Yay, the sequel to Hidden! Finally! Sorry it took me so long to actually write and put up the first chapter guys. I'm not gonna make excuses so let's keep moving. I'm going to be writing and posting this story as I am doing the same for C is for Change. I'm hoping not to slow down, but we'll see! Be warned now, this will be somewhat of a crossover with Kuroko no Basuke, but I don't plan on using any of the plot from the manga/anime or the characters as a first person POV. This'll be interesting, I think, like an experiment! :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt, guys.
Chapter 1: Making a Return
"Haru! Haru! Look at me!" a young man called, waving to a man watching him from above. A silver bracelet gleamed around his wrist, a topaz stone shining along the metal. His eyes were the same color. He waved happily to the man, but the man looked away to another person Mai couldn't see on the high rise. She stood on the sidelines, Tamaki clutching her leg, watching the scene play out.
He looked away, down at the basketball held between his hands. Dejectedly, his shoulders slumped forward. "Never mind," he muttered under his breath, "It wasn't anything important to begin with." He dribbled the ball with skilled hands, shooting from the free throw line. Sighing as it swished, he turned and headed for the locker rooms.
'I'd never be able to do anything like that in real life,' Mai told Tamaki with a half laugh, following the teen into the locker room. 'I don't know if I should follow him any further,' she murmured, pressing her fingers to her lips as she glance around a corner, 'Or wait here, because this just feels so wrong.'
'Wrong in a bad way?' Tamaki asked, looking up at her with curious eyes.
'Not necessarily.' Tamaki cocked his head, but went silent as a new voice intruded on their conversation.
Choking sounds came from around the corner, where the teen had disappeared. "I am done with your filthy little tricks," another male voice snarled. It sounded vaguely familiar, but Mai couldn't place it for the life of her. "You've evaded me long enough. I've finally got you. You are mine."
"I will… never be… yours. I will never… submit," the teen spat out, his words strained and forced.
"Oh, we'll see about that," the other voice said, jumping up several octaves with glee, "We'll definitely see about that."
The locker rooms dissolved around them. They were shoved back into the gym where the teen had been playing. It was utterly pitch black except for a thin stream of moonlight filtering through the high windows. It glinted off something hanging from the overhead railing.
'Tamaki, don't look!' Mai shouted, dropping to her knees, pressing Tamaki's face into her shoulder.
The dead eyes of the teen stared unseeingly at her. His mouth gaped open, his tongue lolling out. His skin was a sickly blue, the kind you turn when you don't have oxygen for a prolonged period of time. The body swayed gently back and forth, the railing creaking with its movements. The last thing Mai saw before her vision went black was the glint of the bracelet around the boy's wrist, the topaz stone replaced with a green and brown stone.
…..
"Mai-chan! Mai-chan! Mai-chan, wake up!" two loud, children's voices shouted in Mai's ear. The bed she slept on rocked to and fro as they jumped relentlessly on the mattress, giggling like mad. "Come on! Get up!"
Mai groaned just as loudly, turning over and burying her face in her pillow. Maybe she'd have some luck suffocating herself. "Five more minutes." No such luck.
The twins glanced at each other, grinning widely. Despite their young age, they knew exactly which buttons they could push to wake her up. "Mom, come on! Daddy said that we have to get there early because we have clients coming," the pair responded, shaking her shoulders. They sat down on her back, jumping up and down. "Oh, hi Rex!" A loud bark echoed through the room in response to their call.
"I'm up! I'm up!" Mai shouted, shoving herself up, surprised by the title they'd just appointed her. She also didn't want a repeat of the week before when she'd had a sixty pound dog jump on her to wake her up. The twins playing horse on her back tumbled off, landing in the soft plush covers Mai had previously been snuggled down in. At the foot of the bed, Rex, their albino German Shepard, peered over the wood, her tongue lolling out and her tail moving at warp speed. "Don't even think about it," she threatened the animal with a stern look before turning her eyes to the twins, pushing her shoulder length hair out of her face, "Have you two eaten yet?"
The twins' faces scrunched in displeasure. "Papa tried to make breakfast," they glanced at each other with identical expressions, "but he gave up when it started to burn. For the third time."
Mai let out a breathy laugh. Oh, her poor dishes. They could never get a break whether it was by Naru's cooking or the twins concocting something in them. She looked over the pair. They were still in their night clothes which easily told her that they hadn't been up for more than thirty minutes. She still might have been able to salvage the kitchen situation. "Alright, let me get dressed and then I'll make breakfast. You two should go get ready as well."
"Okay!" they called, sliding from the covers and exiting the room on a burst of speed, Rex on their tail.
"Remember to put on something warm! It's supposed to snow today!" she called after them. She only received a bark in reply from the dog.
Mai shook her head. "I'm already drained," she mumbled, but a smile was curving her lips. Sliding from the bed more slowly than the spunky pair, she padded over to the dresser and amour she shared with her narcissistic boss. She stared into her open drawers, her lips pursed in consideration, until strong arms wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides. "Good morning, Naru," she murmured, her smile small and happy, "Did you sleep well?" No reply came.
"Naru?" she murmured, fear slipping into her voice. Something was very, very wrong. The warmth that seeped through her clothes was not the same that she slept beside on a nightly basis. The kiss that pressed to the back of her neck was not the soft, pleasure seeking kiss she knew so well. The scent that swirled past her nose was not that of black tea and musk, but more of an earthy smell. "Who are you?"
