Yo! So, this is my first Ghost Hunt fic with this particular pairing. There isn't much with them out there unfortunately, which is why I wanted to try my hand at it myself. Hope it'll be alright.

Warning: there will be mentions of child abuse, emotional, physical, and sexual. None of it will be detailed or graphic, but I wanted to make sure you guys know, especially because it might make some uncomfortable, or be a trigger.

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

"Mai, tea!"

It was the boss man's voice that sounded alongside the first roll of thunder on a hot, humid August afternoon, and as the grey skies flashed brightly, the boss' young assistant sighed heavily.

Nineteen year old Mai didn't bother calling back. She simply got to her feet and headed into the little kitchen alcove in the back corner of the room. As she began preparing some tea, she found herself really hoping that the storm wasn't going to worsen. She hated thunderstorms due to her unfortunate fear of them, stemming from her childhood. Stupid irrational fears...

With the tea ready, and Lin not at work today, Mai made her way over to Naru's office, and knocked on the door.

"Come in," was the curt response that greeted her.

Huh. He sounded rather annoyed, which wasn't making Mai feel any better about any of this. Opening the door and nudging her way in, the girl found her twenty year old boss seated behind his desk, hunched over and hard at work, just like always. It was something she had once found to be both exasperating and cute, but now merely found to be exasperating. She had since given up on asking him when he slept. Without a word, she placed the cup of tea on the large wooden desk, and was just turning to leave, when Naru finally glanced up at her.

"Call up the team. We have a case." And with that, he silently dismissed her and refocused on whatever he had just been working on before she'd entered.

Stifling a sigh and not bothering to question it, Mai left the smaller office and headed back to her own desk in the main lounge. Smoothing her skirt out under her, she sat back down and picked up the phone, dialing up Bou-san's number first as she tried her best to ignore the thunderstorm happening just outside.

"Mm hmm?"

Mai laughed lightly, unable to help herself. "Still in bed, Bou-san? It's the middle of the day!"

The monk let out a low groan. "Was up late," he replied, his voice deep and slurred with sleep. "Had a late rehearsal, so I didn't manage to get to bed until eight this morning."

Mai frowned slightly, and released a sound of sympathy. As a nineteen year old university student with a job at SPR, she knew all about lack of sleep. And it seriously sucked. "I'm sorry for disturbing you then, but Naru wanted me to call everyone up. He says we've got a case." She heard a shuffling, followed by a grunt, signalling that Bou-san was moving around on his bed-and why this had the girl's cheeks heating, she didn't want to look into right now.

"A case, huh? Been a while. We meeting up at the usual time?"

"Hai. Well, I guess so, at least. I mean, he didn't say anything else, so I'm assuming it's then."

"Probably." He sighed, then continued. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow morning then, Mai-chan."

"Un. Try and get some sleep. Oh! And don't forget to eat, okay?"

The monk chuckled, clearly somewhat amused by her words. "Yes, mum. Later, Mai."

"Bye!" Disconnecting from the monk, Mai called up the others to give them the same information, and once finished, leaned back in her chair and stared out the rain slicked window. She flinched as lightning flashed brightly, then sighed again and returned to Naru's office so she could tell him who was and wasn't going to be joining them on their new case...

Bou-san, meanwhile, did not go back to sleep, as he had said he would do. Still in bed, he rolled over onto his back, and brought a forearm over his eyes, covering them as he fell into thought, a frown on his face.

He knew that no one else would have found his conversation with Mai to be strange whatsoever, but they would have been very wrong. Though the girl had sounded cheerful enough, Bou-san knew she was far from. For the past couple of years now, Mai had been quite sad-more than quite, really. And that sadness seemed to be something very few seemed to be aware of. Mai hid it well.

It had been about two years since they had found out about Naru-Shibuya Kazuya, actually being Oliver Davis. It had been two years since they had learned about his twin brother Eugene Davis, and how, where, and when he had died. It had been two years since they had found out that Mai's 'Dream Naru' was actually Gene. It had been two years since Mai had told Naru the truth of how she felt about him.

Naru and Lin had been planning on returning to England with Eugene's body, and Mai didn't want them to leave without allowing herself to speak the words she had been thinking for so long. So she had confessed to him, told him everything, and Naru had simply blown her off like it was nothing, had told her she was in love with his dead twin, rather than him. She didn't know what she was talking about, he had told her. She couldn't tell the difference between them, he had said. She was projecting Gene's behaviour onto him, he had informed her.

And then he'd left, with those cold words being the last thing he had said to his young assistant who had sacrificed so much for him, who had used up all the courage she had to confess her feelings for him.

It was a low blow, and Mai had taken it rather hard. She had been inconsolable for about a month, hardly speaking a word to anyone, and going about her daily life mechanically. After that month, she had pulled herself together somewhat, and then had spent a long time thinking hard about who exactly it was that she had these feelings of what she thought was love, for. She had come to the conclusion that even though he could be an arrogant bastard, it was indeed Naru she cared about.

Somehow knowing Naru would return to Japan for sure, Mai had spent the rest of the time studying her ass off. She remembered every time Naru had insulted her intelligence, and had worked so hard to make herself smarter. She had finished high school, passing every class, even English, with flying colours, and had even entered a good university.

But when Naru had come back a few months ago, all of them, not just Mai, though her especially, had received a bit of a shock. Naru was no longer single. No, in the time he had been in Britain, Naru had, at some point, hooked up with none other than Hara Masako. And to make matters even worse, her arrogance seemed to have rubbed off on Naru, making him even more arrogant than before, which was really rather unfortunate.

Bou-san knew that Naru having Masako as a girlfriend had really hurt Mai. She had worked so hard to, well, prove to him that she wasn't just a childish fool, that she was intelligent, and knew exactly who she had feelings for, and now...

It was actually a little strange, thought the monk. Even at nineteen, Masako pretty much still looked the same as she had at sixteen. Hell, she'd barely even grown. Mai, on the other hand, had gone through a minor growth spurt, and had grown her hair down to her shoulders, not to mention she'd, er, filled up nicely. Mai's body clearly showed that she was no longer a child, a thought that haunted Bou-san more that he liked to admit, even to himself.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes tiredly. There was no way he was going to be falling back asleep now. You have to stop thinking about her like that, he told himself firmly. She's like your little sister, isn't she? You can't think about your sister that way. These were words that often went through his mind-words he forced himself to think whenever he started thinking of Mai in a less than innocent manner.

You delusional idiot. You only say you see her as a sister so you won't have to face the truth. You're attracted to her. Attracted to her in a way that isn't brotherly at all. Attracted to her in a way that isn't innocent at all. You think of her, dream of her-her smile, her laugh, her curves. Unfortunately for him, the man's mind had learned to talk back to him. ...Ugh, that only made it worse!

"God dammit!" Furious with himself, Bou-san reached around and grabbed the closest thing-a magazine, flipped it open to a random page, and began to read, desperate for a distraction. He had to, absolutely had to stop thinking this way. Mai would probably kill him if she ever learned of his thoughts, and he didn't want to jeopardize their friendship for anything.

But what Bou-san didn't know, was that Mai had some confusing, but less than innocent feelings for him too...

And that's it for now. Hope it's alright so far. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!