a very very great thanks to everyone who reviewed! happy holidays, everyone~!

(Just to be clear, I have no claims to Ghost Hunt.)


A Complication

November 20th

The monk had insisted that she could not stay at her apartment, and she had been glad to agree. Within the hour she was sitting under the kotatsu and eating hot udon at Ayako's flat, the older woman pacing, looking for something to make the younger girl more comfortable. Though she felt extremely guilty for intruding, nonetheless she was overwhelmed and exhausted and was asleep on the spare futon shortly after. When she woke the following morning she groaned inwardly, thinking of the classes she had to attend and the extra work shift she had picked up.

She felt nauseous. She did not want to ever get up or think about anything. I should be happy, she thought glumly, a sardonic smile finding its way to her lips. The man of my dreams (almost but not quite literally... ha!) shows up but instead I've angered my high school friend when all I've been trying to do is help put her at peace. Lovely. She smiled slightly, bitterly.

"Mai, are you up? I've made breakfast." Ayako called, and the younger girl let out a quick sigh. There was no time to be upset; there was too much to do and she needed to do anything to keep her friends from worrying over her.

...

Her spirits lifted considerably after breakfast with the older woman. Ayako was an excellent cook, and she had obviously gone out of her way to prepare something nice for her guest.

Ayako only allowed her to leave when she promised she would call both when her classes and her work was over, assuring her that Takigawa would be available to give her a ride back to her flat. Mai smiled, knowing that her friends only had her best interest in mind, but she felt guilty for troubling them at the same time.

It was difficult to concentrate for her classes. Her lack of enthusiasm did not help the first class go smoothly, and the second was only marginally better.

Releasing a deep sigh as she left the academic building, she remembered her promise to Ayako and pulled her mobile from her pocket. She scrolled through the contact list quickly as she walked, slowing her pace, her eyes focused on her hand. She was barely walking as she dialed the number, and suddenly realized that someone was standing directly in front of her. She looked up, ready to apologize for her distraction, and her breath caught in her throat as she recognized the person before her. She stood immobile, staring, her hand holding her phone at her ear.

"Mai?" Ayako said, her voice slightly tinny through the phone. "Mai, are you there?" Static began to build on the phone line.

"Keiko..chan?" Mai whispered.

The spirit stood in front of her, face down turned, her hair covering her eyes. Though it seemed her voice was barely above a whisper, she could hear every word with startling clarity. "Mai, I thought my secret would be safe with you."

"Keiko-chan, I swear I only want to help!" Mai protested, her heart pounding in her chest. "Tell me what it is. Why are you still here? What is keeping you?"

The spirit didn't seem to hear her words. "But you betrayed me!" Her voice rose shrilly and she lifted her head, dark vacant eyes staring through the girl she was confronting. "I was wrong about you. I thought I could trust you, but I was wrong!"

Mai stared, startled. She had thought the spirit angry, but tears were streaming down her face and her wide eyes were filled with terror. She covered her face with her arm as a strong wind blew toward her, nearly knocking her backwards off her feet. Keiko-chan? She thought, squinting her eyes through the harsh wind at the fearful ghost.

Suddenly someone had jumped in front of her, chanting a Buddhist sutra, and the spirit hissed with displeasure before disappearing. He turned to Mai, sighing, relaxing his stance.

"Bou-san..." Mai whimpered, and he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" She nodded and he guided her forward, hoping that walking would help her regain her composure. Takigawa let out a deep sigh of relief. "I guess we're lucky that Naru is always right." She looked up quickly, her large brown eyes even larger with her startled confusion. He continued, a wan smile crossing his features. "He suggested I meet you after your classes... just in case."

Mai looked at the ground, guilt wrenching in her chest. "I'm sorry..."

"Oh, don't say that." He laughed genuinely and ruffled her hair. "Come on. Where are you headed? Part-time job?" She nodded and he grinned. "I'll give you a ride. And maybe you can get me a latte at a discounted rate for my troubles." He winked and she laughed; relief in his eyes to see her smile again. "How long is your shift, anyway?"

"Mmm, I'm covering for another girl today. Let's see... it'll be seven hours."

