First of all, thanks a lot to the kind reviewers who made the effort to leave me a comment. I really appreciated, it is nice having an audience for a change (I usually write for myself as a hobby, in French as you can guess from my pen name, and fan fiction is a nice alternative to my usual works).

Concerning this story: here goes another sleepless night! I hadn't any intention to write it initially, but insomnia got the better of me. So I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammar mistake, I am rather exhausted and may stay so for the next days, so I really don't have enough courage to check it too closely.

Well, I hope you'll like it. Dunno if it is fluffy enough.

And as usual, I don't own Ghost Hunt.

When she met him for the very first time, Mai immediately knew that he was synonym for trouble. While her friends were fretting over his annoyingly handsome face and started to flirt, she was held back by his fake smile, cold eyes and suspicious evasiveness. Yes, Kazuya Shibuya was screaming trouble. Her instinct told her to avoid him, and at that time, she had planed to do so. But fate seemed to have a different agenda.

So, they met accidentally again, and trouble she found. Accidentally, was the key word. Indeed, an incredible amount of bad luck and complicated circumstances led a device to be broken and a man to go to the hospital. Well, she had to admit that her curiosity and clumsiness had somehow been the trigger, even if she had done nothing wrong per se, and she had to agree having her share of responsibility. Kazuya Shibuya took advantage of her righteous mind (and poverty, since the device had the nerve to be expensive) to turn her into a slave that he called « temporary assistant ».

The temporary then became permanent. As she assisted him with ghost hunting, she stepped into the dangerous world of spirits. Spirits who definitively meant trouble, as she found herself thrown into wells, possessed multiple times, trapped in sewers and hurt with various pieces of furniture. She had to deal with scary phenomena and got to see a couple of really disturbing things, but that wasn't the real issue. No, what got her in real trouble was her boss. How she hated him at first! He was cold, arrogant, full of himself, tight-lipped and secretive. Like he had all the knowledge of the world and didn't care to share, despising the poor unfortunate souls that didn't have an IQ high enough to match Einstein's. Was it her fault if her own IQ was totally average, and if her knowledge about paranormal was limited to childish ghost stories? Eh, what if the guy was the head of his own company, and was obviously smart? On top of that, what if he was stupidly handsome and attractive, and knew it all too well!? He was just Naru, as she nicknamed him, a horrible narcissist who managed to infuriate her constantly with sarcastic remarks. That's what she told herself at first. But at the end of their first case, freed from her debt, she strangely missed him. And realized she was in love with the coldest and less empathic guy ever. Talk about trouble!

How could she not love him, however? Said Naru had wormed his way in her life, apparently unaware of the impact of his actions. She had financial difficulties, he offered her a well-paid job, and became the hand that fed her. She was an orphan, he was the leader of a wonderful working team, in which she found a makeshift family. She wanted to be special, he discovered her to be a latent psychic. All too soon he became an essential part of her life and thoughts. A mere word or a mere gesture from him and she was either in high spirits, or blind with fury. He had a way to draw the worst and the best out of her. She even saw him in her sleep, a kind and smiling facet of the young man that she wished so much to see in reality. He was everywhere, showing her dreams, shielding her from falling ceilings, entertaining her in sewers, calling for tea every minute, teasing her constantly, fighting with her, teaching her, scolding her. She was so full of him that she realized too late that she was trapped, and that there was no escape: her world basically revolved around him. He had a rather difficult personality, she was well aware of it, and he had obviously no romantic interest in her, though he seemed closer to her than to everyone else. Nevertheless it seemed that she had fallen in love with him. Very deeply. Yes, she was definitely, totally in trouble.

One fateful day, he turned her world upside down. He wasn't Kazuya Shibuya, the Japanese ghost hunter, but the famous Oliver Davis, honorific Professor of parapsychology Davis, from England. She should have known he was a fake, her instinct had told her so, after all. But she just couldn't make herself to really care. She didn't know Shibuya, or Davis, she knew Naru, and that was all that mattered to her.

