CONTACT
My Rude Awakening

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Ghost Hunt. I wouldn't be writing this if I did.

WARNING: May contain spoilers from the manga and novels, including Akumu no Sumu Ie.

CHAPTER 1
Square One
Published: 07.01.2014, Edited: 09.25.2015

Everything started about half a year ago.

Two weeks after the horrifying Agawa case,* the SPR team headed to a resort and recreation center in the countryside. People drowned in the various swimming and diving pools in the resort and it was reported that both children and adults were targeted by the haunting entity.

It was close to midnight on the second day of their investigation. Noll accompanied Mai to check on an outdoor camera that was malfunctioning. Lin was left in the base to configure the live feed from the device once it was fixed. The camera had no external damage so Mai checked the battery and wiring. Noll watched her with slight amusement, noting the fact that she had learned how to diagnose and troubleshoot faulty equipment while he was away. He was thankful that Madoka had mentored his assistant the same way she had done with him and his brother despite the short time she had spent with Mai. He let a small smile grace his lips.

"Ne, Naru?" Mai gently called as she turned her head to where he was standing.

"Yes, Mai?" The tiny grin on his face immediately disappeared and his stoic facade was back in place.

"Did you hear that?" Worry and panic appeared on her features as she spoke.

"Hear what?" He strained his ears, but did not detect any unusual sound.

"Someone's drowning!" Before he can say anything else, the brunette young woman had already bolted towards the scuba diving training pool at the opposite end of the area they were at.

The young boss ran after her and watched in horror as she jumped into the placid diving pool. He immediately realized that Mai was caught up in an illusion created by the ghost that was haunting the place. When he reached the pool, Mai was nowhere in sight. He dived into the pool without hesitation and swam to where he saw her last.

He opened his eyes underwater, but it was too dark to see anything. Noll stretched out his arms in an attempt to find her in the darkness, only to be met by nothingness. He held his breath as he swam deeper and reached out in front of him yet still found nothing. He resurfaced for air and dived back in several more times before he found the unconscious form of his assistant near the bottom of the deepest part of the pool. He quickly swam to the edge of the pool and placed her on dry land before getting himself out of the water.

Noll checked for Mai's vitals. He cursed softly when he found out she was not breathing and had a weak pulse. He settled next to her, rolled up his sleeves, and immediately began performing CPR.

Mai finally opened her eyes and met Naru's dark blue ones as his face hovered over hers. She noticed that he was panting hard, most likely due to exertion from administering CPR. She would have blushed at the realization if not for the unadulterated anger that filled his eyes, along with another emotion she had never seen before in them. He observed her for any sign of injury with such concentration that she can almost feel his gaze against her skin. The sensation was unnerving for her, to say the least.

"I know what you're going to say, Naru," the brunette assistant started with a shaky voice. "It's the same old 'Mai, you're an idiot' speech you've been using since I began working for you during my freshman year. Can't you say something else? I am so sick and tired of putting up with all your crap. I did not sign up to be insulted when I agreed to be your assistant!" Tears formed in her eyes, but she fought them back fiercely. She was not going to cry in front of the narcissistic jerk. She will not give him the satisfaction of hurting her again.

"Mai, look at me." Her boss placed a hand on either side of her face to make her look into his eyes. "Nothing good ever happens when you're being reckless and impulsive. I am not insulting you by saying this, but you have to admit it was really stupid of you to just run to the diving pool without even telling me what was going on." Anger slowly made its way into his voice with each word he said. "What if I never made it in time? What if you drowned in that pool? YOU COULD HAVE DIED! DON'T YOU GET IT?!"

It was the first time Mai ever saw (or heard) Naru lose his composure. He could barely moderate his voice and the last lines he uttered sounded slightly desperate. It was uncharacteristic of him to put so much emotion in his speech. His eyes were flashing with rage and his hands were shaking, but his hold on her face was so gentle that it made her feel so fragile. Tears slid down her cheeks. Whether they were from anger, relief, sadness or guilt, she was not certain.

She steeled herself as she replied in a tone with hardly contained anger that rivaled his, "What did you expect me to do? Ignore the cries for help that I heard? Every second counted, Naru! I can never forgive myself for abandoning another person who needed my help. What if it were actually a kid who had to be rescued? HE COULD HAVE DIED, TOO!"

"BUT IT WAS A GHOST AND IT ALMOST KILLED YOU!" Naru quickly retorted before she could continue. "I DON'T WANT YOU TO GET HURT, BUT YOU JUST KEEP ON FINDING TROUBLE FOR YOURSELF." He was shouting now and the girl's eyes widened in shock.

The young man noticed the frightened expression on her face so he drew in a deep breath to regain his composure – or what was left of it anyway.

"You weren't breathing when I got to you," he stated so quietly that she almost missed it.

"I had to help him, Naru. I couldn't stop myself," she said meekly. "And I never asked you to save –" He let go of her face suddenly as he pulled her closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Don't ever dare say those words to me, Mai Taniyama!" Naru whispered harshly against her ear. He was utterly livid now and she knew he was giving his everything to reign in his anger, but his hold on her was still as gentle. He felt her trembling against him and realized that he was scaring his assistant so he softened his tone once more.

"Which part of 'I don't want you to get hurt' don't you understand, idiot?" He sighed against her ear, which made her shiver in response. Mai tilted her head to meet his gaze as he continued painfully slowly, letting his words sink into her mind. "You will listen to me and I will not let you get hurt so I do not have to save you every time."

She barely heard his words since her consciousness began to fade from fatigue. The last things she remembered were his midnight blue eyes that held so much concern in them and his panicked voice calling out to her desperately, as if she mattered to him.

She could only wish she did.

* The Agawa case is from the GH sequel, Akumu no Sumu Ie.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you for your overwhelming response. I didn't think people will like my idea. I am really grateful for your positive feedback so I decided to post the next chapter earlier than planned~! Just a fair warning, I am not very skilled at writing perfectly happy scenarios (i.e. fluff) so the relationship between Naru and Mai may be dysfunctional and twisted at times. Please forgive me in advance.

EDIT: I fixed some minor grammatical errors pointed out by my editor (my sister). All succeeding chapters were also edited, but no changes were done on the story details.