Today had been one of those days for Naru, one of those days where he locked himself in his office and requested tea. Mai would be at wit's end with him by now but she couldn't exactly find the time with the gang over. Monk was shouting as many jokes at one time he could, running from the chicken across the street to why two cows walked into a bar. They weren't especially bad but it got the Miko on his left to knock his head, complaining that he was giving her brain cancer from how stupid he was. Of course, the others were keeping her busy too, Yashura admitting his love for Lin while John and Masako played American card games together.

"Hey Mai!" She heard Monk shout as she poured yet another cup of tea for Naru, this was his fifth cup in the last hour and she couldn't help but wonder if Naru was going to get a disease from this. A disease from tea? She chuckled to herself as she walked back into the room, glancing over at Bou-san in expectance.

"Hm? I'm busy; Naru has requested five cups in an hour, five cups!" She complained loudly.

"What'd the lamp say to the man?" The man asked before she could start on her rant about Naru and she looked confused at him, the older man finally let out the pun with gasps of breath "Nothing. A lamp is an inanimate object. That'll get Naru cracking, I know it!" but before he could start again Ayako grabbed the joke book he had in his hands and threw it across the room into a plant, daring him with her eyes to move from the couch. That settled the room a bit as Mai went into Naru's office, standing there for a bit to watch him read files. She started working for him her freshman year of high school, and now in her senior year she was still here. Of course he had returned to England for a year, and she had been heartbroken during that time, she hadn't even tried getting a job for the first few months. Of course, her finances went downhill and finally she gave in her mourning and got a job at a fast food restaurant. It of course wasn't a good paying job, but nothing could be a good job compared to here. Monk would visit her a lot and try to force money on her, in fact all of her friends did but she refused. Then Naru came back and she took her job back, everything returned to normal. He didn't say any more about his past than what was given out by the boys; he was Oliver Davis, a man of the paranormal. She hadn't had the heart to search online to know everything about him; it seemed too personal, too delicate.

"Mai if you're just going to stand there like an idiot I suggest at least standing closing so I can get my tea" Naru scolded her from his spot and she realized she had been standing there for a while just thinking.

"Well excuse me" She grumbled then walked over and placed his tea on his desk and stood there for a second, acting like she expected a thank you. By now she didn't but it was almost like a game between the two of them, Masako called it teasing. She looked down at him, waiting, and he finally glanced up to frown at her. The young woman grinned slightly, the two looking at each other. While she never admitted it, when he looked up at her, her heart raced, and finally she couldn't stand it anymore. The young woman stood up to leave the room, though Naru called out to her before she made it to the door.

"Tell the others we have a case, we'll be leaving early tomorrow. It'll take a couple of hours to get there" he said and with that she excused herself from the room, letting out a loud sigh as she closed the door only to turn around to everyone staring at her. Even Lin was in there, looking at her curiously.

"Wha-What?" She said, feeling her face heat up, but in attempt to keep her pride she sat down in one of the chairs. Everyone was still pushing the two of them together, even Masako tried hinting every once and a while, but maybe that was because her and John had because very close to the pausing years. "We have a case tomorrow guys," She said, trying to divert their attention, "Naru said we have to get up early to go to it, he didn't explain very much about it though." She said with annoyance.

"I can't believe him, making a lady like me get up so early" Ayako complained which gave Monk a perfect opening to insult her, and the two were off at it again. Honestly they were getting along better, even though it didn't really show on the surface. Everyone at SPR was getting along better now days, even though they still did messed around like they did in their first year, things went by smoother. Masako didn't hate her anymore, in fact they were good friends, and she had been the one who kept Mai going during her heartbreak.

"I need to be going now guys, it's going to get dark soon and I don't want to deal with any trouble" She said, standing up. Mai picked up their cups and set them in the sink, deciding to wash them tomorrow.

"Are you going to walk home alone Mai?" Bou-san asked with a cautious look, but she just chuckled as she slipped on her coat.

"Bou-san I'm a senior in high school, I can take care of myself. Don't worry about it" she chuckled.

"It is better to be safe than sorry Taniyama-san" Lin said, as if trying to give the monk some ground to work on but she just ignored them and headed to Naru's office, deciding to tell him she was heading home since he might call for tea and find her gone.

"Mai, you seem to have grown into the habit of not knocking." Naru said, holding the bridge of his nose in annoyance but Mai knew it was best to ignore him. She never knocked anymore, he was just tired.

"I'm heading home Naru, make sure to close up soon ok? And make sure you turn off all the lights, and don't you dare fall asleep here again." She said.

"Have Lin drive you home" Naru said, looking up at her quickly.

"But Naru, my house isn't far, and it's a waste" She whined but with his expression she couldn't get herself to argue anymore and with a huff she exited the room to find Lin waiting for her by the door, obviously knowing of their conversation. With a grateful smile she walked with him out of the building and down the steps to the van. Lin started it up for the drive home, and Mai watched as the snowflakes hit the windshield. It was January, a week after New Year which kept the roads a little quieter without the hustle of shoppers.

"I'm sorry you have to go and do this Lin-san." She said, looking over at him with an apologetic look.

"It's fine Taniyama-san. Naru and I both know the dangers of Tokyo." He stated and she smiled. Lin was the real one of the group to have grown; he was a more talkive man, or least he responded to questions. He was now engaged to Madoka, with the woman running into the office to announce it to all of them a month ago. Their wedding would be in August, and of course, they had all been invited to join in on the events. Finally they stopped in front of her apartment complex and she started to get out before remembering something

"Oh, Lin-san, do you know anything about our case?"

"Naru said it would be in a private home Taniyama-san" He said with a small smile and she got out, bowing as he left and turned to her home. She had moved so many times last year, just to try to avoid trouble in neighborhoods, and she was about to move again after a shooting when Naru showed up. He had come into her home one day and made her pack, moving her into this apartment, he hadn't let her question it or its price. It was a nice complex, which made her wonder why her rent seemed to be so little, she guessed Naru had a hand in it.

"Time to pack I suppose" She sighed and heading inside and up the stairs to the third floor where her home was. It was actually a bit large and while she was messy it was impossible to make such a large place cluttered, while tiny spots of the house had her stuff piled up it was still too large for her. She had complained to Naru about that but he had said she could have people over that way. The place felt lonely with only one person and she turned on all the lights, illuminating the entire house with a glow. She wouldn't turn them off till she went to bed, and though she knew it was a waste she wasn't home that often anyways. While she wanted to take a shower, she knew it was too late and she needed to pack first anyways. She guessed in some ways life had changed, she was close to going to college soon if she got her scholarships and Naru should be taking college classes or something by now, though by how 'smart' he was he'd probably already finished it, after all wasn't his real name Professor Olive Davis? She wasn't sure and she questioned it as she hung up her coat and slipped off her shoes, walking to the back room where her bed was and started packing. She couldn't run around in her little skirts of her childhood anymore, she was almost an adult and she packed away jeans and sweaters.

"Time to go to bed, and rest before Naru is banging on the door" She mumbled to herself, and she yawned before slipping off her clothes then put on her pajamas. Backtracking she clicked off the lights as she walked back to the front door and made sure it was locked. Naru had given her a good scolding about that a couple of times. Then heading back to her rooms she pulled her covers over her, letting then settle over her face. Without Gene around her dreams were cutoff, and now dark, she didn't even have any normal dreams anymore. She wouldn't say it was scary but she did somehow lose a few hours of sleep because of the change. Finally, after an hour her exhaustion set in and the young woman fell into a restless dark slumber.