Love Bound:

Case 2:

Night Calling:

Prologue:

An Unknown Return:

March 10:

Mai rolled over in bed willing for sleep to lull over her. She rubbed her sleep-deprived eyes in frustration. She frowned up over at the blurry ceiling fan, her sheets tangled all around her in a messy disarray. The silence that lingered around her apartment in usual rang in her ears like a pair of cicadas having manifested under her bed. Agitation and restless filled her whole body as she kicked out her legs to release some of the pent up energy. She had no clue as to why she was having a bout of insomnia, and all so suddenly as well.

A cold wind blew through the window, making her shiver and bring the sheets more securely over herself – she regretted not wearing anything more warmer tonight, she was too lazy to get up and amend her mistake.

She rolled over to her side so that she was facing her window. She could make out the top of some trees even as she lay there. She searched the sky for the moon but it was in vain since it was too high up and all she could see was a silver bottom ring at the top of the window. She rubbed her eyes again and his time she drew the dirt collected at the edges of her eyes as well. Boy; was this getting on her nerves. She grinded her teeth together and got up – she had had enough. She grumbled out of bed, her shoulders were hunched with tiredness as she stretched her arms and popped her muscles in the shoulder. She made her way over to her kitchen to make herself a cup of oolong tea to soothe her nerves.

She sighed miserably as she sipped her tea. It made her feel better but not as much as she had hoped it would have done. She rested her head on the table, her eyelids drooping again and this time she didn't stop them – even though she craved a much softer surface for her head. She was almost asleep when she jerked up again with a not-so-feminine grunt. She groaned miserably and dragged her feet over to the couch. She collapsed on the couch, welcoming the warmth that came along with it. She sighed in relief as she snuggled in the couch, sleep finally taking over her with one last thought running through her head – she had better not be late tomorrow.

She jolted awake again after five minutes with a big, miserable groan. This was one of those times when just wanted to cry for a small reason as this. Tears welled in her eyes, as she beat the couch in misery, feeling silly for crying in such a situation. She wondered briefly as to Oliver would say if he caught her in such a situation. A twisted smirk made its way onto her features as Oliver's disdainful look made its way into her mind.

"Idiot," she could almost hear him say that as though he were standing in her apartment with her, "You're more of a baby then I thought,"

To which she would reply angrily, "Apparently, I don't live like an old grandpa like you,"

"Which gives you the excuse to behave more then half of your age?"

Yes that was Oliver…nice and strong, great comebacks and a blunt manner. She stifled a yawn, her tears had dried after awhile but she had made no effort to get up, even though sleep was calling. She slapped her cheeks to wake herself up – she was thoroughly irritated and annoyed. She wanted to take a cool bath now, but she was feeling too lazy to make the effort.

A sudden urge to know the time made her rise her body slightly off the couch. Sadly, this effort was in vain as well – there was no watch in her eyesight and she fell back on the couch, her stomach still grumbling with the need to know.

She lifted her legs in the air, an act to release the extra energy that had gathered there. She sighed, as the satisfying sound of bone cracking reached her ears. She turned her head so that she was looking into the seat of couch. She could clearly make out the rough texture of the cloth used and sidled a hand uselessly to see how it felt under her touch, her mind wandering off to recent changes that had taken place over the three months since their last case.

Madoka was now coming along to a good six months. This was definitely taking a toll on both Lin-san and Madoka. The poor Chinese man didn't have the power to deal with sudden mood swings and huge appetite cravings that Madoka seemed to present after God-awful hours. The stress and strain had almost driven him off of his own appetite and he hadn't been sleeping very well for a couple of days. To relieve him of the stress Mai had asked Ayako to take care of Madoka for awhile. If Mai hadn't been so busy with her job and education then she would have helped as well. Though, the consequences of this little service had given rise to a slightly irritated Ayako, the woman had taken it in her stride to provide Madoka with everything that she needed. The result, as Mai had hoped, was a well-rested and less strained Lin. Mai and Lin had even shared a home-cooked dinner at the office in the previous week. Mai had made a Chinese Dish that day and Lin-san had been more then satisfied to tell her how it tasted. A small smile spread across her face as she remembered the look on Lin-san's face as he had bit into the delicious smelling Chinese Rice.

