After Ms. Zheng had left Mai called everyone and told them they would be leaving at 6am the next morning. As Mai ran at top speed to get to the office on time, she wondered why she ever thought to keep on slamming her hand down on the snooze button. Really she knew when she had to be there, Naru even offered to call to wake her up but she told him it wasn't necessary. Exhausted and out of breath Mai climbed the stairs to enter the office, once inside to she realized she had 15 minutes to spare so shedding her coat and putting down her travel bag she went to work in the kitchen making everyone tea. " Hello everyone!" Mai said cheerily as she exited the kitchen. " Here is some piping hot tea to drink before we leave."

As Mai put Narus tea in front of him he quickly and gingerly grabbed her wrist got up and pulled her toward his office. Mai could hear everyone snickering behind them. "As Naru shut the door Mai let out a frustrated puff of air. " Naru what are you doing? I made it before 6 so don't you dare even think of lecturing me about being on time! Hmph!" Mai crossed her arms in front of her chest. With a bemused grin Naru spoke "First of all I asked you to come early. But because you were running late I wasn't able to give you this…" quickly Naru leaned over, brushed Mai's bangs away and gave her a small kiss on her forehead. "Secondly you are late because I requested you be here early, so when we get back I will start picking you up for work."

After cooling down Mai began to wonder something she couldn't quite put her finger on it but then it popped in her head, "but Naru you never drive Lin does do you even have a license? Even when we've gone out we've always gone someplace nearby the office so we could walk." Naru smiled " I just got my license yesterday after work, and my car will be here when we get back." Naru opened the door and ushered Mai out "Now we should get going." Once everything was packed in the vehicles SPR was off to Ms. Zhengs house. As they drove the city landscape drifted further an further behind them and they were greeted by the rich and wonderful sites and sounds of the country. Two hours later they arrived at Ms. Zhengs haunted home.

Naru waited till everyone was outside before he spoke "Because of the haunting Ms. Zheng has experienced here I must insist no one go anywhere alone, Lin and I have chosen partners for everyone. Monk you will be with Ayako, John your with Masako, Yasu you will be with Mai, and Lin will be with me. As for the sleeping arrangements you will all be sleeping in the same room as your partner so their should be no excuse for anyone to be wondering about by themselves. Do not leave your partner even when unloading the equipment." As Naru proceeded with his final warning he looked directly at Yasu who tried desperately not to wince under his bosses gaze. "If any of your partners disappear or are hurt during this investigation I will hold the other partner personally responsible."

Soon as Naru left with Lin to begin setting everything up in the house. Everyone partnered up and began to move everything in. " Was it just me or did it seem like Naru was threatening me?" Yasu shifted his glasses nervously before picking up a computer monitor, everyone thought for a moment. "Well," Bou began" it's not like he was anymore serious then usual but he did give you a death glare." " Yeah!" Ayako chimed in, "he was definitely staring at you very intensely." As everyone began to carry the last of the equipment up to the house, Masako felt the need to point out the obvious. Yasu really had been so spooked he hadn't thought of it himself. "Think about who your partnered with Yasu, your partnered with Mai. I'm sure it wasn't Narus preference either, so if you want to at the very least not wind up with a few bruises, I suggest you watch over Mai very closely."

Once Masako had finished Mai looked at Yasu he was trying to laugh it off but she knew he was actually a little worried about what Naru would do to him if anything happened to her. Naru was being extremely protective of everyone on this case especially of her. After they sat everything down Mai went up and patted Yasu on the back, giving him her biggest smile she spoke cheerfully. " Don't worry Yasu I will definitely try my hardest to not get into any trouble while were here!" Yasu looked down at Mai and ruffled her hair and began to laugh. "Don't worry Mai you always get in trouble somehow so I'll find someway to survive when you do." Everyone joined in the goofy moment between the two until they were all laughing. After the moment was over and everyone had dropped their stuff off in the rooms they were assigned they joined back together in the living room.

The living room had been changed into the SPR base cord's, computers, and various other pieces of equipment were organized around the room. One by one everybody took a seat. Naru glanced around the room before he assigned jobs to the pairs. "Of course," Naru mumbled. Just as he was about to ask where his last pair was Mai and Yasu walked in. Before Naru froze Yasu with his icy glare Mai intervened with a bright smile. " Sorry for being a little bit late Naru I wanted to organize my stuff quickly guess I wasn't quick enough, haha." Naru couldn't help but warm up a little seeing Mai's bright smile, " Fine fine Mai just please make sure you two are here on time otherwise we will wonder where you are." When everyone was seated Naru began to hand out assignments. "Monk and Ayako will set up the remaining equipment in each room for surveillance. John I would like you and Masako to examine the house see what spirits you sense if any and if you can handle them then please do after running it past Lin. Yasu and Mai I want you to go and take temperature readings."

"Everyone please be careful." With that everyone left and began there assigned duties. "So," Lin began "do you think Mai will be alright on this case? After all she hasn't mentioned Gene being in her dreams since we returned his body to England." Naru began to pace the room nervously before he sat on the couch sighing. " I don't know Lin I didn't even want to bring her here, but there's no way she would of let me leave her behind." Lin got up and walked over to Naru, sitting down Lin gave him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder, "I'm sure she'll be fine. Yasu's a smart kid if anything goes wrong he'll be quick to let you know. Plus he's probably one of the gutsiest and most resourceful people on the team, that's why I stuck him with her?" Naru leaned back and ran his hands through his hair. " I wish you had stuck me with her, but I understand why you didn't. Anyway I have no doubt he'll work hard to keep her safe in this world." If he wants to live Naru thought. "But like you said she hasn't mentioned Gene being in her dreams since we took him home. It's her dream world that worries me the most."

Duh duh duh! Well there's Chapter 3, again I know the chapters are short but I'm hoping to be posting pretty often so you won't go to long without another chapter. Also as a small hint just cause I pared certain people with one another does not mean they will be a couple because we will have a guy x guy pairing in here.

Also to spice things up the first person to guess who the couple will be and what episode and scene in the anime inspired this pairing will receive a hand drawn portrait of the couple by e-mail. So make your guesses in your comments/reviews. I'll announce the winner in the next chapter