The Story Continued (Ghost Hunt)

Chapter 57

I found no official description of Luella and Martin and I'm really not sure if they are even a part of the manga and novel. All I can find are fanfic sources. Their description may differ from these.

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At the airport Mai was analyzing every part of the building, trying her best to follow the group and not get lost. Her first impression of the place was overwhelming. The process was long and complicated but watching Takigawa get pulled aside to get tapped down because of a piercing nobody knew he had was pretty funny. Once they got to their gate, everyone put their stuff down. Mai wanted to wander around and have a look at the shops and normally, Masako or Gene would join her but they all were still tired from yesterday and all the days before. So to make sure the girl didn't get lost, Naru put his book down and followed her. "Should we bring a gift for your parents?" Mai asked. "Are you trying to get into their good graces?" Naru raised an eyebrow. Mai sighed. "I'm nervous. I'm not sure about all the customs." she admitted. Naru pulled the girl out of the store. "Believe me, the best gift to my mother is that she gets to meet you." he explained as the two of them strolled through the airport. After stopping at a cafe they joined the team back at the gate. "Where are Yasu and Gene?" Mai asked, interrupting a conversation. Ayako, Masako, Takigawa and John were sitting all together discussing what they would like to see in England when Mai approached them. "They decided to take a walk after all." Ayako answered. "Boarding starts in 10 minutes." Mai stated. She worried the two boys were gonna be late. Knowing them, they might. "It's that late already?" Takigawa asked, getting up and stretching. "They board priority first so we don't have to hurry. Don't worry, Mai, they will make it back in time." Masako explained. Mai looked at her friend intensely. Something seemed off. "We are priority boarding." Madoka appeared behind Masako's seat. "Didn't you look at the tickets?"

Takigawa pulled out the ticket his boss gave him. "Business?!" he read. "That's so Naru-like." Mai said like she wasn't surprised. Inside she was even more excited about the flight. Takigawa kept scanning his ticket. "Seat 10A"

"I have 10H." Ayako said, noticing it was pretty far away.

"Don't miss me too much." Takigawa joked, making Ayako smack his shoulder.

"You all can switch seats once we board but it's time to go." Naru called out. The group lined up for boarding. "Naru, Gene and Yasu are missing." Mai stated. Naru put his hand on the girl's shoulder, making sure she stayed where she was. "You're not going to look for them. They have their tickets, they will manage." he informed. "I wasn't going to." Mai said, turning around. "I'm just worried." she added. The boarding started. They scanned their tickets and showed their ID's. The team was greeted by the stewardesses at the door. Walking passed and through the rows Takigawa saw no row 10. He had to walk further past the toilets to see two more rows. Row ten and eleven. Two rows with six seats per row. Takigawa took his seat while Mai was too busy taking everything in. The seats were placed in 2-2-2 configuration, turned a little inwards and separated by small tables. Mai noticed there were two more seats there than members of their team and she wondered what people would end up with them. "Don't worry about your seat. Just sit wherever." Naru said as he tapped her on the shoulder. Ayako heard him and quickly understood what he meant. "Did you buy two extra seats so you wouldn't have to deal with other people?" she asked. Having the boy ignore her question, she knew she was right. Ayako rolled her eyes and took a seat next to Takigawa, 10C. "Just making sure you don't miss me too much." She said sitting down. Takigawa took her hand and gave her a kiss. "Appreciate that." Mai and Masako sat in the middle of row 11, D and G, while Lin and Madoka sat in row 10, H and K, on the far left. John sat behind Takigawa and Naru behind Lin. Two more seats in the middle of row 10 were left in case Yasu and Gene made it in time.

