DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ghost Hunt or the original Ghost Hunt characters. All original characters I do,however,own and would appreciate being asked before anyone uses them. Don't sue me I have no money! LOL ^_^
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just a quick note to everyone about this chapter...I created the scenario you will read a little ways down. It is a quick little tidbit I came up with pertaining to Lin, Gene and Naru when they were all much younger. I have always been intrigued by the comments Lin has when speaking with Mai during the Urado case and I decided to delve into it a bit. Enjoy!
Chapter Nine -
Naru was ready to burst on several different levels after only a few short minutes of riding horseback. He felt as though his body would wretch at any moment to empty the contents of tea and the large cinnamon roll he had eaten for breakfast, only a few short hours before. Motion sickness had always been a problem for him, ever since he was little and he silently found himself wishing for Gene to be there. He tried to let his mind clear and allow memories to come forth. Closing his eyes he remembered being very little, in the car, with Gene, Lin, Madoka, and his parents; resting his head on his brother's shoulder as Lin or Madoka rubbed his back gently, soothing away the car sickness which often racked his small form.
Shaking his head Naru cleared the thoughts from his conscious before he could let any emotion show. He had to be strong willed and ready to face whatever new danger had caught up with Mai. He was trying to decide whether or not he would allow Mai to stay on property any longer after this latest turn of events. Of course, he was getting ahead of the situation. He did not know what had befallen his young assistant yet, but Naru was sure it was something worth Alice's loss of control. He did not know very much about the young woman he was hanging onto for dear life, but he could read her reactions and facial statements easily. It would take something very drastic to cause her alarm.
Naru cleared his throat and shook his head a little letting it gently rest on Alice's shoulder. He knew it was not something he would normally allow himself to do, but he needed comfort, even if the comfort was one sided. He felt the girl tense the muscles in her back slightly, then ease them back up. He smiled to himself as he realized she must have caught onto him and noticed his discomfort, "Great," he thought sourly. He did not really like the idea of allowing someone, especially a client, to see him at his most vulnerable, but it could not be helped and even so he silently wished himself eight years old and in the backseat with Lin or Madoka's comforting palm drawing swift circles into his back.
Lin had been keeping a watchful eye over Naru since they had started galloping out to the northern edge of the property. He knew his young associate had trouble with this type of transport and he worried Naru would be forced to show a more human side. It was not that Lin did not think it was okay for his boss to act like a 'normal human being', it was that he knew how much it irked Naru to admit he was 'normal'. Lin almost chuckled at the thought of Naru as a young boy and how serious he had always been.
Lin recalled the first time he had met the Davis twins with a gentle and reminiscent gaze. He had been selected from more then twenty prospective students from around the world to intern with Dr. Martin Davis at the English Paranormal Research Facility in London, England. Lin could remember the excitement he felt at receiving the letter signed by the famous researcher himself. Lin had been but a mere sixteen years old at the time and university freshman, still a bit unsure of his future. He had been advanced for his age and skipped several grades to graduate early. He had been trained in the ancient arts of the Omyouji since he had been very young, but after losing his parents in a tragic accident in Hon Kong during his senior year of high school, he had found himself lacking in many areas; especially the area of social communication and he had put his training away.
At that time in his life, Lin only knew two things for sure, one being he was on his own and would have to create a living for himself using his own talent and intellect and two he absolutely, without a doubt, hated the Japanese. Lin sighed as he remembered his former self and scoffed at how stupid and naive he had once been before allowing his mind to remember a little more.
Lin had arrived in London and been greeted by Dr. Davis, his wife Luella and their two sons Eugene and Oliver. Lin remembered his first reaction to the twins had been one of sheer disgust and annoyance. He could tell they were adopted children, but could also see the Japanese features on the two boys. It was obvious they were not fully of Japanese decent, but Lin did not care. It was enough to make him hate them on sight. His parents had been employed by a wealthy Japanese family in Hon Kong and they had worked ridiculously long hours to provide for him. His parents had ingrained the bloody history of his people into his brain since before he could remember and before he knew it, he had started believing their biased words over his own heart.
