Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or any other anime or TV shows in this story. Love Ghost Hunt and wish it had continued.

Two identical boys ascended the ornate staircase that led towards the third floor for Music Room 3 of Ouran Academy. Both dark haired twins dressed in the blue uniform coats and pants whispered hurriedly. Both wore troubled and concerned expressions hoping their mother who taught here did not catch them.

"Do you think mom will actually call SPR today?"

"I don't know. You heard her talking to father this morning, she was pretty adamant especially with everything that's happening at home."

The other teen nodded in agreement. "Toshi, things are getting worse I'm afraid that something awful is going to happen. I think what's worse is how mom is acting."

Toshi glanced at his brother, "I agree she seems to be spacing out a lot more than usual. We need to talk to Haruhi."

They reached the landing at the top of the stairs. Shadows danced across the hall as the sun sailed across the late afternoon sky. They strolled down the hallway at a leisurely pace to the room where the Host Club met. Haruko eyed the watch on his wrist. "They should be finished with their club business."

As if on cue, the large double doors opened and a bunch of giggling girls walked out dressed in their poofy yellow dress uniforms, patterned after the elegant dresses of Europe in the late 18th century.

The boys stopped to allow the gaggle of girls to flow past them. They entered the room finding the large music room full of red velvet covered loveseats, and some tables and chairs. Ornate vases filled with bouquets of long stemmed red roses sat on several tables. Haruko sneezed as his sinuses rebelled against the overpowering scent of an indoor rose garden.

"Can I help you?" a tall blond teen asked from the side as he stood by another teen with dark hair and glasses who sat at a table typing on a laptop.

"We're looking for Haruhi Fujioka."

The tall blond bristled and gave the pair of brothers a severe once over. He opened his mouth but a smaller blond haired boy eating cake and drinking tea spoke up. "Haruko, Toshi, what are you two doing here?" his voice had a childlike quality.

"Well," Haruko scratched at the back of his head. "We came to talk to Haruhi about our problem. Maybe she can talk to her friend who works at that Psychic Research place."

"Yeah, we hear her boss is a hard-ass and only takes cases that interest him so maybe with the extra information he'll take our case," Toshi added.

Honey pointed towards the girl in question. "It's okay," Honey, the small Lolita type host called out to the other hosts. "They're third years from my class. They're nice guys."

The pair of brothers walked over to the table where said girl worked on her homework. On the outside, she looked like any other boy dressed in the boy's uniform and her hair was short like other boys.

The two twin brothers sat down uninvited. She eyed both with a severe glance. "So what's the story?" She put her cheek in her hand as she sighed blowing her bangs in the air. Today was not the day to try to finish her homework.

"Well you see…" they began and she listened intently. Their story terrified her. As they finished, she found the skin on her arms prickled and fought to rid her mind of the images they created with their words.

"I'll help you although I can't promise anything."

Mai sat at her desk and tucked a stray strand of her luminous brown hair behind her ear. In her two years working as the personal assistant to her narcissistic boss who liked to wear black, her hair had grown to reach her shoulders.

Her phone rang. She picked up the receiver and put the phone to her ear. "Shibuya Psychic Research, can I help you?" The woman on the other end sounded frantic over the phone as Mai wrote down her contact information before putting her on hold. Pressing the well-worn number one button, she spoke again. "Naru, I have a Mrs. Izanami Shiga on the phone for you. She sounds upset."

"Thank you, Mai," she heard her boss's masculine yet soft-spoken voice over the receiver. She sighed floating on cloud nine. "Mai, Tea." She transferred the call to his line. He never changes but I wouldn't have him any other way.

She strolled to the kitchenette. Hefting the teakettle, she turned on the faucet, poured water into the pot, and set it on the burner as she spun the knob on the stove igniting the flame. Reaching into the cabinet, she took out the canister of tea leaves, measured the proper amount, and dumped the leaves into the teapot. The aroma reached her nostrils. She closed her eyes and smiled sadly. She remembered a time when her mother taught her to make tea before her mother got sick and died of an illness had that not happened she wouldn't be able to make her boss's beloved drink. Mai wiped a stray tear that fell from her eye as she blinked to stop more tears from falling.

"Maybe Lin would like a cup too," she muttered and strolled with a bounce in her step to the older man's office door hearing the clacking of keys as he typed away on his computer.

She knocked on his door and heard his muffled command to enter. "Hey Lin, I'm making Naru some tea and wondered if you'd like a cup also?" At first, she had thought of the man as a grumpy uncle, as time wore on, she came to think of him as a father figure. She even confessed as much to him on his and Naru's return from England.

