DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ghost Hunt.
A.N. EDIT, whoooo…
My thank-you's:
Nana – Glad you like it! The next chapter involves quite a bit of character development, but hopefully things'll heat up for Naru and Mai soon; hope you enjoy, and thanks for the review.
Rayne – And here we have the long-awaited File 3! Again, thank you very much for the review, and I really hope this chapter was worth the wait.
Anonymous – Yay, you find it funny! I love writing the relationship between Naru/Mai 'cause you can inject so much light-hearted stuff into it… then there's slightly more serious side (which should become more apparent in this chapter). Anyway, enough of my chattering; thanks for the review, and hope you enjoy Part One of File 3!
Sandshinobi – Yeah, the Naru/Mai relationship is so cute, isn't it? Forgive me for my indulgence of Monk-san's appearance in this chapter; rest assured that some very Naru/Mai orientated 'Files' are coming up soon…Thanks for the review and enjoy!
o.O.o
Ghost Hunt: Inerasable Secrets
. File 3 .
- PART ONE -
Naru and I share a sideways glance and a cold sensation seeps into my stomach. Uh-oh.
Sayuri's mother smiles widely, oblivious to our expressions.
"Do you guys mind sharing a bedroom?"
o.O.o
Saturday, 7:47pm
"Mai, d'you want me to tag along? You might need me to guard you from Naru-chan; who knows what kind of horny bastard he could turn out to be if you guys share a room! Whaddya say?"
I take one look at Monk-san's hopeful expression and burst into a fit of giggles. "Naru… a horny bastard…! I think, like, a refrigerator has more potential to be 'horny' thank Naru!" (This is pretty darn unfortunate, if you ask me.) "But it's ok, Monk-san, I think I'll be alright. Besides, how would I explain your presence to Koizumi-san? It's bad enough with me and Naru as it is."
"Well, I could pass for your brother…"
I groan. "Another brother? Thanks, but Naru's plenty."
"But Mai, it's dangerous – and I'm not just talking about a potentially sex-crazed Naru, either."
Aw. Monk-san can say the sweetest things sometimes, bar the 'sex-crazed' part of that sentence. He's frowning, long strands of his hair flopping into his eyes. He's also pouting – in a sort of resolute way – and I coo at him, reaching forward to pinch his cheeks fondly.
"I don't care what you say; you should always have an exorcist with you in a haunted house. I'm going with you," he declares, standing up. I sigh, feeling suddenly exasperated. Forget brother – he's worse than a dad.
Naru chooses this moment to step through into the waiting lounge of his office. He has been oddly distant since accepting Koizumi-san's offer, though I guess I can't blame him. We had our little argument about who's fault it was that we were in this room-sharing mess on the way back to the SPR headquarters ("Naru, for the last time, I wasn't the one who said you were my brother! It's not my fault!" "…" "…Are you still ignoring me?" "…"). It was probably more one-sided than I'd have liked, but sometimes, Naru's better at impersonating a brick wall than a refrigerator. That said, just insert a whole load of glares and half-hearted grunts into our pseudo-argument, and there you have it: Naru's side of the dispute.
I get up and pour my boss a cup of tea without him having to ask – a sort of peace offering on my part. He accepts the drink without thanking me, nor looking me in the eye. Typical.
"Naru, I'm going to stay with you and Mai – in the house," Monk-san says abruptly, jabbing a thumb to his chest, über-macho style.
"…Really?" Naru sits down in a chair and folds his arms across his chest, just oozing of The Vibe. I get that a lot. The Vibe means… well, it means a lot of things. Most of them negative.
Basically, it's Naru's 'Hell yeah, you are (sarcasm)' pose. There are many variations of this stance, including the 'Shift eyes to the floor with a light frown' expression; the 'Open glare and frown' look; the 'Cross legs, interlace fingers and look down at lap' pose… Jeez, I could write a freaking book on this – The Complete Guide to Shibuya Kazuya's Expressions, Postures and Mannerisms; by his obsessed part-time employee turned stalker, Taniyama Mai. It could be the next bestseller… Watch out, Harry Potter, here I come!
Monk-san again, trying – futilely – to engage in some form of convincing argument with Naru.
"But, Naru–!"
"No."
"What if–!"
