.
But none of the cries of the children outdone the sudden scream Akemi heard behind her,
It was a heartbreaking loss,
Hearing the scream, Akemi moved to face back the woman only to feel something wrap around her neck.
and then it all went dark from there.
"KYAAAAAHH!"
~~~
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ AKEMI MAI ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
"Where's Minnie?!" Naru, Akemi and Mai stood by Ayami's bedroom.
Ayami stared at the three people around her, specifically Naru whilst sitting on her bed wearing her night clothing— already ready to go to sleep but based on her worry and anger after finding out her doll is gone, the crew could tell she won't be getting some sleep for a little while.
Ayami dreaded on what's coming as she could feel the room turn cold.
Naru stood between Akemi and Mai, the former already changed with her hair loose and flowing down to her sides on a black headband ribbon, wearing a mustard turtle neck sweater that she opted to tuck under her black high-waisted pants and white tennis shoes.
Oliver stayed by her side, sitting and tucked next to her knees.
But her clothing did nothing to remove Naru's unnoticeable frown nor did Oliver's cute appearance while on a job, as he knew that it was all to cover up the damage inflicted on her skin.
Earlier this day, while Bou-san was in the middle of an exorcism, Noriko-san's scream broke throughout the whole house making Bou-san forget his incantation to help the poor lady who clutched her ankle in pain. When the crew went to check Noriko's ankle, they saw a very raw handprint wrapped around it, but what stunned them even more was that the print was small.
Too small to be called an adults, but the right size to be called a child's.
The room was cold that time and the temperature lessened more as Lin's voice called Naru by the living room, to see Akemi weak on the floor with dozens more of hand prints in her arms and legs.
It didn't escape Naru that there was also one on her neck, too big to be called a child's but a handprint big enough to be called an adult's.
The fortunate thing was, it wasn't as severe as Noriko's who had her ankle sprained. Akemi got off the handprints as something close to a sore and bruise.
And that was why they are here, standing in front of an emotional Ayami.
"Did Minnie cause this?" Naru asked, his gaze fully focused on Ayami.
"Where is Minnie?!" Ayami ignored Naru's question and repeated her words. Seeing her defiance, Akemi felt a frown contort on her lips when she saw agitation on the kid.
'She's scared...worried...stirred,' Akemi listed out on her head, watching Ayami in concern before glancing at the tensed man next to her. '-and Naru's approach is making it worse...'
"I'm going to keep her for a while-" Naru remained unmoving.
Hearing his words, Ayami's eyes cleaved. "Give her back! Give her back! She's my friend..."
Ayami turned more emotional by the second and Akemi finally couldn't find it inside her to not do anything.
So she sat carefully beside the child— the way Akemi carried herself was soft, showing that they meant no harm but somehow it held some sternness that felt like she could be a rock people could lean on.
Oddly enough, Ayami seemed to have understood her approach and tried her best to calm down, feeling less scared then earlier and does not feel bare on an open field.
Akemi lightly nudged the girl, giving her an encouraging smile. "Ayami-chan... I know you're scared and we are here trying to help you in anyway that we can," Akemi placed a gentle hand on top of Ayami's head, giving her comfort. "-but to do that, we also need your help and you are the only one we can count on...okay?"
They waited with baited breath, and Mai let out her relief when Ayami slowly nodded.
Seeing Ayami turn compliant, Naru asked once again. "How long has Minnie been talking?"
His voice a bit more gentle, especially when Akemi's sharp unclouded eyes stared directly at him. A green light on traffic.
Ayami hesitated and Mai could see how her skin grew somewhat pale.
They all waited for a few more seconds, Akemi lifting hers to meet Naru's gaze, her slight shake of head told Naru everything he needed to know.
Naru took that as a 'red light' and was about to give another question but stopped when Ayami's shoulder started to shake.
"Ayami-chan-!" Mai looked at the girl in Akemi's arms in panic as Ayami continued to cry before revolving around to glare at Naru. "-I can't believe you'd make a little girl cry, you jerk!"
Mai quickly sat on the other side of Ayami as the little girl sobbed on Akemi's chest— Mai glared daggers at Naru and kept hissing at him while Akemi patted Ayami and whispered soothing words to calm her down.
"That's not the issue here-"
"It is too the issue!" Mai barked, but quieted down when Akemi called out Mai and Naru's name with a firm tone,
"Mai! Naru!" Akemi scolded, gesturing to Ayami who continued to sob on Akemi's chest. "-fighting in front of Ayami won't do anything productive in our case," Akemi whispered to the two, frowning in disappointment. "-So please keep it down and be more mature in these kind of situations."
