okay so not a complete chapter likes the ones I normally do for this story but I felt I could throw you guys a bone after the long long wait. I'm sorry but this has just made me lose all other zest for writing anything based off of something else. I know you guys absolutely love this story but writing and editing this just takes up so much time, time which I really don't have like I used to. plus, I have an idea for another story (which will be a completed oneshot) inspired by the Great Gatsby and I really want to finish and draft a published version of that before I finish anything else. Not because I love that story more than this, it's just easier to write for me because I can really connect with the plot and characters I'm developing. those of you who like the Great Gatsby might enjoy it when I finish writing it. Right now I'm still trying to build the relationship between two characters and make it really solid before moving on with the rest, as well as developing a killer backstory for a character I'm adding.
Anyways, in other news I have created a facebook page for my fanfiction account name, so feel free to look it up and like it if you want regular updates about my story progress or to give comments/complaints I'm all for constructive criticism people! Check out my profile because the picture I have there is also the profile picture for my FB page. But now back to why you're all really here; on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt nor the original idea for this story, however this is my take on it and I have changed it to fit the Ghost Hunt universe so no copyright complaints people because this is fanfiction people!
Mai kept hearing weird and somewhat fearful noises from outside the office but with the windows boarded up she had absolutely no idea as to what was going on. No matter what it was, Mai knew her own time to get free was running short, she had no other option to go on but the broken half of the scissors was taking a lot of time. On the floor Mole mouth was beginning to stir, Mai panicked and tried sawing harder. She really wasn't sure she could take the creep on again if she was still restricted from using her arms. Shots and shouts were heard from outside and Mai stopped momentarily. She looked at the door, waiting for something, anything, to happen.
'What's going on out there?' she wondered. Her concern for Naru was growing by the second. A groan resounded from the floor and Mai turned to see Mole moth blinking sleepily. 'Darn it!' she thought keeping up with the blade on the plastic. Thankfully, whoever was up there decided to take pity on her as the restraints finally broke. Mai resisted hesitating, running to the door as Mole mouth struggled to his feet. She had one hand on the knob while the other worked at the lock when more shots went off. The wood before her splintered as it was hit and Mai dropped to the floor, a scream most involuntary escaping her as she did so. She felt a burn across her upper arms but it was forgotten as hands tried to curl around her neck. Mai struggled but after a few seconds managed to throw Mole moth off her.
"You're dead." Mole mouth growled. Mai didn't doubt he was bluffing if she gave him the chance to prove it.
"Not yet." Mai replied, rising to her feet in a defensive stance. "Naru, please be safe." She prayed as Mole Mouth readied himself for the first attack.
Yasu felt a burning sensation in his eyes, nose, and lungs as he managed to get a door open. His vision field was foggy at best, even with his glasses on thanks to the smoke screen. However, as the smoke cleared he could see John and Lin standing over the men they'd been fighting against; each unconscious in his own right. The trio looked around to make sure the others were alright. When that was accomplished Lin scanned around more closely for his charge until he was located.
"Dammit! Noll!" Lin yelled running over to Naru after seeing the state he was in. He quickly produced a knife from under a pant leg, courtesy of a calf holster. Quickly and precisely Lin cut the gag around Naru's mouth and the noose around his neck. It was a moment that seemed an eternity where the dark-haired young man didn't breath. Thankfully Naru eventually gave a shaky cough and a few wheezes letting everyone know he was alive. Somewhere in the astral plane Gene let out a sigh of relief "Noll, are you alright?" Lin asked, helping him sit up from where he'd been laid on the floor as Naru struggled with the ropes that rendered his arms useless. John and Yasu were now helping him free while he struggled to retain his normal breathing rate.
"Wait a minute, where's Mai?" Yasu asked after the final knot had been untied and the ropes fell away. Naru, who was simply sitting blankly; unaware of his freedom, now sprung to his feet in a panic. He raced towards the wall, which was now nicely decorated with uneven bullet holes.
"Mai!" he called out hoarsely, running towards the door. From afar Lin, John and Yasu watched the boy.
Lin let out a smile and a soft chuckle, John looked on thoughtfully.
"He's got it bad, doesn't he?" John looked to Lin, who was still silently laughing, as he asked this question.
"Oh definitely." Lin agreed, his sides still shaking.
"What? Who's got what bad?" Yasu was thoroughly confused now.
"Looks like Kazuya's in love." John said in reply.
"Love? What do you mean he's in love? With who? The only person I've seen him with all day is-" Yasu stopped short as the answer smacked him in the face. "Wait, you mean to tell me he's in love with Mai? My tomboyish roommate Mai? I don't believe this. How can you tell?"
