Disclaimer: Second chapter in the multi chapter fic. Thanks to my wonderful friend Kakashi Aisuryu, who helped me create some of the plot. She's amazing :)

I'll try to update at least once every three days, but do bear in mind that I spend a lot of time perfecting these. The first chapter took me 5 days to write :)

Enjoy, and please review! - Warning: some gory scenes – apologies in advance if timing is wonky.

Probable OOCness, but not too much. I wouldn't want to kill this amazing anime.

A/N: Lin gives her something else in the plane kitchen, but I forgot to put it in. So, I'll put in a flashback.

I'm speeding the story along a bit, but not too much.

And on with the story!

Flashback

When Lin and Mai broke apart, blushes evident on both their faces, Lin pulled something else out from an inside pocket.

"Listen, Mai. Sometimes, I'm not going to be there to look out for you. Which is why I'm giving you this necklace. It's a butterfly, to signify the fact that you're spreading your wings and becoming your own person. Not only that, but I've put a shiki in this necklace, so that if you're ever in danger, or about to run into it, I'll be alerted. I've lost many people, and I don't want to lose you too."

The butterfly wasn't big, but it was gold and silver, with little amethyst diamonds in the middle, non – symmetrical.

Mai gasped, tears coming to her eyes. "Wow. Lin – kun, thank you so much. I'm never taking this off. Help me put it on?" Lin nodded, a small smile on his face, and Mai turned around.

Lin unclipped the necklace, and reached forward to put it around Mai's neck, fumbling for a moment to clip it back up again. Then he tucked her hair out of her collar, and wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"Come on, I can sense Naru getting impatient." Mai cracked a smile, and grabbed Naru's tea, before walking through the door and down the aisle.

Some time later, they had landed, and retrieved their van (John and Masako had driven it over to them, as they hadn't gone across seas) and luggage, then gotten into the beloved van (Again, Mai in the front with Lin and Naru, much to Masako's dislike).

SPR had arrived at the case, and set everything up.

END of flashback

24 hours after settling in and setting up *

Mai walked to Lin's office, knocking gently.

"Come in." Upon gaining permission, Mai opened the door, and stepped into the office.

"Do you want tea, Lin – kun?"

Lin nodded, and held his cup out, purposefully making sure that his fingers brushed Mai's. Lin did this because he loved the feeling of electricity running up his arm whenever he touched Mai.

It was about 6pm, and Lin and Mai had been watching the monitors for Naru. They hadn't spoken, just sat in companion silence. Monk and Ayako were sitting on the couch in base with John and Masako, talking and giggling about something or other.

Once she'd done the tea,and given it to Lin, she sat beside Naru, doing paperwork, and put a steaming cup of tea by his hand.

"Naru?"

"Yeah?"

"I've done everything you want me to do, so can I be excused for a bit?"

"Yes. But do it quickly. And for gods sake, DON'T get lost. You may have a shiki with you, but you attract danger like a magnet."

Lin nodded, smirking. "See you in a minute Mai. Oh, I forgot to tell you something. If you feel like you're in danger, the necklace will start pulsing. When it does that, and only then, say my name ONCE, and I'll be there within 2 minutes. Don't ask me HOW it works, it just does. Go on, go."

Mai nodded, and wandered the corridor until she found the kitchen. For some reason, she didn't feel alone, and yet, the shiki necklace wasn't pulsing. Maybe she was imagining it.

When Mai reached the kitchen, she needed to go to the bathroom, so she took a detour and went into the bathroom.

Because of her terrible sense of direction, Naru had asked the owner of the house to put signs up everywhere, so that Mai knew where everything was. By this, he meant to buy big neon signs and decorate them with arrows and names of rooms, outside every room, corridor, staircase, etc.

She had sulked at first, but then she'd realised that he was actually trying to help her. Maybe Naru wasn't as heartless as he made you think.

When Mai thought that, she snorted quietly.