The monk whistled and looked at his watch. "Sheesh, it's almost noon. What time do you start?"

"At one."

The man sighed. "Maybe I'll see if we can get John to come by... my band mates will kill me if I skip practice."

"You don't need to stay—" Mai protested. "Please, it's okay—"

Takigawa shook his head and grinned at her. "Naru also recommended that one of us stay with you until this is resolved. Which, hopefully, will be soon." He chuckled. "The guy knows a thing or two about spiritual phenomena, so I'm going to take his advice."

Despite herself, she found herself laughing, and they continued on their way.

In an office across the city, a young man sneezed suddenly.

...

Takigawa sat unobtrusively in a corner of the cafe, glancing at headlines and sipping his coffee. He glanced toward Mai every so often, but the girl was oblivious to his concern. Relaxing into the chair, he looked around at the cafe, realizing how well Mai suited the small establishment.

He knew she could have easily found another job that was closer to her apartment or closer to the university. Clearly, the office that she worked as a part-time receptionist in Ginza was out of her way as well, but that obviously paid very well, something she couldn't find as easily in her own neighborhood. This place, however, couldn't possibly pay any more than any other cafe in the city. It was merely a hole in the wall, but unlike all the Starbucks, it had a personality and a feel to it that you couldn't find anywhere else.

Naru should come by, the monk observed, lifting his coffee cup to his lips. He would like this place. It's quiet and cozy enough to read, yet large enough for the need for privacy. Not to mention that their tea selection is quite good, and of course if it was Mai that was making it...

He sighed to himself. Was he just leading himself on? Lord knew he wanted those two to find happiness together (as long as it was what his Mai-chan wanted, of course), but was he completely misunderstanding the situation? Naru had, after all, turned Mai down, told her that it was not he but his deceased twin brother whom she had fallen for, and promptly left for England without a word for two years.

But, of course, there was of course the fact that Naru was... well, Naru, and he was stubborn and extremely difficult to understand. Not to mention the fact that Mai had been sitting in his office yesterday (well, standing, actually, and rather aggressively and about to make a point before he had interrupted, but he assumed it had been polite and she had been sitting at first), but when Lin personally called him and asked for him to set up the arrangements for their reunion dinner, the older man had made a point to mention that Naru did not want Mai to know, lest she decline the offer to get together. Which implied that he wanted to see her.

Why does love gotta be so damn complicated... Takigawa thought to himself, and with a sigh he thought of his own predicament. Well, sometime in the near future he would figure out what the hell he was going to do about that...

His mobile jolted him out of his thoughts and he answered quickly.

"I have some information you might find useful for dealing with Miyamura Keiko." Naru said, skipping the hello and getting straight to the point. "She was reported missing on June 14th. Presumably it took several days for her absence to gain enough notice to go to the police. Her body was found and identified on July 7th in a storage container at the port. An autopsy later revealed that she had died on June 13th. I don't need to go into details, but she had died rather violently."

"Good god," Takigawa breathed, covering his eyes with his hand.

"I think it's safe to assume that the cause or situation of her death is what led her to stay rather than continuing to a peaceful afterlife. Her life up until this point gives no indication of anything but average and ordinary. She was an ordinary girl from an ordinary family attending an ordinary school the way she should—she was living a quite ordinary and happy, peaceful life. None of her family or friends suspected her of having any secrets that could have led to her death. The official ruling was that she must have been at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Yakuza involvement?" The monk questioned.

"It was never ruled out as a possibility." The man said on the other end of the line.

"God, if she turned up at her apartment in July... she's been there for almost four whole months?!"

"Yes." The younger man said curtly, patiently.

"Why do you think she came back for her?"

"It could be Mai's spiritual sensitivity."

"When she showed up at Mai's school, she said some things that would agree with that." Takigawa said, nodding. "She said I thought I could trust you and I was wrong about you and you betrayed me. Stuff like that."

There was a brief pause at the other end of the line. "So she did turn up at Mai's classes?"

"Oh, uh, yes." The monk felt embarrassed that he had neglected to mention this. "Yeah, you were right."

"Hm. What did you do?"

"Started a warding spell. She took off. I guess I wasn't quite expecting that... I missed my chance to complete an exorcism."

