Mai Taniyama

Written for chocolvr69

"Taniyama Mai" called a teacher. A brown haired girl looked up, her big eye full of curiosity.

"Yes?"

"Please come with me." The teacher turned and walked out. The girl known as Mai stood up and followed her out into the hallway. The teacher waited until she was out in the hallway before she spoke. "I am truly sorry."

"For what?" Mai asked looking up at her confused.

"Your mother was admitted into the hospital this morning. She died three hours ago." Mai stood there frozen, trying to comprehend what she just heard, but for some reason, it just wasn't possible. Nothing was making sense. Everything seemed to just fade away. "Mai?" asked the teacher as she started to notice Mai swaying. Mai steady herself before looking back up at the teacher. "I talked to the hospital, they are sorry that they could not reach you sooner, but they were having a problem with there phone systems." Mai just nodded, unsure if she could answer. Her mother was dead, she was alone, and there was nothing in the world that could change that. "Would you like me to call someone for you?" Mai shook her head. The teacher nodded and gave her condolence before leaving.

Mai stood there in the hallway. Reality was starting to come to her. She was a junior high student who has now lost everything in this world that was ever important to her. She was alone and there was nothing anyone could do to fix that. Mai wrapped her arms around herself as she crouched down. The pain was starting to make its way into her heart. The tears were starting to fill her eyes. The hallway started to spin. Everything around her started to disappear as darkness took over.

"Miss Taniyama?" said a voice. It seemed so far away. "Miss Taniyama?" Mai felt something on her shoulder. She looked up to see a brown hair woman standing there.

"Akira-sensei!"

"Are you alright?" She asked looking worried. That's when Mai noticed that her cheeks were wet. She quickly wiped away the tears and smiled up at Akira. "Yea I'm fine. I must have dazed off. That's all. "

"I heard about you mother. I'm sorry." As soon as those words left her mouth, the memory started to come back to Mai. She had forgotten that her mother had died. In the last few moments all she knew was darkness and loneliness.

Tears started to find there way back into her eyes. "It's okay." Mai said as she stood up. Right now all she wanted was to be alone.

"Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" Mai looked at her teacher.

"You don't have to. I really don't mind walking." Mai said as she smiled at her teacher. She didn't want her to see through her. She didn't want her to see how she was really feeling.

"I would prefer it if I drive you to the hospital that way at least I can have some piece of mind." Mai nodded before following Akira outside.

They both sat in the car quietly as Akira drove them to the hospital. It wasn't a long drive but to Mai, time was standing still. Everything was happening so fast that she either didn't have time to consume all of it or she didn't want to. One thought kept floating around in her mind. She tried so hard to kept it out, but nothing worked. She was alone.

Mai stepped out of the car and ran towards the hospital door. She hoped that once she got in there that they will say that it was a mistake, that they had the wrong person. She ran into the lobby and into the desk. The shocked nurse looked up at her. "My name is Taniyama Mai-" Mai stopped when she realized she didn't know how to continue. She tried to form words but nothing came out. The nurse's expression sadden. "I will call the doctor."

Mai backed away from the desk when she saw the look on the nurses face. It was true. Her mother was dead. "Mai." said Akira as she ran in behind her. "Mai what's wrong?"

"It's true." Mai said staring off into space. She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to. "She's dead." A tear fell down her cheek. Akira stared at her in shock, but soon her expression changed into a softer one before she turned Mai around and pulled her into a hug. "It's okay." she whispered. Mai grabbed onto her shirt and pulled her closer. She began to cry her heart out as the people around them watched.

Once Mai had calmed down she took a step back and looked up at Akira. She gave her a small sad smile, but unlike her other ones, this one wasn't real.

"Miss Taniyama?" asked the doctor. Mai turned around to find a pale face woman with raven black hair and beautiful dark blue eyes.

"Yes?" Mai asked as she turned around. She was one of the most beautiful person she has ever seen. Mai noticed that even though her smile reached her eyes, that they still showed sadness.

"I'm sorry for your loss. I assure you we tried everything we could to keep her alive as long as possible, but unfortunately..." her sentence trailed off.

"I know you did everything you could." Mai said trying to reassure the doctor and herself.

"She told me to give this to you." The doctor reached into the pocket and pulled out something. She reached out and handed it to Mai. "She told me that it meant a lot to her and that she wanted you to have it. For good luck." Mai opened her hand to find a key. Mai froze when she saw it. This was the key that was to the house her parents lived in and the house she was born in. When her father had died her mother used it as a good luck charm. Now she was leaving it to her. Mai closed her hand and put it to her chest. Now she will always have a piece of them close to her.

"Mai, wait up!" yelled someone. Mai turned around to see her friend Mika running toward her. She stopped and waited for her to catch up. It's been over a year since Mai's mother past away. In that time, Mai has moved in with Akira and has somewhat gotten her life back together. Thanks to the schools generosity, all of her school fees were paid off. And since she was living with Akira she didn't have to worry too much about living expenses. Everything was going great, her grades were higher then they have ever been and she is starting to become more active in school activities. Everything was going perfect for her.

"Bye Mika! I'll see you tomorrow!" yelled Mai as she waved to her friend good-bye. She then opened the door to the apartment and walked in. "Hey I'm home!" she yelled as she took off her shoes. There was no response. "Hello?" Mai walked into the living room but no one was there. Akira-sensei left school early so she should be home.

Mai walked into the master bedroom and saw Akira sitting on the bed staring at a letter. "Akira-sensei?" She looked up at the call of her name. "Oh Mai, It's just you."

What's wrong?" Mai asked walking over to her. Akira took a deep breath. "I'm being transferred."

"What!" Mai yelled. She took the letter out of her hand and read it. She then re-read it over again. It was true; Akira was being transferred to another school. They were leaving. Mai sat down on the bed, her legs unable to hold her up anymore. This can be happening, not now.

"I'm sorry Mai. I really am."

"It's okay. It's not your fault." Mai said. She didn't want to admit that she was actually really confused about this. She didn't want to leave, but she couldn't stay here without Akira. This place was her home and it didn't feel right leaving. "How long until we leave?" asked Mai as she stared down at the letter. She didn't want Akira to see how upset she was about this.

"Mai." Mai looked up at the call of her name. "I'm leaving. You're not."

"But-" Mai was cut off when Akira held her hand up. "There is nothing more to discuss."

"You can't leave me here! I-I'm not ready!"

"It doesn't matter if you ready or not. You can't come with me. I knew this day would eventually come I just wish it didn't have to come so soon, but now that's its here, there is nothing we can do to stop it." Akira said. She stood up and turned to face Mai. "I know you'll be fine. Just you wait, something will come along and before you know it your life will be complete."

Mai touched the key that hung around her neck. The loneliness feeling was starting to come back.

"Okay I'm turning off my light." said Mai as she turned off her flashlight. There was nothing but silence in the pitch black room.

"One"

"Two"

"Three"

"Four"

"..."

"Five"

Hi! First off in the anime Naru says 'four' but I have him saying 'five' because in the light novel and in the manga he says 'five' so sorry for the confusion... Anyway I wrote this for chocolvr69. I hope I did good! I kinda guessed on most of it but some parts I researched like Mai's mom died of an illness and that Mai did indeed live with one of her teachers but the teacher transferred to another school system and gave Mai the apartment...thats pretty much it.

Oh and the offer for making one-shots is still open. I like I will continue doing it until the end of the year. Once 2011 comes I wont be able to do it anymore...or maybe I will...I get back to you on that.

I don't not, under any circumstance, own Ghost Hunt. All rights go to the Author; Fuyumi Ono