Author: Hello readers! I would like to warn you in advance that this is my FIRST ever fanfic although the idea have been running through my brain for months and I just couldn't get this story organized…well I already did halfway though. I hope you will be interested in reading thisbecause I morbidly curious on how I will write this out. Enjoy!

Oh! BTW~ I made a very important change about Mai's past here. I made her into an orphan younger than the manga/anime so that it would fit my story. Thank you and please REVIEW! (^_^)/.

Chapter 1: The Narcissist Returns

A familiar guy with raven hair and cerulean eyes woke up from the inconveniences of sitting in the plane for hours. He pinched the bridge of his nose and slowly adjusted his eyes to the light coming from the window beside him. Once he regained control over his eyelids he glanced at the window only to see the nostalgic archipelago underneath him.

"Noll, you're awake"

Oliver Davis turned to the Chinese man beside him wearing his usual white long sleeves with black necktie and slacks.

"Lin, how long was I out?" he asked. The Chinese man raised his eyebrow as if he was asking "does it matter?" or so but just glanced at his silver watch and estimated.

"3 hours and 37 min I assume…" he replied

Beep

"Passengers, you are reminded to please fasten your seatbelts and straighten your chairs as we are about to land. Thank you."

Beep

"After we get off the plane, check out our belongings and head to SPR immediately." Lin nodded at his young boss.

It has been six months since Gene's body was found and they returned to England. The main branch in England allowed Noll to keep the branch in Japan after it had such a rather smooth business and interesting cases thinking it would be a waste to close it down. Although they need a new CEO for that branch they couldn't find the appropriate person to be in charge of the office so two months after Gene's burial the Society of Paranormal Research in England decided to let Noll manage the branch in Japan(Although Naru's mother was secretly plotting this though). I took a lot of time to fix all the legal documents though that's why it took them four months after the promotion to return to Japan. After Lin checked out all their belongings and was ready to go, they took a taxi and headed to Shibuya.

Lin took out his laptop and started tapping on the keyboard to kill some time before they reach the building. Naru had face rest on his hand while staring at window. He's been more quiet than usual, more bossy than usual (although he isn't affected with it), more stresses and not so patient and the worst...his tongue is more…sharp than usual ever since they returned to England. Also he was shocked that Naru, who can drink 10 cups of tea, stopped drinking when they got home. No matter what tea he was offered, he refused to drink it. 'Could it possibly because of…' he stopped typing and took a quick gaze at the young man beside him, still staring at the window. Lin let out a sigh. 'He looks restless…his fingers had been tapping endlessly in his knees ever since he sat there. Is he perhaps….excited?' he eyed on the teenager again, still no changes.

It was still dawn when they arrived at the building. Naru took his spare key from his black slacks and slid it into the keyhole. When he entered the building his icy expression turned warm seeing nothing had changed since the last time he entered it. Little did he know that Lin was watching him from behind as he unconsciously (or not) touch the desk where the energetic brunette sat. Well, before Naru would catch him looking at his sentimental vibe he went to his office and dropped off his things. Naru on the other hand opened the door to his office and looked around, 'still the same' he thought, and sat on his black leather chair. Somehow, he kind of missed sitting here for some reason. He put his arms on his desk and rested his head. He was tired and his eyelids were starting to betray him again until he completely fell asleep, and somewhere he can hear a voice telling him…"Welcome back…Naru".

Lin stopped typing to check on his wrist watch. '9:10 am, ah shit! Breakfast…' he ran out of his office and went to Naru's only to find him sleeping on his desk. 'He must be tired from that long trip. I guess I should just contact someone to bring us some breakfast…perhaps Mai could.' He thought as he dialled Mai's number but it seemed to be out of reach. Just when he was about to call again his cellphone rang.

"Hello, this is Kujou Lin speak-"Lin was cut off by a hyper-active voice.

"Lin! I heard you and Naru are back today instead of next week are you at the office right now…knowing Naru of course the first thing he'll visit will be his what you call 'holy grounds' right…?" the man said.

"I contacted all of you before and confirmed it right? Anyway, I can't seem to reach Taniyama-san. Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, about that, we'll talk about it in the office 'kay?"

"Sure, and could you do me a favour and grab us some breakfast on the way…Naru hasn't eaten anything yet."

Half an hour later, bou-san and the rest of the gang came walking in the office with their lunch of course. But seeing that they couldn't make a peaceful entrance they woke up the sleeping boss.

"What's all the fuss about?" But before he could say anything more Yasuhara got a hold on one of his hand and started his drama. Naru wasn't very happy about this though.

"Oi, don't you dare rub your skin against mine" Naru glared at Yasu ready to take him six-feet below the ground.

