So here it is! This is the third chapter that I have re-written and I hope that you guys are enjoying things so far! Once more there is a little bit of Lin interaction in this chapter. I always felt like Lin was a very underrated character and the level of character development that Mai has with him, while non-existent, is lower than what she has with everyone else throughout the original series so I think it's important to try and build up a level of understanding between their characters earlier on.
There are a bunch more author notes for this chapter because I feel like referencing where I get my information is good and helps to make it easy for people to correct me if they themselves have information to add or correct so feel free to let me know if there's something I've written that isn't quite correct.
I've never really asked but how do you guys feel about more filler style chapters that involve in in between of point A and point B? Personally I enjoy them because there's always a level of character interaction and development in them even though there's not too much furthering the plot line but I was curious to see what everyone else thinks. But at the same time this chapter was so hard to write. I feel like skipping over the entire travel process makes for an abrupt change in reader position but I struggled so much trying to write this and I don't understand why. Hopefully it came out okay though!
Review Responses:
Joys: Thanks so much. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!
Glass Dragon's Rose: I'm glad that you're enjoying the rewritten chapters and it's great that the author's note helped you. I felt like it was something that not everyone would know and there are so many different places in the world that have different danger levels in regards for when it's okay to walk around on your own so I included the note and it seems to have had the correct effect so I call it a success.
MikuHarukaSango: I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! Here's another chapter for you to (hopefully) enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt
Chapter Key:
"Normal Speaking"
"English Speaking"
'Thinking'
Chapter Three
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It was only a couple days later when Mai found herself getting into a car with everyone else so that they could get to the airport on time for their flight.
Greeting them with a smile, she squished herself in next to Yasu before they were off again.
It took them around an hour to reach the airportA and the entire ride was filled with endless chatter. However the moment they made it to their terminal, it suddenly hit Mai that they were about to get on a plane to got to England of all places!
Bouncing slightly on her toes, she grinned at Yasu as they waited to make it through the international security.
In the back of her mind, she was glad that she'd decided to get her passport so early before their planned departure for England just in case. It was proving to be one of the better decisions she'd made.
After an hour of baggage checks and endless walking, they finally reached their boarding area and were able to collapse into the seating that is provided.
Turning to her side, she glared at Masako, Lin and Naru who all looked like this was a normal occurrence. While it made sense to the brunette that the three of them were used to the overseas travel she couldn't help but envy the ease they had conducted themselves with and how quickly they had reached this point.
Any excitement that she'd previously had was pretty much gone at this point, dampened by all the security checks and waiting around.
"Cheer up Jou-chan!" Bou-san exclaimed, appearing out of nowhere to lift her up and spin her slightly.
Letting out a small squeak in surprise, she glared at the monk who was giving her an amused look.
"Don't do that you stupid monk!" Ayako scolded, swinging her purse over his head to make the point stick. She didn't want to be anywhere near them if they were going to keep making these kind of scenes.
Collapsing into a seat of her own, she glared at Bou-san who was still rubbing at his head while Mai and scampered as far away from him as she could get.
The red-head didn't blame her.
Seeing Mai's attempt at an escape, Yasu couldn't help but wander over and swing his arm around the brunette's shoulders. "This is such a glorious day Mai-chan. Now if only the love of my life could accept me for who I am, then today could really be everything that I wanted and more!" He exclaimed dramatically, leaning his head into the smaller girl's shoulder.
Petting him on the head, Mai rolled her eyes at the dramatic tone. Smirking a little, she used their position to lean over and whisper something into the other boys ear, pretending not to notice the various suspicious looks that it was garnering her from everyone.
Snickering, Yasu leaning on her heavily as he glanced over at Bou-san in particular, despite his desire to look over and see the look that would be on Naru's face.
"You really are sneaky." He admitted with a little bit of admiration in his voice. This was definitely information he could use, and the way that Mai had set things up... well he was once more reminded that maybe Mai shouldn't hang around with him so often.
Mai shrugged slightly. "It's only to get you off my back." She insisted, despite her own excitement.
Pushing up his glasses to make them reflect, Yasu gave her a disbelieving look. "You keep telling yourself that but we all know the truth."
Finally shoving him off of her, Mai decided to try her luck over by Naru and Lin where things were much calmer.
Taking a seat a couple chairs away from Naru, she closer her eyes briefly before opening them once more and glancing over at Naru.
Seeing him looking at her, she raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Is there something wrong?" She asked. Did she have something on her face?
