Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost hunt, the Anime nor the Manga

Chapter 2: Case 1

Mai sighed as she watched the scenery pass her by. She sat between her new roommate and his bodyguard. The sentence was odd to even think, and she doubted she'd ever say it aloud.

'I guess even Lin can only take so much of him.' Mai thought. She previously imagined that the pair lived together, but the fact that they left the office at different times should have clued her in.

They'd almost reached the destination of their case, which was in a small town outside of the city. They were going to see about a haunted church that also doubled as an orphanage for the homeless and abused kids in the area. One of John's associates, similar to Father Tojo, was managing the facility when he reported some troubling paranormal activity to John.

Girls were going missing from the orphanage with no explanation to the crimes. The police had already gotten involved, fearing that the institution was part of a child trafficking ring. Unfortunately, after working the case for three years and it turned cold. The head priest has already stopped accepting young girls for their own good, but then the paranormal activity started. That's when the church turned to John, knowing of his previous work with SPR.

John was overjoyed when Mai told him that she'd convinced Naru to take the case, and his reaction was almost enough to make Mai feel better about the conditions of the case.

Almost.

'Why couldn't he accept the case and let that be that. ' Mai fumed remembering the finer details of his acceptance.

The conditions that Mai had to obey were as follows:

• She was not allowed to be outside of the vision of Monk, Naru, John, or Lin.

• None of the girls were allowed to be without a male companion at any time.

• The sleeping arrangements would for the first time on a case were going to be Co-ed to prevent the girls from going missing

And how could she could she forget the most interesting rule of them all.

• Mai Taniyama shall to obey every order from her boss or she shall be removed from the case, effective immediately.

It was quite clear that Mai was pouting while rereading the case detail, including her personal copy of his accepting conditions. Naru noticed, but shrugged it off. After all Mai has gotten what she wanted.

They'd driven three hours to get to the church, which wasn't too bad for the group if it hadn't been for all the rain they were receiving. Something about it left a sense of sadness and foreboding weighing on the team. It set an eerie tone before the case even started.

'Mother always said that rain was a blessing.'Mai thought trying to shake off the hairs that began to stand up all over her body. It was like the case was an invisible spider web latching onto her limbs and hair. It appeared as though they would be facing something extremely tactile. Mai closed her cased file and opened up her personal notebook to a separate project she was working on. Mai was sifting through a few things that she no longer had room for in the apartment, but could be used as thank you presents to her coworkers for taking such good care of her.

John had come to mind when she saw an old cook book her mother had passed down to her. It was filled with unique Japanese desserts, but Mai had absolutely no talent for baking so she never used it. John however, had learned to bake lots of things from his work in the priesthood, and had impressed the team on more than one occasion. She hopped he would accept the book and like to know more about traditional Japanese sweets.

Despite her rocky relationship with the TV medium, Masako had been the first person she thought of when she unearthed two amusement park tickets gifted to her my her school friends. If she let her girlish fantasies run away with her, she love to go there with Naru on a date. But there was no way he'd enjoy that sort of atmosphere. Practically speaking, she knew that Masako, lacked female friends her own age. The amusement park tickets would be the perfect icebreaker to what could be a great friendship.

At least Mai hoped.

Now for the Mai's kimono collection. She was given a some beautiful kimonos from her teacher when she graduated from middle school. They replaced the ones Mai's mother gifted her before her passing. They were also quite beautiful, but sadly they were much too long for Mai's short stature. Mai's mother was tall like Ayako, so it was only natural she assumed Mai would grow to that same height one day. Mai never had a reason to get rid of the kimonos until now, but gifting them to Ayako seemed like a better use of them. They were name brand and never worn. Mai was sure that sort of vintage attire was worth more now than when they were first purchase. No doubt Ayako would approve and honor her mother's gifts.

Then there was Yasu.

'Gosh, that boy is such a pervert I'm sure he'd like some kind of token for a sexual favor.' At the thought, Mai face got extremely red at all the lewd acts he'd have her complete and the types of gifts he'd want. The girl's sudden discomfort caught the scientist's attention immediately and he eyed her redden features, and wondered what she was thinking about that made her so embarrassed.

Naru was realigned his thoughts as the church came into view.