Upon reaching the bathroom, Mai felt a very uncomfortable feeling overcome her. Her face was suddenly very itchy. Thinking back over the past 24 hours – which is how long an allergic reaction can take to set in – Mai couldn't think of any time when she'd put stuff on her face. So it wasn't that. Mai's necklace wasn't pulsing. So she couldn't have been in danger... and yet... she didn't feel alone. Mai locked the door, sitting on the toilet seat. She started to scratch her face.

Aah... it felt good.

That's it. Keep going.

Mai sat up straight. She definitely didn't imagine that voice.

Yes you did.

Okay, once is your imagination, but twice? Mai scratched her face again.

Hehehehehe. (Imagine an evil laugh here)

Mai shuddered, and scratched her face. The lights went out. Then they flickered on. On and off. On and off. On and off. Mai had had enough. Reaching up to scratch her face again, Mai summoned up the courage to speak.

"Hello? Are you there?"

Nothing. She hadn't expected there to be.

Then, another strange feeling came over her, and she started to claw her face with nails that were suddenly long and hooked.

Laughing manically, Mai liked the feeling, and clawed herself again.

And again.

Thrice she clawed her face, and pulled her nails away, licking the blood and then clawing herself again.

Swirling her tongue around her mouth, she relished the taste of salt and rust.

Mai clawed her face, and then screamed a scream so horrible she thought she'd puke from the pain. But she enjoyed it too. Mai clawed her face again, but, instead of licking her hand clean, she dragged it down the white tile wall, sinking down as she did so.

That's not good enough... here, let me...

Mai brought her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around her figure, resting her head on her arms. The feeling had left her, and she started to sob.

"Who are you?" Mai screamed as something invisible clawed her face, much like the way she had. Her shiki started pulsing, but it hurt. Lin had not said it would hurt. Mai screamed again as something banged on the door.

I'm nobody.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Mai continued sobbing as something pounded on the door.

The thing continued pounding on the door, calling her name. Mai sobbed harder, and screamed at the pain of her self inflicted cuts. She'd been possessed, she knew it. The thing pounded at the door, and Mai knew the door was getting weaker. But still the thing called her name.

"Mai! Open the door, NOW!"

"NO!" Without looking, Mai knew that she looked horrible. Retching, Mai spat out the taste of blood from her mouth. Her shiki was now pulsing, so she called out Lin's name.

Silence.

Silence.

Silence. Mai rested her head on her arms, hunching up small.

The ever deafening silence...

...Then...

The lock clicked, and the door handle twisted, effectively opening the door.. But still she didn't look up. Footsteps ran to her, asked her to look up, what had happened. She answered, but never once looked up.

She told them that she'd been possessed, but that nothing was wrong.

"Liar." Naru's cold tone cut through her like a knife. "There's something wrong, or you would have looked up. There's also blood on the wall, and under your nails. This all indicates that the ghost who possessed you hurt you somehow. Now look UP!"

"No. I look horrible." Mai continued sobbing, and she found herself in a pair of strong arms.

"Ssh, Mai. Look up, otherwise we can't help you." Lin's calming tone did nothing for her, and she cried harder still. Mai didn't move a muscle, and Monk sighed from the doorway. The sigh wasn't impatient, or frustrated, but rather sympathetic. Mai smiled a little, but it died just as quickly as it had been born.

"Come on, Mai. Show Uncle Monk what that meanie of a ghost did."

Mai sighed. "Don't freak out, okay?"

She was met with silence, and Mai steeled herself. Taking a deep breath, Mai slowly looked up.

The person who was holding her backed away, and then they inhaled sharply at her face.

Ayako had her mouth covered with a hand, eyes wide. "Omigod, Mai..." Ayako breathed, unable to say more. Monk had his arm around Ayako, sadness in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Mai."

Mai shook her head, putting on a fake smile. "No worries..." her smile was short lived, however, because she started crying again. Lin caught her in his embrace again, rubbing her back soothingly.

John and Masako weren't there, so they were evidently still in base.

Naru's face was expressionless, but, if you looked closely, you could see he was all tensed up.

"Lin, get her back to base and tell Masako to see if she can sense any spirits anywhere. While you're there, tell John to come and exorcise the room. Ayako, Monk, clean this room up. Lin, sort Mai out. Mai, tea."

