Yo, okay so…last chapter was kinda creepy, huh? This one isn't creepy like that. It's actually pretty serious. Nothing major going on, just some discussion about what's gonna be happening next and stuff. As this is the tenth chapter, I'd like to thank you for all faves, alerts, follows and reviews.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters…

Naru and Mai were awoken a few hours later by Takeshi banging on the door, telling Mai that if they didn't get up soon, all the pancakes would be finished. As Mai loved pancakes, she wasted no time in getting out of bed…much to Naru's displeasure.

Pretty soon, the entire team was seated at the large dining table, along with Takeshi and Junpei. As she chowed down on her pancakes, Mai informed the others about what had occurred the night before, not knowing about the danger that the stalking entity posed to her.

Takeshi seemed very concerned by the attack, as it had happened in his house and therefore, may have been his fault. John however, who had been planning to leave later as he wasn't really needed in this case, didn't seem to agree with his friend. He chewed on his pancake thoughtfully as Mai explained everything.

Bou-san had all but demanded to see the strange cut, and Mai assured the monk that she would show it to him later as it was in a very, uh…awkward place, and the girl was in no mood to flash herself at the breakfast table.

Soon however, Bou-san had had a good look at the cut, and had even taken a few pictures of it so that the others would be able to see it without Mai feeling embarrassed.

"Takeshi-san, have you ever received cuts similar to the one Mai got last night?" asked Naru once the table had been cleared of the breakfast dishes.

Takeshi, who was even more worried now that he had seen the picture of the wound, shook his head, running a hand through his reddish hair. "Never. Like I said before, it's never even touched me before. I think. If it has, it was when I was asleep, so I wouldn't have noticed."

"What's happening to Mai-san doesn't involve Takeshi or this case," said John suddenly with a frown.

Everyone looked at him in surprise, not having expected him to say that. Though he was frowning, the priest had a rather thoughtful look on his face.

"Why do you say that?" asked Naru. Even though John wasn't officially on the case, Naru wasn't about to ignore what he had to say.

The blond however, shook his head. "I am…unsure," he said finally.

Now the others were even more confused. Why would he bring this whole thing up if he didn't even have an explanation to back it up?

"C'mon, John what're you thinking about?" questioned Junpei, curious. It was very interesting how the priest's mind worked.

John shook his head again, but surprisingly, Bou-san was the one who took over. He ran a hand through his hair, drawing everyone's attention, then, leaning back in his chair, he crossed his arms over his chest, a rather serious look crossing his face.

"No," he said slowly. "Mai started feeling this thing hours before we even knew we had a case. It just ended up getting worse when we came here."

Naru pulled his pondering stance, bringing his fingers up to his chin as he thought hard. What could this thing be? Why is it after Mai? Are they right? Does it really not have anything to do with this case? Unless the entity knew we would be coming here… Possible, but unlikely, at least in these circumstances.

"I feel as if I should stay and help," said John suddenly. "There is something very strange going on here and frankly, I'm concerned for Mai-san's safety. What do you think, Shibuya-san?"

Thinking, Naru glanced over at Lin, who gave him a subtle nod. The Chinese man too had a thoughtful frown on his face, which clearly showed Naru that his guardian agreed with the priest and monk.

"Very well," said Naru finally. "…Perhaps it would be best to have you here. Is that fine with you, Takeshi-san?" He didn't want John's staying being an inconvenience, after all.

"Of course!" replied the redhead happily. "I'd be grateful for your help, John, and I'm sure Mai would too." With the priest being one of his closest friends, Takeshi obviously trusted him. And despite the fact he hadn't actually told them this, he trusted the rest of SPR too. If Mai and John trusted them, then he would too.

"I'm sorry, senpai," said Mai softly. "We were supposed to be helping you, and instead…"

Reaching over the table, Takeshi took Mai's hand, smiling gently. "We're in the same boat here, Mai. There's something messed up after both of us and they want to help." He shrugged, his smile growing wider. "Why not kill two birds with one stone and help us together at the same time?"

This did get a bit of a laugh out of Mai. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

"We're returning to the base," announced Naru suddenly. Now that the whole Mai angle had been added in, they needed a new game plan...not that he'd really had much of a plan before.

"First of all," said Naru, once they were all seated in the base, "we need to set up a camera in our room, Mai. I want to catch and document this thing if it tries to show itself. It did something with you once, it's likely that it will do so again. John, I want you with Mai for this."

Mai and John looked at one another, shrugged, smiled, and nodded. "Sure thing, Naru."

"Bou-san, talk to Takeshi-san and Junpei-san. See if you can get anything else out of them. There's more to this situation than we know."

"You mean…senpai hasn't told us everything?" asked Mai in confusion, wondering why her friends would do that.

"That is what I believe," said Naru. When Bou-san acknowledged him with a nod, the boss addressed his older assistant next. "Lin, I want you to research Mai's apartment building and the land it's on and around." He paused, thought. "Do the same for her school, in more detail than we did last time." He stopped and thought again. "Add this house and the houses and land around them for Mai's friends Keiko-san and Michiru-san to that as well."

"…Noll, that's a lot of research for one person, you know," said Lin, sounding faintly surprised.

"Fine. I'll call Yasuhara-san and see if he can spare some time."

Mai too, seemed rather surprised. "Why Keiko and Michiru's houses?"

"The entity may have come from there. It could have attached itself to you while you were at one of their houses. I'm not taking any chances. The more we know about all these places, the better."

"…Naru, you're acting like this is one of the most serious things in the world."

"It is," replied Naru, looking at her straight in the eye. "If we don't take this seriously, Mai…you're going to die."

Yep, that's it for now. So, it's starting to get serious, huh? Thankz for all readers and stuff so far, appreciate it. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!