Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. The novels would be out in English:)
Chapter 20 – Waking Up and Falling Down
-0O0-
Everyone pivoted in place as Mai's eyes fluttered open. She stretched leisurely on the bed, groaning softly as she registered a dull throb in her shoulder. Had she slept on it wrong? She rolled the shoulder experimentally - and hit something warm. It was... Naru!
Who promptly removed himself from the bed as if it had caught fire. Oliver backed a solid three steps away before returning his gaze to the newly-alert astral walker.
Before the too-perceptive scientist could even open his mouth, Yasuhara addressed Mai. "Big Boss is wondering whether you astral projected on purpose... to go see the ghosts without telling anyone," he explained slowly, trying to warn Mai without being too obvious. He was relieved to see understanding in her eyes.
"Oh," Mai replied shortly. She forced her mind to stop wondering what Naru had been doing on her bed and instead come up with a decent excuse. "Well... yeah, I tried. It was really bugging me that I couldn't find the ghosts earlier, so I took a shot in my sleep." She shrugged with feigned nonchalance. "After three years, I can get my spirit out of my body easily enough."
"Three years?" Lin asked, his eyes on Naru. His former charge was regarding Mai like he could see inside her if he stared hard enough. "I thought you started training after we returned to England."
"I did... but I could sorta do it the whole time." Mai mentally thanked Lin for continuing the conversation. Naru's suspicion-level had obviously ramped up a notch. And although Mai was prepared to concede that she could talk to Gene, she wasn't just going to blurt it out right away. That would be even more suspicious. "I actually managed one deliberate astral projection before I started training."
Naru was almost impressed – Mai was trying to bait him into joining the conversation by appealing to his scientific curiosity. A well-conceived gambit, but it was not going to work...
However, Naru wasn't the only curious scientist in the room. "Are you talking about the Urado case?" Lin asked. "When you gave the key to Masako Hara?"
Naru glared at the onmyouji. Couldn't Lin see that there were more important subjects to discuss?
"Ah, no," Mai replied, faintly surprised. She hadn't actually meant to do that. Didn't Lin remember how she'd purified the souls of the children from the bus crash? Hold on... of course he didn't.
Lin and Naru were both a bit preoccupied after that case. And in the craziness that had followed the discovery of Gene's body, Mai hadn't thought to bring it up. "I was talking about the case with the ghost children," she clarified. "In order to help them move on, I had to enter the spirit world. It was much easier to talk with them that way. That was the first time I consciously astral projected."
Against his will, Naru found himself intrigued. He hadn't heard this story before. Mai had deliberately entered the spirit world to face down all of the ghost children? He had thought she'd just stumbled into the spirits the way she always did. Naru had underestimated his assistant. He had been rather distracted with grief at the time, but still...
"We're really going to have to sit down with Martin again," Madoka mused. "I assumed we knew everything about the early development of your powers. Apparently, we missed some important events."
Mai could practically feel Naru bristle with indignation at the implication that any of his research was less than thorough. She hurried to interrupt. "Whatever was missed, it's my fault for not saying anything," she asserted. "I, um, tend to do that."
"You most certainly do," Naru replied feelingly, his mind back on his twin. He had the satisfaction of seeing Mai flinch.
"Now, Noll, I'm sure Mai-chan didn't mean to leave out any data," Madoka said soothingly (for Mai's sake). Then she turned frosty. "So stop being ridiculous. I don't know how you managed to keep any clients in Japan with that attitude! I can't imagine why an already frightened person would stay after a few minutes with you."
Mai giggled "Of course they stayed, Madoka-san." She finally managed to look into Naru's eyes. "I make good tea."
Everyone laughed, but Mai barely heard them. She kept her attention on her quarry. To her relief, Naru's glare lost its intensity and a spark of amusement flared in his eyes. Then Mai drew in a sharp breath as Naru's lips edged upwards in a brief, tiny smile.
But almost as quickly as the true smile appeared, blankness fell over Naru's face like a swiftly-drawn curtain. "We can discuss the development of your astral projection at a later date, Mai," Naru decreed, his tone brisk. "What we presently need to discuss is your disturbing propensity to hide things from your team members." The intense stare returned with a vengeance.
Mai fisted her hands in the bedclothes and stared at her own socked feet. How best to approach this? Did Naru actually know, or was he just fishing for information?
Madoka unknowingly solved her problem. "As much as I hate to admit it, Mai-chan, Noll is right. Although I wouldn't put it in those terms... you're not hiding things, you're just not telling us everything you know."
Naru watched Mai for a reaction to this statement, and got exactly what he was waiting for – Mai flinched again. Take that, Madoka, he thought meanly. Mai was hiding something.
