Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga 12, guys, come on.

A/N: I don't think it's ready, but I also don't think any more staring will make it better. We are moving into the last major arc now, I hope it's okay!

Chapter 42 – Progress

-0O0-

Madoka frowned. She'd called Martin's name three times upon entering his office, but he continued to stare sightlessly at his desk.

"I... can come back?" she hazarded, not really expecting a response.

But the interrogative tone must have alerted Martin to her presence, and his eyes finally met hers. His watery, reddened eyes.

"Martin!" Madoka was honestly astonished at this outward display of emotion. "Has something happened?" She'd just seen Noll a few minutes ago; he was hunting for Mai while trying to look as if he wasn't hunting for Mai. Par for the course.

Martin blinked, looking more like he'd just come out of a possession than anything. "I – no, Madoka, nothing like you're thinking." He reached out for a wayward pen on his desk, but couldn't quite move his arm properly.

"Your hands are shaking, Boss – pull the other one."

Martin closed his eyes and attempted to center himself enough to speak coherently. "Nothing terrible has happened, Madoka... well, nothing newly terrible has happened."

Madoka just slipped into a chair in front of Martin's desk, silently offering a sympathetic ear.

Her longtime boss nodded to himself. Luella would call this a 'safe space' for venting the emotional cacophony screaming in his head. And Madoka was the most rational person to vent to at SPR. "I – I've found something out," he began. "Taniyama and Yasuhara were talking in the hallway..." Martin trailed off, not quite sure whether he should just come out with it.

"Ahhh, was it about secret training?" Madoka bubbled. "Figures he'd finally get Mai-chan to roll once classes were over for the year. Less distractions."

"What?" Martin looked mystified. "Secret training?"

"Oh, well, never mind, forget about it," Madoka waved a dismissive hand. "What were they talking about?"

But Martin's stare had become piercing. "Are you saying there are other things the lot of you are hiding from me?" he intoned. "Do none of you realize that I am, in fact, the head of SPR?"

Uh-oh. "Of course we do, Martin," Madoka replied in what she hoped was a soothing voice. "What are you on about?"

"I feel as if everyone around me is hiding things," Martin revealed. "Important parapsychological occurrences. Family trauma and emotional… entanglement. Loads of events from the days of SPR Japan. And apparently, secret training involving Mai Taniyama – who seems to be a central figure in all of these issues."

Oh bugger. Madoka's breath caught.

"I have decided that I am quite finished with being tip-toed around, and beyond finished with being left out of my own student's parapsychological development!"

Madoka wondered if she could believably pretend to faint.

"Come now, Madoka, you always have something to say."

Martin Davis's protégé finally looked up. Though his tone and face were quite forbidding, Madoka could see pain and worry bleeding through his thunderous expression. She took a preparatory breath. "You're quite right, Martin – although I promise no one is behaving maliciously."

Her boss only raised an eyebrow.

"With regard to Mai-chan… Yasuhara and I believe that Koujo is secretly training her – for something. Neither of them has said anything about it, and we only know it's happening because Yasu overheard them discussing it once."

"That's... odd," Martin noted.

"Yes, it is!" Madoka enthused, "Like how is Koujo of all people conducting clandestine training? Who would ever think?!"

Surprisingly, a guilty look flashed across Martin's face. Madoka went to jump on it, but Martin somehow raised his eyebrows higher. "Continue."

The master ghost hunter pursed her lips. "Fine, I guess I deserve that. I'm not sure what about SPR Japan you're interested in, Noll gave you all the notes and case logs as soon as he returned to England."

"I'm not talking about the cases, Madoka!" Martin huffed. "I'm talking about Noll somehow making personal connections deep enough to last years without any contact. I'm talking about a psychically gifted employee who was bizarrely left behind without any follow-up. I'm talking about Noll's developing romantic feelings for someone. And I'm talking about WHATEVER happened to cause Mai Taniyama to be cyclically plagued with the experience of my son's death!"

Madoka's mouth dropped open in horror.

Mentor and mentee stared at one another, the silence growing louder by the moment.

And then the door to Martin's office opened, and his remaining son stepped inside.

