Vampy: Again, I am so sorry it took me so long to finally update this fanfic. A lot has been going on during the past year and I haven't had the motivation to do any writing at all. Honestly I'm not really sure why I've been having such a difficult time with this chapter. To make up for it, I'm giving you some fluff! Enjoy this update! Thank you to everyone who has followed/favorited/ reviewed on Race Against Time. I don't own any of the Ghost Hunt characters.
Gene/Ayumu/ Mai in dreams
Dreams
Thoughts/Shi's P.O.V.
"You." Mai hid her face in Monk's chest, scared to see what his reaction would be to her statement. This was the closest she had come to admitting her feelings to the older man and part of her hoped that he'd see her hug as a romantic gesture while the other, more timid part of her hoped that he would think it was just another of their sibling hugs. She didn't want their relationship to become awkward if he found out that her feelings for him were of the romantic kind but didn't feel the same way.
Monk was oblivious to Mai's internal conflict as his brain tried to comprehend what she was saying. He hardly dared to let himself hope that her reply might have a deeper meaning behind it, so he tried to convince himself that he hadn't heard correctly. The monk slowly wrapped his arms around her when he realized that the young woman was waiting for a response. "Me? Why?" He asked, uncertainty coloring his tone.
"You're always there for me." Mai replied as she pulled back to look Monk in the eye. "The Silent Christmas case, the Park case, almost every case that we've been on. You have always been right by my side while Naru sulked somewhere or berated me for something that was out of my control. I never really noticed just how often you protected me or comforted me until he went back to England." The brunette blushed and looked away bashfully.
There was a pause before Monk spoke again. "Well. . . I'm glad that you finally noticed how much I sacrifice for you." he said with an exaggerated tone of suffering.
Mai laughed and turned her face back towards him as she playfully tugged on his pony tail. "Poor, heroic Houshou Takigawa."
"Don you think that I deserve a reward?" The monk joked, giving her a somewhat flirtatious wink.
"Mhm, I think you might be right." The brunette smiled at him shyly before pushing herself up onto her tiptoes to press a chaste kiss to Monk's lips, resting her hands on his chest to stay balanced. Her pulse raced from her bold move and she was absolutely terrified of what his reaction would be.
The monk stared at her in shock after she pulled away, his lips tingling slightly. At first he wasn't sure how to react but when he saw her bite her bottom lip he simply couldn't hold back anymore. Monk bent his head down to kiss her again. He shivered in delight as she kissed him back and pulled her tight against him with one arm while raising his free hand to gently cup her cheek.
When they finally broke the kiss, Monk rested his forehead against hers. "I was so scared that we wouldn't make it in time." He admitted quietly.
"I was scared too. But I knew that you would find me. When have you ever not been able to?" She joked weakly as her eyes filled with tears at his confession. Mai felt as if she could float, she was so happy. Monk had kissed her!
He smiled softly and wiped away her tears with his thumbs before taking her hand in his. "Come on. Let's go back to the others. I'm sure that we will be hearing from John's doctor soon."
"Alright." Mai smiled at him as they began to walk to the waiting room.
Doctor Hideyoshi Miyamoto pursed his lips slightly as he read the information on John Brown's medical file. An exorcist working with Shibuya Psychic Research? The gods have blessed us indeed to land this group in our midst. Perhaps now. . . he sighed and shook his head before walking into the waiting room where Brown-san's friends were waiting.
If he was surprised by how young they were, Doctor Miyamoto hid it well. He cleared his throat to get their attention before speaking. "Are you here for Brown-san?"
"Yup!" A petite brunette hopped up from her chair as the doctor walked towards them. She looked up at the doctor with worried eyes. "How is he doing?"
Doctor Miyamoto smiled at her reassuringly when he saw how concerned she was for her friend. "Brown-san is doing just fine. He has a nasty bump and a mild concussion, so we would like to keep him over night just to be sure that there's no additional swelling to his brain and then release him tomorrow if no more symptoms appear."
"Thank goodness." She heaved a sigh of relief before bowing politely to him. "I'm Mai Taniyama. Thank you very much for taking such good care of my friend."
The doctor bowed back to her. "It was no problem, Taniyama-san. Actually it's quite lucky for this hospital that you came here. You are all part of Shibuya Psychic Research, aren't you?"
"We are."
