AN: After lurking around for like, what seems to be forever, i finally got around to writing a story of mine, characters are based off the anime/manga ghost hunt and as much as i wished that i own them, they belong to Ono Fuyumi. Well except maybe the characters that I made up myself. No flames please, constructive critisim appreciated :)
Premised off their childhood... What if they had met each other as children?
Going on the basis that Noll's name is Kazuya and Gene's is Jin when they were young.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
'bbbzzztt….'
A flash of static is shown before what looks like a tatami mat comes blurrily into focus.
"Oh, oh, I think it's on…. maybe" a female voice says.
"Be careful dear, it's hot…" a deep male voice says from somewhere off screen.
"Okay!" answers a young chirpy female voice.
The sounds of cicadas could be heard somewhere off screen in the distance.
The clink of what sounded like porcelain, followed by the sound of water being poured out from a container, probably a teapot.
"Is that it daddy?" said the young female voice.
"Hmmm" answered the male voice. A rustle of fabric... "What are you doing?" The male voice continues.
"I'm trying to get this to work, do you think it's on?" answers the female voice.
All the while, the only thing that blurs in and out of focus is what seems to be the tatami mat.
"I think it's on honey, look the red light is blinking." answered the male voice.
"Oh, haha, so it is..." laughs the female voice sheepishly, before the view is brought up from the tatami mat, focusing to show a veranda with a Japanese garden, including a small koi pond. The sky is a clear blue; it looks like a hot day, the wind chime hanging above the sliding door leading to the veranda sways gently, but not enough to produce any sound.
The soft whirring of a fan somewhere in the room could be heard.
The camera turns around to a low table, revealing a man, probably in his middle to late thirties, sitting cross-legged on the floor at the table with a little girl, that could be no more than probably five or six.
On the table, what looked like various utensils to make tea was spread out, together with a teapot, tea canister, a tray and some teacups.
"Mai chan…" called the female voice in a singsong way.
The little girl, with brunette hair that reaches over her shoulder looked up from the teacups on the table to reveal big brown eyes that twinkled as she smiled at the person holding the camera.
"Hai~"
"What are you doing with daddy?"
"Making tea!" giggles Mai.
The sound of a page being turned is heard somewhere off screen, while the female voice continues her interview with Mai.
"Are you good at making tea?"
Mai turns to her father, who smiles and nods at her before grinning widely back at the camera.
"Yes! Daddy says Mai the best!" Mai replies enthusiastically.
"Hmm~ I see, so what does Mai chan wants to be when she grows up?"
"Hmmm~" Mai puts a little finger to her lips as she looks upward, seemingly thinking hard.
"Do you want to be a tea master? Like daddy?" prompts the female voice.
Mai shakes her head.
"Then do you want to be a music teacher like mommy?" Mai's father asks.
Mai just tilts her head to the side, apparently still deep in thought.
"Hmm~ then what does Mai chan wants to be when she is all grown up?" Mai's mother asks.
Mai's eyes light up as she grins widely. Jumping up so that she is no longer sitting on the floor but standing, she looks at someone off screen and away from the camera and declares:
"Mai is going to be K chan's bride when Mai grows up!"
The two adults giggle, as the scoffing sound of a young boy could be heard off screen together with the sound of a page being turned.
"Don't be an idiot." Answers a young male voice.
"Ehhh~ but why? Does K chan not like Mai?" asks Mai as she puffed up her cheeks. The adults giggle again with this exchange.
The camera view leaves Mai for a brief moment to focus on a young boy probably about six or seven reading a book, that looked much too difficult for his age, and which hid his face. All that could be seen was his black hair above the top of the book, as he sat in a chair in the corner of the room reading his book.
"That's not the point, idiot" K answers from behind the book.
"But Mai likes K chan! A lot and a lot" Mai pouted, her voice a little louder than earlier.
"It's not 'a lot and a lot' idiot, it should be 'very much'; anyway, that's something that's too far away for you to decide now, there are too many uncertain variables in place to determine if that outcome is even possible" sighs K as he flips another page of his book.