"Mai stop messing around and put your things away, we're about to arrive." Naru barked startling his assistant out of a deep trance.

Sure enough, the church came into view and Monk's car pulled up behind the van. They could spot their young Australian priest standing out in front of the church, adorned in a raincoat. As soon as Lin stopped, he and Naru exited to meet up with the priest and converse. Mai watched all her friends all enter the church without her and sighed heavily.

'They probably forgot that my crutches are in the back of the van.' Mai thought to herself as she zipped up her coat to her chin, slid over into the end seat, and pushed open the door. She hobbled around into the back of the van and opened the door revealing all the boxed equipment. Her crutches lay on top of all the machinery. Mai reached up carefully placed them down, once stable she closed the backdoors to prevent the equipment from getting wet.

'Alright, at least now I'm mobile.' Mai thought to herself when suddenly a chill ran down her spine. She quickly turned around to see a little girl standing behind her.

"Oh dear, don't stand in the rain or y-" Mai stopped herself from speaking once she noticed that the girl stood there completely dry in the middle of the downpour.

'Oh, so she's dead then.' Mai quickly deduced as she realized that it was her chance to get some information for the case. Mai gently placed her crutches against the back of the van and knelt down to the girl's level.

"I'm sorry, but I know you were taken. Who took you?" Mai asked, her eyes sincere, sadness bleed into her features. A single tear ran down the ghost girl's face and just as quickly as she came, she vanished.

"Mai!" She turned her head to see Monk running over out of breath.

"Sorry about leaving you outside. What are you doing down there? Did you fall?" He questioned guilt showing in his eyes.

"No, I was just talking to a little ghost girl, she's gone now though." Mai said plainly as if it were a normal occurrence. Pushing herself up on one foot and grabbing her crutches she began to move toward the church. Monk had a look of confusion but simply made a mental note to bring it up again later.

Monk rushed forward and held the door open for the girl, ushering her into the warmth of the chapel. At the altar, the entire SPR group stood waiting for Mai as she slowly shuffled toward them.

"Hey John, it's nice to see you." Mai greeted seeing the priest return her smile, greeting her kindly in return.

"Now, back to business. For those of you who don't know young girls have been going missing at this orphanage for quite some time; three years in fact. Even the police got involved, but after three years it's become a cold case. That's where we come in. The apparitions of the girls have started to appear and wreak havoc in the church scaring the children, staff, and churchgoers. Naturally, the church has fallen in attendance. The offerings are needed to keep the church going and for taking care of the children in residence. I've had the pleasure of working will you all in the past, so I have the utmost faith that together we can get to the bottom of this." John said more serious than anyone had ever seen him.

'John's determined to get this done and over with. I should tell them all that I saw that little girl.' Mai put together in her head.

"Naru, I saw an apparition when I was outside." Mai addressed the scientist, but voice loud enough for everyone to hear and stop. Naru moved from his position next to John toward the girl.

"I went to go get my crutches and sensed something close to me, so I turned around and asked her who kidnapped her. She just started to cry and disappeared." Mai ended with a sad thoughtful expression. Naru nodded then asked her if she had dreamed anything relating to the case yet. Mai shook her head and the group continued on to their base.

'This church really is very beautiful, and the architecture is so detailed. It makes me sad to think that people are too scared to come here.' Mai thought as she hobbled down the hall behind the team.

"This common room seemed to fit best as a base. Down at the very end of this hallways are open bedrooms and a bathroom for you all to stay." John said opening the door to a beautiful brick room completed with wonderful chandeliers, stain glass windows, and a fireplace.

"This will serve our purposes well Father Brown, thank you. Ayako and Yasuhara, I want you both to grab the thermometers and start collecting temperatures. Masako and Father Brown, I need a blueprint of the building, then tour the grounds and show me what places are the most active. Monk, Lin, and I will bring in the rest of the equipment. Mai, stay inside the base and out of trouble." Naru pinched his nose bridge for the last part which made his teammates laugh. With those words, everyone left base leaving the brunette alone with her thoughts.

'Gosh! I'm so useless. I can barely stay upright to make tea and I can't move equipment.' Depressing thoughts spiraled as she sat on the couch near the fireplace and moped. Suddenly something occurred to her.

