Me: TT_TT

Naru: What's wrong with her this time?

Mai: It's the last chapter of Blood Hound.

Naru: About time.

Gene: *pouts* That's not nice Noll.

Naru: *rolls eyes* Don't care.

Me: Everyone, here is the final chapter to Blood Hound. I don't own Ghost Hunt, and I got the tattoo design from seshomaru94 and Sebastian's Kat. I hope you all enjoy and please review!

Mai's POV:

"Careful Hanayo." Izo said, helping his weakened wife out of the car. Hana had just been released from the hospital along with the triples after a few days after getting the okay for them being healthy. Since the birth of the little trio their father has gone into super daddy mode and won't leave her or the kids for more than five minutes. Hana told me that she finds it sweet and cute, but it's also very annoying since she is a free spirit and needs space. Unfortunately for her though she won't be getting any of that for a while.

"My goodness how many times do I have to tell you that I'm just fine?" she asked, taking his offered hand as she stepped out while huffing at him. She was doing a very good job of holding her annoyance from him, but from her body language and tone it wouldn't be too long before she snapped at him and made him give her, her personal space.

"Until you're inside the house resting." He stated as he took his sons within his arms while Hana took their daughter.

"Figured as much." She said, rolling her eyes at us as she proceeded to make her way to the front door only to stop and smile in the middle of the walkway. "Oh, there you are Naru, haven't seen you in a while."

"Naru!" I exclaimed, shooting next to her and shock surprise there was Naru, standing in the doorway with his arms crossed and back leaned against the frame. As usual he had his nose buried in a book and showed no interest in our presence.

"There you are, where were you?" Madoka asked, huffing slightly at her old student.

"Yeah, we tried to call you, but it went straight to voice mail." Monk added, causing Naru to sigh and close his book while he proceeded to look up at us and actually give us some of his precious time.

"I had other matters to attend to." He stated, shutting everyone up in an instant with a single question of what his business was circulating through all our minds.

"Um, so does anyone know what ever happened to Masako?" John asked, looking around and bringing up a valid point that no one really thought about since the solving of the case and the birth of the triplets. Also since the fight and the revealing of Masako's plans no one was planning to talk to her any time soon, so it really wasn't that big of a surprise that we wouldn't notice that she was missing from the group. Even though I knew this and was still mad at her for what she had done I felt bad and sorry for her.

"Her father came by and picked her up. She was gone by the time Madoka called Izo to tell him about the babies." Hana stated, causing all of us to pause and look at her. At the hospital I was told about how Hana went all biker-gang-fighter and called her out, so I just chalked up her disappearance to Hana banning her from the team and decrying that she was bound to the house for the rest of the team's stay here.

"Oh, did you call him Hana?" Ayako questioned, looking to said woman with a curious look as to why she didn't mention it earlier.

"No, she just had another shoot that she needed to go to." She explained, shrugging her shoulders and then refocusing her attention to the infant within her arms.

"Well good riddance. We never needed her in the first place." Monk said, causing a pain to go through me. Although Masako didn't exactly deserve to be let off the hook, she also didn't deserve to be hated on by everyone on the team.

"That's not true, she helps out with the cases, and is a part of the team regardless of how she acts." I defended, feeling my protective side starting to come out like it did during the Kazai Panic case.

"Mai, don't tell me you actually forgave her!" Ayako exclaimed, looking at me with disbelief in her eyes. A similar look was plastered among the rest of the team members' faces, but her statement wasn't exactly true.

"No, but in due time I think she'll redeem herself as part of the group again. Besides as much as we don't want to admit it, we need her to be part of the team for future cases." I replied, crossing my arms like Naru usually did when he gave a fact or had to explain something to the team. 'Looks like I'm starting to pick up some of his habits.' I thought, smiling slightly at this. It hasn't even been a full week since I've seen him, and here I am already picking up some of his gosh darn habits.

"Looks like you have gotten smarter while I was gone Mai." Naru said, making my cheeks puff out at his usual insult.

"HEY! I resent that you idiot scientist!" I exclaimed as we feel right on back into our old routine and had what Monk and Ayako call our little lover's spat.

"It was a complement."

"But you still made fun of my IQ."

"That's because I only tell the truth."

"Why you-"

"Okay, how about we continue this little escapade inside now shall we?" Izo asked, cutting into our usual spat, most likely wanting to avoid a fight between us and risking the chance of upsetting the newborns.

"Fine." I snapped, looking away from Naru and pouting as I faced the rest of the team. As my eyes scanned them I noticed that there was something off. We were down two people, and I'm not talking about Ms. Back-stabber or Mr. Narcissist over there. "Does anyone know where Gene and Yasu disappeared to?" I asked, causing everyone to stop and look around for the couple as well.

