Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt nor any of the characters- I just like to make them do random things for my own amusement.

With that being said, read and review? :3

Rated M for: gore, violent scenes, crazy Mai, and swearing.

"Talking" - 'Thoughts' - 'Ghost thoughts'

Story: Eradicate the Enemy

Chapter Three: Answers

"YASU!"

Yasuhara's eyes bulged as he fled from the base, leaving everyone to madly dash after him. Rushing down hallways he screamed out for Mai. "Mai! MAI! Where are you?!"

Mai dodged the hissing creature, her arm throbbing something furious. It had managed to take a nice portion sized chunk out of her forearm. 'Oh how lucky- no artery punctured.'

Pushing herself to the other side of the closet she winced. There was no way she could get away- being locked in a small room and all. 'Breathe Mai, breathe. You can do this. Yasu probably heard you. Just have to manage until he comes with reinforcements.' Mai gripped her arm tightly, feeling the blood flow from in between her fingers and gush out on to the ground. "Easier said than done."

The creature having tasted her blood flashed his fangs up at her. He needed more. More. It was the only thought racing through his mind. 'More. More. More.'

Mai gasped as she was rammed into the wall behind her. A loud crack from where her head connected with the wall left her dizzy. Knowing she had to get rid of the creature before she passed out- Mai's eyes narrowed with renewed vigor.

Concentrating hard on the warm pulse within her, she tugged on the bright golden light. Feeling the pressure start to build within her chest, she envisioned an orb of power pushing its way out and connecting with the spirit before her.

Watching with slightly glazed eyes, Mai fought against being overwhelmed by her PK. An array of colors sprouted from her pores tearing threw the small cubby space and towards the creature.

Not having enough time to escape, the monster braced himself for impact. Snarling like a rabid dog, the orb hit its target. A loud piercing wail tore from its throat as he collided with the wall behind him.

"Bet that tasted better than my blood." She muttered tiredly, slumping against the wall in the dark.

Feeling the walls closing in and around her, Mai fought to stay awake. Her heart was throbbing painfully against her rib cage and the sound of her blood rushing through her body lulled her into a comatose state. 'The walls are warping.'

"MAI!"

Yasuhara screamed his throat raw, as he plowed up the stairs of the clients house. Eyes moving frantically, searching around the living room he came up with nothing.

Continuing his search, he started to open random doors on his way. 'Please god don't be hurt.' He felt a few tears of terror and frustration leak from his eyes. His gut was telling him to hurry.

Crashing up the stairs to the second level, he was temporary blinded by a golden light. Watching as it receded into the closet next to the master bedroom, Yasu stood stalk still. 'No. Oh god, no, no, no, no.'

Hearing people running up behind him, Yasu finally gained control over his body.

"No. No. No. No, God no. She used it. Oh god." He was in front of the closet. Hand clenched tightly on the door knob he violently twisted the handle and threw the door open. Only to be greeted with empty space. Panicking he searched the small space for Mai's lithe frame.

No Mai.

"Well the blood is fresh." Oliver stated, his eyes taking in his team members faces.

"She didn't lose a lot, from what I could tell. Hopefully it is nothing serious. We will continue to search for her- in the mean time Yasuhara go to the public library and see if we missed anything. Ms. Hara, Ms. Matsuzaki do a walk through and see if you can find anything to point to where Mai is. John and-"

"No."

Most of everyone turned, gawking at the black-haired man who dared to speak up against Oliver.

"What did you say?" Oliver asked, eye brow raised- a slight tick obvious.

"I said no."

"Please do tell as to why you will not be doing as I have ordered?" Noll was cranky- Mai hadn't had enough time to give him his tea before her disappearance act and everyone was now feeling his full tea deprived wrath.

"Mai used her PK. If we don't find her in the next two hours. Her heart will cease to pump blood. She will die." Yasuhara stared bleakly ahead, eyes dull, brows furrowed in thought.

"PK? Mai doesn't have PK." Ayako laughed, thinking Yasuhara was only pulling a sick joke. "I mean, it's Mai for heavens sake!" She continued on, not seeing the fury building up inside Yasu.

The others agreed whole hardily with Ayako. If Mai had PK why didn't she say so when they first saw her? Or why had she never shown any promise in that area? If she had PK- then wouldn't she have tried to contact them at some point to ask questions or for help?

"You wouldn't know shit. You haven't seen her in years. Never once called to see how she was doing, nothing. You have no clue what she has gone through in these years- You." He paused staring heatedly at Ayako, fists clenched. "You- you are all despicable. You all abandoned her. Did you know that she was locked up for six months in an institution? Did you know that she started having outbursts- both psychic and not? Were you there when they told her she was schizophrenic and that she was mentally unstable? No? What about when she refused to sleep because every time she slept she experienced some one's death? How about when she was kicked out of her apartment because people were scared of her? Or how she was called a freak on a constant basis by her old friends? Were you aware that she couldn't find a job that would accept her and FINALLY, finally when it became too much for her to handle she tried offing herself. Thankfully, by that time I had spoken to her and found out about what was happening. I was able to reach her in time. Now tell me, WHERE. WERE. YOU. ALL?!"