"No."
"Why can't–!"
"No."
"Hey, are you gonna just keep cutting me o–!"
"Yes."
Monk-san deflates after this little exchange and he flops back down into his chair looking mournful. I pat him on the arm affectionately, pour a fresh cup of tea and pass it to him with an 'Aw, don't worry' look. I can't really understand how men get so overly protective about their 'I'm better than thou' status; I put it down to the fact that I lack that all-important Y chromosome. And other parts.
"Mai, you should go home and prepare for tomorrow," Naru tells me finally, ignoring Monk-san's begrudging scowl.
"Oh, ok." I stretch out my arms and squeeze out a quiet yawn, feeling silently pleased that – at last – he's acknowledging my presence. "Is there anything you need before I go?"
"No."
"Ok," I say again and walk over to the coat stand.
"Have you thought of something to say to your parents?" Naru asks me as I put a hand on the door handle. I halt, surprised that he cared enough to enquire.
"Yeah, the usual – you know, staying over at a friend's place and all that. School's out for the next few weeks and they don't pry too much into what I do with my free time, so it's fine."
"…Good."
I nod, smile and wave at Monk-san and walk out of SPR's main building. He said 'good' to us! Inner Mai raves, shaking her little fists in the air, even though, just minutes ago, she was tacking up banners that screamed 'Join our Campaign Against Testosterone!' in my head. I grin and wrap my jacket tighter around myself.
Whoever thought such a simple comment could make a girl smile so.
God, I can't wait for tomorrow.
o.O.o
Saturday, 7:54pm
The door swings shut after Mai and Monk-san stares at it for a heavy moment before turning to face Naru again.
"I don't think you and Mai should work on this case alone. It's dangerous."
The seventeen-year-old head of SPR sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose in mild irritation. It's a rare sign of frustration that he never would have shown around anyone but Lin, but Monk-san's protectiveness over Mai was becoming increasingly annoying, now. "I've called Hara-san and John-san down for the initial once-over tomorrow. If an exorcism is needed, I have no objection to you and Matsuzaki-san joining us as well."
"Hm." Monk-san sweeps some of his hair out of his eyes and leans back into his chair. At least, he reasons with himself, he'd have the chance to check out the haunted house before Mai and Naru took up temporary residence there. That way, he could root out anything potentially harmful before they went and hurt themselves by doing stupid, reckless things whilst chasing ghosts at that place.
Those two. Monk-san buries his head in his hands, swallowing a groan at the mere thought of them alone together with a couple of crazy ghosts for company. Always getting into trouble.
After letting a few worrisome thoughts pass, the former monk simply decides to let it go. (I'll just exorcise everything before they even get the computers rigged up). He drains his cup and gets up from his seat. "Well, from what I've heard, this case sounds easy. You and Mai probably won't have to stick around for long, anyway." He clicks his back and grimaces, feeling years older than his actual age.
"…Why do you have such a problem with Mai staying somewhere alone with me?" Naru's calm, but subtly tight enquiry has Monk-san raising his eyebrows. He sticks out his bottom lip and tries to come up with an answer that doesn't sound too soppy. I don't want anything to happen to her just didn't kick it with him – it's too… histrionic and un-Monk-san-ish.
In the end he settles for the manly shrug and half-glare. "It's not that I don't trust you to look after her," he says gruffly, "it's just that – I just– I think–"
"That I can't protect her?" Naru's eyes are boring into Monk-san's. These are the exact words that Monk-san was afraid of – too heroic, too over-dramatic. Yet, for Naru, they sound… ok. (The former monk has a sneaking suspicion that the wily head of SPR has actually claimed sections of the dictionary, so that only he can use certain words and phrases – and make them sound good. It's the only explanation. Either that, or Monk-san just can't say cool things anymore… and that's definitely not the case. No, definitely not.)
"…Well?" Naru's getting impatient.
"…Maybe." Even as he mutters it, Monk-san feels ashamed to admit it. Wasn't he the one who was desperately trying to convince a sobbing Mai to have faith in Naru during their last case? You need to take your own advice, Takigawa.
Naru, however, appears unaffected by the uneasy revelation. "If that is what you think…" He leaves the statement incomplete and hanging in the space between them. Monk-san watches him rise from his seat and make his way out of the room.
