Just Once More 2 - What Had Kept Them Apart

JUST ONCE MORE

Author's Note: I'm not exactly sure how this story will turn up. But here is the second part of the story. This turned out to be longer than the first part so I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Oh yeah! Before I forget, I specifically didn't indicate that the first scene of the first part of the story. I don't know why but that's what came to me. Anyway, don't forget to review this part. I started writing the second installment of "To The One I Love" series so I'll be able to post this much faster (I hope). Enjoy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt and its characters. Somehow, I could say that the plot belongs to me. So I guess I should still be happy with that.

Warning: Characters might not be in their usual selves. In other words, possible OOC

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PART TWO

What Had Kept Them Apart

Loud knocking at the door and Mai's name being called were seemed to be muffled as each moment passed. But weird enough, Mai didn't seem to care even though the room was dark. She could see a study table with a lamp. The bookshelves were full of books with colorful covers. The curtains weren't drew open. That was when she realized that the study room hasn't really been opened for a long time.

Her eyes wondered around the room. She could feel that the place was definitely lonely. She wouldn't be surprised if she found out that this was the place where the spirit that she represented in her dream died. When she turned around to look at the study table, she was surprised to see that the lamp was lit open. Not only that, a woman with a long brown hair was sitting in front of it. The said woman was writing something on a notebook of some sort. It must be her journal, she thought.

While watching the vision, Mai couldn't help but to shed tears for the woman. She was obviously very lonely and completely broken. The woman was crying while writing on her journal. In that quite far distance that the woman and Mai had between them, she could clearly feel the spirit's pain. The loss of the person she loved the most was completely unbearable. But could Mai do something to console her? Would the spirit be cleansed if she did find out what it wanted? Probably, in a normal sense and situation.

But how the hell would she be able to find Shiro for this spirit? Shiro was dead… right? He must have moved on.

"Please… Allow these words to lead him back to me…" the woman suddenly murmured while crying. Mai still managed to hear it. "Lead Shiro back to me… I want to be with him just once more…"

As soon as those words were uttered, another woman entered the room. Wait a second, entered? No one was at the door of the room. She was sure the others were there.

Then that means… I'm looking at the vision of the past, she concluded. So she continued to watch. The other woman who entered the room had a short brown hair. When she looked at her, an image of Masako entered her mind. This woman must have been the person that Masako represented in Mai's dream.

"Mina-neesama, you have to rest. Please…" the short-haired woman said. So Mina was the long-haired woman's name.

"Takako-chan, it doesn't even matter if I rest or not," Mina said sadly to the short-haired woman. "Takako-chan, please promise me one thing."

Takako was beginning to cry but still, she gave a small smile and nodded. "Anything."

"Don't let her forget about me. Let her know how much I love her. And if you could, do whatever it takes for Shiro to come back to this house. He'll be turned into a ghost, I know it. Do what you can to have him go here and let him find these words I wrote just for him. I want to see him… at least just once more… for the sake of Minako…"

"Mina-neesama…" Takako uttered and sobbed on her sister's lap. Mina was brushing her younger sister's hair with her hand. "I promise… I'll bring him back here…"

Bright light surrounded the place as soon as Takako said those words. The next thing Mai knew, she was being pulled away from that place. She wanted to scream but no voice was coming out of her mouth.

"I'll lead him back here… for Minako's sake…" Those words said by Takako were the last that Mai heard before completely faded away and lost consciousness.

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"Hmm…" Mai moaned and slowly opened her eyes. Where am I? I remember that I entered the study room and then… I saw a vision. Mina and Takako… Mina's pain and Takako's regret and inability to accept her sister's inevitable fate after losing the man she loved—all of it was shown in that vision. But who's Minako?

"Mai!"

That voice snapped her out of her musings. When her eyes roamed around, she only saw Naru in that room. Room? I'm back in my room? Wait a minute! What the heck happened? She didn't just lose consciousness in that place, did she?

"Naru? How—"

"When we busted the door open, we found you lying on the floor unconscious. You were crying, too. Did you have a dream again? Does it have to do something with—" But Naru abruptly stopped from talking when Mai spoke.

"She wants him back," Mai suddenly said; her tone of voice has a mixture of sadness and pain.

She's really sensitive to the spirit's feelings, huh? Naru thought but didn't show any emotion with regards to it. "Who?"

