The Transfer Chapter 32, a ghost hunt fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga 12 would be out in English.

Chapter 32 – Breaking Confidences

-0O0-

Lin pinched the bridge of his nose and summoned his patience. "Fine, Taniyama-san – I promise not to tell Noll about whatever it is you did." The onmyouji fixed his student with an imperative stare. "Now get on with it."

Mai quirked an eyebrow. "Taniyama-san?" she repeated disappointedly. "Didn't you just start calling me Mai?"

Her interrogator's glare sharpened. "You are stalling, Mai-san."

"Better than 'Taniyama-san,' I guess," Mai sighed. "And I know I'm stalling. It's just... I've kept quiet for so long..."

Lin thought about the day he told his parents that he was seriously dating Madoka. He'd spent half his time in China screwing up the nerve and the right words. "I understand," he admitted quietly.

Mai flashed him a quick smile. "Maybe if I start at the beginning, it'll be easier." She clutched a couch pillow to her chest like a safety blanket. "So... about six months after you guys left for England, Gene appeared in one of my dreams. I was on a case with Bou-san at the time... we weren't TTMPI yet, but Ayako and Bou-san sometimes brought me along when they had jobs. I missed ghost hunting," she confessed shyly.

Wanting to keep her talking, Lin managed an upward mouth-twitch.

"Anyway, I was having a psychic dream," Mai continued steadily. "One minute, the spirit was screaming at her mother for throwing out a stash of drugs... and the next thing I knew, Gene was waving at me in the realm of lingering spirits."

Lin wondered absently whether Noll knew any of this.

"Gene said he was still my spirit guide, since finding his body wasn't his only unfinished business. And before you ask," Mai preempted, holding her hand out defensively, "No, Gene won't tell me what he's waiting for. Well, I do know one thing, but... whatever. To make a long story short -"

Her instructor raised an eyebrow.

"Or shorter," Mai amended, "Gene started helping me with my astral projection abilities. I also made my first trip to the monks at his suggestion – Gene said I needed to improve my concentration." Mai broke off to massage her newly-bared arm. The scars were hurting something fierce; Mai was almost certain she would see Gene's death tonight. "The second trip to see the monks," she gritted out, "Was to get some more... specialized training."

"You're speaking of Tominaga-sama?" Lin probed.

"No, no, that was afterwards," Mai clarified.

"After what?" Lin asked exasperatedly.

"I'm getting there!" Mai insisted. "For someone who spends hours typing up long-winded witness interviews, you sure are impatient."

"There's a reason I don't ask the questions," Lin said flatly.

Mai giggled. "Right, because Naru is so much better! How did you guys manage clients before I came along?"

"Madoka and Gene conducted the interviews," Lin replied evenly, hoping the mention of Gene would get his student back on track. And it did; she sobered immediately.

Clearing a suddenly tight throat, Mai continued. "By the second time I went to Mt. Kouya... Gene, Wen-sifu, and I had another goal in mind."

"Wen-sifu?"

"My first onmyouji instructor," Mai explained obediently. Then she clutched the pillow again. "During one of our dream-training sessions, Gene and I got to talking about Naru." She and Gene actually talked about Naru a lot... but nobody needed to know that. "Gene was telling me about their PK training, and how he learned to help Naru with his overwhelming abilities." Mai bit her lip. "I told Gene that I'd seen Naru use them... and Gene realized what must have happened."

Memories of that awful day on the beach accosted Lin's inner eye... pushing hard against Noll's unmoving chest... his bright hand-print fading into the white of Noll's cheek... waves of relief at feeling Noll's heart beating under his fingers.

Mai took a sip of tea, and studied her scars with watery eyes. "Anyway, that got us to talking about... options."

"Options?" That niggling sense of dread returned with a vengeance.

"Yes," Mai replied nervously. "Naturally, Gene was upset. He figured that Naru wouldn't have wound up in the ICU if he had been there. Gene felt so guilty..."

"He could hardly have helped being murdered," Lin said shortly.

"Yeah, that's what I said," Mai agreed. "It didn't help much... until all of a sudden, Gene got this weird look on his face and said, 'I can't help Noll myself... but maybe I can help Noll get a new partner.'"

"So he decided to train you," Lin finished impatiently. She'd already told him this - and training didn't explain the scars.

"Not exactly," Mai corrected, raising an eyebrow at her edgy mentor. "You wanted to hear the story, Lin-san."

Lin glared into Mai's laughing eyes.

Something in his face made her nervous again, and Mai pulled at her other glove. "Gene told me that the marks on his arms gave him a special ability," she continued timidly.

"Yes, heightened control," Lin rattled off.

Mai squirmed. "Well, yes... but that wasn't the ability he was talking about."

"I don't understand."

"The marks gave Gene the ability... to transfer his PK to someone else," Mai said, looking anywhere but at her instructor. "Permanently."

