Warning! Violence, blood, graphic gore, a tidbit of OOCness, angst, dark theme, swearing, failed attempts at humor, MaixNaru

Disclaimer! Sadly I do not own Ghost Hunt or any of the characters in it. If I did Mai wouldn't be so naïve and Naru wouldn't be such a narcissist. Neither do I own the Song Still Doll from Vampire Knight

Bou-Monk

Hōshō- pronounced Ho-u-sho-u

Miko-priestess usually a shrine priestess

Shiki/Shikigami-spirits under an onmyouji command

Ganbatte-Good luck

Daijōbu-in this context it means "it's alright"

Dream

Spirit speak

Flashback

"Blah" character talking

'Blah' character thoughts

Gone But Never Forgotten

Recap:

Naru watched as Mai slept, her jerky turning had finally stopped and now her face was scrunched up slightly as though she was confused. Naru couldn't help letting the smidge of concern to show on his face as he leaned forward and brushed a lock of hair from her face. With that small bit of contact her features smoothed out and her body seemed to relax. Naru found it strange how many similarities between Mai's abilities and Gene's abilities were popping up, even the way they reacted towards him was similar. It probably didn't help Gene was her spiritual guide either, Naru mused silently. He frowned slightly when he realized something. Mai's past was definitely not what anyone thought it was, not even Mai herself. They needed to figure out her missing memories before it put them or her into danger.

Chapter 10: Mad Hatter – Down with the Bloody Red Queen!

Mai could feel the tension in the air as she walked down the hall towards the Head Mistress's office with Detective Ryuu in tow. They hadn't said a word to each other since they'd left Mai's room otherwise known as the base. She couldn't quite decide whether she appreciated that or not but she did know the tension between them was almost stifling. She let out a soft sigh and glanced at the exotic man, unable to not appreciate his foreign beauty. He looked at her, catching her watching him and raised an eyebrow, obviously questioning her. She blushed lightly before asking softly, "You're not originally from Japan…are you?"

He smirked lightly at her question before asking, "If I share with you, will you share with me?"

She scowled at him before she nodded her head stiffly, deciding that it was only fair since it was sort of a personal question. He nodded his head approvingly before he replied, "I'm only part Japanese, on my father's side but as I'm sure it may be obvious I don't look the least bit Japanese. My mother was from Egypt, Cairo if we're going to be specific. They met during a business trip and I was the outcome of years of falling in love."

Mai looked down at the ground her heart aching a little, "It must be nice…to be so sure of your past and remember things like that and know it's true."

Ryuu was quiet for a while before he said offhandedly, "Well if everything you've said is true -not saying I believe your madness- then it's only a matter of time before you know what's true too."

She scowled at the man before a small smile tugged at her lips as she realized in his own way…he was trying to comfort her, not that she appreciated how he was going about it. However, it also served to remind her what they were doing walking to that woman's room. From the moment she'd woken up, she'd known exactly what she'd had to do. She'd asked Bou to get Detective Ryuu so that she could let everything out in one go without having to explain things twice.

Flashback!

She couldn't look up from the floor as she sat on the edge of her bed, she could feel all their eyes on her. Expectant for an explanation, something she didn't have exactly but if she was connecting the pieces right…her parents, her father had taken her memories from her. She frowned at that before sighing and wringing her hands together nervously. What was she? What had her parents been? Was her whole life a lie?

"Mai…"

Mai blinked at the sound of her name and looked up. Naru was looking at her impatiently and she shook her head violently, glancing sideways at the clearly annoyed Detective. Taking a deep breath she began, "Oto-san…Iie, I always thought I knew exactly what happened in my past. That my father died when I was a toddler and my mother died long after that but…things in this case have been showing me otherwise. Detective Ryuu, I realize you're trained to be practical but please keep in mind we're a ghost hunting facility, We've come across things we can't explain just as much as we've come across things we can."

She looked at him dead on, watching his facial expression. She could see he was fighting with himself before he slowly nodded his head. She gave him a small smile before looking at the rest of her makeshift family. They had become the ones she depended on, the ones she trusted not to lie to her or hide things from her. She bit her lip lightly before steeling her resolve, she'd decided to do this there was no way she was backing down now. "I was here…when I was six years old I'd been here with both of my parents and witnessed the murder of Yue. Tomoe had been in a jealous fit that was only made worse by her schizophrenia and so she attacked Yue. The only reason I got away was because I was hidden and had run. My parents whisked me away before the police could ask us any questions, I was in such a state of distress that I'd shut down. I remember my father patting my head and telling me everything was fine and that I should just forget. Each time he said I should forget I felt myself slip away farther and farther till I was asleep and could no longer remember that. I've already told Naru what my mother told me about inheriting my abilities while I dreamt…but Gene…Gene told me that I should look up something called 'The Perfect Medium' and I would understand."

Mai shook her head, frustration clearly fueling the move as she nearly growled out, "But there's something else. Something neither of them are telling me and I just don't understand."

Her shoulders sagged in defeat before she sighed lightly and looked back at the Detective, noting his slightly stunned but somewhat disbelieving expression. "The current head mistress, Tomoe, is the same girl that killed Yue and she knows who I am. She's been trying to kill me. I have no doubt she killed the missing head mistress and the assistant head mistress. We can go confront her now and prove everything I've been saying."

He looked at her for a moment, gauging everything she was saying before his expression turned determined and he nodded his head. He would do it and she would be going with him.

