Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or the original characters. I do however own the plot of this particular story and the necessary characters that come with it.

Nanami Penitentiary is an entirely fictional place and any resemblance to any real-life locality is purely coincidental.

Love Bound: Waking the Walls

Chapter 1:

Prison Tales

There were several loud banging sounds from the floor above them. The sudden noise made the group of four men jump in surprise. They had heard of the complaints that the workers had been making pertaining to this project, but they had not been taken seriously. The Ministry of Justice officials who were in charge of this situation had banked it on laziness, and had issued strict orders for the work to continue unhindered. They had believed the orders would work, but the final draw had been made when a fellow colleague had been found, lying in a pool of his own blood, in one of the sleeping quarters.

He had stabbed his own eyes. He had used the standard-issued ball point pen that came with every standard-issued clipboards required for their job. The point was very blunt and could not have penetrated the human-flesh on the very first try. The examiner reports confirmed that the pen had been used multiple of times, owing to the brain-deep penetration of the pen in both eyes. The victim had sustained brain-damage before succumbing to his wounds two days later.

The police examination did not find anything peculiar. Interrogation of the colleagues revealed that the victim had been a fairly satisfied person – satisfied to the degree that he would never have had any need to commit suicide. The family also gave similar reports.

A psychologist theorized that it had to do with the depressing nature of the building he had been working in. Prisons, after-all, weren't known for their cheery dispositions. It had something to with the pathology of the place – bleak, run-down and abandoned prisons had the natural tendency of negatively influencing anyone who so much as decided to look at it from the outside. That, however, did not explain the loud bang that the group had just heard.

"It's just the wind," Toshio said nervously. The others looked at him warily.

"There're no open windows in this place," Daisuke reasoned, "Besides, there's no wind on the outside as well."

"He's right," Arakawa said, "It was pretty quiet when we were coming down. The weather-report also didn't say anything about winds that strong."

"You reckon some kids sneaked in on a dare?" Seiji asked. The others shook their heads. There were a few sweaty foreheads now, and eye-brows were crinkled in worry.

"The front gate was locked. No one could have gotten in. The walls are too high to climb over, and even if someone did manage anything they would have been greeted by those barbed wires." The brown-haired reasoned once more.

The hall they were standing in was lighted on an emergency-supply generator. The care-taker that had been assigned to this prison had called ahead to let them know that the main electricity supply was not working properly. The Ministry had issued an emergency generator for this task. The capacity of the generator was limited, presently it could only light one-fourth of the ground floor, and the landing lights for the second floor. The power did not extend to the third and the fourth floors. They had brought battery-powered flashlights as a counter for that situation.

There were two wings to this 1946 design: The East block and the West Block. These blocks were divided into three sections, respectively.

"Let's go check it out."

There was a staircase in-front of them, and as they climbed the stairs, the dim lighting on the landing went out. There was a collective intake of breath.

"The generator must have given in." The green-eyed muttered more to himself than the others. There was a slight fumble as the light from the flashlights came on, and at the same time a mild odour seemed to waft down from the floor above. They could almost see the smell coming down in sea-like waves – like the rising steam from a heating pot. They focused their lights on the landing, trying to see something. The beam of light didn't go all that far into the darkness, and all they could see were the particles of dust falling down.

Then there came a squeaking sound of rusty metal. Then another loud bang and they jumped once again.

"Who's there?!" Arakawa yelled. His voice was loud, yet the tremor of fear and panic was easily noted.

Silence.

Then, came the screaming, "NO! NO! NO! NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

There was a shuffling sound, as though someone was dragging their feet. It was close to the landing – much too close to them. Then a loud human groan and loud crying screams. Their feet were frozen to the ground as silence ensued once more. Except now there were silent sobs of a female raking through the air. The smell was becoming too much to bear, as though a slaughtered animal had been left to rot. The nausea clenched at their mouths, and they covered their noses.

The shuffling of the feet continued. Then a loud thud as something fell on the top step. A head of a young female with short, black hair and empty eye-sockets – and yet, it was crying. The face was wet with tears, and the scarred lips were pulled back in their sadness. It rolled down to the next step with another thud – and they stood there staring at it with a horrified fascination. The head rolled to a stop. The emotions wiped off to a blank stare.

Then the laughing began. It was feminine and sweet and inhuman and crazy at the same time. The head smiled what once must have been a sweet smile, but it was deformed and ugly now – the teeth were black. It started rolling again, and before it could fall to the next step, sense knocked back into them. They were running away now.

