Disclamer: I, sadly, do not own Ghost Hunt.


The Little Things

Why on earth does he park his car so far away from the office?

Mai brought her hands up and cupped them around her mouth and blew hot air onto her palms. She looked down the sidewalk in which Kazuya had walked down to get his car for any signs of him returning. None. She sighed and blew into her hands again as she walked over to the office steps and sat on the bottom one. Really, why so far away?

She looked up at the sky as snow started to fall once again that day. It had been doing so off and on all day. She reached out her ice cold hands and caught a few of the snowflakes on her palms. She looked down at her hands and smiled as the flakes sat there for longer than usual because of her cold hands.

The sound of an engine coming down the street caught Mai's attention and she sighed in relief when a familiar black Honda Civic GX pulled up to the curb in front of where she was sitting. The driver reached over the passenger seat and opened the door for her before motioning her to get in. Mai stood up and dashed for the car, hopped in and slammed the door closed.

"Thank You for the ride home Naru," she said to Kazuya as he pulled away from the curb. He nodded.

Mai lived ten blocks away from the office and usually walked to and from work. She would have done the same today - she didn't mind the snow - except a warning for a blizzard that night had been issued. It wasn't supposed to hit until late, the reporter had said. Mai had planned on walking home, as per usual. That is, until Koujo, her co-worker had to leave early for some reason and Kazuya needed help with a project. That took a good few hours, and Koujo never came back. It was really late at night before boss and assistant decided to call it a night and go home, the project yet to be finished. Mai ended up asking Kazuya for a ride home, which led to the question, why park so far away from the office?

Mai asked him as much as he drove slowly around patches of ice along the road. She was slightly surprised when he answered.

"I like walking," he replied turning a corner "I would actually rather walk to work than drive but Lin won't let me. We live too far away. Further than you do actually. So, I drive most of the way then park a few blocks from the office and walk."

Mai watched him for a minute as a slightly comfortable silence fell upon the car. It wasn't often that you got so much about himself out of him. It was usually work related.

After another minute, Mai decided that she wasn't going to get anymore out of him. Giving a small, silent sigh she turned to look out the window. The snow was falling at a faster pace than before, a warning for the fast coming storm. Wind howled through small cracks in the car reminding Mai of the sounds she often heard in her job. Ghosts loved making eerie noises to scare people.

Ghost hunting wasn't most peoples' ideal job. Mai rather enjoyed it though. Not once has she regretted breaking the camera that got her the job she has now. She does still feel a little bad about getting her co-worker injured over it though. Koujo seemed to hate her at first. Getting him injured didn't seem to help much, but when Mai confronted him about it, he told her that he didn't hate her and that he was sorry for making her feel that way. Now, they were on the borderline of being good friends.

Mai smiled as she thought of that moment then turned to her boss a little confused. "Where did Lin go," she asked the seventeen year old "it's not like him to leave so early."

He glanced at her through the corner of his eye then looked back to the road. "He went to see a potential client. I got a call from someone that asked us to come down to look at it as soon as possible. As we were talking noises started up in the background and the phone suddenly cut off. I had Lin rush off to the house. He should call as soon as he's done seeing if everything is alright."

"Wow," Mai replied at a loss for words "are we going to take it?"

It was silent for a moment as he turned another corner.

"I am prepared to accept the case and head down there as soon as I get the call from Lin, if there really is a problem. I suggest you pack as soon as you get home."

Mai merely nodded her head and looked back out the window. The quiet was tense this time. It was always like this whenever they drove somewhere. She was starting to get used to it. Mai jumped slightly when a guitar riff sounded through the car. She looked down at the car speaker on the door than to the radio console on the dashboard. It was turned on. The music seemed to be a Metal, Alternative mix.

She looked to Kazuya and stared. He listened to music, and this no less?

Kazuya felt eyes on him and glanced to his right to see Mai looking at him. She seemed a little shocked. He was confused for a second before it registered that he had turned on the radio. It was never on when she was with him and Lin.

"You don't mind do you," he asked turning his focus back to the road.

"No," she replied a little dumbfounded "it's just surprising is all. You never put music on."

Kazuya smirked a little. "Lin doesn't like listening to music. If I had my way, the radio would always be on but Lin has control of the dashboard when we are together so, that's not possible."

Mai noted that he sounded like he was pouting. She stifled a laugh as the wind picked up outside making the howling louder. "I guess that sounds like Lin, but this kind of music? I would have seen you as a Classical kind of guy."

Kazuya's face twisted into a grimace. "Classical is too high pitched. The only pieces that I like that are Classical are Fur Elis and Canon in D minor."

Mai smiled at him. She liked it when he opened up to her. She watched as he reached over to the radio and turned up the music drowning out the moaning of the wind as the storm picked up.

A minute passed and neither one spoke. Kazuya's voice cut through the car startling Mai slightly.

"He only lets me put music on when it's storming," he said softly "it drowns out the noises."

He's afraid of storms. Mai was intrigued by this. He can go up against ghosts and demons and not so much as blink an eye, but storms make him afraid? Mai grinned. We all have our own fears, she guessed.

"I'm afraid of spiders," Mai commented "the small ones. I think the big ones are cool."

The corner of Kazuya's lips twitched up into a small smile. "That's rather…weird."

She sighed. "Yeah, I know."

He pulled the car up to a curb and Mai was surprised to see that they were already in front of her apartment building. She sighed again. She didn't want to go.

Mai unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door. She and Kazuya both ducked their heads down as a gust of wind shot through the car. The storm had gotten worse; neither of them had realized it. She got out of the car and turned to look at her boss.

"Thank You for the ride," she said to him, her body blocking the brunt of the wind "will you be alright getting home?"

"I'll be fine."

Mai looked at him with a contemplating look then looked to the radio. "You should try listening to emo music. It might suit you."

Kazuya gave a slight chuckle. It surprised her. "I'll keep that in mind", he responded.

She grinned at him and stood up. She was about to close the door when her name was called. Mai bent back down to the opening of the car and looked back inside. Kazuya was watching her.

"Thank You," he remarked sincerely "for your help today."

She smiled again. "No problem."

She stood back up and slammed the car door shut before dashing into her apartment building. She looked out the lobby window to see her boss's car pull away from the curb and drive down the street. Mai grinned again and started up to her apartment.

He didn't have a bad personality. It really is the little things that count.


Thank You for reading. I was sooooo happy that I won first place in the contest at my library. Review please!!!!