The Story Continued (Ghost Hunt)

Chapter 15

The next day Mai was in the office as usual. She and Naru were the only ones there as Lin was off until the next case and Gene hadn't arrived yet. The girl just received a call from their potential client and was heading to her boss's office. "Naru. The client just called." She started and Naru instructed her to go on. "It seems like another person passed away this morning. 'If you accept the case please come tomorrow. I'll pay any price.' That's what I was supposed to tell you." Mai explained.

"Call them back and tell them that we will be there in the morning." Naru said. Mai smiled and nodded. "I'll inform everyone." She said running out of the room to make some calls and some tea for her boss and herself.

While filling the kettle with water she noticed a shadow from the corner of her eye. "Hey, Yoru." She said as the animal was now in her full vision. "Did you come with Naru or stay he-" she couldn't end her sentence as the person she was calling picked up.

Some time passed and Mai was once again heading to Naru's office. "Done." She said placing his cup of tea on his desk while still holding hers in her hand. "Then you can go home now. Pack your stuff and have some sleep. We will depart around-"

"2 am, right?" Mai cut in. "That's what I told the rest."

"Yes, 2 am." Naru agreed thinking about the same time. "Was it a coincidence or your intuition?" He asked genuinely curious but turned back to his computer. Mai laughed. "Neither of those. Logical thinking, you know. If we depart at 2 we will arrive at 6. In the morning, right?" Naru glanced back at her and a slight smile formed on his face. "Don't be late." He said as the smile vanished. "I'll try but I have to walk all the way here so..." she then tried to change the topic knowing Naru wasn't going to be interested in her excuses. "You seem to be in a bad mood today, Naru." She sat in 'her' chair. "Did something happen?"

"Not, really." He said looking at the screen. Mai took a sip of her tea expecting him to go on. He noticed that and decided to play into her curiosity. "Gene didn't come back yesterday. In the beginning I was worried but he called and said he was still with Yasu." He stated. "So you are mad because he made you worried?" Mai asked. "It's normal considering what happ-" she was about to go on but Naru cut her off. "Not because of that. I had to take the cat back home with me. Or more like, it followed me there and then back here this morning."

Mai couldn't help but laugh. "And you are mad about that?"

"He took this cat so it's his responsibility. You told me not to spoil him remember? Anyway, it was bothering me the whole night." He tried explaining but was sure the girl was not convinced. She kept laughing. "Around midnight, when I was reading, it kept closing my book over and over." Naru said it like it was the worst thing that could happen to a person. It was even more amusing for Mai because he said it all with that straight, 100% serious, face of his.

"Maybe it was telling you to go to sleep?" She said calming herself down. "You work all day and then read until late." She got up from her seat and went over to stand beside Naru. She bent a little and looked at his screen. "What are you even working on right now?" She asked as she realized he was writing something in English. "A book about a phenomenon. You-" Mai cut him off. "I wouldn't understand that, right?" She said jokingly. "Not until your English gets better." Her boss said.

Mai stared at him for some time. Her glare was saying 'I'm not that bad, you know?' then turned her attention to the screen. "I think it didn't quite hit me yet how great you and Gene are." She murmured loud enough for Naru to hear. "Obviously, you keep calling me Naru." He stated.

"I can call you Oliver if you want." She said loudly while going back to her seat. "You don't have to." He protested. "Why not, Oliver? It's actually such a good name. Oliver, Oliver. It has a nice ring to it." She kept repeating the name. "Mai, really. Stop it. I think your pronunciation gets worse every time." Naru protested once more. Mail smiled at him. "Okay, Naru."

They then heard a voice outside the room calling. Mai opened the door to see Gene standing in the middle of the room looking around. "What is it, Gene?" Mai asked. "Here you are. I thought no one was here." He answered entering Naru's office. He then took a seat in another chair as he noticed Mai's cup on Naru's desk. Mai returned to her own seat. "So, where were you?" Mai asked. She knew he was with Yasu and was very curious. "I went over to Yasu's. He showed me some of his mangas." The boy explained.

"You stayed the night?" Mai asked as that was how she understood the situation. "No." Gene corrected her. "I went back home after. To be honest I didn't set up an alarm and got up like 30 minutes ago." He admitted. Mai sighed. "No wonder you were not picking up when I called."

Gene smiled. "Say, Mai. Could it be that you actually hoped I stayed at Yasu's?" Mai blushed. "No, I was just su-" she wanted to protest but stopped mid-sentence. She wanted to say that she was just 'supporting Yasu'. But then again she didn't know if Yasu liked him and if he did she would make Gene aware of that.

Naru joined their conversation "Are you done, Gene?" He asked not turning from his PC still typing. Gene smiled even more. Even tho his brother was hiding behind his PC he could sense that he was upset. Probably because he was teasing Mai. In his own mind, Naru was the only one who was allowed to do that and even tho he enjoyed it very much, lately he was trying to minimize it as much as possible. "Sorry Noll, I forgot that only you are allowed to tease your soon-to-be wife." Gene said in English so that Mai wouldn't understand. He was sure Naru would beat him up if he said it in Japanese.

Naru gave him the longest and coldest death glare. "That's enough." He almost hissed hoping Mai's English was really bad enough for her not to understand. "What did he say?" Mai suddenly asked. "Nothing important." Her boss answered focusing yet again on his PC.

Mai also let go of that matter as she was distracted by Gene. "So, I heard you named my cat. Where is it?" He asked.

"Probably somewhere in the office. Do you like the name?"

"Sure I do. It rhymes with Naru. They even look alike."

Here comes what Naru was expecting but he was having none of it. "Mai, weren't you supposed to go home?" He asked. Mai suddenly realized. "I can't believe I forgot. I need to pack my stuff." She then quickly drank the rest of her, now cold, tea and headed for the door but was stopped by Gene. "Why? What's going on?" He was still not aware that the next case had been chosen. Mai turned around but her actions were stopped again. This time by Naru. "Go. I'll tell him." He said. "And Mai. Don't you dare come here on foot. I'll pick you up."

Mai smiled, nodded and then disappeared behind the door. As soon as she arrived she packed all of her stuff. But instead of sleeping, she decided to read the files of the case again. She liked to be prepared. It must have been some weird virus she got from Naru as she wasn't like that before.

The next time her eyes opened she realized it was already dark outside. She grabbed her phone and checked the time. It was 1:30. Naru was supposed to arrive in 30 minutes.