As for the others, the things looked the same. Though, Masako and Yasuhara seemed to be going on rather well despite their shaky start. Mai buried her head in the couch with a small squeal, her mind turning off to Oliver.

She sighed. He hadn't been doing very well lately; he seemed more distant and cold then usual. He had stopped accepting cases – even the ones that seemed to have potential, and chose to remain shut up in his office for the remainder of the day. Mai had been awfully concerned for his well-being and had even asked Lin-san as to what had been bothering the dark-haired young man. Unfortunately, Lin-san had seemed as clueless as her – what with his own problems and sleeplessness. He had, though, after he had gotten much better, ventured out to ask Oliver what was bothering him. Oliver had replied coldly that it was none of his business and that he be left alone. Lin had even gone as far as threatening him with his parents but, Oliver had been persistent as usual.

This revelation had put things on edge in the office and she had been glad of the company that Lin-san and the others provided. Nobody had a clue what was going on through that head of his…his constant bad mood and the deadly aura that shrieked 'stay-away-if-you-want-live' was enough to make anyone give up on trying to coax anything substantial out of him. Though, one thing was clear to everybody, as they tried to chew their unwanted concern away, that whatever was bothering him had to be serious.

Mai turned her head again so that she was facing her small television set. Everybody had been understanding enough (eventually) to not take his secrecy into offence – Oliver, they concluded, was not going to change and any attempts made on their behalf would be no better then poking a very angry dragon in the eye. Mai turned in agitation so that her whole body was turned towards the television.

Mai had finally snapped, some two weeks ago when he had come to the office in a tired and sleep-deprived state. She had asked him what was wrong, only to get a brief glance in her direction before he walked into his office – Mai's following calls had fallen on deaf ears. She had decided that she would confront him when he called for tea – only to find that he made no such orders that day. Blistering and genuinely scared Mai had stormed into his office to find the blinds drawn more then half-way and a very tousled hair young man in tow.

His dark eyes had flickered to her momentarily as she stomped in and she had seen them darkening in way that clearly told her that she was unwanted. Angry and hurt by his coldness she had demanded for an explanation after she had told him that everybody was worried sick about him and hiding his problem from friends was not something that people did in friendship. He had replied, somewhat gently, that it didn't concern her and they were all idiots for worrying about him. Mai had yelled that it did concern her since it was his problem.

He didn't reply for awhile, his eyes were dark and meaningful as he had stared down at her. She had then pointed out the fact that he was loosing sleep and that could hardly be good for his health. He had dismissed her coldly that he did not want to talk about it. He had even ventured on to say that this wouldn't have become a problem if they had just minded their own business. Mai had burst into tears and had run away from him – or tried to anyway, only to find that Oliver had grabbed her wrist and yanked her around so that she was facing him. He had dropped her hand as immediately as her body turned around.

He had then proceeded with much caution, saying that it would be foolish if this got in the way of how things had been going on in the office. He had apologized for making her worry and Mai had stopped crying due to the shock of being exposed to his sincerity. He had then told her that they shouldn't worry and he'll work things out for himself and that he needed her to understand. Mai had felt weak after he had said those words and she had bowed her head in shame. He had patted her head lightly and she had apologized for being difficult. He had dismissed her with an attempted smile and an order for tea.

Despite their little talk, Mai still worried about him and in the light of the fact he was still not getting any sleep. But she had refrained herself from asking – not wanting him to get down mean and dirty with her. Their relationship would not have survived that blow. So she compromised.

The aloofness had returned after their talk.

