Oh geez, you guys. I've started watching SnK/Attack on Titan and I'm finally caught up on all the episodes, but… I have become a hardcore Ereri shipper! I don't even know how it happened! I'm already thinking of fic ideas for the ship, and getting the itch to write. This is a very bad sign…

Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt

P.S. – I got lazy and its 1 am so this is unedited for the most part. If you find something blaringly ridiculous, just give me a shout and I'll fix it.

Chapter 7: Strangled

"Naru," Mai murmured in the quiet of the Base, trying to catch his attention without fanning his angry flame back to life. After Monk and Yasu had herded the twins out into the gym to cool off and stop crying, Lin had decided to go check on a camera whose screen had gone snowy, leaving Naru to silently fume and rage in his head with her to keep him company.

"What?" he asked his tone sharper than it should have been seeing as she hadn't done anything this time to warrant his anger.

Puffing out her cheeks in indignation, she had to shove down her immediate knee-jerk reaction to snap back at him and instead took a deep breath. "You can't send the twins to Masako and John, Madoka, Ayako, or your parents," she said calmly, keeping her hands loose on her knees.

Naru spun towards her, glaring at her with an intensity that she hadn't seen in a while, not since their first case together. It sent her mind reeling with surprise, scattering her thoughts as her eyes went wide. "Why can't I? They aren't safe here, and we both know it. They're probably in more danger than either of us," he replied, his voice quiet, but still holding that icy bite that tore into her with every sentence.

Glancing down at the bandages wrapping both her arms, she was surprised to find that his tone hadn't left physical damage that she felt none-the-less. Rubbing the bandages, she glanced up at him through her bangs. "Yes, but do you really think they'll be safer somewhere else? Away from us? Do you really think that's protecting them?"

"You don't have trust in our co-workers and friends that they can keep them safe?" he asked, the anger and edge wavering just the slightest bit.

"I have complete trust in every single one of them. I'd trust them with my life and the life of the twins without a second thought, but by sending the twins to them, we'll be endangering them as well. I'm confident that Ash would have enough power to torment all of us even if we separated," Mai explained in one long breath, pausing to suck in air, "I just have this feeling that they'll be safer with us than they will be anywhere else. I don't want to take the chance when I'm getting screamed at."

"Screamed at?" Naru questioned, his eyebrows furrowing in slight confusion, "Who is screaming at you?"

"Oh." Mai had never really explained what her intuition felt like to her, that it felt like someone was whispering the correct answer in her ear. It was a bit more than a whisper this time though, making her feel like she had to trust it absolutely this time instead of just pushing it to the side like she'd done in the past. She pressed a hand to her chest. "Me, I guess."

Naru's brow smoothed out as understanding washed over him. He didn't enjoy not understanding something. Exhaling deeply out his nose, Naru massaged his forehead. "Alright, if you're sure, then I'll trust you. We'll keep the twins here with us, but any one of us has to be with them at all times. We cannot leave them alone under any circumstances."

Mai nodded. She stood, moving towards him. Taking his face in her hands, she kissed him first on the forehead and then kissed his lips gently. His hand moved up to rest on her hips, allowing himself to be kissed. "Thank you for trusting me," she whispered.

"I've always trusted you," he told her truthfully, guiding her mouth back to his for a longer kiss. It lasted until Monk and Yasu had to ruin the moment with their outrageous volume and bad timing, bursting through the doorway.

"Hey, you guys! We thought you might be doing something naughty so we decided to come back!" Yasu shouted, grinning widely at them with a digital camera in hand. He'd already gotten a picture before they could break apart, and snapped another as they both shot him scathing glares, still in very close proximity to one another. "Oooo, Madoka and Masako are going to love the pictures I've taken so far," he boasted happily, grinning widely.

Mai rolled her eyes. She made to take up the position she'd been holding for the past hour, but Naru pulled her back onto his lap, wrapping his arms securely around her waist. "Yasu, do you really think she's going to want to look at pictures? She's been in Australia for a month now. All she's going to be interested in is you undressed and sprawled across her bed."

Yasu waved of her comment, blowing a raspberry. "Pssh, don't be ridiculous. She's had John there. She'll be super interested."

Raising an eyebrow at the older male, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, really now? I remember getting a call from her not too long ago saying how 'frustrated'," she made air quotes around the word, trying to emphasize the double meaning she'd attached to it, "she was, and complained to me for two hours about it. I have no idea where you got the notion that either of those two would ever lay a finger on each other. I guess you're stupider than I thought."

Yasu just shrugged in reply, grinning.

Monk dropped down in one of the swivel chairs, turning in a lazy circle. "Hey, where's Lin? Hasn't he come back yet? I saw him leave, but not come back so I just figured I missed him as he was leaving for a second time."

Naru and Mai frowned at each other. Had he come back? They sure didn't remember him ever coming back into the room. The screen for the camera he'd gone to fix was still fuzzy with static. "I don't know," Mai admitted, getting to her feet, "Where are the Tamaki and Kamin? Did you leave them with the team?"

"Yeah," Monk answered immediately, getting to his feet as he felt the tension in the room skyrocket, "They said they could keep them entertained until their lunch ended, which will be soon."

