Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost hunt. If I did, I probably would have uploaded the complete manga by now.

***

Squiggly images faced her on the board. Ominously , the black writing continued to form letters, then words, then numbers- draining away all her energy. There were noises coming from all over the room. The furious scratching and rubbing on the tables and chairs. The whispering of voices. One particular monotonous voice kept repeating itself in her head, making her all the more exhausted as it continued, until it got louder, and louder, and…

"Taniyama-san! IF YOU HAVE TIME TO DAZE OFF IN CLASS, THEN YOU BETTER BE GETTING AN A ON THE NEXT PHYSICS TEST, OR SO HELP YOU! READ THE NEXT EXAMPLE."

Mai snapped her head up, feeling like a jolt of electricity going through her. Her blood pressure shot to her brain, as she furiously turned to the example 27.4 and read outloud:

"Light refraction and reflection may occur at the same time, depending on the densities of the medium. For example, if you were to reflect light off glass or water, the light color may change, and become refracted…"

College Physics Night class, 10:45 p.m.

The whispers she heard turned into scattered giggles. People stopped writing on their notebooks to stare at her. Mai sighed heavily, 'here we go again…I love making a fool of myself in class, well it will be only a couple more minutes until…'

The professor stopped his writing on the board. The noise of zippers opening and closing started to begin, as books were shoved sloppily into their backpacks. The professor glanced at the clock quickly, then faced the class.

"Okay, we'll stop here, let's continue on chapter 27 with light convergence and divergence. Please have homework done numbers one through twenty-eight by this friday. Class dismissed."

He gave a small glance around to Mai and smiled slightly.

She inwardly groaned. Here we go.

"Taniyama-san, I know it's late, but see me in my office hours after class, I need to speak with you about your last exam."

Funeral music started to play in her head. She got her backpack and books and trudged behind him to his office. Mai was now 20 yrs old, and she had just started going to night college. Although college was similar to high school- she was still seeing teachers after school for who knows what. Like today.

Yay! Another reprimanding from professor Wang. He was in his fifties, with huge nerd glasses, and with a small build. He had a sharp Chinese accent, so it was nearly impossible for her to understand him unless she sat in front of class. Because she was in a class only of 15 students, it was easier for her to get a front seat, only to stare at Wang for almost 2 hours a day, 3 days a week.

Physics went through one ear and out the other as she stared at the board, she constantly looked at the clock behind her as she counted the T-minus however many minutes she had left. During these times she found herself focusing on his red bow tie, and his white button up shirt that he ALWAYS wore to class. If she had been in a better position, she would have counseled him in the diversification of clothes. "haha like someone else I know, who just LOVES to wear black," she thought to herself.

Suddenly, Wang glared at her disapprovingly. Oops, she had lost her focus again.

"Taniyama-san, your grades are getting steadily lower, you are scoring in the 40s now and the only thing you are truly getting points on is attendance." He eyed her closely, lowering his voice. "Do you have any personal issues that have been making your scores so low? Your work schedule may be too heavy?..."

Mai looked at clock on the desk.

11:35 p.m.

Shit. Speaking of work schedule, she was supposed to arrive at SPR in about negative 5 minutes. They were going on location to who knows where the next morning, and Mai had yet to read the case file. New cases for early mornings were piling up. On most nights, this meant making the SPR couch her new bed, which meant she could catch up on reading the case file, which meant she had to leave ASAP.

Well, at least she had an excuse. Naru had been badgering her to come to work on time. It seemed every time something important had made her late, like sleeping.

Well anyway, back to the question: What was she supposed to say? Yes professor, when I'm not at school I'm ghost hunting in random places, and I barely sleep because I have these premonitions that usually keep me awake all night, to the point that I may or may not pass out the next day. Also, I learn chanting and mantras before coming to class, leaving no time for homework. Physics, for now, is either at a low or insignificant part of my life.

