Home Coming Case

Chapter 1: Mai's POV I waited nervously at baggage claim. It's an interesting part of the airport, it has the same attraction for spirits that doorways do, in between places, neither here nor there. Almost a rite of passage, get your bag and you've earned your right to leave purgatorybecause, let's face it, the airport is purgatory. I hadn't let anyone know I was coming home. I'd received Lin's email, offering me a full-time position at Shibuya Psychic Research when I checked my inbox at the airport; I'd had the plane ticket to come home for three months now. Some coincidence. I tried not to jump for joy when I saw my bag, the beacon signaling the end of my hellish commute. I still felt off from the time change but a quick glance at my watch told me that it was barely after eight. My landlady from when I was a high school student had emailed me a lease on

a studio apartment in the same complex I used to live in and I'd faxed her back the filled forms a week ago. I decided that that was the best place for me for now and crammed into the train going into the city. It would have been easy to retrace my old route home but the big purple bag with all of my worldly possessions was a little cumbersome. I made it just in time to catch the office as it opened and pay my deposit and first month's rent, then retrieve my key. The apartment was small, studios tend to be, but with the sleeper sofa bed and kotatsu I felt like my Japanese roots flowed seamlessly into the western style of living I'd become accustomed to. It only took a quick shower and a change of clothes to really make me feel like my old self. It was odd being home and hearing my native language coming in from the streets and radios. I missed the diversity of my American home but not having the tradition and culture of my real home had been like missing a piece of my soul. It was almost nine fifteen before I decided to head over to SPR and make my presence known. I'll admit I was nervous to see the gang again, especially Naru since we hadn't parted on the best terms. I might have brushed my hair a few thousand times more than necessary and applied just a tinsy bit of mascara and lip gloss. I couldn't decide whether to put my hair up or not, it had grown out while I was away, almost mid-backnot really a fashion statement so much as I just kept forgetting to get it cut. It was warmer in Japan than Pennsylvania and I tucked a jacket into my messenger bag and chose lavender low-tops instead of my heavier boots. The rest I kept to the outfit I'd grown accustomed to wearing, jeans and a linen top, light purple to match my shoes. I was used to wearing something that looked professional enough for me to be taken seriously but was breathable and comfortable enough for me to sit in the same position for hours monitoring thermal and regular video cameras or run really fast from a particularly nasty spirit. It became a power struggle between me and my legs to walk down the sidewalk the closer I got to SPR and I had to focus on calming my breathing. I replayed my dramatic exit two years ago over in my head for the millionth time. We'd been arguing about my involvement in a case, again. He'd wanted to leave me home like an errant puppy while the rest of the team went on a case. "Naru I am not a child!" I'd yelled at him, fists curling at my sides. "Stop trying to keep me on the sidelines!" "You ARE just a child Mai." He'd replied calmly without looking up from the file he was flipping through. "A reckless child with powers she can't control and a complete lack of disciplinary structure. I won't be held responsible when you hurt yourself doing something stupid and dangerous." "If that's the way you really feel, that I'm stupid and a danger to myself and others-" "It is."

" Fine." I'd left the office and returned to answer calls and do paperwork only when he'd left. In the two weeks that followed I applied and was accepted for an internship with the Pennsylvania State University Paranormal Research Society. One of the members kept tabs on people with what they dubbed "potential" and I had blipped their radar. They'd continued my training and I continued working on cases, sending regular letters back to SPR about new activity worth noting and funny stories of Americans who were completely convinced that they were haunted when it was actually coyotes orin one memorable caseneighbors with a few interesting midnight kinky hobbies. I got letters that had a paragraph written by everyone except Lin and Naru. Lin would send me an email every now and then with some dry super boring parapsychology article attached and I'd read it and send him back my thoughts. Then I'd gotten the dream. It was one of my dreams with Eugene DavisNaru's twin brother who had designated himself my spirit guide. In it Gene had said nine words; "Mai, it's time to come home. Oliver needs you." I'd bought my return flight the next day. Of course I could only afford a flight that left three months from then but it gave me a chance to say all my goodbyes and get my affairs in order. I was surprised when I looked up to see I was standing in front of the SPR building and took a deep breath. "Time to face the music." I muttered and, squaring my shoulders, went inside.
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Naru's POV I pinched the bridge of my nose, more tempted than ever to just toss the whole folder out. So far the client hadn't mentioned anything that an exterminator and some anti-psychotics couldn't cure. Someone cleared their throat and I was reminded of my guest and her translator. Completely unnecessary since English was my first language but I wasn't going to tell her that, people were so much more interesting when they thought you weren't listening. "I don't know if they can handle this. It's way over their heads." The client told her comparably silent companion. "She wants to know when you can start." The sad-eyed translator said in his melancholy voice. "I'll just bet she does." I muttered in Italian, the only language I knew that I was positive the translator didn't. "I need to consult with our expert in American folk lore." I responded in Japanese, thinking quickly. I sent a silent apology to Mai for using her as a scapegoat, then realized I was apologizing to Mai and cut that thought off.

I reminded myself that Mai was in America, permanently as far as I knew and she hadn't shown any interest in returning or even consulting with SPR. And despite Lin's many accusations, I was NOT sulking about it. "IF and WHEN she gets back to us, I can let you know. Until that time we're shooting in the dark." I stood pointedly and after a moment's hesitation they rose as well. When I opened my office door there was no hesitation and I followed them out. "But we do have protocol follow and I have to allow her three days to respond. Pennsylvania University has to clear her research as well, so it may take as long as-" I broke off, realizing there was someone else in the office. A woman, fingertips brushing the top of Mai's old desk, eyes locked on a photograph of the entire group taken right before Mai left. Her lips curved and she began turning. That's a woman I could lose myself in. I thought idly, feeling the urge to smile more strongly than I had since losing Mai. Losing her? I shook off the odd mood I'd been in since first reading the case file sent in by the American woman. Long auburn hair swung over the mystery woman's shoulder and partially obscured a delicate but stubborn jaw and cheekbones. I felt a familiar drop in my stomach as I recognized the stubbornness. The drop turned into an anvil when unusually large eyes met mine. "Hello Naru." She said quietly. "Mai." I nodded cordially, shocked that I could sound so normal. "We weren't expecting you. You should have warned someone." That earned me a flash of a smile. "Lin sent me a job offer about" She checked her watch. "Fifteen hours ago. I was sure he'd have let you know about it by now." Her eyes sparkled with mischief and I stomped down the urge to sparkle back. "Did he?" I shot a look at Lin's office as the sound of typing stopped. "We'll be on our way then Mr. Shibuya." The translator bowed, barely noted at the edge of my attention. "It was nice to meet you. Please don't fail to delay to contact your American folklore expert." The client said in English and was translated by her assistant. "We will get back to you by the end of the week." I assured them as they left. As soon as the front door closed, Lin's door banged open. Lin very rarely showed his emotions but there were so many on his face I couldn't differentiate between them. He strode across the room and swept Mai up in a hug, leaving both of us gaping. "We have missed you Mai." He said, then glared at me over the top of her head. "What the hell are you doing Oliver Davis? Get over here." He grabbed me faster than I would have thought

possible and jerked me into a group hug, then stepped back so I was pressed against the now very grown up Mai without the comfort of him as a buffer. Somehow my face ended up in the curve of her neck, her sage and peppermint scented hair caressing my face. I stepped back quickly. "Once you're settled you can look over the case file." "Ah, so I'm your 'American folklore expert' huh?" She grinned despite her rosy blush. "All right Naru, what are we dealing with?" She let herself into the conference room while I retrieved the file. "The client has claimed that they are experiencing a variety of phenomena on the property of their bed-and-breakfast. There has been a few run-ins with a man with a hook for a handbut only leaving minorly scratched victimsa girl who appears in the mirror when someone says 'bleeding mary'-" Mai spluttered a laugh and I glared at her. "What?" "Bloody Mary Naru. It's an American urban legend come to think of it so is the Hook Man." She frowned, biting her fingernails. "What else?" "An old dress keeps appearing in people's luggage, a few people have been found unconscious with a 'red dot behind one ear' and a woman who appears dressed in all white who does not like men." Mai closed her eyes, dark lashes fanning as she thought. "I don't know about the dress but the red dot would be Doc Benton and the woman in white is a vague general American legend." "You HAVE been learning." Lin said, impressed. She made an effort to not glare at him but I saw her eyebrow twitch in a familiar annoyed gesture. "I don't know about this." She said with a frown. "We're talking about classic American urban legends, these things aren't real." I raised an eyebrow at her. "Mai we deal with things that are not real every day." "No this is I mean this is like a woman who's happy with her weight Naru. This is just not real. If she's really having this trouble than we need everyone in on it. It's so varied and unusual" She slid the folder out from under my fingers. "Yeah. This is weird." "Lin. Start making the calls. Mai" I paused, looking around for her luggage. "Do you have somewhere you're staying?"

"I have an apartment in the same complex where I used to live but I slept on the plane so I can review the case file if you want an opinion from your 'American expert'." She smiled at me. "Good. Make tea first." I waved dismissively at her. "Sure thing boss." She laughed with a roll of her eyes and pushed to her feet. Lin waited until the sounds of the tea kettle clattered out from the kitchen, then rounded on me. His dark eyes glittered with humor as I did my best to hide my off-kilter mind and heart. "She's back sooner than I expected." Lin said with a small smile. "When exactly did you designate yourself the manager of this company?" I asked cooly, spinning a pen in my hand. "I thought this was one hiring decision you would not argue with. You need her Oliver." I dropped the pen. "Need?" "Yes. Need. You can interpret that anyway that you want." "I don't-" "Don't even try to argue. Even if you don't know it and you do Gene has told me that you need her." I felt the familiar seizing in my chest at the mention of my twin brother. So Gene thought I needed a woman. Considering his present state I didn't think he had any right telling others about my needs. Mai returned with a tea tray and a smile. She placed our cups, freshly cleaned, on the table and poured equal measures of steaming liquid from a tea pot. I watched her movements openly, noting the grace she had developed in her time away from Japan. I also noted with a start that she had white tattoos on her hands for the nine cuts, with Rin, Pyo and To spanning along the top of both of her thumbs, Sha on both pinkies, Kai and Jin on her middle fingers, Retsu on her left pointer finger, Zai on the inside curve between her thumb and pointer finger on her left hand and Zen mirroring on her right. I caught her hands. "What is this?" "You poor dear." She gently disengaged herself and patted my cheek. "I didn't know you'd had brain damage since I was last home." To cover his laugh, Lin rose, took his tea and went to his office, leaving us. "I know they're tattoos Mai. But WHY are they on you?"

"With all of them on me I can choose to use only a few instead of all. It makes whatever spirit, person or object I'm working with take less damage." "An interesting theory, but hardly verifiable." She ignored me and spread the file out on the conference table. "So-" "MAI!" The conference room door was flung open a bang and Ayako and the monk came rushing in. Before she could even open her mouth they had swept her into hugs. "Why didn't you tell anyone you were coming home?" Houshou kissed her cheek. "We would have taken the day off!" "You take every day off." I muttered under my breath. He still caught it. "So this day shouldn't be any different! Come on Mai! We can find a bar somewhere that opens early!" "Uh, it's barely nine, I don't think any bars open THIS early monk." Mai smiled ruefully. "I see you haven't cut your hair." "If only we were so lucky." Ayako rolled her eyes and took the steaming cup of tea that Mai had poured for herself. Mai took the cup back and looked at the ring on Ayako's hand. "Pretty big rock for a monk." "Yeah well this monk has a high-maintenance priestess for a wife." Houshou kissed Ayako on the forehead affectionately. "You are spoiled woman." "Hardly. I could have married a doctor but I chose a monk." "I love you too Ayako." "As charming as all this banter is, Mai, tell them what needs to be done and I will have Lin call the client to tell her we will take the job." "What job?" Ayako asked, returning from the kitchen with another tea cup. "The usual. Crazy weirdness that can't be explained and we have to go explain it." Mai pushed different sections of the file to them. "Start reading. Monk I'll let you take Bloody Mary. Ayako you and Masako can be in charge of The White Lady. I'll do some more research on Doc Benton and John can check out the Hook Man when he gets here. We'll deal with the mystery dress when we get on location."

"Which will be on Thursday, is two days long enough for everyone to get ready?" I stood, tea in hand and glanced around the room. "No problem boss." Houshou saluted me. "I'll call the client and tell her to warn patrons about Doc Benton and the Hook Man, those are the two most violent legends." Mai went behind her old desk and picked up the receiver. I was half-way to my office when I realized Houshou and Ayako were grinning at me. "What?" "You're blushing." Ayako whispered. I slammed my office door behind me.
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Mai's POV The van jarred me out of my rest and I stretched, accidentally-on-purpose punching Monk on the shoulder. "Ow!" He rubbed his arm and glared at me. "Unnecessary!" "Debatable." I yawned. "Are we there yet?" "Just a few more minutes." Naru glanced back over his shoulder. "Good, you're up. I want you to review all of the clientele and staff at the bed and breakfast, you'll be leading this investigation." I gaped. I'd been pissed when he hadn't let me participate on the cases years before but I sure as shooting didn't need to lead the cases to feel like part of the team. "Wait. Does that mean we have to call you boss?" the monk grinned down at me. "Only if you want to get paid Monk." I grumbled, flipping through the folder one last time as we pulled up the long drive. As we pulled up someone came running around the house, screaming. Well if that's not perfect timing I don't know what is! I unbuckled and leapt out of the van, racing across the lawn to meet the terrified woman. "What's wrong?" "H-h-h-h-he's here!" It took a few tries to get her breath back enough to get the words out and wave a shaking hand behind her. I took off again, rounding the building just in time to see a man in a black trench coat raise a hook to the face of a young boy who was frozen in place, a dark stain spreading in the front of

his pants. I threw myself in between them and raised my hands to form 'the seal of the ring of the sun.' "ZAI." I commanded, pushing the apparition away and keeping my gaze fixed on it as an invisible hot wind whipped around my body and bite at him. I watched the tendons in his neck and jaw strain as he tried to fight the seal but he was thrown off his feet with a silent scream as I held my ground. I brushed off my hands and turned to give the boy a hand up but he'd already scrammed. "Thanks Mai, you know for saving my life and all." I sighed and swept my heavy hair back. "MAI!" Naru came around the house with a furious expression. "What were you thinking?" "Something along the lines of 'oh crap someone needs help and I have help to spare'." I raised an eyebrow at him. "What took you so long?" "I-" Lin came running around the corner, murder in his eyes. I guess that answered my question, Lin didn't let Naru put himself anywhere near real danger if he had any say over the situation. I held up a hand before he could start lecturing. "Can we please get back on this case. Considering that before we even officially started I've had to seal away a full-fledged urban legend, we should get moving." A woman, the client, opened the back door, leading the monk, Ayako, John and Masako. "Thank goodness you're all right!" We all looked at her, the three of us facing off, our postures clearly saying; Do we look all right lady? "Ah If you're ready I can show you to a room for your base and your quarters." She managed to keep a perfectly groomed hostess smile firmly in place. "We're ready." Naru said in an equally controlled groomed voice. That voice made me want to slug him, just to see if I could get him to show some emotion. I thought he'd been surprised when he first saw me in the office days before but these past few days had proved me wrong. He wasn't surprised, he couldn't have been since he didn't have any freakin emotions period. Our client led us to a separate house, what had once been the barn and now was a large indoor pavilion with sleeping lofts. The downstairs pavilion would be our base, common area and dining room. The upstairs was divided into four separate rooms, Naru and I got small rooms to

ourselves since he'd appointed me leader and he owned SPR. Ayako and the monk had their own room, Lin and John shared a room and Masako had her own bedchamber in the main inn, since she could afford it and could only commit to a few nights. It took me one trip to get all of my belongings into my room. It was nice, white-washed walls and exposed ceiling beams with a simple queen bed. The wardrobe and vanity matched the lightcolored wood of the beamsthe wardrobe even had an antique white lace dress decoratively hung inside. The ceiling sloped down and I was grateful for being petite, even at the lowest point my head barely brushed it. I sprawled out on the bed, loving the rustic Americanized feel of the place. I decided to spring for the luxury of a quick shower and stripped, pulling on a plain cotton kimono and sneaking down the hall to the communal bathroom. I made it to the showers without being seen and quickly stepped into a stall. The water was amazing. It was cool but because it was fall that was perfect, crisp and clean and I completely washed down with my Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap and washed and conditioned my hair. Footsteps in the hall made me quickly rinse off once more to make sure no soap suds were left behind and dry off quickly with a towel. When I snuck out, once again in my kimono I almost ran straight into someone. "Yipe! Oh, hey John." I breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't my intimidating boss. "You about ready to cleanse the main house?" "Looks like I'm more ready than you are Mai." He smiled and I felt a little girlish flutter. He really was very handsome with that wavy blond hair and clear eyes. I blamed it on boy withdrawal. I'd had a boyfriend in America but I broke it off when I bought my plane ticket home, it hadn't been serious enough for me to attempt the really really longdistance relationship thing. He was a nice enough young man, and John reminded me a little of him. An Aryan poster-boy type, wholesome and sweet. Nothing like my dark, mysterious and obnoxious boss. "I'll be ready in two minutes just you wait!" I grinned and dashed off to my room, leaving John shaking his head after me. Exactly two minutes and thirteen seconds later (the stairs took me a little longer than I'd originally calculated, so sue me.) I was walking out of the base with John, a bible, some holy water and some sutras of the Kuji-in. We blessed every room in the B&B, to some patron's delight and some's disgust. The worst part was the cameras. It seemed like everybody and their mom had a camera. I'd done some modeling when I was in America (that's top-secret. Anybody even THINKS about telling

Masako and I'll end you!) and I'd had less pictures of me taken than while I was cleansing the Inn with John. I was also surprised by how often we were told what a cute couple we made. This went on until Naru joined to supervise us and confused people; one woman even asked me if Naru and John were competing to be my lovers, absurd really. When the main house was cleansed I sent John to cleanse the other buildings, leaving ours for last, while I sat in on the interviews being conducted by Naru and Lin. I let them deal with most of the interviews alone but I'd wanted to be involved in the ones about the mystery dress. "So what exactly happened?" I asked the young woman in front of me. She blushed. "Well I found this dress on the bed, it was such a beautiful antique and I'm a bit of an antique collector that I thought my fianc had bought it for me. I tried it on to surprise him but as soon as it was on I started feeling dizzy. When I came to I found my fianc trying to fight with a bus boy. It seems that once I had the dress on I tried to seduce him." At this point she was scarlet but equally thrilled at the attention her story was getting her. "When I had that moment of clarity I ran into the room and tore off the dress, but it was sticky, like it didn't want to be removed. Terrifying really." I nodded sympathetically and wrote out notes while we waited for our next interviewee. This time it was the client herself. "Ma'am, did you have some information regarding the dress?" I asked, checking to see if Naru had the recording equipment on. A short nod from him told me yes. "Yes I do. The dress killed one of my maids." We stared at her. "I wasn't aware that there had been a fatality on the grounds." Naru said in his quiet controlled I'm-really-pissed-that-you-left-that-out voice. "Yes well I didn't put two and two together until after our meeting and then it seemed a moot point since you were coming anyway." "Indeed." Naru's anger was still simmering just under the surface, I could feel it like a heat wave and was amazed that the woman in front of us hadn't gotten burned yet. "Well if you would so kindly detail the event now." "One of our younger maids, an American exchange student named Alison McIntyre, asked for a bonus a few weeks ago to buy a dress that was out of her budget for a school event. We try to not encourage unnecessary expenditures but one of the senior maids got a key to one of our storage rooms. There were a few chests full of old clothing in them and she found a dress for Alison. They washed it but it still ended up somehow poisoning her. Some strange substance that was absorbed through her skin if I am not mistaken."

I frowned. I couldn't remember any specific urban legends off the top of my head but I hardly had a photographic memory. "Any other detail we should know about?" "I believe that's everything, we've had a dress appear a few times around the bed and breakfast, placed like a decoration but when it occurs to someone that it might be misplaced it's always gone." "Interesting. Thank you for your time." I scribbled down her last few words. "You're very welcome; dinner will be delivered to your base in an hour." She stood and performed an awkward bow. We all thanked her again and I pushed back my chair. "Okay so we have a whole bunch of unrelated events with a random haunted object tossed in." I rubbed my face tiredly. "Could this possibly get weirder?" "Probably." Lin flipped through a book I'd brought on American myths. "Some of this seems like such a waste of time." "Normally I'd agree with you." I said. "But people are actually being hurt." "Which means that something powerful is behind this." Naru frowned thoughtfully. "Has there been any activity since we arrived?" "You mean other than me awesomely sealing away the Hook Man?" I grinned proudly but wilted under Naru's withering glare. "You mean when you recklessly ran off and could have gotten yourself killed?" " Uhm. No, nothing else has happened other than that." I said in a slightly less self-assured voice. Naru winced. "Mai, it's not that you didn't do something good, you did and I'm sure you saved the boy but you have to be more careful. If you can't take care of yourself then I'll replace you as lead investigator and keep you at the base, which I'm sure you don't want." "I'm twenty years old Naru. I know my limits and I only had to use one seal on that spirit. I was fully in control." "As your employer I have to argue with that Mai. If you were fully in control then you would have waited for backup instead of recklessly going off on your own. I don't know how they run things at the Pennsylvania State University Paranormal Research Society but here at SPR we function like a team. If you can't acknowledge that then you need to be taken off of active investigations until you can."

That stung. I pushed to my feet slowly and deliberately. "I'm not the same girl you made a habit of telling off years ago Naru. I need you to start acting like I've grown up because I have." I gathered my notes and walked to the doorway. "I'm going to take dinner in my room if you don't mind. I have some things to think over." I heard a muffled curse as I walked down the hall and paused, considering waiting for Naru to come apologie, then I remembered that it was Naru and hell would freeze over before he apologized and kept walking.

Naru's POV Dinner was passably edible. Some kind of over-fried crab cake and a salad that was more wilt and unnecessary art than nutrition. It had unfortunately also been a quiet affair without Mai to provide dinner entertainment. I'd really pushed her too far this time, she'd always been hotheaded and quick to judge but she seemed to have mellowed with time. I would have to apologize to her if I wanted to show her I'd matured as well. Not that I had much maturing to do in the first place, I'd always been mature beyond my years. Still, Mai had a valid point and we wouldn't be able to work together unless I could convince her to trust me. A knock on my bedroom door made me look up from the book I'd been reading about modern paranormal research. "Come in." I tried not to look surprised when Mai pushed open the door. She looked beautiful. Her skin was pale in the moon and lamp light but there was a flush to her cheeks and she was barefoot in a knee-length white lace dress. When she turned to shut the door behind her I saw antique pearl-snap buttons along her spine. Clearly a hand-made heirloom. She stepped towards me, small feet making no sound. "I wanted to see you." Her voice was breathy, almost a moan and I swallowed hard. "All right Mai, I'm right here and while you're here I may as well apologize for earlier. I'm sorry if you thought I didn't take your personal growth into account." I paused, frowning as her expression didn't change. She looked sensual with an almost lazy grace as she crossed the room. "But ah what did you need?" She was close enough that I could feel the heat of her body now. "I need you Kazuya" "I you're acting strange Mai." I rose from my chair and backed up. "Strange? No I don't think so." Mai smiled and it was off, instead of her usual unconditionally sunny smile this was cold and self-assured. "I can hear your heart racing Kazuya. Do I make you nervous?" She kept walking forward until I was backed into a corner in the room.

With a last slow step forward, she was close enough for the skirt of her dress to touch my pants and for her breasts to brush against my chest. She went up with aching slowness onto her tiptoes and for the life of me I couldn't make myself move as her lips brushed along my throat, up to my taught jaw. "Mmm you taste delicious Kazuya." She slid one slender hand along the lapel of my jacket. "So salty and masculine. Mai has just been dying for the chance to get her lips her tongue on you." Third person. Possession! "You are not Mai." I forced my voice to stay cool and steady despite my body being on fire. " The dress. You're the dress." "So clever. No wonder she likes you." I ignored her words, the voice may have been Mai's but the inflection was wrong. I tried to think of some way to gently remove the dress's hold over Mai but her next action froze me completely. She kissed me. My mind blanked as I caught the underlying tones of Mai's natural scent of sage and peppermint beneath the strange sharper smell of the dress. Her lips were petal-soft as they caressed mine and I jerked back. If I was going to be kissing Mai it was going to be when she was fully conscious and fully consensual. "What's wrong my love?" Her voice had deepened, losing all of Mai's intonation. "I won't let you do this to Mai." I reached around her and disregarded the part of me that yelled in protest as I gripped both sides of the pearl-buttoned back of the dress and ripped, the antique lace shredding under the force of my hands. I ignored the screams that came from the dress and Mai's throat at the same time and kept ripping until it fell to Mai's ankles in pieces. I froze yet again when I realized that Mai was wearing underwear but no bra. "Oh god." I croaked as she fainted in my arms, full high breasts completely exposed. I mentally growled at the part of me that seemed irrevocably transfixed by her lush curves, pulling enough sanity together to slip out of my coat and drape it over her. Then I dropped to one knee on the ground, letting her rest against my other leg. My bedroom door slammed open and Lin was standing there, breathing heavily with Houshou and John at his heels. I tucked my jacket around Mai's body so she wouldn't be exposed, feeling a lick of jealous heat at the very idea of someone else seeing her even partially nude. "What the hell?" The monk looked at the two of us. "What happened?" "The dress has been possessing people." I explained shortly, gesturing at the tattered remains. "We need to burn it."

