Title: Salt Skin (Running To Where He Is)

Genre: Anime

Series: Ghost Hunt

Characters: Mai Taniyama, Lin Koujo

Spoilers: n/a

Rating: PG-13 (romantic entanglements)

Summary: They were only gone a year, but she'd grown up when he wasn't looking, and changed in ways he hadn't expected.

Author's Note: I'm American, and have little to no grasp of honorifics, so this is written without them. Also, never actually read the manga, but I have a grasp of what happens in them so this is a bit of a mash-up of the anime and manga.

There was something mesmerizing about the way the fringe of her skirt rested against her thigh, the contrast between coarse blue material and pale smooth skin; his hands tingled from the urge to run his fingers over the two, to feel the difference. She'd grown another few inches while he and Naru were in England, standing firm at his shoulders rather than his chest, but those sparse inches managed to change the way he looked at her in ways he hadn't thought to compensate for. She wasn't a child anymore, though she still had that spark of innocent goodness that Lin hoped she would never lose.

There wasn't a question of whether she would return to work at the newly reopened Shibuya Psychic Research, and though they hadn't been asked the others returned with as little invitation. Things settled in with an ease that was unexpected but not unwelcome. Cases were brought to them, cases were solved, and the mundane routine of day to day invited a casual friendship between Mai and Lin that surpassed the civil disconnected one of before. Still, he couldn't look at her as he had before, and there was an edge to their interactions that grew only more obvious with each passing day.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?"

She startled him with her question, his arm jerking and sending several sheafs of paper to the floor. He shot her an irritated glance as he slid from his desk chair and began to pick them up. "I wasn't aware you were still here."

She joined him in gathering the fallen papers, her skirt sliding up as she knelt beside him. "I've been studying and I lost track of time. I just wanted to ask if you needed anything before I left."

They stood and she handed him the papers, their fingers touching briefly with an almost audible crack of electricity that made Lin's spine stiffen imperceptibly. "A cup of coffee would be nice," he admitted as he set the papers back on the crowded desk surface, following her as she moved through the office and into the kitchen. He stopped just inside the threshold, leaning onto the counter as he watched her gather items together to make a pot of coffee. She moved with an odd grace that he'd never noticed in her before; when she'd still been a child to him he'd only seen her clumsy accidents, and had never made the effort to observe her past that. "How is your studying going?"

Mai smiled at him and shrugged. "I'd probably benefit from some sessions at a cram school, but between regular classes and my work here I just don't have time. Exams are in a month, I think if I dedicate a few hours to revision every night I'll do okay." She smiled at him over her shoulder, reaching into the cupboard for his cup and filling it to the brim with steaming coffee. She cautiously carried it across the small room and handed it to him, her smiling brightening momentarily when she succeeded in not spilling it. Lin found himself returning that smile without thinking, just a small curve of his lips that appeared for only seconds before relaxing back into the placid line of before.

Lin took a deep drink, let his eyes wander over her face before sliding to the clock on the wall. "I could assist, if you'd like. It's been a few years since I had to take an exam, but I do recall that studying is better with two than one." She was nodding before he'd even finished speaking.

"That would be great, Lin! I joined a study group in class, but they do extra study sessions when I'm working, so we only work together during class hours and I could really use someone to work with. Plus, you're so smart and-"

"Mai?" Lin interrupted the stream of words that were spilling uncontrollably from her mouth and felt the brief smile from earlier grace his face once more. "We can start tomorrow after the office closes."

She smiled brilliantly at him but didn't thank him again, and Lin realized that at some point in their friendship she'd learned to read him. She didn't take offense at his curt interruption, but instead knew it to be an attempt to stem her babbling before it became intolerable. It was a sign of maturity that she took the words for what they were, rather than what she could imagine them to be; Lin was again uncomfortably reminded that she wasn't the girl she used to be.

She was wearing shorts rather than her school uniform, and though Lin was thankful that he was no longer distracted by the way the short sheath danced around her upper thighs (shadows beneath taunting him with secret depths), in a way the shorts were worse. They were tighter than the skirt, molded to the small curve of her rear and revealed a shape to her body that was anything but displeasing. It was no longer a temptation of what was hidden, but more an awakening to his imagination, drawn taut by the possibilities. As she moved around the office, filing papers and serving tea to the various members of the team and their clients, Lin thought maybe he saw a hint of her hip bones against coarse material, the briefest shadowed hollow where his fingers could rest quite comfortably.

When the meeting was over he shut his office door so that he could have the privacy to complete his work, and when she brought him coffee he ignored her attempts at small talk and focused on his papers, soft noises of distraction feigned so that she wouldn't take offense at his silence. She turned to leave and he couldn't keep his eyes from tracing her outline as she shut the door.

Lin could admit to himself that he was confused, unsure of the path to take with the woman he felt he knew reasonably well yet didn't know at all. He wasn't used to being unable to form a logical plan of action, to not knowing all the variables in a situation and compensating for each. Mai had become an unstable variable, changing before his eyes and the outcome was unpredictable. Lin chose the only action he felt made sense, he chose to do nothing.

