Of love and Loss - Chapter One: So much for first impressions!
Okay so this isn't my first fanfiction but it is my first one for Ghost Hunt, which is currently my favourite anime as I became addicted as soon as I watched it.
If you're fans of 'Mobile suit Gundam SEED' or 'Vampire Knight' then you may have read my other fanfictions.
I don't know how often I will be able to update this fanfic but I will try my best, also none of my chapters will be beta'd so if you spot any mistakes then please don't hesitate to let me know.
Though I am the one actually writing this fic my sister is actually helping me to come up with ideas, so I can't take all the credit.
Summary: SPR are in High school! what will happen when you mix a pair of misceivous twins, a monk, a miko, a medium and many more? I can assure you that there will be no shortage of humour! Starts with MaiXGene but eventually becomes MaiXNaru.
This story will be light hearted at first but there will be plently on angst later on and then some extreme tissue warnings!
Warning: Gene will die in this story so please don't kill me when you read that part!
Discliamer: I do not own Ghost hunt because If I did then Gene would have been revealed in the anime and the final volume would have been in English.
The sun was shining brightly in the sky which, considering the season, wasn't only thing that disturbed the peaceful atmosphere was the shrill ring of the alarm clock.
15 year old Taniyama Mai groaned as she leaned over to switch off the annoying contraption and then, stumbling out of bed, she managed to locate the bathroom through half-opened eyes. She took a very quick shower and then hastily dressed in her school uniform before leaning over to check the time on her alarm clock.
8:15 am it blinked back innocently, the glowing red numbers highlighted against the background. Mai stared at it bewildered for a moment, willing it not to be true before promptly letting out a screech, running towards the door and fighting with her shoes which just refused to go on right!
She was going to be late...Again! and on the first day of the new school year as well, so much for first impressions.
Trying not to think about how much trouble she was going to be in when she got to school, Mai hurried towards the gate, managing to once again walk into the lampost located right outside of it.
She then walked through the afformentioned gates and blanched when she noticed that the courtyard outside the school was deserted. That could only mean one thing, she was very late. Rushing to the auditorium, Mai located the piece of paper labelled '3A' on which her name was printed in neat kanjii. Before completely turning away from the list, Mai spotted a name that made her smile, 'Looks like Masa-Chan and I will be in the same class again this year' she thought smugly to herself.
Thankfully the classroom that she was supposed to be in wasn't far from her current location so she wouldn't have to run in order to get there... but it would just be her luck that she would crash into somebody along the way.
"I'm so sorry," she stated, bowing low before she could catch a glimpse of the persons face. Hearing a laugh, she looked up shocked to see that the person wasn't at all angry with her like she had originally suspected.
What she saw was a boy that could only be described as beautiful, he had short black hair that partially threatened to obscure his eyes and sky blue eyes that sparkled with mirth and mischief. She froze, drawn in by the incredible charisma that the boy embodied.
"No need to apologise, it was as much my fault as it was yours, now what might your name be?" the dazzling boy drawled. Mai didn't reply at first, still stunned, then she glanced at his expectant face and realised that he'd asked her a question.
"Uh... Taniyama Mai, I'm in my last year of middle school here, and yourself?" she managed to stutter out.
A throat cleared from some ways down the hallway and Mai pivoted quickly to see an almost exact replica of the boy that was currently standing behind her only he wasn't smiling and his eyes were cold. Mai had to quickly check behind her to make sure that the boy she had been talking to hadn't simply hadn't, still standing in the same position smiling.
"Gene, I told you that we were in the wrong building. I saw the sign for the high school on the way over here." The cold boy stated, before glancing, once again, back down at the book in his hands.
The first boy, who Mai figured was called 'Gene' ignored him and adressed Mai once again.
"Hello Taniyama-San, my name is Eugene Davis, but most people just call me Gene, and that idiot scientist over there is my twin brother Oliver. We just transfered over here from England. We're supposed to be in the first year of high school but we seem to be quite lost." Gene stated, gesturing to the dopple-ganger whom was still someways down the hall.
