The Story Continued (Ghost Hunt)

Chapter 48

Mai slowly opened her eyes, curious about the noise around her. She lifted her head from the table just to see Masako walk into the room. On the other side of the room, Madoka and Ayako were now taking care of the monitors. "What happened?" She asked. The sound of her voice made Ayako turn around. "Ah, Mai, I think you just took a nap."

"No wonder, after such a day." Madoka added.

"How do you feel?" Masako asked.

Mai smiled at her friend. "Fine, I guess. But where's the rest?"

The medium shrugged. "Gene kidnapped them. I'm scared of what he's planning with that grin on his face."

"Speaking of grinning, Mai was grinning the whole time she was asleep." Ayako stated teasingly.

"I had a pleasant dream, ok?" she answered putting her hands up in defence.

"About the case?" The conversation continued.

"No, a normal dream. A weird normal dream."

"What was it about?" Masako asked as she took a seat next to Mai. Mai hesitated at first slightly embarrassed but then told her friends about the dream. Madoka started at the girl in awe then started laughing hysterically. Ayako joined her. "Stop laughing at me!" Mai blushed. Madoka actually had a hard time catching her breath. "It's just...Mai, that actually happened. You thought.... that was a dream?" She managed while still laughing in between. "Wait, what? Mai, that's great." Masako started hugging her friend. "But I have to admit that's not like Naru at all."

"What's not like me at all?" Naru asked as he walked into the room. "Nevermind. I can guess." He added before anyone could answer him.

"Maybe Gene has some kind of influence on him." Ayako suggested.

Naru ignored the comment. Instead, he took another monitor and ordered the girls to take the rest of the equipment. They were finally going to head back to the hotel for the day. Inside the car, Mai has fallen asleep again. Now she could use Naru's shoulder without hesitation. "I've been thinking." Gene started. "Weren't you just jealous that Yasu and I got together like after a month of knowing each other? Because then it would make sense why you confessed to Mai earlier than you planned." Naru let out a sigh knowing that he will have to deal with his brother until they get to the hotel. "And how do you know when I was planning to 'confess' to Mai? If even that is."

"Come on. Everyone says how this wasn't like you. It's obvious you kinda forced that."

"Gene, do you know what I regretted the most after you disappeared?"

Gene shrugged.

"How I would always kick you out of my room when you would come to talk to me." Naru explained.

After that Gene stayed silent as he figured what his brother meant.

"But why now? From what I've heard y'all went through much worse things."

Naru glared at his brother without hesitation. He hoped the conversation was over. He wasn't good at talking about his feelings. "I couldn't enjoy life fully knowing you were still missing. I kept beating myself over it." Gene's expression turned sad. "Let's just make the most of what we have." He suggested. Naru nodded slightly. Gene thoughts were still skipping in his head."Well, I can say we are doing pretty great. Hunting ghosts. Could you imagine how boring life could be?" Gene tried to lighten the mood. "Not at all." His brother answered. "Yeah, I mean, not to us but imagine how boring the lives of other people are." Madoka finally decided to join the conversation. "Could you imagine living that kind of life? You wouldn't have to worry about your friends and loved ones." Gene laughed this idea off. "Naru couldn't for sure. He would die of boredom. And can you imagine going back to normality now, Madoka?" The woman shook her head. "Once you're in, there is no way out." She smiled. "You can't just not notice the paranormal. And you can't really ignore it either."