Me:Hey guys, thank you so much for your reviews! They really fueled me to write faster!
Naru:A real writer wouldn't need reviews to encourage her.
Me:You're just mad I haven't put you in the story yet
Naru:...MAI! TEA!
Me:*sigh* Anyways I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Ishval, my first reviewer! Oh and...I DON'T OWN GHOST HUNT OR IT'S CHARACTERS! DON'T SUE ME!
Alcohol And Best Friends
Mai quickly became a part of daily life in SPDA. On a typical day, if Kira was working on her cases in the office, she'd see Mai come in bubbly and bright, at least an hour after than she herself had arrived. The first few days, Kira just assumed that Mai had a habit of being late, but then she noticed Mai never apologized upon entering the office. She casually brought this up to Akira in the office kitchen afterwards, and he hesitantly replied that Mai's hours didn't start as early as his and her's.
This was weird to say the least. She didn't mind working more than Mai, but why would Mai need to come in later? Why was Akira so cool with it? Kira wanted to ask, yet something told her to let it go for now.
After Mai arrived, she'd usually help out Akira and Kira on their current cases. No new cases had come in for her to take, so she settled with assisting instead. Later in the day, she'd grab lunch for everyone and depending on the workload, would adorably demand that they all eat together. The latter always gave in, because Mai, adorable or not, didn't take no for an answer.
Eventually, it was time to go home and this was where Kira noticed another strange thing about Mai. She never left the office by herself, she'd always climb into a waiting car. On a few occasions she even left with Akira. This time, Kira felt no qualms about sticking her nose into other people's business, and was rewarded with the knowledge that Mai was a major danger magnet.
Apparently, walking around at night was a big no.
This routine dragged along until. on a Friday two weeks after Mai had first begun working for SPDA, a lavish elderly woman decided to hire SPDA. With a job specifically requesting Mai.
"Wait, hold up. You want me to seduce your grandson?!" Mai asked, with pink tinted cheeks and wide cinnamon eyes. sighed and took a minute to fix her already, perfectly styled, snow white hair. Seeing the client's immaculate bun and Mai's stylishly windswept ponytail, Kira was beginning to doubt her decision to wear her pale blonde bob in…. What do you call it when you leave your hair the way you woke up with it? Oh yeah, bedhead….
"No darling, not seduce." was speaking again. "Allow me to explain further. My grandson, Yuko, is a sweet boy. However, his tendency to show off troubles me. I fear he has developed a habit of presenting valued family heirlooms to any pretty girl who catches his fancy. My husband and I are hosting a social next week to introduce the new partners of my husbands company. Perhaps you've heard of it?"
No, we somehow didn't realize that there was a multibillion dollar advertising company in Japan.
"Anyways, my husband has recently reacquired a prized katana that has been passed down through his family line. This katana is well known and worth quite a lot of money. If Yuko were to show this to the wrong person and result in it being stolen, I don't know what we'd do. So I'd like you to be taken to the katana by him, then inform me afterwards. I can handle my grandson, after I have proof of his foolishness." Mai turned to glance at Akira. He flashed a winning smile at .
"Excuse us for a moment while we discuss your case privately." With that Akira and Mai rose from the lime couch they were sitting on, and walked toward the kitchen area. Kira pushed off the ivory colored wall she was leaning on and followed the pair. After a few minutes of angry whispers, accusing retorts, an insult resulting in a fist to the stomach, and a promise of concert tickets; the three left the kitchen. A contract was made; SPDA would be more than well paid for their services if they succeeded and both Akira and Kira would also be attending the social.
Mai bounced onto the plush couch once the door closed behind . "I can't believe you're pimping me on my first case Akira." She complained, twisting the ends of her ponytail.
"Mai, people find you extremely attractive. You get the guys hot, embrace it." Akira barely ducked in time to dodge the throw pillow a beet red Mai launched at him. He ruffled her chestnut head as he walked to his office, chuckling. Kira couldn't help giggling at were like brother and sister, although most brothers probably wouldn't comment on the sex appeal of their sister.
"Kira?" Mai's sweet sounding voice broke her away from her musings. Kira took a step back though, Mai had moved so that she was directly in front of her. Mai's effortless beauty was still a little overwhelming.
"Yeah?"
"Me and my close friends were planning to head to the bar once I finish my shift. I was wondering if you wanted to come along?" Mai asked, one of her signature bubbly smiles on her lips. Oh my god, yes yes! I wanna go! I can be social! Take that Akira! I'm not a social pariah, you son of a b-
"Of course, I'd just love to join you guys." Kira smiled at the shorter girl. Her smile wasn't as brilliant and dazzling as Mai's, but was still pretty nice.
"Bye Akira, we're leaving now!" Mai called out as she started out the door with Kira.
