Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Season two of the anime would be out on DVD.
Chapter 18 – Goings and Comings
-0O0-
Mai's stomach churned as she walked through the busy airport, Ayako's dress bag over her shoulder. Bou-san and Ayako were going home today.
The couple and their companions were slowly wending their way to the baggage lines. Mai held the bag-strap with one hand, and the back of Bou-san's shirt with the other. Mai had told her adopted father that she didn't want to get lost in the crowd... but truthfully, it was separation anxiety that prompted her white-knuckled grip.
Which was almost funny, really – Mai had lived alone for years, largely unsupported and almost completely independent. She had cooked, cleaned, paid bills, and shopped for herself without a fuss. She had been okay with picking up and moving halfway across the world for school. Mai walked into haunted houses like other people walked into office buildings. And now she freaks out?
It wasn't even like Bou-san and Ayako were leaving Mai to her own devices. She would be living with Yasuhara, her best friend. She'd be over at the Davis mansion all the time. Mai would have Naru, Lin, Madoka, and Martin to help her with paranormal issues. Luella and Madoka were available in case of girl problems (and honestly, Luella was more suited to deal with maternal issues than was Ayako).
So pretty much, Mai's guardians were leaving her in the hands of other guardians. And Ayako would be back by Christmas (Bou-san had a bunch of gigs lined up during that time). So why did it feel like Mai's legs were about to fall out from under her?
The teen psychic was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Bou-san stop moving until her face hit his shoulder blade. "Ouch." Apparently they had reached the baggage line.
"Well, jou-chan, that's what you get for spacing out." Bou-san turned in place and Mai reluctantly released his shirt.
The monk-slash-bass-player noticed her anxiety and tipped Mai's chin up to get a better look at her. "What's wrong? You look like you're about to cry." His eyes lit up. "Oh! Are you going to miss me, Mai? That's my girl!" Bou-san dragged Mai into a tight hug.
It took almost a whole minute for Mai to free herself, by which time she was gasping for air. "Oya-baka!" she accused, smiling a little. "But... yeah, I am. I feel kinda stupid about it - I mean, I'm used to being on my own. And I won't even really be on my own." She gestured towards the squabbling group behind them in line.
Bou-san smiled faintly. "Well, that's true. But you shouldn't feel stupid about missing us. Remember, Mai - I lived alone for a long time, too. I wasn't as young as you were, but still… I spent a good six years on my own. And I'm definitely upset about leaving my daughter in a foreign country." Mai's adopted father ruffled her hair. "And that's perfectly normal – we're a family, jou-chan. I know that you've felt that way for years… but it's a bit different now. We live together, we own a business together, we talk and eat together every day – of course you're going to miss us."
"Besides," an eavesdropping Ayako chimed in, "Despite the ridiculous amount of reading you've been doing, up until now this has been more like a long vacation. We've been here with you - we've gone sightseeing, we just spent the weekend on holiday in Edinburgh, and we were living in a summer rental."
"Well, Yasu and I will still be living in the rental…" Mai interrupted.
Ayako rolled her eyes. "Right, but my point is – now it's real. You're going to be living in England for three years, and in a month and a half you'll start at Cambridge University. It's a big change."
Mai nodded. They were right. Her eyes teared at the rare motherly tone in Ayako's voice, but Mai did not want to cry in front of the entire terminal. And then Ayako reached for her hand, destroying any semblance of tear-control. Mai sniffled as Ayako wound long fingers through her own gloved ones. She felt her almost-mother's diamond ring brush against the black silk... and for whatever reason, that was the last straw. "I'm going to miss so much wedding stuff!" Mai burst out, tears spilling over at last.
Bou-san snorted. "You could always trade places with me, Mai. I don't care about table linens and party favors."
"You will," Ayako replied, her sweet tone belying the threat in her eyes. "You are going to every appointment."
"I'm thinking I have gigs those days."
"I'm thinking you're full of it."
Mai giggled at the familiar behavior patterns, a weight dropping from her shoulders.
