Ghost Hunt 1. Another Restless Night

The Holes in our Hearts

Chapter 1: Another Restless Night

Mai Taniyama woke up from her dream with one word on her lips, "Empty…". Already the details of the dream Gene had showed her were fading into the dark place of her mind where the bad memories she never wanted to access lived. "I guess it mustn't have been that important," Mai said to herself, "Usually when the dream is important I can't get it out of my head. But I just can't shake the feeling that something's wrong."

While mumbling to herself, Mai stretched and glanced at the clock. "7:30?!" Mai yelled flailing as she tried to escape the warm cocoon of her bed. She was late for work and, knowing her narcissistic boss, she would have hell to pay for it when she finally reached the office. Cursing herself under her breath for the longest time, Mai ran frantically around her apartment trying to get herself in order. She was out the door in seven minutes flat and just had to run to catch the train down to Shibuya Psychic Research.

She ran up the stairs and flung open the door to the office at 8:11. Since she was supposed to be there at eight, and considering how long she had over-slept, Mai considered that to be a great accomplishment.

Her boss, however, did not. As soon as he heard Mai's uneven steps on the stairs Kazuya "Naru" Shibuya opened the door to his office and proceeded to lean against the frame with his expressionless gaze turned straight at the door. As soon as Mai opened the door he did not hesitate with his, "Mai, you're late. I pay you to show up to work on time and to do the jobs I assign you. I don't remember ever giving you an order to be late. Now, Mai, TEA!" With that the narcissistic Naru turned and slammed the door of his office shut again.

Mai, her hand still on the door knob, stood there realizing just how lucky she had been. If she had waited any later to get up there, her boss would have gone into serious tea withdrawal and she would have had to spend the rest of the day making twice as much tea in compensation. Recalling earlier days when she had arrived far later, Mai remembered how cranky Naru could be in the morning if he hadn't had his tea. Sighing to herself, Mai walked over to her desk and dropped off her bag and coat before going straight to the kitchen to set the kettle to boil.

That poor kettle had heated up so much water in its time that the edges had been worn smooth by the constant hot water being poured in and out. On instinct Mai pulled out three tea mugs and set about making the blend Naru appeared to have become addicted to. As the kettle began to whistle, Mai began making the tea trying to remember how she had gotten into trouble so early in the morning.

'Oh right, it was that stupid dream' Mai thought to herself. 'I just wish I could remember what was in it that's making me feel so worried.' The more she thought about it, Mai seemed to be able to capture the fading thoughts of her dream. Just as she brought the face of the man who had been the center of the dreams attention, Mia's knees buckled unexpectedly. Without warning, a voice started screaming, "Gone, it's all gone. Empty. Empty! EMPTY!"

Then just as suddenly, the voice stopped and Mai found herself on the ground with a cut on her knee from bashing it on the table on the way down. Unfortunately for her she had been holding a cup of tea when the fall began and it had splashed all over her hand on the way down. She gasped at the pain of the burn and was about to see to it before she heard, "MAI, I'M NOT GOING TO ASK TO MY TEA AGAIN!" Knowing Naru would not wait any longer; Mai picked herself up off the ground and went to bring him his tea.

She knocked and then opened the door to her boss's office. Everything was in pristine order, except for the guy dressed in black that was seated at the desk. His eyes looked slightly feverish and kept shifting about until they landed on the cup of tea Mai was holding. As soon as she set it down on his desk, Naru took a long drink and almost instantly the sanity returned to his eyes.

Mai waited by the corner of his desk as she always did, waiting for Naru to bark some other order or give her another reprimand for not being fast enough with his tea.

"We have a client coming today Mai. This is a pretty weird case and I'm going to need the whole team for this. Please call them all here and let John know to book a plane to Japan for as soon as possible. And wash that ridiculous marker off your hand!"

"Naru, there is no marker on my hand." Mai remarked, with genuine surprise in her eyes. She knew her boss was observant, but now she honestly had to wonder if half the stuff he observed was even there to begin with.

"Look at you right hand," he said with a trace of annoyance in his voice.

Mai looked at the appendage in question and gasped when she saw that the burn from the tea spill earlier had burned the word _empty_ onto her hand in a blister. 'That word is everywhere today. Something's beginning to tell me this is more than just a mere coincidence,' Mai thought as she looked at her hand in wonder. Realizing that Naru was growing more annoyed waiting for her answer by the second, Mai quickly said, "Of course Naru. I will make the needed arrangements and tend to my hand. I must have forgotten to scrub the marker off last night when I got home." She didn't know why she felt compelled to lie to Naru, but the thought was gone from her mind as soon as it had come.

With that, Mai left the office with her tea tray in tow, leaving behind a slightly confused Naru. When she had answered she showed no inclination of knowing about marker on her skin. Then after looking at it Naru could have sworn that she paled a little. Naru pushed the thought out of his mind a chose to focus instead on the tea in front of him while it was still hot.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters. They all belong to their respective owners. **

**Hello everyone. This is my first try at a Ghost Hunt fanfiction and a chapter story too. I hope that it read okay. Please let me know if I have forgotten anything or if there is anything else you have to say. Reviews are always welcome. Thanks for reading. Look for the next installment within the week.**


	2. A Girl and A Boy

The Holes in our Hearts

Chapter 2: The Girl Who Followed Her Heart, and the Boy Who Hid His Away

After she left Naru's office, Mai headed straight for the closet. She was looking for the first aid kit to see if there was something she could do about her hand. Despite having told Naru that it was marker, Mai knew it was really the burn from the tea she had spilled earlier. As she searched for the first aid kit Naru had insisted they buy when she managed to cut herself ten times in one week just doing her daily chores, Mai contemplated why she had been holding things back from Naru. After all, she trusted him, right? He was her boss. The man that had given her life more of a meaning than it had ever had.

After Mai lost her parents she had just been going about living her life on a daily basis. In truth she had nothing left to live for. She went through the day-to-day activities because there was nothing more she could do. She was a young girl who had lost her parents and her purpose to live. Mai always remembered that her mother would tell her, "Mai, no matter what you always have to have something to live for. Whether that reason is to say you survived another day on this planet or simply to accomplish one more trivial task, you have to have something to live for."

Mai's mother told her that the day before she died. When the topic first came up, Mai didn't know what to do. She was a young girl and had no knowledge of what she should do with her life. All Mai knew was that she wanted to be different. She didn't want to be that person that was born, went to school, got a job, married, had some children, and then died. She wanted her life to mean more than that. She wanted to stop the people on the street that were walking around like stupid idiots not even trying to do something with their lives and shake them until they could see the world in a new way.

That was when Mai decided what she wanted to live for. She wanted to live each day for the chance to see another one and make someone's life a little bit better while doing it. The next day, her parents both died in a horrible accident. She had no family, and the people in the world that had meant the most to her were gone. She was alone with no one except her friends from school and a social services program that saw her as a loose end that needed to be tied up in foster care.

After the accident, Mai played evasion. She made herself the perfect child so that the officials would leave her alone. How could they expect her to go to another family when she had experienced the perfect thing? It was like showing a man Heaven and then saying he had to go on living on Earth after being able to see perfection. So Mai learned. She learned how to fool the adults with a well placed chipper smile. She learned how to be her own person and rely on no one but herself. Sure she still had friends, but she would never depend on them for anything more than companionship.

That was, until she had met Naru and the entire SPR crew that had changed everything. Now she had people around her that she could trust. They had provided her with the one thing she could never find for herself. They gave her a family. Sure each member had their own little quirks, but isn't that part of what makes every family feel closer together? Naru in particular, he seemed like the quirkiest of them all. He brought out the best and the worst in her. In fact, even after having just met him, he had brought out more life in her since her parents' death than all the years of grieving and moving on ever could. He was her spark and Mai just wished he would trust her more.

Mai knew Naru thought she was stupid, but she was a lot smarter than he gave her credit for. There were times she had caught "the look" coming off of him. When he thought no one was watching, and usually he was right, he would get a far off look in his eyes and that mask that seemed to be forever frozen in place would slip. It was then that Mai would see something she knew far too well. Naru's eyes held the same sadness her held after her parents had died. Even to this day, she could still look in the mirror and see that look from time to time.

Mai wished that she could be a source of comfort for her boss. Not as a simple distraction, (despite being hopelessly attracted to him, Mai cared about being there as a friend for him if that was what he needed) but as a person he could relate to. She knew the story of how he lost Gene, and she also knew how no matter how many people tried to replace Gene is his life, they would never be anything compared to the twin brother Naru had obviously loved very dearly.

He cared so much that it seemed to Mai that he had buried the part of himself that had in order to never be hurt again. After he lost Gene, Naru must have taken the parts of himself that could truly empathize with another human being and buried them in an impenetrable fort inside his mind. Mai often wondered if he could even access it any more. Then she remembered the few times he had smiled at her with a genuine smile that could only come from someone who cared and was, at least subconsciously, looking for someone to relate to. Those smiles were always what made Mai's day. In fact, the more time she spent around her narcissistic boss and got to know the compassionate side of him, the more she found herself opening to the world again.

As these thoughts wiggled around in her head Mai took the first aid kit out of the closet and headed to the bathroom. She found a bandage that matched her skin close enough that the word would be covered and hopefully not be blatantly obvious to the over-observant Naru. She finished wrapping her hand and headed back out to the office. She had a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it. She still had to clean up the mess in the kitchen from earlier and make the calls Naru had requested.

With speed admirable to any assistant Mai placed the needed calls to her fellow team members and then headed to the kitchen to clean up the mess. It was then that she remembered what had caused the fall to happen in the first place. It was that screaming, someone shouting about how something was empty. "Now I know I'm going crazy," Mai mussed to herself as she wiped up the spilled beverage. Once she had finished she sat down on the floor to think things over. The few memories of the dream that she had, the flashbacks, the shouting, the urge to lie to Naru, and most disturbing of all, the word that kept popping up. "Empty," Mai mused allowed, "I wonder what could be so important about such a small word."

With that thought voiced, Mai allowed her head to drop as she succumbed to a deep sleep where hopefully some of her questions could be answered.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or any of the characters that make up this wonderful story line. I'm just tinkering with them to entertain myself and hopefully a few others. **


	3. A Battle of Dreams

The Holes in our Hearts

Chapter 3: A Battle of Dreams

Mai was floating in darkness. She couldn't see anything: just the darkness. There was nothing to touch, no sound to hear, nothing to smell or taste, and nothing to look at. There was just the darkness. So, floating amongst the darkness, Mai waited. She didn't think or try to solve any problems. What was the point anyway if she was just left in darkness?

Then, ever so softly, a voice began calling to Mai. "Mai, please, you have to listen. Please come back to me." That voice, one Mai thought she should be familiar with, repeated the line like a mantra until it consumed Mai's dark little world. It seemed like the words would never stop. But Mai didn't move to find the source of the words. Instead she waited. Nothing else could happen to cause her pain if she just waited.

Then a flash of bright light appeared. Out of its cascading brilliance a hand reached out and grabbed hold of Mai. It pulled her out of the darkness and into a never ending maze of sensations. Suddenly there was so much to look at and so many things Mai realized she couldn't do if she just sat around waiting. Looking around she finally set eyes on the one who had pulled her from the darkness. She was greeted by the sight of a young man clad all in black with a far-away look in his eyes. "Naru!" Mai called, excited to see him again. But as the boy turned she could tell that it was not the twin she was always looking for. Rather, it was Gene.

"Oops, sorry Gene."

"It's okay Mai. Are you alright now? I was looking for you for so long. You feel asleep almost a day ago and where stuck in the darkness ever since"

"I was?" Mai whispered. She knew that the time she had spent in the darkness had felt like a long time but she had thought it was just an hour not a full day.

"Yeah. Mai, something's going on. This isn't just the world of the spirits anymore. There is something powerful that has come. I was only barely able to get you out of its clutches. You have to listen to me. I don't know what this thing is, but it doesn't want me to show you anything about the case that idiot scientist brother of mine has taken. You don't even remember the dream from last time do you?"

"No Gene, I don't. It's really starting to worry me. The only thing I can remember is one word. Empty." As soon as the word left Mai's lips, the world around the two began to shake. The spiritual pressure that was enveloping was almost unbearable. It forced Mai and Gene both to their knees until the point where they could hardly move.

