DISCLAIMER - I do not in any way own Ghost Hunt or its characters. I do, however, own all rights to the original characters within as well as the basic plot for this story. Do be a mooch! ^_^

"Chrysanthemum Sunrise" - Prologue

Lin sighed heavily as he listened to Naru remind him once again of the last case the office had agreed to take on. In fact this was the twenty-second time Lin had been forced to sit silently and review the case, along with the mistakes made during the said excursion, with his young boss, Naru. The entire case from start to finish had been a chaotic clustered mess and had caused more hindrance then help to the team. The mystery had taken place in a small candy shop only a few miles from the SPR office and had turned out to be a malfunction in the store wiring. Timely power surges had been plaguing the store and wreaking havoc within. Of course, the shop owner had been grateful just the same. Naru had been disappointed and angered by the waste of time investigating the candy shop had caused. Naru had also been irked by the "curse", as Lin liked to refer to the evidence tapes regarding the candy incident. He and Mai had fought it out with a sticky pink taffy mess after she had haphazardly run forth into the store thinking the bulging taffy to be a woman stuck in the machine. However, after the taffy explosion and shower she had received, she had been most decidedly proven wrong.

The strange smell had been attributed to a chemical reaction from the sugar and cleaning solutions. Lin smirked at the memory of Naru and Mai being hosed down by one of the softer cleaning agents and water, but scrunched his nose a bit when the memory of the smell came back to him.

"You know Lin I remember the smell too..." Naru eyed him angrily, "...I seem to recall carrying it for several days." Naru threw the case file onto his desk and continued to angrily eye the older Chinese man in front of him.

Lin sighed again turning to him, "You know, Naru, I am not a child. You needn't review this case daily with me. I do not recall making any errors during the case...I believe you and Mai were to blame for most of the..."

"Hello..." Mai's soft feminine voice cut off Lin's dangerous, yet calm tirade and was accompanied by a soft knock on Naru's office door, "...I brought some tea. I hope I am not interrupting anything?" Mai stepped fully into the room as she continued talking, setting the tray of tea down on Naru's desk.

Lin took the opportunity to stand, grab a tea cup and exit the room, "Of course not Mai..." he eyed Naru, almost teasing him with his eyes, "...I was just leaving." Lin swiftly exited the room managing to shut the door on his way out. He silently reminded himself he would have to thank Mai later.

Mai followed Lin with her eyes until the door closed, "Well that was weir..." Mai cut herself off after turning around and seeing Naru's blazing eyes, "...uhhh...I...uhhh...enjoy your tea?" The question was weak at best and she smiled nervously waiting for a response. She was given a frustrated huff and shaking of the head from the young man in front of her.

"Mai it befuddles me how you manage to either have the absolute best timing, or the absolute worst timing in everything you do," he looked up at her from his desk chair and Mai could tell he was scrutinizing her. It was something she had become used to over the past couple of years. Naru enjoyed reading her like a book and Mai did not usually mind the read, however, at this particular moment she could not recall what she had done to deserve such harsh scrutiny from his eyes.

Silently she folded one arm over her chest and raised one finger to her temple in thought. Naru watched her do this and became confused by the movement. He squinted his eyes slightly in frustration again, confusion, when it came to Mai, was something which was becoming more and more common and it unsettled him every time he began to think about it.

"What are you doing now?" Mai turned her eyes to look at him slyly, surprised his words were not to usher her out of the office.

"Well...I am reviewing my day and trying to figure out what happened this morning to create such animosity toward me," she said this simply enough, but Naru was shocked by her use of such a large word. Of course his shock was hidden by his stoic glare, but he had not recalled anything Mai had done, save interrupt Lin's punishment, a few minutes before and he suddenly found himself angered by his own actions. He had not come into work today wanting to offend Mai or make her feel badly. He widened his eyes a little as she continued, "I came to work on time, as always," Mai glared at him hard when he had opened his mouth to remind her of the one or two times she had arrived late at the office, "SHUT IT!" Making sure he was not going to utter a word she continued once more, "I made coffee and tea and delivered it like clockwork, two hours ago. I finished my morning filing and I brought you your 'before lunch tea fix' with three minutes to spare...and yet, here you are, still glaring at me like I spiked your tea with cyanide?"

Naru had sat back during her short winded description of her day and he sighed, "Nothing Mai. You have done nothing to warrant such harsh behavior...are you done talking now?"

Mai glared at him lowering both of her arms and shifting her left foot uncomfortably. She nodded and it was obvious his words had deflated her a bit, however, he ignored her and motioned her out with a wave of his hand. Naru watched her go in silence, berating himself for allowing his eyes to drift down to her long legs and short skirt. As Naru's thoughts shifted he lowered his head to his arms and buried his face there. He did not understand how Mai could be stuck in the dead of winter and still manage to wear short skirts to work. Granted she was also wearing tights, but..."WHAT ARE YOU THINKING! YOU SHOULD NOT KNOW WHAT SHE IS WEARING!"...Naru shook his head frustrated and looked up, jumping when he saw Mai's face inches from his own, "ACK!"

Mai pulled away from him abruptly, unceremoniously falling into a heap on the opposite side of Naru's desk and pulled herself up quickly and quietly, dusting off her skirt, "Jeez! You didn't have to have a seizure Naru!"

"What are you doing back in here!" His voice was more nervous then Mai could ever recall hearing it and she swore there was a hint of a blush at the base of his neck.

"Well, I forgot to remind you...there is a client coming in shortly and..."Mai heard the main office door open and smiled, "...that must be them. I will take care of tea! Don't be too long!" Mai chirped and bounced out of the room to greet the new client. Naru stared after her, still in a mild state of shock over what had transpired in the last three minutes. He shook his head and stood popping his stiff neck. It was at that exact moment he realized it was going to be a very, very, long day.

AUTHOR'S NOTE - Well here it is, the first installment of the new story in my collection of Ghost Hunt stories: "Chrysanthemum Sunrise". If you want to know more about chrysanthemums or what they look like just type 'chrysanthemum red' into the image google search and you will be directed to plenty of info and pictures. I believe you will all enjoy this story and I hope you will read and review. All of my stories are tied together loosely and there will be mention of past cases in this story, however, it will not be necessary for readers to read the past cases to understand this one. I will be introducing a plethora of my own original characters within this new case so please, if you wish to draw them or use them in anyway I am fine with that, just please give credit to me and ask me first! ^_^ I will have chapter one up later today. Enjoy!