Yo! Sorry about the wait. Again. Been mostly blind for the majority of the year, and as you can imagine, it's a tad hard to write when you can barely see. Things are a little better right now, so I was able to get this chapter finished up. Thank you to all readers so far!

Mai didn't have a very good night. Despite her exhaustion, she felt incredibly restless and barely slept at all, before she finally gave up around dawn. With a groan of irritation, she left her room and quietly made her way down to the kitchen, deciding to make herself a light snack. It was too early for breakfast, but she was kind of hungry.

She tried not to make too much noise, not wanting to wake anyone up, but she also couldn't help but feel like she was doing something wrong. Mai was pretty sure the team was going to be mad at her for being alone, but dammit, this was her house! Being alone in her own home was something that shouldn't have even been a problem in the first place!

How had things even gotten this far? Everything about this place had been so normal to start out with, and even with her abilities, she hadn't been able to sense anything strange at all. Why did her abilities work in other people's homes but not her own? How was that even fair? It was so incredibly frustrating that a place that was supposed to be safe for her, a place she had specifically come to because it was safer than her previous apartment, had turned into somewhere so dangerous and deadly.

She froze suddenly when a pair of arms came around her, hands grabbing the edge of the counter and pinning her in place, the person's forehead pressed to the back of her head.

Mai didn't need to ask who this was. If the long, dark sleeves didn't give it away, then the smell certainly did. For what felt like hours, neither of them spoke or moved. And then, unable to take the silence any longer-

"Naru...?"

"I'm sorry, Mai."

"Huh? Sorry about what?" With the position they were in, Mai couldn't manage to turn around to look at Naru's face, and she had a feeling that was exactly why he was standing like this right now-specifically so they wouldn't have to look at each other. Mai knew that Naru was always better at expressing himself when he didn't have to look at the person he was speaking to in the face.

"I'm...sorry that this is happening. I'm sorry that you have to go through this." Naru's voice was quiet, his breath tickling the back of Mai's neck. But he didn't move, even though he said nothing else.

Mai hesitated slightly. Though she knew it wasn't Naru's intention at all, she felt an ache in her chest. "You don't...have to apologize, Naru. It's not like this is your fault. It's just... You're here now, aren't you? This is what you do, what you guys do, what we do. Fixing things like this is our job. It doesn't matter that I'm the client this time. We're going to do what we always do, right?"

"You...really are an idiot, Mai."

"W-what?"

"Why are you comforting me when it should be the other way around?"

"H-huh? I-"

There was a soft laugh against the back of her neck, before Naru pulled away, turning around before Mai could turn and see his face. "That really is just like you, Mai." He started walking out of the kitchen. "I'll be in the base. Call me if anything happens."

Mai watched him go, feeling a little confused. Had Naru noticed how bothered she'd been by not being able to do anything alone in the house anymore? And why did he think she shouldn't be trying to comfort him right now? Mai frowned, turning back to fixing her snack. She didn't really get it.

When Mai entered the base a few minutes later, she found Naru seated in front of the main monitor, watching what she assumed was the footage that had been recorded by one of the cameras that night. As Mai walked further into the room, she noticed Naru pause the footage.

"...Couldn't sleep?"

"No. ...You couldn't either?"

"...No."

Mai swallowed hard. This felt so strangely awkward. It wasn't odd that she was feeling awkward around Naru or anything-that was probably pretty normal, but this was a different type of awkwardness. One she definitely wasn't used to. Trying to ignore it, she stepped forward and held out a cup. "Here, I brought you tea."

"...Thanks."

Mai blinked. It looked like she wasn't the only one being affected by this weird...atmosphere. Naru never thanked her for bringing him tea. Yeah, something was definitely up. But she didn't bring it up, having no idea how to even word what she was thinking right now.

So instead of speaking, she sat a bit away from her boss and ate her snack quietly, watching as Naru returned to reviewing the footage, sipping his tea occasionally.

A couple of hours later, once everyone was awake and fed and ready to concentrate, they all gathered in the base, waiting for Naru to tell them what they were supposed to do today.

"We still have very little evidence," said Naru. "Most of what we have is theory. So right now our priority is gathering as much evidence as possible, not to prove what Mai is telling us, but to validate and identify it. We don't know what we're up against, and we need to know that if we want to have any hopes of actually stopping it."

Naru didn't have to say anything else for Bou-san to realize exactly where he was going with this little speech of his. "You want to bait it out."

"Yes."

"And you want to use Mai."

"Yes."

Ayako opened her mouth to protest, but the words died on her tongue. As much as she didn't want this to happen, even she knew that while dangerous, it wasn't exactly a bad idea. She closed her mouth and leaned back in her seat, frowning. And she wasn't the only one.

The others were in the same position, thinking the same thing. Mai was in danger, they all knew that. Her life had already been endangered more than once, they knew that too. Using her as bait right now could end horribly, that too they knew. But the fact remained that they needed evidence. Like Naru had said, they had to know exactly what they were up against before they could even begin to hope to get rid of it. And this seemed to be the best way to get that evidence.

All eyes turned to Mai.

She sat stiffly in her chair, hands balled into fists, pale as a ghost. It was clear to them all that she really didn't want to do this, and they couldn't fault her for the fear she was no doubt feeling. But even though she was obviously scared, Mai was nothing if not courageous.

"Fine."

"Mai-"

"It's fine."

"It's going to be dangerous."

"I know. We don't have a choice," said Mai. "You guys all know that. I know you do. It's why none of you are protesting against it, like some of you usually do. This thing has been-been screwing around with me for months, and even I have no idea what it is. If it barely does anything while you guys are here, how will we ever know what it is or what it wants? And if we don't know any of that, we're never going to be able to get rid of it. We all know I can't live like this forever. Leaving and moving somewhere else might not help either, we know that too."

That they did. It was clear that there was a spirit in the house, but whether it was haunting the property, the house, or Mai herself, they weren't sure just yet. If it was Mai, then there was a possibility it would attach itself to her and follow her. If that happened, it wouldn't matter where Mai went-it would follow her and continue haunting her in her new home too. The safest option was to get rid of it.

But that didn't mean Mai wasn't worried. Just a few hours ago the thing had thrown a frying pan at one of them. And she'd been pushed and shoved and nearly drowned too. When Naru was involved, baiting usually meant antagonizing, and if that was the case, how would the spirit react? How angry would it get? How violent? Would it try to kill her again, even with the others around? Would it try to kill one of the others?

"Mai?"

She took a breath, then looked up at Naru. "What do you want me to do?"

That's it for now. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!