"Simple," Lin replied. "see how he's running towards the door like a convict runs after breaking free from prison?"
"Yeah," Yasu still didn't see how that meant Kazuya was in love with Mai of all people.
"What was he like when you first met?" Lin surprised the young college student with the question.
"Umm," Yasu thought back to the first meeting he had with him. "Very calm and composed and confident and unafraid and…" Yasu trailed off, Naru was not acting at all like he had been before.
"Overall very emotionless right?" Lin clarified. Yasu nodded. "You see, Noll hasn't shown any emotion since the death of someone very close to him. And now look at him, running towards the door like it was the gateway to nirvana. He cares for her, a lot judging by his speed. It has to be love. But we'll let them figure all that out for themselves later."
"Oh…" Yasu said, nodding in understanding.
Meanwhile, Naru had finally reached the door; his fingertips just grazing the knob as it was thrown open. Mai stood staring back at him, a little roughed up but definitely and thankfully no worse for the wear. Both stood frozen in time for a moment, simply staring at each other before realization, relief, and mobility kicked in once again. Mai lunged at Naru; face colliding with his chest and arm wrapping around his torso as he returned the hug tightly. They did not have time to savor the moment as long as they wanted, but Naru had a more primary concern. He pulled back to look at her.
"Are you alright?" he asked, sparing a sweeping glance over her quickly checking for any signs of injury.
Mai nodded. "I'm fine, I think it's him you should be more worried about." She told him inclining her head back towards the interior of the office.
Naru followed her gaze and saw Mole Mouth sprawled out on the floor; bleeding profusely from a few… delicate places with a face nearly indistinguishable as one of a human being. Looking back to Mai Naru saw her smile at his questioning gaze.
"Do you doubt the power of the ultimate move now?" she asked, a weak yet wry grin spreading across her face.
Naru looked from her to the man and back again; shock clearly evident on his face. When it eventually settled he had to resist the urge to reward his woman for defending herself against that fool with something that should be saved for behind closed doors. He did, however, kiss the crown of her head and grace her with a smile. Her cheeks pinked as she sheepishly smiled.
Suddenly, her head jolted up as something occurred to her. "I know where they are!" she exclaimed somewhat breathlessly.
Naru's brow furrowed for a moment before he realized who she was talking about. "How did you..?" he began, before she interrupted.
"You know how you like to call me an idiot?" she asked. He nodded. "Well I think he fits that description much better than I ever could." She replied by way of explanation.
"Let's go then." Naru said taking her hand and coming face to face with the three reasons why he was even able to hold her hand. They'd been completely forgotten, once Yasu reminded him of Mai. Said girl seemed equally surprised to see them.
"Yasu? What on earth are you doing here?" she asked in slight confusion. The warehouse she'd left was in total disarray now with three of the four lackeys knocked out on the floor. Yasu, John, and a third man Mai didn't recognize stood watching her and Naru.
Yasu practically sprinted over to Mai and took her in as big a bear hug as he could with Mai's hand still being attached to Naru's. "I saw you get taken and wanted to make sure you were okay." He let go and looked her over. "You are okay right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Mai replied. "But why are you here?"
"I saw you and Naru get thrown into the van and I just didn't know what to do. You already said I couldn't go to the cops, I doubt they'd have believed me anyways, so I went to find John and well; here I am."
"Ah, now John I remember. But I think you're a new face." Mai said looking over at Lin.
"This is Lin Kojou Ms. Matsuzaki. Kazuya's coworker." John introduced.
"And my parent appointed bodyguard." Naru whispered to her.
"Actually, I think it's time I come clean. My real last name is Taniyama. You know; heiress to the Taniyama electronics empire back home in Japan." Mai said somewhat sheepishly.
Yasu's eyes widened. "My best friend's the heiress to one of the biggest foreign fortunes on the planet! How could you keep something like this from me?"
"Because of the way you're acting right now." Mai replied.
Whilst she and Yasu were in the midst of having this, odd, conversation. Naru looked to Lin.
"What are you doing here?"
"Nice to know your way of thanking somebody has gotten more direct since I last saw you." Lin replied cynically, raising a brow in expectation.
"While I thank you for the assistance I believe I asked you a question." Naru said.
"I'm trying to figure out what's been going on with you." Lin answered. "It shouldn't be surprising that I know something's going on."
"It isn't." Naru replied, somewhat aggravated that Lin and more than likely Madoka knew. Which in turn meant his parents knew something was up too.
Mai, seemed to be thinking along the lines of someone higher up knowing because she straight out told them. "You can't be involved in this."
"Quite the girl you have here." Lin said noting Naru's posture along with his earlier reactions.
