I'm just going to say this right now, sorry for all the typos. I think this chapter is going to have more than usual. Anyway, I'm thinking about writing another Legend of Korra fic so I might only put up an Ill Fate Reunion chapter this week. We'll see what happens :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt
Chapter 7: First Signs
Mai's face burned red with embarrassment. She sat cross-legged on her bed frowning and glaring daggers at the girl across from her who was currently laughing her head off. It was a wonder that she hadn't died of suffocation yet.
"It's not that funny," Mai muttered sullenly, clutching at her ankles.
"It is too!" Masako gasped, taking in lungs full of air to try and get her breathing back under control. She smiled and shook her head. "You two are so very dense. It's cute really." A dark blush covered her pale cheeks. She sat up, running her fingers through her hair to try and straighten it back out.
"How are we dense?" Mai asked, utterly confused. Her cheeks still flamed a surprising red, but her embarrassment was quickly being forgotten in the hopes that her friend would be able to help her.
Masako shot her an incredulous look. "You can't be that stupid can you?"
"I'm not stupid!" Mai defended indignantly, jumping to her feet.
"Yes you are. You just asked me how the two of you are dense. That's being stupid," she explained matter-of-factly, moving towards the door. Since they'd been at the house Masako had found her usual kimonos to be rather inconvenient. As such, she'd sniggered some of Mai's clothes which now hung a little loose on her smaller frame.
"Whatever, just answer the question already," Mai muttered under her breathe. She followed Masako to the door and out into the deserted hallway.
Masako glanced side-ways at her. "Well, for one, neither of you recognize or even realize the feelings you harbor towards each other, both either in yourselves or from the other."
Mai rolled her eyes. "Naru doesn't have feelings for me," she scoffed, "Not in this sense at least."
Masako gave her own eye-roll. "See, this is what I mean. Both of you deny that the other has feelings for you with one excuse or another. That's not cute. That's just plain infuriating. You two are just as bad as Monk and Ayako, if not worse."
"Says the girl who doesn't realize a certain someone having feelings for her," Mai quipped back, grinning evilly as Masako's face lit up like the Fourth of July.
"Nobody has romantic feelings for me," she said, sounding a little downtrodden though.
"Are you so sure? I always catch him watching you. He totally has the hots for you, and you know what they say about boys and hormones."
"Yes I'm sure."
"Denial!" Mai shouted enthusiastically, pointing a finger at her and dancing just out of her reach.
"You're one to be talking!" Masako shouted back and then sighed dramatically, placing a hand on her cheek, "Why does it always seem like we see everything when someone likes/loves someone else, but not when someone likes/loves us. It would make life so much easier if we just knew both right off the bat."
"But wouldn't that take all the fun out of the game called 'love'?" a very familiar male voice asked from so close behind them that his warm breath tickled the backs of their necks.
They both let out piercing screams, jumping away and around to face the newcomer simultaneously. They came face to face with a grinning Yasu. He had his hands shoved deep into his pockets. His eyes were nearly trained on Masako.
"Gosh dang it, Yasu! You scared the crap out of us!" Mai cried, glaring him down.
He just grinned that grin that said he knew he wouldn't be in trouble for long. His grin didn't disappear when he told Mai, "Naru's looking for you. He seems pretty pissed. Oh, and a package came for you. I think that's what set him off, and the fact that he hasn't had his tea fix today." His grin only seemed to grow more teasing.
"Oh no, I completely forgot about the tea!" she cried, cursing herself for having taken so much time to herself in the shower and talking to Masako for so long, "He's going to rip me a new one! Sorry guys, I gotta go!" She turned and sprinted for the stairs, skidding and stumbling down them. She jumped the last few steps, landing like a pro. She made it to the kitchen in record time. The tea took only a few minutes to make, and soon, she was back on her way to base.
She sighed with relief as she started back towards base. "Maybe I won't get such and ass-chewing if he has tea while he's at it," she murmured to herself as she walked.
"Mai!" a loud, high-pitched female voice cried excitedly from behind her, "I found you!"
Mai turned and grinned. Kamin ran down the hall towards her, her arms outstretched as if she were an airplane. Rex came charging after her acting as sentry and nurse-maid. "Hey Kamin, what are you up to?" Mai asked her as she approached.
"I'm being a plane, like Bou-san taught me," she told Mai without a moment's hesitation, grinning from ear to ear, "Earlier, we were playing and Bou-san lifted me up so high! I was flying like a bird, like a plane!" She made airplane noises and buzzed around Mai.
Mai grinned. "It sounds like you have a crush on Monk." Kamin only giggled. "Where's Tamaki?"
