Hi! This is like, 4 years late I think I'm sorry but it's finally up! The rest of this case might be a bit awkward because I'm changing it slightly since it's been so long and I don't have the notes/ other chapters I handwrote anymore. It's been too long. I hope you guys still enjoy though!

Disclaimer: I do not own ghost hunt or it's characters. I only own any characters and random stuff that I thought of and put in this story myself that was never actually part of the real ghost hunt manga, light novel, and anime

Case 3: All Alone: part 5

Day 2 5:00pm

"So you're telling me that you guys lost Masako?" Naru said, his back facing the other group. It took everything in him to avoid yelling, Naru was getting very irritated and Mai still hadn't woken up after she, yet again, passed out.

"Yes…" After some silence Yasu was the one who had decided to speak up.

"Well we have three days to find her and finish this case or else it's very likely that she will die." Lin said quietly.

"How do you know that she'll die?" Ayako asked.

"Have you been paying attention old hag," Monk looked over at her in disbelief, "every time a person came back they were more injured than the last. Because the most recent one was so near death there is a high chance the next one, which is Masako, may be dead."

"Of course I know that fake monk." Ayako muttered a faint blush staining her cheeks.

"So then, if we find out where she is we'll basically be finishing the case because we'll have known everything right?" John asked Naru who just nodded in response.

"Naru…" they could hear Mai say weakly.

"Mai?" He mumbled moving to kneel next to the couch she laid on, Mai stared at him.

"There was a boy."

"Oh!" Ayako called out suddenly. "I almost forgot to show you the article I found."

"You say that like you were the only one who did any work." Bou-san said interrupting her in annoyance. Lin took the paper from Ayako, ignoring their bickering and turning towards Mai as well. As soon as the rest of the group stopped talking, mostly because of Naru's death stare, she continued telling them about her dream.

"Did the boy look like this?" When Naru showed her the paper she nodded, immediately recognizing the child's face on the front but Naru took it back soon after not letting her read anything on it. "Since a new person is missing we're going to be staying at the school tonight. However it is strange that it was Masako this time and not another student."

With the exception of a complaining Ayako, yet again, the rest of the group didn't respond much to that and went to discussing what happened while they were split up. When the other group found out that Mai had passed out during their search they immediately started to fuss over her with worry. Although as the events were recounted by Lin they realized that Mai had passed out not long after Masako disappeared which explained the voice talking to her during their search through the classrooms earlier. Naru sat in front of the monitors glaring at the screens, he knew he had pieced most of it together by now however that did not help him with Masako's location.

Monk's group, now only four people, were searching through the forest for Masako. They weren't split up necessarily because Lin had told them to stay close, but they weren't right next to each other either.

"Hey, do you think she's even in this forest anymore?" Yasuhara called over to Monk, everyone ignoring Ayako's complaining.

"I'm not sure. We don't actually know where they're taken but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"That's true...what do you think about that kid? Naru hasn't told us anything but he's probably keeping information from us." Monk shrugged in response to the question and they continued searching in silence, Ayako not complaining anymore as the mood turned even more somber.

That night while making her way back to base from the teacher's lounge with Lin and some tea Mai found herself suddenly in the same dark earthy area as her dreams. It was too dark to see anything but she could hear soft crying.

"Hello?" Mai called out pressing one hand against the dirt walls and using the other to feel in front of her as she walked.

"Mai?" As soon as she heard the weak voice she moved in the direction of it. "Wha- how'd you get here?" As soon as she felt the head she crouched down hugging Masako.

"I don't know, are you okay? Are you hurt?' The questions kept coming as she held onto her friend. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure, I just woke up here. We seem to be underground though, in some sort of tunnel." As soon as Mai was going to comment on how strained Masako's voice was she found herself on the ground being held up by the shoulders. When she started struggling they held onto her shoulders tighter easily keeping her down.

"Mai stop moving," Lin said, and she did once she realized who it was. Looking around she saw herself surrounded by shattered ceramic mugs and tea as well as a tray. The other tray had been placed on the ground next to the mess, more cups of tea reminding her where she was. Some of the tea had spilled on Mai as well and once she noticed that she felt the pain from the slight burns.

"I saw Masako. It was the same place as my other dreams." She could feel the tears in her eyes. "I couldn't do anything for her, she was hurt."

"Mai!" Someone called out, the sound of running getting closer. Lin stepped back letting Naru take his place. He helped her up making sure she didn't step on any of the teacup pieces. "What happened?"

"She collapsed while we were walking back, I believe she was astral projecting again." Lin replied looking at Mai who nodded staring at the ground.

"Masako was there, she said it was an underground tunnel. It was the same place as my other dreams, with the dirt walls." Naru nodded not saying anything as Mai leaned against him yawning. He picked her up and they headed back to base to let her rest before returning to clean up the mess.

Day 3 6:00am

The group woke up suddenly when they heard screaming. Ayako was the closest to Mai, as well as the first one she latched onto.

"What happened?" She held onto the younger female trying to comfort her enough to calm her breathing a bit. After a few minutes Mai pulled back blushing, she had calmed down enough to talk but didn't really want to.

"Mai." Naru said placing a hand on her shoulder. "Was it another dream?"

"It was the same...the one I saw in the classroom with the car." She was about to continue unaware that Naru had seen it too but he stopped her.

"It's fine, I've already heard about that. Was there anything else after that?" Mai nodded quietly taking in a deep breath trying to calm herself more so her voice wasn't as shaky.

"I saw him, parts of his life before he...yeah. It was just him, Akio, and his mom; his dad was gone. He was always alone, she'd only come home late and he would wait up for her but she'd rarely acknowledge him. At the end he got on his bike and that was it." She finished not wanting to say the rest. Monk's group had been informed about what happened as well so no one questioned it. Naru stood helping Mai up as well but being careful of all her recent injuries.

"Well, now that we're all awake we might as well start investigating. There were some areas we're searching today weren't there Naru? So we should start early because we don't have a lot of time." Monk stated, and Naru nodded in response.

"Today, we will find Masako." Yasuhara called out trying to lighten the mood.

"Why don't we go get some breakfast so we can start our search." John said smiling at Yasuhara's comment and everyone else, with the exception of Naru and Lin like usual, nodded in agreement.

"I want pancakes." Monk blurted out.

"Stupid fake monk, waffles are obviously better."

"No they're not, why are you always disagreeing with me?" Monk pouted at Ayako and she just huffed crossing her arms and walking out of the room and to the teacher's lounge. The other three followed leaving Mai, Naru, and Lin behind.

"Are you okay?" Naru asked wrapping an arm around Mai who looked up at him with a small smile.

"Yeah, we're gonna find her and finish this case. Then everything'll be fine." Ignoring the sense of dread she felt at the thought of going back home Mai gave Naru a quick kiss then pulled on his arm and they all went out the door after the others.

Thank you so much to everyone who is still reading this, as well as any new readers and anyone else. I also apologize for the really long wait. Review if you'd like it makes me happy. :)