Ayako and Monk disappeared from the doorway, and their hurrying footsteps faded into the distance. Naru pulled out his mobile, and took a picture of Mai and the room, then put it back in his pocket. Lin helped Mai up, and together they walked back to base. Mai's tears had slowed down, but not entirely stopped.

When they'd got to base, Lin pulled out a first aid kit and got out some antiseptic wipes, scissors, and healing balm.

"Mai, what happened?" He ripped open a packet of antiseptic wipes, pulled one out and started wiping Mai's face, causing her to wince. "Sorry." Lin murmured, truly looking sorry.

Mai took a deep breath, and started telling the story, not leaving anything out. She didn't cry, but she did sniffle a few times. Lin finished wiping the blood off of her face, and then put some healing balm on the cuts, ignoring the feelings coursing through his veins.

When he'd done, Lin then took a pair of scissors and cut all of Mai's nails – save her toenails.

"Thank you, Lin – kun. I'm sorry for going by myself. I know I should've waited for one of you to come, but since Naru didn't mention it..."

Lin nodded. "Even if Naru doesn't say it, always take someone with you. You don't – yet – have any physical abilities, so you are the most vulnerable."

Leaning over, Lin tidied up the counter area and disposed of the antiseptic wipes. "Lin, what do my dreams mean? I don't actually want to sleep tonight..."

"We don't know yet, but if you have another one, tell someone AS SOON AS you wake up. Regardless of the time. They could be prophecies of the future, or warnings, or visions of the past. I'm logging each one, looking for a pattern. Tell us everything, such as emotions, things before you, thoughts, and more importantly, what happens. Okay?"

Mai nodded.

Lin kissed Mai on the forehead, and she smiled. "What if I have a nightmare, and can't sleep? I can't wake Ayako or Monk, because they say I'm over reacting, and Masako doesn't like me, so I can't ask her, and John never wakes up. Naru would glare, so I normally just sit there and stew in fear." She was hinting, and she knew it. Lin knew it too, but he decided to act like he didn't know what she was hinting at... after a few seconds, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Easy. You take your duvet to my room. The good thing is that your room, and my room are linked by a door. All you have to do is get out of bed, turn right from the bottom of the bed, and walk forward. I'm always here, Mai."

Mai smiled, and hopped off of the counter, and she walked into the room with all the monitors, where the rest were, save John and Masako. This left Lin staring at the empty space that Mai had occupied for the last half hour.

Shaking himself slightly, Lin lightly disinfected the work area, and inhaled the remnants of Mai that he could still smell after a few minutes. Knowing she'd be in the kitchen, Lin wondered over to his laptop and started typing up everything that had happened in the past 24 hours.

Day 1, and Mai had already been attacked.

By herself. Her possessed herself.

Wow, this ghost worked fast. Lin could hardly wait to see what tomorrow would bring. Saving the document, and minimising it, Lin hacked into the landlord's personal information, and printed out the pages containing all the residents that had lived in the house, and how they had died. He opened up MSN again, and saw that Mai was online. So she must have done Naru's tea. He clicked on her name, and typed her a quick message.

(A/N:

Names on MSN: LaptopObsessor Lin

TeaIsMyLifeline Naru

UncleMonk Monk

FailedPriestess Ayako

NaruLover Masako

TheExorciser John

BeautifulFaerie Mai)

LaptopObsessor says: Hey, Mai.

BeautifulFaerie says: Oh, hi, Lin – kun! What are you working on now?

LaptopObsessor says: Just everything that's happened over the last 24 hours. Or rather, everything Naru doesn't want to do.

BeautifulFaerie says: That tea – loving narcissistic jerk! Do you want help?

LaptopObsessor says: If you want to help, then come help. What are you doing?

BeautifulFaerie says: Failing maths. Nothing new. Yeah, hang on, I'll move my laptop into your office. If that's alright...

LaptopObsessor says: Yeah, that's fine. Actually, I'll ask Naru if I can help you in maths.

BeautifulFaerie says: Lin – kun, are you serious? I mean, Naru can be pretty harsh when he wants to be, and I don't want to get you into trouble or anything...