Making her way through the streets of Tokyo, Mai casted a sleepy eye towards the rain-clouded sky, the feeling of foreboding was strong inside her. To top things off her stomach was aching with cramps – period cramps? Nope, they weren't in the area where you usually got those cramps – these were in the upper part of her stomach. She clasped her arms tightly around her tummy to ease the growing pain – she was too distracted to notice a dark figure making its way towards her. They were almost colliding until she gasped and the figure passed through her – leaving her cold and more awake then she was since yesterday.

She whirled around to see the figure standing behind her – and what was more that nobody else could see it. She looked at it suspiciously, she had never encountered a spirit outside of work before…so why now?

The ghost, yurei or spirit was a female – staring gloomily back at her. She had dead looking eyes and a dark liquid stood frozen down her sullen face – she looked foreign. Her western-styled clothes were in tatters and her right arm stood at an odd angle as though it were broken. How did she die?

The spirit stood there, not moving on, just looking at her with those dead eyes – and close to Mai thought she looked sad. Having dealt with spirits of the sorts Mai approached with much caution. She didn't know how long this woman had been dead to make sure that she hadn't been tainted with the evils of this world – and a crowded place such as this…

But…if she had wanted to hurt Mai then she had had enough time to act on the impulse and regardless Mai couldn't leave her to stay in limbo. Before long, she will turn evil and where will that take them to?

Mai hesitated as she took a tentative step towards the woman, "Ar-are you lost?"

Mai waited with bated breath, ignoring the odd looks that people were giving her. The spirit turned her slightly in a slant as though contemplating her words. Mai wasn't sure whether she'd answer her or not, but –

"I…don't understand," the woman's voice was hoarse and thick as though she had been crying and Mai watched her with a prying eye. Curiosity piqued in her as she replied.

"What…don't you understand?"

The woman gave her an odd look as though appraising her and Mai felt a chill crawl up her spine and her stomach rumbled with ants, but she ignored the feeling.

"I want to see my husband…" she paused, thinking whether to trust Mai or not, "I…can't find him…"

Comprehension dawned in Mai's features as she heard those words. She smiled sadly at the woman who seemed to be looking at her with dull and bored eyes, "You haven't been trying hard enough…"

The woman looked surprised but Mai continued on, "Look for the light…he's just waiting for you there," Mai reached out a hand unconsciously towards the woman. She may not be able to touch her but she did know what the notion could mean to the woman. The woman drifted over cautiously and placed her hand in Mai's hand. The place felt cold but Mai didn't withdraw. She saw the woman's eyes drift away from her and to a certain spot over her head.

"You'll see him…you want that, don't you?" Mai vaguely remembered what Gene had told her during one of their most mind-boggling cases ever – back when she had still believed him to be a hidden version of Oliver himself. He had told her that she could not pity them but instead show them the light by creating her very own light – her memories.

"I'll meet him one day as well and then we'll happy…and together," Mai smiled again and she could feel a warmth filling her and she could see that the woman could feel it as well – as much as she could, that is.

"We'll be happy…?" she trailed of dazedly.

"That's right. You should go now…he must be waiting,"

"Yes…I should go…"

Mai felt the slide away and turn towards a shining light with a sunlight filled smile making its way onto her face… Mai wiped her tears away with a small smile. She sighed before her senses came crashing back down her and she felt the smile slide of her face.

The feeling of ants crawling in her stomach returned as well as the foreboding that had settled over her some while back. And to top matters off, she felt dead sleepy again. She turned unhappily towards the way she had been going. Oliver's bad mood was something that she did not want to face right now.

Oliver ran an agitated hand through his hair, ruffling it even more then it was before. He didn't know how much of this restlessness he could take. The little walk that he had chosen to take to relieve himself was working small wonders. He felt a little refreshed and a little lightheaded, the headache that he had had gained while cooped up in office was all but gone. He heaved a small sigh as SPR came into view. He wondered briefly, what he'll do when he gets back and for once he regretted not taking any cases in awhile. His lips pulled down in frown, his sleep-deprived eyes were feeling itchy but he refrained from itching them as he got onto the escalator taking him up.

