Hello there again! This is my second case in the same storyline as Spirits of Kin. If you want to fully understand this one, it's probably a good idea to read the prequel first ^.^

This will be a new case with some of the old OC's and maybe some new ones. There will be some limey scenes along the way, so watch out for that if it bothers you ^.^

Of course I don't own Ghost Hunt in any way, just so you know...

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Mai was sitting at her desk, a whole stack of files before her, but somehow she was not in the mood. First snows came two days ago – a little early for the season, but she still gladly watched the snowflakes dance and spin behind the window.

"Mai, tea!" came the usual request form Oliver's office. That was one of the few things, that haven't changed. Four months after the faithful case with Icelandic magic involved, where her stubborn boss finally accepted her feelings and revealed his own, they were slowly getting used to the new status of their relationship.

"Sure, what brand do you want?" she asked getting up to boil the water.

"Anything spicy, maybe the one with cardamom?" one thing that changed – he actually bothered to answer her questions…most of the time.

"Okay!"

"Get a cup for yourself, I want to ask you something." He spoke up again, voice toneless.

Without much complaint Mai prepared the tea and put two cups on the tray. She carefully kicked his office door open and strode in, laying the tray on his large wooden desk carefully. He didn't even lift his head up – as usual. When the cup was finally pushed in front of his nose, the workaholic nodded his thanks wordlessly and after a minute deigned his girlfriend with a look.

"Sooo…what is this about?" Mai asked carefully, the look on his face didn't bid anything good.

"We might get more cases from now on."

"More cases? But why?" That was not exactly what she expected. Curling up in the opposite chair Mai made herself comfortable.

"All over the world people with psychic ability are feeling a sort of peak in energy. Their powers are increasing and in some cases getting out of control. ESP users start to see visions out of the blue, several times a day, mediums get possessed without allowing it and so on. Even old sites of paranormal activity that were dormant for years have become active again."

"How about you, Naru? How is your power doing?" she asked worried – the last time it got out of hand he ended up nearly dying.

"It's fine, Mai. This is mostly ESP users. My psychometry might be bristling a little, but it's nothing I can't handle. "

"You will tell me if something is wrong, now, will you?" she asked surprisingly strictly, still not convinced.

Sighing he looked up at her and instead of answering stood and walked round the table to perch on the side of Mai's chair. Bending down the young scientist kissed her forehead and then held her face up to kiss her lips softly. That was more than enough to shut his stubborn assistant up. He still marvelled at the sight of changing colours on her face – from light beige to pink and eventually scarlet. It never failed to amuse him.

"I will." He answered her almost forgotten question. "But what I wanted to ask was how are your powers reacting? Your abilities were mostly lentient for a long time - you only started to use them recently. So, I want to know do you feel anything. "

"Uh…I might…have more strange dreams, now that you mentioned it…" she stuttered out, still distracted, though Oliver has left her chair in favour of staring at the snow through the window.

"Strange how?" he asked without turning around.

"Well my dreams would normally come only during cases, but now I dream those kinds of dreams even when we don't have a case. But I have no idea what they mean, or are they real at all, so I just…" Mai drifted off not knowing how to explain it. She couldn't tell the difference sometimes, between the dreams connected to cases and just random visions of spirits passing by. Lately her powers became stronger, so she just thought having more dreams is normal.

"Are they violent?" Oliver questioned quietly, breaking her out of her pondering.

"Huh?"

"The dreams. How violent do they get?" he asked in monotone, but Mai has already learned when to pay attention to the words, not the tone. He was worried, or so it seemed.

"Ah…most are okay, I mean they don't bother me much…" She tried to downplay it a bit. It wasn't like she had no bad dreams before - just now it was more often. Still it felt nice to be worried about, especially by Naru. "Aaand … the few really horrible ones I've had…I can always ask Gene to lead me out, and he does. Do you two talk sometimes?"

"We do, but not so often, he's been resting a lot recently. If the dreams get too explicit or you start waking up with bruises I want you to tell me, Mai." The tone was all business, as always. Mai just sighed. 'Why can't he just say 'I'm worried, be safe?'

"You bet I will. I'm not as stubborn as some of us…" she trailed off teasing.

Getting up Mai walked to the window and hesitantly slid her hands around his arm, squeezing lightly through the black shirt. Touching Oliver whenever she felt like it was still off limits, especially in the office, but Mai enjoyed even the few small privileges she had now. It's more than she could do for years! Still…skin on skin contact was not always pleasant for her whacky boyfriend, so she just figured to let him initiate the barehanded touches most of the time.

