Welcome to chapter two~! And, of course, you're warned that I'm not scary at all. ,_, xD I have a bucket-load of stuff to do now, so, Lucas, do the disclaimer for me, please.
But I'm not even in this story, Foxxy…
Pleeeaaaase, Lucas?
Oh, all right. Foxxy doesn't own Ghost Hunt (because if she did, it wouldn't have ended and something like this would've happened).

…

;;Friday;;

Mai ended up going to school on Friday, just as she was told. She chatted with her friends for a bit, then set off on her mission. Koto shouldn't be too hard to spot, right? …Wait for it…

Wrong!

Mai asked around to everyone she met. All of them knew who Koto was, but practically no one knew what classes she had or even what she looked like. She was just about ready to give up. Even Keiko and Michiru, her two best friends, had no idea where Koto might be. She even asked Kuroda to help out! And still nothing…

"This is impossible," she groaned as the bell marking the end of first period rang. "Koto's like a ghost…you hear about her, but you never see her." Then Mai stopped dead. That…was just too weird. She gave herself a nervous smile. Of course I'm making ghost jokes now, I'm a ghost hunter! She gave herself a mental slap. "Okay, Mai, focus! She has to be here somewhere."

As if on cue, her instincts went off. It was just like all those other times when on cases with the SPR gang. Mai's eyes were drawn exactly where to look, and her senses disregarded everything else around her. Just turning the corner ahead was a girl with long dark hair, and, as she vanished, a flap of light blue whisked behind her.

A scarf.

That had to be Koto. Dark hair, blue scarf? Yep. Mai walked quickly, not wanting to run, but not wanting to lose her. Just as she rounded the same corner Koto had, she froze.

A group of boys were apparently harassing Koto. One of them, seemingly the leader, sneered and knocked her books out of her arms. Koto didn't resist. When they hit the floor, she merely bent down to pick them up again. As she was reaching for her textbook, the leader gave it a swift kick and sent it spinning down the length of the hallway.

"Hah, that's for looking me in the eye, foureyes," he growled. "Go get it, doggy. Go on."

Mai was absolutely furious, but upon closer inspection, she noticed that Koto was shaking. Her hands were curled into tight fists as she rose slowly to her feet. She raised her head, staring into the leader's face with fury on every line in her body.

"I hope you die a horrible and bloody death!" she snarled, and went sprinting off down the hall. She swiped her fallen book off the ground without stopping, and rounded the next corner. Everyone in the immediate area had stopped and watched, but no one had lifted a finger to help Koto.

"Dude, don't you know who that was?" one of the boys from the gang muttered in his leader's ear. "That was the Yamamoto girl. She just told you to die a bloody death!"

Whispering filled the hall as Mai took off after Koto. She had to find her…her instincts said not to let the girl be alone now. She didn't know why, but Koto should never be here alone. She slid around the corner, nearly crashing into a couple of girls. Mai didn't know who they were and didn't really care.

"Hey, did a girl with a blue scarf just run by here?" she asked breathlessly.

"Um, yeah, she was headed for the bathroom, I think."
"Thanksgottagobye!" Mai took off again. The bathroom was just down the hall, towards the end. She had to think to herself that Koto would be all right…that nothing had happened in such a short time span. She couldn't shake the dread, and slowed as the approached the door. With just a second of hesitation, she pushed it in and then stopped.

Koto was standing in front of a mirror, looking devoid of all emotion. She wasn't crying…she didn't seem angry… The lack of expression sort of reminded her of Naru.

"Where are you, Rubi?" she asked in a low voice. "Come on, don't hurt anyone this time… I didn't mean to say that. Come on, don't go…"

Rubi? As in Rubi Tanaka, the Freshman Koto knew? What? Mai swallowed as she felt a cold presence pass by her. She suppressed a shiver, and felt it walk past her to stand behind Koto. The girl gave no indication she was afraid.

"Why can't I hurt him, Koto-chaan? He hurt youu…"

The voice wasn't Koto's…and it wasn't Mai's. It seemed to come out of thin air. Mai edged sideways a little, getting a look trough the mirror Koto was standing in front of. Another face was in the mirror too… A girl, about her age. Auburn hair and green eyes…Mai knew this was Rubi.

