A Curse and a Gift

Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt.

Chapter I – Her life

Laughter echoed through the once silent halls of the school. Three girls, still dressed in their uniforms, laughed loudly as they walked along the empty hallways. On the left side was a girl named Michiru with a slightly brown and wavy hair that she had into a high ponytail. One the right side was Misa with her dark and straight hair flowing freely on her back. In the middle of it all was a petite brunette named Mai who had her hair cut short. One could easily guess that they were best friends hanging out late in school.

The sun had already set long ago far in the west and the stars were already coming out, twinkling their way to the dark skies. The air was cold and sent shivers down to the remaining people in the campus. After retrieving their bags from their room, they immediately went to the gates when the guard basically 'shooed' them. After another fit of laughter outside the gates, they finally bid each other goodbye.

Instantly, after the others were gone from her sight, Mai let out a tired sigh. She didn't want to stay so late at school but her friends were keeping her there longer and she had no choice but to oblige. She had actually intended to go out early and buy a cake then go home. Walking a little faster, she bought the desired item and went to take a cab. She looked out the window and drummed her fingers restlessly against her thighs as if willing the driver to go faster.

She was late.

I hope he didn't wait that long…

Immediately getting out of the cab after paying, Mai dashed through the dirt road heading to their isolated house. The road was mostly hidden by trees so it may look like she was going into a forest but rest assured, she isn't.

A decent sized house lay in a clearing coated by a dark shade of green and its roof was a dark brown that looked like black in the night. A smile graced Mai's features and went to unlock the door. She discarded her bag on the nearby couch and went upstairs. Facing a dark mahogany door, she was about to knock but realized that she still had her shoes on. Sheepishly smiling to herself, she removed them and simply opened the door revealing a teen clad in white sitting up on his bed and looking out at the window beside him.

"Happy birthday, Kai!" Mai smiled brightly and showed him the cake she bought. "I brought mint cake, our favorite."

The said teen faced his sister and laughed lightly, "Happy birthday to you too, Mai."

With that, both teens laughed at each other before Mai sat down to the chair next to the bed. Setting down the cake and opening the box containing it, Mai offered her brother a slice and one for herself too. Kai silently thanked her while, in return, she smiled.

"I'll go get some drinks, I'll be right back!" She announced and went downstairs.

It had been like this for years after an incident that they decided not to talk about anymore. It was a silent agreement they had though Kai doesn't recall much about it. After that, they lived a happy and content life but somehow, danger still comes once in a while. Maybe it was there all along, hiding and lurking in the shadows; waiting to attack. They had to be hidden from the many eyes of the people they wish not to encounter. This was the life they chose to live. It was the only option for them actually, if they want to live a couple more years.

And sadly, Kai didn't have much to begin with.

Mai went upstairs with two hot chocolates inside the yellow mugs she had in hand. Her light footsteps made no noise and perhaps it was a habit she picked up for some reason. She pushed the door open with her elbow and went inside with a smile. She sat down and handed Kai his mug which he accepted gratefully. They began to chat endlessly yet happily.

Kai looked at the dark bags under his sister's eyes. He was worried for her health because he knew she was attending school during daytime and then go home and spend her time with him until he fell asleep. Well, until she thought he fell asleep. He knew she would go outside late at night for her part time job in who knows where and comes back just to have about two hours of sleep before waking up again and preparing for another day to school. He really wanted to help her in any way he could if only he could do so.

He was granted with a weak body while Mai had an extremely healthy body. When they were still small, he was really envious of her and sometimes cursed her for being healthy. He even wished her dead but he took everything back now that he saw how she worked hard for him. She rarely slept and yet she still had a smile on her face. He felt really guilty about the things he thought of her when they were young and for being unable to do anything.

"Goodnight, Kai." Mai softly said as she stood up and took the empty mugs and the leftover cake.

And so he smiled, "Goodnight, Mai. I love you."

He could only offer words from the bottom of his heart and it seemed to be just what she needed. Mai smiled brightly and before turning off the lights she replied.

"I love you too Kai."

Mai took a small nap before changing into her part time clothes. It was actually simple, consisting of a red shirt with a logo of a cat that had a slightly tilted crown, some dark jeans and her red sneakers. She constantly wondered about the weird logo for a 24/7 restaurant. Seriously? A cat with a crown? Who the heck in their right mind would love that? Perhaps some people with a cat fetish.

She rolled her eyes and went outside the house whispering a small 'I'm going now' to the dark and unlit house. She purposely took a night shift since she had school and had to take care of her brother. On weekends she works at a ramen shop, which was actually quite famous so it was paying more than enough. She could just drop out from school and all, but after listening to Kai with his endless chatter about school, she didn't have a heart to do it. She knew that he wanted to attend school, have friends and live a normal teenage life. She wanted to go to school in place of him so that she may teach him new things and tell him what occurred there and all. It made her heart happy when she looked at his eyes which had their full attention to her.

Taking her bicycle with her, she went on the dirt road which was hardly seen and rocky. Feeling the fresh air around her, she let a smile slip onto her mouth and hummed a tune she recently made up in her mind. The moon was high and was in a full circle. Many said that they were born under the full moon at exactly twelve midnight. Maybe that's why she liked the full moon a lot.