LaptopObsessor says: Yeah, I'm serious. When am I not? Don't answer that.

TeaIsMyLifeline has just entered the chatroom.

BeautifulFaerie says: Naru – chan, I need help on my maths homework, and I'm failing. Miserably. Lin – kun just offered to help me. Is that alright with you? I'll help him do whatever he needs to do, first... please?

TeaIsMyLifeline says: Hn. Lin, what've you done so far?

LaptopObsessor says: I've printed off family records, and finished typing up that report you wanted done for today. In other words, everything. Mai needs help, so I'm now going to 'tutor' her in maths. Bye, Naru.

LaptopObsessor has left the chatroom

BeautifulFaerie says: Bye, Naru – chan.

BeautifulFaerie has left the chatroom.

TeaIsMyLifeline has left the chatroom.

Sighing, Lin waited for Mai to walk into the room. A presence appeared in his mind. Naru.

So, what are you helping her with again?

Maths.

And that's it?

Yes.

Hn. Okay then. Just remember that I'm literally sitting beside you.

No, actually, you're sitting behind me.

Yeah, but you need the table, so it'll be opposite me.

Ugh, I'm bored of this, anyway, Mai's here now. Behave.

Likewise.

Mai walked into the room, and looked at the monitors. "Lin, Naru!"

Lin and Naru whipped their heads around. There was a fog cloud on one of the monitors. Actually, it was in Mai's room. "Mai, go see how cold it is. Don't worry about going alone, there are camera all along the route! Go!"

"Er, right." She set off at a sprint, and Lin and Naru watched as she bumped into several walls turning the corners. At one time, she fell over, but then got straight back up and carried on running. Naru smirked, but Lin didn't do anything. He was too busy watching the monitors. Lin watched Mai run into the room, and take the temperature of it. At her reaction, it was really cold, because she started to shiver. Lin turned the microphone on.

"Mai, come back now. What's the reading?"

"Er... how to say it. It's room temperature, and yet, I was shivering like mad. Weird." Naru and Lin shared a glance.

"Mai. Come back. Now." It was not a suggestion, but an order. Lin was still watching the screen. Then he saw it. The cloud was moving towards Mai. "MAI! RUN!"

Mai looked at the cloud, screamed (this hurt Lin's ears) and set off at a sprint back toward the main room that they called base. When she got there, the cloud was still following her, so she lunged for the door, and slammed it shut. Naru got up and locked it.

"What... was that?" Lin asked of Naru.

"Obviously a spirit that wants Mai. But why?" Turning back to his computer, Lin picked up the pages of the family records, scanning them quickly.

"There's nothing here about people dying in that room. Is it site bound?"

Naru shrugged. Lin couldn't keep his eyes off of Mai's face. There were tears in her eyes. "Mai?"

Mai looked at Lin, and the tears spilled over, and she ran from the room, sobbing. Naru looked at Lin. "I think she's worried about her face scarring. She's worried about us hating her for it. That's the only explanation I can offer. Monk."

"Yeah?"

"Go after Mai, find out what's wrong. Get the whole thing out of her." Monk nodded, and ran from the room. Lin watched him go to Mai's room, and felt a twinge of jealousy. The fog had now gone from her room, but Lin didn't have time to worry about it. He was worried about Mai.

He couldn't get Mai's face out of his mind.

The scratches went from just under her left eye, and stopped at the corner of her mouth. It looked raw, but it had stopped bleeding. Surrounded by a purplish bruise, the scratches (three of them) looked like something from a horror movie.

Lin had put healing balm on the scratches, and added an ancient non – scarring spell to it as he was adding it. Which meant that Mai's fear was silly. But... he couldn't blame her. Mai had always been insecure, and this made it even worse. Mai had never been stunningly beautiful, but she had always been pretty.

But Lin didn't care for looks. Unlike so many other guys, he saw past the face and looked into the personality. Naru sat down and did more paperwork, while Lin watched the monitor showing Mai's room. He watched as Monk hugged Mai, and spoke to her, but all he got in return were nods and shakes of the head.