It was the first time Akemi ever scolded Mai and glad that she had the decency to feel bad and repentant— well Mai saw it at times with Naru but it was somewhat subtle and tame, almost teasing.
At least that was what Mai noticed when Akemi scolds Naru.
Well, Mai actually couldn't tell at that time because her sempai was wearing her usual entrancing smile. So she didn't focus on it.
What Mai didn't know was that, that kind was way worse than the stern Akemi is portraying now, and guess it was only reserved for a certain impassive boss.
So Akemi's stern gaze did nothing to Naru, but he did stop arguing with Mai. Only because Mai was also silenced.
Akemi let out a sigh.
'Ara~ these two are like children...' If Ayami weren't crying in Akemi's arms, Akemi would have let the two bicker as usual and maybe be entertained by their bickering but their arguments would only worsen Ayami's condition. So she had to stop them for now,
"I-I'm sorry..." Ayami spoke out, halting Akemi from comforting the girl. "I-I'm so sorry... but Minnie.. Minnie said not to speak with anyone... If I'm friends with someone else, she'll hurt me...hic...so.."
Akemi and Mai turned to stare at Naru, both different women holding different gazes.
Naru sighed at the sight of the two.
One held sharpness to warn him to tread carefully at this topic and the other full of accusation, only lacking a sharp knife in hand to become a potential threat.
Naru sighed at the two in front of him, already feeling a headache coming. "How long has Minnie been speaking to you?" Naru repeated, as he saw at this point Ayami might be willing to talk more.
"...Since we moved into this house." Ayami admitted and Akemi tightened her hug around the kid, to show her support.
"What did she say in the beginning?"
"That my mommy is a witch and my daddy is her servant and that they're gonna kill me," Akemi froze. "-She said my sister's on their side too. Minnie told me she'd protect me only if I don't become friends with anybody else..."
'Minnie is a big bully!' Mai frowned.
"What happens when you play with somebody else?" Mai popped in, her brows knitted together.
"-if I forget and play with my sister... Minnie gets mad and hides things and makes my room messy..."
'The poltergeist...' Mai realized, while Akemi stared when Naru and her realized what was happening now as well. "She says that's my punishment..."
Akemi could practically hear it on her head, 'That's your punishment.... That's for breaking your promise....'
"Does Minnie ever bring friends with her?" Naru asked, receiving a nod from Ayami.
"Uh-huh, lots of them are about my age. They all worked for Minnie,"
'So that boy and earlier...' Akemi let out a sigh as she was reminded of the little boy she met at the hallway,
But when Akemi saw Ayami glancing at her, she covered it up with a smile and let go of Ayami.
"Well Minnie is a big meanie! This time it's her turn to be punished because she bullies our sweet Ayami-chan~!" Akemi tried to cheer Ayami-chan up, giving off one of her care-free smiles.
But it didn't seem to work, seeing Ayami's worried eyes, Akemi couldn't help but promise. "Don't worry, Ayami-chan~! The powerful wizard would help you!" Akemi pointed to Naru, who narrowed his eyes at her while Mai stifled her laughs.
"But what about Akemi-onee chan?"
"Why of course~" Akemi beamed, her purple orbs lit as she teased. "-us princesses have to stick together and help each other, ne?"
"Uhm!" Ayami nodded, her wide smile back on her lips.
~~~
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ AKEMI NARU ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
"I wonder if the previous owner of the doll died and possessed the doll?" Bou-san placed a hand on his chin, thinking up some theories possible for the poltergeisting while the doll itself sat on one of the swivel chairs of the base.
Its vacant eyes felt like it was staring directly empty at the crew standing in front of it.
"Oh, how icky! This is why I can't stand dolls..." Ayako shivered at the sight of the doll. " -They are really spooky." Mai nodded in agreement at Ayako's statement.
"I don't believe it's Minnie's fault," Naru spoke up, receiving confused glances from Mai, Monk and Ayako.
"Hey, now you're saying that, after all this?"
Akemi kneeled in front of the doll, her purple orbs staring directly at its vacant green ones.
Akemi felt her lips turn down in concentration but after a while she lifted it up with a smile, her eyes closed and head tilted as she glanced at the people behind her, specifically Naru.
"I don't think its the doll's fault," Akemi claimed and elegantly stood up, "-its the ones trapped in this house."
