Black Phantom (Ghost Hunt fanfic) (NaruxMai)

Torture and Tea

Black Phantom

Chapter 3:

3 hours earlier:

Kuro Kaitou's latest heist was taking place in yet another western style mansion, this one more cavernous than the previous. Mai found that the library alone was larger than the size of her apartment and a sizeable section that was about the size of her kitchen, was devoted to the supernatural.

"Are all the cameras set up?" her narcissistic superior called out to her.

She nodded. "As per your instructions, Naru-sama."

An hour earlier he had handed her a map, marking out where he wanted all the cameras to be positioned. The plan even detailed which camera had to be placed in which room so she couldn't just pick up any old camera from the pile and set it up in one of the living rooms. She hadn't really questioned why, she had simply assumed that Kazuya Shibuya was a neat freak in addition to being a control freak and a narcissist. What Mai didn't guess was that several cameras contained incendiary devices and they were set to go off when the heist started, as they were likely to capture Kuro Kaitou's face due to the fact that they were in the path of his entry and exit route.

"Is there anything else that you want me to do?" she enquired.

The reply was simple. "Mai, tea."

"But we're in someone else's house and you are a Police officer- you should know better," she protested.

Naru sighed. "All you are going to use is the water. Lin has the kettle and the teabags. Off you go."

He resolved to use a light tranquilliser on her tonight. Some tranquillisers left you feeling like you had a hangover the next morning and he couldn't have her missing work and not making him tea. Over the past seven days he had developed a minor addiction to say the least. The look on Mai's face when she realised that she was going to have to hear about how handsome he was for the nth time was also a bonus.

The next few hours whittled by and were mainly filled with tea making and the occasional disagreement between Mai and Naru until it was fifteen minutes before the time stated in Kuro Kaitou's warning letter.

"Is everyone clear on their positions? We have extra officers at likely entrance points, but someone should be in every part of the building," Naru said as he consulted the floor plan. His placing of Mai, Lin and himself was deliberate to minimise trouble.

Five minutes before the heist start time all the officers were waiting in position. Mai was on floor above Naru who was just around the corner from Lin. However there was an unpatrolled hallway opposite him which he would be using as a route whereas Lin and the other officers would be running in a different direction once eight o'clock arrived.

"5,4,3,2,1," he muttered to himself as he glanced down at his watch.

At zero the lights faded due to something that had been installed in the fuse box. Simultaneously he heard shouting from officers posted on the west side of the building. Then he heard Lin ordering everyone to run to that side the of building and he darted into the hallway and squashed his body against the wall. Several officers ran past his hiding place in the darkness and he counted the number to verify that everyone had left the east side of the building.

Once the final officer had passed him he pulled on his Kuro Kaitou costume that had been concealed in a giant Ming vase. He wondered if Mai would enjoy the projections that he had created to mislead the task force.

Mai followed the stream of officers down the stairs to the ground floor where the shouting was coming from. When she reached the right area, she saw by the faint illumination of the crescent moon, a black outline running along the length of the dining room with the Chinese beanpole leading the chase.