Above her head, Bou-san and Ayako exchanged a smile, having bickered on purpose to distract their upset child.
Behind them, Luella smiled at the familial scene… while trying very hard not to remember the last time she'd been to Heathrow's security line for international departures. It wasn't working. She had insisted on accompanying the foursome to the airport, figuring that Mai might need some adult reassurance. But Luella hadn't counted on grief rearing its terrible head... She could almost see Gene standing before her, pointing out locations on his map of Japan and talking excitedly with Martin. Luella smiled slightly, recalling that her animated son kept tripping into the large blue suitcase behind him. Gene had taken Noll's suitcase, as it was bigger than his own. Noll used it for cases and always needed extra room for equipment.
Thoughts of the blue suitcase tugged Luella's mind slightly forward in time… it had been in Gene's hotel room, when Noll and Lin searched the place. To gain access without causing a fuss, Noll had pretended to be Gene and told the front desk that he'd lost his key card. The desk staffer hadn't even thoughts twice about it, of course, as the boys looked exactly alike. According to Lin, Noll had touched almost everything in the room and went through the suitcase twice, but his psychometry couldn't tell him anything new. He did notice that Gene's map was missing.
Luella swallowed a lump in her throat. They'd all pored over that map before Gene left for Japan, highlighting especially interesting places and marking locations in which other mediums were supposed to live. Luella pressed her lips together and felt her eyes burn with unshed tears.
The missing map had upset Noll greatly. Though they'd known most of the places Gene was planning to visit, there were a few exceptions. Gene had heard about other two mediums while in Japan, and hadn't given his family information about either one. Additionally, Luella remembered a small circle drawn on the map, next to a random town. She'd asked Gene about it – he just shrugged and said it was probably a mistake. But his mother had wondered. Gene was an explorative young man, after all.
Following the hotel search, Luella told Noll about the mysterious circle. Noll had been quite frustrated that she couldn't remember where on the map it had been drawn. Luella had been frustrated herself – she spent days sifting through similar maps, searching for a spot that resembled the marked area...
It hadn't mattered, in the end – it turned out that the lake was close to the home address of the second extra medium. Noll discovered her identity the day the divers had… pulled Gene's body from the lake. Luella closed her eyes. Noll and Lin had visited the woman in the hours between the divers' find and the arrival of herself and Martin. They found out that Gene had in fact visited her that day. According to the medium, they'd had a lovely chat over dinner. She also said that Gene had refused her offer of a ride to the train station – he'd wanted to walk, as the scenery was lovely and the night was warm. Noll believed her to be truthful. He figured that Gene must have been on his way back to the town's secluded station when the car…
A hand drifted across Luella's back and came to rest on her shoulder. Martin hugged her to him gently, a commiserating look in his eyes. He was thinking about Gene, too. Luella studied Mai's still-teary face before her gaze drifted to Bou-san and Ayako. "May they return home and come back again safely," she whispered feelingly.
Naru stared holes into a nearby wall and tried to block all of them out. His parents were obviously thinking about Gene leaving for Japan from this very gate. They hadn't been back to the departures area since – Naru himself had left England like a thief in the night, accompanied only by Lin and a sleepy-but-determined Madoka. Hoping to avoid hysteria, Naru had told Martin and Luella that his flight was the following day. (His mother had been beyond furious; she'd called six times that first night in Japan.) And now Naru got to suffer the emotional scene he'd sidestepped three years ago. Gene would have said it was karma.
By the time they finally reached the security gate, Ayako had started crying – which naturally started Mai off again. Luella had been teary since they'd hit the baggage line. Not being able to stomach any more, Naru turned on his heel and made for the nearest airport shop.
-0O0-
Houshou Takigawa sighed. They'd successfully made it to the gate, but the imminence of separation had rendered his women hysterical. Both his fiancée and his daughter were crying buckets. And Mai was going to need air soon.