He remembered how irked he had been to meet the fifteen year old co-intern, Madoka Mori, upon arriving at the Davis's offices in the heart of downtown London. She was everything he was not, spunky, warm, high spirited, loud, and Japanese. He had hated the aspect of working with her throughout his college experience and for the first year had avoided her like the plague. It was during the second year of his internship when Eugene, the older of the Davis twins had questioned him about his beliefs and quite literally shoved his foot up his mouth and helped him pull the stick out of his butt. Lin smiled warmly as he remembered the conversation he and Gene had shared.
"So you don't talk much do you?" Lin lifted his head at the young boy sitting across from him in his intern office. Madoka had left for the afternoon and the Davis's had left the office for a late afternoon lunch date, leaving Lin in charge of Oliver and Eugene, a task which left the older boy writhing with silent chagrin.
"I suppose not, no," Lin scoffed softly and Eugene could tell he was trying to ignore the subject.
"Well I was just thinking, I am pretty sure that last sentence is collective of more words then you have said to Oliver and I since you came here almost a year ago. I would think a man of your intelligence and academic caliber would be more talkative, Oliver and I..." Eugene found himself cut off quickly by the older Chinese boys voice.
"I don't wish to hear about the absent meanderings of two nine year old boys. I don't care about you two in the least," Lin did not look up to face the boy across from him, he simply kept his eyes down in his book he was reading.
Eugene sat for a few moments in silent thought before speaking up again, "Well that really is too bad you know? My brother seems to have taken a liking to you and your abilities. We have never had someone with your talents to watch and learn from before," Eugene paused, knowing this comment would rouse the older boy before him, "Yes, did you not know, that we too are learning from you and Miss Mori? Oliver and I, are, of course in high school."
Lin nearly choked on his own spit when he heard Eugene say those words. He could tell the boys were intelligent, but he had never imagined they were that smart. Lin was beside himself with the fact he had been interning for nearly a year and he did not even know such a minor detail about the boys, "Yes, well I don't have any want or need to be friendly with anyone who is Japanese."
Lin glared at the boy who started laughing out loud at his comment and watched as he gently lifted his sleeping brother's head off of his lap and laid it on the small duvet he had been sitting on. Lin watched as the younger boy shifted in his sleep, attempting to find the warmth his brother had pulled from him. Eugene's soft and still high pitched voice wafted through the air again and Lin found it held wisdom, well beyond his years, "Well that seems silly to me. Oliver and I are certainly of Japanese decent, if you were to follow our family lineage, but we were born in America. Dr. and Mrs. Davis adopted us when we were but mere babes, barely out of our mother's womb and we have been brought up in English society ever since. There is a sour history between the countries of Hon Kong and Japan, but I do not believe any of us are old enough to remember or have been a part of that dispute. We cannot do anything about the past, we can only try and make a better future. So you can hate me, but not because of who I am. It would not be fair."
Lin gaped at the young boy standing before him and soon found himself drawn to smile. It was at that moment, Lin decided he would forever be friends with the Davis twins. It was strange the wisdom a young child could hold. Perhaps he would need to apologize to them and Miss Mori. He had been terrible to them all for a long duration.
"You should definitely think about giving Miss Mori another chance as well, she is, after all, quite taken with you," Eugene spoke quietly with a sly grin, having somehow managed to come within mere inches of Lin in a matter of seconds. Lin widened his eyes at the proximity and watched as the young boy backed away with a thoughtful expression, bringing a finger to the side of his mouth, as if in deep thought, "Perhaps, I have spoken out of turn? I suppose some things should be left in silence?" Lin could feel himself blushing and he closed his book as he watched Eugene awkwardly rub his head and exit the room. Lin found himself wondering how the boy knew what he had been thinking at that moment, but pushed it aside as coincidence. Little did he know just how un-coincidental the comment had been.
