This is my first fanfic story! I was a bit hesitant at first while writing this chapter since english isn't really my native language. I've been dying to write this since last year, but just didn't know where to start. I just couldn't contain the story in my head any longer so I started writing it. I would really appreciate your patience with any possible errors ahead or dullness of this chapter. So please don't hesitate to leave a review or any suggestions. It would really mean so much to me. I made a sketch of Naru and Mai being mages. Imagine Naru wearing a black mask (like Robin's mask from Teen Titans). By the way, I have additional notes at the end of the chapter. Thank you in advance for giving time to check this! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters. The only thing I own here is the plot.

Chapter 1

"Kuroda-san was followed. The mages assigned to this city are now trying to catch up with me. Is the key ready, Lin?" Noll said while heading hurriedly to an alley. He gripped his phone closer to his ear.

"I'm headed your way, Noll. Make sure you don't leave a trace. We'll have to turn our phones off in two minutes to prevent them from tracking us. Try to summon a storm. I'm almost done recharging the teleportation key."

Noll raised his right hand and focused his energy on creating a storm. Dark clouds started to cover the city's sky and emitted a few lightning bolts. The rain immediately fell and a thick mist started to form and spread throughout the city. Lin was concentrating all his energy to recharge the key he was holding, neglecting the consequences of draining his life force to open a portal that would directly lead them to Asago. As the rain started to get into his eyes while making his way to Noll, he adjusted the hood of his waterproof coat and placed his phone inside his pocket after turning it off. Soon, he started to see Noll from afar.

"I got all we need. We should reach Asago before sunset. Is the key ready?" Noll said as he met his assistant after a few steps. He was staring impatiently at Lin.

"Yes." Lin placed the key in an invisible keyhole and opened a door out of nowhere. Lin went inside it with Noll following behind him.

...

Mai immediately went to the cube tower once she received news from the headquarters that their team is being summoned for a new mission. Fortunately, she had at least eight hours of sleep today and ate a heavy breakfast so she is more than ready for her new mission of the month. She wondered though if her teammates had enough rest after the short celebration of Takigawa-sensei's birthday yesterday. She hope they did since they will be having a top secret S-Rank mission today.

Mai is considered as one of the most highly skilled mages in the city and has accepted several A-Rank to S-Rank missions for the past three years. She successfully completes each of her missions without any problems, though at times she would still feel wary because any minute during their mission could just lead them to their very death. How sad is it to think that any conversation of the day could just be her last. That is why the great mischievous Mai Taniyama makes sure to live her life to the fullest. If she could just choose, she would want her death to be as peaceful as possible, but she's aware that the chances of her death-wish is close to impossible since every mage sent to their mission knows for a fact that their lives are always at stake. She already knew that the moment she officially started her first mission a few years ago.

"You've got to be kidding me. I woke up early so I could still ask Takigawa-sensei about their last mission. What happened to my precious time? god, why is time so fleeting!" Blame it on her wandering mind this morning. Mai always had that terrible habit of daydreaming too much. She sighed as she hurried while entering the silver gates of Cube Tower II.

"Masako, Yasuhara!" Mai called as she saw Masako talking to Yasuhara when she entered the hallway leading to the main room.

"You're late," Masako glared at her while tapping her foot impatiently.

"Hey! I'm not yet late! I'm just in time. See?" Mai pointed at her watch showing 'seven o'clock'.

"What did I tell you about allotting at least fifteen minutes in every meet-up? What if you pass by some errand or whatever trouble you might get yourself into along the way here?" Masako sighed as she walked into the meeting room and settled herself to sit on one of the chairs to wait for their sensei.

"Looks like she's still mad from yesterday's teasing, huh? That's why I told you not to overdo it." Mai sighed indignantly as she walked alongside Yasuhara.

"Well, you know what? I can't help it. She looks adorable with those glaring eyes." Yasuhara slightly chuckled as he sat beside Masako. Mai settled in her own seat and waited with her teammates.

They did not wait for long as the door opened a few minutes after they sat. Takigawa settled on his seat and started to open the folder he was holding. "Did you guys get enough rest?"

"Yes," the three of them said in unison.

"Good. Because after I explain everything and complete the things we need, we'll head straight to our mission," said Takigawa while opening the first page of the document.

"We found a lead from one of the people we caught the other day. Her name is Kuroda Naoko. She's one of Firefly's fronts pretending to be a wine vendor at the market. We saw her talking to a hooded guy before she was caught. We lost the guy, but was last seen at Tokyo Midtown," Takigawa started still looking at the document he was holding.

"We expected that the weather would be fine that day, but a storm surprisingly appeared the moment we chased him. We were suspecting he summoned it along with the mist that covered the entire city to make it harder for us to catch up with him," Takigawa added.

"This is going to be a long day." Yasuhara sighed.