"The doll is just being manipulated by the spirits that are in this house," Naru said as he nodded at Akemi's words— keeping his eyes pressed on the doll, unsmiling. "Dolls are only used as vessels, right? There is a spirit that is possessing this house." Naru added and Akemi nodded at his words.
"We need to figure out who they are, determine its true identity," Akemi nodded, a small smile graced her soft lips but anyone could see the seriousness her eyes portrayed. "-until we find that out... Ayami-chan's life could be in danger." Akemi said, reminding the others of what Ayami just shared earlier.
'She says that I will be punished...She told me not to tell anyone...' everybody could hear Ayami's scared cries as they were reminded of her situation.
"How is your leg?" Akemi lifted up her head, her purple orbs glancing at the direction where Naru walked beside her, reading the folder in his hand.
Naru and Akemi have just seen the writing that Minnie did on the wall, that was fully threatening Ayami.
'Bad person will be punished...' After seeing it, Naru immediately assigned Ayako to clean it up to avoid Ayami ever seeing the threat and while Ayako complained, Akemi cheered her on and went their ways.
'I almost feel bad for Ayako...' Akemi sweat dropped, but better Ayako than her right?
After that moment, the two are now walking side by side in the hallways, Naru walking back to the base and Akemi to the backyard where Ayami was currently playing,
Knowing what Naru meant with his question, Akemi tilted her head to glance more at Naru's direction with her closed-eyed smile. "I'm doing fine, the burn doesn't sting as much."
"....hm..." When Naru didn't continue to say anything else, Akemi decided to be the one ahead of the conversation,
With a teasing glow in her eyes, Akemi nudged Naru lightly with her hip— leaning forward a bit. "-and the bruises doesn't hurt that much anymore! Just sore~"
When Naru didn't reply or showed any expression of listening, Akemi genuinely smiled.
Without any teasing or a hint of scheming, Akemi smiled gratefully at Naru.
Because she knew.
"Arigatou~... For worrying about me." That's just Naru,
"...." Naru continued to be aloof of anything emotional and sped up, walking ahead to leave Akemi behind but before he could fully disappear Akemi couldn't help but tease him a bit more.
"Maybe you could help massage me later? My shoulders are feeling a bit stiff~" Akemi pouted as she rolled her shoulders to prove her point but her acting scheme didn't last long as she let out bountiful giggles after she heard Naru clicked his tongue that was supposed to show his indifference and left her by herself.
Learning what he has done, Akemi lifted a hand and stifled her giggles. "How cute~"
~~~
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ AKEMI MAI ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
Morning passed and it was already their fifth stay in the haunted house, Akemi sat by next to Mai and Noriko, who already has her ankle bandaged.
The three females watched Ayami as she ran around the open field, a wide smile plastered on her face and felt like there were no actual paranormal problems around.
It pleased Akemi at how happy and free Ayami seems to be,
"Noriko-san, I think it is best for you to know that Naru already placed someone in charge of cleaning the writing off the wall," Akemi her head slightly to the side and whispered, unknowingly keeping up her grace and smile as to not worry Ayami if she ever sees. "-and the doll is currently being taken care off,"
"Thank you..." Noriko meekly thanked, as she was too overwhelmed with gratitude for the help. "-and I'm so sorry... Putting you all through this mess—"
Before Noriko could continue, Mai chirped in. Her brown eyes understanding and determined. "- there's no need to be sorry Noriko-san! You deserve all the help you can get, especially now that your sister-in-law just left!" Akemi sweat dropped at Mai's fire but she also couldn't help but admire it.
Akemi turned to Noriko, seeing that Mai's words did do some help, but at times fiery passion has a weak effect for a conservative woman such as Noriko.
"-What Mai meant to say was," Akemi tried to chime in with a small smile. "We know how difficult this situation is for you, especially when you've just got hurt, so there is no need to say sorry, Noriko-san..."
Seeing total support from Akemi and Mai, Noriko felt glad that they were in the group. "Thank you so much, you two..."
"Hey sis, how is your ankle? Does it still hurt?" Ayami asked Noriko as she neared her Aunt.
"It's fine, because you're always so kind to me— my pain went away!" Noriko reassured as she saw Ayami's concerned face but hearing her Aunt say she isn't hurt anymore, Ayami couldn't help but smile and glittered.
"I'll go pick some flowers for you!" Ayami insisted before turning to Akemi with bright eyes, "Princess Akemi onee-chan, come with me!"