Because her face was the only thing in the mirror.

Rubi had no body except for a neck and part of her shoulders. Mai could only see the girl in the mirror, and there wasn't anything she could really discern beside Koto. There was maybe a bit of mist, but not a full-formed apparition. Mai also noted the stress Rubi was putting on the vowels of some words.

"You can't, Rubi, please," Koto begged. "I don't want people getting hurt because of me anymore… I've had enough. Just stop. I know you want to protect me, but all you're doing is making things worse."

"What should I do then, Koto-chaan? Should I just leave youu to fend for yourself?"

"No, please don't leave…but stop hurting people."

"Can I just slam onee door?"

Koto visibly hesitated, then heaved a sigh and hung her head. "One door, Rubi. Just one."

Rubi gave a ghastly giggled. "Onee door, I promissse." And the presence faded.

Koto looked up, looking at her reflection for a few long moments. Mai noticed the dark shadows under her eyes and the way her shoulders were tense but trying so hard to loosen up… She was more like Naru then Mai had first thought. Sometimes when she saw him, it looked like he struggled just to get through the day, to hold himself together, and not just shatter is someone approached. That was how Koto looked…

"What the…who are you?"

Mai gave a little jump of surprise. That was Koto. She'd caught sight of Mai in the mirror, and turned to look. The girls simply stared for a few heartbeats, then Koto looked away from direct eye contact.

"Oh, hi, my name's Mai Taniyama," Mai said, recovering. "You're Koto Yamamoto, right?"

"Yeah, that's me," she replied, still not meeting eye-to-eye. "How long have you been standing there? Long?"

"Er, no, I just came in."

Koto was visibly relieved. She let her shoulders relax and sighed. "Ah, okay. Well, we should be getting to class. Don't want to be late."

"Yeah…" Mai left and Koto was right behind her. However…they were both going in the same direction. After traversing two hallways and neither of them veered off, Mai decided to ask. "I have art class next. What about you?"

"I have art too…" Koto stared at her. "Weird."

Mai felt facepalming. Koto was in the same art class…how could she have not noticed that? In fact…Mai thought it was odd she'd never noticed Koto. Even within the last week, when the incidents started occurring, she had no idea…

Most of art class went off without a hitch. Since, as long as they were working, they were allowed to sit anywhere they wanted, Mai went and sat next to Koto. (She'd been all alone this entire time, and Mai had never noticed.) They were finishing painting their paper mâché creatures. Mai had chosen a cat, and gone with a dark blue. Koto had gone with a fox, and turned it black. The markings she put on it were very impressive, to say the least. A white muzzle with a red claw mark on top, white ears with red slashes, four white slashes on its back, a red chest, four red slashes on the legs, the front-left paw was white, the rest were red, the tail-tips were white and had a jagged red stripe slightly below them. The fox had three tails, too… Mai disregarded it. So Koto liked kitsunes, that wasn't a crime.

There were times when Mai thought she heard a voice in her ear, or something brushing her arm. Her brushes rolled across the table by themselves, when no one had moved them. Still, it wasn't anything that was worth worrying about…

She didn't catch sight of Naru or the others until the end of the day. John had come in briefly, telling her to bring Koto out to chat with them once the bell rang, then he disappeared down the hall before she could ask why. Mai was annoyed, but resolved to do just that. At the end of the day, she walked with Koto out to right place. Monk, Ayako, Masako, Naru, Lin, and John…they were all there.

"Hi there," Monk said once Koto was close enough to hear him. "We met the other day. How are you?"

"Um…the other day?" She tipped her head to the side, confused. "I…don't remember you, sorry. Should I be?"

"No, that's quite all right," Masako interrupted, casting him a pointed glance. "I don't expect you to remember any of us."

Koto seemed not to have heard. She had her eyes fixed on Naru. There was a strange light in her eyes that wasn't quite all anger, surprise, or confusion, but a mix of all three. She strode over to stand in front of him, not having to look up that much to stare him in the eye. Then…she raised a hand…

And slapped him upside the face.