Me: Whooo another chapter!
Mai: Way to go.
Naru: Just finish writing.
Me: Meanie.
Gene: Silver doesn't own Ghost Hunt!
Mai: Please R&R!
Mai's POV:
"Oh hey Mai-chan." A voice said, making me jump in surprise. Looking around I saw a figure waving from the porch in back of the house. Cautiously I made my way over and sighed in relief when I saw a familiar face smiling at me.
"Kaguya, what are you doing up? Is Gene with you?" I asked, opening the screen door that separated us and stepped into the cool summer air. Ever since the rule of 'we are not to be alone' either Lin or Gene has been at Kaguya's side, Lin due to the Chinese connection and Gene cause, well, he is her boyfriend, while John or Monk stuck with me. It was really starting to get on my nerves, but luckily Kaguya made it a good trade off so I couldn't chew them out for it.
"No Kane's sleeping like a baby. I snuck out for some alone time." She said, a soft smile gracing he lips as she sat curled up in one of the wooden chaise lounge chairs that was facing the open sea.
"I can understand that. Can I join you?" I asked, hoping that I wasn't ruining her alone time. However, that fear left once she glanced over at me and gestured to the chair seated next to her.
Taking her offer, I sat down and stared at the sight before me. The moon was high in the sky, and glowed its soft light on all those below it. The gentle beams reflected off the rolling waves as they crashed on the white sand. Like earlier today the sky was completely clear and not a cloud was in sight to block the millions of twinkling stars above us. It was a beautiful sight and when I saw a shooting star fly over the horizon I turned to ask Kaguya if she had seen it and paused.
Looking at her in the moonlight it made sense why Gene chose her as his girlfriend. The beams made her look a bit wiser, mature, and brightened her soft skin so that it glowed a bit on its own. The shadows from that light played off one another and made her libs look longer and more graceful than before as well as make her pouting lips as red as a blooming rose. Her hair was down and shined in the little light there was. The most captivating part about her thought was her eyes. In the sunlight they were a light amber color, but now they were dark like honey as she stared off into the distance. She had an air of mystery around her and it seduced the people that it drew in yet held at arm's length. At all angles she was the definition of the cool beauty that so many guys seemed to like. I couldn't help but be a bit jealous of that beauty, wondering if I had been a bit more like her if I could have had a better chance with Naru.
"I just can't stand lock down." She said, out of the blue, breaking the spell that was placed on me by the moon light. I blinked back at her before reality once again registered in my mind and all the previous thoughts flew out the window. Sighing in agreement, I nodded my head then looked back out at the sea.
"Trust me, been there done that, but never to this extreme before." I said, thinking back to all the previous cases we had been on that he was so uptight about the buddy system. The only one that I could really think of though was the Urado case, and that one was applied to everyone. Not just me.
"He's worried about you." She stated, drawing me from my musings. A rosy blush stained my cheeks at what she meant, and I could help but feel my heart beat fast at that thought.
"Yeah, cause he'll then have to go through the trouble of finding a new assistant." I said, trying to fight back that accursed blush that seemed to be permanently placed on my cheeks.
"Yeah, sure, and the fact that he likes you doesn't play any role in this at all." She teased, a gleam shining in her eyes as a smirk replaced her previous frown.
"He doesn't like me." I said, earning a snort from her in response.
"Oh trust me, he does, but I know for a fact he probably hates me." She sighed, curling up a bit tighter in her ball. A sad expression taking over her gentle features, and making my heart ache at the sight.
"Come on, Naru's hard to get along with, but he doesn't hate you." I said, trying to reassure her, only earing a sigh for my efforts.
"I'm the one that kept his brother away from him. Caused him all that heart ache for four years. It's only natural for him to hate, if not at least dislike, me." She explained, making me see where she was going with it. Suddenly the previous reactions he had to her made sense and I could help but feel a bit bad for her.
"Oh, I didn't think about that."
"Yeah." She said, sighing once more. Silence then again enveloped us. It stayed this way for a bit as we both looked out to the ocean before she spoke again. "Ya know, I don't want you guys to just be working here."
"What do you mean?" I asked, shifting in my chair while giving her my complete attention.
"I mean I want everyone to have fun down at the beach. To enjoy themselves. To give the two suborn mules of twins to actually bond without the whole work thing hanging over them." She explained, making me pause and process her words before a grin broke out on my face.
