Welcome to part 3 of my ghost hunt series!
This fanfic is the first ghost hunt fanfic of mine that I'm labelling as a romance. For me, the cases have always been at the forefront of my stories, and that is what I plan to do here too, but I'm also giving Mai and Naru more attention than I have in the past. I'm a little nervous about it, but so far I'm having a lot of fun writing this.
As I did with my last series, I'm posting the first two chapters together. I won't make any promises about updates, but I'm not someone who gives up on a story I've started writing, no matter how long my writer's block might last.
Well, I hope you guys enjoy it! Without further ado, I present to you: The Lady of the Lake
"She should definitely have everything she needs, I triple checked her list and watched her pack…"
"Mai…"
"If she forgot anything, I made sure to give Fuyumi a spare key so they can come pick it up if they have to…"
"Mai."
"And I promised her we would call her every day to talk, so we need to make sure we take some time to do that-"
"Mai."
A light flick to my forehead interrupted my mumbling, and I reflexively brought my hand up to it, looking up at Naru in surprise.
In the middle of packing an overnight bag, I'd been running around the house, going mainly back and forth between the bathroom and my room as I absent-mindedly gathered what I needed. I hadn't noticed Naru watching me until I nearly ran into him, completely absorbed by my own anxieties.
I stumbled back slightly, a little embarrassed that I'd almost crashed into him, and more than a little embarrassed that he'd heard me mumbling to myself.
Naru, who I'd been living with for a couple months now and was probably getting used to this sort of thing, was unfazed. With a slight smirk, he said "Ten minutes."
He turned, about to leave, and I stuck my tongue out at him for a moment in indignation before turning to finish my packing. But before I could get back to it, Naru's voice interrupted me again.
"Kara will be fine."
I paused, glancing over my shoulder at Naru, who hadn't turned back to look at me to speak. "That's what you said last time." I shot back accusingly.
At that, he glanced back for a moment, and I could see him smirking. "You'd rather we bring her with us?"
"Absolutely not!"
His smirk widened, and I cursed myself for letting him lead me into that.
Naru had accepted a new case in a small town that was a few hours west. The location was a hotel in the mountains, and the expectation was that we would be there for at least a few days.
The last time we'd had a case that involved staying at the location overnight, Naru and I had brought our adopted daughter, Kara, along with us. It was supposed to be safe for her, but the situation had quickly spiraled, and Kara had gotten dragged into the investigation, first by getting attacked and then by participating in solving the case. As helpful as she'd been, Naru and I had decided that next time, we wouldn't be bringing her with us. It was just too dangerous.
Which meant, of course, that we'd had to find someone to take Kara in while we were away.
Thankfully, Kara had a close friend named Raiden, and his mother Fuyumi had offered to watch her for us while we were away. I was really grateful, but this would be the first time since adopting Kara that I was leaving her in someone else's care for more than a few hours, and for some reason it was freaking me out.
"Eight minutes Mai. If you aren't in the car, I'll be expecting to see you at the office at 9."
I growled, picking up my pace a little, knowing all too well that he wasn't kidding. Even so, I tried throwing back a threat of my own. "If you leave me behind, I'll never forgive you!"
"I think you will."
I froze, his tone bringing me up short, his smirk having softened slightly into something a little less smug and a little more… playful.
"I—" I spluttered, feeling my face break out in a blush. "It isn't… But… NARU!"
I yelled his name in indignation as he left, leaving me alone before I could get it together and come up with a decent comeback. I begrudgingly turned my attention back to packing.
For two years, Naru and I had silently agreed to pretend like my confession to him had never happened. Two whole years, neither of us so much as whispered about it. Then, quite suddenly, on our last big case, he brought it up again. He hasn't given me an answer yet, but he did acknowledge my feelings, which was a pleasant surprise.
The downside was that my feelings for him were no longer a forbidden topic, and more and more often he was finding ways to tease me about it.
Naru, you jerk.
With a deftness developed over years of practice, I managed to finish packing in five minutes and made it out to the car before him.
Naru was someone who liked to be the first person to arrive wherever he was going, especially when he was meeting with people who worked for him. Now that we came to work together, there was never an excuse to be late. On the plus side, he could never accuse me of being late, which is something Naru used to do all the time even when I wasn't.
Unfortunately, the first half hour spent waiting for the others to show was deadly boring.
