Hello again! Welcome to Chapter 2!

I decided to post again today, because I'm on a writing roll (I'm currently on Chapter 10) and I think I can get a few out. I may not post another chapter today, but then again, I might. It's up to how I feel later.

Anyways, the early chapters are a bit rushed. It's completely my fault, and not the plot's, because I wanted to get to the parts I'm currently writing now. :) So leave a review when you finish, mmkay? I really want to know what you think!

Disclaimer – I would never own Ghost Hunt. I would, of course, borrow the characters for a non-profiting fanfiction and mess around with their lives. That I can do. So enjoy the story.

Chapter 2 – As Time Goes By

The next few weeks went by quickly, and Mai was panicking. She knew Naru and Lin were suspicious, since she hadn't made eye contact with them since... the incident, and she and Masako were hanging out together more and more, but also because she had been throwing up. This had started after the first week, and it was steadily getting worse. She never felt like eating, since she knew it wouldn't stay down anyways. And part of her hadn't really cared.

Masako was worried about her, she knew. She had told Mai that herself. But Mai didn't think much of it. She probably had caught the stomach flu, or something. It would go away.

But Mai had finally worried when she realized that she was overdue for her period. Then she panicked, and went to the drug store to buy a pregnancy test. That night, she did the test, and it was positive. Mai knew then that her life was over.

Mai went to her safe, which she kept all of her money in, since she didn't have a bank account, and quickly counted her money. She then realized she had enough to go through with her quickly thought up plan. She was running, and damn anyone who would care.

She quickly packed her clothes, pictures, and a couple bags of food, and taking out all her money, put some in each bag, and then got on her phone and called a taxi to come and pick her up. She waited, and then realized that she forgot to do something. Quickly grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, she wrote a quick note, and then putting a small paperweight on the note, left it on the table, just as the taxi arrived. She put her stuff inside the trunk, and asked to go to the train station.

At the train station, she bought a ticket to a place that was a couple cities away, and then got on the train, before realizing that she was actually running away. But it was too late. The train had taken off, and since this was the last one of the night, she couldn't come back. She didn't want to, for the most part.

Only Masako would understand, and then she would pity her even more than she already did. Naru and the others would think she was some type of... some type of whore or something. She couldn't face that. She also didn't want to give up her baby, she couldn't. It would be murder in her eyes. Even though the... circumstances surrounding the baby's creation were less then pleasant, that didn't give her the right to end its life. She would have the baby, all be damned who thought otherwise, and raise him or her to be the best person they could be.

With that thought, she closed her eyes, and let herself drift into a light sleep, her thoughts floating into a more businesslike direction – what to do after she got off the train.

Mai woke up to the train coming to a stop, a soft alto voice announcing that she had reached her destination, Yagiri. It was close to the Tokyo area, but far enough away to make her feel safer. Besides, she didn't have enough to travel much further.

Getting off the train, she grabbed what little luggage she had, and headed out to find a hotel where she could stay the night. Or a few nights, if she couldn't find a place that would let her live there.

She finally found a hotel, and after paying for a night, she took her stuff up to the room, inserted the sliding card into the lock, and the door clicked open, and let her in. She gladly did so, let her bags drop to the floor, and without changing, fell into the bed, and quickly went to sleep, her dreams revolving around the man she loved, who would never love her back.

Mai was late.

Naru checked the clock again, and sure enough, it was almost noon. Usually, she didn't come in until after school, but it was a weekend, and she should have been here three hours ago.

Naru would have stormed over to her house and dragged her out, but she hadn't listed her address, and wasn't sure exactly where she lived. How she had gotten away with that, he would never know.

Hara entered the office at this time, followed by that annoying monk, Takigawa.

"Is Mai here?" She asked, and Naru shook his head, still looking through his papers for a scrap of information as to where she could be living. Then it dawned on him, Hara and Takigawa escorted her home every night.

"Do you two know where she lives?" Naru demanded, and Hara and Takigawa exchanged a glance.

"Didn't you know?"

"Know what."

"She lives in the Hinmin District. The apartment's rather decent, for the neighborhood."

Naru glanced down at the empty spot where Mai's address should have been, and realized why she never wrote down her address. She didn't want them to know.

"Go get Lin, we're going over there."

Naru opened the door, which was unlocked.

What idiot would leave their door unlocked in this neighborhood? Naru thought, before looking around the apartment. It did look like someone tried to make it a home, but failed horribly. He noticed that some furniture was tipped over, before spotting a paper trying to flutter away, held down by something.

"Search the apartment." Naru had a feeling in the pit of his stomach telling him what that paper was.

Sure enough, when he walked over to it, his stomach dropped.

To whoever finds this,

The previous owner of this apartment is gone. If you wish to stay the night, hopefully the food is still good. If you wish to move in, the manager is most likely gone, so stick around and enjoy the free rent until he returns.

If this is my boss and the others, I am sorry I had to leave like this. Don't look for me. I do not want to be found. Once again, sorry; I cannot explain why I had to leave. None of you would understand.

I may one day come back. But I doubt it.

With all my love,

Mai Taniyama

Thank you for reading, please leave a review!

Happy Readings!
ALT