Disclaimer: We do not own Ghost Hunt!

~Jealousy in the office~

Chapter 5

"Back already?" Mai heard the miko ask as they walked into base.

Mai nodded while yawning. "Yeah."

"Mr. Nakamura." Naru greeted, ignoring Mai and Monk. Hikaru nodded.

"Mr. Shibuya. You required to see me?"

"Yes, I'd like to ask you a few questions." Naru said as he gestured for the older man to sit down. Following directions, the man took a seat, wondering what questions he wished to ask. "In regard to the activity here, how are you involved?"

"Oh, um, well let's see now..." Hikaru began to think. "I've felt a presence following me around. At first I thought it was just my imagination, but it didn't go away. It wasn't a pleasant type of presence either. Malicious or dangerous are words I would use to describe it. I have also had things thrown at me on occasion, but since there was always a possibility that it was just accidents, I never mentioned them..."

"I hardly call things being thrown at you 'accidents', Mr. Nakamura." Naru replied emotionlessly. The man sighed.

"That's true, but I would rather have not had to think of things such as ghosts haunting my house."

Naru gave a curt nod. "That's understandable. Now have you-"

"If you don't mind me asking, Sir, is your wife not here?" Mai cut Naru off curiously. Whether it was intentional or not Naru didn't know, but he glared at her nonetheless. Feeling Naru's glare on her, Mai gave him a look that clearly said 'what?'. Maybe she was being stupid or perhaps she was just too tired to realise she had cut the man off.

"Oh, um... No, she's not. I left my wife years ago." Hikaru admitted, though it was hesitant. Blinking, Mai gave an apologetic look.

"Sorry, I didn't know." She apologised. Hikaru gave a warm smile in understanding.

"That's quite alright, my dear."

Mai nodded, still in a solemn mood. She hated hearing about things such as this. Maybe it was just in her personality to worry about other people. Noticing Mai, Naru cleared his throat to get Hikaru's attention.

"As I was saying," He stated, glaring at a certain someone, obviously still slightly irritated that he had been cut off. Mai looked at him and then hung her down in shame when she realized she had interrupted her boss. She hoped he wouldn't yell at her for that after Mr. Nakamura left. She hadn't meant to. Curiosity had gotten the better of her and she had acted without thinking. "how long have you been experiencing this?" Naru continued.

Hikaru looked thoughtful. "It has probably been the past year. It wasn't always violent so we thought nothing of it."

Naru gave a nod. "How long would you say you've lived here?"

"About two years now." Hikaru answered without much thought.

"And there's only you and Takumi here?" Mai spoke again. She flinched when she realized what she did. She couldn't help herself though, the words just keep coming out. Naru glared at Mai. What was with her? It wasn't like her to keep doing that. Even Mai didn't seem to realise what she was doing.

"Um...well, yes, mostly." Hikaru answered a little taken aback at her bluntness.

"Why do you ask, Mai?" Bou-san asked curiously as the others stared at her. She blushed and looked down as she fiddled with her hands.

"I...I-I'm not sure..."

Monk blinked. "How can you not know?!" He exclaimed, confused. Naru watched Mai carefully as she thought about her answer.

"Well," She muttered. "I was just sitting here listening and then I was talking and umm, y-yeah, I honestly don't know. Sorry." Monk looked at her with concern flashing in his eyes.

"So you're saying that without realising it you're asking questions about how the family lives without anyone but themselves." Naru clarified thoughtfully.

"I-I guess so..." Mai reluctantly replied still looking down at her hands. "I'm sorry, Mr. Nakamura, I didn't mean to..."

An astounded Hikaru shook his head. "N-no, it's quite alright." He spoke. Although she wasn't thoroughly convinced, Mai gave a small smile.

"A-alright, if you say so." Something's wrong... Naru thought. It wasn't like Mai to give in so quick. Chances were she was still worried. Whether it was about the client or herself, he wasn't sure. Perhaps it was both.

"Oh, and I must apologize for not being here to greet you when you arrived, Mr. Shibuya..." Hikaru began, snapping Naru out of his thoughts. "I had some business to take care of."

