Yola! Allikitty13 here… again. (: I'm excited to bring you chapter 7! Like I mentioned in the previous chapter, my updating for the weekend will most likely be slow…(family junk). So, patience is key! :D R&R? I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT!


The Black Cat: Chapter 7

Everyone looked at Takumi-san with different emotions: disbelief (Bou-san), horror (Mai), sadness (Ayako and John), and indifference (Naru, Lin, and Masako - her kimono's sleeve was covering her face). Silence filled the air after the woman's last statement… however, the silence didn't last too long. Suddenly, the front door swung open, and Yasuhara waltzed in, yelling.

"Hey, everyone! You left the door open for me! What's goi-" He stopped, noticing all the glares that were aimed his way. Mai gestured to the client, and Yasuhara's mouth formed a small 'o'. The client was staring at him, momentarily shocked by his sudden entrance. He immediately bowed, muttering a bunch of apologies. Naru pinched the bridge of his nose, once again.

"Yasuhara, sit down and keep quiet," he ordered, and Yasuhara quickly pulled up a chair, making the motion that he was 'zipping his lips' and 'throwing away the key'. Naru inwardly sighed, turning back to the client.

"This incident with Mitsuki… You explained that it happened in your third week at the house. Right now, you are in the fourth week, correct?" Takumi-san nodded. "Obviously, something has happened since then to bring you to rush over today…?" Once again, she nodded.

"Yes… you see, the weird events stopped happening after my husband and I took Mitsuki to the hospital. Haruhi was distraught over the fact that her sister had claimed that she was behind her incident, so she stayed in her room most of the time. She would only come down to eat and, even then, she wouldn't speak a word. The only person – well, animal really – that was allowed in her room was Mitsuki's stray kitten that she had found… Haruhi had decided that it her responsibility to take care of it." The woman paused, shaking her head.

"Anyway, everything seemed to be perfectly normal until… two days ago? Yes, two days ago. I started to realize that something was really wrong that day. Haruhi suddenly refused to eat anything, and she seemed to be extremely fidgety, always glancing over her shoulder and jumping at the smallest noises. Naturally, I confronted her about it; I mean, I am her mother after all!" She huffed indignantly.

"At first, Mitsuki denied the fact that she was acting weird, so I let it go, thinking that she may have been feeling sick. Yesterday, however, she did the same exact thing. I constantly asked her about it throughout the day, and she did not respond until it was time for her to go to bed, where she begged me to let her sleep in my husband and I's room. I agreed, but I was determined to get an answer," Takumi-san sighed sadly. "She told me that in the morning of the day before, she had seen a strange sort of mist leaving her room as she woke up. It instantly dawned on me that her sister had seen the same kind of thing a couple days before she was… injured. That night, my daughter stayed in our room, and I woke up early, told my husband about what I thought, and that was when I mentioned calling here." She looked up, "And you all know the rest."

Mai saw her glance hopefully towards Naru, who was staring at the floor in concentration. After about a minute of silence, Mai cleared her throat, drawing Naru out of his thoughts.

He met her eyes, "Takumi-san, I will take your case. We will need three rooms: one for the men to stay in; one for the women to stay in; and one that has as many electrical outlets as possible for our equipment. My team and I will need an hour or two to prepare, but I suggest you head home. If what your daughter saw is indeed the same 'mist', then I will ask that you take one of our team members with you to ensure your family's safety. Bou-san, accompany Takumi-san home. You can return later to get your belongings." Bou-san looked as if he was about to argue, but after seeing the glare Naru was directing at him, he agreed. Takumi-san left, with a hesitant Bou-san following her.

Naru stood up, looking around at everyone in the room, "I expect you all to be packed and back in under an hour. We need to get over to that house as soon as we can, so hurry." Everyone exited except for Naru, Lin, and Mai, who was sitting on the couch, thinking about the case. Absentmindedly, she glanced at her watch, which read 6:40 A.M. She couldn't believe how early it was!

"I'm surprised that was all the team members awake and willing to meet up so early in the morning," Mai thought out loud. She looked up to see Naru smirking at her.

"The real surprise is that you were able to be up so early in the morning, Mai." Mai glared at him. She was perfectly capable of being up early in the morning! He walked towards his office, and Mai stood up, getting ready to go get packing. "Mai," she stopped when she heard Naru call her name from his office door and turned to see him looking at her funny.

"I didn't mention it earlier, but…" He paused, and Mai felt her heart skip a beat. Was he trying to tell her something like 'I missed you'…?

"…why are you wearing a uniform that says 'Tsubaki's Bakery' on it if you're not going to work?" Mai felt her mouth fall open. She had totally forgotten about the big event today! And it started at 7 A.M.! But… what about the case? She was not going to miss out on this one.

She laughed nervously, "Don't worry about it, Naru. I just… fell asleep in this yesterday..? Yeah, that's right! So, be back in an hour? Alright, see you then!" Mai bolted from the building, leaving Naru there, blinking at the space where she had just been standing. He smiled to himself, "That girl will never change... but I guess she wouldn't be Mai if she did."


Mai ran as fast as she could to the bakery, frantically looking at her watch along the way. What was she going to tell Tsubaki-san? She had promised she would work this event! She reached the bakery and practically threw herself at the door (since it was a push door). She did not expect the door to be locked, however, so she ended up smacking her face into the glass.

"AH! OH my GOSH, that HURT!" Mai yelled, placing her hands on her face. "Oh… I hope this doesn't cause a bruise…" Rubbing her nose gently, Mai looked at the window of the bakery, only to see a sign that said, "Sorry! We're closed!" Closed? But, the big sale was today! Mai turned her attention to the door, which had a piece of paper attached to it. She leaned forward to read it. "Hello, our wonderful customers!" It began, "I am sorry to inform you that I became terribly sick last night and am unable to be there for our sale today. I didn't feel right not being there for it… so I moved it to a week from today! That gives you all plenty of time to get ready again, and it gives me time to heal up! Once again, I'm terribly sorry… hope to see you all next week! Sincerely, Tsubaki."

Mai's mouth fell open. "Well! So much for that! Thanks for telling me, Tsubaki-san!" Mai began running in the opposite direction, back towards her apartment when a van began driving on the street next to her. She glanced over at it and stopped; it was Lin and Naru in the SPR van! Lin rolled down the window.

"Taniyama-san, we are heading over to the house early, and Naru insisted you come with us. He sent Matsuzaki-san to get your belongings, and she and the others will meet us there." Mai seemed ready to object, but Naru cut her off.

"Mai, obviously Matsuzaki-san is capable of packing a bag for you. After all, it can't be that hard to locate everything in a room as small as yours." Naru smirked as Mai's face turned red. Her room wasn't that small… was it? She grudgingly climbed into the van, making sure to slam the door shut. Out of the corner of her eye, Mai saw Naru smirking at her. She crossed her arms and looked out the window, refusing to meet his gaze.

Lin pulled into a parking lot, swiftly turning the van around, and they headed back in the direction of the bakery shop. As Mai was looking out the window, a moving truck zoomed by. "A moving van? Hopefully whoever's moving doesn't move into a house like Takumi-san did…" Mai thought, as she drifted off for a short nap that hopefully contained a case-related dream. "After all, it may be the last peaceful dream I have while on this case…" It wasn't until later on that Mai would see how right she had been.


Hey! There's Chapter 7! Finally, onto the case next chapter... Gosh… Did that feel like I dragged it out? Sorry bout that! :S This weekend will have some slow updating… so I'll probably update starting Monday! See you guys then! Thanks for your support! :D

-Allikitty13 + Tuna =^.^=