"Mai, tea." I heard a familiar voice call from his office. I slowly stood up from my desk, sighed and made my way over to the dull looking kitchen. I got Naru's mug out of the cupboard and put a tea bag in it. After filling the kettle up and turning on the gas, I sank down to the ground, exhausted and emotionally drained.

During the past week, I swear I've only had around five or six hours of sleep, and when I did eventually manage to get to sleep, my dreams were plagued with the nightmare. The same nightmare. Over and over again.

My thoughts were loudly interrupted by the loud whistling of the tea pot on the stove. I grabbed onto the top of the counter and pulled myself into an upright position.

I was about to pour the tea into Naru's plain black mug when my arms seemed to become strangely heavy and my vision blurred slightly. My balance seemed to have gone out the window as I stumbled and dropped the tea pot on the floor, making a loud metallic bang that caused my ears to ring. I felt dizzy and tried to clutch on to the counter for support, but my hands missed their target and I felt myself slowly fall to the floor. Fortunately, a pair of firm arms caught me just before I collided with the floor.

"Naru!" I vaguely heard a voice call.

"Is she okay?" I felt myself being lifted up. Resting my head on someone's chest, I managed to open my eyes and groaned as my head began to throb painfully.

I was gently laid down on the sofa and a cold flannel was placed on my forehead. I looked up into Lin's cold eyes. I thought I saw a look of concern cross the tall man's face, but it disappeared so quickly that I thought I must have imagined it.

"Mai, what happened?" Naru asked. He was stood next to Lin, looking no more emotional than usual.

"I felt really dizzy all of a sudden then I just fell. It's probably from a lack of sleep so I'll be fine." I tried to sit up, but Lin pushed me back down into a lying position.

"Well then maybe you should get some sleep." He said.

"I will not permit my employee to sleep in my office." Said Naru agitatedly, shooting a look at Lin that could kill.

"Well would you rather she passed out again?" Lin retorted, unaffected by his death glare. Naru was silent for a few seconds.

"Your shift finishes in three hours. You can sleep until then." He walked solemnly back into his office and slammed the door, obviously in yet another bad mood,

"Hey, Lin?" I asked quietly as I pushed myself into and upright position. He had just walked over to his desk, but paused and turned around to look at me.

"Yes Mai?"

"Err, I'm sorry, but do you have any painkillers?" He paused to think.

"I think we have some in the first aid kit. I'll just go and check." He walked out into the hall, presumably to the bathroom.

We have a first aid kit? I thought to myself.

I let my head droop back onto the top of the sofa. I stared up at the ceiling, wishing that I could just have a pleasant dream for once, or better, no dreams at all. Is that really too much to ask?

Lin returned a few minutes later carrying a glass of ice water in one hand and a box of Paracetamol in the other with a plain blue blanket draped over his arm. He put the glass of water and the Paracetamol on the coffee table and placed the blanked down next to me.

"Thank you Lin." I said. He simply nodded in reply and went back to his computer. I took the small pill with the water and put the glass back on the table. I knew I needed to sleep and I really wanted to, although I knew what would happen if I did.

Reluctantly, I lay down on the comfy sofa and pulled the fluffy blanked up around my neck. For a few minutes, I just lay there, staring at the half empty glass of water on the table, trying to mentally prepare myself for what I knew was about to come next. After a while, I felt myself giving into the feeling of exhaustion and eventually, I felt myself slipping away.

I flexed my fingers in front of me and arched my back, trying to get rid of the stiffness in my limbs. I didn't mind working at the computer all day, but I have to admit that there are other things I'd rather be doing. I looked at the clock on the wall. According to the clock it was around 7:45 which meant that Mai had been asleep for an hour and three quarters.

I looked over at her sleeping form, buried beneath the blanket I brought her earlier. Takigawa and Ayako should be her any min-

"Maaiii! Bou-san is here to see you!" Takigawa yelled happily as he and Ayako walked through the door.

"Will you please shut up!" Ayako shouted, hitting him hard over the head with her purse.

"What was that for?" He moaned at Ayako.

"You're far too loud for your own goo-"

"Could you please try and be a bit quieter. Mai is asleep and it would be nice if it would stay that way." I said to them.

They both turned to look at Mai asleep on the sofa, puzzled looks on their faces.

"Is she allowed to sleep here? I'm sure Naru would go mental if he knew." Takigawa exclaimed.

"It's okay. She had Naru's permission. She fainted earlier in the kitchen so Naru and I thought it would be best if we let her sleep until the end of her shift."

I saw a look of worry on their faces as Ayako went into Doctor Mode.

"She fainted! What happened?" Ayako knelt down next to the sofa and began to examine her face. She noticed the dark purple bags under Mai's eyes.

"She was making Naru his tea in the kitchen. I heard the kettle fall to the ground so I went in to check on her and caught her just as she was about to hit the ground. I carried her over to the sofa. She was conscious by then. She told us that she had been feeling feeling dizzy and that it was probably just from a lack of sleep."

Takigawa knelt down next to Ayako and stared at Mai with a look of great concern on his face.

"Will she be alright?" Takigawa asked Ayako worriedly.

"I think so, but I don't see why she hasn't been sleeping. She doesn't even have any exams at the moment that she would need to stay up late and revise for. She really needs to be taking better care of herself."

"This isn't right. A fifteen year old orphan shouldn't be living in an apartment on her own. She needs a family." Takigawa said in a hushed tone.

"I think we're her family." I said. They both looked up at me and smiled.

All of a sudden, Mai began to shake slightly

"She's having another nightmare." Ayako tried to wake her up, but it didn't look like that wasn't going to happen any time soon. Her eyes were darting around behind her eyelids and a layer of cold sweat was forming on her forehead. Ayako tried shaking her.

"Mai! Wake up!" Takigawa shouted at her urgently. Naru's office door swung open and he walked into the room.

"Maybe this is what's been keeping her up at night." I said to Naru, but he didn't seem to be listening. He was staring at Mai, his lips pursed. He didn't like to admit it, but I knew he cared for her. We all do.

Her breaths became shallow and her fists were clenched into balls so hard that her knuckles turned white.

"Damn it Mai! WAKE UP!" Bou shouted one last time. She went still and her eyes fluttered open. She grabbed the nearest person to her, which just so happened to be Ayako.

"Ayako?" She whispered as silent tears began to stream from her eyes. She wrapped her arms around Ayako into a hug and began to cry more. Ayako hugged her back and whispered soothing words the terrified girl. Takigawa sat on the sofa next to her and stroked her hair. He looked over at me and Naru. We needed to find out what was going on.