"Mai, whatever is blocking your memories is coming. You have to wake up now! Listen carefully, you can't come here anymore. At least not until I know what this is. Tell Naru you are not to be left alone under any circumstances! Do you understand?"

Mai was barely able to nod her understanding before she felt the familiar tug back into consciousness. Her last sight was of Gene forcing himself up into a warrior's stance as he turned to face the thing that had blocked her memories from her.

"She's been out almost a full day Noll, shouldn't we take her to the hospital."

"Why do that Lin? Can't you tell she's already waking up?"

Mai slowly pried open her eyes despite the fact that they felt like they had been cemented shut. As she stirred she looked around and saw she was on the couch in the lobby of SPR. A small groan escaped her as she forced herself to sit up until she was looking into two very blue and very concerned eyes.

"Are you alright Mai?" Naru asked. Was it Mai's imagination or did he look just the tiniest bit relieved?

"Naru. What happened? The last thing I remember I was cleaning up in the kitchen."

"We were hoping you could tell us. You never answered when we called so we went to check on you. We found you asleep in the kitchen. The only problem was that we couldn't wake you up for anything in the world. Then about ten minutes ago you started hollering. Screaming over and over again, "It's empty. Empty. EMPTY!" That's when we started to think it wasn't just your natural cat napping nature coming out in full force."

"I don't know. Wait. I saw something. Another dream. I had one last night too, but I can't remember what it was about. The only thing I know is that word. It's everywhere…" Mai let her sentence fade away as she tried to remember what her last dream was about.

Naru and Lin watched as Mai closed her eyes trying to remember. All of a sudden the color faded out of her face. Mai saw a quick snippet of her dream with Gene.

"Naru, Gene said I can't go see him anymore. You have to make sure that I'm never alone!"

It was only after that when Mai realized she had just screamed that at him. Now Naru was looking at her with a great amount of concern. Either that or Mai was or delusional than she already thought.

"Okay Mai. It's obvious this has something to do with our new case. The dreams and your amnesia only started after I accepted it. John should be arriving here in Japan by tomorrow. After that, the rest of the team will join us within the week. We are scheduled to meet the client in a week. I had to reschedule the first meeting since you collapsed."

"Alright Naru, in the mean time what am I going to do? According to Gene I can't be left alone. I live alone Naru!"

"You will come stay with me. Lin is currently experiencing plumbing issues."

Mai could feel her cheeks turning red at the thought of being alone in an apartment with her boss. "Are you sure Naru? I wouldn't want to impose on you."

"Don't be ridiculous Mai. If Gene says you can't be left alone then so be it. Besides, I fully expect you to be on call to make tea whenever it is needed while you are staying with me." With that Naru walked back into his office with a smirk lightly playing across his features at the thought of having access to the tea he loved so much twenty-four hours a day seven days a week.


	4. When Memories Return

The Holes in our Hearts

Chapter 4: When Memories Return

"Alright Lin. You may leave for the day." Naru had just emerged from his office in time to see his assistant still typing frantically at his computer. At his words, Lin looked up from his work hardly breaking pace in his typing.

"Thanks. I was getting ready to leave soon anyway. Hopefully that stupid plumber will be here on time. It is quite an inconvenience to have to spend the money to stay in a hotel while my apartment is under water." With that Lin stood up from his desk and stretched. "Are you sure that you will be okay tonight? My Shiki haven't been able to detect anything that is blocking Mai's mind, but I just have a feeling that this thing means serious trouble for all of us."

"Don't worry Lin. Of all people you should know that I am the most capable person when it comes to fighting off the supernatural. Have a good night Lin."

"And you Naru." Lin was frankly less than appeased by the boy's answer. As he grabbed his coat of the nearby rack he thought to himself, 'But who will protect you from yourself Noll?'

With Lin's typing removed from the office, the whole complex seemed to become deafeningly quiet. As Naru stood in the main room, he became lost in thought. The plain walls, the silence, even the darkness that filled the room due to the absence of sunlight were the things that defined his life. It seemed proper. If his beloved brother couldn't be alive to feel the sunshine then why should the twin who was left behind get to have that privilege?

"Naru," Mai whispered as she came up behind him from the kitchen, "I have finished al my work for the day. Are you done as well? I didn't know when you were planning to go to your apartment, but I do need to swing by my own first and grab some necessities. I feel absolutely horrible about this. I'm being nothing but an absolute bother to you." With that Mai cast her eyes down at the carpet as though it would provide the solution to her problem.

Almost as though he were in shock, Naru's eyes widened in response to the girl's statement. Here she was with her memories blocked by something that obviously was no joke if Lin, Naru, or Gene could really tell that much about it, and she was worried about being a bother to him! "Don't be dense. I know there is little room in your head for a brain since you skull is so thick, but don't you realize it would be even more of a pain if I had to scrape you out of a dark hole somewhere because I didn't listen to my brother. Besides," Naru said in a far softer tone than the one he used to tease Mai, "You could never be a bother to me when you are such a blessing."

For a moment Mai was in shock and preparing herself to smack him upside the head. He had really gone too far with the insults this time. It was only a moment after Naru finished talking that Mai realized what he had said. The resulting blush was thankfully hidden by the dim light of the office.

"Thank you Naru" she stuttered. "I really don't know what else I would do if you weren't here. There really aren't a lot of people I can rely on nowadays."

At that moment, assistant and scientist looked each other in the eye. Some say the eye is the gateway to the soul and emotions. To Mai this had never seemed more evident than when she looked into Naru's eyes. He had let the mask drop for the moment, showing the world just how vulnerable he was. His eyes reflected the pain of someone who had seen pure grief, an understanding of what it was like to lose someone and continue life without them, and one other emotion Mai could not place. If it hadn't been for Mai's extreme doubt that Naru could be attracted to a girl like her, Mai would have thought that last look was one of love.

The two held eye contact until Naru broke it with a hint of regret echoing through his being. It was rare that he got to see the wounded part of Mai come out. It was those moments he treasured the most around her. Anyone can put on another face for another person, but it takes real trust to show someone who you really are. Naru was touched that Mai had chosen to open up to him of all people.

"We should probably start moving them. It's already dark and I want to be settled in long before midnight. That's when most of the harmful supernatural beings reach their highest level of power."

"Okay Naru, let's go."

With that, the two coworkers walked out the door. Little did that know that the night ahead would be longer than either of them could have imagined.

_Later that night, at Naru's home…_

Mai's eyes widened in shock as she took in the sight of Naru's "small" apartment. Everything was huge and perfect. The few pieces of furniture that were placed strategically around the apartment were all black and modern. The walls, painted a variation of neutral colors, made the overall room look pristine.

It was only after Mai realized she was gaping that she turned red with embarrassment. Not only had she just been gawking at her boss' living space, but he had seen just how different their lifestyles were. Mai remembered brining him to her apartment so she could grab a few pairs of clothes. Her apartment was the literal polar opposite of his. Everything in her home was small, cluttered, crowded, and blasted with random color surges.

'He must think I'm a total pig compared to this kind of lifestyle," Mai thought to herself.

However, unbeknownst to Mai, Naru was watching the symphony of emotions that were playing across her face. He loved the utter shock that made her eyes twinkle, the look of amazement that made her whole face seem to glow, and the small blush that accompanied the embarrassment. It was only when he saw Mai's face reflecting sadness that he became concerned.

"Mai, is this not to your liking?" Naru asked, slightly unsure what could have made her get so depressed all of a sudden.

It was like Naur's words jolted Mai out of her thoughts. Quickly she slid her smile back into place and looked at Naru. "Everything is absolutely amazing! I was just a little bit in shock. You work so much it seems weird to think that you ever would have really cared about decorating."

Naru wasn't fooled for a moment. It had only taken him one day in Mai's presence to learn the difference between a true smile and the one she used when she just wanted people to believe she was happy. Despite the many times he criticized her intelligence for his own amusement, Naru knew that Mai was actually one of the smatter people in the world. She had learned to hide most of her emotions, and that was something very hard for a person to accomplish.

"Okay. Well, the guest room is around the corner. You may feel free to make yourself at home. Oh and Mai?"

"Yes Naru?"

"Tea."

Of all the phrases in the world that could have drove Mai to murder, that one word was starting to become her trigger. For a moment she seemed ready to scream but then she relaxed and laughed. That was what Naru was waiting for. A smile that could set the world on fire. This one was real. Naru knew that he had made the right call when it came to making Mai smile.

"Of course my Lord Narcissist!" With that, Mai bowed and placed her bag in the guest room before skipping off to the kitchen to make the requested beverage. Just as she brushed past Naru, a old fashioned grandfather clock in the corner struck midnight.

"Oh crap" was all Naru was able to say before the room started to shake.

"Naru, this is it. This is the same pressure Gene and I felt in the dream world. But, Naru, it's so much stronger." At this point Naru and Gene had both been forced to their knees by the overwhelming weight. Both were getting a firsthand experience of the pressure Atlas must have been under when he was asked to hold up the sky. Then as soon as the rumbling started, it stopped.

Mai crawled over to Naru, "What was that. Please tell me you know."

When Naru looked at her face he hated having to lie. It seemed too cruel to tell Mai that he was actually just as scared as she was. He had never felt anything like that. Recalling his earlier comment to Lin, he began to wonder if maybe he had overestimated his ability.

"Hahahahahaha, so you are the knight who is supposed to protect my fair lady? You are nothing more than a boy trying to fill a man's role." The voice was a deep tenor that rang with power and authority.

Both Mai and Naru looked around. Quickly they noticed the man in the corner. He was tall and quite handsome, but in an entirely different way than Naru. His eyes, green as a forest blazed through the dimly lit room. A head of hair as black as a midnight with no moon adorned his head. The man stood up off the wall and began to walk towards the couple that was kneeling together on the floor.

Looking directly at Naru he said, "You are nothing more than a worm. You think your weak little abilities will be able to stop me. You are not just a worm but a fool. This girl is mine. She always has been. Now you come in and waltz over like the world is yours. Did you honestly think someone as low as you could ever have someone as wonderful as Mai."

Now Naru had been insulted a lot in his life. But never, had anyone had the nerve to call him a worm! The last bit of him that had felt overwhelmed earlier converted into anger as he processed how this man kept referring to Mai as his! "A supernatural being who has invaded my home without invitation has no right to stake a claim on anything here. I would suggest that you leave before we see just how much this "worm" can hurt you when he gets angry."

The man didn't even flinch as Naru gave him a glare that would make most people run screaming through the hills. "You think so you puny mouse. I would squish you right now but that is not why I have come." Turning to Mai he said, "I am truly sorry for the pain I have caused you my beautiful one. I was hoping you would remember on your own but it appears that the mind block was too strong. I want you to tune to my spiritual pressure." Mai did as she was told and then gasped. "That's right. I'm not what's hunting you. How could I ever hunt the woman I'm in love with? My brother on the other hand is a different story."

Both Mai and Naru froze at this. Naru's vision went red. First this man had invaded his home, called him a worm, and now he was claiming to love Mai. However, before he could do anything Mai spoke. "Who are you? I don't even know who you are and yet you claim to love me."

"Shall I let you remember? These memories have been suppressed for a very long time Mai. This is going to be painful. My brother started to seal them a year ago. Have you ever noticed how all you memories of when you were younger seemed fuzzy? Like something was missing? That's because something was. A whole other world that you had loved. Do you really want to know?"

Mai looked at Naru. He was still buzzing with anger but also with concern. They locked eyes. In one moment of total communication when no words were needed they both came to understand so much about the other. The pain they shared, the love they both felt, and they're concern were all expressed in ways words could never hope to mirror. "Naru," Mai whispered, 'I have to know. We have to be ready for whatever is coming and I can't do that if I don't remember."

"I know. Just don't forget about the memories you have now." Naru looked at the man. "If you so much as harm a hair on her head I will make you beg for hell's relief."

"Oh I'm sure little worm. Do not worry. I would never hurt Mai." Turning to the girl in question he said, "All you have to do to remember Mai, is hear my name. Are you ready?"

With a final look at Naru, Mai closed her eyes. Somehow, she knew life would never be the same after this moment. She sensed that this man who claimed to be from her past could answer some of the questions she had. However, she knew it would be impossible to emerge without being changed. But if it meant she could keep Naru safe from this man across from her, she would have her eyes opened to all the things that she had supposedly forgotten.

