Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.

"English speaking"

"Japanese speaking"

'Thinking'

Chapter 5

Sunday 5:57 pm, The lobby Mai's hotel

Oliver walked into the hotel lobby, weirdly a little nervous. This was nothing he hadn't done before. He'd gone to events like tonight many times, so why was he feeling like this was any different? Was it because he was going with Mai? He had never gone with anyone other than his family or Lin and Madoka. But he knew Mai. She wasn't just a stranger he was picking up. This was Mai. Yet it still felt different.

Walking towards the stairs he stopped mid stride as he looked up to see a beautiful woman walking down them. The cornflower blue dress was hugging her waist snugly. A modest neckline and 3/4th length sleeves made sure she wouldn't get cold. Though she was holding a light grey coat for when they were outside. The skirt was draped to just below her knees and made her movements look elegant. A pair of modest heels in a silver colour, along with a silver bracelet and earrings completed the look. Her hair, which Oliver noticed was longer than she had kept it before, was artfully curled and hanging loosely. He also noticed that she was wearing very little makeup. This he was grateful for. He didn't like makeup, so he was glad that Mai didn't seem to either.

Mai hadn't seen him yet, so he just stood and waited for her to reach the bottom of the stairs. Appreciating how fine and profesional she looked. Professionalism was after all one of the things that he deemed very important. She finally reached the bottom and started looking around. Oliver walked over and she finally noticed him. She smiled, her own nerves clear on her face.

"Naru. Hi."

"Mai. I was going to come get you at your room."

"Yeah, sorry. I seem to be a bit nervous and thought that a bit of walking would do me good. But instead of just walking aimlessly, I thought I would come down here to meet you."

"There's nothing to be nervous about, Mai. It's just dinner with a lot of old people. Only around 15 percent will be around our age." As if he was one to talk about not being nervous, even if he couldn't figure out why.

"I know.. I just have never been to anything so fancy before. Am I dressed okay? Is the dress appropriate enough?"

He looked down at her dress once more and noticed a fine pattern of neatly stitched, very simple flowers along the waistline. "Your dress is just fine Mai. I told you it would look good on you." And it really did. The colour complimented her skin tone nicely. He smirked as Mai's cheeks flushed pink again. She looked at his chest and he remembered the handkerchief that he had gone out to get earlier. This only made her blush deepen, and his smirk grow.

Mai had taken in Naru's form at the same time as he had looked at her dress. Man, he looked good in a tux with a black bowtie and silver cufflinks. The cornflower blue handkerchief matching her dress gave him a small splash of colour. Something not often seen on Naru, as he tended to only wear black. Aaand… Cue to the blush.

"You look good in a tux. It suits you." She tried to compliment him.

The smirk slackened a bit before it came back full force. "I know I do."

A bubble of laughter rose from her chest. "Narcissist." She said, shaking her head still laughing.

"Come on, idiot. We don't want to be late." His voice pulled her from her thoughts.

They walked out to his car and he opened the passenger door for Mai to step in. She thanked him and did just that.

When they got to the banquet hall, Mai's nerves had tripled and she felt a little sick from the butterflies in her stomach. When they walked in and stopped to give their coats to the servant hanging them, several people turned to look at them and then proceeded to talk among themselves. Mai couldn't hear what they were saying, but she instinctively knew that they were talking about something to do with her. She started to pick at her bracelet, nervously.

"Stop fidgeting, idiot." Naru said, sounding a little irritated. She knew that he didn't like people staring either, but he bore it a lot better than her.

"I don't know what to do with my hands."

"Just let them hang by your side."

"But it feels sort of wrong to do that."

He sighed and held out his left elbow for her to take. "Here, hold on to me."

She looked at him, making sure he wasn't kidding. She knew that Naru didn't like people touching him and she didn't want to make him uncomfortable. When he looked over at her expectantly, she smiled and took his arm. "Thank you, Naru."

He didn't answer, but she knew he had heard her. They walked into the room and Mai looked around. The round tables were beautifully decorated with ornate flower arrangements. Big curtains were draped down the light yellow walls and the floor was made of oak and complemented the whole thing very well. The colour scheme was something akin to honey gold. White, yellow, faded orange and a touch of gold here and there. This had most definitely been planned by a professional. 'Don't be stupid, Mai. Of course it has.'

-0-0-0-

Luella Davis was standing next to her husband at their table talking with Lin, Madoka and Yasuhara. The newcomer to the group was very charming and highly spirited. He was almost like a male version of Madoka.