"Mai alerted me to high emotions up here," Oliver noted quietly, closing the door with a calm that neither other occupant of the room could even pretend at. "And the high volume suggested the need for intervention."

Martin and Madoka both collapsed into their respective chairs. Martin wordlessly gestured his son into the remaining empty seat.

"Mai apologizes for speaking so thoughtlessly in the hall," Naru continued, "She felt your emotions spike wildly, and guessed at the reason."

Martin rubbed his forehead in a lame attempt to cover the reappearance of tears. He took a deep breath. "Noll," he said wearily, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Oliver Davis met his father's gaze squarely. "Mai and I decided that the knowledge would cause you unnecessary pain."

Oddly, Martin now felt even more like crying. "I... appreciate that, Noll, but it would hardly have been unnecessary. Mai's recurring experience represents a unique and personally unprecedented psychic link, and one that is inextricably connected to our family."

Naru's mouth twisted. "I know," he bit out. "That is exactly why Mai and I chose to construct a continuing log of her dreams, as well as recording multiple discussions and analyses of the entire incidence history. I was more than capable of such tasks; there was no need to involve another grieving party."

Martin reached across his desk and took his son's hand. "My gratitude to both of you for wanting to spare me grief, Noll. I am, however, frustrated with your high-handedness. It is not up to you to decide these things for SPR."

"Do you truly believe it was necessary to involve you?" Oliver asked disbelievingly. "Do you trust me so little with Mai's case? Do you not consider me capable of solid judgement?" The younger man's face twitched. "Is that why I've been relegated to working under Madoka instead of running my own investigations?"

"Noll, that's not –"

"I conducted several complicated cases under my own supervision in Japan," Naru continued. "Including a case involving high-profile government officials, and several cases involving resultant murder investigations, while also locating my brother's body."

Madoka winced as Noll's nails dig into the leather of his chair.

"If you thought me incompetent, why did you let me go to Japan and then continue to conduct investigations?"

"I didn't let you go, Noll, you jumped on a plane in the middle of the night and refused to come back!" Martin roared.

"Gene died in Japan."

"Yes, I know – my adventurous idiot son ran off to the other side of the world without permission and died. And then your mother and I were so consumed with grief, we didn't notice you'd decided to run off after him. Thank goodness Lin was paying enough attention to follow you out the door!"

"Ee, thank goodness I had an assistant to help me look for Gene – and to report on me to you!"

"Gene's lack of supervision ended in his murder!"

"Yes, a murder undetected and without a body! What exactly should I have done – call the Japanese police and tell them to dredge every lake in the country for my identical twin, who I had psychically felt being drowned?! You're the one who taught me that shoring up as much physical evidence as possible is necessary before reporting any crime involving the supernatural!"

"You could have waited for us to come –"

"No, I couldn't have!" Naru exploded. "You and Mother hadn't moved from the study for hours, there wasn't time to wait. I was trying to find Gene before his murderer escaped justice! Which I failed to do!"

"We... we failed you, Noll." Martin managed, looking tortured. "We allowed ourselves to become lost in our grief instead of attending to you."

"I didn't need attending," Naru brushed off the apology. "I needed to be able to act quickly. Acting alone saved time and more grief. It was… easier to think alone."

Martin nodded jerkily. "I understand, Noll. It's why my office has a door. However… there are some happenings in life that virtually require assistance. Both emotional and physical assistance. Death in the family should be dealt with as a family, Noll – your insistence upon weathering Gene's death and your continued grief alone is likely what is holding you back."

Naru, who had been listening peaceably, fired up again at the last statement. "Holding me back from what, Father?" he bit out. "Are you really going to justify my demotion from lead investigator as a result of not verbally sharing enough trauma?"

Martin groaned. "Not exactly, Noll – what I meant was that your mother and I have been at a loss, these past few years. You did not seem interested in moving on from anything, rather –"

"Moving on? Most of the research involving Gene and I as children revolved around our unique parapsychological link. How exactly am I supposed to 'move on' without the other half of my abilities?"

Ever fearless, Madoka leapt boldly into the breach. "With Mai-chan," she asserted. "Whose abilities complement yours excellently and who would likely be more than happy to assist you."

