Everyone was resting at base, eating noodles, when the third attack happened. Eiji Takashi burst in at 10 PM on the dot, frantic. Akio had gone missing and he couldn't find him anywhere.

"Did you search the whole hotel?" Naru questioned, crossing his arms slightly. Mai and Ayako exchanged nervous looks and the older woman grasped Mai's hand reassuringly.

"I-I've just been on my floor. It'll take too much time if I look all over by myself. You have the cameras, right? Have you seen anything?" Takahashi-sensei wrung his hands nervously.

Lin and Monk stood and began examining the wall of monitors. Suddenly Masako gasped and staggered backwards, nearly falling into Naru.

"Masako? Are you alright?" Ayako asked, hurrying over to steady the girl. If Masako was disappointed Naru didn't catch her, she didn't show it. Instead she let out a strange gurgle, something that made the hairs on Mai's neck stand on end.

"Water," she choked out before collapsing onto her knees, coughing violently.

"We have activity at the pool," Lin said sharply. Everyone turned to stare at Lin with varying degrees of shock and horror.

"Everyone, let's go," Naru said stiffly before following Takahashi-sensei out the door in a sprint. Mai was the last one out, unable to shake an uneasy feeling that had arisen in her stomach. She froze, glancing back at the screen. Was it her imagination, or was there a temperature drop in the offices portion of the building too? She heard Monk calling her so she continued out the door, shaking off her doubts.

When she finally arrived at the pool Lin and Takahashi-san had dragged Akio out of the pool. The boy was coughing and retching, but seemed fine. Mai felt the uneasy feeling grow and twist at her insides.

"Naru," she hissed as she marched over to him. Naru shot her a look out of the corner of his eyes. "I-um." She couldn't think straight all of sudden. Ridiculous, now isn't the time to be going gaga over your boss! "I have a feeling." Brilliant.

If Naru noticed her redness and stammering, he didn't notice. Instead he turned to face her full on, brows drawing together slightly. "A feeling?"

"I thought I saw the temperature dropping in the offices," Mai confessed.

"Interesting. What is your feeling?" Mai was relieved that he wasn't being deprecating. Of course he wouldn't be, Naru had admitted that he trusted Mai's instinct. The thought made her feel warm inside.

"Fukui-san is angry, that's reasonable. So wouldn't he be doing more than just giving us a scare with Akio-kun?"

"…Hai. So what you're saying is-"

"I think something else is going on. I feel like something bad is going to happen, but it's really faint right here, which means-"

"He's going to strike somewhere else. You saw the temperature drop in the offices?"

Mai nodded firmly and Naru sighed, running an agitated hand through his hair.

"Lin, I have to check something out. Get Akio-kun to base as soon as possible. Mai, you're with me," Naru said briskly before stalking out. Mai blushed at Masako's curious gaze, not missing the indignation in the medium's eyes. She could practically read her thoughts. I saved this boy by alerting Naru to what was happening, why does he need Mai?! Mai could only shrug before following Naru hurriedly.

"Should we follow them?" Monk mused as he watched them go.

"Wait a bit first," Lin relented.

Meanwhile Naru and Mai were hurrying down hallway after hallway.

"If there really is trouble, shouldn't we bring Lin or Monk?" Mai said sternly. Naru shot her an imperceptible look that made her blush. "What? You can't exactly do anything, and neither can I. What are we going to do? Shout him down?"

"Yes."

"Wait, seriously? Naru slow down, I need a word with you," Mai cried as he quickened his pace. He sighed and slowed down slightly, letting her catch back up with him. "Are you crazy? He made it impossible to get rid of Yanagi-san, there's no way we can take him down personally."

"It's obvious he can't be removed without a great amount of power. It stands that our best shot is reasoning with him, no? Lin gave me some information that I think will help."

"Shouldn't you have brought Masako?"

"Hara-san is at risk for being overwhelmed by him. At this point he has clearly built up power and negative energy, something that could impair Hara-san's work."

