Okay, so Mai's reaction MAY be a little confusing for you, so I'm going to just flat out say it now. You're probably going to think: Why doesn't she just tell them right away that she's not Lin? Well, she's going into hysterics. At least, I tried to make it sound that way anyway…

Whatever.

Oh, and I keep spelling fucking NO as ON, it's really pissing me off. If I missed any while I was correcting it I am sorry. Me and my stupid spelling habits…

Hope you enjoy it anyway!

"Why!" Mai gasped, seeing the man's face in her reflection. "Why is this-"

She ran her hands across her face, roughly feeling, stretching, pinching. When that didn't seem to do anything to change the look of her reflection she slapped her cheeks, hard. The red burn that came was bright and not wanting to disappear from the reflection of the man's face.

"Lin!" Naru said coldly, yet there was a strange form of shock and concern in his voice. He had never seen his friend do anything like this before. "Stop."

Lin didn't seem to hear him, and was to busy shrieking and causing self inflicted wounds to notice.

"Why is this happening! Why! How is this even possible! I want to go back!" the Chinese man kept whimpering, his voice still raw, yet it seemed so panicked.

Naru had never seen his co-worker act like this before. It was like he was someone else entirely. Acting childishly when he didn't get the information he wanted, no self restraint, panicked, giving himself self inflicted wounds… When the freaked man started pulling viciously at his hair, Naru decided to act.

"Enough!" the usually stoic man hissed, his eyes filled with as much ferocious threatening intent as his voice. He gripped his arm under Lin's, using his other to and his leg to kick him off balance, sending the assistant into a hard Judo-throw onto the floor.

"Ow!" Lin shrieked, his face contorting into a wince of pain, his elbows taking the brunt of the fall. Immediately, his eyes focused on his boss, sending the teenager an angry glare. "What was that for!? That hurt!" he hissed.

"Get a hold of yourself, Lin. This isn't like you at all," his boss said in a monotone, his eyes narrowing. Was Lin possessed? No… that couldn't be right. It would take a high level spirit in order to possess someone as strong as Lin. Regular spirits can't possess Diviners without time and energy… If such a spirit were here, hey would have noticed, right?

And then the sound came. It was fanatic, hysteric; a lapse of reality.

It was laughter.

Lin was laughing.

Slowly, the Chinese man's body shifted, allowing him to stand again. His shoulders trembled in restraint, but it was soon discarded as the sound bellowed out of the man's lungs in a complete deranged laugh.

"Not myself-" the unfamiliar man laughed, "-of course I'm not!" He continued to laugh, but it changed. It wasn't so out there… No. The laughter now was fake, forced, as though someone were trying to make others believe they were happy. Soon it was as though he were crying.

Naru's eyes widened.

Lin was crying! His shoulders shook with sobs, his arms encircling him in order to contain himself, but it wasn't until he looked up at his boss that it was noticeable. Tears streaked the older man's face, silently falling down his skin. He looked so completely defeated, so undeniably beaten, that Naru couldn't even recognize the man to be his assistant at all.

"Naru…" Lin said, his voice weak, fragile, his hands clutching tightly at his hair as though to keep himself together. "Help. Me."

And then he fainted.

A serpent, circling him. Circling and circling… What did it want? Was it angry? Was it going to attack? But there was no such thing, no such movement. Instead, it bit its tail. A bright light…

What had happened? Lin felt that there was something from before that he should be remembering, something extremely important. Yet, try as he could, he could only remember the snake. Was it even real? A dream? No… something told him it wasn't. Something told him he was in danger.

Off into the emptiness he could hear something, though he wasn't sure what it was. It was distant and distorted. What was it saying? It was so familiar…

"Mai… I am so sorry… Mai!"

That voice…

Eyes opened, taking in the sights yet unable to name them. Everything seemed blank… and gold. He was so tired… What was going on? The voice…

"MAI!"

