The Holes in our Hearts

Chapter 1: Another Restless Night

Mai Taniyama woke up from her dream with one word on her lips, "Empty…". Already the details of the dream Gene had showed her were fading into the dark place of her mind where the bad memories she never wanted to access lived. "I guess it mustn't have been that important," Mai said to herself, "Usually when the dream is important I can't get it out of my head. But I just can't shake the feeling that something's wrong."

While mumbling to herself, Mai stretched and glanced at the clock. "7:30?!" Mai yelled flailing as she tried to escape the warm cocoon of her bed. She was late for work and, knowing her narcissistic boss, she would have hell to pay for it when she finally reached the office. Cursing herself under her breath for the longest time, Mai ran frantically around her apartment trying to get herself in order. She was out the door in seven minutes flat and just had to run to catch the train down to Shibuya Psychic Research.

She ran up the stairs and flung open the door to the office at 8:11. Since she was supposed to be there at eight, and considering how long she had over-slept, Mai considered that to be a great accomplishment.

Her boss, however, did not. As soon as he heard Mai's uneven steps on the stairs Kazuya "Naru" Shibuya opened the door to his office and proceeded to lean against the frame with his expressionless gaze turned straight at the door. As soon as Mai opened the door he did not hesitate with his, "Mai, you're late. I pay you to show up to work on time and to do the jobs I assign you. I don't remember ever giving you an order to be late. Now, Mai, TEA!" With that the narcissistic Naru turned and slammed the door of his office shut again.

Mai, her hand still on the door knob, stood there realizing just how lucky she had been. If she had waited any later to get up there, her boss would have gone into serious tea withdrawal and she would have had to spend the rest of the day making twice as much tea in compensation. Recalling earlier days when she had arrived far later, Mai remembered how cranky Naru could be in the morning if he hadn't had his tea. Sighing to herself, Mai walked over to her desk and dropped off her bag and coat before going straight to the kitchen to set the kettle to boil.

That poor kettle had heated up so much water in its time that the edges had been worn smooth by the constant hot water being poured in and out. On instinct Mai pulled out three tea mugs and set about making the blend Naru appeared to have become addicted to. As the kettle began to whistle, Mai began making the tea trying to remember how she had gotten into trouble so early in the morning.

'Oh right, it was that stupid dream' Mai thought to herself. 'I just wish I could remember what was in it that's making me feel so worried.' The more she thought about it, Mai seemed to be able to capture the fading thoughts of her dream. Just as she brought the face of the man who had been the center of the dreams attention, Mia's knees buckled unexpectedly. Without warning, a voice started screaming, "Gone, it's all gone. Empty. Empty! EMPTY!"

Then just as suddenly, the voice stopped and Mai found herself on the ground with a cut on her knee from bashing it on the table on the way down. Unfortunately for her she had been holding a cup of tea when the fall began and it had splashed all over her hand on the way down. She gasped at the pain of the burn and was about to see to it before she heard, "MAI, I'M NOT GOING TO ASK TO MY TEA AGAIN!" Knowing Naru would not wait any longer; Mai picked herself up off the ground and went to bring him his tea.

She knocked and then opened the door to her boss's office. Everything was in pristine order, except for the guy dressed in black that was seated at the desk. His eyes looked slightly feverish and kept shifting about until they landed on the cup of tea Mai was holding. As soon as she set it down on his desk, Naru took a long drink and almost instantly the sanity returned to his eyes.

Mai waited by the corner of his desk as she always did, waiting for Naru to bark some other order or give her another reprimand for not being fast enough with his tea.

"We have a client coming today Mai. This is a pretty weird case and I'm going to need the whole team for this. Please call them all here and let John know to book a plane to Japan for as soon as possible. And wash that ridiculous marker off your hand!"

"Naru, there is no marker on my hand." Mai remarked, with genuine surprise in her eyes. She knew her boss was observant, but now she honestly had to wonder if half the stuff he observed was even there to begin with.

"Look at you right hand," he said with a trace of annoyance in his voice.

Mai looked at the appendage in question and gasped when she saw that the burn from the tea spill earlier had burned the word empty onto her hand in a blister. 'That word is everywhere today. Something's beginning to tell me this is more than just a mere coincidence,' Mai thought as she looked at her hand in wonder. Realizing that Naru was growing more annoyed waiting for her answer by the second, Mai quickly said, "Of course Naru. I will make the needed arrangements and tend to my hand. I must have forgotten to scrub the marker off last night when I got home." She didn't know why she felt compelled to lie to Naru, but the thought was gone from her mind as soon as it had come.

With that, Mai left the office with her tea tray in tow, leaving behind a slightly confused Naru. When she had answered she showed no inclination of knowing about marker on her skin. Then after looking at it Naru could have sworn that she paled a little. Naru pushed the thought out of his mind a chose to focus instead on the tea in front of him while it was still hot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters. They all belong to their respective owners.

Hello everyone. This is my first try at a Ghost Hunt fanfiction and a chapter story too. I hope that it read okay. Please let me know if I have forgotten anything or if there is anything else you have to say. Reviews are always welcome. Thanks for reading. Look for the next installment within the week.