Mai was walking down the street happily having just left a sweet shop. She thought she'd treat herself for doing so well on her essay. She knew she had to hurry back to the office or deal with Naru's annoying comments again.

"Mai are you completely incapable of keeping track of time?"

Mai sighed as she knew he wouldn't just stop there. He'd bring up the time she had nearly failed two exams. It's my own fault for that, I was mopping at my desk and was staring at my returned test. I didn't even hear him step out of his office. Naru is like a shadow sometimes, you know it's there but you don't always pay attention.

"65's?" I see you're really doing your best he said in a condescending ton

Never mind I don't want to think about it. She shook her head and walked up the stairs and into the office. Lin was still in his office typing. And Naru was doing the same thing going through case files. I just took off my coat and sat at my desk opening my container of mochi ice cream. I couldn't decide on a favor. They all just looked so good so I got three different ones.

"Yay!" time to chow down she said loudly.

Naru who was sitting at his desk looked up from his book.

"What's Mai up to again? She's always goofing off when she should be working" he thought

He stood up from his chair and walked around his desk opening the door. There he stood watching as Mai was rocking from side to side trying to decide what flavor she wanted to try first. She had a huge grin on her face making her look like she was five years old

Mai was over joyed and looked up from her ice cream. But from the corner of her eye she could see a dark figure watching her. She turned her head and shoot up from her seat.

Oh... Hi Naru! She said in a nervous tone.

"Taking a break?" she said.

"I didn't know you had started paying me, seeing as you think it's your business to keep tabs on me" in his usual sarcastic tone.

Mai looked around the room trying to think of a way so distracted Naru since she's already put her food in her mouth.

Tea? She thought but she had given him a cup before she went out it was unlikely he'd want more so soon.

Mai looked down at her desk and grabbed the container of mochi. She walked over to Naru with a nervous smile on her face and held the container out to him.

"Would you like to try one…? They're really good" she said hoping he'd take the beat

Naru looked at the container with the three different colored balls and looked back at Mai.

"What is it?' he asked

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Mai put the container down on her desk and hurried to open the door.

"Hello I'm Mai and this is my boss Shibuya, please have a seat"

Mia bowed as the women passed her and closed the door. Lin came out of his office with his laptop and the women began to tell us why she needed our help. Her name was Sakura Morimoto. Her and her husband owned a privet Hot spring resort. Many visitors had said they were nearly drowned in the lake by the hot spring. They would hear footsteps. One night she had seen a young girls spirt screaming and then it vanished. There had been two deaths already and they had to close the spring because people had stopped coming out of fear they'd be attacked. The young women left and Mai looked over at Naru as he stood up from the sofa. He told Lin to get the equipment ready and that we'd be doing an investigation tomorrow morning.

"Naru, will we be spending a few nights there?" Mai asked from the kitchen as the put the cups in the sink to wash.

"Yeah" he said

Lin ducked back into his office and shut the door. Naru picked up his book and walked down the hall to the equipment room to assess what we'd need to bring. Mai signed and walked back to her deck. She had forgotten about her mochi just sitting there. Her eyes got big when she saw that the green tea flavored one had gone missing.

"Could Naru have eaten it?" Mai thought out load.

She just ignored it and finished the last two. She had been surprised that Naru didn't know what they were.

"I guess they don't have these in England" She said.

"They do but I've never tried it before."

Naru just walked straight into his office and was about to close the door but stopped. He turned around to face Mai.

"Was that one green tea flavored?"

"Ye…yeah it was." she said a little surprised.

"It was good." He said before shutting the door

Mai blushed a bit. She had never heard Naru say that he enjoyed eating anything before. Then again she never really saw Naru or Lin go out to lunch. She wondered if they had snacks in their desk that she didn't know about.

Naru finally finished all his case files and carried them in to the living room and placed them on the corner of Mai's desk and she had just finished off some homework.

"File these for me. Then I can walk you home."

Naru then walked to Lin's office to talk to him.

"It's ok I can walk home by myself it's not that far from here." Mai said not wanting to burden him with having to take her home.

Naru turned slightly to make eye contacted with her.

"Mai its midnight and it wouldn't be safe for you to be wondering the streets by yourself. Then I'd have to find a new assistant once you get abducted. "He smirked

Naru got his coat from his office. Mai put the case files in order and packed up her things. She put on her hoodie and they left.

"We'll have to meet at 5am to be at Ms. Sakura's House by 9am" He said also adding that tomorrow it would only be them three since both miss Matsuzaki and miss Hara were busy and couldn't make it. Monk and John were going to be on their way at a later time since they were farther always from the city.

The streets were pretty empty as they walked silently. They passed the spot where the old school house use to stand. It was their first investigation together. It had been a little strange after Naru left for England. Mai found a job at a cafe and was waiting tables for a while. Six months has passed and one day when she was at school she was called to the office for a phone call. She was surprised to hear Naru's voice on the other end. He had decided he was going to be returning to japan and continue working there. His main reason for calling was to ask if Mai would like to work for him again. She said she would happily and would go to the office to clean it up for when he arrived.

"What's the matter? You look like you have something on your mind. You're not usually so quiet"

He was looking at her now. She just looked away and said it was nothing.

"We have to turn left now"

They crossed the street and walked another two more blocks down. They came to a small house it was only one floor with a tiny backyard. Mai was digging in her pocket for her keys. She found them and unlocked the door walking inside.

"Mai I know that I didn't leave things the right way when I left. I hide a lot of things from all of you. You've always been straight forward with the things on your mind so if there's anything you want to say just say it when you're ready.

"Still stealing all the good moments for yourself I see" she gave him a smile

"Oh Mai! We'll be picking you up from here in the morning at five so be ready"

"Okay goodnight Naru" she closed the door

Naru walked back down the street. She dropped her bag next to the door and took off her hoodie. She put on her slippers and walked in to her room and got a larger bag from her closet. She picked a few bits of clothes in a gym bag. She finished and slipped into the bathroom to take a quick bath. The hot water calmed her. Once she was done she got dressed in a tank top and shorts and hopped into bed, covering herself with a blanket.