"The man she loves, Shiro," Mai answered. "Mina wanted to lead Shiro back to her using the words she wrote on those boulders. I just can't figure out who Shiro is and where could those boulders be located. Mina also mentioned someone named Minako."

"Minako?"

Mai nodded. "I think Mina entrusted Minako to her younger sister, Takako. Other than that, I'm not sure who Minako is."

Naru went quiet after she told him that. That silence went for about a minute or so.

"Naru?" she called out when she couldn't bear the silence anymore. Though she was quite used to it, this time she couldn't take it. "Is there something wrong?"

He faced her and she was surprised when she actually stared intently at her. His stare was different that made her scared and… happy at the same time.

"Don't go anywhere," he sternly said and then he left just like that.

"Naru, where are you going?" But he didn't say anything. He just took off without a word. Don't go anywhere? And where does he expect me to go with this kind of situation? She just sighed.

Oh, well. She didn't have much of a choice but to follow orders from her boss, right? But something about that dream bothered her big time. What did that dream means? It was a vision of the past but something about that room definitely had a message that the spirit—either Mina or Takako—was trying to convey to them; possibly to the whole Kawazumi family.

"Lead him to me… Let these words lead him back to me…"

Words… She was sure Mina was referring to the words she etched on those boulders. But Mai was also sure Mina was referring to the words written on the journal.

The journal in my dream… which was probably left by Mina in the study room. I have to tell Naru! With that decision, she jumped out of her bed and hurriedly reached the door. But as soon as she opened it, she bumped into someone that made them fall down.

"Ow!" she groaned as she tried to stand up. To her surprise, she saw a good-looking man—probably around John's age—stood up and laid a hand in front of her.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't looking," the chocolate brown-haired man apologetically said. Mai could feel that the man was telling the truth so she accepted his help in making her stand up. "I was actually in a hurry to go outside. I didn't know you were about to come out and I guess I'm really that clumsy. I'm really sorry."

"No, it's okay," Mai insisted. "I wasn't looking in my way either and like you, I'm in a hurry. I lost my focus, I guess." Then she remembered something. "Anyway, I haven't seen you here before. Would it be okay if I ask who you might be?"

"Sure. My name is Kisaragi Takuya, Takako-neesan's brother-in-law. You are?"

Mai was startled and gave a bow. "I'm Taniyama Mai, a part-time investigator at Shibuya Psychic Research or simply put, SPR. You can call me Mai. Why are you here, by the way?"

"We heard about the strange phenomena happening in this house, so Takako-neesan, Minako-chan and I decided to come. Maybe we could be of help."

The names he heard had struck her. "Takako? Minako?"

Though confused, Takuya nodded. "Takako-neesan's my older brother's wife. They got married five years ago. Minako-chan's her niece but unfortunately, the rest of the Kawazumi family didn't know that truth. The family thought that Minako-chan's my older brother's daughter from previous marriage," he said sadly that caught her attention.

"This house and this family might have a secret that resulted to these strange phenomena." Mai remembered Naru's words. Not only did the family kept the truth about Shiro and Mina's death a secret, but also Minako's existence and true heritage.

"Minako-chan was Mina's daughter to Shiro… wasn't she?" she mumbled. The said words didn't make Takuya surprised, though. In fact, his face was serious. It was like he entrusted that secret to her.

Takuya nodded as an answer. "I'm sure Mina wanted her family—and most of all, Shiro—to know that."

"What do you mean by 'most of all'? Shiro's dead, isn't he? I mean, he died almost nine years ago…" Mai's eyes widened at a realization that struck her. "Not unless… Mina's family lied to her…"

"They did," a voice said that has the only ability to make her heart beat faster. She turned around and she saw Naru approaching with a hardbound notebook on his hand.

"Naru… is that…?"

The said man nodded. As soon as he stopped in front of her, he faced Takuya. "And who might you be?"

Mai frowned at the tone of voice that Naru used. Was it her or she had this feeling that he was irritated and… annoyed? That's impossible! Why would he? Takuya-san only helped me. That's just it.

"Ah, my name's Kisaragi Takuya. I'm Takako-neesan's brother-in-law." And then Takuya's face went solemn. "It seems that you found out the truth, huh?"