"You're actually a pretty caring person aren't you." I said, stating the comment instead of asking it since I already knew that it was true. Kaguya's face lit up like a Christmas tree from that and huffed as she turned her face away from me.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh quit it. You're way more of a softie then you let on." I said, giggling at her expense. She turned back to me with mischief dancing in her eyes.
"Hmmm, I wonder." She hummed, stretching out on her chair, now no longer cured up in the little ball that she was when I had first come out. A lazy smile creeped onto her face as she looked at me as if I said something a little out there.
"Whatever you say Kagy." I said, rolling my eyes at her, knowing that it was just her way of agreeing with me without actually agreeing.
"What did you call me?" she asked, looking at me with a puzzled expression. I blushed a bit at my mess up and laughed a awkwardly at myself while rubbing the back of my head.
"Kagy? Is that okay?" I asked, cursing a bit under my breath for the mix-up, but still liking it none the less.
"Yeah, I like it."
"Well I hate to break it to you, but Naru's not one for fun under the sun."
"Not that big of a shocker." She said, rolling her eyes at that while groaning in annoyance.
"Yeah, does Kane go down a lot?" I asked, wondering how he was around water since part of his almost death involved drowning.
"Wh-what are you talking about Mai?!" she asked, blushing fire truck red. Her outburst caught me off guard just as much as whatever my question did to her. I stared back at her deer in the headlights eyes and couldn't help but raise a brow at her.
"Well he's really tan, so I was wondering if he went down to the beach a lot." I clarified, wondering what it was that made her react like that.
"Oh, that's what you meant." She said, sighing in relief as whatever conflict she had was cleared up. This however only made me more interested in knowing what the issue was in the first place.
"What did you think I meant?"
"Um." She said, her blush coming back full force as she looked down to her lap and then back again at me. Eventually my mind clicked in the wording of my previous question and a smirk made its way on my lips as I finally connected all the dots.
"Well not only are you caring but you've got a dirty mind too." I teased watching a her blush somehow managed to deepen. For some reason I now understood why Naru teased me so much. If I turn as red as Kaguya does, I would do it to me too. However that doesn't give him permission to humiliate me.
"Hey, I've never done anything past kissing thank you very much. I'm just surrounded by it twenty-four seven." She muttered, shivering to herself at that last statement, making me worry a bit for her.
"Huh?" I asked, wondering what she meant. It made me question how she was surrounded by it when it was Kane who was mainly with her. Unless he's actually much more of a pervert then I originally gave him credit for. Then thoughts of how far he's tried to push it come to mind and suddenly I had the urge to hit him if he actually did pressure her at all.
"My aunt, let's just say I find out and have been scared, along with Kane, multiple times by her and her random lovers." She finally said, a look of disgust displayed clear as day on her face. My mouth dropped open at this answer and I couldn't help but feel bad for the poor girl. "Um, anyway, back to why Naru doesn't want to go to the beach?" she said, steering our conversation which just so happens to love to tangent, back on track.
"Well he's only really interested in work, or anything paranormal." I explained, remembering all the times I had tried to get him involved in the rest of the teams antics, or to at least leave his office, only to get rejected and glared at.
"Hmmmm." She hummed, taking on a similar thinking position that Naru had when he thought over the causes of our cases. Suddenly an epiphany must have hit her for her face lit up and she placed her fist in her palm. "Ah!"
"Got an idea?" I asked, wondering how much I would have to coax her to give me the info.
"Why yes, yes I do."
"Do tell." I asked, leaning over the armrest of the lounger, knowing from the gleam in her eyes that her idea was a good one.
"I call it operation no work and all play." She announced, making me sweatdrop at her enthusiasm that was surely to be wasted.
"But I told you-"
"Ah, but listen to this. Activity happens on the beach." She stated proudly, while giving off the vibe that she knows something that I don't. My brow rose at this and I nodded in agreement.
"Okay, your point?"
"It's really close to the water so you'll get wet." She added, completely loosing me in where this was going.
"Great, something Ayako and Masako will complain about tomorrow." I sighed, knowing just how much of an earful Naru's gonna get because of it and then that in turn will make us suffer through it as well.
