Chapter 9 – Like I Am Home Again

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt, if I did the series would never have ended and Mai and Naru would have little paranormal grandbabies for Martin and Luella running around by now.

Author's Note: This is a short little interlude, I felt like the case was dragging out and a bit boring to write at times. I wanted more Mai and Naru fluff and development so here we go. It's a lot shorter than the normal chapter, because it's not really plot driven, but the next chapter will wrap up the case. Then we will get on with some other ideas I have for the time they are in England while taking Gene home, and there just might be a mention of one hopeful change within the text of this chapter already. =) Edited: 9/30


Dinner that night with the irregulars was interesting for both Mai and Naru for several reasons. For one it was a different perspective of each member than they had gotten the first time they had worked with the group, and secondly it was a good opportunity to preemptively strengthen the bonds that the two knew would grow between them all without the impetus of life-threatening situations. There were more reasons, sure, but those were the two primary ones that held sway for the young ghost hunters at the moment, and with those interests in mind, it was fair to say that the entire group had a nice time together.

Mai managed to sweet talk the rest of the group into not disclosing the relationship Mai and Naru had with Masako until she figured it out on her own. This was not a hard suggestion for Ayako and Monk to agree with since the doll-like medium had been very rude to both of them so far; it was only the earnest young priest that felt bad about such an omission. But even John could agree that Masako needed to be less judgmental of everyone else they were working with and that reflecting on her ignorance in this matter , and the humility it could offer her might help her grow on a personal level.

After leaving the others at the restaurant Naru and Mai headed back to their hotel suite, so that Naru could log the day's activities into the AVE database for comparison after the case was over and Mai practiced the meditation exercises she remembered from her vision. Both completing these tasks at the same time they decided it would be the perfect time to test some of their skills, so Naru set up a small camera and recording device attached to his laptop and they decided to begin with testing connectivity between them.

Opening his awareness Oliver sends tendrils of his psychokinetic energy out searching for Mai's partnering energy signature, and both Oliver and Mai could feel a slight buzzing as though there was already a connection in place and the conscious effort to bond only made it more potent. Noll smiled at Mai and said, "It appears that our powers work together much like mine and Gene's did, when in proximity with one another we had an instinctive connectivity that he often compared to a computer syncing up with a Wi-Fi signal automatically when it is first booted," he laughed softly at this recollection and then kept speaking, "It was through this instinctual bond that I was able to use my PK without risk. If you want to try, we can see to what extent our general nearness will allow me to use it, and then work our way up to the seeding process Gene and I used to bounce it back and forth between us?" He looked up hopefully at Mai, the scientist in him eager to explore a subject he was intimately familiar with but in a new way.

Mai grinned at the excitement in Noll's eyes, and agreed enthusiastically, "Definitely! Let's get to it," she jumped up from her seated position on the floor where she had previously been meditating and danced animatedly around him. Giving him a wide smile, Mai pulled him to his feet along with her and asked, "Basic PK exercises, right?" When he nodded she replied while holding out her hand for him to grasp, "Something small, hmm… How about the cushions on the couch? Let's see what you can do with those, just utilizing our bond on the tactile level alone."

He nodded, holding her hand tenderly within his larger one, feeling the pleasant hum of their connected spiritual energy and he focused on the cushions on the couch, willing them to begin moving on their own. Slowly, several throw pillows rose gracefully into the air from the sofa, swiftly followed by the cushions of the couch itself, and Naru smiled in pure elation as he effortlessly held them all aloft. This was the first time he had been able to accomplish even this much use of his power since he lost his brother, and it radiated such a conflicting mixture of emotions within him, delight, comfort, and pride were just a few that raced through him, and he turned to Mai with adoration for her shining within the depths of his indigo gaze and every single one of his telekinetically controlled cushions began an intricate aerial dance while surrounding the two of them.