"So, Yasu. Do you have a girlfriend?" What she really wanted to know was if he and Mai were a couple. She hadn't met the young woman yet, but from what her husband told her, and what she had so far gotten out of her friends, Noll was seemingly quite fond of her. Something she had feared would never happen. Whether this could turn out the way she hoped or otherwise, remained to be seen. But she first needed to know if Noll even had a chance. Yasu and Mai were aparently very close.

"No." He said with a brilliant smile. "I had a boyfriend, but we broke up just over six months ago. He couldn't really deal with the whole ghost thing, so he left."

"Oh. I'm so sorry to hear that." Well, this certainly cleared a few things up.

Yasu shrugged. "It's fine. If he can't deal with my job being something he doesn't understand, then he doesn't deserve me." The smile never left his face. But Luella thought she could see a bit of hurt still there. He clearly wasn't completely over this yet, but he was getting there. So she decided not to pry any further.

Madoka turned to her young friend. "Yasu, I've been wondering. Do you know why Mai kept degrading her own abilities yesterday?"

"Degrading?" Luella asked

Yasu smiled, but his brows knit together in concern. "You noticed that, hu?"

"I think everyone noticed. She called her psi-missing useless." Lin commented.

"And she said that her aura sensing wasn't 'really all that impressive'. Which it totally was." Madoka added. "Does she not believe in her own abilities?"

"This is Mai we're talking about, remember? Of course she believes in them, she just doesn't like attention. And whenever she is in the spotlight like that, she tends to make herself seem as small as possible. This is the same reason as to why she hasn't contacted the SPR society, even though she has been invited to events just like this before."

Martin looked up at this. "Who has invited her? When?"

"Hmm, let me see. There have been two invites from the same guy at ASPR(AmericanSPR). One guy from Germany invited her to work with him, though I don't think he was associated with the GSPR(GermanSPR) at all. Oh, and then a woman from Norway said she wanted to 'study' Mai, and she got one heck of a talking to from everyone. Especially by Ayako and Houshou Takigawa. They act more like her parents than her friends." Yasu finished with a bright smile.

"The man from America. What was his name?" Martin asked.

Yasu thought for a moment. "I think his name was Alexander, but I don't remember his last name."

"Alexander Montgomery?"

Yasu blinked at the excited tone in the professor's voice. "Yes, that's it. Do you know him?"

Martin smiled evilly. "Yes, I do. He's the head of ASPR just like I am of BSPR. Actually he's here tonight. And won't he be sour that I got Taniyama first? Excuse me for a moment."

Luella grabbed his arm and looked him sternly in the eye. "Your son and guest of honour have not yet arrived. You will wait at least until they do, and then you can go and gloat after."

"Yes, dear." Martin stood back with a disappointed look on his face, but didn't say anymore. The others laughed.

Glancing down at her watch, Luella noticed that it was time for Noll to arrive with Mai. She had been exceedingly thrilled to learn that her son was picking up the woman and was anticipating the time where she would see them together. Looking around to see if she could spot them, her jaw went slack and she hit her husband on the arm to get him to notice too.

"Ow. Darling what was that for?" Martin looked at his wife and saw her bewildered expression. Turning, he found what she was so surprised at, and he suspected that his own face mirrored hers. Their son was walking towards their table with a beautiful woman on his arm. As averse to touch as their son was, they had never expected this from him. And the handkerchief in Noll's front pocket was matching Mai's dress. Noll had actually gone out of his way to let everyone know that at least for tonight, Mai was accompanied by him.

Yesterday, when Noll had reacted so aggressively towards Mai, and they had stood up against each other, Martin had been worried that he hated the woman. This, however, made it clear even to Martin that hatred was definitely not the reason for his son's reaction. Perhaps his wife had been right. Maybe heartbreak had been part of the reason for Noll's constant bad mood these last six years.

Luella walked around the table to greet the newcomers. She had pulled herself together and her face now resembled that of a welcoming hostess. "Noll. You made it." She gave him a small hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Mai had now let go of Naru's arm and took in this beautiful woman before her. Blonde and tall, dressed in a light green dress with no sleeves, she looked stunning. The woman turned slightly to face Mai.

"And you must be Miss Taniyama. I'm Luella, Noll's mother. It's so very nice to meet you." She said with a broad smile and, without hesitating, she hugged Mai tightly.

Mai was a little shocked, but hugged the woman back. "It's nice to meet you as well."

Luella let go and led the two over to the table and they both exchanged greetings with the party already present.

"Mai-chan." Yasu exclaimed, coming over to stand beside her. "We were just talking about you."

Mai coloured. "You were?"

"Yes. Apparently the professor has just won some competition between him and Montgomery-san."

"Competition?"

