81"To any single individual whom it concerns, I will pay five hundred dollars if you can do one thing- go out on a date with my son." Poor Mai, a college sophomore with no parents, no money, and no choice but to accept a ridiculous request by a ridiculous mother. But perhaps something more lies underneath the mask of the infuriating, narcissistic man - and consequences will be paid for it. AU.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Ghost Hunt. Their lawyers are too good.
"...When the Native Americans had met the Europeans, a whole new world was introduced, and thus was the beginning of a long conflict that would last more than a century. Isn't that right, Mai?"
Mai, pink cheeked and caught in the act, gave a start and nodded vigorously. Why did she almost fall asleep?!
"Y-Yes!"
"Of course, you'd be more confident with your answer if you were paying attention." A few chuckles and giggles scattered across the classroom before the professor urged them to quiet down. Mai, if possible, sunk even lower in her seat. College wasn't nearly as fun as it looked in the movies! Of course, she had learned this in freshman year, but that didn't mean she couldn't hope it would be easier this year...
"Influenza, chicken pox, measles, and other diseases infected the Native Americans greatly. It severely impacted them, to the amount where tens of thousands died to a disease like smallpox. When-" The bell rang. The students stood up, bowed to the professor and, when the professor bowed back, the students quickly packed up. Giggles and gossip echoed off the walls and into the hallway as the scholars left. Mai sighed.
I have a head ache.
Normally, Mai would have gladly talked with her friends...if she had any in that classroom. The people weren't necessarily bad (from what she had seen. They never did any group work with other tables, so she was stuck with her own). But the people around her...well... one had multiple arrests on their record, one didn't even bother talking to Mai, and the other one only showed up to class on the first day and hadn't appeared since.
Weaving through the crowds, Mai stopped to wave to some of her other friends. Thank goodness it was Friday-Mai had a ton of homework to procrastinate. As she slowly made her way to the bus stop (living on campus was too expensive) she made a list of things to do once she got back. Isn't there supposed to be a huge party this weekend? Mai hummed to herself as she weaved through the thick crowds.
The bus, as usual, was almost empty. Most students lived on campus, and with the large party even more were staying for the weekend. Mai didn't really mind- her headache was starting to worsen. With a lurch the bus pulled forward and, when the bus stopped half an hour later, Mai gratefully got off. By now, her headache worsened considerably, her nose was starting to plug up, and her muscles were already starting to protest any movement. Weren't people supposed to get sick in the winter, not the spring?
Mai complained to herself as she trudged past the same, plain colored houses.
Take out the garbage, clean up my room.
Her house was in sight.
I should probably vacuum, too. It's the least I can do for them.
She was just in front of the stairs.
Maybe I can make some dinner if I can find something in the fridge. Kiku's mom just went shopping, right?
She trudged up the stairs, yawned, and searched her pocket. She froze, searched her pockets faster than before and, in her frenzied state she dug through her bag. When she found the familiar golden key, Mai sighed with relief. That would have been my second key lost...
She set her bag on the stairs once inside and immediately went to scrounge the fridge.
"I wish the college had free food," Mai whined. "Considering how much tuition costs, and then buying those books from them, too..." Apple...yogurt...ham...aw, there's nothing good! Mai pouted. Maybe there's something in the pantry? Fortunately, Mai found some pocky in the pantry, and close the door shut with a small cheer.
"'Pocky is happiness in a square, share it with your friends to make it fair!'" She sung loudly. "'Add some-'" She abruptly stopped. Her bag, unceremoniously thrown aside only minutes before, now had its contents spilled all over the floor. Mai swallowed thickly.
"Must have rolled over on the stairs," she laughed weakly. "Glad I didn't have any projects in there..." Any further thoughts were cut off when Mai heard the garage door open. She quickly shoved the contents back into the bag and set it aside just as Kiku's dad walked into the room.
"Welcome home, Mai! You seem to have beaten me home this time," he joked. "Normally I'm the one who-wait, is that my pocky?"
"Um...how about I make you some tea!" She rushed back to the kitchen. Kiku's father shook his head with a small chuckle, going on to announce that he had got the mail. He dropped a few letters on the entry way table and retired to his office to read the rest. When Mai returned from handing off the tea, she saw a few letters addressed to her and grabbed them.
"Why would I get a letter?" She frowned. "Oh! That's right! My textbooks!" Mai's stomach plummeted. I don't want to imagine the price... She opened the letter. Her eyes widened she saw the price of her books, as if they were glaring at her.
My part time job is not going to cover this! Then how... She bit her lip. Oh! I know! borantia!
Mai hopped up the steps two at a time, closed the bedroom door behind her, and made a beeline for her computer. She started it up and logged onto borantia.
borantia was similar to Craigslist...in a way. Originally, it was meant for high school students to get volunteering hours for their college application. Someone would list a job they needed to get done-mow their lawn, clean their house, something similar to those activities-pin it to a board with the job's category (cleaning, caring, dating, etc) and wait for someone to "volunteer" until a certain amount of time passed. After that time ended, the poster would pick a "volunteer", and then pay them after the job had been finished. Originally there wasn't any money involved, and there isn't supposed to be, but many times the original poster would pay the person, anyway. It was a great way to make quick money...guaranteed the original poster wasn't a serial killer or cannibal. But that only happened a few times.
As Mai scrolled through the listed jobs, her hope began to damper. The posters weren't really willing to pay that much-not enough to cover Mai's books, anyways. She bit her lip.
What about the dating section? I normally don't go in that section, but it does usually pay a lot...
She was right. The jobs in the dating section generally did offer much more money than the other sections, but were often much more...well...questionable. Mai blew a strand of hair out of her hair irately. After scrolling through the lists (most of the options would even make a priest blush) Mai almost growled. Was there anything she could do?!
And then she found it.
The price immediately caught her eye. The description, however, gave her even more shock.
"To any single individual whom it concerns, I will pay five hundred dollars if you can do one thing- go out on a date with my son."
A/N: This has been in works for months, maybe even a year, and I can't really fight the impulse to keep it hidden any longer. But hey! New stories are great! Sorry the first chapter is boring, but I promise things will get more...interesting, you could say. I will admit, this story will move at a slower pace. Cases will ensue, and some will take a long time, but I want to make sure I develop the characters and the story properly. Some stuff will be purposely different, such as last names, but there's a good reason for it-I promise! The plot will start moving around chapter four or so, but there will be some good stuff before that. One more thing-chapters will vary in length a lot, as handful are already written and some are not, so except some jumps in word count (but each one will at least be a thousand words). Reviews are always welcomed, too! I hope you enjoyed it!