Monk wandered back into the room, shaking his head. "All I got was: 'Lin and Naru hate me now. I'm sure of it. After this, Naru will fire me. All because I went somewhere alone. The shiki didn't work, and, when it did, it hurt. He'll never love me. Not now,' Then she started crying, and I can't get her to stop. Gods, Lin. I normally always cheer her up. But this time, nothing."

Naru and Lin shared a glance. They connected minds.

That always works. Poor Mai. She didn't deserve this.

Lin agreed with Naru. Monk just had this thing with Mai, where all he had to do is say something, and she'd smile. No matter what, that always worked. Mai must be really hurt this time.

Why did the shiki hurt her?

Lin thought about this, and when he came up with nothing, he asked a shiki.

It'd only hurt her if the ghost possessing her knew Mai before they died. Go to her. The shiki within the necklace is calling.

Standing up, he left the room, jogging to Mai's room.

I'm going to comfort her. If I have to, I'll make her sleep.

He felt Naru nod, and the connection dissolved. Knocking on Mai's door, he didn't hear an answer, but entered anyway. Upon entrance, Lin saw Mai curled up on the couch in the room where she slept, face hidden, and her form was shaking at the shoulders. She was still crying. Again, Lin was out of his league. A twinge of regret hit him.

There was his girlfriend crying over something in which she had no control, and there was him, talking to Naru through his mind.

Wordlessly and soundlessly, Lin walked across the room, and sat next to Mai on the bed. He didn't know what to do. Comfort her, yeah. But how? What did Monk normally do to calm her? Take the piss out of Naru... wind Ayako up... give her a bone crushing hug... ruffle her hair... nuh – uh. None of that was Lin.

So what was?

Gently, Lin rolled Mai over, so she was facing the ceiling, and studied her features. The scratches were already starting to heal, and where it had disappeared completely, there were no scars. Which meant that her fears were irrational... no. No, they weren't. Any girl would worry over her face, especially when you claw it so much that it bleeds.

Mai wasn't sleeping, she was watching Lin intently, a small smile showing on her features. "Hey."

"Hi. You okay?"

Mai nodded. "Yeah. But I need help on my maths. I just got an email from my teacher, saying that I'm failing maths, and if I don't improve, she'll flunk me." She sat up, and moved toward the end of the bed, rummaging in her bag for her maths homework, handing it to Lin to inspect. Scanning it, he saw that she had about 3 out of 20 questions right. The questions were on algebra.

"I can see why, I mean, I've probably only got 2 or 3 right, but with all the cases, and Naru wanting his tea, I never get time to study. I don't want to have to flunk maths, but, at the same time, I don't want to have to leave a case just to study. Maybe if I weren't so stupid, maybe I wouldn't be in this dilemma. No, actually, I would be. Being stupid is in my nature."

"How far are you behind in your maths?"

Mai looked down at her homework sheet, and held it up. "I'm not that far behind, but I hate not understanding something. Anyway, have you found anything new yet?"

Lin shook his head, and they launched into a conversation that lasted for 3 hours and 24 minutes. When Lin next looked at the clock, it was 2am.

"Mai. It's 2 in the morning. Come on, we've got work to do." Mai nodded, and pulled Lin with her to the room where Naru, Ayako, John, Masako and Monk were. When they walked in, Ayako raised an eyebrow, and Monk suggestively waggled his eyebrows.

"Right. Naru, we've done our work, we're going to bed." Monk and Ayako left the room without waiting for a reply from Naru, and John and Masako followed soon after. Mai turned to Naru, who was still doing paperwork.

"What needs doing, Naru?" Without lifting his head, Naru pointed to a massive pile of paperwork in the middle of the table. Groaning, she set to work, poking her tongue out at Lin when he smiled faintly at her response.

Mai had long since calmed down, and now it was like she'd accepted it. But if you looked closely, like Lin was, you would see the slight water in her eyes, and she was tensed just a little. Lin was sat opposite the monitors, typing out his observations, and what they had learnt so far in the past 24 hours.