'Well, I can always dream and try to find information about the case. Even if Gene isn't here to help me anymore.' Mai convinced herself as she took off her wet coat. Hanging it gingering on the end of the couch, hoping the heat of the room would remove its dampness. She gingerly swung her leg onto the couch and settled into a resting position. The sounds of the rain and the crackling fire lulled her into a swift sleep.

She opened her eyes and a beautiful starry sky filed her vision. She was in the center of a clearing where tall trees surrounded her. The only lights she was graced with were fireflies moving on their own accord around her. She noticed she was flat on her back as well, which she found odd. She attempted to rise from her position only to be stopped by thick ropes. Another cold breeze made her realize that she was half naked, only in her undergarments.

"What the-" Mai struggled even more but to no avail, she was stuck on what felt like a rock slab underneath her.

"That won't work my dear, I'm afraid your efforts are useless." A man's voice became clear. The setting of her dreamscape turned into dizzying waves. Mai was in a thick darkness no longer in a field. Realizing she was no longer tied down Mai stood cautiously, finally recognizing this darkness to be her astral plane.

'..Wh-where... what happened to the vision?' Mai thought frantically, having the distinct feeling she may have been yanked from her vision. Gene had done so in the past as well if he felt she was about to see something too graphic. An unfamiliar hum of laughter erupted and echoed around her. It surprised her enough to make her stubble backwards.

"Who are you?" Mai yelled into the darkness only to be met with her own echo. That is until another voice floated into the astral plane.

"I apologize," The voice ironically not sounding very apologetic." But you won't be having any visions about this place. I won't allow it." The man said. Mai's fear was quickly dissolving away into anger. Whoever this person was really had interrupted her vision.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you taking the little girls?" Mai yelled. Even without her visions, her instincts were telling her this disembodied voice was involved. Suddenly Mai was spun around to see the face of a man, and she gasped backing away once more. Taking in his features she had to admit to herself he was very handsome, but that hadn't stopped her from speaking her mind in the past. His eyes were a piercing forest green and his facial structure strong and chiseled. His hair was a dark brown and his skin olive tan. Regardless, nothing in his features could offer her any comfort. Mai continued to backed away another few feet but stood her ground there. Every part of her instincts were screaming danger, and Mai listened loud and clear. Undeterred he paced forward and backed her against an invisible wall his hands on either side.

"Hmm…" He voiced mischievously a curious hand ran through her long brown locks gingerly and smelled it. "Now why would I reveal such information? Do you have something else to…"He grabbed the side of her face and leaned in. Mai blushed hard and eyed his lips nervously, instead, he leaned into her ear and whispered "…offer?"

"No! I don't bargain with men like you! I'll find out on my own thank you very much." Mai barked feistily. Mai imagined away the wall from behind her and backed away further. The man remained in place and didn't advance on her anymore.

"Well, I'll be here on your astral plane when you're ready to bargain." He said and Mai scoffed.

"The hell you will! GET OUT!" Mai yelled and mentally tried to force him out like Gene had taught her but he was still there looking at her and smirking.

"Like I said Mai. I'll be here when you're ready, now ta-ta." He said.

Just like that she was falling.

Mai rose out of her seat and woke with a start. She inhaled loudly as if she had been under water getting the attention of all those who were in the room.

"H-HOW...?! DID HE JUST..? T-THAT ARROGANT BASTARD." Mai sputtered incoherently until she let out a frustrated yell.

At that point in the entire team was looking at Mai like she had grown two heads. None of them had ever heard her swear before and they wondered what had ruffled her feathers so severely.

"Mai? Are you alright?" Monk asked being the first to approach the girl.

"No! I mean yes! Well, actually I don't know yet." Mai said turning to see the Monk and running an unsteady hand through her hair, which made her remember his hands through her hair not too long ago.

'It felt so real. ' Mai thought a bit shaken.

"Mai, stop withholding information. If you had a dream, explain it instead of speaking in circles." Naru scolded as he saw Mai grabbed one of her crutches hoping to walk off the tension she was feeling emotionally. Finally, she exhaled and stood still to face the team.