'Nope, that definitely is not acceptable.' Mai thought to herself. She formulated a quick escape route behind her, as the minutes ticked away.

Mai gulped, which was louder than she had expected, as she looked at the teacher leaning on his office table. Her eyes darted around the room, looking at the walls, at his P.h.D in something related to physics, to her exams piled up neatly on the table, right next to his collection of figurine crystal cranes, and back to Wang. Who the heck collects that amount of crystal cranes? Unbelievable.

"Well, professor, I just have been working odd hours on my job. I promise I will try harder again next time! Don't worry…haha…I definitely will do better! But now I need to get going…my work, you know." Mai started picking up her book bag and slinging it over her shoulder, and stepped backward.

Wang eyed her again, scrutinizing her reaction. "You have work at midnight? I suppose you do work odd hours. However, you will not be passing my class if you keep this up. You should come to my afterschool quiz sessions, they're usually held Thursday afternoons in the biology building room one hundred and-"

"aha…that won't be necessary!" Mai cut in. " I will get private tutoring. I simply can't make it at those hours. Thanks anyway, professor! Anyway, I have to go, I'll see you in class Friday!" Mai ran out before the professor could say another two words.

The sky was particularly cloudy this Wednesday evening , as she rode her bike away from Tokyo's small community college, Himiwara. She sped like a demon on wheels on the dirt path from the school to SPR, rounding the rocky turns as she accelerated down. The school was isolated on a large hill, with a somewhat steep slope, making Mai thank the gods for the extra speed.

The road was hazardous since it was narrow, but the scenery was beautiful as she sped past. Mai always felt the thrill of rushing- no flying down the hill. She looked to her left, and saw how easily it would be for her to fall off. She grinned to herself, as she turned expertly turned on the bike trail down to the main street below.

The air around her went from moist to wet as rain started to sprinkle on her. If Mai had more time, she would have stopped to see the beautiful city lights that surrounded the bottom of Himiwara hill. The place felt so refreshing and a bit mysterious. It was known to mist on Himiwara, giving the place ghostly feel. There was mist forming now, softening the city lights to an eerie glow. To top it off, there were marshes, swamps, and caves scattered around the hill.

'if only I didn't have work… I would visit Narajara cave.' Mai thought wistfully. The rain pelted her harder, and Mai felt the cold suddenly permeate through her body. 'Maybe not,' she rebuked herself.

She only had a thin sweater and jeans, which was still not good enough for autumn in Japan. Time to go faster.

Mai had two predictions of what was going to happen in the next 25 minutes. One: she was going to get a degrading comment from Naru, her handsome yet narcissist boss, about being late. Two: she was going to take a nice hot shower. She glanced at her watch on her left wrist.

11:55 p.m.

'Just in time for a late dinner!' Laughed Mai, as she prepared to round another turn. Mai slowed down for the turn slightly, as lightning flashed through the sky. Mai loved lightning, but hated the noise thunder…and it looked like thunder was about to come. White light highlighted the area in front of her in electrifying flashes, surprising Mai at the sudden contrast of color in her vision.

Boom.

Something remained behind as the light flashed off. Mai took a sharp intake of air. It was in a transparent shape of a young lady, no taller than Mai herself, with black hair that shadowed over her face. As the thunder flashed again, Mai could make out the ghostly figure's expression: pale sickly skin, with no eyes. Just deep round sockets that had a color darker than any black Mai had ever seen.

Boom.

Mai felt a different cold this time, a freezing cold, a kind of cold that squeezes your heart and strangles your lungs. She fought to breathe and felt herself swaying on the bike. The figure was approaching her slowly, floating in a white pale dress, that looked much like a night gown used in the 50s. With her black flowing hair and deep dark sockets coming closer to Mai, she had an aura of malicious intent.

Mai couldn't think. She gave herself completely into her instincts and swerved sharply around the apparition. The figure outstretched her pale transparent hand and brushed Mai's face, as she came past. A nauseous feeling fell upon Mai, right before she completely lost control of her body…Paralysis.