The sharpness of the female voice grabbed his attention. With aching movements he was able to turn his head toward the direction of the sound. Startlement filled him as he realized that owner of the voice was right by the bed.

It was Ayako.

"Oh, I was so worried!" she shrieked. Before he could even realize what she was doing, the woman lunged at him, encasing him in a tight grasp, pulling him to her chest. "I thought…"

Lin was unable to understand the last of her statement, for his head swam and he nearly swooned. He seemed so light headed, so light in general. His depth perception was off… Did he hit his head? A concussion? It must have been something serious. He couldn't imagine why Ayako would be so friendly, so touchy-feely with him. They were co-workers, but it had never amounted to anything other than that. It was a weak friendship at least. Not like what he had with Naru, not even what he had with Mai, as little as there was of whatever that something was.

Finally, the silence started to wear off, the words started to make sense once more, and Ayako was still firing off sentence after sentence. He doubted she had even stopped.

"You idiot!" she continued to shriek in relieved hysterics, "When I said 'Don't haunt me when you drown' I was only joking!" Now it was Ayako's turn to go silent, her voice choked with emotion, tears streaming down her face. She buried her head in his shoulder, her body shaking as she cried.

"Ayako…?" His voice sounded higher than he was use to. His head must have been hit pretty hard. Ignoring the strangeness, he continued. "What's wrong?"

As soon as the words left his mouth everything came crashing down on him, reminding him of the dire situation he as was in.

"What happened to Mai?" Lin demanded seriously, pushing away from his coworker and looking at her in the face, making sure she wouldn't dare lie.

There were no secrets on her face, instead he saw confusion, which puzzled him. Had he slurred when he spoke?

"Mai," he repeated, "She was under for so long before I got to her. Is she alright?"

Ayako just stared, her lips locked tightly together, her eyes confused…and something else. Shock? No… it was more like… horror. But why?

"What. Happened. To. Mai." Lin repeated slowly, enunciating each word so that Ayako could understand him, even with her lapse of sanity.

"What are you talking about?" Ayako answered, her voice sounded strange. It was strained, filled with uncertain fear, just like her eyes. It was filled with panic. "Mai? What are you talking about? You're fine…"

"You're fi-?"

It clicked.

Lin didn't know why he even thought what he was thinking --there was no way he could be Mai-- yet it just seemed to make sense. The snake… The dream… The way Ayako was acting toward him… Why he couldn't remember what she was talking about…

He pushed past her-- ignoring her frantic cry of "Lin!" as he moved --barely having time to shove away the blankets covering him before he planted his feet on the floor and began walking. There had to be something, a reflective surface of some sort. It was the only way to be sure…

The Chinese man ran his hands across his face as he searched, feeling the startling differences, yet denying that it was true until he actually saw himself. It was his face, he could feel his hands against his face, his face against his hands. He was definitely here. But it felt wrong. The ears were firmer at the lobes, like they were pierced but without earrings. The face itself wasn't as long, instead it was rounded, covered in soft skin with no feeling of a 5 O'clock shadow starting. Even the nose was different. It was smaller, rounder, leading down to fuller lips.

Stay calm, stay calm. You can't do anything if you lose your head. You need to stay calm… He reminded himself sternly, yet the thuddering in his heart still kept growing.

There, off into a corner on a wall was a mirror. He nearly had to hold his legs in place in order to keep from running over to the truth-seer. Somehow, his self restraint kept him from bolting, though the length of time it took to start walking seemed like forever.

But he never got to the mirror.

Instead, his eyes locked on something that changed everything even faster than the mirror could have.

The bed next to his. How he hadn't notice that there was another one, another person, in the room he had no idea. Perhaps he was more hysterical than he thought, missing such an important fact…

It was strange. Lin had thought that seeing the answer would calm him down, that knowing would allow him to accept it, to move on, to try and fix it… But it was different. He couldn't move. Willing his body to move did nothing. His hand wouldn't move when he told it to reach out, his leg wouldn't move when he told it to walk, his mouth wouldn't move when he told it to speak…

All he could do was stare.