"Go get them. Keep them in here. Mai," Naru ordered. He didn't have to say anything more. They'd all been with him long enough to know what he'd order after those simple words. They four of them rushed from the room just as the bell signaling the end of lunch rang shrilly in the gym. Only, it didn't stop after a few seconds. The bell continued to ring, and ring, until it became deafeningly painful.

Tamaki and Kamin cried out, pressing their hands against their ears tightly. "Mommy! Daddy!" they screamed and it took all of both Mai's and Naru's will power not to go darting towards them.

"Monk! Yasu! Get everyone outside until the bell turns off! Once it does, bring Tamaki and Kamin into Base!" Naru yelled at them over his shoulder, trying not to turn completely. If he turned anymore, he'd just head straight for the twins and completely ignore the man that had acted as his guardian for many years.

"We'll be back as soon as we can!" Mai called after them, following just behind Naru, the alarm in her chest singing its warning as they entered a hallway. "Naru, be careful, please!" she shouted as she fell further and further behind her, unable to keep up with his pace. She received no reply, but she knew he'd heard her. He disappeared into a side corridor. Breathing sharply, Mai sucked in the largest breath she could and poured on the speed.

She slammed into his back as he rounded the corner, pitching him forward, but he stayed on his feet. "What did you stop for?" she began to ask, but her words fell away when she saw what had frozen him.

A shadowed, unfamiliar figure stood down the hallway, the overhead lights having burnt out, holding Lin high against the wall. It seemed to take no effort even as the Chinese man struggled with all his might. The figure was short, but with its arm fully outstretched, holding Lin as high up as it could manage, it was able to keep Lin from touching the floor. Only the tips of his shoes scraped at the dirty linoleum.

Lin's eyes skated over to them, the choking noises he was emitting increasing. He glared fiercely at them.

Taking a deep breath, Mai step forward, holding out her hand like Ayako had taught her so many cases ago. Shouting as loud as she could, Mai recited the mantra she'd been taught by the Miko and then switched over to the first one Monk had taught her.

The black figure slowly turned its eyes to her. Her words died in her throat. She felt as if it were staring right through her at her soul, assessing her worth and power. Unceremoniously, it dropped Lin in a coughing mass to the floor. Turning swiftly, it disappeared almost immediately into the darkness of the shadows.

"Lin!" Naru and Mai shouted, breaking from their surprise and stumbling towards the fallen Chinese man.

"Why didn't you use your shiki?" Naru spat angrily like a wounded cat, pulling Lin to his feet, stringing an arm over his shoulders.

Still trying to catch his breath, clutching loosely at his squashed windpipe, he wheezed, "Destroyed three of them. Couldn't call the other two in time."

Mai's blood turned to eyes in her veins. She met Naru's eyes, fear swirling through her entire being. This had just gotten ten times more serious.

…..

"What happened here?" Naru shouted in irritation as the trio exited the hallway into the gym only to find all of the monitors and equipment that had previously been in Base in the middle of the basketball courts. The bell had stopped its hideous shriek, leaving the large group of teens who had yet to return to their classrooms rubbing at their irritated ears. "Why the hell is all of our equipment out here? Someone explain this to me before I begin to make my own inferences!"

"We have no idea!" Monk defended immediately, staring at the pile in utter shock and confusion, "We left just like you told us, and only seconds after the door had closed, the bell stopped ringing. We waited for a few minutes, and when we came back in, this was waiting for us."

"It was the ghost," Riko explained, rubbing her arms in agitation as her eyes stayed locked onto the mound, "It likes to do this. It'll take everything from somewhere, for example, all of the lockers, and dump it right here. We don't know how it happens, but one moment, the courts will be clear, and the next, this will happen. It's one of the tricks the ghost likes to play. It hasn't done this in a while though."

"How long was this area empty?" Naru asked, eyes focused on the mountain of his gear, his anger just barely concealed bellow his expressionless façade.

"Maybe a few minutes at most. We'd just come back in a minute or so before you guys came back," Yasu volunteered the information, shuffling through the pile. He stood, pulling out a small, bright red first-aid kit and holding it out to Mai. She took the small box, hurrying to one of the benched along the walls and popping it open.

Naru frowned, glaring at no one in particular. "Naru, can you bring Lin over here?" she called, setting out an icepack that she had just activated and gauze.

"Monk, Yasu, start moving everything back into pace. We need to get the cameras up now before anything else happens that we won't have caught," he ordered, turning his back on the entire group, and dragging Lin to Mai. He dropped the much older man on the bench beside her.

"Is it sad that the only reason I know what to do right now if because I've gotten strangled so many times?" Mai asked innocently, gently rapping the gauze around Lin's already bruising neck. The bruise would be so dark it could rival many of Mai's more minor ones from previous cases.

"Yes," Naru sighed, holding his arms out as Tamaki and Kamin barreled into his chest with a screech of, "Daddy!"

Well, there you go. I hope you liked it. Sorry if it's a little late. I had my driving test today, so when I woke up this morning I was in no mood to do anything, but psych myself out. Anyway, how was it? Finally happy we had some ghost contact? I sure am.