A/N: First of all, I want to thank you for all those who reviewed. I was really happy since this is my first fanfic (I even had a nightmare wherein my story got left in the dark…totally ignored). And that's why it really motivated me to update faster and make my story even better to meet your expectations. Oh and by the way, please don't hesitate to point out my mistakes [like *naruislikeaboss*(thanks btw, I'll work on my grammar XD)], I really want to improve my story (^^)/. Anyways, here's chapter 2, ENJOY!

Oh, and I forgot my disclaimer on the first chapter so…

I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT! IF I DID , I WOULDN'T BE HERE RIGHT NOW XD


Chapter 2: The Best Yet The Worst Birthday Ever (Part 1)

Mai got dressed one hour earlier before the assembly time fearing her young boss' death glares and painful tongue-lashings. She didn't want to be late on her first case with Naru after he returned from England. She wore her red checkered skirt and her gray turtleneck along with black knee-length socks and dark brown leather boots in case she needs to…run…in this case. At exactly 5:30 they called her saying that they'll pick her up at her apartment. When they arrived, they told her that the others went on ahead; she almost thought it was because of her tardiness but Lin cleared it though.

"Uhhh, Naru?" she slyly asked her silent boss sitting still in the front seat reading a stack of papers neatly organized in a white folder. 'What a workaholic…' Mai told herself.

"If you're just gonna ask something useless Mai, its best that you just shut up." He simply replied. Lin glared at him though; Naru noticed this immediately and just looked back at him with 'what?' written all over his face. 'Oh god, does he ever know the meaning of politeness?' Lin sighed in defeat. Mai didn't say a word after what Naru said, she thinks its better that way before she gets any more of Naru's tongue. When they arrived at the "site" Mai was definitely surprised. It was a beautiful garden full of flowers, their fragrance filled the air and petals were scattered on the ground making a small path. After she followed where the petals lead her eyes went wide. The whole gang was there, lined up on the way to the pavilion each holding some candles.

"Wha…guys…" everyone was grinning at her. They can tell she was speechless and they were proud of it. Masako stood in front of her holding a cupcake with little pink candle on top of it.

"Happy birthday Mai" she told her with a soft smile. Mai was astounded at the sincerity she was showing.

"You know, I don't hate you…I just don't like you Mai." She grinned at her and Mai smiled back.

"Thank you Masako and I'll put that in mind" she said and blew the candle on top. Next in line she saw Ayako with both of her hands occupied with cupcakes like Masako.

"Happy birthday Mai!" Ayako smiled warmly. And Mai giggled

"Thank you Ayako" she replied. "Hope you'll have more birthdays to come" Ayako said while Mai blew the candles.

Mai continued to follow the little embers and on the saw bou-san sitting in Indian-style with 3 candles. Two on both hands and one was on his head. Mai laughed at his hilarious state while bou-san was watching her with a big smile on his face.

"Mai hurry up before this thing falls." He said while maintaining the cupcake still on top of his head.

"Bou-san, you look like a Buddha!" Mai laughed as she blew the candles one by one and took the cupcake on his head and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Thank you bou-san" She said and gave him a peck on the cheek. The monk grinned at her and replied. "No problem little sis…"

And this time, she almost wanted to roll on the floor laughing when she was Yasuhara kneeling on the grass with cupcakes on both hands, one on his head and the extra was on his mouth, not to mention the candle sticking out of his mouth.

"Otanjoubi-ommedetto Mai!" he said with difficulty since a piece of chocolate cupcake was obstructing his mouth. Mai laughed hard again and blew the candles one by one. When she had to blow the candle on his mouth she raised an eyebrow at him. Yasu raised one back at her and she smiled and blew the candle.

"Hey! That seemed like a flying kiss" Yasu said, with the cupcake still on his mouth. Monk was watching them and a nerve was clearly surfacing on his head. "Why you little…" monk said in annoyance, he clearly wasn't happy about Yasu's antics.

"Wanna help me eat this cake…Mai-chan?" Yasu said vaguely pointing at the cupcake in his mouth, but this time monk was already charging him.

