Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga 12 would be out in English.

Chapter 33 – Mind vs. Heart vs. Angry Spirits

-0O0-

"Wait, whaaat?" Yasuhara's face was the picture of betrayal. "I don't get to go on the case?"

"You won't be necessary," Naru replied, casually flipping a page in his notebook.

"What Noll means," Martin amended quickly, "Is that at least one of my transfer students should remain in class as often as possible, especially since we're secretly breaking the rule of Keeping Term."

Mai nodded in silent agreement. Evidently, there was some kind of rule that prohibited Cambridge students from living more than ten miles from the university. In order to satisfy this requirement, Martin was pretending that Mai and Yasu were staying in the Davis' vacation home (which was right outside of Cambridge).

"And besides," Martin continued. "Madoka's intern needs a test run. But don't worry, Yasuhara," he assured, "You'll be sent on the next one."

The researcher's mutinous glare faded. "Well, I guess someone has to take notes for Mai-chan," Yasu acquiesced. Then he grinned at Mai. "I'll be sure to make them as entertaining as possible."

"I can't wait," Mai groaned. She'd probably wind up having to decode all her assignments.

Suddenly, Yasu yanked Mai in close. "You'd better tell me if anything good happens," he hissed.

"Like if the ghost is really interesting?" Mai asked obliviously.

Her best friend threw her a pitying look. "Mai-chan, I could get that from the case report. I want to know if anything good happens with Naru." Everyone had noticed that Big Boss was struggling with something lately... and they all hoped it was romantic in nature.

Predictably, Mai blushed to the roots of her hair. "Yasu!" she complained. "Shut up!"

Across the room, Naru gritted his teeth. He wasn't sure what annoyed him more - Yasuhara's over-familiarity, or Mai's reaction to it.

Naturally, Yasu decided to fan the flames. "You shut up," he replied flirtatiously, winking at Mai.

Naru rubbed the aching forehead that covered his deeply divided brain. Part of Naru wanted to throw something at Yasuhara. The other part reckoned he should bang himself over the head until all these stupid thoughts fell out of his brain.

Fortunately, Mai trumped both internal arguments. Naru watched as she nonchalantly reached behind her back, pulled up a throw pillow, and smacked Yasuhara upside the head with it.

"No, you shut up," Mai grumbled, rolling her eyes.

Satisfaction washed through Naru at Mai's outright rejection of Yasuhara's nonsense. "Mai. Perhaps you'd like to look over my preliminary notes on the Banderson case?" he suggested evenly.

Mai's scowl dropped off immediately. "Yeah, I would! We leave in two days, and I know nothing about the case history." Mai took the proffered papers with a bright smile. "Thanks, Naru!"

The practicing psychologist in the room hid a smile as she watched Noll try not to look pleased at Mai's unconscious display of preference. "Can't fool me, darling," Luella whispered.

Then Luella's well-trained eyes noticed something even more significant... from the looks of it, Noll wasn't fooling himself, either.

-0O0-

Mai had just started reading when a soft melody of shamisen music filled the quiet room.

"Incoming call from Hara Masako," Yasuhara intoned robotically.

"Duh," Mai hissed, still irritated with him. The teen psychic swiped her phone off the coffee table, and jogged into the hall. "Hai moshi moshi?" she asked perkily.

"Mai-chan," Masako's calm voice greeted. "How are you?"

"I'm great – SPR is going on a case this weekend!" Mai enthused. "But what's up with you?" Masako wasn't exactly a 'just-calling-to-say-hi' kind of girl.

"I may have a... personal problem," the medium admitted uncomfortably.

Mai grinned. This had to be about Shuuhei. "Ask away."

"Well, Shuuhei has... asked me to go on vacation with him."

In the beat of silence that followed, Mai heard the rustle of fabric - and just knew Masako was hiding her blush behind a kimono sleeve. She also noticed that Masako hadn't used an honorific after Shuuhei's name. "But that's great, Masako-chan!" Mai exclaimed. "What's the problem?"

"I just... it's highly improper," Masako murmured embarrassedly.

Mai swallowed a giggle – Masako was so adorable sometimes. "Yeah... and?"

"And it's highly improper."

"Soooo you're saying that the great Hara Masako is too proper for a couples vacation?" Mai asked, grinning mischievously. "That's weird - you had no problem trying to seduce Naru."

"Mai-chan." Masako's tone was frosty. "Please do not use the word seduce. Dating and seducing are not the same. You have most definitely spent enough time with Yasuhara-san to know that."

