Hello everyone! So this chapter is mostly filler as we are gearing up for our first case. This might be the longest chapter we'll see for a while. School starts next week, so new chapters will most likely be shorter and updates will probably be less frequent.

I hope you enjoy!

Naru's eyes ached. He'd only been able to nap on Mai's couch for two hours before his restless mind woke him up. Since then, he had been alternating between scrolling through countless websites on his laptop and flipping through books, first researching any entities that might be able to force someone to astral project and then switching topics to psychic powers that develop in early adulthood. Both searches had been fruitless so far.

Once again, his gaze wandered to Mai's closed bedroom door. She hadn't woken up yet. Madoka said that this was unusual, but Naru had a hard time believing that the girl he'd known to be perpetually late might actually have mastered the skill of waking up early. Additionally, the unexpected astral projection combined with whatever power Mai demonstrated last night probably used a lot of energy, causing her to be fatigued. Therefore, he believed that there was no reason to be overly concerned at the present time.

And yet the tiniest, utterly traitorous, part of him ignored this logical conclusion and continued to worry. There was still so much about her powers and this situation that they didn't know, which placed her and possibly those close to her in great danger. Naru exhaled a little harder than usual, his equivalent of a huff of frustration. He truly hated not knowing. Not for the first time, the young narcissist considered going down to Mai's desk and performing *psychometry on it. The only thing that discouraged him from doing so was Lin's parting warning from last night. The older man had advised, "Whatever happened to Mai last night potentially triggered the development of a new psychic power for her. Experiencing it for yourself might trigger your PK, Oliver. Don't do anything reckless." His guardian had then left to sleep, most likely in Madoka's apartment. They had been trying to be discreet, but very little escaped the young man's notice.

Naru sighed silently and checked the time again. He decided that he would be more productive downstairs in the office, so he quietly left Mai's apartment. He trusted that Lin's shiki would alert Lin if anything happened to Mai and that Lin would in turn notify Naru right away.

Naru unlocked SPR headquarters then passed by his inbox to grab all the paperwork he needed to complete or sign off on. He settled into his office and started flipping through the stack of papers to prioritize which needed to be done first, stopping abruptly when he came upon a stapled packet titled, "The Narcissist's Guide to the New and Improved Filing System: A Necessary Change Because Literally No One Else in the Office Could Remember All Cases in Chronological Order So No One Could Find a Damn Thing (Which Isn't a Sign of Inferiority; You're Just a Freak of Nature)." The young man quirked an eyebrow, immediately recognizing that this was Mai's doing. No one else would dare to be so blatantly insolent.

He pulled the packet from the stack and began to read over it. Naru's face remained impassive despite the occasional spark of amusement that he felt at Mai's ability to maintain her sarcastic and teasing tone, even in a typed up document. Quickly moving past Mai's witticisms and thinly-veiled insults, he learned that she'd developed the filing system. It wasn't overly complex, consisting of the cases grouped by year then alphabetized by last name of the client who had hired SPR. However, knowing Naru's habit of reading things in order, she labeled each case file with an English number according to chronological sequence. Mai had also created an extensive, alphabetized index that referenced numerous details, including injuries that occurred during cases, location, whose powers/skills were used, and etc. and matched those details to the case or cases that applied.

Not that he would ever tell anybody, especially Mai, but Naru was slightly impressed with all the work that Mai had put into the filing system. He grudgingly admitted that, at the very least, the index made files easier to find when there were specific details in mind. The young narcissist looked through the index again and found the section related to Mai's powers. It's possible that there might be some indication of the development of her mystery power in the records, he thought to himself. He took the index to the filing cabinet and gathered the first couple of relevant files.

Four hours passed, and the young man only managed to read through a quarter of the case files mentioned under Mai's category in the index. It would have been more efficient to list the cases that Mai's powers weren't involved in. He hadn't realized just how much SPR relied on Mai's dreams and instincts.

