Pairing: Lin Koujo x Taniyama Mai

I hope you guys will enjoy this one!

xxxxx

"Mai. I'm honestly offended." Yasuhara deadpanned, glaring at the brunette in front of him.

She didn't know how it happened but earlier, she was having a light conversation with Lin Koujo, his large hand still settled at the center of her back. Next thing she knew, she was whisked away by Osamu Yasuhara who was sputtering gibberish excuses. She said a hasty goodbye to the tall man who was looking at them with an unreadable expression.

Mai rolled her eyes. "You're offended?" She said incredulously. "What about me? What about Lin-san?"

"Relax!" Yasuhara ushered her forward. "I know why you're with Lin-san." He smirked at the brunette who instantly blushed in response.

He was baiting her!

Mai kept her mouth shut, not wanting to rise to Yasuhara's teasing. She might end up losing her cool and say some things she might not be able to take back. She didn't want anyone knowing about her crush!

Yasuhara couldn't help but grin a bit wider. The fact that Mai was refusing him was a big sign! SHE REALLY WAS INTO LIN KOUJO! Oh, Madoka is gonna pay big time!

Finally seeing the door to Lin Wei's study made Mai feel better. "Oh, and Mai?"

Mai sighed. He wasn't letting it go. "What is it?"

"I'm glad to finally see you after all these years." Yasuhara smiled down at Mai who was looking at him with a shocked look. "I'm happy to see you doing well here in the shrine, a practicing priestess, no less."

Heart swelling with happiness and eyes moistening with incoming happy tears, the brunette couldn't help but hug him. She felt Yasuhara circle his arms around her and return her crushing hug. "Thank you…" She muttered, her voice muffled by his shirt. "I've missed you all so much…"

"We missed you too." Yasuhara patted Mai's head softly and stepped back just a little, prompting Mai to release him from her hug. "Now, I don't think it's good to let Lin-sama wait." His usual lighthearted tone was back.

The girl chuckled. "Definitely true. I should go ahead. You remember the way to the dining room, right?"

"Why, of course! It's a good thing that I'm not you!" He received a weak slap on his forearm and saw Mai stomping her way towards Lin's study.

"I hope you get lost!"

Yasuhara's laughter echoed along the hallway.

…

Dinner for the second time with the former SPR members was something she would definitely remember. Ayako and Bou-san constantly shouting insults at each other, John, Masako and Madoka were talking and living in their own little world, Yasuhara, Gene and her cracking jokes and laughing, and Lin, Naru and Wei were all casually ignoring the ruckus beside them. It was such a miracle though because Wei just sat there, tolerating all their bad habits while on dinner. The man was an absolute stickler for manners. Mai dreaded this though. Will she be punished at a later date for behaving so badly during dinner?

….

She shrugged inwardly. Her friends were here, surely he wouldn't begrudge her with –

"If I may have your attention, please."

Lin Wei's deep and commanding voice immediately ceased the loud buzzing in the dining room.

"Mai just received a job earlier."

The said woman looked down at her plate, not wanting to see the sidelong glances her friends were making.

"It's to capture the fox spirit that has been luring both young men and women at night."

A collective gasp was heard.

"Were there any reported injuries, Lin-sama?" Gene asked, his tone turning serious. Fox spirits were mischievous spirits and had the ability to transform into whatever form that they want. In other countries, they were called Shapeshifters. One can never tell the intentions of a fox spirit unless you have the ability to communicate with them.

"No. Actually, all those who were reportedly captured are alive and well. They were all found a day after their disappearance with no injuries, their clothes, albeit dirty and messy, were still intact. What's concerning the monk that requested this job is that the victims have no memories of what happened three days before they were captured."

The monk's eyebrows wrinkled in displeasure. "That's not a good thing." He commented. "They were only missing for a night, right? Yet, they don't remember a thing they did days before?"

"Fox spirits are naturally strong spirits considering they could take the shape of any being here on Earth." Madoka said in a business-like tone. "What concerns us is the appearance of this fox spirit."

"More specifically, the number of tails this fox spirit has." Lin added.

"The more tails, the stronger it is." Naru supplied.

"True." Masako agreed whole-heartedly. She looked at Mai who was staring wide-eyed at the group. "I think Tomoe-san won't be happy that you'll be having another familiar, Mai."

Mai smiled at the medium. "I think it'll be good for him to develop his social skills, honestly."

"Is this 'Tomoe-san' the white-haired guy?" Seeing Mai nod in response, he became more interested. He was seeing a familiar in the flesh! "Why can I see him?"