Lin saw the flinch, too... and Noll's look of dark satisfaction. Apparently, Noll was expecting Mai's interesting twitch. What exactly had he seen with his psychometry?
Meanwhile, Madoka was in full lecture mode. The master ghost hunter threw Mai a stern look. "Mai-chan, parapsychology is a field in which danger is often the rule, not the exception. If you have information, you have to tell us." Mai opened her mouth, but Madoka held up a silencing hand. "You are a researcher-in-training, yes?" Mai nodded. "How accurate would the results be if your subject left important things out of the data?"
The transfer student pressed her lips together and looked away. "Not very accurate." She wrung her hands. "Maybe useless."
Madoka sighed. "Not useless, Mai-chan," she assured, noticing the tears welling in Mai's eyes. "But certainly not as complete as they could be. Listen, I'm not talking about explaining your powers. I know – and Martin knows – that two years of development is a lot to remember and describe. We expect you to forget some stuff. It's not like you're leaving anytime soon, so when something comes back to you, share it. However..." And here the stern stare returned. "Not sharing information pertinent to the case is a different story. Even if it seems unimportant, you need to tell us everything."
"I understand," Mai agreed, still looking down. She seemed to come to a decision, and her eyes snapped up to stare into Madoka's. "Then I should tell you that I disagree with the ghosts having died recently. I don't have any evidence to back it up... but I think the ghosts died a long time ago."
"And why is that?" the master ghost hunter prodded.
"The emotions in the house... feel old," Mai explained. "Like something... stagnant, left, and... built up over time."
"Kind of like the house itself," Yasuhara offered. "Abandoned, dust piling up." His eyes lit up. "You don't think that the house itself has some kind of hex on it, do you? One that gives it feelings or something?"
"An anthropomorphized house?" Naru clarified, momentarily distracted from watching Mai. That would be interesting.
But Mai shook her head. "No, the emotions feel very human. Twisted, obviously, but human. And besides..." Gene had said it was ghosts.
"Besides what, Taniyama-san?" Lin prompted.
"I... just think it's ghosts. I told you, no evidence yet. But..." she wrung her hands, groping blindly for something to say.
Yasuhara jumped in. "We'll just have to find the evidence, Mai-chan. I'll focus on older house history tomorrow at the library... and look in older newspapers." Yasuhara figured that Gene had confirmed the presence of spirits – but Mai was still in secret-mode. And she sucked at lying, so Yasu covered for her again. It didn't look like his sneaky-services would be necessary for much longer, though – Naru looked smugger than the cat that caught the canary.
"Then you didn't actually see the ghosts when you projected?" Lin asked, his tone curious.
"Um, no," Mai replied shakily. Then she grinned. "Naru interrupted me."
The accused interloper only growled under his breath.
But Yasuhara sidled closer to Mai and nudged her. "Boy did he ever interrupt, Mai-chan," Yasu whispered excitedly. "I'll tell you all about it tomorrow."
"Aren't you supposed to be on base duty?" Naru questioned acidly. The grin on Yasuhara's face clearly required immediate intervention.
"Of course, Big Boss," Yasuhara replied jubilantly. "Now that the drama is over, I'll return to my enthralling session of monitor-watching." He practically skipped out the door.
Mai giggled – until Naru cleared his throat loudly. She swung back to face him and met the patented Investigative Stare.
"Did you gain any other nuggets of wisdom from... your projection?" Naru asked, his pause intentional. Mai's fingers tightened on the bedspread beneath her – the only outward sign of stress.
"Yes..." she said carefully. "The ghost was crazy when he was alive, and it's only worse now."
Naru opened his mouth again, but Madoka spoke first.
"That's excellent work, Mai-chan. We can expand our search to include records of local insanity cases."
"Sounds great," Mai said with a smile. Then a wave of dizziness came over her, and she collapsed back onto the pillow.
"Are you alright, Taniyama-san?" Lin asked solicitously.
"Yeah," she slurred. "Just tired. I don't really sleep when I'm projecting... my mind's still awake. And since..." she broke off to yawn. "Mm, sorry... since it requires using a lot of psychic energy, I'm actually more tired afterwards." She felt her belt digging into her hip. Ugh, clothes. Groaning, Mai forced herself back into a sitting position. "Come on, Mai," she told herself out loud. "You are changing into pajamas before bed. Sleeping in clothes is not comfortable."
"Too right, Mai-chan," Madoka enthused. "So boys… get out. And we'll start the electrode experiment tomorrow," she added, throwing a glare at Noll.
He glared right back. "Fine," Naru hissed. The incident he was interested in had likely already occurred.