The giggling adults are joined by the giggling sound of another young male voice, which could be heard from the other corner of the room. If it wasn't because K didn't seem to be the one giggling, one would have naturally thought that the sound originated from K, the voice sounding very similar to his own, as the camera moved between K and Mai.
"Hnnn~" answered Mai, her brows furrowed at the difficult words that K had just said, apparently her earlier question and declaration forgotten.
"What's varrable? And deturmun?" Mai asks.
The other young male voice giggled even harder.
"Mai chan, you are missing the point here" answered the other young male voice that did not belong to K.
"Shut up Jin" K said. The camera shifts to the other side of the room, to a boy with similar black hair, lying on his side with his back facing the camera, presumably reading a book, which was lying on the floor.
Jin just ignored K, laughed and said, "It's 'variable' and 'determine'. He just means that there are lot of things that may change and it's not decided if you will be his bride for sure"
"Heeeh~ then doesn't K chan just have to make sure that no matter what those things that may change are, that he makes Mai his bride?"
Jin laughs off screen as the camera focuses back on a confused looking Mai.
K just sighs "I'm not going to comment on something so uncertain…"
"Hmmph… that means you don't want Mai as your bride!" Mai pouts putting her hands on her hips.
"If it's like that, Mai isn't going to make you any more tea! K chan you idiot! K chan can make his own tea from now on!" Mai declares.
Without looking up from his book while flipping the page again, K sighs for what seemed like the umpteenth time.
"First off all, it's not Mai that makes the tea, it's Oji chan, so your threat is not valid."
"Hmmph" pouts Mai as she sits back on the floor with her back facing K's direction.
Jin let's out a laugh "Mai chan, you are still missing the point here"
The camera focuses on Mai's confused face. "Huh?"
"He never said that he didn't like Mai chan, or that he would not make Mai chan his bride now did he?" laughs Jin.
"Jin!" K's stern voice is heard as Jin laughs, while a smile is seen cracking on Mai's face.
"Hehe, Jin chan is so smart." Laughs Mai.
"Then why don't you be Jin's bride instead of mine?"
"Oh no, Mai chan you just made him jealous!" laughs Jin.
"Somebody is jealous, somebody is jealous~" Sings Jin, as the sound of something being thrown, probably K's book was being thrown at Jin, and the sound of a Shoji door opening and one pair of footsteps running, and another chasing is heard.
The camera leaves Mai's laughing face to an open Shoji door revealing a hallway and what looked like the book K was reading earlier on the floor, as the two adults kept laughing at what had just transpired.
"Anyway Mai chan, all the best in making your dream come true, ok? " Mai's mother says.
"Hai!" Mai replies with a wide smile.
"bbzzzzt" the screen turns static, and a thin light shoots across the screen, before it goes blank.
Notes:
1. Tatami mat basically something like a mat made out of straw that covers the floors of most traditional Japanese homes.
2. Koi pond basically "koi" means carp. Just imagine a traditional Japanese fish pond with carp in it.
3. "Hai" basically Japanese version of 'yes', but also used as an acknowledgement, that you heard what a person was telling you, or to indicate that you understand what was spoken to you. Also used in place of "okay".
4. It's not uncommon for young children, especially little girls to refer to themselves in the third person, hence Mai's speech "Mai did this" etc. usually some of them grow out of it, while some may continue using it to a certain age, as it is deemed cute.
5. "Oji chan" basically means uncle. Not necessarily related. Children are usually taught to refer to a grown man as 'uncle', e.g. like calling their father's friend 'uncle'. Although it would be considered rude to call a teenager 'uncle' so in that case the teenager is referred to as 'big brother' or 'onii san/chan'. Not to be confused with "ojii san/chan" which means grandfather.
6. Shoji door basically paper sliding door, commonly seen in traditional Japanese households.
ノート
麻衣は六歳、和也はあの同じの年の九月が七歳にもすぐなります。
夏はそろそろ終わります。このストーリは八月ぐらいのはなしです。
-「夢見サヤか」-