The second boy, Oliver, cleared his throat once again, "I'm sure you are already aware of this but the bell has already sounded meaning that you, as well as us, are late for class. Now run along." He stated patronisingly, gesturing rudely with his hands for her to leave.
She glared at him before turning and beginning to run down the hall towards her classroom, turing a final time, she caught the wink that Gene sent her way before he himself turned in the opposite direction. Mai's loud giggle echoed in the hall as she finally headed towards her destination.
With Gene
"Well that was interesting," Gene stated, glancng at his ever-stoic brother. Oliver made no move to answer him, instead preffering to continue reading the book and pretending that he hadn't heard anything at all.
Gene realised that his brother wasn't going to answer and instead continued talking to himelf in an amused voice.
"Well I thought she was nice, very pretty as well if you ask me." he said, griining while remembering the conversation with the bubbly girl. It was the most exciting thing that had happened to him since arriving in England just a week prior.
That was to be expected though, when you spend every waking hour with Oliver -who prefered the company of facts and statistics than people- and Lin -who prided himself on not talking unless it was absolutely necessary-.
It was then that Oliver decided to give his input in the one-sided conversation. "She seemed rather ill-mannered to me, not to mention stupid and inconsiderate." he stated, smirking when he saw the look of indignation cross his twins face.
"... Of course that just my personal opinion." he finished smugly.
Gene frowned as the smirking boy walked on ahead, once again lifting his book and beginning to read. 'Idiot scientist' he thought, beginning to follow quietly behind the guilty party.
"Hey Noll, what do you think about starting a ghost hunting club? You know, like back at LPR." Gene asked suddenly.
Oliver stopped abruptly, "That sounds interesting... Do you really think though, that any of the simple minded students at this school would be interested in something like that?and do you think that the teachers would allow it?" Oliver replied, always the one for rational thinking.
Gene smiled wider, "Of course we wouldn't call it a ghost hunting club, we'd call it a chess club or something like that. If people still turn up then then we will see what interest they have in ghost hunting." he replied, smirking right back at his brother, making them look indentical.
Oliver turned back again, "For now, I think that we should get to class." was all he said before turning the corner and allowing Gene to follow.
With Mai.
"I'm so sorry I'm late!" Mai exclaimed, this phrase was begining to feel rather repetitive to her today. Raising her head from it's previous bowed position she realised that the person standing at the front of the class was in fact not a teacher but a student from the high school.
She caught Masako's grin from the corner of the room before her kimono sleeve once again rose to cover her mouth. Then, turning back to the strange student standing in front of her class Mai began to speak.
"Like I said, I'm sorry for being late...but ...who are you, and why are you standing at the front of this class?" she asked, looking somewhat confused and efficiently relieved. The boy had floppy black hair and the glasses that covered his eyes seemed to reflect the light in an awesome way no matter what angle he stood at.
"No need to worry about anything little lady, I'm Yasuhara Osamu but you can call me Yasu," he said, addressing her directly as if he had forgotten that everybody else was actually in the room.
Mai gave him a look, signalling for him to continue. "One of the big cheeses asked me to watch your class for a while since your teacher seems to be running late." he concluded, sounding rather proud of himself. A few chuckles went around the room went he said 'big cheeses' knowing that he was refering to the staff members.
The boy was overly cheerful for a monday morning, much less the first day of school, It made her inwardly cringe.
"Okay then..." she said, side-stepping this strange creature that called itself 'Yasu' but was obvioulsy not a normal teenager due to it enthusiasm about school, and walking to the back of the classroom to take a seat beside Masako.
She nudged the girl in the side, earning a playful glare, and said, "Has he been acting this weird the whole time hes been here?" Masako nodded discreetly in response before turning back to look at the front of the classroom.