"Nope." Madoka said, causing me to sigh. Knowing them they just went off behind a tree to make-out or something along those lines. I couldn't blame them though. If I was in their shoes I would want to do the same with my lover. As that thought ran through my mind my eyes glanced over to Naru and then to the ground as my face flared up. 'Snap out of it Mai, just because he wants you to go back to SPR doesn't mean that he likes you. Stop setting yourself up for heartbreak.' I scolded, trying to get my head back on straight as we made our way to the front door.

SURPRISE!" Yasu and Gene exclaimed, jumping out from behind the front door as Hana was just about to reach for it. Both of them had smiles plastered onto their faces as they looked joyfully at Hana and Izo. 'Well that solves the: Where did Gene and Yasu mystery.' I sighed, sweat dropping at them.

"Gene, Yasu, what is all of this?" Izo asked, eyeing the two men, wondering what it was that they were up to.

"Well, because of the case we couldn't have a baby shower so-" Gene started, only to get cut off by his lover.

"We decided to have one afterwards to welcome the babies home!" Yasu finished, clapping his hands happily.

"That's so sweet, thank you." Hana said, smiling happily at both of them and hugging them for their thoughtfulness. The sound of laughter filled the air and all eyes landed on the triplets who were all smiling and laughing happily at their little surprise.

"Even the little ones say thanks." Izo stated, grinning at his children with fatherly eyes. The sigh of it alone made me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"Aw, well they are very welcome." Yasu cooed, tickling Maiko's tummy making her giggle and squirm in her mother's arms.

"Now then, let's start!" Gene shouted, fist pumping his arm up into the air.

From there everything went into full swing. Those two really put their all into the baby shower. They had everything planed from games, to food, to presents, down to the accessories. I guess the stereotype of gay guys being good with designing was true. Well, at least for those two. Currently I was enjoying the scene of Hana opening up presents and showing the triplets what new toys they got and the rest of the gang either coddling them or playing some of the games from under a tree that held the refreshments with a cup of punch in my hand. I had no real intension of doing anything, and simply found pleasure in watching my surroundings.

Ayako and Monk fell into the later category and I laughed as Ayako beat him at horse shoe for the tenth time in a row. However instead of swallowing his pride and just giving up he went and got the shoes for yet another round determined to beat her at the darn game. It reminded me of Naru and his stubbornness, and it made me wonder if all men were that determined to win, or if it had to do something with their pride being on the line.

"Mai." I heard from behind me, causing me to jump and turn around to face the specter only to sigh at who it was.

"Oh, hey Naru, what's up?" I asked, taking my attention away from the cursing Monk and laughing priestess that originally entertained me. It was strange to be like this with him. Not only had I not seen him at the hospital, but also the only time he talked was at the front door. Since then he kinda just drifted off to his own little corner and ignored everyone. Though that was to be expected. It was Naru that we were talking about after all. So it wasn't a surprise that I was surprised to see him actually talking to me at such an event where he normally just goes and hides in his office like all of the Christmas parties we had back in my SPR years.

"Nothing. Why do you look so surprised?" he asked, eyeing me as he moved closer into the shade of the tree that we were under.

"Well normally you hide in a corner when it comes to big events or get togethers like this, so it's a surprise that you're actually talking to people as well." I stated, shrugging at him.

"Is there a problem with that?"

"No, it's just different, and I like it." With that said we lapsed into a silence and simply watched the rest of the team. Yasu and Gene had joining Monk and Ayako at the horse shoe game and played the peanut gallery, making comments at Monk's expense causing him to blow a fuse and chase after the two boys. John then ended up getting dragged into it and tried to break up the fight which, as usual, ended up in failure.

"Mai." Naru said again, breaking the silence. I looked up at him and tilted my head to the side, meeting his serious eyes as curiosity reflected in mine.

"Yes?" I asked, realizing that he wasn't going to say anything until I responded verbally to him.

"I have something to show you."

"Hmmm, what is it?"

"This." He stated, unbuttoning his shirt. At first my mind began to real, wondering what it was that was running through that boy's mind only to freeze at what I saw.

"Oh my Goddess! Naru, you actually got it!" I exclaimed, extending my hand and touching the newly inked tattoo on his chest. It was simple and elegant, and oh so very much Naru. The tattoo itself was of a simple blue tea cup filled with tea. As if that wasn't enough of a surprise to me, once I took a closer look I also found my name in cursive font on the tea cup as if it were a design right around the base of the cup. My jaw dropped at this and my eyes shifted from the tattoo to his eyes and back again trying to piece together his thought process when he got it.

"Well you did say that that was the only way that you would forgive me." He stated, causing me to look back and remember in the heat of an argument I blurted out one of my random ideas I came up with for revenge when I first lived with Hanayo, but I never actually thought that he would go and it.

"I know, but I didn't actually expect you to do that." I said, looking up at him with wide eyes. He looked back at me with eyes that held just as much uncertainty in them as mine.