The tall Chinese man looked up at Mai with a soft expression on his face, not the cold blank stare he usually wore. "Yes, Mai, that 'd be great."

A bright, bubbly smile lit Mai's face. The bounce in her step became more pronounced as she hummed to herself as she strolled to the kitchenette and poured the now hot water allowing the leaves to steep. She heard a door close and peeked around the corner as Lin left his office with a laptop in hand and entered Naru's workplace.

She poured three cups of tea and placed them on the tray. Mair carefully walked to her desk being mindful not to spill a drop of the precious fluid her boss loved so well. She placed her cup on the piece of office furniture. The phone came to life as it rang demanding her attention. "Wow, sounds like Shibuya Station in here." She muttered to herself.

Picking up the receiver, "Shibuya Psychic Research, can I help you?" she asked in her most pleasant voice.

"Hey, Mai."

"Haruhi, what's up?"

"I was wondering if a Mrs. Shiga had called your office."

She looked down at her phone to see the light still lit. Naru was still talking to the woman in question. "Yes, she's on the phone right now," Mai screwed her face up. "How did you know?"

"She teaches at my school, and her kids are students here. This may sound strange but I was wondering if you knew whether or not your boss would take their case."

"Trying to figure out what case Naru will take is like trying to guess when an iceberg will melt."

"I have some more info that might sway your boss into taking the case. Her sons are here if you'd like to hear them first hand. To tell the truth Mai, what they have to say, makes my skin crawl."

Mai nodded but realized that Haruhi couldn't see her through the phone. She fought the urge to facepalm. "Okay, let me put you on hold and I'll tell Naru."

Mai strode over to Naru's office and knocked on the door while balancing the tray. Not waiting for the signal to enter she opened the door and placed Lin's cup by his hand and placed her boss's next to his phone.

Mai tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. The look he shot her made her shrink back a little. However, she drew herself up and refused to back down as she whispered. "Naru, two of the Shiga children are on the phone."

One of his eyebrows rose and Mai fought to hold back the laugh that threatened to bubble out of her as he reminded her of Mr. Spock. "I'll put them on line three."

Naru nodded imperceptibly, "If you'll excuse me. I have a phone call I must take," he apologized to Mrs. Shiga.

Mai exited his office, walked over to her desk, and transferred the phone call. She really wanted to know what they were talking about. However it would be unethical and she didn't want to be caught listening in. Mai glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed.

All her work was finished for the day, and she was bored. Her eyelids began to droop. 'No Mai, don't fall asleep, Naru will get mad if he finds me sleeping at my desk.' She slapped her cheeks.

Mai woke to find she way lying in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. She looked around her surroundings taking in the posters on the walls of some teenage boy bands and TV stars. She tried to sit up except a pressure of some icy cold force held her down on the bed. Shivers pricked her skin from the icy touch.

A foul smell oozed from the walls as a hand ran over her body chilling her to the bone. She felt the hand sliding between her legs and she squeezed them shut as hard as possible. However, the force holding still forced them open as the hand found the spot it was looking for. Somebody, anybody, please help me.

"Mai…, Mai…," she woke to find Naru standing over her desk. "Goofing off again?" he gave her a critical eye.

"I… I'm sorry. I got bored and I guess I fell asleep."

He grabbed the bridge of his nose and squeezed as he lay the paper down on her desk. "Here's the fax number, we're taking the case. Fax the contract to her, and we'll pick it up on Sunday."

"Call everyone?" she asked as she fired up her computer and entered the number and sent the fax off. She picked up the receiver on the phone.

"Yes, call everyone. We will meet here tomorrow. The equipment needs to be checked out before we load the van. We'll leave Sunday morning at 8:30 am. Oh and call Jessica Manyhorses too. We may have need of her unique skills. When you're finished, we'll head home."

Mai nodded as she began to dial the unofficial members of SPR. If the tornado had not happened on that fateful day they would never have met Jessica and started their association with the self-proclaimed Marine brat. Mai's apartment building was a total loss. However, her biggest loss was the picture she had kept on the bedside table of her parents before they both died.

Naru moved her in with him that day, but the loss of the picture had hurt, although the miracle worker named Madoka found the picture in an archive. She considered herself lucky. Everyone even remotely connected to SPR became her second family. A wave of dizziness struck her as an image of a little girl with pigtails flashed in her mind. She slowly eased herself down in her chair. Was this a vision of the future to come? She shrugged it off as she made the last call.

