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It started with a simple phone call. One that would amuse quite a few people for ages.
"Hey Naru, the grandfather of a friend of mine is visiting and wanted to visit the office. He seemed particularly interested in meeting Lin-san," said Mai.
Fon only had to hear the words "trained omnyouji and good at Qigong" before he decided he wanted to visit the office to have a little chat. From what little Mai knew, this "Lin Koujou" was quite skilled. Enough that he had five shiki with him.
Mai tilted her head.
"Actually my friend's grandfather is pure Chinese. He has some experience with Qigong, and I vaguely recall you mentioning you practiced it too so he wanted to see if you were telling the truth."
Fon listened to half the conversation with open amusement. This was going to be hilarious, because if this Lin really did teach Naru Qigong there was no way he wouldn't recognize Fon on sight. After all, Grandmasters of those sort of arts were rather famous. Especially in this day and age when such things were more for sport, rather than serious study.
Half an hour later...
Naru was suddenly glad for Mai and Mukuro's habit of collecting blackmail, because there was no way Lin would ever admit to fainting the day he met Fon Xiao Long.
He'd never find all the pictures, though he certainly tried.
Fon was openly amused at the fact the Onmyouji fainted upon meeting him. When Mai told him she was a ghost hunter/paranormal researcher, he had thought she meant the occult club or something.
He hadn't expected to run into Oliver and Eugene Davis of all people, much less a fan boy of his.
He was torn between out and out laughing his ass off upon learning what Mai's job was...or trying (and possibly failing) to keep up his usual serene smile.
Either way at least he wouldn't be bored while he was staying with Mai and her new family. He hadn't seen I-Pin this happy, especially when Mai didn't even bat an eye at her gift, but rather hugged the stuffing out of her. That, or the fact that Mai had bought I-Pin the stuffed dragon toy she had been eyeing since they entered the store. The Charizard doll (while he never got into the Pokémon franchise he could at least recognize some of them) was bigger than she was and she loved it immediately.
Fon settled for chuckling as Mai gently woke Lin up from his faint.
"I will be wanting copies of that, you realize."
"Of course," said Mukuro, chortling. That was hilarious. He'd never thought he'd see LIN of all people faint upon meeting an Arcobaleno.
"Why did he faint?" asked Gene.
Fon chuckled.
"Before I was cursed, I became a renowned Taoist and Qigong Grandmaster. Though these days only those truly dedicated to mastering the old arts would recognize my name and features."
"A curse?" said Naru intrigued.
Fon lifted his pacifier a little from his neck. He couldn't remove it, but he could at least shift it around.
"I and seven others were hit with a particularly unpleasant curse, one that we have yet to find the cure for. I'm actually older than Lin is," said Fon. "Though none of my skills have deteriorated in the least."
"...And you said you were going to be staying at Mai's for the moment?"
"I'm afraid her situation has become very complicated, and things would go a lot smoother if she had my intervention in the matter," Fon replied.
Gene and Naru suddenly became serious.
"Complicated how?"
"It involves why she left her home town and family behind."
Seeing the two wince, he could only guessed they had accidentally 'read' why Mai was living on her own until recently.
"In any case, it has been some time since I was able to exercise my other abilities, so I will help if I can on any cases that come your way," said Fon almost cheerfully.
Really, this was going to be more like an unexpected vacation for him than actual work. It had been far too long since he was able to act as a Taoist rather than an enforcer or a hit man. The novelty of that fact alone was making him rather pleased.
"Am I seeing things again, or is Lin actually acting like he's having a fan boy moment with a toddler?" asked Monk a few days later. Naru had called them in for a new case.
"It's not you," said Ayako.
"Don't mind Lin. He's still in shock I knew Fon," said Mai amused.
Monk stared at the 'toddler' in absolute shock.
"Fon as in Fon Xiao Long, the famous Taoist from China? A man who supposedly mastered over a hundred different martial arts styles including the ancient art of Qigong? Someone who's supposed to be well into his fifties at least?!"