The bell on the front door chimed. Naru assumed it was Yasuhara coming in early for his shift, until a hesitant female voice said, "Honey, I don't think anyone is here."

"But Mom, Onee-san said she would be here and that she'd help us get rid of the evil man for good! We just have to find her," a young girl protested. She started calling out while knocking on and trying to open different office doors, "Onee-san? Onee-san!"

Naru's expression hardened with annoyance. Lin was upstairs monitoring Mai's condition, and Madoka had only come down to get her papers before returning to Mai's apartment to do her work there. Seeing as he was the only one in SPR headquarters and no one else had come in, whoever the child was looking for was definitely not here. He stood from his chair and opened his door to tell the pair of strangers that, but a small blur pushed past the young man and started searching his office.

"Kimi-chan, don't be so impolite!" a middle-aged woman admonished, sounding and looking flustered. She had light brown hair, hazel eyes, and thin lips; her clothes were winkled and her hair rumpled. The expression on her face combined with her slumped posture exuded an air that could only be described as haggard. She turned to Naru and bowed. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive my daughter."

The mother straightened from her bow and ran her hand through her hair nervously. She explained, "This morning, my daughter insisted that we come here right away, telling my husband and me this unbelievable story about a girl who saved her from a 'monster' in her room and then disappeared after getting hurt last night. I thought she'd just picked this business card up from somewhere and had a nightmare because she'd been thinking about it, but-"

"Mama! This is her! This is Onee-san!" the little girl interrupted while gesturing to one of the pictures that Madoka had placed on his desk. It was one of the entire SPR team from years ago, before they'd learned who he really was. Naru looked more closely at the photo and saw that the child was pointing right at Mai, which effectively piqued his interest.

"How exactly do you know Mai?" the young man questioned the girl.

"Onee-san saved me from the bad man last night! How do you know her?" she countered, placing her fists on her hips.

"She works for me," Naru retorted.

The child suddenly turned serious and sad, her wide eyes glistening as they filled with tears. "Is Onee-san okay? She got hurt last night and then she vanished. You have to check on her, Onii-sama! You have to make sure she's okay!"

"Mai is fine," he answered, looking at the emotional child with distaste. Lin's shiki had said that Mai wasn't harmed, so the girl was worrying about nothing. "She's just sleeping."

"Then can I see her? I need to see that she's okay!" she demanded.

Naru declared flatly, "You can see her whenever she wakes up." He looked at the girl's mother, who still seemed shocked that her daughter's story had been validated by her identifying Mai. The young boss continued, "First, I need you and your daughter to tell me everything that led to you two coming here today."

The child tugged on his pant leg and pouted up at him, "But I want to see for myself that she's okay!"

Naru narrowed his eyes at her, growing annoyed with her whining and trying to intimidate her into doing as he said, but she didn't even flinch.

"I want to see Onee-san!" she demanded then started screaming, "Onee-san! Onee-san!"

"Kimi, stop that!" her mother scolded. She glanced to Naru, "I'm so sorry! I swear, this is the first time she's ever acted like this." Naru found that hard to believe. Parents were so often blinded by love that they rarely saw their children for the demons that they often acted like.

Kimi continued to scream, and her mom kept yelling over her, trying to get her to stop. Naru's irritation mounted quickly, to the point where he was about to kick both of these nuisances out of his business. The only thing holding him back was that the girl had information about what happened to Mai. So he stood there, waiting for the child to tire of her tantrum and for the woman to realize that her shouting was only worsening the problem. He considered escaping into the lobby while the mother and daughter worked through their yelling match.

"What the hell is going on here?" Madoka asked as she breezed into the room, presumably because she'd heard the screaming all the way from Mai's apartment.

"I want to see Onee-san!" the little girl sobbed. Madoka looked to Naru for an explanation.

"Mai astral projected to the child last night and fended off a spirit. That's all I've been able to gather so far because she won't stop shouting," Naru explained tonelessly.