"Yes"

"Well then my love. My name is…" he leaned in next to Mai's ear and whispered "Grimlock."

Naru's heart melted when Mai looked at him before agreeing. Her eyes showed nothing but love. It was in that moment that Naru realized Mai had stolen his heart. Now, Naru was forced to watch in horror as this creature leaned next to Mai and whispered his name. Instantly Mai's eyes widened and she was engulfed in a flaming light. The bandage she had wrapped around her hand flew off and the word empty blazed across her skin in fire. It was then that Naru remembered the incident earlier that day. How could he have been so stupid to have forgotten it?

Mai meanwhile was beginning to cry. Her eyes were open but they weren't seeing anything of this world. Rather, she was transfixed by the memories that had been hidden from her. Grimlock and Naru both watched as she reabsorbed all the things she had long since forgotten. After what seemed like an eternity, the glow faded and Mai collapsed.

Naru caught her just before she hit the floor. However, Mai was unconscious.

"Mai? Mai? MAI?"

Naru's pleads of agony went on into the night as he begged for the girl that completed his life to wake up and remember the life she had shared in his world.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. I am just playing around with the characters for my amusement and hopefully the amusement of a few others. **

**Hello readers. It has been a very long time. For that I apologize. Hopefully I can try and update more frequently. Now that all the exposition is out of the way, I just have to do one more explanation chapter before the plot really gets moving. Please do not hesitate to review. I would love to know how to improve! Thanks for reading!**


	5. In a World Beyond Worlds

The Holes in our Hearts

Chapter 5: In a World Beyond Worlds

Mai woke up in field on flowers. Their colors were vibrant and she watched in fascination as the wind blew through the fields causing the multitudes to bend and sway in subconscious rhythm. The reds, yellows, purples, and pinks all danced in time making the area seem to flow. Mai glanced up to be astounded by a sky that was a startling shade of blue. Clouds glided by as though there was no sense of time. The wind kissed Mai's cheek as she stared at the sight around her.

Then she noticed the two lone flowers on top of a hill. Set apart from the rest by the depth of their color, these flowers grabbed Mai's attention. She walked over to get a closer look. On the left there was a flower with a dark green stem adorned with thorns. At the top was one of the most stunning blossoms Mai had ever seen. The color of the richest emeralds, the petals glistened in the radiant sunlight. Mai stared in fascination at the flower that seemed to glow and radiate power. However, her eyes were soon captivated by the neighboring flower.

They were so similar and yet so different. Mai looked at the flower on the right. This flower just seemed dignified. A stem as black as midnight led into petals that were tinted blue in the depths of the blackness. This flower did not have thorns though. This flower's stem was a soft as velvet. But, perhaps even more captivating than the other blossom, was the color of the petals. At first glance they appeared midnight blue, but then when Mai shifted her viewpoint they changed. Never had Mai imagined that there could be so many shades of blue, each more refined than the last. The blues that reminded her of ice, the ocean, the sky, and something else she felt she should remember…

"Oh my gosh, Naru!" The color of blue that stood out the most in the flower was the exact same color as Naru's eyes! Suddenly the perfect reality was shattered. Now Mai looked at the field that had kept her captivated and realized she had completely been ignoring what had happened to her only moments before. She remembered sitting in Naru's apartment as her reality was shattered by the appearance of Grimlock.

That man claimed to love her yet she could remember nothing about him except for his name; and he had to tell her that! Then Mai thought about the man she knew she loved. Naru. She could see his eyes now. The look he had given her right before she had let Grimlock turn her life over. If Mai had not been so convinced that Naru thought of her as nothing more than a friend she would have thought that he had been trying to tell her that there was much more to their relationship than he had ever let on.

"Well, wherever the heck I am, this is supposed to be where I unlock my memories. This field may seem like a nice place to stay but I've got to go somewhere and do something. Lord knows I'm not going to get anywhere sitting here."

With the resolve to leave the field, Mai climbed down from the hill that held the two flowers and started heading towards the horizon.

_Meanwhile, back in Naru's apartment…_

"What the hell did you do to her you bastard!" Naru was angry. He didn't think he had ever been this angry in his whole life. Even after Gene died he had not hated the person that hurt his twin as much as he hated this creature that was sitting in front of him now. After Mai had collapsed, Naru had moved her to his couch and did the best he could to make sure she would be comfortable. However, now that there was nothing more he could do, it was time to figure out who this insolent jerk was!

Grimlock opened his eyes fully. Little did Naru know that during his whole meltdown and the time he took caring for Mai, he was being watched. 'And so it begins. The worm thinks he is her only love. I'll be darned if I let him think he knows everything!' With his thoughts under control, Grimlock turned to Naru.

"First of all, my name is Grimlock, not 'you bastard'. For one who claims to have so much intelligence you sure are slow on the uptake. And secondly, I only opened her mind. You should be thankful. She has passed the first test."

"What do you mean test?" Naru's concern for Mai allowed him to ignore the fact that this thing had insulted him AGAIN!

"Mai's consciousness is currently deep within her brain's memory center. I believe you humans have tried to label this the limbic system. How you can think to classify something as complex as the human mind is beyond me. Anyway, when breaking a memory block a person first has to get passed their own brain's defenses. Usually this is something along the lines of placing the person in a place where they are content. They get so lost in this place that they lose all memory of their lives in the physical world and just stay there. It takes some pretty powerful tie to the outside world to allow a person to remember who they are. I've been monitoring Mai's progress and she just left that area. Now the real fun will begin."

Naru sat in stunned silence. He had never heard of this idea that the mind could be blocked or that a person could get lost in their own mind. "So when will she wake up?"

"That all depends on her. This is the problem with mind blocks. They can only be totally removed by the person who is under the mind block. In other words, Mai is the only one who can unlock her memories. However, the mind is a very nice place compared to the real world. True the mind has its own dark spots but if a person avoids those then most people tend to be happier inside their own minds. This is why people often stay in this comatose state. It means they have chosen to leave this world and never wake up."

"You mean there's a chance that Mai could never wake up!" Naru barked in horror.

Grimlock shivered involuntarily. "Yes. But I have known Mai for far longer than you have. And if there is any person in this world who can beat this and come back in one piece, it's Mai."

"Who are you to say that! How do you know Mai anyway?"

"That's a question Mai will be able to answer when she wakes up. Now shut up worm. She's moving again and I have to be able to focus if I am to follow her progress."

Naru wanted to retort but the idea of not knowing how Mai was made him hold his tongue. 'I hate not having control over this. For all I know this guy could be something who wants Mai to be stuck in her own mind forever.' However, left with no other choice, Naru grabbed a chair and sat down next to Mai. 'This is going to be a long night.' Naru thought.

Silence descended upon the room until nothing could be heard but Mai's breathing and the second hand of the clock. Together, the narcissist and the man from another world waited through the night for the girl that meant so much to the both of them.

_Back with Mai…_

'Well this is weird," Mai thought to herself as she wandered through a long hall. After walking out of the field of flowers she had come upon a corridor full of doors. Now she was walking through it trying to figure out what to do next. Out of curiosity she opened a door.

Inside she saw herself with the other members of SPR. They were in the park. It was then that Mai realized she was looking at her own memories from when the group had been at the park trying to help a girl spirit who was tormenting couples.

'Well,' Mai reasoned with herself, 'If each of these doors has one of my memories behind it then I just have to keep opening doors until I find the ones that have Grimlock behind them. So one by one, Mai began opening the doors to her memories. Some were happy memories, others were not. She saw her family before the accident that had left her an orphan. Then she saw the accident that had made her an orphan. Mai was bombarded with so many memories that before long she felt drained and was left sitting on the floor in the hall of doors.

'This isn't getting me anywhere. The memories I want have to be here somewhere, but I can't look through all these doors, I'll be here the rest of my life. Maybe if I can find something they all have in common…'

So Mai got up and looked around. Sure enough she soon found a hallway that was branched off from the rest. However, unlike the other ones this hall was covered in dust and in overall poor condition. 'Well, if there was any place that I would guess memories that haven't been seen in a while would be hiding, this would be it.' Mai went down the hall and stopped at the first door. It was rusted shut and had a deadbolt on it. After an immense struggle, Mai was able to move the bolt. And a hairpin worked wonders on scrapping away some of the rust.

'Well, let's see what this is all about.' With that Mai forced the door open. All of a sudden all the other doors in the hallway flew open and Mai was greeted with the lifetime of memories she had been forced to forget.

All Mai could do was hold on the wall as image after image streamed by. Her and Grimlock running through a field outside a huge castle. A man who looked like Grimlock but wore a patch over one eye.

And then there were the creatures: fairies, vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, witches, and warlocks. Never in her life could Mai have imagined the things she had forgotten. Not only did these creatures exist, but some of them were her closest friends after her parents died. Then there were the memories that Mai had of herself. She saw herself standing in a field of creatures. Holding two double edged swords and spinning then in blindingly fast circles, the version of herself that Mai saw in her memories was a warrior that could take on the masses. In the corner of the field she saw Grimlock observing with a look of pride on his face.

The next images to come where of herself and Grimlock. Walks in the palace courtyard, dances, stolen moments were the two of them seemed like the only people in the world. How could she ever have forgotten this man? The one who had showed her how to live and the things there were to live for.

However, not all the memories were pleasant. Just as with the memories that were not sealed, there were the memories that were almost too painful to bear. There were the images of war. She watched as the courtyard that served as the setting for so many of her good memories was burned to a cinder. She watched as the creatures she called her family were killed and then swallowed by the darkness.

Suddenly, just as it had started, all the images stopped. Mai stood up on shaky feet and screamed at the world around her. "I saw what I needed to see. Now take me back!"

_Back in Naru's apartment…_

Naru was sitting in his chair holding Mai's hand when suddenly she started screaming. Tears were streaming out of her closed eyes and her screams were of a person in total agony.

"What the hell is going on here Grimlock!" Naru yelled as he tried to keep the panic out of his voice while holding a thrashing Mai down.

"She must have reached the war. That means she will wake up soon. Just hold her." With that Grimlock came over and placed a hand over Mai's forehead. "I am so sorry you must see this again," he whispered, "I would give anything to spare you from having to relive that day."

Naru watched dumbfounded as this man who had seemed like nothing but an arrogant jerk spoke in a gentle manner and treated Mai as though she were precious.

It was in that moment that Mai woke up. She bolted off the couch and looked around her eyes wide with terror. Admittedly, Naru and Grimlock both jumped back too. Naru was the first to come to his senses, "Mai?" he asked his voice shaking ever so slightly.

Mai looked at him and for one terrifying moment, Naru thought she didn't recognize him. Her eyes were like those of a wild animal cornered. Then suddenly the madness left her eyes and she whispered, her voice harsh from all the screaming, "Naru…Grim." Both boys in question immediately went over to Mai. "I…I remember who I am. How could I have ever forgotten that?"

However, before anyone could answer Mai started to sway and passed out once again. This time Grimlock was the one to catch her. "It's okay my love. Sleep now. The war is over and now that you remember we can move forward. Sleep in peace tonight." He laid her on the couch and then stepped back turning his eyes on a now terrified Naru.

"She never going to be the same again is she…" he whispered. It was a sound that died just as the first rays of dawn peaked through the window.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. I am just having fun with the characters. Hopefully the other people who are reading this are just as amused as I am.**

**Thank you so much to the people who reviewed. Your ideas have given me a few new twists to add to the story later on. To the Guest who reviewed with the plot idea, I'm not quite sure I'm going to do all of that, but you actually outlined a few of the chapters I'm going to be adding in later. The things you readers tell me are what shape my writing! Look for another update soon!**


	6. Who is Mai?

The Holes in our Hearts

Chapter 6: Who is Mai?

Mai sat up slowly and looked around the room trying to establish her whereabouts. Then her eyes came to rest on Grimlock, who was watching Mai very carefully. "Grim!" Mai shouted with excitement as she smiled at him. Gone was the tension and mistrust that had hindered her movements when he had first appeared in Naru's apartment. It was obvious that she had gained utmost faith in the man standing in the shadows.

"So you're awake then. From your reaction, I'm going to guess that you found the door."

"Yeah, I never realized that I had so many memories until I was in that hall of doors."

"Are you feeling okay? Most people can't break through the locks in their mind and come back unscathed."

