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

In Which: Mai Is Married

Day Three

6:15am

The Koku Inn

Mai lay still in her bed, staring at the ceiling. She had been up for at least fifteen minutes, debating with herself. After being guided back to the Inn by Bou-san and John, she had sunk into her lumpy mattress like a stone. She had a strange feeling in her stomach. Masako. He had called her Masako.

Mai closed her eyes with a frown. Sleep well, he had told her. But the trouble was she hadn't. She hardly slept the whole night. Not one dream found her as she tossed and turned. All she saw when closing her eyes was darkness. It was all she saw now. With a frustrated groan Mai opened her eyes.

She needed to see him. Even if he annoyed her (which was likely...). Last night left her feeling too weird, she needed to do some damage control. So with a fiery resolve burning inside, she jumped into the shower, dressed, and made a b-line for his door.

Mai passed out of her room and glance down the hall...all around was silence, not even the cry of a fussy baby. Mai knew now why this was. The dining room had been opened at six, and as she and Bou-san found out, stragglers were punished on penalty of cold rice. Mai shivered at the thought and made a mental note not to keep Naru long. She smiled; maybe they could even walk to the dining room together?

A few steps away, room thirteen loomed. Mai took a deep breath, and closed the distance. She drew herself up, reached for the door, counted to ten...then recounted as she somehow lost track...Mai was suddenly struck with how stupid she must look, hovering outside Naru's door, her hand moving towards and away from knocking.

Just knock already! Mai scolded herself.

How many times had she burst into Naru's office? Without even knocking? This was no different. Not that she would go bursting into his room...but that was getting off point!

With a surge of energy, before she could stop herself-- Mai knocked, and then stared. Her knocking had come out rather more like pounding. Horrified at how loud she had just been in the silence, certain that she could have woken the dead-- Mai shrunk back to the wall behind her and cast guilty looks up and down the hall. More silence...and no angry Naru answering his door. Mai began to breathe again. She must have missed him, there was no way he could have ignored her knocking.

Mai hung her head and sighed. So much for walking to the dining room with him, let alone talking to him. She would have to try again later when they could be alone. With heavy steps, Mai made her way towards the dining room. The way she felt, she didn't care if she had to have cold rice again for breakfast. Her stomach flopped. Well, she almost didn't care...

But Mai needn't have worried about cold rice. Entering the dining room she caught sight of Ayako and Masako seated at a table that dominated the room, an icy silence settled between the two. Mai smirked slightly, the two had never really gotten along, at least she wasn't the only one having a bad morning. How did they get stuck alone together anyway-- not even Mr. Sachi was present, and he was always glued to Masako's side. A bit confused, Mai found a seat in between the medium and miko.

"Good morning," she greeted, rather brighter than she felt.

Ayako mumbled a sort of greeting back, but Masako didn't even attempt that, she simply drank her tea. The blood rose in Mai's cheeks. It wasn't that the medium had snubbed her, but she could afford a little courtesy after having such a pleasant night as she had last night.

Out of habit, she vainly reached for a distraction from her anger, a tea cup, but there was none for her. Just then Mrs. Koku bustled in with an order-- her old sharp eyes caught Mai's, and she froze. Mai was a bit startled, but recovered and held up Ayako's tea cup to signal that she wished for some tea. The woman sat down the tray she was serving and hurried away back to the kitchen. Mai lowered Ayako's cup slowly, surprised by the woman's prompt service, they hadn't exactly got off on the right foot...