"Wow! Everybody's Narcissistic Jerk is really back" he said with a hug. Bou-san also patted his head like some child while Naru is cursing under his breath while trying to escape Yasu's freaky hug. Lin was still fixated on Mai's weird behaviour though. He thought that it may have something to do with Naru. Actually, he witnessed everything that happened between them before they left. He knew that Mai confessed and that Naru rejected her thinking that she was in love with Gene. He was really shocked this time though. He knew Naru was egoistical, bossy, indifferent and dense, but he didn't expect him to be this dense. He let out a sigh and rummaged through the plastic bag with food bought from a fast food restaurant, 'it's better than nothing…'he thought and turned to bou-san to pay him for the food but then he noticed that all of them were here except for Mai even though it's a Sunday.

"Taniyama-san isn't here with you?" Lin asked curiously and all faces dropped. Naru raised an eyebrow knowing something happened.

They all sat down and told them what had been happening after they left while they eat their supposed breakfast at 10:30 in the morning.

"Well you see" monk stated

"Everything was fine after the first few weeks you had left. Mai had been smiling already and she even began to take lessons from Igarashi-sensei concerning parapsychology and she was having fun I could tell from her overexcited face every time she meets with Igarshi-sensei. But then…" monk looked up at the ceiling and let out a big sigh.

"2 months after, she began acting strange. She looks really tired and her smiles had a weak feeling like she's been forcing herself to smile or even pretend she's okay." He said sadly.

"Did she take cases or go with Igarashi-sensei to hunt ghosts?" Naru asked the monk.

"No, in-fact Igarashi-sensei quit hunting ghosts ever since the Urado case and Suzuki-san's death. We did take 3 cases before but nothing major happened, in-fact neither dreams, nor did accidents happen during the case." He replied to the young boss in front of him.

"There were times when I could see her panting so hard all of a sudden." The blond priest said.

"Last time I went to check on Mai and I saw her in the kitchen panting and she was so cold even though the weather was actually good at that time. She said she was fine though and told me not to worry but still…" John sighed.

"She had been calling me to sleep over in her apartment recently you know…" the red-haired miko said.

"She said that she'd been having nightmares and desperately needed some company. I asked her what did she dream about but she forgets it right away. She wasn't lying either because she had the same confused look on my face. This never happened before so I was afraid that maybe some ghost is after her so I have been giving her protective charms and she didn't look possessed and there was no presence of a ghost in her apartment or following her which was confirmed by Masako." She finished and turned to the raven-haired boss who was in deep thought.

"What about you Yasuhara-san?" Naru asked him.

"Hmmmm…" he trailed

"There was time where I ran into her and I saw her crying. I asked her what's wrong but she just tugged my shirt and sobbed in my chest. Oh and of course I hugged her back and gave her some comfort…" he said with a cocky tone like he was actually proud of it.

"What!" monk stood up and pinched Yasu's cheeks real hard.

"Why you little….you've been hitting on my little sister!" he said annoyed while digging his fist on Yasu's head.

"Ow! Don't worry…" Yasu smirked

"Oh yes I would! It's something worth worrying over ya'brat!" he replied

"That's not what I meant" Yasu grabbed bou-san's hands

"You're still my number one Houshou!"

"Eww, cut that out man!" bou-san said in disgust and everyone chuckled except the usual men that is.

"So where's Mai?" Naru asked vaguely.

"She called me yesterday saying she needed to go to her old teacher's house. You know the one who took care of her when her parents died. She said she'll be back today." Ayako said

"Call her and tell her to come to the office." Naru ordered

"Roger that! But more importantly, there's another thing about Mai that we need to discuss" Ayako grinned at the gang.

~Mai's POV

A certain young girl with chocolate hair with matching pair of eyes which are to mention glued to the window of the train. She's dead tired…again, and she doesn't know where the exhaustion came from. Her eyes were nearly drifting to sleep when a vibration from her pocket startled her.

"Hello, Ayako?" she asked

"Mai are you coming home to Shibuya today?"

"Yea, I'm riding a train to Shibuya right now…why?"

"Oh great, call us when you arrive. We'll pick you up."

"Okay" she closed her cellphone and tried hard to stay awake this time. 'Whew, I almost fell asleep on the train' she muttered.

When she arrived she called Ayako right away and a few minutes later she was shocked that she brought the whole gang with her….THE WHOLE GANG…(except Masako…she had filming somewhere) even Lin and Naru who was supposed to be in England till next week. Her jaw dropped at the big surprise the red haired miko gave her. She knows that she'd…no…that they've been overprotective recently but this is…

"Lin! Naru! You're back?" she asked

"We were able to book a flight earlier…you weren't informed?" Naru glared at Lin who looked back at him with a 'what?' face.

"Eeeh! Why do I feel left out recently…" Mai pouted

"Hmmm…we should probably team up then." Yasu grinned at her and whispered loudly.

"So what do you say…wanna hang-out with me? Wadd'ya say? Bar 21 at 8 pm…Mai-chan" he smirked at Mai causing monk to shot up and drag Yasu to train rails, hoping some random train would run over this guy.

"Mai, where did you go?" Ayako asked.