Mai looked at Grim somewhat questioningly because she had really not encountered that many obstacles on her journey to find the memories of her past. "I'm one hundred percent fine. I'm a little tired and pretty emotionally drained though. Opening all the wrong doors took a lot out of me. Then of course, there were the memories of the war…" Mai trailed off with a distinct note of pain in her voice.

For the first time since Mai woke up, Grimlock moved from his position in the corner and came over to look Mai directly in the eyes. "I am so sorry that you had to see that. If there was any way that I could have given you your memories back without you having to see that, I would have. Unfortunately, it's an all or nothing deal."

"Ahem…" Naru, having sat in his chair watching the exchange with an immovable mask on, decided that he had had enough of being kept in the dark. "Would one of you care to explain what is going on or should I just continue to sit here and wait until you have finished catching up."

Mai was slightly taken back by the harshness in Naru's tone, but Grim just smirked. He knew the reason that the worm's voice was so taunt. He was afraid. He had clearly fallen head over heels in love with Mai and never made a move to do anything about it. Now there was someone else in the picture, and the worm was afraid that Mai might have someone else to focus her attention on.

"Well, worm, that's a story Mai should be quite capable of telling you now." Turning to Mai, Grimlock whispered in her ear, "You have a lot to tell him, but don't feel like you have to tell him everything. I'm going to leave you two to it. I'll be back later and then we have to move. My brother will not wait forever." After seeing Mai give a quick nod, Grimlock moved to the door and slipped out leaving the room feeling a lot bigger and the silence a lot more awkward.

Quietly Mai cleared her throat and looked at the young man across from her, her eyes landing on the blue of his eyes that resembled the flower in the field. As she realized that it was thinking of Naru that got her to move to the next stage of her journey, Mai blushed a deep crimson and was very thankful for the dim lighting in the room that hid most of it.

Meanwhile, Naru looked at Mai out of the corner of his eye. He watched as she observed that creeps exit, as she sat lost in thought, and finally as she blushed and turned away hoping he wouldn't notice. Realizing that she would need a little help to get the story underway, Naru cleared his throat.

"So, care to share your newfound knowledge?"

Mai looked up at him first with a little bit of fear, but then her nerves seemed to steady themselves as she looked at the swirling blue that made up Naru's eyes.

"Yeah. I still can't believe everything that I forgot. I guess the best place to start is with the year after my parents died." Her voice broke a little at the end of that statement, but with an encouraging glance from Naru she steadied herself again and continued. "After my parents died, I was incredibly depressed. By this time, I had figured out how to play the system so I could live on my own without having to worry about the adults. That didn't change the fact that I was still very much alone. Apparently, I was sitting in the park one day when I saw the impossible. I saw Grimlock."

"I saw him too Mai, that doesn't seem to impossible." Naru interrupted with his usual narcissistic voice. Despite its aggravation, Mai took some comfort in the fact that Naru would always be a narcissist.

"Hardy har har Mr. Hilarious. Anyway, Grimlock belongs to an entirely different world. All around us there are humans that are afraid of things they don't understand. This has not only been evident in our ghost hunting, but in all the stories throughout time that include beings like werewolves and vampires. Humans have now become literally blind to this world. That's why I shouldn't have been able to see Grimlock that day."

"So is that jerk a werewolf then?" Naru asked with a mixture of disbelief and sneer in his voice.

"For one Grim is not a jerk…"

"Oh so it's 'Grim' now is it?"

"Oh shush. It's no different than me calling you Naru. And no, he's not a werewolf. He's a hunter. He belongs to an organization of humans that have trained their spiritual and physical abilities to monitor the actives of the darker things in the world. In the event that one of these creatures goes and gets out of line, the hunters come in and exterminate them. That's actually how I met Grim. I was sitting in the park minding my own business when suddenly a wolf dashed out of the bushes and turned into a man. I was so surprised I couldn't even scream. Before I could, a man dressed in black with two long blades came out of the bushes and decapitated the man. By this point I was screaming and running for help. The only problem was that no one else saw anything. They just looked at me like I was crazy. The man came up and realized I could see him. He then introduced himself as Grim and took me back to the Order."

"Hold on Mai. What the heck is the Order?" Naru was now just staring at Mai like she had completely lost her head.

"The Order is the name of the entire organization of hunters. Anyway, he took me there and after running some tests they realized I had incredible potential to be a great hunter one day. So I began training. Grim taught me everything: how to wield a double edged sword, clean out a vampire nest, test a human for fey blood, the whole nine yards. For a while, I was happy. There was purpose to my life. Then the war came."

"It sounds like these hunters are in a constant war. What happened that was different." Finally, Naru's tone was beginning to lose a little of the disbelief and became more serious.

"Grim had a brother. They come from a strong family of hunters. Evidently Grim's brother had a huge falling out with the rest of the hunters and he left. Under his leadership, most of the Others," sensing another question coming on Mai quickly added, "That's the name we have for all the things in this world that aren't human. Anyway, most of the Others joined forces. They hated how the hunters kept wiping out their numbers. They launched a huge attack. So many died that night. For the second time in my life I lost my family. I thought that everyone was gone. I still don't know how I survived that night. Anyway, after that my memories are of a normal human life. No Others, no Grim, and no one else. This was exactly a year ago. Just before I met you actually. Since then I have lived a normal life with the most excitement being in my ghost hunting with you."

With her tale finally told, Mai finally looked up at Naru. "One last question Mai. That jer…" Seeing Mai's eyes narrow in disapproval he quickly amended, "that hunter, he said he loved you. Is that true?"

By the end of the question, Mai was in shock. She had just turned his reality upside-down by admitting the existence of every monster in history and he was concerned about her love life? 'What if he does care? No, Mai! There has to be another explanation. He's never said anything. All those glances earlier, I simply must have put too much stock in them.'

"I suppose it is, we were really close before the war." Naru visibly flinched at this. She had just confirmed his greatest fear. That man, the one who obviously had such a powerful connection with Mai, did care about her. And judging by her tone, Mai felt something special for him too.

"Naru, look at me." Slowly, swirling blue eyes met chocolate brown ones and Mai saw. In Naru's eyes she saw the acceptance of the story she had just told him from her recently recovered memories, worry for her safety, a little bit of anger, and finally that emotion she couldn't place earlier mixed with the purest form of grief Mai had ever seen.

"I don't know what you're thinking Naru, but this was a very long time ago. I may have cared about him in that way once. But it has just been too long. I still care about him, and I don't know where things will wind up when all is said and done, but I'm not going to leave you, okay?"

For the first time that night, dark blue eyes reflected a sense of peace. He still had a chance. He could make her understand that she meant more to him than an assistant should. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the door to his apartment burst open to reveal none other than the bastard that was the cause of all his worry in the first place.

Gone was the sullen expression he had worn earlier. Grimlock was now in high spirits. He came in with a bag of take out and passed a box to both Mai and Naru. "Well, I'm assuming from the absolutely lovely atmosphere in here that the worm is caught up to speed. Now then, I've placed a barrier around this place that should be strong enough to keep my brother and anything else from disturbing us for the rest of the night. Now it's my turn to explain something to the both of you."

Mai and Naru shared a quick and somewhat uneasy glance at the sudden shift from Grimlock's earlier melancholy attitude. That only lasted a second before Naru replayed what he had just heard. He had had it with being called a worm. "Alright you twerp. I am not a worm. I have taken on a god and won. What makes you think I'll tolerate a wimp like you calling me a worm."

Suddenly the temperature in the room dropped. Grimlock looked up from his place on the floor to reveal a pair of eyes that glowed green as blazing emeralds. "Listen, I admire your determination to keep control of the things around you. That's a good quality to have in this business. But let me make one thing clear. You are way out of your depth. That 'god' you took on could be squished with a snap of the fingers by anyone in the Order. You may have some power but you have no idea how to control it. So sit down. That little stunt just earned you enough respect that I'll upgrade you from worm to leech. With all that black on you seem more like a leech anyway" With that the pressure lifted off the room and Naru looked at Grim with a great amount of disdain.

"Now then," Grim continued "Mai, I've been watching you. The dreams have started haven't they?"

"Yes, but I can't remember anything."

"This is all my brother's doing. Before the war he sensed the incredible level of your powers. He knew that with training you would be able to stop all his plans to destroy the Order. So he launched the war to destroy as many of us as possible and then he blocked your mind. I can only imagine that it was to keep you from getting stronger. Now he's ready to make his move. This new case the leech took involves my brother. It was a plant to draw you out Mai. He wanted to pull the most powerful opposition to him out so he could destroy you in one blow. Not only that but he's incredibly confident. He lessened the block on your mind. It shouldn't have been that easy for you to get your memories back. He's coming Mai. He's coming to kill you.

Mai looked up at her old friend in terror. "Okay, so I haven't done anything but sit in school for a year and now I have to fight one of the most powerful evil jerks alive?"

"Basically. Don't worry though. From this point on I'll be joining you as a new member of SPR."

"You'll be what?!" That was the first time Mai had ever seen Naru lose his composer. Not only had he yelled, he seemed genuinely rattled. However, the outburst aside, he was still doing a fabulous job of hiding his emotions. No one besides Mai could probably pick up on how angry and distressed he was.

"Yep. Face it leech, you're out of your depth. I'm the only one who can get Mai out of your next case alive."

"Well here's an idea," Mai said, wary of the two boys shooting lasers with their eyes at each other over her head, "let's just not take the case."

"It's too late for that. My brother already has his sights on you Mai. If we don't face him now, he'll just keep taking away people you love until you will have lost your entire family again."

"Alright," Naru said in his business tone. His emotions were now fully in check and he had a goal: protect Mai at all costs. "Mai will stay here in the guest room tonight. You can sleep on the couch. Tomorrow we will head to SPR. We are scheduled to leave tomorrow afternoon. As much as I hate the idea, another set of eyes to watch Mai will be helpful."

"Good to see you finally have gotten the situation through your little leechy brain."

Naru, seething internally, merely brushed off the name and turned to lead Mai to the guest room. "Another thing, what's the name of this lunatic that has caused so much trouble?"

"His name is Ash. It's something you won't forget in a hurry after this case."

With that, dark thoughts all on their minds, the trio settled in for bed. They all knew that tomorrow was going to be a hard day, and that their pain had only just begun.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. I'm just amusing myself and others with my own twist to the plotline.**

**Hello. I am so sorry for how long it has been. Let's leave it to say that a lot of bad things happened and I lost my will to write for a while. But now I am back and I hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter. Honestly, it has been so long that my original ideas have gotten shuffled around a bit. All suggestions are welcome. Please leave a review, they help so much to keep me motivated! **

**And a huge, "I'm sorry" to Naru. I feel like he got pounded on a lot this chapter between Grim and Mai both taking things out of his control. Don't worry, Naru will be back to his commanding and narcissistic personality next chapter! **


	7. A Slight Misunderstanding

The Holes in Our Hearts

Chapter 7: A Slight Misunderstanding

After a very sleepless night, Mai, Grimlock, and Naru hauled themselves out of bed and prepared themselves for the trip to the case Naru had accepted. Mai had had a very sleepless night and had spent most of her time trying to sort through the lake of memories that had flooded her consciousness. After reaching some sort of peace with everything she had forgotten, Mai woke up with a plan about how to deal with the new knowledge and her interaction with the other members of her family.

Just as she came out of her room she ran into Naru. "Good morning Naru."

Under other circumstances, Naru probably would have ordered her to make tea or demanded that she hurry up so that no one was late. However, the excitement of the night before had obviously taken its toll on him. There were huge dark circles under his eyes and his disheveled black hair made him take on the appearance of a scrawny, disheveled panda bear. "Hello Mai."

"Look Naru, I know that everything that happened last night is a lot to take in. However, I have one favor to ask of you."

"What is it Mai?"

"Do you think you could keep everything a secret from the other SPR members? At least for a little while? You could tell them that Grim is just a transfer from the London branch who's doing an internship over here. I'm not ready to tell them yet. Also, the less they know about me, the safer they will be."

Naru looked at her as she made her request. From one point, he did understand that she was doing the best she could to cope with a bad situation. But another part of him was curious. Would she have told him, had circumstances not forced him into the scenario of her regaining her memories. "Tell me something Mai. You say you're not ready to tell them. If things had been different, would you have kept us all in the dark?"