"The truth? You mean about Minako-chan and Shiro?" Mai asked.

Naru sighed before speaking. "I forced the eldest brother to tell us the truth when I told them that Mina was getting her revenge by causing these phenomena in this house."

I didn't realize you're also a sadist, Naru, Mai thought.

"What exactly happened that time, Naru? Why did they have to create that lie to Mina?"

"The family wasn't exactly delighted by the fact that Mina fell in love with their gardener's son, Kanada Shiro. Despite the family's declaration about their inability to accept the couple's relationship, Mina and Shiro still continued seeing each other in secret. But one night, almost nine years ago, the eldest brother decided to end it. He paid someone to plot a murder that looked like an accident in order to dispose of Shiro. The plan worked… or at least that's what they thought," Naru explained that surprised Mai. But that surprise turned to confusion when she heard the last phrase that Naru said.

"What they thought? You mean Shiro didn't die?" Mai asked in which Naru replied with a nod.

"Shiro survived… at the cost of all his memories. And that also includes his memories about Mina. The family found out but they remained silent about it. They actually felt relieved back then when they realized that Shiro wouldn't disturb Mina anymore since he had no memory of everything at all. But they never realized that Mina kept a part of Shiro inside of her. At the same time, her health started deteriorating."

Mai couldn't help but to cry upon hearing that. Now she completely understood Mai's pain—the pain that the spirit had let her feel through the means of dreams. All Mina wanted was for other people to understand just how much she loved Shiro—to the point where she was willing to defy everything just to be with him for the rest of her life. Takako understood her so much—that was why Mina entrusted her daughter Minako to her sister. But it seemed that Takako wasn't able to bring Shiro back to the house and let him find those words that would lead him back to Mina.

If Shiro was alive, what happened to him?

"How did Mina die?" Mai asked after moments of thinking.

"Childbirth and depression. Because of her deteriorating health due to depression upon losing Shiro, she died just after giving birth to Minako. Mina predicted ahead of time that her baby to Shiro would be a girl," Naru answered. "But if Takako knew that Shiro was alive, why didn't she do anything to fulfill her promise to Mina?"

"She couldn't find Shiro," Takuya replied. "For 6 years, she and my brother tried to find him. It was by accident that Takako-neesan managed to locate him in New York. Shiro was still suffering from retrograde amnesia till that time. But when she let Shiro and Minako-chan meets, that was when it all came back. Minako knew who her real parents were so she was extremely happy that she was able to meet her father, at last. But then, things took a turn for the worst when he discovered that Mina had already died a few months after the accident that took away his memories."

"So he tried to go back here?" Takuya nodded in response to Mai's question. "I wouldn't be surprised if the family didn't allow him to see at least her grave."

"That's because they didn't know where Mina was buried," Naru said.

"Didn't know? You mean—"

"Takako-neesan firmly stood to her decision of keeping it a secret from the rest of the family. Only those who understood Mina more than anyone knew where the grave is," Takuya said. "Besides, Mina trusted Takako-neesan so much. Nee-san knew the pain Mina had been through ever since the entire family did something to separate Shiro from her."

"Does Minako-chan know where Mina was buried?" Takuya nodded and smiled. That relieved Mai. At least, Minako wasn't clueless as to where Mina lies.

"Twice a month, Minako would visit her mother's grave. Takako-neesan would always accompany her. Minako-chan would tell a lot of things in front of the grave and she would even show videos of her. In fact, Minako said she wanted to be a novelist just like her mother and a photographer just like her father one day," Takuya explained.

But something was still off, only Mai couldn't figure out what.

"If Shiro's alive and he was able to meet his daughter, how come he's not here now that strange things are happening?" Mai couldn't help but to ask. She really needed to know every bit of information that had something to do with this case.

"Shiro…" Takuya started sadly. "Shiro died three weeks ago," he said. "His ashes were entrusted to Takako-neesan since it was Shiro's dying will. He wanted Takako-neesan to bury it near Mina's grave and only Nee-san knows it."

Mai and Naru were shocked about the news.

"How did he…?"

"Suicide. He shot himself months after discovering what happened to Mina. Depression was also the key factor why it all got worse. But he was glad that, at the very least, he was able to meet Minako and spend some time with her even just for a short while. Takako-neesan wasn't able to fulfill his dying wish before since a lot of things had been going on. She knew that this is the right time for the two to meet once again and for the whole family to know the truth about Mina and Minako," Takuya explained further.

