Author Notes and Disclaimers: I don't own the characters (anything really…) from the show Ghost Hunt.

Chapter 10. Sorry for being gone so long! Computer trouble, can be really annoying. Anyway, please read and review! I'm counting on you! Thanks! ...Oh and if it's not too much trouble, you may want to read some parts again.

Again, super sorry.

"I said you're off the case." Lin repeated as he drove to the resort.

Mai stopped looking out of the window for a moment to listen in on their conversation. Lin rarely talked loud enough for everyone to hear him so she knew it must have been something everyone needed to know.

"And I told you I'm not leaving—!"

"Attacking the hosts of any case is unacceptable. We'll call you when something comes up."

Shibuya said nothing as he let the words sink into his skull. He turned his glare to the window in silence and Mai watched him, worried until they'd reached the resort. She could never remember a time when Shibuya was kicked off a case and she didn't like it despite the situation.

The resort was beautifully placed in front of a mountain. From it, snow seemed to cover everything without fail. Even the people that walked around in front, with their skiing equipment, seemed to be covered in snow crystals. They all gazed at it in amazement as Lin found a parking spot.

Getting out of the car, the researchers seemed to notice Natsume immediately. She stood at the entrance talking to a group of bellboys. When she saw them she stopped conversing and ran over, leaving the boys in a moderate confusion.

"This case will be the end of me." Shibuya mumbled.

"Are you all alright? Did he hurt you? I swear I didn't—"

"Natsume, if I could ask what you're doing here?" Shibuya inquired.

"The police contacted me. Kouta disappeared so I texted Mai. She said you were going to a resort and that you were okay so I quickly rushed over to make sure." She said.

"How did you even know which resort to go to?" Houshou questioned.

"There's only one that's this close to the house. Plus I figured you'd want to go to the mall that's around here. You're a bunch of teenagers… mostly." She said, excusing Ayako which a glance. "It wasn't hard to put the pieces together."

"Thanks for being worried about us, but honestly you coming here is dangerous. Kouta could be following you for all we know and we've had enough trouble from him." John said uneasily.

Natsume's eyes watered for a moment. She was embarrassed at her husbands' behavior but more than that she felt their pity and or suspicions. "I'm sorry." She finally said.

"Just go home. Your husband will get angry if he finds out you've been with us." Lin said stoically.

She said softly, "I had no idea he'd come after you. I was so sure he wouldn't—"

"If he was beating you why wouldn't he attack us?" Lin replied, turning from her to get the remainder of the equipment out of the car.

Natsume pulled her sleeves down, hiding any visible scar everyone assumed to see, and crossed her arms. She looked at the ground before drawing to a close, "Well, since you're all okay I guess I better leave."

"Wait—Natsume!" Mai started, but the nurse continued cheerfully.

"Mai, have you had any dreams of my daughter?" she asked.

The entire group seemed to grow quiet as Mai answered, "Yeah… I think she's angry with me."

"Don't be afraid of her… my boys were afraid too at first but I just know that if she had a real chance to live, she'd be just as wonderful as you are. Thank you again for giving me a hand at work. You have my number if you ever want to talk, okay?" she asked.

Mai opened her mouth to reply, but Natsume turned from them and slowly walked through the parking lot to her car. There were few words spoken of Natsume afterwards and as everyone went to their rooms she started to fade from their thoughts, little by little.

As day turned to night Mai lay down on her bed and watched the soap opera Ayako was possessed by. She wasn't sure which whether Ayako or the show was more interesting to watch, but as her roommate glanced back at her she quickly remembered which one she was supposed to be watching.

"What? It's true; he's not the real guy. That's his evil quintuplet brother who kidnapped her child at birth when she was sixteen and killed her uncle's—"

"No it's not that. If you really want them to hear you Ayako, you should shout a little louder." Mai suggested playfully.

"Who?"

"The people on television."

Ayako threw a pillow at her and Mai let the pillow rest on her face to hide her laughing smirk. She sighed and when she was sure the temptation to laugh was gone she attempted to remove the façade. Instead her hand was beaten to the pillow and when she looked up to see who had moved it she gasped.

"Chiaki?" she asked.

"It's true, you do know me." he said.

"How did you follow me here? I'm not even at the hospital… am I?" she asked.

"…And I really thought this couldn't get any weirder…" he mumbled. "No, you're in a resort hotel. I followed you here from my house. I mean… I was looking for my brother when I saw you try to help your little friends fight with my father. He's a really dangerous person, just let the guys handle it okay?" he said, crossing his arms.

"Your father…? You mean Kouta?" she asked.

"You didn't know that?" he asked rudely.

"No—I didn't! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well you know everything else about me. I wouldn't be surprised if you knew where Hiroki was too." he said.

"Wait…" Mai paused, "I think I got it now. That's why Ms. Sasaki was visiting you by herself. Well, anyway, I'm glad you got out of that hospital but you really shouldn't become attached to me."

"What?"

"I know I'm probably the only one who can see you, but you can't just pop around whenever you want."

"Wait a second! This is the first time we've ever met, you idiot!"

"Geez, what is this? First you were in denial about being alive, now you're pretending not to know me? If you're trying to confuse me I—"

"Wait, you said you saw me at the hospital?" Chiaki asked.

"Yes!"

"Not someone who just looked like me?"

"What are you talking about?"

Mai felt something light thump her on the head. Her mouth was suddenly shut and after a few seconds Chiaki looked past her at Gene who leaned on her shoulder.

"Return to the hospital Chiaki. Your brother is looking for you." Chiaki watched him uneasily for a minute but he continued, "Don't worry, I'll take care of Mai. She's just a bit confused."

"Then Hiroki's been at the hospital this whole time? And I always thought he was just hiding from me. Thank you… Mr. ..."