Mai blinked in surprise. She hadn't really thought about it. Would she have told anyone? After a moments contemplation, she realized that it was a double sided question. Therefore, with great care, she chose her next words. "I probably wouldn't have told the normal members of SPR. Compared to everything I remember having faced now, none of them would stand a chance. However, I may have said something to a certain narcissist. After all, I would need a reasonable story for when he noticed my odd behavior in between sips of tea."

At the start of Mai's answer Naru felt like the world was just getting pulled farther and farther out from under his feat. However, when she finished he couldn't help but enjoy the happiness that bubbled inside him at knowing she would have trusted him with her secret. At least before she told the others. With a slight smile gracing his lips, Naru whispered, "As you wish then."

It was at that precise moment that Grimlock came shooting around the corner. He too had the sleepless night look about him, but somehow he managed to stir up enough energy to act like a royal clown. "Good morning Mai!" Grimlock chirped as he tackled Mai in a good morning hug. While Mai was distracted by the six feet of energy that had clobbered her, she missed the narrowing of Naru's eyes as he glared at Grimlock. The energy bubble in question however, simply smiled back giving Naru a knowing smirk.

"Grim…I can't…breath…"

"Oh dear my little Mai. That simply won't do." Grimlock said in a slightly British accent. To Naru it sounded like he was butchering the language beyond repair, but Mai laughed none the less.

"Alright Grim. Thanks for waking me up. Now please stop acting like an idiot before I hit you upside the head."

"Alright…Alright." Grim held up his hands in mock surrender. "Now what are we going to tell the others today when I come waltzing in there with the pair of you?"

Before Mai could explain her plan, Naru jumped in, "From now on you're a transfer intern from the London branch who's here to get some practical experience. There will be no mention of hunting, your brother, or the fact that Mai has regained some lost memories until the time is right. Is that understood?"

Mai gave Naru a grateful glance. Despite the fact that she would have told Grim, she was hesitant to say that it was her idea to withhold the truth about who they really were. Somehow, she knew Grim wouldn't understand.

Meanwhile, Grim gave Naru a mock salute along with a crisp, "Yes, sir!"

"Alright then. I'll meet you both downstairs in five minutes. We have to get down to the office so we can meet with everyone else."

_A little later, in front of the office of SPR…_

"I wonder what could be keeping Naru? I mean no one can honestly be surprised that Mai's late, but the boss? I didn't know he even left the office." Monk remarked before immediately being clobbered by Ayako's handbag.

"You too really should relax. Can't you see Naru and Mai walking up the street now?" John asked. As always, he was trying to keep the two from tearing each other apart. "Wait a second, who's that walking behind them?"

At this statement, Ayako, Monk, Lin, and John all turned and looked at the couple in question. The sight of a disheveled Naru walking along side a slightly grim looking Mai was shock enough, but it was the figure behind them that was intriguing. To the other SPR members Grim looked like an avenging angel. Dressed head to toe in black, quite similar to a certain narcissist, he slouched at least six feet tall and despite the slouching, still appeared to be in a constant state of alert. His flaming green eyes could be seen all the way down the street as he scanned every corner.

"I don't know who that is. Lin, is he a friend of Naru's?" Monk asked, curious about the young man.

Lin just looked on at the trio. He had never seen that young man before. He had hoped that despite the circumstances that had led Mai to stay at Naru's apartment, that the young couple would be able to work out the friction between them and realize that they both felt the same way about each other. However, he got a strange feeling from the man behind them. He moved like a trained warrior and that made Lin nervous. He sent his Shiki over to investigate and was amazed when the boy looked at each individual shiki before setting his gaze on Lin. He gulped and said, "I don't know who that is, but he can see my shiki."

"He must be incredibly powerful. What do you think Ayako?" John asked, slightly concerned.

"I can't explain it, but I feel like he's very angry at Naru. He keeps glaring at him. I might not have very much in the way of powers without my trees but I can tell that this guy has enough spiritual pressure that I don't want to mess with him."

"Wait a minute Ayako," Monk jumped in, "Do you think that he's trying to harm Naru?"

"It's possible that something isn't right. I mean look at the way Naru's walking. It's like his world is coming to an end and there's nothing he can do about it. Do you think that guy's doing something to him?" Ayako's observations were true, even if Naru's slumped posture could have been attributed to by other factors.

Now even John was starting to panic. "We should go help him."

"Indeed," Monk said, taking charge, "Alright John you're going to help me. We will sneak around behind him and grab him from behind. Lin and Ayako, make sure that Naru and Mai are okay. Once we know that, we can figure out what to do about this creep."

With that, the group moved into position around the unsuspecting trio. Or were they unsuspecting? Monk and John both jumped out of the shadows to grab Grim on Monk's count. However, Grim, having been trained as a hunter, had known they were there and moved out of the way just as the two came jumping out. Grim also managed to take Mai with him, so when John and Monk jumped out, they wound up tackling their boss instead of the one who was the immediate threat.

"Oh my goodness," John said, immediately jumping off of Naru. "I'm so sorry boss. Are you alright?"

Monk was more concerned about Mai. He turned to face Grim, who still had his arm protectively around Mai's waist. "Alright punk. Let go of Mai. I don't know who you are, but you picked the wrong people to harass."

Grim looked down at Mai and said, "These are your friends?"

With a slight sigh and a shake of her head, Mai said, "Monk, relax. This is Grim. No, he's not harassing me or Naru. He's actually a friend of mine."

Monk looked from Naru, to Mai, to Grim with a look of confusion. "But he was stalking you guys. And he kept looking at Naru like he'd like nothing better than to rip his head off."

"Monk is it?" Grim interrupted, "I can assure you that I was not stalking them. I am merely just unfamiliar with this part of town and was following them. After all, I'll be joining your team for this case. The reason I was glaring at the boss man was because I was trying to keep the sun out of my eyes. Does this alleviate your concern?"

Monk and the others had now assembled and were looking guiltily at the ground. John, forever the peace maker, said, "Naru, Grim, Mai, we are so sorry. This was all a huge misunderstanding. Please forgive us." With that all the guilty members bowed in apology.

"You people really are stupid." Naru had dusted himself off and was now looking at his team with a bit of disdain. "Do you really think we wouldn't have noticed a stalker following one pace behind us? Oh well. Everyone this is Grim. He's a transfer intern from the British SPR here for some practical experience. He will be joining us for this case. Grim, these two that tried to tackle you are John, a priest, and Monk. The woman over there is Ayako, a priestess, and the one standing over there that hasn't said anything is Lin. He's another one of my assistants."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you. Thanks for such a warm welcome!" Grim said with a slightly cocky smile.

"Now, we are already running behind schedule. Where is Masako?" Naru demanded, his business tone coming back in full force.

"She called a while ago. She's in the hospital with a pneumonia from her last show in Greenland. She won't be released for a very long time so you can count her out." Monk answered.

"Alright," Naru said, rubbing his temples. "Everyone load up. We have to hurry if we want to make it there on time. Mai, you ride with Lin and I. Everyone else, head for Monk's van."

At this everyone smirked, knowing that despite how often Naru teased Mai, he still cared about her.

"Now wait a minute," Grim interrupted. "I don't mean to cause trouble and there are already plenty of people in Monk's van. Why don't I just ride with you and Mai?"

Everyone's jaw dropped in unison. Here was the new guy, trying to change Naru's plan!

Seeing the wrath brewing in Naru's eyes, Mai interjected, "Why not Naru? I'm sure you want to hear more about what's been going on in the other branch." Finishing, Mai gave Naru a significant look that said there was still more the trio needed to talk about.

"Alright Mai. If that's what you want." Naru's shoulders slumped a little at the thought of having to spend more time with the jerk that seemed bound and determined to keep him away from Mai.

With that, the members assembled in their vans, prepared to head out to the countryside. A new case was ahead and this one was perhaps the most dangerous the team had ever faced.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt. I'm just making my own changes to the plot line to amuse myself and others. **

**As always, reviews are wonderful. The more reviews I get, the faster the next chapter comes up. Thanks for reading!**


	8. When Lin Doesn't Drive

The Holes in Our Hearts

Chapter 8: When Lin Doesn't Drive

"Excuse me," Grim interjected as the foursome headed off to the van that Lin usually drove, "do you mind if I drive? I can just follow behind the others. Something tells me that those two have a little story to tell you."

Naru, Lin, and Mai all jumped at this random suggestion. However, Mai and Naru caught on to what he was trying to say easily enough. It was obvious that he thought there was a very valid reason for letting Lin in on the current chain of events. It was also fairly evident that Lin should not be driving when his world was turned upside down. However, despite all these logical reasons Naru stilled bristled at the thought of the pompous Grimlock trying to take control of a team he had always managed very effectively.

Meanwhile, Mai could see the conflicted emotions passing over the faces of the two men next to her. Naru was obviously displeased about being ordered about, and Lin absolutely detested the idea of having anyone besides himself drive the van. They were both alpha male personalities, so having another dominating male giving the orders was a direct attack against each of their leadership capabilities. 'Well what can you really expect from a trio of guys? They would probably continue this indefinitely until one could prove to have superior amounts of testosterone.' It couldn't be helped. Mai had to do something.

"Alright! That sounds like a fantastic idea. It was a good idea to accommodate for Lin. Naru and I had actually made arrangements regarding this sequence of events this morning so props for being proactive." It was a slim compromise at best: everyone knew it. However, everyone there had a certain amount of respect for Mai so they all looked at each other and accepted the postponement of their testosterone duel.

Soon enough, they were all seated and on the road. "Now then," Lin growled, his displeasure at the situation still quite evident, "What is so important that you had to entrust a rookie to driving the van?"

Mai and Naru shared another significant look. It seemed they had been doing it a lot more since the arrival of Grim. With a slight nod of her head Mai consented that she was willing to let Lin in on her secret on Grim's advice. Mai took a deep breath and then began, "Lin, I have a long story to tell you…"

And so the tale began. Similar to her description to Naru previously Mai described who Grim was, why he was there, what had happened to her, and the threat that Ash now presented. However, when it got to the part of the war that had destroyed her home with the hunters, Mai skipped over the details. In part, it was due to the fact that remembering the night she lost her family in such a brutal way was painful. Unfortunately, there were some details she had not quite comprehended herself that needed to be clarified before bringing up the story to others.

Lin, completely oblivious to Mai's inner turmoil over her memories, was looking a little pale and was beginning to understand with vivid clarity why his companions had not wanted him driving. 'Although to be perfectly fair,' Lin thought to himself, 'This Grim kid at least appears to be cautious. He must have one hell of a power to be able to see my Shiki that easily, but he seems to genuinely care for Mai and is doing everything he can to keep herself. I still can't really trust him though. Someone that powerful can't just automatically earn my trust.' It was around this time that Mai began looking at Lin with great concern on her face. She knew that her story was rather hard to believe and for all she knew Lin had either snapped from the shock of it, or he didn't believe her and was concocting a way to get her and Naru psychologically evaluated.

"Um…Lin…I know it's a lot to take in. Are you okay?" Mai worry was now beginning to border on hysteria. Lin had said virtually nothing since she had launched into her tale and the possibilities for his reaction were beginning to run rampant in her mind. Naru too, having seen the concern on Mai's face and the uncharacteristic silence of Lin as he was being directly addressed, was beginning to worry.

Lin, snapping out of his revive with a literal jerk, quickly replied, "Well Mai, I always knew that you were a unique young woman. I just had no idea how unique. Thank you for telling me. I believe you and I want you to know that I will do whatever I can to help you against this Ash person. I'm also assuming that since you wanted to talk about this in a van with just a few of us that you are not prepared for the others to know."

"That's right." Grim, never taking his eyes off the van in front of him on the road finally decided to join the conversation. "As Mai told you, I am a fully trained hunter and am prepared to do anything to keep Mai safe. The reason why I pushed for you to be let in on this at the present time was in the fact that you can command the Shiki."

At this statement Naru blinked in amazement. "Lin, did you tell him that you could command Shiki?"

"No."

"Then would you mind telling me how he knows about them?"

"Well to be frank, he can see them."

"WHAT?!" Naru barely contained his emotions from exploded in something much worse than a slightly raised voice. First this jerk shows up in his apartment, harasses Mai, makes Mai pass out, leaches into his team, gave his team orders, and now he can do something no ordinary human had ever been noted to have done. It was all just too much. Naru's stress levels were already over the top with the danger that was being presented to Mai, but having a guy that had more experience than he did running around was just enough to make Naru's indestructible composure crumble slightly.

