Hey, guys! I did estimate that I would update once a week, but I have the first few chapters typed up already, and these first two were short and mostly filler anyways, so here's the next one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, Mai and Naru would have more random private conversations.


"Wake up, Mai!" shouted a voice in Mai's ear. "WAKE UP, LAZY GIRL!"

Mai groaned loudly and rolled over to see a blur of red hair through her half-shut eyes.

"Ha!" Ayako crowed in triumph. "That got her up."

"No," she groaned, and shoved her head under her pillow, trying to block out the sound of Ayako's voice.

"God, Mai, are you always this difficult in the morning?"

Masako's voice broke in. "I was under the impression that she was always difficult."

"Masako…" Mai rolled over, too sleepy to fight anyone. "Just shut up, please."

Ayako managed to pull her out of bed and shove her into the bathroom, throwing in her duffle bag after her. "Naru said he wants tea in five minutes!" she yelled at her after she closed the door.

Mai mumbled some nasty things about both Naru and Ayako, and threw in some stuff about Masako for good measure. Only after she remembered Gene and her dream did she feel a little remorse and decide to do Gene some kindness by helping his idiot scientist brother with his tea addiction.

She pulled on a dark blue sweatshirt over her purple t-shirt, clean jeans, and her white tennis shoes. After running a comb haphazardly through her short hair, she went back to the girls' bedroom. On finding it empty, she threw her duffle bag in the corner and went to find the kitchen.

Last night, Naru had lead them left, right, down the stairs, right, right, left, right to get to the kitchen for dinner. Today, as Mai got to the first turn, Gene spoke to her.

Right.

Mai threw all caution to the wind and turned right. After all, the worst that could happen was she could get lost and call for help, and she did that routinely regardless.

Mai followed Gene's voice up one hallway and down the next, down the stairs and past large galleries until she reached the kitchen. Naru was sitting at the table, writing in his black, leather book.

"Good morning!" she said cheerfully hoping to elicit a similar reply. She was so full of energy after finding her way safely down that she was having a hard time restraining herself from throwing her arms around him.

Naru grunted.

"Fine, then!" she huffed and threw herself into a chair. "I hope you have a horrible morning!" Mai looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"Probably lost," Naru responded dryly. "I'm surprised you're here on time."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Mai snapped. She glared at him and itched to kick him under the table.

"It means you should make tea."

"Jerk!"

Naru showed no sign of anger and did not reply, and Mai rolled her eyes. Why did she ever expect to soften him as time went by? Here they were, almost a year later, and he was still the same, collected, uninterested, passive person who had tricked her into working for him.

But he had given her a very generous paycheck.

"Naru?" Mai asked. They were alone. It was a good time to talk about her dream. She began taking out pots and looking for tea in the cupboards.

Naru didn't reply, but Mai went on. She knew she had gotten his attention.

"Is it possible for a spirit to talk to latent psychics outside of their dreams?"

Naru looked up. "Are you getting voices from someone, Mai?"

Mai suddenly wondered if he would be angry. She paused and leaned on the counter and desperately hoped that someone would walk in through the kitchen door.

Obviously, no one did.

"Mai?" Naru repeated.

"Gene."

"What?"

"Gene… showed me a dream last night. I don't-I don't really know what he was saying, but… " Mai tried to get her thoughts to come out sounding sane. "He lead me up the stairs and we were supposed to go right, like you said, to go to base, but he said left, and it worked."

Naru raised an eyebrow.

"And then, well-" Mai stumbled over the words. Her face was red and she was thoroughly embarrassed for no reason. "And then this morning I woke up to come down here and I was going to turn left like I was supposed to, but then he-he spoke to me and he said to go right instead, and I went right and - and -"

"And?"

"And I… didn't get lost…" Mai scratched her neck and tried to drown herself in the tea in front of her. She set it before Naru quickly so she wouldn't have to look at him and then shoved herself into the fridge to look for eggs.

She thought Naru was probably staring at her in confusion or degradation or both, but he only murmured, "Interesting," and when she turned around, he was writing in his black book again.

John arrived first, looking confused. He took a seat at the table. "Shibuya, I think we need to get a set of blueprints from Mr. Tanaka."