Madoka rolled her eyes at him then knelt before the distressed girl.

"Hello," she said with a big smile. "My name is Madoka. Why is a pretty girl like you so sad?"

The child's crying quieted a little as she replied, "I said it already. I want to see Onee-san."

Madoka clarified, pointing to the photo on the shelf next to the child, "Do you mean Mai, this girl in the picture?"

The girl nodded. "Oh, then we can take you right up to see her! She lives just upstairs!" Madoka grinned.

Kimi wiped her face on her sleeve and sniffled. "Really?"

"Yes, really!" Madoka assured her. "I'll tell you what. Kazuya-san will take you up to see Mai while your mom and I have some tea and talk a little bit. Does that sound okay to you and your mom?"

"Yeah!" the girl nodded and glanced at her mom, who looked completely overwhelmed. The worn out woman gave a shaky nod.

"Let's go, Onii-sama!" the child requested.

Naru looked at Madoka sharply, disliking the fact that she assigned him something to do without consulting him. She simply smiled calmly at him with a steel in her eyes that told him he wouldn't be getting out of it. Madoka then gently led the potential client to the kitchen to fix tea, speaking quietly to her.

The young man glanced at the child, who was looking up at him expectantly. He sighed then gestured for her to follow him before walking up to Mai's apartment. As Naru opened the door, the girl began, "I'm Kimi. What's your name, Onii-sama?"

"Shibuya Kazuya," Naru answered. They walked into Mai's apartment, passing by Lin who was seated at the small dining table. He looked up from his laptop to eye the pair curiously, but Naru was too annoyed to explain.

Naru steered them towards Mai's room. Lin announced, "She still hasn't woken up yet." The young man nodded and opened her door anyway. Kimi ran right up to the bed, examining Mai closely. She poked the sleeping woman's face and received no reaction.

Kimi burst into tears again and blubbered, "It's my fault that Onee-san is hurt!"

The girl surprised him by rushing to him and throwing her arms around his leg, still bawling. The pull of his psychometry nagged at him, but he tamped down the urge. Naru looked down at the child in annoyance. The young narcissist was in no way skilled at comforting people, much less children who required a more delicate approach. He looked at the open door with the hope that Lin would hear the commotion and investigate, but no help came. Coward, Naru thought, glaring at the hallway as if his guardian were standing there.

He sighed then finally uttered, "I told you earlier, she isn't hurt."

"Then why won't she wake up?" she challenged.

He explained, "From what I've been able to gather so far but is unconfirmed as of yet, Mai used a lot of energy to get rid of the spirit last night, so she needs to sleep more than usual to regain the energy that she lost."

Kimi questioned softly, "So it is my fault?"

Naru paused as, unbidden, the memory of the aftermath of one of his worst poltergeists came to mind. When he and Gene were still at the *orphanage, before the other kids had learned not to make Naru angry, some of the older boys had overheard a couple say that they didn't want the twins, which the bullies used as ammunition to tease the brothers until Gene cried. Naru had become furious, a secondary reaction to being deeply hurt by the cruelty of others, the rejection of another couple, and his twin's heartache. His PK had lashed out, causing random objects to levitate and swirl around the room, and nothing Gene said calmed him. Unintentionally, a lamp had flown into the back of a boy's head, knocking him unconscious. Naru had been so shocked that the poltergeist cut off abruptly. The guilt that had consumed him afterward was indescribable. It had only lessened, albeit infinitesimally, once he was able to see for himself that the boy wasn't badly injured.

Naru blinked the memory away then looked down at Kimi. He understood her earlier desperation, which had manifested as a tantrum, and her current guilt a little better now, though this child's situation was radically different than his had been. After all, that incident had entirely been his fault, whereas there was no reason for Kimi to feel like she played any part in what happened last night. He sighed and then hesitantly, gently, patted her head twice. "No," he finally answered softly. "It wasn't your fault."