For the first time ever, Bou-san was the one who had to pull Mai out of someone's too-tight hug. "Come on, Ayako – you won't be able to welcome Mai back home to Japan if you kill her now."
"Oh, shut it, Houshou! You have no right to talk."
Mai giggled, still slightly out of breath. "She has a point, Bou-san."
"I save you and you side with her? What an ungrateful jou-chan you are."
"Ten pounds says you hug me harder before you head through that gate," Mai replied, grinning through tears.
"We're on our way to Japan, Mai – you should make your bets in yen." Suddenly, Bou-san's eyes lit up and he exchanged a glance with Ayako. "Which reminds me… we have a little parting gift for you." He rummaged in his jacket pocket as Ayako reached into her purse.
Mai's eyes widened as her adopted father and almost-adopted-mother held out loads of banknotes. She couldn't tell exactly how much was there, but it looked like a lot of money. "Wha-what's all that for?"
"It's for you, jou-chan," Bou-san said brightly. "We can't use these in Japan, and the last thing we want to do is drag our jet-lagged bodies to the bank to exchange money. So we decided to give our extra cash to you!"
Like that made sense. "So just go to the bank when you're not jet-lagged!" Mai argued, her face almost horrified. "I can't take all that!"
Bou-san waved his free hand dismissively. "Nah, I'm too lazy and I don't think that Ayako has another day off until Christmas. Take it, jou-chan."
"No!" Mai cried adamantly.
Ayako sighed dramatically. "We figured it would come to this." Her eyes focused on something behind Mai. "Yasu?"
Mai tried to flip around, but firm hands grabbed her arms and held them behind her back. Mai's mouth dropped open as her (supposed) best friend stepped in closer, restricting her movement.
Ayako and Bou-san took immediate advantage of her immobility, stuffing Mai's pockets and purse with the proffered money. Then they kissed her cheeks and backed towards the gate. Bou-san winked at his astounded adopted child. "Don't spend it all in one place," he cautioned playfully.
Mai tried to speak, but couldn't quite manage it.
"Never mind spending it in one place," Ayako cut in. "Don't you dare spend it on investigation equipment! There is enough at SPR to run six ghost hunting businesses, let alone TTMPI."
The mention of TTMPI finally spurred its lead investigator's tongue back into action. "Make… make sure you pay the rent for the office on time," she requested softly. "And try to keep Masako-chan out of the hospital."
Bou-san's eyes softened and he walked back over. Mai felt Yasu step away from just as the monk enfolded her in an unusually gentle hug. "We will, jou-chan."
"And try to keep yourself out of the hospital," Ayako added, caressing Mai's face and leveling a no-nonsense look at the gathered members of SPR. She frowned as she noticed that the one she held most responsible for Mai's safety was not present.
The doctor-slash-shrine-maiden raised a well-kept eyebrow. "Where's Naru?"
-0O0-
Dr. Oliver Davis stood sullenly in a convenience shop a few gates down.
Why his parents thought coming here would be a good idea was beyond him. They probably hadn't thought about it until they got here, he reminded himself as he mindlessly leafed through a scientific journal. Naru certainly hadn't anticipated a barrage of memories to accost him the moment they entered the departures terminal. Memories of Gene's happy face waving goodbye contrasted sharply with his own frantic, tumultuous departure and assuredly frozen expression. Naru looked down at his hands and remembered the way they'd shaken as he clutched his last-minute plane ticket.
A few long minutes later, Madoka appeared at his side. "Come on, Noll, we're leaving," she said softly.
"You're not going to yell at me?" he asked, mildly curious. His abrupt and wordless departure had surely been a breach of etiquette.
"Of course not. None of us thought about..."
"I didn't, either," Naru admitted fairly.
"I think Mai-chan feels pretty awful about the whole thing," Madoka noted. "She twigged it when Martin said something about the departures gate having a bad effect on everyone." Then his mentor smiled slightly. "Mai-chan also purposefully stepped on Ayako's foot when she complained about your vanishing without saying goodbye. Practically took Ayako's toes off."
