SPR: Is This Normal CH - 60

14AmyChan: I know, I'm late, I'm late, I'm so very sorry that I'm late!

Naru: We are all aware of your new schedule impediments, but please do not leave your readers attached to a story that will not be updated in two weeks.

Mai: Naru!

Naru: *glares*

Mai: It may be true, but there's no need to be rude about it!

14AmyChan: geez, Mai, nice to know you're on my side in all of this...

Mai: *glares*

14AmyChan: Okay, before they kill me with their glares, I"m gonna run now. I don't own Ghost Hunt! XD

"Tell us when you saw the figure," Naru stated as he held his black notebook in front of him. His mind was now with the case as he prepared to compare this testimony with the testimony he had heard earlier in the day.

"Sure," Sora-san stated, his tea before him. He took a sip before launching in explanation. "I told you all of this earlier today, but two nights ago I was going to lock away the equipment, as is customary now because of all of the events happening around here. Koru-san had just left to make an internet call with his family, so I was the last one there. Anyways, I had just finished padlocking the door when I felt a breeze. I looked around, but I couldn't find an open window. I thought for a second that it was a ghost, but I tried not to think about it. I thought maybe I was overreacting because I had been emailing John-san a lot and he had been telling me some of the highlights of your guys' cases…"

"Is that so?" Naru asked as his eyes slid over to John. The blonde priest waved his hands in front of him.

"It's so, but I don't mention names, only events! The clients' privacy is completely ensured!" he defended himself. Naru nodded, taking the priest's word for it, before turning back to Sora-san, who looked apologetic.

"Sorry if I just got you into trouble, John-san. Though Kira and Malcolm love to hear all of those ghost stories, even if Julie asks me not to tell them so many right before bedtime," he chuckled while scratching the back of his head as an amusing nervous tick. Naru cleared his throat. They were getting off topic.

"You were at the breeze," Naru prompted, his stern tone telling the man to sober up and get on with the recollection of events. Sora-san nodded with serious eyes.

"Yes, so I checked for the window and it was firmly shut. I glanced around the room to see if there were an air duct or something, but there wasn't anything of the sort in there. I began walking to the door when I felt I was being watched, so I looked around once again. All I saw were a bunch of shadows, so I thought I was being paranoid.

"And then one of the shadows shifted," he stated, shuddering as he recalled the incident.

"And you're certain it wasn't your own shadow shifting," Naru ascertained. Mai rolled her eyes at her boss's bluntness. Sora nodded his head firmly.

"Yes, sir, my shadow would have started at my feet from the angle the moonlight was at, filtering down from the window like that. This shadow... well, it was hovering."

"Hovering?" asked Bou-san, who was now leaning out of his chair. Sora-san nodded at the monk. The bassist's interest, however, was overshadowed by Naru's next question.

"I see. Is there any possible way we could recreate this shadow?" he asked. Sora-san shook his head.

"I tried walking through there again last night before you came; only Koru-san was with me this time. I had explained to him what I saw and he was adamant about my not going alone, though I did appreciate the company," he stated. "But I couldn't find the shadow and nothing had been moved in that room that time."

"Were there any defining features on the shadow? Did it look human?" Naru pressed, writing something down in his notebook. Mai wondered vaguely what it was before returning her attention to Sora-san.

"It was very blurry, but it looked like a person to me," the man stated, striking up a pose of thought. "A woman, I think, but I couldn't pick her out from a crowd if I tried. All I saw was a shadow."

"Did the shadow do anything to you? You know, other than move a little?" Bou-san asked, his curiosity unable to abate for long. He cringed slightly under the covert glare of Naru, though this went unnoticed by the interrogated person.

"No, it felt like she was just staring at me. She didn't leave the room while I was there, either. Koru-san and I went there the first thing the next morning, but some of the tools were gone from the shed I locked up and one of the blueprints smelled weird and was in soggy shreds."

"Smelled weird?" Mai wondered aloud. Sora-san nodded.

"Yes, they always have a strange smell when they're discovered, only it was stronger this time," he explained, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know what to make of it."

"I see," Naru mused, writing a few more things down in his black notebook. "Is that all?"

"I think so," he stated. Everyone in the room waited as Naru went through the case file once more before becoming stuck on something. It strange, that he had not gathered this information in the earlier questioning, he was normally so thorough.

That was when Mai and Hara-san returned, he remembered, a spike of mild frustration ebbing away as swiftly as it had come. Ah well, he might as well gather the necessary information now.

"You never stated your full name," he stated. His dark blue eyes slid up to Sora-san's as he, laughed lightly, once again scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, we don't usually use last names around here, so I guess I just forgot to mention it," Sora-san chuckled nervously. He then lowered his hand and bowed slightly in introduction. "I'm sure about half of us did that, though if it's important, my name is Kokeshi, Sora. Please take care of this for us."