Kimi's posture relaxed as she released her hold on the young man. Both were quiet for a moment. "Hey, Onii-sama," the child blurted. "Maybe the bad man put her under a sleeping spell! You have to kiss her so she'll wake up, like in Sleeping Beauty!"

Naru's cheeks filled with the slightest bit of warmth, which thankfully went unnoticed as Kimi's attention was still trained on Mai. He scoffed, though his voice lacked its usual bite, which he blamed on being caught off guard by this child basically telling him to assault his sleeping employee, "I didn't think idiots could be princesses."

The girl scolded, "That's a mean thing to say, Onii-sama! Onee-san is smart because she was able to scare the bad man away, and she gave me the card so that we'd know to come here to get rid of him forever."

Naru smirked, "Well, she certainly isn't as stupid as she used to be, but that doesn't mean that she isn't still stupid."

"That's not any nicer than what you said before, silly," Kimi admonished.

"Wow, Naru, that was so close to being a compliment," Mai commented, her voice heavy and cracking with sleep as she blinked against the afternoon light streaming through her window. "I'm almost touched."

Voices slowly pulled Mai from her first dreamless, restful sleep in almost a year. She resisted at first, wanting to sleep more, but her whole body ached, especially her head and her side. Excluding the pain in her ribs, it felt oddly like she was hungover even though she knew that she hadn't had anything to drink last night. She recalled that she'd somehow astral projected and fought off a spirit that was trying to harm a little girl, but all the other details were still fuzzy.

Naru's backhanded compliment to her intelligence and a child's voice scolding him for it finally motivated her enough to open her eyes and respond, though her dry mouth and heavy tongue made it more difficult than it should have been. "Wow, Naru," she croaked. "That was so close to being a compliment, I'm almost touched."

The young woman shifted in her bed, wondering how she'd gotten there and figuring that someone in the office must have found her asleep at her desk and moved her upstairs. She scrunched her nose in distaste when she saw that she was still in her clothes from yesterday. Her face suddenly flamed when she realized that meant either Naru or Lin had taken her back to her apartment. Madoka would have changed her into pajamas, as she'd done many times before when Mai had passed out on cases.

"Onee-san!" the little girl exclaimed before a tiny body leapt onto the bed next to her, narrowly missing the ache in Mai's ribs.

Mai studied the kid, recognizing the big brown eyes and gummy smile. "You came!" the young woman rejoiced.

"I'm glad you're okay!" the child cried out.

Mai giggled, "I could say the same for you! I'm Mai, by the way."

"I'm Kimi," the girl grinned and threw her arms around Mai's neck in a tight hug.

Mai laughed and returned the squeeze, delighted by Kimi's enthusiasm. Naru cleared his throat then commanded, "Now that Mai has finally chosen to wake up, it's time to discuss what happened last night."

Mai huffed and pulled away from the cute child in her lap. "Can I at least change and brush my teeth first?" she complained.

Naru allowed, "If you must, but be quick. If you aren't finished in 5 minutes, I'm going to have Lin come in there and drag you downstairs, no matter what state of dress or lack thereof you're in."

Kimi giggled as he swiftly exited the room. Mai blushed bright red, quickly gathering a new outfit and rushing to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and washed her face. Wishing she could take a shower but not wanting to call her boss's bluff, she lifted yesterday's shirt up and over her head which caused the ache in her side to sharpen. A dark purple mark on the right side of her rib cage caught her eye. Standing stark against her pale skin, it was about the size of a large man's fist. She gently prodded the uneven edges of the bruise with her fingers, wincing and remembering the strange energy that had caused it.

"One more minute, Mai," Naru warned from outside of the bathroom door.

Mai cried a loud, "Eeep!" She hurriedly pulled off the rest of her clothes then redressed as quickly as she could while splinting her side. After entering the living room, she shot Naru a hard glare, to which he only smirked in response.