Mai gasped at the unexpected playfulness of her usually serious fiancé; the dancing pillows swirled nearer to the two of them, effectively shepherding them into a closer proximity to one another until Naru was able to pull Mai into his arms. Mai was entranced by the look in his eyes and did not notice that the motion of the pillows slowly ebbed away until they settled back into their places on the couch, only to be replaced by an assortment of flowers plucked from the vase that rested on the coffee table in front of the couch. The flowers drifted lazily around the two, flying in an abandoned whimsy as the two stared lovingly into the eyes of the only person that existed for them in the world at that moment.

The flowers whirling through the space around them laced the air with a honeyed fragrance that helped to create a more relaxed mood as Mai looked at this man she adored with her entire being, and saw her life reflected in him. He leaned over to her, brushing her hair back from her face and gently kissed each of her eyelids as the hovering blossoms began to entwine themselves into her hair as an extension of the absolute tenderness he felt for her.

She gazed upon him and saw an achingly beautiful shoujo manga protagonist complete with an aerial meadow of flowers surrounding her entire field of vision. Oliver smirked devilishly at her as if he knew what she was thinking, and he swept his head down closer to Mai until his lips ghosted teasingly against the sensitive area just behind her ear, his breath warm as he teased her with a petal soft kiss on her earlobe and whispered seductively, "Only for you Mai, I will only ever be the hero for you my love." His lips trailed from her ear down her cheek, placing small tender kisses along her jawline, and the exact moment that his lips captured her own the two teenager's feet both left the ground.

The power within the two spiraled back and forth, a riotous merger of his and her energy melding into one seamless blend of power that pulsed in time with the combined beat of their hearts. Their power, instead of two separate units, became one shared between the two, and in it there was a completeness that Oliver had never felt with his power before, not even between himself and his elder twin. The influx and rush of the power was so intense that he did not even notice when they began to float off the ground, the skill to levitate never having been one he possessed before. Having the power to make two fully grown human bodies hover over the ground should have taken far more effort than to move a mere block of aluminum with his mind, but this was effortless, and he and Mai felt completely weightless as he pulled her even closer to him, his arms surrounding her in a loving embrace as he continued to place tender kisses on her lips.

Mai gazed dazedly at Naru, her breath catching as the sweet loving kisses they were sharing developed into a more passionate exchange between the two. Mai, her arms wrapped around Naru's waist, snuck a hand just under the edge of his shirt along his waist and scratched the small of his back gently with her fingernails in the way she knows he adores, and he involuntarily growled deep in his chest and crushed her more firmly to him as they rose higher off the ground. Getting back at him for teasing the tender spot behind her ear earlier, Mai nipped playfully at his bottom lip, tugging at it slightly before deepening the kiss they were sharing.

With the intimacy between the young lovers mounting, so too does the swelling energy they create together and minuscule gold sparks, reminiscent of fireworks begin to sparkle in the air around them. The tiny fizzing sounds are just loud enough to pull Mai and Naru from the sensual reverie that their embrace had enraptured them with, and upon breaking the connection they both floated gently back to earth, their eyes staring wide in wonder. Mai suddenly struck with a fit of giggles breathes out, "When you go all shoujo manga hero you really go all out! Not only did you surround yourself in flowers, but you literally sparked off fireworks for me," she said as she sagged tiredly against him.

Noll cuddled Mai to his chest, picking her up and sitting down on the couch he somehow reassembled using his PK while he was plucking flowers, he placed her in his lap, sighing in contentment and says, "Well… that was unexpected. I've never taken flight before and that… well that, amalgamation of our energy together never happened before, even in the AVE that I can remember, can you?" He nuzzled lovingly at her neck, as she shook her head gently, careful not to move too vigorously and dislodge her surprisingly cuddly Naru from his unusual display of pure affection.

"I can still feel our connected powers Naru, when we broke apart they didn't separate and I'm not sure where your essence ends and mine begins right now," Mai revealed with a puzzled frown as she tried to discern exactly what happened but failed. "I'm extremely energized but at the same time exhausted, which doesn't make any sense either," she continued and shrugged at the conundrum this presented.