"Hey! That's going too far!" monk screamed and Ayako quickly grabbed his hood and restrained him before he ripped Yasu's flesh into shreds. Mai chuckled at the commotion they were causing and quickly bent down to kiss Yasu's forehead. Monk's eyes nearly fell to ground, Ayako laughed and Masako covered her hand with her mouth.

"Thanks Yasu but I think you didn't want to share the cupcake in the first place since it's all in your mouth you know." She grinned at him.

"Hmmm, I'll make sure to leave half out next time then" he said while chewing the cupcake and monk dug his fist on Yasu's head. She watched monk abuse Yasu until Ayako motioned her to go on. On her way, she stopped and thought what Lin and Naru might be doing and slightly chuckled. When she arrived at the next stop, Lin was holding a tray with one hand, 5 cupcakes with candles were neatly lined on the tray. Mai chuckled, he looks like a butler. Lin raised his eyebrow at her with a small smile in his face, he lowered the tray to Mai's reached and she blew all of them in one huff. Lin looked at the birthday girl and smiled warmly at her, he handed her a red rose which he was holding on his free hand. Mai blushed and Lin chuckled.

"Happy birthday Mai" Lin said, Mai just nodded hiding her blush. She never expected Lin to be this gentle, but then she realized that Lin had always surprised her in many ways, like him being a diviner, the fact he had shikis and the time wherein she knew he could actually laugh…a little.

"You should go now, Noll's waiting for you. You do know how impatient he is right?" Lin stated with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess I should do that before I receive more of his bad manners. Thank you so much Lin." She smiled back at him and Lin laughed at her first statement. "You're welcome" then Lin guided her.

The green were swaying in the evening breeze and besides the few lamps their only source of light was the stars and the big round moon. Today was a new moon and considering its name, Mai was feeling good about it and it made her think that this birthday is just the start of the best. Mai's eyes went wide; she probably couldn't take any more surprises for this day. There was a huge pavilion waiting for her and there were little glowing things floating around it. It made her remember one of the dreams she had with Gene but what's more surprising is that Naru was waiting for her with a bouquet of roses on his hand and a 3 layered cake beside him with a candle forming 16 was lit on the center.

"Happy 16th birthday Mai!" the gang shouted who was already around the cake, waving the cupcakes they were holding a while ago. Mai couldn't take it anymore and cried. Ayako and bou-san quickly went to her side and started rubbing her back. It was the best birthday she had.

"Guys, you really shouldn't have made it this big if you're just going throw a party" she said between her sobs.

"Awww…come on Mai" bou-san said ruffling her chocolate strands.

"We didn't actually plan this far…but after we learned that your parents died on your birthday, we thought you might be depressed. I couldn't even imagine a birthday like that." Ayako said as she continued to rub Mai's back who was still crying. Yasu was pushing Naru closer to Mai who was whistling frantically. He earned a death sentence from Naru as he glared at him, Lin glared back at him, and he won this time. Naru turned to the sobbing birthday girl who had her arms on her face trying to hide her tears. He handed him the bouquet of roses he bought earlier.

~flashback

Naru was walking in circles around his room wondering what to give Mai as a present. He never really did this by himself. Usually Gene was her partner-in-crime if he had to give presents like on their parents' birthday, but Gene was always the one planning and he would simply be dragged into his plans knowing how persistent Gene was when he was still alive, but this time, he thought of giving one himself.

"Damn it!" he growled "I'm supposed to be a genius! Why can't I think of a simple birthday present" he sighed in disbelief while massaging the bridge of his nose. 'I can't believe presents could be such a headache' he thought as he ran his fingers through his dark strand. When it was almost time to pick Mai up, he panicked since he wasn't able to think of anything. Then he went to the mirror and slammed his hands on his own reflection, he was calling Gene. After Gene's burial, he locked himself in his room, recalling how he lost his twin brother and how he took the first thing he ever wanted. He just stared at his reflection, arm on the table, elbow up and his hand supporting his cheeks thinking about his dead twin when all of a sudden his own reflection talked.

"Feeling sentimental?" Naru jumped out of his seat, this definitely scared him more than the ghosts he encountered all of his life.