Lin was confused. "Yes, that's true," he said eventually. "But how is that relevant? Gene is dead; he'd have to be alive to conduct a transfer. Besides, you wouldn't need Gene's marks - you could just have an onmyouji apply marks of your own."

"Well... you don't technically have to be alive," Mai said slowly. "You just have to be conscious - and Gene is spiritually conscious."

Her instructor considered this. Ability transfer required conscious decision... more accurately, a uniting of two selfless, concentrated minds. He supposed that spiritual consciousness would suffice - but why would ghosts need PK abilities?

Not to mention, the transfer process was complicated, extremely dangerous and very permanent. Consequently, ability transfers were very seldom utilized - and never attempted without great need and care on both sides. When done incorrectly, a transfer attempt could be fatal for the intended recipient of the marks. The intended supplier of the marks usually ended up pretty badly off, too.

"That sounds reasonable in theory, Mai-san," Lin admitted, "But unnecessarily risky. Successful transfers between two highly-trained, physically present onmyouji are rare enough. And given the lack of physical grounding, conducting the procedure in the spirit world might actually be more dangerous. I highly doubt any sane astral projector would consider such a thing."

Mai smiled grimly. "It wouldn't be the first time someone's called me crazy."

That sense of dread found a home in the pit of Lin's stomach. "What exactly are you saying?"

Mai's grim smile evolved into a grim laugh. "You asked me why ability transfer was even a relevant topic," she reminded him, slowly removing her other glove. "You're assuming that the PK-MT I use... is my own."

Lin's mind reeled. She could not possibly be insinuating... "You've developed several psychic gifts over the years," he argued faintly.

"But not PK," Mai said softly. She tried to smile encouragingly; Lin looked pretty pale.

"You can't be saying..." he trailed off.

Rather than reply verbally, Mai instead tossed her empty teacup in the air. As it fell back towards the table, Mai reached out her hands - and the cup stopped four inches from the wooden surface. "Did you ever notice that my capability level matches Gene's exactly?" she asked quietly.

Lin watched the empty cup rotate slowly in the air for a moment. "I recognized that it was similar," he noted. "But that was hardly the most significant observation to be had." Lin's eyes fell to his student. Mai's arms were outstretched in a perfect qigong pose, and her powers... and Gene's powers blazed down her arms in golden streams. A powerful wave of emotion swept through Lin; he was moved, angry, disbelieving, and awed all at once.

And in the back of his mind, Lin couldn't help but think that it was a very good thing Mai decided to tell him instead of Noll.

"The PK isn't mine," Mai whispered, as if confessing some awful secret.

In a way, Lin thought, she was. Mai wasn't just hiding extra training from Noll – she was now the keeper of his dead twin's PK-MT. Lin closed his eyes, internally bemoaning the humongous amount of trouble this was going to cause.

And speaking of trouble... "What was Gene thinking?" Lin asked rhetorically, staring at his student's marked-up forearm. "If he knew how to conduct the transfer, he had to know how dangerous it was." Having gotten over his initial shock, Lin's anger took control. Gene was already a ghost... but was PK-MT really worth risking Mai's life as well?

"Um, I was there, too, Lin-san," Mai cut in. "And yes, of course we knew how dangerous it was." She rolled her eyes.

Lin exhaled slowly, trying hard not to shake Mai for her suddenly blasé attitude. It was as if they were discussing Mai's spending too much on a new dress. "You could have DIED," he barked, spearing his student with a hard grey stare. Lin felt slightly mollified when Mai jumped in her seat.

"Yes, I know," she said soberly. "I had to know, didn't I? Gene said that being aware of the consequences was an important part of the transfer process."

The onmyouji steepled his fingers. Gene was right – such an extreme and delicate procedure required nothing less than complete devotion and understanding... including the understanding that attempting a transfer could be fatal. "Permanent power transfer requires a great unity of spirit, emotion, and purpose," Lin recited, quoting his own education on the subject. "And is exceptionally difficult for even the most experienced of Chinese mages." Lin narrowed his eyes. "In other words - beyond foolish for two headstrong teenagers to attempt."

"But we weren't being headstrong..." Mai argued.

"You were both out of your depth," Lin said remorselessly. "And exceptionally reckless."

Mai fired up at this accusation. 'Reckless' usually went along with 'stupid' in Naru-speak. "But we did it!" she cried, waving her scarred arms. "So it couldn't have been that stupid!"

"Risking your life like that was unaccountably reckless," Lin insisted.

"Oh really? So you wouldn't risk your life for Madoka?" Mai asked angrily.

"That's not the point –"

"That's exactly the point!" Mai interrupted. "Haven't you been listening? We did it for Naru!"

Lin fell silent. It wasn't about the PK-MT, he reminded himself. Transferring PK-MT to Mai simply to add another skill to her repertoire wouldn't have filled the karmic requirements for a successful procedure. But providing Mai with a possibly life-saving psychokinetic connection to Noll was a selfless and urgent goal.