"That's right Leech. Shiki are fairly common in the world of hunters. We are all trained to see them and fight then directly. In this case, having some extra eyes on Mai will give us an advantage when it comes to protecting her. " Grim's satisfaction in showing off in front of his competition couldn't be missed by a stone statue.

Naru, not one to give up so easily, said, "then explain why Mai can't see them!"

"Well maybe the Leech has a brain after all. That's easy enough to explain. She has only recently acquired her memories. It will take a little time before she will be able to start seeing the things all around us and having her brain accept them as reality. For most normal people, there is a filter of sorts in the brain that takes images of things that belong in the world of the Others and converts them into something that fits into your mundane view of the world. Now that you all know the truth, it is only a matter of time before you can turn off your filter. Mai has been living with that filter running in full gear for a long time now. While she may have access to the memories, she hasn't truly accepted that they happened yet. Once she does, the filter will be removed and she should be able to regain the "sight" that she had when she was a hunter. After that, I can resume her training and she can work to become a formidable enemy for Ash."

This last statement caught everyone in the van with shock. "Wait a minute Grim," Mai interrupted to banter between the two teenagers, "are you assuming that a day will come when I will have to kill Ash. You make it sound like I'm trying to destroy him. I just want to be left alone to live in peace."

"Mai," Grim replied with a very sullen expression on his face, "your loving and caring nature are two of your best qualities. However, you have never met my brother. You do not know of the horrors that dwell in his heart. He would gladly destroy you without a second thought. His ultimate goal is probably to see this world you cherish so much burn at the hands and chaos of the Others. There will come a time when if you want to protect yourself and those around him, you may be forced to kill him."

"Well that will just have to be avoided. Regardless of how inhumane he is, he is still human. I have no right to take on the role of God." With that final statement from Mai the car grew quiet. Everyone had so much to think about. In the span of 24 hours, their worlds had been turned upside down and the people they had been the previous day would never be seen by the world again. When regarding matters of the supernatural world, there are some things that once learned will change a person. And there are some things that once learned, a person may never forget despite how much he or she may want to.

After a long period of silence, Grim broke the quiet. "Mr. Lin, are you sure that gentlemen that is driving the other van knows where he is going. We appear to be going in circles around this neighborhood."

"Oh it figures. Monk is driving that van and he couldn't find his way out of his own house. Stick with him, I'll give him a call and see what's happened." As always Lin demanded punctuality almost as much as Naru did, and hated to be driving around lost in an unfamiliar area. Lin picked up his mobile phone and dialed the adjacent van. "Well congratulations Monk, you can't find the neighborhood because when you got on the highway you got on going South. The house we are looking for is North of SPR! Just pull in that parking lot over there. I'll be driving the rest of the way and you can just follow me." With that Lin hung up and muttered to himself, "One day they'll learn to just let me drive without interruption or surprise substitutions."

After a brief trade off in the parking lot, the cars were back on the highway going the opposite direction. However, Lin and Grim had gotten so sidetracked over being lost that they had failed to notice that two of the passengers had long since given up in keeping track of their location. In fact, Mai had drifted off shortly after the conversation with Lin had concluded. Unfortunately, her nightmares from the memory overload the day before were still with her and she had begun flailing all over the back seat. Naru, sitting approximately three feet from her, was the only one to notice. So he did that only thing his huge IQ could come up with. He scooted over a seat, put his arm around Mai, and held her until her breathing quieted and she drifted off into a peaceful sleep. In fact, Mai became so peaceful that Naru, having had only minimal sleep the night before was more than content to allow himself to dose, entwined with the girl who mattered so much to him.

Several hours later, two black vans full of several people who were less than happy about Monk's chosen scenic route pulled up a gravel driveway. The house in front of them rather deserved the title of mansion. It was a huge old fashioned Victorian house that had the perfectly manicured lawn and maintained estate one would expect for a house of its size and splendor.

"We finally made it." Lin pulled into the driveway and stretched, relieved to have finally accomplished arriving at the correct house. "Alright, everyone out. We've made it." It was at that moment Lin and Grim noticed the two that had curled up together in the backseat. Both looked perfectly relaxed and content to stay there. Lin couldn't resist thinking, 'finally. At least they can acknowledge how they feel when they are both asleep. They make the perfect couple.' That was, until he looked at Grim. The green eyes that had shown so watchfully before now overflowed with anger as the youth took in the sight of Mai and Naru in the back seat. It was no question who the anger was directed at. Grim was practically seething at Naru for daring to think that it would be acceptable to cuddle with Mai.

'Well this is sure going to be interesting,' Lin thought as he watched the trio. 'Mai, I don't know what you've gotten yourself into, but I pray the day never comes that the love these two have fro you destroys you.'

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. I'm just amusing myself and others with my own twist to the plotline.**

**Author's Note: Oh my goodness. How long has it been? Months by now. I am so sorry for not updating sooner. I wish I had a better excuse but all I will say is that the world has not looked favorably upon me and my family this year. Due to circumstances it has been really hard to find the time to write. However, my resolution for the coming year is to finish this story by updating frequently. I have some great chapters in mind so look for them in the future. (Some may already be written and just can't be posted yet because they are out of order chronologically . .) Thank you so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, and elected to follow or favorite my work. It means so much. As always, reviews are welcome. Merry Christmas everyone!**


	9. Cries in the Night

The Holes in Our Hearts

Chapter 9: Cries in the Night

It was about five in the evening when a group of very disgruntled travelers arrived at their intended destination. Upon several pokes and prods to the members that had fallen asleep during the commute, everyone assembled on the front porch of the estate that was to be the site of their next case.

Among the crew there was a variety of powers and people that possessed them. A red headed priest who specialized in forestry magic stood with a hip cocked and a glare on her face that was directed at a punk rocker monk who leaned casually against the railing. A priest stood next to the pair, eyes darting quickly back and forth showing his readiness to jump between them should the glaring match evolve into something more violent. A tall man with half his face covered in hair had several watchful eyes under his command circling the group and surveying the estate for any immediate threats. Beside him, a boy with unfathomable spiritual potential stood dressed all in black gazing at the scene before him as though planning a battle. Beside him, a boy with blazing green eyes that was so alike and yet so different from his counterpart stood feet apart and eyes darting prepared to lead into action should the slightest threat present itself. And finally, one small little girl stood on the stairs below where the rest of the group was waiting. Some claimed she was the savior of a band of warriors, others believed her to be nothing more than a perky assistant capable of healing the hearts of all those around her. Regardless of what the truth behind her power was, one thing was for certain: she would never again be the same.

The priestess and the monk were in the middle of a heated argument. "How could you be so stupid, old man? I can understand getting lost in an unfamiliar place, but going the opposite direction of where we need to go on the highway? That's just plain stupid! Are you getting senile in your old age?" Her temper was flaring just as brightly as her red hair.

"Well your one to talk hag. I didn't see you trying to correct me. No all you did is sit there like the old bump on a log you are!" Monk evidently had no real reason to want to live. He had just dug himself a very deep grave, as was proven by Ayako's throttling with a handbag.

With the courage and tenacity that could only be present in a full-fledged narcissist, Naru pushed through the crowd stood in front of the door. With the tiniest of breaths to steady himself, he lifted his hand to the lion door knocker that showed the wear and tear only present in something that had been well used. The sound of his two consecutive knocks vibrated throughout the large mansion, using the mahogany of the door as a spring board as a spring board with which to dart into the space ahead.

Almost immediately the door was opened by a very disgruntled woman in her early thirties. Her clothes, normally considered to be of a very fitted style, hung off of her frame, and her cheeks were drawn showing signs of malnutrition. Her hair, once a vibrant caramel color, had faded to the color of a frayed haystack. Her grey eyes, bloodshot and sunken, darted around between all the members of the group in front of her frantically. A voice that sounded like it had been used to scream one time to many hashed out, "Are you the members from SPR?"

"Yes ma'am." Naru allowed the sight of the woman who had obviously been under serious duress to simply slide off of him as he addressed her. "My name is Kazuya Shibuya and these are my team members. I humbly apologize for our tardiness. Due to some extenuating circumstances we were forced to place a driver with absolutely no sense of direction in the lead and wound up following him in the wrong direction for quite a long time. I know this is no excuse so please tell us how we can make this up to you."

The woman didn't even seem to care about what the young man in front of her said. It seemed as though she didn't even register half of it. Usually people reacted to the idea of a teenager being the boss of a company, but this woman didn't even flinch. 'Something truly dreadful has happened at this house.' Mai thought to herself. It was the only way to explain how the woman had withdrawn from the world so completely.

"My name is Yuki Kawamura." The woman's voice still broke and came out in a harsh whisper. "Please feel free to call me Yuki. In this cursed place, no formalities are needed. As for your tardiness, you can make it up by ending my torment as fast as humanly possible. For almost a year I have been stuck in this place. Tormented time, after time, after time again. There is no escape for me. If you cannot help, I will be doomed to spend the rest of my life like this. I am going to be frank. You are not the first specialists that I have brought to this location. All the others have either disappeared or fled in fear. I hope you do not do the same. Would you care to come in? We may discuss the rest of this in the room I have set aside for your base."

With a brief glance from coworker to coworker, boss to employee, and friend to friend everyone nodded. There would be no backing away from a woman who was obviously in need of assistance. Everyone went in the door and followed the woman through a set of hallways that appeared to have seen better days. There was dust everywhere. All the furnishings, the walls, ceiling, and floor; they were all covered in dust and spider webs. That was not the disturbing part. That lay in the fact that there were deep gashes in the walls. Something with very sharp claws had made deep indented scratches in neat rows of five all through the walls. Each member of the group looked at those walls with the same horror and shock at what was right in front of them. That is, all except one. Grim followed behind the group at the very end. His green eyes taking in every detail, the hunter was already gathering what he could from the state of the woman and her house.

Finally, the group arrived at a room in a secluded corner of the mansion. There was a lovely set of French doors, which like the rest of the house had seen better days, that lead into the little corner room where it was obvious that Yuki had tried to prepare for their arrival. Unlike the rest of the house there were several tables set off that were at least less dusty than the rest of the house was and a stack of futons had been placed in the corner.

"I hope you will find this to be suitable." Yuki's voice wavered and she seemed to have lost a fair amount of strength just showing them to the room.

"Of course." Mai said, offering a small pat on the back to the frail woman in front of her. "Thank you for all the trouble you went through for us."

"Alright. Yuki, would you mind taking a seat. If you give us a few moments to get set up, I have some questions I would like to ask you. Lin, Monk, Ayako, John, and Grim would you go unload the van. Mai come with me." Naru wasted no time in getting to moving forward with the case.

"But where are we going Naru?" Mai asked, questioning as always.

"To the kitchen of course. Before this is over, we are all going to be in need of a lot of tea." Naru's grin as he waited for Mai's normal response could only be concealed by the fact that he had turned his back on the rest of the group and was heading out to where he had noticed a kitchen on the way in.

"Why you little tea addict!" Mai fumed right along behind her boss.

_A little while later…_

"Whew… That's the last of it." Monk's sigh of relief was echoed by all the rest of the unloading team with the exception of Ayako who was ranting to herself about a broken nail.

The weary group trouped back into the base where the others were waiting. "Alright," Naru began as everyone got seated and as Mai passed tea around, "Yuki, would you mind giving us a detailed account of what has been going on here?"

"Of course. Please bear with my voice. I'm sure you noticed that my vocal cords have taken significant damage. That is part of my story, but perhaps it would be best to start from the beginning."

"It's alright," Mai said as she refilled Yuki's tea cup. "Take all the time that you need." Mai's exercising of her ability to help people immediately drew the attention of Grim and Naru. Both of them were drawn to her because she alone was like a light that could never go out in the dark lives. Both had endured terrible hardship, and the light that was Mai gave them both one small spark of comfort.

It was then that Yuki began her tale. "Almost a year ago I moved into this house. It used to belong to my grandmother. I remember coming here as a child. The house was beautiful and everything was perfect. I loved it here as a little girl. When I lost my daughter in a tragic accident, this house and the few comforting memories it held drew me to come live here again as I waited out my grief. Unfortunately, this house has brought me no comfort. It has only brought me pain and misery."