"He's with Daddy and everyone else. Daddy asked me to come look for you. He was awfully worried," she said slyly. She giggled girlishly again, grinning up at Mai.
Mai blushed a deep, pretty pink. She made a disgruntled face down at the little ball of energy causing her to burst into laughter. "You look funny with that face, Mai-chan!"
"Well, you're a funny looking fella too," Mai teased causing Kamin to giggle madly.
The temperature in the hall suddenly started to drop, and Kamin's laughter came to a halt. Rex growled low in her throat. She inched closer to Kamin, her hackles raised and her ears pinned flat against her skull, making her look lethal with her exposed teeth.
The freezing temperature didn't feel like the usual "ghost-cold". It held too much energy, too much power. It was unnatural, and she didn't like the feeling of it pressed against her exposed skin, but something about it felt vaguely familiar.
"K-Kamin, stay close to me," Mai whispered, baking slowly into a room with an open door. Kamin complied without question, moving in so close that she was pressed against Mai's leg. No sooner had she moved in that things started to go to hell.
Kamin let out a terrified scream as the window burst inward, spraying glass everywhere. Mai dropped the tray and crouched to cover Kamin without a second thought, letting out her own muffled shout.
Accompanying the window, several vases and the glass fronts to several china cabinets shattered. More glass and pieces of ceramics sprayed every which way. Water soaked into the carpet creating dark stains in the carpet. Half wilted flowers scattered across the floor.
"It's going to be alright. It's going to be fine," Mai chanted to Kamin even though she didn't believe it personally. Kamin sobbed into Mai's chest, clutching at her shirt.
The room shook violently. There was a flash of burning, pure white light and suddenly heat pressed against her, mixing with the freezing air, but not completely masking it. The heat seared against Mai's back and she somehow knew that there was a fire blazing somewhere in the room.
"Naru!" Mai screamed as loud as her lungs would allow. Rex followed her lead, letting out a deafening howl.
…..
Naru sat at base, seething quietly by the window with a file open in his lap. He was supposed to be reading it, but wasn't even attempting to pretend like he was. He stared over the orchards at the soft mist covering the treetops. Tamaki lay beside him in the floor flat on his stomach with a book open in front of him.
"Hey, Tamaki, want to play a game?" Ayako asked with a kind smile, crouching beside him on the floor.
Naru groaned inwardly. He did not want to listen to these idiots act like children with a child who acted older than them at times. To his surprise though, Tamaki shook his head without looking up from his book.
Ayako looked taken aback for a second before regaining her purchase. She smiled and asked, "You're really quiet without your sister around aren't you?"
Tamaki only shrugged his small shoulders. Naru smirked to himself, covering it with his hand. He glanced around to room, his eyes coming to rest on the package Suzuka had brought to him only minutes ago. It had Mai's name written on the outside of the small box in the same elegant script as the card from the roses.
His eyes darkened and his anger returned as he stared at the offending object. Who the hell even had the guts to send her something at any given time, let alone while she was on a case? It pissed him off to know that someone else could be trying and possibly succeeding in winning her affections. Something told him that this was no ordinary admirer. He'd seen her in her dazes. They weren't natural.
"Once this case is over I'm going to find out what is really going on," he silently promised to himself.
Just then Yasu traipsed through the door. He had an extremely red-face Masako beside him. Whether it was from anger or embarrassment, Naru couldn't tell and didn't care to find out.
Naru leveled a glare on the pair, staring daggers at them. "Where is she?" he snapped once they'd shut the door behind them.
Masako flinched, but Yasu just grinned. "Going to get your tea. I think she wanted to hold off on that lecture you're going to give her," he said in a nonchalant tone.
Naru growled under his breath, turning back to the window. Tamaki looked up at him and clambered up into his lap. Naru didn't try to stop him. That fact that it didn't bother him in the slightest told him that Mai was beginning to rub off on him.
Maybe that wasn't an entirely bad thing.
They all collapsed into a still silence. For several long moments, they stayed like that. A high-pitched scream split the silence accompanied by the shattering of glass. Tamaki's eyes grew wide. "Kamin!" he shouted, jumping from Naru's lap and bolting out the door.
Naru ran after him, his heart pounding with fear. He didn't know why he was suddenly afraid, but he knew it had something to do with a certain brunette assistant of his. That's when he heard her scream his name. "Naru!"
He was almost drowned out by the wolf-like howl that came after her scream. "Mai!" he shouted, chasing after the frantic Tamaki.
There you go. I hope you liked this chapter :D My finals for school are coming up next week and then I'll be out of school *cheering* Well, please review ;D
P.S.~ All of you who read and review this or even just read are lovely. You all give me motivation! Thank you so much!