Stare at himself.

Yes, it was definitely strange. There was probably nothing stranger than staring at your own sleeping form. Scream? Cry? Silence? Laughter? Multitudes of things he could be doing, yet he could do none.

For a moment, he was grateful, for he didn't want to have to explain his reaction to Ayako, who was spooked enough as it was.

Ayako.

The thought seemed to wake Lin up, and he was able to tear his eyes away from the body on the bed and return them to the woman who was going into more hysterics than he was.

The woman's eyes were strangely dull, her lip quivering strangely as though she were going to cry, yet she was strangely calm. All the color had drained from her face, no sign of emotion on the statuesque expression of hers aside from her eyes and lips. She was standing now, perfectly strait, and staring. Staring into space like she wasn't even there, like it was her that wasn't in her own body…

"Ayako," Lin said calmly, keeping his voice steady-- which was easier than he had imagined --in order to keep the priestess relaxed and able to answer him. He took a step closer to her, moving slowly as all the thoughts running through is mind jumped to the same question. "Where is Naru?"

The stoic teenager was in the lobby. Lin was almost surprised that he was there; it wasn't like him. The assistant was sure that his boss would either be in another bedroom for rest, or else in the room that was being used as a base. After all, there was no doubt that a base was set up immediately following the incident at the lake. Not that Lin knew how long he was out for, and Mai was still unconscious…

Instead, Naru was sitting in a large red leather chair, placed at an angle so he could see the large roaring fire in the fireplace, so that he could feel the intense heat. Under more scrutiny, Lin realized that his stoic boss was asleep, his head propped up on a fisted hand. It was odd to see his boss just sitting there in such a vulnerable position. There were few times Lin saw him like this. The young teen wasn't serious and in work-mode at the moment, but he wasn't relaxed, not even in his sleep. Naru didn't look peaceful, not in the least. He looked worn out, stressed, with bags under his eyes --a look that Naru never showed to anyone, not unless he didn't realize they were watching.

And Naru hadn't.

His assistant's presence wasn't even noticed, Naru's usually aware body not stirring in the least, instead remaining asleep. If Lin paid enough attention, he could hear the soft intakes and exhales of his boss's breath. It was even, soft, and the most normal the teen had seen in a while. The most human…

Naru… Lin thought.

A hand reached up to chest immediately, for his heart gave a strange flutter. His eyes shifted the clenched appendage, fascinated. He had never felt this sort of thing before, but the body he resided in had. The Chinese man tried to place the feeling, it was so strange. It beat fast and strong, as though it was in fear, but it wasn't a bad feeling. Instead of adrenaline and the "Fight or Flight" mechanism filling his senses, he was instead overwhelmed with warmth. From the extra blood the heart was pumping of course…

Lin regained his head and looked back at his sleeping boss.

He needed to talk to Naru.

Yet, as he once again took in the sight of his sleeping form, he couldn't help but feel that he should wait in telling him about the body switch, that he should let him sleep a little more. The teenager wasn't at peace, but the sleep was no doubt helping him relax… if only a little.

No, Lin shook his head, the strange sensation of Mai's short hair swishing a cross his face finalizing his resolve to wake him.

He walked forward.

Mai had finally calmed down.

Was she freaked out that she now had the body of a man, her coworker no less? Yes. Was there an unidentifiable sensation in her stomach right now? Yes. Was she having an internal meltdown at the fact that she had no clue how to return to her body? Yes. Was she so freaked out that she was throwing tantrums and unable to reason, much less function? No.

Her face heat up in an embarrassed blush.

She couldn't believe she acted like that in front of Naru; So childish, so immature…

What had she done exactly? She couldn't quite remember.