Mai had only taken two steps toward the dining table before Kimi latched onto the young woman's hand. Mai smiled down at the child and swung their intertwined hands between them, making the little girl giggle. The young woman looked up and found Lin and Naru observing them. Lin murmured something to Naru, who then quickly looked away from the girls while snapping quietly at the older man. She tilted her head curiously and wondered what Lin said to have made Naru react that way.

"So when are Onii-sama and Onee-san going to get married?" Kimi asked innocently.

Mai spluttered, then pointed to her boss, "You mean Naru and me?"

Kimi nodded, "Well, duh!"

Mai chuckled awkwardly, glancing up at the young man who was looking at the folder in his hands a little too intently. Mai replied, "Kimi-chan, Naru and I aren't a couple."

The little girl just grinned widely, "Maybe not yet, but soon!" Kimi leaned in and whispered to Mai, "So hang in there, Onee-san! Onii-sama just seems very stubborn."

Mai sweat dropped, wondering if she was so obvious that a girl no older than 8 could clearly spot her feelings.

"So, Kimi-chan," Mai changed the subject. "Let's go downstairs to the office to talk about what happened last night. Is your mom or dad here with you?"

Kimi nodded, "Mama is downstairs with the other nice lady!" Mai figured that she meant Madoka.

Naru closed the file he'd been reading and then went to open the apartment door. He held it open for the girls, which made Kimi blush. Before they'd passed the threshold, Kimi reached out and held tightly onto the sleeve of Naru's suit. She tugged, urging him to follow her and Mai. Mai narrowed her eyes at Naru, trying to intimidate him into playing along for the minute that it would take them to get to the office.

Naru rolled his eyes but let Kimi maintain her hold on him. The three of them walked down the stairs; Mai and Naru flanked the child, each holding one of her hands. Mai heard Lin close and lock the door behind them before following them down the stairs. The sound of a phone taking a picture shattered the silence. Both Mai and Naru whipped around to eye Lin, who returned their stares blankly. His phone was nowhere in sight.

Mai shrugged it off because she had no idea why Lin of all people would take a picture of her, Naru, and Kimi. She figured it was probably one of the many tourists walking past the building and looking around the area in awe. Once at the bottom of the stairs, Naru gently pulled his arm away from Kimi's grip. The little girl didn't take offense and instead excitedly dragged the young woman into the lobby of the office.

"Mom, mom!" Kimi exclaimed, leading Mai to the sofas. "This is Onee-san!"

Mai bowed to the middle-aged woman sitting next to Madoka. Kimi's mother looked tired. Mai gestured for the older woman to remain seated when she moved to stand. "Please stay seated. I'm Taniyama Mai, an investigator for Shibuya Psychic Research. I'm pleased to meet you," the young woman greeted.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Maeda Ayame," Kimi's mom bowed in her seat. The older woman took Mai's hands into her own as she continued, "Thank you so much for what you did for Kimi. When she told me what happened, I didn't believe her, but I looked at the footage and couldn't deny that Kimi's story must have been true."

"What footage?" Naru questioned sharply.

"Please excuse my boss," Mai apologized for the rude young man. "His name is Shibuya Kazuya, the CEO of this company."

"Pleased to meet you, Shibuya-san. Thank you for accommodating us," Maeda-san greeted. "Concerning the footage, I often ask family friends or neighbors to watch Kimi when both my husband and I have to work late. I bought a couple of those nanny cam teddy bears, the stuffed animals that have a hidden camera, to put in Kimi's room and around the house to monitor the babysitters. Just in case, you know? I brought the recording from Kimi's room with me."

Madoka interjected, "I watched the video already. The visual is good at first, but there's no audio. The video clearly shows an entity starting to materialize in the corner of the ceiling and Mai's sudden appearance in the room, but the camera stopped working just after Mai began her chant. The visual returns once the spirit is gone. Mai is seen handing Kimi a business card and then disappearing just after fainting."

Naru turned to Mai and ordered, "Describe your experience. Start with what happened when you were pulled away from Gene and go through the whole ordeal in detail."