"Gene and I knew that Naru would use his powers again someday!" Mai ranted (unknowingly reinforcing Lin's conclusions). "And what if he died the next time? I would never be able to forgive myself, knowing that I could have done something to save him!"

"Mai-san, it is Oliver's responsibility to keep himself in check," Lin reminded her. They'd had this conversation before.

"And he isn't perfect!" Mai shot back. "You know that not being able to use his PK makes Naru feel inadequate! You're the one who told me that!" Mai leapt off the couch and started pacing. "And what if someone else gets in trouble?" As Mai threw up her hands in frustration, a nearby porcelain vase cracked in half. She didn't seem to notice. "The first time Naru overused his PK was when I fell down the well, remember? He moved the rocks to save me! Who's to say he wouldn't do it again?"

Lin couldn't argue with reasoning that so closely mirrored his own. Noll's future safety was Lin's reason for proposing secret training in the first place.

"Gene and I..." Mai said softly, head down and eyes teary. "We did it because we... love Naru." Mai stared at the floor, blushing embarrassedly.

Her instructor heaved a long sigh. "I know, Mai-san," he replied. "In fact, that unselfish reason for the transfer was probably what made it work... and what saved you from death. Someone who selfishly wanted power would not likely have been as fortunate."

Mai flinched. "Wen-sifu said something like that."

"Good to know you and Gene didn't go without advisement," Lin muttered.

"It's not like we just did it on a whim," Mai retorted. "I trained for months."

Ah, and the mystery of Mai's turnaround was fully solved –Mai would have no qualms with dedicating herself to years of training, if it meant being able to save Noll from himself. Lin shook his head, annoyed that he hadn't figured it out sooner.

But who would have guessed a PK transfer conducted between a ghost and an astral projector in the spirit world? If the proof hadn't been standing in front of him, Lin never would have thought it possible. "So that was the special event," he surmised.

"What?" Mai asked confusedly.

"The special event that synced your aura with Gene's and caused the repeating death dream," Lin elaborated. "That was how you termed it."

"Oh, right," Mai remembered. "I forgot you asked about that. And yes, I was talking about the transfer."

Lin just nodded. "I suppose I almost blew your cover," he reckoned. "Noll was in the room for that discussion."

Mai glared. "Yeah, you did," she muttered. "I told Naru the truth about Gene to get him off the scent, and then you go and put him right back on track!"

Her teacher raised an eyebrow. "Telling one secret to protect another? How very..."

"Secret agent of me?" Mai grinned. "I know."

"It can't have been your idea," Lin deadpanned.

"It was, too!" Mai cried. Then she looked away. "I might have used Yasuhara as an inspiration..."

"Hn."

"Shut up!" Mai groused, wincing as she rubbed one of her forearms.

"Do they always hurt?" Lin asked curiously.

"No," Mai shook her head. "Sometimes I think that focusing too hard on them does it. Or maybe Gene's pissed that I told you." As she surveyed her scars, she remembered one of her questions for Lin. "You know, I still wonder why they're scars and not tattoos."

Lin considered. "Perhaps your marks present as scars because of the unusual circumstances of their placement."

Mai raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"The tattoos are the medium through which the marking spell sinks into the soul," Lin replied. "But Gene transferred them to your spirit instead of your body, which would be like going from the inside out, rather than the outside in. Spirit to body, instead of body to spirit. That might explain the strange outward manifestation of the spell."

Mai nodded slowly. "That makes sense," she replied. Then she winced. "I kind of thought the scars might be a... karmic punishment for doing something so..."

"Clearly meant for two live people to do?" Lin finished. "I suppose it's possible – your motives were pure enough to survive, but physical scarring remains as a karmic warning."

"Like the scars I accidentally gave to the kids on the Yoshimi case," Mai suggested, remembering the red marks on Katsuki's and Wakako's backs. She'd thrown the nine cuts at them to save them... but while she'd succeeded, she'd ignored Bou-san's warning and the kids suffered for it.

"It's conceivable," Lin allowed. "But the most important thing to remember is that you did succeed, Mai-san. And now..." As his disbelief and anger subsided, Lin's mind cleared enough to process the benefits of the transfer. "And now, you possess a PK connection to Noll." His eyes fell to the vase Mai had accidentally broken when she poltergeisted earlier. "As well as the entirety of Gene's PK-MT."

Mai had to grin; Lin's voice was tinged with awe. "Yeah," she nodded. "But the PK-MT was like a bonus. We really did the transfer so that I could access Gene's energy manipulations skills and PK link to Naru."

Lin pursed his lips. He'd seen the PK-MT in action, but... "Mai-san, is there any evidence that Gene's – that your – psychic connection to Noll is working properly?"

Biting her lip shyly, Mai nodded. "I... can feel it sometimes... when Naru is really close to me," she confessed.

"Are you sure..." Lin paused, wondering how best to phrase this unfortunately necessary question. "Are you sure that what you feel is a psychic connection, and not... physical attraction?"

