Dancing Mai

Prolouge

She twisted and turned and leapt and slightly trusted the boy she danced with, allowing him to push and pull her where ever she needed to be. Her leg lifted and dropped, arms wrapped, released and swirled around her as she took two steps forward before bending at the waist and letting herself get dragged back. She bent backwards, slowing right before she hit the floor and kicking off with her feet, exhaling softly in relief when her partner caught her...only to yelp when said partner gasped and let her fall to the ground.

"Akuma-kun!" Brown eyes snapped back to her and she huffed as he helped her off the floor, dark brown eyes quickly scanning for injuries.

"Sorry! Sorry Mai-chan! It's just...." The girl huffed, her brown bangs sticking to her sweat covered forehead.

"Just what?!"

"I thought I saw Yuki...."

~X-x-X~

"He really dropped you?!"

"The nerve of that guy! You're like the best dancer in our year Mai!" Both the yelling girls quickly giggled at the blush that appeared on their friends face.

"Well I guess his reason was okay." The girls stopped giggling.

"He said he saw Yuki." The words were spoken at a whisper, but they might as well have been shouted. Everyone stilled, papers dropped, pencils broke, and gasps echoed.

"What did she just say?"

"Akuma-kun saw Yuki!"

"ATTENTION! ALL STUDENTS ARE TO REPORT TO THE AUDITORIUM AT THIS TIME. ALL STUDENTS ARE TO REPORT TO THE AUDITORIUM AT THIS TIME." Everyone stopped talking and stared at the little stereo in the ceiling. Mai let out a sigh as the whispering grew ten fold and followed her down to her seat in the auditorium. Slouching, she groaned as people pointed at her and she heard her name whispered more than once.

"Quiet down students! Quiet down now!" Everyone continued talking, pointing at the people that stood next to the Principal.

"QUIET!" The vice principal let a smile cross his features as he thanked the now quiet room.

"As you all know, many of our third year dancers have gone missing only to turn up...dead." The Principal cleared his throat and gestured to the people next to him. Mai didn't look at them, it was useless anyway. She was sat in the very back, what with her name being Taniyama after all.

"This is SPR and I have hired them to look into the murders. They will be setting up cameras and other equipment so if you see any do not, I repeat, do not touch them. If you break them you will pay for it and will be suspended from school. If you have any information regarding the murders please show up at studio 3-A tomorrow."

~X-x-X~

"Mai are you going today to talk to those SPR people?" The brown haired girl nodded.

"Yeah, Akuma-kun is too scared to talk to them so I'm going instead." They giggled before parting. Mai sighed and turned to look up at the school, grip tightening on her small dance bag when she saw the long line. Heaving another sigh she headed to the studio she normally worked in, Studio 3-B.

For hours she stretched, spun, bent and exercised her muscles while she waited for the long lines to go down. After checking for the fiftieth time, only to groan in disappointment to see they were still as long as they were last time, she sat in the middle of the studio staring into the mirror.

"Yuki, Amaya, Hotaru, Suzume, and Usagi are all dead." Blowing her bangs out of her eyes she sprawled out across the floor, eyes closed.

"But why? Yuki was so sweet, she was the one who helped me become one of the best first year dancers. And Suzume was a really sweet person, whenever someone had a question they went to her!" Mai rubbed her face, groaning at her thoughts.

"And then Akuma-kun had to go and say he saw her while we practiced! GAH the nerve of that guy!" She quickly crawled over to her bag and snatched her water up, mumbling angrily as she sat back and drank to her hearts content. Then she lay on her back and covered her eyes with her elbow, drifting off into her thoughts.

"You...sound...upset...." Mai froze. No. There was no possible way.

"Mai-chan...please...." Brown eyes widened, pupils dialated as she sat up and turned to see the white glowing figure surrounded by black.

"Yu-Yuki?"

"Help."

"YUKI!" Mai sat up with a gasp, looking around the empty room for a dead girl.

"Whoa there!" A woman with red hair and calming brown eyes put her hands up, hoping the girl who had just been passed out wouldn't hit her.

"Wh-who are you?"

"We were wondering the same thing kiddo." A man with long shaggy blonde hair pulled back was on her other side. Mai blinked.

"When did you come in here?" She just blinked and these two random people appeared out of no where!

"You passed out thirty minutes ago. We were watching you after you stayed in here for seven hours."

"Oh. I passed out? That doesn't make any sense! I can dance for seven hours straight, why would I pass out?" The brown haired girl continued thinking aloud as she stood up and began pacing around the room. "I ate today, I made sure I was hydrated, so what was it."

Mai stopped, suddenly growing pale as she stared at the mirror. A quick flash, a friendly smile reflecting back in the air next to her.

"Yuki." The girl shivered, bringing her hands up to rub at the raised flesh.

"What?" She gasped, jumping back and falling into a defensive stance. She'd forgotten about the two people who were there when she woke up.

"You said the same name when you woke up."

"Yuki was one of the third years. She died last month." Mai's voice was solemn. "She taught me how to dance, sort of. Yesterday I was practicing with my dance partner Akuma-kun when he dropped me all of a sudden. I asked him why and he said that he saw Yuki. I didn't believe him at first but...."

"But?"

"While I was sitting I heard her voice. She told me I looked upset and then-then she," Mai took a deep breath. "She said my name. I turned around and all of a sudden everything was black and she was hovering there, glowing a pale color. She...she asked me to help her."

The red haired woman opened her mouth to say something only to pause, tilting her head slightly as if listening to God.

"Alright, Monk we're taking her back to base." Mai paused and stared at the two.

"Excuse me? I don't even know you." The two strangers grinned.

"I'm Matsuzaki Ayako, a shrine Maiden." The red haired woman spoke up with a smile and a small wave.

"I'm Hōshō Takigawa, a monk slash guitarist!" The blonde haired man grinned and winked at her, flashing a peace sign.

"We work with SPR and are currently investigating the murders surrounding your school." Needless to say she went with them back to their base.

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This is all I got! I hope you like it! I wrote this during the whole writers block thing I had going on while I was writing the sixth chapter of The Baby Project. After I got fed up I started writing this and then I decided to completely rewrite chapter six! Also this is dedicated to Snavej for helping me out!

Please comment below and tell me what you think! I always enjoy reading your comments and thinking of ways to improve my stories based off your reactions! Don't be afraid to criticize me!