"It's okay, guys," Mai said brightly. "You can put them on now."
Now Naru was sure that Mai had already seen Gene. She wouldn't be so willing otherwise.
"Do you normally have more than one major psychic episode a night?" Madoka asked.
Mai considered. "No... and I don't feel like there's a vision coming on. I think I have to spend more time at the house," she told her boss. "I'm not as... connected to the case as I could be."
"Well, we'll be there all day tomorrow," Madoka informed her. "And I'd rather you be well-rested for it, so no electrodes tonight."
"Great!" Mai trilled. No icky gunk on her forehead and chest. "Then let's go to bed! Er... again."
Naru felt a moment of warmth as he took in Mai's happy smile. Then he recovered his sanity (lost for the second time in one night) and stalked out the door.
-0O0-
Mai sighed. Despite the long hours on location, she was having trouble making sense of this case. At the moment, she felt no ghosts, no crazy emotions, and barely a creepy feeling.
And it wasn't like nothing had happened overnight – there had been weird laughter recorded on several of the microphones. Two cameras had been knocked over (with no sign of ground subsidence in the area), and the microphone that they'd set up at the top of the stairs was found at the bottom, in pieces.
Most of the morning was spent logging all places where scratch marks had been found. The marks were especially prevalent along the main stairs and in one upstairs bedroom.
It was probably not a coincidence that the marked-up bedroom was one of the only locations in which Mai had felt something shiver-inducing. Upon entering the room, strong anger and terror had accosted her senses... but both faded almost immediately.
What didn't fade were the awful moaning sounds that seemed to reverberate through the gutted room.
The teen psychic shivered again just thinking about it. No matter how many of these cases she worked, disembodied noises still made her hair stand on end. She preferred actually seeing ghosts to simply hearing creepy sounds. She had no idea how hunters without the ability to see spirits managed without freaking out all the time.
The only other significant spiritual disturbance happened about an hour ago – when Madoka had taken Lin's hand and pulled him into base. A step behind them, Mai had been overcome by a great wave of fear; she'd actually swooned in place and dropped to her knees on the unvarnished floor. Lin's feet had appeared in front of her, and Mai heard his low voice asking if she was alright. It had been a few moments before she could answer.
Even now Mai's legs felt a little like vibrating rubber bands. Taut, twanged and not steady enough by half. Which was probably why she was slumped against the wall, resting.
Let me out!
"What?" Mai gasped. It was a voice – a young man's voice... and given the lack of new activity in base, it had not been heard by Lin.
Let me out!
"Let you out of where? Where are you?" Mai asked the air. She was just outside the base, down the hall from the scary stairway. Naru and Madoka were setting a camera up outside; apparently, the neighbors behind the house had seen a white figure standing at the window (in the bedroom with the scratches).
LET ME OUT!
"Of where?" Mai asked urgently. She looked all over the hallway, but saw nothing out of place. She searched along the hall at her (sitting) eye-level – and noticed more scratches. Little white lines in the wall, right near the floor. That was odd.
Mai shifted her weight and crawled across the hallway, reaching into her 'equipment belt' for her flashlight. She studied the markings, the white beam of her torch following the line of scratches back towards the stairway.
The fingers of Mai's unoccupied hand caught in a groove along the floor... and her whole hand started tingling. Nothing to worry about, she told herself. Maybe I just twisted something. Even as she said it, her ears rang with the clanging of her spiritual instincts.
Sure enough, when Mai looked down, her fingers were tracing a little white line. And there were four other lines right near it – as if someone's fingernails had clawed at the floor. Just like the other markings. Mai bit her lip. Why were these on the floor? The marks they'd already catalogued were all located much higher on the wall.
Perhaps these are different, Mai conjectured. Maybe they were just furniture-moving marks or something. She could almost hear her instincts scoffing at this thought. These marks were caused by the ghosts. And it was probably significant that their location differed from the rest.
Biting her lip again, Mai twisted around to call for Lin. She needed a camera and a red pushpin to mark the spot. But as she moved, her right glove caught on something that pulled on the silken fabric. Mai swore softly and turned back to free herself –
Riiip.
"Of course," the annoyed psychic muttered. One of the little holes in her gloves was now a much bigger hole, thanks to an ill-placed sliver of wood. Mai pulled it free... and her newly-uncovered finger slid across one of the white scratches on the floor.
LET ME OUUUUT! LET ME OUUUT!
BANG!
A loud noise sounded from upstairs – Mai pictured a door flying open in her head.
She tried to get up... but her hand was stuck fast to the floor.
YOU CAN'T STOP ME! I WON'T! I WON'T GO BACK!
