"What, you?" she blurted out in surprise, "you want to come with me when I visit them?"
"Oooh yes! I'll keep you company."
"Uh-... I-I..." she stammered, overwhelmed, "b-are you sure about that? You don't really know what you're getting yourself into, Satoru."
"But of course I do."
Once again she gave me a tense and hopeless smile that said something like 'you're getting yourself into the biggest mess, but I'd appreciate it'. I skillfully ignored the burgeoning stomach ache I felt at the thought and thought much more about the fact that I should see it as research. In my opinion, someone in her family would have been enriched in cursing energy.
And who knew if her parents hadn't lied to her over the years? Mayu didn't have the experience to find out exactly that. That could have been one of the reasons for the radical upbringing. To hide something they were probably able to protect their daughter from. But then with such a hard way? Hardly likely. So that suited me just fine.
"All right," she admitted, surprised but still skeptical, "are you sure about that?"
"If I had the chance, I'd pull the towel off you completely right now."
At first she had to look for the context, but in the same second she understood what I meant and shook her head with a grin. But not without a blush on her face.
"Okay, when do we want to get this over with? Next weekend? Not next weekend, but next week?"
"How long are you planning to stay there?"
She paused again, seemed to be trying hard to find the right time frame and picked up another piece of the last remaining sushi morsels.
"One night at most. From Saturday to Sunday."
"Are you sure? I wouldn't mind two nights either."
"Two nights?!" she said, which I had already expected, "will I gain something?" she was referring to the unbearably long time I had suggested with her parents.
"Yep. Time alone with me, where we can make out carelessly without anyone from the others getting in our way."
With the piece of sushi in her mouth, she spluttered and put her hand over her mouth. Her shoulders shook before she burst out laughing.
"I have to admit that if I were as quick-witted as you, I'd have a suitable line for you right now, but I think it's enough that I'll just take you with me."
"I think so too."
There they were again, the cherry-red cheeks. It made me happy that she was able to add a little humor to her unpleasant visit with her parents. Hard to believe, but I had sometimes thought that I had already been punished enough with my parents and that it couldn't have been any worse... But Mayu's parents?
The phrase 'worse is always possible' deserved another medal in his collection. Of course, things could have been far more unpleasant, up to and including violence and deeply disturbing actions, but that had already been more than enough.
"Are you really okay with this?" she asked cautiously, placing her hand on my forearm.
"Of course it is. It counts as a short vacation."
"Short vacation... That's anything but relaxing. I'd rather meet hundreds of cursed spirits in a row and be more relaxed..." she grumbled dismissively, which made me laugh out loud at this scaredy-cat.
"Well, I'm very curious to see how strictly religious you are. That's why you never wear a neckline, is it?" I teased her knowingly, which made her jaw drop and she took her hand away from me.
"Please?! That's not true," she laughed, "it has something to do with class and the fact that I don't want you to stare at my breasts all the time. Apart from that, have I ever worn anything more revealing? And besides - hello?! What happened earlier?! You were pretty close to seeing more than just my cleavage!" she reared up defensively, placing her hand symbolically and protectively on her cleavage, which I found unspeakably sweet and funny.
"Is that so?" I continued, to which she continued to huff.
"Yes! Besides, my parents are religious - not me. They couldn't force that line on me."
"But they tried?"
"Of course they did. Countless times," she rolled her eyes generously, "it felt like there was no method that wouldn't change my mind. I had to go to church services, memorize prayers, read the Bible up and down, recite the ten commandments every day and oh, I could write you a whole list about it, but I couldn't and wouldn't agree to it. They can do it however they want, but it was enough for me to see these strange curses."
I nodded in amusement and understanding.
"All right then. Then I'll clarify that with them on my next phone call, if I have to call them anyway."
I grinned to myself. I was secretly looking forward to this meeting more than going on a ghost hunt, even if I had mixed feelings about it. Had they really been that weird?