Naru's lips twitched as he abandoned the end cap of books he'd been standing in front of. He was almost sorry he'd missed that. "Let's go."
The two ghost hunters rejoined their group, which was now short two members. Mai smiled brightly at Naru, despite the traces of sadness he could see on her face. He unwillingly admired her quick recovery time. She's always been like that, Naru thought, remembering the Gellerini case. Even injured and trapped in a haunted well, Mai went from panicky terror to eager enthrallment in three minutes flat.
The subject of his ruminations waved a wad of bills at him. "Let's get out of here, Naru," Mai said. "Dinner's on me."
-0O0-
Mai entered the apartment's living room to find it completely empty. She stared morosely at the kitchen – today was the first day since they'd gotten here that breakfast wasn't in the process of being made by Bou-san (the early riser of the group). She felt sad for a moment, gripping the cell phone that her adopted parents had called in the middle of the night. They'd arrived safe and sound, and were taking a whole day to sleep and re-adjust before heading back to work. It had been smart of Ayako to take two extra vacation days – a jet-lagged doctor couldn't be a good idea.
She heard the creak of a door, and Yasuhara appeared – bright-eyed and already dressed. Mai suddenly felt lazy in her bathrobe and unbrushed hair. Then Yasu threw her a grin. "Our adventure starts, Mai-chan!"
Mai couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. Of course he'd be thrilled at the lack of parental supervision. Mai made a mental note set some ground rules before Yasu went out again. She didn't want to wind up coming home to anything graphic.
Yasuhara walked past her into the kitchen and pulled out some leftovers from last night's dinner. Mai had treated everyone to Japanese at a lovely Kyoto-style restaurant, and Luella had insisted that all the leftovers go home with Mai and Yasu (as they were now living without guardians). She watched as Yasu put rice and nanbanyaki in the microwave before setting bowls and sets of throwaway chopsticks on the table. Mai raised an eyebrow at his unexpected industriousness – Yasu was usually as lazy as she was in the mornings. "Going somewhere?"
"We both are."
Mai raised her other eyebrow.
"The professor said we should come to SPR if we get bored," Yasu explained. "So unless you've got secret plans for today, go get dressed so we can bother Naru at work!"
Mai grinned, already hearing Naru's complaints in her head. She wondered if he'd slam the door as hard as he had in Japan. Probably not – it was his father's office building and not his, after all.
She was headed for her bedroom a sudden realization stopped her dead in her tracks. Mai flipped around and addressed a curious Yasuhara with an upset-but-resigned look on her face. "I'm going to spend the whole afternoon making tea, aren't I?"
-0O0-
"Goooood morning, Naru!"
Silence.
"Aw, come on, Big Boss. Nothing? I practiced that all morning! Had to get the peppiness level just right."
Oliver Davis flipped a page. If he ignored it, it would go away.
"You know, if I don't get a reaction, I'll only step up my game."
"Is Mai with you?" Naru asked without looking up.
Yasuhara grinned. "Maybe. You'll have to come out of your dungeon – I mean office – to find out."
Naru's lips twisted. "If this were a dungeon, I would have an oubliette to lock you in."
"Kinky, Big Boss."
"Mai!" Naru barked. If it wasn't going away, he would need liquid fortification.
His former assistant's head popped into the room. She rolled her eyes. "You want me to get rid of Yasu, right? Well, you're in luck - Madoka-san wants him to look at some new testing equipment."
"While that is relieving news, that's not precisely what I called you for."
Mai's eyes narrowed to slits. "It had better be a question for your thesis, then. I am not your employee anymore and am not required to make you tea!"
"Your indignation is rather curious, Mai. When you're at my house, you make me tea several times a day. And yet you become outraged at the idea of making me tea at the office. I say 'idea,' of course, because I haven't actually asked you to make me tea." Naru's tone somehow managed to convey amusement and condescension at the same time.
Mai breathed in through her teeth and clenched her fist. "First of all, Narcissist, I don't make you tea several times a day, I make tea for everyone. It's not all about you, you know!"