After taking a moment to himself, Lin let out a heavy sigh and started to reopen his book when a soft whimper caught his ears. Turning his head he saw Oliver, still sprawled on the duvet, squirming, as if he was in the throws of a terrible nightmare. For a moment, he contemplated leaving the boy alone, but after a silent internal battle he shoved the thought aside. If he was going to turn over a new leaf, then it was going to be right now. Lin gently set his book on the side table next to the chair he had been seated in and stood quietly side stepping over to the sleeping child. He, of course, had just had a crash course on the subject of the twins not being normal children, but it did not mean they weren't human. All the knowledge in the world could not make up the years of experience being an adult carried. He carefully lifted the boy, being sure to cradle his head and frowned slightly as Oliver tried to lash out at him. Lin easily caught his arm and silently pulled the boy up and off of the duvet and into his arms, letting Oliver's head rest against one of his broad shoulders. Lin had never been one to give comfort and being Chinese, he had no younger siblings to speak of, but he would be damned if he did not try.
For a moment he stood awkwardly with the boy in his arms, looking around the room as if something there would show him a miraculous epiphany on what to do in such a situation. However, he soon found it lacking of any help and frowned deeply questioning whether it had been a good idea or not to even interfere with the young child. He was pulled from his feelings of regret, however, when he felt the young boy wrap his skinny legs around his waist, his thin arms snaking around his broad neck and shoulders, and his small head burrowing into his neck. Lin turned his head slightly as he watched the boy slowly become comfortable and smiled slightly when he saw his little face become serene and no longer contorted. Sighing, Lin eased his way back into the comfortable arm chair, still cradling the little boys head with his large hand. He took his opposite hand and grabbed his book flipping it open but before he could return his eyes to it he was shocked to hear a soft, voice, identical to Eugene's usher forth unconsciously into his ear, "Hello Lin..."
Lin turned his head instantly retaking a huge amount of air thinking the child had tricked him into a compromised position, but soon realized the boy was still in the deepest thralls of sleep. Letting out the air he sucked in he shook his paranoid thoughts away and turned his eyes to his book, once more, cradling the young boy as he read. He did not notice the small identical face which had been peaking into the room and watching him the entire time. He did not see the big smile grace his youthful lips and he certainly had not heard the silent words the boys had passed telepathically to each other solidifying the friendship he did not realize he would soon cherish more then any amount of knowledge in the world.
Lin shook his head and returned his thoughts to the present situation, he wished there was some way for him to comfort Naru as he used to do when he had been little. He knew the boy was probably in the thralls of torture being bounced around for the past twenty minutes but he also realized there was nothing he could do to ease the situation. They had to find Mai and Lin knew Naru would sooner give his life away then see his young female assistant hurt or heaven forbid it killed. Suddenly Lin became highly aware of the air around him and he sat straight up in the saddle as his Shiki sensed impending spiritual energy, "Naru, we are close and whatever is out here is strong."
Naru sent Lin a sideways glance and nodded silently, tilting his head up and averting his eyes to a grove of trees ahead of them. As they got closer Naru sat up straight in the saddle and strained his eyes, gripping Alice tighter then before. He let his eyes go wide when he realized what he was looking at. Mai had somehow managed to get herself tied upside down, by her ankle, in a tree and it seemed she was struggling against something, "Faster...get me over there NOW!"
Alice nodded in silent understanding and kicked the horse which seemed to glide through the cold winter air. Within mere seconds they were within fifty feet of the young woman and without thinking Naru let go of Alice and jumped from the back of the horse, much to Lin's disbelief and miraculously managed to land on his feet. Shaking away the queasy feeling in his stomach, Naru started sprinting toward the girl in front of him and while running pulled a pocket knife out of his pants pocket. As Naru came closer to the situation he could see the distraught look on Mai's face and noticed her hands were attempting to claw at something around her neck which was not there. It was obvious whatever was out here with her was trying to choke her and Naru found himself seething with anger at the prospect of Mai having to endure something so sinister. He, himself, had had the unfortunate experience of having his air constricted on the Kazaki Mansion case and he knew if they did not rectify the situation, she would not last very long, "LIN!" Before Naru had completely uttered the one syllable name he heard Lin whistle, summoning his Shiki and he could hear Alice and Easton gasp in unison as the bright lights seemed to come in contact with whatever was there, but not there.
