7. "So exactly how long have you been in the ghost hunting business?" He asks one afternoon when runs into her again.
She takes a moment to think about it. "Since my freshman year in high school, so it's been about six years now."
That's a long time to be in a fraudulent business, but he decides to keep his mouth shut and asks instead why she's so involved in it. Well, dedicated is a better word. Sometimes when he's between jobs, he finds her frequenting various coffee shops across Ikebukuro either staring at her computer or hunched over a pile of books and continuously jotting down notes. And unless parapsychology is suddenly a university major, he knows she isn't studying for her college classes. Her books always have a title like, The Analytical Approach to the Paranormal, The Life Cycle of a Standard Poltergeist, or Classification of Demons and other Otherworldly Entities. Most of them are written in English, too, and she's occasionally joined by this foreign priest fellow, probably to help her with translations. He's never even seen high school students this devoted to their studies.
"Why am I so involved in it?" She gives it some thought, then shrugs. "Maybe because the dead have something to say. And when they do, I listen and help them to where they need to go, wherever that may be."
The seriousness of her response leaves him a little rattled and thinking of Celty suddenly, so he asks her if she knows what a dullahan is.
Mai tilts her head to the side, looking confused at the abruptness of the question, yet she answers, "It's a member of the Sidhe, the fairy world of Irish folklore, and something of a cross between a banshee, which heralds an approaching death, and a reaper, which severs the connection between body and soul and guides the soul into the afterlife. They're shy by nature and don't usually like an audience, which leads to their aggressive behavior toward humans catching sight of them. So I take it you know Celty?" Shizuo stiffens in surprise and she smiles. "Thought so. Isn't she just the sweetest?"
"Yeah, I guess…." He's never heard the Headless Rider being described as 'sweet' before, though he wonders how and when Mai met her, and who else she knows in 'Bukuro.
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Author's Notes: Just a heads up, if Mai seems slightly out of character just remember she is twenty-one years old and a bit more mature than her impulsive, borderline irritating teenage self. Not that I don't like Mai's character; I just think that somewhere along the line she would figure out 'Why yes, Mai, it is strange two sinister children are asking how many people are in the cursed house, a doll talking to a child is probably worth mentioning to one of your coworkers, and if one of your friends wants to be a bitch you should keep an eye on her anyway because of the homicidal psycho with the blood fetish.'
Wow, that's my longest note yet. Did I mention I don't own either of these series?
Ghost Hunt is owned by Fuyumi Ono and Shiho Inada.
Durarara! is owned by Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda, and Akiyo Satorigi.