"Lin!" Mai called. Her voice came out all squeaky.
I WON'T! I WON'T! LET ME... NOOOOOOOOOO!
Mai sucked in a breath and pulled frantically on her stuck finger – the scratches all around her had started glowing.
Wait... glowing! Mai could glow, too! Time to fight back, she thought with a grin. Mai closed her eyes and funneled PK-MT into her bare finger. In the darkness of the hallway, Mai could barely see the golden glow of her powers lighting up the scars. Warmth slid down her arms, into her hands, and finally into her stuck-fast finger. She felt a brief spark... and her hand flew upwards, free.
A tremendous crash sounded above her head, and Mai ran blindly towards the staircase. She knew that was where to go. Heedless of her own directive not to climb the stairs alone, Mai raced up the steps and onto the landing. Experienced eyes searched the hall - nothing.
Half disappointed, half relieved, Mai exhaled a deep breath and collapsed against the top of the landing's railing. It was… cold? Even under her gloves, Mai could feel the chill. But the staircase rail was made out of wood...
And then Mai realized that she was catching her breath in the worst possible place – and she was alone. Pressing her lips together and trying not to breathe too loudly, Mai edged away from the rail and looked behind her. Still nothing. Well, some dust motes floating in the air, but the upstairs hallway appeared ghost-free.
She should still get out of here immediately. After all –
They did this to me!
"What?" Mai spun in place.
They did THIS to me!
"Did what?" Mai asked tremulously. She still couldn't see anything.
Then a slow, thick cold touched her neck... and edged around her shoulders. Danger senses screaming, Mai stepped slowly away from the landing...
An intense wave of rage walloped Mai from behind, and her hands clapped her ears as incomprehensible shrieks rang out from all sides. Dizzy from the multi-sensory onslaught, Mai barely sensed the thoroughly angry presence behind her.
Until a cold hand hit her hard in the back.
The push launched her right off the landing and Mai tumbled downward. There was nothing safe to catch on to, so Mai threw her arms forward and hoped for the best.
WHAM! The impact knocked the breath out of her. It took the dazed psychic a moment to feel a sharp, burning pain in her leg. She glanced at it, confused – hadn't she landed on her hands? – before she saw it. Blood everywhere, oozing out of a rip in her jeans. Mai looked up to see a nasty-looking nail sticking out of the last stair she'd hit on the way down. It was bloody. Great.
Her movements made the bleeding worse... head spinning slightly, Mai rushed to stanch the blood flow. She pulled her sweater over her head, groaning as various aches and pains made themselves known. Her arms ached something awful. She'd definitely be covered in bruises tomorrow. Wrapping the injured leg with nimble fingers (one of which might be dislocated, she noted grimly), Mai shivered in the chilly air. She should have worn a full second shirt under the sweater, instead of a tank top. She also should have called for Lin before running off to meet a ghost. Mai grimaced – Naru was going to be pissed.
To finish her make-shift tourniquet, Mai tied off her sweater, and then searched her belt for her walkie-talkie. But of course, it wasn't on her belt. Mai's eyes searched the stairway and spied the communicator lying about halfway up... about two steps lower than the nastily-grinning ghost.
"Ai!" Mai scrambled backwards, whimpering in pain. She'd been so caught up in her injury that she'd neglected its cause! The ghost followed, floating slowly down the stairs – eyes on Mai, psychotic-looking smile widening. Why is it always me? Mai asked herself. The answer popped into her mind a moment later. Because my aura calls out to spirits... so HIDE!
Though the last thing Mai wanted to do was close her eyes, she needed to concentrate. Mai scrunched her eyelids shut and forced herself to relax. She breathed in deeply, and with each breath, she pulled her bright aura inside herself.
She could still feel the ghost edging forward. Just a few more seconds...
Mai envisioned the Great Wall of China stretching along her skin, encasing her body and separating her spirit from the outside world. Her mental wall snapped into place - and Mai opened her eyes to see nothing in front of her.
This was the most problematic feature of her aura manipulation skills. Mai couldn't see or feel the ghost – and therefore couldn't be sure that the aura-hiding was working. She refused to move, either, just in case. Mai waited long moments for something to happen, barely breathing.
Suddenly, the floor cracked open. The epicenter of the crack was only steps away – meaning that the spirit was practically on top of her. The floor split again, spreading backwards towards the stairs. Mai felt a shudder beneath her and heard the walls creak. A temper tantrum, Mai realized – the ghost couldn't find her and was releasing its rage.
Or hoping to smoke her out.
So Mai held her breath, hoping that somebody in base noticed the not-so-subtle room-shaking going on. She could use some help right about now. Mai couldn't even try to exorcise the ghost while hiding her aura... plus, she was still bleeding pretty badly.