He knew very well what his foggy mind would trail off to when he was stuck in his office without any work to do. That was an area that he was less then happy to explore – and, strangely enough it gave him a certain pleasure to think about it as well. He grimaced, how crude it was of him to think like that – unclear and uncertain.

He opened the door to the office. His eyes fell on his assistant, who must have come in some twenty minutes before. He saw her look up as he closed the door behind him. She looked tired and he frowned at the unhappy expression on her face as she gazed at him bleary-eyed. He looked at her questioningly which earned a snort of annoyance and an incoherent mumble in return, "I'm not in the mood to talk,"

He turned away from her with his head in the air and swiftly made his way towards his office door. He was about to turn the door knob when he heard loud groan from behind. He whipped his around to see that Mai was holding a trembling to her lips while the other rested on her stomach – she was about to be sick. He watched with narrow eyes as she stood up and lumbered her way over to the common washroom. He saw her almost fall to her knees when she had reached the door but hauled herself up by the gripping the door handle.

He watched anxiously, contemplating whether to follow or not when the front door opened and an annoyed looking Ayako entered the office with a sheepish looking Monk trailing behind him.

Oliver let his hand drop from the handle as they greeted him.

"Yo," was the ever-ominous greeting from Monk.

"Where's Mai?" Ayako was the first one to notice the absence of the fiery brunette. They stiffened when the heard the unmistakable sound of someone retching – a definite feminine sound to that.

"Mai?" Ayako called worriedly just as the door to Lin's office was roughly opened to admit a stoic man looking suspiciously around.

"Was that Mai?" his voice was trailed with the barest hint of concern.

"We heard it too," Monk replied as Ayako hectically made her way to the washroom door and banged it open just as another retch filtered the air.

What Ayako saw didn't please her in the least bit. A panting and pale Mai was crouched near the toilet – her hands gripping at her stomach tightly.

"Mai," Ayako's voice came out sacred and worried as she ran to pull the girl's hair out of her face. She grabbed her own clip and tied it messily in a loose bun. She proceeded with rubbing the girl's back in a soothing way.

"Ayako…" Mai's voice was weak and pained.

"It's alright,"

Mai retched again but nothing came out, Ayako frowned and raised herself slightly to see the contents of the bowl – empty.

"Mai, what's wrong?" Monk's voice came through the door. Ayako looked back to see that Lin Monk were standing in the doorway with concerned expressions. And she could barely make out a black fabric from the side of the doorway – no doubt that Oliver was leaning against the wall.

Mai retched and when nothing came out she groaned, "Why isn't anything coming out?"

Mai felt really awful, not only was her stomach convulsing continuously but the feeling of ants crawling in her stomach was more pronounced. She banged a frustrated fist on the floor. Ayako shared a look with Monk. But it was Lin-san who moved forwards with a frown on his face.

"Mai…" he crouched down beside the panting girl – she did look awful.

"My stomach…" she hunched over in pain, her teeth bared, a few stray strands of hair fell on her face, "It hurts…" a sob escaped her lips just before she heaved again. She looked up frantically at Lin-san with a desperate look on her face – tears were brimming in her eyes, "Make the ants go away…"

Lin's head cricked around towards the entrance of the washroom to see Oliver peering in with a meaningful look on his face – that revelation had gathered his interest as he shared a look with Lin and nodded. A lot of things were conveyed in their brief glance and Lin moved forwards to grip Mai's arm.

"Ants…?"

"Yes! They're gathering in my stomach, but they won't come out!" she sobbed again, "Why's that happening?"

Comprehension dawned on Lin's face as he heard those words and motioned for Ayako to move away. Ayako obeyed and Lin moved in behind Mai to grip at her waist. He pressed his hand to her stomach and felt it rumbling slightly – he gave Oliver a meaningful look making Monk look at them suspiciously, but his query went unanswered as Lin turned back to Mai.

