Author's note.

Second bit!

Sunlight hit the back of her eyelids, Mai groaned at the blast to her retinas, and rolled over to cover her eyes.

Eventually, she blinked them open, and discovered that the source of the light was her window, which had the curtains thrown aside.

She sensed another presence in her room, turned over, and spotted the dark figure of her boss standing in her doorway.

"Mai, we need to go."

"Huh, what do you mean? Wait-" she rubbed her eyes, trying to bring herself into awareness, "What are you doing here?"

"Lin is coming to pick us up at six, so get ready."

Naru turned and left her to it, what ever it was that he expected her to do, Mai dragged herself into her bathroom blearily, never a morning person, and went through the usual routine.

After she had cleaned herself up, and her mind was working a little more coherently, she managed to grasp the situation more firmly.

Suddenly, she remembered her dream, that confusing jumble of words and shapes that was supposed to form a message.

She stumbled downstairs for the second time that morning, desperate to make it this time, "Naru!" she choked out, halfway between the floor and the last step.

"I'm right here Mai, there's no need to scream."

He turned from where he was reading a book on the couch, she recognized it as one she had bought when she wanted to gain a bit of knowledge on local spirits, figures he would pick that one.

Naru took in her panicked expression and rose from his seat, "You were like this last night too, what is it?" He was getting better at showing a little bit of concern, but it was still only restricted to times when they were alone, which were getting more frequent lately.

Last night?

Her face coloured slightly when she remembered how Naru had caught her as she fell.

"It... It was Gene again, he-"

"Has that idiot still not moved on?" Naru asked, his tone was fierce, but his face showed traces of unhappy memories, some remorse. It made Mai feel intrusive somehow.

"Yeah... he was trying to warn me... but I couldn't see him clearly."

"How do you mean?" Naru's expression was blank again.

"As in, he was trying to reach me, but it seemed as though something was stopping him."

Naru frowned, when had something like this happened before?

Ah yes, it had been the Ikeyama case, when Mai's memories had briefly been sealed, and it was only later that the seal broke due to the spirit's attack.

But Gene had done that himself, with the help of Miki's spirit and Lin, and he had difficulty contacting Mai sometimes, so maybe it didn't mean much. There were times when Mai couldn't see Gene clearly, mostly due to stress or anxiety, purely psychological.

"What did he say to you?"

"Something about not going somewhere... and he told me to run."

"From what?"

"I don't know... and there was another voice... " Mai scrunched her nose, trying to remember, "It sounded familiar."

Naru sighed, "It's probably our next case."

Mai cocked her head, Naru shook his, "You'd better get dressed" he indicated her pajama's, and she gulped, noting the flower dotted flannel sheepishly.

What time is it anyway?

Mai's eyes widened in horror when she saw, half past five, what in the world was Naru playing at, it wasn't time for school for a good three hours.

Not bothering to question it, she slipped on a skirt and jumper, returning into the living room to find Naru on the phone.

As she approached, he set it down, "You don't have to go to school today, I've explained to the principal."

"Ah... ok, but what-"

Her doorbell rang, she ran to answer it.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to be faced with Lin's stoic form.

"Lin-san... what?"

"We need to go Taniyama-san," he explained, but it wasn't an explanation at all.

"Alright Mai, you get in the van, then we need to pick up Hara-san, I have a feeling she will be indispensable this time."

Lin nodded, but Mai wasn't going to go along with it until she got an explanation.

"Stop! Where are we going? What are we doing and why?"

Naru's exasperated sigh made her want to punch him, here he was, ordering her around in her own place, that was rude, even for him.

She would have snapped at him, had Naru not reached into his pocket, withdrawing a small slip of paper and passing it to her.

Mai took it curiously, all anger forgotten, it was a colour photo, she looked at it for a moment, frowning and turning it different ways.

When she got it, she couldn't help a noise of surprise escaping her throat, the picture was wrong, everything about it was bizarre.

"T-this is... "

The photo was of an enormous galleon, if she could remember her history lessons, it was part of the Spanish Armada, but though it was old, it showed no signs of aging. And every inch was incased in thick ice.

As if that were not strange enough, it appeared to be situated in a small town, some small rectangular buildings could be seen in the edge of the photograph.

"How did-"

"We don't know, it appeared just three days ago, and we've received a call to investigate."

"So wait..." Mai passed the photograph back to him, "We're going to England?"

"Yes."

"Now?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes Mai."

"But-"

Naru appeared to be getting impatient, he took hold of her shoulders and guided her towards the van, and he completely ignored her protests.

"But Naru! I haven't even packed!"

"I'm sure our clients will provide you with something."

"You can't expect that!" she exclaimed, "What's wrong with you?"

Naru steered her towards the back, before climbing into the front seat, Mai was puzzled by his behavior, and Lin provided her with an answer.

"I suggest you prepare yourself Taniyama-san, the call came from his parents."

***

This was Mai's first time on a plane, and she felt a certain amount of apprehension as it began to roll down the runway.

The trembling and shuddering of the plane unnerved her, she suddenly wished she had someone to hold onto for support, but neither of the people next to her would be particularly sympathetic, certainly not Naru.

As if, I don't need to be sitting next to an iceberg for twenty-something hours.