Every now and then, he'd turn in his seat to watch Mai and Naru, with their heads down doing paperwork. For some reason, it filled him with pride when he thought of how far Naru had come since Gene's death. Sure, he missed Gene, everyone did, but Mai had come to fill that gap. She was like the glue of SPR, she held them all together.

Sometimes Lin marvelled at Mai's patience with Naru, and was always surprised – though he didn't show it – when Mai did everything he asked of her. Never once had she said 'no' to making tea.

He watched as Mai frowned over something in the paperwork.

"Naru?"

"Hn?"

"What should I put for this one?" Without waiting for an answer, she swivelled the paper round so that Naru could look.

"What one?"

"That one." She pointed to it with a finger on her right hand.

Looking down, Naru read the question. "You're doing homework?"

Mai shrugged. "It was in the pile of stuff to do. Anyway, what is it?"

Naru frowned. "Pass me a calculator. Even I can't figure this one out." Mai's eyes widened. Wordlessly – though surprise was in his eyes – Lin handed over the calculator. Tapping away, Naru frowned, and showed Mai the answer.

"31,750." Mai murmured, looking thoroughly confused.

"What was the question?"

"63.5 x 500" Lin blinked.

"Yeah, that's the answer." Mai pulled it back toward her, and looked at the next question, before giving up, crumpling it up, and chucking it at Lin's head. (This caused it to bounce straight off, and Mai to get a glare from her boyfriend of 26 hours).

"Mai, tea."

Mai was laying in bed, tossing and turning, unable to get comfy. The room she was in was where the ghost had first appeared, and she was unable to shut her eyes for even a second. She remembered the Bloody Labyrinth case, where the ghost had been a mere 2 inches from her face.

Come to me Mai Taniyama.

She sat up so fast she felt dizzy. "Who's there?"

You'll never know...

"Listen, whoever you are. We can help you. What do you want?"

Something money can't buy. Something I never had. A life of my own. A sister. Someone who listens. Who understands me. You can't get me any of that.

The ghostly voice was sad, and Mai felt a pang of sorrow grab her heart.

"I'm sorry. What's you're name?"

I have no name. I died during birth.

"Oh my God... I'm so sorry. But then... why are you a ghost?"

I don't know. I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt any of you. But it seems to be in my nature. I cannot help it.

"I really am sorry. Do you want to talk to Naru, our boss?"

I cannot. Only you can hear me. But I could interact with him through you.

"You mean... possession?"

Yes.

Mai shuddered. Here she was sitting in her room, at 4am, talking to a ghost that only she could apparently hear. What was more, was that a shiki had said that it'd only hurt Mai if the ghost possessing her knew her. And yet... how could Mai know someone who had no name, and had died at birth? It just didn't add up.

She had a gut feeling that this case would unearth some secrets that would change her life forever.

Lin walked into her room, because he had to get through hers to go into his. "Night, Mai."

"Night. Thank you, Lin – kun."

"For what?" Mai could practically taste his frown.

"Everything." She heard him laugh, and raised her head up, to look at him. It was dawn, and she was tired. "The ghost just spoke to me." She hadn't meant to say it.

"What!" He frowned again.

Mai nodded. "I know. Here, I'll write down the conversation."

Once she'd done that, Lin looked it over. "Thanks, Mai. This'll help a lot."

"No problem. At least I'm useful for something, right?" Mai smiled, but it was half – hearted, and weak, which – of course – made Lin see right through it. But, being the gentleman that he was, he didn't mention it, but instead gave her a hug, and went to bed.

Mai slept. And she slept. And she slept. In fact, she slept for 14 hours straight. So it was about 6pm when she awoke from her deep slumber.

"Mrg...Nuh...uh...Mrg...grrr..." This was her way of waking herself up. However, she stopped moaning when she heard voices just outside the room. It sounded like Masako, Lin and... Naru?

Halting her groaning, Mai listened in to their hushed conversation.

