AAAAHHHH! SEQUEL TIME! THIS IS THE SEQUEL TO 'MAI'S THE ONE'. I AM THRILLED BY THE RESPONSES TO THE FIRST STORY SO I HOPE YOU EQUALLY LIKE THIS ONE! :D

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT SADLY..ENJOY!

PLOT: Mai and Naru now realize that they love eachother and want no one else. Just as Naru is about to ask Mai a very important question, Naru gets a call from his parents who ask for his help on a case in England. As the SPR team goes overseas to help with the case, Naru and Mai's relationship is put to the test when an old friend of Naru's comes back with the intent to destroy Naru and Mai's Relationship and take Naru for herself. Pairings: Mai/Naru, Ayako/Bou, Masako/John, One sided Lidia/Naru, Lin/OC.

Mai's POV:

"Can I open my eyes yet?" I asked.

"No, not yet..."

Hi. I'm Mai Taniyama. I've been through a lot in the past couple of months. The biggest things being that I'm now the girlfriend of the man I'm in love with, Kazuya Shibuya and I'm now the adopted daughter of Ayako and Houshou Takigawa. That's right. The two finally got hitched almost two months ago. Right now, I'm currently in my boyfriend's house, sitting on his couch. How did I get here, you may ask? Let me backtrack for you.

~Flashback to earlier today~

It was a nice March morning and I was sitting the tea Naru had asked for on his desk when he took my hand and led me around his desk. Pulling me into his lap, he moved a piece of hair away from my face and tucked it behind my ear. "How would you like to come over to my house tonight for dinner?"

"Your house?" I blinked in shock. We had been dating for two months and Naru had always come to my house for dinner or we would go out. The fact that Naru was actually inviting me over seemed groundbreaking to me. "Sure." I smiled brightly.

"Good. Because when you get there, there's something I was to give you."

"What is it?"

"It's a suprise." He smirked.

~End flashback~

And thus explains how I am now here, sitting on his plush white couch with my eyes closed. I listened to Naru's steps. He left the room I think. A few seconds later, he came walking back in. His steps stopped right in front of me. "Alright, you can open your eyes now."

I opened them and had to lean back for a second in suprise. Naru was kneeling on the floor right in front of me. One hand was resting on my knee and the other was balled into a fist. He put the fist in my lap and loosened it, pulling his hand away. I gasped and covered my mouth for a moment. It was a little golden ring with a emerald stone. It was very delicate and old fashioned looking.

He blushed and looked down. "It's a...promise ring...it belonged to my grandmother..."

I bit back a giant grin. "A 'promise' ring?"

He nodded and picked up the ring with one hand and took my left hand with the other. "Would you want to wear it for a while?"

I nodded, afraid my voice would give away the intense emotion I felt as he slid the ring into place on my ring finger. It fit like it had been made for me. That or resized. "Why just for a while?" I whispered, afraid to speak any louder.

"It's no diamond...I'm aware of that...I say promise because...when you turn eighteen...we-"

His cellphone suddenly rang. He looked down sheepishly. I smiled and nodded for him to answer it. In reality, I was using all my patience and self control not to snap the phone in half as he put it to his ear.

He listened for a second and his eyes went wide. "Father?"

"Father? As in, your father?" I whispered but he put his finger to my lips.

"What kind of case?" He listened intently for several minutes. "I can assemble a team and be there by tomarrow Evening." He hung up and looked at his watch. "We should start dinner so I can get you home in time to pack. I need to make some calls."

"Pack?" I asked, following him into the kitchen.

"Yes. We're going to take a case in England under my father's supervision."

"What kind of case?"

Naru didn't speak at first. He pulled out several ingrediants and sat them on the island counter. "My father tells me that he bought a building to use as a a research office. His old building had some water damage and he needed to relocate. The new building is having activity readings off the chart though. He's tried for the past month to exspell the spirits but they refuse to leave. He says the spirits have slowly become more violent."

He paused to start expertly chopping an onion to bits. He scooted the onion pile to the side before pulling a red bell pepper to center and chopping it in half. "So he asked for your help?" I prodded.

"Yes...will you go over to that cabinet in the corner and get me three glass bowls?" I did as he said and sat them next to the chopping board. He put the onion and pepper slivers into the same bowl and went to the fridge to get a container. It had two pieces of raw chicken in it soaking in a marinade.

"That seems off...that he would ask for your help. He never seemed to want much to do with you. I'm sorry...that sounded bad..."

"No, you're right. He hasn't in the past and it makes little sense that he wants my help now. It's either that he's desperate, which is unlikely, or he's trying to test me. And if the latter proves to be correct, I can't let him down..."

"You really want his approval." I said it as a statement.

"I just don't like it when people doubt my abilities..." He fell silent then and chopping the chicken to bite sized pieces. While the food was in the pan, he stired and called the team. "Everyone will be going with us to England except for Yasuhara. He's currently taking finals in college and can't get away right now."

