A/N:- Hi everyone! This is sort of a bit of random but it's mixed with a true story of something that actually happened to me!
I want to note that the Ghost Hunt manga used in this is kinda the same as the original but the character's names have slightly changed for my story's purposes so here is a list, although you could probably guess!
Kazuya- Kazuto, Narc
Ayako- Ayano
Madoka- Machiko
Masako- Masae
Mai- Maiko
Yasu- Yasushi
John- James
Lin- Rin
Monk- Hodaka
I want to thank my best friend Naruisawesome for all the support, help and kicks up the backside to get this done and this is dedicated to her!
Disclaimer:- I own nothing but the plot!
The Extra Order
Mai loved manga. She loved it so much that she would spend whatever she could afford on large boxes of all her favourite titles that she got off the internet. She had just finished ordering her latest batch of books when as usual she was called upon to provide life-giving tea to Naru, her narcissistic boss and long-time crush. She quickly paid for her purchase and set off to the kitchen to make the man his drink.
She was so excited. She couldn't wait for the three to five day waiting period to be up as she would finally get to find out what happens next in all the series she was currently reading and following. There had been so many unanswered questions and cliff-hangers in the last set of manga she'd bought that she was practically buzzing from anticipation. Everyone had noticed how wired she seemed and most had guessed it must be Mai's manga buying time again. This made Naru displeased as he believed it was a distraction that he could not afford in his workplace, even if he too secretly enjoyed a few volumes of manga from time to time. He prowled his office like a lion in a cage before calling out again for tea as he thought of what to do about it.
Four days later…
Mai heard a loud knock on the office door and she ran joyfully to answer it. As expected it was the postman carrying two large boxes, both emblazoned with Mai's name. For a moment she frowned as she didn't remember ordering quite this many books, but she decided to just shrug it off as they may have been bigger books than she thought. She signed where the postman asked her to and then carried her loot to her desk. Immediately she began tearing into the packages with an eagerness that could rival Naru's tea addiction.
After opening the first box and admiring the contents she turned her attention to the second box and after opening it frowned. Inside were the exact same contents as the first box. 'This can't be right! There is something horribly wrong here! Oh god! What if I've been charged twice?! I need to fix this, I need to… Ah, the receipt, there are contact details on there! I can sort this out in no time, I hope…'
Mai grabbed the ticket from inside one of the boxes and hurried to her computer, switching it on and wishing it would load up faster. 'Come on, come on you stupid thing! I'm in a hurry!' She quickly brought up her email account and swiftly wrote an email to the company she'd ordered the books from, explaining what had happened and begging them to help her as she needed the reassurance that she hadn't been charged twice and therefore overspent.
She waited, Naru called for tea, she made the tea and delivered it, she waited some more, her nerves growing evermore restless. She had just finished delivering Naru's third round of tea when a ping alerted her to a new email message. She immediately ran to the computer and stared unblinkingly at the message she had been sent. It read…
Dear Miss Taniyama,
Thank you for your email regarding your recent web order.
Regrettably, due to a system error the orders were duplicated.
Please be assured we have only taken payment once for the 1 order. However, both orders have been despatched. Therefore, please do as you wish with the duplicate order upon receipt.
Mai finally blinked and reread the message to double check she had everything right. 'Okay, so I have a box of books I have no use for. What should I do with them? I know, maybe the others will be interested!' Naru called out for some more tea and she walked to the kitchen all the while thinking about her problem.
Upon her return from delivering Naru's tea Lin just so happened to be walking back to his office after getting something from one of the cabinets.
"Lin! Just the man I wanted to see! Um…you wouldn't be interested in buying some manga would you?" Mai asked the solemn Chinese man. A small smirk appeared on his lips.
"Mai, I understand you have a box of manga you have no use for, but unfortunately I don't read manga, I only read things pertaining to my job or other non-fiction books such as recipe books." He informed. Mai stood stunned for a moment at his perceptiveness.
"How did you know?" She finally managed to ask. With a wink he told her how.
"Mai, next time you leave your desk, don't leave your emails open for all to read." With that he retreated back into his office. Mai looked at her computer screen and saw that Lin was right, in her haste to go make Naru his tea she had left the message from the book company open for anyone to read. 'Whoops! Well, better luck with my next customer I hope.' Just as she thought this Monk and Ayako came through the door bickering as usual.
"It was not an earth spirit on that case Ayako." Monk insisted.
"Hey guys! Drinks?" Mai asked, interrupting their quarrel momentarily.
"Hey Mai!" Monk said.
"Yes please! It was!" Ayako replied, getting straight back into the argument after answering Mai's question.
"It wasn't." Monk refuted as Mai went into the kitchen. She quickly made the drinks and also some more tea for Naru as she fully anticipated him calling out for some by the time she was done. Monk and Ayako had stopped fighting by the time she returned and were sat in a sulky silence. As expected Naru's voice could be heard demanding tea after she had given the other two their drinks. She excused herself and went to take the narcissist his tea. Upon her return she stood in front of Monk and Ayako wringing her hands nervously.
"Mai, if you have something to say, say it. We don't bite you know." Ayako said.