The bike kept going.

Mai had run out of road.

Before she knew it, both her and the bike were freefalling in the air…towards the city below. She was falling face up, terror gripping her. Before Mai closed her eyes, she caught something blue fade into the clouds.

Boom.

***

12:30 a.m.

"The idiot is late. What's new…" Naru mumbled.

He stared at the clock for about the seventeenth time. Naru had been waiting for tea for the last hour and a half, and like any tea-addicted man, he was cranky as hell.

Lin looked up to see the dark haired man on the couch. Naru was now 22 years old, taller and had a bigger build. Naru, also known as Oliver Davis, and Lin had built SPR from scratch. Partners in crime, you might say. However, they were currently missing their secretary/primary investigator, Mai Taniyama. Lin shook his head. This was not like Mai to be this late, and it was also not like Naru to be out of his office. 'Perhaps we should have given Mai a cell phone. ' Lin thought to himself.

12:32 a.m.

Naru could not shake off the heavy feeling he got when he thought about Mai. He went over to his office table and picked up the profile for their newest case. A letter had been sent to Naru that morning, stating the general details of the situation. Naru re-read the case file, like any workaholic, tried to eliminate any factors for the case to not be supernaturally related.

To Shibuya Psychic Research,

My name is Lee Wong, and I currently reside in a mansion near Himiwara hill. I am an investigator of numerous accidents that have been caused on here the past year. There have been several sightings of a 'white lady' stepping in front of cars and moving vehicles. We believe her to be a dangerous spirit, since she exhibits intent of killing and harming the people in the vehicles. There have been seven accidents so far, all people in these accidents have died. We have the case files for all seven at the mansion, lodging and food will be provided if you decide to take the case. Please let me know as soon as possible, and we greatly appreciate your help.

Sincerely,

Lee Wong

'Hmm…Himiwara is close to the Chinese district here in Japan.' Naru voiced to himself. 'Lin would probably be able to translate and decipher any cultural symbols if we come across them.'

Lin had already started to type away at his Mac in one of the desks. He had already phoned Mr. Wong about their acceptance of the case, and was making arrangements of room and board, as well as getting a map.

Naru had called Ayako, the miki who could harness the power of trees, which was useful since Himiwara was mostly forest and marsh lands. Also, John, the priest , was needed for exorcising demons, and Takigawa for exorcising and protective wards. Masako, the famous television psychic, was called as well to locate the spirits, if there were any. They were all to arrive tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

Naru scanned the pictures of Himiwara hill again. There was something oddly familiar about the place, what was it? He was forgetting something…he knew it. He ran his fingers through his hair absentmindedly. Naru quickly scanned through pictures of the marshlands, several caves, and heavily forested areas. He stopped abruptly on the last picture. It showed a concrete building near the edge of a cliff, with a small bike trail. The area was labeled with a small a white sticker.

"Himiwara University…"

Naru blinked.

*flashback two weeks ago*

"MAI. Tea." Naru sat at the table, slowly flipping through articles in the newspaper.

Mai closed the door behind her, breathless.

"Sorry I'm late! I'll go make it right away!" Mai hurried to the kitchen preparing the tea, which was Earl Grey, Naru's favorite. She sat it in front of him, and paused. Naru peered over his newspaper to her expecting brown eyes. 'she is still waiting for a thank you,' he smirked, knowing that she will throw a fit about his lack manners.

Mai took a deep breath, surprising Naru about how much air a girl could inhale at once. Maybe this wasn't about the thank you.

"Naru, Iwillbe cominglate thisweek whenweplan togo location inearlymornings. Iwillbe takingclasses at HimiwaraHill University andihave aphysics classlateatnight andi wont behere until 11:30p.m. insteadof comingat eight p.m. Iwant to graduatefromcollege and get adegree inpsychology so maybe icould bemore than asecretary aroundhere."