"Why on earth would Mai put on the dress to begin with?" John asked, bewildered. "It possessed her." I ground out between my clenched teeth. "Even Mai isn't stupid enough to wear random clothing articles in a haunted space." "Thanks for the vote of confidence." Came a weak response from the girl in my arms. "Wwhat happened Naru?" I felt my knees go weak with relief that she used my nickname. "You were possessed by the dress Mai. Do you remember what happened?" She blinked slowly then turned bright red. "Uh can I get more clothes on first?" I swallowed down a blush of my own and stood again, lifting Mai surprisingly easily. "I'll take you." "Naru! I can walk!" I put her down and her knees gave way. I scooped her up again. "No you can't." I strode from the room and down the few doors to Mai's room, kicking the door closed behind us. Mai struggled out of my arms. "Out!" "Don't flatter yourself Mai, just get dressed and we can continue our investigation. For now no one goes anywhere alone and unless you want to stand there until Miss. Hara or Ms. Matsuzaki show up I'd suggest you get some clothes on because I won't leave." She glared at me. "Fine." I braced myself, remembering the last time we'd argued and she'd said 'fine.' Mai dropped my coat on the floor and spun on her heel rebelliously, opening her closet and yanking out a cherry-blossom print dress. It took all of my not inconsiderable willpower to look away, not that it helped, the image of her half-naked and helpless in my arms was burned into my mind; I still felt the silkiness of her skin under my hands and the enticing scent of her hair and skin was rubbed into my clothes. I sat heavily on the edge of her bed so my body's reaction to her would be less obvious. Great idea Oliver, sit on her bed, the one piece of furniture that smells like her. The thing that she sleeps in I stood and went to the small armchair in the corner of the room, sitting heavily on that instead. "Naru?"

I looked up when I heard the whir of a zipper and sighed in relief to see her in the blossom-print cocktail dress. She knelt and retrieved my fallen jacket, handing it to me with a slight sheepish smile. "Thank you. For taking care of me." "You weren't exactly hard to take care of Mai." I subtly took stock of my body to see if it would be socially acceptable for me to stand. "All the same." She stepped in between my knees before I could decide and I froze, eyes shooting up to meet hers just in time to catch a kiss on the cheek as her opposite hand cupped my face. "Thanks." "You're welcome." I brushed my hand up her arm. "How are you feeling?" "Like I've got hard-core jitters." She slowly sat on the bed facing me. "I don't even know how I ended up in the dress. Or how long I was in it." She looked around. "I remember being at dinner" "You couldn't have been in it for more than a few minutes Mai. Dinner was delivered half an hour ago and you and Miss Hara, Takigawa and Mrs. Matsuzaki have all retired to your rooms since dinner." "Ah. So that's where they are." Mai slipped on flip-flops and smiled at me. "We can go now, I'm okay." "Don't forget, that dress has poisoned someone to death so just relax for a moment." She paused, looking at her feet before slowly meeting my eyes. "Thank you. Again." Before I could respond the door burst open and Takigawa stomped in. "All right everyone! Clothes on? Naru, paws to yourself?" I watched Mai blush scarlet and allowed myself a small smile. It seemed that the dress hadn't just been spouting lies to further its own ambitions. Mai did seem to get flustered when teased about me. The blush wasn't lost on Houshou either who grinned broadly. "Isn't there someone else you can go bother?" I asked exasperatedly, standing and brushing the creases out of my pants. "We have work to do." "Oh really." He kept that stupid grin in place. "All work and no play makes Naru a dull boy, don't you agree Mai?" "I honestly wouldn't know one way or another now if you'll excuse me." Mai pushed past him, followed closely by me.

"What exactly is your escape plan?" I murmured when we were out of earshot. "Not a clue. I thought maybe a walk around the grounds might be in order to check the wards of course." She smiled up at me and I felt my stomach do a flip, must be a touch of flu. "How pragmatic of you, let's go." I held the door for her and she dramatically curtsied. We made it down the path to the first ward in comfortable silence. Mai touched it with palm and the symbol glowed momentarily. It was a brush of power, something that only the powerful spiritualists could do and something that no one as young as Mai had mastered. I kept the shock off my face but it was a struggle. "You have been getting quite a bit of schooling in the paranormal arts." I touched the same seal and felt the warmth as it faded. "That's no small feat Mai." "I'm mostly self-disciplined but I am grateful for the resources I had while abroad." She looked distant for a moment with a faint smile that made me feel an unexpected surge of jealousy at those who had shared her abroad experience, I really must be feeling off to have this little emotional control. "So have you had any unusual cases in the past few years? Lin usually kept things quiet when we spoke." She said as we walked towards the next seal. I felt another flare of jealousy, at Lin this time. I'd thought he was the only one in addition to me who had chosen to cut Mai off when she cut us off but it seemed that he'd been keeping touch with her behind my back. You keep forgetting Naru, everyone loved Mai, not just you. I frowned and focused on the conversation at hand. "A few, work is work." At least, it's just work when there's no one to make it fun. "Very eloquent Naru." She laughed. "Work doesn't have to be synonymous with boring you know. It can be fun." It was. "Come on let's-" She broke off with a gasp and I turned to see her staring up at a second story window in the main inn. Without warning she ducked off the path, grabbing my hand and taking me with her. When we were hidden behind a tree she peeked out and gasped again. I looked around her to see Masako and John in Masako's room, he appeared to be helping her remove her kimono. "What?" I asked Mai. She gave me a look. "Do you really have to ask?"

"They've been dating off-and-on almost for almost a year." I shrugged. "Oh. Well that's not as exciting then." She sighed and slumped against the tree. We seemed to realize at the same time that we were hidden behind a tree, obscured from view from the path and buildings and were close enough that the skirt of her dress swirled around me with the light breeze. "Naru" She trailed off, at a loss for words. I stepped closer, leaning on the tree and trapping her body between it and mine. It was a perfect moment with the silvered moonlight slanting through the tree's leaves and Mai so close that the very air seemed flavored with her. I thought back to the kiss in my room, how soft her mouth had been, how perfect she had tasted and I wanted to taste her again. I realized I was staring at her and her breath was catching as she watched me watch her. She was attracted to me, not that there was any reason she shouldn't be, but still. I was used to women finding me desirable this was different, this was Mai. The single most lively person I'd ever met. "Mai" I paused, seeing her bite her bottom lip and watching as that full lip slid out of her mouth, just barely glistening from the contact with her tongue. My whole body tightened and I thought I'd die if I didn't make a move, all while never wanting this perfect torture to end. I considered her for a moment longer before deciding to act.

Mai's POV My eyes were so wide I thought they'd fall out of my head and I lowered my lashes slowly. Naru was aptly named but I could excuse some narcissism when the subject was as ungodly handsome as Kazuya Shibuya. He was elegant without being feminine, masculine without being crass, a perfect balance and you bet your back seat he knew it. I looked away, thinking about Gene, Naru's dead twin. The twin he thought I was in love with. I loved Gene, this was true, but I wasn't IN love with him, never had been. Still, I bit my lip in thought, he had never shown any romantic interest in me, even when he'd told me that it was his brother I was seeing in my dreams. That was an awkward conversation I'd rather pretend never happened. "Mai" Naru caught my attention and I found him right over me, those dark blue eyes staring into my own chestnut-colored ones. I blanked and stopped biting my lip. I was doing finestill breathing on my ownuntil his eyes drifted down to my mouth and he got a glint in his eye. At this point if it were any other guy and I wanted him to kiss me I would have just kissed him first. But this was Naru.

"We should probably head back to base." I said quietly, making no attempt to move. "Probably." "Do you want to?" "Not particularly." I smiled at that, feeling butterflies in my stomach. "Why don't we-" I broke off as a wave of psychic energy slammed me from behind, throwing me forward into Naru. "What the-?" Another wave and both of us went down. As soon as we were on the ground Naru flipped over so he was on top, shielding me with his body with a hand tucking my head against his shoulder for protection. I felt the third wave hit but Naru stayed poised above me, I could see him straining against the energy's weight, fighting to keep from collapsing on me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down, doing my part to strengthen the shield. "I can protect you too." I whispered. Without words he tightened his arms around me and kept me tucked within the alcove created by his body. "What... is it?" I said in between waves. "Someone is infusing the land with power... The person behind everything." Naru murmured, keeping his hold on me even when the waves stopped. "I thought it must be someone, the signs being presented were too varied to be even a multiple haunting." "Another undisciplined psychic?" I asked, well aware that the waves had stopped and not interested in reminding Naru. "Maybe." Was all the response I got. He pushed to his feet while I followed suit by keeping my fingers wrapped around his upper arms, feeling a thrill at the flex of his biceps. Silly maybe, but I couldn't help it, Naru was Naru. We stepped back on the path cautiously, following the direction the waves had come from. The first thing we encountered was a pavilion with a single candle still flickering in the light breeze. A damp splotch on the ground where someone recently washed away chalk writing. "Interesting." Naru carefully picked up a broken piece of chalk. "Very interesting." "Naru!" I hissed, stepping carefully down the opposite stairs.

He caught my arm and pulled me behind him as we went down the small path, towards a dark hunched figure in the nearest lamplight. We were almost on top of him before he noticed us. It was the boy I'd saved earlier, reading a book by the yellow light. "You'll strain your eyes doing that." Naru said quietly. He jumped about fourteen feet high. "W-What are you doing here?" "Checking our work, what are you doing?" I asked him. "J-just reading." He mumbled. I crouched down in front of him. "You want to see a magic trick?" He gave me a look. "I'm a little old for magic tricks." "Not this one, trust me okay?" " Okay." I stood and went up on tip toe, kissing Naru on the cheek while sneaking the penlight he always kept on him out of his pocket. "Your slight of hand is getting better." His lips brushed my ear. "I learned from the best." I winked, ignoring my own massive blush, then turned back to the boy. "This is a magic light. It lets you read in the dark without killing your eyes." I flicked it on and off a few times. "Ta-daa." The boy smiled hesitantly. "Thanks... I'm Timothy, but everyone calls me Toro." "Very pleased to meet you as well Timothy-who-is-called-Toro." I handed him the pen. "How about you hold on to that and drop it off at the barn tomorrow after breakfast? We can show you our ghost-hunting equipment." "Really? Cool!" He lit up like a Christmas tree and I grinned. "Come on Mai." Naru helped me to my feet again and we said our goodbyes before walking to the next ward. "You owe me a penlight." "You owe me a new dress." "That wasn't even your dress." "Well you still saw me mostly naked so you owe me." I blushed to the roots of my hair but kept my eyes on the path.

"Fine. I'll buy you a new dress." I snorted a laugh. "you can just give me a raise if you like." "Not likely." "Bonus?" "You haven't earned a bonus." "Ouch." I touched a few more wards as we walked in relaxed camaraderie. We made it back to the base with no more incidentswhich I was grateful and disappointed about, I wouldn't mind having Naru's body on top of mine again, the guy must find time to work outand checked all the gauges and dials before saying good night. I pulled on my silk button-down shirt and a pair of boyshorts when I got back to my room, not wanting to get near my nightgown after my experience earlier in the night. I thought it would take me forever to fall asleep after all the craziness that happened and after the old feelings I had for Naru got a jump-start. He had literally ripped off my clothes after all, doesn't get much more romantic than that right? I giggled and brushed my hair, sweeping it to one side and watching my reflection do the same. Naru had seemed a little red when I'd woken up mostly naked in his arms, maybe he did have emotions after all. I crawled under the covers and pulled a giant fluffy pillow into my arms. "Sleep well Mai." I told myself with a faint smile, used to the routine after mom died. Goodnight Naru.

No one understood. No one cared. The weakness I felt in body and in spirit what did you do when your soul mate, the one you went to when in pain, was the cause of that pain? "Oh Yayoi Why?" I asked the empty room. "Why?" I held her bag, the only thing left of hers, and it was black, like and empty and withered the way she had been at the end, black in spirit and heart, empty in soul and a withered shell of what she had been. My great love. I raised my head shakily and found one of the razor-sharp exactoknives she'd used to create her art stencils. So sharp I bet I wouldn't feel a thing. Without considering further I snatched it up, flicked out the blade and split open the skin on one forearm and then before I felt the sting of the blade I cut the other. Both wounds yawned open and with them came the pain and the scalding blood gushing out over my skin.

I didn't cry out, I didn't move, any feeling I had had been wiped out when Yayoi died. I couldn't feel my fingers, must have accidentally cut the tendons I bolted upright in bed, nearly hyperventilating and covered in sweat. The door banged open moments later and Naru stood in the doorway, dressed in black pajamas. "Are you all right?" He asked with deceptive calm after his gaze had flicked over the room, making sure there was no imminent threat. "I-I-I-I" I swallowed hard and shut my eyes, pushing hot tears down my cheeks. Without any words since my voice wasn't cooperating I shook my head. When I looked up again Naru was hesitating in the doorway. I didn't think, I couldn't, but I held out my hand, eyes pleading him to stay. He stepped into the room, closing the door behind him but turning on a bedside lamp before cautiously perching on the very edge of the bed. He took my hand and I laced my fingers with his. I took several gulping breaths before getting up the courage to check my wrists. Sure enough there were two long faint scars from my palm almost to my elbow, the guy in my vision really had gone all out. The scars were as strange as any physical marks I received while having a vision; they had red skin around them like the wound had just happened but the scars themselves were small, nothing more than white cat scratches. "Damnit Mai, how long as have been happening?" Naru asked sharply, taking my other hand and flipping both over. In his agitation he'd turned so that he was on his knees on the bed, towering over me. I felt small and powerless, but oddly safe, I knew Naru would never hurt me. He was devastatingly handsome with his hair tousled from sleep and yet not a wrinkle in his silk pajamas, his dark eyes were sharp and alive but deeper than any I'd seen with the touch of blue and the sadness that came with that color. I struggled to focus, pinpointing my attention to Naru's hands holding mine, his were so much bigger but lean, almost slender, like a pianist's hands. I tightened my fingers around his and took another deep shuddering breath. "It's always happened, it just took me a long time to realize. The marks are so small and the redness fades very quickly." Naru released one of my hands and ran a long cool finger along my forearm, tracing the scar. "Still warm. What did you see?" I told myself not to shiver from the touch but I did anyway and hoped he'd think it was from recalling the vision.

"Wait here." He stood, letting my hands slide from his, did I imagine that he lingered? Before I could decide he strode across the room and out the door. I strained to listen and thought I heard a sharp sound, familiar but hard to place. Then running water. I shook my head to clear it, focusing hard on the vision, determined to remember every detail. I'd gone through it twice, trying to be detached but feeling fresh tears slide down my face anyway, when Naru came back in the room with a glass half full of amber liquid. He quietly closed the door again behind him. Being alone with a clinical narcissist should NOT have made my breath catch. But it did.
..

Naru's POV "Drink this, it will calm your nerves." I handed her the glass and she raised it but I could see when the fumes of the hard liquor hit her nose and she gasped. "What?" "Are you insane? This much whiskey would kill me!" She stared at the glass, at least three shots worth but I hadn't really counted. "Are you trying to get me drunk?" She accused me. A soft snort of a laugh and I took the glass, elegantly tossing back half the contents before handing it back. "Better?" I felt her eyes follow a faint shiver in my frame from the surprisingly huge shot and clenched my stomach against the wave of heat that hit it. "Too much for you boss?" She grinned. "Just drink it Mai." She heaved a heavy sigh, like drinking whiskey with me was such a burden, and drank the glass in one gulp, no shiver. She gave me a broad wink when my eyebrows shot up in surprise. "The one thing Americans can do is drink." "You're Japanese." I reminded her. "I'm an honorary American." She placed the glass on the bedside table and scooted over in the bed. I took the hint and sat beside her without as much caution this time, it must have been the whiskey. With my long legs stretched out I watched her give me a playful once-over, ignoring the warmth from the whiskey that urged me to do the same to her, only not as playful. "Geez Naru, you think you could get a little taller? You're making me feel like an oompa-loompa here." She stretched out under the covers and her toes barely get as far as my ankles.

"Focus Mai. The vision." Two facts hit me at the same time and I subtly sucked in a breath as I realized she was wearing a man's shirt and no bra. "Oh yeah." She bit her lip, and I frowned as fresh tears rose in her eyes. "Damnit I hate these contact emotions, as if I'm not emotional enough as it is." "What happened?" I asked more softly. "I my lover died. A woman who died a long time ago, I think from sickness because I remember thinking about her being withered." She stopped biting her lip before she spoke and I was beginning to both hate and love that habit. "I remember feeling betrayed, like maybe she'd given me her illness or something and my body was weak." "From the grief?" She shook her head. "From something else. Maybe an STD or drug addiction or something. He seemed really fixated on being sick and that she had made him sick. It was like he didn't think he'd get better." She rubbed her eyes. "It was weird. Usually I'm still me in my visions, just replacing the victim but this time I was definitely sharing a body." I ran a hand through my hair, trying to straighten the sleep-mussed strands while I contemplated what she said. "I think it's fair to say this case is anything but ordinary." That got a smile and I was grateful, her mood seemed to be lightening. "I'll second that. This is weird stuff Naru, more like a bad American horror movie than a real haunting." She stretched out, letting her head fall back onto her pillow, hair splayed behind her. I pushed up when I saw her struggle to keep her eyes open and she bolted upright. "Don't-" She broke off and blushed scarlet. "Don't what?" Ask me to stay Mai. "Ah Well" She twined and untwined her fingers. Ask me to stay Mai. "Nothing." She murmured, eyes locked on her hands. "I'm just being a silly fraidy cat." "Are you afraid to be alone?" She nodded mutely. "Do you" I couldn't make myself suggest it. It felt too much like taking advantage of her vulnerability.

Her sudden giggle made me stare at her. "We suck at this." She looked up at me. "Will you stay until I fall asleep?" Her assertiveness took me completely by surprise. I nodded wordlessly and she curled up on her side facing me. "Tell me a ghost story Naru." She smiled mischievously and I raised an eyebrow. "A good one." "I don't know any good ghost stories." I hesitated and ignored her derisive snort. "But I could tell you about the whiskey." She looked confused, then gave a half shrug. "Okay, tell me about the whiskey." I settled back. "When Eugene and I were when he was still alive and we had a bad paranormal experience or my powers got the better of both of us then we'd sneak into the kitchens and drink a glass of dad's whiskey." Her jaw dropped. "You were like fifteen!" I felt a half-smile tug at my lips and nodded. "Yes we were. It was his idea. Lin was just starting to teach me how to control my powers and I was convinced that that was what was going to make me feel better. But Gene insisted that trying to be a normal boy every now and then was what was going to make me cheer up. So we stole whiskey." Her chuckle was sleep-filled and I watched her thumb slowly drift across her fingertips, an unconscious gesture that was sensual when she did it. "Was it weird that Gene was so different from you? Being twins I guess I thought you'd be more alike." She sounded like she was half asleep but her words still turned my blood to ice-water. It had been so easy to ignore that when she looked at me she wasn't looking at me, she was looking at Gene. Her spirit guide, the man she was in love with who was the opposite of me in every way other than how we looked. "Sometimes." I couldn't keep the chill from my voice. Mai didn't deserve the anger but it was so hard to care for someone who looked through you to someone you weren't. "We complimented each other well." "Obviously." The ice water in my veins seemed to have woken her up. "You were born to compliment each other." She reached over to hold my hand and I didn't respond but she put hers on top of mine anyway. I closed down slowly, shutting down my emotions and body language one at a time until a sharp slap across my face shocked me out of it.

Mai gasped and grabbed her own raised hand, the one that had just made contact with my face. "What the-?" She cringed suddenly and both hands shot to hold her head. When she spoke again her voice was not hers, but one I knew well. "Don't be a flipping idiot Oliver! You're throwing away something vital for a reason that doesn't even exist." Gene said, and his blue eyes in Mai's face met mine. "This-" I broke off, ready to say that this didn't concern him but it so obviously did that I couldn't. "Mai is entitled to her feelings Gene. Leave her be." "She's not the one being an idiot. She's more honest with herself than you are, but if you don't tell her how you-" Mai clapped a hand over her own mouth, eyes shifting rapidly between brown and blue. "Gene you need to leave Mai now. She shouldn't have to fight off two possessions in one day. Please. Don't make me exorcise you." Mai's eyes widened and she splayed her fingers, holding them in front of her eyes. Showing her nine cuts tattoos. With a gasp her eyes fixed on brown and she wrapped her arms around herself, shaking nearly uncontrollably. "I-I t-trusted him." Her trembling took on a desperate edge. "How could he?" I took a risk and pulled her into my arms. "I'm sorry." I held her still, absorbing the tremors until they eased. "He had no right. He was very desperate." "Why? I came didn't I? He told me to come and I came!" She looked furious now. "What do you mean he told you to come?" I pulled her back. "A dream. He told me it was time to come home." She rubbed her arms and I loosened my grip. "No." She caught my elbows and leaned against me. "I can't believe all this shit keeps happening to me." I swallowed a chuckle. "You are a magnet for trouble." "And just so we're clear." She raised her voice slightly towards the empty room. "I've only got the patience for ONE of the twins tonight." She glared at empty space to make sure Gene got her point. "If there's even the hint of one of your little informative guiding vision things I will banish you into next Tuesday Eugene Davis." "Well it's rare that I'm the more popular Davis brother." "Don't make me slap you again Naru. Poor pitiful me is no longer in fashion, you need to catch up on your vogue."

"I've decided that Gene slapped me using your body and you had no control over the situation. Don't make me change my mind." "Sounds like I got off lucky." She was finally starting to get tired again and I eased us back onto the pillows. "Another story, and no Gene this time, he's grounded." "How about the time I got Lin drunk?" "You did not!" "You're right, I didn't." She smiled and yawned with a cute almost cat-like noise. Her soft brown eyes struggled to focus and I brushed the tip of her nose. "Go to sleep, it's been a long day." "Can I sleep in tomorrow boss?" She asked sleepily. "Ten minutes." "Slave driver." "Slacker." I gave in to some of the desire to touch her and pushed my fingers into her heavy auburn hair. "Your hands feel nice." She mumbled, more asleep than awake. Your everything feels nice. I placed my fingers along the back of her neck on her heated skin. "Mai?" "Mmm?" "Where did you get your pajamas?" She frowned and seemed to take a minute to process what I'd said. "Thrift store. Big silk shirt on discount." I didn't like that. "Switch with me." "Huh?" "I'll give you mine and look away and you can swap them out. I don't think that you should be wearing strangers' clothing given your psychic talents." "What a load of crap." She muttered but started unbuttoning anyway. I pulled my shirt over my head and handed it to her, keeping my eyes averted. When she put the other shirt in my lap I tossed it on the floor with a disgusted sniff. "I'll burn it later."

"Ridiculous." She settled back with her head on my shoulder. "Woah! Hello skin." She shot across to the opposite side of the bed, still barely awake. "I'm not putting that thing on and you've got my shirt." I shrugged, ignoring the rational part of my brain that said things like just go get another from your suitcase, and stop trying to get her to fondle your bare skin. She lowered her lashes and looked at me, not nearly as playful as before and my body fairly tingled in response. I was proud of my physique. I worked ridiculously hard at my job but had to keep both my body and mind in top condition at all times to stay in control of my powers. My main source of exercise was sparring with Lin, he was a master in many different disciplines of martial arts but I studied Tai Chi and Krav Maga with him. The Tai Chi integrated the elements of mental and psychic control that I needed and Krav Maga was Israeli street fighting, in case I was ever in a situation where Lin couldn't act as my physical body guard. Both kept my body conditioned and toned. Mai sighed exasperatedly. "Now I'm in a heck of a catch 22. I can't compliment you because it will go to your head and lord knows you don't need anymore ego but" "Thank you." I smiled at her. "For the attempted compliment." She shrugged. "Being diplomatic isn't one of my strong suits." "I'm well aware of your short-comings Mai, no need to share." "Oh you you narcissist!" She smacked my shoulder, then shook her hand. "Ow! It's like hitting a brick wall!" I chuckled. "Go to sleep you idiot." She grumbled and made a show of fluffing her pillow, then flopped down again. When she finally drifted off I started to get up and go back to my room but a small hand on my stomach stopped me. "Don't go Naru." She whispered and I couldn't tell if she was talking in her sleep but I turned off the light and lay back down.
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Mai's POV The sounds of a fight woke me up. I bolted upright in bed and my hand flew immediately to the pillow beside me like I was used to having someone with me. I wasn't. I was too used to being independent to share my bed. Even the guy I'd dated in the states got kicked out at lights-out.

I remembered why I was awake and dashed to the window. On the lawn Naru and Lin were fighting, like honest to god hand-to-hand combat. I grabbed a pair of pajama bottoms from the open drawer and yanked them on, running down the hall, stairs and grabbing a post on the porch hard enough to get a splinter. I took a minute to catch my breath and watch, Lin charged and Naru dropped to a crouch, got a hold, and tossed him over his shoulder. Lin flipped and landed on his feet in a runners crouch, fingertips tracing deep lines in the grass. I let out a relieved sigh, they were sparring, not fighting for real. Now that I knew they weren't trying to kill each other I could relax and watch the show. They both watched each other with narrow-eyed assessment. I was sure both of them were too cool-headed to try any rash moves and so it looked like a stalemate. Just when I was getting ready to go inside Naru took a running start and feinted, slide-tackling Lin who went down. Before any winner could be declared Lin had Naru on his stomach, a forearm across his windpipe. Naru swept a hand under Lin's thumb, bending his hand back just enough to get free and roll out of the way. Typical Naru, I thought. Not an ounce of energy more than is necessary to achieve a goal. I glanced over when I heard rattling and quickly rescued Toro who had a huge tray with a tea pot and coffee pot and a stack of cups. Another girl was following him with a tray piled high with pastries. "Naru! Lin! Breakfast!" I eyed the pastries with distaste. A very American breakfast, lots of fat and no protein or fruits or vegetables. "Toro can you take that tray in for me, Miss" "Fujioka." "Miss Fujioka could you bring us some celery and apples?" She blinked in surprise. "Do you even have celery or apples?" I asked not unkindly. "Yes ma'am, right away." She hurried off and when I turned to go inside familiar cool long fingers slid under my hands and took the tray away. I looked up at Naru who had one eyebrow raised ever so slightly, I didn't catch what was bothering him until his eyes lowered on my body pointedly. I blushed when I realized that I was still wearing pajamas. "Yeah yeah I'm going." I grumbled. "Nice shirt Mai!" I heard the monk hail me and I got ready to give him an earful but when I turned he looked exhausted and didn't seem to be teasing me. "I didn't think you could pull off

black but it looks good on you. I always thought that Naru was the black-" He broke off and his eyes narrowed. "I'm going to get dressed. You and Lin freaked me out pretty good when I first woke up." "I left the window open so you'd know where I went." Naru said quietly and I couldn't keep a small silly smile off my face. He'd been worried enough after last night to let me know he was nearby. I looked up and the Monk was staring wide-eyed at my expression. I looked away to Lin who assessed my outfit then hid a partial smile. I was sure he recognized the shirt. Curse you Naru for having such predictable clothing! I was getting ready to retreat when I caught the edge of my finger with the splinter in it on the table and yelped. Lin was the one to capture my hand and examine it. He pulled a small black pouch from his back pocket and I raised an eyebrow when I realized it was a first-aid kit. I looked at Naru to ask about it, Lin didn't really talk when he was focused and it seemed as though nothing in the world was more important than removing the splinter from my finger. Naru's expression took me by surprise. He was practically glaring at Lin with something that looked a heck of a lot like envy. But since as far as I knew Naru didn't feel human emotions that had to be wrong. When he schooled his face and wiped off all emotion it made me even more sure that it HAD been envy. Naru didn't like Lin touching me, interesting. I gave Lin a speculative look, he was handsome, no doubt about that, but not really my type. For starters he was older than me, not be a huge amount, but enough. It also wasn't a point in his favor that he didn't like Japanese people. Not to mention I seemed to have ever-deepening feelings for his boss. I closed my eyes and thought about Naru when Lin had a grip on the splinter and it really started hurting. I thought about waking up practically naked in his arms, the strength of his body when he held himself so carefully over me later on, and the worry in his eyes when he'd heard my vision. I thought about his half-naked body when he lay next to me in my bed. The lean muscle of his arms, the flat panes of his chest and the cut lines dividing his stomach muscles. I was mentally tracing the faint brush of a very happy trail down the middle of his abdominals when I realized Lin was talking. "-try not to grab old wooden things." He was saying. "Huh?" I blinked hard and met Naru's eyes, when I blushed crimson he smiled and I was ninetynine percent sure that my thoughts were being broadcasted in Technicolor. "Right. No more splintery things. I'm just going to go change now" I took the stairs two at a time and slammed my bedroom door unnecessarily, slumping back against it and trying to calm my racing heart.