"About a month after the death of my daughter I started hearing these dreadful screams and howls. There had never been wolves on the property when I was a little girl so I had no idea what was going on. At first they were very distant and I only heard them every once in a while. I asked the people in town and they assured me that nothing was in the woods that extend behind this house. But it only got worse from there. After about four months, I was beginning to get used to the noise. That is, until everything changed."

"The howls were no longer distant. They were in the house with me. They were accompanied by the most terrifying screams. Often times at night, I would wake up in bed screaming in some kind strange harmony with them. This went on for about a month. I thought it was merely some kind of bad dream so I went to the doctor, but they said I had perfectly normal sleeping patterns. No one knew what was wrong with me. By that time I had amassed so much debt from seeing the doctors that I was forced to stay in the house despite the fact that I was beginning to see it as the place of my torment. You see, I couldn't afford to leave."

"These nightmares continued for months. I woke up screaming so many times that I have permanently damaged my vocal cords. I don't believe that they will ever recover. Around three months ago, those horrifying scratches appeared on my walls. Finally, I had some proof that it wasn't all in my head. But what was I to think. That somehow a dog of wolf had gotten into the house and was tormenting me? No, I believed that it was something far worse than that. So I called team after team of paranormal investigators with what little money I had left. None could find anything. You are the last team I can afford. After that, there will be no hope for me. Please...I beg you. Set me free of this curse."

All through her story, Mai sat next to the woman, offering words of comfort when it seemed as though Yuki had lost the courage to go on.

"I see. Yuki, may I ask you a question. This may be very important to the investigation. How did your child die?" Naru's bluntness and monotone voice almost pushed Yuki over the edge.

"Yuki…Yuki. It's okay. You don't have to. We understand that the memory must be incredibly painful for you." Mai's last statement was directed at Naru. 'God…sometimes he can just be so callous to what other people have been through.'

"It's okay. Thank you though dear. You are truly a comfort. In answer to your question, my daughter died in the woods. She was playing in a playground just by the edge of the woods in a town that I used to live in. I turned my back for just a second and she crawled into the woods. I searched for her frantically, and then I heard a scream. A mother knows when her child is trouble, and I knew even before her scream that something was dreadfully wrong. I ran and found her in a small clearing. A huge animal, God only knows what it was, had killed…" Yuki's voice broke as tears streamed rampantly down her face. She paused for a moment and then took a deep breath before continuing. "…had killed my baby. I went mad. I ran at it, and don't remember much after that. I woke up in the hospital covered in bites and scratches. The man who found me said that I was lucky to be alive. He had never seen a creature with the same ferocity as that one."

"Thank you so much for your time. Yuki, please go rest. My team will handle it from here and contact you if there is anything else." Naru at least tried to use a little sympathy for the sake of the crying woman in front of him.

"Yes thank you. Good day." With a bow and a quick sniffle, Yuki shuffled out of the room and headed off into the house that had become her prison.

Grim, unobserved by the rest, had come up behind Naru and whispered quickly, "You are in way over your head. I know what is tormenting that woman and now I understand Ash's connection. You need to get those other three out of here now. Then I can explain and hopefully we can act before it's too late."

Naru hated taking orders from the one who was his rival, but what choice did he have. The details the woman had described sounded like nothing Naru had ever heard before. And with Mai's safety on the line, at least Naru could trust him to protect her.

With the calmness and acting worthy of an Oscar, Naru directed John, Ayako and Monk to go set up cameras. Once they were safely out of hearing range he turned, looked at Mai, looked at Lin, and finally gave a nod to Grim signaling he could proceed. But even in so doing, Naru knew that this was a war council for fighting an enemy that he had never believed to have existed.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt. This is only for my enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of others. **

**Author's Note: Thank you so much to the people who left reviews or follows or favorites. It means a lot. In answer to the questions that I have gotten about the conclusion to this wonderful little love triangle, well, I can't give that away or it would spoil a happy ending for Mai and one of our beloved boys, that is assuming they both live in the end. I still need to work that part out. **** Look for another chapter coming soon!**


	10. We're Hunting a WHAT?

The Holes in Our Hearts

Chapter 10: We're Hunting a WHAT?!

The four hunters sat together in room that despite Yuki's best efforts still reeked of must and lack of use. With the others out setting up cameras under Naru's orders the only ones remaining were those who knew the truth about what they were facing. It was clear that tensions were already high. Naru was aggravated by Grim's presence and of course the opposite was also true. That left Lin, a man whose head was still reeling with all the things that had been told to him earlier that day in the van, and Mai who was still teetering from the stress of getting her memories, her oldest friend, and her worst enemy back in one day.

Grimlock was the one who broke the silence. After all, he was a trained hunter from the Order and with Mai's sight out of commission until her brain finished processing all of her memories again it was Grim's responsibility to take control of the situation and keep everyone safe and alive. "Alright guys, we don't have much time so we have to act fast. The thing we are dealing with is well beyond the scope of abilities of the SPR team. That priest, monk, and priestess would be lucky to survive an encounter, forget fight this thing effectively. We must get them out of this house and as far away as possible. We have until sunset before the worst of it begins."

Naru, still refusing to completely let Grimlock take control of his team interrupted with, "Of course we know that once the sun sets we are going to start having spikes in supernatural phenomenon. Do you think we started this business last week? We have years of experience and some of the best research to date backing or practice."

At this Grimlock stood up out of his chair, green eyes blazing and posture erect. "Really. No kidding smart one," he said with a distinct hint of enraged sarcasm. "The sun isn't even close to setting yet and already I can feel it. In fact I can do more than feel it. In addition to the real danger that is present in this house, I can make out at least three vengeful spirits that will not leave until their remains are destroyed. They would be enough to cause your team plenty of problems if we forget about the other really big threat that we should be worried about it. Even Mai can feel it! How blind are you that you didn't notice!"

At this Naru's rage stopped and he took a good minute to look at his assistant. Sure she had seemed a little on edge since coming into the property but that was pretty normal for any case. However, upon closer inspection Naru noted that her breathing rate had increased, she was shivering, and her face was the palest shade of white. How could he have been so oblivious!

Grim, seeing understanding finally dawn in the eyes of the leech in front of him said, "Finally you understand that even without her sight Mai can still feel the presence of something truly terrifying in this house. You should take a lesson from this and learn to be more observant of the things around you. I know that you have had no formal training but these are not the small fry cases that you are used to. In a situation this extreme any small mistake could result in someone's death. This is the big leagues now and if you aren't prepared for it you need to get out now."

Mai and Lin watched quietly as the two teenagers worked to get their anger out of their system. After this last comment though, Mai could no longer sit in silence. "Grim, please there is no point in fighting amongst ourselves. Your brother is coming and we have a large enough enemy in him without making enemies out of each other. Naru is a brilliant man and will learn fast enough. You need to keep your attitude in check."

All the guys in the room looked up, slightly surprised at such a vocal outburst from the normally quite girl. Naru was pleased to hear her reprimand Grimlock, but at the same time he was also slightly annoyed that even Mai thought he was seriously out of his depth. It was at this point that Lin, who had previously done nothing but observe in silence entered into the conversation. "So all that aside, Grimlock, you keep mentioning the true evil in this house but have yet to place a name to it. Like it or not, the sun is setting and as you said once it's dark we need to be ready. We need a plan and wasting time is only going to be signing our own death warrants. First, what are we fighting? Second, how do we fight it?"

Everyone else, slightly embarrassed that they had gotten so caught up in the moment turned to look at him before silently agreeing to put the squabbling away until there was a more appropriate time. Naru spoke first with a warning, "The others have just finished setting up the cameras. We need an excuse to get them out of the house now. They will be back here in a few minutes at best, and if whatever is here is really that bad I want them out of here and safe."

Mai, having completely developed her skills at persuading people that they really wanted to do something else than what they had originally intended was the first to come up with an idea. "Masako is in the hospital with pneumonia. We can tell the others that Grim recognizes this type of case from his studies over in London and knows that it won't be a problem. In fact, it may even be the case that having less people in the house will help us. Since the case isn't as serious as we had originally thought the others can leave and go see her while we wrap up here tonight. That not only gets them out of the house but far away in case anything unexpected should happen."

To put it bluntly, everyone in the room was surprised that Mai had come up with such an effective lie so quickly. However, with the others just around the corner they had no other choice than to do it. When the others returned with the initial data readings Lin, Grim, Naru, and Mai all plastered concerned expressions (at least as much as you can if you are a narcissist or a hunter) on their faces. John, being the kind and caring person that he was noticed it as soon as the foursome had some into view.

"What has you all looking so glum? We've all been in situations worse than this before." He asked, concern wafting off his Australian accent.

Again, it was Mai who jumped in and did what she had learned how to do quite well. "It's simply awful John. We just got a call from the hospital that Masako is staying in and she has taken a turn for the worst. They say she is so lonely that it is hampering her recovery. If only we could go see her! But we can't leave poor Yuki on her own either. I simply don't know what to do." Mai flashed the others a look that was so choked full of sadness that even those who were in on the act were slightly rattled.

It was then that Grim jumped in to finish off the act and ensure the safety of their friends. "Mai, hold on. Don't get upset. I was just thinking and I remember a case like this we had over in London. On the surface it looked incredibly scary and like it could be problematic. In the end it turned out that there was just a spirit that hated people. This girl whose spirit was trapped had been around people all her life and been betrayed by every person she had ever cared about. The more people we sent into the house, the worse it got. However, when we sent in a team of four they had just the right number to deal with the situation. If the four of us stay here and you three go see Masako it will be perfect."

Now it was the Monk's turn to look concerned. He really didn't like the idea of leaving Mai at the mercy of the supernatural on nothing more than the word of this new-comer. "I think we should stay here. What if you're wrong and this turns out to be more than you can handle? Besides we don't even know what your abilities are. I personally don't feel that inclined to trust your judgment." The others nodded in agreement and those who knew of the real dangers knew that if they didn't do something soon they would be stuck with their friends in the house forever.

Surprising everyone, it was Naru who came to the rescue. "Everyone please calm down. We will be fine. I of course had the same suspicions that you did so I called my father in England. He says Grimlock is one of his best and that we can trust his judgment. Since I trust my father, I'm asking that you all also trust me. Please go tend to Masako and leave this to us."

With those words spoken just as confidently as Naru could out, the group in question slowly acquiesced. "Alright," Ayako said. "But if anything happens, you have to promise us you will get out. We can always come back tomorrow night if things get out of hand. Keep your wits about you and stay alive. We can help, but even we can't fix it if you die."

With promises to be careful made, goodbyes said, and bags packed the trio got in the van with Ayako behind the wheel – she claimed she didn't want to spend the night going the wrong direction on the highway – and drove off into the night.

Those who remained in the house went back to the base. "Good job Mai!" Grim said with pride in his voice. "It's good to see that even after all this time you can still persuade people when given the right background. Of course the leech also deserves some thanks. It was his interjection that saved us valuable time in convincing them." Mai said nothing, content to sit and feel slightly guilty about having to lie to some of the members of her family.

Lin interrupted once again. "Alright we took care of the others now we are really running low on time. Grimlock, will you please tell us what we are dealing with?"

After getting a confirmation nod from the others, Grimlock began his briefing. "Alright as you both know from Mai there are many more things that go bump in the night than you could imagine. In modern horror stories you hear about them all the time. Vampires, werewolves, fairies, pixies, warlocks, witches, demons, all of them are real and some very, very dangerous. Keeping these Others, that's the name we have given them, under control, is the reason the Order of Hunters was established. We protect humans and the existence of our world. Occasionally something slips through and that's where stories like _Dracula_ are born. Judging from what Yuki told us when we got here; I'm guessing that we are dealing with a werewolf."

"Wait, are you saying we are hunting a legitimate werewolf? As in the kind that is allergic to silver and wolf bane, changes from human to wolf on the nights of a full moon, and are incredibly strong?" Lin demanded. He may not have believed these creatures existed before now but that didn't stop Lin from enjoying a good horror story every once in a while. The man knew his stuff.

At Lin's question Grimlock simply laughed. "So that's what the normal world thinks about werewolves is it? Wow. Mai, please fill him in on what wolves really are."

