Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters. Any similarity to actual persons or places or events is purely co-incidental. This work is purely fiction.

Not Enough Evil Spirits!

Chapter I

January 10th

18:05

Naru hated paperwork. It didn't help the fact that he had to contribute to the paperwork the professors sent him either. He glanced at the clock. Five past six. It had been about an hour and a half since Yasuhara announced the arrival of a new potential client. He was too busy and tired from his long talk with his parents to listen to the ramblings of a person who believed they were cursed or haunted. Therefore, he had assigned Mai to them. She listened to them patiently; something he was incapable of if he deemed the person to be of an inferior intellect. Also, her latent abilities were something that had proved to be rather reliable over time.

He could hear occasional sniffs and sobs along with the faint noises, as the client told their story. A couple, he surmised. It had been going on for too long. Just as he was contemplating whether to get up and deal with situation himself, or to let Yasuhara handle it, there was a knock on the door. Uttering a curt 'Come in', Naru turned in his chair to face the door.

-x-x-x-

"Come in." That was all she needed. The Mikami couple was having a hard time, and she was going to make sure that Naru accepted the case. She smiled when her eyes met his. Closing the door behind her, she proceeded to hand the file containing the details of the case, over to Naru.
"So? What do you think? I think it is worth looking into." Mai looked at him hopefully.

Looking over the file for a few minutes, Naru turned to Mai.
"Follow with the procedure. When you're done, call Takigawa-san and Matsuzaki-san to remain on standby. After you're finished with that, go home and pack, we'll leave tomorrow morning."
Mai grinned. Naru was nice. Sometimes. Sometimes, he really could be nice if he wanted to be. Mai thanked him and turned to leave.
"Oh, and Mai?"
"Yes?" she turned to look at him.
"Don't be late." Without so much as looking at her, he turned back to his work on the desk.
A vein popped. Sigh. Sometimes she spoke too soon. Naru was never nice. The fact that he tricked her into working for him so long ago was proof enough. Why did she even forget about that? With yet another sigh, Mai left his cabin.

-x-x-x-

As soon as she exited the office, Yasuhara looked at her and immediately grinned at her apparent exasperation. Yeah, Naru was right. Her face was a dead giveaway. She shook her head and went to join the Mikami couple again. They were looking worried and she needed to reassure them that it would be alright. She took her place across from them and smiled. Fishing out some papers from the file, she handed them over to the couple. She hated paperwork. But it was necessary, because, sometimes their cases could get dangerous, and it was better to get the things clarified in case of any legal issues. And they would also need the permission to set up cameras and microphones.
"Thank you for waiting Mikami-san. We will take your case." She gave them a reassuring smile. "However, before you leave, there's some paperwork and some instructions I need to give you. Would that be okay with you?"

Glancing at each other, the couple nodded. Mai handed a small stack of paper over to them.
"You just need to fill out the details and sign on the papers in back. When you're done we can go over the instructions together." The couple nodded again. Taking a few minutes, the couple filled out the paperwork. Yasuhara brought in some more tea. When they finished, the husband handed over the paperwork to Mai. She looked over it and handed back a thin carbon copy of the proof to Mikami-san.
"Now, we'll first do a preliminary investigation. The preliminary investigation lasts for anytime between 24 to 36 hours. The preliminary investigation allows us to decide whether the activity is certainly paranormal or can be explained and resolved scientifically. We will head over to your residence tomorrow and set up the equipment."
"Equipment? So you won't be blessing or exorcising the house?" Haruka-san asked, worried.
"None of us present today can perform a religious ritual or exorcism. But we do have personnel, whom we call, if needed." Mai reassured them. The couple nodded. Mai smiled and continued to instruct them about what they needed – A base room for monitoring and tea, and a room to sleep in if needed. After going through the necessary paperwork, instructions and another cup of tea, Mai and Yasuhara saw them to the door. The couple was really thankful. They had tried many things and now they were just grasping at the straws. And, now the S.P.R. was their only last straw still intact.

…

"Well, that was fun." Yasuhara grinned.
"I hate it when Naru leaves everything up to us like this." Mai glared at Naru's door.
"Isn't that because he trusts us so much?" Yasuhara pointed. Mai's eyes narrowed.
"No, I just think he finds it troublesome to handle it by himself and pushes it all onto us."
Yasuhara laughed. "Yeah. I think that's completely true." He proceeded towards his desk. "Come on Mai-chan, I'll do the paperwork, why don't you go and call Bou-san and the others? That way, both of us can go home early. You need to pack and notify the school too right?"
"Yeah, thanks Yasu."
"It's also quite dark. Let's finish up fast and then I'll walk you home. It's not healthy for a lady to stay out late." Yasuhara adjusted his spectacles looking serious. Mai giggled.
"You speak like an old man sometimes."

Both of them went back to finishing their work. Mai called Bou-san and Ayako, telling them that they would need them sometime the next day. The next in line were John and Masako. Both of whom were unavailable the next day, but they could clear their schedule after that. John was helping at the Church/Orphanage, while, Masako had her show. When she was done making the calls and gathering her share of paperwork, she went to help Yasuhara, only to find him done and waiting for her. She smiled. Sometimes he was beyond her understanding. Shaking her head, she gathered her things and knocked on Naru's door. Hearing another curt 'Come in', she peeked in.
"Naru, Yasu and I are heading out for the day. Will you be okay alone?"
Acknowledging her with a short glance, Naru bid her goodnight, with an instruction to lock the main door on the way out. He didn't need any more clients coming in that night. Bidding him a good night, both, Yasuhara and Mai headed out. Yasuhara dropped Mai off at her apartment, before heading off to his home.