Naru whipped around to face his mentor, eyes burning with betrayal.

But her interruption had served its purpose – Martin started in surprise. "What do you mean, complementary abilities? Taniyama does have PK-MT like Gene did, but –"

"Her abilities are receptive," Madoka rushed out, sensing an epic temper tantrum from Noll approaching. She could practically see the air darkening around him.

"Receptive?" Martin repeatedly amazedly. "You've witnessed this ability? Noll, that's fantastic!"

"It is nothing of the kind," Oliver Davis's voice was so frozen with rage that Madoka reflexively clutched her cardigan closer. "I do not understand why I should have to explain this to both lead investigators of my abilities, but the connection was a unique, biological one. Mai is not my twin and therefore can never be my 'dimming switch.'"

Naru spun to face Martin. "And if you try to force me or Mai to participate in thoroughly useless trials," he continued unhesitatingly, "I will leave SPR."

Silence.

The three scientists stood stock-still, each waiting on the other two to crack.

Finally, Martin sighed. "You've asked me several times now, Noll, why I refuse to promote you to lead investigator of SPR here in London." The professor locked eyes with his son. "This is why."

"What is 'this'?" Naru pressed.

"We are having this conversation," Martin explained, "Because regardless of the thoughtfulness of your reasons, you elected to keep multiple key factors of Mai Taniyama's parapsychological development secreted from me. Why should I trust that you won't do it again? You've also just stated that you would refuse any testing of her abilities in conjunction with yours – in other words, you are unapologetically insubordinate concerning a possible solution to a very great problem."

Naru bit the inside of his cheek, still incensed but unable to rationally challenge Martin's assessment. Not trusting himself to speak, Oliver nodded his understanding.

"I obviously cannot predict your actions with regard to cases you are personally or emotionally involved with," Martin continued, his voice gentling. "Which is dangerous in an already dangerous case setting – and a problem of investigatory safety I know we agree on."

Here Naru turned away from his hierarchical superiors. Martin was correct, and Oliver was not quite prepared to face this castigation without significant reflection.

"Your abilities are also uncontrollable at present," Martin noted clinically, "And although lack of supernatural ability does not bar you from upper management, your tendency to use your gifts despite this lack of control has landed you in danger more than once."

Naru closed his eyes.

"Oliver, you are a beyond-excellent investigator, researcher and scientist," Martin said placatingly. "And I have no doubt that you will eventually lead SPR after me – with a progressive perspective that I will likely never have. But for now, your lack of tractability and unpredictability prevent me from allowing you to lead SPR investigations."

Martin wasn't sure how to feel about the sheer blankness of his son's expression upon turning back around. On the one hand, perhaps Noll was attempting to smooth out the 'too emotional' aspect of his criticism. However, his parents' long-term goal was to help Noll learn to balance emotion into his daily life (rather than either ignoring feelings altogether, or making important decisions based on internal upset).

"I accept your conclusions," his son stated formally. "And... Mai will likely be staying at the estate tonight, if previous episodes involving Gene are considered. I will ask her whether she would like to discuss the issue with you."

Not waiting for a response, Naru inclined his head in self-dismissal and swept out of Martin's office.

"Was that... progress?" Martin asked Madoka in an uncharacteristic display of vulnerability.

His former student sighed. "Yes," she replied softly. "Not all victories are easily or quickly won. But yes, I believe this is progress."

Martin nodded – and then speared his lead investigator with a steely gaze. "Tell me more about Taniyama's receptivity," he intoned.

It was not a request.

-0O0-

That was Mai's third shiver in five minutes. And this shiver was accompanied by a faraway look, as if Mai were not in her favorite armchair in the Davis study, but rather elsewhere. Likely on a dark road, looking for the source of a roaring noise in the gloom. Definitely a vision warning. "So you'll be staying at the house tonight, Mai," Naru said tonelessly as he regarded her over an open case file.

Mai looked up over her own research folder, willing her face to appear confused. Surely she'd upset the Davises enough today already. Maybe she could pass off her shivers as a regular chill?

Dr. Oliver Davis was not in the mood. "When the vision warnings appear, you require nocturnal assistance."