Once everyone was seated the two boys rushed in just in time. Laughing. "Hey, you're in my seat." Yasu said confused, looking at Ayako. "Just sit down." The woman ordered. "Why are you late?" Naru asked his brother as the two boys sat down. "Believe me, you don't wanna know." Gene laughed. Mai was still looking at Masako trying to figure out what felt off when she spotted John looking out the window behind her. "Wait! I wanna watch the take off." Mai said as she got up. "Masako, I'll join you once we are up in the air." With that she walked over to Naru. He heard the girl's remark and waited for her to ask. "Naru, let me have your seat." she said, surprising Naru. The boy smirked. "What happened to please?" he asked but he still got up, letting her have his seat and seating next to her instead. "Thanks, Naru!" Mai said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. The whole flight included a lot of seat switching, laughter and near the and sleeping. Speaking of nearing the end. As the plane approached landing Mai started to feel pressure and pain in her ears. "What is it?" she asked, covering her ears but nothing changed. "It's pressure change. Some have it worse than others." Naru answered as he gave the girl ear plugs. Madoka turned around after hearing the conversation. "Here, Mai." She handed the girl gum. Mai took it and chewed on it while massaging the space right behind her ears. Nothing worked. She instantly changed her mind about flying and not even looking at the sunset outside the window could distract her. She turned to Naru and hid her face in his arms. It's not like it was helping her pain but it did make her feel better. Naru sighed with a smile on his face and turned to look around. Mai wasn't the only one affected. Masako and Gene had the same problem, which was an interesting coincidence. "I forgot why I hated flying." Masako stated as he closed her eyes, getting comfortable in her seat. "Masako?" John stated. But the girl couldn't hear him. The boy tapped her on the hand. She opened her eyes and saw him holding a box of gum. She smiled. "Thanks John."

"Does it hurt a lot?" he asked, not having any problems himself. "I can barely hear you." she said as she got up and sat next to him. She wasn't supposed to do that since the belt sign was on. "What did you say?" Masako asked. John repeated his question again a little louder. Instead of answering Masako grabbed his hand and squeezed it causing him about the same amount of pain she was feeling. "Masako!" the boy exclaimed, surprised, making the girl chuckle. "You asked." she pointed out. John smiled knowing she was right and knowing the squeeze didn't really hurt much but he wanted to make the girl feel better. Masako watched his smile, a gentle smile. She felt unable to look away. And the blush that appeared on his face once he noticed Masako's fixed gaze made her own gmile grow bigger. John could feel his cheeks get warmer and tried to pull his hand back embarrassed. But Masako squeezed it, this time gently. "Don't." she said. "It's comforting in this situation." she quickly added blaming her problem. John nodded, straightened in his seat and turned to the window to hide his smile as well as his blush.

Once the plane landed the group collected their luggage and headed out of the airport. They followed Naru until they spotted two black vans. In front of them Mai spotted a gentle looking woman with short blonde hair. She smiled brightly as she noticed Naru and Gene. As the group neared she hurried to the wins and hugged them one after another. "My babies!" she exclaimed, chosing to speak in japanese."Mother." Naru sighed but hugged the woman back. "Hi, mom." Gene chimed in. Their father appeared behind his wife putting his hand on her shoulder. His slick back hair and his mustache were brown. Mai noticed that both of them had dark blue eyes and if she didn't know the twin were adopted she would swear that's where they got them from. "Now, where are they? Where?" The woman said almost jumping with joy. "Maybe not here?" Naru suggested, which made his mother give him a very impatient glare. Naru sighed as he took Mai's hand and pulled her forward. "Be gentle. She isn't feeling well." he added. Mai was pretty confused as she was suddenly standing between Naru and his parents but had Yasu join her right after. Luella greeted them with warm hugs one after another. Mai decided to introduce herself. "I'm Taniyama Mai." she stated hugging the woman back and Yasu followed. The two of them were then offered a handshake by Martin. After analyzing her future in-laws up and down and showering them with love Luella moved to greet the rest of the team. And the introduction turned into a long conversation. "Mum, I'm sure everyone is tired. How about you continue the conversation at the house?" Gene suggested, his ears still in pain. "At the house?" Mai asked, Naru after all never specifically told her where they would be staying. "The quicker we leave the quicker you'll see." Naru stated, opening the door of the van. "Come on."

The road took them a while but when they arrived at the Davis mansion Mai was mesmerized by what she saw. "This is where we will be staying." Naru said.