I'd gotten myself mostly under control after a few flustered moments and I picked a white and yellow silk blouse and a black knee-length wool skirt before brushing my teeth and joining the rest of the crew. Ayako was conspicuously wearing only a silk sleeping kimono and Masako and John didn't need to be sharing one pair of pajamas to look fuzzy and intimate. Lin needs a girl. I thought while I poured a cup of tea for myself and Naru out of habit. I handed his cup to him and our fingers brushed as we made eye contact. I turned and accepted the third tray with the celery apples and pears from Miss Fujioka, grateful for the distraction. "Why celery?" Monk asked. "It's my secret to perfect skin." I winked. "A small price to pay for this flawless complexion." I fluttered my eyelashes dramatically and he laughed. "What does celery have to do with skin?" John asked. "Weeeell" I held up a stalk with a flight-stewardess gesture. "Imperfections in the skin such as acne are caused by heating in the stomach, celery is a natural coolant and fibrous so the more celery you eat" "The better condition your skin is in." Lin finished, crossing his arms with a speculative look. "That's from traditional Chinese medicine, where did you learn about it?" "I was not a fan of most American foods, too greasy, too fatty, not enough fresh ingredients, almost no raw foods. I went to a natural food market and talked to a woman who studied traditional Chinese medicine and had traveled to Asia several times. She told me the key to surviving in America was celery and I just fell into the habit of eating a lot of it." I bit into my celery stalk with an overly gratuitous moan and grinned when both Ayako and Houshou lunged for the tray. "So what's the game plan for today boss?" I asked while the others did battle. Naru pulled an apple from the tray after the rest were done fighting over the celery. "We review tapes, see if we find any interesting footage, interview the 'senior maid' who got the dress for Alison McIntyre and figure out who decided to infuse the land with power last night." "Well that's easy enough. Lin can handle the computers, cross reference any temperature or electrical fluctuations with unusual camera feed, the monk and Masako can figure out if the pavilion is the only hot spot where power has been summoned, Ayako and John can find and drill the senior maid, you should stick with Lin and review the initial interview footage for a any unstable or off characters that way everyone is partnered up." I looked up to see everyone staring at me. "What?" "Hai mon capitan!" Houshou saluted me and I scowled at him.

"You said everyone will be partnered up but that's not true is it. Who is going to be watching your back Mai?" John asked, looking worried. "Don't worry about me, I'm going to do some research on possessions to see if we can keep that dress or whatever was in the dress from coming back at the base. That's one seriously haunted antique." I snapped shut my folder and grabbed a few books on possession from the mini-library Lin kept next to the computers. The books were just for show, my real research was top-secret and hidden inside the very folder that I'd kept the assignment in. I waved to the group as I went out on the porch and found a rocking chair in a sunny spot, curling up with the folder and keeping the books in easy reach. I'd made it through three articles and still no interesting information when a shadow was cast over the pages. "Miss Taniyama?" It was Toro. "You said-" "Oh of course!" I closed my folder and stood, placing everything back in my chair. "I'm sorry I got side-tracked. Did you bring the flashlight back?" He handed it to me with a nervous glance inside. "I wanted to give it to Mr. Shibuya but he's scary." "Agreed." I grinned and we went inside. It took me a second for my eyes to adjust but I spotted two dark-haired figures working at the computers. "Just a sec." I stepped as quietly as I could across the room and slid a hand over Naru's shoulder, letting him know I was there. He nodded shortly. I slipped the penlight in his outer jacket pocket and got another brief nod. I left without any further communication, Naru was clearly 'in the zone' and nothing and nobody would reach him until he was ready to come out. "Hey you want to help me with something?" I asked Toro. Silly question, the kid was literally bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I'm going to go get some pictures and could use an assistant." I grabbed one of the compact video cameras and its case and a smaller digital camera. I turned the video camera on before I reached Toro. I liked him, but a few years as a paranormal investigator taught me that people can do the darndest things. Even kids. I looked up an caught Naru's eye, a quick survey of the screens told me that the upper left hand screen which had been black was now on and showing an image of my shoes, the camera in my hand. I held Naru's gaze and inclined my head slightly towards the boy and Naru nodded. Naru's intuitiveness once again astounded me and I felt my attention wander as Toro and I walked to the pavilion. Intuition would be a great asset in a partner, someone who could find all of your buttons and remember them. I bet it would take Naru less than a minute of kissing to figure out that I was ticklish.

"We're going to take some pictures and set this camera up in the main lobby." I held up the video camera for Toro to see, keeping it angled so he couldn't tell it was already on. "Okay, why are we going over here though?" He asked, maybe a little nervously. "Someone tried to wash off some chalk last night and I want to see what they were trying to hide." I smiled at him innocently, placing the camera casually on the bench so it faced the two of us. "Oh." He looked curious as I pulled out another flashlight from the camera bag. The second flashlight was a miniature blacklight and I shone it on the ground. Faint markings showed and I took pictures of them with the flash off and made sure the video camera got a clean shot. I didn't recognize the markings, runes or symbols of some sort, but there was English writing around the edge. "Oh darn, English, I'll get Naru to translate." I said, noting the hint of relief on Toro's face and neglecting to mention that English had been part of the Japanese curriculum ever since it was declared a "world language" when I was in third grade. I was also pretty pleased with my spoken English, two years immersion in America and my formerly choppy English and heavy accent had evolved into fluent English with a softer touch of accent. The English part of the writing said simply "Bloody Mary" around and around, encircling the other symbols three times. I tried not to show my worry, we'd need mirrors covered and precautions taken as soon as possible. I trusted that Naru, being Naru, had thoroughly researched all the urban legends we were dealing with and would understand what it meant. "Okay I think that's it, ready to head back to base? I want to look up these symbols before I place the other camera." "I just remembered I have to help Aunt Nadine with stuff." He dashed off. A faint rustle of leaves made me look behind me, Lin stepped out from behind a tree. "Oliver wanted me to keep a closer eye on you." He said, face as impassive as usual but I noted a hint of amusement. "You can tell Naru I did just fine by myself." I rolled my eyes. "The kid was acting weird though. But I didn't notice any real indication of power from him. Even if summoning Bloody Mary is a children's game I think someone more powerful is working here." We started back towards base. "Do you remember the article you sent me about five months ago on partial possessions and power-infusing?" I asked slowly.

"Yes of course. By Oliver's father about a spirit passing on psychic powers they had in life on another living person" He trailed off, then stepped in front of me, catching my shoulders. "DON'T even think about it Mai." I winced. Lin was too perceptive for his own good. "I'm not-" "I could not be more serious. That is dangerous, half the time it destroys the body or mind of the person who is getting infused with power and And that's a hell of a commitment to make Mai." I blushed scarlet. "Don't forget, part of my power is already infused with Eugene's, he's been coming into my dreams for years." Lin dropped his hands but kept glaring. "We will discuss this later Taniyama." I nodded and pushed past him. "Turn off the camera." Naru's voice emerged from the depths of the base. I froze, terrified for a moment before I remembered that the camera I had chosen didn't pick up audio, the last thing I needed was for Naru to hear the conversation I'd had with Lin. I turned off the camera and placed it on the equipment table. "Naru. We need to start-" "I know." "I'll go-" "No you won't." He stood and retrieved a stack of sutras from the table. "Let's go." I sighed and pushed a hand through my hair before nodding. "All right." We passed Lin and he glared at me all the way out. I could feel his glare even as we went up to the main lawn. I valued Lin's opinion and experience and did not want to make an enemy out of him but I'd do what I had to, even if he didn't like it. "Where do you want to start." Naru kept walking straight to the ballroom and I rolled my eyes, obviously the question was merely a formality, he knew exactly where he wanted to start and I couldn't agree more. We opened the doors to see every wall covered in mirrors. "Here works." I said softly.
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A growl from across the room made me glance up, Mai was giving me a woebegone look and holding a hand to her stomach. "Foooood... breakfast was days ago Naru!" "Barely two hours." "But it feels like days!" I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Mai..." "Look we have one more room, which we know has three mirrors, one in the bathroom and two in the room so after that..." "After that we have to ward the entire place to be sure we didn't miss any reflective surfaces," "But... I'm going to faint from hunger..." She wobbled and I glared at her. "Can you try to be professional for another ten minutes?" "No promises." We made it to the end of the hall with minimal fuss. The door was open a crack and we knocked anyway. I pushed open the door when I heard an odd thunking noise, feeling the hair raise on the back of my neck. Something was wrong. "Move-" I clapped a hand over Mai's mouth and kept my body in between her and the room. Her hand tugging at mine let me know she got the point. She held onto the back of my suit jacket and I eased us in the room. A man was bent over a young woman, not a very alarming situation but a second look at the man corrected me. The man made the situation very alarming. He was dead. With his clothes youthful but his body withered to the point of resembling a mummy more than a man I didn't doubt my initial assessment, he was very dead. I took a second look at the woman, she wasn't a corpse but she wasn't alive either, she was a spirit. Her face was young and beautiful as the man fell from her arms but she was dressed completely in white. "The white lady." Mai whispered unnecessarily. "Where is my daughter?" The woman's voice was clear but her lips didn't move. "I don't know." I answered calmly, side-stepping to keep Mai behind me as she peeked around my body. "But I assure you she is not here." "Where is my daughter?"

I backed us out of the room, nearly stepping on Mai more than once as she kept trying to look at the woman. "You have my daughter!" She shrieked this and flew at me, clawing at my face, and let me assure you, she didn't feel like a spirit. "Don't touch him!" Mai darted out and said the nine cuts in a calm but very fast tone even as the spirit clawed at her and fought. On the last she wavered and disappeared. "All nine?" I asked when she turned back to me. "The bitch pissed me off." She went up on her toes and tilted my face to the side, examining where the white lady had scratched me. "Looks like you got off with minimal damage." "I'll live." Mai smiled and I sent her to quickly place the four remaining sutras in the halls to the east and west and the north and south facing front and back doors, securing the home while I informed the client of the situation in the room with the white lady. I called the woman to the lobby where I could keep an eye on Mai in all four directions. "Well inside here at least should be safe." Mai put her hand in the crook of my arm and I uncrossed one of them to lace my fingers with her, glad she was safe and not particularly concerned with who saw. "I want Ayako to take a look at those scratches and do her tree thing." "Tree thing?" I asked with a hint of incredulity. "Mm-hmm, just cleanse and make sure there's no risk of infection. Spirit poisoning is bad news." She blushed. "But you know that." "It's reassuring to hear you talk about it too, it reinforces your competency." She sighed. "It's a good thing you're cute because you can be a real jerk you know that?" "So I've been told." I stroked her hand while we bantered, negating her 'jerk' label. "We'll need to ask Mrs. Shibuya a few questions." The detective in charge joined us and bowed respectfully to Mai. He was a smart man and recognized that displays of respect and manners would get him further than being rude and aggressive. I felt an unexpected surge of emotion at that label and didn't correct him. I noticed Mai didn't either. "Right now we're performing an independent investigation on the grounds and none of my investigators are allowed to be alone. As you can see the situation is escalating and their safety is my top priority." I slid the arm she'd been holding around her shoulders and tucked her protectively against my body.

"Shibuya Psychic Research has an high success rate. I've read some of your case files, I'd greatly appreciate it if you shared your conclusions with us when you finish the investigation." I nodded. "Of course, we will stop by your office on our way home." He let us go. Considering that Japanese police had a ninety percent success rate it made sense that he was willing to bide his time and earn our trust. We started back towards the base. "So we've met The Hook Man, the dress, and the white lady, someone summoned Bloody Mary but we haven't actually seen her yet that just leaves Doc Benton." Mai didn't try to extricate herself from my arm and we fell easily into step, her taking three steps to match two of my strides. When we got inside Mai took a Temaki sushi roll from the lunch tray and I made an effort not to roll my eyes. So far we'd seen enough bastardized Japanese cultural influences to last me a life time. While there was no question of the convenience of the Temaki roll I'd rather watch Mai eat with chopsticks, which made for infinitely more fascinating lunch time entertainment. "Since as far as I can tell Bloody Mary and Doc Benton haven't been chased out or banished and they definitely haven't been sealed away I think we can safely assume they're going to attack next." "No one goes anywhere alone until we find who's behind this." I sat at the computer monitors. "That includes rooms, I'm sure Masako and John will be fine sharing a room and Lin can set his Shiki to guard his." "And what about you?" Mai asked sharply. I turned slowly in my chair, dropping the emotional control I wore like body armor and letting a small taste of the desire I felt fill my gaze, merely a fraction of how she really made me feel but it was enough. My lips curved as I noted her breath quicken and eyes dilate. "I'll be keeping an eye on you." "Only one?" She laughed breathlessly. I didn't dignify that with an answer. She got the point. Mai Taniyama would be mine and since I wanted her exactly the way she was, feisty, luscious, uncontrollable, sunny, optimistic and full of suprises, I'd have to go slowly so as to not scare her off, something which I was getting increasingly less concerned about. When Lin was playing amateur doctor on her hand that morning she had winced, then thought about something else, something that had made her lips part and her face tilt unconsciously in my direction. She'd watched me without realizing it for almost a full minute. I didn't want to push her but since I knew she wanted me it was only fair to warn her that those desires were reciprocated so she was aware of my intentions.

"Hey lunch!" Houshou practically skipped into the base. "I'm starving!" Lin took off his headphones and came in from the other room, sending a sharp hard look Mai's way that made me curious. She must have done something serious to upset him this much but she carefully avoided his eye and focused on her wrap. The day passed with mocking slowness. Mai stayed on the porch, doing her research and keeping her back to a window so we knew she was safe. The others investigated and purified and interviewed but still came back empty-handed. Dinner was somber as we discussed the case and the lack of progress. I had to squelch the annoyance I felt when John volunteered to check the wards with Mai. All it took was one look across the table at Masako and the look on John's face when he looked at her. It seemed that there was no chance he was going to risk losing that. I'd almost convinced myself to relax when the sound of running footsteps had me on my feet. "Naru!" Mai gasped when she and John came in the door. "Someone's sabotaged the wards!" "What?" I followed them back out to the first ward and sure enough, someone had ripped a piece of the paper out from the middle. "All of them are like this?" She nodded. "Every last one, and let me tell you, no ghost or spirit was responsible." "Of course not, this was a human." I frowned, mentally calculating how many sutras that left us with. "We don't have enough extra to cover the grounds, put a few in the base and I'll notify our client that her guests need to stay indoors from now until morning." She nodded and dashed back to the base, leaving John with me. I stood very still until I heard the door to the base open and was sure Mai was safely inside. "Let's go." I told John. "Right behind you boss." We warned the appropriately worried client who assured us that the guests would be safe and that most had already gone to bed and those who hadn't were having nightcap cocktails at the bar. I couldn't deny the touch of distaste for people who drank themselves to sleep. The ritual I'd had with Gene was rare, maybe once a month and now I drank even more rarely. It wasn't a habit I'd let Mai get in either, the night before had been a special occasion, she'd been really shaken up and had a traumatic day. "So are you and Mai dating now?" John asked delicately.

"No." I shook my head while promising myself to rectify that situation. I didn't want to mix work with pleasure but the second we were done with this case I'd take Mai to dinner in the new dress I was going to buy her, something classy but flattering. "For the love of all that is holy will you two get on with it already? No one else on the team can be in the same room with you without getting electrocuted. Psychic love is a dangerous thing mate." I gave him a suspicious look, positive I would be aware if my psycho-kinesis had gotten the better of me. "I mean it Kazuya, you guys have crazy strong vibes and if you don't release some of that tension then who knows how the energy will express itself. For the good of us all at least kiss the girl." I rolled my eyes, no matter how valid his point or how good his intentions, subtlety was not one of John's strong suits and what he wanted had nothing to do with the safety of the group. A slender silhouette in the base door way made my pulse race, with the light to her back I could see the outline of her legs in the dress and all I had to do was make the connection with the night before. While the primitive part of my brain had been predominantly occupied with her breasts, the part of me that was always aware of my surroundings had made sure I got a good look at her legs. Long thighs and calves with slim ankles and feet, well worth a second and third and five hundredth look. Mai was nervously wringing her hands until we stepped into the light. A sigh of relief made her shoulders slump. "Come inside for tea you two!" She called, handing us two mugs as soon as we crossed the threshold. The room seemed lighter, the sutras and wards were doing their job. "Thank you Mai." I ignored the sexual tension I felt palpably enough to chew and accepted the cup. Even with the strength of the pull I felt towards her I felt my control over my powers as tight as ever. Uncontrollable energy, yeah right. Masako had stood upon our entrance and was at the door now. "John, are you ready to walk me to my room?" "You'd better stay there for the night." Houshou announced, subtle as ever. "That way Miss Hara can be properly protected." "I'll keep that in mind, night everyone!" John waved cheerfully and guided Masako out with a light hand on her back. "We're pretty wiped too." Ayako said with a glint in her eye and no indication of fatigue. "Bed time!"

"You're the boss!" Houshou agreed with a lascivious grin. Mai rolled her eyes and sat on one of the arm chairs, opening a folder on her knees. She glanced at Lin and when she saw his headphones on looked at me. "I can stay up if you want to get some more work done." I did. But there was always work to be done. "It can wait until the morning." I reached out a hand and pulled her to her feet, then tapped on the glass door to get Lin's attention. I didn't have to do more than wave for him to nod and return to his work. "Come on." I let her lead the way upstairs. "Do you want to" She blushed. "Oh man I feel like I'm sixteen again, crap I thought I was done with this awkwardness. Do you want to sleep in your room or mine?" I raised an eyebrow. "I thought we'd already gone over this Mai." "I mean it doesn't matter to me." She said quietly. "Where we are." I nodded in understanding. "You room is fine, let me get ready for bed and I'll join you, but leave your door open." She huffed, blowing her hair out of her face. "Do I need an escort for the shower?" "Do you want one?" I smiled. "Oh! You Damnit you go change and brush your teeth and give me time to unfluster." I went to my room, taking my pajama pants and toiletries into the communal bathroom. I was just starting to get undressed when the door opened. I thought nothing of it until I heard a familiar annoyed sigh. I stepped out, still in my pants. "Mai?" She met my eyes then looked away quickly. "Is it all right if I use the other shower? The monk and Ayako have occupied the other bathroom." "What's wrong with their room?" "No shower." "Ah." I went back into my stall and finished undressing, doing my very best to ignore the soft sounds of Mai and felt relieved when her shower turned on. Then the shower-related mental images started. Those made me triple the speed with which I normally showered. I was out in under five minutes and brushing my teeth, then all but fleeing into my room. I left the door partway open and settled

in with a dry book on interpreting electronic voice phenomena. I had always been able to lose myself in my work in the past but I just kept seeing Mai. It would have been easier if they were just normal lecherous thoughts of her in the shower but they weren't. Those did make an appearance but mostly I was thinking about her in normal settings, laughing, blushing, arguing. Mai happy, Mai sad, Mai furious. I set the book down and leaned on my fist. When she'd left for America I felt like all the air had been sucked out of the office. It was miserable. That hadn't felt like love but maybe that was the point. It felt like hell because Mai wasn't there. I'm in love with her. I examined the thought with the same cool detachment that I examined everything. Despite that, my heart started racing as I considered the possibility. Love was a release of chemicals into the brain that made the subject feel like well, this. Accelerated heart rate and escalated sexual drive, response to pheromones. Obsessive thoughts and fixation, a mental response to cope with the increased hormone release. I didn't have an answer to my brother's quest to get Mai and I together, that was a wild card in the mix. A soft knock at the door made me look up. Mai stood in the doorway and I was pleased to note she wore my shirt, which reached about mid-thigh on her. "If you want to work I can go ahead to bed." She said again hesitantly. I shelved my book. "No need. I wasn't being very productive anyway." "I really don't need a body guard, though I appreciate your concern." She crossed her arms. "Everyone partners up Mai, Lin has his shiki so he is never completely alone but you need to be watched." She tossed her hair back with a glare. "Oh yeah? I seem to recall saving your butt earlier." That made me fight back a smile. Mai was powerful, unusually so on many levels, but if I had full use of my powers I'd exorcize the whole site in one wave. It was frustrating to not be able to use my power, it slowed down investigations to a crawl while everyone else stumbled through. "You're not the only one with powers Mai." I scooped up my folder on the case and ushered her out of my room, turning off the light and closing the door behind us. "Well you can't safely use yours." She shot back, then winced. "Sorry, that was harsh." "You're forgiven." We went into her room and I switched on the same bedside lamp I'd had the night before, settling onto the bed with the folder. "I thought you weren't being productive?" "This is just for when you bore me."

"I know I annoy you and get in your way." She said over her shoulder and closed the door. "But there is no way I've ever ever EVER been boring." Fair enough. "Naru?" She crawled onto the bed and tucked her feet under her. "I never really understood how your powers work." "I never told you." " Obviously, I am mentally present enough to figure that out." She glared. I closed the folder with an exasperated sigh. "What did you want to know?" "Gene balanced you right? I mean he was like the opposite? What does that even mean? What exactly do you do and what exactly did he do and how did you work together?" I waited while she looked at me expectantly. "Well if I answer all of your questions you'd be in for a several-hours long lecture on psychic conduits and the ebb and flow of psychic power." "Cliff notes version please." I assumed that meant a shorter version and frowned, trying to simplify it. "I manipulate neutral energy, I create energy and force from nothing, Gene neutralized positive and negative energy, turning whatever force I'd created back to nothing." "So you made PK from nothing and he turned that back into nothing." "Mind-numbingly simplified, yes." She rolled her eyes. "So what's been happening with the energy you create and manipulate now?" "It destroys itself. For the most part that destructive force is external but since I created it part of it is always within me. Gene could take that part and nullify it but without his power it just" I hesitated, not wanting to frighten her. "It's like a destructive beam of light in a room full of mirrors." "And it ricochets until it destroys all of the mirrors." It wasn't a question. "How long can your body stand that kind of strain?" I shrugged. "That's not a question I can answer without all the data." "So basically we just got lucky last time and if you use your powers you die. Are there any bad effects from NOT using your power?"

"Not particularly, I've heard of people's psycho kinesis getting the better of them, but I have more self-control." "Do other people with PK have both halves of the power, instead of split apart like you and Gene?" I tried not to show the surprise I felt at her perceptive question but she still glared at me. "Yes. But people weren't born to hold that much power in their bodies and it usually destroys them when they're young. Gene and I were going to be the first to make it to eighteen." She absent-mindedly took my hand as she thought. It was cute, her eyes were dark and distant and she had three wrinkles in between her eyebrows as she frowned. I opened my hand under hers and looked at her fine bones and long-bedded nails painted with silver nail polish. "Well that's all I needed to know! you can go now." She stretched and flopped back on the bed.

I watched Naru's expression through my eyelashes as I told him to leave. It was funny how annoyed he looked and his glare would have put Medusa out of business. "You've got to have a body guard Mai, get used to it." "But you're so mean and boring!" I poked him to illustrate my point as he didn't flinch. Of course Naru wouldn't be ticklish, it was freaking stoic uber-controlling Naru. He glared some more. "Fine!" I conceded huffily and reached over him to turn off the light. Before I'd even touched it Naru had both of my arms trapped and was leaning over me. My eyes widened and my breath hitched as he stopped within inches of my face. "Still bored?" He asked pleasantly. "This has gotten beyond ridiculous." I growled and even as he was pulling away arched up and kissed him. That stopped him in his tracks. I watched long enough to see his eyes widen and that spark that I was growing to love light them. I closed my eyes when he did and wrapped my arms around his neck. He reciprocated, crushing my body against his. I didn't care, he could squeeze me until I died and I wouldn't care. Naru tasted amazing and I was completely intoxicated. I brushed the crease of his lips with my tongue and jerked back when I realized I recognized the taste of him. I frowned and pressed my fingertips to my mouth.

"When When I" I was having a hard time forming coherent thought but I'd had a taste like this on my lips when I'd woken up in Naru's arms after the dress possession. "When I was possessed by the dress-" "Yes you kissed me, yes I liked it and yes, you should do it again. Now." His mouth pressed against my throat and I gasped, feeling the differences in textures of his lips, tongue and teeth and the heat of his mouth. Adding to everything else was the traces of his English accent, more evident when he was aroused, like a cherry on top of a spectacular ice cream Sunday. I pulled back and found that talented mouth again with my own, kissing him more deeply and drinking in the feel of his skin. His cool fingers slid under the collar of the shirt I was wearing, brushing along my shoulders and neck and making me whimper with pleasure. I was so wrapped up in him that it took me a moment to realize the lamp was rattling. "Naru." I gasped as his hands tugged on my hair, losing my train of thought. "Naru!" The lamp raised off the table. "Kazuya!" I grabbed Naru's shoulders and his eyes snapped to mine. "You're losing control." "What? No." He shook his head hard and the lamp dropped, landing awkwardly and falling over. He stared at it, then looked slowly back to me and I saw a hint of shock behind his eyes. "Shit." I saw the pain even before it fully hit him. I pulled him tight and felt as waves wracked his larger frame. "Breathe. Breathe and be okay." I realized even as he was torn apart by his own power that he didn't make a sound. And that I loved him for it. I didn't care if he was in control, that wasn't the point. The point was that it was Naru in pain and danger and I would die if he was torn apart by his power like this. It ended as suddenly as it had begun. Like the small use of power had only caused only minimal damage. I held on still, keeping my lips against his hair. His breathing had barely changed through the whole ordeal, keeping slow and steady with just a few catches. Still I felt the cold sweat that slickened his body. It wasn't the time to be focusing on sex but I couldn't shake the frustration that he couldn't lose control. And being controlled while we were intimate made the mood lose its hard edge. I brushed my fingers through his hair as he took a long slow breath in and out, lips barely moving against my shoulder. "Are you all right?" I murmured. His fists slowly clenched in the sheets on either side of me. His body was rigid with anger and I kept running my fingers along his spine until he relaxed an iota.

