My first fanfic. Anime is "ghost hunt". I don't own the anime or the characters, just this fanfic.

Hope you enjoy, the first chapter is kind of slow, confusing at first and pretty short too but most of it is explained in the second chapter.

A girl with auburn hair walked down the darkened eerie hallway of the college. The walls creaked slightly, admitting that it was an old building. The girl tried to remember how she was even convinced to be here in the first place. She froze and whipped around when she heard a screech coming from her black haired companion, Masako. By the time she had registered what happened, Masako was laughing at the brown-haired girl's expression.

"You're so gullible Mai! Honestly, I already told you there are no spirits. You should see the look on your face! No wonder my Oliver chose me after all, you're a wimp."

Mai clenched her fists and thought she could nearly feel her teeth cracking and herself growling, "He didn't have much of a choice with you funding him. You were the one who was jealous of us in the first place, anyway, why the hell did we get partnered up?"

Masako rolled her eyes, "A waste of time being jealous of you. We were partnered up because we can both sense the spirits, which doesn't make sense, since they could have made to teams, one of us on each."
Mai nodded slowly, "I agree. It would have been more affective that way." The two continued on their way, before Masako paused again, not giving a reason. "Masako, what's wrong?" Masako continued to remain silent, causing Mai to turn to see what was up. Mai froze when she saw Masakos eyes go huge and tremble slightly, she looked truly and utterly horrified. Not in the disgusted way, more like the 'you're going to die' way, or even, 'the most horrific thing is behind you' kind of way. Creaking like heavy foot-steps were fast approaching from behind. Mai whipped around just as Masako passed out. Mai screeched as loud as she could, then everything went black.

~~~Two weeks before~~~

It's been four years since Mai Taniyama left SPR. It's been five years since she graduated from high school. It's been seven years since she started SPR. She'll be turning 23 in a couple of weeks. It's a Thursday, and Mai sat in her dorm/apartment, alone at nearly 9 in the evening, going through boxes and debating on leaving the college she's attending or not.

The brown-haired girl sighed as she went over these thoughts. She didn't ever want to remember that again. Not ever. Though, as she looked at the picture of the whole group together, she couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness deep in her belly. Deep in that sadness was regret and anger. She would have to return there when her classes ended.

Kazuya Shibuya, who she likes to call 'Naru' (short for narcissist) said he would help pay for her intuition, as long as she was able to owe a debt to him, which meant, most likely returning to SPR. She coul run away and get a very high paying job in order to send him money, so she wouldn't have to return, but he could get Lin Kōujo (his assistant) to find her anywhere, especially if it involved torturing her. Honestly, she would rather to not go to college and end up a hobo if it meant never having to look at the SPR building or group.

The reason for her hate is mainly because of Masako Hara. Before Mai had left SPR, Masako had grown increasingly jealous and violent towards Mai. The two had competed for Naru's affection, but eventually, Masako had won.

One afternoon, as Mai was making some tea once again for Naru, Masako had come in, grinning. Mai had never seen her grin like that, and she trying to be friends with Masako, asked why the black-haired girl was so cheerful.

Mai's heart shattered into a million pieces when Masako had eagerly said how Naru had proposed. The others had been somewhat shocked as well. They all knew well enough Masako was helping fund SPR, but they never knew it went that far. Hōshō Takigawa (who Mai called 'Monk', he was like a father to her) suggested that Mai left, and so she did. Two months later she and Naru had worked out an agreement and she went to a college just outside of Tokyo. It was close enough that if she wanted she could continue working at SPR, but Mai decided to focus on studies.

Now, as she looked at a picture of the whole SPR group, she didn't really feel surprised at why Naru chose Masako after all. Not only did she sponsor his business, Masako also looked much more feminine. Mai had a messy short haired look, she was shorter and she was pretty flat chested compared to the clean, rich, intelligent, black-haired beauty.

Mai had changed though, a lot actually. Now the guys practically fell over her, because now she wasn't only smart, she was also a bit sporty, confident, and she was much more feminine. She had let her hair grow just slightly past her shoulders, gotten bigger breasts, and now had a brain to brag about. Not only that, but her ESP has been growing as well. She saw Gene (Naru's deceased twin brother) in her dreams more often, and she even had started seeing and sensing dangerous situations while she was awake. She still couldn't do exorcisms though, she just didn't have a talent for it.

Mai was forced out of her thoughts when she heard a knock at the door. Heaving a deep sigh she pushed herself out of her sitting position and stepped over the boxes in her room. She was still debating on whether to leave or not. She heard another knock and called "Coming!" Before muttering under her breath, "whoever it is obviously needs to learn patience."

Walking through the small living area of the dorm/apartment she opened the door, an honestly, she was shell-shocked on who stood on the other side. Three members from her old group in SPR.

~~~~30mins later~~~~

A little bit later, John Brown (an Australian priest), Ayako Matsuzaki (a priestess, Mai sees her like a mother), and Hōshō sat on various chairs holding steaming cups of tea that Mai had whipped up. She was still in the kitchen area making a snack, but she could clearly hear them. John was the first to speak up.

"Mai you don't have to make us more than tea, you didn't even have to make that."

"Nonsense, you're my guests and I haven't seen you guys in forever, it's my pleasure," She truly meant it, but at the same time, she felt wary, not knowing why they were visiting her, and how the even found her for that fact. As she walked into the living room with a tray of treats, she decided to ask, "So um, why are you guys here? It's kind of late."

Hōshō was the one to respond, "Well, we have a job here, so we decided to stop by. How are you doing? I mean with your studies of course."
Mai paused for a minute then shrugged as she sat down, "I'm doing pretty well, I'm debating on doing one last term or not…" Her head snapped up suddenly, "W-wait, you have a job here? At the school?"

Ayako nodded, "Well of course, that's why we're here. Since you know the school, Kazuya wanted us to come see if you wanted to help.'

"W-why didn't… Why didn't he come himself?"

Ayako shrugged and smirked a bit, "Oh who knows. Most likely just lazy. Do you want to help?"

Mai stayed silent for a minute, thinking to herself. If she helped, it would make the job go quicker and make them leave, but at the same time, she promised herself she wouldn't do any ghost hunting ever again. She had a bad feeling, like she did when she was about to eat something bad, or when she didn't really trust someone. She knew this feeling, so she responded, "No. Sorry but I have to focus on studying, the test is soon." She stood abruptly, her gut feeling made her feel sick, "You guys finish eating and then you should go before it gets too late. It was nice catching up."

The rest of the night was awkward and quiet, Mai avoided small talk. Eventually the three left, and she retired to bed. She thought she had avoided the sensation of pending doom, but it wouldn't go away. Maybe Gene had something to tell her, she hoped so at least. She also hoped she wouldn't run into the group.

She barely slept at all that night.

Hope you guys enjoy! I haven't written very much so it was probably confusing at points.

In the next chapter things will start to get pretty interessting.

Please review your thoughts and favorite if you liked it! Thanks!