She almost moaned in relief at the sound of feet running towards her. Mai twisted in place to see Naru, Madoka and Lin all come barreling into the room. Mai's eyes, of course, went straight to Naru – who she was shocked to see looked quite panicked (never mind what Yasu had told her this morning, he was obviously being silly). Naru made a beeline for her as Lin whistled for his shiki.
"It's near the staircase!" Mai called to her rescuers, not sure if they could see the ghost. Then something whooshed by, followed by an angry male scream. Mai dropped her barriers in time to see a shiki ram its way through the seriously pissed ghost. The spirit glared at Mai as it broke apart and disappeared.
"Well, if it didn't have it in for me before..." Mai trailed off, giggling despite the situation. The adrenaline pumping through her must be making her giddy.
Or maybe it's the loss of blood, she thought absently, watching the red liquid spread slowly into the fabric of her sweater. Ugh, it must have loosened when she was trying to escape from the ghost. Mai reached down to adjust it, but a long-fingered hand knocked her hand away.
"Don't touch it, baka," Naru hissed into her ear. Mai glanced sideways to find his face inches from her own. Envisioning the last time they'd been so close, Mai felt her face flush.
A smirk touched Naru's lips. "I suppose you can't be bleeding out if you can still blush," he noted matter-of-factly.
"Narcissist!" Mai yelled, slapping him lightly on the arm.
Naru raised a surprised eyebrow. She'd only ever hit him once before. Apparently, that damned kiss on the cheek had permanently deactivated the 'only in emergencies' touch barrier between himself and Mai. "Taking a cue from Matsuzaki?" he asked, torn between annoyance and amusement.
"Get me a purse and you'll find out," she retorted lightly, surprising him again. Naru's lips twitched.
"Hate to break up the moment, guys, but we should probably get you to hospital, Mai-chan." A shadow moved over the two on the floor, and Mai looked up into the amused eyes of Madoka Mori.
Naru scowled at his mentor... until he processed the word 'hospital.' Looking down at Mai's leg, he couldn't disagree. "Lin, help me with Mai," he barked.
"Was the spirit standing there when you came in?" Mai asked, pointing at the center of the floor-cracks.
"Yes," Lin replied, raising an eyebrow. "Couldn't you see it?"
"No, I was hiding my aura. I can't see ghosts when I'm doing it. It's one of the reasons I'm trying to develop the 'holes' technique – so I don't have to fly blind."
"It worked," Naru noted dispassionately as he and Lin hefted Mai off the floor. "The ghost looked rather lost when we came in." Naru walked backwards out into the front hall, his arms under Mai's. Lin carried Mai's legs, holding the injured one higher in the air.
Mai giggled, feeling distinctly lightheaded. "I hope we got video of that," she said. "That guy was an asshole. Pushed me down the stairs."
Oliver Davis felt Mai giggle, as much of her back was flush against his chest. Unused to such close contact, Naru felt a bit restless. Goosebumps prickled on the skin of his shoulder where Mai's head nestled against him.
"And none of us noticed," Madoka groused from beside Mai. "I don't know how we all missed it."
"It's okay, Madoka," Mai sighed, watching her vision warp a bit. "It's my fault, really. Besides... I didn't break anything. My leg got cut on a nail on the way down... but I have my tetanus shot! I got one after I fell on that pipe, and that was only last year…" Mai trailed off, truly woozy. "I think I'm gonna pass out," she mumbled, unaware that she'd switched to Japanese again.
"I noticed," Naru replied in the same language.
"Of course you did," Mai giggled drowsily. "You notice EVERYTHING. Well, except CERTAIN things. But that might be good..."
"What might be good?" Naru asked, narrowing his eyes.
"That you don't notice," Mai replied uselessly. Lin and Madoka exchanged a secret glance.
"Don't notice WHAT?" an increasingly frustrated Naru almost yelled. Then his back hit the house's front door, and he gripped Mai's body tightly to keep from dropping her. His fingers dug into one of the tender spots along her ribcage and Mai hissed in pain.
"Oouuch, Naru. I fell on that."
Her former boss gritted his teeth as Madoka edged around them and opened the door. Naru and Lin bundled Mai outside and into the backseat of the SPR van.
Then Naru froze – Mai had finally fallen unconscious. Someone should sit in the back with her, he reckoned. He stood there, undecided, for a moment – before Madoka bustled him out of the way.
The master ghost hunter pushed Noll toward her usual seat. Normally, Madoka would have let Noll hem and haw until he eventually climbed into the back with Mai, but they had to get moving. "Go sit up front and call your parents," Madoka ordered. She slid into the backseat and lifted Mai's head onto her lap.