"Lin will be taking the equipment along tomorrow. He'll be there around eleven."
"Sure. I can help with setting up," Monk-san offers, the one-sided tension making his voice overly-light.
"Thanks." Naru expresses his gratitude in a flat tone.
"No problem."
Naru takes his coat off the rack. Monk-san goes over to the door and opens it, as if waiting for the solemn teen to give him permission to leave. After calling out a goodbye to Lin (who is still tapping away at his computer in the next room), the two men exit the building together, in silence, save the whipping sound of their long coats and their heavy footfalls on the ground.
"Ok, well, I'm going this way. You headed in the other direction?" A nod is the only answer Monk-san gets. "See you tomorrow, then."
Monk-san turns and begins to walk away. He doesn't hear Naru moving, and almost jerks in surprise when he catches the sound of the teenager's deep voice over the noise of the street.
"You're wrong."
It takes Monk-san a moment to understand what Naru means by this. Then, he smiles crookedly, raises his arm in a one-handed salute and walks on, leaving one last statement before he goes.
"I wasn't just talking about the ghosts, Naru-chan!" he calls loudly, before disappearing down the street.
The head of SPR stares after the retreating back of former monk for a while before moving again. He tucks his chin into his collar as he walks.
Naru hates it when he can't think properly; it means that he's allowed too much emotion to clutter his mind and it almost definitely affects his perception on things. Though she will never guess it, Mai is a good outlet for all this, so if she's good for anything, it's for keeping his head from exploding, or, indeed, from growing any larger. She keeps him nicely grounded and makes good tea.
It isn't until Naru's packed the last of his things in preparation for the next day that he has a bit of an epiphany. It warms his stomach a little, a bizarrely familiar feeling – the sort that he gets when he embarks on a new and interesting case. He puts down his suitcase and sits on his bed, savouring the silence of his bedroom – one that he doesn't have to share – for a while. Tomorrow, and the nights after that, would be… interesting.
His anticipation carries him, without sleep, into the early hours of the morning. Then it's off to work – off to Lin, to Mai, to tea, to ghosts. Things are running like clockwork, and it takes a moment for Naru to remind himself that with a job like his, that can't be a good sign.
o.O.o
Sunday, 11:22am
"Yo, Mai!"
I lift my hand and shade it over my eyes as I look up to greet Monk-san. He's waving at us, Ayako walking primly just behind him. "Monk-san! Ohayo!"
The two exorcists join me at the van. Naru and Lin are setting up the computers and monitoring equipment in the spare room that Koizumi-san has kindly allowed us to occupy. I'm about to bring up the last of the stuff, but Monk-san relieves me of the items in my arms, telling me that he can handle it.
"Thanks," I say, arching my back and sighing. I've had to carry heavy equipment up and down those stairs all day. I dunno whether I'm imagining it, but I think Naru's being more of a slave-driver today than he's ever been since I've started working with him. Using my amazing powers of deduction, I've come to the conclusion that a) he's still pissed off about having to share a room with me; b) he's suffering the male version of PMS; c) I made his tea incorrectly this morning; or d) all of the above. Option 'd' seems most viable, at the moment.
"Hey," Monk-san, arms laden with extra cables and shelving bars, bends to whisper in my ear conspiratorially. "I had a word with your boss last night. He won't be bothering you, don't worry. Just don't wear anything provocative to go to bed and you'll be fine."
A horrified sound clogs up my throat. I think I need to add another option to my 'What pissed off Naru' List: e) Monk-san's interference (though exactly what that is, I have yet to find out).
"What?!" I say. "What did you say to him?"
"I just let him know who he has to answer to if he makes a move on you or something." Monk-san winks, then gasps when he nearly drops what he's holding. Ayako makes a faint tutting sound in the background.
"Since when did you care about Naru making a move on Mai?" she asks, tugging on a few cables experimentally, nearly causing Monk-san to drop the whole pile again ("Watch it, woman! Are you crazy?!"). "Jealous, old man?"
"Jealous? Why would I be jealous?"
Ayako smiles. "They're young. Naru's handsome. Mai's… cute (in her own way) –" a few indignant stutterings at this, "– He hates her. She gets annoyed by him. It's the common cliché. They'll fall irrevocably and irreversibly in love on some point or the other and–"
"Hey!" Both Monk-san and I object violently to this.