"And I will most certainly fulfill my duty as your new Nightmare Companion," Luella assured kindly, taking Mai's hand. "I'm so glad you left that bag of clothes here after SPR's last case. I already had them washed, so you'll have clean pajamas for the night. Your own pajamas," she added, eyes twinkling.

Mai blushed as she recalled barreling into the Davis kitchen in Luella's silky nightgown. Then she threw Naru a Look, wordlessly reminding him of her reasons for not wanting Luella to be responsible for waking her up from her vision of Gene's death.

Naru threw a quelling expression back, as he'd come up with a solution to this problem.

Mai raised an interrogative eyebrow, to which Naru responded with a sharp glance that clearly said, 'I'll explain later.' Mai eyed him beadily for a moment before turning to thank Luella.

Dr. Davis Sr. watched this covert process with fascination. He had been about to volunteer to watch over Mai himself, to avoid Luella finding out that Gene was the subject of her death vision. But it appeared that Noll and Mai were indeed working together to troubleshoot any problems.

Martin had spent the last few hours poring over notes on what Mai termed 'the Nightmare.' Noll had adopted this nomenclature as well; odd, for him, but also easily understood. A vague euphemism was less traumatizing than writing one's twin's name and death over and over.

Noll's notes were otherwise perfect, as well as incredibly detailed – and as assured, included several joint hypotheses formed by Noll and Taniyama over the last few months. Perhaps Martin was being too hard on Noll – he'd obviously been unstinting in his research despite his personal connection to both sides of the Nightmare.

Tomorrow, Martin would read over all Mai and Bou-san's preliminary research on the pre-London occurrences. He'd already started a list of follow-up questions for his son and Taniyama.

Questions were not for tonight, however. Further poking at Mai while she was already in visible psychic distress was pointless – not to mention it might throw off Noll's existing control settings for what was obviously a months-long investigation.

Tonight would still be an interesting one, though – after all, there was really only one way that Noll could be sure that Mai would wake before Luella was alerted. Martin shook his head ruefully.

Noll would have to do the job himself.

-0O0-

Mai was already crying as she regained consciousness, as was the norm if she woke herself up before the drowning. If she made it all the way to the end of the dream, her emotional trauma took a temporary backseat to the vomiting. Her first tears usually landed in the toilet as she finished throwing up imaginary lake water.

A warm hand touched her arm, and Mai blindly threw herself toward its owner.

Naru had barely a moment's warning as Mai flung her arms around him, just managing to keep them upright as Mai fell hard against his body. Frozen in shock, Naru opened his mouth to say... something – but Mai promptly buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed into his black shirt. Her warm tears soaked into the material, her fingers clutched at his back... and Naru found himself completely unable to stop his arms from winding around Mai in return.

Mai started trembling against him, and the normally-loquacious Oliver Davis scrambled for something useful to say.

Meanwhile, Mai had finally realized that she wasn't hugging Ayako or Bou-san. She had no intention of releasing whoever it was for a look… but luckily her powers were more than willing to help her out. A warm wave of energy flowed through Mai's entire body, and her scars tingled with psychic energy. There was only one person who could cause that reaction.

And Naru was not a hugger.

But just as Mai tried to pull back, Naru actually held her closer and stroked her back gently. An undeniable shiver of wholeness ran through Mai. She relaxed and breathed Naru's scent in deeply through her nose… before the reason they were both here in the first place came crashing back into focus.

Mai started crying again. Miserable for Gene, miserable for Naru (who knew exactly what she'd just seen), and half-furious with herself for leaning into Naru's unprecedented show of support. Eventually, she managed to lift her head and met Naru's steady gaze.

There were so many expressions in Mai's soulful eyes, that even a consummate observer such as Oliver Davis didn't know where to start. She blinked slowly, and her myriad visible emotions coalesced into one of the tenderest expressions Naru had ever seen Mai wear.

Unbidden, an image of Mai as she mistakenly confessed to him swam before Naru's eyes. His breath froze in his chest as he wondered if Mai believed she was holding on to Gene right now.

"Naru," Mai sniffled softly, tearing up again.

No, not talking to Gene, Naru surmised, an annoyingly pleased tone to his thoughts.