"Naru?" "I'm. fine." "Okay." I didn't push. I did however lean my forehead against his. "So How do we get around that?" "It won't happen again." I tried to ignore my heart sinking to my toes. "No big, I can live without fooling around." "I wasn't fool-" He broke off. I blushed, it was good to know that Naru didn't see what we were doing as fooling around but it still seemed more than I had any right to hope for. I ran a hand along his jaw. His body was pressed against mine and parts of him were still remembering the heat that had stimulated his PK. A part of me that had nothing to do with logic or reason desperately wanted Naru, despite knowing that sexual activity was dangerous. His body felt so right and so good against mine and I just wanted to feel even more. His thigh was in between my knees and I pressed against it. "Mai, don't. My control is not very good right now." He gasped when I kept pressing, inching my hips upwards towards the danger zone. "Mai!" He snapped sharply. I sighed and slumped back, throwing my arms wide on either side of us. "Agh! Will with frustration never end?" "Probably not." "Did you have this problem with control with other girls?" I asked, needing to and not wanting to know the answer. "There weren't that many 'other girls', work always came first. And no, until now control has been easy." "What's different now?" He gave me a disparaging look and I gave him an innocent one. "Spell it out for me Naru." "I think it has to do with the unusually high level of psychic energy you have." I snorted disbelievingly. "Good to know that it's my power that you find attractive."

"All right. You have made it very hard for me to concentrate, to the point where I want to throw away every lesson in discipline Lin has ever taught me-" He broke off, looking at me under him and pushed up, moving my hands under his knees so he was practically sitting on my hips. "And either rip off your clothes or remove them with agonizing slowness" As he spoke he started unbuttoning his shirt that I was wearing with deft fingers. This time I had on a bra but it was a lacy demi bra that was more decoration than support. His breath hissed in when he spread the shirt and exposed my body. I wriggled my hands until he lifted off them so I could return the favor of torture and run my fingers up his naked hips and sides. "We should be more careful" He nodded in agreement but just lowered his mouth to my breast. "No!" I caught him even though every fiber of my being screamed to let him have his way with me, damned be the consequences. "I don't want you to go through anymore pain." He met my eyes before letting his trail down my body. "Fair trade." I pulled him into a kiss, feeling a thrill as his bare chest hit mine. "I want this." I whispered into his mouth and was rewarded by a shiver. "But you're not allowed to participate. You have to work on staying in control. Now sit back and hold on to the bed post." "What exactly are you planning on doing?" "Giving one of us some relief." I pushed him back, giving the tie on his pants a significant tug. "Oh no. THAT is a truly bad idea." He backed up on the bed. "I'd probably destroy the whole property." "Your faith in my ability to blow your mind is flattering." I grinned and dipped my head to taste his chest. He gasped and put his hands on my shoulders. "The one thing I was never concerned about was quality Mai." He brushed his fingertips across my mouth. "And I can wait for that." "But I don't want to wait! I've waited for years." That earned me a dark chuckle. "We can go talk to Lin if you like, see if he has any ideas." I blushed all the way to my toenails, followed closely by feeling an anvil of dread drop at the idea of talking to Lin about anything relating to overcoming Naru's powers. "Pass." I managed weakly. "Lin is a little peeved at me right now." "I noticed, why?" "Ah! Well! You know, just the usual! Me being careless with everything!" I lied quickly.

He nodded in understanding. "That makes sense." I scowled. "You bought that WAY too quickly." He rolled his eyes and pulled me into his arms. "You are ridiculous." "You need some ridiculousness in your life Naru, you take everything too seriously." I looked up and traced my fingers along the hard edges of his cheekbones and jaw. "You should laugh more, I like your laugh." "I don't recall laughing recently." "Well of course not, I don't know if you've ever laughed in your entire life." I stuck my tongue out at him. "But sometimes you smile and rarely you chuckle. It's a sexy chuckle to." He chuckled at that and I mock-swooned. "Do it again!" I felt him smile with his lips pressed to my cheek. "Ridiculous." I waited for his mouth to get back in reach and kissed him when it did. Kissing was awesome, but kissing Naru was like impossible to describe. I felt the strength in the way he held me, I was conquered by how naturally talented he was; it was like he found every sensitive place on my body without even trying. Places I didn't even know were sensitive. His fingers brushed behind my ear and traced the line of my jaw, just barely stroking the soft skin under my chin and I quivered under his touch. It reminded me of in the newer James Bond movie when the girl says that she'd care about him if there was nothing left but his little finger and he says 'That's because you know what I can do with my little finger.' That was Naru in a nutshell, if all he had to seduce me with was one hand I'd be conquered in under a minute. Hell I'd be conquered with a one look from his midnight eyes. "Oh god." I groaned when his fingers slid under the edge of my bra, the tip of one just barely touching my areola. "Oh!" I mentally yelled at my breasts for being hussies as they pushed towards Narucompletely on their own. Hussies. "You're going to bad very bad!" I laced my fingers into his hair as his mouth closed on the thin lace of my bra and somehow managed to do the exact opposite of what I'd meant to do, instead of pushing him away I held him and even ignored the strap of my bra as it slipped off my shoulder. "Yes. I'm going to do VERY bad things to you." "Please, God-" I broke off as the lights flickered. "-DAMNIT." We looked up at them. "That wasn't me." Naru said slowly. I slid my fingertips into his pajama pants, tracing the line of his hips. The lights stayed steady. "Just testing. Looks like you were right."

I bit my lip and looked into his face. His eyes were transfixed on my hands. "Please either do something productive with those or get them far away from me." His voice was calm but he shuddered when I drew my hands away. "That wasn't the option I was hoping you'd pick but we need to go investigate." He stood and counted to ten, regaining control over his rebellious body. I watched and it was more fun than watching Iron Chef and Planet Earth rolled into one. His body was perfect and probably just as much a contributor to his narcissistic nature as his face was. I remembered after a few moments of enjoying the show that my shirt was completely unbuttoned. I fixed it quickly and slid to my feet. "Ready?" "Put some pants on, or a robe. Or both." I sighed and stepped into the same pants I'd used that morning. "Better?" He bent over me and kissed me again. It was amazing how quickly I lost interest in the flickering lights, they just seemed completely unimportant when I was being kissed by Naru. We took two steps back towards the bed before Naru planted his feet. "No. We are going to go." He sounded firm but the way he looked at me said otherwise. "Anything you say boss." I ran my hands down his chest. "Just one more kiss." "No." He kissed me. "We ARE leaving." He kissed me again. "Uh huh." I was up on my toes, loving the feel of his arms around me when a scream snapped both of us out of our haze. "Damn!" Naru threw open the door and was down the hall before I even realized he'd stopped kissing me. I noticed how aroused my body was when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, my nipples peaked against the fine silk cloth of Naru's shirt that I'd misbuttoned, making me look even more intimate. I grabbed my robe off the chair and followed at a run, nearly dying as I tried to put my robe on on the stairs but making it to where a ghostly woman had Toro cornered. "You gotta be kidding me!" I muttered as the poor kid cowered. "Hey! Creepy chick!" Naru gave me a withering glare. "Very mature." "Yeah well I'm having a frustrating night. Bite me." He gave me a look with a hint of something that might have been 'where?' in it and I felt a thrill run through me.

Screw this. I just want to make love to my boss for hours, is that really so much to ask? I held my hands up, ready to use all nine cuts again to make this fast. "Jin!" I started but a sharp pain in my forearm made me yelp. "Don't!" It was Lin, he was picking himself off the ground, looking a little worse for wear. "Everything you throw at her just gets reflected back on to you!" I quickly checked my forearm with my back to Naru. It had a deep cut that started from the back of my hand and was about six inches long. The cut was bleeding heavily but a quick examination and I decided that no veins or arteries had been cut and it was hardly life-threatening, it just looked bad. "She's a freaking psychic mirror?" Lin joined us, stepping in between Naru and I. We'd come to a silent agreement that Naru shouldn't see the cut for the time being. "It seems that way, and she seems very fixated on the boy." "Why did you summon me?" I recognized the way she spoke as the same as the white lady from earlier. Like a different actor in the same horror movie. "I didn't- I-I-I I didn't mean to!" He screamed. "Interesting." Naru said, calm as usual. "I don't sense the kind of power it would take to truly summon something that can physically attack a person." Lin said. "I don't think-" "It's not him." The monk had joined us, dressed very similarly to Naru but his pajama pants were green with kittens on them. "His power isn't like the dominant power residue at the summoning sites." I eased over the desk, trusting the men to protect the boy, and pulled a piece of paper from the printer. Using my finger I wrote the kuji-in symbol for Jin, the seal of the inner bonds, in my own blood. "Lin." I gave him the seal. Without a word he quietly walked up behind Mary, who other than being impervious to attack was fairly benign. He placed the seal onto her back so the symbol was facing her. At first nothing happened, then she turned. I took a sharp breath, she was covered in clean cuts but her face was mangled almost beyond recognition. Despite being a weathered investigator I shut my eyes, not that it mattered, that mental image would be with me for the rest of my life. She broke apart, falling to the ground like pieces of a mirror, then dissolving into sand.

"That was easy enough." Naru looked over at me. "What did you put on that" He trailed off when he saw me sway and I saw his mouth form a silent oath. "I'd like a bandage now please." I sat on the nearest chair. Lin kneeled in front of me and pushed up my sleeve while the monk went to Toro. He took a long slow breath and carefully blanked his face before turning to Naru. "She'll need stitches." "BALLS." I swore with feeling. Naru nodded at Lin, ignoring me. "I'll get your kit." "Hold up, YOU'RE stitching me up?" I stared at him. "You're a parapsychologist." "With our line of work having some medical training is essential." Naru said, leaving the room. "Lin volunteered since you and I are predominantly the ones getting hurt." I sighed, couldn't argue with that. "Are you okay Toro?" I called around Lin. Houshou stood and smiled. "He's a little shaken." "I can imagine. Why'd she come after you?" I asked gently as the boy cautiously approached me. "I I said her name. In the mirror." He looked properly humiliated. "I was dared by one of the boys at school. They said only crybabies were afraid of saying her name." "Ah. The old crybaby taunt. Classic." I nodded in understanding. "You can't listen to those jerks. If they bother you again you invite them out here so we can chat. You can tell them that only jackasses summon Mary." "In less childish terms she means that when you put energy into a spirit it will invariably react." Naru handed Lin his black kit from earlier. I rolled my eyes but felt uneasy when the needle and thread came out. "I've never had stitches Are they going to hurt?" Naru stood behind my chair and leaned down to my ear. "I'll keep you distracted." Oh no. I remembered him saying he was going to do bad things to me and I had to bite my lip hard to keep from panting at the promise. This could get really bad.
..

Naru's POV

I'd finally found a way to stay in control with Mai, I kept my hands on her and kept talking to her but with my eyes glued to Lin's work I stayed completely aware. She was so easy to lose myself in, I wanted to possess her life, her vigor, her everything bad enough to make my hands shake. I kept my fingers splayed over her shoulders, running my thumbs up and down the back of her spine while Lin disinfected the cut. I'd pulled up a chair and sat behind her, reassuring her in low tones and occasionally catching Lin's eye when he glanced up to warn of a painful or deep stitch so I could whisper something particularly distracting. "You have a beautiful body." I murmured in her ear. "I don't think I'll be happy until I've explored every inch of it." I winced as Lin dug the curved needle deep in her arm, her eyes darkened with pain but she kept them on me. "I'll start with examining you with my eyes. I want to see all of those scars from your visions." "There's quite a few of them." She said quietly. "That might take a while." "I've got all the time in the world." I brushed her cheek. "But don't worry, then I'd touch you, everywhere. With my fingers, with my mouth" He was almost done, thank god. I could imagine all kinds of scenarios to play out with Mai, I could keep talking about things I wanted to do to her until the next decade but my body was already aching from the foreplay and denial from earlier and more talking with no acting was turning exquisite torture into ordinary torture. "When do I get a turn?" Her eyes burned with a desire that I shared and her husky whisper would be my undoing. "I have big plans for you Naru." Her eyes slid down my body, settling somewhere below my waistline. "Yup. Big." I had to work to keep the surprise off my face. Her cheeks flushed but her eyes held no regret. The little flashes of raw honesty were sexy in their own way. It was hard to imagine someone who acted almost purely on impulse since I never acted without considering all angles and perspectives but it was also thrilling. She was thrilling. She flinched as Lin tied off the stitches and I took her free hand, letting her squeeze. As Lin bandaged I felt eyes on me and looked up to see Masako and John in the doorway. They looked sated which would probably explain why it had taken them so long to get here. It seemed as though everyone was having a busy evening. John was watching us with a smug expression and I glared at him. Masako wasn't looking at Mai at all, in fact she and Ayako were both giving me speculative looks. I felt uncomfortably exposed in my barefeet and pajama bottoms. It didn't help that every now and then I'd clench my stomach as Mai said something particularly daring. Usually I didn't mind the attention, quite the opposite in fact, but all I cared about was getting Mai bandaged and in bed, I had no interest in being ogled by two women I only considered friends. Masako's eyes held a trace of disappointment in them, I didn't know why since the few dates she'd blackmailed me into were disastrous. She was confident in her powers, her tv

presence and her ability to coerce me into going but once we were on the date she was timid and almost shy, albeit smug. Both women seemed to find my abdominal region particularly fascinating and I shifted to face Mai more directly and block their view. "It's going to take months to undo this damage." Mai sighed. "I think it will heal a little faster than that." I looked at the almost completely bandaged arm. "I was talking about the ego-inflation you're getting from the peanut gallery." She smiled ruefully. "Which you so don't need." Lin looked at me with warning as he prepared to tie off the bandage. "I'm only interested in having anything of mine inflated by one woman." I whispered this in her ear and was satisfied when her eyelashes fluttered and her lips parted, she barely even registered the tight knot. "Done." Lin pulled a small red plastic bag from his kit and carefully placed all bloodied gauze wipes, excess thread and the needle in it. "Try to get some sleep." "Here." Ayako rummaged in the purse she'd left on the gallery table. "The good stuff." She handed Mai two pills. "You won't feel a thing I promise." Mai looked at the pills with a frown. "Take them." I urged, resigning to another night with no satisfactory ending. She closed her palm and smiled her thanks at Ayako. We stood and went back up the stairs. "If it's not Toro who is it?" Mai asked quietly. "I've got some ideas but we're done working for tonight. You've earned your keep." I closed her bedroom door behind us and turned down the bedding. "Take the painkillers Mai." "But I don't want to not feel." She stepped out of the pajama pants and let the robe drop, placing the pills on the bedside table. I swallowed hard and chalked up her terribly phrased sentence to the blood loss. "I'm not going anywhere Mai and I don't particularly like the idea of you associating pain with pleasure." "So I just get pain." She glared at the pills. "Fine." I handed her a glass of water and watched her take them, catching her chin and looking in her mouth to make sure she swallowed them. "Good." I saw the anger light her eyes that I'd checked and quickly pressed my lips to hers, taking full advantage of her surprise by slipping my tongue past her parted lips. "Very good."

"You're a jerk." She said but her eyes were half-closed with wanting. "A big narcissistic jerk." I smiled. "Well since those are my only faults I suppose that's not too bad." Her eyes narrowed. "Narcissist." "Go to sleep Mai." I turned off the light and got into bed with her, letting her snuggle into my chest. "Good night Naru." She mumbled and I dedicatedly ignored her soft curves. "Good night." My voice was a little hoarse after all the abuse my body had gone through. It certainly didn't help that Mai seemed to be determined to get close enough to share my skin. I let my head fall hard against the pillow and wanted to be anywhere but where I was and nowhere but where I was. Mai in my arms was a fantasy I'd held on to subconsciously for years, naturally usually we were wearing even less clothing and the sexual tension had been relieved for the time being. I wasn't sure what would be worse, withholding for the sake of keeping my power in check but sacrificing my sanity or indulging and risking blowing up the whole building. If I abstained and went insane then I wouldn't care about controlling my powers anyway so indulging seemed the safest route. I smiled slightly at the thought, it was silly and dramatic, Mai must have been affecting me even as she slept. I kissed her forehead and was rewarded by her fingers skating sleepily across my chest. She settled by nuzzling into my side and crushing her soft breasts against me. My own personal hell.

I woke up facing a steaming cup of tea and a small hand stroking my arm. As soon as rolled my shoulders in a stretch the hand drifted down to my stomach. I smiled slightly as I realized she was pressed against my back, spooning I believe is the technical term. "Morning boss." She smiled. "How's your arm?" I reluctantly sat up, and when she showed me her clean bandage I took my tea. "How long have you been up?" I asked when I saw her in a soft cotton dress. "Not long, my arm woke me up early. Lin was awake so I had him rebandage it then I made tea." She propped herself up on the pillows. "It's a good thing you woke up, you looked so comfortable I was getting ready to join you." "I wouldn't have minded." The tea was perfect. For some reason I could never make the tea the same, it always was the wrong temperature or too weak or too strong. Mai had mentioned once

in passing that her mother had taught her how to make tea. "I think they gave you the more comfortable mattress." "Ah, that must be it." She grinned. "You can stay as long as you like. Our fearless leader needs his rest." "I do sleep unusually well in this room." I commented idly. "Good feng shui." She laughed and stood, taking her hairbrush from the dresser top. "That must be it." "Mai" I began, thinking about what John said. "When this case is over, will you have dinner with me?" She slowed mid-stroke and swept her hair to one side. "Are you asking me out?" I shrugged, taking my folder and flipping it open. "Well gosh I don't know, that was a little unclear." She put her hand on her hip and glared. "Want to try again?" "Not particularly." I turned a page and sipped my tea. Riling Mai up had always been something of a hobby for me and now was no different. Out of the corner of my eye I noted her dark eyes sparking with anger, a flush making her cheeks rosy and her body language defiant. I could get used to mornings like this. I had to bite back a smile. "Fine. Then I get to pick where we go." She turned back in a swirl of auburn hair. I caught her eye in the mirror and held out my hand, beckoning her to my side. When I had her hand I touched my lips to her fingertips. "Where exactly would that be?" "A little family-run restaurant just outside of Tokyo. They do sea food." I was about to tease her when I saw a distance in her eyes, sad and excited at the same time. I had a feeling that wherever she was talking about had some meaning. "Why there?" "It was" She looked out the window and blinked hard a few times. "It was where my parents went on their first date. They went back on anniversaries too. I think it'd be good luck." She blushed. "Sounds good." I cupped her cheek. "If that's where you want to go that's where we'll go." "Thank you." Her smile was brilliant and I would have agreed to anything she wanted. It was still early enough that we had time before breakfast and I went to my room to change into my gi and spar with Lin. Mai came with me, she wouldn't tell me why it was so fascinating, just

that she wanted to watch. As always we wordlessly agreed that we'd tied after thirty minutes of constant sparring. It was intense work and I felt the beginnings of a sizable bruise on my ribs where Lin had caught me off guard. Usually that wasn't a problem for me, focus was what I excelled at, but Mai had stretched when we were circling and I'd happened to be facing her. It was brief, I'd glimpsed her arched back, breasts pressed against the taught fabric of her dress and long legs with her toes pointed to maximize her stretch. Then Lin had landed a kick. He'd looked almost apologetic but with no regret, since he was the one who taught me focus and control and I was clearly unfocused. We ended it soon after that, I'd had no hard feelings but Mai looked ready to land her own kick on Lin. "Are you all right?" She'd followed me up to my rooms. I untied and removed the top half of my gi, examining my ribs in the mirror. "Fine. I deserved it." Before I knew it she was kneeling in front of me, touching the edges of the forming bruise. "I think we need to remind Lin of the definition of guardian." I brushed my hands through her hair, twisting it into a knot at the base of her neck. "He did exactly what he should have done. Anyone else who caught me offguard would have been much less kind." "Naru you've never been offguard. I think you were guarded in the womb." She placed her cheek on my ribs and smiled at me. "Get dressed, breakfast should be here soon." "So it's not the kid." Houshou was saying as we walked down the stairs minutes later. "And it's not the older maid who gave the dress to Alison McIntyre." "I have an idea of who's behind it." I said when we reached the bottom of the stairs. "But if I'm right we need to permanently ward and purify the whole ground. Ayako?" She nodded. "If I can convince the trees to let me purify their roots then it will stick to the land longer than any human's influence." "Good. Mai, we need to carve wards in about two hundred places in the main in, pavilion and base." She frowned and bite her lip thoughtfully. "We should start with the pavilion, at night it'd be too conspicuous with flashlights. Then the base, but we should wait until after dark for the main inn." I nodded. "John, when are you and Masako leaving?"

"Right after breakfast, she's due for a sance and I'm acting as spiritual security." John smiled and I narrowed my eyes at Mai when she blushed. I supposed John would be found handsome by girls in a very Aryan sort of way. And apparently his thick Australian accent was considered more exotic than my much subtler English one. Gene had always teased me about that, about having a voice so neutral I could have come from anywhere. I tangled my fingers into Mai's hair behind her back and was rewarded by a much more distinct reaction than the small blush John had earned. Jealousy Oliver? My subconscious sounded suspiciously like Gene. That's not like you. As I leaned comfortably on the back of Mai's chair she stroked a hand down the back of my knee, which was more sensitive than I would have ever thought. I had to take care in my posture so as not to react obviously to the stimulation. Her fingernails scraped along the fabric of my pants and I clenched my hand around my tea cup. This girl would be my undoing. "If you get the knives I'll find paint." Mai said while casually migrating to the inside of my knee and upwards with her fingertips. I stepped away and went to the back of the room where our extra supplies were kept, grateful for the excuse to escape with my dignity intact. The small carving knives Lin kept carefully sharpened were exactly where he'd packed them. Mai found a little tin of white paint from god only knows where and we went to the pavilion, Mai humming something completely off-tune that was going to be stuck in my head all day. "All directions." I handed her a knife. "Under the railing." We knelt and started cutting the symbols for 'Pure Land' into the underside of the railing encircling the pavilion. I stood when I was done and looked at Mai, still kneeling and carving. "What's taking so long? It's barely more than ten strokes Mai." "Naru Hearts Mai" She muttered, eyes intent on her work. "There! All done!" I glared and stooped to look at her handiwork, which was could have mirrored mine. Her lines were carefully defined and clean. "Come ON Naru, I'm not twelve." She rolled her eyes when I straightened. "Do you want me to infuse yours while you carve the other two Mr. OCD controlling egomaniac?" I brushed a finger under her chin, tilting her face up. "You're so cute when you talk about me."

"Narcissist." She jerked out of my grip and marched over to my carving, slipping her fingers over it and closing her eyes. I moved to carve the third and fourth with Mai following and infusing the marks with power and a fresh stroke of paint. "Four down that leaves only one hundred and ninety six to go?"She brushed off her hands and raised an eyebrow at me. "That sounds about right." We walked back to the almost deserted base, with only Lin and his headphones present. "Do you want to start upstairs or downstairs." "Oh I don't know, I'd feel so much safer if our rooms were warded first." She smiled coyly and I felt my heart begin to pound.
..

Mai's POV "All right. We should take advantage of Ayako and Takigawa's temporarily professional dispositions and take care of their room, then ours." Naru said, cool and collected as ever. I was beginning to wonder if anything I said could catch him off guard. "You're the boss." I was up the stairs and knocking on the door to the couple's room before he had time to respond. "I'm coming in!" I pushed open the door and breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew, no one's home." He followed me in and carved the purification symbol of choice underneath the windowsill, in the bottom of the door way, behind the bed and on the opposite side behind the dresser. Since the layout was similar for all the rooms it was the same arrangement we'd use for the others. I followed and blessed and repainted, feeling repetitive. "I just did this with John a few days ago." I sighed in frustration. Naru looked at me oddly. "I'm sure he'd be happy to turn around and change all of his plans just to accommodate your needs." I stared, taken aback. "What's up Mr. Snarky Pants?" "Try for professionalism Mai, or maturity, either would be appropriate." I felt angry at that, Naru sometimes teased me and occasionally I think he made me angry intentionally, but now he was actually trying to piss me off. I replayed the conversation word by word.

"John..? Are you jealous of John?" I gawked incredulously him. "I don't get jealous. Certainly not of an employee." "Naru." I caught his face. "With an ego as big as yours I don't want to be babysitting it." "I already told you-" "Yeah and you lied." I smiled despite myself. "Although it is a little cute." He glared at the space somewhere above my head, refusing to make eye-contact. "But not THAT cute. Don't make it a habit okay?" I stepped back so I was leaning against the bed post. "I'm not jealous. I could care less what you do in your spare time." He insisted. That stung, the guy asked me on a date and we were going to my parent's favorite restaurant for god's sake! You'd think he could be a little more lovey. "Whatever Naru. I'm going to go spend my free time with Lin, because at least he's honest with me and not childish." "Kiss me." He ordered, fingertips rising to my chin. "Like hell!" I was not about to let him kiss me into subservience. "Let me kiss you then." "No kissing!" I pushed past him to leave the room. As soon as I was facing away he grabbed my upper arms and jerked me back hard against his body. When I looked over my shoulder to tell him off he caught my mouth with his, bending over me overbearingly and gripping me hard enough against him that I felt his hips grinding into my lower back. It was an extremely possessive kiss and he didn't let me break free until he was good and ready. Kazuya Shibuya as soon as you let me go I'm going to knock you flat on your ass and give you a lecture you'll never forget! I mentally yelled at him, determined to not let him turn me into some weak-willed love slave. "More." I twisted when he let me go, twining my fingers in his hair. So much for my resolve to not become a weak-willed love slave. Traitorous body! I felt his smile under my lips. He kissed me again and then held me tightly. "You're not off the hook." I said breathlessly. "If I let you out of trouble every time you kiss me silly you'll never learn."