Mai thought for a moment, remembering more details than she'd been able to earlier, before answering, "Well, Gene and I were talking in the astral plane, and then it felt like I was yanked away from him. I appeared in Kimi's room, but I thought it was just a dream at first. It wasn't until I stepped on a Lego and felt pain that I realized I had astral projected. I noticed the spirit amassing in the corner of the ceiling so I started my chant, and something like a whip shot from the spirit and hit me in the ribs."

She brought her hand to cover the mark on her side then continued, "But I kept chanting then did the Nine Cuts, like usual, and the spirit disappeared. I felt you guys trying to bring me back to my body, but I resisted at first. Like Madoka said, I gave Kimi my business card and told her to tell her parents to come here. Then I felt that I was going to pass out, so I willed myself back to my body. That's all."

"Did the entity say anything or do anything unusual?" Lin asked, looking up from his laptop.

Kimi answered quietly, "He called us pretty girls."

"I could feel that it wanted to hurt us, like it was hungry for it or something," Mai recalled, though she felt that there was more that she couldn't quite recall.

"And did anything unusual occur during your incantation or Nine Cuts?" Madoka inquired.

Mai considered the question. It felt like she was forgetting something, as if there were a couple of details that evaded her. She stuttered, "I-I don't think so." A sharp pain started to grow in her head.

"You don't think so?" Naru pressed. "Do you not remember?"

"Not really," Mai answered, rubbing her temples to try to ease the pain. "Some things feel kind of fuzzy."

"Taniyama-san, are you alright?" Lin asked after noting her pained expression.

She nodded, "Just a headache."

Madoka stood from the couch and walked over to Mai. "Did you hit your head last night?"

Mai shook her head, "No, not that I remember."

"Kimi-chan," Madoka addressed the little girl. "Did you see Mai-chan hurt her head? Or did you see anything else about Mai that was weird, especially when she was getting rid of the spirit?"

Kimi looked at the floor, "I hid under the blanket most of the time because I was scared."

Mai wrapped an arm around her small shoulders, "That's okay, Kimi."

Naru sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Mai's instincts nudged her, whispering that she was missing something as she studied Naru, Lin, and Madoka.

"Why are you asking if anything out of the ordinary happened last night?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at the three of them.

Naru stiffened, and the older man and woman looked to the young boss. That only confirmed her hunch.

"What do you know that we don't?" Mai pushed.

Madoka looked between Lin and Naru, seeing that they wouldn't be of any help. She sighed and explained to Mai, "Kazuya, Lin, and I went to you once Gene informed him that something had happened to you in the astral plane. While we were trying to figure out what to do with you, your hands started to glow and the air felt charged with static electricity. It disappeared as suddenly as it appeared, but none of us know what to make of it."

Everyone was quiet for a moment while Mai tried to process what Madoka was saying.

"Um, excuse me, Shibuya-san. I don't… I don't understand everything that you guys are talking about. Truthfully, I'm still not completely certain that I believe in ghosts, despite what the video showed. Kimi's had more bumps and bruises lately, but my husband and I just thought she's been going through a clumsy phase. And sometimes, things aren't where I remember leaving them, but I've been pretty forgetful lately. I didn't think…"

Maeda-san paused and breathed shakily. She continued, "Madoka-san said that what happened last night means that there's a high chance that there's a malevolent ghost in my house. And in the video, I heard Taniyama-san say that it would definitely be back. Please, will you help us figure out what's going on? Will you please get rid of it? I can't… I can't stand the thought of my baby girl getting hurt."

Mai looked at her boss, begging with her eyes.

"If you would leave your contact information with Mai, we will call you back regarding our answer soon," Naru declared as he stood from his seat and entered his office. Lin and Madoka shared a look before following him and closing the door behind them.