I kept myself busy by making tea. Naru's tea came first, obviously. Half the time he didn't even have to ask for it. Once he had his, I set to work preparing tea for the others so it would be ready for them when they arrived.
Lin was the first to get there. Like Naru, he was pretty much always early, and I had his tea ready for him when he walked in. He gave a slight nod in thanks when I passed it to him.
The next to come in was Masako.
Relief washed over me when I saw her walk in. As used to Naru and Lin as I was, neither were much for casual conversation, especially in the mornings. I brought her tea over to her as she went to sit down and said "Hey Masako! How are you doing?"
"Hey Mai," She took her tea, smiling slightly. "I'm well, thank you." Her eyes scanned the room. "No Kara today?"
I shook my head. "Definitely not. She'll be staying with Raiden while we're on this case."
"At the Museum?"
"No, with his mom. They go to the same school now, so it works out."
"I see. That's good."
Masako gave a slight nod to emphasize. Even Masako had taken to Kara, treating her like a little sister and answering any question she has for her (and Kara always has questions). It was a little weird seeing someone who used to be my love rival take a liking to the girl I adopted with the guy we would compete over, but Masako insisted that she was moving on. I was just glad that everyone was getting along.
The front door opened again, and the rest of SPR came in.
"Hey Mai! How's it going?"
The enthusiasm came from Monk, who waltzed over and draped his arm around my neck with a goofy grin. "How's domestic life with Naru treating you?" He teased.
"Monk!" I shoved him off of me with a huff, trying not to blush. "Honestly! Maybe I should pour your tea down the drain!"
"No wait! I want it!"
The others laughed as Monk launched forward, snatching his cup before I could make good on my threat.
Naru must've heard the noise, because he reappeared from his office moments later. With a quick scan of the room, he said, "Good. Everyone's here. Let's get started."
As I finished handing out tea to Ayako and John, everyone took their usual seats around the coffee table. Naru, always at the head of the table, pulled out his files and began his debriefing.
"The location is a hotel located at the foot of Mount Kurai, along Lake Araragi. It's mostly used by hikers and tourists, but it doesn't see much traffic at this time of year. Our client, the owner of the resort, is one Aoyama Daichi."
Araragi… Daichi… Something about those two names together tickled an old memory. It was familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
Naru continued. "According to the client, patrons at the resort have been complaining about an apparition near the lake. Recently, a couple guests who claimed to have seen this apparition have gone missing. Police investigations have turned up no leads regarding their whereabouts. Currently, the client's greatest concern is the well-being of his guests, and he has requested that we assess whether this apparition is a potential threat."
"Hmmm…" Monk scratched at his chin in contemplation. "These people who disappeared, where they part of the same group?"
"Apparently, the disappearances were unrelated to each other. The two incidents occurred nine days apart."
"If the disappearances are recent, then we may have to deal with the police while they continue their investigation." Lin pointed out.
Naru closed his eyes for a moment. I grimaced. SPR never had the best time dealing with the police. Every now and then, we were hired to handle a case that, according to the police, was still in their hands. Best case, they would ignore us, like adults ignoring children playing. Worst case, they would treat us as potential suspects. And I did not want to deal with a police interrogation. Again.
"It's unlikely it'll come to that." Naru finally said. "The client insisted that the police were not treating these cases as criminal. The most we will likely have to deal with would be volunteer search parties."
That was a whole other potential problem, but it was better than the police, at least.
Naru continued. "Assuming everyone came prepared, we can begin packing the van. Considering the size of the hotel, we're going to need a fair amount of equipment."
Everyone groaned. Naru spared no expense when it came to heavy equipment.
As we dispersed to get started on loading the van, I lagged behind for a minute to gather the tea mugs everyone had left behind.
"Mai?"
I looked up. Naru was still there, sorting the papers neatly into his folder.
"Yeah?"
His eyes had darkened. It was a guarded look, one that I'd seen a few times before but hadn't yet been able to decipher. "Make sure you don't wander off on your own on this one."
"You make it sound like I do that sort of thing on purpose." I complained. "I don't, by the way."
"Promise me anyways."
Taken aback by the unexpectedly serious tone, all my annoyance at being treated like a child dissipated. He was actually worried, I realized.
"Okay then." I told him. "I promise."