June- Summer Break

SPR Office

11:37 A.M.

"You want me to do what?" I asked, not sure if I had heard Naru correctly.

The teen, who is usually composed, seemed a little agitated right now. He rolled his blue eyes up to the ceiling and seemed a little bit…embarrassed?

No, it can't be. I thought.

"Basically… I need you to babysit Mai for me while Lin and I are gone."

A giggle erupted from me and I had to hold my hand to my mouth to try to stifle them. But I was stopped short when I saw the dark glare I received from the teen. His eyes were extremely dark and cold.

"You make it sound like Mai is a trouble maker."

He leaned against his desk and crossed his arms. Oh yeah, he wasn't happy for leaving.

"It's more like she attracts trouble without knowing. You know how dense she is. I don't want anything happening to my assistant while I'm gone. This shouldn't be too much of a task for you, Takigawa-san. You should be able to handle it. I even went to the trouble to asking Brown-san to help out."

"And John was okay with it?"

"He agreed to help as long as you did it too."

His blue eyes pierced into my soul. I could feel my heart beat slow down as I realized what he was implying. I had no choice BUT to take care of her. I sighed and leaned back in my leather chair thinking about what I had going on this week.

"And how long are you going to be gone?"

"Four days at the most. It all depends on my parents."

I nodded my head.

"Well, Naru you couldn't have picked a better time. Band Slam is here! My band will be participating and this way, I'll keep Mai entertained AND out of trouble!"

I got up from my seat and started for the door.

"Bye! Tell the folks I say hi! Have a safe trip!"

I left as quickly as I could and found Mai just walking through the office door. She was wearing a rather nice green and white summer dress. But she wouldn't stick around long enough to woo Naru. I greeted her.

"Mai-chan!"

And with that I gave her a huge hug that was probably chocking the poor fragile girl to death. I could feel something hitting my arm. I looked down at the high school girl.

"Monk…can't…breathe!"

I let her go with an apologetic look that keeps me from getting into trouble every time. I set a hand on her head and ruffled her hair out of habit.

"You wanna spend the next few days with me?" I asked her.

Her brown eyes lit up like it was an early Christmas. She threw her arms around me.

"I would love to!" But she pulled away as quickly as she had launched herself at me. Her brown eyes were nervous. "But what about work?"

"Lin and I are leaving for a few days. Take these next days free days until we come back."

We both turned to Naru. He was standing just out of the hallway to his office with his black notebook in hand.

"Really? Thanks Naru!"

He nodded and turned back to his office.

"Well," I asked her. "What are we waiting for?"

And we immediately left the office.

1:08

Takigawa's basement

I stepped over a cord and plugged the bass into the large black amp. And then I plopped down right onto it. I flicked on a switch and plucked at a cord. A red light flashed at me and I frowned.

'Damnit. It's always this cord that seems to go flat!'

I turned the knob on the bass and played the note again. This time, it came out very nicely.

"How do you know which way to turn it?"

I looked up from my baby and saw Mai bent over the amp, watching the light flicker.

"It depends on which side the light blinks."

"HEEEYYY!!! IS ANYBODY DOWN THERE?!?!?!"

Both of us turned our attention to the stairs where the remaining members of my band stood at the top. It was the lead vocalist, Ruka, who called down.

"Yeah yeah, come down!" I called back.

There was a bunch of stumbling and loud crashing sounds as a guitar case or two hit the steps. And that was when they rounded the corner when they stopped. A smile played on the face of the lead singer. His brown hair fell into his soft grey eyes and his charm was quickly turned on.

"Why, Monk, we didn't know we had a guest!"

And he was quickly in front of Mai and held both of her hands gently.

"My name is Ruka. I'm the lead singer for the band."

Ruka was immediately pushed out of the way by the drummer, Nicholas. He was no older than Mai and from America. But he was very familiar with our language. Nick pushed Ruka down to the ground and grabbed Mai's hands instead. Poor girl was already the color of a tomato.

"Ah, ignore the old man. I'm Nicholas. But call me Nick. I play the drums here. And what is your name?"

"T-Taniyama Mai." She managed to stutter out.

I sighed as Tono came to watch the scene in front of us. Of course he would watch. He was married anyways.

"Old man?!" Ruka jumped from the floor and faced Nick. "I'm only twenty three!"

And both of them broke out into a quarrel. As I was about to break them up, Tono did the job for me. He planted his big black boot in the back of Ruka and used his guitar case as a bat against Nick.

"Down killers." He grumbled and looked at Mai. "Sorry for the boy's. They sometimes don't pick up the hint." He glared at both of them. "I'm Tono. The lead guitarist. And my wife should be here any moment. She's the back up singer and the other guitar player. She had to drop the kids off at the daycare center."

"I'M HERE!" A female voice rang out.

And then she started running down the steps only to trip and face plant as soon as she got to the bottom. Tono looked behind him and started laughing.

"Oh honey, you did it again eh?"

She picked herself up off the ground and raised a guitar case in the air.

