Chapter 1: Prologue

Mai was walking home from school, waving goodbye to Michiru and Keiko, who shouted things from behind her, such as "Have a good summer!" and "Say hi to Kazuya for us!"

She walked among the cherry blossoms, some falling along In her wake, dancing to the melody from a thousand blades of grass. Mai bounced with every step, relieved that it was finally summer vacation, but dazed at the thought of work. "Aurgh!" She shouted to herself. "I'm so tired after helping out the Yoshimi family from the last case…but yet again…" She paused, stopping to think of Naru, a finger to her mouth.

The leather shoes, black trousers, black dress shirt, black tie (actually it's purple but whatever ) black trench coat – black ,black ,black. But he had purple and indigo-ish eyes and ink-like hair, seemingly so soft – but Mai had never touched it. How should she know?

Mai sighed. She breathed in the smell of dust and green tea as she walked upon the threshold of her apartment. Oh yeah… She thought. I haven't dusted this place in ages! She placed her keys on the hook by the door and rummaged through her cleaning supplies cupboard to find a feather duster. Gripping it firmly, she swiped away the dust from her home.

Minutes later, she finished, and breathed deeply. She tiptoed through the livingroom to her small kitchen – the smell of tea was common here. Mai had become so accustomed to Naru's tea-drinking addiction that she often boiled it at her apartment, realized he wasn't there and downed the entire pot.

…RING!

RING!

Mai crossed the kitchen in 4 strides and into the larger livingroom. She sat on her suitan sofa, admiring the velvet, and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello again, Mai."

Mai let a blush creep up her neck. Nobody could ever forget that cool yet undeniably sexy voice. It was Naru, her egotistic, narcissistic, swollen-headed holier-than-thou boss, the 17-year-old manager of Shibuya Psychic Research, or SPR for short.

"Hey Naru! What's up?" Mai shouted into the phone, only to be greeted by silence on the other end, then, of course, an insult.

"No need to yell, Mai. I'm right here." He paused. "Anyway, I got an offer for a new case and I was wondering if you wanted to join me." The teen let a large smirk play across his face. "After all, you have to anyway…"

Mai giggled at his request. "Sure! What time do you want me at the office?"

"In a few minutes, if you can manage."

Mai gathered her things before she even replied. She picked up the phone, told her boss she'd be there soon, and hung up.

She put on her shoes, and skipped outside, down the street and into the doorway of SPR minutes later. Before she could knock, the door opened, revealing a disgruntled Naru.

"You're late."

"I know!"

"I want tea."

Mai rolled her eyes at Naru, brushing his shoulder playfully as she passed him to make some. Naru smiled the smallest smile in the world when she couldn't see. No matter how many times he had lied to himself, Naru loved having her around. He loved her. No, Noll. It's just science. Look at it this way – you don't love her – you just love her tea. Right? ….Right, Noll?

Mai started humming a song to herself as she stirred the teabag. Naru strolled into the kitchen, the scent and sound equally beautiful.

"What song is that?" The teen questioned.

"It's a song my mother used to sing to me as a child, when I couldn't sleep." Mai started. "Sometimes I'd be bothered with insomnia, and she could just tell." The brunette dipped her head to smell the tea she had prepared. "Mmmm…" She sighed, pouring the tea into Naru's cup with a gold and blue band, and then one for herself.

Naru took his teacup, pacing towards the office. He stopped at the doorway, resting his right hand on the frame. He turned around to face Mai, and smiled brilliantly.

"Thank you."

Naru left the room, leaving a blushing Mai to ponder upon her thoughts. Oh my god…He just thanked me! She looked up. Naru had stopped walking, his face partially showing from above his left shoulder. "Don't just stand there, dummy. We have a case to work with."

Mai snapped out of her happy trance, begrudgingly following her boss into his office, teacup in hand. The blue-haired boy took out his black, leather-bound book from inside his office desk, jotting down some notes. Mai looked at him, anger seizing her heart.

"Why do your compliments and thank-you's ALWAYS follow with a bad thing, or contain one?! And anyway, how many times have I heard that line from you?!"

Naru stopped turning pages ; he gripped one tighter than before, his lips thinned in concentration – or bitter anger at himself. Mai groaned once more and sat down in front of him, legs crossed tightly in frustration. This better be good, Naru…

Naru turned the pages again, this time placing a pointed finger on a paragraph, ushering Mai to read the handwritten entry's title.

The girl cocked her head to the side. "The title says 'Haunting at Sea: The Legend of Majin.'" She stopped to think. "Doesn't Majin mean Devil?"

"Yes. The people who've witnessed the spirit nicknamed it this because of its brutality. I don't believe it's an actual demon or devil." Naru paused. "What do you think, Mai? The cruise manager wants the spirit driven out before he can start the company for his cruise ship up again. Should we take the case?"

The said girl played with her auburn hair. "I don't know, Naru. It sounds strange. However, it does sound like a cool case." Her caramel eyes snapped to the window, then directly at Naru, muttering to herself. "Are we going on a vacation..?"

"Well, the boat's not in Japan, so… you could call it that." He watched as Mai punched the air in happiness.

Her mood stayed relatively the same as she asked Naru if she should call up the irregulars.

"Sure." He breathed. "Tell them to be here at five."

OKAY! My very first fanfic going well so far. I`ll be posting another on Thursday, hopefully. I can`t on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. (too bad :`( ) Hope you all liked the first segment – and remember to leave a review on how you thought it was!

-xXxNaru-LovexXx