They worked together in the sitting area of the office, moving from one subject to the next seamlessly. Lin still had a solid grasp on the intricacies of math and was intuitively clever with the meanings of most literature readings. Mai's confusion ebbed into a solid grasp of the intricacies within weeks and when the day of her test arrived she'd surpassed her own expectations and flowed through the subjects with an ease she'd never felt during education before. Her face glowed when she appeared in the doorway of his office, bounding across the room within seconds and throwing herself at him with a comfort that he himself didn't feel.

"I did it! You were right, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought, and we didn't even need to go into the intricacies of post-Victorian Era literature since it wasn't even mentioned in the exam." Mai took a deep breath and leaned back. "Thank you so much, Lin. I couldn't have done it without you."

Lin kept his face smooth and without emotion, but couldn't resist a small twist of his lips. "I had faith that you were more intelligent than Naru gives you credit for being, you didn't really need my assistance truly."

Mai's face, if possible, lit up even more. "Oh, but I did! We should celebrate. We should go get dinner or cake or something! I'm going to university! Me!" She didn't seem to realize that she was still sitting in his lap, her body making enticing little movements as her thoughts jumped from one point to the next and her mind wandered. Lin was in no hurry to enlighten her as to the precarious nature of their position, however, even if his hands were tightly wrapped around the chair arms to fight the instinctive curiosity to find out just what her skin felt like.

"You haven't received your marks yet," Lin felt the need to point out, knowing that if she overestimated how well she'd done it would be a severe blow to her confidence. "Perhaps celebrations should wait until we know for sure that you did well."

Lin immediately regretted his words as she turned a crestfallen face back towards him. "You think I'm overconfident in how I did."

"I think caution is the wiser course of action, but your optimism is never unwarranted, Mai." He explained, both wanting to revive her cheer and not give her false hope.

"We can't always be cautious, Lin, sometimes you just have to throw it to the wind and go with it," she replied in all seriousness. Her brow furrowed delicately, a soft fold between her soft chocolate eyes that distracted him from the way her body shifted just slightly towards his, a small movement that sent shivers of awareness along his skin and convalesced in a small spot just below his ribs.

Lin's hands gripped her waist and lifted her slight weight from his body, sliding back and standing as if he were completely unaffected by the interaction. "Then we'll celebrate. Call the others and have them meet us at Master Harry's. It will be my treat."

Mai blinked at his unexpected turn of attitude, and smiled just a bit. "I couldn't let you do that, Lin. This is my impromptu celebration."

Lin quirked an eyebrow and realized belatedly that his hands continued to grip her waist in a casual manner. He dropped his hands and stepped back further, moving around the desk towards the door. "You shouldn't pay for your own party, Mai. It's my pleasure to do so, so allow me the honor."

Mai's smile became a full-blown grin and Lin ignored the small stutter in his walk as the force of it hit him. He also ignored the ghost of feeling the echoed under his hands, the very real feeling of her waist in his grip, thin skin over small bones with the barest hint of softness to cushion the touch.

Mai was in her third year at Keio University when Lin's caution finally wore itself down. Their study sessions had become an every night occurrence, though actual studying only occurred a few nights a week. Some nights they worked on paperwork for the S.P.R., composing reports to send off to the clients, or reading the monthly publications of psychic research that Naru subscribed to. Their arguments regarding the information there in did more for Mai's education in regards to psychic phenomena than most of the courses she'd taken at university. Lin found himself incapable of remaining neutral when it came to Mai, and his various attempts to distance himself from her had failed over the years.

Much to his surprise their colleagues didn't seem to care that the two of them had such a close friendship, even if it had formed unexpectedly and quietly. They'd all had comments to be said about the familiarity between them, and Monk had his little jokes, but as the months had passed into years and they'd only grown closer the remarks had abated. She was the only one among them who was comfortable in close quarters with him, easing herself onto the arm of his chair and leaning against him as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and were the night of her post-exam celebration the last time she'd sat in his lap Lin would have been a sadder man for it.

During her first year of upper education she took correspondence courses that allowed her to continue to travel with the team on cases, but as she advanced through the curriculum her schedule shifted to mainly labs and lectures, and it was with some sadness that the team had to learn to work without her. What she'd yet been unable to contribute in skill and knowledge she'd made up for in intuitiveness and morale lifting, and even Naru was looking forward to when her education was through and she would be back in the field with them. Lin missed her near constant presence at his side, and whenever he was forced away by cases he left one of his spirit companions with her to ensure her safety, though even that didn't keep him from worrying. She'd always had a penchant for trouble, and even age and maturity didn't seem to negate it.

It was mid-May, only a month into her third year, and the team had just returned from a case in Kyoto; Mai let herself into the office around midnight with her key and stepped gingerly through the scattered equipment with the ease of familiarity. Lin watched her movements with an air of fascination but didn't speak, knowing that he was hidden in the shadows of his dark office and that any sudden noises or movements would startle her and send her into a clumsy tailspin likely to end with Naru's equipment partially damaged and her feeling terribly guilty. She finished her trek through the debris without problem and called his name softly, her eyes searching the office for any sign of him. He stepped into the dim light that spilled from the kitchen and felt his stomach tighten ominously as she spotted him and her expression softened. "Ayako called to say everyone had made it back okay, and mentioned that you'd been left to deal with the equipment while they all went home. I thought you might like assistance."

