It was very early morning when Mai woke up, the sun wasn't even up yet but by her clock it was around six. She laid there for a bit, trying to think about what had happened during her sleep. Had she dreamed? She wasn't sure, it felt more like a scramble of thoughts all thrown together, she wasn't sure if she was half asleep and thinking during that time or truly asleep. Either way, it made her feel nervous, the 'dream' she had somewhat of a nightmare, she knew she had run from someone, running and gasped as she tried to escape. She had run into the apartment, she remembered it but during her terror she couldn't even remember why she knew it. Then everything went crazy from there, screaming and thrashing, she had tried to get away from that person. That man. It was defiantly a man. What had happened to her after that? She wasn't sure and as she laid there she shivered at the thought, just thinking about it made her stomach churn. It was best not to question it anymore. Turning over she checked on the other two girls, they were still asleep and she watched them for a bit. Checking the clock beside her she saw it was almost seven, the stores in the area should be open by now which meant she could have breakfast ready for everyone by the time they got up. Sitting up in bed she stepped on the floor, shivering at the cold. She went back and forth between just going there in her pajamas and putting on real clothing but she finally decided that it was better to have something nice on. Anyone could be up by this time and she changed into a large sweater and jeans, then pulled on her boots.

"Mai?" she heard Masako mumble from her covers and she chuckled at the sleepy girl.

"I'm just going to get some breakfast, don't worry" she whispered, her friend shrugged back into her comforter, signaling that Mai could leave and she head out of her room and closed the door. Turning around she looked down the hallway, she was glad they were staying in a hotel and not the apartment. The idea of something being below her scared her quite a bit and it seemed that everyone else had too been on edge after learning that as well. Naru had made a good choice of not staying there; the idea of a ghost in a building that was very old wasn't a good idea. Pulling on her jacket, she decided she would praise him later; she obviously wouldn't praise him too often, that would add to his already big ego. But a little praise here and there was good for a man his age, every time she praised him he always seemed pretty proud about and she couldn't contain a laugh at the pictures of Naru's ego boosting.

"What are you doing up so early Mai?" Someone said and she turning around quickly, almost getting dizzy from it. There was Naru, standing there in his work clothes. She eyed him back, suspicious as to whether he went to sleep. Without some form of sleep he become short-tempered. "I asked a question Mai." He said, showing that he was exhausted; his eyes were dark from the night.

"I was going out to get breakfast; you really need to get some sleep Naru." Mai said, slipping from her own business to his own. He didn't buy it thought and he sighed loudly, holding the bridge of his nose as if trying to understand her tiny mind.

"Mai, you would go out at six in the morning? I know shops are open but a young woman walking around at this time is an easy target" He said, shaking his head as if disappointed at her but she just snorted her nose at him.

"Don't scold me when you haven't slept at all Naru, you probably don't even know what you're saying" She stated, placing her hands on her hips as if preparing to fight, but Naru just seemed too exhausted to deal with her at the moment. He sighed and walked over to the couch in the lobby, taking his coat from the couch.

"At least have me come with you" He said, defeated.

"You should just go to sleep Naru, you're exhausted" Mai said gently, she didn't expect him to give in so easily and she defiantly didn't want him to go out in with how tired he was but he just shook his head, and zipped up her coat.

"I can sleep later" He said as he stepped out and she followed.

"When is later?" She interjected

"Later is when I'm dead" He said with a straight face and the two fell silent till she started laughing, almost falling down on the snowy ground from the inability to even see where she was going. She wasn't exactly sure if he meant it as a joke but his smug look told her that Naru's tired side had a sense of humor, the two stumbled into a store after some falls from Mai and remarks from Naru. She looked up at him with a grin, her cheeks red from the cold as well as her nose, an expression that he knew so well and he smirked back. The two picked breakfast the others and headed back, chatting back and forth.

"Oh Naru," Mai said, suddenly remembering her dream from the night, "I had another dream, well kind of. It was really scrambled, but it was a little clearer than the last one." The two then stopped on the doorstep of the hotel and he opened the door, the two sitting on the couch on the lobby. She then started again, slowly thinking out what she remembered. "I was running from someone, it was a man, and I ran into the apartment. I think he got me Naru" She said, the last part coming out softly and the two sat there for a while, the silence continuing for a while.