"Is that so…"Oliver was smirking barely visibly.

"Ding!"

The little bell at the door rang quietly and Mai had to force herself to let go of the comfortable warmth and go do her job.

Walking into the main space she greeted politely:

"Welcome to Shibuya Psychic Research. Is there something we can do for you?"

"Well I certainly hope so, young lady." Spoke the middle aged man with strange round spectacles "I have heard impressive things about this office, so I am certain you can help me. I am Sawamura Hotarou, an archeologist in a private Kohachi History museum in Aomori." He introduced, bowing politely.

"Very nice to meet you, Sawamura-san, please come in and take a seat. I will call our boss to hear you out in a minute. Would you like some tea? It's snowing really hard outside after all." The new customer just smiled strangely while hanging his coat on the rack. He seemed around fifty, not very tall, but surprisingly healthy looking for a historian. 'These folks spend all their lives buried in old books, right?' Mai thought distractedly.

"I would be grateful, miss. It is a bit chilly." Swamura-san answered never loosing the small smile. She knocked on both Oliver's and Lin's door to drag them out of their dens to the main room, and finally walked into the kitchen to boil the water. Again. When she walked out with the cups on the tray both men were in position, so to speak, and their guest waited obediently for them to start.

"Now, Sawamura-san, please introduce yourself and tell us what brought you here." Naru started opening his customary black notebook.

"I am Sawamura Hotarou, the chief archeologist and historian in Kohachi History museum in Aomori." The man started in a well practised, pleasant voice. He was clearly used to talk to people, or at least at them. Pushing the spectacles up his long straight nose he continued a bit more warily.

"I'm not quite sure how this will sound, but we have a disturbing trouble in the museum, not in the expositions themselves…but down below, in the vaults where we keep the items not yet ready to be showcased. Or those, that already have been written down for safekeeping. There have been several accidents so far, five to be precise. The employees, who go into the vault alone, complain, that it's extremely cold there, some hear strange sounds. Few had ended up unconscious on the ground with various degrees of injury – from small cut marks to patches of burned skin…and the last two…well, one of them had horrible bruises on his face, around the eyes and the eyes themselves were completely red with blood. And the other one nearly lost his hand – it was almost cut of, to the point where we could see the bone…"

Mai was starting to feel queasy, her stomach turned uneasily and strange visions odd metal doors and covered cases came into her mind unbidden.

"Could this have been done by an attacker – a thief or some intruder?" It was just like their demon boss to check all possible options. Even when they are here for business, he still only takes the cases that are certainly paranormal and interesting enough.

"It's impossible – the vault doors have a specific locking mechanism – when you walk in, you have to punch in the code and do exactly the same coming out. Every entry is written down in automatic log. We checked it after the first accident – nobody came in or out except our employee, the one who was harmed that day."

"I see. How long has this been happening?" This was the most usual interview, so Mai couldn't understand why she was feeling so nervous and uncomfortable in her own skin.

"Over a month now. We are quickly becoming desperate, Shibuya-san, our own people refuse to go into the vaults, so now we go by two. Some employees have quit already." He really seemed worried for his staff, so Mai instantly felt sympathy towards the middle aged man. He was not here for curiosity or to find free advertisement for the museum, at least so it seemed.

"Is the activity located only in the vaults? Or has it spread outside?" this time it was Lin who asked the question.

"Not…so far. The outside is safe, but people are scared to even come to work. If this continues we'll be forced to close the expositions for sheer lack of personnel." The man sighed heavily. He looked dejected and weary, but a peculiar light of determination still shone in the tired gaze.

"What do you keep there?" Naru questioned, starting to wonder if he wants this case – it seemed like some simple cursed object. However people have been hurt severely…if he rejects this…Mai most likely will eat him alive. That reason alone made the young professor continue with the interview.

"Good gods, I could give you the lists if you like, but we have quite a lot of remnants from the wars, old Egypt collection, samurai weapons and so on, it's hard even for me to remember everything."

"I understand. Is there anything else you would like to add?"

"On the happenings…no, but I would like to ask you once again to help our employees." He said standing and bowing lowly "They are the ones to suffer from this."

"Very well, if we choose to come, we'll need three rooms to operate from – one for the equipment and two for sleeping."