"The person you've been running from," the man whispered, his voice oh so very familiar, and the most terrifying thing she could think off.
Mai's eyes grew wide. Slowly, she turned her head just enough to glimpse her captor. Brown-green eyes and pearly white teeth grinned down at her. The scream the bubbled up from her chest was not only one of fear, but also one of outrage. She thrashed in his arms, trying to release herself. She stomped down on the instep of his foot. He groaned angrily, tightening his hold around her.
"Mai!" Naru shouted, slamming the door open.
Ash dissolved into mist, grinning back at the man who acted as her protector, his grip dissolving. She slumped to the floor, shivering and drained. Naru had his arms around her in moments, pulling her against his chest. This was the man whose warmth, smell and touch she knew so perfectly. She relaxed easily into his embrace, the fear already dissipating.
"Mai, are you alright? What was that?" Naru asked, running his fingers through her hair gently.
Mai nodded shakily, holding tightly to his arm. "I think we forgot to lock the doors," she whispered, laughing breathlessly.
Trust Mai to try and make light of a really bad situation. Typical Mai. Naru rolled his eyes, pulling her to her feet. "I think, we need to have Lin make some charms," he replied, setting her on the bed.
"I think, we should get to the office before our clients do so we can take a case and get away from hell hole before he shows up again," she suggested hopefully, grinning up at him.
"Get dressed. We'll leave as soon as we've eaten," Naru said, moving out the door.
"And get food poisoning in the process from your cooking?" Mai called after him playfully, wishing he hadn't just left her alone in a room Ash had appeared in. She watched his back as he left, considering jumping up and pulling him back into the room so she could molest him. She let off another laugh at her own thought, shaking her head. She wouldn't call or pull him back. If this was going to be an ongoing thing, she needed to learn to deal with it.
Naru scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Daddy!" Kamin and Tamaki shouted happily, running towards the room. He caught the twins around their waists as they ran past, hoisting them over his shoulders. They squealed happily, kicking their legs and reaching for Mai.
"Come on, Mai has to get dressed," Naru said, marching off towards their room, "And so do the two of you."
"No!" Kamin shouted indignantly, wriggling viciously, "Mommy, save us!"
"Sorry, sweeties, can't do anything in my jammies," Mai called, grinning and waving to them. She jumped up, pulling on her clothing and hurrying to the kitchen before Naru could get there, though he wouldn't be out for a while. Sometimes, it took and arm and a leg to get the twins dressed. If they didn't want to do something, they'd make it a living hell to do anything.
Mai glanced over her shoulder, checking for little naked children and her boyfriend. She almost screamed as she turned to find a tall Chinese man –aka Lin- standing over the stove. Sliding into a chair, she dropped her face into her hands. "Jesus Lin, you just scared the holy hell out of me."
"Sorry," he mumbled apologetically, shrugging, "You weren't answering the door so I picked the lock, then I saw that mess and decided to take over." He waved his hand towards the trashcan where a horrid smell was wafting towards her.
Mai rubbed her nose, giggled. "Another one of Naru's failed creations. I really need to take his cooking license away," she murmured contemplatively, stroking her chin before grinning at Lin.
"You should have done that they day you moved in," Lin replied, smiling wryly at her.
Mai laughed. "Maybe I should just take his man card all together."
Lin smirked. "You took that the day you started standing up to him, and he started to crush on you."
"Aw, you're making me blush. Thanks for the compliments," she said, grinning widely. Rubbing her hands together, she jumped to her feet. "So let's get breakfast done then so we can get to the office," she said enthusiastically.
Lin shook his head. "When you start getting excited about work, then I know we're in for something bad…" He trailed off, pulling plates from the cupboards. "Have you had any dreams as of late? How has Tamaki been doing with her practicing?"
Mai glanced at him, her mood slowly plummeting. "She's been being really diligent about it. Every night she sits with Naru and goes through her exercises. Both Tamaki and me though… we've both been having dreams, and not good ones or ones that'll be any help. They're all of old cases except…" She trailed off, thinking of the dream she'd had recently.
"Yes?" Lin pushed, watching her out of the corner of her eye.
Mai shook her head. "No, no, it's fine. It's nothing." Before Lin could push any more, Kamin burst into the kitchen in a blue dress and black tights. "Oh, Kamin, you look adorable."
She grinned widely. "Daddy picked it out for me. Isn't it pretty, Uncle Lin?"
Lin nodded, trying not to laugh. "Very," he coughed.
Mai and he exchanged looks. "Naru has very good fashion sense," she giggled, her hand pressed to her mouth, "Should I be worried?"
"Very, very worried," Naru whispered in her ear. For some reason, he sounded a little bit gay. She couldn't take it. She burst out laughing, clamping her arms around her middle. She was laughing so hard, in fact, that she fell to the ground and began rolling around. Tamaki laughed, dropping on top of her. Kamin climbed atop them, feeling left out.
Rolling his eyes once more, Naru started setting the plates on the table. "Let's eat."
Hope the first chapter was sufficient enough! I'm hoping to get the next up by tomorrow or maybe Saturday, but I'm going to start working at the Commissary on the weekends this Saturday so we'll see. Well, tell me what ya'll thought of this chapter, yeah? See ya' soon!
P.S.- I've got a Sherlock one-shot coming your way for those of you who watch the BBC version. I'll be posting the link on my profile when I'm finished. I don't want to chance it being taken down so it'll only be available on Tumblr.