"Interesting. What did she look like?"

"Keiko-san? Well.. she was hard for me to see. Mai-chan said she looked more afraid than angry."

"I see." Naru seemed to be thinking, so the monk waited. He finally sighed, ever so softly, but the monk could hear the slight escape of air. "I would recommend that you ask for John's assistance. For whatever reason, this spirit seems to be stronger than it should be. It should have not stayed this long. It would be better not to take any chances."

"Of course."

"And Takigawa-san?" The tone was very sharp, startling the man sitting in the cafe.

"Er, yes?"

"Do not tell Mai about this phone call. She does not need to know about my involvement."

The monk's surprise showed clearly on his face. "Can I ask why?"

"It will only cause her discomfort. You, of all people, should know this." Naru said sharply, ending their conversation.

...

The young man sighed and swiveled his chair, glancing out the window.

"Naru?" Lin asked, stepping into the room. "Is Taniyama-san going to resume her duties as your assistant or should I find someone else?"

Naru was silent for a moment and Lin almost wondered if he had heard him or if the words had registered. "Wait... just wait a week." He finally said, his voice quieter as he gazed at the outside. He turned back to his assistant, the man he'd been with almost constantly for years upon years. "We'll take a week or two to assess how busy we'll be and what help we should be looking for. We have to wait until the Igarashi case is resolved, after all. There is no rush."

"Very well." He waited, considering his words, and finally spoke. "Would it be presumptuous of me to ask if you would be disappointed if Taniyama-san would not be rejoining us as the rest?"

Naru glanced upwards once more, meeting Lin's gaze, a very slight smile upon his face. "She was rather good at certain aspects of her job." He finally conceded. "And I am not looking forward to the prospect of having to train someone new in protocol."

Lin smirked ever so slightly at his statement, nodded, and left the room before his boss became annoyed with what he had just admitted.

...

"John-san, would you like anything? Coffee, tea?"

"Oh, um..." John perused the menu quickly before deciding, "I'll have a small cup of hot cocoa, please."

She smiled and began to prepare it for him. The priest looked around the shop warily, watching the pedestrians on the street hurry by the windows. Takigawa had urged him to stay with her while he was at band practice, promising that he would return immediately afterwards, but had left in such a rush that John didn't really feel like he knew what was going on.

He continued to glance around the shop, relaxing as he saw the calm patrons with their laptops and books and hot drinks. While the cafe was certainly not empty, it was a slow afternoon.

Mai smiled and quickly shook her head when he offered the payment. "Please, it's on me."

"Thank you." She handed the small cup to him, he cleared his throat tentatively. "Mai-san, would you mind sitting with me for a moment?"

She nodded and sat down at the table, her back to the wall to clearly see if there were customers that needed her.

John sipped his cocoa and smiled. "This is delicious. Thank you." He looked up at her and smiled. "Mai-san, can I ask you a rather personal question?"

She nodded again, hands in the pockets of her short apron. "Sure, what is it?"

"Have you had any dreams about Keiko-san?"

Her eyes widened with surprise at the question, then lowered in defeat toward the table. "No, I haven't. Not even one." She sighed. "When she first appeared... I really hoped, maybe I even tried... I just wanted to figure out how to help her..." Her voice trailed off. "But nothing."

"Ah, that is interesting." John raised his cup and sipped the cocoa, licking the foam where it had collected on his upper lip. Mai giggled behind her hand, and the priest smiled kindly. "It must be good, that you haven't dreamed about her, Mai-san. I think if you were in danger you would have dreamed it, don't you?"

Mai pursed her lips and shrugged, speaking softly and unsure. "I don't know." She traced an unseen pattern on the table with a lone finger. "I haven't had any dreams for a long time, so..."

"You wouldn't have suddenly lost that ability, Mai-san," John started, but the door opened and she jumped to her feet, smiling sweetly and apologetically at him as she rushed to greet the new customers.

The priest sighed, leaning back in his chair, smiling wanly.

...

"Naru, the files from Igarashi have arrived."

