Yo! Cross posted on AO3. So here's yet another fic for this fandom. I write far too many of these. I was initially planning on waiting until I had finished writing this before posting it, but, as usual, I got too impatient, so, uh, here you go?

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters...

It was a bright, sunny August afternoon like any other, and the day couldn't have been any better. Despite this, however, it didn't take a genius to notice that something was wrong with eighteen year old Taniyama Mai.

She had been behaving strangely for a while now, coming in to work late, with bags under her eyes, looking as if she hadn't slept in days. On top of that, she always appeared to have odd injuries, that she kept explaining away as her own clumsiness.

Everyone knew something was wrong, but when they brought it up with her, she adamantly denied it. Though they didn't yet realize it, they were about to find out just what had been going on in Mai's already bizarre life...

"Mai! Tea!"

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes, not at all surprised by the impolite demand. She had been expecting it, actually. Stretching, she rose to her feet, and quietly walked over to the small kitchen area, getting to work on preparing her boss' addiction (something that would have sounded strange if you didn't already know it was tea).

While she waited for the water to heat properly, she made some coffee for Lin, aware that was what he had been in the mood for recently. She couldn't blame him-she liked coffee as much as she did tea.

Once everything was ready, she placed her drink on her desk, headed to Lin's office to give him his own, then walked over to the boss man's boss cave of bossiness...

Naru, seated behind his large, wooden desk, glanced up from his notes when his young assistant entered the room, and he immediately noticed that she had, once again, not gotten much sleep the night before. Those circles under her eyes were beginning to get bigger, and darker, and he didn't like it.

Naru's eyes narrowed when he saw what looked like a bruise on the girl's arm. She was wearing a long sleeved shirt, despite the heat, but it seemed she had rolled up her sleeves, having forgotten about the bruise.

Mai didn't seem to notice where her boss' thoughts were going, and simply placed his teacup on his desk. Not bothering to wait for the thanks she was never going to get, she had only just turned to leave, when Naru suddenly got to his feet.

The girl's pretty brown eyes widened in surprise when she caught sight of the intensity in Naru's expression, but neither of them said a word. Instead, Naru walked around his desk, moving towards her, causing her to take an uncertain step back.

"Naru, what're you-ah!" she broke off with a gasp.

Jaw clenched, Naru grabbed her wrist, fully pushing her sleeve up out of the way, properly exposing the dark mark on her left forearm. "What is this?" he questioned, anger already rising. "How did this happen?"

Mai had not been acting like herself for months now, not from what he had heard recently, at least. He and Lin had only returned from England a couple of weeks ago, but according to the others, Mai had begun behaving in this odd manner at least half a year prior to their return to Japan. Apparently, that was also when the bags and injuries had begun appearing, and now it was time to find out why. Naru wasn't going to allow Mai to leave this room until he had his answers.

"What the hell is going on here, Mai?" he demanded none too gently. When all she did was snatch her arm away from him, he crossed his own over his chest, in a manner that very clearly stated that he was not about to move anytime soon.

Mai wasn't an idiot. She was fully aware of Naru's stubbornness, and knew that if she didn't start explaining things, he wasn't going to leave her alone. She released a long, drawn out sigh. As much as she didn't want to do this, she knew she didn't have much of a choice. Not really.

Sighing again, she moved around the desk, and all but collapsed in Naru's large, comfortable chair. When she saw him raise a brow in question, she sighed a third time. "If you really want me to explain all this, I need to sit, and I don't really care whose chair this is."

"...Very well," Naru conceded, deciding not to argue. Since Mai had stolen his chair, he took a seat on the corner of his polished desk. "Tell me, Mai. What's been going on here?" He took out his notebook and a pen, prepared to take notes, since Lin wasn't here to do it himself. Naru knew this was paranormal. It had to be.

Mai gave yet another sigh, and closed her eyes, collecting both her thoughts, and her courage. "Everything started around six months after you and Lin-san left for England with Gene's body," she began in a tone she was fighting to keep calm. "Ayako owned this house, that had been sitting empty for a couple of months, since the friends she had rented it to moved out."

Naru frowned slightly, wondering what this had to do with anything. "Why did Matsuzaki-san rent it in the first place? And why did she not return after?"

"She found a bigger place," Mai replied, "closer to the hospital she works at. A friend of hers had recently gotten married, and the couple needed a place to stay. As a favour, she rented it to them cheaper than anything else they would find of that size. But then her friend got pregnant, and figured the house wasn't big enough for kids, so they moved out," Mai explained.

"I see. ...And what does this have to do with your situation?" He was surprised when the girl didn't snap at him for that, and just continued calmly.

"At the time, there were a few break ins at my apartment complex, and everyone was getting kind of worried about me, since I was alone."