"If you are sure you would like to stay in the same building…we could prepare the rooms on the third floor – some are empty." He mused, clearly walking the building corridors in his head. Mai felt as if she is walking with him. She sat there comfortably on the couch, but at the same time could almost see the wooden flooring, the doors and stairs, leading to the basement. The stairs made goose bumps rise on her skin, it felt as if someone is screaming down there, but she couldn't hear it. Nobody could.

"I assume you are staying at a hotel Sawamura-san?" Oliver's voice brought her back to reality and she nearly jumped off the couch.

"Yes." Expectant brown eyes travelled form one person to another.

"Then please leave your hotel number with my assistant, Taniyama-san, and we'll contact you about our decision before noon tomorrow."

"Of course." The elderly man bowed politely and obediently followed Mai to her desk to fill the forms. After all documents were settled Oliver walked back out of his office and called both his assistants.

"Lin, Mai, what do you think of this case? Do you want to take it?" He asked in unusual streak of generosity.

"I'm not sure… it might be a possessed object. If it is, the case has very little interest for us…" Lin pondered "However, people are getting severely injured so it's irresponsible to leave it be. Perhaps we should take a look with Takigawa-san, he has greater expertise in dealing with objects."

"Actually, John could come in a couple of days, he might be even better." Mai added still half lost in her thoughts. Even after the interview was long over she still could not fully return to herself, as if the place she saw stole a small piece of her consciousness and kept it there.

"You seemed strange during the interview. Did something happen? " Naru inquired looking at his still half present assistant.

"I…uh …my imagination might have run off with me. When Sawamura-san started to talk…I sort of…saw wooden corridors in my head…and there were metal doors and stairs. Stairs to the basement. It was dark at the bottom, but I think someone was screaming there…But! That might just be my over-active imagination, right?" she ended with a bright smile. Naru just looked at her steadily for a moment then sighed.

"I doubt it. You might start seeing visions when awake, if you do, tell me. Even if you think it's stupid." He made the last sentence a bit louder and the petite brunette just grumbled under her breath. "For now call Takigawa-san and Hara-san, we'll take the case."

With that he just strode back into his office and barricaded himself in it for the rest of the day.

Mai went home early that evening, stealing a little kiss goodbye before running off. Naru went home much later at night, he was busy looking at the museum exposition descriptions online and digging for information. The trip was short - they rented an apartment nearby with Lin after coming back to Japan permanently.

Their apartment was empty when he came back – it was getting normal to not find Lin home. He started to spend most nights at Kamishiro-san's home recently, only coming around to change and sometimes pick up his things. Emptiness didn't bother Oliver too much, after spending all day with people it was actually sort of relaxing – he could let his shields down a bit. After making salad for dinner he just promised himself to shower in the morning and went straight to sleep. A long day of packing and commute arrangements awaits tomorrow, after all.

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That night his phone rang. Drowsy the young scientist grappled on his nightstand. The clock said ten to four and the caller was Mai. Immediately all sleep was forgotten and worry took over:

"Hello? Mai?" he asked loudly, trying to keep alarm out of his voice.

"N-naru…I…" she was barely audible. On the line he could hear quiet sobs between words, she was crying – hard.

"Mai, it's alright, breathe. Breathe and tell me what's wrong." He tried to talk slowly and calmly in hopes to stop the sobs.

"I…I had...had a dream…Naru I have wounds…and they tortured him and…" She made no sense but he gathered enough to understand, that this is bad.

"Mai, listen to me. I'm coming over, unlock the door, I'll be there shortly. Don't do anything stupid. I'm going to hang up now, just wait for me." Now concealing fear was pointless. Even still on the phone he got up find some clothes. A shaky 'Okay ' was all he got before hanging up. Quickly jumping into some jeans, t-shirt and sweater Oliver was about to call the cab, but something on the key hook caught his eye – Lin's car keys. 'She must have picked him up today.' He thought and considered the options. Legally he can barely drive in Japan – no official license here, but it's four in the morning and it would be quicker. Throwing all caution to the wind he grabbed the keys and stormed out. The trip was short enough, in less than twenty minutes he was at Mai's door. The young man knocked, but no one came to open it, so he just strode in.

"Mai!" Oliver called out to the empty main space connected to a small kitchen. "Mai, where are you?"

No answer again.

In slight panic he walked into her bedroom to find it empty, so the only place left was her bathroom. Without any interest in propriety he threw the white door open and froze in between. In the tub, with her underclothes and not much else, sat Mai. She was scrubbing something with a wet cloth. Empty eyes stared ahead and the hand holding the cloth just kept moving automatically. Forcing himself out of the stupor Oliver walked over to his girl and grabbed first towel on hand.