"Tomoe himself is an incredibly strong fox spirit." Mai explained, a small smile plastered on her face. "So even without my help, he can manifest himself to our plane whenever he pleases."

"Now that I think about it, how exactly did you manage to find your fox familiar, Mai?" Ayako asked, her brown eyes boring into hers.

"That is a story for another time, Matsuzaki-san."

Everyone in the table noticed how Mai's smile turned into a strained one. Masako, who was sitting right beside Mai, placed an elegant hand on top of Mai's and squeezed it reassuringly. Mai beamed at her black-haired best friend and resumed finishing her dinner.

"I'm expecting all of you here by 8AM tomorrow."

Monk and Ayako choked.

Yasuhara and Madoka high-fived.

Gene beamed.

Naru had a faraway look in his eyes.

John and Masako simply smiled.

Lin and Mai sighed.

This is gonna be a disaster.

…

"Seriously, did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" Mai whispered to the pinkette beside her who was eyeing the sulking Davis twin with mirth in her eyes.

Madoka shook her head and patted Mai on her head. "Don't worry about him, Mai-chan!"

"Noll is just being his selfish self."

The brunette instantly turned to the direction of Eugene's voice. "Lin-sama didn't want Noll to bring cameras for documentation."

Mai chuckled. "I should've known. He didn't get his wishes by pure logic?"

"Oh, he tried," A smirk started to appear on Gene's handsome features. "Lin-sama just wasn't having it. And I quote 'I don't care what your scientific brains think, Oliver. And don't bother hiding it. My shiki would know.'"

Mai couldn't help but laugh.

"Mai. You're too loud."

Years of dealing with Lin Wei's harsh punishments made Mai an expert to instantly keep her mouth shut and not talk back.

"The priest and the medium?" Wei asked, eyeing the group.

"Hara-san wasn't feeling well when she woke up this morning." Lin said. "Brown-san stayed with her."

Wei nodded and turned to his young student. "Are you ready, Mai?"

Mai turned to her instructor, determination in her sparkly brown eyes. "Hai, Lin-san."

"Oooooh~."

Yasuhara's teasing voice floated in her ears and it made her eyebrows twitch. What the hell is that dude thinking again? She kept her gaze on her instructor, not wanting to miss any instructions he might give her. She'll deal with the prankster later.

"What do you think he's gonna do?"

Madoka's voice was clear as day on her even though she was whispering. WHAT WERE THEY PLOTTING?

"Everyone," She snapped out of her musings, honing on her instructor's voice. "Hold on to someone."

A second later, she felt a large and rough hand slide into her left hand.

"Watch over Mai, Koujo. You know how she is."

With wide eyes and palpitating breath, she braved a look at their joined hands that oddly felt like a perfectly pieced puzzle. His hands were so warm –

"Are you okay, Taniyama-san?"

She saw his worried grey eyes. Damn, I should really focus… She nodded briskly and looked away, trying to fight the blush that was definitely making its way to her cheeks. Focus on the job, focus on the job, focus on the job…

"Whenever you're ready, Mai." Wei spoke, his intense grey eyes locking onto her warm brown orbs.

In all honesty, Mai was nervous. She'd never gone on a job without her instructor even when he deemed her capable of doing simple jobs on her own. Wei was always there even when she did all the job. He was always there to support her even though he'd just stand like a goddamned tree and not speak. His mere presence made her feel like someone was always watching over her, someone to catch her back when if she would end up screwing up.

She actually argued with the man night before, not understanding why he wasn't coming. He told her that her former SPR team were more than enough to back her up if she ended up botching the capture of the fox spirit. Strangely enough, she was sorta feeling some separation anxiety. 3 years may not sound that long but she had enjoyed and learned to love Wei, her familiars and the rest of the people working in the shrine. They were there wherever she went. Now… she was reluctant to leave even if the job could be completed in half a day.

"Ojou-sama."

Her eyes strayed to her handsome familiar who was looking at her with a gentle smile on his face. He was her closest familiar, yet he wasn't coming too! "When you come back, I'll prepare your favorite bath for you. I'll ask the cook to prepare your favorite meal and dessert."

Mai couldn't help but grin. Tomoe always knew how to make her feel better. "I'll hold you to that, Tomoe."

She stood straighter this time, squeezed Lin's hand for assurance, and turned her gaze to her friends that were waiting patiently. "Everyone," She started. "Close your eyes and don't open them until I say so."

"Aww," Yasuhara pouted but still followed Mai's instructions. "We can't get to see you in action?"

"Unless you wanna be blind, then be my guest."

Not a single word was uttered right after that.