"But my guitar saved me! I rode it down!"

I refused to hit my forehead right then and there. She brushed herself off and walked in the playing room.

"Hey! I'm Tasha! You must be Mai, right? 'Norio' said something about bringing you over to meet us one day! So, are you like Monk's daughter?"

I felt my eyebrow twitch.

"Can we leave that name on stage and out of my personal life, please?" I asked her.

She smirked and turned back to Mai.

"So, are you Monk's daughter or what?"

She gave a nervous laugh.

"Ah, something like that yeah."

Tasha quickly turned back to me.

"It's that red-headed woman, isn't it?"

"What?!"

I almost fell off of my seat on the amp. Mai giggled and took a spot on the couch.

'I can't believe this!'

"Let's get started shall we?"

We all got in our regular positions and waited while Nick set the drum set up the way he needed it to be. I took the time to let Mai get comfortable and teach her about the lap top sitting in front of her.

"Here, push this button so it can record us. When we're done hit it again to stop. We need to hear what we sound like right now."

She nodded her head.

"Okay, I can get it, I think."

"Good girl."

We practiced until our fingers hurt. But the song sounded great. We took a quick break in between the songs and Mai played back the songs to us while we enjoyed refreshing sodas. Ruka and Nick continued to bother the hell outta poor Mai.

"So, you're really Bou-san's daughter?"

I sighed as she calmly answered their question. I hope they wouldn't ask her about her parents.

"No, I live on my own. But he signs all the legal guardian stuff."

Ruka set a drink in front of her, trying to be Mr. Smooth. I stifled a giggle as her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and smiled.

"Sorry guys, I need to take this."

She stood and left with an enthusiastic "Naru!"

I almost feel on the floor laughing at the look on Ruka's and Nick's faces. They instantly turned on me.

"Who is 'Naru'?"

I couldn't help but have an evil grin.

"Her boss."

There was a collective sigh of relief from them both, but I had to ruin their mood.

"And her boyfriend." I teased. "He's nineteen."

And with that they went back to the couch sulking. Mai came back in with a cheery smile on.

"What did Naru want?" I asked sweetly and glanced over at the two sulking.

"Oh, he just wanted to make sure that I had everything set for the days he was gone. He's fretting over nothing!"

They bowed their heads down low. Tasha laughed and punched Ruka in the arm, who in turn, glared.

"Lighten up Ruka." She said. "Let's get back to practicing. After all, tonight is our last night of practice. So let's do our best for Mai-chan, alright?"

She blushed a little and took her spot on the couch as everyone got back to playing positions. I glanced at Nick and he nodded his head before he counted us off.

9:38 P.M.

We played through our final tune before we called it a night. Mai helped me pack up some of the cords so we wouldn't trip over them on our way out. She glanced up at me with a bemused look.

"What?" I asked innocently as I continued to wrap the cord around my arm.

"You know what. What did you tell to Ruka and Nicholas that got them to stop talking to me?"

I smirked.

"I'm gonna take a stab and say that you liked their attention?"

She shook her head no.

"Actually, I was grateful for it. Thank you."

I straightened up and ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Don't worry about it Mai. Let's go to bed."

She nodded and followed me up the stairs. I turned on the light to the living room and pulled on the couch to turn it into the bed. Mai helped me make the bed and she sat on the edge while I scampered around searching for a pillow.

"You know Monk?"

"Hmm?"

"I feel as if this was like a babysitting job."

I stopped where I was with a pillow in my hand and my back turned to her.

"How so?"

"Well," she started. "You really haven't left me alone since Naru left."

I chuckled nervously and faced the girl. I pushed the pillow in her hands and turned the main light out.

"Are you implying that Naru hired me to watch over you?"

She shrugged and stretched out on the couch.

"I haven't decided yet. But thanks for letting me come over Monk. Your band is full of interesting people. Especially Ruka and Nick."

I sighed as I went towards my room.

"If you think our band is interesting, wait until you meet everyone else at the competition tomorrow. You want to come and hear our performance?"

"Yeah. I might have to run by the office before I come though to grab some of my summer homework I left. But I'll meet you at the concert."

I heard her yawn and soon a light snore. I stretched out in my bed and let sleep take over.

A/N:

Lee: WHOOOOOOOTTTTTTT!!!! I LOVE AUTHOR'S NOTES!

Jazzy: Yes, don't we all? I must say, this is an interesting short! I've never really done a story where two people wrote together. This is an interesting experience indeed.

Lee: Yesh yesh it is. But I like it! Aren't I smart for coming up with this idea?

Jazzy: Yes, you are quiet the smart cookie, aren't you?

Lee *eyes light up*: Cookies? WHERE?!?!

Jazzy: Oh, forget it. We don't own Ghost Hunt.

Lee: And don't forget to feed your Jazzy-

Jazzy: and love your Fatwolf!

Lee: Review por favor mi amigos! Reviews encourage our brainstorming!

Jazz: Yes, we love you all!

Love,

Jazzy and Fatwolf!