"Mai, do you hear me? I told you not to do anything stupid!" Curled up in the tub she looked so very tiny. Unable to bear the sight he pried the cold wet material out of her hand and wrapped the towel around her shoulders, lifting Mai out of the tub and going straight for bed.

Before he could place the cuddled form on the mattress Mai started to trash in his arms.

"What the hell are you doing?! Mai! Calm down!"

"Not there…I don't want the blood…" She whimpered twisting about. Trying not to drop her Oliver took a second look at the bed sheets and for sure, there were dark stains on them…blood.

"Okay, okay….shhh, couch?" he asked already halfway to the said furniture. She stopped struggling and let him set her down. Swiftly turning the lights on Oliver took stock of the situation. She was shivering, half wet, half naked and scared to death. First thing to do was to put the kettle on. Then he went to his girlfriend, cuddled up in her towel.

"Mai" he tired gently sitting down beside her. The tone was still unfamiliar on his tongue, but he had to try. "I need you to let me look at your wounds. Come on, it's okay… let me see." Usually she would have exploded into million pieces calling him ten kinds of pervert, but now he opened the towel without complaint. There were no bruises on sight. Slowly and carefully he checked her arms and legs, waist, and even turned the tiny frame to look at her back. Nothing. This was unusual - not unheard of…but still quite rare.

"Does it hurt anywhere?" he questioned holding her cold cheeks his hands. She just shook her head, but some sense came back to her eyes. She looked up at him for the first time.

"I was so scared…" the tiny girl whispered, voice coarse "It hurt, and there was blood so I thought…"

"You're safe. There are no wounds; the blood may not be yours. " he tried to calm her down, but if he knew Mai, the best option would be…

"Naru?" she asked startled as he pulled her into his lap, holding the tiny figure to his chest tightly.

"You need to warm up. Just stay for a while, I won't do anything…"

"I…I like this, you're so warm…" she whispered curling up against his body. It felt so safe and reassuring to have him there, not to be left alone in the dark. In a few minutes the kettle started to whistle and Naru set her down to make tea. Mai already missed the contact and warmth slowly started to leave her body.

When a cup was put in her hands the black haired teenager reclaimed his spot on the couch and asked surprisingly carefully "That dream you had, what it was about?"

Taking one sip, then another Mai sat quietly for a moment, before gathering up the courage. "It was a white room of some kind, and there were these people, they had knifes, sort of like scalpels. I…I was bound to a table and they…" she put the cup down just to cover her face with slightly shaky palms.

"And they…" the young ghost hunter tried to get her back on track, though not very willingly. It was clearly painful for her…but he needed the information.

"Oh god, Naru, they cut him…me open and…and started to poke inside, and it hurt so much…I…I couldn't..."

"Alright, that's enough, I get the picture. Stop." The petite girl just nodded and curled up against the warm and comforting side of her boss. Sliding his arm around her shoulders Oliver pulled her closer, noticing the still too low body temperature. Just like that they sat in silence for long minutes. The young professor tracked his girlfriend's body temperature by keeping fingers on her exposed neck, tracing small circles on the soft skin there. Slowly, but steadily she was getting warmer.

"Do you think it has to do with the upcoming case, or it's unrelated?" he asked quietly into her hair. She just shook her head lightly whispering "I don't know." Mai really didn't know and didn't want to think about it for a while. Being held like that was too comfortable.

Oliver didn't go back home that night. He stayed with Mai till the morning, at first just holding her until she fell asleep again. Then he covered her up with blankets and went about taking the sheets off, never losing sight of her body for longer than a minute. Sleep never came for the young scientist, so early in the morning he woke the small brunette up and left for his apartment with a last comment in his usual bossy manner "Don't forget to pack for tomorrow. It's Aomori, so kindly dress and pack accordingly. You can come to work an hour later."

Mai just sat here dumbstruck. She fell asleep beside him, but upon waking up found all the sheets washed and the teacups were also clean. And he just left like that. It's been four months and she still couldn't understand him –he's gentle and caring one moment…and the next he's all business once again. With a long suffering sigh Mai gave up on even trying to understand. Oliver Davis was an idiot scientist…but he was her idiot scientist.

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That's it for the start of the story, it's a bit slow, but hopefully you will find it interesting enough ^.^