Ghost Hunters, Lies, & Money (Ghost Hunt Fanfiction)

In Which: Mai Can't Talk To Bou-san

Day Five

10:30pm

The Koku Inn

And the answer is yes.

Mai fell back against the mattress.

It was a final reminder that she was not the person she had been impersonating that night. If she were Masako she would be laying there in a blissful swoon. Instead, she laid there in confused exhaustion.

Naru.

Naru gave me that moon lily.

Mai stared hard at the dark ceiling above her, images dancing before her eyes as if projected there.

Naru walking through the Inn's halls, moon lily in hand.

Naru stopping at her door, knocking.

Naru opening the door when there was no answer, slipping inside.

Naru standing in her room, his eyes taking in her unmade bed and unpacked suitcase.

Naru approaching her bed, his hand reaching out to place the-

Mai squeezed her eyes shut and the scene cut off.

Impossible.

Even her imagination couldn't picture it.

This wasn't a fairytale. He wasn't prince charming.

But he admitted to it.

And there it was shimmering next to her.

What did it all mean...?

Like uninvited guests, Wise Obasan's and Bou-san's words invaded her mind:

"You are a match!"

"Naru likes you..."

Mai's eyes flew open.

Impossible.

With a tired groan, wishing the lumpy mattress she was sprawled across would swallow her, Mai turned over- and then gave a cry of pain.

She had forgotten her injuries. Sitting up sharply, she drew her knees to her chest. Miserable, she swiped at one of her pillows, pulling it to her to hold, looking for some kind of comfort- when a strange crinkling mixed with her labored breathing in the silence.

Mai blinked, surprised. It was coming from the pillow. Tentatively she ran a hand over the white case, and discovered the cause. There was something stuffed inside, and all at once she remembered.

The picture.

The picture that started it all.

The mystery she had been trying to solve.

The reason she and Bou-san had formed this mission.

Mai pulled the aged photo free, and stared down at it in the dim of her room.

A small girl smiled up at her, her features filled with joy.

Mai suddenly stiffened as an unexpected connection was triggered. In washed Bou-san's voice again, as clear as if her were speaking before her:

"Unless- think about it...Naru could have been the one to give you that moon lily, and if that's the case- then guess who saw that picture sitting on your nightstand?"