"Neither did I."

"Then why did you, better yet, when did you?" I asked, as my thoughts went all over the place trying to piece this crazy puzzle back together so that I could make some sense of it.

"When Hanayo was having the babies I found it the perfect time to get it done, as for why, it was so that you would be back filing papers when we got back." He explained, putting his shirt back on, covering the tattoo.

"Naru, what are you-"

"Mai, will you come back to SPR? Please?" he asked, cutting me off and once again taking me off guard. Not only had the mannerless narcissist actually used please for the first time in my life of working with him, but he also finally go the guts to ask me what I've been waiting to hear since he got here. For some reason my words weren't working and I couldn't move my mouth at all. All that it could do was just hang there slacked as I tried with every fiber of my being to respond.

"Naru, I-"

"Gene will be there as well, so you'll have the one you care for close to you as well." He stated, cutting me off once again. His statement threw me through a loop, but once it suck in I quickly recovered, gathering up my courage to once again confess to him and straighten out the confusion that seemed to cloud his mind. I set my cup down on the table and then turned back to him to tell him what he needed to hear.

"Naru-"

"After all, you do love him and that should be enough-" he began again only for it to be the last straw that broke the camel's back and causing me to snap.

"NARU!" I shouted, cutting him off for once and capturing his face in-between my hands, forcing him to stop talking and look souly into my eyes. "Enough, I told you once, and I will tell you again. I love you. Not Gene. I love the cold hearted, self-absorbed, fun-crushing, sharp-tongued, sadistic, tea-loving, work-a-holic, caring, sweet, ingenious, and mature you. Not smiling Gene, but YOU. Sure he can be sweeter and nicer, but it was our arguments that I missed, and getting your smile was always worth so much more than one of Gene's." I stated, letting the words roll off of my tongue as I spoke from my heart, allowing the words that I promised to lock up for the rest of my life to flow free and be spoken to the man that drives me absolutely insane. The look in his eyes went from shock to understanding and then to sadness as he raised his hands up and cradled my hands that held his face.

"Mai, I- I'm sorry. Can you ever forgive me?" he asked, bringing our hands down and in front of us. His eyes as always showed his true feelings and right here in this moment he felt regret. A deep regret that only I could fix. One that I was happy to fix.

"I already have." I said, taking a step closer to him and smiling. He replied with a smile of his own that made my heart stop for a millisecond just like it did the first time I saw his smile. His not Gene's, which is probably how I figured out which one I loved in the first place. Their smiles may be the same, but Naru's you had to ear whereas Gene's you simple got. Making it all the more valuable to see him smile at you, for then you know that you truly earned it.

"Whoot!" Madoka whistled, snapping us out of our little moment. Before I could truly be mad though, I looked over and saw that Gene and Yasu were in the middle of a hot make-out session right in the middle of the yard, causing my face to go up in flames and a smile to spread across my lips.

"Holy, Naru, your brother and Yasu are making out!" Monk yelled, looking extremely white as he took in the scene. Everyone else had mixed emotions, but the one that seemed most prominent was surprise. Except for myself and Hanayo of course. After all, I set them up and she always knows what's going on regarding people and love.

"So they finally came out of the closet huh?" I stated, smirking at the two lovers as they continued on as if they were the only two people in the world.

"You knew?" Naru asked, looking at me with a raised brow.

"I got them together." I explained, throwing him a look of superiority that I only felt a couple of times.

"I see, well we can't have them showing us up now can we?"

"Naru, wha- mph!" I questioned, only to get cut off for the fourth time within a fifteen minute time span by Naru sealing his mouth over my own.

My eyes widened at this, but soon the closed and I gave into the sensation of it all. His lips were soft and velvety as they moved along with mine. As expected he tasted like tea as we deepened the kiss and entered into the same sort of make-out that his brother and Yasu had been in. My body quickly heated up and I wound my arms around his neck as his found their way around my waist. He pulled me as close to him as humanly possible, making it well known to me that he was still a teenager and that even though he hid it well had hormones as well. When we pulled apart for air we rested out foreheads against one another and simply stared into each other's eyes as if there was nothing else in the world except for us. It was in that moment that I realized that this was our true beginning, for now I was back on the team, I had Naru by my side, and I had new abilities to learn to control all thanks to the hounds that started this case.

Me: it's over…. WHY DO STROIES HAVE TO END?! *starts to sob*

Mai: There, there. Now you can focus on your other stories.

Me: I know, but still…. TT_TT

Naru: Grow up, it's not the end.

Gene: Yep, for once the idiot scientist is right!

Naru: *glares*

Gene: *smiles*

Mai: Oh quit it you two!

Me: *bows* Everyone, thank you so much for sticking through to the end with this story. I couldn't have done it without my lovely reviewers for they are the reason that I continue to write, so please, just one last time, will you review on Blood Hound?