Mai snorted. "Yeah, you're right - I think he just seduced someone last week, actually." The teen psychic pursed her lips. "Then again... Yasu was suspiciously quiet after his date with Beach Girl. Maybe he's slipping?"

"Maybe he's growing up," Masako offered tartly.

"No, that can't be it," Mai joked. "He was just fake-flirting with me a few minutes ago."

"Right in front of Naru?" Masako asked knowingly.

Mai frowned in puzzlement. "Well, yeah, Naru was there. But why would that matter?"

"Hn," was all the response Masako offered.

"I guess Yasu could have been trying to annoy Naru," Mai hazarded. "I mean, Yasu knows that his man-whore stuff freaks Naru out."

Masako just sighed. "A Cambridge student, and yet still so unaware."

Mai choked. "Are you seriously calling Yasu unaware?" Yasuhara was too canny for his own good.

"I wasn't talking about - never mind," Masako sighed again. "Yasuhara-san's motives and profligacy aside, I... wanted to ask for your advice, Mai-chan."

A shocked Mai pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it. This was big. She and Masako were good friends, but Masako (like Naru) was usually too proud to ask for help. "Okay," Mai agreed, warmth blossoming in her chest. "Just answer me this – do you want to go?"

There was a pause. "Yes," Masako replied quietly.

"Then you should go." Mai's smile practically split her face. "End of story."

"But Mai-chan, it's not that simple," Masako protested. "What about my parents? What about scheduling? What if the press gets wind? I don't want Shuuhei to get caught up in that nonsense."

"Well, first off, I don't know why you would want to take your parents," Mai teased.

"Mai-chan, don't be ridiculous. You know that's not what I meant."

"Alright, alright," Mai relented. "But think about it, Masako-chan. You've been breaking away from your parents' ludicrous expectations for years – why back down now? Besides, you shouldn't let your parents get in the way of an important relationship."

Masako was silent for a moment. "Yes," she agreed soberly. "You're right."

"As for scheduling, just tell the show you need time off for a TTMPI case. You do it all the time!"

"But I don't want Shuuhei to think I'm hiding him," Masako worried.

"Just tell him the truth – you're a celebrity, and if word gets out, you might be dodging cameras instead of having a good time. Shuuhei-san has to realize that's a concern," Mai reasoned.

"He does," Masako replied slowly. "It's just... I'm rather tired of concealing our relationship. We both just want to be open about it."

Mai had to shove her fist into her mouth to keep from squealing - Masako must be really serious about Shuuhei if she wanted to go public. Revealing a romantic relationship was always a risk for celebrities - especially for someone like Masako, whose image as a medium was largely dependent on her 'aloof and otherworldly' persona. "Then you'll definitely have to take him to meet your parents," Mai warned.

"Yes, I know," Masako sighed. "But... I want to go on vacation first. Some private time for the two of us."

Mai grinned – Masako sounded so normal. "Of course you do," she said teasingly. "That way you guys can get closer together before the drama of going public."

"Mai-chan!" Masako sounded scandalized.

Mai could practically feel the heat of her friend's blush through the phone, and could no longer resist the urge to squeal. "Aiiii, I can't believe it! I'm so excited for you, Masako-chan!"

And when Masako Hara actually giggled into the phone, Mai almost fell over in shock. "I'm rather pleased myself, Mai-chan," she revealed. "Now, about TTMPI's upcoming case..."

"Yeah, speaking of TTMPI - where is my case report?" Mai intoned in her best Naru-voice.

"To be fair, Bou-san has been very busy with wedding things," Masako noted.

"Whatever," Mai grumped. "He still finds time to harangue me about The Nightmare every other day!"

"I don't know what you were expecting," Masako chided. "First he finds out it's getting worse, not better -"

"It wasn't getting worse! That only happened because it was Gene's birthday, and it's not like I haven't had multiple Nightmares in a row before!"

"- and then you reveal that the onset of The Nightmare was much worse than you'd originally indicated. Of course Bou-san went a bit crazy."

"Well, I'm not taking any more of his phone calls until I get a case report," Mai threatened.

"I'll be sure to pass on the message," Masako said dryly. "At any rate, would you like to hear the latest on our latest client?"

-0O0-

Twenty minutes of strategizing later, Mai slid back into her chair. She picked up Naru's case notes, and...

"Alright, Mai-chan," Yasuhara said severely. "Spill."

Mai donned her best 'confused' look. "Spill about what?"