Fon smiled serenely at him, though he was clearly amused.
"It's so nice to actually be appreciated for my skills rather than the curse I'm stuck with," he said.
It really was a nice change of pace. He was being acknowledge for his mastery of the ancient arts, rather than just as the Strongest Storm or his infamy as a professional hit man and known outlier of the Triads.
Fon wasn't the only one who grew to loathe the title Arcobaleno. It was like all their accomplishments died the day they were cursed with their pacifiers.
Monk gave Mai an exasperated look.
"You really don't care about fame, do you?"
"Should I?" asked Mai, honestly confused. Fon was Fon and Naru was Naru. She really couldn't care less after that. "I mean wouldn't it get tiring having people pretend they know you just because you're famous for something and demand all sorts of things as a result? Look at what happened to Naru... we had to deal with that idiot impostor simply because he's famous under his real name."
Monk and the others winced at the reminder of that mess.
"So what exactly is the case we have this time?" asked Monk.
"There's a building that's supposedly infested with spirits. From what little we've gotten of the location, it's possible that there's a medium who has no idea of their abilities, or a haunted room. Considering there aren't any reports of strange or violent deaths in the area, it's more likely a medium," said Mai, reading what the client told them.
"Thank the gods, a normal case for once," said Monk in relief.
He would come to regret saying those words. He would regret them a lot, especially when they found out what the source was.
Masako was currently busy with her job in another area of Japan, to the open relief of Naru and Mai. Then again, they didn't really need her considering they had two mediums on the permanent staff already in the form of Mukuro and Gene.
Gene might be friendlier and a lot more open about his feelings than his brother, but he didn't have the same problem with treating spirits like they were still alive that Masako did.
Mukuro didn't care, so long as he got them to leave him the hell alone. Just because he could see and channel spirits didn't mean he wanted to.
The second they stepped foot into the building, Mukuro's sixth sense went into overdrive.
"What is it?" asked Mai seriously. Even she could tell there was something wrong in this building.
"There's someone here. Someone very much like me..." said Mukuro ominously. His eyes narrowed. "But I have the feeling this case is going to get complicated very quickly."
Mai's own feelings were telling her the same thing. In fact, she had a hunch she'd end up with yet another person living in her home.
It was a good thing this case was several towns over, though she wished it weren't so close to Namimori. Fon's training had helped reign in her "Flames", though even had seemed surprised at how instinctively she seemed to get the hang of using them. She had the feeling it was going to work out for the best when this case was over.
The woman who hired them was someone very rich, somewhat pretty...and immediately angered Mai for reasons she couldn't openly explain. At least until she saw how the "nice" woman barked at a girl at least Mai's age (or possibly a year younger, it was hard to tell with how tiny she was), to leave the room.
Mai was a very sneaky girl. She managed to get alone with the medium causing the problems with help from Mukuro.
"Hello, I'm Mai. What's your name?"
"N-Nagi..." she said with a timid squeak.
"I've dealt with the mother. She'll see only what she wants to see while Naru keeps the others busy," said Mukuro.
Naru didn't even need to be told that this was less a case of dispelling spirits and more of a rescue mission. Anyone with eyes could see the poor girl was being abused and mistreated...likely because of her gifts. Her mother could care less for her daughter.
Mai could relate, unfortunately.
Mai gave Nagi a gentle hug, and like a dam breaking the girl began sobbing into her shoulder. It was clear she had been hurting for a very long time and no one even cared to help.
"There, there... it's alright. We're not going to leave you with her anymore," said Mai, rubbing the girl's back.
"Do you have anywhere else to go?" asked Mukuro bluntly.
Nagi quickly shook her head. She would have left a long time ago if she did, never mind that she was still a minor. She had no idea how she was supposed to get out of this place, never mind live on her own. And her confidence was shot to hell because of her "mother".
