Life has been very hectic, but finally I bring with me an update… hope you enjoy this one, constructive criticism welcomed, and as per the usual, I don't own Ghost Hunt, Ono Fuyumi does. If I had owned it…. Well you don't want to know haha.

By the way, just a heads up, I do have a few more short stories to publish, so I want to thank all of you who have reviewed, favorite-d(?), and chosen to follow my story, I really just need to find the time to get round to them… I might actually write new ones too, if and when I find the time haha, have a few ideas floating around in my mind… all I need is time.. sigh… (might most probably rearrange this series of short stories according to the timeline I drew out, if and when I have the time for it, and after publishing all my short stories…)

And also, well I sort of have another idea going on for a story with the twins and Mai hence the family name (or as you will discover, if and when I ever publish that short story out), let's hope that I have time to pen down that story… anyway in this story the kids are in pre school/elementary school and have made some friends… I would like to think that Naru had as normal a childhood as he possibly could have as a child.

Hide and Seek

"Hey, Mai chan, Himura twins! Want to play hide and seek with us?" A plump young boy of about six or seven, with dark brown hair and dark eyes hollered over to three children who seemed to be hanging around idly near the park bench.

Well idly, may not really be the right word, since one of them, a boy with dark hair and blue eyes seemed to be reading a book on the bench while the other two children, a little girl with brown hair that went slightly over her shoulder and big brown eyes, was seated next to him, the third child a mirror image of the first boy was standing in front of them and seemed to be engaged in mindless chatter with the little girl, his arms moving about expressively as if he was describing something really big.

Upon hearing the shout from across the park, the three children looked up from their activities to the plump little boy.

"Pass," said the one with his nose buried back in the book.

"Aww, come on don't be such a spoil sport," whined his mirror image, as he made to tug at his brother's arm, earning him a glare from the said brother.

"Ne, Kazuya chan, just a little while is fine right?" said the little girl seated next to Kazuya.

"I want to finish this before dinner time, you know okaa chan won't let me read after dinner," Kazuya said with a soft sigh at the girl. "You go ahead with Jin."

As the little girl pouts, Jin takes her hand, pulling her up from the bench and away from his brother, "come now Mai chan, let's just leave this stick in the mud here and go have fun with Taka chan and the gang." Jin said, earning a scowl from Kazuya, who promptly ignored him and went back to his book.

"But won't Kazuya chan be lonely here?" asks Mai.

"I will be fine, you go ahead and play with the rest," answers Kazuya, earning a little nod from the girl as she is led away to the other children by his brother, her head turning every few steps to watch him.

"Come now, Mai chan, he's not going to disappear when you are not near him" Jin teases Mai, and watched with amusement in his eyes as the little girl started to blush, before averting her gaze back to their waiting friends.

"Ready or not here I come!" announced a little girl of about six or seven, with dark hair and brown eyes. It would seem that the game has started. Kazuya averted his eyes from the said girl back to his book as he flipped a page of his book.

By the time Kazuya closed his book, he noticed that orange hues had already started painting the sky. Had he been reading that long? Probably. Its time for dinner, so they had better be on their way home about now before obaa chan starts nagging at them.

"Hnnn~ I can't find Jin kun and Mai chan" said the little girl from earlier, frustration evident upon her face as she complains to her other friends that she had already managed to find.

Kazuya releases a sigh. As the seemingly more level headed and responsible one of the three, Kazuya was the one that would be getting an earful if they were all late for dinner. Turning his head towards the grove of trees at the end of the park he merely narrowed his eyes slightly.

A short while later, Jin starts walking out from the said grove of trees, he stuck his tongue out at his brother when their eyes met muttering "I know, I know," as he made his way to Kazuya.

"Ah! There's Jin Kun," exclaimed the same girl from earlier, as Kazuya made to get off the bench. He surveyed his surroundings with a quick gaze before walking in the direction of the play castle.

The children all watched Kazuya as he strode purposely to the play castle and pass it, to some trees behind the play castle.

"You need to find better hiding places Mai, I can see your pink blouse from way over there" Kazuya tilted his head upwards, as if he was talking to the tree.

"Hnn~ but the others always can't find Mai… how does Kazuya chan do it?" exclaims Mai as she starts to get down from the tree, with Kazuya helping her down.

"I'm not letting you know" blushes Kazuya as he finishes helping her down from the tree; taking her hand he leads her back to his brother and their group of friends.

Notes:

1. "Okaa chan" basically means "mum".

2. "Obaa chan" basically "grandma", though not necessarily blood related. Not to be confused with "oba san" which, has one "a" less and means "aunt" or "aunty", again, not necessarily blood related.

3. It's not uncommon for young children, especially little girls to refer to themselves in the third person, hence Mai's speech "the others always can't find Mai" etc. usually some of them grow out of it, while some may continue using it to a certain age, as it is deemed cute.

ノート

麻衣は五歳だけ。夏、六月十九日。あの年の七月麻衣は六歳になります。和也は六月十九日は六歳だけ。

-「夢見サヤか」-