Naru almost flew into the front seat, Lin started the van, doors slammed, and they set off for the hospital.
-0O0-
"So, yeah... finger, leg, brief fainting fit, and maybe a couple of ribs," Mai summarized. After all the hospital trips, she was very good at injury assessment.
"Yes... Miss Taniyama, how exactly did you sustain these injuries?" the on-call doctor asked.
Mai gritted her teeth. This was the third doctor who had asked this question. Apparently, they thought she was lying about falling down a flight of stairs. She missed her understanding nurses in Tokyo.
The man eyed her beadily for a moment before making a mark on his clipboard. "Well, we'll get your leg stitched up... and you'll probably need your ribs taped. And definitely something for that finger. Could you please remove the glove?"
Damn. Mai hadn't thought about that. Good thing she was alone right now – apparently there was some insurance coverage drama going on. It was a work accident, so Madoka said that SPR would cover the hospital bill – but Mai's paperwork was missing. Naru and Lin had gone back to the hotel to look for it. Madoka was currently arguing with the front desk.
But they'd be back eventually...
"Um, I have some..."
"Scars, yes," the doctor said dispassionately. "Your boss said you'd be edgy about them."
"Well, they are nasty looking," Mai replied, as brightly as she could manage. They probably thought she was a self-harmer or something. "So how about we do this..."
-0O0-
Mai's face broke into a huge grin upon seeing Madoka waltz into the emergency room. "Oh, please tell me you're here to spring me!" She clasped her hands together in a supplicating gesture.
Her new boss laughed. "I am indeed, Mai-chan. Just need to fill out some more paperwork and we'll be on our way. How are your stitches holding up?"
"They're looking pretty good," Mai replied, examining her sewn-up slice with a fairly professional eye. After countless falls, scrapes, and run-ins with angry spirits, Mai had a good eye for stitch-work. "The tape on my ribs feels pretty solid, too."
"What about the splint?" Madoka queried, glancing at Mai's most obvious medical decoration. Something about it was strange...
Mai sighed, glaring down at her right hand. Her first guess had been right – slight dislocation. The apparently fragile digit was ensconced in layers of tape and gauze, and topped with a very annoying finger splint. "I hate splints," she muttered. "It's just the one finger, but this stupid thing is so unwieldly that it gets in the way of everything."
The master ghost hunter fell over the bed laughing.
Mai tutted with exasperation. "I'm glad you find my pain funny."
"I find most things funny, Mai-chan," Madoka drawled. "You're just usually in a better mood. Your current attitude is distressingly reminiscent of Noll's."
"I'm acting like Naru? That's funny, I don't think a stick went up my ass when I landed," Mai huffed – and then she noticed Madoka's jaw drop and realized she'd spoken aloud. "I – I'm sorry, it's the drugs! They haven't completely worn off yet."
Madoka snorted into the paperwork, practically crying. "Don't even think about apologizing, Mai-chan - that was hilarious! Every time Noll starts in, I'm going to repeat that phrase in my head..."
"No, don't!" Mai pleaded. "You'll wind up telling Naru what I said, and then I'll have Blue Laser Beams of Doom thrown my way until I combust!"
"Blue Laser Beams of Doom?" Madoka gasped, hysterical. "You should be on drugs more often."
"No way," Mai groaned. "Who knows what I'd end up saying to Naru?"
"Hmm," Madoka replied simply, eyes sparkling. "I can only imagine."
Her eyes drifted down to Mai's splint again... "Oh, that's what looks weird about it!" she cried. "I can see your hand!" Mai wasn't wearing a glove on her right hand. Surreptitiously, Madoka glanced at the edge of Mai's robe... but couldn't see any scars.
Grinning victoriously, Mai pulled up the sleeve of her 'hospital trips' robe to reveal a black-gloved arm. "I told them they could cut the hand part off," she explained. "My arm isn't injured, so they didn't need to remove the whole glove."
"So you let them ruin your glove... to avoid the possibility that someone might catch a glimpse of your wrist?" Madoka asked incredulously.
"Well, I have lots of gloves," Mai said flippantly. "Besides, I'll have to wear it like this for a couple of days, thanks to the splint. Lucky it was only a slight dislocation – I once had to wear a toe splint for two weeks. I almost re-broke it out of frustration."
"You know, Mai-chan..." Madoka said slowly, "Somebody is going to see those scars someday."
"Hmm," Mai replied dismissively, pulling out some case research she'd begged off of Yasuhara (who had also brought her 'hospital trips' robe up to the emergency room).