"Except it kinda is," Yasuhara whispered to Madoka from their hiding place outside Naru's door. He found it funny that neither Mai nor Naru seemed to notice that he was no longer in the room.
"Second of all, making tea on behalf of Luella – who asks nicely and says thank you – is completely different from making tea at the command of her demanding and ungrateful son!"
"I assume you're referring to our days at SPR in Japan," Naru conjectured. "If so, I'll remind you that I paid you for a full day's work and we both know that you spent at least half that time sleeping, goofing off, or staring into space. I should think that my lacking observance of social graces was a comparatively minor infraction."
Mai couldn't actually argue with that. But – "Hold on – did you just admit that you suck at something?"
A pause. "I choose to spend my valuable time and energy on more useful pursuits."
"That's not a no, Naru!" Mai noted in a sing-song voice.
Cue facial spasm. "Mai, tea."
"Didn't we just go over this? I'm not your employee anymore!"
"That might not be entirely true," Naru revealed amusedly.
"Huh?"
"Have you spoken with Martin this morning?" Naru was being deliberately vague, knowing it would both irritate and interest Mai.
"No..." Mai said slowly. He was baiting her, she just knew it.
Naru smirked as Mai's right eye started twitching. "You'll want to do that. He has a proposition for you - and for Yasuhara, as well." Intriguing pronouncement made, Naru returned to his research.
Realizing she'd lost the game, Mai decided to seek out the professor.
But Naru's annoyingly calm voice followed her out of the office. "The water's always hot, Mai, so if you pour the tea now, it should be perfectly steeped by the time you finish your chat with Martin."
Mai whipped back around, eyes blazing. She stomped back to Naru's office, intent on stealing his research and running for it. Playing keep-away might be childish, but –
"Taniyama?"
The professor's voice snapped Mai out of her red haze. She stopped dead and regarded the head of SPR with a mix of surprise and chagrin. "Yes, sir?"
"Would you join me in my office for a moment? Yasuhara, you as well."
"Yes, sir!" Yasuhara said... from right next to her?
Mai swallowed her surprise at seeing her best friend and Madoka skulking outside Naru's door and answered the question. "Of course, Professor Davis," she replied sweetly. Then she swung to face an amused Naru. "Did you hear your father, Narcissist? That's called asking nicely!"
"I'm aware of that, thanks, Mai."
"How come you only say 'thank you' when you're being a jerk?"
Naru rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't you be heading to my father's office? After all, he did ask nicely."
"Jerk."
"I don't know what you're expecting. I haven't had my tea yet."
"And you won't, with that attitude."
"You could have some yourself, too," Naru mused, highlighting something on the page he was reading. "SPR has started stocking green tea – as per my request. I figured you would be here more often once Bou-san and Ayako returned to Japan."
Mai just stood there for a moment, mouth hanging open. Naru had done something… nice for her? And ADMITTED it? She felt a blush creeping up her neck. "Um… thanks?"
Naru almost said that Mai shouldn't be making fun of his manners given her own apparently less-than-awesome thanking skills. But then he wouldn't get tea. Besides, Mai's blushing shock was always entertaining. Prolonging that was worth ending the argument. "You should go talk to my father."
Mai nodded, still off-balance. "Right," she replied, moving away slowly.
"Earl Grey, Mai."
"Fine! But don't get used to it, Narcissist!" Mai called as she walked away.
Madoka leaned against one of the cubicles in the center of the office, grinning as a cadre of shocked SPR workers followed Mai with their eyes. "Come on, guys, you've seen me put Noll in his place before!"
"Yeah, but… that was a new employee," Martin's secretary noted in an awestruck voice. "Dr. Davis usually just ignores those."
"Well, Mai-chan has loads of special talents." Madoka winked.
"You mean that wasn't her best trick?" a young man named Gregory asked, gesturing towards Naru's now-closed office door.
