Disclaimer: We've been through this, lol, but I do not own Ghost Hunt.

Chapter 8 – Lending a Hand

-0O0-

Naru found Mai in the guest room that she had claimed when she arrived in England. She was rooting through a suitcase full of files and equipment. Naru was taken aback – he had assumed that her second suitcase was filled with clothing and personal effects, like Ayako's. But instead, Mai had brought tons of research material, case histories, and ghost hunting equipment. For the umpteenth time since Mai had gotten to England, Naru felt rather discombobulated.

Mai seemed to sense his presence and looked up. Their eyes met. Finally without the companions they never seemed to shake, Naru was free to stare into Mai's eyes with all the intensity he possessed.

The teen psychic felt like Naru was trying to see through to her soul. Normally, she would look away, embarrassed, but something inside Mai told her to hold his gaze. Instantly, Mai felt the psychic connection between herself and Naru thrum with energy. The very air around her felt electric, as if Naru were using his PK and sending lightning down the invisible cord that tied the two of them together. Mai felt that if she touched her own skin, it would be burning. It seemed like both of them were burning. Mai suddenly had a powerful desire to throw herself across the room and into Naru's arms.

To distract herself from this terrifying idea, Mai swallowed hard and refocused on the physical world. She gazed into Naru's eyes.

They were still as deep as she remembered. His eyes were deep wells that her younger self could not fully comprehend. Mai used to wonder what went on in Naru's head; she remembered constantly guessing about the truths behind his unsmiling gaze.

Of course, now she knew some of the answers to those mysteries. Mai knew his real name, knew his powers, knew his pain. She knew that the chill in Naru's eyes was a coping mechanism (sometimes – other times it was just because he thought someone was stupid). She recognized that he cared about his friends – that he cared about her. At least enough to comfort her over what appeared to be a doomed love for his dead twin brother.

And with this thought, Mai finally looked away from Naru. Two years ago, Naru had listened to her confession… and decided that she loved Gene. He had asked her which of the two she was in love with, but Mai realized later that he had already formed a conclusion in his mind. He had moved right to comforting Mai about her love, telling her that she'd meet Gene in a hundred years. Naru decided that she loved Gene.

And Mai did love Gene. She loved him as a guide, as a true friend, and as a brother. He was wonderful; warm, openly caring, and he had a lovely smile.

But she was in love with Naru. Naru was the one she fought with constantly, the one who could get her back up like none other. Whose voice cut through everything and sent delicious thrills down her spine. Whose long, elegant and purposeful fingers hypnotized Mai like nothing else.

Naru was the one who – despite acting as if he couldn't care less – always rescued her from danger. Like during the Gellerini case. Mai would never forget how fast Naru had run across that field to save her as she hung from the edge of that manhole cover. (Mai remembered being surprised, even through her terror, that Naru could run.) She could still feel the sure grip of his hand as he calmly ordered her to put her foot on the ladder.

And then… they'd fallen. Like Mai had told Luella, Naru had blamed her for their fall into the sewer. She'd often wondered whether he could have avoided falling in after her. Gene had told her (much later) that Naru had certainly let himself fall. And by the time Naru and Lin left for England, Mai and Ayako had figured out that Naru's fainting fit actually happened because he used his PK to move the rocks below that would have broken their bodies. Rescuing her had put him in the hospital.

Naru had rescued her during the Ryokuryou High School case, too… Mai still blushed at the memory of Naru's weight on top of her. He had leapt INTO a collapsing room to get to her. He had thrown himself on top of her to protect her from the falling ceiling. Naru's back took most of it, she remembered saying. Naru had made another cutting remark, something about it being her fault. But even then, a piece of her mind knew that he was lying to pretend he didn't care.

Then there was the other major thing she'd told Luella – about the time that he had brought her tea in the middle of the night. She had just woken up from her first victim-centered, post-cognitive dream – the first dream in which she had seen death from the eyes of the victim. It had been absolutely terrifying; Mai still saw the hedge maze and felt the grip of the servants in her nastier nightmares. She had been two inches from a total meltdown… and then Naru had come into the room. Wearing light blue pajamas and looking younger and more innocent than Mai had ever seen him.

