A/N: Hope you guys like this chapter! I'm not quite sure how I feel about this one. Please remember that if you have any constructive criticism to leave a review and any changes that are needed, I'll take care of it. I am glad that this chapter is actually longer than the first two. XD Hooray! Ja ne, minna!

Chapter Three: Of Bikini's and Hair Dryers

An hour later, Bou-san sent Naru to find Ayako, Masako, and Mai so the group could go boating. He sighed. Why did he have to do this meaningless task? Bou-san had insisted and Naru had given in, if only to shut Takigawa up.

He heard shouting as he approached Mai's room; it worried him only slightly. He wasn't prepared, however, for the commotion inside.

When he opened the door, he very nearly laughed. He instead chose to stand there and watch, emotionless mask up to hide his bemusement. Mai was holding a hair dryer at arm's length as if it were a gun.

She kept shifting the aim from Ayako to Masako, slight panic reflected in her brown eyes.

Masako and Ayako were each holding bathing suit pieces that probably couldn't cover much of a cat, let alone a person.

"I told you two; I am NOT wearing something like that, no matter HOW much you think he'll like it!" Mai shouted.

"But Mai, it'd be perfect for getting his attention! If he sees you in this, he won't be able to resist you!" Ayako shot back.

"No! He'd say something like, 'Why are you wearing something that doesn't even qualify as clothes? I knew you were stupid but this is ridiculous.'" Mai immitated.

Naru cleared his throat loudly at this point. He didn't want to hear about Mai trying to get some guy's attention. Not that he cared or anything.

Mai jumped at Naru's voice and dropped the hair dryer. She sunk to her knees, hand to her heart, face red as a tomato. "Y-you scared me."

Masako and Ayako hurried to hide the bikini's behind their backs, equal looks of shame on their faces. They kept their gazes on anything but Naru.

Naru scowled. "I was just coming to tell you three that the rest of us are ready to go boating. We'll leave without you if you don't hurry," he claimed, ice in his voice.

Mai shot the guilty party a glare before grabbing her beach bag. She smiled happily as she started for the door. She already had on her own bikini- one that covered the things that mattered but still accentuated her figure. She had cut-off shorts over her bikini bottoms and had her now long hair pulled off of her neck with a clip.

Naru had to work to keep his distance as Mai pushed past him and into the hallway. She was stunning.

Before Naru followed her, he turned to Ayako and Masako and warned, "Whatever it is you two are up to, stop it."

...

Once the whole gang was gathered, Madoka led them to the dock where two decent looking boats were waiting. "Ayako, Masako, Yasu, and John gets one boat while Lin, Naru, Takigawa, Mai, and I get the other!" she announced.

Within a few moments, the gang was on the water. When they were far enough from the shore, Bou-san cried out, "Let's go water skiing!"

Madoka called dibs on skiing first so Mai sat with Takigawa in the back of the boat and chatted. Naru sat at the front, reading, while Lin drove the boat.

When Madoka wiped out, Bou-san took her place as she sat beside Mai. After Takigawa skiied a little, it was Lin's turn and Naru took the wheel.

As Mai sat there talking with the monk and Madoka, she felt happy. She didn't get the chance to think about her idiot boss or ghosts or anything, really. She was free to just be content.

Once Lin motioned for Naru to stop the boat, however; that all changed. Monk smiled. "You're turn, Jou-chan!" he declared.

Mai shook her head. "No thanks."

"Aw, but Jou-chan, you must! You have to have fun on this trip!"

Before Mai could respond, she heard Naru say, "Do you really trust her doing something like this? She'd probably drown herself."

Mai scowled as she looked back at Naru. "Fine, I'll try it. But I don't want to hear anything from anyone if I can't do it!"

Mai then allowed Takigawa to help her into the skis and instruct her on what to do. It took Mai a few tries, but she managed to keep her balance for more than 5 seconds.

She looked around awestruck as the boat gained speed. The wind felt so good and the whole experience had her in a happy daze. This lasted for about 30 more seconds before Mai was distracted by a figure on the water. She blinked. "Gene?" she whispered before she hit a wave and wiped out.

Once she got back to the boat, Takigawa laughing away, she said, "I think I'm done guys."

Madoka pouted. "But you were doing good there for a minute. A bit more parctice and you'd be a pro!"

Mai smiled and shrugged. "I'm not feeling very well," she lied.

Madoka checked her forehead. "Well, you don't have a temperature, but I suppose you have all weekend to perfect your skiing. Go sit down and if you feel like going back let us know."

Mai nodded, relieved, and sat across from Naru and away from the others. She grabbed her romance novel from it's place in her beach bag. She didn't open it, though, just laid it in her lap and mulled over what had just happened.

'I could have sworn I saw Gene. And he was pointing at something,' she thought. She gazed in the direction she was sure Gene had pointed but saw nothing.

Naru, who'd been watching, told Lin quietly to head in that direction.

Mai heard this and felt her stomach clench. She had a bad feeling about this but tried to push it away by reading. She was soon lost in the book and sank deeper into her seat.

Naru glanced at his assistant and then looked around the water's surface but found nothing. He must have imagined the look on Mai's face as she got out of the water. She had had on the same expression as when she saw ghosts on cases. He sat back down and brought out a book of his own to read.

After reading the same sentence over and over, he shut his book and pinched the bridge of his nose. Why couldn't he stop thinking about Mai? She loved Gene. He silently cursed Madoka for dragging him with her on this "vacation". At least the others were leaving him alone.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a whimper to his left and turned to see that Mai had fallen asleep. "Mai," he said as he shook her awake.

She opened her eyes and Naru took notice of the tears spilling over. "Naru?" she asked, still in a bit of a haze.

"You were dreaming."

Mai sighed. Of course the one person she didn't want to deal with right now was the one person who had woken her from her nightmare. All she wanted to do was curl into a ball and cry. "Sorry," she apologized.

Naru watched her, wanting to do anything to get rid of those damn tears that didn't belong in Mai's eyes. He knew that he couldn't and wouldn't be able to comfort her, though, and it made his heart ache. "Was it one of those dreams?" he asked.

Mai shook her head. "Just a sad dream," she answered slowly as she tried to wipe her face.

"What about? Did you see Gene?" Naru blurted out before he could stop himself. He hated himself at the moment.

Mai shook her head again and tried to keep her composure. Naru was making this difficult on her. "It was a dream about the book I'm reading," she lied.

Naru picked the book up from where it lay open on her stomach and scowled as he read the back cover. "Why do women insist on reading things that they know will make them sad?"

Mai glared. "Why not? It doesn't hurt anything. And besides, it's a welcome relief to me. It's much better than a sappy, 'happily ever after.' It's real," Mai snapped. What the hell did it matter to Naru anyway? It wasn't as if he actually cared! Her dream had left her feeling bitter and Naru was making it worse.

After a moment of silence between them, Naru asked softly, "Why would you torment yourself, Mai?"

Mai looked out over the water. She needed to escape this conversation. It wasn't safe for her poor heart. She stuck her hand in the water, trying to ignore the idiot scientist beside her.

Suddenly, Mai felt a tug on her wrist. Her eyes widened. She didn't have time to call out to someone before she felt herself being pulled into the water. She tried to escape the grip of whoever was doing this to no avail. She looked at the hand on her wrist and nearly gasped. Her lungs were burning at this point. She needed air but she couldn't pull herself away. In a few moments, her world went black.