He straightened up and faced the dark haired young man who had spoken. "You must be Shibuya-san then."
"I am. Perhaps you would care to explain your previous statement? Why is it so lucky that we are here, exactly?" Naru looked at the older man with his usual expression of indifference, but Lin and Mai could tell that he was quite curious about the doctor's words.
"It is lucky that you're here because this hospital is haunted. " Doctor Miyamoto pulled a cloth out of his pocket before removing his glasses to wipe them clean. "And I would like to hire you to get rid of the ghost."
He was amazed at the professional demeanor Naru gained despite the fact that his expression hadn't changed in the slightest. He was equally as shocked when he saw that the rest of the group had become just as serious as their boss.
"Take us to Brown-san's room so we can have a bit more privacy for you to tell us about this haunting."
Masako sat next to John's hospital bed, looking down at her smoke stained kimono. She was grateful that the sleeves hid her trembling hands from view. Seeing her boyfriend laying there with an IV in his arm terrified her more than she cared to admit.
"Are you alright? You breathed in some of the smoke at Devil Wood, didn't you?"
Sweet John, always worrying about everyone but himself. The medium kept her head lowered as she blinked rapidly. Masako absolutely refused to lose her composure in such a public place. "I'm fine."
"Masako." The Australian's stern tone made her look up at him. He took her hand in his and squeezed it lightly. "I'm fine, too."
"You collapsed. I was so frightened for you. I thought that Mara had really hurt you and there wasn't anything that I could do to prevent it." She whispered, leaning forward to wrap her arms around him carefully as she buried her face into his neck.
John stroked her hair comfortingly. He really loved it when she allowed herself to show vulnerability to him since he knew that she wouldn't do so unless she really trusted the person. "That wasn't the first time I've been thrown around by a ghost." He reminded her gently.
She pulled back so she could cup his face between her hands and look him in the eye. "That won't stop me from worrying about you every single time it happens."
He simply smiled at her in an affectionate manner as he leaned into her touch. The couple pulled away from each other in surprise when the door suddenly opened and their friends entered the room along with Doctor Miyamoto.
"Mai! You're alright!" John sat up slightly as the brunette hurried over to the bedside so she could hug the blonde man. "I'm glad that you weren't hurt."
"Thanks, John. I'm glad that you weren't hurt too badly. I feel terrible that this happened, and all for nothing. Mara and Shi both got away." Mai clenched her fist against her chest as she looked down at the floor, a scowl on her pretty face. "If I had been more careful then you, Ayako, and Masako wouldn't have had to go to that awful place and you wouldn't have gotten hurt."
Masako stood up. "This isn't your fault, Mai." She assured her friend as she hugged the slightly taller girl. "Everyone forgot about what Tachibana-san had said. We all should have listened."
The others nodded in agreement with Masako's words before turning to Naru as he spoke up. "That's in the past. Right now I would like to hear about the ghost that is haunting this hospital. Doctor Miyamoto, would you please tell us everything that you know about the ghost?"
"Ah, yes. Of course." The grey haired man stroked his mustache to help him gather his thoughts. Naru pulled out his black notebook and a pen while Lin sat down in a chair so he could rest his laptop on his lap, preparing to type out the basics of the case. Miyamoto spoke up once he was sure that he had the events in order.
"I'm no stranger to things that can't be explained. Hospitals are well known for paranormal activity and I've seen a ghost or two in my day. However, nothing that I have experienced compares to what has been happening here lately.
"The haunting started about two weeks ago. The nurses in charge of the night shift claim to hear singing in the hallways and patients complain about a chill in their room. Even I have seen a shadow appear when no one is around to cast one. Normally I wouldn't give it a second thought since things like this happen all the time, but patients have begun to die from unknown causes anytime the 'Singing Specter' is heard. We've already lost four to it and I'm afraid that we'll lose more if we can't put a stop to this. Please say that you'll help us, Shibuya-san!"
Mai covered her mouth in horror and tears filled her eyes as she listened to the doctor recount what had been going on. She buried her face in Monk's chest when he wrapped his arms around her. Those poor people!
Naru glanced around at the faces of his fellow ghost hunters before turning back to face Doctor Miyamoto. "We'll need three rooms to use for our base and for sleeping spaces."
Miyamoto nodded, relief spreading over his worn features as he felt hope for the first time in over a week.
"Thank you."