Mai, who had previously been zoning off was jerked back to reality and realized that Grim was testing her. She was rusty and they both knew it. It was time to find out just how rusty she was. Slightly self conscious at first, Mai began. "Werewolves in our world don't just change at the full moon. They were either born or bitten. However a werewolf is created one of the barriers in their mind between the human and more animalistic side of them is torn down. This makes them savage, hungry, and one angry moment away from turning into a beast. However, they still retain their consciousness when they change. Some werewolves are actually allied with the order and help us with the rogues. However, others have a taste for human flesh. The only way to kill one is to take out its heart. As in take it out of the body completely. They heal extremely fast so any damage you inflict won't last long. That about covers it."

"Well done Mai. Looks like you remember a good chuck of it. My guess is that Yuki's daughter wandered into wolf territory and was eaten. When Yuki went after her, she also stepped into wolf territory. Ever since then, the wolf has been trying to destroy the threat. Why she's lasted so long is beyond me. Anyway, you can be sure the wolf knows we are here. Mai, do you think you can still fight?"

After a moment of contemplation, Mai answered, "I think so. I might not be on top of my game but I can defend myself. For now that will have to do. The good news is that a werewolf is close to our normal world in terms of appearance so I will be able to see it. My problem is that I don't have my blades."

"Don't worry about that," Grim said. "I kept them for you all this time." With that he reached in front of him and after a moment appeared to pull to curved swords out of thin air.

Naru and Lin both jumped. "What the heck did you just do?" Naru demanded.

Grim simply laughed as he handed the blades to Mai. "All hunters learn to manipulate space so they can store weapons. We can't walk around unarmed, but we also can't walk into a grocery store sporting a pair of these can we?"

It was true that the blade were beautiful, curved and identical, designed to be used with one blade in each hand they were a pair that could not be broken. The handles were well worn with practice but still bore ancient carvings in the rowan wood designed to defend against many of the Others.

"Alright," Lin said as the sun finally set below the horizon. "Mai has swords. You have Lord only knows what. Naru has psychic powers, and I have shiki. Let's go hunt us a bloody werewolf."

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or any of the characters. This story is for my amusement and if I'm lucky the amusement of others. **

**I know it's been a long time and I'm very sorry. My computer ate itself and it took me a while to remember what I had written. Then of course there was this thing called life that happened. Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you like the plot. I have some fun surprises in store! Hope to see a review coming from you! More reviews mean a faster update. Thanks again.**


	11. Howls in the Night

The Holes in Our Hearts

Chapter 11: Howls in the Night

With the others gone, all knowledge conveyed, and time continuing on into the night, an ominous silence descended upon the house. It was almost as though the very air itself was holding its breath in anticipation for whatever was going to come next. The tea had long since gone cold and the four had lapsed into silence, each lost in their own thoughts about recent events. Grim sat wondering if Mai still thought of him the way she had before the war while Naru pondered whether or not the Mai he knew (and dare he say love) would even exist when all was said and done. Oblivious to the struggles in love of the two teenage boys Mai continued to sift through memories in detail while Lin sat trying to figure out how he had gone from a normal guy to a paranormal investigator to whatever his role was in this strange group.

Darkness had settled upon the house. Earlier the four had agreed that the ghosts had to be dealt with first and foremost. They would only cause trouble later and everyone agreed they would much rather take on the werewolf alone that with an angry ghost doing who knows what all night long. So right after the trio of spiritualists had left, the remaining SPR members set about destroying the remains that Grimlock was able to easily find thanks to his years of hunter training. When confronted by Lin and Naru, both very curious as to how he found the remains so fast, he simply passed it off as part of the "sight" for things of the supernatural world all hunters possessed.

How they sat waiting in the base. Since they had taken care of the remains there hadn't been even a flicker of paranormal activity. Now all the group could do was wait. Grimlock had again reached into thin air and pulled out a pair of blades, one for Lin and one for Naru. Each had a bone handle and the blade was covered in silver. He gave the blades to the duo while explaining that although werewolves weren't allergic to silver it still felt a little worse to the nasty things in the dark than ordinary metal.

The clock had just struck ten when suddenly there was the thumping noise of footsteps down the hallway. A steady thump, thump, thump noise was rapidly approaching the room. Remembering what had been previously mentioned about were wolves being able to change from human to wolf form at will, Lin and Naru jumped up with their knives prepared for anything. Mai retreated to the middle of the room where her twin swords would have the most room and Grim made his way to the door to see what was approaching. Each and every one of them was horribly surprised when of all people Yuki came through the door!

"Oh my goodness gracious!" Yuki yelped as she saw four heavily armed people, the majority of which were dressed head to toe in black, in strategic positions in her home. It looked like a ban of ninja's had come to stay for the night.

Seeing the woman's obvious fright Mai placed her swords back at her side and placed her hands up saying as calmly as she could, "Yuki, Yuki, please calm down. It's just us. SPR. The paranormal investigators you hired." Recognition dawned in the woman's eyes as she realized that she was surrounded by normal people rather than ninjas. "I apologize for you coming into the room seeing this. In our business you can never be too careful so we must unfortunately follow extreme measures sometimes."

After getting her breath back, Yuki responded, "Oh no dearie. The fault is all mine. I should have made my presence known sooner. Of all people I should know how much this house puts people on edge. I merely came by to tell you all that I am retiring for the night. If you need anything I will be in my room upstairs trying to get some sleep. Please be careful and remember that you are my last hope!"

Naru stepped forward slightly and with the tiniest of bows said, "You need not worry. We will get this sorted out and you will be able to resume life as normal. Have a good night's rest Yuki."

"Such a good young man," Yuki muttered as she went back out the door and headed for the stairs. With the little visitation over the investigators all returned to their posts knowing that as the night drew on something was bound to happen. Just after the clock had struck midnight the real fun began.

Mai had been starting to dose and even Naru didn't look too alert. This could probably be attributed to their lack of sleep the previous night. However, both were instantly jolted awake when the noise began. Directly above the room there came a noise the likes of which a normal human had never heard. It was a howl like any normal wolf but there was another layer to it. Underneath there was almost something human. It was as though a person was being tortured in the most terrible fashion and their screams had been melded into the wolf's cry. Each howl sent an ice pick through the heads of Mai, Lin, Naru, and Grim, calling to the beast that lurked inside each of them.

The noise was too horrible for Mai to bear and she collapsed to her knees, hands over her ears, completely ineffective against the werewolf's howl. Immediately Naru was by her side. It was clear that he was in just as much agony but he bit the inside of his cheek and did his best to support the girl in front of him. Meanwhile Grim yelled above the noise, "the wolf has just changed. It will be coming any moment now. Brace yourself. Leave getting the heart to me. Just keep Mai safe!"

Earlier everyone had agreed that Grim was the most capable and that getting in his way would only cause problems when facing the werewolf. Despite not liking it, the others all agreed to stay off the front lines in this fight. If only that was how it had worked out.

After what seemed like an eternity the howling ceased signaling that the wolf had completed its transformation and was now on the hunt. It pawed back and forth across the overhead floor, each pace making the heart rates of the people below double in pace. It was clear when the wolf realized there were new people in the house. Immediately it let out a deep growl from its throat and lunged down the stairs. It all happened so fast. One instant everything was quite in the base and the next the group was faced with one of the scarier things to ever enter a SPR base.

The wolf was much larger than an average wolf and moved in the pattern of a human. Perhaps the most terrifying part was the eyes. They looked completely human. Full of anger, rage, and beneath all of that were pools of grief so deep a person could drown in them. Seeing Mai in the center of the room the wolf began its approach. Only when it had cleared the doorway completely did the wolf get the surprise of its life.

Grim came up from behind and placed his hand on the wolf. What seemed like an electrical pulse was released and the wolf reacted as though it had been tasered. Now physical pain blossomed in those eyes. While the wolf was off balance, Grim came around pulling out his own blade, a beautiful long sword with a blade that looked like it had been dipped in oil. Systematically he began cutting at the wolf forcing it onto its back exposing the core where its heart beat. Right before he could finish the job the unthinkable happened.

To the surprise of all the people in the room Grim was suddenly hurled against the far wall with enough force to knock the blade from his hand and put him out cold. Mai cried out, "Grim!" panic clearly edging her voice. There was a trickle of blood coming down his forehead and he wasn't moving. Whatever had flung him against the wall had not been gentle.

All of this did nothing to deter Naru and Lin from their task. Knowing that Grim was most likely out of the fight they positioned themselves between the rapidly healing wolf. Lin, his original job being to protect Naru moved first. He had some basic fighting training and as he moved towards the wolf he knew he had to strike fast. If he waited too long the wolf would heal completely and Lin wouldn't stand a chance. Creeping around the side he shouted, "Noll, stay with Mai!" Then, with as much swiftness as he could summon he pounced, knife and shiki heading straight for the wolf's chest; at least until he hit and invisible barrier that threw him back at the same wall that had already claimed Grim's consciousness. As soon as he hit the wall his shiki dissipated back into nothingness as though they had never been there.

"LIN!" Mai and Naru shouted in unison horrified at the injured pair before them. Now it was only the two of them against a rapidly healing wolf that would only be out of commission a few more moments. Turning to Mai, knowing that there was a good chance he was going to his doom, Naru placed his arms around Mai in a tight embrace. Mai immediately froze. Under normal circumstances a hug from her boss would never happen so why was it happening now in front of a huge werewolf?

The hug seemed to do the trick. Knife in one hand, ball of psychic power in the other Naru charged the wolf. He was met with the same wall the others had, but rather than being thrown back he fought through it. The tip of his blade actually made it through and touched the hide of the wolf. Then suddenly the wall came back I full force and knocked Naru not only to the far wall but through it. All the while Mai could only watch horrified as her friends fell prey to this force one by one. Here she was supposed to be some awesome hunter and she was quaking in fear.

Looking back at her friends, all severely hurt, Mai made up her mind. 'I may die or worse be bitten, but at least I won't be a coward. The old me would have jumped in. Now I'll still jump but first let me think.' At this point the wolf was almost fully healed and Mai knew her time was almost up before she would be facing a fully healthy and pissed off werewolf. Quickly she approached waiting for a force to push her back but there wasn't one. Her blades met with no resistance at all. With the resistance gone and the wolf healing Mai knew she had to think quickly, but she had already made her mistake.

What she had thought to be a recovering wolf was really and fully recovered wolf playing hurt to get her to come closer. As soon as she stepped forward to test for resistance she had stepped into striking range. All at once a ton of pure muscle and fur leaped, jaws full of pointy teeth heading straight for Mai's midsection. Her hands moved before her brain did. Completely of their own accord her hands pulled her blades out while her feet launched her backwards. In so doing Mai was able to avoid the teeth and place her blades on either side of the wolf's neck. Two powerful stroked later and the veins and arteries in the neck were severed.

Even a huge wolf will stop if a majority blood vessel is cut. Still moving on autopilot Mai moved swiftly and quickly knowing that she had no choice but to end this wolf's torment and Yuki's suffering. Raising her right blade high, Mai drove it home and removed the heart. The eyes that had previously held so much anger held only pain as they slowly glazed over and became lifeless. One last gurgling howl trying to escape the wolf's throat sounded almost like a mother crying for her child.

Hearing this sound, Mai dropped her blades in horror of what she had done. How was she any better than this wolf when she had just taken its life without even a hint of mercy? Not being able to bear the sight of the dead creature in front of her Mai allowed her tears to run freely as she placed a nearby tarp over the body. Knowing that her friends were still hurt she went over to check and was relieved to see that with the exception of some bumps and bruises they were all simply unconscious.

Her friends safe and the immediate threat over Mai sat on the floor and wondered how Yuki had not woken up during all the racket. 'Oh well,' Mai thought to herself. 'Hopefully she can at least get on with her life in peace.'

But these thoughts triggered entirely different ones. Mai remember before her memories were locked. She used to go on hunts all the time. She had done far worse things and had much more blood on her hands than this before. So why was she still so shaken up? It never used to be this way. When it was just her and Grim out to save the world killing was simply a necessity. Why should it be any different now?

As Mai sat thinking about what inside her had changed she became so lost in her thoughts she did not notice the way the lights flickered, the room temperature dropped, or the shadowy figure slowly rising out of the floor until a deep and terrifyingly familiar voice boomed, "Good to see your still alive Mai!"

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt**

**Author's Note: Wow, two updates in one day! Hope you all enjoy. Thanks for reading! If I ask really nicely will you leave a review? In that case: Please oh distinguished reader, I implore you, if it suits your desires, will you please grace me with the wonder of one of your reviews?**


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