"Don't you even!" Yasuhara closed the book he was reading with a sharp snap. "I still haven't forgiven you for not telling me about Masako's man." Or for telling Lin things she wouldn't tell her best friend. "Now – what did Masako-chan call about? It had to be something important."

"A case," Mai lied badly. They had eventually talked about the new case... but Masako had really called about her secret getaway. Heh, her secret getaway!

"Try saying that with a straight face," Yasuhara jeered. He could clearly see Mai giggling behind the sheaf of case notes. "It's gotta be about the boyfriend," Yasu surmised. "Did Shuuhei-san ask Masako to marry him or something?" When Mai only laughed harder, Yasu gasped. "Wait, did he?"

Mai managed to shake her head. "No, no, that's not it," she assured him. "I would have told you that right away."

Yasuhara considered. "So it's something big, but also secret... hold on!" Yasu's eyes went wide. "Did she sleep with him?"

"No, you perv!" Mai yelled, searching for another pillow to throw. Ugh, the closest one was on the couch... "And it's none of your business."

Yasuhara's glasses gleamed in the light. "I'll just call her," he threatened. "And you have nothing to blackmail me with this time!"

"Ugh, fine," Mai groaned in defeat. She hadn't talked Masako into it so that Yasu could tease her into chickening out. And since Ayako would definitely tell him during their next gossip-fest... "Masako-chan and Shuuhei-san are going on vacation together."

"Like a love-love vacation?" Yasuhara probed.

Mai rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling. "Yes," she admitted.

"Sugoi," Yasuhara whispered. "That's big."

"It is," Mai agreed. "And you're going to leave her alone about it. This is important to Masako-chan - she even wants Shuuhei-san to meet her parents."

Yasuhara raised his eyebrows. "Really big."

Madoka jumped in. "So you guys were talking about locales all that time?" Maybe Mai had a favorite trip destination - one that Noll could file away for the future.

"No, not really," Mai answered. "Masako-chan wasn't sure if she should go, and wanted my opinion."

"Hang on," Yasuhara interrupted. "Are you saying that Masako Hara, medium extraordinaire and President of the That's-None-of-Your-Business Club... called for advice?"

"She mostly just tells you to mind your own business," Mai reminded him. "But... yeah, I was shocked, too."

"So you told her to go?"

"Obviously." Mai rolled her eyes.

"Excellent," Yasuhara said emphatically. "It's about time she got some."

Madoka burst into laughter, Lin groaned inwardly, Mai was thankful that Martin and Luella were busy talking, and Naru silently lamented giving his case notes to Mai (as he now had nothing to distract himself).

Suddenly, Yasuhara gasped in fake-surprise. "I just realized something - Masako's love-love vacation could be very good for you, Mai-chan."

Mai knew she shouldn't encourage him, but... "Why?" she asked warily.

"Well, you're upset that we'll miss the birth of Keiko-chan's baby," Yasuhara reminded her. "But if Masako-chan's special vacation goes well, you might be there for the birth of her baby! Nine months from now would be smack in the middle of summer break." He gave his best friend a jaunty thumbs-up. "Wonder if they'd ask John-kun to perform a secret wedding?"

Mai almost fell out of her chair getting to that couch cushion, but it was worth it.

"Ai! My glasses!"

-0O0-

It was as Mai was setting a monitor into place that she first heard it.

A soft, slow sort of scraping sound... like something very heavy being dragged over stone.

Mai immediately froze in place, listening hard and stretching out with her senses. There was something moving at the edge of her consciousness, something heavy with sadness - but she couldn't quite get a lock on it. And now it's moving away! Swearing under her breath, Mai closed her eyes and flailed for a better connection...

Until her senses were inundated by several other auras. The bright aura of a living person... accompanied by a bunch of non-human auras. And together, they cut off Mai's connection to the spirit like the sun blocked the daytime visibility of stars. The teen psychic groaned, and plugged in the monitor just as the main culprit walked into base.

Lin noticed that Mai was still working with the same equipment, and raised an eyebrow. "Surely you no longer need this much time to place one screen, Mai-san."

His student glared. "Of course not," she hissed. "I heard something weird, and then I sensed something. I was trying to pin it down when you and your shiki screwed up the connection."

The Chinese onmyouji raised a surprised eyebrow. "I haven't given them any orders."

"Yeah, but they're still hanging around you!" Mai griped. "I know that's their job and everything – but so many auras can get in the way of locating a weak spirit."

"So there is a spirit?" Naru's monotone voice asked from behind her.