A few seconds ticked by, they all suddenly felt a cold gush of wind swirl around them and a tingling sensation coming from their heads that felt like electricity and slowly spreading through their bodies.

In a blink of an eye, the group was gone.

"You think it was wise to let Ojou-sama go on her own?"

"You baby her too much, Tomoe."

Tomoe frowned at that. "Aren't you at least worried?"

"She's an adult."

"You didn't really answer my question, Lin-sama."

The Chinese sorcerer simply turned and walked away.

Just when Tomoe was about to head off to the other direction to water the garden that Mai was dutifully working on, he heard Wei speak.

"Tomoe, tell the cooks to buy the ingredients for Mai's favorites. We both know she's annoying when she's whining."

The kitsune couldn't help but smile at that.

So he does worry…

…

Naru kept his senses high considering that he couldn't see anything. The scent of flowers was really strong. Even without looking, he can somehow guess that the land he was standing seemed to be a bit softer. He can hear the chirping of birds and the soft rustle of leaves.

"You can open your eyes now."

Naru opened his eyes slowly, not wanting to get blinded by the probably onslaught of light from the sun. What he saw first was huge bed of pink flowers. He knelt and examined the flower in front of him. "Are these Camellia's?"

"That's what the owner said."

Oliver Davis, the master of 'I am not shocked by anything because I know almost everything', felt immensely proud of himself for not looking the least shocked by Mai's sudden closeness… and he can smell her signature strawberry scent too.

"You know the owner, Mai?"

Seeing Mai back up and talk with Yasuhara and Madoka gave him the opportunity to slow his heart rate and keep his usual blank façade in place. It wouldn't do any good for the others to see him slipping up and tease him endlessly about it.

"I'm honestly wondering how far we are." His twin's voice floated in his ears. He looked at Gene who was gazing at Mai with astonishment in his eyes. "I mean, look at her. She's not exhausted!"

"That's because she's not using her psychic abilities, Gene."

This time, the twins twisted to look at their former guardian, Lin Koujo. Sensing that Noll was about to ask a question, he intercepted him first. "I know that you have questions but that will have to wait. Mai has a job to do."

With that, the twins joined the noisy group and followed Mai's trek that lead into the woods itself.

Monk, noticing their trail, grew a bit anxious. "Mai, are you sure this is where we're supposed to go?"

"The tree spirits are glad that you're here, Mai." Ayako commented, in awe at the living trees. "You've been here before?"

"I actually don't sense anything." Gene added, looking around the forest.

Mai nodded and gazed at the trees with a soft look. "Lin-san would always send me here whenever he decides to banish me from the shrine."

"Banish you?" Madoka said incredulously. "That sounds quite harsh. What did you do anyway?"

"Let me guess," Yasuhara snapped his fingers. "You run wild."

Mai rolled her eyes. "Define 'wild'."

Naru, not being able to stop himself at that question, answered instead. "Not listening to orders and running off even when told to stay put."

"Noll!" Gene elbowed his twin.

The brunette merely laughed at her former boss' response. "It's okay, Gene. I really was like that before."

"Correction," Yasuhara interjected. "You still are like that."

Laughter echoed around the forest, the group falling into several discussions. Lin, who was as always falling behind the group and watching over them, kept an eye out for anything suspicious and asked one of his shikis to scout the area for a fox spirit. They've been walking for a few minutes now yet the one who's supposed to finish the job seemed to be pretty busy. It was such an enigma to him how his brother managed to handle this girl who seemed to have so much energy in a little body.

Looking back, when Mai had stopped replying to his emails, he became worried. Mai had started opening up to him how sleep for her was becoming few and far between due to her psychic 'death' dreams haunting her everyday. After reading her email, he immediately wrote up a reply telling her to see a monk whom he personally knew that could help with her dreams.

He hadn't heard from her since.

And finally seeing her, standing and looking at him with those bright brown eyes, just made something inside him tingle. Attraction – was what he first thought. He liked the way how her hair just naturally moves with every step. He liked how her voice seemed to calm his nerves; just hearing her talk made him feel reassured that she was okay and that her dreams weren't haunting her. He liked how her strawberry scent made him feel like he was where he's supposed to be – home. He liked how –

"The fox spirit isn't happy."

Lin was miffed – speaking more for himself. He got totally lost in his own thoughts.

"What should we do then?" Yasuhara asked, keeping his eyes open for any suspicious movements.

"More importantly, where's the fox spirit?" Naru stared at the brunette who was oddly staring really hard at a bark of a random tree.

Mai did not answer.