"I don't need to kiss you silly, you start out that way." I considered kicking him in the shin but figured he wouldn't take it as the loving gesture it was meant to be. "So, more work or do we take a play break?" I asked, leaning up to look at his face. "THIS isn't a play break?" "Hardly. This is like a thirty second interlude." "Well if this is your idea of a small interlude then we definitely don't have time for a full 'break'." I sighed through my blush. "Well. You ARE the boss. Come on, we can get the other rooms and down stairs done before lunch if we hurry." I paused on the stairs, turning back to look at him. When I realized he was two steps above me and therefore while he usually was eight inches taller than me, he was now pushing two feet. "Oh that's just wrong." I climbed up the stairs again until I was one above him and we were eye level. "Much better." He gave me an exasperated look. "So. You said at breakfast that you had an idea of who was behind this, spill." "No." He kept going down the stairs. The urge to kick him was stronger now. He turned back with a glare. "What?" I smiled sweetly. "Nothing." Envisioning him sprawled at the bottom of the stairs. Knowing Naru he'd probably do it elegantly, irritating male that he was. We carved and painted and blessed and infused until I had splinters and cuts on my fingers and paint all over my hands and apparently some on my face from pushing my hair back. Naru was completely unscathed, his hair was artfully out of place but that definitely does not count. The urge to kick him was quickly being replaced by the urge to toss the rest of the white paint on his pristine black outfit. "Liiiiiin." I whined as we came back into the main headquarters. "I need your heeeelp." He took off his headphones and raised an eyebrow. "Splinters. Lots this time."

He sighed and stooped to retrieve his kit. "Didn't we talk about this yesterday morning?" "Naru made me do it! I told him I was delicate and under doctor's orders to not get near splintery things but he didn't listen!" Naru had gracefully folded his long limbs into an armchair and was studiously ignoring me as he read the folder that I recognized as having the staff profiles. "Don't I get a distraction?" I asked him with a grin. "Lin, will she need any more stitches?" Naru asked without looking up. "No." "Then no." He turned a page and I huffed. Lin pulled a lamp over and went to work. His hands were agile for their size. I was impressed at the thought of Naru being evenly matched in a fight with him, Lin was well over six feet tall and Naru had hit his last growth spurt right before I left for America, ending up at what must have been six feet even. They had similar builds otherwise, leanly muscled with silky black hair. I realized with a start that I didn't know how old Lin was, he and Naru and Gene were childhood friends so they couldn't be too far apart age-wise. Lin was maybe twenty-five but the only thing that reflected his youth was how he wore his hair. "Mai you're fidgeting." Lin said through clenched teeth. "Sorry." I heaved a sigh and switched to my favorite eye-candy subject. For once Naru was too absorbed to get that small self-satisfied smirk he got when he knew I was watching him. Since he'd gotten plenty of ego-stroking from Ayako and Masako the night before I'd have to make a point to be mean to him. The last thing that boy needed was more attention. "Okay, you're done." Lin packed away the little kit that I was becoming intimately familiar with. "What about Naru?" I rolled my eyes dramatically. "Oh please, splinters see Naru's manicured nails and run the other way screaming." The corner of Lin's mouth twitched and we looked over at the person in question. It was amazing because even though Naru would never flip anyone the finger he managed to convey the same message with a quick look. Naru had the reduce-to-ash-now look down pat. "Are we interrupting your top-secret research?" I asked, moving to stand in front of him. "Yes I would like some tea, thank you Mai."

I had to smother a laugh at that, irritation melting away at such a classic Naru thing to say. I leaned over the arm of the chair and landed a peck on his cheek, not caring that Lin was watching. Naru's expression softened ever so slightly, if you didn't know him well you wouldn't see the change at all. When I looked up Lin was watching us openly, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed and small unreadable smile on his face. "While I'm playing the role of slave, would you like some tea Lin?" I asked as a courtesy, I would have brought him a cup anyway, old habits. He nodded and went back inside his Lin-cave. I hesitated, remembering that we weren't at the office and that I'd need to go to the kitchens for tea. The legends obviously didn't abide by the rules and were equally active in the daylight. "Naru" I started, then felt like an idiot for asking for someone to walk me a hundred yards when my nine cuts had been plenty effective at dealing with problems. "Never mind." I stepped out onto the porch and took a moment to enjoy the sunlight hitting my face. It was a beautiful day and I felt sillier and sillier for worrying with each step into the light. I was halfway to the house when I spotted the monk and Ayako working on the opposite end of the gardens, Ayako doing her tree thing and the monk standing watch. I waved but both were busy and didn't notice. I'd bring them cups of tea while I was playing gopher. I rounded a bend and shivered as I stepped under the cover of trees. It was significantly darker and creepier. I hurried, knowing that the path curved once more and I'd be at the door to the kitchens. A sharp crack made me spin. A bird dropped an acorn and it made the sharp sound again. I breathed out slowly, I was really freaking myself out. I smiled weakly that a bird had made me jump and took another step down the path. Pain in my neck made me gasp. I expected a tree of some kind with sharp branches so when I turned and came face to face with tall man with a beard I let out a small scream. I was ready to tell him off for scaring me when I noticed why he had a beard. The skin on his face and hands was rubbery and ancient, like layers of dead skin cells had accumulated into some strange protective second skin. His clothes were old too, like colonial America old. Before I could get a proper string of expletives articulated I noticed the thing in his hand, like an old really oddly shaped syringe. My vision got blurry and I touched my neck. For an urban legend whatever he injected me with was intense. Naru's going to kill me. I thought, stumbling back along the trail until I rounded the bend and saw the base in the distance and both Lin and Naru sprinting full out straight towards me. Oh thank god.

I tripped sideways, catching myself on a tree but my legs were so numb I just fell to my knees. Lin was preparing to summon his shiki and I didn't understand why until a shockingly strong pair of hands gripped my waist and hoisted me over a shoulder. Thanks for the help but I already have a knight in shining armor. I thought woozily. Two in fact and boy do they look unhappy My own thoughts trailed off as I recognized the coat inches from my face from moments before. As I struggled vainly but could not escape Doc Benton's tender care, he backed into the woods. A flash of light stung my eyes before the darkness of the shadows surrounded us and everything went black.

Naru's POV We were mere feet from the man who had Mai when he stepped back into the shadows and disappeared. I broke through the trees and found myself facing a wall to the inn. "There must be a trap door around here somewhere." I started running my fingers along the panels of wood. "I'll tear the whole thing down." "No!" Lin grabbed my shoulders. "I was able to attach one of my shiki to Mai, she should have some protection from that. That's going to have to be good enough while we find her the oldfashioned way, I won't have you risking your life unnecessarily." "Unnecessarily?" I waved at the wall behind me. "That maniac has Mai and I don't know what his limitations are, if he even has any!" "Take a breath Oliver and get back in control." Lin looked worried enough that I followed his orders, taking that breath and spinning on my heel. "Where are you going?" "To find the client." I stormed into the Inn and straight to the main office. The client sat calmly behind her desk. "Hello Mr. Shibuya, how may I help you?" she asked in Japanese. I glowered at her. "Where. Is. Mai?" I responded in English. "Isn't language a beautiful thing?" She casually flicked an imaginary piece of lint from her perfectly tailored suit. "There are so many you can lie in." "Where is Mai?" I repeated, back to Japanese. "Don't worry, he's a doctor, he'll take good care of her." She smiled and it was cool and collected with just a touch of insanity to her eyes. "Can you imagine? A bed and breakfast that's haunted

by genuine American legends in Japan. The death of a spiritualist will cement that reputation. Especially one as beloved by Americans and Japanese alike as Mai Taniyama is." I made an effort to not clench my fists, I did not want to show any signs of weakness in front of this woman. "I'll ask you one more time." I felt my control slipping and didn't care. "Where is she?" The windows rattled in their panes and when Lin said my name warningly, I swallowed hard. "If you do not deliver her safely back to me then I will tear apart your entire building brick by brick." "I don't think so." She smiled coldly. "You see, I know all about you Oliver Davis. About the powers that once were a gift and now are just a wild dog on a thin leash of control. You use your powers and you die." "That's not true for me." Lin made to whistle and the woman flicked her hand, sending him flying into a bookshelf. "Psycho kinesis." I said, not impressed. "Clearly your mind has not held under the influence of your PK as mine has. Your powers must not be very strong" Her smile turned brittle at that. "It's true that my PK is not my real strengh-" "No, but we both know what that is." I put my hands on her desk and leaned over it. "Bleeding power." Lin was standing almost straight again, his posture wary. I tried to remember the clients name and realized I didn't know her last name, only her first. Names have power and it made me uncomfortable that she knew mine, both of mine, but I didn't know hers. Careless. Mai distracted you from your job and now she's in danger. Get it together Oliver. "Ah yes, bleeding power. That has come in handy as of late. But don't worry, my goals have almost been accomplished. You see, people don't come to Japan to stay in an Americanized bed and breakfast and business has been slow. But people are unerringly attracted to the unknown, especially the infamous unknown. Having the death of a ghost hunter on a haunted property is sure to bring in the tourists." "That's idiotic. A death would keep people away." I snapped coldly, aware that she was wasting time. "That's where you come in Mr. Davis. Upon finding Mai Taniyama's mangled body I suspect you're going to lose control of those famous powers of yours and wipe out any traces of malevolent energy that remains. I don't know what your powers are-" This was directed at Lin. "But it's clear you also care for the Taniyama girl and two angry psychics are better than one."

"Will that still hold true when I kill you?" I asked, feeling my power sparking around me like an electric net. "Naru!" Lin snapped. I ignored him. "Tell us where Mai is or you die." I wasn't sure if I could carry out the threat but the longer Mai was in danger the firmer my resolve became. She flicked the desk at me and I dove and rolled, rather than risk using my powers on something as useless as deflecting furniture. When I looked up she was gone. Lin was already at the bookshelf behind her desk. "More trap doors!" "They have to be here somewhere." I got to my feet and glared at the bookshelves. Without a word I went to the nearest and pulled hard, hard enough to topple it over. It crashed and books went flying. There was no door behind it. I gripped the other one, this time with Lin's help and pulled, it protested a great deal more and it was only with a huge final effort that we got it to move, taking chunks of the wall with it. A passageway behind it went along the walls, so narrow Lin had to squeeze in sideways, head bowed and I had as much difficulty though my hair barely brushed the ceiling. The passage dumped us out in the library after a short distance. While I wanted nothing more than to pull down all the bookshelves and look behind them the logical part of my brainthat ruled the vast majority of my actionssaid that was unorganized and would just end up wasting time. "What now?" Lin asked. "I can send my shiki to search but they don't do well without focus." "Try anyway." I clenched my fists. "Knowing that she intends to kill Mai raises the stakes a hundredfold. I'm going to try attempt to locate her via psychometry." Before Lin could protest I closed my eyes and centered. Everything was fuzzy and unfixed. Since Mai had recently been in physical contact with me I didn't need a personal affect of hers to locate her. But since she was a dream psychic if she was dreaming than her location was blurred, her soul was what drew me in locating her and it detached when she dreamt. What worried me was that it didn't usually completely detach, but this time something was very wrong. It didn't take long to open my eyes again with a snap. "She's still unconscious." I said frustratedly. Lin nodded. "Mai sees Gene in her dreams." He stated randomly. "He's her spirit guide." I reminded him, irritated by his lack of focus. "Is it his powers that make him able to do that? Or is it her bond with you that draws him to her?" I caught on. "You think I can contact her?"

Lin hesitated, then nodded. "Can you focus enough for a deep trance?" I gave him a cool look, "I can focus enough for anything if you think it will help Mai." "Let's get started then."

Mai's POV I was dreaming, and it was a kind of dream I knew well. Gene stood before me, gentle eyes and soft smile making him identical and opposite to Naru in every way. I sighed frustratedly and pulled at my hair, winding it the way Naru had not long before. It made me feel closer to him, as silly as that was. "Gene, I've been kidnapped again." I huffed at my own situation, the way trouble came frolicking at freight train speed towards me. "Naru's probably freaking out." The sweeter twin nodded. "He does tend to do that when you're in danger. It's pretty cute." He leaned down and whispered in my ear. "And Noll HATES being cute." I giggled at that, taking Gene's hand in mine. "Are you lonely? I'm sorry I banished you the other night." I remembered why I banished him and glared. "Wait. No I'm not. You POSSESSED me you jerk!" "Noll was being a git and needed a push in the right direction More of a kick in the arse really." I grinned and my anger dissipated, however shitty his methods, his heart had been in the right place. I could never stay mad at Gene for long, even when he showed me really nasty visions. "He lov-" He started but I held my hand to his mouth, cutting him off. "I need him to tell me, not you." "All right, then I'll tell you what you'll let me." He leaned his forehead against mine. "I love you." I hugged him. "I know, I love you too." "But not like that." "Sorry sweetheart." I said sadly. There had been a time when I'd thought I was in love with Gene, and Naruthinking they were the same person. I felt an aching sadness when around Gene but Naru was the one who made my heart race and made me feel alive.

He sighed this time, it was a conversation we'd had before. "I guess you're too old for me now anyway." "I suppose you're right, I'm ancient." I looked up into the handsome perpetually seventeen-yearold's face and noticed the subtle changes where Naru had aged and Gene had stayed the same. "It's kinder to the world this way, have you seen Naru? He aged well, the girls on the planet would implode if there were two of him." "It was a bit weird." Gene admitted. "Seeing him with your eyes, he looked like a man." I blushed at that, no arguments here. Gene smiled at my blush but his eyes were sad, sadder than any I'd ever seen. "You can't keep this up." I murmured, holding on to him tightly. "I feel your soul darkening, you have to move on. Or you'll become a malevolent spirit." He kissed the top of my head. "I know." "I can protect myself now you know despite being kidnapped." I acknowledged grumpily. "I know. And now you have Noll to protect you." He buried his face against my neck. "I don't want to go, I'm afraid of what's on the other side." "You have to choose." I whispered, throat aching. "You can't ever be happy hiding in the shadows, watching the people you love. That's true torture Gene." "Maybe I don't have to choose." He said it hesitantly. "Whatever you're thinking you stop it right now. I won't lose anyone else I care about." I said adamantly. "How is me moving on not losing?" "Because you staying here is worse. Whatever is on the other side has to be better than this." I felt a strong presence invading my dream space, like a dull headache. "What's that?" "Bloody-" Gene broke off as Naru strode into sight, murder in his eyes. "How did you do that?" "Lin." Was the one-word response. I watched the muscles in his jaw tense as he looked at the two of us in an intimate embrace and as he fully saw his twin brother for the first time in god knows how long. "Naru." I felt like crying as I watched his face, saw the shadows of emotions passing behind his eyes. "Come here." I held out a hand and he woodenly took it.

I pulled him into the embrace so I had an arm around each twin's torso, my head resting against Naru's chest with an arm from each around me and around each other. "You two are my family." I murmured. "And the others. But you two especially." I looked up at Naru, letting the tears spill over. "Where are you Mai?" Naru asked impatiently, even with the warring notes of tenderness, anxiety and conflicted emotions masked in his midnight eyes. "I'm in your arms, where I belong." I smiled and leaned into him. "No you're not. You're dreaming. That thing took you. I need to know where you are. Now." I shook my head sharply to focus. "One of Lin's shiki is protecting you but if it leaves and comes back to tell Lin where you are there are no guarantees that it will be able to communicate your location accurately and then you'll be defenseless as there's even less guarantee that the shiki can find its way back to you again." I closed my eyes and focused, feeling the air whoosh around the three of us. We were in a room, dark and creepy but surprisingly clean, almost sterile. I looked around, dropping my contact with the twins to their hands so we formed a chain. On a table in front of me lay a girl. She was dirty and disheveled, looking petite and helpless in her lack of consciousness. I recognized her as the same person who looked back at me in the mirror everyday. A white shape flitted about her like a concerned ferret, poking and prodding and winding its way around the me on the table. Lin's shiki. I looked at her, I supposed she was pretty in a sweet, ordinary way. I turned to the heartbreakingly handsome boys to ask what they honestly saw in me but their expressions stopped my mouth before I even started the question. Naru looked fiercely possessive and protective and I did not envy whatever stood in between him and finding me. He also gave the unconscious me a look of naked longing that didn't have anything to do with sexual attraction, it went so much deeper than that and I felt my heart stutter. Gene looked at the Mai on the table, frowning his worry that didn't mask a similar expression of longing, but his longing looked sad. His expression softened as he looked from unconscious Mai, to Naru staring at unconscious Mai, to me. His eyes lingered on mine for a moment before he raised my hand to his lips, kissing my fingers. I'll make my choice, but you have to accept it. His voice whispered in my ear and I knew Naru wouldn't hear it.

"Looks like I'm underground." I said softly after a minute of just holding Naru's hand and feeling the empty space on my other side where Gene had been. "But it's not damp or dirty. A cellar maybe?" "Not good enough." He growled. I watched in horrified fascination as the door creaked open and let in the man who had kidnapped me. My hand tightened around Naru's and he pulled me in against him, like protecting my spirit would protect my body. Doc Benton was looking over an old book. "I need your soul where's your soul?" He looked at physically-present Mai curiously. "Not there. Not dead, but not there." I gasped, when I dreamt like this I had no soul? Creepy. "Why why aren't you awake?" His raspy voice made me want to throw up. It was like the voice of a mummified toad. "The dose was perfect for your size, no miscalculations. Why aren't you awake?" "Because I'm preserving myself you psychotic perverted jackass!" I exploded and Naru held me tighter. "You're grubby old hands aren't getting anywhere NEAR my soul!" Naru's eyes were darting around the room, taking in every detail. "I'm not going to learn anything new here and I don't believe we can leave this room to find a way in." He said quietly to me. "I need to get back to Lin so we can start searching the subterranean area." He's leaving me alone. To come rescue me, but he's still leaving me alone. My panicked brain didn't want to accept the upside to his leaving. "Where is my brother when I need him?" He'd noticed Gene's absence now that he'd determined enough to leave. "Mai. I have-" "To go. I got it." I shivered and rubbed my arms. "Please. Naru, come back to me quickly." He kissed me then, pulling me tightly to his spirit-body and I wrapped my arms around his neck, saying his name like a sob. Without warning he disappeared and I was kissing empty air. "Naru" I let the tears come then, now that I didn't have to prove to anyone I was strong. "Bring me home."
..

Lin's POV

"The shiki is working. She's underground." Was all my charge had said to me when he had awoken from the deep trance I'd guided him into. Short even for him and strange without any orders or demands. "Get me the blueprints of the building." Ah. There it is. Naru always liked to have a copy of the blueprints of a building where they were working, especially since Urado's case. They were kept in the original files and were exactly where I had left them. Naru's brusqueness and hyper-focus usually meant that he had a lead. Unfortunately I had the sinking feeling that the "lead" was no more than that Mai was underground. Which was better than nothing but not by a whole lot. "There was brick along the edges like support beams, we should find out where the foundations of the house are reinforced. It was dry so it wouldn't be near the side of the house with the well, it seemed like a cellar so it must be somewhere close to the kitchens." Naru ticked off the facts absentmindedly, narrowing his search area on the blueprints to more and more specified locations. Your observations really shouldn't surprise me after all we've been through. I shook my head ruefully. I suppose it would have been more unordinary for him NOT to remember every detail. Still, when the woman you love is in danger I cast him a sideways glance. At least he didn't seem in denial about that anymore. Thank god. Naru sulked and pined when Mai wasn't around, he'd been an absolute horror for the past few years, something no one else at the office seemed to notice. They acknowledged that Mai's abrupt departure had bothered him but thought that it was about losing her powers as a psychic to an American competitor. They didn't see the wistfulness behind the cold mask and they never saw the group photo he kept in his office drawer. No matter how full of files that drawer got the photo was always exposed when I went to retrieve something. In the frame of the picture Naru stood facing the a barely restrained enraged Mai with the trace of a smile on his face, one you'd have to have a magnifying glass and a deep understanding of the mysterious young man to find. Mai was one of a kind, compassionate to a fault, accepting and caring but she was no pushover. Before she'd left I'd gotten the feeling that she was beginning to understand that Naru saw pushing her buttons as a game and she became an active participant, losing her temper with him with gusto. It was almost tender the way he'd do anything to get her to give him emotional attention and the way she subconsciously grasped his need for a fiery companion. Her selfconfidence had grown exponentially in the time we were all together. Then came the fateful case I remembered all too well. What seemed like a typical haunting had turned violent and deadly. When Mai's empathy with the victims of their cases took a turn for the supernatural Naru had become withdrawn and cautious, not wanting her to involve herself on the cases where her bond would cause her to relive pain when she'd already had so much in her life. After a nasty incident involving a mute girl who'd been brutally assaulted, physically and sexually, Naru had forbidden her from accompanying them on the case. The argument had been

explosive, with no traces of affection. I knew it would only get worse when Mai actually left the building, something she rarely did after a fight with Naru. Usually she'd storm around and ignore his existence, but she'd stay. The case had been miserable, everyone was worked to the bone without the cheerful energetic presence of Mai. Takigawa had been inconsolable, which had eventually led to his and Ayako comforting each other with tenderness instead of violence. They'd really come to see themselves as Mai's older siblings. Masako had been delighted at first but it was short lived. The first time she'd collapsed with no Mai to catch her and a disinterested Naru barely sparing a glance had been devastating. She hid it well but the shock in her eyes had been enough. As for me Mai felt good around. Her presence was like a second sun, filling the office with her natural goodness and light. She balanced Naru on a deep level, she gave him what he needed and hedespite all of his faultstried to give her what he thought she needed, plenty of constructive criticism and his own special treatment. It was subtle and it had taken the girl an eye-rollingly long time to figure out, Mai was the only girl Naru called by her name. It was interesting to me how Naru had fallen for Mai right from the start without even knowing it and she in turn had slowly gotten dragged deeper and deeper into him with full awareness. When it came down to it, while he was the smarter intellectually, of the two, she was wiser. It seemed like Gene had played no small part in her affection for Naru, while she'd never talked about it, Gene had visited me in dreaming on occasion. Telling me that he was visiting Mai in the first one over a year after we'd met the girl. I'd given him a real earful for that. It was clear he was in love with her, just like his brother, but I could tell from the sadness in his eyes that the highly emotionally intuitive twin knew she didn't return his feelings. Even then on some level Mai had realized they were different people. But my own theory was that it was Gene's kindness and support that had made her take a deeper look at Naru, finding those same emotions in him though he expressed them in an altogether different and indirect way. Naru's voice snapped me out of my pondering. "Get the others." A faint wince around his mouth told me that he did not look forward to telling Takigawa or Matsuzaki about Mai's disappearance, or explaining why it took so long to tell them in the first place. I pulled out my cell phone and flipped it open. I didn't want to have to be the one to tell them either, but if Ayako sent a tree after me or Naru I was the more capable of defending myself. I resolved to a text message. Mai's gone. Main inn library, 5 min. "The only thing missing now is the suicide." Naru murmured contemplatively. I frowned, taking a moment to catch up. Then I remembered the dream he'd told me Mai had. I felt a familiar ache at the idea of her living through those horrible empathetic visions. "I did some research, the suicide she was talking about was a man who's wife died of AIDS. It was an

extremely controversial story, the woman was an opera singer and so it got media coverage. They used to own this property." "Which would have made it more susceptible to being infected with negative energy." He finished for me. "So a series of random malevolent hauntings are the result of an overactive little boy's imagination, his aunt's bleeding psychic powers and psychosis, and a cursed plot of land." "Seems that way." Takigawa slammed open the door, one look around at us and he groaned. "Not Again?" Naru shot him an extremely irritated look. "Help me find her or don't speak." The monk's eyebrows shot up in surprise when he realized he was being serious, or rather more serious than when he usually made threats and ultimatums. "It looks like a large part of the Inn was built directly into a bedrock of limestone. But I didn't feel like we were near the stone, the air was dry." Naru folded the map over so the part of the house that was built over the limestone was hidden. "That leaves a very small area to search, the northeast corner of the kitchen to be exact." "We'll ask Nadine if there's a cellar or basement." Ayako volunteered. The silence that met her statement was deafening and if looks could kill Naru would be needing a new shrine maiden. "What?" She looked at us, then gasped. "You can't mean?" "Later. Search and if you find her, capture her but be aware of her psychic abilities. She knows where Mai is." He rolled up the map and stormed off, expecting that we would follow. We did. Takigawa and Matsuzaki breaking off and taking the stairs two at a time. I watched Naru's rigid stance, already concerned about his control. If he snapped and used his powers to tear apart the foundation of the inn then we'd all need saving. "Naru." I caught his shoulder firmly. "Promise me you won't use your powers." He glanced back at me and it was cold and empty, the way he liked to think he always looked, but Naru had never been empty. Far from it, he just felt more comfortable dealing with life from an analytical perspective. If he could have mastered the look he gave me then even I would run for the hills when he glared. "I will do whatever necessary to ensure Mai's safe return." He said tonelessly. "And I will try to do so without using my powers. But I won't hesitate if I have no choice."

I swallowed, hating myself for what I was about to say but knowing that for the sake of his parents I had to put his safety first despite the heaviness in my own heart. "There's always a choice." He spun and glared at me, a venomous look that barely concealed the stark terror that my statement had invoked. "No. There isn't. You're supposed to protect my well being. If I don't get to Mai in time" His fists clenched so hard the knuckles turned white. "You may as well kill me now. Because" He swallowed hard, even now having difficulty voicing his feelings, even with the stakes so high, too high. "I won't lose anyone again. Not if there was even a chance that I might have saved them." He wasn't just talking about Mai now, the very idea that losing her would have the same effect as losing Gene had was frightening to say the least. Gene was Naru's other half, and it seemed that Mai had filled that roll now. I thought suddenly of her casual mention of partial-possessions and power-infusing. It looked as though the warning I'd given her on the seriousness of the commitment was unnecessary, Naru was already committed, and this was no common crush. He already felt like she had filled a hole in his life that I was sure would truly destroy him this time around if reopened. Knowing Naru's possessiveness towards the girl and knowing that she felt the same was downright terrifying. The implications could destroy them both if Mai made a mistake in executing her plan. "We'll get to her in time, we always do." I held his gaze, reinforcing my words with the conviction of my eyes. "Not if you keep trying to stop me." Naru snapped and stormed into the kitchens, taking the cooks by completely surprise. "Where is the cellar?" He demanded. They looked at him like he was crazy, wrong move. "NOW." He turned that truly icy glare on the main chef and he jumped and turned pale. "There." He pointed and Naru wrenched open the door, nearly taking it off its hinges. He already knew it was in the wrong side of the kitchen but he tried anyway, probably hoping for a passageway of some sort. "Nothing." He growled. "Begging your pardon sir but our cellar is fully stock-" The girl who had bravely spoken up seemed to lose her voice, realizing by Naru's glare that that was not the point. "Would you know if she died." He'd walked back to me and asked me quietly. I nodded, my shiki would have returned to me. "Wouldn't you?" I countered.

