~~~
MAI
"The moon looks so nice today, right?" Mai asks while she packs in a few equipment she and Lin had already put out. They decided it was all over once Akemi and Naru told them the maiden was gone. A few more minutes of searching the house finding out it was totally clean made the SPR claim the cliff house is spirit free.
So here they were packing their stuff in the middle of the night. Naru dislikes the idea of staying in for the night with no more work to cement their stay. Despite the grumbling that came from Mai after learning of their immediate leave, Naru remained his stand.
"It sure is," Akemi elegantly smiles when the breeze of the night started to get a bit strong. Her silvery waves flowing out and playing around like the currents. The sight of it glimmered like moonlight threads touched with majesty. Akemi tried to keep a hold of them by the nape of her neck, placing a hand to catch her hair but a few more rebelled and kept blessing the wind with its dance.
"A— a Moon fairy!"
Naru glances, turning his head to towards the two females. The wind still blowing, his dark hair tickling his forehead and eyes with a ghostly touch.
"Akemi! Mai! Let's go." He calls, opening the backseat of the van to let Akemi and Oliver get inside while he moves towards the passenger seat at front.
"Wait!" Mai pauses just as she was about to get inside the roaring van. Turning her head, she sees the old lady— holding a small plastic aquarium with something swimming inside.
"Yes?" Mai hops back down, Akemi leaning her head out along with her dog to also see what the old woman needs.
But it seems that wasn't the case as the old woman smiles, handing Mai the water filled bag which the high schooler recognizes to be a turtle— a baby turtle.
'Eh...?' the high schooler blinks, lifting her confused eyes towards the happy old woman.
"Thanks to you SPR, she is free..." The old woman's eyes brightened with unfallen tears. " Thanks to you all— my sister and her lover can finally rest in peace... Thank you... " The old woman continued to display her gratitude and this was the part Mai always loved when it comes to her job,
With a soft gaze, Mai's smile widens. Looking back to see Akemi still peeking out with her delight and Naru looking back at them with his own shielded gaze, yet its softness can be seen.
'This case is finished.' Mai feels her heart warmed at the thought, the view of the cliff house no longer scary for her.
~~~
Inside the van, Mai was brutally curious.
Looking for a chance on the thick silence in the car, Mai weakly glanced beside her to see Akemi in between the high schooler and her pet Oliver. Lin in front, driving and Naru next on the passenger seat,
All of them quiet.
Akemi called off the guard, wanting to sit on the van with Mai and the others, and so the black car behind follows them for protection.
In the end, Mai decided she could no longer take it and so spoke. "Ano... Naru, how did you and Akemi-sempai solved the case?"
Naru shuts his eyes. "The case was already solved from the very beginning... We already knew who was haunting the house and its reason. Akemi and I dealt with it."
Mai felt her brow twitch, "I mean how did you cleanse the place? I wasn't there and no cameras were around!" Mai desperately wanted to know.
"Then it's your loss." Naru was quick to voice. The high schooler glanced beside her, noticing Akemi's lack of response.
Mai herself gaped with stunned eyes when she saw the heiress with her head laying on Oliver's golden fur, quietly napping. When she saw Akemi has no help in answering, Mai turns back to Naru. "Did Akemi-sempai helped you?"
Naru frowns, "Naturally. She's my assistant, isn't she?" His words unsociable and filled with the tone of a bullet calling Mai stupid. His favorite; Sarcasm and rhetorical questions.
"Wh— why you-!!!" Mai grits under her breath, glaring daggers from the back of Naru's head. 'Argh! Just do it Mai! Pummel his head to the ground! Or- or throw the aquarium on his head!'
Lin silently peeks towards his passenger and calmly moves his gaze back towards the road without a word out of his lips.
Naru avoided their gaze by turning to look outside his rolled down window. Dark clothed elbow perched with a finger lightly caressing his upper lip. Eyes lost and mind somewhere else.
Naru felt his lips twitch down to a slight frown. 'What did happen?'
~~~
AKEMI
"So you're here because of your brother?" Akemi summarizes Naru's story. It was just after the doll house case. So far, none cases were coming up and Akemi decided to ask Naru while there were still time for them to be alone.
She told him of seeing a man, that Mai called Naru back on the Doll house case when they fell on the old well. It was quite a shock considering the 'Naru' Mai had called was someone Akemi could see. Not blurred-- see. She could make out the spirit's appearance and so Akemi marched towards Naru's office, knowing very well that Mai wouldn't just call any male she saw as 'Naru'.
"I discovered his accident through Psychometry and called the Japan authorities to look for his body yet they found nothing." Naru says, keeping his story short, "So I decided to retrieve him myself,"
"How did he die? I might be able to help..." Naru lifts his gaze towards Akemi, trying to read her approach with unfriendly eyes. Akemi matched his with unflinching purple ones.
"In the most stupid way possible," Akemi felt bad for his brother, a bead of sweat drops down her forehead. "A car accident."
'A car accident.' Akemi froze when the SPR Office churns and slowly disintegrating the enclosing walls into dust to reveal a wide open field of flowers and rainbows with flying birds.
"Why are you afraid?" Akemi turns, seeing a boy laying down not far from where she stood.
"What?" Akemi's voice asked just a bit higher than her normal range. Lifting her hands she saw it small and childlike clothes. She was young again.
"Why are you afraid?" the boy repeats, lifting his head up and Akemi was shot with familiar midnight blues. '...This... Naru?' "Didn't they said they were fine? So why are you crying so much?"
"Crying?" Akemi whispers under her breath, lifting up her hand just as tears flowed down her cheeks. 'What.. What's going on? What is this?'
"Because.. because it was my fault!" The young Akemi wails, wiping her tears furiously out of her eyes.
Akemi watched all of this unfold. She didn't remember this. Any of this. "Is this... Is this a vision?"
As though someone heard her question— the sun set and the flowers withered away along with the child versions of Akemi and Naru. The field turned dark and soon Akemi found herself floating in nothing.
Except for the two figures keeping her company. "After everything you've been through— after considering everything you have... shouldn't you know better?" Naru's words rang on her mind and Akemi decided to face them head on.
"Who are you?! What do you want?!" The heiress yells at the spirits in front of her.
They froze, as though shocked. "You...see...us?"
Akemi paused, her brows furrowed in confusion. "What..?"
"You...see...us?" One of them repeated.
Akemi's shoulders slumped, with a whisper she nods. A bit hesitant yet Akemi went for it. "Yes... I can see you..."
Like an on switch, light engulfed the dark abyss and Akemi woke up.