"Now, our Intel team was able to extract a few vital information from reading Kuroda-san's memories. The hooded guy she spoke to is currently unknown since he was also wearing a mask during their last conversation. Based on their exchange of words, we expect him to head to Takeda Castle in Asago."

Takigawa explained the rest of the things the three needed to know and laid the mission plan. They departed around afternoon for their mission and took the train from Tokyo Station.

"Mai, have you brought some of those antidotes you've made from our last mission? I'm pretty sure the same poison that was used to injure one of our mages will still be used by most of Firefly's members," Takigawa asked while reading a report from the medic team.

"Yes, I did. I hope they don't use a new poison though since that would be a big problem for us. If I had not been sent to that backup team before, Keiko would have been killed from their mission. It was a matter of hours before the poison kicks in and kills someone. Thank god, no one was killed from the ambush," Mai said as she was searching through her bag to check all the medicines and antidotes needed.

"I hope she's doing fine now. She saved so many children from the evacuation site and sacrificed her life to save everyone," Yasuhara said, his brows furrowed.

"I have successfully updated the medical system and added any needed information about the new poison from the incident. I also made as many antidotes as I can in case of any future attacks," Mai said, concern lacing her voice. Masako held her hand and gave a slight squeeze to it to comfort the girl. Keiko had been Mai's closest friend when they were still in the Academy.

"Let's do our best and give it all to this mission. We can do this as long as we're together and apply what we have learned and practiced from all the missions and training we had." Yasuhara encouraged his team to keep a positive atmosphere.

"Yes!" said the rest in unison.

Each of them took turns on having a nap during the five hour journey to Asago. Soon, they reached their destination in the evening. Once they got out of the train, they searched for a place to take a short break before continuing again.

"I brought us dinner and melon bread. Let's take a quick break, guys!" Mai opened her bag and took out well-prepared bentos and started preparing the food. They all ate in silence and chatted for a while after eating. Takigawa made sure no one would hear what they were talking about the moment they left the Cube Tower by casting a curtain barrier around them. They have a few more minutes left before the spell wears off. They used the remaining minutes to talk about how they are going to enter their target location and the precautions they need to add to prevent casualties. After finalizing their backup plans, they continued with their mission.

"We have to be really careful this time. One of Firefly's hideouts could be around this area. So it means that they are more familiar with the place and can easily dispatch us. Have you studied the map I gave you yesterday?" Takigawa asked.

"We did. We even thought of where to go in case our plan blows. Hopefully, everything works the way we planned," Yasuhara answered with a serious tone.

Mai had a bad feeling about this place. She could feel the cold wind brush her skin and somehow it made her shiver. She did not know why she can't get used to with all these missions. She just can't help herself to feel extremely conscious with every move they make. They roamed the area for the next few hours until it reached midnight.

"Masako, you think you can check everything from above without being noticed?" Mai asked while checking their surroundings. Masako nodded in response and took out something from her bag. She wore her invisible cloak and started to cast a wind spell.

"Mai, make sure you guys stay together. We don't know what we are up against especially that we are in their lair so it'll be better if we stay unnoticed as much as possible," Masako said, uneasiness lacing her voice.

"I understand. Please, be careful," Mai said as Masako flew and disappeared into the dark sky of the city.

…

Additional Notes:

Curtain Barrier - an invisible anti-spy barrier.

Team Takigawa Mage Group -

Takigawa - A-Class (-)

Yasuhara - A-Class (-)

Mai - B-Class (-)

Masako - B-Class (Expert of Aerokinesis - Wind Manipulation)

Mage Group (Disclaimer: I do not own the terms I used to classify the mage groups in this story. It is solely from the anime "One Punch Man", though my characters are mages not superheroes. So, in case you find it similar as to how their mage groups are called in One Punch Man, yes, I got it from that amazing anime) -

S-Class - Highest mage rank one can attain (a genius & highly skilled)

A-Class - Master of Magick & Kinesis (considered highly skilled)

B-Class - Expert/Senior (considered highly skilled)

C-Class - Intermediate/Experienced

D-Class - Novice/Fresh Graduates

Mission ranks (Disclaimer: I do not own the terms I used to classify the mission ranks in this story. It is solely from the anime "Naruto", though this fanfic story is a mage AU not a shinobi/ninja AU. So, in case you find it similar as to how their mission ranks are called in Naruto, yes, I got it from that amazing anime) -

S-Rank - assigned to an S-Class, A-Class, or a group of B-Class mages. It is also the highest paying and most dangerous type of mission a mage can go on.

A-Rank - assigned to S Class, A Class or B Class mages.

B-Rank - assigned to A Class, B Class or C Class mages.

C-Rank - assigned to C Class or D Class mages. They are missions with little to no chance of combat against other mages.

D-Rank - assigned to mages fresh from the Academy. They pose almost no risk to the mage's life and usually consist of odd jobs like farming and babysitting work.

…

Thank you for reading!

Love, Lady Time