She had been freaked, that was for sure. Mai felt that word quite fit what she had been feeling. Freaked. It was a good word. She remembered being in shock, disbelief, horror…denial. She had screamed, she had cried. She had basically ripped her hair out of her skull-- she still felt the sting of it now. But worse was what she had done to Naru.

Now her mind was really fuzzy.

She couldn't quite place what she had done to him, but it must have been something terrible for he nunchucked her to the floor. That was how she would describe it, for there was no way that he would throw her to the floor. He couldn't have been that angry.

That… angry…

Mai felt a sudden wave of dread.

"Naru's probably pissed…" she said glumly, the sense of foreboding growing worse. "Ah, well. He couldn't do anything worse to me. I'll just deal with it when it comes. Hehe…" She tried to laugh it off, but her smile felt like it was the fakest in her life; it didn't even fool her.

Before she new it she was on the first floor of the inn, though she hadn't realized she had been walking. All she had wanted was some fresh air… She had forgotten how much longer Lin's legs must be than hers. The distance would be cut shorter from his long strides. It was so hard to think of herself in his body. It felt… weird… Almost like she was a pervert or something.

She gave a shudder at the thought.

Mai didn't hate Lin, but she didn't overly love him either. He was an attractive man, in a stoic way, but not like her boss. Not like Naru… She was sure if she gave Lin a chance they could become close friends, but being in his body was not the road she had wanted to take in becoming one to him.

Her stomach gave a queasy turn, the strange sensation growing stronger as it did.

The sound of loud voices caught her attention. They were loud, but strained, and seemed to be coming from the direction of the lobby. Curious, she decided to take a look.

It was the SPR team, all circled around the fireplace. Peaking around the doorframe, she saw that they were actually encircling Naru, who was sitting on a chair. Everyone was there. John, the monk, Ayako, even Masako, and--

He breath caught in her throat.

Her body, standing, talking…

It was odd, seeing your body walking and talking, acting on its own without your permission.

She could see the difference though.

Mai was a hyperactive girl, always optimistic and smiling. She didn't have perfect posture, and was always doing one outburst or another…

Now that Lin was in control…

Lin's version of Mai's body was quiet, arms crossed over her chest. She stood perfectly still, perfectly strait, and seemed to be giving off an unfriendly "Keep Away" aura. It wasn't very pronounced, but she could tell it was there. Mai, who was a touch feely "I want to hug you" type of girl, now saw herself as completely anti-social, and distant.

It was like she had fallen into an alternate universe!

Feeling like she was doing something bad by hiding, Mai decided to announce herself, or at least walk quietly into the room. The group was no doubt wanting to know her view of the situation and what had happened. Even though she was different, like this… She could still be of some help.

Mai tried to be confident. She was also a member of the SPR team, so she had every right to be in the room as they did, joining in on the conversation. All she had to do was walk through the doorway with her head held high and tell them that this whole situation was ridiculous and that they needed to find a way to change them back as quickly as possible.

But instead Mai found herself walking in silently, her head down, as though she had hijacked her coworkers body and was perversely using it to her own whims. The very thought of it made her give a deep blush of embarrassed guilt, her face heating up until she was sure she must look like a red tomato. She said nothing, choosing to be as discreet as possible. For some reason the thought of attention on her was terrifying. She felt disgusting. Not because of the body being a man's… She just felt… bad.

No one noticed her as she walked in, everyone too engrossed in the conversation to realize the extra member to the party. She was fine with this, choosing to stand next to John, closest to the corner leading to the door. From here she could hear the conversation.

"I can believe that Lin changed bodies with Mai, there's no doubt about that," Ayako was saying. There was blunt aggressiveness to her voice. She didn't seem to like the idea of a man in control of a girl's body at all, much less her friend's. Or perhaps it wasn't about that at all, maybe it was that she had some sort of previous contempt for Lin. "But how do we know Mai switched bodies with Lin's? For all we know she's…out there somewhere!" she finished loudly, her arms going wide to explain "out there". There was a form of exasperated panic in her voice.