Lin she considered, but though they were on more friendly terms now, since Ikeyama's case, she figured he certainly wouldn't appreciate it if she latched onto his arm. It would be awkward anyway, not like with Bou-san.

Masako was brooding in the seat behind her, no doubt sending evil thoughts at the back of her head because Mai was sitting next to Naru and she wasn't.

Tough luck, no clue why you'd want to sit next to this guy, it's as cold as the arctic over here right now.

Mai felt her stomach lurch as they climbed rapidly, she felt a ringing in her ears as the air pressure changed.

She clamped her hands over her ears; Naru spoke quietly from beside her, without looking up from his book.

"Try yawning Mai, it'll relieve the pressure."

She had her doubts, but did as he suggested, and was surprised to discover that he was right, the uncomfortable pressure lessened considerably.

Of course, as a matter of habit by now, she ended up sleeping most of the way, for once she was able to enjoy a normal, weird-dream-free type of sleep.

It was probably a good thing, she didn't want to experience anything disturbing on a plane, for one, there was no help nearby, and for another, it would be hard to explain to skeptical passengers.

She could hardly tell them that 'A ghost showed me their gruesome death,' it would not be received well.

As they approached their destination, she realized that she was about to visit England for the first time, the place where Gene and Naru had grown up, or at least spent the majority of their lives.

It was Gene's final resting place.

No one knew why Naru's twin brother had not moved on by now; he still contacted her, more frequently and clearer than before. As if his funeral had removed any obstacles between them.

It was weird that finding his body would bring them closer.

Gene paid her visits even when they were not on cases now, as if he just wanted some company, most of the time they just talked.

But, why hasn't Naru reacted?

Her boss had shown no emotion after they found his brother, the only hint of grief he had displayed was when they first found the lake.

Naru was still in a foul mood; he had finally been released from the hospital after his run in with the Okobu-sama, the god that cursed the residences of the Yoshimi restaurant.

Mai had provoked him into using his psychonesis, and as a result, his heart stopped, and he was forced to stay a few weeks in hospital, something he was not happy about.

His assistant was sitting in the back seat of the modified van, from her position; she could feel the temperature dropping by the second.

'Whoa, what's with him?'

Her boss was staring out the window, or maybe it would be more accurate to say glowering.

She wouldn't have been surprised if the trees by the roadside burst into flame from the force of his glare, made even more probable considering who he was.

The road turned into a rough gravel track, Lin slowed down to accommodate for the uneven surface, the trees thinned, revealing a huge body of water stretched out ahead of them.

"Oh wow!" Mai pressed her palm to the window glass, straining past the irritating sunset glare off the water to take a better look, soft slopes retracted to harsh grey rock mountain, jutting out in cliffs and overhangs like knives attacking the pale pink sky.

The grimy water failed to mirror the fiery colours, only the harsh mountains, turning everything a steely gray.

"Hey Naru, isn't it pretty?"

"Stop the car," There was a shake in his voice.

"Naru?" Lin looked across at his charge, slowing down a little, "Is it-"

"God Dammit Lin! Stop the car!"

Mai called his name, but he didn't answer, and when she turned to see why, the front seat was empty, the door hanging open.

She almost fell out of the back seat when she followed his dark figure hastening up the steep slope to where the dark water met the land. Naru gripped the railing with both hands as he hunched over, staring into his reflection that looked back at him with cold, dead blue eyes. For once he wished they didn't look so alike, the cold wind stirred his hair, he didn't react when Mai tugged his sleeve, only to murmur. "Finally, I've found it."

Then he turned without a word, to get back in the car.

That had been the day they had found out everything, about his identity, and about his twin brother. Gene.

Mai finally had her answer to the question that had been ringing in her head all along; it was his brother who visited her dreams, not Naru. But that should have been obvious, kind; sympathetic Gene was so much more open than his living brother, who closed himself to the world.

He hadn't shown the slightest amount of grief, no tears, and his preparations to find Gene's body had been bitterly logical; it had probably not been the best of times to tell him how she felt, but she couldn't undo it now.

He had rejected her, as she really knew he would, but in the worst way possible, he told her what she feared, that she was in love with his brother, not him.

Then he left for England without so much as a goodbye.

But he was back, so she forgave him, at least she knew the general direction her life was going more or less. She liked the stability SPR provided.

At some point she must have fallen asleep, because she was woken by a sudden jolt. Mai woke with a start and must have said something, because Naru was giving her his typical icy glare and everyone was looking at her.

"Sorry."

The passengers seemed to make a point of ignoring her from then on.

The landing had unnerved her, but it was good to be out, to stretch her aching legs as they waited for their luggage to come around on the belt. Ayako had brought more packages than three of them combined.

She looked out the window to see a grey sky, rain ran down the light blue glass, it was cold to the touch.

"Doesn't England do anything but rain?"

Authors note:

Sorry guys, I won't bore you with excuses and get straight to the point, I'm not sure if I can finish this story to be honest. Year eleven coming up and all, but I will try.

I've also lost most of my faith in Fanfiction, and moved to my own stories, but I love Ghost Hunt and horror stories as much as ever so I will try to continue this. Just don't expect frequent updates.

Sorry you didn't see much action here.