"Only 'cause I'm the one girl who won't fall at his feet." Mai replied.
Lin turned back to Naru. "Kasai's involved with this, isn't she?"
His question brought Naru and Mai back to the task at hand.
"We're gonna need a car." Mai glanced at Yasu. "You drive here?"
"A little ways, but we took the psycho's car once he told us where you guys were." Yasu replied.
"Psycho?" Mai said aloud, before recalling Yoshino and his manic grin.
"Where did you park it?" Naru asked.
"Round back." Yasu answered and were nearly bowled over as Mai and Naru headed in that direction. "Hang on a second you guys!" he called after them. The two ignored him, muttering too low for him to hear coherently.
"Wait!" Lin called, going after them. "Oliver, I want some answers!" again, the duo ignored him and Lin cursed under his breath as he followed them out the door.
"Kazuya, I want to know what's going on as well." John said tagging along. Mai and Naru only paused to locate the vehicle.
"We'll need to find a place where we can get our bearings." Mai informed him as they finally spotted the ebony vehicle in the shadows.
"Can you guys knock off the secrecy for a minute or two?" Yasu groaned.
"Madoka may be dead!" Lin finally yelled.
Naru stilled, tense from head to toe. "How. Did. She. Get. Involved. With. This?" he ground out.
"Whoever's behind this has people everywhere." Lin explained. "The guy who got me a ride here was working for them and I don't know if Madoka went back to confront him. I cut off all communication efforts because I had a feeling you wouldn't want anyone involved."
"Correct." Naru replied. "Where did you put the keys?"
"Noll!" Lin yelled in exasperation. "Be serious here."
"Lin, I'm never 'not serious' when it comes to my job. And unfortunately; this is my job right now, but it's one I have to do without your assistance. And one of those risks is precisely why I don't want anyone else involved." Naru said gravely.
"Don't worry about us." Mai added. "We'll be fine, we can handle it."
"And just what is 'it'?" Lin asked folding his arms.
"We're not at liberty to say. But by saving us; though we greatly appreciate it, you're all already too much involved." Mai replied.
"I think they're right." Yasu stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged as everyone turned to look at him. "I've known you for a long time; I trust you on this."
"Yasu… thanks." Mai smiled at her friend. Naru nodded his assent and Yasu tossed him the keys.
"Might wanna remove the dead weight first though." Yasu commented as they reached the car.
"Dead weight?" Mai asked raising a brow.
"The psycho and a guy that makes me ashamed of belonging to the same gender." Yasu answered.
"Yoshino and a Neanderthal lackey?" Naru asked rhetorically.
"Noll, you've lost it if you think you're going on alone." Lin said.
"What? Am I not even here anymore?" Mai asked aloud. "Naru, the longer we stay here the more time we waste."
"You're right." Naru agreed as they came close enough to the car to see that the back doors were wide open.
"Aww!" Yasu whined. "They got away!"
Mai and Naru paid the man no mind as they closed the back doors on both sides and Mai slipped into the passenger's side.
"Noll," Lin held a firm grip on the driver's door while Naru tried to get in so they could rescue Kasai. "I'm not letting you leave here without answers."
Naru glanced at Mai; she gave him an almost imperceptible nod. "My apologies Lin." He said hitting the gas. The car revved backwards; Mai had slipped the gear shifter into reverse. Slamming his own door shut Naru put it in drive and swung wide to avoid hitting their rescuers as they left them in the dust.
Lin whirled to Yasu. "Why on earth did you let them leave?" he asked.
Yasu gave a Cheshire grin in response. "Did you forget? Mai's cell is still in the backseat."
Lin's eyes widened as realization hit home; Noll and the girl hadn't gotten away from them yet.
"Hey look, all our stuff is still here. And still intact thankfully." Mai said checking the back seat and grabbing her PDA to check the location. Naru spared her a side glance and noticed how pale she looked.
"And you're sure you're uninjured?" he asked. This was the first moment they'd gotten to themselves since being thrown in the back of the van and Naru's only collected assessment of the situation hadn't really been a good one given the circumstances.
"I'm fine, I was conscious just as he took me in the office. You don't have to worry about that." Mai assured him. "Though I don't think I'll be able to take another tasering today if I want to keep my memories." She joked. Naru didn't find it funny and pulled over to run a more thorough scan of her. "Naru? What are you doing?" she asked, unable to do anything as he parked the car and got out the door. He calmly walked over to her side and, opening the door, pulled her out to examine her. Something told Mai it would be in her best interest not to resist like she normally would and let him push her up against the car, his hands firmly grasping her upper arms. Mai winced, an action that did not go unnoticed by Naru and seemed to surprise her herself. They both glanced at her right arm and Naru pulled his hand away, a streak of red coating part of his palm and a barely visible stain evident on the dark material.
