Disclaimer: We don't own Ghost Hunt!
~Jealousy in the Office~
Chapter 20
As Mai was dragged out of the room, Naru turned to glare at Masako. She was the reason why Mai was crying in the first place.
"Why did you say that?" He demanded.
"Say what?" Masako asked innocently. Naru grounded his teeth angrily. He didn't have time for this. Anything could happen to Mai when she was out of his sight. And what's more is she's with him while there is a spirit in the house trying to kill her. He glanced at the monitors, relieved to see that they were currently in sight. And he even knew the place where they were. He needed to go get Mai and bring her back. He made his way to the door. "You're really going after her?" He heard Masako scoff. He turned to her with a warning glare.
"Yes, and if anything happens to her before I get her back to base, I'm holding you accountable." He growled before leaving the room. He slammed the door behind him, making a certain medium jump slightly, not that he could see. He walked at a brisk pace as he tried to calm himself. I know where she is so it'll be easy to find her. He tried to tell himself. Nothing could happen in that small amount of time... No matter how he tried though, he was still worried.
When he got closer to the spot where Mai and Takumi were, he realized he couldn't even hear them talking, nor see them for that matter—once he got around the corner. He kept walking until they were in sight. It seemed they had both stopped walking and were talking a bit. Mai had her back turned towards him so he couldn't see her face. For a minute it seemed as though they were arguing. Then he saw Takumi look down and mutter something. Only seconds later, they began walking off again. Frowning, Naru furrowed his eyebrows.
"Mai." He called out, rounding the corner. Either she didn't hear him, or she just blantantly ignored him. With a reluctant sigh, he turned around and headed back towards base. Although he hated the idea of leaving Mai alone with him, he decided to go check the monitors again to see if he could find them once again. Hopefully even Mai wouldn't be able to get into trouble in the meantime.
"Alright, Takumi." Mai demanded once he stopped leading her around. "What is this all about?" The boy in front of her twitched nervously. "Well? Knowing Naru, he'll come looking for me so you better hurry up." She said. Seeing no change, the brunette turned around, ready to leave their current position when he grabbed hold of her hand.
"Alright, alright." He said hurriedly. He turned Mai back around to face him. "I don't want them to exorcise my mother." He admitted. Mai's eyes widened a bit in shock. She hadn't expected those words to come out of his mouth. But she couldn't disagreed with him. She hated to see spirits exorcised no matter what they done—tried to kill her or what. However, this one just seemed so full of anger and revenge.
"Takumi...I'm not sure if there's anything else we—"
"You have too!" He shouted, slightly disorientated. "I can't let my mother be killed. I never even had a choice as to whether I got to see her!"
"I know that..." Mai gave a sad smile. "But sometimes spirits can't be talked into crossing over..."
Takumi gave her a desperate look. "Please, Mai!" He pleaded.
"...Naru's the one who decides these things...and he's made it clear he wants to exorcise her..." Mai hesitantly said. His face immediately changed to one of distaste upon hearing Naru's name. Mai sighed, noticing his expression. "Look, I know you two...hate each other, but the person you should be talking to this about is Naru..."
"No, do you really think he'd listen to me?!" Takumi asked. She couldn't help but bite her lip. The answer to that was obviously no.
"T-Takumi...I'm just not sure if there's another way. I mean if there was, then I'd be all for it."
He brightened up. "Really?!"
Mai hesitantly nodded. "Yeah, but it has to be foolproof." Mai bit the inside of her cheeks. For some reason it seemed he already had a plan... She hoped he hadn't. Getting mixed up with a killer ghost is just going to make Naru angrier then he was already going to be. Willingly walking out of the room with Takumi was also going to make him mad...not to mention she had tears in her eyes at that time as well. She sighed as realised that she really was going to be in a lot of trouble. And it's all because of this guy. Why was she helping him anyway?!
"I think I have a way. Trust me." Takumi nodded as he spoke. Mai glared at him.
"What reason do I have to trust you?"
The boy in front of her sighed. "I'm sorry, alright? But I really need you to be prepared to help me for this plan to work." He begged. Mai crossed her arms, rolling her eyes.
"Fine, just hurry up." She said. He nodded.
"Okay, so I was thinking that if you drew my mother out by saying you were my girlfriend or something. I could talk to her and try to get her to stop..." He explained, slightly wary. Mai narrowed her eyes at the boy in disbelief.
"What? If this is some kind of scam you're pulling..." The brunette warned. Takumi quickly shook his head in denial at the accusation.
"No, no! It's not!" He quickly assured. "It's just...I need a way to draw her out and she already seems to hate you..." He trailed off. Mai couldn't believe this was happening. Naru would especially kill her for this! That's if she managed to survive this ordeal. She mentally gulped. She couldn't do this. She wouldn't do this!
"Takumi, I'm not so sure about this... There are a few flaws in your plan anyways..." She began. Takumi looked at her pleadingly.