"Are you scared?" He asked

"I'm not a child anymore, I can handle it." She answered firmly and he looked at her with an expression she couldn't quiet read, she couldn't understand the look in his eyes. She then stood up from the couch, stretching. It was better just to not think about it and she grin as she picked up the groceries they had collected. "You better get some sleep Naru or else Monk's jokes will be getting on your nerves, I heard a little rumor that he got a new joke book" She called to him as she walked away and back to her room, not bothering to look behind at the young man watching her leave. At her door she could heard the other two talking and with a simple knock they opened the door and let her in.

"Where were you Mai?" Ayako said nervously, her motherly genes kicking in. Ayako really was her mother at this point, she made sure Mai was well dressed, well fed, and was always shouting at her about getting into danger. She and Monk would be the perfect balance to each other if they could get past their own prides; she knew for a fact everyone was secretly supporting the couple from behind.

"I went and got groceries" She said, setting the bentos into the mini fridge that the hotel provided.

"At seven in the morning?" The woman said, obviously leading up to a scolding about young woman taking care of themselves.

"Naru went with me" Mai stated with a proud smirk, but instantly regretted it at the large smiles on both women. They started questioning her all about it, cooing and poking her sides as they giggled. Obviously she should have just said she went alone and stood against Ayako's wrath, but there was turning back now, and she just pouted as they continued to pry at her life. They finally stopped when the boys came knocking at the door, knowing that food was in the room. She passed out the bentos, and everyone sat on the floor, looking around noticed that Naru wasn't there and looked to Lin curiously.

"He's asleep now, he said something about jokes" Lin said with a raised eyebrow and she covered her mouth, coughing from her laughter while Monk patted her back and tried to force water down her throat. The meal went by smoothly after all and everyone got ready to head back to the apartment, Mai walked by Lin as he walked to his and Naru's room. She stood outside while Lin woke up Naru, she could heard their muffled conversation through the walls as Lin slowly got the man up, Naru letting out a groan of annoyance.

"Did you sleep well?" Mai said once Naru was out, his eyes were a little less dark but another couple of hours of sleep would have done him wonders. Still his temperament seemed better and he nodded, and slipped on his coat. The three of them walked out to the van and she got in with Naru following, the three of them pulled in close to each other, the sun wasn't able to even get past the clouds today and she had seen somewhere along the way that it was around twenty degrees out. "Do you think it's a ghost Naru?" She said as they stopped in front of the building behind the other car.

"It's becoming more likely considering your dreams" He said and the three got out then headed into the building where the others were standing there in shock. The floors were decorated in claw marks all down the corridor and they lead one place. Upstairs. At just the sight of it Mai turned away, letting out a breath in attempt to calm herself. Getting scared by this wouldn't do anything for her, but her nerves couldn't exactly settle knowing it had tried taking her up there as well. What was up there? "Are any of the cameras damaged?" Naru asked, cutting the silence that everyone had upheld. Monk was the first to move and he walked down the hall and opened one of the doors and looked inside.

"This one is alright" He said back, and everyone started moving again, opening the old apartment doors to check on each camera, each seemed unharmed and they all returned to base, sitting down to listen to the audio from the night.

"Most of the sound is coming from the upper floor, it seems that it," he started then glanced over at Mai, "she is most active at night." This left an understanding that they had to bring equipment to the upper floors now, so they could see what was going on. It was becoming obvious that whatever was up there it was supernatural and they needed to start on a plan for the exorcism of it.

"What did you find out Yasuhura?" Naru asked as Mai poured him more tea from a thermal she had packed.

"The owner is a sixty-five year old woman, she has one daughter who is twenty and she divorced from her husband about six years ago. They have owned this complex since it opened and not till about two years ago did she close it down due to 'family issues'. It seems that her daughter went missing around then. The people around this area said that her daughter was having a problem with a stalker during that time, they said it was a man out-of-town and he was gone after her disappearance, he is supposable the suspect for the crime but they haven't found him yet." He stated and the pieces of the case seemed to drop into place them as they sat there.

