*Warning: Minor spoiler for latest episode. So go watch that first you haven't yet.
37. "Stop laughing."
She's still laughing. Normally, he loves hearing it and knowing she's happy, but in the event she's laughing at him this time, he feels a little sullen. Mai covers her mouth and forces out a high voice, "I'm sorry. I just can't get over the fact you got tazed by a little girl!"
Shizuo scowls. "This is the last time I take you out to lunch and tell you how my week was."
"Don't be like that." Mai tries to sober up, clearing her throat to compose herself and succeeds for the most part, aside from the occasional tremor in her mask. "I've been out of town on an investigation all week, so you have to get me caught up. And I don't want Izaya's twisted version. I stopped asking him for updates in Ikebukuro after the first case I took out of town." She shivers. "So did I miss anything else while I was gone?"
"No, that's pretty much it." He frowns at her as she picks at her food but brushes it off. "You always seem to be out of town when these incidents occur." Strangely enough, Mai seems perpetually behind the times when it comes to major events in Ikebukuro. The Dollars' first meeting, the Slashing incidents, the war between the Yellow Scarves, the Slasher, and the Dollars. Not that she's completely oblivious, she just doesn't know about the particulars.
Mai smiles wryly. "You picked up on that, huh? I tend to make myself scarce when things like this happen. It doesn't react well with my nightmares."
Shit, he'd forgotten about that. He wants to ask her if those are any better, or at least easier, but he doesn't want to bring up anything painful for her. The day she told him about her strange abilities resurfaces in his mind. Her pale complexion, her shaking voice, her unsteady breathing. He doesn't want to cause her any pain, so he diverts the topic. "Well, you missed quite a bit with the Slasher. I was kinda in the middle of that mess."
She perks up, interested. "Really?" So he recounts the incidents to the best of his memory, though it's happened almost a year ago now, so some minor details have become pretty vague. Yet for the most part, he's able to get through it all. Mai doesn't laugh at this story, though, and she actually glares at him in mock suspicion. "I thought you said you had no girlfriends prior to me."
Shizuo stares at her in disbelief, the venom in her voice so convincing, he almost thinks she's serious. "Don't tell me you're jealous of a cursed sword."
Her arms cross as she turns away in a huff. "Shame on you, playing with an innocent maiden's heart! Where's Ms. Slasher now? I'm gonna stomp her ass."
Now he's laughing. "I'm not pining for her, I promise!"
She continues pouting for a little, then breaks and giggles. "It's good to be back home. I missed you."
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Author's Notes: I know I said I was taking a brief hiatus, but I just watched the new episode and had to write this. That was too funny.
To anyone wondering on when this is taking place in Durarara!, I left it ambiguous to avoid inconsistencies with both plots, as I often try to do when writing crossovers. But when I went back and reviewed what's already been posted, I realized I kinda inadvertently wrote the time span. In the previous chapter, Shizuo and Mai acknowledged they've known each other for six months now. Mai has also lived with Izaya two years. So keeping with the timeline Durarara, Shizuo met Mai roughly around the time the Yellow Scarves incident ended, and Mai began living with Izaya after the incident with Saki.
As for my hiatus, it's still in effect, but I am working on rough drafts of future chapters.
Ghost Hunt is owned by Fuyumi Ono and Shiho Inada.
Durarara! is owned by Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda, and Akiyo Satorigi.