Oliver regarded her with a blank look, trying not to seem too interested in the topic. "What were you and Yasuhara-san discussing?" He inquired.
For a moment Mai was surprised by the question before she shot him an innocent look. "Nothing much. Don't worry about it."
It took everything he had not to roll his eyes at the response. If nothing else, Mai's inability to lie hasn't changed. "You said something to him and right now he looks like the cat that got the cream so if you two are about to start wreaking havoc then i'd like to know before it blows up in your face." He quipped.
Mai pouted slightly, crossing her arms. "It's not going to blow up in our faces." She grumbled.
"So there is something then?"
Scowling at being caught, the brunette looked away. "Jerk. It's nothing to worry about."
From beside them, Lin rolled his eyes at how transparent his charge was being and how oblivious Mai was. It's was amusing to see Noll get so worked up over someone else knowing something that he didn't when it came to Mai but he wasn't about to clue them in.
Just then, an announcement came over the system and he stood up, along with Noll.
The younger man turned to Mai. "We're boarding now." He informed her just in case she'd missed the announcement.
Nodding, she grabbed her carry-on bag and followed after then, feeling the excitement from earlier begin to come back now that they were finally getting ready to leave.
Making it through the boarding pass check, Mai followed after Naru and Lin, accepting the earphones offered before climbing on and showing her boarding pass to the attendant who directed her to follow after Naru and Lin.
The place was set up with three seats on either side and then four seats in the middle. She couldn't help but be amazed by how big it was as she made her way to where she was sitting. Realising that Naru and Lin were waiting on her to take her seat next to the window, she made herself stop gawking and moved to catch up.
As she approached, Lin took her bag to put it in the overhead locker.
"Thank you." She said, smiling as she climbed down to the end of their row with Lin getting in next to her and Naru following after.
Settling in, she looked at the window with excitement almost bouncing in her seat as she waited for everyone to be seated.
"We won't be leaving for well over five minutes Taniyama-san." Lin informed her in an attempt to quell her excitement at least a little bit.
Pouting, Mai looked away from the window and tilted her head at him. "Hey Lin-san, how come you don't call me by my name like everyone else?" She asked.
It was a topic that she'd been wondering about for a while and it made for a good distraction while she waited for the lift off announcement and safety demonstration.
Lin looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. "Should I be calling you by your first name?" He asked. It was both a real question and a tease. Mai was the kind of person who liked to feel like she was close to those she cared about so something like the way he referred to her being important shouldn't come as such a surprise. However at the same time, she'd never requested that he call her by her first name.
Shrugging a little Mai grinned. "We've known each other a while and no-one else calls me by Taniyama." She pointed out.
Plus the thought of Taniyama-san always made her think of her parents that were no longer with her. Even though it was a little unprecedented, she couldn't help but want to look over her shoulder for her mother or father every time someone called her Taniyama-sanB. It was a habit that even after her mother's death, she'd never quite been able to break.
Lin allowed this point. Even Noll who had made a habit of calling everyone by their last name originally to keep a specific distance from everyone had always referred to Mai by her first name.
"You don't use my first name either." He pointed out. Not that he'd ever implied that she should be using his first name but it was the same kind of situation.
Huffing, the brunette wasn't sure how to respond to that point. "Then at least use Taniyama-chan instead." She insisted.
At the very least the change in honorific would be enough for her to stop and think before trying to find her mother somewhere in the vicinity. And this way it was a step towards them being friends. A small one but a step none-the-less. It wasn't like their wouldn't be other opportunities to bother him anyway what with her being in England over the next four yearsC.
Sighing, Lin nodded in agreement. "Very well. I will make an effort to remember that in future." He agreed, somewhat put off by the hope that had been shining in her eyes.
Before Mai could say anything else to him however, the announcements began and she immediately turned to look out the window as they started moving.
From his spot beside Lin, Noll couldn't help but glance over to see Mai as they prepared for take-off. Although he wouldn't admit it, he had specifically requested for the brunette to be given the window seat since he was almost positive this was her first time in an airplane and he wanted her to experience the full excitement.
Seeing the childlike look on her face when they were barely moving made it worth it, a fact he chose not to entertain further, instead turning to the flight attendants that were preparing for the safety demonstration with familiar movements.
It was going to be a long fourteen hour flightD.
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When the announcement for touch down finally came across the loud speaker system, Mai grinned, taking in everything that was out of the widow. Even though she couldn't see too much just yet, she was excited to see more of the country and she couldn't wait to go sightseeing.