"I'm sorry." Mai buried her face in his shoulder again.

What exactly was she apologizing for? Naru wondered. For hugging him? For the earlier kerfuffle with his father? No, he realized, because she knows I've seen the same vision... and that Gene was the person closest to me.

"It's... alright," he replied as soothingly as he could manage. "I'm sorry, too." The words felt inadequate, far too small for the enormous feelings they were meant to encompass.

Mai only gripped Naru's shirt harder as she wept into his chest.

-0O0-

A few steps from Mai's room, Professor Martin Davis closed his eyes to hold back his own tears.

It was a common problem for Dr. Davis, Sr. to be too removed from a parapsychological situation to really feel the tragedy that was often involved.

Two years later, Noll and Taniyama mourned Gene Davis like his death had just happened. And for Taniyama, it had just happened. Martin's frustration with them both faded like a mirage in the desert, and the head of SPR padded to the library to think things through.

-0O0-

Later that week, a jaunty Mai skipped into the Davis mansion toward a familiar knot of people clustered in the foyer. "Who's ready to go ghost hunting?" she sang excitedly.

"I am!" Madoka answered gaily.

Martin shook his head fondly, John smiled, Yasuhara punched the air, Luella scoffed, and Lin rolled his eyes.

Naru watched as Mai smiled brightly and danced down the hall. He was obviously content that Mai had recovered from her latest Nightmare episode, but it was more than that. Mai's obvious delight about working with SPR did strange things to Naru's insides; his stomach twisted and his heart leapt.

This psychosomatic response didn't bother Naru as much as it usually did – was he somehow becoming accustomed to those feelings?

"A bit odd to be happy about investigating a homicidal ghost, isn't it?" Luella asked archly, staring daggers at her chuckling husband. The lure of traipsing around possibly haunted places hoping for danger would forever remain a mystery to her – the whole staff of SPR was insane.

"Maybe," Mai admitted. "Especially since I'll probably be attacked; this ghost is supposed to be violent."

"You don't always wind up bloody," Yasuhara offered brightly, watching amusedly as the idea of Mai in danger caused Naru's body to tighten – well, tighten even further.

"I likely will, though," Mai mused. "Remember the case with the sexually assaulted teen girl who strangled men to death? I was the only girl she ever went after."

"Well, yeah, but that was because you kept saying she was wrong to kill people," John pointed out reasonably.

"Killing people isn't wrong?"

"Challenging a killer ghost so directly probably wasn't your best option," John corrected gently.

"Okay, fair," Mai capitulated. "I know better now," she assured a deadly-still Naru.

"Nothing like some good, old-fashioned spirit strangling to teach you that important lesson," Yasuhara said with mock seriousness.

"You were strangled?!" Luella asked, horrified.

"And levitated ten feet in the air," Yasuhara elaborated.

"And then my wonderful team figured they should go ahead and zap the ghost with the nine words," Mai grumbled. "Without realizing that I would fall."

"Well, what else were we going to do? Being strangled in the air is worse than not being strangled on the ground," Yasuhara reasoned jauntily. "And Bou-san mostly caught you!"

"How does one 'mostly' catch someone?" Naru couldn't help but ask.

"He caught me, but then we both fell over," Mai replied. "Bou-san twisted his knee, and I landed on a broken pipe." Mai abruptly pulled her shirt up a few inches, revealing a jagged scar along her side. "Eight stitches."

Oliver Davis's eyes were glued to the revealed patch of bare skin, his insides torn between delight at the surprise view of Mai's midriff and horror at the permanent injury.

"Don't worry, Mai-chan," Yasuhara said bracingly. "The odds of that happening again are slim to none. After all," Yasuhara glanced at the still-staring Naru. "I highly doubt that Big Boss would allow that to happen." It was why Yasuhara had brought it up – the best way to win his bet with Madoka was to encourage constant proximity between Mai and Naru. Hopefully, Naru would stick to Mai like glue on the case, always right there and ready to save her.