Oliver nodded in agreement at her last statement and said, "I am too, and as much as I really, really, really want to log it all into the database we actually captured that on video so I can do it later without missing any possible facts." When he reminded Mai they were taping the experiment she turned a deep red as she blushed in embarrassment and rushed to say, "Oliver Davis, don't you ever dare show that video to anyone else! Oh my God! I cannot believe we got so carried away under the view of one of your cameras. It's bad enough Gene was probably hanging around in case we started practicing my medium techniques and got an eyeful of our exhibitionistic behavior!" At her agitated state Naru chuckled deeply at Mai and gently turned her chin so she was facing him again and told her, "I promise, only you and I will ever see that video. No one else will ever get to see how beautiful your face is when it is flushed with passion and love, I am a selfish man and that sight is for my eyes only," he reassured her and kissed the tip of her nose.

Shifting his position so they were lying side by side on the couch instead of sitting, Naru continued, "I think it is safe to say that the PK experiment was a success, and while I was going to suggest we practice channeling Gene after we finished that one, I've changed my mind. We can practice that tomorrow night while we wait for the results of the autosuggestion test if that works for you?" Mai nodded against his chest, which she was happily snuggling against, and said, "The entire case feels like it is dragging on, doesn't it? I mean we know the outcome and just have to wait for all of our chess pieces to get into alignment before closing it and putting the next maneuvers into motion," she yawned sleepily as she said this but continued, "I did make an addendum to my own part of the database that logs events that I think we can help change for the better. I'd like to see if we can't keep a couple of people alive who didn't make it before, and maybe even recruit some other talent like Yasuhara early on. I think if we manage it, we might even be able to completely avoid the entire fiasco at Yasu's high school, and gain a new apprentice ghost hunter before he has a chance to lose his way, I mean Sakauchi might even be a possible student for Lin, he had enough talent to create that curse, and it truly broke my heart when I saw that poor tortured boy swallowed by his own creation," Mai looked beseechingly at Naru's face and took note of his shocked expression.

Naru had not even considered the possibility of making changes of that magnitude yet, and there was Mai ten steps ahead of him already. He shook his head in amusement and replied, "You really are amazing, the depth of your empathy and the desire you have to change every life you pass by for the better is astounding Mai. Yes, we can do our best to change the AVE for the better, but Mai, love, keep in mind that it is possible that we may not always succeed no matter how hard we try. I know how invested you get in our cases, so promise me that you will rely on me and the rest of the team, and not rush off and try to do everything alone if the situation starts to look dire?" He gave her a worried glance, staying entirely silent until she reluctantly nodded, and Mai knowing that he was being logical and just wanted to ensure her safety, felt that she really had no choice but to agree.

"Thank you Mai, I know how capricious you can be, after all it is one of the things I find most intriguing about you, but I appreciate your promise to be careful," Naru said to her with complete sincerity before continuing in a very soft-spoken voice, "I don't think I would survive if I lost you too, so thank you." He turned his head slightly away from her view in embarrassment at the raw emotion he was expressing, at the same time tightening his hold on her as she lay within his arms on the couch. He cleared his throat and changed the subject, "So, other than practicing your channeling tomorrow, along with the mental projection skill, we can start plotting out a timeline for changes you would like to make to the AVE, and since our next known case takes place in July just after your birthday we have all of May and June to work on some of the goals on our lists."

"Naru, I am sure we will have plenty of projects to do, stop stressing and stop working for the night. Let's just get ready for bed, I do have to start my exit exams in the morning; you have a group of people to hypnotize, and then Lin to call and check up on the progress they are making at the lake," she told him and yawned again and managed to pull free of his tight grip to stand up. "Come on handsome, I'll let you cuddle me as much as you want once we make it to our own bed," she impatiently pulled at his hand, not giving up until he finally relents and stands to follow her to their rest.