Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.

"English speaking"

"Japanese speaking"

'Thinking'

Chapter 7

Oliver drove Mai back to her hotel not long after his father had gone again. His mother had gone to bed, so he was sure she wouldn't miss him. Instead of just dropping her off, he decided to walk her to her room. In the elevator he debated with himself how to ask her what he needed to ask. Ultimately he scolded himself for overthinking the problem and decided to just do it.

"Mai?"

"Yes, Naru?" She was tired, her eyelids had been drooping in the car.

"Are you over Gene?"

Her brows furrowed and she blinked a few times. Then she turned her head to look at him. "What?"

"The way you spoke of him tonight made me wonder. I didn't mean to offend you."

The elevator reached Mai's floor and she stepped out. "Okay. Let's get this straightened out once and for all." She reached her door and turned to face him. Her face was set in a sad and unsure expression. "I was never in love with Gene, Naru."

"But.."

"I knew there was a difference between you. I didn't know what it was or how important it was. But even though I called him by your name, I put you in two different categories. I knew from the beginning that you weren't the person I saw in my dreams, because you didn't behave the same way."

"He smiled at you. He was kind to you. I wasn't."

"You're right. The few times I saw him, he did smile at me. He never raised his voice or called me an idiot. But that was it. We never had an actual conversation. You on the other hand were rude most of the time."

"So then why..?"

"Because you are so much more than your rude and cold exterior. You gave me a great job when I desperately needed one and essentially a family too, which I hadn't had in years. You taught me so much that I still use in my work today." Tears were forming in her eyes now. "You saved my life on multiple occasions and even if you won't admit it, you were very kind to me at times."

Naru didn't know what to say.

"I know a lot of people say that you don't have a heart, but they are wrong. I saw it. I still see it now. And I fell in love with it. I never called to explain, because I was dealing with a broken heart. And I didn't think you would care to hear it."

Pain shot through Oliver's chest. His heart constricted in the same way it had done six years and a half years ago, when he thought she had been in love with his dead twin. He had been wrong. Just like Gene said. He had been looking for the kink in the scenario like always, and then created it himself. "I'm sorry, Mai."

She smiled through her tears. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. And I also know that emotions are hard for you, so I won't make you stand here and watch me cry like the idiot I am."

He wanted to say that he didn't think she was an idiot, but the words didn't want to come out. It was just like with the phone all over again. He tried to force himself to reach out, but his limbs didn't move.

Mai unlocked her door and opened it. When she turned back she had wiped the tears away and was still smiling at him. Like he hadn't done anything wrong. "Thank you for driving me home. I don't know if I'll see you tomorrow before my flight. But if I don't I want you to know that it was good seeing you again. I hope that if you ever need any help with a case, then you won't hesitate to give me a call. Your father has my number so you can get it from him."

His mouth opened to say that he didn't want her to go, but again the stupid words didn't come out.

"Goodnight Naru. Have a safe drive home."

She closed the door without waiting for a reply.

"Goodnight Mai." He said in a low voice. He stood and watched her door for a long minute. Then he walked to the elevator and got in to go.

-0-0-0-

The next morning Mai was packing her bags when there was a knock on her door. She went over and looked in the peephole. Prof. Davis was on the other side. She opened the door wide.

"Professor Davis. What are you..?"

Just at that moment the door on the other side of the hall to the right of Mai's own door, opened to reveal Yasu. "Hey. Did someone knock?" He asked with a smile.

"Mai. Yasu. I have a request to ask of you both." Martin said. "Do you two have a moment to hear me out?"

They both replied that they did. He asked them both to come into Mai's room so they weren't standing in the hall for all to hear. They went in and closed the door.

"If I asked for your help with a case, would the two of you be willing to make your stay a bit longer?" Martin asked them.

"A case?" Yasu asked excitedly.

"Yes. One of our teams of investigators went to this house previously last year. They didn't find anything however so they called off the investigation. But the residents have just called and sent me some new evidence. I would like to officially request your assistance."

