Here you go, the first chapter of the sequel to What Will You Do? Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 1: Waiting

Naru sat next to Mai's bed in the dark hospital room, letting every beep of the heart monitor reassure him. It'd already been three months since the end of their last case. Since then Mai had made no indication of waking anytime soon.

"Wake up soon Mai," Naru murmured, resting his head on his folded arms and stroking her cheek with his index finger.

Naru hadn't left Mai's side since she'd been placed in this room except to take a five minute shower and to use the bathroom. Though he seldom ate anymore, he always ate in her room.

Outside the door, the heart monitor of another patient flat-lined. Doctors and nurses sped towards the room, yelling for assistance. Naru was tuning them out until he heard a nurse screech, "Someone unplugged her breathing machine!"

"There was no one on this floor," the doctor said back, his voice faint with exertion.

Naru's mind began to whir, compositing plausible scenarios before he shut it away with a snap.

…..

Mai sat on the depthless ground, staring around. She didn't know how long she'd been here alone. It felt like eternity. Since she'd been deposited here she hadn't seen hide nor hair of either Gene or the boy in the cage. She wondered how Naru was for the hundredth time, wishing he were there with her to comfort her in his odd way.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she thought of never getting out of there ever again. She buried her face in her arms. She didn't want that. She wanted to be with Naru. She wanted to be taking care of the baby growing inside of her.

Mai heard a tapping of shoes. It wasn't just a random pair of shoes though. It was ones she knew well and anticipated. With a gleeful smile, she jumped up. Not far from her was that infuriating twin of the man she loved. "Gene!" she cried happily, running and throwing her arms around him.

"Mai," Gene said, catching her in a tight hug and spinning her around, "It's so nice to see you again." He kissed her on the top of the head.

Mai buried her face in his chest, soaking up all the warmth she could. It wasn't cold in the void, it wasn't any temperature there, but she'd felt cold the moment she'd landed there. "I've been so lonely. I've missed you so much," she murmured, her words muffled by his shirt.

"Why have you been lonely? Hasn't my idiot brother been keeping you company?" Gene asked bemused, wondering if there was something wrong with his brother or if he was simply insane.

Mai shook her head. "I've been stuck here for I don't know how long. I've been so lonely. I haven't even seen the boy in the cage," she half-sobbed, suppressing most of it.

Gene was shocked. He pulled back, staring down at Mai. "What happened? Why are you stuck here?" he asked, worried to find out the answer. There were a million causes and Mai had most likely attracted the worst of them.

Mai shook her head. "I don't know. The princess possessed me. She talked about an ability I didn't know I possessed and that there might be side effects because my body wasn't accustomed to it. After that they went to help exorcise the prince. The knight did that thing Naru can do, but the princess was touching him and absorbed the stuff that causes Naru those problems. When she left, everything went black and I've been stuck here ever since," she explained, staring up at Gene, hoping he knew what was wrong.

He stared at her wide-eyed. That was one possibility he hadn't even considered. His face relaxed. He stared down at her seriously as he asked, "Do you remember what I told you I could do when I was alive?" When she nodded he went on. "It seems you have the same ability. You're stuck here because you couldn't handle the extra energy that is flowing through your body."

Mai stared up at Gene uncomprehendingly. "I-is there something we can do?" she asked, pleading even though she was trying not to be.

"I think so, but it'll take a little while. I hope my idiot brother can wait just a little bit longer. At least he'll have a case to focus on." Gene sound unconvinced even to himself.

…..

"Shibuya-san?" A small, shy doctor poked her head into Mai's room. Her hair was black, pinned up in a bun on top of her head. She clutched a clip board to her chest, her white lab coat almost dragging on the ground.

Naru turned his sorrowful eyes towards the doctor. His face went blank, shoving all the emotions he was wallowing in to the back of his mind. "What is it?" he asked in an emotionless yet icy voice.

The doctor flinched, but still said what she had come to say. "The head doctor would like to see you in his office. Your coworkers are here to keep Taniyama-san company," she said, opening the door more to let Ayako, Monk, John, Masako, Yasu, Emma, Lin and a very pregnant Madoka in.

"Hey Naru-chan," Monk and Yasu said with hellos from everyone except for Lin who just nodded.

Madoka feeling very motherly walked over to Naru and wrapped her arms around him. "Don't worry, it will be alright. She'll be fine," Madoka murmured so that only he could hear her. Naru kept his arms at his sides, but he uncharacteristically whispered a 'thank you' to her. She smiled at him as she pulled away and pressed her lips to his forehead.

"Now that is just weird," Monk tried to joke, "I thought I'd never see the say when the great narcissist got hugged and kissed like he was a child." Everyone gave a half-laugh and Naru glared daggers at him as he made his way to the door. Lin followed him, his laptop tucked under his arm.

They hurried up to the head doctor's office, quietly knocking on his door. "Come in," came the quiet, calm voice of the first doctor who had looked at Mai when she had contracted the princess' disease. Naru didn't mind this doctor because he'd tried to help and he didn't gawk at Mai like she was something to eat.

Naru pushed the door open softly to see the doctor. He looked older than he had the last time they'd been there. His light brown hair was greying and cut close to his head. He wasn't balding yet, but he showed signs of it. He had a kind smile on his lips even as he ran a hand over his face and through his hair. He looked absolutely tired. "Good evening, Shibuya-san. Please take a seat," the doctor said, gesturing to two uncomfortable looking chairs in front of his desk.

Lin led the way, taking the seat on their left. Naru took the right. "Doctor Hasegawa, what may I ask is the nature of this meeting?" Naru asked once he had settled in as much as he could away from Mai.

The doctor took a deep breath, running this hand over his face again. "I would like to…hire you. We've been having some odd happenings as of late and we fear for our patients' health," he told them slowly.

Naru looked to Lin who was already typing away at his laptop. "What makes you believe these happenings are paranormal?" he asked next.

"In the middle of the night, patients will be moved to different rooms. They don't remember anything happening and the nurses don't see or hear anything. Some of the patients have reported seeing a pair of little kids, a girl and a boy who look like siblings, running around. The only children are down on the first floor in the cancer ward. Last, and the most disturbing, is that someone will go around unplugging equipment vital to patient's life or removing their oxygen mask and so on. It would be very much appreciated if you would help us," the doctor said, standing and giving a deep bow.

Naru didn't give a second thought about it. He needed something to distract him even if he wouldn't admit it. "We'll take your case. We'll use Mai's room as base, it's big enough and we're quiet. If you don't mind, we'll need feeds to your security cameras," Naru said, getting to his feet.

"Of course, thank you very much. We'll do everything we can for Taniyama-san," the doctor said.

Naru nodded his thanks as he and Lin left the room.

Whoo! The first chapter for the sequel! Man was Naru OOC xD Hope you liked it anyway! Please review (: