Ghost Hunt Fan Fiction ❯ Envy ❯ Red With Love ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Mai, alone and bored after the whole SPR team leaves early for Valentine's Day, decides to present her sleeping boss with a box of chocolate. Even though she knows he'll never eat it, the note lying inside contains something so much sweeter.

Anime/Manga: Ghost Hunt Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Thriller / Supernatural | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.09.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Work In Progress

This is my first Ghost Hunt fic, so yeah, be nice, flame lightly. It's routine people, come on… we should know this by now.

-X-

Mai sighed as she stared out the frosty window. It was snowing again, small tendrils floating down and covering the ground. It had been like that for a while now, accumulating over the past few hours.

Stupid Naru and his stubborn ways… it never snowed, and now, on one of the few days it did, he made her stay inside, stuck doing paperwork.

And on Valentine's Day too! She thought, frustrated, as she filed another paper away, shoving the drawer shut a little too forcefully.

It wasn't as if she had plans with anyone, but at least handing out chocolate to her friends was better than staying at the office alone with Naru. She paused at the thought, her fingers lightly resting on a stack of folders as she flipped through them.

Who am I kidding? This is like a golden opportunity for me… maybe something could happen! It isValentine's Day after all! But… knowing Naru, he probably would wave me off, toss the candy, and continue the paperwork like the workaholic he is…

She turned her head to the shut door of her employer and sighed. He hadn't come out of his office all day, only saying hello to her, and Lin of course, before the former had left to spend the day with Madoka like every normal couple would. Not even a call for tea had come. She wasn't going to start worrying herself, it wasn't as if he hadn't done this before, staying holed up in his room.

The clock ticked away for more than a half hour as nothing but silence filled the office. Various thoughts flitted through Mai's mind. What her friends were doing, when she was going to give them the chocolate, should she go out in the snow and blow off the work. Stuff like that. She coughed, clearing her throat as she organized the boxes of her homemade chocolate, laying them on each of her coworker's desks. She let her hand graze the one meant for Naru before picking it up.

A shiny red cover reflected back her face, nervous and pale. The night before, sitting at home with Monk-san and Madoka, she had slipped a note inside her boss' box as the other two busied themselves with fresh chocolate, hot from the pan. The note only had one sentence in it: I love you. Half of her hoped that he wouldn't recognize her handwriting. She was nervous of what would happen if he knew she loved him. It wasn't as if she could visualize them together, it would just be too good to be true. The other half wanted him to notice what had been there all along, her love, her devotion to him, and accept it… maybe with feelings of his own?

This is ridiculous… just get it over with!

She brought the finished paperwork together in one pile as she straightened them and hiding the chocolate, crossing the room.

“Naru?” She asked quietly, knocking on the door, not waiting for a response as she opened it.

He was asleep on the sofa, one hand behind his neck and the other resting on an open file, his curtain of black hair trailing like a curtain over his eyes. She sighed heavily. Of course he hadn't come out all day. He had overworked himself again, and fallen asleep for who knows how long. She took a long moment, studying his serene face.

I'll never see that look on him when he's awake. Better savor it now while I still can…

A sigh choked in her throat and she turned away. She laid the paperwork in a neat stack on his desk, clearing a space out of the disorganized mess. Her gaze rested on the box in her hands, not sure if she could go through with this. She turned to leave, taking the box with her, when Naru spoke.

“Mai…” Her name seemed to echo around the room as her eyes grew wide. She glanced down at the box, then at Naru, who was still sound asleep. Her head tilted up, a scared but confident look set on her face. Without anymore hesitation, she set the box on his desk and walked out of the room.

I need to get out of here…

She grabbed her green coat off the rack, tossing it on as she opened the office door. She was too far down the hall, the door still swinging shut on its rusty hinges, to hear Naru's voice.

-X-

“Mai!” My eyes snap open, her name ripped from my mouth in fear. I had been reviewing a new case before dozing off, forgetting that I had been sleep deprived lately. In my dream Mai and I were alone in a dark room, locked in, and she admitted that she loved me. I was about to kiss her before the room started to shake and collapse. I became immobile, watching in horror as Mai, and then me, were buried under the debris. I whispered her name then yelled it before blacking out, waking up in a cold sweat.

I know that wasn't a premonition, a vision like Mai's. After all, why should she love me? I make her cry, I insult her, and I'm distant among so many other things. She had every right to love someone else… so this means my dream had no worth… right?