There was another knock on the door. "Ah, that must be Noll. I told him to come." The professor opened the door and Naru stepped inside. "Noll. Good, good. Now that you're here, you can help me convince these two to accept my offer."

Mai made eye contact with Naru. She wanted to see if anything between them had changed since their conversation last night. But of course, mister 'cold exterior' showed nothing out of the ordinary. She briefly considered using her aura sensing, to figure out how he was feeling. But decided against it. She had not done it last night either. She was admittedly a little afraid to find out. She had felt his confusion and something akin to regret from him, but she thought she knew why that was. She had after all, just told him that she had once loved him and that he had hurt her a lot more than he had thought. She had wanted to run away, but had made herself stay to at least say goodbye. She had cried for half an hour after closing the door- She had realised that even after six and a half years, she was still undeniably in love with the emotionally stunted man.

"What exactly have you offered them?" Naru asked, looking at his father and breaking eye contact with Mai.

Martin handed him a folder. "This is new evidence for the Adleigh case."

Naru took the folder and opened it. "Wasn't that the one where they couldn't find any evidence?"

"Yes, but I thought that since we have these two talented people with us, we might be able to find something new." Martin turned to look at Mai. "What do you say Mai? Yasu? Are you willing to help us?"

Yasu looked imploringly at Mai. She sighed. "Can I see the file?"

"Of course." Martin said enthusiastically. He reached into his briefcase, brought out two more folders and handed each to Yasu and Mai.

Mai opened it to find a picture of a set of watery footprints walking on wooden floorboards. The file described that these footprints had appeared in the span of the seven minutes it took the woman of the house to walk down the hallway they appeared in, and come back again. The sound of water dripping could often be heard at night, and when the husband had gone to check all the water taps in the house, he found them all to be closed properly. They had reported that it was hard to determine where the sound was coming from, since it had an echo and seemed to come from all over. Most recently, their young daughter had been taking a bath on the ground floor of the house, the mother in the next room, when some invisible force had pulled her under and nearly drowned her. The family had vacated the house, and were terrified to go back.

"The house is near a set of cliffs." Yasu commented. "Could it be a drowning victim taking it out on the residents of the house near where he drowned?"

Mai looked at the description of the house and found Yasu to be right. He was faster at reading than her, so it wasn't surprising that he was already done.

"It's not impossible, but I doubt it." Naru replied. "In such a case, the spirit would most likely try to drown anyone attempting to swim in the waters." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Mai. What do you think?"

She looked up to see all three men staring at her expectantly. "The footprints and the dripping water, as well as the attempted drowning of the little girl, consists with the victim of a drowning. Perhaps something that happened inside the house once. But the house is only 53 years old, so if anything like that had happened, the other team would surely have discovered it. It's the echo though."

"The echo?" Naru inquiered.

"The echo of the water dripping in the night. It doesn't fit. There should not be an echo in that house. The floor plan doesn't show any rooms that would be large enough to create such a sound. Not even the bathrooms would be able to send the noise all the way out through the house like that. So it just.. Doesn't fit in." She sat down cross legged on the floor and started rubbing her bottom lip slowly with her left index finger as she thought.

Oliver stared at her. At her lip. Wondering if it was just as soft as her finger made it look. 'Stop looking at her mouth. That's the second time.' But even though he managed to pull his eyes away, they quickly found their way back to discover that now she was biting said lip. Oliver swallowed thickly and looked down at his own papers. But his mind went to last night. He had barely slept at all. He kept going over what she had told him. But she had never revealed if she still harboured any feelings for him. He on the other hand realised just how much her statement had touched him. She had seen him for who he really was and she had fallen in love with him. Rudeness and untamed emotions included. He had to admit to himself at least, that he too had feelings for her. Now the only problem was how to go about telling her. Should he tell her? If she had moved on, which wasn't unlikely, would it not be kinder not to? 'Aaargh. Why do emotions make things so much more complicated?!'