This did not deter Madoka. "I mean, you want a boyfriend someday, yes? Being naked doesn't involve gloves."
"Whaaa?" Mai's eyes bugged, a hand over her heart. "Yikes, sometimes you're as bad as Yasu, Madoka-san..."
"I'm not bad, I'm realistic. I think it would really freak Koujo out if I insisted on wearing gloves in bed."
Cue flailing fit. "Ugh!" Mai cried. "Horrible mental images! Someone get me some bleach to pour in my ears!"
"Don't say that too loudly, Mai-chan. If they think you're suicidal, you'll have to stay overnight. In the crazy wing."
"Worth it," Mai replied firmly. "Ugh, Lin-san in any kind of bed situation..." she gagged.
"Hey, that's my boyfriend you're disparaging! My handsome boyfriend."
"I'm not arguing attractiveness, it's just... Lin-san is Lin-san."
Madoka grinned. "I guess that makes sense. And good to know there's no competition."
Mai gave her a dead-eyed stare. "Of course not." Then she grinned mischievously. "Ayako thinks he's hot, though. I remember her being disappointed that Lin-san wasn't there on the case where we paired off in fake couples." She had the satisfaction of seeing the usually-imperturbable Madoka straighten right up in the visitor's chair. Her mouth worked for a second, no sound coming out.
Too soft-hearted to prolong the agony, Mai rushed to qualify her statement. "But it doesn't matter, since Ayako's in love with Bou-san," she reminded the ghost hunter. "And they're, you know, engaged."
Madoka raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Mai-chan, I know. And I'm not worried – I always play to win." The ghost hunter smiled a smile that made Mai realize she never wanted to be on Madoka Mori's bad side. Suppressing a shiver, Mai decided it was time for a subject change. "So how about getting me out of here?"
"You need to work on your segues," Madoka mused. "And hang on a moment, I've misplaced the paperwork... ah, here we are." She winked. "Only two more pages to fill out and we're home free."
"Finally," Mai groused. The case was probably going to be solved by the time they returned to the house.
"Oh, nooo," Madoka groaned. "I forgot to write down our insurance carrier's address. Mai-chan, can you call Noll for me?"
"Huh?"
"Call Noll and ask him for the address," Madoka repeated, pointing at Mai's cell phone.
"But I don't... oh! I'll call Yasu!" Mai pressed '5' on her keypad and waited for Yasuhara to pick up. She didn't notice Madoka's confusion. "Hi, Yasu. No, I'm fine, we're almost out. I just need the address for SPR's insurance provider. Apparently Naru has it."
As Mai was currently unable to write, Madoka took the phone and the information. Once the forms were finished and dutifully handed off to one of the nurses, Madoka fixed her injured employee with a curious stare. "Hey, Mai-chan... is there some reason you don't want to call Noll? I know he gets edgy about taking phone calls during working hours, but seeing as he's always working..." she trailed off at the puzzled expression on Mai's face.
"It's not that I don't want to call Naru," Mai informed her blithely. "I just couldn't – I don't have his number."
She makes it sound like having Noll's number would be strange, Madoka thought. When really, Mai's not having it was strange. Mai spent oodles of time at the Davis home, was the subject of Noll's current research, and was – shockingly enough – Noll's friend.
Not to mention the awkward-yet-so-entertaining metaphorical dance the two performed on a regular basis... Mai was probably the only (teenaged) girl that Oliver Davis would ever willingly give his contact information to. "Well, that's easily fixed," Madoka said finally. She made a grab for Mai's cell phone. "Give it here, I'll just enter it in for you –"
"Ah, no, you probably shouldn't," Mai said nervously, yanking the phone out of reach.
Madoka raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"Well... I-I asked Naru for his number once," Mai stammered, blushing. "He told me I didn't need it."
The master ghost hunter was flabbergasted. "What? Why would... when was this?"
"Oh, back in Japan," Mai said airily, waving her good hand. "I had just gotten a cell phone, and I was putting in all my important numbers..."
"A-ha," Madoka comprehended the situation. "Mai-chan, Noll was just being careful – he was hiding his identity then, remember? He didn't want anyone to be able to connect him with 'Dr. Oliver Davis.' Plus, his cell phone has an English code and number. That would have been a bit of a giveaway."
"Ohhh," Mai replied, smiling. "That makes sense. But... Masako-chan got his number," she admitted through gritted teeth.
Madoka's lips twitched at the jealousy in Mai's voice and expression. "Well, yes. Noll wasn't worried about Masako-san finding out – she already knew."
Mai's face cleared. "Right, I forgot she figured it out..."
