Her long, black hair fluttered in the breeze. The streets were empty, and the moon was full, revealing the faded trench coat that swished along her ankles. Red seeped into the beige material from a deep wound in her stomach, blood dripping on the damp road.

She walked, completely soundless, leaving trails of scarlet behind her. The wind did not touch her, the cold did not bother her, the silence did not unnerve her; it was as if she were the eye of a tornado, beyond reach of the chaos whirling in the quiet of the night. The discontent was not visible to the eyes, rather it was the mind's eye that saw it; the sixth sense that detected it.

She would've been mesmerizing, were it not for the gruesome sight that was her mouth; cut from ear to ear, it was barely two flaps of skin; a mocking parody of a smile. A pair of rusted scissors glinted in the moonlight, the edges dangerously sharp.

She spoke, her voice chilling to the core; seemingly coming from everywhere,

Am I...beautiful?

That one line kept repeating in my dreams. It had been bothering me for some time, so much so that I preferred not to sleep, but I couldn't muster the courage to talk to Naru; he would probably insult my brain capacity and tell me to bring him some-

"Mai, tea!" And there it was.

A long-suffering sigh escaped my lips as I dragged my worn body to the kitchen. Preparing tea tended to calm me, but today, I just couldn't seem to get rid of the uneasiness I felt. The whistle of the kettle shook me out of my daze and I took the tea to Lin-san's office. Our relationship had gotten better after they came back from England; the talked and smiled more freely now. I knocked on his door and received a 'come in'.

Closing the door softly behind me, I placed the tea-cup on his desk, with ginger biscuits, his favourites. "Here you go, Lin." He smiled softly at me, "Thank you, Mai." I tried to smile back at him, fatigue clearly on my face. Concern on his face, he asked, "Is everything okay, Mai?" Inserting false cheer into my voice, and trying to look like I wasn't lying, I said, " Everything is fine. Thank you for your concern." Producing a somewhat real smile, before he could ask anything else and widen the cracks in my façade, I quickly made my way to Naru's office.

Armed with the remaining tea-cup and a plate of mint and chocolate wafers, I squared my shoulders and got ready to approach him. Without bothering to knock, I made my way inside, gave him the tea and wafers, and was nearly out of the door when his cool voice stopped me. "Mai, are you sleeping well enough? I need your full concentration if we decide to take a case." I must really look bad if Naru was curious. Despite the fact that I knew this was his way of showing he cared, I could not stop the anger that was sparked by his words. But the anger was gone as fast as it came; smothered by the uneasiness I felt earlier, along with a sick feeling in my stomach.

Trying to regain my composure, I slowly turned around to face him. Crossing my fingers, I prayed I wouldn't stutter, as this would alert him to my lies. "I have exams, so I stayed up late to study." I shrugged my shoulders for good measure, as if to say 'you know how it is', but of course he wouldn't know, his intellect surpassed everyone his age and most elders. He gave me a look that shouted 'do you think I'm stupid?'. Slumping my shoulders, I dropped all pretence of being okay, and Naru's eyes widened as he took in my look of utter defeat. "Mai..." he began softly. Never before had he used a tone so caring towards me.

"What happened to you?" The question I hoped he wouldn't ask passed his lips. If I told him the truth, I would have someone to help me with my dreams and to share my experiences with, but, Naru would spend more time focusing on me rather than research, which clearly needed to be done. Dealing with my problems would only cause inconvenience for him. It was an easy decision.

"I-I don't want to talk about it. If I'm ready I will come to you myself. I just...want to come to terms with it myself, for now. But thank you very much for your concern, I really appreciate it." By the time I finished talking, Naru's face had gone back to stoic again. I hoped he understood that I wanted to deal with this by myself at the moment and didn't take offence. I smiled at him, a true smile, to show him that it was nothing personal before walking out of the door. "Wait, Mai," I stopped and gave him a curious stare. "We have a client due at 5pm. Make sure to finish the remaining paperwork by then." I nodded and sat down at my desk, my mood slightly less darker than before.