"Mmmm." Naru continued to write in his notebook.

Mai stuck out her tongue at him behind his back and John smiled indulgently. Since no one else seemed to be coming, he stood to help her make breakfast.

Five minutes later, Masako and Ayako came in, muttering about faulty directions. Mai saw Naru make a new note in his notebook as she set a bowl of beans in front of him. Lin and Monk arrived last, Lin silently bearing Monk's rants.

After Mai and John had served eggs and bean soup, they sat at the table to eat. As Mai began digging in, however, a horrible feeling overcame her. She set her chopsticks back down, feeling too nauseous to think about eating.

Masako stood up. Her face was white and she swayed a little on her feet. "I'll be right back," she whispered faintly.

"Masako!" Ayako cried as the medium fell.

Naru stood up and caught her in one fluid motion. Mai felt too sick all of a sudden to be jealous of Masako, however. She put her head down and tried to focus on breathing in clean air.

Ayako must've looked over her because she announced, "She's fine, just fainted."

"But why did she faint like that?" Monk asked and shoved half a fried egg in his mouth.

Mai grimaced and said, "I don't know, Monk, but if you keep eating, I think I'm going to puke."

Monk frowned and stopped chewing. "Are you - are you going to faint, too?"

"I said I'm going to PUKE! Now keep your mouth shut! I don't feel too good."

At that point, the door opened, and a fresh wave of nausea overcame Mai. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her forehead to the table and focused on sucking in shallow breaths. She felt a little lightheaded.

An arm came around her shoulders. "Mai, are you okay?" Monk whispered.

"Fine," she lied.

"Good morning!" called a voice Mai vaguely registered as Mr. Tanaka's. There was a slight pause. "What's happened to these two young ladies?"

"They don't feel too good," John replied, "but I'm sure they'll be fine in a moment. Would you like some breakfast?" he asked, tactfully steering the conversation away from Masako and Mai.

"Thank you, but I have already eaten," Mr. Tanaka assured him. He glanced at Mai and Masako again. "Are you sure those two don't need any professional help?"

Ayako cleared her throat. "I am a professional, if you must know."

"Oh." Mr. Tanaka turned a little pink. "I...um, didn't realize." He hurried on. "Please tell me if you need anything. I will be in my study on the first floor. It's right under the stairs. Good day."

He closed the door behind him.

The dizziness slowly subsided until Mai felt well enough to sit up in her seat. John placed a cup of tea in front of her and Masako, who had woken up after Mr. Tanaka left.

Mai took a scalding sip that jolted her back to her senses. She saw Naru writing in his notebook.

"Naru…" she said. "There's something wrong with Mr. Tanaka."

"There are spirits attached to him," Masako confirmed. She took a sip of her own tea and coughed delicately. Mai wanted to hit her beautiful face. Why did she look so pretty after fainting? And why was she the one who could speak in flowery sentences while all she could do was lamely ramble on and on?

"Don't you want to ask him any questions?" Monk asked.

"I already did," Naru replied. "He doesn't know much. When he called, he could only say he was worried that some demon was possessing the house. He sent me an image of a strange symbol he once saw in the basement that I have found is related to demonic activity. Yesterday, Mr. Tanaka could tell me no more than that except that he had recently inherited the house."

"Then why are there spirits attached to him?" Ayako asked.

Naru didn't answer, as was his custom to do so when he got tired of answering questions. He abruptly stood up and left the room. Lin went after him.

Mai rolled her eyes. "And there he goes. His Royal Highness is tired of answering questions and decides that he cannot tolerate us lowly servants any longer."

Monk laughed. "What's gotten into you?"

"I don't know." Mai herself was a little surprised. She had gotten used to Naru's sudden disappearances, and although she still got annoyed, she had learned to accept them. "I guess I just feel kind of snappy after the nausea."

"Makes sense. You want to go up and rest for a bit? Ayako and I will clean up."

"Then help me, you lazy bum!" Ayako yelled at him. "If you're going to volunteer yourself, I'M in charge!"


So...what do you think? Reviews are appreciated!

This is the last background/filler chapter. After this, I promise things will start to happen.

For next time: Missing mics, attacks on various SPR members, and a deep, black hole.