As he bowed his head, Mai felt that his last name rang a bell somewhere, but as she could not remember where from, she dismissed it. She probably had a neighbor with that name or something.

"Very well, thank you for your time," Naru stated, and Sora-san left. A few moments after the interrogated person had exited the room, John, Masako, and Ayako all walked in, the latter complaining loudly that her feet were sore.

"Did she have to lead us outside? My heels sank through the ground at least a dozen times! Do you know how hard it is to pull heels out of the ground like that?" the elder woman complained to John, who was taking the negative attitude in stride. Everyone admired the man slightly more for it.

"Masako said that the spirit was moving quickly, and Shibuya-san's orders were to sense around the property so she could gather information on the spirit," John reminded gently, earning quite the glare from Ayako. While it paled in comparison to Naru's, the priest still felt nervous under that angry glare.

"I take it that you found something on your patrol," Naru stated as he flipped a page in his black notebook. Mai wondered if she should gather the courage to dare look into the wormhole-like depths between those black covers. She began to lean closer towards Naru, curiosity gaining the upper hand over caution.

"The spirit is female, and she's giving off intense feelings of loneliness and anger," Masako reported, her kimono sleeve in front of her face. "She moved around frequently which made it difficult to gather more information on her."

Naru nodded as he jotted something down in that notebook of his before shutting it with a snap. Mai instantly hopped backwards in her seat, having almost been able to read the mysterious notebook. The unfazed boss cast a glance towards Lin, who caught it and nodded. Naru walked over to the Chinese man who rewound the tape to the point where Masako, Ayako, and John were all walking through and switched to thermal.

"The drop in temperature is barely discernible," Lin stated, looking up towards Naru. It was his call as to whether the drop was statistically unreliable or if it were significant. The raven haired man gave a slight inclination of the head and Lin caught the drift. Too small to be significant.

"So, now we just have to wait for Madoka and Yasu to confirm her theory and—" Mai's statement was cut off by something that caused a blush to rise to the tip of her ears.

The grumbling of her stomach.

"Hungry, aren't we Jou-chan?" Bou-san teased as he ruffled his "little sister's" hair. Said girl pouted and crossed her arms, looking away from the group.

"It's not my fault, we've been at it for a while now..." she complained. "In case no one noticed, it's starting to get dark!"

"I suppose you're right, Mai-san," John said, looking out of the window. "It is getting rather late... Should we send a few of the team members out to gather some dinner?"

Naru contemplated this briefly. He needed to remain here and supervise the equipment, though most everyone else was free to go and eat. He glanced at the time and made an announcement.

"You are all free to go eat, but return before the hour is up. Also, be sure to bring something back for Madoka and Yasuhara," he ordered. Cheers of relief came from Bou-san and Mai, John and Masako offered a smile and quiet thanks, the elder Davises—who had oddly remained quiet and mostly observing for the day—agreed to accompany the team to dinner, and Lin volunteered to remain behind.

"Ne, what do you want us to bring for you guys?" Mai asked before she left the base, allowing the rest of the team to walk down the hall. Lin took a piece of paper and wrote down what he would prefer on the note and passed it to Mai, leaving her to gather Naru's answer for herself. She sighed.

"Naru?" she asked. He was listening, she could tell, simply not responding. "I know you can't have meat on a case, so what do you want me to get for you?"

"Just get me what Lin is having. We eat the same on a case," he finally stated, and Mai allowed her mouth to form a silent 'o' in acknowledgement. She wondered if she should say anything else, but she was beat to the punch by the narcissist himself.

"The spirit has already revealed herself to you, so I don't think it wise for you to go through the house by yourself," Naru stated, pushing the chair back and gathering his coat. "Lin, keep an eye on the thermals for a moment."

The Chinese man nodded as his boss left with the young girl. For a moment, Lin contemplated listening in on the mics before discarding the notion.

Really, his girlfriend was getting to him.

"You were angry," Naru stated as a matter of fact and Mai could not help but release a sigh. Yup, Naru was still Naru, no matter what relationship he was in.

Then, of course, he would not be Naru if he were not blunt, she thought with a smile.

"I was," she said. "But not anymore. Oh, and by the way, I had to tell Masako."

Naru's eyes widened for a second before narrowing. He considered this new information for a while as Mai walked beside him. Truly, the building was not large so they had little time to converse before she was to be dropped off with the others for dinner, so she had to make her confession quick.

"Naru, I'm going to tell it straight. I was angry because I thought you didn't trust me. I know you took the case for a specific reason; I'm just not sure what it is. I wanted you to tell me because it seemed like it was bothering you, but Masako helped me to see that work-related things are work, and that I have to trust you that you'll tell me if the reason is something that would harm you. I just wanted to make sure that you would be all right and that you wouldn't take on too much of a burden alone. I was angry because I was worried," Mai admitted. She looked away bashfully. "I'm sorry for not trusting you and for thinking you would not trust me. That was wrong, I—"

"Mai," Naru stated, and the girl found herself looking into his clear blue eyes. She searched them and found quite a few emotions. He seemed troubled, and that was not what she had wanted to do, she had wanted to ease his worrying over her. He looked displeased, which was not her intention. She frowned at these small revelations.