"Now, Mai…I'm going to exert pressure on your stomach. It'll be unpleasant at first but bear with me," Lin's quiet voice ruffled her hair as she nodded.

"Okay,"

Lin brought the other hand on her stomach and pressed at the bulge that was developing in her stomach. Mai let out a small yelp as she gripped at Lin's hands tightly. He pressed again making her retch into the toilet bowl. And this time something dripped from her mouth and Lin pressed again and this time she heaved spectacularly into the toilet bowl – closing her eyes against the pain. Ayako gasped as the substance felt Mai's mouth – this wasn't normal vomit.

"What is that?" Monk asked, horrified and disgusted. His eyes landed on Oliver who was looking at the substance with narrow eyes.

"Oh God…" Mai's voice was broken and weak and she felt Lin-san press her even more and she retched again – the putrid smell of burning plastic reached her nose – her throat felt rough and flaky and a foul taste of bad eggs burned in her mouth. She opened her mouth and looked down at the substance collected in the bowl, she stiffened – what should have been normal vomit was anything but. The substance was red in color and had the consistency of a jam with small white-like granules adorning it in places.

"Wha-what is th-that?" she looked around to Lin-san with wide eyes some of the substance trailing down her chin – she did not want to know what the thing tasted like…the taste of bad eggs was enough to make her sick again.

"Are you better now?" feeling her stomach for anymore gathering lumps and when he didn't anything he withdrew his hands slightly.

"Yes…but what is that? What kind of sickness do I have?" Mai's plea went unanswered when Oliver opened his mouth.

"It seems…you ate a rather lot of jam yesterday," Oliver sounded as though he was seriously thinking that was the cause of all of this.

Mai fumed, "You…who's asking you?"

"You don't need to worry…Takigawa-san will clean you up," Lin turned towards Ayako with a raised eyebrow. She looked away and mumbled softly.

"Of course, I will,"

"Good. I'll give you a sleep sedative so you can go to sleep,"

"Nobody answered my question, yet,"

"Later…. Well, if this is everything then I'll it up to you guys," Oliver's disinterested voice drawled through the air. He moved away from his perch and headed back to his office.

That jerk!

Mai was heaved onto the couch in Lin-san's office by Monk's help. Lin-san had given her a sedative so she could rest properly, and truth be told she couldn't have been happier to welcome the heavy sleep that fell on her senses.

Mai opened her eyes. The first thing that she came to her mind was that it was warm. Everything was warm – it encompassed her like a protective glass as she sat up bleary eyed and sleepy.

She looked around, little lights flicking all around her and she blinked – she hadn't been here in awhile. Wondering vaguely as to what she could be doing here, she stood up.

Darkness encompassed her, but the warmth was a change. It was only now that felt that there was a change. She looked around – wondering if she should direct herself to someone's dream or not…

Thump, thump, thump…

Mai turned around at the sound of soft footfalls. She brought a hand to her eyes to see better in the distance. A black silhouette was making its way towards her. Her eyes widened as the features of the silhouette came into light. Mai's heart beat just went up a notch.

Smiling serenely and benignly was none other then –

"Gene!"

A/N: Hey! Second case in the series of Love Bound, hope you liked this chapter…you know how to tell me *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*

Anyways, I apologize for not posting the epilogue of the last case…but I do have most of it written out, so you'll be seeing it soon. And you guys don't need to worry – you aren't really missing much of the plotline because of the missing epilogue.

Anyways, I had two questions asking me whether Mai can neutralize Naru's ki and the answer is…yes, yes she can ^_^

Anyways, hope you stick with me…things are gonna get more interesting from now on.

P.S. I was thinking about rewriting the first chapter of the first case: The Seven Deadly Sins. I was going through it and I found it rather boring to read…though, it'll be just more background information then anything else…It won't be anything essential to the plot so those who don't want to read it AGAIN can skip out on it…

Stay Tuned! Read and Review!

Cheers! ^_^