"You're here to assist in a case." Naru reminded her, as if reading her thoughts exactly.
Pouting, Mai couldn't help but stick her tongue out in response. "I know that jerk."
Rolling his eyes at the comment, Naru stood up from his seat and started to pull down their overhead luggage before passing Lin his own and Mai's to pass down.
Waiting for the person in front of him to start moving, Naru made his way down the isles, doing his best to reach the end as quickly as possible.
Getting off the plane, he couldn't help but feel a little bit of relief. No matter how many times he flies to Japan, it's always so annoying to be on a plane for so long.
Waiting a moment for the other's to catch up, he smirked at the look of wonder on Mai's face as she looked around at everything like an excited child.
"Come on Mai. I don't know how interesting someone like you finds an airport, but I have better places to be." He informed, satisfied when he noticed the immediate anger that came over her face.
Turning away from them, he began walking once more, already knowing that they'd catch up.
Reaching the international security, he turned to the group. "This is where I split from you." He explained, pointing towards the two separate directions. "Just follow along and you'll figure it out easily enough."
Nodding, the group began on their way, slowly making their way through security to meet up with him on the other side.
When everyone was together, Bou-san going so far as to do a mock head count (and gaining a bump on his head for his troubles), they all made their way over to the baggage claim area, all of them eager to get out of the airport and sleep off the worst of the jet lag.
It took a while for all of their luggage to make it's way around the belt before everyone had everything and they headed out to the arrivals section.
Finally reaching the doors, Naru scanned the area for the people who he knew were going to be waiting for them.
It didn't take more than a moment to find them. Standing a little off to the side was Madoka and his mother who were waving madly like he'd been gone for over a month instead of less than a week. A little to the side of them, his father looked like he was debating the consequences of pretending that they weren't his family.
Before he could try to slip past them unnoticed, Mai let out an excited squeal when she noticed Madoka as well.
Waving at her just as excitedly, the brunette started heading over to Madoka without a second thought, suitcase trailing behind her as they made their way through the crowd.
"Mai! It's been so long! How are you? What have you been up to? Had any new boyfriends lately?" She asked quickly, reaching over to pull Mai into a hug while the other's made their way over at a much more relaxed pace.
Mai grinned at the onslaught of questions, giggling a little as she hugged back. "I've been good. So much has happened since we last spoke and I can't wait to tell you all about it!" She exclaimed, all previous tiredness momentarily gone.
A cough from just behind Madoka made both to them come back into themselves, and Mai smiled warmly at the couple that were standing there patiently.
"Sorry for not introducing myself sooner. My name is Mai Taniyama and it's nice to meet you." Mai greeted, holding her hand out for Martin to shake before turning to Luella and doing the same.
"Nonsense, there's no need to apologise. It's wonderful to meet you dear." Luella stated, smiling at her easily.
"Mother, father. I see you've met Mai." Naru stated, appearing beside Mai out of seemingly nowhere, scaring the life out of her.
The brunette shot a glare at him. "Jerk."
There was a slight twitch of his lips of a smirk as he side-eyed her before he gave his parent's his full attention once more.
Pointing to the group that was now behind them all, he began to introduce them all one by one, all of them saying their own piece and shaking hands with the couple except Masako who simply bowed slightly.
"Now with the introductions out of the way, welcome to England! Grab your things and we can head out. You guys will be staying at the davis' place while you're here and if we have time before your flight back after this case, I'm definitely taking you guys sightseeing." Madoka rambled, leading the way as Martin looked on in amusement.
He waited for the others to start following after her, chattering happily before travelling at the back of the group with Noll.
"Was your flight okay?" Martin asked, glancing over at Oliver briefly.
Naru did the same, keeping his eyes in front of himself but glancing over from time to time. "It was exhausting but nothing out of the ordinary." He reported. "How was mother while I was away?"
Smiling slightly, Martin chuckled. "You know what she's like. She missed you every moment you were gone but she's reigned herself in so far. You may want to spend some time with her soon to make up for being gone though."
Oliver, sighed slightly but couldn't help the slight warm feeling he had at having someone care so much for him. "I will." He promised.
After that they fell into a comfortable silence until they reached the cars.
"Noll, catch." Madoka called, throwing a set of keys towards the teenager. "There are two five seater cars so we needed yours as well." She informed.
Naru grabbed them easily turning towards his own car that was parked next to the other two. "Mai. You can ride with me." He stated pressing the button to unlock the car before opening the boot so that she could place her things in the back.