"I started to dream that I was in a field with a clearing in the forest. All I knew was that I was, or rather the girl I was dreaming of was half- naked only in her undergarments, tied onto a rock slab. I was about to see more, but this spirit came out of nowhere and tore me from the vision. Now he's marching around my astral plane spotting orders! UGH! It's so frustrating!" Mai explained clenching her fists as she felt her face heat up with anger.

"Wait... what?" Ayako exclaimed, doing he best to fill in the blanks.

"Mai you have the most power in your astral plane, why didn't you just kick him out?" Masako asked. The medium knew spiritual protection very well. It was a necessity for her.

"I tried. But h-he..." Mai trailed of blushed at the memory.

"He what Mai?" Ayako said not liking what the silence insinuated.

"He di-didn't leave. He was able to pull me out of my vision and summon me back to the astral plane. He was able to force me against walls and touch me as if I were solid, which shouldn't be able to happen. But.. it did." Mai said looking at her feet ashamed.

"Well, perhaps you just doubted yourself. My master always said that if I were ever to travel the spiritual realm that the slightest amount of doubt or negativity energy can allow a spirit to overtake you." Monk chimed in thoughtfully.

"As much as it's possible to be familiar with an endless landscape, I'm pretty familiar with most energy flows on the astral plane. Who or whatever that man was, it was child's play to him. He was able to take me down so easily! He must be an astral walker too." Mai said her eyes starting to water in frustration.

The room hung with silence. No one really knew what to say until Yasu chimed in.

"Orders?"

"What?" Mai looked at him confused.

"You said he was ordering you around? What did he ask you to do?" Yasu clarified.

"Well, he said I wasn't allowed to have any visions of the girls or ask any information about him unless I was willing to bargain for it. When I refused he kicked me off the astral plane." Mai continued with a sigh she hobbled over to the dining table where most of the team sat. She took a seat and put her head down, hiding her tears of frustration.

"Bargaining? I don't like the sound of that. That sounds like a request from a very negative entity." John hummed worriedly.

There was silence among the team once again, even Lin stopped typing. Naru filled it this time.

"We can't assume too much from this just yet. It's been a long day and it's pretty late. Everyone return to your assigned quarters, and we'll revisit everything we've learned today first thing in the morning. Matsuzaki, did you finish placing the wards around each room?" Ayako nodded.

"Alright then. You're all dismissed." Everyone filed out of the base, a few giving Mai some worried looks, but continued out. Naru let his eyes wander to the girl face down near the coffee table and sighed. He walked over to Mai and pulled out the chair next to her and sat.

"Mai."

"Y-yes." Mai sniffled not bothering to raise her head in response.

"Did he hurt you?"

"No."

"Then why are you crying?"

"B-Be-Because!"

"Because…"

Mai finally raised her tearful reddened face.

"Now I really am useless! I can't move equipment! I can't set up cameras! I can't exorcise spirits! I can't even dream anymore!" Mai yelled crying even harder.

Naru sighed again.

"Mai the more pessimistic you are, the more power this person has over you. You are not useless, otherwise, I wouldn't keep you under my employment. Besides your hands aren't broken so you can still make tea, which Lin and I are in need of." Naru said smirking at the girl.

Mai wiped her face and laughed at the tea comment. This was when it really sunk in how late it really was. When the team first arrived it was morning and now the sun had set.

"Wow, it's past midnight already. I really slept all day." Mai looked around, noting the case paperwork on the table had even increased.

"Well, I was under the impression you were collecting information so I didn't wake you." Naru stood eye wandering towards the low fire.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you with such little facts about the case." Naru scoffed as he placed a few logs over the hot embers.

"Enough, Mai. Don't make me repeat myself."

"Sorry, sorry I'll try not to do it again. Now can you fill me in on all that went on today?" Mai requested, hoping to fill some of her curiosity about the case.

"We met with Father Kato and interviewed him. As you can imagine, he's had quite a hard time with the authorities because of the disappearances. They have tried, but can't find any proof to pin him as the kidnapper. We spoke with a few of the children and staff here, but they were very reluctant to give any information. Masako revealed a number of dead girls wandering the grounds, which is why the children have seen their apparitions. On her walk about Masako was able to cleanse a few, but she said there are too many to count. Yasuhara recovered most of the police reports on the missing girls, and that leads us to now with your astral encounter."