They didn't understand the situation any better than she did, besides the fact that she new she was safe, in Lin's body.

"No," a voice of monotone said after a few seconds. It was her boss, no doubt. Naru. "Mai is in Lin's body. With the way he was acting earlier there's no other explanation than that. If Lin is now in Mai's body, that means someone else was in his body. If it were a spirit, it would have been more calm since it was the one that caused the body-switch in the first place. Even if you were to argue that he was in control of his body at the time, I highly doubt that Lin would react so irrationally. Whoever was in his body at the time had no self restraint and was incapable of thinking logically, much less clearly. I had to throw him to the floor just to keep him from hurting himself."

Mai felt the face of Lin's body heat up at the words, her blush growing even deeper, while Naru cast a glance at the body of the stoic Mai, a flicker of apology passing through his eyes. Strange how she could pick up on these subtle things now that she was in Lin's body. He seemed no different from what he usually was, yet she could clearly see that he had apologized to Lin…

"I'm sorry."

John jumped a little, hearing the faint voice of someone beside him when no one was supposed to be there at all. The others turned at his reaction, their faces changing as soon as the saw the Chinese man next to the Australian. They were shocked for a moment, first at seeing him, and then at seeing him with such an expression.

It didn't seem real; Lin with a blush, Lin with embarrassed eyes, Lin saying he was sorry.

Takigawa let out a surprised gasp, "Holy shi-:

"Mai!" Ayako called in relief, wanting to rush over and hug the true Mai, but the rest of the group got in her path. For once, the priestess didn't fight to have her way. There was still the instinct of not being touchy-feely with Lin. Mai being in control of his body didn't change that.

"Do you remember anything Mai?" came Naru's voice again. He was continuing the use of the monotone, yet she could undoubtedly pick up an undertone of soothing concern. He was trying to keep her relaxed… to reassure her.

How had she never picked up on these subtle things before?

Mai ignored that thought to answer her boss's question. Closing her eyes, she tried to recall what had happened hours before… or had it turned into a day?

Running… she had been running. She could still feel the sand as it flew around her ankles, the cold wind across her face, the frantic need to find someone. She had reached the water, but it was already too late, so she had jumped in, diving deeper and deeper.

She could feel the sweat forming across her brow as she remembered.

The dread had been almost suffocating, not being able to find whatever had been lost. And then she had felt it, the small form of a high school gi-

Mai opened her eyes with a start.

"Lin…" she said simply, unable to say anything else. She looked toward the man, her own body, to see if he understood.

He nodded back at himself, an awkward exchange of knowledge.

Turning back to Naru, she answered the question truthfully, "I can't remember what happened to me. The only things I can recall are what Lin saw. He wasn't there until I was already under the water. Everything after that…" she faded off, signifying that the knowledge ended with her passing out.

"Wait a minute," John asked, his eyes burrowed in confusion, "Naru, I thought you said Lin…er… Mai, was saying something about hands?"

Naru seemed to be asking the same question and turned back to his formerly male-souled assistant.

Mai tried to remember again, but it was useless.

There was nothing in her memory about hands or anything of the sort.

"Maybe the transformation wasn't complete until a while ago. The memories may have been the last thing to change…" the monk suggested, his hand gripping his chin in thought. "But then wouldn't… Lin!"

The unemotional high schooler shook her head from side to side, as though she had already been asked the question before.

"Mai's body was in shock at the time. It will be a while before the memories come back."

That's all he said, just that, simple and factual, so much like him, only it was odd for such a detached phrase to come out of Mai's mouth.

"Well," Takigawa interrupted the silence, "It can't get any worse than this."

"Yes, it can." Mai gulped, the sensation different as it passed down Lin's throat. She had finally figured out what that strange feeling in the pit of her stomach was, though she wished she hadn't.

The monk looked at her confused, as did everyone else.

Mai took another gulp before letting the words escape her lips.

"I have to go to the bathroom."