The brunette didn't comment on the decision, deciding it might be better for her to leave it alone for now.
Madoka rolled her eyes but didn't look surprised. "Now that that's settled, girls with me and boys with Lin and Martin." She split them, opening her own boot so that everyone could put their things away.
"Don't bore her too much Noll!" Madoka called out at him before getting into her own car, everyone else following suit.
Rolling his eyes Naru opened the door to the driver's side, slipping into his seat while Mai slipped into the passenger side.
It was silent for a moment while he fiddled with the mirrors and made sure that things were in place before pulling out.
After a few moments, Naru finally broke the silence, snapping Mai out of the daze that she'd fallen into watching the scenery go by and taking in the very different look of England to Japan.
"Mai."
Turning to look at him, she tilted her head. "Yeah?"
Noll rolled his eyes slightly. "I was simply wondering about your academic process. You'll be at Cambridge as of a couple months from now. Do you know what kind of stipulations have been placed on you? I honestly didn't expect you to show this much interest in the subject." He mused, a thought already running through his head.
The brunette thought for a moment trying to gather what she could remember from the process before putting it into words. "After you left, there was a little bit of time where I tried to decide if I really wanted to continue parapsychology as a study but when career choosing time came around and I still hadn't found anything else that I was interested in as a field of study so I decided to do a little bit of research and found myself getting interested in the different theories."
There was a short shrug as if to say 'what can you do?' before she continued. "When I looked for places to study, Cambridge struck me as the best so I decided to see if they had any scholarship programs. I honestly didn't think I would make it in but with Yasu's help, I studied really hard and managed to write an application essay that I was happy with and sent it off. When the response from Cambridge came I was terrified to open it but when I did I was happy. I'd made it into the program. The entire course is covered by the school under my scholarship and my housing is supposed to be in the dormitories once we start. As a special exception, they're even allowing Yasu and I to start later than everyone under the basis of our different graduation times."
Noll listened carefully, filing the information away for later purposes. "I'm assuming you have to keep your grades up to a certain degree for you to keep your scholarship as well correct?"
Nodding, Mai sighed. "I know it's going to be difficult but I'm excited."
There was a certain level of happiness that Oliver also felt as her admission. Even though he'd never considered whether Mai would enjoy parapsychology on a theoretical level before, he couldn't help but find the idea appealing now. There was a lot of study that could be conducted based on her psychic experiences alone and he was sure that her entrance admission would have had to be good for things to be going so well.
He made a mental note to check it out later.
Before he could offer his potential services in helping her keep her grades up over the next couple years, he was cut of by a small shout of excitement before Mai covered her mouth.
"That's not a house." She whispered slightly in awe.
Noll rolled his eyes, smirking slightly. "It's a mansion Mai. Get used to it."
"Jerk."
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AI don't even know how I screwed this up so badly in the original but having first hand international travel knowledge now definitely helps in this case. Narita airport is the airport that is most commonly used for international flights and it is not in central Tokyo. It's actually a little ways out and it depends on your mode of transportation as to how quickly you can get there. I used google maps to try and figure out a rough estimate for the time that it would take a car.
BI'm not sure how many of you guys are aware but just in case, in Japan there are a variety of different endings on names called honorifics that all imply something different. Some examples include 'kun' which is primarily used for males and usually implies a certain level of closeness (but not always) or 'chan' which usually refers to someone who is young or cute such as a younger sibling or a kindergartner. In this case, 'san' is probably the most common and it is used to refer to anyone (male or female) who you don't know well or who doesn't require a different honorific. (For example an upperclassmen wouldn't be 'san' they would be 'senpai' and a teacher definitely wouldn't be 'san' but would be 'sensei'). It is usually an addition to the surname.
CThe actual length of time that it takes to study parapsychology is kind of unclear however I did a little bit of research and the most reputable of information I found stated that it would take around four years for the undergraduate degree that Mai is assumable going for. It would then be another two years to achieve a masters and then an additional two years for a PH.D. This is going to be what I use as a reference throughout the story from here on.
DAccording to google, the direct flight from Narita (Tokyo) to Heathrow (London) is approximately 11 hours and 40 minutes so I decided that 12 hours was a close enough estimate to how long they'd be on board normally however, when I tried to find a travel timeline, it also became clear that landing in Cambridge International Airport would make more sense since the university that Mai and Yasu will be attending is Cambridge and it's also where Martin lectures. So I took a look at the map and decided to add an extra couple of hours onto the flight time but this is a complete estimate.