"Please Mai!"
Mai shifted awkwardly on her feet. "What would you even say to her?" He looked slightly taken aback.
"U-ummm..."
Mai sighed. She should've known. "You haven't thought this through at all." She accused angrily.
"It's a working progress!" Takumi exclaimed.
"A working progress!? You're asking me to put my life on the line!" She yelled angrily.
"I know, I'm sorry! I just...I can't stand to watch my mother..." He trailed off. Mai sighed.
"Look, I- I really want to help, but I just—I have to think about this." She said. "Perhaps I can run it by Naru and—"
"No!" Takumi denied. "You can't do that!"
Mai frowned a bit, furrowing her brows. "Why not?"
"He definitely will not go for it." Well, he's right about that... Mai thought before sighing.
"Okay, look. I'll try to talk Naru into not doing an exorcism and to find a different way... If he doesn't agree then I'll reconsider your plan, alright?" Mai questioned. Takumi sighed but seeing no other way he reluctantly agreed.
"Alright..." He said quietly. Mai relaxed slightly before realising she'd been arguing with him for like an hour already.
"Crap! I've got to go before Naru blows a fuse!" Mai said, hurrying to the door. For a moment it seemed like Takumi was going to stop her, but he let her go this time. He just hoped her talk went well. Mai ran down the halls back to base, surprisingly not getting lost. Slowing down slightly, she walked back into base only to be almost tackled to the ground.
"Mai!" She heard the monk yell. "Just where have you been?!" Regaining her balance, she gave him a sheepish look.
"Eheh, sorry I didn't realize what time it was..." Mai replied when she was released. She kept her gaze glued to the floor, afraid of what Naru would have to say. She looked up when he didn't say anything but immediately regretted it. The glare he was giving her was worse than any words. You ruined it. Now he hates you. She told herself. Looking down, Mai walked over to the couch dejectedly. She sat by John, who gave her a sympathetic look. He really wanted to tell her it'd be okay, but he didn't dare. After all if he turned out to be wrong then he would have lied.
"He...was really worried about you." The priest settled on saying quietly for just her to hear. Which what he said was true, everyone could tell he had been worried about his assistant, now girlfriend. Mai glanced at John.
"I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to lose track of time. We ended up arguing and then things happened, and well, yeah..." She trailed off. John gave her a small smile.
"Maybe you should tell Naru that..." He advised. She sighed.
"I will but..." She looked around the room. "Not right now..." John just nodded in understanding. They would probably need to be alone to talk about something like that.
Naru looked over at Mai and John. He couldn't help but think of how she looked when she walked through the door—a kicked puppy. And maybe he was just making it worse, but he just couldn't help it. He had looked everywhere he knew of and he still couldn't find her. And then she completely disappeared for a whole hour—with him. It wasn't that he was jealous—he would never feel something like that. It's just that something could have happened to her, yeah. He looked away just before Mai caught him staring. She frowned before looking down at her lap again. I can only hope I get the chance to explain later...
"You weren't in the kitchen..." She heard Ayako say."Oh..." Mai looked over at her. "No, we weren't..."
"Just what were you doing?!" Ayako hissed at her so only she could hear.
"Nothing." Mai whispered back nervously. This really wasn't something she wanted to discuss right now. All she really wanted was to go ahead and talk to Naru and sort things out—before they could get any worse. She sighed loudly. This was not her day. She absent-mindedly picked at the bandage on her wrist. Perhaps she should ask him to speak with her right now. Although she didn't really know if he would want to... He looked like he was really angry right now.
She mentally cringed before more of those thoughts began to enter her mind again. Not now, please not now! She screamed inwardly. Mai's hands flew to her ears as if to block the thoughts. 'You've made him angry now. He hates you.' It whispered. Adding more pressuring on to her ears, Mai shook her head in denial.
"No!" She whispered urgently. "It's not true." 'You've disobeyed him. He'll just throw you away now.' The thoughts hissed at her.
"Mai?" Bou-san asked uncertainly. He stared at the girl before glancing at the others worriedly. Naru glanced up at them. Then his eyes flickered over towards his girlfriend and his eyes widened a bit. He tried not to look worried as he slowly got up and walked over to the young girl. He kneeled down in front her. Mai didn't seem to notice him until he placed his hands on hers, which were still over her ears. She jolted and tried to move away. He grasped her hands more tightly and gently pulled them away.
"Mai." He called quietly, making her look at him with wide eyes. His own eyes softened and angered at the fear he saw.
"It's not true right?" She whispered fearfully.
"What's not true?" He asked, whispering back to her, though he hated to ask.
"You don't hate me?" She asked meekly, barely restraining her tears. Naru clenching his jaw angrily, wanting nothing more than to exorcise the spirit right then and there for letting Mai think that.
"Of course not, Mai." He was quick to assure her. "It's not true. I could never hate you, Mai."
