Me: Hey everyone!
Mai: She's back with yet another chapter
Naru: You still don't update often enough
Me: Well stuff ya!
Naru: What?
Me: *rolls eyes* Never mind
Mai: … So anyway Shellsan doesn't own ghost hunt and she thanks you for the reviews you all take the time to post!
Me: Yup! I love you all so much!
Mai waved towards her happily while the others rolled their eyes. She didn't seem worried about making a scene in the slightest.
Madoka grinned at the waving girl and quickly moved towards her. "Mai! How are you? What have you been up to? Got any new boyfriends? Are you doing much with the paranormal at all?" She fired quickly, wanting to know what the younger girl had been doing in the time she hadn't seen her. She wou have continued had it not been for Lin stepping up to her and giving her a look that clearly told her to calm down.
Mai giggled, jumping over to give her a hug as soon as she was in distance.
"I've been great! I own my own little tea café and I've been studying parapsychology in between work and the occasional case together with the others" Mai answered, avoiding the boyfriend subject completely.
Madoka nodded in approval before turning to the others.
"Welcome to England! Let's get your stuff and then we'll head over to the Davis Mansion to eat. You'll also stay there" she informed.
They all nodded and followed Madoka and Lin to get their luggage before walking outside and jumping into a van similar to the one they had in Japan and another black car. Naturally Lin was driving the van. Madoka sat in shotgun leaving the others to organise themselves.
In the end, Ayako, Bou-san and Yasu ended up in the front with Masako and John sitting behind them.
Naru sighed before looking at Lin. The man nodded and threw Naru a set of keys before he set off.
Walking over to the car, he pressed the button, hearing the car unlock. Waving Mai over, he took a seat behind the wheel. Mai rushed over and grabbed the seat next to him and waited for him to start driving.
After about 5 minutes of awkward silence Naru spoke.
"So how much does Madoka know about the last year I've been gone?" he asked.
Mai shrugged, "No more then you or Lin. Less in fact" she responded.
Naru glanced away from the road to give her a shocked look before turning back. "I thought you kept in touch with her through the past year" he stated.
Sighing, the brunette looked down and mumbled something incoherent.
"Speak up Mai. You're always loud. I didn't think you were going to change that anytime soon"
Mai's head snapped at him, a blush covering her face. "Well sorry for being loud!" she shouted.
Naru rolled his eyes, "Are you going to tell me or not?"
Pouting Mai was about to say something when she saw something in the distance.
Upon closer look she realised it was a mansion. The walls were a stylish white with intricate patterns running over the bordering. It was two stories with windows at each bedroom and an arch at the middle of the huge structure with more patterning. Below the arch was an entryway with stairs on either side and lamps on either side of wooden doors. The driveway went from both directions like a two way round-about with a magnificent marble fountain with a statue of Gaia as the masterpiece in the centre.
Her eyes were wide and her mouth dropped at the amazing mansion.
Pulling up outside the front behind Lin's van, Naru turned to her smirking.
"Close your mouth before you catch flies, and if your eyes get any bigger they might fall out" he said before opening his door and getting out.
Mai's mouth quickly retracted and she undid her seatbelt and opened her door as well, getting out.
She followed Naru over to the others who had arrived only minutes before them.
"Mai are you seeing what I'm seeing?!" Bou-san exclaimed.
The brunette nodded wordlessly as she took in the gardens that surrounded the mansion. She didn't know what she would do if the inside was like this!
Yasu grinned making his way over to Bou-san.
"Oh my love!" he proclaimed, slinging his arms around Bou-san in a hug, "One day, our love will be recognised and we will live in a mansion much like this one!"
The monk flailed against the younger, attempting to get out of his surprisingly strong grip.
"Would you let go!" he demanded, "I don't love you!"
Pouting, Yasu did as requested and made his way over to Mai.
"Mai-chan! Tell Bou-san that our love knows no bounds! His words wound me!" he proclaimed dramatically, falling onto the girl. Had she not been prepared for the weight that would fall onto her, she may have fallen over.
"I'm sorry Yasu. But please allow me to comfort you in the pain that must have descended upon the horrible things he has said"
She rubbed his back as he pretended to cry on her shoulder in pain.
The act would have continued, allowing Madoka, –athough secretly- Lin and Naru, amusement had it not been for Ayako who hit them both on the head with her purse. The hit towards Mai was quite noticeably less painful.
"That's enough you two. I don't appreciate the acting, much less encourage it and would much prefer it if we get this moving along. Not to sound rude but it has been a long flight" she explained turning to Madoka as she did so.
The woman nodded grinning, "Right, sorry! Come on in" she said, pushing them towards the stairs and up to the door. Opening it, she waved them in.
Upon seeing the inside, Mai –along with the others- nearly fainted.
The room was a fairly large and had two curved, marble staircases leading to the second floor- To which the banisters were a swirly metal pattern in black. The ground was shiny white tiles with slightly creamier white walls giving the room an open feeling.
There was a set of French doors in the middle of the stairs where the ground went down a couple steps.
Naru rolled his eyes and kept moving, walking through the previously seen double doors. "Are you coming or not?" he queried.
Quickly snapping out of their previous state, they tried to catch up with the boy.
He led them through the doors and into the room behind it. It appeared to be a large meeting room connecting to two other rooms on each side and the backyard. Before they had a chance to examine the room, Naru was gesturing for them all to take a seat at a long coffee brown table.
"Lin, could you inform my father of our arrival?" He questioned.
The Chinese man nodded, walking over to one of the rooms on the side, leaving them to figure out where they were going to sit.
Naru sat right to the head of the table and Madoka sat to the left leaving the others to figure out the seating. Mai thought for a moment before making up her mind and taking a seat next to Naru. Yasu grinned and took a seat in front of her –next to Madoka. Bou-san took a seat next to Mai with Ayako following suit. Masako sat next to Yasu with John next to him.