"Yes. Prof. Davis has won because he got you first." Yasu grinned.

Mai felt the heat in her cheeks deepen. She looked at Martin. "I don't quite understand. Why does that equal winning professor?"

Martin smiled again. "Because Alexander and I are the heads of the two largest branches of SPR in the world. We are always in competition with each other. And I just learned that he has been trying to get his claws in you for a while now."

Oliver stiffened a bit at this news. Side eyeing her, he saw in her expression that she didn't quite like the reminder. His father however didn't seem to notice.

"And from what Yasuhara has told us, he and I are not the first to try."

"Who else?" Oliver asked.

"Apparently both Germany and Norway have interested parties as well. All though that Norwegian woman sounded a bit rude."

"She was." Mai scowled at the air in front of her. "When she asked if she could 'study' me, she practically talked to and about me like I was one of her lab rats." Then the smile returned and she laughed a little. "Ayako nearly ripped her tounge out of her mouth."

'I would have' Oliver thought to himself. "What was her name?" He asked instead.

"Dr. Frida Nielsen."

Madoka groaned. "She is an insufferable woman. She can be worse than Noll on his worst days."

All except Oliver and Lin laughed at that. Although one corner of Lin's mouth did twitch slightly without anyone noticing.

"If she ever contacts you again, tell me." Oliver said to Mai.

She looked at him quizzically. "Alright. Why?"

"Because I've read some of her research, and she is not kind to her subjects. I don't want her to be bothering you."

Mai was touched. She smiled sweetly. "Thanks Naru." Luella watched this exchange in amazement. Perhaps she might just have found the one person who could, or might already have, touched her son's heart.

It was time to sit. Mai sat on Oliver's left side and his mother on the right. Next to Mai was Yasu, then Lin with Madoka on his left. Martin went over to a small speakers podium and welcomed everyone in the hall. He spoke briefly of what an exciting event this year's conference had been, with a little smirk at Mai who blushed, and hoped that everyone would continue to enjoy themselves with tonight's feast. It dawned on Mai that tonight's event was not only to celebrate the many parties gathered in the name of science. It was also a fundraiser. She asked Naru if this was true and he Nodded and answered without turning his head.

"Our work in the field pays well, as does my parent's work, but the funds needed to keep the department going is hard to come by, so we need sponsors." He lowered his voice to answer her without interrupting his father.

Remembering a time where the team of JSPR(JapaneseSPR) had been wondering if maybe Masako's father was sponsoring Naru's department and that was how she could pressure him into going on dates with her, she smiled but refrained from laughing. "Let me guess. One of the only reasons you come to these events is because everyone knows your name and that makes you a good candidate for bringing in the sponsorships."

He turned his head fully to look at her. A smirk tugged at his lips. "Usually yes. It's a little unnerving that you know me that well after all this time."

She couldn't keep the small giggle in. "I worked with you for over a year, Naru. I know you think I'm stupid, but I'm not that slow. I know that you must despise events like this with so many people."

He turned his head to watch the podium again as his father was finishing up. "Indeed I do." 'But I think tonight may be different.'

Luella really didn't mean to overhear, but she just couldn't help it. She did sit right next to the pair. Her insides were dancing with excitement. She wanted to sing with happiness. Instead of being stoically silent and brushing off her question, he had both answered and explained. And Mai had not even hesitated in asking. She could have asked anyone at the table, but she had chosen Noll without a second thought. As if it was a habit to ask him simple questions, and him actually answering. Luella thought if this perhaps had been the typical way for them to converse while they were in Japan together. Not for the first time did she wonder why exactly Noll never went back. He had warned them before he found Gene's body that he was thinking of keeping the JSPR open, but he never mentioned it again. And when asked he just brushed off the question with a simple 'I changed my mind'. But what had changed his mind. After the night she had learned of Mai's existence, Luella had been watching her son's behaviour very closely. She still thought that there was something akin to a person with heartbreak about him, but this version of Noll sitting and making smalltalk with the stunning woman beside him, didn't look heartbroken in the slightest. She needed to get to the bottom of this. She needed to find out what had happened between these two.

Martin finished up and told everyone to enjoy the food and drinks. Free bar was always a good seller. He reached the table and sat down on his wife's right side and with Madoka on his own right. Waiters brought out the entrais. Baked salmon with a side of steamed vegetables. A female waitress asked Mai if she would like some whitewine with her meal, but she politely declined.

"You don't like wine Mai?" Luella asked her, getting a glass herself.

"Oh no, I do appreciate a good wine, but it dulls my senses a lot, so I tend to stick to non alcoholic beverages."