"Lin-saaaaan!" Mai blushed furiously. "Ugh, does everyone know?" the teen psychic moaned (conveniently forgetting she had just openly told Lin that she loved Naru).

"I don't think Martin's twigged it yet," Lin replied equably. "His full attention is on your scholastic and psychic development. And we're all pretty sure Noll doesn't know, either."

Mai buried her face in a couch pillow. "So embarrassing," she moaned.

"It's not an entirely unfortunate situation," Lin reasoned. "After all, the group's rather obsessive focus on your relationship with Noll has kept them from thinking too hard about the origins of your PK."

Obsessive focus? Mai blanched in horror. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Lin stared. "Emotional placation isn't exactly my forte."

Mai couldn't help but giggle. "Yeah, I guess." She stretched her arms out in front of her, a movement which yanked slightly at the puckered skin of the scars. "And yes, I'm sure it's a psychic connection. I can feel the difference... most of the time." Mai reddened, mortified all over again. "I mean, it does get, um, confusing from time to time, but... sometimes I can see the golden strands connecting us."

Lin just nodded, thinking hard. "And Noll hasn't noticed?"

"I don't think so," Mai shook her head. "He's certainly never said anything. And I feel like he definitely would."

"I agree." Lin took a sip of his now-cold tea. "It makes sense. Noll has never been as psychically sensitive to his surroundings as you and Gene."

"Or Masako-chan," Mai added.

"Or Miss Hara," Lin allowed.

"Gene reckons that the connection is working," Mai informed him. "Remember the first time I astral projected during the Reed case? I was really talking to Gene."

Lin nodded again, having already sussed that out.

"And apparently, Naru called out for me," Mai murmured, feeling heat creep up her neck once more.

The onmyouji resisted a smirk. "Yes, I remember." Once they had figured out that Mai was alive, Noll's extreme overreaction and impassioned entreaties to Mai's unconscious body became a source of great amusement to the team.

Mai wasn't sure she liked Lin's tone, but she chose to press on. "We heard it," she revealed. "Gene and I heard Naru calling for me, even though we were in the realm of lingering spirits. As far as I know, no one has ever reached me in there... and Gene said that it was a sign that the transfer was definitely successful."

Lin's hopes soared. "That is excellent news, Mai-san," he said feelingly. "Without the forging of a strong psychic connection between yourself and Noll, you could never have become his partner. Our proposed secret training would have been for nothing."

"Well," Mai said jauntily, "Now you don't have to worry about that anymore!" She was feeling rather elated. Someone finally knew her secret – and he was on her side! Mai had scored herself a combination teacher and conspirator! "So when do we start?"

The onmyouji shook his head at Mai's cheerfulness. Lin wasn't exactly sure how to feel right now. On one hand, Mai and Gene had potentially solved an extremely significant and nigh-insurmountable problem. The transfer should enable Noll to use his powers without endangering himself. As Noll's former bodyguard (and de facto control officer), Lin felt a humongous burden lift from his shoulders. The years of testing and of everyone's agonizing were over.

However, Mai and Gene had only accomplished this goal by utilizing one of the most dangerous, risky methods in existence. Lin sighed. "It won't be easy to get around Noll," he warned. "Or anyone else, for that matter." Madoka, Yasuhara, Martin, and Luella were all consummate observers.

"Well, we do work with a bunch of investigators," Mai allowed. "But it's not impossible, Lin." Mai had decided that she would drop the honorific and see what happened. When Lin didn't object, she grinned and continued. "I mean, I've managed to keep the transfer a secret all this time. And I suck at lying."

"You've improved under the tutelage of Yasuhara," Lin noted dryly.

-0O0-

"Damn right she has," a glasses-wearing psychic researcher whispered under his breath. Yasuhara shifted his weight, pressing his ear harder against the front door. But it was too late – now they were just talking logistics.

For the first time in his life, Yasu bemoaned being so awesome at dating. If he and Liz had... finished a bit earlier, he might have returned in time to hear the whole conversation. He'd obviously missed something important – Lin was suddenly offering Mai secret training to become Naru's 'partner!'

Heh, training Mai to be Naru's partner. Sooo many fun places to go with that sentence... But Yasuhara dutifully pushed the double entendre out of his head in favor of considering the information he'd gleaned.

Given Naru's PK problem, this could only mean that Mai would be attempting to 'partner' with Naru the way Gene had. But from everything Yasu had heard, help from anyone other than Gene was impossible. Something must have changed... wait, Mai had just said something about being psychically connected to Naru.

Maybe this unidentified 'transfer' had something to do with that fateful night in the basement? Yasuhara had heard Mai call out for Gene's help during the attack – he'd been huddling behind that desk with her, after all. He also knew that Mai had passed out for a few minutes... before thrashing back into wakefulness to deliver her very first PK-MT ass-kicking.