Martin Davis breathed slowly out through his nose. After witnessing Noll's and Taniyama's trauma responses firsthand, Martin had spent the night re-reading Noll's notes on the Nightmare, appreciating with new eyes the care and scientific clarity with which his deeply grieving son presented hypotheses. As a result, Dr. Davis, Sr. was now reconsidering the continuation of Noll's 'demotion' at SPR.

However, Osamu's prediction reinforced the need for Martin to carefully review Noll's attention to detail on the imminent case. It would be an (undeclared) experiment to test his son's actions should the object of his affections be in the sights of an angry spirit.

"That's true," Mai agreed, beaming at her former boss (who had finally pulled his eyes from her now-covered waistline). "Naru the Narcissist is all-seeing. Which is irritating when he's ordering tea and calling me a klutz, but really useful when I get into trouble!"

Naru's atrophied heartstrings leapt in his chest.

"Hmm," Madoka mused slyly. "Noll is always there when you get in trouble?"

Mai feared that tone. "Uh, yes?"

The master ghost hunter grinned broadly. "How lovely that Noll pays close attention to people as well as paranormal activity nowadays!" Madoka winked at Yasu. "Well, to certain people, anyway."

"Naru pays attention to everything having to do with a case!" Mai defended hotly, oblivious to what Madoka was implying.

Martin wondered, not for the first time, if Madoka had some sort of latent prescience that inspired her to seek answers to questions that Martin never spoke aloud.

Naru finally dragged his eyes from the case file. "Madoka, you are not factoring in that certain people require closer attention." He flipped the file closed with a snap. "And I'm glad to see that your instincts are as good as ever, Mai."

"Huh?" Mai's face was all confusion.

"I'm pleased that you recognize my superior abilities in all facets of paranormal investigations," Naru smirked. "Even when the job is so repetitive and avoidable as retrieving you from whatever danger you have run headlong into."

"Why, I oughta..." Mai's fist clenched reflexively. "You NARCISSIST!"

Madoka leaned over to Luella and John. "Their dynamic is so much fun to examine," she noted. "What Mai-chan really meant was, 'I can always depend on you, Naru, and I have complete faith that you'll come for me.' And what Noll really meant was, 'I'm secretly happy that you think I'm awesome, Mai. And no matter how many sticky situations you get into, I will always be there to save you.'"

Luella made a noise of agreement. "And yet those quite lovely feelings are masked in angry words, and a promising show of mutual appreciation turns into verbal warfare." She sighed. "Why can't they just say what they really mean?"

"Because that would be too easy on the rest of us," Yasuhara quipped. "Mai-chan! Let's go to SPR. Big Boss can't rescue you from ghost-kidnappers if he's in the hospital recovering from a Taniyama aikido attack."

-0O0-

Mai's happy mood had returned by the time the SPR investigation team was almost ready to leave, and she smiled brightly as she hauled a monitor to the van.

Naru gave the part-time investigator an incredulous look. "I don't remember you being this enthusiastic about equipment," he drawled. "In fact, I remember endless complaints about 'slave driver bosses' and 'pack mule assistants.'"

Yasuhara snorted as he organized extension cords. "Ah, remember the hours we spent lugging overpriced cameras through haunted houses, with our Big Boss Overseer flipping through his secret black book?"

"You mean our Big Boss Overseer who did nothing to help whatsoever?" Mai growled, her muscles screaming as she tried to gently lower the video monitor into the van. "While he read over the case file that he'd already memorized?"

"Why would I carry the equipment? That's what I paid you for," their former Overseer replied icily.

Mai continued as if Naru hadn't spoken. "And he somehow always knew when we took a momentary break, and made time to shout at us."

"You never took 'momentary breaks,'" Naru denied instantly. "The lot of you would just disappear for ages. Takigawa would take 'his jou-chan' down to see the lovely lake, Matsuzaki would go for a walk, and Yasuhara would chat up the family's attractive teenage daughter."

"Part of understanding the paranormal experience lays in interviews, Big Boss." Yasuhara gave a winning smile. "I was simply conducting on-site research."

"And yet you never seemed interested in what the men of the home had to say," Naru observed acidly.

"Well, Big Boss, women are usually more attuned to spiritual situations than men," Yasuhara replied, eyes twinkling. "You mentioned it yourself in Exploring the Paranormal: Fact and Myth."