Madoka smiled. "No, as you might get to see." An excited squeal sounded from Martin's office. "Correction – as you'll definitely get to see."
-0O0-
"Really, Professor?" Mai asked, bright happiness in her eyes.
"Indeed, Taniyama. Not only did you play an enormous part in solving the warehouse case, but you and Yasuhara already contribute to SPR's mission by regularly testing your powers. And it's obvious that your numerous abilities are at their most effective in the field. Personally, I can't wait to see what else you can do," Martin effused. "You also know that Noll wants to do a paper on how your 'animal intuition' affects your other powers... and he'll need to observe you in action to gain more current situational data. Besides, Taniyama… you said you've been feeling 'sidelined' lately, yes? Helping on more SPR cases would solve that problem nicely."
Mai had indeed said this during her last TTMPI phone call/case discussion with John and Masako. She had been practically jumping up and down from the frustration of not being able to physically help her team. "I totally agree, Professor Davis."
"This is going to be awesome!" Yasuhara enthused. "Just what the doctor ordered!"
"I think Dr. Ayako Matsuzaki would actually be pretty peeved about this," Mai corrected. Ayako had requested that she keep out of the hospital, after all - and Mai had a tendency to wind up hurt during ... she'd be working with Naru again, and he usually kept her from being seriously injured. Mai bit her lip to hide a grin. "I'm sure we can bring Ayako around somehow."
"Excellent," Martin said with relish. "Obviously, you'll be on Madoka's team. And as luck would have it, there's a case starting this week. Creaky Victorian house in Brighton, with new owners who've experienced more falling down the stairs than expected. Also strange scrapings along the paneling of several rooms, screams during the night…"
"Sounds almost too easy for Naru," Mai mused.
"Yes, well, the screams are often punctuated by hysterical laughter."
"That's odd and creepy," Yasuhara interjected.
"Yes, quite – and that's what made Noll decide to go along," Martin noted. "He figures that multiple ghosts are involved, but wonders about their rather disparate dispositions."
"Well, we'll figure it out," Mai said resolutely. She accepted the pink case folder from a smiling Martin. "Tea, sir? There are two pots ready – Earl Grey and green."
"I'll take some of the green variety, to match the new employees with whom I intend to toast."
Mai grinned. Martin was such a gentleman. "Coming right up." She tucked the folder under her arm and set off for the office kitchen.
-0O0-
A jubilant Mai Taniyama pranced into Naru's office. He noticed (with disappointment) that she was not carrying tea.
"Naaa-ru!" she sang. "Your father says that if you want your tea, you have to come to the conference room!"
He raised an eyebrow. "The conference room?"
"Mm-hm," Mai affirmed happily. "He wants to have an information-swapping meeting for all employees involved in the Brighton case."
Obviously, she had agreed to work for SPR. Naru barely managed not to smile - Mai's huge grin was troublingly contagious. Interestingly, he did not have problems resisting the similarly gleaming force of Madoka's smile...
"Oh, come on, Naru! Your precious tea will get cold!" Mai stuck her tongue out and skipped away.
Naru rolled his eyes, but collected the information he'd gathered and followed Mai's bouncing form to the conference room.
-0O0-
On Thursday morning, Mai and Yasu rolled their suitcases into SPR's elevator. Mai pushed the button for the laboratory floor before rocking back onto her heels. "I wonder why we're not leaving from the Davis house," she pondered aloud.
"Because the extra equipment's here," Yasuhara replied. "The professor wants us to bring some electrodes to measure your brainwaves."
This was new information to Mai. "What?" she asked, mildly alarmed.
"Yeah, Martin wants to collect hard data on any psychic dreams you might have." Yasuhara grinned jauntily. "I think Naru does, too. You know, for his paper."
"Great," Mai gritted out. She was going to spend the next few nights with electrodes attached to her head. And if the electrodes are portable, Mai thought with horror, I'll be spending the whole case looking like a shock therapy patient…
"You may want to consider asking Naru to give you a fake name in his paper," Yasuhara reflected, scrutinizing his own image in the polished elevator door. He needed a haircut.