Hearing the girl's excitement and cheery behavior, Akemi felt bad that she had to decline.
"Gomen~ Princess Ayami-chan but this princess can't see the flowers really well," Ayami frowned, her shoulders slump. " -but if we get Mai-chan to help us then she can get the pretty bloomed ones!"
Mai stood up as she realized what her sempai was doing, "-Which ones should we pick?" Mai kneeled down to match Ayami's height,
"The prettiest ones!" Ayami smiled as the three of them knelt down in front of the flower patch, "I pick this one!" Ayami reached in for a cute simple white flower while Akemi and Mai watched her with a smile but Akemi's smile turned into a frown as she saw something move.
"...!" With a quick reaction, Akemi held Ayami's wrist just as the girl was about to pull up her hand, her purple orbs staring at the flower patch with great intensity.
"Sempai what are you doi—" Mai stared at her sempai in confusion,
"Mai! Ayami's hand is caught! Help me pull her out." and with the quick command of her sempai, Mai reached in and helped Ayami. 'Ask questions later...'
"No...my hands are stuck!" Ayami cried out as she too tried to pull out her hand, but the feeling of someone grabbing it firmly remained.
"Hold on!" Mai pulls it out, their heavy tug landed them on their behind.
'There's nothing...?' Mai thought to herself as she stared at the ruined flower bed, she continued to stare at the land as if the answer would reveal itself.
While her sempai, Akemi felt Ayami's shivering figure running away and went to follow. "Ayami-chan! Wait!"
"Mai stop her!" hearing her name, Mai snapped out of it and turned to glance at Noriko. "Akemi and Ayami-chan are running towards the pond!"
"Ayami-chan!" Mai heard her sempai yell out, and immediately stood up and ran after them.
Oblivious to the shock of a certain Monk, about a certain doll still remaining intact despite being burnt through raw fire and incantation.
~~~
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ AKEMI ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
Akemi controlled her breath in and out as she ran after Ayami, feeling a sense of foreboding on the tip of her spines. It was practically a fire alarm.
It scared her, it scared Akemi of what might happen to Ayami if she didn't catch her on time.
"Minnie I'm sorry! Don't be mad at me, I'm sorry!" Ayami cried as she continued to run away from someone, nobody normal could see. "-Please don't be mad at me..."
'Minnie...?' Akemi frowned as she saw the silhouette of a girl following behind Ayami, 'That's her?' but why do I get the feeling her name is..."
"Im sorr..."
"Yuki Tachibana-san!" Akemi called out and surprisingly the ghost woman stopped, turning to face Akemi with the same expression she saw back in the living room. "You can't hurt Ayami-chan anymore!" Akemi claimed, her stance strong and determined.
SPLASH—!
"Ayami chan!" Akemi's focus faltered as she heard water and it was the only opening that the ghost waited for and reached in.
"Ack!" Akemi felt chilling hands wrapped around her neck, the force making her bent in one knee.
"Where are you?! Ayami chan!" Akemi heard Mai call out, until the high schooler noticed her sempai in her current state. "-Akemi-sempai?! What's going on?!"
Akemi tried her best to tell Mai but with her neck feeling tight and clamped, she couldn't say much.
"A-ayami...pond...save her.." Akemi choked out, seeing how her sempai is doing, Mai couldn't help but try to help her but when Akemi yelled a strained 'go!' Mai knew her sempai wanted her to save Ayami first.
Sploosh!
Just in time, Mai saw Ayami pop up from the pond but is struggling to keep herself up, "Ayami!" Mai called out and went to dive right in the cold water and dragged the little girl out of the pond.
At the same time Mai held Ayami out of the water, the chilling hands tightening around Akemi's neck loosened and disappeared.
"Ayami, you're safe! Thank goodness..." Noriko hugs a soaking wet Ayami, who continued to sob on her Aunt's chest.
Akemi stood up, clutching her neck. She was betting it was starting to go sore but the sound of Oliver's bark coming closer their way made Akemi forget about it and willingly opened her arms to hug Oliver.
The golden retriever immediately licking her cheeks.
~~~
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ MAI ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
'Is this Minnie's revenge? Was this her punishment?' Mai thought to herself as she watched Oliver walk towards Ayami with Akemi-sempai getting dragged behind as well as a concerned unknown female gushing around Akemi, who continued to dismiss her worries with a teasing smile and waving hands.
'but...Akemi-sempai sure did react quickly...' Mai pondered to herself, 'What did happen to Akemi-sempai earlier?'