"Is she the one haunting this place?" Mai said into the silence.

"It seems to be the most likely situation" Naru sighed, sitting up and looked out into the hall. "The only way we can make sure is to stay the night and make sure. Lin, Takigawa, Brown, Yasuhara and I will get the cameras upstairs while the three of you walk through the building to see if she is easier to find now" He said and Mai slowly got up, following the girls. She passed by Naru and he looked at her firmly making her stop. "If you're connection is too strong Mai I won't be upset if you stay outside" He said almost gently.

"No, it's ok" Mai said, grinning at him and ran off with the other two girls, grabbing at their backs to make them shriek. The walk had the same results, they couldn't feel her, though there did seem to be something stronger going on by the stairs. Of course they couldn't get any closer with the hole there, Mai peaked down into it. It wasn't very deep, in fact she could see the concrete base, someone had probably left it that way for when anyone wanted to add a basement.

"Come on Mai, don't just don't stand there or else we'll leave you!" the Miko shouted and she quickly ran to catch up with the two other girls. They came back to see the boys weren't in the office and decided to go outside and watch them. Yasuhura was going up the ladder at the moment and with small grins Masko and her started to pack and snow and throw snowballs at him. He of course put on a big show for them, pretending to almost drop the equipment before saving it and he even tried dancing on the ladder for the two girls but the show ended up rather terrible and they threw more snowballs as they shouted boo. Finally Naru was able to get up to go the ladder and set down the monitors, once down he walked over to the two girls.

"Did you see me pole dancing up there?" He smirked.

"Sadly," Mai blanched, then looked up at the window they were coming in from, ", what is it like up?" She asked and then his face looked very serious.

"Honestly? It smells like rotten meat. None of us wanted to say anything, but we all know it's true, somewhere up there that girl is dead" He said with a sad expression and they all stood there, looking at the building. "I just think boss wants to know where it's coming from and then he's going to have someone exorcise it. He won't pull up the body."

"Why not? She wanted to be found not exorcised" Mai said with a deep frown, trying to figure out Naru's thought process.

"This murder was recent Mai, if we found the body we'd have to answer to the police" He said and Masako nodded in agreement.

"One time I found a body and the police were on me for months. I think he's trying to protect us all at this point Mai, the thing to do now is just to help the spirit move on. The police will find out sooner or later" She said, trying to calm the girl.

"Ya, I guess." She mumbled, looking up at the ladder as Naru came down. She wouldn't say it aloud but she knew. This ghost wouldn't leave just with an exorcism.

With the way things are going i might get this entire story done in about a week, though tonight I have practice for choir so I probably won't have a new chapter out tomorrow.

We have a new friend joining us in the followers, everyone say hello to Ariana Taniyama. :3

Five reviews for one chapter! Oh gosh, it just makes me so happy getting to talk to you guys and improve because of you.

Hehe, I feel the same way about it DeadlyRose123, being carried like that Mai's cuteness probably doubles!

Ya, Ariana Taniyama I feel like that there are too many 'clueless' Mai running around nowdays, she isn't exactly smart but Mai isn't as dumb as Naru makes her out to be. I'm glad you are enjoying the character developement and you too like the idea of Monk carrying Mai around. ^^

I wonder that too Musical Teardrops, in the manga I alway expected for the writer to explain why ghost like her so much. Thanks for thinking it's original but actually my idea of a more 'mature' Mai came from a fanfiction I'm reading now called 'Beneath the Lilac trees' which is a gorgeously written Ghost Hunt fanfiction. If you could only read one fanfiction at a time I would suggest throwing mine out the window and reading it, she is a slow poster though.

ShinigamiinPeru, hehehe, I really liked the Uno part too. My plan is to make it serious enough to show they are mature but to not turn it into a hardcore drama.

p. Ageha I completely understand, the only reason I got this done is because I had a snow day yesterday and couldn't leave the house. I haven't actually watched Angel beats but one of my friends through Facebook have and from his statuses I believe he has shed many manly tears over it.

Please continue to look after me as we move along this story together. ^^