So she could only say that much in one breath,eh? Naru smiled inwardly. So she wants to be more than a secretary, he could work with that. He also felt a surge of unexplainable feelings that were mixed with Mai striving for a higher education…was it that he was just proud of her?
'Of course.' Naru explained to himself.

Naru formed a poker face to Mai. "So how is this different from your usual tardiness, idiot? I'll allow it, but you better be here at 11:30, or else…"

Mai brightened immediately. "Thank you Naru! Thank you so much! I'll work harder after class to make up for it!" she exclaimed while giving him a hug. Naru felt like his intestines just pretzel-ed themselves, and his heart was colliding against his rib cage. He swore his cheeks were going to catch on fire from amount of blood rushing to them.'What the hell is this? I must be getting sick. ' Naru thought as he reflexively went stiff in Mai's embrace.

"Anyway Mai, more Tea," Naru cleared his throat, "and make it quick. You're late and I need compensation for the lack of tea this morning."

Mai finally let go of him, and dashed out of his office.

'Himiwara…I hope it's nearby.' Naru sighed as he sat back down again.

*

"Shit."

He made a grab for his phone.

Lin, surprised to hear Naru swearing, gave a quick glance to his colleague. The fleeting look of panic on Naru's usual impassive face was quite a sight to see, even for Lin. Possible disaster.

As Naru started to dial, he started to bark out orders to Lin.

"Phone Ayako, Takigawa, John, and Masako. We're going on location - Now."

Lin was quite taken aback, but decided to ask questions later. He knew better to than to ask for explanations when Naru was like this. Lin only hoped that this situation had nothing to do with Taniyama-san's disappearance.

He picked up the SPR's main cell phone, the cell phone that had everyone's numbers on speed dial. Before he could dial any numbers though, the phone started to ring.

INCOMING: BOU- SAN.

Bou-san? Oh yes, that's right, Mai renamed everyone on this phone.

Lin pushed the accept call button saying, "hello Takigawa-san, I was just about to call you…"

Naru shot his head up to Lin's response. Takigawa?

"You won't believe this but we just – " Lin's eyes widened slightly, and his hands clenched tightly to the phone. Naru stepped forward towards Lin, sensing the heavy feeling that he had about Mai get even heavier. Again, his heart was colliding against his rib cage, but for totally different reasons.

X

Mai felt sticky. And gross. She needed a shower, pronto. She opened her eyes slowly, her eyelashes sticking together like she had put too much mascara on. 'Or I have some serious pinkeye.' Mai thought to herself.

Mai rubbed her eyes to open them fully. She got some of the sticky material that was on her hands on her eyes as well, but small rays of gray light trickled down through between the canopy leaves of the trees. There was barely any light anyway, the branches and overhang made a kind of umbrella over the area. The forest is so dense here, the trees, with a dark almost black wood, look as if they were bunched together like dark slits. To top it off, there was a foggy haze that enveloped the forest, it was the most problematic. Direction and orientation could be easily lost here. The ground was a dark mess of solid and liquid, with leaves and foliage scattered about. After a second of looking of what was in front of her, she quickly glanced down and realized why she was so sticky.

'So this is the swamp. Nice, I am now completely camoflauged with the rest of this place'. She sighed…she was right, her torso had full coverage of what she can only be described as 'dark goo mud.'

'First things first, let's get out of here.' She told herself, her discomfort outweighing any feelings of fear and confusion. She walked in the goo, realizing that the goo was only about 3 feet high. Anything under it was solid earth. Mai felt the ground slope upwards to her left, and got to higher more stable ground.

As she climbed/scrambled out of the ooze, Mai assessed the situation, trying to keep her panic level down. 'Think clearly Mai, what were you doing before…?' the haze of the forest was not only around her but also inside her head, clouding her memories. Wasn't it evening?

Mai spotted bookbag that seemed to have fallen a few feet from her, on a semi-solid surface. Mai's feet sunk in the ground with every step, as she slowly made her way to the bag. She reached inside and felt something hard and rectangular- a physics book.