The alarm clock beside her rang incessantly, making the young brunette, who very much lacked sleep, wake up. She forcefully dragged her weary hand to stop it and fought against the heavy gravity pull downwards which was very tempting. She was more tired than usual since the night was spent by rushing to take orders and getting the food to the costumers plus chasing after cats that went a little berserk. It was unusually busy since a teenage girl who had an extreme cat fetish had a party with her friends there along with their cats. Cats were allowed there which wasn't weird considering the restaurant. It was so much work that made her legs and arms ache.

Heaving a heavy sigh, she prepared for a new day at school and packed her bag with the necessary things she needed to get through the day. Before going out, Mai went to say goodbye to her brother before taking off with her trusty bicycle.

"This is going to be an annoying day." She whispered to herself.

Mai rolled her eyes as she pedaled through the school gates. She saw many students greet each other and gossip about the latest topics. She didn't bother to greet anyone since they wouldn't even recognize her. She had an average face for someone so wanted. If the bad guys were trying to find her around the whole world, well good luck.

"Mai!"

Setting her bike to the parking area, she looked at the direction where someone shouted her name. It seems the hyper Michiru was early today, which was quite surprising since she was almost always late along with Mai. She was also a late comer but today seemed different. Probably they had a change of heart.

Nah.

"Well aren't you early today?" Mai teased the girl while cocking her right brow upward.

"I can say the same for you!" She stuck her tongue out.

The two proceeded to talk while going to our classroom which was quite far from the entrance. They already had a hunch that Misa was already there since she was an early bird. She was one of the goody girls who had high grades and was never late. Quite the contrary can be said with the two brown haired girls. They were trying to experience many things since this was their last year together. They wanted to do something 'bad ass' as they would like to say it. Misa sometimes enjoys herself like that too, so she had no complaints about it.

Their friendship was deep, they all thought.

The day had gone by with Mai trying to fight off sleep, Misa listening like a good girl and Michiru banging her head on her desk after a math test. Mai yawned and was granted an early journey to home by her two best friends. She silently thanked them in her head and decided to not ride her bicycle, seeing it was pretty dangerous, much dangerous than a drunk driving a car. She was too sleepy that she didn't see a man in front of her and banged her head against his hard chest. Startled by the encounter, Mai frantically took her bike that fell and bowed sorry three times to the stranger.

"I'm so sorry!" She shouted with a red face.

She was so embarrassed and when she finally looked up, she saw the most beautiful jewels in the world. His eyes were so blue that she couldn't help but stare in awe. He smiled at her and slightly bowed before leaving. Still awestruck, Mai looked at his retreating figure and when he was gone inside the crowd, she shook her head roughly before deciding that she would just ride her bike now. She was completely awake after that. She felt as if she was going to melt under his intense gaze plus that smile that showed pearly white teeth was perfect. Was he really human?

Mai snickered to herself; Of course he is, duh.

While she was consumed in her own thoughts, she knocked over an unknowing woman who had fiery red hair. What was up with her and knocking people up?

"Watch it you twerp! Look!" She held her hand up, showing long nails that were painted in red. "You ruined my nails!"

Mai grimaced and helped the woman who was talking her ear off for 'ruining her nails'. It was a friggin' scratch, seriously? She could just re-paint it herself when she got back home right? But, of course, it was still Mai's fault for not paying attention to her surroundings so she swallowed up everything the woman said while she repeatedly said sorry.

"Hmph. You better watch out next time, okay?" Somehow, the woman said softly, almost as if in a caring manner even though she was crossing her arms like a villain.

This bubbled up something warm inside Mai's chest which made her smile genuinely to the lady in front of her.

"Yes. I really do apologize and I'll watch out next time! I promise!"

They both smiled and went to their own ways. She had a smile plastered in her face for the whole day after that encounter. When she got home, she went to Kai's bedroom and shared everything that happened during the day. He laughed at her clumsiness or was her idiocy? Maybe.

After the lively dinner between the two siblings, they immediately slept, getting whatever sleep they needed. Tomorrow, she had work at the ramen shop called 'hana hana'. It was a weird name but it was famous alright. That night, Mai dreamt about beautiful monster. Was there such a thing? Perhaps, since dreams were pretty twisted and weird in ways more than one.

Wiping the blood on his hands, he looked at the full moon and then to the corpse that lay in front of him. His eyes narrowed and looked at it with disgust. Glancing at the moon once last time, he turned to the opposite side and walked away. He walked with grace and had an air of respect surrounding him. His long hair that was as black as a raven was bound at the nape of his neck with a midnight blue tie while his clothes were as pure as a white dove which had greatly contrasted against his hair. The most striking feature of his was his midnight blue eyes that were hidden under his long black eyelashes.

He was a killing perfection.

A/N: Woot! Here's a new story. Oh yeah, I drew something for this story which was made out of my free time yesterday. BTW, for those who have read "ハートコール: A Heart Calls" Sorry and maybe - maybe - I'll try and continue it. Someday . trust me, I may do that since I don't like leaving a story unfinished. Arrggggh! Anyway, haha, Here it is. Reviews are very much appreciated. Enjoy Reading and tell me what you think!

LINK: pauleenanne . deviantart art / A-Curse-and-a-Gift-455660074

Just remove the spaces

-PauleenAnne