"Oh, did I forget to tell you Ayako? I'm sorry. My parents' death anniversary is tomorrow so I went back to the house of my former teacher. I told her that I'll be busy this week so I had to visit my parents' grave today instead of tomorrow. She and her family tagged along anyways." She told Ayako with and apologetic look knowing the miko was worried about her.

"Ok, I understand, wait…your parents death anniversary is tomorrow!" she said with wide eyes but not only Ayako, the rest were stunned too…like for a moment everyone froze for seconds.

"Uhhh...but…isn't your birth-"Yasu was about to finish his sentence when monk shut his mouth using his big hands, almost like a slap in his face.

"Uhhh, Mai-chan we…uhmmm…have a case tomorrow. We'll depart in the afternoon, right Naru-bou?" he turned to his blue eyed boss who was raising an eyebrow at him. Monk was already communicating by face with 'play along for chrissake!' written all over his face. Naru let out a sigh.

"We'll leave at 6 pm sharp, let's meet at the SPR building, don't be late" Naru eyed at his assistant. Mai was about to protest when Naru glared daggers at her and instead shut her mouth.

Lin and Naru let Mai ride the car with them her way home since it was getting late. Mai got off the car when they arrived at the building where Mai's apartment is located.

"Are you sure here is fine?" Naru asked poking from his open window.

"Yeah, thanks a lot for giving me a ride Naru, you too Lin. I'll be going now, goodnight to both of you. Oh and I forgot to tell you, welcome back." Mai said as she flashed her brightest smile. Naru looked at her, thinking about the things that were happening to her while he was gone. Lin was tapping his finger on the steering wheel waiting for Naru to make his move. But since it looked hopeless for that to happen, he did it for him instead.

"Naru why don't you escort Taniyama-san to her apartment." Lin suggested but before Naru could react, Mai spoke first.

"Ah no, it's okay, no need to bother." She protested. Naru shrugged.

"No! Lin's right, considering what's been happening to you it's better to be safe than sorry." Naru grunted.

"A…Ayako told you? But it's no big deal na-"she was cut off when Naru got off the car and grabbed her hand. Behind their backs, Lin's lips were already forming a smile. 'Geez, I knew he was worried, yet, why didn't he ask her himself?' Lin mumbled and let out a deep sigh.

When both of them arrived at Mai's doorstep, Mai slid the key in its place and unlocked the door. He turned to the young man leaning on the wall just beside her door.

"Uhmmm…thank you Naru for walking me here" she smiled as those cerulean eyes looked straight into hers. She quickly avoided it though hiding the pink color surfacing from her cheeks at the same time. She hadn't seen those eyes for some time now, and the felling of it looking straight at you made her hot.

"Mai, don't hesitate to call when something happens" he told her. His face was as gentle as his voice, for the first time ever he looked so kind and his face had this heart-warming expression. She couldn't help but recall the feelings that once gave in to the same person standing in front of her. When she was rejected by Naru because he thought that she fell in love with his dead twin brother, she reflected on it so hard. She didn't know it wasn't Naru but Gene, his twin and yet no matter how much they look alike, they were still different. Gene is Gene, Naru is Naru. She wasn't mistaken at all. She really did love him, even until now.

"Mai, I'm going back. Lin's waiting for me" he shrugged. The way she was looking at him was making his pulse race. Her muddy-brown eyes were intensely locked at him. He noticed that her hair grew longer and almost reaching her pale shoulders. Her cheeks contrasted a pink glow from her white, creamy skin. His eyes trailed a little more until it reached her slightly parted lips, this was driving him mad. He gave her a nod telling her that he was leaving. He turned around and started to walk when petite hands tugged his shirt.

"Mai?" he glanced at her over his shoulders. Mai walked closer to him and rested her forehead on his arm.

"Naru" she paused for a little while

"I'm glad your back"

"Mai? What's wrong?" he lowered his glance only to see a trail of tears run down her cheek.

"It's nothing, I just feel happy that at least one person I love came back to me" she said wiping the tears of her cheeks. She looked up and smiled at the raven haired teenager and walked to her apartment and closed the door. When Naru got inside the car he earned a curious face from Lin but he ignored him. His mind was still in the state of aftershock. 'What was that earlier? Mai…person she loves…me?' he thought. He still couldn't convince his brain to accept her confessions. 'No, Mai loves Gene, not me. Get a grip Noll.' He thought, mentally slapping his brain back into reality. Recently, he kinda felt the urge to hit Gene ever since he went home to England. He didn't hate him though, why would he? But this time, he did, a little. 'Stupid Gene, you had all the girls when you were alive, I was grateful though, but this, why her?' he muttered to himself. Lin noticed the bad aura he was emitting. 'Did something happen? sighMan, I have to deal with his bad mood again' with that he let out a sigh and started the engine.

A/N: so what do you think? This chapter doesn't have much of the thrill yet since I had to explain everything first so that you could all understand and go with the flow of the story later on. I hope you'll continue reading and more importantly please REVIEW and EVALUATE my work. I want to provide you with better chapters. Thank you everyone.