"Ge…Gene!" Naru's eyes wide and his mouth were slightly open. Gene laughed at his brother's expressions, enjoying every second he looked like that. 'Maybe I should do this more often?' he thought. Ever since that day, Gene would occasionally bug him at work, or say insulting words out of the blue, tease him about the confession Mai did and even physical damage. It was really annoying for Naru, 'they say a dead twin would take your life…' he was starting to believe in that statement.

But now, he wasn't appearing when he needed him the most.

"Damn you Gene! Why are you doing this to me! I hate you…you stupid, annoying twin. I bet you're enjoying this huh?" Naru screamed in English while hitting the mirror. Little did he know that Lin entered his room since he was taking his time and thought it was weird, and saw all of this?

"Fuck you Gene! Go die! I mean…go die again!" he scowled at him and did a final blow on the poor mirror. He turned his head when he heard someone laughing…it was Lin. He flushed and went out of his room and went straight into the car ignoring Lin.

On their way to Mai's apartment they passed by a flower shop, and since he was desperate.

"Lin stop the car!" he ordered him.

~end of flashback

Naru froze for a moment. He really didn't know what to do in times like these. He pinched the bridge of his nose which he usually does when he gets tensed or irritated. Mai took a quick peek at the young man between her fingers who was giving him roses on her 16th birthday; Naru quickly avoided her gaze automatically hiding his dark cerulean eyes with his raven hair hiding the faint blush surfacing in his cheeks.

"Happy birthday…" Naru said in a weak tone, Mai wiped her tears and smiled back at him. Naru put back his stoic mask, his control is slipping. Mai's red face just after she cried with the matching bright smile everybody loved was cute, even our cold-hearted Naru is melting due to her easy-going and warm personality. Mai took the bouquet of roses and smirked at Naru.

"I didn't know you like keeping surprises…" she said with a playful smile, Lin's lips formed into a small smirk and everybody laughed.

"Eeeh, Naru keeping surprises? I was really worried about that ya'know. I thought I'd never see the light of the day when I told him to keep this party a secret." Yasu told them with arms crossed in his chest.

"Looks like I don't have to worry about that." He grinned at Naru. Naru smirked at them, and it was obvious. The whole gang gasped at the foreign sight they were seeing. But Naru didn't look like he was happy, he looked like he was planning to salvage Yasu later and they were scared.

"Naru stop that! It's freaking me out!" Ayako shouted at him rubbing both of her arms.

"Yeah Naru-bou, If that's the only way you smile, I'd rather not see it." Monk said with a shivering tone. Yasu on the other was awfully quiet for the first time.

"Ahhhh! Ok let's stop this!" Mai groaned. "I should blow this candle right?" Mai said pointing at the 16 shaped candle at the center of the cake. Mai positioned herself as the gang singed the birthday song, except Lin and Naru as usual.

~Happy birthday to you…~

Mai inhaled all the air she could get and was about blow it all out when images and visions filled her brain and all the air around her felt cold. She was petrified as the continuous visions, images, voices invaded her head yet she couldn't understand then everything stopped and focused on one scenario. It was really blurred, like watching TV with crappy antenna with all the static sounds and flickering images. And yet she could horribly tell what it is. It was a face of a woman with jet black hair with fresh blood dripping at the edges of her face. Her arms were tightly clasped tightly on her shoulders and she was panting heavily desperately trying to say something but with difficulty of doing so. Mai carefully read her lips and gasped aloud when she found out what she was trying to say.

"I don't…love you…..experience the pain that I went through"

Then Mai's knees weakened as if all the strength has been sucked out. Everyone panicked at her unexplainable behavior, calling out to her.

"Mai! Mai! What happened?" "Are you okay Mai! Ayako do something about this!" "Mai what happened to you! Stay awake Mai! Mai!"

All those voices filled the air yet she couldn't hear it. Arms were shaking her and hands were caressing her face yet she couldn't feel it. Everyone looked like they were panicking yet she couldn't see it. She was awed at what she saw, almost to point of going hysterical at what that woman said at the end of her sentence.

"Mai"


A/N: So what do you think? Did i do better this time? Please tell by reviewing. Oh and I really appreciate corrections ^^. Sorry for the cliffhanger, though I did it on purpose. I look forward to your reviews everyone! (^^)/

*Oh and I personally think that the angry Naru is so cute xD

~Celestial Star12