"Good thing my room has a king sized bed," commented Mai. Nagi looked at her confused. "Do you have any objections to leaving here and never coming back?"
Nagi shook her head again. This place wasn't home.
Mai smiled at her, and for the first time she felt like everything would be alright. That she wouldn't suffer again. Nagi hugged the older girl a little tighter.
"Mukuro, can you deal with her mother? I'd like to avoid an investigation if we can. Maybe arrange a custody transfer or something?"
"On it," he said.
There was no way the woman would be allowed to keep the girl. Not when Mai had so obviously claimed her as her own.
Fon had opted to stay behind with the children, mostly to keep Ken from ruining yet another microwave. With Gene living with Naru and having gone with them on this case, they needed someone to keep Ken in line. Besides, he was already spreading out 'feelers' so he would have forewarning when Dino eventually alerted Reborn where the missing girl was, if only by accident.
Reborn thrived on chaos, but Mai would need a united front against the Sun. At the very least he might try to relocate her mother and younger brother to the area, which would be a total disaster in the making.
The only reason the brat hadn't been sealed yet was because they had no idea where his sister (a confirmed Sky) was. After that he was spare blood as far as the Vongola were concerned.
Less than that, considering the damage he caused with his Flames.
Nagi was holding Mai like a lifeline while Mukuro more or less convinced the rather irritating woman to hand over her daughter to perfect strangers.
The fact she did so with only minimal suggestion towards the idea really didn't speak well about her.
An hour later...
"Please tell me we don't have to haul our equipment up here," he asked with a groan.
"Not really. A general cleansing of the area should deal with the problem," said Gene.
"And what if they come back?" asked Ayako crossly. The neighbors were less than friendly, and all of them pointed at the same girl.
Nagi flinched, and Mai ignored the fact the younger girl was hiding behind her.
"That shouldn't be a problem. After all, the medium who accidentally caused this won't be living here anymore. Though we should probably stick around a few days for the paperwork to go through."
"Paperwork?" said John baffled.
"Emancipated and already legal guardian of an almost ten-year-old," said Mai, pointing at herself, before pulling Nagi into view. "Minor with a parent who had no objections signing custody over to perfect strangers."
Nagi winced at the reminder, though relaxed when Mai hugged her.
Monk, Ayako and John all winced at the implications of that.
"So she's coming with us?" asked Monk.
"Like I said, once the paperwork goes through the problem is over with. It's not like Mukuro can't get her caught up on the basics," said Mai simply. "I'm sure I could get her registered at my school, since she's about my age anyway."
Monk made a pained sound.
"You have the weirdest ability to collect strays I've ever seen," he said flatly.
"Ayako, would you mind giving her a check up once we get back to the hotel room? I have the feeling she's going to need one."
"How are you going to deal with her mother? I doubt she's going to let the fact her daughter's spending the night away from home well."
"If the cops ask, then we're having a sleep over and her mother is being overly paranoid," deadpanned Mai. "And I highly doubt it's going to be an issue in the first place."
She had Mukuro leaving a double of Nagi in the home just to be safe.
By the next morning the paperwork cleared with almost frightening speed and Nagi was safely secured between Mai and Mukuro on their way back to Tokyo. She was still reeling from the sudden change in her life and would need a few days to adjust.
Mostly because of the fact that she would never have to endure one of her mother's mood swings again, and actually had a family that wanted her.
Though Mai did have a discreet laugh at Mukuro's expense when Nagi (who took the name Chrome Dokuro much like Mai had changed hers to throw off anyone trying to bring her back) developed a serious crush on the older medium.
Mukuro tolerated it with gentle amusement, though even he would admit to developing a fondness for the younger girl. Even if she did look a lot like a younger, female version of him.
Chrome certainly didn't have any objections to sharing Mai's room, and she had the only king-sized bed in the house. Mostly because Mai had promptly taken over the master bedroom the day she bought the place.