Moments later, Lin exited the room which appeared to be a study with a middle aged man following behind him. His hair was a slightly grey brown and his face was that like any other ordinary man in his late thirties.
The man -presumably Martin Davis- took a seat at the head of the table while Lin took a seat next to John.
"If at all possible, I would like to know if any of you can't speak English" he said, clearing his throat.
Naru looked at his father, "The only ones who aren't fluent are Miss Matsuzaki and Takigawa" he replied before anyone else could.
Martin looked over at two Naru was pointing at and nodded, giving them an apologetic look. Ayako nodded in understanding before turning to Mai. "Can you translate for us throughout this?" she questioned.
Mai blinked in surprise when Bou-san nodded in agreement.
"How about I write down the Japanese translation for you to read over as we go. That way we won't have to stop." She suggested.
Naru gave her a surprised look, "You thought of that?"
Mai gave him an annoyed look, "This isn't the only time. Besides, I write quickly," she huffed.
The boy rolled his eyes before turning back to his father. He was about to explain when Mai spoke.
"Excuse me Dr. Davis. Would it be alright if I were to simply write down translations and they can read over them as we go over the case?" she requested boldly.
Martin gave a shocked look towards her and then to her son. This girl was obviously brave. He had yet to even introduce himself and he didn't know her but yet she spoke out to him. He was expecting his son to so most of the talking because Madoka had told him that he had an 'intimidating look'.
Never the less, he nodded in approval.
"As long as you're able to keep up with the briefing, I don't see a problem" he replied.
Yasu gave her a look, "Why don't you try-" he stated before feeling a strong kick to his leg causing him to hiss quietly.
Martin turned his gaze from Mai to Yasu. "What were you saying?" he asked.
Before Yasu could do anymore damage to the already confused room –including the others- Mai cut him off. "I apologise Dr. Davis, he doesn't know what he's talking about. You can start the briefing. We're all eager to find out what exactly we are dealing with" she stated with a smiled.
Nodding, slightly dazed martin cleared his throat again. Quickly Mai pulled a notebook from no-where and a pen placing it in front of her.
"The case that we are dealing with was requested by an old friend of mine and Luella's Gwendolyn Baker. She's elderly lady now and lives with her daughter, her daughter's husband and her two grandchildren. Her grandchildren are both only young teenagers. They recently moved into a mansion closer to the country in order to have a little more peace. However, as soon as they moved in things began to happen. Late at night there would be screams of a young teenage girl whom was not Megan –the youngest and only female grandchild in the current residence of the house."
He explained watching as Mai took down the information almost as he said it and gave it to the others to read through while she grabbed a new page to continue writing on.
"They have also reported seeing a young man lurking near Megan and Gwendolyn's daughter Jean. At first that was all he would do up until a week but then he began to attack them. Megan has been slapped and Jean had woken up with bruises and hand shaped marks around her neck from nearly choking. Worst of all, yesterday Megan went missing after being dragged down the hallways."
As Martin explained the attacks he handed around pictures that had been taken off them.
Bou-san looked at the images in disgust along with the others but Mai looked emotionless.
Naru was beginning to get worried and discreetly tapped her leg. She turned to look at Naru and that was when he noticed the sadness in her eyes and the with-held tears.
He narrowed his eyes slightly when he realised she also looked sightly uncomfortable.
"Mai? Do you know something?" he asked quietly, hoping his father wouldn't hear. Sadly, that wasn't the case.
Martin looked over to his son and overheard his whispering. Curiously, he looked at the girl.
"If you know anything that could be of use I would much like to hear it" he said.
Mai looked at Naru who sighed and nodded. Gulping, she collected her thoughts before beginning her explanation.
"I had a dream the day when Naru and Lin came back" she began before noticing the confused look on Martin's face. Deciding to save Mai the trouble, Yasu spoke up. "Naru was the nickname Mai gave to Oliver" he explained, making sure to use Naru's real name and not is alias.
Martin raised an eyebrow but figured he would find out later, gesturing to Mai to continue.
Nodding, she once again began her story. "As I was saying, I had a dream. It was third person and I was outside an old mansion in the country with a majestic look. I watched as a woman was beaten down by her husband for talking out of turn at a family meeting. From what I gathered, he along with his family, were sexist and were brought up that way. Females were nothing but a host for a child. She demanded he let her go, stating she would not allow her child to grow up under the conditions she was given. He attacked her, cutting off her vocal chords only allowing her to live because he carried child. After that I went through a brief time flash and the only thing I could really make out was the scream of the daughter when her mother was killed before her very eyes"
Martin looked at her in astonishment at the brief but detailed story.
"And why do you think this has anything to do with the case in which we were just discussing?" He queried, interested to see what the story behind her dream was. Maybe her explanation could shed some light on if these dreams were even real –not that he doubted they were.
Mai smiled, "I'm afraid that the only reason I can give you other than the sexist match-up is instinct"
Me: And so that concludes yet another chapter'
Mai: Wow… that's a lot of bold speaking
Naru: You should make the next chapters Japanese bold instead…
Me: I know! I'm not stupid!
Naru: I beg to differ
Me: *fuming*
Mai: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Shellsan asks that you review!
Me: *Blinks and looks at readers* Oh and tell me what kind of things you would like to happen. If you want you can remain anonymous but if not I will place you at the beginning of the chapter when I bring up something that you wanted to happen! And no I don't mean cases. Sorry but I decide those. The only other limit is getting Mai and Naru together. I will do that my way. Sorry people, no limit on Mai/Naru moments though :D
Naru: *drags me away* Stop rambling. No-one wants to read a long A/N