"Um…well, you see, I have this box of manga and I was wondering if either of you guys would be interested in…" She trailed off when she saw the apologetic looks on the faces of the pair in front of her.
"Sorry Mai, I only read books on music." Monk informed.
"I only read romance novels." Ayako told her. The door opened again and Yasu, John and Masako walked in and seated themselves. Mai quickly prepared more drinks and asked the trio the same question she had asked Monk and Ayako.
"Unfortunately Mai, I only read books on history as it helps with the work I do for you guys here." Yasu explained.
"I frankly just don't want them as they are yours." Masako said snobbishly.
"Apologies Mai, but I rarely get the chance to read and even when I do it's stuff on arts and crafts that I can do with the children at the church." John enlightened. Mai looked a little dejected, but plastered a fake smile on her face.
"It's okay guys, just thought I'd ask. No harm in that right?!" Everyone agreed and they started a conversation on what they had all been doing lately.
Naru, it seemed, had, had enough as he came storming out of his office at this point.
"Mai, a word." He demanded in an uncompromising tone. Mai meekly left the rest of the group and went to Naru who was stood near her desk.
"Mai, I do not pay you to have tea parties in my place of work, nor is this your own personal post office where you can order anything you want and get it sent here. As I have mentioned several times before now, this is my place of work where the only mail I expect to come through that door is addressed to either myself or Lin." Naru hissed venomously. Mai looked ashamed and like she was about to argue her point. "Don't bother to argue with me unless you wish to find yourself out of a job. I would also like to point out that this is not your own personal bookstore where you can buy and sell them as you plea…Oh my God, is that Ghost Hunt 8?! It is! And numbers 5, 6, and 7 too! I've been wanting these, may I?" He asked after spying the contents of the spare box of books on Mai's desk. She nodded, bewildered by the sudden turn of events. He rooted further through the box and discovered a few volumes of Black Butler he wanted also.
"Can I have the whole box?" He questioned, after thoroughly examining the ten books contained in it. Again Mai nodded. "How much do you want for it?"
"Does ¥10,000 sound fair?" She enquired. Naru nodded.
"Can I pay you by cheque; it seems a safer way to do it than just handing you the cash?" Naru queried. Mai tried to stutter out a vocal answer, but failed and nodded in puzzlement. The rest of the gang had shocked expressions on their faces at what was going on.
"Excellent! Come to my office and I'll write it out for you." Naru said grabbing his new purchase and heading towards his personal lair. Mai followed after him and stood awkwardly in the doorway.
"You can come in Mai instead of standing there like an idiot." Naru said as he dug in one of his desk drawers for his chequebook. Mai meekly stepped forward a few paces. "So, how are you enjoying the Ghost Hunt manga series so far?" He asked as he focussed determinedly on writing out the correct characters on the cheque for Mai and then completed the characters for his own name with a flourish.
"It's quite good…" Mai said distantly. Naru wrote the counterfoil for Mai's cheque in sweeping cursive English and then ripped the cheque itself out and held it out to her. Mai came forward a few more steps to claim it and Naru smirked.
"Mai, just because I read manga, which has surprised you, doesn't mean I'm not the same person you were mentally calling a jerk ten minutes ago. And don't think I don't know you were because your thoughts can be easily read on your face." Naru informed as he relinquished the cheque he was holding to her tentative grip on it. "Pleasure doing business with you." Naru commented getting up from his desk and grabbing Ghost Hunt 5. He followed Mai out of his office and into the main room where the others were whispering to each other. Naru sat himself in his usual chair and demanded tea then started to thumb through his new manga. The others were still looking at him warily whilst nudging each other to prompt one of them to question the black clad boss.
"Erm…Naru, you…uh…"Monk started.
"What is it Takigawa? Spit it out!" Naru ordered testily.
"We were surprised you read something like manga Mate." John filled in kindly.
"I read manga purely to get a better perspective on the supernatural from an entertainment point of view." Naru informed, turning the page.
"Drinks everyone." Mai announced, bringing in a heavily laden tray and placing it on the coffee table then selecting one of the cups and placing it by Naru.
"So, what's that one about?" Ayako asked whilst sipping her drink. Mai sat on the sofa just to the side of Naru after selecting her drink from the tray.
"It is about a mismatched team of ghost hunters consisting of a medium called Masae, a miko called Ayano, a monk called Hodaka, a priest called James, an onmyoji called Rin, a high school girl called Maiko, an annoying woman called Machiko, an even more annoying teenage boy they meet called Yasushi and their wonderful, smart teenage boss Kazuto who most call Narc." Mai filled in.
"I wouldn't say that about Narc, I think he's kind of a jerk." Naru said conversationally.
"Yeah, but he's a handsome jerk, you've got to give him points for that." Mai replied.
"Hmm, he's not as handsome as I am though." Naru insisted.
"True, you have a point there." Mai conceded. The rest of the gang looked at them completely lost as they had no idea what they were talking about anymore.
"I want to see Narc and Maiko get together." Naru declared. "It's so blatantly obvious they like each other, why else would he keep saving her and she put up with his abuse and constant demands for cola. Seriously, I don't know how he drinks all that without having the need to pee all the time." Naru ranted.