He held out a teacup for her (because in England, Mai now knew, tea was the answer to practically everything), and asked if she was alright in that adorable, unsure way. Drinking Naru's tea had made Mai feel so much better. Because of that moment, Mai now craved tea whenever she was upset or frustrated.

Then… then there was that smile Naru had given her after they'd closed the case at Yasu's school. That smile had stopped her thoughts in their tracks. It was amazing. Naru's real smile, so fleeting and rare. Mai's heart had attached itself firmly to Naru in that moment.

Naru had assumed that when Mai spoke of his wonderful smile, she had been talking about Gene. Which was understandable, Mai supposed. After all, she saw Gene smile practically every time she saw him – whereas she had seen Naru really smile only once. And Mai hadn't understood her feelings well enough herself to explain. It only became clear after she'd spent countless hours sitting at her apartment window, staring toward Dogenzaka and the SPR office.

The smile that Mai's Dream Naru had worn was so wonderful to Mai because she had thought it was Naru. Once she knew it was someone else, that feeling was gone. Gene's smile was comforting and attractive, but it was the idea of Naru smiling that had set Mai's heart aflame.

So Naru had been wrong. Still looking at the guestroom floor, Mai's lips twisted in a smile. Of all things for Naru to be wrong about, it was something as important as love. Although, Mai wondered, would Naru recognize love as important? Despite her knowledge that he did in fact care about people, he was still a workaholic and ignored the emotions of others with regularity. What did Naru think about love? Mai wasn't about to get into the subject. That had not gone so well last time.

Clearing his throat purposefully, Naru interrupted her deep thoughts. Almost unwillingly, Mai's eyes met his again.

"You decided to start your own ghost hunting company?" His uninterested-sounding monotone echoed off the hardwood floor.

Mai looked back down at her files. "Yes," she replied clearly, not wanting to sound as sheepish as she had downstairs. With new confidence, she met Naru's gaze squarely. "I needed to work, but being a regular office worker sounded boring. I wanted to do something that I enjoyed."

Something in Naru's eyes changed when Mai implied that she enjoyed ghost hunting. She figured that Naru was simply surprised.

And Naru was surprised – but he also felt some strange satisfaction at Mai's words. He found he liked that she enjoyed ghost hunting.

Her former boss' slight smile encouraged Mai to continue. "I was a waitress for a while, but it was dreary… and kinda hazardous. I figured if I were going to get thrown around anyway, I might as well be thrown around by spirits. I actually kind of prefer spirits to the creepy guys that used to harass me at the restaurant – especially that one that followed me out one night and tried to corner me up against the wall."

Shock and anger filled Naru. Mai had been attacked?

"Luckily, Bou-san made me take a few self-defense lessons," Mai continued with a wry grin. She pantomimed throwing a punch. "Kneed him in the balls and hit him in the face."

Naru's eyes widened slightly. Imagining Mai fighting some disgusting harasser… how did she manage to find trouble everywhere? The target that was painted on her back didn't only attract spirits, apparently. She was attacked by live entities as well.

"I still quit the next day," she went on. "Wasn't worth it. After that, Ayako and I started talking seriously about starting a business. She was bored, Bou-san was bored, and I needed a job – one that I liked. Yasu would have been bored, if he hadn't been busy helping me study for exams. So Ayako pulled together most of the money and we drew up a plan. We rented an office near SPR. I moved in with Bou-san and Ayako to cut down on my living costs. Bou-san brought his clients from the music business to the office… and word of mouth spread. Eventually, we could afford to pay Yasu to help full-time, and John-kun and Masako-chan actually got checks. They had already been helping for free." Mai smiled. "We built up a decent stock of equipment, thanks in part to our more generous clients – but most of it was donated by Masako-chan."

"Why didn't you just use SPR's office?" Naru wondered aloud. "You had the key."

"Well, yeah, but it's not like the lights were working or anything," Mai replied. "We definitely needed the lights to work. And I didn't really know if we could call you to get the lease transferred to us – if you even held the lease anymore. I mean, you guys left so fast… and I didn't know if I'd ever see you again." Her eyes became sad. "I didn't know if you'd want to talk to m – us, or to… be reminded of Japan."