"Maybe she blackmailed him into it," Madoka mused. She almost hadn't believed Lin when he informed her that Noll had taken the celebrity medium to several dinners... as blackmail payment. They'd mutually decided not to tell Martin and Luella.
"Maybe," Mai agreed vaguely. It was likely. "Hmm, for someone as free with her speech as Masako-chan is, I'm surprised she actually resorted to blackmail."
"I suppose she felt there was no other way... I mean, Noll wasn't interested in her," Madoka noted, giving Mai a meaningful glance. A useless meaningful glance, more than likely. Mai was actually even more oblivious than Oliver.
Which was mystifying, really... Mai was usually much more tuned in (emotionally speaking) than Noll. Madoka had discussed it with Koujo the other day. He'd simply given her a 'leave-it-alone' look and intoned, 'There are none so blind than those who will not see.'
But wouldn't Mai want to see that Noll had feelings for her?
"Madoka-san, don't be silly," Mai responded, rolling her eyes. "Naru isn't interested in anyone."
Apparently not.
Madoka was beginning to think that mashing their heads together (as per Ayako's suggestion) was the way to go. But Lin staunchly advocated leaving them be. And Luella agreed with Lin, not wanting to spook Noll by pushing him too hard.
They had a point. It might ruin the noticeable progress he'd made...
"Well, the situation is quite different now," Madoka said (her segue not much smoother than Mai's). "I highly doubt Noll would object to your having his number anymore." Madoka held out her hand for the phone.
The skittish psychic just buried it deeper in her robe. "Um, maybe not, but... I don't want to just get it from someone else," Mai confessed, blushing hard. "My friend Keiko-chan gave a guy my phone number once... and I really didn't appreciate it. I felt like the guy cheated... and I didn't get to decide for myself whether I wanted him to have my number. Naru's reaction to something like that would probably be worse."
Madoka pursed her lips. In a way, this could be looked at as Mai's first clear indication that she wanted Noll in a romantic way. The 'cheating' guy had obviously been looking for a date – and Mai didn't want to 'cheat' to get Noll's number. She linked Noll with dating. The master ghost hunter swallowed a grin and shrugged. "Whatever you say, Mai-chan. Now... let's get out of here, shall we?"
"Yes, please!"
-0O0-
Once Mai had been safely tucked into bed (electrodes in place), Madoka scuttled down to base and glared at Noll, crossing her arms for good measure.
"What could I possibly have done in the last fifteen minutes?" he asked without looking away from the monitors.
"I'm sure you could have done quite a lot, Noll, but I'm thinking a bit farther in the past."
"Pardon?"
"You need to give Mai-chan your cell phone number – whilst being very clear that it's something you don't mind doing."
Naru's eyes finally re-directed to Madoka. He stared blankly at her, trying to puzzle through her curious directive. A minute later, comprehension still eluded him. "What exactly are you on about?"
"When I asked Mai-chan to call you for the insurance information, she got all flustered and said she didn't have your number. When I tried to give it to her, she insisted that you wouldn't want her to have it. Apparently she asked for it in Japan and you told her off."
"The caller ID would have read Davis –"
"That's what I told her," Madoka assured him, "But she thinks that you don't want her having your number."
"That's not the case."
"Yes, that's what I figured – wait. So you do want Mai to have your phone number?" Madoka grinned hugely.
Naru exhaled irritably, taking a moment to marvel that Madoka could be a brilliant scientist one minute and a bewildering meddler the next. "What I 'want' has nothing to do with this issue. It would make logical sense for Mai to be able to call my cell phone if necessary. Especially since she possesses an alarming propensity for finding trouble."
Upon meeting Lin's cautioning gaze, Madoka decided not to point out that Noll had a) not denied wanting Mai to have his number, and b) inferred that he expected himself to be her first phone call in an emergency. She bit back a giggle. "Well, then. You can tell her that tomorrow morning."
Naru sighed again, this time with exasperation. "Can't you just give it to her? You're staying in the same room and will see her first."
"Oh, no, Noll," Madoka replied, smiling brightly. "That would be cheating."
-0O0-
AN: Okay, this might not be as polished as it could be, but I really wanted to post it before I left for vacation. I am totally ignoring bedtime and posting this instead of checking over my suitcase for missing items:) Anyway, I'll be back in two weeks, and there should be a new chapter the week following.
And I wasn't sure if Mai had asked Naru for his phone number in Japan. I think I remember reading it in the manga, but maybe I just read it in a fanfiction. It gets kind of hazy after a while, lol.
Oh, and thank you to Ariana Taniyama (again), for the wording of Lin's speech to Madoka about there being 'none so blind as those who will not see.' I couldn't remember the proper words, but then I remembered it was right there in the reviews!:)