"Innocence and ignorance, it all goes hand in hand;

I'm not sure that I'm right, but I hope you'll understand.

I hope that you're still searching for the start that has no end

And all the plastic people have now become your friends.

Before you start to drift and your soul begins to scream,

I just wanted to tell you that you're listening to a dream," –Shinedown

It had been six years since Naru had been to Japan. He had spent the last six years researching the strangest phenomenon with his family. Of course, now he realized that he had just been using that as an excuse to prolong a certain reunion.

He wholeheartedly wanted the reunion to take place, but he dreaded the awkwardness it would bring. He wished he could just skip all the awkwardness and go right back to having her back by his side, but life doesn't work that way. So, he procrastinated . . . for six years.

After finally mustering up the courage, he called up his former employee, Hosho Takigawa. The monk, as was his calling in the days they had known each other, was welcoming. He encouraged the young man to come and stay at his house for a few days. Maybe they could even get the old gang together for a night.

This was a pleasing prospect for Naru, so he jumped on the first flight he could and soon found himself standing in front of the Takigawa house. The first thing to catch Naru's eye was not the house itself, although it was rather sizeable. But no, it was the four year-old girl with fiery red hair that caught his attention.

The said girl ran up to the men and jumped in Takigawa's arms. "Daddy, what do you think of my hair? Aunt Masa-chan did it!" It was then that Naru noticed little butterfly clips glittering in her red locks.

Takigawa gave a satisfactory answer and then the young girl ran back inside to show her mother. The man invited his former boss to come inside. He was, however, kind enough to tell him about the chaos that was about to ensue.

"I'm going to warn you, we have two very rambunctious kids. They're mostly harmless, though," the 'mostly' didn't comfort Naru much, but he doubted a kid could do too much damage. "But it's Ayako you have to watch out for. She's carrying out third and can be a bit temperamental."

Ayako, now that was a familiar name to Naru. She had been another one of his employees – back when she was still Matzuzaki, a Shinto priestess. Naru never would've guessed they'd have stayed together this long.

He then took that to mean "Aunt Masa-chan" must be Masako Hara. He faintly wondered how much the medium had changed over the years. She used to be quite petty when she worked for him at SPR.

The two men reached the kitchen and Naru found that the two women hadn't changed much, appearance-wise. The only apparent difference was that Ayako looked as if she swallowed a bowling ball and Hara had ditched her traditional kimonos for normal, everyday clothes. The annoyed look on the medium's face told Naru that some things had definitely changed.

"I think I see a spirit, but I'm not sure. His aura is very unclear," Ayako snorted at the young woman before welcoming Naru back. She smiled at him and he was surprised that she wasn't angry with him. He had expected her to chew him out for vanishing on them. Maybe he had been right in waiting as long as he did – whatever bad feelings they had towards him seemed to have subsided, for the most part.

"Yasuhara called a little bit ago and said he was going to be late," Ayako informed her husband, who had already started to look around for the other members of their team. "John went to pick up Mai and Hotaru, but they should be here soon."

Osamu Yasuhara had been SPR's researcher – he hadn't actually been a part of the team for too long before it disbanded. John Brown had been the groups Catholic Priest from Australia. Takigawa had informed Naru that he was now working at an orphanage nearby. John had a very kind personality, so that actually suited him.

Of course, Naru was more interested in Mai. Mai Taniyama had been his assistant, who unbeknownst to him, had been guided by his twin brother, Gene, in the astral plane. The entire reason he prolonged his arrival was because he had rejected her confession by asking if she had replaced him with his brother.

She was also the reason he came back. He hoped that he could change her mind or maybe plead for forgiveness. That wasn't really his style, but what was a man in love supposed to do? Now, his question was – who's Hotaru?

"Hotaru is Mai's son," Takigawa was ready to answer that one. "She adopted when he was about eight years old, I guess. He's thirteen, now." Naru did the math and figured that she had adopted him five years ago – she would've been barely eighteen.

"He's a special kid. Reminds me a lot of Mai," Naru thought that he liked the kid already. Masako spoke up next, however, and shared something slightly worrisome.

"I don't know. He somewhat reminds me of Yasu," there was a sly smile on Masako's lips that didn't sit well with Naru. He hoped that didn't mean that the kid was a completely perverse smart aleck.

"I think that's them now," Takigawa took his daughter and ran back to the front door. Ayako wandered off in the other direction with Masako, complaining about having to wake up a sleeping prince.

Naru decided to follow the monk. He felt that was probably the safest route. Father Brown was the first to greet him. He still looked as young as ever. Another young man stood behind him – one Naru didn't recognize. He looked young, maybe just barely a teenager. Naru deducted that he must have been Hotaru.

"Where's your mama?" Naru was wondering the same thing. The young boy, who was holding a pillow strangely enough, smiled up at Takigawa and shrugged.

"Oh, she's just using the phone. She'll make her way up here eventually," Takigawa ruffled the boy's hair, muttering something about not being so carefree, and pulled the boy inside.

"It's nice to see you again, Mr. Davis," the ever polite John must have deemed it proper to call Naru by his real name. It was strange to hear it in this place; SPR had mostly known him under his alias, Kazuya Shibuya.