End Flashback

"Oi! We're here pay attention." Mai blinked at Ryuu's rough voice and she came out of her musings. She looked up at him with a somewhat annoyed expression before motioning towards the door. He nodded his head before knocking softly and waiting. There was no answer at first and so he knocked again.

"Yes?"

"It's Detective Ryuu, I have a few questions." Mai's skin crawled at the sound of eerie whispers and she looked at Ryuu. He frowned at her before knocking a little more briskly, "Head Mistress please open the door. It's very important."

The voices were cut off abruptly and Ryuu hurriedly opened the door but to both their surprise no one was in there. Mai felt the hair on the back of her neck rise and she knew that even though they couldn't see anyone, someone was in the room with them. "Don't let your guard down…"

Ryuu looked at Mai for a second before nodding his head in understanding. "Oi?! Head Mistress? Are you in here?!"

There was soft laughter before suddenly it felt like they were both punched in the gut and they went down on their knees. Mai looked up in time to see a crazed grin stretch across the face of the woman she now knew was Tomoe. Next to her she could see two more will-o-wisps, spirits she hadn't been able to reach and without thinking she lunged at the woman, rage filling her. How dare she use these poor souls to do her bidding, how dare she hunt her and make her fear for her life after she killed Yue! "You murderer!"

However, before she even got to touch her she was thrown across the room, for a moment everything began to spin before Ryuu stood up with the gun pointed at the woman. Mai could see the fear and disbelief in his features as the will-o-wisps hovered around the woman. Anguished cries filling the room as she forced them to do what she wanted. "You should have just stayed out of it! This was between me and that little bitch! Now I'll have to kill you too but that's okay. You can both say hello to Yue for me."

"You killed her…You killed Yue…" Tomoe blinked at her words before another crazed grin stretched across her face. She pointed to her temple and said, "They had told me to. It was the only way I could get the part they said…I better now though! They do what I tell them to!"

Mai felt her rage build and all she could think about was her anger towards the woman who killed Yue. The woman cackled and said hysterically, "It doesn't matter though! You'll both die here!"

With that both spirits came hurtling towards Ryuu and without thinking Mai flung her arms out. "Nooo!"

Her scream pierced the air and an invisible force sent the woman flying into a wall and caused the spirits to stop. She felt a strange sense of peace come over her and Ryuu could only watch as the young woman seemed to glow with a golden light as she calmly walked towards the hovering will-o-wisps. "It's okay now…You don't have to listen to her anymore. You can leave and join the others."

She embraced the will-o-wisps and just like that they slowly transformed into two little boys before disappearing totally. Tomoe let out an enraged scream as the talisman around her neck shattered along with her hold on the spirits. Ryuu watched Mai in disbelief as the girl walked over to the woman and glared angrily, "You admit to killing Yue? For trying to kill me and Detective Ryuu?"

The woman moaned a yes as she curled up into a ball, muttering curses and Mai turned to Ryuu before swaying dangerously. He quickly caught her before she fell and she gave him a weak smile before pulling a small tape recorder out of her pocket. Handing it to him she said weakly, "There's your confession, officer."

With that she passed out and Ryuu could only watch her in mild fascination.

OoO

Mai felt the vein in her temple throb as she tried to get her work done before slamming her hand down on her desk. She glared up at the grinning officer sitting on the edge of her desk as she growled out, "Ryuu-san any particular reason you're here? Invading my space?!"

"I actually wanted to know that as well…" Mai jumped at the sound of Naru's voice and looked at him, noting the navy color of his eyes as he glared at the both of them. Ryuu merely smirked at the other male and said, "Well you see I actually wanted to ask Mai-san on a date."

Mai felt her cheeks flame up as she gapped at the older male before looking at Naru, his eyes narrowed and she noticed something seemed to pass his expression before he looked at her and said, "We have a potential client coming soon. Stop fooling around and get to work."

With that he turned around and left the room. Mai could still feel the heat of her cheeks as she tried to figure out what to say. It had been a week since the incident and since then, Ryuu had made it his job to always find ways to be around her. While most of the time she didn't mind too much there were other days that really annoyed her whenever he was around. However, she was well aware of the attraction she was developing for the other man and it was seriously confusing to deal with. Flustered she spluttered out, "You shouldn't joke like that! Mataku, Ryuu-san!"

He gave her a considering look for a moment before he said seriously, "I wasn't joking…I think you're fascinating…You're world is…amazing. I want to get to know you. I'm not all that much older Mai-chan. I'm only twenty-one. One of the youngest on my task force so I'm open to this…aren't you curious?"

Mai looked at him, completely surprised by this turn of events and looked away from him. She tried to busy herself with her work before something struck her. She glared at him as she watched him suspiciously and said, "Not long ago, you were accusing me or rather implying certain things. How do I know this is not one of your attempts to get information…?"

He shrugged his shoulders and gave her a charming grin, his exotic green eyes hardening only slightly as he spoke. "You don't and maybe it is but I can genuinely tell you that even if it is to get to the bottom of all of it…I would like to get to know you."

Her heart fluttered for a moment and Mai realized just how stuck between a rock and a hard place she was. How did she always manage to get herself into these situations?

TBC…

A/N: I knooow it's been so long since I've posted . don't hate me! Next Case is "Kagome, Kagome!" Things are getting revealed one by one and what about Mai's latest love interest? Will she accept or will she admit to Naru how she feels? Find out!