It was very common for damage to befall the house on which SPR was performing an investigation. In fact, it happened more often than not. If they managed to solve a case without breaking open a wall or smashing a few windows, it was nothing short of a miracle.

Thus, Mai had been exposed to more than her fair share of cave-ins, and in the beginning she'd always needed someone to rescue her. However, as time wore on, she got more and more agile, and had proved herself more than capable of escaping from bits of plaster and broken support beams. She even—secretly, of course—commended her skills as 'ninja-like', which fueled her ego to a size comparable to Naru's. But not really.

The young assistant had been overjoyed when her reflexes had been sharpened to perfection; she was rather tired of getting hurt by falling bookshelves and the like. On that day she had thought that never again would she be squashed beneath an inanimate object that weighed more than her. No—swore it.

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This job had started much like any other; a request for help, a long car trip, and then hauling heavy equipment into a large house to set up base. Camers and microphones were set up to monitor activity in each room, and once the video feeds had started, Naru and Lin were absorbed in work, leaving Mai to her own devices until the rest of the gang showed up, though they were only expecting Bou-san and perhaps Masako.

She didn't understand what could be so interesting about the tiny television screens when nothing of consequence was happening, and decided instead to go exploring and familiarize herself with her surroundings. This had proven useful to her in past cases. She merrily strolled the halls, poking her head into a room here and there, making faces at the cameras to annoy her coworker and tease her boss. Upon passing the kitchen she saw her client -- Yuuna Takada -- preparing tea. She passed by the room, noting that she didn't see the daughter -- Aimi -- anywhere in the house.

Base was set up on the first floor, so she moseyed on up the stairs to continue her search, suddenly finding herself with a mission to find the missing Aimi Takada. She peeked into the washroom and both bedrooms, but found no trace of anyone. In the upstairs study she approached the camera and leaned to be eye-level with it.

"Naru, I was just thinking," she started, trying not to think of the snide remark she would be getting from the young man. "We're investigating the attacks on the mother and daughter, right? At first I thought it could be a poltergeist because Aimi is in her teens, but some of the criteria doesn't fit." She tapped her chin thoughtfully, looking to the ceiling and noticing a crack in the paint that led into the hallway. "But I was just thinking; has anyone even seen the daughter? I haven't met her since we got here." She cracked a smile. "Maybe she's a ghost!" She couldn't help but chuckle.

A sudden racket from the first floor caught Mai's attention and she abandoned her message to Naru in favor of investigating. She reached the top of the stairs and called down to Yuuna. When no one replied, she hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she found the woman--unharmed--standing next to a girl younger even than Mai. Seconds after herself, Lin and Naru raced into the room, no doubt to inquire after the noise.

"Ah, I guess I was wrong. There she is," Mai laughed. Naru said nothing. Mai stomach clenched, suddenly feeling uneasy. Her eyes flew to the mother and child, who returned her stare. Splintering wood sounded from above, and plaster rained down.

This was like a horrible deja vu scene for Mai. A billion times before she had been cuaght up under bookshelves and fallen ceilings or strapped to a bloody table about to die. To put it simply, she was tired of being targeted by these ghosts, and was quite tired of ruining perfectly good clothes.

"Look out!" she cried, gesturing wildly for the two of them to join her under the threshold of the door. Yuuna moved quickly, her daughter close behind her, but moving at a slower pace.

Sucking her teeth, Mai almost sighed, exasperated, and rushed forward, ignoring the shouts of "Mai, no!" from Lin and Naru. If there was one thing she had learned from her escapades at SPR, it was that she was impossible to kill.

The ceiling came down right as Mai dove, tackling Aimi and taking her down. She tucked her chin over the other girl's head, pressing Aimi's face into the cloth of her shirt. Mai's hands shielded her head and she braced herself for the rain of splinters. She still heard the voices of Naru and Lin, now joined by Yuuna crying out for her daughter. When the worst seemed to be over, Mai shifted a tiny bit to reassure them that everything was fine, only to be silenced by the largest crack of all. Mai gulped loudly and prepared herself for something that would most certainly hurt.

AN entire beam from the ceiling detatched itself and fell, landing right on the small girl's back, forcing her down. Before blackness took her, she went through Aimi.

"Mai!"

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A/N: Yo my peeps. It's been a while. School sucks. This is my first new work in a while, and I hope you enjoy it, despite it's suckiness. The next chapter is less formulaic and more fluff, I promise. ;)