This last statement confused Naru. Why would it be bad to be reminded of Japan? Ah, because he had told his employees that he only came to Japan to find Gene's body. Perhaps Mai thought that thinking about Japan saddened him or something. Naru sighed silently. If anything, being here in England was much worse. Here he was constantly bombarded by memories of Gene. Here, his parents were all over him all the time. And at Britain's SPR, he had to defer to his more senior colleagues.

But in Japan… Naru's memories had not haunted him so badly. He was also at liberty to do things without worrying about how it looked to his parents or his colleagues. He was the president of Japan's SPR, and he called the shots. Not for the first time, Naru desired to return to Japan.

"I would have given you the lease," Naru replied finally, looking out the window to keep Mai from seeing the emotions in his eyes. If Mai had called him about leasing him the office, the least he would have done was give it to her. It was likely that the phone call would have had greater consequences than Mai anticipated – Naru probably would have surrendered to his desire to leave England and re-opened SPR himself.

The great Dr. Oliver Davis felt regret stinging him. He could have gone back to Japan a long time ago.

But even as these thoughts ran through his mind, Naru remembered his reason for staying. His adopted mother's face swam into view – he saw Luella sobbing at Gene's funeral, soaking Martin's handkerchief as the casket was lowered into the earth. Naru felt again the desperation in her embrace when he met his parents at Heathrow. Permanently returning to Japan would probably destroy his mother.

But Japan was where everything was happening, another part of his mind argued plaintively. It was true; his employees had banded together and started their own business. Mai, of all people, had become a lead investigator and partial owner of a psychic investigation company. She had also greatly developed her powers of defense. Naru felt as if he'd been cheated somehow, missing all of that. (The fact that his brain automatically focused on Mai's development was a bit distressing.)

"Hey, guys?" Bou-san called from the bottom of the stairs. "Did you get lost up there or something?"

Mai sucked in a breath, waiting for Yasuhara's inevitable follow-up innuendo… nothing. She smiled gratefully as she realized that Yasu was consciously toning it down for Naru's parents.

Naru obviously shared Mai's sentiments, exchanging a relieved look with her. Mai grinned widely and hefted the folder she needed into her lap. Rocking on her heels, she reached out toward the bed to steady herself as she levered upwards…

And then Naru extended his hand to her.

Mai just stared at it for a moment, shocked. Had Madoka finally beaten some gallantry into Naru?

Above her, Naru heaved an irritated sigh. "We should get down there before Yasuhara gives in to his banal predilection for verbal torment. I figured I would save us time, as I suspect it would take you at least two tries to stand up unassisted."

Mai glared – but couldn't really fault her former boss' logic. Her leg was asleep and she could practically feel herself falling already. So she bit her lip, grasped Naru's hand, and tried to ignore the warm feeling inside as he pulled her up.

She made sure to grumble about narcissists who lacked manners all the way back to the sitting room, though. Couldn't let Naru know she appreciated it; his ego might get even bigger.

-0O0-

Mai glanced at her phone for the eighteenth time in ten minutes. Luella had given her special permission to have it at the table, since John would be calling before he started the exorcism. Bou-san (in a fit of contrition) had set up the TV to receive live feed from the garden cameras.

Mai had also asked John to move two of the three cameras far away from the ringed-in exorcism site. After suffering the destruction of several cameras during rites, Mai had realized that setting up the cameras farther away and then using the zoom feature saved a lot of money on equipment. Zooming in made the picture a bit fuzzy, but Mai couldn't afford to constantly replace cameras (like Naru did). To make sure she didn't miss anything vital, Mai usually left one camera close to the exorcism site.

Everything was set up by now, and it was time for the main event. Mai was just waiting on John. He and Father Toujo were reinforcing the ring with prayers and holy water. Since the holy water had worked during the attack on Masako, John had decided to use Christian emblems of faith to make the ring. Both living participants were Christian, anyway.

"Taniyama-san, you certainly are impatient about the exorcism," Lin noted. Mai usually dreaded the actual exorcisms, especially the ones utilizing jorei. She also had no sense of time, lollygagging around in haunted houses and late for everything. But now John was late and Mai was checking her phone multiple times a minute.

"Well, yeah!" Mai's patience was hanging by a thread and Lin was pulling on it. "I'm worried about John-kun and Father Toujo. They're on a case by themselves and Masako-chan has already been attacked!"