Physics. Professor Wang. Scary white lady with no eyes.

Her memories rushed to her like a hurricane. Mai looked up, and saw a small opening amongst the complete covering canopy of the trees. That's probably where I fell from Himiwara Hill, Mai thought.The image of the 'white lady' flashed in her mind, and Mai took a sharp intake of breath.

Calm down, Mai. She told herself. She's not here right now, so think of a way out of this place. Mai went to look at the hole she made through the canopy. She saw the side of the hill, which now looked like a mountain at Mai's point of view. The bike trail was about 200 feet up on the side of the mountain. .Mai looked around for the any pathways that would lead to the bike trail that was up above her. Other than the gray light, there was a misty haze among the trees that made it impossible to see around them. Mai checked her watch.

12:01 a.m.

'Why is there this gray light, isn't it the middle of the night? Weird. Looks like its Exploration Time with Imminent Death Approaching'. Mai thought to herself sarcastically.

' At least I was lucky, to be able to land in this liquid goo, totally saved my life…' she sighed in relief. She started thanking the gods that saved her. Her thoughts were cut short however, as she heard a quiet, yet familiar voice ring through her ears.

"Get out of here Mai…get out before they trap you! Stay away from the walls…!"

Mai looked fervently around her. Gene…

"GENE!!! Where are you? It's you isn't it? Come out, I need your help! What do you mean stay away from the walls? What walls? Where are they?!" Mai cried.

Suddenly, she felt like she was getting wrapped in rope, a tightening rope. She looked down and the black ooze that had gotten on her skin on her face, arms, and lower half of her body. Her skin was becoming pink and indented where the ooze had stuck to her. WAIT A MINUTE, IS THIS STUFF ALIVE? I feel a strong pressure underneath it!

Mai frantically shoved the stuff off as much as possible. Its coldness absorbed in her skin, primarily on her hands.

A panic attack seized Mai, as she ran around looking for Gene. Any moment, he'll show up. Any moment he'll help me out. Mai thought to herself. But this isn't a dream. Her breath came in irregular spasms. Tears welled up in her eyes, obstructing her vision. A few minutes passed and Mai sank down to her knees in the goo. She had her hands flattened in it, and her head bowed down. She tried to breathe evenly, in and out.

Mai shut her eyes, and remembered there was a technique Naru and Bou-san had taught her a few months ago.

***

"…So you bow your head like this and try to make your breathing slower. In and out, in and out." Bou-san said as Mai had her last panic attack. She had dreamed she was dying by strangulation, and she had a hard time recovering.

Naru gave her a brown bag to breathe in. "Use this, it will help you get your carbon dioxide back and keep you from passing out." Mai took the bag gratefully. Swiftly and gently, Naru took one of his hands to help her hold the bag to her face, and he used his other… to hold Mai's hand.

It was then Mai started to feel her breath even out, and her body relax, except for her right hand. It remained small and hesitant in Naru's grasp. His hand had felt so warm and comforting, like a cloud had enveloped her with his touch. Her mind became clear.

Mai's exhaled slowly…In and out…

***

Mai's body relaxed at the memory, it gave her something familiar and pleasant to cling to in this hell hole of a situation. She stopped shaking from her sobs and held her head up. She noticed the black ooze had stopped its squeezing on her, much to her relief.
At that moment, she heard Gene's voice again. It was as if the wind was breathing around her.

"Don't worry, he's coming for you…"

12:27 a.m.

A small minivan stopped blasted itself along the streets of Japan.

"Here comes the sun, little darling! Here comes the sun! It's alright!" At the wheel was a tall sandy haired blonde that looked like he was ready to go to a rock concert. When he started to sing, no one could stop him- not even the screaming woman next to him.