Yasu had assumed that Gene helped Mai unlock her PK powers that night... but what if it was something more? After all, it would make sense if Mai's psychic connection to Naru were somehow inspired by Naru's twin.

Plus, there was all that blood on the floor where Mai had been laying. Yasu was sure she hadn't gotten cut up until after she'd run past Bou-san's barrier to fight the murderous spirit.

Yasuhara had been wondering about the events of that night for over a year, and now he finally had more clues. A thrill of excitement stole through the Cambridge student... mixed in with a little jealousy. Yasu couldn't believe that Mai would take Lin into her confidence before himself.

But then again, it did provide Yasuhara with an excellent opportunity to hone his snooping skills.

-0O0-

Dinner had already been served at the Davis household when the front door banged open and loud male voices floated down the hall. Luella sighed in annoyance; the Cambridge crowd almost always came home late on Mondays. Martin held discussion class on Monday afternoons, and apparently the arguments could drag on for hours - especially since Martin tended to sit back and gleefully let the battle unfold. Luella heard her husband talking animatedly with Yasuhara, and guessed that tonight's class had been particularly eventful. She didn't hear Mai's voice, though...

Naru looked up as two of the three late arrivals entered the dining room; Martin in particular looked almost manically energized. Naru heaved an internal sigh. He had planned to spend the evening working on his paper – after all, nothing would get done once the Banderson case started.

But then Martin's eyes landed on his adopted son, and Naru knew his paper would have to wait until morning. Martin liked to use his SPR employees as a sounding board for his students' best ideas, and Naru would undoubtedly be expected to participate. Yasuhara also looked like he was bursting to talk, and Mai was... nowhere to be seen? Naru stopped grumbling internally and lasered in on his father.

"Where's Mai?" Naru and Luella asked simultaneously.

Instead of answering, Martin and Yasuhara exchanged highly amused glances and chuckled conspiratorially.

Naru exhaled crossly. So it was going to be one of those nights.

Martin noticed his adopted son's irritation. "She went for a short walk around the corner," he explained quickly.

"But it's dinnertime!" Luella pouted.

Yasuhara cleared his throat. "Yes, well, Mai-chan needed a moment to compose herself. She'll have a hot chocolate at the café and be right back."

"Compose herself?" Madoka repeated incredulously.

Naru was finding his former mentor's verbosity increasingly satisfying; he received answers to questions without the trouble of asking on his own. As an added bonus, Madoka's consistent interest in Mai's welfare allowed Naru to get answers without drawing Luella's attention. His mother was unnaturally interested in his acquaintance with Mai.

It was Martin who actually responded. "Yes, well, the discussion got a bit heated this evening."

"That's an understatement!" Yasu crowed, sipping his newly-arrived dinner wine. "I thought Mai-chan was going to use the nine words on Roger!"

"What?" Lin queried, looking rather shocked.

"Now, Yasuhara, let's not get carried away," Martin remonstrated, fighting a smile. "Even without my interference, I'm sure Taniyama would have restrained herself to merely punching Mr. Todd in the face."

The two scholars chuckled like idiots, and Naru gritted his teeth. This was going to take forever. "And why would Mai have done something so violent?" he asked pointedly.

"She got into it with one of our more... outspoken classmates," Yasuhara finally replied, wanting to explain before Mai arrived. They couldn't have her going into hysterics again; Luella's glasses were too pretty to be busted up in an accidental PK-MT blast.

Speaking of which, he and Mai should probably offer to pay for Martin's window... "We were discussing whether exorcisms performed by members of other religions would work on Christian ghosts. Now, we all know that John's Catholic exorcisms work on Japanese ghosts, but Mai-chan forgot that not all of our classmates have such extensive real-world experience."

Madoka grinned. "So Mai-chan went all 'Noll' and told the guy off by citing her superior knowledge of ghost hunting?"

Naru glared, Lin smirked, Luella's eyes sparkled with amusement, and Martin shook his head, still chuckling.

"Not exactly," Yasuhara replied. "Since we're trying to keep our extracurricular activities all hush-hush right now, I had to stop her mid-rant."

"Then Outspoken Jerk Guy won the argument?" Madoka asked, looking crestfallen.

"I highly doubt you let the class go home without correcting such a misapprehension," Naru said to his father.

"I may have hinted to Taniyama that she could use an academic argument to back her claim," Professor Davis confessed.

"Which she did!" Yasuhara exclaimed giddily. "Mai-chan caught the hint, and turned the discussion back in our favor - by quoting an impressive amount of Dr. Oliver Davis' published research on ghost hunting in Japan."

Everyone grinned at Naru - who pointedly ignored them. He chose to stare Yasuhara into finishing the story.

Yasu got the message. "So," he continued dramatically, "Mai-chan had way more textual evidence than Roger, but Roger fought back. He argued that certain aspects of a Buddhist exorcism would work on Western ghosts – but only because there are some shared beliefs between Buddhism and Christianity. In other words, he said that Naru here was wrong about an exorcism working so long as the exorcist believed in his own words. And then..." Yasu grinned. "It got nasty."