He scowled and moved to the other side of the kitchens, where ovens covered one wall. He glared at them, then the expression changed as he leaned close, trying to see behind them. "There's a loose panel behind these." It wasn't a question. "There used to be a small basement but it collapsed a few years ago and Miss Nadine decided it was too dangerous to try to clear it so we closed it off." The head chef supplied. "I need these moved." Naru reached out, hand stopping inches from the door of the oven even before the girl who had spoken before called out a warning. "Turn them off." "It will be hot for some time, too hot to move and we had a forklift bring them in originally." The chef said. "Lin. Clear the room." "Don't even-" I couldn't finish, one look into my charge's eyes told me I'd be a dead man if I tried. Naru wasn't in his right mind and everything that stopped him from his ultimate goal would be considered his enemy. I exhaled sharply, clenching my fists in an effort to keep from punching the wall in frustration. "Everyone get out." That was all it took, it was a little reassuring that I could still scare SOME people. As soon as the door closed Naru slammed the ovens with his power, forcing them in opposite directions with a horrible screech to clear a space to the loose panel wide enough to carry Mai back through. He kept going, using his power to peel away the panel from the wall like dead skin. It took me a second to realize that the low growl I heard was coming from his throat as a blocked passageway was revealed in front of us. "Don't." I began but he'd already cleared it, blasting debris into the formerly clean kitchen. I looked at him and noted the pained expression on his face even as he strode into the passageway, kicking down the door at the end instead of blasting it with his PKa small blessing all things considered. "Don't move Davis." I heard a woman's voice, followed by a dull but significant thump. I rushed in to see the former client unconscious, her mouth lolling open. From the looks of it she may have tried to threaten Mai and an already pissed-off Naru had slammed her into the wall with his PK. So much for my small blessings. "Mai!" He was shaking her.

"I need her soul." The specter had returned and was whining like a petulant child. "I can't extract her soul!" I worked to banish the tactless ghost with my shiki but his fading words made my blood run cold. " coma"
..

Mai's POV I watched Naru helplessly as he tried to wake me up. The doctor ghost had been trying for the forty five minutes it took them to find me. He'd tried everything, apparently needing me awake to get what he needed, my soul. Smelling salts, cold water, a hard slap to my physical face, nothing had worked. Then that woman came in. I'd almost thought I'd be saved but when she actually stopped to listen to Benton I felt a chill run down my spine, then she'd slapped me twice as hard as even he had, splitting the skin over my cheek with her ring as she back-handed me. I'd winced. "Bitch!" "What the hell is wrong with her?" She'd snarled. "She's in a spirit coma." That awful rasping voice again. "The drugs are only meant for normal human beings, why didn't you say she's a dream psychic?" He clearly had been angry but it seemed like he didn't feel or process emotions any more so it was just more of his monotone. "You want me to take her soul but there's nothing to take." "MAI!" Naru shook me again. "Please!" I knelt by him, wrapping my ghostly arms around him. He seemed like he was losing it and I glanced at Lin to get his take, his expression terrified me. He looked stricken. "Naru she's not" His eyes held loss and I felt more tears stream down my cheeks. I hadn't realized how much I cared about the tall Chinese man or how much he cared about me. "She's gone." "No! I'm here!" I cried. Naru shook his head hard in adamant refusal. "She's not gone, I feel her soul." "But there's nothing tying it to her body! Look at her! Her heart may be beating but just look at her!" Blood was staining Lin's hands from where his fingernails were cutting hard into his palms.

I turned to look at my body, my skin was completely white, lifeless, and my partially opened eyes were blank. "You can't leave me Mai. I can't I won't let you go." I felt my soul being pulled towards it and instinctively looked to Naru, he was glaring at my body, body tense with concentration as he focused all of his psychic energy on bringing me back. "Wake up Please wake up" Inch by inch I was dragged until finally I was inside my body again, but it was like being inside a bath, I could feel it, I could sense that I was in it, but I could no more control the body around me than I could make bathwater rise up and walk. Lin was right, there was nothing holding me to it anymore. Whatever metaphysical glue bound me to it was gone. I saw Gene at Lin's side, hand on his arm. "Can you?" Lin looked around, not seeing Gene but sensing his presence. "For god's sake Gene! Mai! If you can, DO IT." Naru collapsed, his powers finally catching up with him. "Gene! Now!" I screamed, desperate to save as many people as I could, knowing that what I was choosing to do could never be reversed. "At least this way you'll never forget me." Gene murmured, falling into my body. Lin was on his knees beside Naru, trying to get him to breathe. I felt my physical eyes snap open and rolled off the table, landing in a crouch over Naru and knocking Lin aside, something other than me controlling my body. You'll enjoy this part. A dark chuckle rolled through my mind. Of course this isn't the usual way. My mouth lowered to Naru's and I sucked in, not with my lungs but with my power, a completely unfamiliar power. I pulled out the destructive energy from Naru like sucking poison from a snake bite and felt it curl and dissipate once it was in my own body. Without warning Naru coughed and I could have kissed him, for real this time, but let him catch his breath, rocking back so I was sitting astride his hips. I felt in control of my body again and knew it had something to do with the ghostly kiss that had brushed my lips. Part of me will be with you always Mai. I'm leaving now. Tell Noll I love him goodbye my dearest heart. Tears ran down my cheeks as I felt Gene leave, for good this time. Long strong arms wrapped around me and I leaned into Lin's chest while I cried. He knew, god bless the man, he knew that Gene was gone forever.

Someone cleared their throat from underneath me and I looked down at Naru. "N-Naru." I gasped when he glared at me with cold unfamiliar eyes. "Lin. Why are you holding this woman? Who are you? And GET. OFF. OF. ME." He snapped in English. I scrambled backwards in shock. I'd known there was a price to pay for what I did with Gene, I traded his power for mine, creating a permanent bond between me and absorbing the part of his spirit that held his bond with Naru, ensuring that part of Gene would indeed always be with me. I also was now bound to Naru for the remainder of my life, because just as he and Gene originally complimented each other, now he and I relied on each other to balance our power. Powerinfusing, or more accurately a power trade, always had a steep price. I thought the price of never seeing or hearing Gene again was hard enough, even if he had moved on into the afterlife. But this? This felt like a ton of bricks had been tied to my heart and tossed off the nearest cliff. Gene had first brought up the idea after the case with the vengeful deity by the sea and Naru had nearly died using his power to destroy it. He said it was something his dad had studied, a theory that a ghost who'd had supernatural powers in life could gift those powers on a living human or, and this was just theory, switch powers with a living supernatural human. The living human being passed on gifts from ancestors was commonly accepted and widely proven. But to actually swap powers with someone you weren't related to, that was a radical and dangerous concept. I'd thought it was a brilliant plan at first, before he explained to me that a large part of my powers were based in dreams and that those dreams were the only thing holding Gene to our plane of existence. In potentially saving Naru I'd lose Gene. Now it looked like I'd lost both. "Naru?" I asked hesitantly, terrified of the stranger in front of me. "How dare you speak to me in such a familiar way? Do you have any idea who I am? Lin. Get up. We're leaving." Still speaking English, Naru stood. "Mai" Lin ignored him. "Are you all right?" He asked in Japanese. I couldn't respond, my gaze was riveted to Naru. Entranced by those cold blue eyes like a snake charmer watching a king cobra, waiting for the fatal strike. "It may not be permanent Mai." Lin said hesitantly, pushing to his feet and helping me to mine. "We can get Naru back." "What if it is?" I whispered. "I-I-I've lost him. Oh Lin!" I sobbed, throwing myself uncaringly against the much taller man. "You can console your girlfriend later Lin." That terribly cold voice said in Japanese now, probably assuming that I couldn't speak English. If only. "Right now I want to know what the hell is going on."

A sharp crack made me look up sharply to see Naru's head turned dramatically sideways, cheek reddening as Lin drew his hand back. "Well this is unexpected." Came a strained voice from one of the two doorways leading into the room. We all turned to see the monk blocking Ayako from getting into the room. "I want to see!" She called plaintively, when she saw Naru and Lin facing off, me in Lin's arms, she gasped. "What the-? That's not right." Lin gave her a look that would have stopped a charging grizzly bear in its tracks. I clenched my hands into fists that had until only recently been pressed against his chest, cushioning my face as I cried. But when I tried to push away Lin held me tighter. "I'm amazed you can even stand after what you just went through Mai. Look after yourself for once." He said cooly. I flushed and let him continue to support me, acknowledging his wisdom when I wobbled even just trying to support my own weight. "Who are you?" Naru asked the two newcomers to the room. "Amnesia?" Monk asked. "Woah, what kind of party did you guys have down here?" "Amnesia?" Naru repeated. Staring around the room. "Well I certainly don't recognize where I am." "Amnesia." Lin echoed the other two. "That's why you don't know where you are and why you don't recognize the woman you love." Naru flushed and glared at Lin holding me. "I'm fairly certain that I am not the one who loves her." This was obviously directed at Lin, though the last word shredded any self-confidence I had ever had in my entire life. Lin laughed coldly. "You are a fool Naru. A true fool." "It's because Gene's not with me anymore." I whispered, entranced by the buttons on Lin's shirt. "That must have been our only connection." "Having one fool in the room is enough Mai. Don't be ridiculous." Lin snapped at me now, though more gently than how he had spoken to Naru. "This is better than The Young and The Restless." Ayako whispered, eyes bouncing back and forth like she was watching a tennis match.

"Time for us to leave." Monk announced. "But we should really all go and pack up the base, and do something about her." He nodded to the faintly stirring woman who slumped forgotten on the floor. "How do you know about Gene?" Naru glared at me, then looked at Lin, eyes shooting warily to his hand which had raised slightly, looking like he was just waiting for an excuse to slap him again. He took a deep breath instead, then turned his emotionless Naru-mask back to me. "So you're supposed to be important somehow." I broke away from Lin and stumblingly fled. There were two passages leading out of the room, the one Naru had busted through and the one that led to the trapdoor that led outside. I went outside, feeling like the night was closing in on me. The urge to just keep running and hide was overwhelming but I only went a few feet into the forest and off the path, dropping at the base of a tree, arms wrapped around my knees. I felt like a child but I couldn't get the image of Naru forgetting me, mistrusting me, not caring if I existed, out of my head. I'd made a choice that bound me to him for life and he got amnesia. What a pair we made. My sobs were silent as I stared at my surroundings blankly, but after a moment I dropped my head completely at the irony of where I'd ended up. At the same tree where Naru almost kissed me the first time. Inches away from where I sat now Naru had protected my body with his own. I'd been living in a fantasy. I realized that now. I love you Naru. I've loved you forever. I chose to be with you. I always want to be with you. The words chased themselves around my mind. It was worse than being dumped, at least then he wouldn't have forgotten about me at the exact same moment I chose to do the only thing that could save his life, pledge mine to him. A strange unbidden thought popped into my head, the way those things do at really inappropriate times. It was like the ultimate moment of vulnerability had produced the ultimate human concern. I'm never going to make love. I blushed despite my tears. My greatest secret, I'd saved myself for someone special, I'd thought that was Naru. I knew all about sex, I'd found my sexuality while in America and managed to find a guy who understood that, Matt. He'd been a few years older and much more experienced than me but he'd just gotten through a bad break-up himself. He didn't want a commitment and I didn't want a commitment but we were both lonely and I knew that Naru was much more experienced than I was, and I'd wanted to be his equal. When I'd compared our relationship to an advanced placement course on real sex education Matt had laughed and said I was his star pupil. He'd taught me about pleasure, about bringing pleasure to your partner and finding it in yourself. I'd discovered my sexuality and while I enjoyed the 'classes' I knew that it was just reinforcing

the fact that I wanted to be with Naru, and only Naru. So the great A+ sexual partner Mai Taniyama was a virgin. And now it looked like she was going to stay that way. I laughed bitterly. "I don't see what's funny." A familiar voice made my heart leap and my stomach heave all at once. I kept my eyes on my shoes as Naru leaned against the tree in a familiar Naru pose, arms crossed, one leg braced like he knew just how good-looking he wasand he did. "Hello Kazuya." I whispered. His hands dropped and he heaved a sigh. "Look... I don't understand what's going on, but Lin explained to me what just happened." "Yeah the amnesia." I murmured. He knelt carefully to the base of the tree, like he was afraid of getting grass stains on his black clothing. The narcissist. "I meant about you trading powers with Gene to save my life. Lin also mentioned that you knew what all that entailed." The last was said hesitantly. I nodded, not looking at him. He twisted and pushed hair out of my face, but analytically, like the scientist he was at heart. "I suppose I can see why I'd be attracted to you." I gave him a watery smile. "I think that's the first time I've ever heard you doubt yourself." He studied me. "You do know that it is more likely that the man you care for is Gene, not me. You're too compassionate." The word sounded ugly the way he said it, like 'You're too stupid to differentiate between me and my twin.' I sighed and slammed my head into the tree hard enough to make my vision blur for a second. "Why the fuck does this have to happen to me?" He gritted his teeth, like he was thinking that he must have been completely out of his mind to get involved with a girl like me. "What exactly is the purpose behind abusing yourself?" "It's what all the kids these days are doing." I sighed and winced when I touched the rising bump on the back of my head. "It's just we've had this conversation before. I've known you and Gene as separate people for years. I love Gene but I've never been" I trailed off, unable to admit my true feelings to this Naru who didn't know me any more than the one who did. "Whatever. It doesn't matter anymore." I felt sick. He hesitated, then cautiously put his hands on my arms, still crossed. "If you knew what it meant to truly take Gene's place in my life then you didn't know me." His jaw set.

I laughed, suddenly, seeing a spark of my Naru in this unfamiliar Kazuya. "Oh yes I did. You're a jerk, you keep your intentions to yourself until the last moment. You like to feel like God, you use your looks as a means to an end, you love to be handsome but you hate being flirted with seeing it as a waste of your valuable time Dr. Oliver Davis." I used sarcasm liberally and without hesitation. "Even though that title is practically only an honorific since you've been working on cases with your adoptive father since you were a child." I paused for breath and noted his stunned expression. It was behind the still, expressionless mask he wore but his eyebrows were raised a minuscule amount, his eyes a little bit wider and his skin a shade paler. "Looks like I managed to freak you out pretty good." THAT got a real expression. It was like reading his face shocked him more than knowing all of his flaws. "It doesn't sound like you like me very much." He said mildly when he recovered in under five seconds. I grinned, thinking about Naru as if he wasn't in front of me. "We fight all the time. Your favorite sport is to bait me. In turn I do my very best to keep you humble, which believe me is a full-time job. Though recently our games have taken a decidedly-" I broke off, cheeks flushing as I reminded myself that I was telling this to a stranger. " different turn." I finished lamely. His eyes traveled to my hand. "I don't see a ring, how long have we been together?" My eyes shot wide open at the mention of a ring. "N-not that long officially. I just got home from a few years spent in America." "Why did you leave?" "We that is, Naru and I had a fight." "About what?" I rolled my eyes. "I'm not a client, enough with the grilling." He raised an eyebrow at that. "About. What?" I sighed and hesitated for as long as I could. " You forbade me from working on a case." "Why?" "Do you want the real reason or the reason you gave me?" He raised the other eyebrow. "I can assure you that whatever reason I gave you was genuine." "I'll let Lin tell you about the fight then. It's too complicated for just me to explain." And you believe Lin , I don't think you believe me. "I'm kind of whipped Na- Kazuya. You had me

infusing power into cleansing symbols all morning, then I got kidnapped on my way to get you tea, nearly got stuck in a coma, was rescued by my boyfriend but he stopped breathing and so I made a pact with his twin brother who I will never see again because of this decision to swap powers, thus binding myself to you for life. And you don't even know who I am." The tears had been running freely for awhile now and I scrubbed them away. "I'm learning who you are." "What's my name then, Davis." I didn't sneer but I stressed his family name so he knew what I meant. His silence said it all. "Look, I'm sorry I'm being a bitch, I know you can't help it. I'm just a little I need a shower and I have to finish the paperwork to wrap up the case so that we can all go home." "Lin can finish the paperwork." He offered, knowing that volunteering himself would be foolish since he didn't even remember the case. I shook my head anyway. "I'm the lead investigator on this case, if you don't like it. Fire me." I stood, planning to leave on that dramatic note. I stopped after a step, looking over my shoulder. "It's Taniyama by the way." I said quietly.

Kazuya's POV I pushed open the door to what was supposedly my office with a sigh. My memory loss was strange to say the least. I knew Gene was dead and had processed that grief, but I didn't know why Lin and I were in Japan. And the girl, Mai, that was the biggest mystery of all. She was beautiful in her own unusual way but I didn't know why I'd apparently loved her enough to tell Lin I'd rather die than be without her. I felt my cheeks heat as I recalled that conversation. That had been embarrassing. He'd said something that had made my confusion get even worse. "If you lose her again you'll never recover. I promise you that." What am I supposed to say to that? What was probably most astounding was Lin's feelings for the girl. They didn't seem to be exclusively romantic but he was extremely protective of her and clearly admired her. She in turn had great affection for him despite knowing about his hatred for Japanese people. Part of the enigma that was Mai was that she didn't see me romantically, like she was completely aware that losing my memories of her meant that I was essentially became a stranger. I almost

didn't understand why she'd devoted her life to me if she had that much common sense. She was sad and withdrawn, but occasionally I'd say something that for some reason made her smile and I'd glimpse a girl I could understand myself falling for, then she'd just get sadder. Lin was extremely worried, I'd seen that. But it was the monk, Takigawa and his wife Ayako who for some unknown reason kept her family name, Matsuzaki, who were the most obviously affected by Mai's withdrawn attitude. I slumped into the comfortable office chair, I didn't remember choosing it but it was easy to believe I would, it was simple and understated but something I could sit in for hours on end without getting uncomfortable. "Like the chair?"Lin asked, leaning in the doorway. I shrugged. "Mai picked it." I was getting used to those. Little reminders from Lin of just how deeply the girl had rooted into my life. I sighed and tried not to roll my eyes at his not-so-subtle hints. "Where do I keep my journal? That may help me catch up on what has been happening." He hesitated, pushing to a stand. "Top left drawer." He was gone when I opened the mentioned drawer, finding a stack of files that half-covered a picture. I drew the picture out, unsurprised to find that it was centered on myself, Lin and Mai, with Takigawa, his wife, a medium I recognized by reputation as Masako Hara, a blond man standing next to her and a Japanese boy laughing at Mai in the background. But the part of the picture that had been exposed showed only Mai and myself and part of Takigawa who was holding Mai back as she looked like she was trying to attack me. The most troubling was my reaction, I seemed to be enjoying her reaction. The journalonce I found itwas just as bad. At no point did I mention being in love with Mai but anyone with half a brain would recognize a definite pattern. Even though I wrote about what she did wrong more often than I wrote about her growth as a psychic or even as a friend, she was by and large the predominating subject. It was very obvious to an outsider that the one who wrote the journal was at the very mildest, obsessed. Why her? I wondered. I knew the answer even as I asked the question. Even the way I was now she still put myand everyone else's needs above her own. When Lin had lost his temper with me one too many times it had been Mai who shushed him.

"Everyone's had a really bad day. It's not his fault." The sadness in her eyes, the defeat in her posture even as she defended me made me feel emotions more strongly than I could remember. Anger at her for ignoring her own pain to support someone she didn't know, and a shocking urge to cry. Something I hadn't done since I was a toddler. "I'm not the one suffering. If you can't handle this then go rest. God knows you look like you need it." I'd snapped back. And to my surprise and confusion, she'd smiled brilliantly, making everyone in the office relax for a moment. It was becoming more and more clearly evident that while I was the head of the office, Mai was the heart in everyone's eyes and I couldn't help but wonder how we had supposedly functioned without her there for the years she was away. According to Lin our case load had been cut almost in half because it took us twice as long to solve cases without Mai's 'intuition' and the hours we worked were shorter and our need for rest greater. Something about Mai's compassion for the victims encouraged everyone to solve cases quickly and effectively. Surely I'm not falling for her again? I thought, and analyzed that thought. It wouldn't be so inconceivable , I'd done it once already hadn't I? And if even the stone-faced Lin had a soft spot for Mai (though it was more like a soft everything when it came to the girl) then it was entirely likely that I could too. Especially if I'd been compromised before. It was time to talk to Lin. I tapped lightly on his office door, opening it when I heard his typing stop, acknowledging that he'd heard me. "Lin." I said by way of greeting. "I want you to try to retrieve my memories." He turned, eyes guarded. "That can be very risky." "I know." "You think it's worth the risk?" I tapped the journal. "The man who wrote this was insane." Lin chuckled at that, looking more relaxed than I'd seen him in the past few days. "You have definitely been like a different person since meeting her." "A happy person." I cautiously broached. "A content person." He corrected. "Very few people can say that."

"Would you rather I didn't get my memories back?" I hated to bring this up, but I had to know. There could be no doubt of Lin's intentions if I was going to let him into my mind to dig around. He waited patiently for clarification. "It would interfere with your chances with Miss Taniyama." He smiled. "While I would love to have that kind of relationship with Mai, even now her heart belongs wholly to you. And it always will. If she was going to change her mind or feelings she would have done so years ago." "She's too young to be sure of what she wants. And innocent." Lin chuckled outright at that. "Maybe not as innocent as you think." He turned to his computer and flipped through files fast enough to make me feel an oncoming headache. The headache vanished when the image he clicked filled the screen. I coughed and felt my cheeks heat. It was undoubtably Mai, a professional picture taken of a professional model. In it she wore a white lace camisole and a yellow silk skirt that hugged her curves as she gave the camera a daring look, challenging the watcher to look away. I couldn't, she looked sweet in her outfit but her expression was fierce and vibrant. "THAT is what Mai is usually like. More spunk than she knows what to do with and moxy in excess." "Oh really." I fairly croaked. Lin actually grinned. I could count on one hand the number of times I'd seen him grin. "A girl who doesn't feel romantically towards someone does NOT send that kind of picture." I felt something very like jealousy rising from somewhere deep, presumably where my memories were being locked away. He snorted at that. "You think she sent this? She even has an alias for her modeling jobs; Em Tani. Clever eh? She has no idea I found out she's modeled at all." "How exactly did you find out?" "I keep a close eye on all of our employees, if they get into the media for any reason that could hurt the company's image I run damage control." I was instantly grateful for Lin, and nervous about what I would do if he ever decided to work against me.

"This is besides the point." I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a long slow breath but found myself oddly disappointed when I looked up and Mai's image was gone. "I'll send you the whole folder." "Thank you." I said, then processed what I was thanking him for. "Ah but that won't be necessary." "Are you trying to tell me that it doesn't even bother you a little bit that I have a folder of pictures of Mai as a professional model and you don't?" He slid me a look. "Unlikely." "About the memories." I said hurriedly. "We can certainly try, but I need a day to prepare." "One more thing." I walked to the door. "Don't tell Taniyama." Lin sighed. "You can be a stubborn ass Naru." "Do. Not. Tell. Her." I gritted out through my teeth. I left for my office, fully intent on sorting through the files of possible cases but my body was still worn from the past few days and I felt my head growing heavy and my eyelids droop. I moved to the back of the room where Lin had mentioned I kept a futon mattress in one of the cabinets. I pulled it out and fell asleep instantly without any pillow or blanket in sight. I became aware in a tiny studio apartment which was impeccably neat with Spartan furnishings. A familiar humming drew my attention to the kitchen where Mai leaned back against the sink, waiting on the rice cooker to finish. "Mai!" I called. She didn't respond. I walked to her and brushed my hand down the back of her hair. "Please Mai" She stiffened at the contact and grabbed the edge of her sink with a grip so tight her hands shook. "Stop. Just stop imagining things. He's never going to touch you again. He's never going to be the same, just admit it girl and stop torturing yourself." Tears rolled down her cheeks and I reached out to brush them. Her frame quaked as her sobs grew more intense, wracking her whole body so badly her knees gave way and she slid to the floor, burying her face in her hands.

The heart-wrenching sobs nearly killed me. I knelt and put my arms around her, holding her the best I could as my body kept passing right through her. "Damnit. I can only remember who I am when I'm dreaming. Just go to sleep, we can talk if we're asleep at the same time." I worked out the problem out loud, knowing already that she couldn't hear me. "Oh Naru!" She cried, falling forward into my embrace and falling through me. "Na ru" She could barely gasp my name around the tremors as she curled up in a ball on the kitchen floor, wrapping her arms around her stomach and gasping for air. Part of me desperately wanted to calm her down while part wanted her to lose consciousness so she could see me. "Dad mom Gene N-Naru" She moaned. "I can't keep losing can't" "I just need time and faith Mai." I put my arms around her again. "Stop losing faith in me so easily." She'd curled up in a ball on the floor and let the tremors run their course. After she had given herself a few moments to gasp in pain she pushed achingly slowly to her feet. "Enough. No more." She ignored the rice cooker as it clicked off and went into the main room, propping open her laptop. Curious and wanting to stay with her I followed, sitting on the couch beside her and watching her as she opened her email and started a new letter. The receiving email was . "Dear Matt, things aren't going quite how I hoped over here, has my spot been filled at PRS?" I read outloud over her shoulder. "No! Mai, you can't just leave, you can't give up that easily." "Oh Naru, what would you do?" She asked the room, taking her hands away from the keyboard without sending the email and burying her face in her hands once again. "I sure as hell wouldn't give up!" I glowered. "Coward." "You'd probably call me something mean and accuse me of giving up." She smiled faintly. "Jerk." "Mai" I trailed off, taken-aback. "You can't give up. I'm trying, if anyone can get everything back Lin can. He just needs a little time." She lay down without a word. Her stomach growled and she wrapped her arms around it, closing her eyes. "Aren't you going to eat you stupid girl?" I felt conflicted once again, wanting her to take care of her body but needing her to lose consciousness so I could talk to her.