"Do you honestly believe that I don't trust you?" he pressed quietly, his stoic mask almost flawlessly in place. Mai could tell she had made him angry, but more than that was he was terribly upset. The girl could relate. To be told by someone else how you felt or reacted towards another person...

It was a mistake he had made towards her once, and now she had done it towards him.

"I did," she admitted before taking his hand. He allowed it, but his fingers were tense. She looked at them with a tinge of sadness to her eyes. "But I got over it and I realized that you trust me a lot more than you used to. You trust me with more little things than you used to. And with you, it seems like the little things are most always a lot more important than the big things.

"I was angry and upset because I'm very worried for you. But I have to trust that you'll be okay and that you'll tell me if your burden is too large. I want to help you carry it, and it just seemed like it was weighing you down. Naru, I want to help you. I know I have to probably prove that I can, but I don't want you to have to bear your burdens alone anymore," Mai finished, only looking at his fingers, which had eased slightly during her admittance. She did nothing with his hand, simply held it there and hoped that he would forgive her for her anger.

His fingers slowly curled around hers and Mai took this as a hopeful sign. She peeked up at Naru, who looked like he was processing everything that she had told him. She smiled tentatively. He had listened.

And that was all she could ask for at the moment.

"Did you find anything interesting from Big Boss?" Yasu asked as Madoka returned into the stock room. She had told him that she had forgotten the complete stock list back in the base and that she had needed to ask Big Boss a few questions pertaining to the case. The pinkette held up the stock list on its clip board with a smile.

"I got everything I needed," she chirped happily with an overly sweet smile. As she carefully resumed taking note of every fragile piece in the shop, Yasu vaguely wondered what had happened to make the woman smile so much.

14AmyChan: Okay, this chapter is short, but there's a reason for that. XD

Mai: There was one guest review that was begging to be addressed.

Naru: This review reads: Nekokittygirl:Your going to crossdress a witness? Hehehe I wanna see that **rubs hand and gets evil glint in eyes** I hope it's a boy you crossdress *smiles* UPDATE! I WANNA SEE THAT CROSS DRESSED BOY!

14AmyChan: Well, Nekokittygirl, even though the word I used was "cross-REFERENCE", you're getting your wish! XD

Mai: Sora-san, we appreciate your sacrifice.

Sora: Wha—?!

Omake

"And you're certain it wasn't your own shadow shifting," Naru ascertained. Mai rolled her eyes at her boss's bluntness. Sora nodded his head firmly.

"Yes, sir, my shadow would have had a flare out from the waist and touched down to the ground, but this shadow... well, it was hovering."

"Hovering?" asked Bou-san, who was now leaning out of his chair. Sora-san nodded at the monk. The bassist's interest, however, was overshadowed by Mai's exclamation.

"Wait, flared out at the waist? What kind of construction outfit were you wearing?" she queried, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. Whatever it was most certainly could not have been good for safety. Sora answered with complete calmness.

"Oh, that, you see, I was trying on one of the older dresses in the room. Koru-san and I had a bet going and I lost, you see," he stated nonchalantly. Mai's mouth hung open. Naru did not skip a beat.

"Is it possible for us to see this dress?" he questioned. Sora-san nodded and left the room.

A few moments later, the man returned, wearing a sky blue dress with slightly puffed out shoulders. There was a deeper blue ribbon around the middle and the entire thing resembled the night outfit worn by one of the characters from the cartoon Peter Pan.

"Here's the dress, sir," Sora stated with a straight face. Everyone in the base stopped what they were doing and gave a questioning glance before returning to their tasks. Mai had to restrain her giggles at the sight of a fully grown man looking completely comfortable in a woman's nightgown.

"I had thought that it was obvious that I wanted to see the dress," Naru stated, one eyebrow raised. Partially at the sight before him and partially at his girlfriend's behavior. "Not you modeling the dress."

"Oh," the man stated, looking down at the garment before returning Naru's gaze. "Of course."

With that, the construction worker left to change again, and nearly everyone in the base erupted in laughter upon his leaving. Even Naru and Lin cracked some smiles.

14AmyChan: Okay, that was kinda fun to write. XDDD

Mai: Aren't you gonna respond to the other guest review?

14AmyChan: yup! The other guest (along with a very kind word, thank you for that!) pointed out that not many do stories on Mai's past. The reason I haven't yet is because I don't know where to go with it and not turn Mai into some kind of Mary Sue or something. I may or may not do something with that in the future if I have an idea good enough, but it is a valid question.

Naru: Now that the guest review are out of the way, read and review this story, as Chan-san does tend to run on those sort of things.

14AmyChan: It's true... XD Please read and review~! *^_^*