"John-kun is very capable, Mai-chan," Yasuhara said soothingly. "And a ghost almost always attacks someone. You're just freaked out because it's not you for once."

Bou-san and Madoka chuckled.

Mai glared and barely refrained from throwing her fork at Yasuhara. "Damn right," she replied. "Besides, I can't really do anything from here. What if something goes wrong? My yelling the nine words at the screen isn't going to help." She sighed. "I know that John-kun is very capable. We've all seen him in action enough times. It's just annoying being sidelined like this. I wasn't expecting to be so nervous about exorcisms that I'm not even there for."

"Well, Mai, I think it's normal," Ayako chimed in. "Despite the many times you've said that you're not the boss, you really are our primary lead investigator. It makes sense that you feel nervous and upset about taking a sabbatical from the company you helped build. Plus, your primary researcher and two of your spiritualists are away from the office with you."

Mai pursed her lips. Ayako was right.

"I think it shows what a responsible jou-chan you're growing up into!" Bou-san cooed dramatically, deliberately trying to annoy her. He preferred angry Mai to scared Mai.

His ploy worked; his adopted daughter immediately lobbed a biscuit at him. Bou-san ducked and the roll fell to the floor. Luella and Ayako both made to reprimand Mai, but Bou-san got there first, clucking his tongue noisily.

"Now, Mai… grown-ups don't let their rampant nervy angst turn them violent."

Mai growled and threw another biscuit. Bou-san ducked again, but Mai was ready this time and threw out a hand. Calling up her PK-MT, she altered the roll's trajectory in midair. The bread smacked her adopted father right in the cheek.

"Hit!" Yasuhara crowed, acting as if he and Mai were in the lab running their weekly tests. "So where were you actually aiming?"

"His forehead," Mai admitted.

"A little off then, but still a direct hit on a moving target." Yasuhara grinned. "I count that a success."

"I count that as wasting food," Ayako cut in. She turned to address Luella. "Unfortunately, this is regular dinnertime behavior for my ill-mannered idiots here. However," she spun back to Mai. "I thought we decided to nix the food-and-utensil-tossing competitions while in someone else's home."

Mai winced. "Yes, I'm sorry, Luella."

"Don't be sorry!" Martin interrupted enthusiastically. "That was wonderful! Excellent control of both the amount of power used and manipulation of that power. Very good show, Taniyama!"

Mai blinked, shocked. And then blushed furiously at the compliment.

Then she registered the wide-open eyes of Lin, Madoka and Naru. Belatedly, Mai remembered that this was the first time she had used her PK in front of anyone from Britain's SPR.

"Ah, yeah, so I can do that now!" Mai said brightly, smiling to ease the tension. "I don't have nearly the amount of power that Naru does, but I am working very hard to control it properly!"

"Thank goodness," Ayako drawled. "If I had to buy one more replacement drinking glass…"

"Hey, I didn't break THAT many!" Mai shot back. "And after I broke the first few, we moved them far away into the closet! You're the one that kept taking them back out."

"I do not drink out of throwaway plastic cups," Ayako groused.

"You should if you want to keep your crystal safe from our poltergeisting princess," Yasuhara drawled in a teasing tone.

"Shut it, Yasu!" Mai snapped. "You're the idiot who insisted on drinking juice and water out of wineglasses for all of finals week."

"Why would you drink juice out of wineglasses?" Luella wondered.

"Yasu told me it was therapeutic. Some rot about 'think high-class and you'll get high grades.'" Mai rolled her eyes.

Yasuhara grinned mischievously. "Well, it was really because I knew that Mai was really stressing out and there was a high probability that she would cause a poltergeist. I wanted to see how many glasses she could break in one shot."

"WHAT?" Ayako roared. "You owe me money, Yasuhara!"

"I would like to point out that all of those glasses were actually mine," Bou-san cut in. He threw a grin at his fuming fiancée. "Assuming ownership early, Ayako?"

"Well, I live there!" Ayako was livid. "And one of my favorite lamps got broken during that particular paranormal outburst!"

"I'm sorry!" Mai wailed.

"I know, and it's alright," Ayako soothed. "I was yelling at Yasu. Especially since it sounds like he might have forced that particular poltergeisting incident." She leveled a frosty glare at Yasuhara.