They never made it to the exit.

December 1:

Their fingers grazed together as he took the cup of tea from her. Momentarily, his eyes had been looking disinterestedly at the bookshelf on the opposite side. The brief touch, however, made his eyes flick towards her, lighting up with slight interest. The action itself startled her badly and she nearly dropped the cup on him. The tea spilled over the brim of the cup, and splashed onto the saucer. Simultaneously, they both brought their other hands to steady it. Mai's hand reached there first, and his own came down neatly on top of hers.

She almost jerked back at this contact, but stopped her feet mid-air when she realized the dangers of this move. She removed her hands, the trapped one gliding smoothly from under his. The touch left her hand tickling, and she gripped at it unconsciously. He ignored her.

"Do you need anything else?" She asked him nervously.

"No," His reply was curt, and he leaned forwards to snatch a tissue from the table. He wiped the cup, and lifted it to his lips. She was about to turn back when his question stopped her, "How're you faring?"

She turned back towards him, startled by his question. His eyes were stone-hard, and his facial expression was blank. He looked at her, his fingers touching his lips. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm okay, really."

He considered her for a moment, "If you're having complications with your memory then you should discuss."

He had noticed her quiet disposition lately. It had been nine months since their last major case, and Mai had temporarily lost her memories at the time. Although, the doctor reassured them that she had made a full recovery, he could not help but wonder (read: worry). Her prolonged silences over the months had decreased, and he knew that she had gotten over the initial shock of everything. Mai had always been of a very resilient nature. It was one of the qualities that he had started appreciating ever since his heart had stopped beating when he had looked at her that one time.

She had, however, gotten fairly talkative recently. Though, there were some occasions when he would have to look her up when his calls for tea went unheard. On those occasions, he had found her with her head bowed down, with a blank look in her eyes, and her knuckles pale-white and shaking. He would graze the top of her head gently to get her back. And usually this did not work until he called her by her name.

She would look up at him, without really seeing him, and her lower lip would tremble. And he would assure her that everything was alright now. Her face would contort with pain and her eyes would suddenly flit with life. It had been the first occasion when he had made tea for her. She would apologize several times while drinking it. And he would spend the remainder of the day working in the main lobby, instead of just retreating into his private office.

He knew that being in human contact helped her cope. It was one of the reasons why he wouldn't give her leave. Letting her work allowed him to keep an eye on her. That would not have been possible if she were resting at home. He did keep her tasks to the minimum so as to not burden her unnecessarily.

Over the months, his feelings had the opportunity to flesh out completely. The previous guards that he had kept up against them – to eradicate them – did not work completely. Her pull had been too strong to ignore. He regretted it a little, but Mai's condition did not allow such feelings to prevail.

"I was having trouble with them the last couple of months, but...I'm much better now." She gave a small smile.

"Are you back with us now, Mai?"

She gave a shrug, "I'm...not one-hundred percent, but I'm much, much better than before."

He gave a nod, and she turned around once more.

"If you have anything..."

"What?" She looked at him quizzically.

"No, it's nothing."

She turned for a final time, and he did not call out to her.

Later that evening, they had a client with a very curious case. Nanami Penitentiary was a prison located beside the ocean on the outskirts of Hiratsuka of the Kanagawa prefecture. Four employees following the complaints of the renovators had been ordered to check up on the place. All of them were now dead. They had been contacted directly by the Ministry of Justice to look into the matter. A request to keep the details confidential from the media had been made.

The severed head of a young female had also been discovered on the spot.

Author's Note: This is the sequel to Love Bound: Night Calling.

To those who are looking at this story the first time: Love Bound is a series of cases, with a larger plot brewing in the centre. However, each case can be taken as a stand-alone as well.

That plot will emerge after some time.

This is the third instalment. The previous two are (in order):

Love Bound: The Seven Deadly Sins

Love Bound: Night Calling.

I don't recommend The Seven Deadly Sins as it is very poorly written, but if you still want to go ahead then be my guest.

Night Calling is better, but it's not great. The ending was very rushed, and I'm sure that a lot of my readers were disappointed by how I executed it.

I'll try to explain certain things that follow from these two into this one, but if there is still something that you do not understand then feel free to PM me with your queries.

Anyway, my writing skills have improved from before, and I hope you stick with me on this.

I need your reviews for constructive criticism and motivation. Please, and thank you.