The Story Continued (Ghost Hunt)

Chapter 42

"You should go back to your room and rest now." Ayako said as she pulled away from the hug. Mai pouted. "I don't want to, it will be boring."

"Does my company bore you?" Naru raised one eyebrow.

"You're gonna read some book anyway. I wish Masako was here."

"For your information, I don't have any book on me right now."

The discussion would probably continue but Ayako forced both of them into the building as she herself kept waiting for the monk. Mai and Naru headed to the information desk to find out in which room Mai would stay for the night. After being let in Mai instantly headed for the hospital bed. "I wanna sleep." She yelled.

"You need to take a shower first." Naru reminded her feeling like her babysitter. His comment made her sigh. "So why are you staying here again? Wait, no. Why do I have to stay here?" Mai pouted. "Because..." Naru started. "You got hurt and as your boss, I'm responsible for you." Even though Mai understood his reasoning she was still mad she had to stay at the hospital. So she maturely stuck out her tongue at him while sitting back up. Her quick movement however caused her pain. "Ouch" she hissed while placing her hand near her wound. Naru headed to her side and sat on the edge of the bed. "That's why you should stop acting childish." He said. "Well, you should stop acting like a grandpa." Mai responded.

Just then Ayako walked into the room. Takigawa followed right after. "How are you doing, Mai?" The monk asked quite loudly. He found it weird that Naru was sitting on the bed instead of the chair. The boy noticed the look that Bou-san was giving him. 'It's none of your business' Naru thought. "Can you keep it down, Takigawa? Mai has a headache again."

"Sorry." He watched as Naru got up from the bed and grabbed the bag Ayako was holding. The boy took out some painkillers and handed them to Mai. "Do you feel dizzy?" He asked and Mai shook her head slightly. "Don't shake your head, stupid. You'll hurt yourself."

"Don't they have any painkillers here?" Ayako asked.

"More won't hurt." Naru answered her. "How did you get here so fast anyway?"

Takigawa scratched his neck. "I might have run some red lights to get here faster."

"You didn't have to. I'm not dying." Mai sighed.

"Everyone is worried about you back at the hotel, you know. They freaked out when I informed them you will be spending the night here." Bou-san explained.

"For no reason. I'm just having headaches." The girl murmured. She looked quite tired so Ayako advised her to get ready for bed. "I guess we will be going then." Ayako added. "You have your things." The both of them said their farewell and left. Mai went to take a shower in hope the pain would go away.

"Are you going to sleep in a chair?" She asked as she returned to the room. Naru looked up from the book he was holding. "No. Takigawa got me my book so I'll keep reading." He stated. Mai thought of arguing and trying to convince Naru to go to sleep but the shower did not help in fighting off the headache at all so she gave up the idea. She just crawled onto the bed and reached for her phone. She decided to text Masako before falling asleep. Mai asked how the conversation with John went. She watched the little bubbles in the corner of her screen which informed her that Masako was still typing.

Masko and the rest of the crew arrived at the hotel madly worried about Mai. The girl felt guilty for not realizing how bad Mai's condition actually was. And she was not the only one. The whole atmosphere changed and no one was about to speak up. Soon the group quickly separated to their rooms.

The medium wasn't doing anything, in particular, she, however, was deeply lost in her thoughts so when someone knocked on her door she didn't hear a thing. It took several knocks to bring the girl back to earth. Once Masako finally got up and opened the door into her view came not anyone else but John. "Oh, I'm so sorry John. I forgot about you." The girl realized. This added even more feelings of guilt. John smiled kindly. "It's ok. That's not why I'm here." He stated. "I wanted to ask how you're feeling. I guess probably like the rest of us but still." The boy scratched his neck. "Yeah, I feel awful. We should've gotten her checked out right after it happened." The girl answered as she stepped back to let John in. He stepped into the room and the both of them took a seat.

"It's normal to feel like this. Mai is your friend after all. But you know it's not your fault. None of us noticed or said anything, not even Naru." John tried to cheer her up. "Just imagine it. He must be furious with himself right now." Masako chuckled a little at the thought of Mai not being able to leave Narus's side for the rest of the investigation...or even longer. "Have you texted her yet?" John asked. Masako shook her head in response. "She's probably still getting treated."

"Actually, Bou-san just left to get her and Naru a few things so I think they might be done. I heard Mai will have to spend this night at the hospital." He explained as he remembered Bou-san running between his and the other rooms in order to get what he needed. "Wait, didn't he come here to get Mai's stuff?" The boy realized. What would he need from Naru's room? Masako had to think for a moment...The might have been someone letting themselves into the room and running around like a headless chicken back when Masako wasn't fully present. But since she wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings she couldn't tell for sure.

John found the constantly changing expressions on the girl's face quite amusing. She sure was trying hard to remember if she had a visitor or not. "Then I'll be going. You can text Mai to calm yourself a little." He suggested. Masako smiled. "I'll. And I'm sorry you couldn't tell me what you originally wanted." She said as she got up to see John out the door. "It's nothing. I can always tell you next time. Mai's more important right now, right?"

Masako nodded thinking about her friend. She was also thinking about how incredibly understanding John was. Soon they both said goodnight and the boy left. 'I guess I'll text Mai.' Masako thought but as she grabbed her phone she noticed a message from Mai. So she started typing. The long message, however, even if delivered to Mai, was not read by the girl as our brunette fell asleep exhausted by the day.

At the same time Masako was typing, John was being dragged out of his room by Gene and Yasu. "So, how was it?" Yasu asked excitedly as soon as they forced John into their own room. The boy answered his question with a visible blush on his face. "I didn't tell her." He murmured. "She's upset over Mai which is normal in this situation, plus I told you I don't want to tell her yet!"

Gene sighed. A little disappointed. "I thought you could get together, like Yasu and I."

"And I thought I told you Masako has someone she likes." John answered trying to ignore both of the boys rolling their eyes. "Well, I guess there is no point pushing you. You're different from us after all." Yasu admitted. John let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you...so...um..can I go back to my room now?" He, not knowing why, asked for permission. "Yeah sure.." Gene answered, already occupied with his phone. Yasu was next to him watching the game Gene was playing. John looked at the weird duo and smiled before leaving the room. "Goodnight." He said as he was leaving not really expecting an answer. But just as the door closed after him the couple yelled back. "Night!"