Oh, so Naru was protecting Masako by having her stay behind. But wait, that meant… "Nice, you won't risk Masako but you'll throw me at him?"

"I have faith in you."

His words made Mai freeze up inside, screaming internally. Naru frowned mildly at Mai's stunned expression. "You're the one who's responsible for me coming down here in the first place to check everything out. It only makes sense that if there's something you can confirm it for yourself."

Oh yeah. Okay, so he wasn't secretly in love with her. The thought made Mai's lips turn down but she put on a brave face as Naru paused outside the first office door. "I can feel a general temperature drop in the area. You were right." Hah, I was right! "Which office was the temp drop in?"

"Ah, um, well, I don't remember." Naru shot her a sharp look, making her flinch and smile sheepishly. "Okay, okay, let me think."

"No time for that. Use your instinct."

Mai's eyebrows shot up and curious brown eyes met intense blue ones. Naru was all for reason and thought; he must be dying a million deaths relying on his assistant to find the source of the problem using only her feelings. She bit back a grin.

"Alright. Well then," she mumbled before taking a small step towards the first door. It was as if something lightly tugged on her shirt, pulling her towards the door to the left of it. She stumbled slightly, even though the pull wasn't that strong, startled more than anything. Naru jumped into action, moving around her and bursting into the second room.

Mai gasped as she entered the room. It was absolute chaos, filing cabinets overturned, furniture flipped or moved, papers all over.

"Is that blood?" Mai breathed, staring at a dark stain on the floor.

"It's coffee. I had my mug flung at me." Mai squealed and jumped behind Naru as Kabayashi-san popped up from behind the desk, which had been turned onto its side. "You have to get me out of here! Everything's gone crazy! I'm going to die!"

Mai stepped back out from behind Naru, trying to get over to the woman when Naru place a hand on her forearm, stopping her. His warning look spoke volumes. "She's not possessed, Naru. I can tell."

"I know that, but can you sense a spirit?"

"… No. This is why you should've brought Masako," Mai said huffily.

"She wouldn't be able to sense him either. He's hiding. Stay by me until I say the coast is clear." Mai shot a concerned look at Kabayashi-san, who shot Mai a panicked one, before sighing and stepping back so she was side by side with Naru. "Now, Kabayashi-san, what happened?"

"I was sitting here doing some paperwork when I was nearly doused by a flying cup of hot coffee. It all went downhill from there, really. Banging noises, scratching, crying, furniture started moving. Then suddenly I was flung onto the ground. I crawled behind here and I've been waiting it out," she sniffled, gesturing to the desk. Naru pinched the bridge of his nose.

"When did it all stop?"

"As soon as you walked in. Please, you have to get me out of here! If this starts up again," Kabayashi-san's sentence was cut off as she screamed and ducked to avoid a pair of scissors that were flung at her. Mai flinched as the scissors lodged themselves in the wall right where Kabayashi-san's head would be.

Behind them the door shut and Naru resisted groaning as he heard it lock. He knew now that they had to banish Fukui-san or face the same fate as Kabayashi-san, which was surely death.

"Hey Naru," Mai whispered.

"Hai?"

"I can sense him now." Naru shot her a cold look and she gazed back, mildly embarrassed. "He's right behind her, actually."

Naru and Mai hurried to grab Kabayashi-san and throw her into an empty corner, standing protectively in front of her. A bunch of papers that were laying on the floor suddenly swirled up, forming a mini tornado in the office. The windows and doors rattled ominously before the papers dropped to the floor and the rattling stopped.

Slowly a form materialized in front of Mai. She found herself staring into murderous, bloodshot eyes. The man in front of her was mangled and bloody, his lips twisted into a snarl, blood and dust dripping off of him. Takeru Fukui has finally made an appearance.

"Mai, remain calm," Naru instructed as he slowly moved towards her. Mai gulped and stepped backward slightly, bumping into Kabayashi-san. The woman panicked and pushed her forwards, sending Mai stumbling into the ghost.

