Tori: Hey everyone. Life happened, so sorry for the late update.
Mei: Thanks to Tasolae for the great review; the criticism was greatly appreciated.
Tori: I do not own Ghost Hunt, only all my OC's (there's a lot of them).
Mei: Enjoy!
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Ruka Tanaka had spent a life time reading people.
It's what made her such a good lawyer; reading people's body language for lies came with the job.
So when Koujo came home early, with his shoulders set and avoiding everyone's eyes, Ruka instantly knew that something drastic had happened, short of the world ending.
She was even more surprised when he immediately headed down to the first basement after getting changed, where all the training equipment was stored.
Catching Hana's eye, she stood, excusing herself from the table where some exchange students were doing their homework or eating dinner.
Or both.
Making her way down to the first basement, she listened to the irregular thud that was Koujo beating the crap out of some poor punching bag.
'Ah. A very bad day then. Obviously it couldn't be fixed with meditation this time.'
Ruka opened the door at the base of the stairs, and leaned against the doorframe, watching her friend vent some steam.
He always moved fluidly, rhythmically, as if he knew exactly where he was going to aim three moves in advance. It made his kind of martial arts look like a dance; a very violent one.
"Let me guess; you got fired?"
She called, startling Koujo and causing him to duck as the punching bag swung back around after his last hit.
"No. It's worse." He muttered, walking over to a bench and grabbing a bottle of water. Ruka moved towards him, tossing him a towel.
"What happened?"
Koujo slumped down on the bench, and shook his head.
"Gods, Ruka. I don't know where to start."
Ruka sat down next to him.
"Did something happen at work?"
"No. Yes. I don't know. In its own way, it did."
Ruka frowned, but gestured for him to continue. Koujo took a deep breath.
"Gods, I might as well say it outright."
Ruka narrowed her eyes.
"Say what outright?"
Koujo ran a hand through his hair, and for a split second, Ruka saw his other eye; the one covered by his fringe.
A glimpse of black and white was all she got though, before his fringe swung back down.
"Cho and Rose's bus was hit by something at 7:26 this morning. Hitori came and told me, and Oliver gave me five days off. I'm being called to the site tomorrow."
Ruka froze, and her face drained of blood.
"Which bus was this?"
"The Geography trip that they both went on. It had claw mark across the side, and had been flipped over."
Ruka swallowed.
"Demon?"
Koujo shrugged, his hand going through his hair again.
"I don't know."
His head dropped, and his eyes went to the floor.
"I just don't know." He whispered, hands clenched into fists.
Ruka placed her hand gently on Koujo's shoulder; he was warm from his practice, but he hadn't broken a sweat.
"No one can tell what the future holds, Ko. No one can change the course of time."
Koujo stood, suddenly, and stalked away from Ruka; every inch of his body radiating hurt, anger and frustration.
Ruka had only seen him like this a few times; when Tori had died; when Lucy and Rosaline had committed suicide; when Amaya and Jia had been murdered and when Hana had contracted the wasting disease.
He thought that he was powerless to do anything.
Ruka sighed, and stood up, thinking.
"Would they have separated? Cho and Rose?"
Koujo gave her a look.
"No. They won't. They're both too clever to be separated."
Ruka pursed her lips, thinking.
"Then if we find Rose or Cho, we find the other."
She stated.
Koujo nodded, and grabbed the towel that Ruka brought, unwrapping his hands from the strapping tape that he used.
"I highly doubt that either of them would leave the other. Not with their relationship."
Ruka raised her eyebrows, confused.
'Their relationship? What the actual hell?'
"What do you mean by that?"
Koujo gave her a look, screwing the tape into a ball and tossing it into a bin.
"I've been back for less than three months, and I noticed before you? You're obviously not as good at reading people as you thought."
Ruka glared at him.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about how Cho and Rose are like Lucy and Rosaline, Ru."
Ruka froze, her mind flashing back to the tragic ending of that particular relationship between two exchange students.
'Like 'Romeo and Juliet', except it's 'Rosaline and Lucy' and now 'Cho and Rose'. Something tells me that this is going to end badly.'
Ruka sighed softly under her breath, before turning around to leave.
"Make sure you sleep in the next five days, please, Koujo. And keep in touch. And don't raise any demons, or fight any upper demons, or lower demons, or fight anything for that matter."
Koujo sighed, and headed towards the showers.
"Yes, Ruka."
He walked into the showers, and the door shut, and Ruka was left with an empty basement, and the echoes of a conversation. She whispered to the shadows.
"And for the love of God, stay safe."
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Cho Lin had never felt more afraid for her life than she did now.
Her girlfriend, Rose Wood, held her hand as Cho pulled them deeper into Mt. Aso National Park; deeper into the forest.
Behind them, something chased them on four legs.
Or maybe it was several things on four legs; Cho really couldn't tell.
The first one she'd seen had looked like a cross between a rhinoceros and a rat that had been coloured on purple and neon orange paint. It had attacked the bus first, and had knocked it on its side.
The second had tried to rip apart the bus with its claws. It had looked like a mixture of tiger, fly and snake with a pink stomach and a green face.
She hadn't seen the third, or the fourth, or the fifth, but she knew that they were out there; she had seen the tracks, and the shadows.
So, her bus had become a feeding ground for lower demons, which had led to Cho and Rose (who refused to be left behind) jumping out of a broken window and luring the demons away.
Unfortunately, they were now chasing the girls, and weren't too keen on rest stops.
Rose stumbled over a root and fell, dragging Cho with her.
They both froze as Cho's hand came down with a crunch. Cho looked at her hand, and the blood drained from her face. The breakfast that she'd eaten threatened to come up.
"Don't look, Rose." She muttered, using a tree to get to her feet.
She regretted it, when her hand found rope.
Rose had frozen, and was looking at the rope that Cho now held.
"Oh…gods."
Cho looked at the rope.
"A noose." She whispered.
Rose held a hand to her mouth.
"I'm going to be sick." She moaned.
Cho immediately dragged her to her feet.
"No, you're not. We must keep moving."
Rose nodded, and swallowed heavily.
'She's exhausted, and so am I. But we can't stop, or the demons will catch us. At least we haven't run into an upper demon yet.'
Cho gave Rose a weak smile, and pulled her away from the tree.
"If we find a cave or something, we could rest there for a while. Somewhere hard to get at for big things."
Rose nodded, and began walking after Cho.
"Do you think that Koujo will come and find us?"
Rose asked a while later, her voice soft and quiet in the mountain air.
Cho paused, and looked at Rose.
"I know he will. He promised that I would always have him."
"But he went to England to study?"
Cho gave Rose a sad smile.
"I told him to go. It was a great opportunity, and that he should take it."
Rose nodded.
"But do you think that he will find us, before the demons do?"
Cho bit her lip.
"I don't know. Let's keep moving."
Rose complied, and Cho started to head up to the top of the mountain.
'Please, uncle. Come find us soon.'
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