"So Mai defended Noll's work?" Madoka asked brightly.

Naru had a brief, enjoyable vision of Mai's temper flaring in his defense.

"Of course she did," Yasuhara noted. "But she had quite a bit of help. Naru's rabid fan-girls – and some Bou-san-style fan-boys – joined in to create a yelling, screaming, chaotic mess!"

Naru closed his eyes, loathing his apparent popularity.

"And you let it get that out of hand, Martin?" Luella asked disbelievingly.

"I was just about to intercede," Martin assured his wife, "But then Taniyama wolf-whistled and yelled something in Japanese." Professor Davis couldn't help laughing at the memory; Mai's spirit was quite entertaining.

"It was, 'shut up, you idiots!'" Yasuhara supplied. "Same thing she yells at Bou-san and Ayako when they argue on cases."

"Everything stopped for a moment, and Taniyama used the opportunity well." Martin grinned in a disturbingly Yasuhara-like way. "She calmly informed Mr. Todd that he had offered no evidentiary basis for his undermining of Noll's thesis... so unless he had something definitive to offer, there was no argument to be had."

"Mai-san said that?" Lin asked, naked shock in his voice.

The onmyouji didn't notice three sets of eyes pop open at his use of Mai's first name. Madoka grinned, Naru internally berated himself for even caring, and Yasuhara decided to roll with it.

"Yeah," Yasu replied, glasses flashing. "Looks like those hours of debating with you guys paid off. It was great, by the way – Roger's mouth fell open, while Mai-chan settled primly into her seat like a noblewoman. In fact, I think she borrowed that move from Masako-chan."

"And I decided to call it a night," Martin cut in. "Seeing as we were already 10 minutes over, and Taniyama had won the argument. The peace wouldn't have lasted long, anyway."

"No, it wouldn't have," Yasuhara asserted. "Most of the class shuffled out the door, but Mai-chan and Roger Todd just sat there glaring holes into each other - each waiting for the other to make a move."

"Like an old-fashioned duel," Luella mused softly.

"Quite right," Martin agreed. "So I herded Mr. Todd from the room, and suggested that he research his theory on interreligious exorcisms and have another go next week. We chatted for a few minutes, and he left slightly mollified." Martin took a bite of beef, savoring his next words. "And then I got down to the car."

Yasuhara sighed theatrically. "One of Big Boss' fan-girls took issue with Mai-chan's approach to defending his research. Judith reckoned that Mai left his work open to future dispute."

"Academic work is summarily open to future dispute. A paranormal research student should know better," Madoka opined uncompromisingly.

"Yeah, Mai-chan said pretty much the same thing - which prompted some pointless ridicule concerning her mental capacity."

"Oh, really?" Madoka asked archly. The next time she came in for a ghost hunting demonstration...

"Don't worry," came a voice from the hallway. Mai breezed into the dining room and plopped into the only remaining chair. "I already handled it... sort of."

Naru raised a querulous eyebrow (and tried to ignore the discernible warm feeling that Mai's presence induced in his chest).

"Sort of?" Yasu repeated. "You were great!" Clearing his throat, Yasuhara prepared his high-pitched angry-Mai impersonation. "She drew herself up and yelled, 'If you're so smart, maybe you should quit school and become a full-time fan girl! Then you can sit home and... what was it again, Mai-chan?"

Every eye turned to Mai, who reluctantly replied, "Then you can sit home and stare at pictures of Oliver Davis all day, instead of wasting our time in the parapsychology department.'"

The entire room burst into laughter.

Mai looked away in embarrassment, only to lock eyes with a smirking Naru. Fighting spirit renewed, Mai fought down a raging blush and put out her tongue. Naru only smirked more widely.

"Should I suggest as much on her next graded assignment?" Martin joked.

"No!" Mai cried, not quite realizing he was kidding. "Ugh, me and my big mouth. Whatever, the story's over."

"Well, not quite," Yasuhara contradicted slyly. "You see, Mai-chan's been a bit stressed out lately... and apparently that argument was the straw that broke the camel's back. Poor Mai-chan stomped over to the car, flounced into the back seat, and screamed her fury to the ceiling!"

"Which must have coincided with my arrival!" Martin cut in with inappropriate excitement. "Just as I walked up to the car, Taniyama poltergeisted and broke the back passenger window!"

Mai put her head in her heads. "I'm sooo sorry," she said through her fingers. "Of course I'll pay for it."

"Why would you do that?" asked her mystified professor.

"Martin regards any evidence of strong psychic powers to be worth whatever collateral damage they cause," Madoka explained to Mai. "You know, like the lab wall you toasted."

"Don't fret, Taniyama," Martin reassured his guilty-faced student. "A car window and a wall are pocket change, compared with the damage Noll caused over the years."

Now it was Mai's turn to smirk at Naru. She made sure to smile wider when he glared.