Naru watched Mai suddenly widen her formerly clenched eyes and gasp for air, coughing and still choking slightly. It was at that moment, he knew she would be alright and a feeling of calm re-surrounded his rattled nerves. Sighing he took in her plight fully and quickly averted his eyes when he realized, just how far her shirt had managed to ride up her exposed torso in her upside down position. He could feel the blush burning his cheeks and was thankful for the bitter winter air which had already managed to turn his usually pristine pale skin rosy with wind bites, "Mai," Naru paused collecting his thoughts and taking a deep breath to calm down his hormones, "Are you alright?"
Mai shifted uncomfortably, blinking her eyes several times before realizing what was in front of her was real. She had gone from being embarrassed, to cold, to terrified, to fighting for her life, and back to embarrassed in the short period of an hour and she sighed heavily, hoping Naru would not be too hard on her. She, had, after all found out something very important to the case, or at least one aspect of the case, "I...I think I am fine. It is cold though..." Mai seemed to suddenly remember that her shirt was up past an area of decency and she immediately began to grab and pull at it frantically. As she did this a noticeable blush started to form, not only on her face, but the exposed areas of her skin as well.
"It appears you are much warmer than you give yourself credit for," Naru wished he had kept those words in his mouth after he had said them, but it was too late to take them back and he smirked looking at her fully again.
"YOU SHOULDN'T BE LOOKING! YOU PERVERT!" Mai screamed back at him and huffed angrily, though she was silent when she felt him come around behind her and take hold of her shoulders, "Wh-what are you doing?" Mai found her voice to be a little shaky at Naru's close proximity. It was not that she had never dreamed of him being close to her, it had just been a much more realistic and romantic dream than being hung upside down in a tree. Before she quite knew, what had happened she felt the rope snap free, which had been suspending her in the air and she let out a cry of fear, as she felt herself surge forward. Naru, however, easily glided her body down and softly laid her on her back in the snow.
Mai's first instinct was to sit straight up, which she immediately regretted because she was met with the horrendous feeling of all the blood rushing into her brain and she groggily made her way back down into the snow. Closing her eyes, Mai sighed and shook her hand, saying the words she knew were about to spurt out of Naru's face, "I know, I know, don't sit up so fast dummy..."
Naru smirked crossing his arms and reaching down he silently pulled her shirt and coat back into a more modest place on her body. Mai felt herself blush again but chose to stay silent. She had never seen Naru do something so 'intimate' before and she decided it was not something she should bring attention to. After a few minutes of sulking and trying to regain her balance Mai slowly sat up again, this time with Naru supporting her back. She was about to speak when she saw Alice standing about thirty feet away, "Alice..." Mai's voice was filled with heartbreak and a hint of terror and Naru turned to look in the direction of the two women. His eyes widened at what he saw and for the first time since the case had begun, he had no words for the grotesque picture before his eyes.
"My God," Easton's voice broke through the silence as he walked over to where Alice had halted her horse. Silently he turned to look at Mai and was saddened to see the look of horror her eyes were starting to carry, "Miss Taniyama...what happened?"
Mai stared at him and gulped back the lump which had formed in the back of her throat. Choosing her words carefully she closed her eyes and steeled herself into a broken sense of composure. She knew it was not the time to act like a frightened little school girl. She needed to be brave and act like a professional. Sometimes she wished she had the nerves Naru somehow seemed to carry with him at all times. She could only remember one or two cases where Naru had been provoked toward any emotional extreme and neither of those times brought pleasant memories. Opening her eyes again, Mai looked at no one in particular as she started to speak softly, rasping slightly from the previous pressure on her throat, "Alice and I rode out here about an hour ago. First we fed the horses in the barn just south of here. I was not expecting to ride, but we did. I was not sure why we came all the way out here because I could tell it was almost the outside edge of the property," Mai paused for a moment and swallowed, attempting to coat her dry throat, "I recognized the tree here..." Mai looked up for a moment and eyed the tree she had been hanging from moments before and huffed out a bit of air, "...and of course, being the curious free spirited person that I am, I ran forward..."