"Huh?" Mai asked, not really listening. She was lost in reveries about sleeping with endless wires tangling around her legs, and beeping machines tracking her every thought and muscle twitch. The equipment was supposed to track psychic dreams… but what if she had a normal dream? And what if... Naru was in it? Mai cringed. She'd had an embarrassingly romantic dream about Naru only last week. What if SPR could tell, somehow? Oh, that would be terrible… How would she explain herself?
Yasuhara watched Mai's face run the gamut from lost, to thoughtful, to displeased, to shocked, to more shocked, to mortified, to confounded. "Ah, Mai-chan? What's up? You look like you're thinking about something really interesting." Mai's eyes snapped to Yasuhara as if she'd just remembered he was there. He grinned into her suspiciously red face. "Wondering whether Big Boss will be watching while you sleep? Hmm… if you play your cards right, maybe he'll hold you in his arms while you sleep."
"What? No!" Mai cried, reddening even more.
The elevator dinged, and Mai ran away from her tormentor only to run into an impatient Madoka. "Come on, guys, we have to get a move on," the master ghost hunter trilled, pushing the transfer students forward. "You've both brought your swimming costumes, right?"
The flurry of motion distracted Mai from her electrode dilemma. "Yeah, we did. Do you really think Naru's going to let us have time off to go to the beach?" Brighton was a big beach town, apparently, and Madoka was under the impression that they were going swimming at some point.
"You forget, Mai-chan, I'm the boss," Madoka replied, a slow smile crossing her face. "If I say we're going to the beach, then we're going. Besides, we're obviously going to solve the case first – so Noll will have no grounds to complain!"
"Hey, Mai-chan, we might get to see Naru half-naked," Yasuhara teased. "That should make up for the electrodes."
The word 'electrodes' pervaded the happy image of Naru in swim trunks (black, of course), and reminded Mai of her concerns. Without thinking, she asked, "Madoka-san, if I have a dream on the case, can the electrodes tell who I'm dreaming about?"
"You want to know if we can identify the ghost... by studying data from the electrodes?" Madoka gave Mai a confused look.
But Yasuhara's observant (and pervy) brain considered Mai's words from a different angle. 'Who I'm dreaming about,' she'd said. He connected Mai's question to her blushes in the elevator...
A burst of hysterical laughter caused both women to stare at Yasuhara.
"Don't worry, Mai-chan!" he wheezed between bouts of mirth. "I don't think we'll get pictograms or anything!"
"Pictograms?" Mai repeated quizzically. What were those?
Yasu's glasses flashed. "Yes, pictograms – information in the form of pictures. Which you're clearly afraid will illustrate your dreams of sex on the beach with Naru!"
"Wha – shut up!" Mai cried, whacking her best friend on the arm. "I did not say that and don't you dare say anything like that in front of…"
"Is everything all right?" Martin asked from behind them.
Mai whipped around in horror, hoping desperately that the professor had not heard any of that.
"Of course, sir!" Yasuhara replied immediately, sounding positively virtuous. "Mai-chan here was worried about the electrodes falling off while she's sleeping."
She absolutely was not – at this point, Mai rather hoped they would fall off while she was sleeping. Maybe she could pull them off and pretend it was a sleepy accident…
"Well, that's never happened before," the professor mused. "But I'm pleased that you're so eager to provide data for us, Taniyama!"
Damn, now she'd have to leave them on. "Uh… of course, Professor. So, um, where's the equipment?"
"It's still in the lab, Taniyama – I want to run a couple of baseline scans before you're on haunted property. To provide a comparison with any results, you see."
Mai nodded, calming down inside. The scientific sense of Martin's words had kicked her research training into gear. "Okay," she said with new equanimity. "Let's do it."
-0O0-
A few minutes later, Mai sat still like a good little test subject as Martin attached electrodes to her temples.