She choked slightly as she hit purely cold air, like someone had shoved her into particularly cold and thick mist. She felt the goosebumps rise on her arms more than saw them, and she shivered. She was saved when Naru grabbed her shoulders and tugged her backwards, away from Fukui-san.

"Whoa, that wasn't pleasant," Mai whispered as Fukui-san faded.

"What does he want from me," Kabayashi-san wailed, throwing herself at Naru and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, burying her face in his back. Mai knew it was a serious situation, but it was an odd sight to see a grown woman trying to hide behind a clearly irritated teenaged boy.

Die.

"You heard that too, right?" Kabayashi-san hissed as the word reverberated around the room. Mai nodded grimly at the woman as Naru worked to disentangle her.

"I know you're frightened, but you need to listen to me. I have reason to believe he himself believes that you're responsible for his death."

"T-That's crazy. I did no such thing! I'm innocent!"

Die. This time the word was louder and more drawn out. Kabayashi-san paled as a loud bang sounded from above her head. "Both of you, get behind me," Naru instructed.

"No way." Naru shot Mai an irritated look but she stood her ground.

"What do we do?" Kabayashi-san asked, cowering behind Naru.

"Our best option is to reason with him," Naru admitted. Another loud bang sounded and a sharp ripping noise followed. All three looked over to see that something had thrown scissors at the wall, lodging them in and dragging them down, leaving a gaping tear in the wallpaper.

"Okay. How do we do that?"

"You'll have to do it," Naru said. Kabayashi-san froze, her eyes widening.

"This is because he thinks I killed him, or at least ordered it. I told you, I didn't!" Kabayashi-san said hotly.

You will die.

Mai winced as she felt air on her neck. She didn't want to turn around but she could feel someone behind her momentarily before the feeling vanished.

"Look, I didn't kill him. I swear. Want to know how I got this job? I was offered it by some men I thought were just real estate agents wanting to keep this place going. I didn't even realize they were his killers until after. I wasn't involved, I swear. I just was there."

Lies.

Mai felt a cold hand grip the front of her shirt and tug, sending her flying through the air almost as if she were a rag doll. She crashed into the overturned desk painfully, but was quickly helped up by Naru. "Naru, no! You left Kabayashi-san unprotected," Mai whispered, horrified. Naru just gazed at her grimly before turning to look at the frazzled woman.

"I'm telling the truth, why won't you believe me? My father is a dentist and my mother is a stay at home mom for crying out loud, why on earth would I need connections to the yakuza? We can get along just fine." Kabayashi-san was exasperated now, but still terrified.

Why did you do it? The voice was full of pain now.

"I didn't! I didn't kill anyone, or even want anyone to be killed! I only got this job because the last place I worked got closed down and I needed somewhere to work. This place was available. It didn't even have any money to its name, I had to pitch in my own funds and rebuild its fortune," Kabayashi-san pleaded, her face twisting at the last sentence.

You didn't keep the money?

"There never was any! I told you, I wasn't involved, there was nothing in it for me! I only got this job because I needed one, and it was available."

You're lying! Fukui-san materialized suddenly in front of Kabayashi-san. Mai's heart stopped when she saw him reach out and wrap his hands around Kabayashi-san's neck, choking her.

"Naru, we have to do something," Mai said as she tried to get past him. He easily stepped in front of her each time, effectively keeping her firmly in place behind him. "Naru! She's dying!"

"I see that Mai," he said shortly. Kabayashi-san was turning bright red, her eyes bulging. "Fukui-sama, you're not listening."

Fukui-san turned slowly at Naru's authoritative voice, his grip on Kabayashi-san easing up slightly. What do you mean?

"She's telling the truth. I know this because the men who really were responsible were caught, and her name was not associated with them."

They were protecting her.

"Why would they do that? It's only fair that if they go down, she should too, is it not?" Fukui-san let go entirely of Kabayashi-san at this point and she fell to the ground gasping for air. Mai itched to go over and help her.

Why did they do it? Why did I have to die?

"You were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. They saw you around and thought you were rich, so they targeted you. Kabayashi-san is innocent."

