Title: Unexpected Developments

Fandom: Ghost Hunt

Case file I: Attenuate

Prologue

Occasionally, there were times where Mai couldn't concentrate.

It wasn't anything surprising, really. She has always known herself to be easily distracted; however, as she grew older, she found herself more focusing on unrelated, albeit extremely stressful, matters instead of just spacing out (or, though she was often embarrassed to admit it, nodding off) while at work, like she so often had when she first started.

She didn't know why today of all days she was agonizing over working here again. She'd started being an assistant again almost two months ago. Wistfully, she figured that it was maybe because she had been caught up in the whirlwind of her boss's return, along with studying for the finishing term's exams. Yet, still, this was where she found herself: sitting at her desk in Shibuya's Psychic Research, gnawing at her thumbnail, eyes unfocused, two months after the return of her boss's ten month departure to England.

Mai honestly couldn't remember how she managed to smile in those ten months. Not that she had based her happiness on her proximity to her narcissistic, tea-addicted jerk of a boss. She supposed it was more along the lines of no longer having anything she loved doing anymore. Oh, yes, she would be the first to give a long line of reasons why her job was so frustrating, most of them having to do with previously stated boss, but she loved what she did while at SPR. Yes, things were terrifying most of the time, but she never felt happier than when she was with the people she had begun to consider her family.

Then, they were ripped apart. A little dramatic, she admitted with a softened wince, but true nonetheless. Without SPR to act as an adhesive to keep them together, the people she had loved so dearly had drifted in and out of her life in those ten months. Monk and Ayako had tried their best to stay in contact, but Mai knew they were busy. Her makeshift parental figures were full-time workers on top of their ghost-hunting hobby. Mai didn't blame them for their loss of contact.

Most surprisingly, Masako had ended up being the one she was in contact with on a daily basis. The first two weeks after the two dark-haired men that led their band of misfit ghost hunters had left had been almost palpable with tension between the two young teen girls. Until Mai finally sent Masako a signature, disarming smile and told her she would always be one of her best friends, even if the famous medium didn't want to speak to her anymore. Masako had responded with an uncharacteristic hug.

After the young female medium, John and Yasuhara had come in tied second for keeping in contact with Mai. John often invited the two teen girls to visit the Catholic orphanages with him. Yasuhara had volunteered to help Mai study for exams and, when the two teens had heard that Masako still attended schooling via online classes, they had set up an ever-shifting schedule for study sessions together.

Despite her growing friendships with some of the SPR irregulars and having more time to spend with her friends at school, Mai had felt there had been a large part of her life missing in those ten months. Although it's true part of what was missing was the two men she had grown so used to being around every day, she knew most of it came from no longer feeling as though she had purpose. Without ghost hunting, she had too much time on her hands and nothing to do with it. She had found a temporary job at a library, stocking and filing a few hours every day after school. But it wasn't what she wanted out of life. When she had started her third year of high school, she was assaulted with the ever familiar question asked by her teachers: "What do you want to do when you grow up?"

She had been speechless. She knew what she wanted to do. It was what she had been doing for the better part of her high school life. She wanted to hunt ghosts. Mai wanted to help people like she had been taught she could. At the same time, she had known she would never be able to. Not without the two men who had taught her so much. It had shattered her confidence in the future.

It only worsened when she had discovered her psychic powers would never stop. Though she never continued ghost hunting in the wake of SPR's disbandment, she had discovered that she could pick up residual memories from the ghosts her medium friend came into contact with. Thankfully, Masako never took dangerous cases for her show, but Mai had helped her find information to get spirits to cross over more than once. Mai's fight or flight instinct had also broadened. She could feel the sickening twist of her stomach and had learned she could often pick up names of her friends among her jumbled thoughts whenever it happened. Her powers were becoming less vague with every day and she knew it would forever be a part of her life.

She had supposed two months ago that it had been a coincidence when one day she woke up with an acidic twist in her gut and her mind echoed the nickname she had given her old boss. Mai had almost fell out of bed, rushing to her computer and emailing the taller, older male who had left for England. It was the first time she had done it in the ten months since their departure. She had never attempted to contact either of them. She knew it would startle the Chinese man and that he would probably send an interrogating email later that day when it was an appropriate time in England. But she still sent the email.

Lin-san,

Watch please watch him carefully today.

Mai hadn't even signed it. She hadn't written his name. She knew that Lin would know who she was talking about. The twisting in her gut subsided slowly after the email sent. She had done all she could. The two men were too far away for her demand she stick with them for the day, as she often did when she felt her instincts tell her that her friends were in danger. The young girl had shook herself and got ready for her day at school.