"No, we will NOT," I say. Yep, just forget the future tense in that statement 'cause it's already happened on my side.
"What's that mushy stuff got to do with ME?" Monk-san asks at the same time, looking revolted at the mentioning of 'young love' in relation to him.
Ayako prods him into following her into the house. "Well, that's what you're jealous of, isn't it. You are an old man, after all…"
"Are you saying I'm jealous of Naru-chan?" Monk-san trips on a dangling cable and he mutters some faint curses as I help him to pick them up.
"Why, yes, it appears I am." Ayako gives him an evil grin, reminiscent of Naru's.
"But, but hey – I'm not in love with Mai! That's just, that's like–" Monk-san stumbles on his words as we begin our trek up the stairs.
"Pedophilic?" Ayako supplies with a shiny smile. Monk-san's jaw drops comically.
"Are you calling me a pedophile?"
"Well, Mai is rather young for you, isn't she?"
"Hey!" I protest again. "Standing right here!"
Monk-san glowers at the Shinto priestess and grumbles profanities under his breath, no doubt buying time to find a good comeback to throw at her. The red-haired woman in question laughs into the silence, flicks her hair and pauses briefly to inspect her painted nails on the landing.
"Dammit, I've chipped a n–"
"What are you arguing about out here? Matsuzaki-san, stop looking at your nails and move out of the way so that Monk-san can get through." Naru, looking just as foul tempered as when I saw him last appears from a doorway and directs Monk-san into the room he's just left. "Lin's been waiting for the rest of the equipment. Mai, I sent you to get it ages ago – what have you lot been doing all this time?"
I glare at my boss. "It's only been a couple of minutes, Naru," I say. "We were just–"
"Arguing?" Naru says, and Matsuzaki-san turns away with an 'I'm-not-a-part-of-this' expression on her face. And guess who's left in the firing range? "You should never argue in front of clients; it's unprofessional."
I grind my teeth in agitation. "Well, our clients aren't here, so it doesn't matter, does it?" Why are we starting another argument over this? This is getting stupider and stupider…
Naru sets his jaw angrily and I fold my arm across my chest, holding my stance. "I don't have time for this. Forget it."
He disappears into the spare room before I can stop him or hurl an insult his way. Coward. Ayako turns back around and peers interestedly into our base, but a bewildered Monk-san comes staggering out just as she does so, nearly taking her nose off in the process. The door shuts with a sharp snap behind him, barring anyone from entering. The three of us look at each other, eyebrows raised.
Finally, Ayako voices what we're all thinking. And she couldn't have said it louder, given Naru's probably just behind the door we're standing in front of.
"Who stuck the rod up his ass this morning?"
"It's his PMS," I gripe, rolling my eyes at Monk-san, who pretends to take me seriously.
"Yeah, and we all know what that stands for," he says, tapping a finger to his temple and looking like he has the answers to everything.
"What, 'Premenstrual Syndrome'?" I ask, confused. Monk-san pats me on the head and grins his widest grin.
"No," he chirps. "'Potential Murder Suspect!'"
o.O.o
A.N. To: Artermis BloodshadowandAyge (and anyone else who was wondering): Sorry for not posting the LONG chapter you requested. My only excuse is that the description 'long' referred to 7000 words – way too extended for a single 'File'. Sooo, I guess you'll just have to wait for Part 2!
BUT, I've pretty much finished writing it, so, just to tide you over, here are some previews…
o.O.o
PREVIEW…
.File 3.
- PART TWO -
…
"NOT THAT WAY! MAI!"
I risk a glance back at Naru, who's running desperately after me as I take off down the street. But when I look forward again, the last thing I see is a tall, blond male standing in the middle of the road. He's mouthing something at me but I can't make out what he's trying to say.
Then, I'm falling, falling from a considerable height, plummeting into a dark dark something. My internal monologue tells me that it's impossible; no-one can fall so far on solid ground. Either way, I don't know if I'm screaming, but I can't seem to move or save myself. I hear Naru's receding voice somewhere above me.
"MAI!"
…
…END PREVIEW
Thanks for reading :)
Daygoner