"Yeah," Mai nodded. "I'm pretty sure there's something here. I heard a weird noise, too – like something heavy grinding on stone. I'm not sure what it means, though."

Naru pushed himself off the wall and went for his case notebook. "There are several reports of furniture moving around by itself," he reminded Mai. "Perhaps it's happened again."

"That would be an unusually quick response," Lin noted idly. "We should set up as quickly as possible."

But Mai shook her head, staring blankly at the nearest wall as if she could see through it. "No, that's not it," she said quietly.

"Your instincts again?" Naru asked.

Mai could feel his laser-sharp eyes on her face. "No... I can still hear the noise," she replied. "And if you guys can't... then it's got to be the spirit."

"It hasn't 'got' to be anything," Naru intoned. "You could just have better hearing than either of us. This is why human experience does not equal scientific proof."

"Hai, Professor-sama," Mai said snidely.

Naru's return glare was off a little - some strange emotion swam through his sapphire gaze. Before Mai could comment on it, Naru blinked and the look was gone.

"Lin's right," he decreed. "We need to set up the equipment. Hopefully it will pick up the sound you're hearing." Naru raised an eyebrow. "Your best guess is 'something' grinding on stone?"

"Um, I think it's... metal!" Mai finally recognized. "Metal on stone." She knew that sound well, having dragged many a camera mount across garden walkways and stone foyers.

"Metal?" Naru repeated curiously. He flipped through his notes. "None of the affected furniture is metallic... and none of it is supported by metal." He locked gazes with Mai.

"I'm just telling you what I hear," Mai defended. "Besides, maybe they got new furniture."

Naru rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Think about it, Naru," Mai joked. "Who would want to sit on a haunted couch?"

"Perhaps you should go check, then." Fake-smile at maximum, Naru handed Mai the stack of furniture photos. "Match these to the existing pieces."

"Wha – but Naru, can't we just ask the clients if they got new furniture?" Mai whined.

"They've already left," Naru replied smugly. "You can take a few cameras, too – that should get us set up before dark." His smile widened as Mai sputtered in rage. "Unless your animal instincts actually do prohibit you from multitasking."

Across the base, a resigned Lin sat down at the only working monitor and rubbed his temples. This was going to be a long night.

"You can't order me around!" Mai reminded Naru. "Madoka's the boss, not you!"

"Madoka's not here right now," Naru retorted smugly.

"Then why can't Lin be the boss?" Mai huffed. She turned to her teacher for support... and the onmyouji continued to click away at the program he was starting. "I know you can hear me, Lin!" Mai said sternly. "You're not even wearing headphones!"

Without looking away from the computer, Lin plucked a pair of headphones from the table and set them on his head.

"Traitor," Mai hissed.

"Aware of the pecking order," Naru contended.

Unwilling to get involved, Lin corrected silently.

"A lead investigator should strive for efficiency, Mai," Naru taunted. "You're wasting time."

"A lead investigator should also follow a safety plan," Mai replied sweetly. "Nobody heads out alone, remember?" The teen psychic made a show of looking girly, cocking her head to the side and batting her eyes. "So why don't you come and protect me, Boss?"

She was expecting Naru to roll his eyes and order her out of the base... so when his eyes popped wide and his jaw went slack, Mai was totally thrown off her game. Naru stood like a statue for another moment... and then whipped a camera off of the shelf before race-walking to the door.

"I suppose you do need constant supervision, Mai," he said tonelessly.

"Wait, are you actually – NARU!" Mai grabbed whatever equipment was nearest and ran after him. "Wait up!"

Lin waited until their footsteps faded to chuckle darkly. "Like I said," he muttered to the empty room. "Just leave Noll alone, and he'll work it out."

-0O0-

Naru stood alone in the Banderson study. And despite his collected movements and calm expression, inside he was anything but. Idiot, idiot, idiot, he raged internally.

While one of Naru's most-used epithets for others, he very rarely had cause to label himself an idiot. His behavior in base, however, warranted the unusual remonstrance.

What was wrong with him? Even if Naru argued that these... anomalies regarding his relationship with Mai were simply as-yet-uncategorized mental glitches, the frequency of such anomalies was only increasing.

Now, if it were that... it would make sense for occurrences to increase with growing awareness.

But it couldn't be that, Naru told himself sternly.

WHY couldn't it be that? his logical side argued. It is decidedly unscientific to reject a viable possibility. Naru was nothing if not logical... and was forced to concede this point.

His thoughts celebrated by continuing mercilessly. Considering the amount of evidence, insisting 'it couldn't be THAT' smacks of emotion-fueled denial.