"Naru?" He heard Mai say. He looked up.

His face must have told of his frustration. She had stood up and moved closer to him, looking worried. "What?"

"Are you okay? You didn't hear me calling your name."

"I'm fine. Just lost in thought. What were you saying?"

"I said I'll go. And then I asked if you were coming too. Are you?"

"Yes." No thinking about that was needed. If Mai was going, then he sure as hell was going too.

"Excellent!" Martin exclaimed. "You two." he pointed at Mai and Yasu in turn. "Finish packing. Noll, we're going home to pack ourselves. We'll pick the two of you up in front of the hotel in less than two hours." Martin started to drag Naru out the door, and Mai watched in amusement as the prof. started rambling about the equipment they would need.

"Oh! Wait a second." Mai called after them. She quickly wrote something down and hurried over to put the small piece of paper in Naru's hand. "My phone number. Just in case." Then she promptly turned around and picked up where she had left off with her packing.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Back at the Davis's manor Luella was ecstatic that Mai and Yasu were staying longer. Of course she was a little sad that they were going on a case, which meant that she wouldn't be spending any time with the woman she was quickly starting to care about. But if she was spending time with Noll, then she didn't care. Her son had changed so much since Mai had arrived, and she wanted them to spend time together. As much as was possible. And she knew that on a case, they were bound to see a lot of each other.

Oliver sat in his room, staring at the piece of paper with Mai's phone number. He wanted to contact her, but once again had no clue as to what he should say. He could just send a text so she had his number as well. But the same problem came up again. What should he write?

Oliver cursed in frustration and grabbed his packed bag to go downstairs. He said goodbye to his mother and went outside. He put his bag in the boot of his father's car and got into the passenger's seat. His father started driving and then asked if Mai and Yasu were ready.

"How am I supposed to know?"

"She gave you her phone number, right? Call and ask her." Martin encouraged him.

Why hadn't he thought of that? Whatever. He pulled out his phone and dialled the number.

"Hello?" Mai's voice came through the phone.

"Mai. Are you two ready yet?"

"Oh, hi Naru. Yeah. We're about to go down to the lobby. Yasu couldn't find his keys so he dumped the contents of his suitcase on his bed so he needed to pack all over again. And they weren't even in the suitcase."

"Were they on the nightstand?"

"Yup. Don't tell me you get visions too."

He could practically see her laughing face. "No, but people always forget that they put important objects in the most obvious places to help them remember."

She laughed. "True. Are you guys on your way here?"

"Yes. We'll be there in about 20 minutes. Then we'll go over to the BSPR office and pick up Lin and Madoka, as well as the equipment."

"Great. By the way, I thought you'd want to know. Bou-san called earlier. The exorcism of the Kuchisake-onna went well. Neither of them got hurt and they believe she is gone. But they'll keep an eye on the place just in case."

"Good. I'm impressed they could handle it on their own. It shows how much they've learned."

"Yeah. Anyway, I'll see you soon."

"20 minutes Mai."

"Yeah, yeah I got it." He hung up.

"She really is something." Martin said. More to himself then to Noll.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you actually carried on a conversation with her."

"And?"

Martin sighed. "Normally you would just tell the person on the other side that 'they'd better be ready, because we'll be there soon'. But not Mai, hu? You must really like her."

Oliver stiffened. "What makes you say that?"

His father chuckled. "You really don't realise, do you?" He shook his head. "You are so different when you're with Mai. You give so much more. It's wonderful to see you live again, son. We've missed this side of you. It's good to know that you haven't buried it completely."

Oliver didn't answer for a bit. Was it that obvious? He guessed that it must be. "Do you approve?"

Martin was shocked that Noll even had to ask. His eyes bulged in surprise. "Approve?! Son, your mother and I adore her." They practically worshipped her for coming into Noll's life, but he didn't say that. "Besides, she makes you smile. That is reason enough to approve."