"Takigawa! WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP? I already feel like I'm losing my dinner from your driving, are you going to take my ear drums too?!" Ayako could feel a migraine coming on. She rubbed the sides of her head and slumped herself into the seat. They had just come from a small yet cozy hotel named 'little hokkaido', which was minutes away from Himiwara.

Takigawa glanced down at Ayako, and took one of her hands that was massaging her temple. He gently intertwined his fingers within hers. "Babe, could you just relax for a bit in the car? Stop be so neurotic and just go with the flow of music…IT's alright! Here comes the sun…"

Ayako couldn't help but sigh in defeat. They had been dating for a year now. After so much fighting, they realized how much they meant to each other. But, they were total opposites in every way except for their spiritual abilities. She was a control freak and into science, he was easygoing and into rock. What kind of unholy union was this?

Takigawa squeezed her hand slightly and flashed her a smile. She couldn't help but smile back when he did that, his easy going attitude never failed to overcome her self-made barriers she had with others. Ayako's eyelids started to get heavier and she felt her body floating. Takigawa flashed her another grin.

"Anyway you're just being emotional since it's that time of the month, right?"

Screeeeeeeeeeech!

Ayako smacked Takigawa on the head, making Takigawa lose his handling on the minivan. Takigawa tensed up in surprise. "Ayako, please stop I'm driving!" he shifted the cars gears to regain control of the minivan. Ayako, however, was in no mood of stopping her lecture.

"YOU THINK OF EVERY EXCUSE DON'T YOU? WITH YOUR STUPID ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT WOMEN…MAYBE IF YOU DROVE BETTER I-" Ayako was cut short as the van ran over what felt like a wobbly speed bump.

The minivan screeched for a second time, and Ayako and Takigawa turned around to look at what they had run over. The back window was fogged up, making it impossible to see what they had hit. As far as they knew, they were on an empty road in a forested area.

After a few moments of shock, Takigawa was the first to speak. "Let's go check it out." Ayako nodded in agreement as they left the car. The first thing they felt was the biting cold around them, and it looked like it just rained.

"The air seems different here, it makes one feel disorientated." Ayako stated, as she walked with Takigawa.

After a few moments, the fog surrounded them and thickened, making it difficult to see what was in front of them. Takigawa grabbed Ayako's hand.

"Don't want to lose you to weather." He said simply, as he intertwined his fingers with her hand again.

At that instant, Ayako's foot hit something hard. She would have tripped if she Takigawa didn't pull her up to steady her.

"Ouch! Wait hold on, there's something here!" Ayako touched what the mass on the ground. It felt cool and metallic. She got closer to it, and realized it was a bike. Or was a bike. It was wrecked beyond repair, almost like it hit a hard surface. Takigawa was already at one of the wheels, looking at it closely.

"Ayako, hand me the phone." Ayako searched through her pockets as she handed the phone to Takigawa.

"Why, do you know who's bike this is?" She asked, surprised. He could tell by just looking at the tire?

"It's Mai's bike."

Ayako's eyes widened in shock as Takigawa continued to explain while dialing, "I replaced the tire last year for her. These tires are from America. I had them on special order, and they're not usually found in Japan. I also recognize this place, it's the foot of Himiwara hill- where Mai studies…" He trailed off. Without missing a beat, Ayako got up and started to search for Mai in the thick fog.

"Mai! Mai where are you? Are you hurt?!"Ayako screamed. She was still in the middle of the road, but she didn't care. She didn't care if she got lost in the fog, or if she looked like a crazy person while screaming out someone's name to any cars that drove by. The more Ayako yelled for Mai, the more frantic she was getting.

There was still no response. Ayako decided to see what Takigawa was doing when he should be looking for Mai. When she came back, she saw Takigawa moving the bike out of the road, while still speaking to someone on the phone.

"Takigawa, Mai could have been hit by a car, unconscious or dead! What exactly are you doing?"she demanded.

He paused midway into the conversation and glanced up at her.

"Since we can't just do a search party with just the two of us," He took off his jacket and put it on her shoulders, "I'm calling for back up."