Luella giggled. "You're just like Noll. He never drinks either. Says it slows his thinking."

"It does. And that's not just something I'm saying, mother. It's a scientific fact that alcohol slows the brain's function." Oliver said, taking a sip of his water.

Conversation around the table was light as everyone ate the delicious meal. As they were nearly finished, Luella asked Mai something that had been nagging at her mind.

"So Mai. Do you have a boyfriend or something of the like?"

Mai looked at the woman a little amused. "No, I stopped trying to date a few years ago."

Luella's eyebrows lifted. "Why? You're still so young. There's plenty of time left for you to find someone. Why stop trying?"

Oliver tried not to give away the fact that he was listening very intently. These were questions he had wondered too, but pride and the awkwardness of asking had stopped him from doing so.

"I tried going on both regular and blind dates, but it's hard. Even if the first date goes well, I still have to tell them at some point what I do for a living, and I'd rather get that out there quickly so I don't waste my time. The small percentage of guys who don't think I'm crazy and run away at the mention of my work, are usually creeps who have a weird ghost fetish or just think they can get.. Well, you know, and then walk away. And I don't do that sort of thing. Needless to say, I have never actually had a single good date."

Madoka joined in. "So, you've never had a relationship with anyone?"

"No. But I don't really mind. Doing what I do, it's easier not to have an attachment outside of work. With the odd work hours, it would be hard to keep a relationship going if they didn't understand the commitment needed."

There was some nodding around the table in agreement.

Luella looked concerned though. "But you haven't given up completely have you?"

"If someone comes along down the road who understands and that I'm attracted to for that matter, then maybe I would try again. But I've sort of gotten used to the thought that I'm probably not going to find such a person." Mai answered with a sad smile.

"I know how you feel, Mai." Madoka said. "I felt much the same way before I found Koujo here. But don't give up hope. Trust me, sweety. You are much too young to be a spinster."

Mai looked at her friend's hands. There was a matching set of wedding rings on Madoka's and Lin's hands. "Wait! You guys got married? When did this happen? I mean congratulations, I'm SO happy for you guys." Her grin was unmatchable. They both thanked her and Luella and Martin chuckled at the display. "But seriously, why didn't you tell me yesterday? Either of you?" Madoka may have been busy, but she had spent a few hours with Lin at least, and he hadn't said anything.

A conversation about the wedding started. They had now been married for five years and were as happy as can be. Mai acknowledged that the party had sounded wonderful. She then told them that Ayako and Takigawa had also been married for four years now and were expecting a son in a few months. They had taken it upon themselves to be Mai's adoptive parent's even though she was of age and didn't need a guardian anymore. So even though the paperwork was never filled, they treated her much like a daughter and she did kind of see them as a go to for parental advice.

This sent alarm bells ringing in Luella's head. "What do you mean dear? Are.. Are you an orphan?"

"Yes." Mai said with no change in demeanour. Although she hesitated at Luella's look of motherly concern. "Oh, Please don't look at me like that. I'm okay. My parents died a long time ago. And I know I'll see them again some day." This did make Luella feel better, but she was still concerned for her young friend.

A buzzing sound started. Mai jumped a little, then pulled out a phone from an invisible pocket in her dress. "Oh, you have pockets. I was wondering where your phone and stuff were hiding." Madoka said in an amused voice.

Mai smiled at her. "Yeah, I'm really forgetful so having a purse is just asking for me to leave it behind somewhere." She looked at the screen. "Oh, speak of the devil. This is Bou-san now."

"It's almost four in the morning over there. Why is he still awake?" Yasu asked.

Mai shrugged and excused herself from the table to take the call. "Bou-san. Is something wrong?"

Oliver watched her walk a few metres away, then she stopped and went absolutely rigid. She promptly turned around, walked straight to Oliver's side and sat down next to him. She whispered to him in Japanese, hoping not to be overheard and cause a scene.

"Naru. Do you know of the legend of the Kuchisake-onna?"

She was afraid. That much was clear on her face. She obviously knew of the legend herself, but given the anxiety that was coming from her, she might just want some confirmation, so she didn't give the wrong information.

"He's not standing in front of one is he?" He lowered his own voice to match hers.

She shook her head. "No. But he thinks that might be what he is dealing with. Given the information he has gathered."

"Let's take this outside." He took her hand and walked with her to a set of balcony doors that led outside to a garden. When they arrived at a small set of iron furniture with pillows on the chairs, Oliver told Mai to sit down, and put the phone on speaker so he could hear what the monk said. She did and he sat as well.

"Takigawa, can you hear us?"

"Yeah, I can. Hey Naru."

"Give us the facts."