Maeda-san sighed and moved to stand from the couch, but Mai begged, "Please just stay for a few more minutes. I'm going to try to figure out what's going on." The older woman nodded and sat back down with Kimi nestled into her side.

Mai narrowed her eyes at Naru's door then stood just outside of it, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation, but they were speaking too softly for her to hear. It didn't matter, though. Mai already knew that they were discussing whether or not to help the Maedas, considering the mess that Mai had already managed to entangle herself in before the case had even begun. Well, the three of them were wasting their time. There was no way in hell that Mai was going to let Naru pass up this case.

Mai barged into Naru's office and hissed, "If you think for a second that you can leave that poor woman and her child to the mercy of that… that… thing in their home, you are sorely mistaken!"

"Taniyama-san, everything that has happened already indicates that you will likely be in great danger during this case," Lin explained calmly. "And without knowing whatever it is that you demonstrated last night-"

"I'll be fine," Mai argued.

"It's possible that the spirit made you astral project and use a dormant power that no one has discovered or researched yet," Madoka rationalized. "What if the entity specifically targets people with psychic powers? Most of the team could be at risk."

Mai contested, "When have we ever not been in danger during a major case?"

"Mai," Naru said sharply. "There is too much that we don't know. Without that knowledge, we will be ill-prepared to face whatever comes up."

The young woman took a deep breath to keep from raging. Mai asserted, her voice calm but hardened with steel, "I know your points are valid, but every possible argument that you could come up with is insignificant in a situation where someone, specifically a child, is in danger. The spirit wants to hurt Kimi-chan, and I won't just stand by and let it have her."

Mai took a deep breath and declared, "I've already decided to take the case. If I have to use my saved up vacation days to help the Maedas, I will." She looked directly at Naru, knowing that he still saw her as a clumsy, vulnerable, inexperienced investigator who didn't quite know what she was doing, but she had grown so much. "Make no mistake, Naru. I can solve this on my own. I can ask Masako to lend me equipment from her show, which Madoka taught me how to use and not just set up, or I can even rent it from a tech company if I have to. I know what to look for to rule out non-paranormal causes, and I know the best resources to use when researching the history of a building, a plot of land, or an object. I've also done countless exorcisms on my own. I don't need you, Naru, but I would like your support, as well as the rest of SPR's."

Madoka smiled at the young woman then turned expectantly to Lin and Naru. Mai continued to hold Naru's gaze, knowing that he was the one she had to convince. He looked evenly at her as if he were searching for any self-doubt, any indication that she wasn't as confident in her skills as she had portrayed, to which Mai only crooked one of her eyebrows. Naru nodded once, and she pumped her first, knowing that she'd won.

"You will remain with Bou-san, John, Lin, or myself at all times. You will sleep in the base, where it is safest. You will not run off on your own for whatever reason. If you have a dream or astral project, if you see the spirit, if you experience anything unusual at all, you will report it to me right away. You will listen to everything I say and obey every command I give you. Do you understand?" Naru ordered.

"Sir, yes, sir," Mai responded with a roll of her eyes and a big grin. "Thanks, Naru!"

He didn't respond, but that did nothing to dampen her spirits. "Kimi-chan, Maeda-san, guess what!" Mai cheered and returned to the lobby to tell them the good news.

Background info:

Psychometry: One of Naru's powers is the ability to touch an object and experience a life event of the person that the object belongs/belonged to; this is important in the manga because it is suggested that Mai's first-person dreams are connected to Naru's psychometric visions, meaning that when Naru uses psychometry, Mai has a first-person dream of the same vision. This occurred only once in the novels and the manga, so it is unconfirmed, but this is something that I'm planning on playing with later on.

Orphanage: In the novels and the manga, it is revealed that Gene and Naru were placed in an American orphanage and stayed there for some time before Martin and Luella adopted them.

There's chapter 3! I hope you liked it and are sticking with me. If anything is confusing, if you have a theory about Mai's power, if you hated it, or if you loved it, and etc., please review! Thank you so much for reading!