Yasuhara panted, his face red from his outburst- body shaking with repressed rage. Continuing in a cold whisper, he spoke again. "Tell me. Where were you all when she started to pick up people's thoughts? When she couldn't stop the voices from coming? When she locked herself up inside 'our' apartment trying to hide away from every-day people? Where were you when Mai broke?"

He sighed, his body slumping against the back of his chair. Feeling weary, he glanced up at the faces around him. "Where were you when she needed you the most?" His voice cracked, tears of frustration building up in the corner of his eyes. "I barely got there in time when... god. She had tried killing herself! There was so much blood everywhere... her heart stopped for five minutes." Covering his face with his hands, he breathed out a choked sob. "She died. Mai died that day."

She was cold, her limbs tingling from being useless for however long she had been laying on them. Her head lulled to the side- she took in as much of her surrounding as she could without getting up. The room was dark and musty with dirt walls and water pipes dripping in a steady pace. She frowned, 'I didn't see this when we did the walk through. Must be a crawl space or something?'

Hearing a small skittering sound, Mai's eyes focused on the corner closest to her. Narrowing her eyes, barely seeing- she made out the creature from before licking his wounds clean.

"Damn and I thought I got rid of you." She muttered out loud, while rolling over to push herself into a sitting position. "I could really use a cigarette right now."

Digging her fingers into the dirt surface below her, Mai managed to slump against the wall. She sat back and watched (fascinated) as the boy lick his wounds clean. No more deep cuts- well other than the ones he had before, but the ones she created were seemingly gone. Vanished, zip, nodda.

Mai sighed, "Now what?" Picking at the dirt underneath her nails, she continued to watch the boy. 'If I want to get out of here before I die, I suppose I should probably contact Yasu.'

-Yasu?- Mai thought, trying to make the connection from herself to her friend.

-m... wha... ere... are... y...?- Mai frowned.

-Yasu?- She tried again.

-Ma?...-

-YASU!- She mentally shouted.

-Mai?- Yasuhara's strong voice came through their link, finally.

-Yasu. I am in a room with dirt walls and the floor is dirt too. I need out of here. The spirit is here with me.-

-Dirt? I will see if our client knows of where you could be... are you okay?-

Mai paused, thinking of a way to offer some sort of distraction. Not wanting to tell him how she used her PK, Mai urged him to find her.

-I'll be fine, for now. Just get me out of here? I don't know how long I can be down here for.-

Yasuhara's eyes danced from one person to the other, watching with silent sadistic pleasure at the torn faces of his fellow co-workers. He always wanted to say that, but Mai had forbidden him from sharing her past with the group. 'Oh well, it's done and over with.'

"S-she went through all of that?" Ayako asked, her eyes tearing up from the guilt of her selfish actions. She had always thought that someone in their little group would stay in contact with their little Mai, but that wasn't the case in the least. Holding back a sob, she leaned her weight up against Takigawa.

"You said she tried to kill herself?" It was Masako's soft voice that asked the question. Her kimono sleeve lay forgotten on her lap. The frown was prominent on her features, a weird twisting guilt bubbled up inside her stomach forced her to ask the question.

"Not tried. She did. Mai hasn't been the same since then. She might act a little bit like her old self, but trust me... she is nothing like the Mai you use to know."

Oliver sat turned away from the group, his face blank. Eyes dull and full of regret on how he rejected her confession. 'Not like it matters. She was in love with Gene, not me. It couldn't have been my fault. She was having a hard time, nothing to do with me.' It was times like these that Oliver missed speaking to his brother. It was always Gene who made him feel better, the one to yell at him, to force him to apologize. 'Not that I need to apologize.'

"Did she start having all these problems after we left?" John asked Yasuhara gently, seeing as how the bespectacled man looked depressed from their conversation topic.

"Yes, not that it matters no-" He was cut off, his eyes becoming hazy and dull.

-Yasu?- Mai's voice floated around inside his head, causing him to jerk slightly.

-Mai? What? Where are you?- Yasuhara felt a flush of relief race throughout his body, making him sag into the soft cushions behind him.

Listening to her talk about where she was trapped, his mind started to buzz with different information they had about the house. 'Perhaps a basement or a cellar? Or a crawl space. I will have to ask if Watanabe-san knows of a place.'

Forming a plan inside his head, he left the conversation with Mai. Glancing about, his eyes met the others who were staring at him in both annoyance and worry. "Mai contacted me. She is in a small area with both dirt walls and floor. Obviously she is in a crawl space of some sort. Can someone go and fetch Watanabe-san so we may ask him if he knows where she might be?"

Yasuhara sat forward on the couch, ignoring the glare from his boss. "Would you stop glaring at me and actually do your job."

