Chibi-Kari: Hi everyone! This is my first Ghost Hunt story. It's been sitting around in my brain for a bit now; I've just been too busy to get to it. I hope you all enjoy it. Obviously I don't own Ghost Hunt. *Edit 10/08/09 part of a full edit*

Note: Some of you may already know what a kamikakushi is. It literally translates into hidden by God, but you all might know it by spirited away. It was quite popular in Japanese folklore. You might know it from the Miyazaki movie Spirited Away. Don't get confused with that aspect. This is going to be nothing like that. This kamikakushi is going to be more along the likes of the kamikakushi in the Missing series by Gakuto Coda.

Gone

Chapter 1-All is Still

Bou-san, Ayako, and John were sitting on the couches at the SPR for the third time this week, much to Naru's chagrin. They had taken to sitting in the office in their free time if Naru was honest with himself he knew they really didn't have anything better to do. What could there possibly be for a monk, miko, and priest to do when they weren't carrying out religious duties. Nothing. Naru shook his head slightly as he stood in the doorway. Nothing he said to them would leave him with peace. No matter how many times he said the words 'this is not a coffee shop' they just couldn't bring themselves to believe him.

"Really. I expect more out of you. You're all adults and shouldn't be loitering around a place of business like this. I know you don't have anything better to do, but couldn't you actually take this" He waved his free hand in a vague gesture, "to an actual coffee shop?"

All he had wanted was for some quiet time today so that he could do more research. Lately the cases had been piling up and he hadn't been able to look at many maps. Instead he comes out from the kitchen, tea in hand, to find his waiting area filled with the irregulars. This was definitely not the productive afternoon he was thinking of.

Bou-san awkwardly tilted his head over the back of the sofa to glance wearily at Naru, "Where's Mai?"

Naru rolled his eyes, "Is that all you're here for? She won't be in today so you can all leave if that's all."

He hoped Mai's absence would get them moving right out the office door. Naru thanked God for the tenth time today. Mai's absence had meant little distraction. She had always made odd sounds out in the entrance area…though, Naru did miss her tea. On normal days her tea was enough to equal out her oddities. Today was not a normal day.

Ayako swiveled towards the narcissist, hitting Bou-san squarely in the head with her elbow, "He didn't ask if she was coming in. He asked where she was. I thought a genius like you could answer anything."

Her voice had boomed through the otherwise reasonably quiet area causing Lin to stick his head out of his office. He glanced over at Naru who was barely containing his irritation under a façade of calm. "She had an exam at school today. She'll be back in tomorrow."

Bou-san turned back to his original position and threw his arms back over the top of the couch, "I don't see why she just doesn't quit school. It's only compulsory through junior high."

Naru sharply turned towards his office door, "Well she's more intelligent than you." With that he crossed the final steps and slammed his door. He wasn't about to waste more of his time discussing Mai. He would just try to drown them out for a few hours before forcibly removing them.

"No wonder he's so crabby. She hasn't been here to make his tea." Bou-san huffed. Ayako and John broke out into laughter.

"That's probably true. I don't know where he puts it all." John's statement was left fragmented as his laughed interrupted him several times.

Lin stared at the group a moment longer before turning back to his office shaking his head slowly. He was about to shut the door when Masako slammed the front door open. She stood ridged for a moment, her hair a mess and her breathing shallow, looking wildly about the room. "Where's Mai?"

Naru's door flung open at the sound of the front door slamming against the wall. His eyes narrowed dangerously at the young girl standing in the doorway, "What is this Mai's home? She's not always here. She's at school." He swiftly turned back towards the solitude that his office promised him.

Masako eyes widened as she brought her hand up to her mouth, her kimono sleeve not quite making it. She let out a strangled sound catching everyone's attention. She closed her eyes for a moment calming herself, putting on her professional air. She struggled several moments, all eyes trained on her, before failing. Her voice was broken as she uttered the four words that would vanquish any thoughts of solitude from Naru's mind. "Turn on the television."

John slid off the sofa towards the television just feet from him. He'd never seen the young medium so troubled and it truly unnerved him. He stared at his shaking hand above the tuner, "What station?"

She took another shaky breath as she walked to stand behind the couch, Lin and Naru joining her, "Any of the local stations. It doesn't matter."

The young priest's eyes stayed trained on hers as he pressed the power button. The television came on with a click, the picture fading in to a young reporter, masses of people crowded around her pushing and crying. Her eyes were wild with panic as she tried stay professional on what had to be one of her first live reports.

Bou-san scooted to the edge of the sofa, folding himself forward to get a better look at the screen, "That's Mai's school." Ayako hit him softly.

"Once again we are covering the strange happenings at this local area high school. About an hour ago there was an incident out front of the school. Teachers say that there was a student from another school loitering out front and as school policy went outside to question the student. Once they had gotten outside, the student was no longer there. Thinking the young man had been there to see one of their students and left they went back to their classrooms only to find that their students weren't in class. After a preliminary search the building, the teachers still couldn't find any of their students. The principal stands firm that over 400 students cannot just walk out of a building unnoticed. As of yet, none of the students have been reported to have gone home or have been seen at any of the local shops."

"Let's go." Naru started walking towards the door before anyone could really even grasp what had happened. "I said let's go. Lin, start the van." He was out the door before John had pulled himself from the floor.

Within seconds everyone was packed into the van and on the road. What would have been a fifteen minute car ride took almost forty-five. There were cars everywhere, many idling in the middle of the street. People were running towards the school, leaving their cars on the road. Lin had to stop the car almost five blocks from the school, pulling it over to the side of the road.

Within seconds the team had piled into the open air and was running towards the building. Naru arrived first, pushing his way through the crowd to the front gates. Police were there holding everyone back, stopping him from entering the school and searching for himself. He felt the others break through the crowd to stand around him. He could vaguely hear the crying of a woman and the conversation of two of the police officers over his own thoughts.

"This has to be a prank." An officer pushed a woman back towards the crowd. He shook his pepped hair slightly as he glanced at his partner.

"It's one hell of a prank. How did they get so organized? There isn't a backdoor to this place either. They would have had to stroll right past their teachers to get out."

"So what do you think this is…some type of kamikakushi?"

There were some things that Naru just didn't believe in. Vampires…kamikakushi…things that just don't exist. Even for a ghost hunter these things were just too farfetched. Half the cases that came across his desk were full of these superstitions. Something is killing all the animals in the countryside; it must be a vampire. Little Yuki went missing; it must be a kamikakushi. These things were just too much for him…but now, now he wished that he had paid more attention when someone said kamikakushi. Over 400 students don't disappear at once…nor do they all get kidnapped.

A sudden movement to his left drew his attention. Masako's eyes were wide and her face had paled considerably as she pointed towards a window on the second floor, "Look."

TBC

Chibi-Kari: I hope all of you like this. It's been sitting in my head for a bit. It's going to get better and there will be more action. And of course our lovely SPR will be investigating. One of their own people missing isn't something they can ignore. R&R!