"It's weird, Naru... There's a spirit in her room, but the temperature is as normal, and the aura surrounding it is happy, like... like it doesn't want to intentionally hurt her. And, Lin – san said that the shiki necklace would only hurt if the ghost knew Mai. But, the age of the spirit is young, like a newborn who died at birth, and it said that Mai would never know who it was. And another thing. Based on the conversation the ghost held with Mai, the spirit must know Mai personally for only Mai to be able to hear it. I'm worried for her, and yet... I think the only one who can solve this is you guys. It's strange... it's like I can only sense it when it wants me to."

"Hmm... Lin, what did you find on this house?"

"Nothing. The owners who lived here previously just disappeared one day. Moved out without telling anyone."

"Strange. Has John exorcised the room?"

"Yes. There was nothing there. I think the ghost is site bound."

"I agree. Definitely weird. Someone needs to wake Mai up. She's been asleep for 14 hours, and it's now 6pm."

Mai got out of bed, ignoring the conversation outside. She brushed her teeth, and spat the toothpaste mix into the sink, then used Listerine, wincing as she accidentally swallowed some. Moving back into her room (shared with Masako) she cracked open the door, and stepped out.

"Morning... uhh..." Mai rubbed her eyes, ignoring the amused glances she got. Apparently John, Ayako and Monk had joined in the conversation since she'd got out of bed.

"Awwh, little Mai isn't an afternoon person." Mai shot Monk a glare.

"Ah, so it's awake." Mai's glare died, and she smiled at Lin, giving him a hug. He kissed her cheek, ignoring the dull ache in his back as he bent down to do so.

"Wa – hey!" Ayako smacked Monk around the head, and Mai released Lin.

"Tea." Everyone started laughing – save Lin and Naru, but even those two cracked small smiles. "What's funny?"

"Well... you sounded just like Naru when you did that..." Mai glared at Ayako, and shuffled toward the monitors, still rubbing her eyes.

Ayako smiled at her adopted sister (they were like sisters) and fixed her some tea. "Is there any progress on the monitors?" Mai had waken up now, though that was probably because she'd drained her tea the minute Ayako had set it down.

Naru shook his head. "No. This case is really weird."

Mai nodded. She hadn't dreamed last night, which was a novelty within itself.

"Anyone want takeaway?"

There was a chorus of 'yes', and Monk was the loudest, so Lin called the local chip shop and placed orders for everyone. "Where are the owners?"

"They've gone on holiday, so we have the house to ourselves. They call every few hours or so." Mai nodded, just as Lin put the phone down.

"It'll be here in 20 minutes."

"So, what have you guys been doing today?"

"Oh, nothing much. Took another walk through the house, taking temperatures, and then Ayako and I walked to the library to look for information, Masako and John went for a walk in a local park, and Naru took a walk around the block, trying to find some decent tea bags. Lin – san has been staying here, doing more research, and checking up on you every now and then."

"Oh, you shouldn't have done that. Lin – kun, you could've gone out too. I wouldn't have minded."

He smiled softly. "I know. But I wanted to. I didn't want you to wake up to find no one here. I had to stay behind anyway..." He trailed off.

"Mai, while the takeaways are coming, go get plates and tomato sauce. And tea!"

Mai nodded, and wandered out of the room, looking at the signs to see where the plates were. Wait, hang on... they'd be in the kitchen... duh. Knowing Naru was probably watching, to make sure she didn't get lost, she took a right and found the kitchen, grabbing plates from a cupboard.

She started to feel nauseous, so she put the plates down, and gripped the counter slightly. Then a cold feeling took her over, and another being joined her.

Move over.

'No! Get out of my head!'

With a firm shove, Mai felt herself being pushed to the back of her own head, and all she could do was watch as this second being acted like her, picking up the plates and taking them back into the base where the rest of the SPR crew were.

A/N: Mai's speech as she's possessed will be like this: 'Hey, Naru!' You'll know she's not possessed when it goes back to "Naru!". Okay, that's all. Oh, no it's not. Because she's possessed, she'll speak in a different manner, so no moaning of Mai OOCness in the reviews!

'I got the plates. I got the tea. Sauce is in the kitchen.' Mai set the plates down, and wandered back into the kitchen to get the tea, plonking it down in front of Naru. Some tea splashed over the edge, and landed on Naru's hand. In return, Mai got a glare that would've killed her seven times over, had she been anyone else.