As he typed commands into the attached computer, Madoka leaned over and whispered in the teen's ear. "Don't fret, Mai-chan. The reports might indicate that you're dreaming about something… happy, but they definitely won't be able to pinpoint who you're dreaming about. If necessary, we'll just lie and say you had a psychic dream about an intimate moment from the house's past – the previous couple who lived there were newlyweds, after all."
Mai giggled a bit hysterically. "Won't that throw off the data?" she whispered back. Then she thought of something worse. "The case! What if Naru and Lin-san come to the wrong conclusions about the ghosts?"
Madoka rolled her eyes. "Calm down, Mai-chan. It won't throw the data off in any way that matters – and I'm sure you and I can lead the boys onto the right path when it comes to the exorcism."
"You're right, Madoka-san - just in case I haven't said so lately, you're totally awesome." Mai smiled at the master ghost hunter.
"Well, thank you, Mai-chan." Madoka backed away and stood beside Yasuhara. "It's nice to remember that at least one of them has accepted their feelings," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. Then she snorted. "So… sexy dreams, huh? Maybe Luella will get grandkids someday."
Yasu coughed to cover his laughter.
-0O0-
Mai's nose pressed against the glass of the van's side window. She watched the beach roll by, tons of people milling about on the sand. A long pier jutted out into the ocean – with lots of rides on it! "Ooh, Madoka-san, can we go there?"
"We are not here for a vacation, Mai," Naru's voice barked from the front seat. "I suffered through one of those only last week."
"I wasn't talking to you, Naru! And what do you mean, suffered? We had a great time! And besides, you hardly 'suffered' – you spent half the weekend at the hotel! Luella only made you go to the big water show. Otherwise, you pretty much just read and sulked… which is what you do every day."
Everyone snickered. Naru glared at Mai in the rearview mirror.
Madoka stifled a laugh and addressed her new team member. "To answer your question, Mai-chan… I'm not sure if we'll have time to go to the Pier. I'd rather go to the beach, since that's something we can't do in London."
"We are on a case," Naru contested peevishly.
"Yes, well, after the case, we'll be going to the beach," Madoka insisted, somehow managing to sound pleasant and threatening.
"That would be a ridiculous waste of time."
"No, it will be a delightful day of fun," Madoka retorted. "Picnicking on the sand, sunbathing…"
"Lovely ladies in bathing suits…" Yasuhara added brightly. "And I hear there's a nude beach! A fine example of European culture, obviously, so I must check that out." He grinned at hearing Naru's disgusted sigh. Safely in the very back seat and out of Naru's immediate vicinity, Yasu decided it was safe to poke the beast. "Shame we'll be missing out on the nightclubs, Mai-chan, I hear they're great. With lots of fun, eligible boys for you to dance with." Naru stiffened and Yasu smiled in victory.
Mai, however, was paying no attention. "Going swimming," she said dreamily. She did not get many chances to swim in the ocean. Mai had been a poor, independent high school student with no money to travel, and was now an incredibly busy college student-slash-business owner with no time to travel. She couldn't wait to go frolicking in the surf.
"Sorry about the nightclubs, guys," Madoka said, winking at Yasu. "And I'm pretty sure that the nude beach will not be as entertaining as you think." The ratio of men to women was sure to disappoint her eager protégée. "But we are definitely having a beach day." Madoka flicked the back of Naru's headrest for emphasis.
Naru ignored the flicking and sighed testily, recognizing the determined edge in Madoka's voice. They were going to the beach.
Maybe he could lock himself in the van.
-0O0-
AN: Okay, so not exactly on schedule, but a week and a half earlier than last time!:) I will try to update regularly until the end of this month... to tide you guys over for when I go on vacation for two weeks. I couldn't even get my phone to work in Europe the last time I was there, so I'm guessing I won't be able to post anything lol. Plus, I'll be on a tour, which means that I'll have exactly zero time to sit and write. But I'm very excited - I'm going to Italy, Greece and Turkey! And for the first time, my husband is actually going to go with me! Besides, we should get to Naru's birthday by then...