Mai laid there her sleeping bag open under her instead of zipped completely up like everyone else's was. It was freezing out outside a cold spell had swept in which resulted in the heat being turned all the way up making it nice and toasty warm inside the old building with surprisingly good insulation. The case they were working on was only just getting started it was their first night there and they had a lot to do in the morning but she just could not sleep.

Things being moved around during the night didn't help but that was the ghosts' doing having used to be a day care long ago a earthquake resulted in the children who had been being taken care of getting trapped in the partially collapsed building. While sad the children were for some reason still stuck within the renovated building and it was up to SPR to find out why and free them so they could move on and the new owners of the house could open their shop without worry of items being moved about when they weren't looking or other little pranks children tended to pull.

But in the mean time Mai got to lie there and bake because unlike her everyone else didn't have the tolerance to cold she did that came with her powers. After tossing and turning for a while longer and disturbing Ayako more then once who lay huddled up in her own sleeping bag beside her, Mai got to her feet snagging her sleeping bag and the little travel pillow that went with it she pulled on her coat and marched outside with bare feet sighing in relief at the feel of the cool wet snow beneath her feet digging her toes into it.

Tossing her sleeping bag down on the first deep snow drift she could find she threw her pillow on top of it. Collapsing onto her make shift bed she sighed in relief as the chilly cool winter night air brushed against her hot fevered skin. She snuggled down enjoying the feeling of the soft powdery snow beneath her sleeping bag that made a nice soft place for her to sleep. She smiled to herself thinking the other's didn't know what they were missing not having her powers of ice and snow which made this comfortable instead of sleeping inside in the hot stuffy creaky house filled with ghost children who loved to pull pranks.

Even Gene who had appeared beside her sitting on the edge of her sleeping bag commented on her rather unique sleeping spot. "I know you have magic with this element but I still can't see how this is comfortable for you. You fell asleep so fast out here compared to inside. "He says running his hand through the snow. Mai gave him a smile snuggling into her bed. "I like it. To me this is like coming home. I don't see how Naru and the others can stand it inside."

Gene just gave a soft laugh. "That's my brother for you no matter how uncomfortable he is he won't complain about it if it means he can appear to be calm and cool." "I could make him really cool all ti would take is a bit of snow in his sleeping bag." She jokes with a grin. "Somehow I doubt he would appreciate you for that." Gene laughs.

"I'm really tired and I have a long day tomorrow so mind showing me what's up with the house and why the kids won't move on so I can sleep?Not to be ungrateful or anything like that."Mai asks with a yawn despite already being asleep technically. Gene simply gave her one of his usual smiles and pointed to the house. "Look at each each directional corner." Mai sat up peering more closely at the house in each corner facing all four directions were charms engraved into the very bones of the house.

"Those are meant to keep bad spirits and bad luck out but they are actually combined with confining wards so while it keeps bad spirits out it traps others inside." Gene explains to her. "Nice I take it whoever created them wasn't much into the whole studying aspect." Mai comments with another yawn. "So if we take care of those the children can be sent on?" Gene nods giving Mai a light playful shove. "Yes go to sleep now you can't stop yawning even in your own dream. " Mai giggled and curled back up on her sleeping bag settling down once more. Gene stayed where he was sitting beside her on the edge of her sleeping bag even as she drifted off into a deeper dreamless sleep a sly smile on his face as he watched her.

The next morning Monk was one of the first up yawning as he grumbled to himself about children who thought it was a great idea to tug on his hair during the night and lay other pranks. The coffee and tea had gotten left in the van last night meaning he had to put on his hat, coat and shoes and go get it if he wanted to be alert for the rest of the morning.

He passed by the girls room pausing with a frown when he saw the lumps that were Masako and Ayako but no Mai in between them. "Huh is she already up?But she isn't known to be one to be a morning person."He mutters to himself as he heads out the door marching through the snow towards the van. Hunting up the coffee and grabbing the tea while he was at it so he wouldn't have to listen to Naru later he paused as he spotted something dark in a snow drift.

He stared in wonder as he realized that it was Mai. She was curled up sound asleep on her sleeping bag in the middle of the snow seemingly perfectly content as comfortable out here in the cold bitter air as he was inside the nice toasty warm house. Shaking his head he made his way back inside and started brewing some coffee. Naru and Lin came into the kitchen as the coffee just finished brewing followed shortly by a still bleary eyed Masako.

"You won't believe where Mai choose to sleep last night. I went to get the coffee out of the van and I spotted her lying there asleep on her sleeping bag in the middle of a frickin snowdrift. I mean it got down below freezing last night and instead of staying inside where it's nice and warm she chooses to sleep out in the wet and cold snow.I mean, what the heck, man!"He says shaking his head in disbelief pouring himself a cup of coffee and sipping it.

"You expect anything less from her?With her magic she is at home in the snow I imagine she was too hot trying to sleep inside with the heat up as high as it is. She is probably more comfortable out there then she is in here." Naru comments fixing himself some tea. "Speak of the devil."Ayako mutters darkly dragging herself into the kitchen as well just as Mai bounced perkily into the house her sleeping bag tossed over her shoulder.

John came into the kitchen right behind her taking a seat at the table. Mai stopped guzzling the orange juice she had pulled out of the fridge whens he noticed all eyes were on her. "What?" She asks confused. Masako wordlessly handed her a pocket mirror covering her mouth with her kimono sleeve to hide the smile she had on her face.

Mai let out a shriek upon looking in the mirror. "Gene!You are so dead when I get my hands on you!" She yells as she took in her frost covered hair. The tips of her brown hair had already been dyed white with pale blue above that but now her entire head and her eyelashes and eye brows were completely white painstakingly covered inch by inch in heavy frost her skin dusted in it as well. Simply sleeping outside in the snow didn't cause this she knew since she had done that before without that happening this was the result of a certain spirit bound to her who had apparently gotten bored during the night and decided to play a prank on her himself.

Just about everyone was laughing at the sight of her. "Technically Gene is already dead so you can't kill him." Ayako points out trying to contain her laughter. Naru just shook his head with a slight smile at what his brother had done. "Did you learn anything of use from him before he got bored and gave you a new look?"He asks a fuming Mai. Blinking Mai shook her head to clear the thoughts of what she would do to Gene the next time she saw him. "Yeah I did.I found out why the children are stuck in the house." She launched into the explanation of what she had seen in her dream last night. Her plan on asking her friend Zanna who had magic with spirits for some help with her plan for revenge on a certain male spirit still lingering in the back of her mind as the day got underway along with the case.