"Even- Even though I made you mad?" She asked. Naru furrowed his eyes.
"What are you talking about?" He questioned. The brunette twiddled her thumbs nervously.
"When I came in you wouldn't even look at me..."
Closing his eyes, Naru sighed realizing what she was referring to. "I wasn't angry at you." He stated quietly. Mai wiped her eyes a bit.
"Then why were you acting that way?"
He sighed. "I was angry at myself..." He muttered so only she could hear. Mai tried not to sniffle as she frowned.
"Why? You didn't do anything!" She exclaimed, though quietly. Neither noticed that everyone went over to the monitors and Lin to let them speak alone. Naru scoffed.
"So you weren't crying before you were dragged away?"
"...Oh." Mai looked away, pressing her lips together in slight embarrassment. She didn't know he'd bring that up. She wished to hide in a hole at that moment. Naru sighed at her expression. Why did she have to make that expression? Without thinking he leaned over and pulled her into a hug. He felt his girlfriend jump slightly from being startled but she relaxed soon after. "I'm sorry." She whispered after calming down a bit.
"Why are you apologizing, idiot?" He questioned, slightly scolding her. Mai looked at him with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to."
Naru removed his arms from around her and cupped her cheeks with his hands. "Stop apologising." He warned her. Mai just swiftly nodded and closed her eyes. Naru leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to her lips. When he pulled slightly away from her face, Mai opened her eyes again.
She blinked in surprise. "It stopped..."
"What stopped?"
Mai smiled slightly. "The voice...she stopped." In return, Naru gave a small smile of his own to her. One that only she could see. Her stomach fluttered and she felt her face heat up at the beautiful smile. She couldn't help but smile back even wider.
A cough from behind them made Naru turn and Mai shift her gaze to the others. They were met with three smirks, a shy smile, and a glare full of hate. Mai shrunk back from the glare. Subtly, she hid behind Naru.
"I thought we were here to work." Masako sneered. A dust of pink tinted Mai's cheeks, realizing that everyone most likely just saw Naru kiss her. Naru glared at the medium. Not that it effected her any since she was now facing the opposite side of him.
"I believe that finding out what the spirit's current motives are is a very important aspect to the case, do you not?"
"It probably has something to do with that kid." Ayako commented nonchalantly, inspecting her nails. Bou-san laughed.
"Is your age so old that you can't even remember his name now?" He asked. Ayako flushed bright red.
"I can remember his name just fine, thank you!" She said hotly. The monk grinned.
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yes, you idiot!" The miko raised her purse and swung it at him. Mai let out a small laugh as she watched them. Bou-san grinned at her, happy she was laughing again. He had hoped she would. He knew this case was stressing her out a lot. Ayako's eyes softened at the brunette's smile. Knowing the reason for the smile, the red-head swung her purse again at the unexpecting monk. Mai giggled again as he swung around and started yelling at her.
"What the hell woman?!"
Ayako shrugged. "I felt like it."
Bou-san glared at her. "You can't just hit people because you feel like it!"
"Don't tell me what I can and cannot do!" The woman hit him once again. He winced slightly as the purse made contact again. What the heck was in that thing!?
"Now, now..." John nervously tried to settle things. Masako hid a smirk with her kimono.
"Just let the children play, John." She scoffed.
"Ahh...but didn't you say we should be working?" The priest asked. She snorted.
"They weren't helping anyways."
Ayako stopped her abuse on the poor monk and glared at Masako. "Why did you just say?!" She bellowed.
"So you're actually so old that you can't even hear me?"
"You spoiled little brat! You—" Ayako began angrily before Naru interrupted as always.
"We aren't here to mess around we have work to do. If you want to argue go somewhere else." He stated coldly.
"Well, what do you have planned next, Mr. Hotshot?!" Ayako fumed sarcastically. Naru didn't even bother sparing her a glance as he went into his famed "thinking pose". What Ayako said was true though, the spirit is just after Takumi. A mother looking after her son after death. Her few attempts to, most likely, kill him was probably so he would be with her and away from the ex-husband who she hates so much. Assuming this was the case, any attempts to try to make her pass on were more than likely going to result in injuries to, not only the team, but the clients. If it's an exorcism then it might go smoother, but there was always the chance that the spirit would build up they're power and someone—most likely Mai—would get hurt badly. However an exorcism appeared to be the only way since getting her to crossover seemed to be very unlikely. He inwardly groaned. He could already feel the headache forming.
"John." Naru called. The priest glanced over at him questioningly.
"Yes?"
"Do you think you'd be up for an exorcism tonight?" He asked.
Naruisawesome: Sooo, Takumi's plan—
MzShellSan: Pfft. Amateur.
Naruisawesome: *glares* Will you stop interrupting me whenever the topic of Takumi comes up?!
MzShellSan: No, I won't! It's your fault for bringing him up all the time anyway!
Naruisawesome: *eye twitches then turns towards readers* Please review. >_