Mai felt the rush of anger emanating off of Fukui-san, but she also felt confusion. Her heart restricted painfully. "Give it up, Fukui-sama. They received justice! Your apartments are still full of people and running smoothly. You didn't die in vain."

Fukui-san's dark aura seemed to recede slightly at Mai's soft voice. I didn't die in vain. The voice was whispery now, and calmer.

"No, you didn't. Lift this curse please, and go in peace. You heard Kabayashi-san's story, leave her be now." Naru waited as his words sank in, watching Fukui-san's reaction.

I will. I'll leave now. Mai heard ripping paper from all around her, and felt a sharp tug on her heart, as if a string had been pulling her and was suddenly cut. Naru's eyes widened, and she knew he felt the same thing. The darkness in the room was slowly receding now.

"All I had to do was talk to him. Seriously?" Kabayashi-san said in disbelief.

"Not quite, we still have to exorcise the whole building and burn any traces of the curse. But the worst is over," Naru said softly. Mai almost jumped for joy. For so long they had been in the dark and running around confused, now everything was finally over.

"I see. I need to go somewhere now, there are things I must do. Thank you, SPR, you've really helped," Kabayashi-san said after a long beat of silence. When she finally left, it was just Mai and Naru in the office.

"That was really nice of you to work with Kabayashi-san," Mai said, beaming up at Naru.

"As opposed to what other method? He wasn't after me, now, was he?" Mai's face fell slightly.

"No, but usually you like to take charge. You could have easily stepped in and explained everything, but you let her work it out herself."

"I suppose. Her pride would have taken a hit if a teenager saved her life and her business though, now wouldn't it?"

Mai frowned. Naru had a point, Kabayashi-san had to work through this on her own.

"Still, did you have to let her get strangled for so long? You could've stepped in earlier," Mai chided. Naru simply shrugged.

"I could have, but where's the fun in that?"

"Naru, you are unbelievable! What did that woman ever do to you?" Mai shrieked at his words.

"Would you believe she made Lin and I help clean the apartments?"

Mai let out a surprised laugh. Naru may have been an all knowing narcissist, but he was still a teenaged boy. Of course he wouldn't let her make him do something so menial and get away with it. Her laughter was cut short when Naru smiled warmly at her.

"You weren't as dumb as you could have been today Mai, good job." Mai was awestruck at his words.

"Are you sure you're not possessed? Isn't Yanagi-san still around somewhere?" Mai managed to stammer out. Naru's smile vanished, but his eyes remained warm.

"I'm not possessed. It's just nice to see that I'm setting such a good example for you to learn from."

Mai frowned after Naru as he left before his words sunk in.

"Why you! Of all the narcissistic things- I did this all on my own, Naru! By myself, you hear me? You set a terrible example you mood swinging, black color loving narcissistic freak!" She screeched as she raced after him.

"Feels good to be back, and not possessed," Monk said with a grin as he relaxed on the couches of SPR.

"It would feel better if you shared that couch," Yasu grumbled from the floor, where he was forced to sit. On the opposite couch Masako, John and Ayako all sat with smug smiles.

"Not my fault you're slow," Masako said softly, a wicked grin on her face. There had been quite the mad scramble for the couch once everyone realized Monk wasn't going to share.

"Honestly, you two bicker like siblings," Mai said as she entered with tea.

"Siblings? I don't even want to think about what it would be like being related to Yasu, thank you very much," Monk said, disdain lacing his words.

"I'll have you know I'm a joy to have in class, you should be proud to be related to me!" Yasu chirped back.

"Eh, Yasuhara, I think that's just what teachers say when they have nothing else to compliment you on," John said softly. Everyone burst into laughter, all except Yasu.

"Laugh all you want, I'm still prettier than any of you will ever be," he said grumpily.

"Not as pretty as Naru though," Ayako said. Monk shot up at her words, a scowl on his face.

"Isn't he a bit young for you? You deserve a real man," Monk said, puffing his chest out and trying to look manly.

"You're right… I wonder where Lin is, I should probably ask him for lunch some time," Ayako dead-panned. Monk's mouth fell open and everyone laughed once again.

