I think it's kind of sad how the only way I can get fanfics uploaded is to write them at four in the morning, so I'll be too tired to hate them. Anyway, Ghost Hunt! I really like Ghost Hunt, and I've been trying to write something for it for a while. I actually sat down intending to finish a story I've been writing about John, but instead I guess I felt like writing something a little less cheery. Might continue this, might not. I don't usually continue fics, but I'm leaving it open just in case.
It was the kind of day where the weather was behaving exactly opposite of how it was supposed to. Mai glared out the office window as if she could will the rain away by staring at it. "Come on sun, shine!" she whined. "How am I supposed to get all my school stuff home without an umbrella?"
"You can borrow mine if it doesn't let up by the time we leave." John gave her a friendly smile as he brought in mugs of hot chocolate for her and Monk.
"You sure it's okay for us to be hanging around here so late?" Monk asked, glancing around nervously. "Last time I was here, Naru got on my case for distracting his employees." He flopped down on the couch, blowing on his hot chocolate to cool it down.
"It's fine, it's fine," Mai answered, waving a hand at him. "He can't possibly expect me to stay here all by myself, this place is so creepy at night!" She did a quick survey of the office, making sure that every light was turned on. "I still think if he was so concerned about all this data being filed, he should have stayed here and done it himself."
John did his best to calm her down. "At least this means he has trust in you to get it done correctly, right?" It was completely unconvincing. Mai doubted that he even believed it himself. But she took the hint and stopped stomping around the office. John always got awfully uncomfortable whenever someone was upset.
If possible, it sounded like it was raining even harder than it had been before. The lights flickered, and Mai scowled. If the power went out on top of everything else, she really was going to kill Naru. What kind of irresponsible employer left his assistant alone in this kind of weather? She realized she was grinding her teeth, so she picked up her mug and took a sip.
"So guys," Monk suddenly spoke up. "Am I the only one who's a little worried about Yasuhara?"
Mai looked up from her hot chocolate in surprise. The question had been spoken in a lighthearted tone, but it was clearly bothering Monk more than he was trying to let on. He was staring down at his own mug, waiting for a response.
She looked past him to John. He shrugged his shoulders, looking just as baffled as she was. Worried about Yasuhara? Where had that come from? She cleared her throat, not exactly sure how to reply.
"Um… I guess so, yeah. Why? Is something wrong with him?"
"I don't know. He seems really tense lately." Monk didn't look up as he spoke, and Mai could see his hands shaking from how tightly he was gripping his mug. "He never plays along with my jokes anymore, and it doesn't look like he's been getting enough sleep."
"…You've really been thinking about this, haven't you?" Mai was trying hard not to stare. What Monk had described didn't sound very serious to her, but he looked almost scared. Maybe it was the weather. It was hard to be calm about anything when the wind was howling so loudly it sounded like it was about to blow down the whole building.
"Well, yeah." Monk tried unsuccessfully to pull his face into a neutral expression. "Yasu's one of my best friends, if something's going on with him I want to know about it. What if he's sick? What if he's being bullied at school? What if-"
John cut him off. "Takigawa, please calm down. You're scaring me a little." He looked like he wasn't sure whether to go over and comfort Monk, or dash out the door and leave the whole situation to Mai. "Yasuhara is probably just stressed out. He has final exams coming up, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, but… he'll ace those. Everyone knows that." Monk looked bewildered. "He's been at the top of his class for as long as we've known him."
"Yes, exactly." John had slipped into the same tone of voice he sometimes used to bring Ayako down from one of her rants. It reminded Mai of the voice he used when talking to five-year-olds, and it was always amazing to her how well it worked on adults too. "When we met him, he was at the top of his class, preparing for college, and head of the student council. That's pretty impressive, so his family and his teachers probably had very high expectations for him when he started college. I've seen his class schedule, and it's the sort of thing that would give most normal people nervous breakdowns."
By this point, John had gotten up out of his chair and was pacing slowly back and forth with a contemplative look on his face. "I think I also heard him mention that he's rented an apartment so he can be closer to school, but I've never heard him mention having any roommates. His job here is part-time, and Naru would let him have time off if he asked for it, but he needs to make enough in a month to pay for rent on his apartment all by himself, while still having enough left over to buy anything else he might need."
Mai raised her hand. "I have to pay rent on an apartment too," she pointed out, "and I don't have that sort of trouble."
John shrugged his shoulders again. "College is harder than high school. Anyway, it's just a theory." He turned to face Monk. "If you're worried about Yasuhara, you should talk to him yourself."
"Yeah, I know." Monk slid down in his seat until he was staring at the ceiling, with his head resting on the back of the couch. "I don't wanna bug him if he really is that busy, though." He lifted one arm to check his wristwatch. "Mai, are you done with your busywork yet? It's really starting to get late."
Mai let out a little squeak, and went back to sorting data into piles. "Sorry! You can go! This shouldn't take much longer!"
"Right. Goodnight, then." Monk got to his feet with a sigh and trudged over to the door. The sound of the storm temporarily increased when he opened it, and cut off again after he left. The atmosphere inside the office was left feeling oddly muffled.
Mai kept working in silence for another few minutes before looking up again. "Hey John, that was weird, wasn't it?"
John nodded slowly. "He says he's worried about Yasuhara, but if you asked me which one I'm most worried about…" he left the sentence hanging.
"I guess we can't do anything about it right now." Mai sorted out a few more papers, and then sat back suppressing the urge to yell in triumph. "There, done. Come on, let's get out of here."
She hurried around to turn the lights back off, and paused while putting on her jacket. "We'll keep an eye on him for now, and if it starts to look like there's a real problem then we'll think of something. Okay?"
John nodded his agreement. He left her his umbrella, as promised, and left with a wave that was almost cheerful. Mai waved back, and gathered up her things. She was finally able to lock up the office for the night, and anything else could wait at least until morning.