It was after lunch when her name was called over the PA system. She was mildly concerned about what was wrong, but found herself strangely serene as she approached the secretary, who told her she had someone calling for her on the telephone. The teen girl only felt vague confusion in the back of her mind, but found her breathing calmer than it had been in months and her heart lighter than she could ever remember.

"Taniyama speaking."

Silence greeted her for a brief moment. "You've become much more professional since the last time this happened, Mai."

Mai sharply breathed in. She expected panic. That's how she had always imagined she would feel if she had ever saw or heard from him again. However, all she felt was a warmth that spread through her chest, one that curled in her stomach and twisted gently around her limbs. It was pleasant and she could feel a small smile pulling at her lips. There was silence as this happened. He was waiting for her response.

For a few more moments, she wondered what she should call him. Does one continue to call the man who rejected them by a nickname without honorifics? She somehow knew deep down that whenever he was in Japan, he didn't want to be Oliver Davis. It was something she was astonishingly sure of. She recognized that he had still called her by her first name. For the first time in a while, she brushed past her instincts—settling on the pain she had once felt in her heart because of the man currently speaking to her.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Shibuya-san?" Her voice did not match the coldness of her words. She kept her cheery tone and even forced a little laugh at the end.

She could hear a sharp intake of breath from his end this time, then a long silence. "Mai…" His voice was startlingly softer. Mai felt her heart jolt and she closed her eyes. There was more silence, but she could hear his breathing this time. He had moved the phone closer to his mouth to speak to her.

Mai let out a soft sigh. "Naru…" she echoed his tone. She almost missed the soft gust of breath against the mouthpiece he must have released. Mai swallowed and opened her eyes. She remembered the faint twist of fear she had felt this morning. "Are you alright?" She didn't even try to hide the concern that colored her voice.

"Lin and I are back in Japan. We are reopening Shibuya Psychic Research. I was wondering if you would be interested your old position at the company." His voice was curt and professional once again. It sounded as if he had adjusted his phone back to its original position as well.

There was still no panic. It surprised her. She felt so at peace in that moment. He was back. He was offering her old job back to her as well. Her instincts were warm with affection and excitement—the likes that she hadn't felt in a few months. Her heart, however, ached with twinge of pain. It kept her mouth from moving.

He was waiting again. She thought with a small twitch of amusement that this as perhaps the most patient she had ever remembered him being. Mai swallowed thickly and opened her mouth. When nothing came out, she couldn't help the laughter that tumbled from her lips. It was genuine this time. She could hear his breathing again, faster than last time.

She felt her instincts again, pulsing warmth through her. This is what she had been waiting for those last ten months, wasn't it? Although she had tried to deny it to herself almost every day, she had waited for his return with an unconscious bated breath. Maybe she had always somehow known he would come back. It was like the clouds of uncertainty that had been plaguing her and her future were blown away.

"When do I start?" she asked him, when her laughter finally died away.

"Mai." His firm voice startled her from her thoughts. She felt her mind almost get physically yanked back to the present. She was at the office, sitting at the desk; Naru stood next to her, almost too close for her comfort. Her brown eyes snapped to attention, locking with his piercing blue gaze. She let a sheepish grin touch her lips as she murmured an apology.

He didn't drift away, as she had expected him to. He continued standing close to her, looking down at her. It felt like he was studying her. Her skin prickled at the thought and she found herself unable to look away from him.

For a brief moment, she saw his eyebrows draw together. "I called you a few times. You've never needed me to call you more than twice," he said, taking a step closer to where she sat. Though no concern echoed in his tone of voice and none showed on his now stoic face, she could feel her instincts throb with the recognition of it. "Even with how you sleep at work, you've never been this bad of an assistant." His words were harsh but she smiled nonetheless.

She waved him away and tore her gaze from him to look at the files on her desk. "I'm fine. Did you need tea? Let me get it." She stood and smoothed her skirt before turning to walk to the kitchen. Mai moved to step around him when he grabbed her arm. The breath caught in her lungs and she peered curiously up at him. "Hai, Naru?"

Naru stared down at her, his expression and his eyes unreadable. Silence rang between them as she looked at him and he studied her. A soft sigh fell from her lips before she swallowed thickly. Confusion pierced through the back of her mind as she watched his gaze drift to watch her throat. His grip on her arm fell away and he stepped back, creating distance between them. Mai watched him stride back into his office before she let out a soft breath.

She was already half way to the kitchen when she heard his voice call out.

"Mai, tea."