"You're a generous man, Professor," Yasuhara noted. "Mai once busted a TV during an argument with Ayako, and her loving almost-adopted mother took it out of Mai's TTMPI salary."

"And I paid for an upgrade," Mai groused. "There's no way the one I broke had a plasma screen."

"Well, so much for keeping your powers a secret at school," Madoka noted sympathetically. "Poltergeisting in front of a parapsychology student was probably a giveaway."

"No, they're still a secret," Yasuhara assured her. "Luckily, she'd already walked away. Judith may be a rabid fan-girl, but she is highly intelligent and would definitely have identified Mai as a psychic." He rolled his eyes. "Then again, even the Third Client figured out that the random stuff flying at his head was a psychic freak-out."

Mai groaned, trying not to think about that... marauding client.

"You know, you'd best be careful in the future, Mai-chan," Yasuhara warned playfully. "Naru's super-fan will be out for blood."

"She can bring it," Mai replied testily.

Naru felt an irritating rush of pleasure at Mai's readiness to fight over him... over the discussion topic, he corrected severely.

Down the table, Madoka watched as Noll tried to suppress his reactions to Mai. Gleefully, she elbowed Lin and whispered, "It's going well, Koujo!"

"You're being too optimistic," Lin replied sourly, his mind on the trouble yet ahead. Mai's 'stressed-out' behavior stemmed from their first secret training session. She had done reasonably well, but the stress of school, work, training, and secret training was proving to be too much for her. Lin had already decided to cut back PK seeding training to once every two weeks (rather than weekly), and to focus on meditation and relaxation poses during their regular training.

"Well, someone has to be optimistic," Madoka snarked. "You won't let us get involved, so the least I can do is cheer them on from afar. And maybe push a little."

Koujo Lin took a moment to reflect on the irony of this situation. He'd asked everyone to stay out of Mai and Noll's business - and now he was voluntarily hip-deep in the whole mess. "Just do it more subtly, Madoka," he intoned. "The last thing we need is for Noll to discover our maneuvering."

"Our maneuvering?" Madoka reiterated curiously. Her boyfriend was decidedly uninvolved in the relationship-engineering going on around him.

Interestingly, Lin blanched for a moment. Then he said, "I assumed you included me in your list of collaborators."

The master ghost hunter paused only a beat before replying brightly, "Of course I do, Koujo. Glad to see you're on board, even if only nominally." Is he hiding something? Madoka wondered to herself.

She vowed to think on it... but first things first. She wanted an explanation. "Going back to this 'Third Client,'" Madoka fixed Yasu with a gimlet eye, "Out with it, already. You can't keep mentioning him and not explain yourselves."

"There is nothing to explain," Mai said quickly.

"We looked at the report of your third case," Luella admitted. "But we found nothing out of the ordinary."

"That's because Mai-chan unprofessionally left a certain incident out of the case report," Yasuhara replied merrily.

"It had nothing to do with the reportable aspects of the case!" Mai yelled.

"Everything about a case is reportable, Mai," Naru argued coolly. "Even the most insignificant details can change the scientific value of an investigation."

"Not that detail," Mai said flatly.

"And I wouldn't call it an insignificant detail," Yasuhara noted, clearly enjoying himself. "So, in the interest of full disclosure..."

"Yasu!" Mai's eyes screamed betrayal. She'd dealt with quite enough disclosure for one week.

Her best friend rolled his eyes. "Come now, Mai-chan, it's not that bad. How are you ever going to be a serious scientist if you can't get over a little embarrassment?"

Mai threw Yasuhara a look of intense disgust.

"Nice try, Mai-chan, but your Glare of Doom is not yet at Naru's level. Now, where was I?" Yasu made a show of looking thoughtful. "Ah, yes. The unrecorded story of the Third Client... also known as, 'The Story of How Mai Taniyama Reluctantly Received her First Kiss.'"

"WHAT?!" cried Madoka.

Luella's hand clapped to her mouth, and Lin choked on his water.

Martin made to exchange an eye-roll with Noll - only to find his son staring at Yasuhara with wide, distraught-looking eyes. Martin Davis wasn't sure whether to be amused that Noll was undeniably caught up in social melodrama... or to despair at the loss of his compatriot in melodrama-immunity.

Meanwhile, Mai buried her head in her hands. "It doesn't count," she muttered.

"It does, too," Yasuhara sang. "The Third Client was a live person, not a ghost, so you can't use the same argument as you did when -"

"Yasu." Mai's voice was deadly calm. "Think very carefully about your next words... because this night may end in your being strangled with a laptop cord."

Yasuhara studied Mai's expression for a moment. "Wow, that's a much higher-level Glare of Doom! Good job, Mai-chan!"

"Stick to one embarrassing story, Yasu," Mai hissed.

"Fine, it can be a reward for your level-up." Yasuhara turned back to the group. "Okay. You guys remember that the Third Client had a thing for Mai-chan, right?"