Suddenly a beast rises within me, surging with anger. I don't want her to like someone else, because when Naru, Kazuya Shibuya, Noll, Oliver Davis, whatever you want to call me, sets his sight on something, he's never going to share. Ever.

I sigh, pushing down the jealous fit. Ever since I realized my feelings for Mai, I had been able to keep them below the surface, reigning in any romantic thoughts. I'm Kazuya Shibuya, I don't get feelings for anyone, least of all my assistant. But with my jealous and love fueled flares lately… maybe I should think of changing my name.

I sat up, stretching my sore shoulder. I stood, a flash of red on my messy desk catching my eye. I picked up the dark red box, noticing my name written in Mai's handwriting. My mind went blank as I unfolded the note and read it.

She… she… loves me? I stood there for a moment, fatigue melting off me as my body went stiff. My shocked eyes slid from the note to the window, where the sight of my assistant exiting onto the street caught my gaze.

“Mai…” I whisper, eyes growing too soft for my liking.

I toss the note and box back on the desk, throwing open the door to the main office.

I need to tell her before anyone else can get in my way.

I pushed the door open and practically flew down the stairwell, too impatient for the elevator. I took no notice of the people in the lobby, but had enough sense to walk instead of dash across the room like a madman.

I looked around the street for any sign of her before catching her brown hair swishing around the corner, snowflakes clouding my vision. I pause, eyes following her as she crossed the street to a desolate park. I slowly follow her, watching her every move like some crazed stalker.

What if the note hadn't been meant for me? Maybe she accidently placed it on my desk with the papers…

The adrenaline rush started to wear off, and I noticed the erratic beating of my heart and the spots swimming in my vision. I take a deep breath, my feet hesitantly moving forward. Hopelessness sinks into my stomach, but I keep walking towards the park like an idiot, anxiety gnawing at my mind.

I watch as Mai drops herself onto the snow covered ground, making a perfect snow angel. I approach her from behind as she lay there in the cold snow.

“Having fun?” I ask, wearing a smirk. Her brown eyes fluttered open as she gazed up at me in shock.

“Naru?” She sat up quickly, turning the snow angel in to a human shape, no more special than anything else now. No more unique than anything else.

“Uh.. what- what are you doing here? Don't you have work or something?” She began brushing the snow off. “Or did something happen at the office? Do you need me back?” She looks up at me expectantly.

She really never knew how lovely she looked when she was flustered, did she?

“Mai, you're babbling again.” I smirk again as she stopped.

“What? Well excuse me for seeing if you needed help…” She muttered darkly.

“You're excused.” Her eyes grew indignant.

“You- ugh!” She began to storm off before I realize we still need to talk.

“Hey, wait!” I yell after her, running up and taking her red scarf in my hands, stopping her tantrum.

“What?” She said, almost viciously.

“I got your note.” I say quietly, resting my hands on her shoulders, mainly because I didn't know what to do with them. Her mouth dropped. “Really, did you think I haven't known you long enough to not know your handwriting?”

“I-I…” She looked around, desperate to find anything to relieve this awkward situation.

“You love me? Since when?” I decided to be blunt, wanting this to be as painless as possible.

“Since a while ago.”

“And how long would that be?”

“Since… since… I don't know! Forever! Is that what you want to hear?” Tears welled in her eyes as she turned, not waiting for my reaction. She began to run, but I reached out and gently tugged on her scarf again. I turned her in my arms and hugged her.

“Mai… you silly girl, did you think you were just an assistant, a friend to me?” I asked quietly.

“Naru, you stupid narcissist, did you think you were just my boss?” She retorted, her voice wavering as she tilted her head up at me, jabbing a finger in my chest.

“What are we going to do?” She asked quietly. I sighed.

“Any suggestions?”

“You're the smart one.” She said irately as I laughed softly.

“You should laugh more you know… I hear that if you don't, you turn into a soulless robot… oh wait, it may be too late for that…” She said smiling as I gazed down at her.

“Does this help?” I asked, lowering my face down and kissing her chastely, never one for that romantic sap.

“Yeah… you should do that more often too…” She said softly, grinning up at me. I leaned down towards her again before my cell phone went off.

“Godda- Hello?” I asked. My eyes widened. “Really? Alright, Mai's with me, we're on our way.”

“Who was that?” She asked, following as I grasped her hand.

“Lin. He has a new case for us.”

-X-

How was it? Can you, the reader, yes, I'm talking directly to you as you read this right now, be so kind to review?

Woot! First chapters done!

(There's a reason I left the white ribbon out) :