"My name is Gene."

Mai turned quickly around and watched as Gene lightly plopped down beside her. He rubbed his head, not expecting her to turn so quickly.

"Now you're pretending?" she asked, confused.

Gene said nothing for a while. He made sure his face was turned from her before he continued, "Close your eyes for a moment. Picture Olive—I mean, Kazuya; remember every detail of him."

Mai replied, "This is no time to be vain Naru!"

"Still don't trust me, Mai?"

She was taken back. Though she wasn't sure what the point of his directions were she followed them, hoping they'd lead to some sort of explanation.

"Fine, I'm picturing you." She felt him flinch.

Gene turned to make sure she was doing what he asked. When he did he saw Shibuya staring back at him in front of Mai. For a while he was astounded at how vivid her imagination was but he pulled himself together in time to stand beside him and wait for Mai to open her eyes.

"Who am I?" he asked her.

Mai stared in frustration at first but finally she realized a few key differences. They were faint, but she saw them. She wanted to answer Gene's question, but her mouth was having trouble forming words.

"Wh—Who are—"

Shibuya's image disappeared into a sea of darkness. She stood up quickly to back away from Gene but he took her arm.

"My name is Gene. I've been with you for as long as you've worked at SPR. Don't wake up—and stop imagining things, you'll scare yourself." He said gently.

"B—but you-!"

"I know. I've kind of been lying to you."

"Kind of?"

"Technically I thought you knew. When I finally realized you had us confused… well, I guess…" Gene blushed a bit and let go of her arm.

"Wait a second—! Who are you?"

"I'm his brother, Gene." He replied.

"Shibuya doesn't have a brother." She said angrily.

"Yes, he does. He just doesn't talk about me."

"Yeah right! Why not then?"

"Because if he did, he'd have to explain my death." Gene said softly, "He's not strong enough to start talking about me yet; even to you Mai."

Mai stared at Gene in disbelief. She looked away, "I'm sorry… I didn't know."

"Don't worry about it. It's his fault anyway."

"I should have been able to tell the difference. Geez, I'm so stupid!" Mai sighed. "Oh, I should call you Gene from now on, right?"

"Actually I liked it better when you thought I was Kazuya. I wonder if we could just keep that the same." He said.

Mai stared at him a while and shook her head softly, "I'm sorry." she said. "Now you guys look completely different."

Gene sighed and shrugged, "I thought so. Well, don't think you've gotten rid of me just yet. I'm still attached to you."

"That's fine!" Mai said cheerfully. "I don't think I could get through a case without you Nar—Gene."

Gene chuckled to himself and held his hand out to her, "Then let's start over." He said, "I'm Gene. It's nice to honestly meet you, Mai."

Mai took his hand but he pulled her close to him and hugged her lightly. She smiled the way she might if she was hugging a teddy bear and giggled, "It's nice to meet you too Gene." She said.

She felt tears trickling down her back suddenly and frowned slightly. She pulled away from him again to take a look at his face but he was smiling pitifully.

"Ah… sorry." He said as she wiped the tears from his face. He took her hand and grew silent.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I was starting to think this was kind of unfair." He said.

"Unfair?"

"My brother… I know I have to be better than him but he gets everything. Oh well, go easy on him Mai. Don't break both of our hearts, alright?" he asked her.

Mai blushed a bit. "Oh stop it—I don't like Shibuya. He's just my—"

Gene rested his head against her forehead and smirked, "How can you fool me, Mai? I've been the "Naru" of your dreams for the past year or so." He said, soft enough so that even if there was someone else with them only Mai would hear him.

She felt her hair stand on ends as he whispered in her ear. She blushed harder than she normally did and tore her gaze abruptly away from him, "I should really wake up now…!" she said.

Gene let her go reluctantly and agreed, "You're right." He replied. "I'll talk to you later about the case. I think tonight was enough of a hint."

"Wait—you know what's going on?" she asked.

Gene picked up a pillow and weighed it with his hand. He smiled and replied, "Catch."

Mai caught it with her face. She quickly moved it again but the room was suddenly dim again. She felt the soft blankets under her and the warm air above her floating from the heater that covered her like a blanket. Ayako stood at the door with an oversized pillow and a sleepy grin on her face as she talked to Lin.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting up. No need to be so scary." She said loudly.

Ayako waved as he left and turned back to Mai.

"Is it time to go?" she asked.

"For me it is. Just go back to sleep Mai. You'll need your strength to babysit Naru."

Mai laughed, still she got up to see them off at the hotel lobby. She was disappointed that Shibuya didn't come to give any directions but since Lin was leading she figured it must have been for the best. As they left John stopped her at the last possible second.

"Be careful okay Mai?" he told her.

"I'll be okay. I'm away from the house." She said.

"Just watch out okay? We'll call to check on you later." He assured her.

Mai watched John leave in a grateful silence. Since everyone was gone she decided to go eat breakfast at the hotel's dining hall. On her way she ran right into Shibuya who hid near the stairs.

"Hey Naru, what are you doing…?"

He stared at her at a loss for words. Finally he swallowed the awkwardness that stuck in his throat and frowned.

"Don't most people take the elevator?" he asked, irritated.

"No, not everyone... I was wondering where you were. I guess hiding to see how we were going to respond to your lack of attendance should have come up as an option but I usually give you more credit than that."

"Give me a break." He mumbled.

"Anyway, what are you going to do stuck in the hotel all day?"

Shibuya thought for a moment and shrugged, "What I usually do when Lin throws me out of a case." He said, putting on his jacket.

Shibuya started towards the entrance and looked out at the early morning snowflakes. He stared at them and opened the door before he suddenly stopped; "Are you coming or what?" he called.

Mai smiled hopelessly and with her bunny slippers still on her feet she hurried cheerfully after him.