"Without thinking about the consequences of such actions," Naru cut her off bluntly.
"WITHOUT WORRYING about something this CRAZY HAPPENING, actually," Mai sarcastically replied back to his tart words, "Anyway, before I knew what was happening I was upside down in the tree. Alice cut off my necklace before I sent her to find you. I knew it would be dangerous if she tried to cut me down herself, so I told her to go back. She left the horse behind and..." Mai paused as she watched the girl slowly climb down off of her horse and walk over to the now dead creature on the ground, falling to her knees and sobbing into the now still neck of the thoroughbred, "...Oh Alice, I am so sorry!" Mai could feel tears brimming her eyes and she felt a chill crawl up her spine as the anguish set in. It had been terrible, watching the horse get crushed. It had been something Mai thought she had been dreaming, but the harsh hand of reality was beginning to set in and Mai was quickly realizing everything had been much too real.
"Mai...focus..." Naru's voice was softer than normal and almost comforting to her ears,"...I need you to tell me everything you saw after Alice left."
Mai nodded gently in his direction, "I know..." she paused turning to look at him with teardrops threatening to spill out of her cinnamon colored orbs, "...but do you think we could go back first? It is cold out here...I..." she turned back toward Alice and watched as Easton eased the girl up and back over to her still breathing equine.
Naru had never been one to postpone vital information or allow Mai to make excuses in delaying a case, but he could tell whatever had transpired during Mai's solitary hour in the field, had caused her to become visibly shaken and distraught. Mai's eyes reminded him of a lost and terrified puppy left out in the rain, alone, and forgotten; while he berated himself for allowing her to have such a finite pull over his emotions, he felt himself sighing and nodding in her direction. He did not want her to be upset, he hated it when Mai was truly bereft, "Alright, let's head back," Naru stood up and offered Mai his hand, while Lin steadied her opposite shoulder. Once both men were satisfied she would be able to stand on her own they left her to walk by herself.
"Miss Taniyama," Easton was attempting to be strong, but Mai could tell he was deeply upset by the current circumstances, "You can ride with me," He easily helped Alice up and then once again boosted Naru into the saddle behind her, "Now you go easy Alice, Mr. Shibuya is not an experienced rider," Easton eyed her carefully and shrugged as the girl wiped her tear stained cheeks with her sleeve. He then climbed into the saddle and sent his hand down to Mai who took it slowly. He all but hurled her up and into the saddle behind himself, "Hold on tight Miss Taniyama, the snow makes for a bit of a bumpy ride."
Mai felt herself blushing for the third time since the rescue party had found their way out to her and she silently grasped hold of the blonde man sharing a saddle with her. She could feel Naru's angry and jealous eyes on her back, but held no pity for him. If he was going to be jealous then Mai decided he should suck it up and ask her out so he could justify the jealousy. Smiling, as Easton kicked the horse and started forward, Mai could not help but mask her dread filled visions from before with a little bit of embarrassed laughter. It felt good to have the upper hand when it came to Naru and maybe Yasu was right. Maybe her stubborn, egotistical, narcissistic and resent filled boss just needed a little time to stew. Of course adding a little salt, by way of Mr. Walker, to the water might just make the stew boil a little faster.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay everyone chapter nine is here! I really enjoyed writing this chapter and hopefully you all enjoyed reading it! I am hoping to have the next chapter up tonight, however, it might be tomorrow evening before I can get it out.
Please read and review...let me know what you think so far. Also I would like a little insight on how you all like the plot of the story up to this point. Let me know and thank you for the minor corrections and spellings you have all pointed out! I have not been able to fix all of them just yet, but I am working on it! You are all awesome!
Thanks so much!
Love ya!
The Crazy Cheezer