"Jacket. Off. Now." He ordered; his normally stoic voice taut and slightly higher than normal. Mai quickly did as he asked, able to tell he was reigning in whatever emotion he was feeling right now so as not to overwhelm her and partly because she herself was curious as to what happened to her arm. It was only when she pushed the jacket off she saw the tear in the sleeve, and winced again when she pulled her arm free from where the blood had dried the fabric to her skin. There was a wound there but before she could inspect it closer Naru beat her to the punch, prodding and examining the cut with a tenderness Mai had not before known he possessed. "Why didn't you tell me you were injured?" he asked, his voice soft yet glacial.
"I-I didn't know, honestly." Mai stammered, aware that he was probably feeling anger instead of panic because he knew it wasn't as bad as it could be.
"How could you not have known? This isn't the kind of thing easily overlooked." Naru said exasperatedly.
'Easy Noll,' Gene soothed. 'remember there was a lot going on around the time she was injured.'
Naru decided to block out his brother.
"I, I don't know really." She admitted. "There was a lot going on at the time and I'm sure I was still running on adrenaline. I remember feeling a slight pain when someone shot at the door." A horrified look passed over her face. "Did I get shot? Is that what happened?"
Naru probed the wound for a moment more before meeting her eyes. "Looks like you were grazed."
"Grazed?" Mai repeated.
"Yes; the bullet cut your skin as it flew by, but it isn't in your arm. Consider yourself lucky; most others aren't."
"Gee, way to make me feel better." She retorted, rolling her eyes.
"I wasn't trying to."
"Why does that not surprise me?" Mai asked sarcastically, letting out a sigh. "But I guess it's a relief that I can still use my arm isn't it?" Naru said nothing; obviously it wasn't a relief to him. "Naru?" Mai said, tilting her head slightly as she moved closer. "Naru, it's okay. I'm fine, really." She soothed, even going so far as to place a hand on his arm.
"It's not okay Mai," Naru ground out. "I know this probably won't come as a shock to you but I like being in control. I like controlling what happens to me and those around me and around y-" he cut himself off abruptly. "This whole situation has left me feeling quite out of sorts, and I'm not really a fan of it. Besides, I promised myself once this started I wouldn't let either of us get hurt. Looks what's happened so far. We've been shot at more times than we care to remember, been chased by more than one maniac, and have been placing cursed voodoo dolls all over New York. On top of that we still don't know who's behind this. Forgive me if I'm not as jovial as you seem to be." He finished mockingly.
"Naru, I'm not as fragile as I look, and I think I've proved that quite a few times over the course of today don't you? Besides, without you I think I would have already been dead by now. Please don't sulk about this." It was then she noticed the faint red lines around his neck. "Naru what happened?" she exclaimed, hand automatically reaching out to trace the marred skin.
"Those so-called 'guard men' put a leash on me to try and keep me contained, and I was nearly hanged because of it."
"What were you doing that warranted the need of such a thing?"
"I was trying to get to you." The sentence was loaded, and both of them knew it. Naru sighed. "when I saw you get carried into that room, with the man implying just what was going to go on in there I felt like I was watching my brother's murder all over again. But this time it felt a lot worse."
Mai could have done a lot of things after hearing that, coming from Naru that was as good as a confession would be from any other guy. Had it been any other guy Mai would have made them speak again, made them clarify. But she didn't, instead she leaned forward and placed a single kiss to the mark on his neck; right in the hollow of his throat. She saw Naru swallow, felt his whole body go rigid for a moment, and then she was pinned against the side of the car before she knew what was happening. Naru held her at arm's length, staring at her unwaveringly. It reminded Mai of mere hours before when he had kissed her for the first time, and she secretly hoped the same thing would happen again. Much to her disappointment, it didn't. Instead, Naru sighed and squeezed her shoulders.
"We need to keep moving." He said roughly, drawing his hands away like she was some forbidden fruit. Mai, too breathless to speak, merely nodded weakly in response. "Somewhere along the way we'll stop and get a first aid kit, I don't want that wound to fester and get infected." He told her as they both seated themselves in the car.
"Naru I told you I'm f-" she quailed under the glare he gave her. "Oh fine, but only as long as you use some of the stuff to take care of that burn around your neck."
"You sound like my mother."
Mai smacked him on the arm for that and proceeded to ignore him for the rest of the ride.
so drop me a review and tell me what you think. also read and review my other works please, I put a lot of time and effort into my stories and when I get 3 reviews on a piece I worked really hard on I feel like it isn't worth it for me to keep writing.