But that wasn't all. Naru had kept a rather explosive secret: he was in Japan in order to found his dead brother. Dead, medium twin brother, Eugene. Who apparently was the kind soul visiting her in her sleep. When she confessed to Naru, he had to outsmart her once again: she was in love with the smiling Gene of her dreams, not the insensitive guy she worked with. Confusion, sorrow, desperation and dread altogether clouded her mind: the person she loved was dead and definitely gone, and Naru was about to go back to England, leaving her with nothing. She saw her world crumbling before her eyes. That day, she feared she had lost everything. Her mean of subsistence, her family, her love. How had she managed to be in so much trouble at such a young age?

- Mai, Tea!

« Not again! » she thought angrily, aiming for the kettle nonetheless to grant her boss' wish. Her life had gone back to normal, and the trouble had vanished. Well, the sentimental one, at least. The physical part was another story.

To her utmost relief, Naru, Oliver, had come back after a short while. And so had done Gene. When she had seen the spirit's smiling face again, she had felt butterflies in her stomach. But after taking some time to sort her feelings properly, she had to admit the truth: she had fooled herself to loving someone who wasn't even real. Yes, she loved Gene sweet smiles, but she had assumed that he was a sort of gentle and kind Naru. Who he was, no had been, in reality, she had no idea, and would sadly probably never know. And the Naru she had loved was a delusion of who she imagined he could be, compassionate and secretly sweet, not who he really was. Well, she still suspected he had a soft side. He had hired her out of compassion after all, and had given her willingly a portrait of him and Gene when she was heartbroken. But he had the annoying habit of hiding every nice gesture he could make behind cold logic or some sly excuse.

Truth to be told, she hadn't been fair with any of the Davis twins: she had been in love with an illusion. It had hurt, she had shed some tears about it but honesty was the best policy, and after some time she had begun to feel calmer, and the hurt had subsided.

So it was with an appeased heart and mind that she had decided to start over: she would offer Naru, the infuriating, insensitive, arrogant but real one this time, her friendship, and would make her best to understand him. The background of Oliver Davis had already put some light on certain traits of his personality, and now that he didn't have to lie anymore, she knew she would be able to sort him trough. They had been kind of close once, and she knew she wanted him to stay in her life. He had offered her, albeit reluctantly, so much. She now had every intention to repay him by being his loyal friend, against his will if necessary.

Well, that would be for later, because at that precise moment she was very annoyed at him. The stupid tea was ready, so she stomped in her boss office and shoved the offending teacup rather briskly on his desk.

- Naru, you slave driver! The last one was only half an hour ago! Let me at least enough time to sit down once in a while!

- Mai, I pay you for making me tea. You have no ground for complaining.

Aargh, infuriating as always! She felt her blood starting to boil and glared at him while he smirked, sipping his tea contentedly. As usual she waited for him to show some manners and say his thanks. Hell, she was full of good will toward him, and really wanted to be on friendly terms with him, but she didn't want it to be one-sided! Couldn't he be at least polite for a change? She was awoken of her internal ranting by the sound of Naru clearing his throat.

- Mai, he warned in a low tone, I will only say it once so listen closely.

Uh? Could it be…no way!

« Victory! » she screamed in her mind, he was finally caving in! Grinning and pleased with herself and her obstinacy (which finally paid), she leaned a little to hear him better, savoring the moment in advance.

- Yes, Naru?

He sighed softly, and said something totally unexpected:

- Your tea is delicious, really. I mean it.

Her mind went blank for a moment, before she processed what he had said. She almost let her tray slip from her hand, and felt her cheeks flush scarlet. Hell must have frozen over. He had praised her. Well, her tea, but it was a praise, from Naru! That was no small feat.

To her utter dismay, she felt suddenly stupidly shy and giddy, stuttering a bit while responding:

- I…I'm glad you like it.

And she really was. She couldn't help but address him her warmest happy smile. She was aware of the effort he had made, saying these few words. He had made a step in her direction, and she felt warm and light-headed being the aim of his nice comment. When her gaze met his, she had to force herself to break eye contact and leave his office.

She headed to her desk, clutching her flushed cheeks, a stupid smile plastered on her face. It was at that moment that realization hit her. She may not be totally out of trouble after all.