Yasuhara summoned his most angelic expression. "Why, Ayako! I merely took advantage of the already stressful situation at hand!"

"Yasu," Mai growled, "You told me that night that if I didn't make into the top 3, I would never get into Todai."

"Well, you wouldn't have!"

"You told me that if I didn't do wonderfully on the exam, I'd wind up a bar maid in Akihabara…"

Madoka snorted with laughter.

"…and that creepy guys like our Third Client would be following me home every night…."

"Third client?" Lin asked.

"A story for another time," Bou-san whispered.

"…AND that I'd never dig myself out of the educational hole I'd wind up in."

Naru's lips twitched.

"In other words, you were totally trying to provoke me, Yasu! You figured, 'ooh, think about what an awesome poltergeist Mai will cause if I just push a little further.'"

"And it WAS awesome."

"Argh!" Mai could feel her usually tamped-down PK abilities rising. She had just used them, so they were much closer to their active state. She needed to calm down…

Yasu wasn't done, though. "I taped it, Professor Davis, if you'd like to watch it."

Mai's fists clenched and her forearms prickled with heat.

"You'll have to ignore Mai-chan's appearance in the video. She had been studying for 27 hours straight, so she kinda looks like a drugged-out mental patient."

Crack! Mai's glass shattered. Luella and Ayako recoiled as shards of crystal fell onto the table. Madoka, Lin and Naru stared in surprise and fascination. Martin just grinned.

"Shimatta!" Mai cursed in Japanese. Her powers weren't quite done, and she bit her lip as a hot wind blew through the room. The chandelier rattled and the table linens fluttered, but no further damage was done. The heat in her arms faded, and Mai breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she remembered that she'd just broken a piece of Luella's expensive crystal. "I'm so sorry!" Mai cried in English. "I usually have better control nowadays, but I had just used them – my powers – and they were standing at the ready. Plus, I'm so edgy about the exorcism…"

"It's alright," Luella smiled understandingly. "We're really quite used to it." She gestured toward her silent son.

Mai heard Lin's deep voice in her memory, informing her that Naru had caused lots of powerful poltergeists when he was a child. Gene had told her about it, too, during one case when she was angsting (in her dreams) over producing her third poltergeist in one week. According to both accounts, Naru's poltergeisting had been spectacular – whole rooms of furniture floating about. Gene's had been comparatively calm.

Having avoided her former boss' gaze since their conversation earlier in the day, Mai chanced a glance at Naru. He was staring thoughtfully into the distance. She bit her lip nervously. Naru was normally pretty quiet, but he had been extra-silent since she had used PK. Had he guessed the truth?

As if he felt her eyes on him, Naru turned to Mai. "That was… impressive." He speared her with his laser-like Investigative Stare. "I had forgotten about the PK-MT. My father told us that one of his new students had it. When did you begin to exhibit the ability? I saw no sign of it during the days of SPR in Japan."

In her mind, Mai eeked in terror. This was exactly why she had been avoiding mentioning her PK in front of Naru. The only thing he loved more than finding mysteries was solving mysteries. And he usually started his puzzle-solving immediately and relentlessly.

She hurried to say something, mind flying. "Ah, well, we were on a case, and –" Suddenly, her mobile sang the opening bars of the "Hallelujah Chorus." Saved! Mai thought, scrambling for the phone.

"John-kun?" she asked, voice high with relief.

"Hello, Mai-chan!" he replied happily. "We're all ready to begin over here. If you'll just settle in to watch, we'll start the exorcism."

"Of course, John-kun." Mai gestured to her companions as she stepped around the table. "We'll head into the sitting room now."

-0O0-

In the end, Mai's anxiousness over the exorcism was for nothing (thankfully). The whole affair had gone relatively smoothly and the exorcism was a success. Safely in 'her' chair, Mai stared into space and replayed visions of the previous hour in her head.

There was one tetchy moment when Father Toujo had fallen while trapping the ghost inside the exorcism site. Mai had gasped, worried that the ghost had escaped through the 'demon gate' at the northeast corner and attacked Father Toujo. It turned out that he had tripped over a couple of rocks.