"I don't smile. I smirk. There's a difference."

Martin couldn't help remembering a time when Noll was 9 and he had said the exact same thing. But this time he was wrong. "So you don't even notice. That's even better. Just now when you were on the phone with her, you smiled, just a little. And last night I saw you smiling softly quite a few times as you were watching her as she talked to everyone. And at the lecture, you didn't just smile. You had pride in your eyes as you watched her up there. Take it from me son. When you're watching the woman you love, you can't help but smile."

"Who says I love her?" But Oliver knew he was fighting a lost battle there.

"I do. I'm your father. And I saw love in your eyes as you watched her. Women don't see it as clearly. The love in their eyes is more bright and shining. But a man who knows you well can always tell."

"So you don't think she knows?" He had thought about this. Perhaps she already could tell, but just didn't say anything because she was no longer interested.

"Oh, Mai is an intelligent person, but there is no way she knows. There is a reason why 'blinded by love' is such a cliché. It's not always because one doesn't see another person's flaws. It can just be you blinding yourself. Afraid to look too closely, because you're scared that what you find won't be what you wish to be there."

Oliver didn't comment further, and Martin decided to let his son think that one over for a while.

They picked Mai and Yasu up, then proceeded to the office. There was some debate about who should drive in what cars. In the end it was decided that Mai should go with Lin and Naru in the van with the equipment, while Yasu and Madoka drove with the professor. It came to this because that way, the enthusiastic people who liked to talk a lot were in one car, while the ones who preferred silence were in the other. Lin and Naru were both surprised when Mai said that she was with them. She had always liked to talk a lot. But when Yasu informed them that since she had essentially become the boss of the group after they had left and therefore tended to think a lot in silence, they understood it a little better.

They set off and Mai started reading the case file over once more. 20 minutes into the drive however, she couldn't help a single comment from making its way out. "Am I the only one having dejavu?"

Not expecting either of her companions to answer, she didn't look over at them. If she had though, she would have seen that the corners of both men's mouths were tugging upwards. No, she wasn't the only one having a feeling of dejavu. And it wasn't a bad feeling at all.

Four hours, one rest stop midway and a small nap for Mai later, they finally arrived in Lavernock. The house really was very close to a cliffside. About 35 metres behind the house, there was a wall made of stone, to make it safe to walk there. The house itself was made of grey stone and dark red roof tiles. In front of the house was a car parked. Naru told Mai that it was probably Mr. Adleigh. He had agreed to come and unlock the house for them. As well as answer a few questions, if they should have any that hadn't been asked before.

They got out and Mai immediately pulled up the hood on her coat. The wind was blowing hard and it was freezing cold. It had also started to drizzle. Mr. Adleigh exited his own car and went over to greet them. He was a tall and handsome man, with light brown hair and small round glasses. When asked, he said that he hadn't been waiting long. He unlocked the front door and when he opened it, Mai felt a chill go down her spine. Though, that could just have been the weather. She filled that away for later reference though. Just in case.

As they all walked inside, she prepared herself to feel some of the spirit's emotions in the house, but she came up blank. A little startled as she had been expecting the opposite, she looked around.

The entryway was a large foyer that went up to the ceiling of the first floor. On the far wall was a staircase to the first floor landing. On the ground floor were the entryway, living room, dining room, kitchen, pantry, washingroom and a bathroom. On the first floor were one bathroom, an office and four bedrooms.

Mai noticed the hallway, which was an open frame, that led to the other rooms on the first floor. She got an uneasy feeling. Not a ghost, she didn't think. It wasn't an emotion from the supposed entity haunting the place, but a feeling in her gut. Something was wrong with that hallway. Mai walked over to stand just at the edge of the open frame.

Oliver was listening to his father ask Mr. Adleigh a few generic questions, when he noticed Mai. He went over to stand beside her. Her face was a mask of concentration. "Got something?"