Mai couldn't say anything more after that. Why did Mina and Shiro have to suffer this way for so long? Were they not really meant to be together? Couldn't anyone do anything for them to be together once again? Mina wanted to be with Shiro—no matter what. How could their fate be this cruel to them?

She couldn't help but to allow her tears to fall upon realizing the hardships Mina and Shiro had to go through even in the afterlife. Their love for each other wasn't even enough to at least bring them back together. Were they fated to be separated forever?

"Mai, are you alright?" Naru asked nonchalantly. He just couldn't voice out his concerns for her right now. They still need to solve the case.

Mai seemed to be startled and faced him. She nodded, followed by a small smile. Then she noticed the journal in his hands.

"Naru, mind if I take a look at that for a minute?" she asked, pointing at the journal.

The man complied and gave the journal to her. No doubt, this was Mina's journal that I saw in my dream, she thought as soon as she took it from him. Without a word, she opened it and scanned the pages. She wasn't sure what she was exactly looking for. But she knew it was there; she just needed to look for it. Her instincts led her to the last page.

This is it! The words she etched on those boulders! Her mind exclaimed as soon as she laid her eyes on certain words that were awfully familiar.

The words etched on the five different and distant boulders were formed in that journal as a poem that contained five stanzas. The formed poem was entitled by Mina as "Just Once More" and there was a message written before the title of the poem.

These words will lead you to me, my love…

Mai silently read the poem. She wasn't exactly good at appreciating Literature. But that poem would lead them to solve the case. They need to bring Mina and Shiro back together so they could be happy. With that resolve in her mind, she took off suddenly with the journal on her hand.

"I'm going out!" she said without looking at the two men she was just talking with a while ago.

"Mai, where are you going? Come back here!" Naru said firmly but she didn't listen. Right now, all that mattered to her was to be able to find Mina.

All Naru could do was to sigh heavily. Mai seemed to have followed her instincts again. Her dream must have something to do with it. "That brat! Heading off somewhere by herself again…" he muttered.

"But aren't you going to do something, Shibuya-san?" Takuya later asked without looking at him.

Though those words were said plainly, Naru could feel something in it. It was as if—

"Aren't you going to do something to protect Mai-san from being used by Mina to kill those who had hurt her before?" Takuya added.

Those words struck him. But what could Takuya possibly mean? Does Mai went out to find Mina and in return, Mina will use her to seek out her revenge? Naru clenched his fist and went off without a word.

Mai, better not do something foolish. I won't let that spirit use you by any means! He couldn't believe how protective he was becoming to Mai ever since he came back from England. But that didn't even matter. He has to protect Mai no matter what it takes. It was enough that Mai was having those terrible dreams and being a constant target by ghosts as a sacrifice or a playmate. But he wouldn't allow any spirit—no matter who/what it was—to use Mai as a puppet in order to deliver their vengeance. Hell would freeze over first before something like that happened.

Wait for me, Mai!

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"Where's Naru-bou?" Monk asked the quiet young man standing in front of Mai's room.

But all the answer the team got from Takuya was a sigh before he turned his back from them and walked away.

"Hey, I'm asking you a question!" Monk yelled but he and the others stopped when they heard Takuya talked.

"Let them be. I'm sure those two… could bring them back together at last. Only those two can do it."

The others looked at the young man quizzically before they saw him leave. For some reasons, they wanted to put their faith to what Takuya just said. Mai and Naru could possibly solve the case and put an end to Mina and Shiro's sufferings.

As they were about to rest and guard the family, Takako said something that turned things to the worst.

"Minako-chan's gone! I can't find her!"

The team was shocked upon hearing that.

"What?" Naru and Mai disappeared all of a sudden and now, the kid that could possibly help Mina and Shiro to move on disappeared, too.

How could things get any worse?

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I have to end the chapter here. I just hope the explanation I gave here wasn't confusing. But if you have questions regarding this, you could leave it in your reviews. That would be extremely nice if you did leave them after reading this chapter. Tell me what you think about this chapter. You could give ideas, if you want. I'll place the answers in the author's note on the next chapter (which also happened to be the last one, too).

Coming next…

PART 3 – Words To Lead Him Back