This story is dedicated ecyoj06 for all of the support given to me. I was going through a hard time and ecyoj reviewed my other story asking for an update. I told her that I was going through some hard times. She supported me and was very kind about the whole thing and I was grateful. Thankfully everything worked out.
Anyway, here's the sequel to Ghost Ship. Please review and tell me what you think, oh and watch out for a mischevious Deshi.
Mai dashed through the rain as she made her way towards the office that she had worked in for the past four years. She was late and she knew that. Madoka and Koujo Lin, close friends of hers and her boss's, were visiting with a case that Lin had brought them. It was surprising that he had been the one to bring it but apparently it had been a close friend of his from China that had asked him to get help.
'Why is it raining? When I went out to get the pastries the sun was shining!!' Mai growled to herself as she entered the building. She shook her slightly wet hair before dashing up the steps with the pastry box securely under her arm. She opened the door and entered the office. She was slightly thankful that Lin and Madoka hadn't gotten there yet.
'They're probably at the hotel. They fly from England all the time. I would be surprised if they didn't get jetlag that was so severe that they won't be able to sleep for days.' Mai thought with a smile on her face as she made her way to the kitchen.
"Mai, tea!" she winced before looking over her shoulder and sighed.
"I know, I know! Let me get my coat off at least!" she called back. She heard him sigh before the door to his office closed with a thud. She gave a small smile. Lin had called and asked him to take the case. Naru had told him he would think about it but then Madoka had started calling every day and annoying the stoic nineteen year old until he had accepted.
'Poor Naru. Even though he's almost twenty, Madoka still treats him as though he's five. Must be Deshi's influence.' Mai thought effectively as she set the water to boiling as she bustled around the kitchen, pulling the serving plate out and placing pastries out. She had no doubt in her mind that the small family would be arriving shortly.
She turned as the teapot whistled. She made her way over and began to prepare the tea for Naru. Once she was done she carefully took the cup and made her way to Naru's office. She entered with a soft knock to announce her presence and placed the tea cup on his desk. The boy looked up at her before smirking. She tried to dodge his hand as it reached for her but had no luck. She was soon trapped in his arms and his lips were devouring hers before she managed to push him away as her breathing was uneven.
"I think the only reason you ask me for tea anymore is to just get me into your office!" she accused. She heard him chuckle darkly and she squeaked as his lips covered hers again. She was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to be allowed to exit his office again. She somehow doubted it but was never given the chance to voice her thoughts as she heard the front door of the office open.
"We're here!!!" Madoka called out. Naru frowned angrily as he was forced to let Mai go. She stood up and dashed into the outer office to see both Lin and Madoka helping Deshi take his rain coat off.
"Mai!!" the two year old cried as he dashed to her. She bent down and hugged the young boy tightly before she picked him up and sat down on the couch with Deshi sitting on one side of her and Naru claiming the other side.
"Noll!" the boy waved. Naru nodded at him before reaching over Mai's shoulder and ruffling the young boy's black hair. The boy giggled before looking at his mother and father and Lin smiled gently. Deshi climbed from the couch and quickly scrambled back up into his father's lap.
"Daddy..." Deshi smiled brightly as he rested his head against his father's chest. Mai gave a small giggle, ignoring the fact that Naru kept his arm around the back of the couch and close to her shoulders.
"How are you doing?" she directed towards the adults. Madoka gave her a bright smile and Lin nodded to her. Deshi tugged on his father's long bangs and Lin winced slightly before pulling his son's hand away from his hair.
"Stop, Deshi. We've told you about pulling people's hair." Lin said firmly. The boy frowned before nodding.
"Sorry." Deshi told his father as he cuddled into the older man's chest.
"We've been good. Deshi's a handful and a half but...that's how kids are. And I brought you the information on the case, Noll. The client can't come out to meet you so we have to go there." Madoka told him pleasantly. He sighed before taking the folder from her and reading it over. He shook his head as he ran a hand through his hair.