But Mai Taniyama was not anyone else. She'd spent a year and a bit around Naru's glares, so they affected her no more.

'I'm going to examine the monitors, now. Lin, pass me some headphones, please.' She sat down next to Lin, and started examining the monitors, before she starting laughing quietly to herself. The laugh grew louder, and more evil, and the team looked at her as her eyes flashed red. Naru and Lin exchanged glances, and John stepped forward, nodding.

"In the beginning there was word..."

Naru tuned him out, as he'd heard it all before, and sneaked up behind Mai, restraining her arms.

'Let me go, you moron! Let me go, I say!'

Then her voice changed, and it became deeper, more masculine. Lin groaned softly, and Monk looked at him in sympathy, knowing how this must feel. It couldn't have been easy watching your girlfriend be possessed. Twice in two days.

As John continued to exorcise the ghost, Mai's eyes glowed red, and she opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Her face contorted in agony – now completely healed, and only the faintest scarring – and then she collapsed, her face now completely relaxed. Naru caught her as she fell, and set her gently on the ground. Masako and John wandered about the room, trying to sense spirits. Once Masako cleared the room, the doorbell rang, and Lin went to get the door and takeaway food.

Half an hour later, they were all finishing up the remnants of their tea (or breakfast, for Mai). She'd gone through a lot in the past 24 hours, and Naru was contemplating whether to send her back to SPR base. Was it too dangerous for her?

Sure, all the other cases had been dangerous, but never like this. Never before had she been possessed, and hurt by her possessed self in under 24 hours. Never before had Monk failed in cheering her up.

Still, first time for everything...

He watched her, inconspicuously, of course, as she bent over paperwork that needed doing. Her hand was steady, the writing readable (which is more than I can say for my writing, even when I'm taking my time, it's messy, like a spider having a fit across a page!... Okay... not quite like that... but it's messy. Always has been. Alright, fine. Shutting up now.), and the aura surrounding her was nice and relaxed, like she hadn't a care in the world.

In the 43 hours or so that they'd been dating (Lin hated the term 'going out'. It sounded trashy.), Lin had never once kissed her properly. She'd had her first kiss (on the cheek, forehead), but she hadn't had her first French kiss with tongue and stuff (I hate the word 'snog', it sounds piggish, AND my OpenOffice document doesn't recognise it as a word.). She knew that Lin was giving her time to back out, but she wasn't going to.

Lin was letting her get her head around the whole 'dating' thing, and he knew about her lack of experience when it comes to boys. There weren't many 18 year old innocent teens about these days, (this is just for the purpose of the story, so no moaning about 'plenty of teens are innocent'. I made it up for the story.) so he was giving her a chance to know her own mind, to make sure that she didn't throw away her first on a guy she wasn't sure she loved.

Lin was 26, so he'd had his first, and he'd thrown it away to a girl who was cheating on him. (Again, made up for the story.) He didn't want Mai to lose her first when she wasn't sure. He wouldn't force her to do anything, or be anyone. As long as she was herself, he was happy.

And if she decided to keep dating him, and maybe go further, he'd make her first time be as special as his could've been. But he'd marry her first.

He was all about honour, and he wanted this relationship to last as long as possible.

(Apologies if the last few paragraphs were OOC.)

Okay, end of chapter. Hopefully this was as good as the first chapter was. If it wasn't, then tell me why, and how to improve.

If anything confused you, then just know that it'll be cleared up soon, in the next few chapters, but feel free to PM me anything. Apologies for the length.

Review, and you all get glomped by your favourite anime crush. But, if you're like me, with a list of 25 anime guys you'd LOVE to do, then you can have 'em all :)

^^^ No exaggerations. I actually DO have a list of 25 anime guys I'd love to do. Seriously.

Anyway, this took longer than it should to get up, because we had a big thunder storm, which made the Internet go down, and it took a while to get back up. As soon as this text finishes, I'll be writing the third chapter. And... go :)

(Though, if you're reading this, it's the next chapter, soo...)

Yeah, review. Now :)