"I wouldn't refuse it, though it's rather late for you to be traveling alone in the city," Lin replied, a small note of worry tinging the statement.

Her laughter was light and and sang like the ring of bells in the air. "No one bothers me when your kami is with me. They feel...unsettled by it, won't even approach me." Her eyes slid to his and danced with amusement even as she knelt and began to gather some of the equipment scattered on the floor.

"I won't apologize for making sure you're protected," Lin assured her, moving to gather some of the technology so carelessly left by the team. Their fingers tangled as they reached for a certain camera at the same time, and though they both froze, their eyes locked as sparks flew between them and flesh tingled from contact, they consciously pushed aside the chemistry and continued as if they'd not felt it.

"I wouldn't ask you to," Mai replied smartly, moving to the equipment room and shifting objects back to the appropriate containers with the ease of experience. "I like that you're protective."

Lin was unsure what to say to such a statement and chose to remain silent instead of continuing the dialogue. Mai had used her elbow to turn on the overhead light, but even with it the atmosphere of the office was quiet and intimate, a feeling to the air better suited for candlelight than fluorescence. They moved back and forth between the common area of the office and the equipment room, their bodies brushed as they passed each other and the air seemed to crackle with expectation each time. Lin found his eyes tracking the sway of her skirt as she moved about and mentally chastised himself for the infatuation, something he'd thought he'd gotten over long ago.

With the clean-up taken care of Mai extinguished the overhead light and shut and locked the door, and Lin found himself standing in the sparsely illuminated office with her once again. "Would you like some tea, or would you rather head for home? I know today was a long day for you and I'm sure you're tired."

It had been a long day, full of debriefings with the client and then long hours spent traveling back from Kyoto, but Lin wasn't ready to leave her presence just yet and instead nodded at her. "Tea would be lovely. It's too late to indulge in coffee, at least if I intend to sleep at some point tonight."

Mai nodded and moved to the kitchen, but didn't bother turning on more lights. The single bulb from over the sink was more than enough to make tea by but Lin almost wished she would remove this surreal half-shadowed feeling that lingered around them. Lin leaned against the counter and made small talk, asking how her day's classes had gone and only half-listening to her replies. Mai was animated as she spoke to him, and her movements were quick and energetic despite the late hour. She spoke of her physics lab and her theology lecture, and when her words turned to a fellow student, a fellow male student, Lin snapped to attention and struggled to find a place in the conversation.

"He asked you to dinner?"

Mai placed a small cup of tea before him and shrugged. "Yes, I was surprised. We've only spoken a handful of times, and it's always been in regards to a class assignment."

Lin nonchalantly sipped his tea, but his nerves were jumping under his skin. In all the time they'd been friends neither had dated, Lin because it was not something he'd ever particularly enjoyed and Mai because she'd been focused on school. She was more than halfway done, however, so it was almost expected that she would turn her attentions to romantic endeavors soon. Lin just hadn't expected that he'd be so affected by it. He concentrated on his cup of tea, his fingers tracing the rim with a forced ease. "What did you say?"

Mail tilted her head and arched her eyebrow. "I told him 'no', of course."

Lin didn't exhale his relief but he felt it nonetheless. "Why 'of course'?" He lifted his eyes and was startled to find Mai had leaned closer, her face a scant few inches from his own.

She didn't answer him, not verbally anyways.

Her lips brushed his own, once, twice, before she leaned back and studied his reaction. "It would be unfair to start something with him when I'm already involved."

Lin found his head had tilted to match her own and without a thought to the consequences leaned in and kissed her. He took control this time, and it wasn't tentative, or sampling, or teasing. She tasted of the lemon she'd squeezed into her tea and it was a sharp bite to his senses. Before he'd realized it he'd moved around the curve of the counter and pressed against her, lifting her easily onto the edge of the counter, and their bodies fit together in a way that was comfortable and grating at the same time. His every sense raged against his control, his hands trembling as they slid from where they cupped her face to grip her waist and pull her closer. Her own fingers tangled in his hair and she shifted in a way that made his back stiffen in anticipation. She made a small noise in the back of her throat and with startling clarity Lin wondered how he'd gone so long without hearing it. He felt certain that he would never be able to go another day without her making that noise and feeling it vibrate along her tongue and onto his.

Mai's nails raked along his scalp gently and shivers slid down his skin and his toes curled. He slid his hands lower, tracing her hip bones just under the rough texture of her skirt and smiled into her kiss when her muscles jumped under his touch. She bit his lip punishingly and their breath mingled as they broke the kiss in desperate need of air. His hands hesitated where they rested, but a restless movement of her leg betrayed her need and he gave in to it without a qualm.

His fingers rested on the forbidden skin that was teased daily by the edge of her skirt, shadows that taunted him when he was alone, and Lin wasn't surprised to find the silky skin was exactly the nirvana he'd imagined it to be.

Then Mai gripped his hand and slid it higher and Lin ceased to think at all.

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