Naru nodded. "Of course. However I would much prefer to have the client here to greet me." He said professionally, hiding his annoyance. Hikaru gave a small smile. Ayako snickered. She was obviously thinking along the lines of 'he totally hates you for not being the one to greet us'. Monk snickered also, but he knew Naru was probably annoyed because Takumi was the one who was there to greet them. Turning to the pair, Naru glared.

"And just what do you think is so funny?"

They immediately sobered up.

"Nothing..." They said together. Naru kept his gaze on them for a few more seconds just to be sure before turning back to Hikaru. He quickly went over the questions in his mind to see what else needed to be asked. Finding nothing of importance he decided that the interview was over.

"You may go now." He stated. Hikaru nodded and stood up.

"Thank you, Mr. Shibuya." He said before leaving. As soon as the man was gone the professional air left the room. Monk and Ayako sighed relief. The air had been way too tense for their liking through the whole ordeal. It seems that when Mai kept interrupting Naru that made everything even more tense... Speaking of which, the two felt sorry for the girl who was slowly sinking further and further into her chair—cowering away from her boss.

"Mai." Her boss warned.

"Y...yes, N-Naru?" Mai visibly swallowed, keeping her head down to avoid looking at him. Naru sighed inwardly, he didn't mean to frighten her so much that she couldn't even look towards him. How is he suppose to talk to her about the case if he made her afraid of him? And also talk to her about other things... Naru mentally added. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he spoke.

"Look at me."

Mai hesitated before looking up. She glanced at everyone in the room hoping she wouldn't get yelled at by Naru in front of them. Then she slowly moved her eyes to settle them on her boss. Naru nodded to himself in approval. She seems worried, but at least she's looking at me. He thought. He mentally sighed though. She acted like he was going to chew her head off.

"Mai, do you want to tell me why you were asking those questions?" He demanded, inwardly wincing. He didn't mean to sound that mad. He was just irritated.

"I-I don't know why I was doing it!" Mai suddenly blurted. She blushed in embarrassment and looked down. "I mean, yes, I was curious as to what the answers were...but I never meant to actually ask them..." Naru raised an eyebrow. How can she not have meant to ask them?

"Why were you so curious then?" He inquired, deciding to see what answers he could get. Mai blinked up at him.

"I...don't know..." She said with hesitation and confusion. Bou-san groaned.

"This isn't getting us anywhere." He complained. Naru shot a glare over to the monk.

"Then please, if you feel like you know anything else, we can go on." He stated. Monk, who was slightly afraid of Naru's glare, slowly shook his head. "That's what I thought." Turning back to Mai, he began his interrogation again. "Why were you interested at all?" He asked her. Mai held her face between her hands in frustration.

"I keep telling you I-I don't know. One minute I was listening to you ask questions, and the next I was thinking about it. Then the next I was asking about it and then I was being interrogated about it!" She rambled. Naru stared at her for a few moments, wondering if he should press further. He suddenly remembered her crying face and decided that because he didn't want to risk her breaking down like that again he wouldn't ask anymore. It would seem that she really didn't know.

"Alright." He said. Mai jerked her head up and looked at him with wide eyes before smiling.

"Thank you." She muttered quietly. She slowly lowered her gaze and began fiddling with the hem of her shirt. She was glad Naru had stopped questioning her. She honestly didn't know the answers to his questions.

Naru mentally groaned when he realised that she was still nervous. Maybe he should try and talk to her—alone? It could make a difference. She always seemed more open when the others weren't around. Naru nodded to himself and quickly made his decision. The next chance he got with Mai alone, he would ask her about it. If he were to ask her again now, even if they were alone, he was sure that she would still be too confused.

Three hours flew by and nothing had really happened—well, spiritual activity-wise anyways. There were a few incidents that ended with Naru glaring at a certain miko and monk. Really, you'd think those two would learn by now. It was getting later now though, and Mai was still tired. She closed her eyes, yawning. She felt herself slipping away little by little. One side of her was saying that if she slept now then she would be scolded by Naru, but the other side was telling her to just accept defeat and sleep. Although if she finds some information in her dream then he can't scold her, right? It sounded logical to her. Although this is Naru she's talking about, and no matter how logical, he always finds a way around it. Mai mentally cursed herself. She couldn't stay awake. Finally, she relented to her body's request albeit reluctantly and allowed herself to slip into a deep sleep. She remembered someone saying something for she was already too far gone to understand anything.