Sunday, April 23rd 10:15 am

Mountains loomed off in the distance and a thick cloak of trees of a forest surrounding the house created a perfect backdrop for a portrait with the house the subject. The tires of the black SPR van crunched down the long rock covered driveway that ran up beside the huge Victorian Style house. Dark green ivy grew up one side of a limestone brick façade. It looked like a picture of a type of castle Mai saw in one of Naru's books from famous hauntings in England. The house itself was beautiful and huge. What drew her attention were the stained glass windows. 'This isn't a house, it's a mansion.'

Mai heard the sound of the passenger and driver doors opening with squeaks. She followed her black-clad boss and boyfriend out the passenger side as Lin exited from the driver's side. Mai drew out her digital camera from her backpack snapping off pictures concentrating on the windows for anything paranormal. She'd done this so many times that it was now second nature to her.

Her attention turned to the sound of crunching tires on rock and saw two more cars pulling up behind the van. One was the dark blue Mazda RX-7 that belonged to Jessica and the other was the more practical white passenger car owned by Hosho Takigawa who she affectionately called Monk.

Jessica stepped out of her car pulling her suitcase with her. She called out to Mai and the others, "Hey guys, so this is where your next case is huh, looks interesting." The darker skinned woman wore blue jeans, cut off tank top, and a black leather jacket. Her long jet-black hair pulled back into a ponytail.

Naru nodded in recognition as the others began to climb out of the Monk's car. He spun away as he inwardly cringed as a small woman came up to his side the famous medium Masako Hara, who hosted her own TV show as the woman from Long Island New York.

He relied on the brown-headed monk, Hosho Takigawa, and John Brown, a Catholic priest for exorcisms. Medical issues and minor blessings came under Ayako Matsuzaki. The research was Osamu Yasuhara. Although in college, the young man's skills as a researcher were above par. If he needed extra help, he could call in Madoka Mori, who taught him everything he knew about ghost hunting. Add to the mix his friend, bodyguard, guardian and assistant Lin Kojou, who was a Chinese sorcerer. Even though Naru was eighteen under Japanese law, he was still underage until he reached twenty years old.

Naru's long black trench coat billowed in the crisp April breeze. His stoic expression firmly in place he tugged on Mai's sleeve as his feet crunched across the rock that shifted under his weight to the front door. The door opened and a kindly older man stood in the doorway dressed in a dark blue suit. His black hair sprinkled with some gray at his temples, "SPR?" His hazel eyes held a hint of laughter.

"Yes, I'm Kazuya Shibuya and these are my associates," replied the ebon-haired teen with the air of authority circling around him.

The man held out his hand for the younger man to shake. "I'm Shino Shiga, and I'll take you to my wife. I was just on my way out to work."

Naru nodded as they shook hands and the man led the group towards the family room where his wife sat watching the children play video games.

"Izanami, SPR is here. Kids behave yourselves, I'll be home later this evening."

Izanami stood up, walked over to her husband, gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Be careful." She bowed to Naru and the others. "When you said your associates I didn't expect so many people." Mentally taking a quick count of heads, "Haruko, Toshi turn the game off and get a couple spare beds from storage for the men's room."

"Yes mother," the boys spoke at the same time and ran out of the room.

Mai felt a chill race up her spine as a knot formed in her stomach. A pair of unseen eyes bored a hole in her back. She did her best to hide her unease from the rest. She gasped as she saw the little girl from her vision.

Masako looked about and brought her kimono sleeve up to her face. "Naru I sense a spirit here watching us."

"What is it doing Miss Hara?"

"It's just watching. I can't get a focus on what type of spirit it is."

Naru opened his black notebook and jotted down some notes, closing it with a resounding snap. He bowed to Mrs. Shiga.

Etsu hid behind her mother's leg, as she looked up at all the people. She pointed towards the medium, "Your Masako Hara. I've seen you on TV. You talk to ghosts."

Masako hid her face again as she blushed. "Yes, I am."

"Girls, let's go show our guests to their base, and take them on a tour of the house."

"Yes Mama," both girls said at the same time.

Izanami, Cho, and Etsu led the group to a big library. They walked into the room where many books lined the walls and several bookcases stood as lone sentinels. A beige couch with overstuffed pillows sat on one side of a small coffee table, which faced a crushed red velvet couch with matching pillows. A Persian throw rug lay on the floor. A larger table sat close to a wall and Lin had confiscated a desk for the monitors. The room smelled of dusty, musty old books. "We decided this would be the best place for your base. The books came with the house. You might be able to find some kind of information about the things going on here from them."