"How long has this been going at your friend's house, Lin?" he asked the man. Lin sighed as he kept a wiggling Deshi in his lap. The boy finally escaped his father's grasp and took the toy from his mother and settled in her lap. Mai couldn't keep from smiling, the only lap that the boy hadn't been on yet was Naru's and he was eyeing it as he hugged his teddy bear that he had had since he was a baby.
"Since he moved in, I believe. He isn't as much of a friend as he is a family acquaintance. He was a friend of my father's and my mother asked me to talk to you." Lin finally replied. Naru gave a small frown.
"Has he ever complained of these things before?" Naru asked. Lin sighed, he knew the boy didn't want to take the case. And Lin couldn't blame him.
"Wei has never uttered a complaint in front of me. But let me warn you, he is as stubborn as a mule. I wouldn't have suggested this case if my mother hadn't just left me alone." Lin shot a look at Madoka and Mai gave a smile. She could see what was going on. Apparently Lin's mother, a kind lady that Mai had met last year on a trip to England, had been annoying not only him, but his wife as well. And Madoka was very scary when she was annoyed or determined.
'This looks like a mixture of both.' Mai thought with a sickly smile. She loved Madoka dearly, however her personality was much more rapid in changes than Mai thought her own was. But then again, she could've been wrong.
"Very well. It says here that things move on their own and some of the corners of the house remain dark no matter how much they try to light it. I must say that though this case didn't interest me first...it is becoming rather intriguing." Naru said with that dark smirk of his. Mai gulped. She wasn't very fond of that smirk. It meant one of two things, Naru was excited or he was about to kiss her. She hoped that it was the former rather than the latter, she didn't want him kissing her in front of Deshi.
She blinked as Deshi slipped out of his mother's lap and relocated on Naru's. The teenage boy blinked in surprise and Mai stifled a giggle at the surprised look that was on her boss's face. It was absolutely adorable with Deshi grinning up at him and him just staring at the boy in his lap, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do.
Alright, leap frog. You need to eat." Madoka said as she pulled out a glass jar of what looked to be baby food. Mai looked on closer inspection and saw that it was apple sauce. At least they weren't giving him smashed peas. Mai shuttered, she just hated looking at the things when she walked past them.
"No!" Deshi said with a giggle. Naru picked the boy of his lap before putting him in Mai's lap. Mai blinked in surprise before looking up at Naru curiously. She felt her eyes widen at the stunned look that Naru had on his face before the boy quickly dashed into his office and closing the door behind him. Mai looked at Lin and Madoka curiously before shrugging.
Naru sat at his desk with his head in his hands. He wasn't exactly sure what had come over him. One minute he was staring down at Deshi and the next he was wondering what it would be like if he was holding his own child. It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't imagined the child having big brown eyes like his mother.
'This is going to be interesting. That is for sure.' he told himself as he looked at his computer screen. He didn't know what had brought on the image. He supposed it was the kiss from earlier but he had always been so much more controlled around her before. Even though she was his and everything, he was always able to control himself around her. He didn't know how far she was ready to go and he certainly didn't want to force her to do anything.
"Mai!!" he called. He heard her complaining in the other room before the door opened and she stood there with a raised eyebrow. He stared at her and she gave a soft sigh. She gently closed the door behind her and moved closer to his desk.
"Call the others. Tell them to be here at nine am Saturday. Masako would know whether John has been assigned a church. We need him as well. I would prefer to have him do a blessing before we tried anything else." Naru told her. Mai nodded in understanding before quietly slipping out of his office. She went over to her desk and could see that Madoka, Lin, and Deshi were in Lin's old office.
Naru hadn't moved any of Lin's stuff in case Lin did come back for a case. Though Mai knew it was impossible as the man seemed to adore his family. He seemed to adore his wife very much. Mai felt a smile spread across her face as he stole a kiss from her as Deshi chased the red ball that they had given him.