"Emotion-fueled denial?" he hissed disbelievingly. Beyond frustrated, Naru slammed the thermographic camera onto a corner table so forcefully that the furniture rattled.

Closing his eyes and exhaling deeply, Naru groped for his vaunted control – and found himself grateful that Mai had run off to the room next door.

-0O0-

Just one more and we're done, Mai told herself.

The transfer student adjusted her hold on the last camera, quite relieved to be nearly done. Despite her years of experience, Mai still managed to break more than her fair share of cameras, screens and other expensive toys.

It didn't help that she was pissed at Naru, either – Mai's klutz attacks only got worse when she was angry. What was with him today? All Mai did was brush some dust off his sleeve - and Naru shrank back like she was diseased. When he'd started in on her about priorities, Mai had stormed off.

Needing a distraction, Mai looked around the solarium she had wandered into. The view was lovely – several large windows looked out over the property's hills, and Mai could see the tips of mountains in the distance. It was late afternoon, and the sun was dipping slowly toward the horizon. Mai reckoned that watching the sunset from this room would be amazing.

The beautiful view calmed Mai down enough to get going. Without further ado, she put the camera on a nearby couch and set up the tripod that would support it. The tripod legs screeched a bit on the stone floor of the solarium, reminding Mai of the scraping sound she kept hearing.

That she heard right now.

Mai swallowed hard, suddenly wanting to call for Naru.

Stop it, Mai, she chastised herself. You're a professional – act like one! Squaring her shoulders, Mai refocused and reached for the camera. She was extra careful not to drop it onto the stone below. The camera would probably shatter on impact - and given the mood Naru was in, Mai would never hear the end of it.

She aimed the camera so that it would pick up the maximum area of space in the solarium. Mai almost called out to Naru for a double-check on the angle... but she didn't want him to think she needed his okay. Whether Naru liked it or not, Mai took orders from Madoka now.

Once again, Mai wondered how Naru stomached his subordinate position. He'd obviously rather run SPR operations himself. And though Naru clearly respected Madoka's abilities, the two ghost hunters had completely opposite personalities. Mai imagined that accepting her leadership after running SPR Japan was a tough pill for Naru to swallow.

Even if Luella DID ask Martin not to promote Naru to lead investigator, Mai thought, would Martin hold him back forever? The leader of the other SPR team was good, but he wasn't at Naru's level. And even though Naru could be a moody pain in the ass (like right now), Mai knew that virtually everyone at SPR greatly respected him and would gladly be a part of his team.

Mai sighed. Such mollycoddling might eventually sour Naru's relationship with his adopted parents. However, Mai had no trouble understanding Luella's overprotective behavior. Luella had already lost one son, and Naru could be pretty reckless on cases. And considering what happened when he used his powers...

Ugh, Mai groaned internally. Thinking about Naru's powers only made her feel guilty. After all, she could be the answer to Naru's troubles.

And the more Mai thought about it, the more she didn't want to wait until Naru hurt himself to use the transfer!

Mai clenched her fists. Gene said it's the only way, she reminded herself. And Gene knew Naru better than anyone.

The distracted psychic shook herself, and bent to turn on the camera. As Mai's knees came into contact with the floor, she shivered slightly – the solarium was pretty cold for a room with so many windows. Then again, a stone floor probably would stay pretty cold.

Stone. The word triggered Mai's memory again. "Like metal being dragged over stone," she murmured.

And as if answering her call, the dragging noise got louder. Mai searched the room, half-expecting to see furniture wiggling.

Nothing moved... but the noise ground on.

Then something moved at the far end of the room. Something translucent.

Mai thumbed her walkie-talkie with shaking fingers. Of course she had to be alone when the ghost showed its ugly face.

Naturally, the instant that thought crossed Mai's mind, a twisted, bloody face appeared in the thickening air. A woman's face. As Mai watched with wide eyes, a torso appeared... also bloody, and clad in a torn-open, ragged dress. Mai held down the talk button, opened her mouth to yell... and suddenly, her throat closed.

Mai was frightened, but she wasn't too scared to speak. The ghost must be doing it. She was obviously much stronger than Mai had guessed.

The woman lifted a slowly-forming arm towards Mai, and the teen could see that her mouth was moving. But Mai couldn't hear anything over the dragging noise. And the noise only got louder as the spirit moved closer to Mai. Something - maybe a length of rope? - looped around the woman's wrists and trailed to the floor.