"I also mentioned that gathering evidence from males is also important. As men are indeed less spiritually attuned than women, they therefore tend to focus on physical evidence of activity. I should not need to tell you that evidentiary support is necessary for accurate conclusions."

"Eh, we just send Mai-chan can interview the guys," Yasuhara teased.

Naru gritted his teeth.

"Well, someone has to!" Mai retorted. "Ayako and Bou-san are usually in the middle of argument six by interview-time!"

John nodded agreeably. "Hara-san and I prefer to do our walk-throughs while the family is interviewing."

"And Yasu is always glued to the most attractive female at the site!" Mai griped.

Madoka laughed as she and Lin emerged from the SPR lobby with the last of the cameras. "There are a couple of attractive females at this mansion," Madoka mused. "And pretty girls usually like telling their woes to charming young men. It makes them feel like they'll be rescued or something. So, go ahead, Yasu. Interview away."

"Enabler!" Mai accused. "Yasu will wind up in a closet with one of them before midnight." Without thinking it through, Mai continued, "Make Naru do the interviews, he's handsome and professional!"

"Your ability to appreciate superiority has improved with age, Mai." Naru noted, the irritating tension in his stomach easing at her accidental compliment.

Mai huffed in embarrassment. "Shut it, Narcissist! I just meant that you're less dodgy than Yasu!"

"All of you, get in the van," Lin barked, slipping into the driver's seat. "We're supposed to be there in two hours."

"Gladly." Mai opened the van's back door and made to climb inside. A hand took her shoulder and thrust her toward the front passenger door instead.

"You're smaller than Madoka," Naru said flatly. "You're sitting in the front with Lin and I."

"Oh, noooo," Mai moaned in horror. "Two hours of enforced silence."

"Nonsense, Mai." Madoka offered a sparkling smile. "I prefer to discuss case particulars on the drive." She leaned in very close to Mai and whispered, "Plus you get two hours of physical contact with Noll."

Mai blushed like a ripening tomato. "Wha – what? Madoka-san!"

Naru's mentor giggled at Mai's scandalized tone. "Don't worry, he'll enjoy it, too. Why do you think he wants you up front?"

Mai only turned redder. "You must be imagining things, Madoka. Naru doesn't want anybody touching him!" She fled the scene, scurrying into the front seat of the van and ignoring Naru's quizzical expression.

"They really are determined to misunderstand each other," John noted, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I'm working on it!" Yasuhara and Madoka exclaimed simultaneously.

-0O0-

John helpfully hefted the last supplies toward the site, and Mai pulled the van doors shut. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Mai marveled at the lovely British estate house.

It was very large, and unlike Japanese mansions, was built using stone. The central area looked like a normal great house, rectangular and unified, but there were also two enormous offshoots leading away from the center. The mansion resembled a squarish U-shape.

The grounds were enormous – huge, well-maintained parks, three separate forests, random outbuildings in the middle of nowhere. Mai spotted a lovely pond beyond the nearby wooded area. She had always been attracted to water and decided to take a stroll over there after interviews were over.

There seemed to be quite a few people to interview. Naru's list included the names of the entire main family and at least ten servants. Mai wondered if he and Madoka would split the list to save time.

And then trouble walked over. A lovely young maid in her late teens approached the van. Mai's breath hitched. One of two things would happen now: the girl could hit on Naru, which would irritate Mai, irritate Naru, and end in tears for the maid. Or, Yasu's sixth sense for attractive women could prompt him to intercept the maid, which would irritate Naru, render Yasu distracted, and still end in tears for the maid.

"Why, hello, Miss. Are you one of our distressed victims?" Yasuhara's Attractive Girl Alert System was obviously operating in peak form.

Mai sighed and Naru narrowed his eyes.

The maid fluttered daintily. "Yes, I am. Are you one of the people here to free us from the terrible haunting?"

Mai groaned. They hadn't even made it into the house yet.

"I certainly am!" Glasses flashed in the sun.

"Are you a spiritualist?" the girl asked, flipping her long red-brown hair.

"Oh, no." Yasu replied, all modesty. "I handle the background research. So if there's something you want to share, I'm all yours!" He sounded so innocent and earnest that Mai could practically see a halo above his head.