"Excellent." Naru closed the book and made space on his desk, stacking files and volumes on the side. Lin passed the thick folder to the younger man, who set it in front of him and began to leaf through the pages. He suddenly stopped, paling slightly, his hand poised to take the next page.

It was an incredibly slight movement, but the assistant was so finely tuned to the actions of the younger man that it was an impossibly obvious hesitation to miss. "Naru?"

If the man would have been keen to such things, he would have sworn under his breath. Instead, his composure remained firm, dark eyes scanning the paper. "Call Hara-san. Tell her I require her assistance at her earliest convenience immediately."

Lin did not question the order but nodded and left the room.

On the paper in front of him, in a long list of names one had jumped out immediately. Miyamura Keiko.

"Why didn't I think of the possibility that she could be connected to this case?" He said to himself, frowning deeply.

And why am I not surprised that Mai has gotten herself into trouble again.

"Idiot," he muttered, and picking up his phone, dialed a number.

...

"Seriously, Naru, what's the emergency?"

Ayako was annoyed, to say the least, when the man had demanded that she drop everything to meet him at Mai's apartment. She had a sneaking suspicion that he was also annoyed, at being unable to reach Takigawa, and that fact did not improve her mood.

The three were standing on the landing in front of Mai's door, the two men silent and the miko annoyed at their usual tight-lipped demeanors. She sighed with frustration when it became clear that he was not planning on answering her question.

"Do you think Taniyama-san has a spare key hidden?" Lin asked, glancing at the doormat.

"I hope she's not that foolish to hide it in such an obvious place." Naru said, crouching and lifting the mat, glancing underneath it.

"How are we going to get in if we don't have a key?" Ayako demanded hotly.

"Then Lin will pick the lock." Naru said calmly, still crouching. He reached forward, running his hand gently along the bottom of the door frame, and deftly removed the small key that had been taped to the underside of the ledge.

"That's a rather surreptitious hiding place." Lin remarked.

"Looks like you're off the hook again, Lin." Naru stood and unlocked the door. Before he opened it, however, he turned to Ayako. "Do you have the charms?"

"Of course." She huffed.

He nodded wordlessly, stepping inside.

Ayako peered into the apartment, her eyes adjusting to the dim light, expecting to see the mess that Takigawa had described. She was surprised that it was not there.

It was obvious that someone had picked up what had been a terrible mess. Books were pushed together in piles and cupboards had been filled again, but in a rather hap-hazard way.

"She cleaned up after herself, didn't she?" Lin said quietly, bending slightly to right a kitchen chair that was still on its side. "That's good for your theory, Naru."

Naru nodded, his dark eyes seeming even darker in the unlit room, narrowed and distant as he looked around. "Hm."

"What's your theory?" Ayako asked, not surprised to receive no answer once again. She shivered slightly and put her manicured hands in her coat pockets. The room was cold, she suspected if it was much cooler they would be able to see their breath in the air.

Naru walked across the room to the wall, where faint letters were still legible on the wall. He ran his finger across the line, and then blew a short quick breath on the writing. It blew off as easily as powder. He stepped away and looked around. "Lin, do your shiki sense anything?"

Lin nodded. "She must be here. She doesn't seem alerted to our presence as of yet."

Naru gave a nod to Ayako before turning back to his assistant. "And the shiki will discourage her from leaving?"

"Yes. Not before we're ready."

There was a slight knock at the open door and Yasuhara pushed it open. "Pardon our intrusion."

"Oh, Yasuhara-san, you too?" Ayako said, smiling with surprise.

He shrugged and held the door as Masako stepped inside daintily. "Just a means of transportation this time, I'm afraid."

Naru was watching the medium closely. Her eyes were darting around the room carefully, holding the sleeve of her kimono close to her mouth. "Hara-san, what do you think?"

"There's fear." Masako trembled slightly and steeled herself. "Something terrible must have happened to her."

"Matsuzaki-san," Naru suddenly said, and the miko looked up to meet the young man's cold gaze. "Please leave the charms here. We will not need your assistance any longer."

Ayako's eyes narrowed with annoyance. "I can help with..."

"It is not necessary." Naru interrupted. "If you want to help you can prevent Mai from coming back here until we have finished."