Mai frantically pressed the talk button as the bloody woman drifted closer... and closer... the temperature was dropping rapidly... she didn't want to use the Nine Cuts on a spirit right away, but...

The sound of running feet echoed in the hallway, and the spirit turned her head. Mai's voice unsealed itself just as Naru careened into the room, followed closely by Lin.

The spirit gave Mai a last look - and vanished. But the scraping noise kept on scraping.

Naru moved quickly to Mai, and examined her with clinical eyes. "What happened?" he asked quickly.

"How did you know to come?" Mai asked stupidly. She wasn't sure what was overwhelming her more – the events of the last couple of minutes, or Naru's sudden closeness and concern.

"My walkie-talkie kept buzzing, but all I heard was static," Lin replied. Static usually meant trouble on ghost hunts.

Mai nodded, relieved. "I couldn't talk – I think she was cutting off my voice somehow."

"She?" Naru asked.

"Yes. There's definitely a ghost, and it's definitely a woman," Mai replied, trying to ignore the ghostly sounds. "I saw her face and her long hair and she was bloody – the blood was like silver stains on her face and chest."

"What's that noise?" Lin asked suddenly.

"Now you can hear it, too?" Mai wondered. Lin nodded, looking around with careful eyes. "I'm still not sure," she admitted. "It's the same noise as before, only much louder. And it was even louder when the ghost was actually visible. I think she's making the noise, but I don't know why."

"It does sound like something dragging," Naru noted.

"Yeah, and I think it's supposed to have something to do with the stone floor in here," Mai said. Both men looked at her. "I whispered something about it right before the ghost appeared."

"This is the only stone we've encountered," Naru noted, glancing around the room. "And this much activity usually indicates the presence of a strong spirit. However, you could barely sense this woman until she was right in front of you. Two contradictory pieces of evidence." Naru's eyes burned with intensity. He did love an interesting puzzle.

Especially one which drew his attention away from other troubling issues.

Mai just nodded, breathing heavily. "I'm not sure what to think... but I'm also kinda freaked out. How about we go back to base, and I'll make some tea?"

Naru stared at Mai's shaky form for a moment, and nodded.

-0O0-

But the day wasn't quite over yet.

"And then what happened?" Gregory asked eagerly.

"Well, Ayako tried to exorcise them herself - but she's kind of useless when there aren't any trees around." Mai rolled her eyes. "And John-kun wasn't on that case, so we had to wait for Bou-san. In retrospect, it probably wasn't a good idea to send the most defensively useful team member out to get food."

"Of course it wasn't," Naru snapped.

Mai and Gregory turned as one to face the interloper. "No one's talking to you, Naru," Mai huffed. "Stop being a jerk."

Gregory raised an eyebrow. He'd heard the rumors, but actually seeing Mai Taniyama talk back to the feared Oliver Davis was quite something. And Dr. Davis' reaction was even more shocking - he just rolled his eyes and went back to watching the monitors. So the rumors are true. Gregory fought the urge to report this amazing event to the other SPR interns via mass text.

"Anyway," Mai continued. "All of a sudden, everything got really quiet."

"Uh-oh," Madoka laughed.

"Yeah," Mai agreed. "Ayako and I kept looking around the room, wondering where the ghost would pop up... we certainly didn't expect it to pop into Masako-chan and try to strangle everything in sight."

"She was possessed?" Gregory asked.

"It happens more often than you'd think," Mai shrugged. "Masako-chan is a medium."

"I know," Gregory smiled. "I've seen the show."

"Really?" Mai smiled back. "I've actually gone to a bunch of her shoots!"

"No way!"

"It's true!" Mai insisted. "Masako-chan invites me along sometimes. If she thinks that the building she's investigating is too dangerous for her crew, Bou-san and I come and do a walk-through. If there's something really bad, I find it for Bou-san, and he exorcises it."

"That's awesome," Gregory enthused. "But wait, you still have to finish the first story!"

Mai laughed, choking a little on her noodles. "Hold on, let me finish chewing!"

"Yes, chew your food, Mai," Naru muttered quietly. "I'd prefer not to practice the Heimlich maneuver this evening."

Madoka wasn't sure which was funnier – Mai's story, or Noll's jealousy.

"I heard that, Naru!" Mai complained.

Naru rolled his eyes. "Yet you didn't hear me ask if you'd checked the temperature readings."

"I must have been busy," Mai sniffed.

"You were," Naru said icily. "You were busy talking with Gregory."

Mai frowned – did Naru have a problem with Gregory? He'd been nothing but helpful so far...

