What's up, guys? As usual, I must thank you for all the nice reviews that were made and thank you for reading!

*I do not own Ghost Hunt in any way, shape or form*

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Naru slammed the office door shut behind him. Lin-san, who had returned after his previous sick day, stopped typing to look up in confusion. "Naru?" he asked quizically.

Naru ignored him momentarily and stalked silently into the kitchen; seething uncontrollably inwardly. He filled the tea kettle with water and dropped it roughly onto the stove; twisting the knob to turn it on. He yanked open the cupboard and pulled out the box of his favorite tea.

"Naru, what are you doing?" Lin-san asked from the doorway. He watched Naru's actions in confusion, and suddenly realized that Taniyama-san had probably roped Naru into some bet that he couldn't make his own tea. "Okay; what did Taniyama-san do to pull you into this bet?" Lin-san asked with a faint chuckle.

Naru turned and gave him a stony-faced glare.

Lin-san sighed. "Really, Naru. You don't have to overreact over some silly bet Taniyama-san made with you."

Naru turned away, looking at the whistling kettle. "Don't be ridiculous, Lin," he said frostily.

Lin-san gave a frustrated noise. "Naru, really! Whenever you're around Mai she always make you behave like a child! You should learn--"

"Lin," Naru interrupted him. Lin-san stopped and waited expectantly as Naru poured hot water into his teacup. After a few moments of silence and looking into his teacup, Naru spoke again. "You don't have to worry about that any more."

Lin-san snorted impatiently. "Naru, you can't just change your attitude in a day."

Naru gave him a harder glare than before. "Lin. This is not for a bet, and I am not angry at Mai."

Lin-san became very confused; even more so than before. "Then why are you making your own tea?"

The angry boy picked up his teacup and looked into the swirling liquid. "Because Mai's gone," he said in a low voice.

Lin-san blinked; startled. "What? Why? Did she leave?"

"No. The government took her away because they found her living conditions unfit for someone as young as she is." Naru moved the teacup to his lips and took a sip. Lin-san noticed him grimace at something as the tea touched his tongue.

The Chinese man couldn't move. No wonder Naru was in such a bad mood. "Where did they take her?" he asked as calmly as he could manage.

"The woman refused to tell me," Naru said. Disgust and fury colored his tone.

"Why? Don't people close to her have a right to know?"

Naru froze and stared down into the depths of the dark brown liquid in his teacup. If she had said she loved him, didn't that mean that she was close to him? Didn't that give him a right? A surprising pain filled his chest, and Naru winced. Damn. I can't make good tea anymore, Naru thought bitterly. That must be it.

If Mai were there, she would have made the best tea for him. Even though he wouldn't thank her for it, she would have brought it in cheerfully with a smile on her face. And even if Naru would have gotten on her nerves, she would still give him tea. If Mai were there, he'd bee in a good mood. If Mai were there, the office would be a brighter place.

Naru continued to stare into his tea, fury and rage boiling inside him as he thought of the rude government woman Omi Nazuka. He recalled Mai clinging to him and refusing to let go; Nazuka-san screaming threats at her and finally dragging her roughly and shoving her into the Mercedes. The memory made his blood boil; made him even angrier than the time when he had been investigating the old school house at Mai's school and made a complete mistake.

After a few more seconds of silently staring into the awful dark tea, Naru let go of the cup.

"Naru!" Lin-san shouted in alarm.

The china cup seemed to take forever to reach the linoleum floor; the tea sloshing everywhere as the cup descended and began to twist. Mid-twist, it hit the white tile and splintered into a thousand sharp, tiny slivers all over the tea-covered floor.

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Okay, I just HAD to have this in here! I hope Naru remained in character! Urgh, I'm sick with worry!!! Review, please! Let's bump up the update requirement to twelve, shall we? I'm POSITVE we can reach that number! I want to update; I'm dying here! XP