"Yes," most of the party chorused.

Professor Davis didn't remember... but he was currently more concerned with Oliver's rather odd behavior. Not only was his scientist son allowing Yasuhara to wax poetic about personal drama (a topic he would normally have scornfully shut down by now), but Noll was clenching his fork so tightly that Martin was afraid it might snap. And did his knife just wiggle?

"And like I've said before," Yasuhara continued, "He creepily followed Mai-chan around like a stalker. Eventually, she became fed up with it – but Mai-chan is not the type to offend clients."

"Much less tell a client to quit being a creepy stalker," Madoka laughed.

"Exactly," Yasuhara agreed. "So Mai-chan chose to fill the creepy silences with talking. She just babbled on about ghost hunting – talking about the cameras, our temperature gages, spirit identification, and most significantly... possessions."

"Most significantly?" Luella asked curiously.

Yasuhara gave an evil chuckle. "Yes. Mai-chan explained that people do weird, sometimes terrible things when they're possessed. Mai described a fistfight that she and Masako-chan got into, the numerous times she's wandered into a forest in the middle of winter..."

"That only happened a few times!" Mai cut in angrily. "Don't say it like that happens every other case!"

"My apologies, Mai-chan. I didn't realize that the word 'numerous' would cause you to overreact like that. I figured you wouldn't freak out until we got to the good part." Yasu winked mockingly.

"I hate you."

"Yes, you've said that," Yasu noted airily. "Anyway, then the Third Client asked if Mai-chan had ever called the cops on someone for committing crimes while possessed. Mai said no, of course - because what people do when they're possessed isn't their fault."

"Oh, I know where this is going!" Madoka laughed.

"You can't say such things to a client," Naru scoffed. "What if that client then committed a crime on site and tried to blame it on possession? You have to be more careful, Mai."

"You are so right, Big Boss!" The wattage of Yasu's smile bordered on blinding. "He totally did that - our client's 'possession' culminated in his grabbing Mai-chan in the hall and kissing her." Yasuhara shook his head in mock sadness. "I think he would have gone for some tongue, too - if Bou-san hadn't hauled him off of Mai and whacked him in the face with a sutra."

Mai's head sank back to the table. "Thanks, Yasu," she groaned from within her arm-fortress. "I'd almost blocked that day out of my mind."

"You're welcome, Mai-chan!" Yasuhara laughed. "I mean, who would want to forget their first kiss?"

"More people than you'd think," Naru replied quietly.

But apparently not quietly enough. "Ha, that's right!" Madoka cried. "Noll lost his first kiss via harassment, too!"

Mai's head shot up like a rocket. "You did?" she asked Naru incredulously.

Naru took a moment to glare daggers into his former mentor before addressing Mai. "Most unfortunately... yes," he responded archly. "At least Bou-san ably defended your honor. My idiotic companions just fell over laughing." He gestured to the hysterical Madoka. "Exactly like that. Wonderful to see you've matured, Madoka."

"Wonderful to see that stick hasn't worked its way out of you," Madoka replied saucily.

"Alright," Martin said firmly. "I have hit my limit for the evening, and I would imagine that Taniyama has, as well. What say we adjourn to the sitting room, and talk about anything else?"

Mai smiled gratefully and mouthed words of thanks.

Yasuhara rose leisurely from the table. "Sounds doable. Didn't you ask about Christmas in Japan the other day, Professor?"

"Yes, I did," Martin enthused, clapping Yasu on the back and leading him away. Lin and Madoka followed quickly, and Luella left to retrieve a patient file she'd brought home from the clinic.

Naru moved to leave as well, but his forward progress was halted by a yank on his sleeve. He whipped around to see a smiling Mai standing just behind him. Naru ruthlessly quashed the swooping feeling in his stomach, and summoned his usual expression. "What, Mai?"

"I-I know it's kind of stupid," Mai confessed, "But... knowing that also happened to you makes me feel better." She blushed, but didn't look away.

In the old days, Naru would probably have said, 'You're right; that's stupid,' and walked away.

Instead, Naru found himself replying, "Regrettably, the combination of talent and looks tends to draw romantic attention."

It took both of them a moment to fully process this remark. Naru figured it out first, and walked (fled) immediately upstairs - to excoriate his brain over its increasingly evident descent into madness.

Mai just stood there, eyes unseeing and jaw hanging open. Her first instinct had been about to yell about Naru's narcissism, but...

"Did he just say I'm pretty?" she asked the empty room.

-0O0-

AN: There's a blizzard going on where I live, but at least being snowed in let me get the chapter out faster!:)

Review replies coming tomorrow (provided I still have power, lol), and I hope this chapter answered a lot of questions about the transfer. And see? No cliffhanger this time!;)

And thank you so much to Desert Willow, who provided me with lots of information on Cambridge!

So more school stuff soon, but first it's case time:) And I have been looking forward to this case. *evil laughter*