-x-x-x-

Getting inside her small apartment, Mai set her things aside and went to cook herself some food. Even though this apartment was old, it was a lot better than the one she stayed in before she started working for Naru. The salary was generous. Thanks to that, she could afford an apartment that was bigger than 14 square metres. Now she had a small 1DK, which thankfully gave her a separate bedroom and had just enough space to accommodate a small dining table and a cosy two-seat. Once she was done cooking, she lit an incense and placed it with a bowl of rice, with chopstick stuck vertically in front of her parents' photo on the altar. Praying, she ate in silence. After her dinner, she washed up, packed and got ready for bed. She made sure to send the school an email regarding her absence. Finally, switching off the lights, and getting in the bed, she sighed. 'Tomorrow's going to be a long day.'

-x-x-x-

It had been a few hours since, Mai and Yasuhara had left. Naru stayed cooped up in his office, only coming out once to get himself some tea that Mai had so generously left for him in the kitchen. Naru was thankful. Not that he'd ever tell that to her. After some hours of working, going through case files his father had sent from England, and other official paperwork, he heard a faint click from the front door, which jingled moments after. Figuring, it was either Lin or Mai. Looking at the time, he figured that it was way too late and the latter was probably in bed now.

The knock on his cabin door brought him out of his thoughts. Telling Lin to come in, Naru turned to face him.
"Noll."
"Lin. You're late."
"I apologize. It took a while."
"I assume you've been successful then?"
Lin nodded. "Yes, it was rather unpleasant, but we've managed to come to a compromise. You should expect a call from the Professor in the next few days."
Naru sighed. "Very well." Naru stood up from his desk and picked up a few files. "I'll be heading home then. We have a new case. The file is on your desk. I assume you'll be ready to leave tomorrow by eleven." With that Naru fetched his coat and headed to the door.
"Yes. I understand." Lin sighed. There was no point in arguing with Naru when he was in a bad mood.
"Good night Lin."
"Good night Noll."
With that Naru closed the door behind him.

…

Lin sighed as the door closed. He knew his charge would be in a bad mood the moment he relayed the result of his talk to the Professor. Another sigh. Sometimes, he wondered if he should make Mai-san relay all the bad news. Noll seemed to deal with the situation better whenever she was concerned. Lin glanced at his watch. 23:00. He had an hour to get everything ready, before Madoka called. With yet another sigh Lin got to work. It was going to be a long night.

…

Naru walked through the cold dark streets of Shibuya. He was still well over fifteen minutes away from his apartment. After he returned from England, he found it easier to stay at an apartment than a hotel. He had never imagined that he'd be coming back to Japan after finding and bringing Gene home. But he had found that his work was more effective here and he came across some interesting cases, which would be rather difficult back home. However, most of all, he could work in peace here, far from the media attention and constant meetings with different patrons or politicians. And, while he would refuse to admit it, he certainly did enjoy the company of the Irregulars around him. Moreover, he felt that he was closer to Gene here than back in England. Maybe it had something to do with Mai. This was something he'd definitely have to research. He also needed to find out why Gene couldn't move on. Though, for quite a while now, he hadn't seen or heard from Gene neither through Mai, nor through a mirror.
Reaching his apartment, Naru unlocked the door. His mood turned foul, when he remembered that he'd have to have yet another long talk with his father. He was not going to enjoy that. Depositing his coat on the hangar, Naru headed to the kitchen to make himself some tea. The only way he was going to get his mind off the unpleasant thoughts was through immersing himself in his research. With his tea ready, Naru sat himself at his desk ready to spend the night reading.

-x-x-x-

January 11th

10:00

"Morning!" Mai chimed as she entered the office. She was earlier than expected and she was going to rub it in Naru's face.
Two heads turned to acknowledge her presence. One tired and one in a foul mood.
"Good Morning Mai-san." Lin greeted her with a tired smile.
"You're being unnecessary loud Mai." Naru greeted her with a scowl.
Pointedly choosing to ignore Naru's snide remark, Mai smiled at Lin.
"Lin-san! Welcome back!"
Hanging up her coat, Mai went to the kitchenette to make the two men some calming tea before they headed out.

…

With the last of the equipment that finally went in the van, Mai climbed into the back seat. Lin taking his place behind the wheel and Naru in the Passenger's seat, they finally drove off. According to Bou-san, Ayako had some work at the hospital that morning, so he was going to pick her up and join them directly at the house. Mai sighed. It was going to be a long trip. With the destination around the farther outskirts of the Tochigi prefecture and two silent men, one of them with a foul mood, this trip was certainly going to be very tiring.

-x-x-x-

And there it is. The first chapter. I'm sorry the plot is rather slow, but I'm trying to keep it as close to the originals as possible. I'm open for feedback so let me know your thoughts! ~ Eunyis