After supper was ready, we sat at a round table he had in his kitchen and enjoyed the stirfry.

"You know, when I came over for supper, I assumed you'd be cooking. But I guess it didn't dawn on me that you would really be cooking."

He gave me a quizical look. "What do you mean exactly?"

I laughed at myself nervously. "I guess that it never dawned on me that you were such an amazing cook. Cooking just doesn't seem like something you would do."

He smirked. "Amazing?"

"Don't go getting a swelled head." I chidded and took another bite.

When supper was over, Naru washed the dishes and I rinsed them before leaving them to dry on a towel on the counter. As I picked up one of the crystal cups we were drinking out of, the light from the ceiling glinted off the cup as well as the emerald on my hand. I stared at the ring in awe for a second then continued to rinse the cup. After all the dishes were washed, we curled up on the couch together.

I had noticed that it had begun to rain and I stared at it for a while. Naru had turned on one of those artificial fires that heated the room earlier and its faux flames made the emerald have a firey tint to it. "You look happy..." He said quietly.

"So do you." I positioned myself so I sat sideways in his lap and reached up to kiss his jaw.

"Do you want me to drive you home yet?"

I shook my head no and snuggled into his embrace. "Not yet..."

"Mai..."

I looked up. Even in the dark he blush was evident. "Ya Naru?"

"I..." He looked above my head in deep consentration then he dipped his head down to burry it in my hair. "I love you..."

"I love you too." I whispered back. Naru had only said he loved me once before this. He had called me on the phone a week ago when I was late for work and at the end of the call, he had told me he loved me absent-mindedly. When he realized his mistake, he hung up before I could say anything.

Hearing him say it again and knowing he wanted to say it...it made me wish I had the confidence to look him in the eyes as I said it back. Instead, I whispered it back to his shirt collar. He ran his fingers through my hair and kissed the top of my head. "You need to pack. We have to be at the airport by six in the morning."

I nodded reluctantly and crawled from his lap. He took my hand and we left the house and got in his car. He turned on the radio and an english song started playing. "What song is this?"

"It's called 'A drop in the ocean'. It's from a mix cd my mother sent me for my birthday."

"It's pretty...I understand most of it."

"I'll have to help you with your pronounciaton when we get to England."

It was then that I saw we were in front of my house. He leaned over and kissed my lips softly. "Be careful. Tell Ayako and Houshou I said hi." Naru was on a first name basis with my adopted parents now. I wonder how they'll react to the little gift on my left hand ring finger."

Naru waited till I was safely inside before driving away. When I turned from the window I was watching out of, I saw Ayako leaning on the doorframe of the kitchen. "Did you have a nice time?"

I nodded and hid my left hand behind my back. "Yup."

"What did you two do?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Just what we said we were gonna do. Have dinner."

"You look jumpy." She looked slightly worried.

I sighed and laughed. "I thought you told me if I were ever to become sexually active, you'd be okay with it."

"That was before you were adopted. Now I have to have a sense of propriety. I don't want you coming home pregnant one day, exspecially since we get regular visits from Mr. Tanaka."

"You don't have to worry about me Ayako. I swear. Naru and me are good kids."

She looked confused. "So what has you all flushed and jumpy then?"

"Um..." Unable to say it, I held out my hand.

Her eyes widened and she rushed to me, taking my hand. "He proposed?"

"No! No! It's a promise ring!" I blushed furiously.

"Bou! Bou, get in here!" She called and Bou san rushed out of the living room.

"What is it?"

"Naru just gave our little girl a promise ring." She held up my hand and Bou san looked at the ring with wide eyes.

"Did he buy it?" He asked.

"No. It was his grandmother's ring." I smiled down at it lovingly.

"Mai? Do you realized that when someone gives a promise ring, it's a big commitment? Unless he is unaware of the significance of a promise ring, he basically just promised to marry you when you turn eighteen."

I nearly gasped as I remembered his words before the call. "I-I'm aware..."

Neither looked like they believed me. "Nevermind. We'll talk about this in the morning. Naru called us. We all need to pack for the trip."

Bou san pulled a booklet from his back pocket. "I bought a book for the trip. It's called English Slang."

"I told you Bou that the book was written by someone trying to be funny. The title itself is a dead giveaway."

Bou san stared down at the book and sounded out something from it in a monotone voice. "Hey, where is the bloody privy?"

I laughed. "Naru was born and raised in England. He offered to teach me better English. I'll tell you guys what he tells me."

"Aright alright. Both of you go pack."

I ran to my room and pulled my suitcase out from under my bed. While I packed, I stared out the window, watching the rain come down. I always slept better when it rained. After I was packed, I changed for bed and brushed my teeth. Turning out the light, I crawled into bed and stared at my left hand in the dark. Naru wants to marry me...Within a few minutes, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.