'Alright, now to call everyone!' Mai thought as she sat at her desk. She picked the phone up and dialed Takigawa's phone number. She waited as it rang. She wondered if he was even home before she heard it finally pick up.
"Hello?" a female voice asked. Mai blinked. She recognized that voice. It was a voice that she heard almost every time they had a case. And it was a voice she never thought to hear at Takigawa's house.
"Ayako?" she asked. She heard the woman giggle.
"Mai, is that you? What does that idiot want now?" the woman asked and Mai sighed. It seemed that ever since she had accidentally let it slip what Gene's nickname for Naru was, Ayako and Takigawa had started using. Much to the narcissist's annoyance.
'Probably because he thought he had finally got rid of the nickname.' she told herself before she turned her attention back to Ayako. "Naru wants everyone here by nine am on Saturday. He's taken that case that Lin offered him."
"Oh, did Madoka and Deshi come with Lin?" the woman asked. Ayako loved Deshi, she was even listed as his pediatrician and flew out to England every six months to check on him.
"Yes. I think they're coming with him on the case. I certainly don't see Madoka sitting at the hotel waiting for us to call her and tell her what's going on." Mai said. She heard Ayako laugh.
"I certainly can't blame her. I'll pass the message onto to Takigawa. The idiot blew his washing machine up and I had to come and fix it." the miko sighed. Mai blinked.
"You know how to fix it?" Mai asked in surprise. She didn't realize that Ayako was the mechanical time. She certainly didn't strike her as the mechanical type.
"No. I have the sense to call the repair man. Takigawa obviously doesn't. Oh, I have to go. I'll see you on Saturday!" Ayako told her before hanging up.
'This will be interesting.' Mai couldn't help but think.
"Scary!" Deshi said bluntly as he cowered in his mother's side. Madoka and Mai were sitting in the back of the van watching as a huge looming building appeared in the middle of nowhere. Mai half-hoped that Lin would drive the van past the house but he didn't. He pulled into the long driveway with Takigawa's white SUV following them. Masako and John were with the monk and miko, apparently John had arrive in Japan on Thursday and Masako had told him of the plans.
"It's alright Deshi." Madoka assured her son. They had forgotten to bring the boy's car seat and Madoka had buckled him in and held him tightly the whole ride. And now he was hiding against her side as they drew closer to the house.
"It does look evil." Mai told Naru as she leaned forward so that she was resting against the back of his seat.
"Hm." Naru said. Though he couldn't disagree. The building did seem to have a rather dark aura around it. "I called Yasuhara and he will be doing some research before coming out here himself."
"I'll be able to do some research. Wei has internet access, or so he said. Or so my mother told me." Lin sighed. His mother had a way of twisting the truth so that he would agree to whatever she wanted. His sister was very much the same way. It was the reason she was studying in France.
"That will be helpful. Oh, Deshi, it's alright." Madoka told her son as he continued to cower in her side. Naru looked back at the young boy before at the boy's father.
"Is he sensitive?" Naru asked. Lin stopped the van and put it into park. He frowned before looking at Madoka who shrugged.
"He may be. However I've been letting him learn how to control my Shiki. They seem to enjoy playing with him. This is the first time that he's been on a case." Lin told them. Madoka nodded.
"Martin and Luella always made sure at least one of us weren't on a case before assigning the other a case. We never thought about testing Deshi as he's never showed any signs." Madoka said softly before winking at her son. He giggled as his father let one of his Shiki tickle him and he squealed.
"Leave the equipment until we enter the house and talk to Wei." Naru ordered as they climbed out of the van. They met with the others before making their way towards the house. Mai was looking at the house and she saw a curtain move. She gasped as she saw the skeletal figure standing there before it disappeared.
"Mai?" she looked down and saw Naru looking at her. She looked over at Masako as the medium suddenly gasped.
"There is something in that house." she whispered fearfully and Mai knew she had seen the figure as well.
"What is it?" Naru asked and Masako's eyes dilated before she looked at Naru and shook her head slowly.
"I wish I knew."