Mai also turned back to the front and watched the high-schooler talk about stuff that made absolutely no sense for the next 10 minutes, after which time Sawayuki-Sensei walked into the room looking positively flustered.
"I'm ever so sorry class, I experienced some-what of a strange occurance this morning that made me, rather unfortunately, late." the flustered teacher said. Mai found herself becoming interested, she'd always had an interest in things that were considered unusual or out of the ordinary.
Somebody in the class put up their hand and asked the woman to tell them about the experience, apparently Mai wasn't the only one that was interested in this 'occurance'... or maybe, the other students just wanted to keep her talking so that they wouldn't have to do as much work.
The teacher was at first hesitant but then complied to the students request. "Yes, well I was leaving my house this morning when suddenly my door slammed shut. I thought it was just the wind initially but when I tried to open it, I found that it was stuck fast and wouldn't budge. The next thing I heard was a spine-chilling scream that sounded like that of a child from the second level of my house. I don't have any children and as far as I am aware there are no children living in the area or close by."
The teacher stopped to take a breath and gauge the students reactions, some looked intrigued, some looked bored but Taniyama Mai and Hara Masako in particular looked positively fascinated.
"I began to walk up the stairs, deciding to investigate the origin of the noise but as I just about reached the half way point I stopped cold. An apparition flew past me as if it had been pushed. I spun around as fast as I could to see a young child with long bleach blond hair splayed out at the bottom of the stairs. I was going to call an ambulance but when I blinked she was gone."
It seemed as though recounting the story was not a pleasant experience for the teacher who was now visibly shaking and clutching her arm nervously. Mai however had become more and more interested as the story progressed, she wished she could have been there to take EMF readings or at least some recordings of the temperature.
Mai raised her hand, "Sawayuki-Sensei, did you witness any of Tisane's criteria during the incident?" she asked, sounding more interested than she ever had in any of her classes, the teacher noted dully.
Sawayuki-Sensei said nothing but fixed her with a confused look.
Mai rolled her eyes, of course the teacher wouldn't know what she was talking about, after all, she doubted that the woman actually had any interest in the supernatural what so ever.
"E. Tisane was a French policeman who was the first to classify the criteria for poltergheist activity. Knocking sounds, Doors opening and closing, glass shattering... that kind of thing you know?" she tried to explain it as simply as possible to make it easier for the woman to understand but it was still clear that the woman did not in fact 'Know'.
The confused look never really left the teachers face but she nodded slowly, a signal that she maybe understood just a little better than she had before.
"No I don't think I experienced or heard any of those things..." she trailed off looking expectantly at Mai, but it was Masako that spoke next.
"What about unusual temperature changes? Specifically drops in temperature." she asked, looking every bit as interested as Mai, it was obvious that she also found the topic to be of specific interest to herself.
The woman whipped her head to the left, turning her attention to the black haired girl. "Now that you mention it, the stair-rail did seem to be unnaturally cold, I remember thinking that I should get the thermostat looked at later. I think the thermometer read about -7 degrees." she said, looking somewhat lost in thought.
Masako and Mai let out simultaneous gasps as they heard just how low the temperature had stooped.
Mai turned to Masako, "It's definitely not a poltergheist because it doens't fit with Tisane's criteria, I don't think it's a floating spectre because it only started recently when Sawayuki-Sensei moved. So the most likely option is that it's a site-bound spirit." she said, Masako's slight tilt of her head told her that she agreed.
Nothing more was said on that matter during that lesson but Mai and Masako were just waiting for break to arrive so that they could find a quiet corner to sit in and discuss the issue in more depth. For now, the ghost didn't seem to be dangerous but this was only the first day of activity so they couldn't cancel out any possibilities.
When break finally did arrive Mai and Masako took their usual seats by the old sakura tree that sat right on the edge of the woods. It was out of the way so it was unlikely that somebody would overhear their converstaion, but it wasn't so far that they couldn't hear the bell for the end of break.