"Pleasure to see you, too, Father," Naru gave the priest a small business smile – the kind of smile that never quite reaches the eyes, but is necessary if you don't want to come across as rude. John smiled back genuinely before entering the house.

It was at this moment that Mai had begun to waddle towards the door; yes, waddle. Naru could only state as the normally petite woman walked up to him, all the while looking like she was trying to smuggle a beach ball under her shirt.

"It's rude to stare, ya know," Mai beamed at him. "It's been far too long, Naru. You should've come sooner. We've really missed you."

"My apologies," that seemed to be all Naru could get out. His eyes trailed from her stomach to the ring on her left hand. "And congratulations."

"Thank you!" Mai stepped inside and motioned for him to follow her back into the kitchen. "We've been married for four years, now. But we couldn't get pregnant until about eight months ago. Hotaru's stoked to be a big brother."

Naru stayed silent as the woman made her slow trek through the house. He was extremely curious as to who the lucky guy was. He just couldn't work up the courage to ask.

"Mai, you look as if you're about to pop any minute now," Masako's eyes were wide as Mai and Naru entered. She quickly offered the pregnant woman a chair. Mai took it gratefully and Naru could only imagine the pain of carrying all that weight.

"I've been telling them to hang in there for another month; then, they can share a birthday with their big brother," Mai smiled and rubbed the bump. Hotaru handed his mother the pillow he had been carrying. She stood up and sat it in her chair. "Thanks!"

"Hotaru, come and see the new baby's room!" the boy was dragged out of the room by an excitable four year-old. A sandy blonde two year-old, who was still half asleep, followed his big sister and the teenage boy.

"He'll be a great big brother," Ayako smiled at the children as they went. She didn't seem too concerned as Hotaru went with the little ones.

The adults conversed about different going on in their lives. Father Brown spoke of a new kid in the orphanage. Hara told stories about working on her new TV show. The Takigawas shared amusing things that happened with the kids.

Mai would laugh and comment ever now and then. Naru, on the other hand, remained silent. He felt out of place, so out of touch with them now. He wasn't aware that Hara broke her wrist last month while she was filming or that Yasuhara had recently been promoted at his job. Where was that guy, anyhow?

"Osamu just texted me; he said that the news story they were working on took longer than he expected," Yasuhara worked for some big newspaper, apparently. "He's on his way over, now." Mai made a disgruntled face at her phone.

"He's been working a lot of hours, hasn't he?" Masako looked concerned for their friend. Takigawa laughed awkwardly and said that it came with the job. "I guess he has come a long way from the music store."

"Speaking of old jobs, has anyone seen the old SPR office?" Takigawa succeeded in capturing Naru's attention He noticed that Mai also seemed more alert with this subject change.

"Yeah, Asuka and I took Osamu's little sister there for her birthday," Mai smiled. "It's been turned into a little café. When I saw that, I couldn't help but remember all the times that Naru would storm out complaining that it wasn't a café."

"That sounds about right," even Naru smiled a little at the memory. Although, was quite disappointed that yet another thing had changed during his absence. He glanced over at Mai and still couldn't believe that she was pregnant. She was pregnant and married, to whom Naru still didn't know.

"I think I hear Yasu," Ayako pulled her casserole out of the oven. Mai hopped out of her chair and waddled her way through the house again. Naru followed her at a distance, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.

He was still standing a few feet away when Yasuhara walked in. He was there when the said man wrapped his arms around Mai; when he held her, kissed her, and called her "Mrs. Yasuhara".

Mrs. Yasuhara, that name seemed to echo in Naru's head. The image of the two of them together had burned itself in his brain. Sure, he had known she was obviously with someone, but seeing it was totally different. Naru felt the urge to scream.

"Noll, Noll, wake up," Gene shook his brother, who had been muttering strange names like 'Mrs. Yasuhara' and 'Hotaru'. And just a few moments ago, he had started screaming. No matter how hard Gene tried, his brother refused to wake up. So, Gene pushed him off the bed.

"Hey, what was that for?" Gene simply shrugged and grinned down at his brother. Noll sighed and climbed back into bed. He stayed silent for a few moments, contemplating something. "How long has it been since we left Japan?"

"Almost a year, I think. Why?" Gene rolled over on his stomach and propped his head up on some pillows. He watched Noll curiously, wondering what was on the boy's mind.

"I need to go back to Japan," Gene knew that Noll had been considering going back eventually. Noll talked about setting up a permanent branch of SPR there on more than one occasion. Noll always seemed hesitant to return, however.

"Does this have anything to do with the nightmare you just had?" Noll nodded and Gene could still see the traces of pain in his eyes. "You should take Mother and Madoka with you. They'll be a great help with setting up the office and they can explore Japan for a bit, before the rest of us arrive."

Noll merely nodded and the two boys went back to bed. When they woke up, Noll couldn't recall what he dreamt about. He could only remember the profound effect it had on him. With very little persuasion from his brother, he went and made plans with his family. One week later, Noll boarded a plane to Japan.

A/N: So, this is kind of a prequel chapter to Unlocked. This idea just jumped in my head and I couldn't find anywhere to add it in the story - so, here you it is. I apologize if it freaked anyone out. I hope you enjoyed it! thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or Shinedown's lyrics.