"Thank you," Naru bowed to Mrs. Shiga.

"I should thank you for even taking my case. You know I tried to talk to that guy Minami from the Minami Psychic Research Center and he turned me down. He said I should go see a psychiatrist," Izanami said.

"We ran into him a year ago, he's a fraud," Mai spat out in anger as Naru silently agreed with her.

Izanami laughed. "I'm glad I didn't take his advice."

The tour of the house was informative to the CEO of SPR. Naru recorded in his handy dandy notebook the rooms and places to set up the cameras and motion detectors, and a couple of laser grids. When the ghost hunters returned to base he gave his orders to the others, "Lin, Takigawa, John, and Mai start unloading the van. Miss Matsuzaki, Miss Hara take a walk around the house and see if you can sense where the spirits are. Jessica and Yasuhara can start going through the books."

Lin connected a printer to his laptop and entered the information about the house into a program that automatically drew up a floor plan. He printed out the page and handed it off to Naru, who looked it over. He marked on the paper where he wanted all the cameras, motion detectors and the laser grids set up.

The stoic Chinese man plugged in the portable Wi-Fi for the wireless cameras and send reports to Madoka for Naru's father to peruse. The man, Martin Davis, was not only a professor at one of the highly esteemed colleges in England but also a board member for the British SPR.

Mai carried in a box of cables, her fingers deftly attached them to the mini-DVR and monitors the guys had set up. Once she was finished, she grabbed an electronic thermometer and clipboard to write down base temperatures of all the rooms while Monk and John set up the cameras.

Mai clipped a walkie-talkie to the belt of her blue jean mini skirt to keep in contact with the base and keep her hands free to write down the baseline readings.

With a copy of the floor plan in hand Mai, Monk, and John left the base and went to work.

The trio worked like a well-oiled machine on most cases; however, with Takigawa sometimes he was the proverbial fly in the ointment.

"So Mai, how are you and Naru doing?" he asked with a sly wink.

John blushed.

She rolled her eyes and glanced at the Monk aka bass player for a rock band who wore his light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. He was like a big brother to her. "We're doing just fine." An evil gleam flashed in her eyes as a wicked thought came to mind. "How are you and Ayako doing?"

"Why would I ever go out with her? She's too old for me."

John sighed and shook his head.

"Are you sure?" as she wrote down the temperature for the room and Monk adjusted the camera per Lin's instructions over the radio. "I would think it would be the other way around since Ayako is twenty-five and you're what twenty-seven or eight?"

"I'm sure Mai. Ayako is not interested in me at all."

"Are you interested in her, at all?"

"No way."

"Sure, Monk… keep on telling yourself that."

Monk placed his hands on his hips. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"For an adult, you sure are oblivious to the feelings both of you have for one another." Mai poked her finger into his chest as she added, "I've heard Ayako say things in her sleep about her hunky monk."

"Dear Lord," John blushed and crossed himself.

Monk blushed and huffed as the trio went on to Etsu's room and set up a camera, and a laser grid. She looked around the room and smiled. The room said girl here as a nice full sized bed with a pink canopy sat off to one side. A toy box in a corner filled with toys and games perfect for a six-year-old. A small bookshelf clung to the pink and white striped wallpapered wall.

Mai heard a creak on the floor behind her and spun around nothing was there. They continued setting cameras in different rooms. The uneasy feeling gave her the creeps. Dread overwhelmed her.

They found Cho's room and Mai froze. This was it, the room from her dream. The boy band posters on the wall greeting her as they mocked her from the wall her skin prickled in fear.

Monk glanced over at her, "Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine…"

"Mai, this is Monk you're talking to. I can tell when something's wrong so spill it."

"I feel like someone's watching me," she whispered.

Monk drew her into a hug. "Don't worry, Mai. We're here for you." He playfully mussed her hair as he released her. John agreed. She glanced up at their calm faces and didn't feel so nervous.

They finished setting up the rest of the cameras without incident and walked back to base. Naru looked up from his black notebook as they entered the room. "Mai, tea," he ordered.

Mai sighed, rolled her eyes, and muttered to herself, "tea aholic jerk."

Naru smirked at her back as she walked out of the base.

Jessica stood next to him, "Is this your idea of foreplay, pissing Mai off?"

"So what if it is," he settled back in his chair as Jessica rolled her eyes and went back to helping Yasu with research.