Across the room, Madoka coughed to cover her laughter. Noll was so obvious that even Mai noticed.

"Oh, well," Gregory himself interrupted, "I already recorded the temperatures, Dr. Davis." He held up a sheet of paper covered with numbers. "So no harm done."

That's what you think, Lin thought.

Meanwhile, Naru had caught Mai's puzzled look and internally smacked himself. Though he was a rather indifferent person, Naru knew his current outright hostility was unwarranted. Mai was just being Mai - and they were eating, not actively investigating. And Gregory was troublingly cavalier about the dangers of ghost hunting, but he was also helpful and reasonably intelligent.

So Naru was somewhat perplexed by his strong desire to throw a plate of noodles at the newcomer.

But not as perplexed as he would like.

"Give it here," Naru grumbled, holding out his hand for the temperature readings.

Gregory started to rise from his chair, but Mai waved him back down. "Ignore him - you don't have to walk it over there. He's just in a foul mood tonight." Snatching the paper from Gregory's frozen hand, Mai held it to Naru.

"Don't foist your insubordinate habits onto others," Naru admonished.

"Insubordinate? In case you've forgotten in the last hour," Mai hissed through her teeth. "You aren't my boss anymore, Naru." Seriously, what was with him? It was like their relationship had suddenly gone back to their first day of working together. "Is Lin's ankle sprained?" Mai asked angrily.

"Pardon?" Naru asked, genuinely confused.

"Did I knock a bookcase into Lin this afternoon?" Mai elaborated. "Because that was the last time you were this consistently nasty to me!"

Naru bit back his retort. Mai picked the most annoying times to be right.

"I think," Madoka interrupted, "The takeaway here is not to let one's internal disquiet ruin everyone else's day." She gave Noll a long look.

Mai's eyebrows rose in surprise. Was Madoka insinuating that Naru was actually upset about something? She glanced over to the pissy narcissist in question.

Naru said nothing. His 'internal disquiet' had become external... to the point that the temperamental Madoka was taking him to task for letting emotions overtake his judgment.

Without further ado, Naru rose from his chair and marched out of the base.

"Wait, Naru!" Their extremely recent argument flew from Mai's mind as she raced out after him. "You're not supposed to go alone!" The only time anyone (Mai) had been alone in this house, the ghost had appeared.

Gregory watched as Mai ran down the dimly-lit hallway. "Should we... do something?" he asked hesitantly.

"No," Madoka replied firmly. "Best to let Mai sort him out."

"I don't quite understand," Gregory revealed confusedly. "Dr. Davis is so... aloof at the office." Though Gregory had heard some horror stories about Oliver's responses to date requests from co-workers at SPR. Apparently, one particularly forward intern had been banished from Dr. Davis' office - permanently. On the whole, the only SPR employee deemed less approachable than Oliver Davis was Mr. Lin (who was certainly maintaining his detached reputation; he hadn't even reacted when Mai mentioned him directly).

Madoka smiled brightly. "Yes, well... everyone has their watershed moments," she said cryptically.

"And Dr. Davis' involve temperature readings?" Gregory asked incredulously.

"No," Madoka said succinctly.

Her new assistant-slash-gopher continued to stare in confusion.

"Record the temperatures in the computer log, and get ready for the night watch," Madoka ordered. "You're on base duty tonight." In other words, none of your business.

Gregory got the message. "Yes, ma'am."

-0O0-

"Naru!" Mai called out behind him.

Oliver ignored her. As Mai was the crux of his current dilemma, he doubted that further interaction with her would bring any solace.

"Wait up!"

He walked faster.

"Naruuuuu! Can't you just – AAAAAH!"

Naru had already turned around at Mai's scream; the almighty crash that followed only quickened his steps. "Mai!" he snapped, blinking in the darkness. His eyes had been so focused on the brightly-lit bathroom at the end of the corridor, that the darkness around him looked deeper.

He felt along the hallway until his eyes adjusted – Mai was sprawled out on the floor a couple of feet away, her hands pressed against her left side. Naru knelt down beside her, and squinted down at her torso. There didn't seem to be any blood. "Are you injured?" he asked quietly.

"Not... not really," Mai said, rubbing her gloved hands over her ribs. "I just landed on my side, and that rib is a little tender." She winced. "You know, from when I fell down the stairs."

"You mean when you were pushed down the stairs," Naru corrected. He looked up into Mai's eyes. "Did a spirit cause your fall?" he asked seriously.