I felt someone tugging at my shoulder but held on as long as I could, watching Mai's breathing even out and her soul become aware. She may no longer be a full dream psychic but even Gene had some elements of projecting included in his powers. The pull was stronger now and I grabbed Mai's spirit's shoulders as she blinked groggily, still not quite asleep. "Mai! Don't give up. Wait for me!" I had to shout to be heard as a roaring filled my ears and I fell backwards into my physical body. I woke up in a foul mood and wanting to deck whoever it was who had decided I needed awakening. Lin stooped over me, looking into my eyes. "What did you dream?" He asked immediately. I shook my head sluggishly. "Don't know But I have a very strong urge to hit you." "You really shouldn't warn someone about those things." He replied mildly. "It gives them time to think up their retaliation." I grimaced, feeling a sudden and heavy weight in the pit of my stomach. "How long was I out?" "An hour and forty minutes, time for one REM cycle." He paused. "You cried out in your sleep." "What did I say?" He paused again, this time longer, and gave me a searching look. "Wait for me." "Odd." "Not really. I think you have your memories when you dream." Lin studied me. "Which is a very good sign. It means they're still there. They just somehow were locked away." "So what now?" I rubbed my eyes, trying to clear the sleep from my mind, holding double lives was taking its toll on my body. "Now we go home and you sleep." Lin pulled me to my feet. "You have an MRI scheduled first thing in the morning."

Mai's POV I bolted upright when I saw Naru leaning over me on my sofa, his eyes back to normal.

"Naru!" I reached for him but he started falling backwards, saying something but I only caught pieces. "Don't wait for me!" He shouted the last and disappeared. It woke me up more effectively than a bucket of ice water. I nearly fell off the sofa I was up so fast. I didn't think I'd still be able to have those dreams, but there it was. Naru telling me to move on. "Okay Naru. For once I'll listen to you." I leaned forward and hit the send button on my email.
.

Kazuya's POV We looked at the brain scans, seeing nothing out of the ordinary except for a high amount of activity, to be expected, this was ME we were talking about. "Are you sure it's amnesia?" The neurologist said hesitantly. "I'd like to say that you're the first man who's been brought here because he 'forgot his girlfriend' but" "It's amnesia." Lin's voice was would have been no less convincing if it was etched in stone. "He had quite a shock to his neurological system and lost consciousness, when he became aware he had no idea who anyone he'd met in the past few years was." "Well other than that you have a completely healthy brain." The doctor said this to me, somehow finding me to be the less intimidating between the two of us. "Some tell-tale signs of overuse in the parts of the brain that deal with stress but that's to be expected in your situation." "How often are memories recovered in cases like this?" I asked. He frowned. "This is a completely unique case, normally there would be some sign of what caused the memory loss in the brain. And in most cases amnesia clears up in just minutes or hours, I've never heard of someone losing such a significant amount of memory without an obvious neurological reason or of someone going this long without regaining the memories." "Is it possible that the memories are just inaccessible to him in his current state?" Lin asked. The doctor smiled a little condescendingly. "This isn't the movies Mr. Koujo, memories don't get magically locked away." Lin glared at him. "He's been talking in his sleep about things he doesn't remember while waking." Not completely true but I wasn't going to correct him.

"Ah. Well." The doctor looked uncomfortable. "That would indicate there's really no other reason than that it is not genuine amnesia." "Thank you, that's all we needed." I took the MRI with me and left. If the doctor was going to argue whatever look Lin gave him scared him into silence. "Did you find out what you needed?" I asked him. "Yes. Now that I know that your brain isn't damaged in anyway then I don't have to worry about causing further harm by trying to stimulate your memory centers." We left the hospital and walked the short distance back to SPR in relative silence. "Why won't you tell Mai?" Lin asked suddenly. "That's obvious. I don't want to get her expectations up." I bowed my head against the sudden wind. "I may only remember the past few days but I see that she's in mourning." Lin nodded begrudgingly. "It would be cruel to give her false hope." We opened the door to the office and were greeted by the scents of chamomile and a warm presence. "Oh there you are!" Mai emerged from the kitchen. "Perfect timing. I was afraid the tea would get cold before you got back." She put down the tray and filled two of the three cups, putting a touch of honey into one of them and a twist of lemon into the other. She brought them to us while we removed our jackets, trading tea for the coats. She handed me the cup that had been sweetened and I looked at her in surprise. Chamomile tea with honey was the drink my mother had given me when I was a child on the first truly cool day of fall and Lin had insisted on having fresh lemon in his instead of honey while we were growing up, saying it was more masculine. After hanging up our jackets Mai fixed her own tea, with both lemon and honey. Just like Gene. I tried my tea and sighed imperceptibly. It was perfect, the perfect temperature, just barely a touch of sweetness from some wild honey that had a undertones of delicate flowers. I couldn't make it half as well myself. "So what do you need done Kazuya?" She leaned back against her desk and the image of her as a model rose unbidden in my brain. I set my tea on the table and reached out to her, finding a small leaf tangled in her hair. She had stopped breathing, eyes fixed on me. The fact that I could affect a girl like that, a girl who knew my few faults and was more attracted to those than to my face or body, was intoxicating.

I extracted the leaf carefully and set it on her desk. She slowly reached her fingers to the hair I'd touched, running her fingernails through the strands. Her hands were small but proportionally long and tapered with elegant nails she kept no longer than the end of her fingers. Am I really fixating on her fingernails? I wondered, disturbed. A soft click drew our attention to Lin's office door, which had just finished shutting, leaving the two of us alone. "Subtle." Mai grumbled, cheeks flaming. The blush made color return to her cheeks and the brightness of her eyes for once wasn't tears. I hadn't stepped away, I was so close that her feminine scent, something like peppermint and something almost green and soothing, like sage. She smelled amazing, sexy and soft. I hadn't had any time to dwell on small things like the way she smelled since I'd been trying to puzzle out the big things, like why I would fall in love with her. I realized my foolishness now. By stimulating my senses with her I was more likely to stimulate whatever part of my brain was attracted to her. I cupped her cheek. "Can I try something?" I asked and when she barely nodded I stroked her cheek with my thumb, focusing on the feeling of her satiny skin. I leaned down and breathed in at the curve of her neck. "W-What exactly are you trying?" She gasped, trying to sound calm and failing. I smiled out of her line of sight. It was extremely satisfying to make Mai Taniyama flustered. Her eyes were alive and her pulse fluttered so close to the surface that if I pressed my lips to it I could easily feel it. I could see why I would obsess about this very reaction. The thin, wan and fragile beauty I'd had to work to see disappeared to be replaced by a vibrant, overwhelming beauty. When I leaned back far enough to see her fully I felt my body respond instantly. "I'm trying to-" A sharp pain in my temple made me wince. "N-Kazuya?" She touched my hand. Her hands weren't quite soft, the rest of her skin was, they were petite but not weak, she worked with her hands. They felt soft against mine, I was harder on my hands than she was and it showed. I liked them, too soft hands meant that a girl was too delicate or lazy to work and Mai was a hard worker. I closed my eyes and felt the connection I had with her. It was like a web of delicate thread on my consciousness. I felt her as I'd felt Gene when we were growing up, I could sense her hope even with the heart break of losing two people she cared about in such a short time. She had a

golden presence like Gene, a warming, trusting and naturally loving person who was lead by her emotions that balanced the withdrawn, cynical and naturally logical person that I was, led by my head. I could logically tell myself that she had absorbed my connection with Gene and that was what I felt for her; that the bond I had with him now residing in her was what made me want to be with her. But I was beginning to doubt that. "Kazuya?" She said again. "Are you all right?" Her hand hesitantly touched my shoulder. I was bombarded with images and gasped. All I saw were snippets of her, her skin, her moaning underneath the ministrations of my hands and mouth, her mouth touching mine, touching my chest, her skin against mine, her hair like silk running through my fingers and the ever present smile and laugh as the images changed. What had started as an assault on my senses turned into an assault on my emotions as I started seeing her laughing, her glowering at me, her tender expression as she looked unflinchingly in my eyes. Even with the shock of knowing me she accepted me, it was becoming more and more apparent that she loved me deeply as well. I felt like my head was splitting in two as I was battered by more and more and more images of things I didn't remember doing, of a life I didn't remember living and the woman that I'd forgotten. My knees gave way as blackness started closing in and I heard Mai calling for Lin as I fell into someone's arms.

Naru's POV I stared down at my body, hands shoved into the pockets of clothing that I had conjured for myself. This was so stupidly complicated that I wanted to scream. Mai was suffering hugely and thinking of leaving and I had no way of communicating this to anyone. Mai seemed to have stop sleeping all together and I wasn't always able to project, the wear on my body was too extreme. I had mere minutes at a time and Lin was too much of a workaholic to sleep when I needed to communicate with him. "Lin. I'm firing you when I get out of this." I told the tall man as he bent over my body, checking my pulse and pupils. I spent the days in blackness while my body was awake with this part of me locked away in my consciousness. It was funny that I was getting annoyed with my waking self, trying to somehow make myself be nicer to Mai when that had never been a priority in our relationship. I was mean

to her and she grew strong and started firing back and started seeing through the chinks in my emotional armor. It was how we functioned. But I didn't trust myself to not drive her off. "Naru" Mai whispered, drawing my attention back to her. Somehow I'd fallen and she'd caught me as well as she could, falling into the couch. Lin must have moved me to fully lying on the couch but I was still partly on her lap and she was brushing her fingers through my hair. I wanted to feel those fingers, I wanted to wake up in her lap, I wanted to let her know that I recognized what she was going through. Lin's expression stopped my pity-party cold. He was watching Mai with a look that was very close to envy. I scoffed at the idea that Lin could be in love with Mai but he certainly felt something for her. "I'm sorry my friend but you can't have her." I stood right in front of him. "I'll get Madoka down here just as soon as I get control of my body again. You like her don't you?" I watched as Mai looked up at Lin with an expression of a mixture of exhaustion and apathy, something I'd never seen on Mai and it worried me. "It's okay. We don't have any cases pressing right now, just relax." Lin ran a hand through his hair and I realized that he looked almost as tired as she did. Her look turned tender and I looked in between the two of them. "Don't even think about it." I growled. "Don't give up Mai." Lin said softly. "While I appreciate you supporting me, showing Mai your sensitive side is not going to help me." I glared at him. "This is worse than if I had fallen for Gene." Mai murmured. "I only saw him in my dreams. To have Naru right here, reminding me everyday of what I don't have It's too much Lin. I can't deal with this much longer." Lin looked torn. "Surely I'm trying to get my memories back, aren't I?" I looked down at my own unconscious form. I thought of the possible reason for Lin's conflict and it hit me. "Oh you bastard." I said quietly to my own still form. "You told him to not to tell her didn't you?"

Kazuya's POV I groaned in pain as awareness returned to me. A cool hand was against my forehead and my head was resting against something soft and warm. I blinked and my eyes focused. I was in Mai's lap and she was asleep. I watched her, her dark lashes fanned across her cheek, her hair draping over her shoulder in a silky curtain and the soft sounds she made occasionally when she sighed in her sleep. I took advantage of her vulnerable position and brushed my hand across her cheek. You're beautiful. I frowned and gingerly sat up. And why do I keep waking up and wanting to hit Lin? Lin's office door opened and he paused when he saw me awake, gesturing that I join him inside. I did, despite the splitting headache and the dizziness. "Your memories are close to the surface." He said when he'd closed the door behind me. "Sit down before you fall down." "So can you make them resurface fully?" I sat. "I think it would be wiser to try sooner rather than later." He pulled a book off of his desk. "I've been researching and I think if I put you in a trance and merge the part of you that is being withheld then your mind should acknowledge and stimulate that part of your brain while waking." "Sounds easy enough." I leaned back. "When do we start?" He stared at me. "You think this will be easy? This could destroy your mind. We're talking about trying to get YOU to accept what you potentially see as an invasive presence into your mind. If you attack that presence then you could lose your memories forever. I don't need to tell you that if you lose those then you lose Mai." "Not necessarily." I shrugged. "I just have to make her fall in love with me again, it shouldn't be too hard." Lin's fist clenched and he looked like he would love nothing more than to punch me. "You arrogant narcissistic" He took a deep breath. "If you don't want your memories, fine. But I promise you, Mai will not risk trusting any part of herself with you again." I raised an eyebrow at him. "I won't argue that she's special, but I don't see why we can't just start over." "Mai is an orphan." Lin hissed, gaze shooting to the door. "She has said on several occasions that WE are her family. It's not fair to ask her to give up another person she cares about because you're being a jackass and want to toy with her emotions. I won't let you do that to her."

"I am just saying, if this is so risky then why don't I pretend like I have my memories back? I've pretended to be someone else before, just give me all of the information about her and about the cases we've worked on together." "And when the blackouts get worse? What then?" He shook his head. "Even if I considered that to be an option, which I don't, then I'd be betraying your parents trust. They want me to keep you safe and your mind will tear itself apart unless I can successfully reclaim your memories. I'd be an awful body guard if I let that happen without trying to stop it." "Well it seems like I have very little option then." I stood and stretched. "When will you be ready?" He hesitated. "It would be safest if we had an anchor." "Such as?" "Such as a person who had deep ties with the part of you that we're trying to resurface." He gave me a level stare. I sighed. "She doesn't physically have to be there." "It would be safer if she was." "And if this fails? Don't you think it will be even worse for her?" "It is more likely to fail without her! Don't be an idiot." "Fine." "And you have to tell her."
..

Mai's POV Kazuya and Lin's argument woke me from my dreamless nap. I only caught snippets and didn't want to move closer. Kazuya was saying he wanted to fake that he had his memory back, in an attempt to fool me. I was caught between laughing and being completely furious. His arrogance astounded me, that he thought he could convince me that he was my Naru was laughable but the fact that he was willing to try at all made me want to skin him alive. Now Lin was telling Kazuya that he needed me there to act as an anchor because he was going to try to bring Naru back.

My heart soared. Lin thank you. I blinked back tears. What I had seen in Lin in the past few days made me almost wish I had a heart I could offer him, if he wanted it. I'd never thought of him romantically before but since this whole ordeal I'd seen a whole new side of him. Naru was still the most attractive man I'd ever met but Lin was a close second (or third if you counted Gene). Tall, dark, strong, silent and handsome he fit all those adjectives that were usually attached to desirable mysterious men. Why did I have to fall for the jerk? The door to Lin's office opened and Kazuya stepped out. "Did you-?" He began when he saw that I was awake. I nodded and stood and walked slowly to him, gazing up into those dark blue eyes that were so like and so unlike Naru's, it was almost like they'd been triplets instead of twins, Gene, Naru and Kazuya. Triple threat. "I know you're excited but-" My hand slapping him across the face broke off his sentence. He turned back to me slowly. "Will you two STOP doing that?" "You bastard." I whispered. "You selfish bastard." "Mai!" Lin appeared in the doorway, looking shocked. "THAT was for even THINKING about lying to me. How DARE you, you think I'm stupid enough to be fooled by YOU?" I sneered for probably the first time in my life. "I FEEL that you're different. Your eyes are different. Even your soul is young. The man that I know is a dick and has plenty of faults but he's grown up in the past five years. You don't have that growth." "Mai, we need you to-" Lin started cautiously. "I know. I heard." I cut him off. "You know I'm more than willing to do what I can to help. Lord knows I don't have the patience to train him twice." Lin looked like he had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing at the expression on Kazuya's face. "Fair enough. I still need a few more hours to prepare." "Fine. I'm going home to cool off." I paused after I grabbed my jacket and doubled-back, catching Kazuya's face and kissing the reddened cheek I'd just slapped. "That's for trying."

I left, trying not to slam the door behind me as I heard Kazuya muttering something about mixed messages. I didn't care. Lin thought he could bring Naru's memories back. The very idea was enough to make me feel better than I had in days. I accepted that it might not work as an inevitability. A chance was better than nothing, I couldn't deal with this pre-Naru version of Oliver Davis. And the different names and identities were making me dizzy. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of calling him Oliver or Davis, his reputation as a paranormal investigator was too positive for that. I couldn't call him Naru because he wasn't my Naru. So Kazuya it was. Kazuya reminded me of Naru when I first met him, but even worse. At least when I'd first met Naru he hadn't expected me to fall in love with him at the drop of a hat. So what if I did it once already, you don't even know me. I reminded myself not to idealize who Naru was. He was a narcissist and arrogant. But he was MY arrogant narcissist. I unlocked my apartment, collapsing on the couch as soon as I was inside. "Don't expect some happily ever after Mai. Naru isn't prince charming, you know that." I muttered, pulling off my shoes. "Sure he looks the part but don't forget he's a real butt head when he wants to be, which is all the time." Still I thought about Naru shielding my body with his, running into my room when I screamed, leaving the window open so I wouldn't feel alone, shielding me from the white lady, exhausting himself with his PK to find me the list went on. That was more than enough of a prince for me. Now all I needed was the happily ever after. I flopped back with a sigh, absent-mindedly running my hands over my wrists. The scars that had been there, like all of my other dream scars, had disappeared after I swapped powers with Gene. The scars were a result of the strong empathy bond I had with the victims of my visions but were a direct result of my power and since I had gotten rid of that power completely I didn't have any of the scars. It was weird and confusing as so many psychic things tended to be. One more thing to add to the list of subjects I needed to research. After a nap. I promised myself. It had been a long couple of days and I needed the rest. Instead of setting up the sleeper sofa I just lay down like I had been doing, catching cat naps here and there instead of real sleep. Since the one appearance my rest had been deep and dreamless, no sign of Gene, no sign of Naru. For once though, I looked forward to that, just pure sleep, no frills, no boys and no sign of crying. I was resolved, if this worked then that was spectacular, if not I was on a waiting list for the next available last-minute seat on a flight to America.

I bowed against the wind, cursing the cold front that had appeared without warning and everything it stood for. The excuse to wear my adorable aqua trench coat with matching hat was always welcome but my body was used to beautiful temperate days, maybe a light sweater or trendy jacket here and there but no sign of a real reason to layer. "Stupid wind stupid weather stupid Naru!" I grumbled, pulling my collar up. "While I would love to blame the weather on Naru, maybe we should stick to making him take responsibility for the things that are actually his fault, since there are already plenty of those." A deep male voice by my ear made me jump. I looked up to see Lin, coat buttoned but without a hat or scarf or gloves, looking comfortable in the unexpected drop in temperature. The wind had mussed his hair and brought color to his cheeks so he looked even handsomer than usual. I blushed at the thought and looked away, towards the office. "Nervous?" I asked, a little surprised at my own presumption. "There is the chance of failure." He sighed. "So I suppose it's fair to say I'm concerned." I gave him a quick smile and started walking again towards the office. "Ah the ever unflappable Lin. You and Naru make quite a team when it comes to emotional control." "But the difference is I process and recognize mine." "Snarky but sophisticated. I like it." I laughed. "Someone should let him know that controlling and hiding emotions are different things." "Are you talking about Naru or Kazuya now?" He gave me a look with his piercingly dark eyes that made me feel that he could see right through me. "So you caught that." "Considering that you only called him Kazuya until you thought up his nickname, it was hard to miss." I shoved my hands deeper in my pockets. "I can't call him Naru because he's not Naru does that make sense?" He nodded. "Being in Japan, being with all the others, especially you, it changed him. It made him almost bearable." He gave me a faint smile and unlocked the office door for me. When we were inside and I'd unbuttoned my coat Lin slipped it off of my shoulders. I felt his fingertips trailing over my shoulders and down my arms and fought back a shiver. He was just being gentlemanly, he wasn't trying to be intimate, it was silly to feel flustered over that.

Still, I practically ran away like a child as soon as I was free, ducking into Naru's office. He sat there, looking tired and handsome and reminding me of why I was in love with him, then his eyes met mine and reminded me that this wasn't the man I was in love with. Still he had the potential to be that man, and he was trying. "Ready?" I asked. "Of course." He stood and gathered his notes. "It shouldn't be difficult." I rolled my eyes. "If only we all could have your confidence." "Lin is confident." He stepped around the desk and I tried not to feel my heart in my throat. "No, Lin is prepared." I backed out of the office and into the solid chest of the man we happened to be talking about. "Lin is ready and getting impatient." Lin gave us both looks. "Go sit on the couch, Mai I want you to make tea and sit next to him." I smiled, feeling excited and nervous. "Yes boss." I went into the kitchen and quickly put together three cups of tea, spooning in half a teaspoon of honey in two and a twist of lemon in two, keeping the one with lemon and honey for myself. Usually I liked a full teaspoon of honey and no lemon in my tea but since the case at the bed and breakfast I'd been craving my tea like this. I'd also never much cared for fruit desserts. Don't ask me why that specifically but it was true, I just didn't like cooked fruit much. But since the case I'd been craving blackberry cobbler and apple pie like there's no tomorrow. I'd have to ask Lin if Gene liked those, I'd heard about people who received organ transplants getting cravings from their donors. Since I had a piece of Gene's soul in me it really wouldn't be all that surprising for me to have some of his personality. I took the tea in, trying to keep myself from being distracted from the situation at hand. The living room was quiet as Kazuya tried to relax on the couch and Lin sat on the edge of a chair in front of him. I placed a cup on the side table within easy reach of both and sat with my own, keeping my hands tight around the warm cup like it was a lifeline. "Mai, take Naru's hand." Lin ordered with a stern look. I squelched the part of me that squirmed at the thought of coming into contact with any part of that arrogant jerk's body, reminding myself that I was being ridiculous and that ninety percent of Naru was Kazuya.

Stop acting like he's got cooties Mai! Be professional! The last part of my mental order sounded suspiciously like Naru's voice and I mentally glared at it before placing my cup down and taking Kazuya's hand. I saw the corner of Lin's mouth tip at what I'm sure was a very childish expression on my face. "Just relax, both of you. Mai, I need you to think about Naru." Gosh, since I haven't been doing enough of THAT lately. I sarcastically projected at Lin. I took Kazuya's hand and thought about Naru. It felt really, really weird to say the very least. "Naru, I need you to relax and not fight this." Lin put his fingertips on Kazuya's temples and focused hard, his eyes taking on a distant look. We sat like that, with Lin focusing so hard there was tension around his eyes, Kazuya looking bored and me nervous and hopeful and eventually well, bored. I mean, it's not like a lot was actually happening from my perspective and I really needed more sleep than the occasional nap. Naru, Naru, thinking of Naru, hoping this works. If it does he's taking me out to dinner, he totally owes me and I'm kinda hungry. Maybe soba noodles, then tomorrow we can go to my parents favorite restaurant and begin our long delayed romance. Well continue our long delayed romance. Naru has a seriously rocking body, I can't wait to see that again. The problem with being told to think only of one thing is that your mind wants to do anything but that. After dedicatedly thinking about Naru for a few minutes I started getting distracted, going on brain tangents. Naru's so serious all the time, I'd like to see him a little less serious some time. Like maybe laughing, like really out loud laughing. Maybe if I got him laughing hard enough I could get him to snarf. I'd have to catch him at just the right moment, just as he took a sip of something, maybe sparkling water. Or tequila queso, definitely queso. I had to bite my lip to keep from giggling. The mental image was so ridiculous and I was so sleep deprived that I started shaking with the suppressed laughter. "Focus Mai." Lin's gentle reprimand made my back straighten and the giggles died away. I looked over at Kazuya and noted the tightness around his jaw and neck, a tightness that had been there when we'd first met and again since he lost his memory. He was still not Naru. I sighed heavily and felt unexpected tears pricking my eyes. I'd been an emotional see-saw since all this. First Gene tells me to come home, then I go through re-culture shock, have a case, re-fall for Naru, start getting weird mixed-up feelings for Lin The last thought made me stop. My feelings for Lin weren't that mixed, were they?

I studied his face as he worked, the dark slash of eyelashes that did nothing to soften his serious face, the defined cheekbones and mouth that would set firmly if he was annoyed. I'd always liked his hair too, when I'd first met him it seemed a little emo but I'd grown fond of it over the years, and he never changed the cut no matter what was officially 'in style.' "Mai. Focus on Naru." Lin said exasperatedly. My eyes widened and I blushed, I guess me staying on topic really did matter. Time to take my anchoring skills a little more seriously. "Sorry. I'm pretty sleep-deprived." I murmured. "Just do your best." He said and I took a deep breath and turned my thoughts back to Naru. Kazuya groaned and I looked at him sharply. His eyes were closed and he was frowning, face tense with some kind of inner struggle I could only imagine. Seeing that struggle chased away the last of the hysterical humor that had tinged my thoughts. Come on Naru, you can do this! I thought, tightening the hand that held his. "There!" Lin's eyes flew open but they weren't looking at anything I could see. I looked back and forth between the two men, feeling a desperate worry choking me. Come on Naru! With an anguished cry, he fell sideways into me and I leapt off the couch, giving him room to collapse but keeping a hold on the hand I held. "Naru?" I gasped, leaning my head to his chest to make sure he still had a heart beat. He did. "NARU?" Lin rubbed his hands over his face tiredly. "That should do it." I knelt, staying close and squeezing the hand I held like a lifeline. It seemed like ages later that he stirred but it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. His dark eyes opened, blinked, then focused on me. I waited for the warmth, for the recognition. "Hey." I said, not knowing what else I could say. "Miss Taniyama?" He winced and I realized I'd gripped his hand even more tightly when he said my family name. "What happened?" I disengaged woodenly. "It didn't work." I stood and walked out of the office.