"Mai-chan?" Madoka called.

As an answer, Mai turned to the group, her brown eyes set in a determined look. "I know you guys wanna come with me – "

"We ARE going with you, Mai." Lin towered over the young girl, a piercing glare set in his eyes. "You are not allowed to tell us that you're going alone and capture this spirit that could possibly harm you."

She suppressed a shiver. The man could be intimidating when he wanted to be. "I know!" Mai rolled her eyes. "I'm trying to say something so listen." Not hearing another word, she continued. "The fox spirit knows why we're here and is actually more than willing to come out. He's just a little… shy."

"Shy?" Gene asked, disbelief lacing his voice. "Mai, you're probably forgetting that this is a fox spirit you're facing. They're known for tricking people."

Mai smiled sympathetically at Gene. "Tomoe hasn't tricked you or the others, right?" She took his hand and squeezed it, hoping that Gene will understand her. "I know that this spirit won't trick us."

Naru's eyes narrowed at the sight of Mai holding his twins' hand but he immediately recovered. "Is that your instinct talking, Mai?" He asked the brunette.

Mai simply nodded.

"Then, tell us what to do then, Mai-chan!" Madoka grinned.

"You better do this right or else Lin-sama won't let you sleep." Ayako said in amusement.

Mai looked at Lin who still seemed to be on edge. "Lin-san?"

Lin closed his eyes and sighed. He was unable to resist her for some reason. "Fine."

Mai smiled, happiness and relief bubbling through her. "It's just quite simple really," She closed her eyes, clasped her hands together and brought it near her chest. A magic circle instantly appeared beneath her, the edges emitting a golden glow. "I'll try my best to make you guys invisible." She continued in a soft voice.

Another magic circle, although a bigger one, surrounded the group.

"Fox spirits are much more sensitive to auras rather than physical bodies," She continued explaining. "This fox spirit wants to talk but is feeling very wary of you guys. I'll conceal your auras and physical bodies as much as I can and once you start seeing the fox spirit, please, do not make a sound."

Not a word was uttered while Mai was doing her spell.

Meanwhile, the people inside the magic circle were both pretty excited and impressed. They were all entrapped in this golden circle. Others were engrossed in looking at the strangle symbols while Gene kept his eyes on the girl in front of them. With the way how the others had described her, the golden light made by her magic seemed to very much suit her.

Bright.

Warm.

A beacon of light.

He was initially disappointed in himself because he couldn't remember her at all. But he didn't dwell so much on that. The others had told him that Mai wasn't a hard person to befriend. He had a few more days with her and hopefully within those days, he'd be able to build a solid friendship with her… and maybe something more, dare he hope.

He noticed that the glow of their circle was starting to dim. She placed her index finger on her mouth… and winked.

Damn, she's cute.

She turned around and started walking slowly. It was the cue for them to follow and be religiously silent all the way.

Not even passing the two-minute mark, Mai had stopped.

"Hey," She spoke delicately. "Can you come out now and talk to me?"

Silence floated in the air.

And Mai made no move to speak again.

All of a sudden, a huge swirl of fire appeared in front of them which burned very brightly that they all had to close their eyes. The heat from the fire was so intense that they all wondered if their clothes were starting to burn too.

He's here… Mai's voice echoed through their heads.

The heat from the fire was still there but not as intense as it first appeared. Slowly, they opened their eyes.

A tall, burly man appeared in front of them. His golden hair and bright purple eyes sitting on his handsomely angular face seemed to be such an odd combination yet it suited him so well. What caught their eyes the most was the scars that marred his pale skin. It was all over his arms, shoulders, stomach… probably on his back and legs too. His face was set in a distant expression.

And he had nine long fluffy white tails.

"Hi," Mai started to strike a conversation. "May I know your name?"

The man kept his face straight while gazing at Mai.

"Akito." He replied gruffly. "You?"

The brunette smiled. "Mai. It's nice to finally meet you, Akito-san."

"Mai…" Akito looked away, his eyes becoming distant again.

Abruptly, his mouth twisted in a lecherous grin and his purple eyes locking onto Mai's that promised trouble.

"I think I'll have some fun with you first."

This is bad…

xxxxx

And there you have it! Another chapter done! I hope this was another good chapter.

As always, thank you so much to all the reviewers! You guys make my day! Thank you for staying with this story even though updates are slow.

And AGAIN, honest reviews are always appreciated.

Just an update, I'm currently working on another chapter for my other story, Probably Arrhythmia. So for those of you who are still faithfully following that story, a chapter will definitely be uploaded soon!

Ciao!
Nana xxx