"There's something wrong with this hallway. But I can't put my finger on it. I can't find the right answer, but I can feel my instincts warning me not to go that way."

He looked down the dark hall. Noticing a lightswitch in the wall, he flicked it and turned on the ceiling lamps. Nothing seemed amis to him, but then again, he wasn't the one with psychic instincts.

"Mr. Adleigh." He called out over his shoulder. "Has there been any activity down this hallway? Is it the one where the footprints appeared?"

They all came over to look. "Yes. It was just down here." Mr. Adleigh started to walk into the hall, but Mai grabbed his arm firmly and pulled him back a step.

"Don't." She said in a quiet and serious tone. "Don't go in there. Please point out where the footprints appeared."

He looked at her, a little frightened. "Sure." He lifted his finger to point. "See that picture frame with the tree? Right there in the middle? Straight out from that and then half a metre or so more towards us. That's where they started."

"And in which direction did they go?" Mai asked him.

"This way. They went all the way to the front door."

She turned to face him. "Was the door open after they showed up?"

He nodded. "Yes, it was. How did you know that? The previous team didn't ask about that."

"Educated guess." She answered simply. "Sir? Can you get to the other rooms here on this floor without using this hallway?"

"Yes. All the rooms on this floor are connected by intercepting doors. Except the bathroom."

Was that the bathroom where your daughter was attacked?"

He gulped. "Yes it was."

She thought for a moment. Oliver was impressed with her line of questioning. She really had become a good investigator. He could understand how she had been the one to take over as the leader for the old team when he left.

"One more thing, sir. If you don't mind. The water from the footprints, was it real water?"

"Uumm. I'm sorry. What do you mean real?"

"I mean, did it vanish on its own, or did you have to clean it up?"

He looked like it was hard to remember. "I'm sorry I don't know. I would have to call my wife and ask her. I was not home at the time, so I didn't see."

"Alright. Please ask her then. Thank you." She went back to staring into the hallway. "Until I know more, nobody goes down this way." She said as a final statement.

Oliver did have a few more questions though. "Was that the only time the prints have appeared?"

"I believe so. We have not noticed any other time. But of course we are not home all the time, with work and school for my daughter, so we might not have been home when more appeared."

Oliver asked about the dripping and Mai then started to listen in again. Mr. Adleigh could only tell them what they already knew however. Mai asked if he was sure about the echo of the sound, and he said that he was most definitely sure. He apologised that he had to go, but his wife needed him back soon. He told them that the office on the first floor had the most outlets, so they could use that as base. Otherwise, they were free to do as they pleased, as long as they got to the bottom of this. Then he left.

Oliver looked at Mai. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking… That there are no spirits in this house." She said, looking straight at him so he knew she was serious.

Everyone was surprised. "But what about the hallway? You said to keep away from it." Madoka exclaimed bewildered.

Mai looked at her. "And you most definitely should. All I'm saying is that there is no spirit here now. But I think one may have passed through the house. Maybe more than once."

"What does the house feel like? Any lingering emotions?" Yasu piped up.

She shook her head. "Nothing. The house itself feels empty. The only thing I'm getting anything from is this stupid hallway." But then she remembered. "And the front door."

"The front door?" Oliver asked her.

"Yes. When Mr. Adleigh opened it, I got a chill down my spine. I thought it might just have been the weather, but now I'm not so sure. If the spirit has passed through the house somehow and used that door as either its entry or exit point, it could have been something it left behind on its way. I can't say for sure though, so don't take my word for anything. Sorry I can't be more specific."

"Oh, no Mai. You've been here less than an hour and you can already tell us this much." Prof. Davis told her. She looked at him and saw that he was scribbling in a small notebook. He was actually taking notes. "This is incredible. Noll, I want to take a look at all those case files from Japan again when we get home. Mai, any chance you would share some of your own case files? I would like to see other examples of your deductive powers, if you don't mind terribly."

Mai smiled for the first time since entering the house. "I might be able to dig something up for you."