48. When Shizuo arrives at the office, he's startled to find Mai there, curled up on their storage room sofa with her brunette tangle of hair scattered all over the place. She hardly ever shows up here, the same goes for him and her workplace, even though it's relatively close by. So why is she here today all of a sudden?
Tom said he invited her to wait for him here because it looked like something was bothering her. Seeing her now, he knows that isn't an understatement. It looks as though she's been crying. Is she hurt? If someone's hurt her, he's going to kill them! He grits his teeth in anger. Anyone who ever hurts Mai is a dead man!
Her brow furrows suddenly and there's a small sound-like a pained whimper-in the back of her throat. Is she having a nightmare? Cautiously, he reaches for her face, meaning to brush a hand over her cheek, but she jerks awake, breathing hard and staring at him. Tears well in her eyes and she sits upright, wrapping her arms around his neck. This is the second time he's ever seen her cry, the first being right after that flea accidentally stabbed her, right before he realized he loved her and how much she meant to him.
Hesitantly, he returns her embrace, wrapping her arms around her skinny torso-Seriously, is she nothing but bones under there?- and cradling her against him. "Are you all right?"
"I thought you were dead."
Okay…. He isn't sure how to respond to that. "I'm sorry?"
"Just forget it." She tells him, and he can hear the tears in her voice. "I'll explain later. I'm just glad you're okay."
"Okay." He smoothes his hand over the back of her head and her tangled hair. "I'm sorry I worried you."
She shakes her head into his shoulder. "It's not your fault."
-0-0-0-
Author's Notes: Not dead. Just sleeping. If this chapter was confusing, I did revise Ch 47 a little to make it flow better.
Ghost Hunt is owned by Fuyumi Ono and Shiho Inada.
Durarara! is owned by Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda, and Akiyo Satorigi.