"Well, there's just so much!" She tossed her hair again. "Come with me, some of the other maids and I are lunching together in the kitchen. We'll tell you all about it!"

"How can I say no to that?" Yasuhara exclaimed. He offered her his arm like a gentleman. "Lead the way, Miss...?"

"Oh, sorry, sir!" Damsel-in-Distress Maid cried. "My name is Daphne! And yours...?"

"Osamu Yasuhara, at your service." He actually bowed.

"What an interesting name! Is it Japanese?" They had started walking toward the house arm-in-arm.

"Why, yes! I recently transferred from Tokyo University to Cambridge..."

Mai shook her head in disbelief as the two disappeared from sight.

Madoka appeared. "What was that, two minutes? He's got her eating out of his hand and leading him to a room full of distraught women in maid uniforms."

"Yeah, Yasu is talented like that," Mai admitted grudgingly. "TTMPI once had a totally frigid, divorced princess as a client who hated the very sight of us. A few minutes with Yasu and she loved us; we even got a bonus. I believe she also became Yasu's first 'older woman experience.'"

Lin and Naru froze as Madoka doubled over with laughter.

"And although his charm is occasionally useful..." Mai eyed the door where her assistant and Daphne had disappeared. "I should probably go rein him in before he seduces half of the maids. Paranormal activity is dramatic enough without servant catfights or camera footage of romantic interludes."

"Camera footage?" Lin repeated in a dead voice.

"Mentally scarring video of Yasuhara's charm in action," Mai affirmed grimly. Then she grinned. "Although that was what finally convinced Bou-san that Yasu wasn't gay!"

Naru closed his eyes in despair. He leaves for London and his employees wind up filming soft-core pornography.

"Mai, you and I will assist Yasuhara's investigation," Naru bit out. "Madoka and Lin will start interviewing the family."

"Yeah, that's probably best," Mai agreed with a nod. "We should shut him down quick." She pulled her favorite notebook out of her bag and saluted Naru. "Let's go, boss!"

Naru seemed to swallow wrong, but he marched determinedly toward the house after Mai. Madoka and Lin looked after them, the former watching the tips of Oliver's ears turn pink.

"I wonder if Noll will want her to call him that in be –"

"Madoka, finish that sentence and I will not speak to you for the rest of the case." Lin strode toward the main entrance, shuddering in horror.

-0O0-

The interviews had gone better than expected. Naru's arrival in the kitchen stirred up the already fluttering maid population. Everyone wanted to talk, so by the end of the lunch hour, the SPR employees were fairly inundated with tales of horror and woe.

Mai had been brushed off to the side by a few determined girls, but found that several young manservants and groundskeepers wanted to talk to her. She took down all of their information with a friendly smile, oblivious to the twin laser beams of death that Naru was shooting from his eyes.

She did eventually notice his sour attitude - Mai reckoned that he was irritated with the overly flirtatious Yasuhara, who by that point had scheduled an evening stroll with Daphne and a late snack with the line cook. So she broke the tension the best way she knew how: she begged the head cook's indulgence and made tea for the entire assemblage.

A tray appeared in Naru's vision. He looked up and saw Mai standing over him, her smiling face flushed from the steam rising from several cups of tea.

"Yours is the cup in the right-front corner," she informed him. Naru took the indicated cup wordlessly as always, but Mai noticed a very faint hint of surprise in his face. She celebrated inwardly and moved to the row of Damsels-in-Distress sitting down the table.

"Please help yourselves," Mai offered brightly, her annoyance with the girls overcome by the customer service training. There was a mad scramble for cups, and everyone fought over the sugar and creamer that one of the cook's assistants brought over.

Naru looked down at his tea. His was the only one with sugar and cream already added.

Mai watched Naru lift the teacup to his lips. She smiled to herself as his whole body seemed to relax a bit. Good, she thought, now we'll get through this without bloodshed. She turned to the next client, a nervous-looking groom.

"So have you witnessed any of the strange activity?"

-0O0-

A/N: An important case for our intrepid investigators... for you know, reasons:) You guys are the best readers ever:):):)