"Mai! You're a lightweight! Remember?! If I get a call telling me that you're doing shots in your underwear again, I swe-"
"Shut up! I'm going to be fine!" Mai slammed the door behind them. Well tried at least. It was one of those weird doors that you need to slam manually to have any effect. Mai looked sheepishly at Kira. "Um, so about what Akira just said-"
"It's okay. Really, we all do crazy thing once in awhile. Alright maybe I'm a bit of a social pariah. Jeez, and she's only a year younger too….
Kira wasted no time in flinging herself out her car and landing on all fours in front of the bar. Mai had asked if she could drive Kira's car to Panic Paradise, the bar, since she knew the way. And of course, Kira had agreed without hesitation. Now she was genuinely considering kissing the pavement under her. She'd grown to love Mai to pieces in the short time she knew her, but there was no way she was ever letting Mai sit in front of a wheel. Ever.
Mai's friends called out to the pair the second they entered the semi-crowded bar. The two girls had somehow managed to grab a booth, despite the semi-chaos. Mai introduced them as Michiru and Keiko. Kira's jaw dropped at her friend's name.
"Michiru? As in the designer? The creator of the 'Serenity' collection?! I'm so honored to meet you!" The said girl held her head high proudly.
"Your modesty amazes me." Mai commented, rolling her eyes at her best friend. This earned Mai a poke that resulted in her erupting in giggles.
"Yes, that's me. I'm just really happy to have fans of my work." Kira was not the only fan Michiru had obtained. The fashion obsessed teen had worked hard, double majoring in business and design, to become the the well known young adult she was now. Her dark brown eyes held pride and her once long locks had been cut in a sleek bob, with two much longer parts framing her face. Keiko, on the other hand, had hardly changed her appearance after high school. Her lighter colored hair was still pulled into her pigtails. However, a shiny engagement ring rested on her finger now. She gleefully gave Kira a closer look.
"Kazuto proposed a few months after graduation. So I became a housewife instead of going to college like those two. Saved my parents a fortune. Oh, when's the wedding? We're planning on having in the winter, thank god summer has just started. So much work to do!" Keiko went on about her wedding plans happily. Although Kira was more on the tomboyish side,she enjoyed listening about these girlish types of things. Somewhere in the midst of conversation, a waiter came up to their booth to get them drinks. Kira was utterly stuck on what to order. Michiru and Keiko had ordered cosmopolitans for themselves. Mai had politely asked for a chocolate martini. These sounded more like candies then beverages to Kira. I really need to get out more.
"Um, I'll just have a bottle of Bud Light please." After mentally yelling at herself for not trying something new and unique, Kira decided to ask Mai a question that popped up earlier when Keiko had mentioned college. "Hey speaking of college, what did you major in, Mai?"
"Oh me? I went all in for psychology. And I really loved it too." Their orders had arrived now, Kira took a swig of her beer while ogling the other drinks. They even looked like desserts. I should have ordered one… Next time Kira. "Actually I met Akira at college."
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah, the two of us got pretty close after he started tutoring me in my required academics classes." She rubbed her head. "I'm not really good at that kind of stuff."
"You can say that again." Keiko teased, looking at Mai affectionately.
"Hey now, I don't remember you getting great grades either." Michiru reminded her, waving to get another round of drinks.
"Nerd!" Mai and Keiko stuck out their tongues at her in unison.
"Mai, you're so cold! I defended you too!" The trio of best friends went on like this, only pausing to order again. This time, Kira proudly ordered a chocolate martini alongside Mai. As she waited for her chocolate alcohol to arrive, she couldn't help but notice that Mai looked different somehow with her close friends. It's like she's opened up without me ever realizing she was closed.
It was true, Mai always felt a newfound sense of freedom whenever she was with her best friends. They knew everything about her without her ever needing to explain. They always knew how she was feeling when it was important. They always knew what to say, without saying a word. Afterall, they were her best friends.
Me:Thanks for reading! Please review~! If you noticed, I focused specially on Mai's friends outside of SPR. I always felt they were really important to understanding Mai's character in Ghost Hunt, so I feel it's a shame they're so skimmed over. Personally, I feel like SPR never really understood Mai the way best friends generally do.
Naru:*sipping tea*
Me:I'd just like to mention, if you've read the Ghost Hunt novel(It's translated on Baka-Tsuki) you'll see that when Mai passes out at Yasu's school, while she's unconscious Naru actually caresses her cheek! In front of everyone! Can you believe they didn't put that in the manga/anime! It's cruel!
Naru:*spews*
Mai:*appears out of nowhere*Are you okay?! What happened?!
Me:*fangirling* Naru caressed you while you were unconscious!
Mai:WHAT?! YOU PERVERT!*glares at Naru while stomping out the room*
Naru:*runs after her* Wait! It's not like that!
Me:Hehe, oops?