Mai shook her head. "I don't think so," she answered slowly. "I didn't sense anything when I fell." She closed her eyes. "There's nothing nearby now, either."

Naru nodded, struck by the certainty in her voice. In the past, Mai would have been too flustered by his nearness to manage such a coherent response.

The disappointment that this thought engendered was almost as unwelcome as Mai's fall. Naru closed his eyes, pushing the ridiculous feelings away.

Then a warm brush of something soft invaded his personal space. Naru's eyes snapped open to see Mai's black-gloved hand on his arm. Just like before, when she'd smiled and brushed the dust from his arm... He stared down uncomprehendingly until Mai's voice cut across the void.

"Naru... are you alright?" she asked softly. "You've been so... moody today, and then Madoka said –"

"Ignore her," Naru snapped.

"But Naru –"

"Madoka is just meddling," he hissed with finality. "One would think that she'd be more concerned with the case than with petty emotional drama."

"So there is something wrong?" Mai gasped. Naru hadn't denied having 'petty emotional drama.'

"No," Naru replied with a finality he didn't feel. And the fact that Mai was still holding his arm was only clouding his mind further. "Let go," he bit out.

Mai retracted her hand like she'd been burned, and deep embarrassment overcame the tingles of excitement she'd felt at touching him. "S-sorry," she murmured. She knew Naru was uncomfortable with physical contact. Mai groaned softly. Her ribs and knees hurt, she'd tripped over nothing again, and now instead of helping Naru with whatever he was struggling with (her real reason for following him), she'd probably made it worse. Mai turned her face away, not wanting Naru to see her tear up.

Oliver Davis closed his eyes and tried to block out the image of Mai's hurt face and watery eyes. He wasn't sure what he'd do if she started crying, but it would probably be foolish. He'd been nothing but foolish all day.

Oddly, this realization calmed Naru down. He opened his eyes, cleared his throat, and steeled himself for the heartbreakingly depressed look Mai would be wearing when she faced him.

She didn't disappoint. Mai's eyes were swimming with tears, and Naru felt something twist inside him.

"You're right," he said, staring straight into Mai's eyes. "I've been very abrupt today. I'm... trying to understand something, and I shouldn't take my impatience with myself out on you."

Mai reckoned he even apologized like a narcissist; completely sure of himself and totally unabashed about declaring his self-examination to her. It still totally hit her right in the heart. Mai racked her brain for something un-pathetic to say. "So be nice, Narcissist."

"I'm never nice, Mai," Naru replied. Hadn't he already explained that he was the 'bad' twin?

"You're nice a lot, Naru," Mai argued feelingly, hearing thepessimism in Naru's voice.

This comment set off an immediate, internal tug-of-war. Half of Naru wanted to flee this Very Confusing Situation. The other half wanted very much to ask Mai to elaborate.

Could it really be... that?

Mai waited him out; Naru was obviously thinking very hard about something. And she would sit here all night if it meant he would open up to her.

-0O0-

"Shouldn't we at least check on them or something?" Gregory wondered. "I mean, we can't even see them on the monitors."

"They're fine," Madoka replied tersely. Covertly, she glanced at Lin. "They're fine, right?" she whispered.

Lin nodded. "My shiki just returned - they're arguing, but they're physically fine."

"Even though Mai-chan screamed?"

"Apparently, she tripped." Lin smirked.

"So, arguing and tripping over nothing." Madoka moaned quietly. "Par for the course, then."

-0O0-

Naru avoided Mai's too-clear gaze. While his repeated denials were losing their vehemence, Mai was the very last person with whom Naru could discuss that.

A disappointed Mai knew she was losing him – she could practically see Naru folding back into himself before her eyes. Desperately, she grasped at the threads of their conversation. "Maybe I could help?" she asked swiftly.

Naru clenched his teeth. No, you definitely couldn't.

"I want to help," Mai declared.

"Help," a voice repeated behind her.

Mai twisted around, expecting to see Madoka – the voice had been female.

But there was no one there.

-0O0-

AN: Happy Almost St. Patrick's Day, from a person of Irish heritage whose family celebrates with spaghetti and meatballs every year! (We all hate corned beef and cabbage.)

I'm also excited to report I got a new job! It's going to take a while to adjust to the new schedule (earlier hours, ugh) and I don't get Fridays off anymore, but it's more money and a nicer environment, so I'm really quite thrilled.

Oh, and a message for my wonderfully patient readers - since this chapter was originally longer and I cut off a big chunk, I don't think the next update will take so long:)