Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or any included characters. I do, however, own a bubblegum wrapper, a Wyoming quarter, and a bottle of water.
Chapter One: The Manifestation
It was a somewhat normal day for Taniyama Mai, the assistant of a certain narcissist at Shibuya Psychic Research. Normal in the sense that she woke up early, went to school, greeted the thin, black dog that walked with her to the office, and went to work. Well, the dog was a bit of a new thing, but still perfectly normal. Right? Isn't it normal for a dog to follow you even if you never fed it, specifically from the time you left school until the time you went home for the night? The only time in that bracket of her day in which she couldn't catch sight of her furry, black stalker, was when she actually entered the office.
She once mentioned about it to her tea-loving boss after one of her many rounds of making and serving of the life-sustaining liquid, but he gave her a look that said "don't waste my time." So she occasionally mentioned it to her other friends. But whenever Mai made it a point to show the dog to someone, it disappeared. Not vanish out of thin air, mind you, but seemingly making itself scarce. Is it safe to say Mai was mildly freaked out about this? Yes. Did she think about it continuously almost to a point of obsession? Yes. Did anyone else pay attention when she started rambling about the elusive canine? No.
In fact, this was one of those rare cases, or not so rare cases, depending on who you're talking about, in which Mai's ramblings and ever-capable intuition were ignored. But there really wasn't anything else odd about the dog, from what Mai could tell. Perhaps it was just shy of strangers…but then again she was a stranger too.
-GH-GH-GH-
Mai's POV:
"Mai, you've been staring at that same log for two hours. Either add something to it or file it away like you're supposed to do."
I sighed, leaning back in my chair after Naru went back to his office. This stupid dream diary assignment has been nothing but trouble for me since he first told me about it a week ago.
-Flashback-
"Mai, don't you have something you're supposed to be doing?"
I woke up for a start and nearly jumped out of my seat. How could he be so quiet?
"Um…sorry?" I started shuffling some papers about my desk, trying to figure out what I was doing before I fell asleep. I knew I was dreaming because there was a thin layer of sweat on my skin, but what bothered me most is that I had no idea what it was about! That was odd…I almost always remembered my dreams.
Naru smirked a bit and approached my desk. "Since you spend so much time asleep, and being paid for it, not to mention, it only seems reasonable that you should do something to compensate for my time you've wasted."
"Erm…" I shifted uncomfortably, dodging Naru's eyes before I gathered enough courage to ask, "How?"
-End Flashback-
And that's how I got stuck with my current assignment. Naru called it a "dream diary," but I called it boring and pointless. I mean, I could understand recording my dreams when we were on a case and there was actually some information to be gathered from them, but why every day? And every time I fell asleep in the office?
It's not my fault I fell asleep, after all. There was only so much to do besides make tea and write in my dream diary. It was only recently that I convinced Naru to let me do my homework during working hours, on the claim that I wouldn't be much use to him if I got any more stupid. Not to my surprise, he agreed. Not only did he agree to let me do my homework, but he also offered help, in his offhanded, narcissistic way.
Riku, the name I gave dog that always seemed to wait on me outside of the office, was the only person outside of school that didn't act so coldly to me nowadays since Bou-san, Ayako, and the others stopped coming around so often. Bou-san's band was really starting to hit it off and played in far away cities while Ayako started spending more and more time at the hospital her family owned. I really wanted to find time to visit each of them, but since finals are coming up, I have been busy with school work.
Speaking of Riku, he really needed a bath if he was going to be lying on the couch like that. Wait…lying on the couch? How in the world did he get inside? Naru was going to be furious!
"Riku! Off! Bad dog!" Riku looked up at her and hopped off the couch, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Then, my worst fear actually happened. Naru chose that moment to walk out of his office.
"Mai, what are you doing? There is no dog in here, and if there was, the damages would be coming out of your paycheck." I raised my eyebrow and glanced at Riku, who was clearly in Naru's view.
"Eh? Can't you see him?"
Naru tiredly brought his thumb and index finger up to massage the bridge of his nose. "See what, Mai? Are you hallucinating?" He examined me even more closely, making me feel uncomfortable. I looked back at Riku again, who was currently scratching his ear and getting fleas and god knows what else on the carpet. Except when they hit the carpet…they disappeared. Maybe I was hallucinating?