Oliver stiffened as he glanced at his father, noting how Martin shook his head in disappointment. "We need to find Taniyama-san first and foremost. If she has PK and she used it- well... let's just hope that she is okay."

Lin nodded from where he sat before the monitors, his face expressionless. Yet, if you knew him like Madoka did, you could tell the older gentleman was worried about their younger member.

Smiling softly, Madoka gently patted her lover's arm. "It's fine, Kōujo. She is strong- has always been strong."

Turns out that Watanabe-san knew exactly what they were talking about when he was questioned about Mai's whereabouts. A crawl space located underneath the south side of the house, under the laundry room.

So, having found out where to start their search the group (minus Lin-san, Madoka, Martin, and Masako) managed to find the opening to the cellar. With forty-five minutes to spare before Mai's body would shut down.

Yasuhara clicked on his flash light as he bent down to see inside the small area. "Mai?" The sound echoed across the room carrying his voice towards the lone figure in the dark. "Mai?"

"...Here." The wheezy voice sounded muffled, almost as if the dark around her blanketed her from the outside world. Her eyes had grown use to the dark by now- still locked with the creature's own eyes. "...Someone..needs to get... rid of... this creature... please."

Takigawa and Ayako slowly followed in after Yasuhara and Oliver. "Mai? What creature?" Yasu gently asked, his flash light finally catching a glimpse of pale skin. Watching as Mai never took her eyes off of whatever she saw, Oliver turned his flash light away from Mai and at the spirit.

Everyone was silent, taking in the small boy before them. The boy looked sickly, barely any human resemblance left in his small frame. "What the fuck is that?"

"That... is what took...me." Mai panted as her small frame started to shake from exhaustion. "Now would... be... a good... time to get rid... of him."

Without further words Takigawa place his hands together and started his mantras- only to stop short as the monster vanished before their eyes.

Everyone stood stumped as they continued to watch where the boy once was. "Um, guys?" Mai waved her dirty hands, bringing their attention back to her. "Help... please?"

Doctor Yoshida frowned down at the chart in his hands, his pen tapping repeated upon the clipboard. "Well, this is certainly new." He murmured to himself while walking out from his patients room.

"How is she?" The poor doctor was accosted by a strange group that was mingling about outside the patients room.

"Are you related to... an... uh... Taniyama-san?" Yoshida asked the group, almost wishing that none of them were- so he could get rid of the crazy group.

Said group had been loitering around the hospital for the last few hours. Absolutely driving the nurses and doctors insane with all their rambunctious yelling and questions.

Yasu stepped forward, a small smile pulling up the corners of his mouth. "I am her fiancé, but I am afraid I have no clue who these people are." His glasses flashed momentarily before they were pushed further up his nose by slender fingers.

"Ah... well. Mr...?"

"Yasuhara is fine."

"Well, Yasuhara-san I am afraid that Taniyama-san's body is forcefully trying to produce enough vitamins so her body wont shut down. Because of how fast her body is producing these vitamins we really can't give her any medication for the pain or for any other purpose... really." Yoshida paused for a second, watching the young man in front of him become closed off. "You may go in and see her if you want. She is sleeping currently."

The sound of shoes clicking against the floor's surface was the only sound to penetrated the thick atmosphere around the group. 'Fiancé?' Was the collective thought amongst the SPR individuals. Without a spoken word the group as a whole pushed open Mai's door and piled in.

Yasu quickly made his way to Mai's side, gently grabbing the pale white hand closest to him. While his right hand held Mai's he pulled his backpack open and pulled out a syringe full of a orange substance. Without further a do, Yasu pushed the needle into Mai's arm and injected her with her medicine.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST PUT IN HER?!" Ayako screamed, pushing the boy away from Mai. Standing protectively in front of Mai, Ayako glared at Yasu. The others glaring holes into him as well.

"Those were her pills in liquid form. They will force her into a comatose state until her body can heal the damage and produce enough iron. This way she wont need to stay in the hospital for a long time, nor will she go through withdrawal from not taking her pills." Yasuhara stated blandly while pushing the Miko out of the way. Pulling the hospital chair closer to Mai's bed, he retook the smaller woman's hand and cradled it against his face. Closing his eyes briefly, he continued to ignore the persistent (confused) stares from the others.

John spoke up, his voice gentle and soothing to every one's ears. "What are her pills for?"

With a great sigh Yasuhara opened his eyes wearily, glancing at the Priest he answered the question with another. "What aren't they for? That's easier to answer than for what they are for. After all, without the medication Mai would die."

Authors Note: I finally decided on the pairings. It will be a Yasu/Mai story. Also thank you all for reviewing and favoriting/following my story! Sorry for the late updating. I just got a promotion at work (Assistant Manager at a group home) and having the on-call makes it harder to actually write. But, I guess it comes with the job. LOTS OF WORK. Yay... Anyways~ Thank you guys! And again~ Sorry for the late update.

-KioAvium