With Noll and Gene.
The day had been uneventful for the twins so far. They knew everything that their teachers were trying to teach them and when they tried to inform the teachers of this they only thought that the twins where being rude.
Oliver was glad that it was break, this was probably the only time of day that he would be able to catch a two didn't really know what to do or where to go during the break though so they decided just to wander around the outside of the grounds, this was mainly a precaution to ensure that they avoided there screaming hoards of fangirls.
The walk couldn't be described as silent because Gene spent practically the whole journey having a full blown conversation with himself but they both fell silent when they happen to come upon the girl from earlier and a short girl wearing a kimono having a conversation.
Oliver was happy to just to pass them straight by right up until he heard what they were actually talking about.
"... EMF readings would probably show that energy was being drawn from the area around stairs where Sawayuki-Sensei saw the apparition." the brown haired girl said to her friend. The kimono clad girl nodded in agreement and then added, "Also, if the temperatures dropped all the way to -7 degrees then we must be dealing with a strong spirit... I mean why else would it need to draw so much energy from it's surroundings that the temperatures dropped that low."
Oliver gestured for Gene to join him behind the tree so that he could also hear what they were saying. It seemed as though the girl they encountered in the hallway this morning wasn't as dumb as he had originally thought her to be.
The brown haired girl began speaking again, "I guess now the dream I had last night makes sense at least." she said. The other girl turned to her, an interested look in her eyes.
"You projected onto the astral plane again?" she asked, as if she was talking about the weather. The brown haired girl nodded in response then began to describe the dream in which a young girl had been pushed down the stairs by her older brother because he was jealous of her always beings their parents favourite.
It sounded as though conversations such as these were common occurances between the girls, it was certainly purposeful that they were sitting this far away from the rest of the schools population.
They fell silent momentarily and for a minute it seemed as though they wouldnt continue the conversation, but just as Oliver was about to leave the black haired girl began speaking again.
"I have to pass by Sawayuki-Sensei's house on my way home and when I was walking by yesterday I saw the spirit of a young girl fitting the description that Sawayuki-Sensei gave. She had long bleach blond hair but it didn't look well kept, in fact it looked matted and unkempt. Her eyes though were the most frightening thing, they were a very vibrant shade of blue and had heavy black bags underneath watched my unblinking as I passed by the house and I could still feel her eyes on me until I turned the corner." the girl finished.
The rest of the two girls conversation was uneventful, and they eventually stood up to head back towards the school for classes. Once they were out of earshot,Gene let out a whistle.
"Wow, they really know their stuff ne, Noll?"he said, turning to face the older twin. "And that was the girl that you called stupid just this morning, I'm sure you made a good impression on somebody who I'm sure would have been a much more useful ally." he finished.
Oliver didn't even glare back, simply staring after the two, still in a kind of shock.
"I guess we know two people that we'll be recruiting for 'chess club' then don't we?" he finally said, smirking and turning toface his brother.
Gene's smile was genuine, he was looking forward to working with and getting to know the girl who'd made such an impression on him this morning. He was sure almost positive that Noll and the girl wouldn't get along but Noll didn't really get along with anybody so that didn't really come as a massive surprise.
He looked forward to meeting all sorts of new people now that he was in Japan, what different cases would they see, people would they encounter and friends would they make?
'I guess only time will tell...' Gene thought to himself, a smile considerably smaller than the last but still just as genuine graced his lips as he turned to follow Noll's retreating figure back towards the shool.
This was only the start of their adventure.
I hope you enjoyed reading chapter one, please don't forget to leave me a review! I love to hear from you, criticism, feedback, just pointless comments...you name it!
Hopefully it won't take me too long to update chapter 2, if you have anything that you would particularly like to see then please don't hesitate to let me know, I will definitely take any suggestions into account and try to incorperate them into the story.
Till next time, Ja Ne peeps x
Saika-Chan xx