"Also it'll be quite hot." She continued, a tone of innocence lacing her words.
"Yet something else they'll whine about." I said, whining myself as my own self-pity began to rise rapidly.
"Not to mention the humidity." She huffed, fanning herself with her hand to add to her point.
"I'm sorry, but what was the point of this again?" I asked, feeling the need to voice my thoughts, wondering how this knowledge was going to score us a day of fun and relaxation when all it really sounded like was a torturous day to not look forward to.
"Well cause it's by the water you'll need to wear bathing suits." She explained, making me perk up at hearing this.
"Okay, I'm listening." I said, with all my attention focused on her and her plan once again.
"It'll be hot out so we'll need sunblock, shades, a couple umbrellas, and fresh frozen fruits with ice-cold lemonade." She continued, smiling wistfully at the beach, almost imagining it all happening before us. A smile of my own broke out on my face, loving where all this was going.
"I think I like where this is going." I said, voicing my contentment with her plan, but then another question came to mind, which I can quite honestly say she already knew with how thought out her plan was already. "But what about the humidity."
"Well you won't feel the humidity while you're playing in the water now will you?" she asked, smirking triumphantly at me as everything fell into place. Silence surrounded us as everything she said was processed and stored in my mind. Situations ran through my head of Naru's reaction, and in the end, the beach day seemed to always win.
"You are a genius." I stated, breaking the quiet that had fallen on us.
"Thanks, but the problem is swim gear." She said, frowning at the one flaw in her otherwise perfect plan.
"I'm pretty sure Kane and Naru are the same size, but what about everyone else?" I asked, wondering if she had anything else around the beach house that the others could borrow.
"I'm pretty sure Ayako could fit in mine, but, uh-" she began, looking at me and my chest then down to hers. Instantly I got where she was going with this and I couldn't help but sigh at this as well.
"Yeah, you're a little bit more top-heavy then I am." I laughed, yet again cursing my small cup size, wishing I had breasts like Ayako, Madoka, and Kaguya had. Luckily I wasn't the only one on the team though with a small chest. For once very glad about Masako being on the team with me.
"Sorry." She apologized, making me smile at her, liking the fact that she wasn't one of those girls that flaunted her larger chest size to others and rubbed it in their faces.
"It's alright. Ugh, if only I could drive and had a car." I sighed, gaining the interest of Kaguya in an instant.
"Why?"
"Well I know everyone's size since I bought them all an SPR bomber jacket for our first anniversary of us being a team." I said, remembering it as if it were yesterday and the nightmare that went along with it.
"Awe, that's so sweet, now come on, we got shopping to do." She cooed, getting up from her spot on the lounger and heading over to the door. I stared at her for a moment before realization of what she said kicked in.
"Huh, wait, what?!" I exclaimed, completely forgetting that it was at all odd hours of the night and only she and I were up.
"Shhh, do you want them to wake up?" she scolded, opening the screen door and entering the house once again. I shrunk a bit in embarrassment and quickly followed after her.
"No, but where are we going?" I whispered, not wanting the microphone to pick up anything. Not that it would have mattered though. These things can pick up anything and everything. I just hope that it didn't pick up our plan for the team.
"To my car to go shopping." She explained, dangling her keychain in front of me with a smirk.
"But I don't have any money on me." I protested, not wanting her to go out and spend her money on us when she was already paying for us to investigate her house. However, she simply brushed it off and exited the front door.
"Consider it a gift to the team from me then. I can even embroider SPR on them if you like." She said to me as I walked out after her, closing the front door as softly as I could so not to alert anyone.
"You're joking right?" I asked, staring at her in awe as she got into a white convertible and turned it on. It purred softly and the headlights flashed on, blinding me from the brightness.
"Nope, now are you gonna stand there all night or get in?" she asked, making me sigh at her eagerness and excitement for our little mission.
"I can't believe we're gonna do this." I said, cautiously getting into the passenger side of her car. With a sly grin she hit the moonlit street.
"Well believe it!" she cried, speeding off down the road with the wind hitting our faces and whipping our hair, leading us to a very long night of shopping and praying that Monk didn't put on any weight from the last time I had gotten him something.
Me: Ah, this one was a heck of a lot shorter.
Naru: Just post it already.
Mai: Yeah.
Me: Alrighty.
Gene: Review please!