Naru had a feeling he knew where this was going. "I assume they no longer wished for you to live there?"

The brown haired girl nodded. "Un. Ayako remembered that house, which was empty at that point, and decided it would be better if I lived there instead. Considering our relationship, I would be living there as a favour, so she didn't want to even charge me for it, which was really helpful." She sighed, then went on. "They didn't really want me living alone, but I sort of insisted on it, because it's something I'm too used to. So I moved into that house about...seven months ago." She paused again, this time in hesitation, and didn't continue until Naru took a sip of his tea.

"Everything was-was fine at first," she said slowly. "It took me a little while to get used to the place-the house, the neighbourhood, the new walk to school, the store, you know, the usual. It just felt like a normal house. It didn't feel...haunted or anything like that. I never saw anything, never heard anything, never sensed anything weird, nothing at all."

Naru frowned again as he listened. "I assume that all changed at some point?" His curiosity was beginning to grow. It had to be bad if Mai was suffering like this. She had abilities, had been taught how to defend herself as well. But if she had been using those defences, then it was clear they certainly hadn't been working all too well, which was actually rather worrying.

Slowly, Mai shook her head. "It was so...sudden," she replied, trying to find the right words. "I just... I woke up early one morning, a couple of hours before my alarm was supposed to go off, and I was... I don't know why, but I was just really scared."

"You weren't having a nightmare before you woke?"

"I don't think so. This fear, and that fear, feel completely different. I can tell the difference."

Naru wasn't quite so sure, but inclined his head anyway. "What did you do then?"

"I left the house," Mai explained, "and went over to Bou-san's-he lives the closest. It was obvious that he was surprised to see me there at like, four in the morning, but I just made up some random excuse. I know he didn't really believe it, but he didn't question me and let me stay with him."

And why that statement had Naru's body burning, he didn't know or understand. But Mai didn't notice and went on after having paused in thought.

"I went back home after school that day, and the place just felt so different. It felt so dark and...heavy."

"Oppressive?"

"Un. That's how it felt-feels inside." The girl sighed again, brushing hair out of her eyes. "I've never seen whatever is in the house," she said slowly. "I can only sense that it's there, maybe because of how dark it is. I always feel like I'm being watched, and sometimes it feels like it's touching me, like when I'm in the bath or changing."

Naru's eyes narrowed at those words, and his jaw tightened, anger rising at the thought of Mai being touched by something like that, something dark and filthy. He said nothing though, not trusting himself to speak, allowing his young assistant to continue. Mai didn't notice the way Naru's hand shook as he went on taking notes.

"After a while," she said, "the injuries started happening. They weren't really bothersome at first, just small cuts and bruises. I actually thought I was doing them to myself by accident, until they started getting worse." She glanced down at her arm, and at the large, hand shaped bruise there. "This one isn't actually all that bad, compared to usual."

Naru's eyes narrowed just slightly. "How did this one occur?" he inquired, wondering why Mai seemed so... nonchalant about all this. She was too calm, in his opinion, which was actually rather surprising, considering how she used to react before he had left for England. It seemed the girl had changed more than he had realized.

"I think it grabbed me while I was in the shower yesterday morning," Mai replied with a shrug. "It isn't the first time either. Sure it bruised, but it'll heal eventually, like bruises do. Or are supposed to, at least."

Naru couldn't help but stare for a moment. The old Mai would have been ranting about how she wouldn't be able to wear the clothes she wanted thanks to the injury on her arm. The new Mai didn't seem to care at all. This casual attitude of hers... "What is the worst, most harmful thing this...entity has done to you?"

"That would depend," replied Mai without even pausing to think about it. "Which do you consider worse? Drowning or being shoved down a flight of stairs? Personally, I say drowning's worse."

Once again, all Naru could do was stare. Did Mai just say what he thought she said? She had nearly died in her home twice? Naru didn't know what was going on in the house Mai was living in right now, but he didn't like it at all. It was dangerous and, well, yeah, that was all, really. If Mai stays in that house for much longer, she may actually die.

Mai looked up from her lap when the phone on her desk in the lounge began to ring. "Gotta go, boss. Phone's ringing." She didn't even wait for Naru's response before getting to her feet and immediately leaving his office.

Naru watched her go in silence, eyes narrowed, thoughts swirling through his mind. The house belonged to Matsuzaki-san... Why the fuck would she put Mai in a haunted house? Especially if the activity is so bad that Mai has only just managed to avoid death? Moving around his desk, Naru slid into his chair with a grimace, and closed his eyes, sighing.

What were they going to do? ...Well that wasn't that hard a question. The answer was rather obvious, after all. The more difficult question here was, were they going to be able to help Mai...?

Updates will be on the slow side, unfortunately, though that's quite normal for me. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!