"You insult my manliness, a grave sin miko," Monk said, shaking his head. "I supposed I'll just find another lovely lady to go for sushi with, I wouldn't want to be around someone who didn't respect me for my obvious rugged charm."

"Ah- hey, I want sushi! You know it's my favorite," Ayako said, flapping her hands around worriedly. Monk grinned smugly at her.

"Well then hurry along woman, I haven't got all day." With that the two left SPR, bickering the whole way out. Once the door closed, Masako was the first to speak.

"This definitely isn't the first time they've gone for food together," Masako commented. Everyone quickly agreed.

"Hey, dibs on the couch!" Yasu said, leaping up. Mai gasped and thrust the tea tray onto a nearby table, diving for the couch.

"No way nerd boy, I deserve it more than you!"

The two collided and tumbled onto the floor, grappling with each other angrily.

"Don't hurt each other," John said worriedly, watching them tussle. Surprisingly, Naru was the one who broke up the fight, having emerged from his office to find what was taking the tea so long.

"Honestly, why do I keep you on staff," he mumbled disdainfully, holding the two apart.

"Because I'm adorable and a joy to be around," Yasu said with an angelic grin. Naru merely grunted and dropped the two, preferring instead to grab his tea and retreat back into his den. "You hear that guys? He basically called me adorable and a joy to be around. Which I am."

"Man, I know we just finished that case, but now I really want to go on another one," Mai said once they had all settled back down.

"I know what you mean. It was kind of rough at points, but it's fun. I like knowing we've helped people," John said fondly, clearly remembering their past cases.

"I agree," Masako said, nudging John slightly. "Naru hasn't been taking many lately. My show is between seasons right now, I wouldn't mind helping you all with a case, even if it isn't a big one."

With that, all three people turned to stare at Mai intently. "Why are you looking at me? Go talk to Naru if you want another case."

"He's too scary," Yasu said.

"He might say yes if I ask, but I don't like pressuring people," John added.

"He makes me feel warm inside when I see him," Masako admitted. Everyone turned to stare at her weirdly. "What? He's a beautiful person. I can say this because we're friends now, are we not?"

"And you think I should talk to him… why?" Mai said grumpily, trying to ignore Masako's last remark.

"You're special to him, as much as it pains me to admit. At least, you're the closest to him besides Lin. You can talk to him one on one, whereas he mostly talks down to us," Masako said gently.

"You're being ridiculous, if anything he talks down to me the most. Have you heard him? So rude," Mai huffed.

"You bring out the human side of him, what can I say," Yasu teased.

"Fine. First case that comes up I'll try to get him to take it. But you owe me, he scares me too some times," Mai relented with a shudder.

"Sounds good to me," John said cheerily, standing up. "Anyhow, I'd better go. The orphanage needs me, I offered to help them patch up some of the walls and repaint."

"Oh, the orphanage? I haven't been there in a while, do you mind if I come with?" Masako asked timidly. If John was surprised, he didn't show it, instead he smiled warmly at the medium.

"I think the kids would love that." With a small grin, the medium accompanied him out of the room.

"Man, I'm guessing Masako is really hoping he's not a real priest right now because she's definitely got the hots for him," Yasu said with a whistle. Mai gaped at her friend, appalled.

"Yasu! Honestly, you're so vulgar. She just wants to see the kids, besides, she just admitted her undying love for Naru just now anyways," Mai shot back with a nervous giggle.

"Don't take it personally Mai-chan, I get warm and fuzzy around him too. Doesn't last long, mind you, he terrifies me," Yasu said as he gently pinched her cheeks.

"Baka, I wasn't going to. Enough horsing around, we have paperwork to do anyhow," Mai said as she pried his hands off of her.

"Ah, I'd hoped you forgot," Yasu said sadly.

Mai merely shook her head and tugged the boy along with her.

It was another good ending to a case, and even though Mai was content, Masako and John were right. She definitely wanted to do more cases, and soon.

As she worked she had the vague feeling her wishes would come true.