Mai had stood up front and next to Naru for the entire broadcast ("That is where Bosses should stand!" Yasu noted brightly), feeling edgy, useless, and biting her nails. At one point, her still-jumpy powers had caused the flower vase next to her to start wobbling. Mai reached out to steady it, but met with Naru's hand instead. She felt his hand move underneath her fingers, steadying the vase. Mai stopped breathing, all of the nerve endings in her fingers on high alert. A moment later, she realized that she was practically holding his hand and jerked hers away as though it were on fire.

"Calm down, Mai, it's going fine," Naru murmured so that no one else could hear.

She took comfort from his words and from his solid presence at her side. Slowly, Mai had turned back to the monitor and watched with a lighter heart. (And a distinct feeling that Yasu and Ayako were snickering behind her.)

The young psychic shook her head, pulling her thoughts back to the present. Martin wanted her to take a trip to the British SPR building with him tomorrow. Mai had agreed, of course, and then somehow, everyone was going. It was probably going to be a long day, her exhausted mind noted. There was no way she was going to SPR without somebody requesting some testing…

Mai yawned as she placed her empty tea cup on the coffee table. "I think it's bedtime for me."

Her new professor nodded vigorously. "Indeed, you should get a good sleep. Maybe we'll get a bit of testing in tomorrow, after you all settle into the apartment."

Aha, Mai thought with a smirk, I knew it!

"Speaking of testing," Yasuhara spoke up, "Today is Monday, Mai-chan."

Good mood effectively killed. "Already?" Mai groaned.

Madoka raised an eyebrow. "What's significant about Monday?"

"Monday means that Mai-chan is going vegetarian for the next two days," Ayako replied, facing Luella-the-menu-planner. "No meat for Mai on Tuesdays and Wednesdays."

"Why not?" Luella asked. Meat kept you stronger… although now she thought about it, Lin almost never ate meat for some mystical reason.

"Because we do weekly testing of Mai-chan's abilities on Wednesdays," Yasuhara said seriously, glaring at the obviously reluctant Mai. "And Mai-chan's psychic abilities always test better if she doesn't eat meat. Two days of going without clears her digestive tract of animal interference."

"Which totally sucks," Mai rejoined. "It's almost worse than going hungry."

"It's doable, Taniyama-san," Lin noted. "I always refrain from eating meat while on cases. It does greatly affect the connection between our powers and the spirit world."

"That's where I got the idea from," Mai confessed. "I remembered that neither you nor Naru ate meat on cases. We looked it up, and there was a whole lot of research on the topic. So we tried it one week and it really made a difference. And now I go meatless two days a week." Mai did not mention that Gene had also recommended avoiding meat for testing and cases.

Yasu was wondering where they would conduct the tests. Maybe the lawn outside? No, too much wind interference… He suddenly thought of a solution. "Hey Professor Davis, can I ask you for a favor?"

"What is it, Yasuhara?"

"Could Mai-chan and I possibly hijack a lab to work in for a few hours on Wednesdays? We used one of the school labs at Todai – you see, we need an open space for testing."

Mai chimed in, turning pleading chocolate eyes on her professor. "We have our own equipment; we just need somewhere to test."

"Of course!" Martin replied jovially, "You can use my laboratory at Cambridge once term starts, but for now, why don't you use one of the labs at SPR? And you said you've got equipment, but SPR has a great deal of it as well. You can test with whatever you want, and if you find something particularly useful, we can take it with us to the university."

Mai and Yasuhara exchanged excited glances. Just what they'd secretly hoped for!

Luella sighed resignedly. "I suppose it all worked out, Martin, and you got what you'd hoped for: willing test subjects."

Yasuhara laughed. "You should watch, Professor!" he suggested enthusiastically. "We'll run our usual tests, and if there's anything you'd like to suggest, we'd love to oblige."

Mai nodded eagerly, grinning at her professor's thrilled expression.

Madoka clucked her tongue. "Well, Noll, Lin and I will be doing research for a case this Wednesday," she said unhappily. Then she brightened. "But I am totally tagging along next time."

Mai nodded again, this time in resignation. She hated when lots of people watched… but she knew of no force on earth that could thwart Madoka.

-0O0-

AN: Emotion running rampant in this chapter, with Mai too afraid to tell Naru any of it out loud…