DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything to do with Ghost Hunt.

Chapter No. 3 has barely any dialogue. It's shorter than the last two. It's more of a reflection so make of it what you will. Any tips or critique you want to throw my way are more than welcome. Anyway I hope you like it. Please read and review as usual.

Chapter 3: A Day To Remember

Naru turned for the fourth time that night, throwing the blankets off his lithe body in exasperation. Sleep was far from visiting him tonight, his mind was going too fast for him to just switch off. Giving up in his attempts, he sat up in the bed and rubbed his tired indigo eyes. He sighed and switched on the lamp perched on his bedside table. Immediately, the small frame sat underneath the bright light came into focus. Naru's stoic heart gave a unexpected shudder as he glanced at the photo.

He suddenly released a low growl as his hidden temper bubbled to the forefront of his mind. What had his mother been thinking?

"Idiots," he hissed.

Naru thought back on the day's events. He had already been ignore the impending day all week but then she had to pull a stunt like that? He shook his head. It had been the spark to ignite his simmering anger. His mother had planned the whole thing. Today had started off as any other. He got up, dressed and went for breakfast before finally arriving at his beloved work space. His assistant, Mai, had been late – again, but all in all it was pretty standard - until lunch time.

The handsome ghost hunter rubbed his hair with frustration, messing the usually neat strands until they resembled a bird's nest. He was still kicking himself for not noticing the interference. The quick glances and whispered conversations between his team members should have tipped him off. He'd just put it down to their usual oddness and let it slip from his mind. Even when Madoka had turned up out of the blue, he never suspected a thing. When Lin offered to buy him lunch, he should have suspected things right then and there. He had no idea that when he would eventually walk back into his office that he'd be walking into his worst nightmare.

"A nightmare?" he spat between clenched teeth, his usually cold demeanor slipping, "More like hell on earth."

He still remembered the screams and shouts as he slid open the door. "Happy Birthday," they all roared. Party poppers and screamers blasting in his ears. It had taken all of his self-control to not just toss them from the building for disrupting his work. He'd never bothered with his birthday to begin with, even when Gene had still been alive. To him, it was just the same as any other day. But since Gene had passed away it had taken on a new meaning to him. One that he wanted to bury so deeply into the depths of his soul, never to be dredged up again. His birthday would forever more remind him of just how alone he was in the world. This was more than just a lamenting thought to the young man, this was a cold hard fact.

The unfamiliar stinging in his eyes warned him of his impending emotions. Time to regain control, they were too close to the surface. He had to think of something else. As he grasped for a calm memory to restore his stoic wall, his mind refused to budge. Images of presents and happy condescending faces and small talk as he was forced to sit amongst people he saw as nuisances, filled his vision. The only thing he could think of that was not completely nauseating to him was an image of himself sitting in his office after everyone had finally left him in peace.

A subtle smirk washed over his face as he pictured it. The soft knock on his door. The exhaustion of an emotionally turbulent day. The wide-eyed guilty stare from those big amber eyes and the hushed voice. Mai. She had entered his office, nervous about his reproach and placed a red wrapped gift on his desk. The murmured words spilling from her trembling lips had done more to calm his spirits than anything his so-called family had accomplished.

He still remembered those words now. "You're angry and I know you want to forget," she had said, "But to forget about this day is to forget about Gene."

He reached over, plucking the frame housing a photo of him and Gene and studied it. His brother's face beamed out from the picture. Even in death he was full of the warmth of life. They were almost opposite in nearly everything they did. He rubbed a delicate finger across the glass shielding the image of his brother's face. Two sides to the same coin, they had been dubbed. To lose that so suddenly, no-one would understand. Gene, his brother, was the only person who knew his soul. The only person that could steer him in the right direction. He was lost without him now. He furrowed his brow when a thought suddenly struck him changing the gears of his mind. That last thought hadn't been completely true. A burst of colour and memories bombarded him. Amber eyes, pale skin, hideous fashion sense, a hot temper and fierce loyalty. That one person who could actually bring back the light to his dark. And as he glanced back down at the photo his lips tilted upwards.

"Okay, Mai," he whispered, "okay."

A/N: On to chapter 4. Huh…are they called chapters if they're only one-shots?