It was only moments before she found herself standing in a world of black. Mai wasn't sure whether to be glad or not. It's not like she hated this place. It just seemed to lead to a lot of painful dreams as opposed to cheerful ones. She looked around for her spirit guide, but he didn't seem to be anywhere in sight. It was unusual but not unheard of. She just hoped the dream wouldn't be too bad since Gene wasn't there to help her. However, luck was never something Mai was prided in, and as her surroundings changed, she no longer harbored her own body, but that of a woman in her late twenties, possibly early thirties.

Immediately, she felt many emotions hit her all at once. Anger, sadness, regret, anxiousness. They were all there, consuming whomever this woman was. She then realized she was also crying. Whether the tears were of extreme anger or the intense sadness she was feeling, Mai was not sure. All she knew was that she couldn't stop...no matter how hard she wished to.

"Why?" She muttered. "Why did he take him away?!"

It seemed then that she could only cry out harder.

"He can't do this!"

Slowly, all strength left her body and she felt herself collapse, tears streaming down her face. Mai had to remind herself that this wasn't her, but another woman. However, it was becoming increasingly difficult. She felt helpless, lonely, and sorrowful at that moment that it was too overbearing.

"He's mine..." Mai felt herself whisper, her body shakily attempting to stand. As soon as she added pressure onto her legs though, she collapsed again. Gasping, Mai felt herself try again and again. "H-he's mine. You c-can't have him!" She stuttered through broken sobs. Her chest felt so constricted, and also due to the continuous crying, it was almost unbearable to breathe. The pain was enough to have Mai wondering how she hadn't passed out yet.

With the support of hanging onto a counter top with all her might, Mai was finally able to stand up—although it was completely wobbly—in the woman's body. It took all of her power not to collapse again. Her body shook even worse as another wave of sobs came crashing down upon her.

"I will h-have him. H-he's mine." She coughed, using the counter to stumble in what seemed to be a random direction. Her mind was completely clouded. That was, until she noticed a knife lying innocently on the counter nearby. As tears continued streaming down her face, she took a ragged breath and slowly made her way to the object. 'No!' Mai screamed from inside the woman's head. The woman could not hear her, she knew as much. Still, she continued trying to stop the woman. Mai, herself, felt panicked as the woman picked up the knife—although she also felt that the woman was calm for once.

"He will be mine." She whispered before plunging the knife deep into her stomach without hesitation. Mai instantly experienced the pain. She struggled to get a breathe in. She could taste something metallic before she began coughing up blood, still trying to breath. The knife was slipped out of her before she felt it being plunged in once again. Mai felt herself scream, but she didn't stop. Stab after stab, like a song on repeat. And she felt it every time. The rush of steel as it sliced into the woman's body. She fell on the floor once the pain was finally too much to bear. Blood surrounded her as more fell from her wounds. Every inch of her hands and stomach were covered in blood.

Mai tried to scream, all thoughts of how this was the past and that she couldn't do anything left her head. The pain seemed ever-lasting...it just wouldn't go away. The next moment, however, her screams ceased. It took every single strength of energy she had in her to breathe her last breaths. Then she fell, her body limp and lifeless. The last thing she remembered...

'He's mine...'

After that, Mai could feel herself slowly beginning to fade. And then...she took her last, ragged breath. From in the woman's body, Mai screamed, wishing to leave this blood soaked nightmare. She wanted out, she couldn't take it anymore. This pain, it was excruciating beyond belief.

"-ai!"

Mai attempted turned her head to find the source of the noise, but it was too painful to move. "Help me." She whimpered.

"Mai! Mai, wake up!" 'Naru?' She wondered. He sounded so...concerned and worried. She could feel herself slowly getting pulled back into reality, but it didn't stop the pain. Mai gritted her teeth as her own tears began to pour out. The feel of the metal was still there, even as she found herself slowly waking up.

"Mai!"

She was so glad to hear his voice calling her back. She couldn't take anymore of this.

Naruisawesome: ...

MzShellSan: ...

Naruisawesome: Poor Mai...

MzShellSan: All the pain we put her through...

Naruisawesome & MzShellSan: *Sigh* Oh well... Please review!