The miko was about to retort, but the serious look in his eyes stopped her.

"It is very important that we are not interrupted under any circumstances." Naru said, and the miko nodded with defeat. The manager as SPR was just as unwilling to compromise as she remembered him. It was clear that not only was Mai not to return, but under no circumstances should she tell her they were here.

"Fine, fine. I understand."

As Ayako turned to leave, Naru glanced toward Yasuhara with a frosty gaze. The man straightened hastily. "I'll wait outside," he offered, ducking out as well and closing the door securely behind him.

"Sheesh, Naru is just as aggravating as he ever was." Ayako grumbled.

Yasuhara laughed ruefully. "That's just how Naru is, it seems."

...

Inside the apartment, Naru, Lin, and Masako were seated at the table, the medium lighting a candle and clasping her hands in front of her. The two men watched the young woman silently, her head bowed and her eyes closed.

The temperature in the room began to drop, but neither men took their gaze from the medium. Masako's hands suddenly twitched, then once again became still.

Lin cleared his throat very softly. "Miyamura-san."

Masako did not answer immediately, but finally gave a short nod.

Naru spoke. "Miyamura-san, are you aware that you are no longer with the living?"

She nodded again. "Yes..."

"Do you know how you died?"

Masako began to tremble. "I... I was.. murdered." Each word was drawn out very slowly with the regret it contained.

"Why did you return, instead of passing peacefully to the other side?"

"I couldn't... I had to escape..." Her trembling had turned to shaking. "I was so afraid... I hid so he could not find me..."

Naru looked slightly alarmed and his eyes narrowed. "Are you clinging to Taniyama Mai for that very reason? So that you could not be found?"

The mention of Mai seemed to calm the spirit, her trembling less pronounced as she nodded. "Yes... I have been safe here..."

"Are you aware the danger you are bringing to her?"

"I cannot let him find me!" Masako suddenly shrieked. "If he finds me, he will—"

"What will he do?" Lin demanded.

The medium shook, hunched over the table. "He will devour me!" She moaned. "Don't let him devour me... I don't... I don't want that..."

Lin's dark eyes flickered toward Naru's briefly before returning his gaze to the young woman. Masako's breathing slowly steadied, and she straightened, raising her dark clear eyes to meet Naru's.

"She fled when she became distraught. Did you find any answers?" The medium asked quietly.

"Yes." Naru said, and stood. "Thank you, Hara-san."

The medium gazed at him with expressionless eyes and finally stood as well. "I know it's rather foolish," she said quietly, "but somehow I'm still disappointed that you won't call me by my first name." She bowed slightly, respectfully. "Call me if I can help you with anything else." She opened the door and the two men were able to hear her short exchange with Yasuhara, waiting for her on the landing.

"Thank you for waiting, Yasuhara-san."

"Masako-san, you look cold. Can I get you something hot to drink?"

"I.. I would like that. Thank you."

The door closed and their voices faded, leaving Naru and his assistant alone in the quiet apartment. Lin turned his head toward the other man, watching him survey the apartment.

"Should we set up any surveillance here?"

"I don't think that will be necessary." Naru took one last look around the space and nodded. "Let's go."

...

"Takigawa-san, are you all right? You look troubled."

The monk looked up quickly, focusing his eyes on the inquisitive priest. "Ah, yeah, sorry." He glanced across the shop toward Mai, who was finishing the last of her shift, taking forgotten cups and saucers from the tables back to the kitchen. "I guess I'm just... unsettled," he continued before the Australian could ask. "Naru called me at practice, left a message. He instructed me to make sure Keiko-san was exorcised tonight before anything worse happened to her." He sighed. "That and he refuses to let Mai-chan know that he's helping. He's always keeping something from us, isn't he?"

John nodded and scratched his cheek absently. "Well.. he's always had his reasons, hasn't he? Perhaps he doesn't want her to know because she'll feel guilty. She hates to have us worry over her."

Takigawa snorted. "That doesn't sound like Naru at all."

John chuckled and shrugged. "Then your guess is as good as mine." He lifted his gaze as the young woman in question hurried across the room toward them.

"I'm so sorry for making you wait!" Mai apologized, holding her coat in her arms against the front of her body. "Really, I..."

