Title: Forever & Always
Chapter: One
Author: Dravena Anevard
Disclaimer: I, Dravena Anevard, do not own, nor have any part in the creation of Ghost Hunt. I do, however, have the rights to my imagination. Please enjoy and review!
She sat nervously in front of the two stoic men. Ignoring the questioning look in Lin's eyes and Naru's glare, she focused hard on her hands. Her eyes were subconsciously drawn to the ring on her left middle finger. Inwardly she smiled as she remembered the events that had led up to her possession of the beautiful, yet simple, piece of jewelry.
"Mai!"
She flinched at the cold tone of her employer, the man she was hoping to avoid confrontation with. She could feel Lin's gaze turn from that of curiosity to that of great distrust. She couldn't blame him, she just hoped he wouldn't spill her secret before they were even handed the case.
As if on cue, a frazzled looking teen stumbled into the entrance of the SPR office. She immediately noticed his unusual green eyes. Dull now, but before they would have shown brightly with life. His dark brown hair, which would have been combed in the usual spikey mess, was plastered to his head, lifeless.
"Doujou-san."
She couldn't help but to speak his name in the awkward and tense silence that had settled in before his arrival. She stood and beckoned him over to where she once sat. After sitting him she quickly made her way into the small kitchenette, and started the process of making tea.
Pulling four tea cups from the cabinet overhead, she placed them on their respected saucers and then onto the wooden tray she took from the drying rack by the sink. Hearing the whistle of the tea kettle, she turned the stove off, grabbed three different types of tea leaves and a bottle of honey as well as a small vile of clear liquid which she produced from the drawer.
Taking the tea leaves she crushed them into powder, placed them in the assigned cups, poured in the hot water, added honey to one of the cups, leaving two cups with nothing else added into them, and emptied a third of the mysterious liquid into the remaining tea cup. Putting all of her materials away, she picked up the tray and went back into the main foyer where the frazzled teen was quickly, and haphazardly, explained the phenomenon going on at his sister's home.
Without disrupting the young man, she placed the tea with honey in front of Lin (who only made quick eye contact with her), the two teas with nothing added in them in front of Naru and herself, and finally placing the tea cup with the mysterious liquid into Doujou-san's hands.
"Take a sip," she spoke, sitting herself beside him and taking her own tea cup into her hands. "It will help calm your nerves." Taking a sip from her cup she quickly added, "But not all at once, otherwise you will be left with a nasty stomach ache."
Doujou-san nodded as he slowly sipped the hot tea, closing his eyes as he felt the drink warm him up and calm his nerves. At the fourth sip he began to notice a distinct taste that was not of the tea leaves. Taking a bigger sip he reeled back from his cup in surprise. He turned to face her, his eyes wide with wonder.
"I see." He managed to choke out.
"I will contact you with the requirements for the case. Please expect us around two in the afternoon, two days from now."
"Mai."
"Kazuya."
Doujou-san looked between the two teens, flinching away from Mai for he could practically feel the sparks crackling between the two. He turned his attention to the older man of the group when he heard a slight cough.
"If you leave your information with me I will let you be on your way." He sent a quick glance towards Mai and Naru. "And as Taniyama has said, she will call with the requirements that we need in order to go through with the investigation."
Doujou-san had a moment to finally let it all sink in. They had accepted his case! Or rather, Taniyama Mai did. Though he did not let that deter him as he quickly rattled off the information to Lin, downed the rest of his tea, and quietly left the office before Mai and Naru could finish their glaring contest. (Well, it was actually Naru doing the glaring and Mai was just calmly staring back).
"Davis-san."
It was at that moment that both Naru and Lin understood what was going on. This was not Mai.
"My name is Rai. Taniyama Rai and I desperately need your help."