"Agreed about the cola. I think if Narc and Maiko were to get together they'd have to get past Masae first as she seems rather intent on winning Narc for herself." Mai informed him.
"Ah, but you don't see that Narc could never be interested in a prissy wannabe like her as she is way too calculating and cold. I mean seriously, just because a guy won't use your first name is no reason to take it out on others, besides I think that James guy is very interested in Masae, she just doesn't see it." Naru argued sipping some more of his tea.
"True, I mean he does always seem to go in the ambulance with her. What do you think of Rin, Machiko and Yasushi?" Mai questioned.
"That Rin guy is way too silent; I mean he rarely even utters a word, what exactly is the point of him being there? As for Machiko and Yasushi well… Yasushi is way too weird for my taste, but it is amusing when he winds Hodaka up I have to say. Machiko is a bit too pushy, I mean I get that she is trying to look out for Narc, but she isn't his mother and should maybe back off or tone it down." Naru expressed.
"Does anyone think these people they're talking about closely resemble us?" Monk asked a little nervously.
"Now that you mention it…" Ayako inserted.
"You know what I think?" Yasu asked rhetorically. "I think that if they are that insightful about the characters resembling them then they must be blind as hell to reality or maybe just incredibly dumb and stupid." The others muttered their agreement to Yasu's statement.
"If these people do resemble us then I think that maybe we should make a swift exit before we hear something we don't like Mates." John insisted.
"Hey, getting back to that James guy," Mai said. "Do you think he'll ever stop being shy and ask Masae out?"
"Hmm, I don't know, I mean he is a priest." Naru replied thoughtfully.
"That's it Mates! I'm outta here!" John exclaimed before making a hasty exit.
"Wonder what his problem is." Monk muttered.
"Um…I'm not sure, but I think maybe I will…uh…go check on him, yeah." Masako mumbled hurriedly before going after John.
"Do you ever think that Yasushi guy will get a proper job that is useful instead of just hanging around all the time?" Naru asked.
"Well, he does do their research, but I see your point, he never does seem to do anything other than that and he is supposed to have left school." Mai answered. Yasu tapped Monk and Ayako on the shoulder.
"I'm going to have to get going, my shift at the restaurant starts soon." He mumbled to them before getting up and following in the direction John and Masako went.
"Do you think Ayano and Hodaka will ever stop fighting and talk about the real issue that makes them argue?" Mai questioned.
"Hmm, I have to agree their fighting is rather annoying…" Naru started to answer.
"I think that maybe John was right, we should leave before we hear any more. I really don't want to hear what they think of the character representing me." Ayako said worriedly to Monk.
"Well, I'm going to stay and hear what they have to say about you." Monk informed.
"Oh no you're not! You're coming with me." Ayako told him, grabbing him by the ear and dragging him after her.
"…I think they are both too proud and stubborn to admit their feelings for each other though so probably they won't stop fighting." Naru continued.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Mai agreed. Naru and Mai sat in silence for a few moments sipping their tea as Naru continued to thumb through his manga. After a moment he looked up from what he was reading.
"You know, there is one thing Narc and I have in common." He said.
"Oh and what's that?" Mai asked.
"We're both in love with our assistants, but are too afraid to tell them that." Naru replied with a slight tint of fear in his voice.
"You love Lin? I'm sure he'll understand if you tell him." Mai said, trying to sound as comforting as possible even though she felt sad.
"No Mai, I don't love Lin. Where did you get that from anyway?" Naru asked taking note of the sad look in Mai's eyes.
"Well, he's your assistant so…" Mai trailed off.
"I have more than one assistant Mai." Naru said irritably.
"Oh? Who's the other one?" Mai asked.
"You, Dummy." Naru replied smirking slightly.
"Oh. OH! You mean…?" Mai responded finally getting what Naru was saying. Naru nodded then diverted his attention back to the book he was holding. "Well, I think Maiko and I have something in common too, we're both in love with our boss." She announced. Naru's head shot up and he blinked.
"You mean…?" Naru asked. Mai nodded. A small smile crept onto Naru's lips. They stared at each other for another moment before Mai shifted from her seat.
"I think I'm going to make some more tea." She said as she grabbed their cups and headed to the kitchen.
She had just put the kettle on and was preparing the other things she needed for the tea when she felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her waist. She turned to find they belonged to Naru who smiled at her, a genuine smile.
"You know, I really thought you loved Lin for a…" Mai started to admit before Naru cut her off by placing his lips on hers in a deep passionate kiss. "Never mind." She panted when they broke for air before kissing him again.
Lin came out of his office and, not seeing either Mai nor Naru in the main area, assumed Mai to be in the kitchen. He headed there wanting to ask for some tea. He stopped in the doorway, smirked and went back to his office intent on ringing Madoka to report that he had just spotted Naru in a rather heated kiss with Mai.
Mai sighed in deep contentment after breaking her latest kiss with Naru in order to make the tea she had promised. Who'd have thought such wonderful things could come from a mistaken extra order?!
A/N:- Hope everyone enjoyed this! Please review!