"Ah, you're done already, Mai-chan?" Takigawa laughed and stood. "Come on. What do you say about dinner? My treat." He turned to the priest and grinned. "You're coming too, aren't you John?"

...

It was completely dark outside by the time the two returned to the office. The assistant left the boss to his privacy, knowing full well what the man wanted was uninterrupted time to mull things over. "I'll prepare the equipment for tomorrow," was all Lin said as he retreated to his own office, and the other man simply nodded.

He entered his office, tossing his black coat carelessly onto a chair and switching on a lamp by the desk. He sat down, staring at the papers in front of him, eyes narrowed with thought.

Naru tapped his hand against the desk, his brows furrowing. "Devour, huh?"

He leafed through the papers, considering the data in front of him. Could it be the same thing happened to all the other victims who were murdered in this warehouse? If so, how did she escape it?

He exhaled slightly and frowned. They had not set up their surveillance equipment yet, but his conversation with Keiko's spirit had confirmed that when they did they would find full readings indicating the presence of a lingering ghost. There had been too many mysterious deaths and not enough evidence, but the search was closing. With the equipment set up, surely it would only be a short matter of time before he found the evil spirit and disposed of it.

His frown deepened, recalling when he had met Keiko in her living life. He hadn't paid very much attention to her; he had only concerned himself with Mai after their initial meeting. Even when he had sought out her and the other friend (Michiru, wasn't it?) to ask about Kuroda-san, he had listened solely to their information and dismissed them.

Did he regret that? Treating someone so dismissively. If it hadn't been Keiko, it could have easily been someone else.

He rested his head against his palms. There was that thought again, that lingering fear that it could have easily been Mai who had been lured inside, trapped and murdered, and devoured. It was not a rational thought, and the fact that he could not ignore it shook him deeply. After all, it could have been anyone. He had no idea how and why they had been chosen. There was no pattern to the victims that he could discern, no reason why a forty-five year old man, a foreign university student, an elderly grandmother, and a nineteen-year-old girl had been brutally murdered in the abandoned space.

His dark eyes suddenly widened with an abrupt realization and he whispered the word aloud. "Regret..."

...

The only sound between the three was the car. Wheels turning on pavement and the slight sound of a fan blowing warm air. She felt sleepy, full from dinner and tired from a usually long day made even longer with the current complications. The warmth of the car and the slight recline of the chair put her in a very comfortable position, the sound of driving slowly lulling her toward drowsiness.

Her eyes were just beginning to droop when the man next to her spoke.

"John and I... we plan to exorcise Keiko-san tonight." Takigawa said quietly, staring forward in the traffic. Mai looked up quickly, the passing lights creating flickering shadows on her face where she sat in the passenger seat.

"Mai-san, depending on what you would like... would you rather accompany us?" John asked, his voice gentle.

Mai looked at her hands. "I... I don't think so. I should go back to my apartment, but..." Her voice trailed off. "I'll just wait until... until you've finished."

Takigawa nodded with agreement, looking over his shoulder quickly before moving the car into the next lane. "I think that's for the best." He looked over at her briefly and smiled gently. "Don't worry, Jou-chan. She'll be at peace when she moves on."

Mai nodded, staring out the window. "I hope so." She murmured. "I really do."

"Should I leave the engine on?" The monk peered at her anxiously. "I can leave the heat on for you while you wait..." She looked exhausted and pale, but she smiled and shook her head.

"Uh-uh, don't worry, Bou-san. My coat's really thick, and the car's still warm."

He frowned slightly and glanced toward John, who waited patiently at the sidewalk. "If you say so, Jou-chan." He smiled reassuringly as he closed the car door, and she watched the two men depart, climbing the stairs toward her apartment.

She sighed and leaned back, her head sliding into the collar of coat and she closed her eyes. Without realizing or intending it to happen, she had fallen asleep.

...


Thanks for reading and reviewing!

I would like to say that I have high hopes and a great start on chapter 4, but it will probably be mid to late january before I update again. though to be true, I am always inspired by your reviews, so perhaps it will go faster than I think. all of your kind words mean so much to me ^_^

until then!