Kazuya/Naru's POV I watched Mai leave, trying to ignore the dull throbbing in the back of my skull. "There may be a time-" Lin began. I cut him off. "THIS is why I didn't want her to know." "You're the one who says that she loses faith too easily." Lin started for his office. I do? I shrugged, unable to confirm or deny since I didn't remember. "Where are you going?" "To make sure she didn't do anything rash." He called back. "I've been keeping tabs on her since she started breaking down. I want to make sure she doesn't do something stupid like buy a plane ticket." I cracked my neck to the side and winced, unable to work out the ache building. "Send Takigawa to check on her, I'm sure he'd-" My body locked up, every muscle stiffening then releasing without warning so I fell sideways into the couch. "DAMNIT. I told you there may be a time lapse!" Lin returned to stand in front of me. "Whatever you do, DON'T fight it!" Easier said than done. I thought as it felt like a hot dull knife was sliding into the base of my skull. I gritted my teeth and held my head as I felt myself being consumed. "Relax. Fighting and tensing may give you brain damage." Lin said in an annoyingly calm tone. "Just relax." I took a deep breath and promptly threw up on the carpet. "I'm sorry to do this without your consent." Lin reached forward and covered my eyes with one hand, and everything went black. The blackness didn't fade out, but I faded in. A really strange sensation, like my body took form slowly and only as I remembered a body part and made it real. I thought I should have hands and I did, I thought I should have legs and I did. "Is it a dream?" I wondered idly. "Close enough." Someone was there, walking towards me. An exact copy of myself, which wasn't as surreal as it may have been for someone who wasn't half of a set of identical twins.

"Gene?" I asked, I wasn't sure, somehow this copy looked TOO much like myself, missing the kindness of Gene's face and humor in his eyes. "No." He crossed his arms and I was suddenly intimidated by this person. He had an air of power and authority to him. I understood then what Mai had meant when she said that the version of me she knew had five years of growth. "Ah. You're Mai's version of me." I took another closer look. He had the growth and the strength but he also had a softness in his expression, one that was even more apparent at the mention of Mai's name. This was very clearly the author of the journal. "Why aren't you letting me in?" He asked. "No one wants to become obsolete." I shot back. "What happens to me when I let you have control of the body again?" "Don't be a fool. We're the same person, you're the only one thinking of us as separate beings. If you just relax and allow me back in we will be whole again, instead of fragmented." He shrugged elegantly. "Unless you enjoy the blackouts, this is your best option, resisting is like hitting yourself with a brick repeatedly." "I see why everyone calls me arrogant." "Don't forget that I'm not an independent being. I'm just you five years later. Any arrogance you see is just a reflection." "All right. So if you're not taking over, and we're merging, how do you propose we do this?" I crossed my arms. He shook his head with a trace of a smile. "To think I was so hardheaded five years ago to miss something so simple." He started walking towards me and I steeled myself. Instead of stopping when he reached me he took a last step forward, through and into my body. "Now we can be whole again for Mai." I heard myself whisper. "Well don't let her board the plane! Don't let her past security!" Lin's voice was the first thing that I heard. "No I'm her older brother. Her fianc is on his way to pick her up. They have a lover's quarrel, just don't let her pick up her boarding pass or anything and keep her there." He hung up his smart phone and glared at it. "Damnit Mai why aren't you answering your phone?" He turned to me with a relieved whoosh of air. "Finally! You're awake." "Yes thank you Lin I already knew that." I rubbed a hand over my face. "Fianc?"

"Well they wouldn't have listened if I said you were her sometimes-on-and-off-not-evenboyfriend." He glowered. "So are you back? Because you were a real ass before you met Mai." "I'm back." I stood and placed a hand on my stomach, not feeling the fluttering painful sensation of my power trapped inside that I'd grown accustomed to. It was surreal knowing snippets of what had happened, like that Mai had taken Gene's power inside her and relieved the destructive energy that accumulated in my body since his death. Her courage never failed to impress me. "How long was I unconscious?" "Almost two hours, since then Mai has booked a flight and should be checking in any minute now." "While we're on the subject, you can't have Mai." Surprise flitted across his eyes before he could squelch it. "Of course not. She doesn't even see me that way, you have nothing to worry about." "Oh I have plenty to worry about from what I saw." I glared at him. "But you can't have her." "Then don't give me a reason to take her from you." His chin lifted and he glared back, daring me to argue. "Such as having a pissing contest with me when you should be at the airport stopping Mai from boarding a plane to America." "Then stop wasting time and lets go." I stalked to the door and took both of our jackets. "Get the keys." Lin followed without argument and we were speeding down the highway in minutes. The ride was silent, what did you say to someone who had been one of your closest friends since childhood when you were in love with the same person? As if to add to our emotional turmoil it started to rain. "Her ticket is through United Airlines. You should get out here, I'll circle back." Lin pulled into the curb-side check-in. "Do you have your phone?" I checked my pants pocket, front and back to make sure I had my phone and wallet. "Yes." I got out of the car and ran inside the airport to keep from getting drenched. As soon as I was inside I scanned the area, looking for Mai and when I failed to see her, looking for a young female check-in receptionist. There were only men working at the check-in counters this late but before I really felt the disappointment I noticed one of them eyeing me with interest that surpassed idle curiosity. He'll have to do. I walked over to him. "Excuse me sir, have you checked in a Mai Taniyama?"

"I'm afraid our client lists are confidential." He smiled. I smiled back. "Is there any way you could help me? My fianc is planning on flying to America because we had a silly fight." I leaned over confidentially as his eyes widened. "You're the only person who can help, please." I bowed. "What was her name again?" He asked breathlessly. "Taniyama, Mai." I pushed relief into my eyes and straightened. At this point I would have told any lie or truth if it kept Mai on Japanese soil. "She's checked in." Without further encouragement or sob-stories he picked up the phone and dialed, spoke briefly to someone on the other end then hung up. Barely a minute passed before the intercom came on, paging Mai. "I'm afraid that's all we can do." "Are there any seats left on the flight?" I asked. "Our next available flight to State College Pennsylvania leaves tomorrow afternoon. Miss Taniyama was on a waiting list and only got onto this flight because someone else cancelled earlier today." He looked at me sympathetically. "All we can do is wait and hope she responds to the page." "Thank you so much for your time and effort." I bowed again and stepped to the side, walking quickly along the part of the airport I could, checking to see if she'd gone through security or not. As I looked I flipped open my phone and dialed the number Mai had left for her cell phone. "You've reached Mai Taniyama, please leave a message Have a spooky day!" "Mai. Don't get on that plane, it worked you impatient girl and I want you to call me as soon as you get this message." I snapped the phone shut and closed my eyes, focusing on the pull of Mai's energy. It felt odd since I hadn't felt the kind of connection I'd had with Gene in over five years. I'd missed the reassurance of that golden presence. Gene and Mai both had the same energy to start with so it made sense that she easily fit into the missing part of my life that he'd left. Having her in that space made me feel forgiven for being myself. I really am turning into a hopeless romantic. I rolled my eyes at myself and focused again. I could feel the pull of Mai, but faintly. I couldn't pin-point her location or even if she was nearby. It was strange since I'd usually felt closer to Gene when he was going through a time of emotional turmoil. "Damnit Mai. Where are you?" I murmured and dialed Lin's number. It rang once before he picked it up. "Any word from her?"

"She hasn't called me. Is she at the airport?" "I think so. She checked in and has her boarding pass and she must be past security, I haven't seen her anywhere." "Look again and stay there until the flight leaves, I'll pick you up out front after that." I waited, and waited, calling Mai twice more and checking in three times with the helpful receptionist. They paged Mai again in the intervening hour but she never checked in with anyone. I was starting to get more than a little annoyed. "Come on be reasonable Haru. This guy really needs to find his one true love." The receptionist was saying, practically in tears for my sake. "Just tell me if Mai Taniyama boarded the flight." He waited, winced, then hung up slowly. "I'm sorry but they won't tell me and the plane doors are closed now. Some kind of company policy, they'll only tell family and since you're engaged not married" "Thank you for your time." I booked a seat on the next flight and called Lin as I left telling him to pick me up and hanging up before he had time to respond, standing in the rain in a fool's attempt to clear my head. "Any word?" Lin asked when he pulled up. I gave him a cold look. "Of course not. I'd have her with me if there was." He sighed and drove. "What do you want to do now?" "Just take me back to the office and we'll wait. I reserved a spot on the next flight out and I need to pack some things." "Whatever you say Naru." He shot me a sideways look. "I'm just grateful that it worked. None of us could stand another day with Mai being so broken." I looked out the window. "At least she could hear you." We pulled up in front of the office in silence and I got out, letting Lin go park the car. It was going to be a long night, I could tell as I unlocked the office door. A soft dripping sound made me pause and listen. It drew my gaze to the couch where a dark figure was seated, they were petite but slouching so impossible to accurately identify, still I felt my heart skip a beat. I turned on the light and Mai looked up at me. "I couldn't do it." She whispered, eyes distant. "I couldn't give up faith."

I stepped in front of her and offered my hand. She looked confused but took it anyway and I jerked her to her feet and flush against my body, catching her lips with mine and tangling both hands in her wet hair. "N-Naru?" She gasped when I let her pull back enough to really see my eyes, this time without her unfocused distant look. "Naru!" She kissed me. "I'm sorry I was away for so long." I murmured, holding her tightly and burying my face against her neck. "You're safe." I heard Lin say and we broke apart. He looked relieved but glared at Mai. "WHY aren't you answering your phone?" "I dropped it in a puddle on the way to the airport." Mai smiled sheepishly at him but the small flare of jealousy I felt was squelched as one of her hands stole beneath my jacket and shirt to press against the bare skin and the small of my back. Her hands were freezing cold and I took a moment to survey her; wet hair, wet shoes but mostly dry clothes like she'd had on a long rain jacket. The one article of clothing that was getting increasingly more damp was her shirt. One of her button-down tops, a soft blue color but her hair was transferring water onto it and making it stick to her shoulders and upper chest and back. It also made it obvious that her hands weren't the only cold part of her body. I looked around for a towel and saw a large purple bag at the far end of the sofa. "Do you have a change of clothes with you?" I asked, looking at her soaked clothes from the knee down. "I have all my worldly possessions with me. I acted a little rashly and broke my lease at my apartment." She flushed. "I was a little upset when I left." "Well that works perfectly for us." Lin said, taking her bag. "I'll take your things." I nodded, catching his drift. "We'll have to clear out the back bedroom for you but it does have its own bathroom." "What are you two talking about?" she looked in between the two of us. "You're not suggesting I live at the office are you? I mean I know you guys are workaholics but I personally would like to have a life." "Being as unobservant as you are I'm sure you didn't notice that SPR is actually part of a duplex." I said, giving her a condescending smile. "Considering that we have such a large amount of sensitive information and expensive equipment it made sense to live close to work." I herded her after Lin as he went out the back door of the office and three feet over to the back door of the adjacent duplex. "Wait a minute. You live HERE?" She asked, emotions warring on her face between surprise and annoyance.

"Obviously. If we didn't we'd have just broken into someone's home or office." I rolled my eyes. "You're a dick Naru." I spun her to face me and tilted her face up with my thumbs on her jaw. "You still missed me." "Of course." She went up on tip-toe and pressed her lips to mine, biting gently on my lower lip. "But that doesn't make you less of a dick. I just happen to go for jerks." I let her pull away and follow Lin down the hall. Not just jerks. I thought, following closely. "A large part of the mess is files. If you don't mind putting in some overtime then we can work on scanning them into the computer and a back-up hard drive this weekend and the space can be yours." Lin was saying. "How much is rent?" Mai asked. Lin gave her a mildly affronted look, the look changed when he noticed her shirt and the way it hugged her chilled curves and he looked away quickly. "You think we'd make you pay for rent?" "I well of course!" She stammered. "I can't just live here for free!" "Of course not, you'll make tea and cook. You can cook can't you?" I asked, leaning against the door frame and crossing my arms. "Of course I can cook! I've cooked for myself since I was a kid!" She looked ready to punch me. That she got her fighting spirit back so easily after all the trauma she'd gone through made me breathe a soft sigh of relief. Her damp hair shimmered in the light of the room and her eyes fairly sparked with barely suppressed irritation. With a delicate flush to her cheeks and a faint pout on her full lips she looked perfect. This was the reaction I craved, the passion that my body ached for. "I'm going to cancel your flight and finish up some paperwork at the office." Lin murmured, ducking past me and out of the room. It was nearly midnight and the chances that he actually had paperwork were slim but I got the message, he was leaving us alone. I waited until I heard the door lock behind him before giving Mai my full attention. "You should change out of those wet shoes. I'll get a towel for your hair." She murmured her thanks and I stepped across the hall and into my bedroom, taking a clean towel from the stack next to my gi. I felt the warm presence before even turning, I'd been aware of Mai before but now, being so deeply connected with her, I felt it like a second sun.

She stood just inside the doorway of my bedroom and hesitated for only a moment before stepping up to me and placing her hands on my chest, cautious eyes meeting mine. "Is it really you?" She whispered.
.

Mai's POV I looked into Naru's midnight eyes. Naru's. Not Kazuya's. I knew that as deeply as I knew he would say something to kill the mood but I had to hear him verify it. "Mai." He took my hands in his and brought my fingertips to his lips. "Don't be an idiot." I sighed and shook my head with a smile. "Called that." Before he could ask I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. It was amazing after nearly a week of thinking I'd never have this again, never feel this way or taste his kiss again. It was like coming home. I felt the pads of his fingertips brush away tears from my eyes. "Don't cry anymore Mai." "I can't help it." I sniffled and leaned my forehead against him. "I'm just so relieved. After you told me not to wait for you" "What?" He pulled back to look down at me, expression fierce. "I-You" He was actually at a loss for words and I giggled. "If you hadn't been such an insomniac then I could have actually explained what was going on." My jaw dropped. "This is NOT my fault!" "You're the one who thought I told you not to wait." "You did! You said 'Don't wait for me'!" He paused and reflected, then glared at me again. "I told you 'Don't give up' and to 'wait for me'." "Clearly you need to work on your dream projecting skills." I glared back defiantly. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever-" He broke off and took a deep breath. "You are still emotionally distraught, now is not the time to be picking fights with you." I rolled my eyes. "Way less distraught than I was fifteen minutes ago." "But no less wet." Naru's eyes travelled down my body and lit with an interest that made me look down myself.

I blushed when I saw that my bra and shirt were doing nothing to hide the fact that my body was reacting to the cold, wet clothes. "I I'll go change." "Yes. I'd hate to take advantage of you in such a vulnerable position." Naru murmured. "But... you really shouldn't spend anymore time in those clothes, you'll catch cold." His hands on my shirt buttons stopped me as I made to leave the room. I pushed the door closed as the first button slipped out of its catch and my breath caught. "N-Naru" I couldn't help but be impressed at how quickly he unbuttoned my shirt. "I'm getting used to you stammering my name." His eyes danced as he peeled the wet material away from my shoulders. This time he sucked in a breath as he saw my white lace bra, plastered to my skin and transparent from the rain. I stood defiantly, ignoring the goosebumps from both his gaze and the chill air in the room. Without a word he reached down to turn on a space heater and moved me in front of it. I sighed in gratification as a wave of heat met my cold skin. "You'll overheat in all those clothes." I smiled and slipped the dark jacket from his shoulders, tossing it over a nearby chair. I tried to push him down on the edge of his western-style large bed but he side-stepped and I ended up falling down instead. "I believe I was planning on seducing you." He said in his usual calm voice but with a dark smile in his eyes. He unlaced my sneakers and pulled them off one at a time, shaking his head slightly at my polka-dotted socks. His mouth tipped up when my feet were bare and he could see my silver-painted toenails. "I find your hands and feet fascinating." He cupped my foot and rubbed his knuckles along the arch. "Why?" I whimpered as he did it again, this time applying more pressure. "It might be partly due to the paint." He blew gently across my toes and chuckled when I wiggled. "It's so feminine. Someday I want to watch you paint your nails." "You have a nail polish fetish?" I asked with a grin, propping myself up on my elbows. "Not exactly." He ran a hand up my calf inside my jeans and I was grateful that I'd shaved my legs before Lin's memory-recovery ritual. "More like a Mai fetish." I blushed scarlet. "And it gets worse every time I make you blush." He caught behind my knees and pulled me so my hips were at the edge of the bed. "That's certainly not the strangest fetish I've ever heard of." I brushed my fingers through his hair and paused. "Naru There's something I should tell you."

He rocked back on his heels, eyes guarded. "I'm ah I'm not well" I swallowed hard. He kept a level gaze on me. "It's about Lin isn't it?" I frowned. "No. Why would surely you don't think me and Lin are..?" I snorted a laugh. "No. I don't think you are. I've been partially aware for the past few days, catching bits and pieces. But If you want to slow down and process" He pushed his hand through his hair. "Once you take this step with me there's no going back." "You have no idea how true that is." I looked away. "That's what I have to tell you." "That you're a virgin?" He looked mildly taken-aback. "I'll admit that that is a bit of a surprise." I shrugged, taking his lightening-speed deductive reasoning in stride. "I've been sexual with someone but that was a step I didn't want to take. Not unless it was with someone special." I laughed uncomfortably. "Pretty silly huh?" Naru rose to his knees. "No. It's not silly. That bond can be powerful. Since we already have a permanent bond then that is something you should be sure about. It would further cement our relationship. It's irreversible." "After making one irreversible decision to bind myself to you then it really shouldn't be that hard to make another." I felt a fluttering in my stomach, a mixture of nerves and anticipation. "Do you regret that decision?" He asked cautiously. I looked at him; my very own narcissist, a man who had put his life on the line for me more than once. I thought of Lin, and why Naru would bring him up. I had feelings for Lin, and if the choice was between Lin and Kazuya it wasn't easy, but between Lin and Naru there was no contest. I'm sure Lin would be a good boyfriend for someone and he certainly was attractive but I wanted Naru the way I wanted to breathe. "I want you." I knelt in between his knees so we were both on the floor. "I want to drown in you. I want you to possess me." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "If you keep talking like that it's going to be very difficult to be gentle for your first time Love." I laughed. "I'm pretty sure I'm not still physically a virgin Naru. Very few women have their hymen intact these days." "It should still be gentle your first time." He opened his eyes as I started unbuttoning his shirt. "I take it you've made your final decision?"

"There was never a decision to make, final or otherwise." I pushed off his shirt and pulled his undershirt over his head. "Finally I've ached for your skin Naru." I ran my hands from his collarbone to his hips. "Are you sure you're a virgin?" He asked hoarsely. I grinned, proud that I could affect him like this. "I knew that you were more experienced than me so I practiced." "No more practicing except with me." He pulled me into his lap and kissed me. "Ever." I nodded and unlaced his shoes, slipping them off and smiling when I saw his black socks. "Typical Naru, are you colorblind?" "Are you saying I don't look good in black?" "Perish the thought." I nipped his collarbone and ran my tongue over the faint red mark. Naru lifted me back onto the bed but stayed kneeling in between my legs, tracing the line down the middle of my stomach with his lips and dipping his tongue into my belly button. He continued travelling down after paying homage to the dip in my stomach, until he touched the line of my jeans. "For the love of god Naru, just unbutton the damn things." I grabbed handfuls of the comforter. "Contrary to popular belief, begging does not make me feel like being more merciful." He sucked on a particularly sensitive area just inside my hip and I arched up to him, giving him room to slide his hands under my lower back. "It just makes me want to torture you more." "Cruel bastard." I traced his jaw with my fingers. He popped open the button on my jeans. I lifted to shimmy out of them as he tugged, miraculously leaving my lace hipster underwear in place. "While I've got your attention." Naru captured my wrists and held me still. "No more modeling." My jaw dropped. "What? How did you..?" I stopped and gritted my teeth. "Lin." He nodded and slid his handsand subsequently my wristsunder my back so I was forced into an arch. "I don't remember everything from while my memory was suppressed but I do remember obsessing over a picture of you modeling." "Obsessing?" I gave him a cat's satisfied smile. "Really." It was hard to imagine Naru obsessing over anything that wasn't work-related.

He gave me a small smirk and pushed to his feet, bent over me but still towering impressively. With a dark look he dipped to catch the peak of my breast in his mouth, rolling his tongue around the thin fabric until I gasped his name. "Okay! No modeling!" I could barely get the words out but it was enough and he relented. "Good." His eyes were dark and I could tell by the tautness of his jaw that his control was ready to break. I reached down and slid my hands along the line of his hip, into his pants and felt that tightly held control snap as I dragged my fingernails up his bare thigh. His psychic energy flared out and I caught it before it touched anything outside of the two of us, turning it back into nothing and neutralizing the destructive force. Using my new power sent a jolt like electricity through my body, touching every sensitive part from the inside and I met Naru's eyes as a similar reaction tore through him. For once he'd let go of his powers and it hadn't hurt and for that I was grateful. Instead of hurt, it felt amazing, sensual but not explicitly sexual and I rubbed against Naru's body with a soft sigh. "It did not feel like that with Gene." Naru gasped. "That's probably a good thing." I managed when I caught my breath. "Twincest is a little weird." "Only a little?" He raised an eyebrow. "Trust me Naru, there are plenty of girls out there who would be very interested in seeing you and Gene-" "STOP." He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Can we go back to what we were doing? Before the twincest comment?" "Mmm." I smiled. "I believe I had my hand down your pants" "Oh yes." He closed his eyes as I traced my fingers around in semi-circles, following up his thigh, across the line of his hips and down the other thigh, getting closer and closer to the part of him that I wanted to know intimately. "And I was just about to divest you of the rest of your clothes." "Were you now?" I unfastened and unzipped his pants. "Want to race?" I stripped off his remaining bottom layers and hooked a foot in them, pushing them to the ground. I wish I could have taken a picture in that moment, his eyebrows raised in surprise as he made no move to cover himself, typical Naru. Not even a little self-conscious as he kneeled over me. I let my eyes travel down his body. "You really are too handsome for your own good you know."

"Mai, tell me something that doesn't have to do with my corporeal attributes please." He stroked a hand down the side of my face. "If that's all you care about then tell me now and we'll stop." "Why not talk about your attributes. They're so plentiful." I dragged my eyes down his body appreciatively. "Fine." He straightened and made to pull away. I tugged him off-balance and flipped over so I was kneeling over him. "Don't be so dramatic Naru. You're brave and selfless, but I won't talk about your brain because you already know that you're brilliant." "How am I selfless?" He tilted his head to the side curiously but the erection pressing against me let me know he hadn't forgotten I was almost naked and on top of him. "You risked your life for me, putting my safety over your own. You're my knight in shiny black armor." He smiled slightly at that. "That wasn't selfless Mai, if anything that was entirely selfish." He easily reached around me to unsnap my bra with one hand and I let it fall away, brushing it to the floor to join Naru's pants. "I selfishly wanted you for myself." His eyes narrowed and his lips parted when my breasts were exposed and I giggled at how easy he was to distract, considering how much pride he put into his ability to focus. "Do that again." "Do what?" I gasped and laughed when his fingers found my ribs. "N-no! I'm t-ticklish!" "I can see that." He kept his narrowed gaze on my breasts as they bounced with my laughter. I tried to escape him but just ended up wiggling and grinding my hips on his erection, which did manage to get him to stop tickling me but didn't put me anywhere near escape. The next stroke of my hips was intentional and he groaned, rocking up to capture the tip of one of my breasts in his mouth again. "Ohh god!" I had to stop moving and catch his jaw at the same time as I came perilously close to an orgasm. "S-stop! You're going to make me I'm going to!" "So soon?" He smirked satisfactorily. "You're too easy." "It's not like it's an off switch." I said when I recovered, skipping backwards out of his grasp. "But since you're apparently so stoic I guess you need more attention." I knelt in between his knees. "Try not to bring down the house." I put my mouth over him with agonizing slowness while slipping my fingers into the back pocket of the jeans I'd been wearing, pulling out a condom and tearing open the wrapper.

I'd bought a pack after being in Japan for a few days, before the case started. I wasn't sure I was going to be having sex but just in case, I'd rather be safe than sorry. I watched Naru's stomach muscles tighten as I swapped my mouth for my hand, squeezing gently. "Just so we're clear, you're STD free right?" I asked calmly. "What? Of course." His eyes were glazed as he looked down at me, his mind taking a few moments to catch up. "Good. Now I was told that this would get a guy to do anything I wanted." I put the condom in my mouth. "That what would?" He cut off with a groan as I put my mouth back on him, rolling down the condom with my lips. "Yes. Anything." He gasped. "Now get up here." With a fluid motion he had me back on the bed and kneeling over him. I made to adjust so I could get my underwear off but he grabbed it and snapped it with a wrench of his hands and I squeaked. "I'll buy you new ones." He growled without the hint of an apology. He sat up so he was seated on the edge of the bed and I rocked up on my knees, carefully easing onto him. It was a completely unique sensation, being stretched like that in such an intimate way and I stopped halfway, body shuddering from the sensations. "Go as slow as you need." He murmured, lips brushing mine. "This should-" He broke off with a gasp as I stopped holding myself up and sheathed him completely inside me with one motion that would have hurt if I hadn't been so aroused. I took some time to catch my breath, feeling the orgasm that had been building crest at the feeling of being so intimately and deeply joined with Naru. The waves shuddered through me and I felt a throbbing that seemed to match my racing heartbeat. "Sweet Damnit Mai-" Naru tangled his hands in my hair and held me tightly, breath uneven. "I said slow!" "I can go slow another time, I want you NOW." I rose on my knees and fell again, gentler as I found a rhythm fast enough to ease the almost hungry ache I felt for him but giving my body some time to adjust to the foreign feeling of being filled with someone else. Naru wrapped an arm around my waist and held me still while he pushed into me, taking over the steady rhythm until I wrapped my fingers around his shoulders, encouraging him to let me participate. We found each other in our movements until it felt like even our breathing and heartbeat were at the same pace.

I felt my pleasure building at the same rate as his power and I drew it slowly into me while he pushed, both physically and psychically. It was finally too much and I bit his shoulder, moaning his name as I let the orgasm sweep me under, taking Naru with me so both our bodies shuddered with the tremors of the mutual climax. We fell back onto the bed, bodies slick with sweat from our love making and both breathing raggedly. "You are NEVER allowed to leave." Naru tucked my head under his chin. "Well YOU are never allow-" Footsteps outside the room made me break off mid-sentence and Naru tactfully pulled the edge of the comforter over our lower halves, keeping my chest pressed to his. "Naru! Mai! It's Takigawa, he has an urgent case that needs our immediate attention." Lin's voice came through the doorway. "How immediate?" Naru asked, closing his eyes in annoyance like he already knew the answer. "Multiple possessions at his father's shrine that are forcing their hosts to attempt suicide. They've had to bind three people in the past hour alone." I sighed and looked at Naru. "Not much choice then." "I suppose not." He pinched the bridge of his nose and let his head fall back onto the bed. "We'll meet you in the office in five minutes." He called to Lin. "Team Shibuya, off on another adventure." I smiled. End.