Mai looked over the papers strewn across the table. All of the pages filled no doubt with the missing girl's profiles and interview notes.

"Naru, why don't you and Lin go to bed? It's pretty late."

"We have to watch the monitors Mai."

"I could do that."

"No Mai, why don't you just go back to sleep."

"I've slept enough for a lifetime today, and besides…" Her hesitancy drew his gaze again.

"I don't like that man, and I don't want to see him again. At least not yet." Mai finished rubbing her eyes to ensure that there would be no more waterworks that night.

"Well then, if you aren't going to sleep then that tea would be nice." Naru walked off from his position at the long table and resumed his work by the monitors. Lucky for Mai (or rather unlucky) Naru had the sense to bring an electric kettle so Mai was no longer required to leave the base. Not even to make a cup of tea.

A full twenty minutes passed before his royal highness called for a refill, and Mai couldn't have been more miserable.

'I want to see the rest of the church, but chances are slim to none that the dark duo will let me out of here. I was glad for the peace and quiet, but it hasn't stopped my thoughts from spiraling!' Mai sighed as quietly as she could manage.

Mai finished the tea for her boss and Lin and delivered each cup one by one, since that's all her crutches would allow.

'Lousy timing, but I might need a bathroom break soon. I'm pretty sure there's one directly across from base.'

There was no doubt about the fact that Mai was stuck at base for the duration of the night. She figured she could attempt to entertain herself until the others woke up.

Her thoughts wandered back to the leftover items from her recent move. She found a box filled of hand written notes, her first phonebook, and middle school knick-knacks. Mai read through them. Laughed and cried. Smiled at all the trivial things she considered problems when her mother was alive. There was even a more recent note from high school where Keiko admitted she thought Yasuhara was handsome. Mai planned to give her number to Yasuhara. If he ever shaped up.

'I could set them up on a blind date! Yasu would need lots of reprimanding prior though, but I think it could have potential.' Mai never considered herself much of a matchmaker, but the idea excited her. That same box of memories also had a notebook she received from a child counselour after her mother died. Mai hadn't done much talking at the time. Instead she did a lot of writting. Poetry. Memories. A few songs even. Some of it was quite good. She wondered if Monk's band could do anything with any of it. She planned to ask Monk, but some of the lyrics where so personal the thought still embarrassed her. Maybe she'd consider if he didn't tell his band mates who it was from.

Naru turned his head over to his assistant. The scientist sighed to himself grateful that the girl bounced back from her bad mood. She was smiling and looking off into space. He wondered where her thoughts were to make her outlook change so quickly.

'Thankfully she always does this.' Naru would barely admit it to himself, but her was relieved and amazed at Mai's nack for positivity.

Two hours passed and Noll felt himself slipping into tiredness. He looked back over at Mai who was still writing but looked to be nodding off as well. He took his headphones off, which caught the eyes of Lin who had been with the boy long enough to know what that meant.

Naru walked over to Mai and looked over at her paper where she had a repetition of four horizontal lines and lots of musical notes.

"Can you actually write music or are you just pretending?" Naru queried successfully scaring and angering the girl all at once. Mai filled over the paper quickly and squinted at her boss.

"God, could you ease up with the cat-like reflexes and make some more noise when you move!" Mai yelled getting Lin to chuckle to himself.

"Mai, it's not my fault you're completely oblivious to the outside world. Now get up, it's time for bed." Mai was about to argue when her verbal contract came to mind and she sighed in defeat. She threw her papers into her backpack and zipped it up throwing it on her back she grabbed her crutches and looked back at Lin.

"Night Lin, see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Mai." Naru held the door open for her and limped out of base.

The bedrooms were only down the hall, but apparently, Naru won't even allow that much room for mistakes. Naru opened the door to what she assumed was her room and she hobbled in, and he was right behind her.

"Jeez, can't a girl even get to be alone in her room?" Mai asked a bit annoyed Naru was still lingering around.

"Well Mai while you were sleeping we determined sleeping arrangements and it seems the two of us are stuck together." Naru said as he started to unbutton his black blouse.