Thanks so much to those of you who reviewed last chapter, namely dutchangel1979, Emina105 and AstigzBFF07. Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

I know, I know, the chapters are getting steadily shorter...but they'll get longer again. I tend to have the chapter go until I have everything in it that I want in it, not caring about the length. I hope you guys don't mind!

Enjoy!

Chapter 4

"Their last names were Taniyama."

Mai froze, her eyes growing huge. She looked up at Lin, her gaze questioning. He caught her gaze and he barely nodded in answer.

Naru absorbed this for a moment, quietly, before he looked over at Mai.

Seeing the shock on her face, and Lin's barely visible nod, he blinked, taking in her features.

He couldn't remember his mother, not really. But even so, he was trying to transpose Mai's features onto the hardly-remembered face of the woman who'd given birth to him and Gene.

Could it really have been the same person who'd had Mai?

It was almost too good to be true.

"I had him triple check while I was on the phone with him," Lin told him.

The room lapsed into silence after Lin whispered, "It's true."

Mai then looked down at her feet and then back up at Naru.

"So…who I've been seeing in my dreams…that wasn't you, it was Gene…" she breathed. She barely remembered, so long ago, her first memory that she could recall…a memory of running after her someone…her friends…her brothers.

"You've been dreaming about him, too?" Naru asked. He hadn't known that Gene had been a subject of her dreams. If he'd know that earlier, it would have changed everything.

Of course he believed it now, it made sense.

"That means it really is true…" he whispered, a shocked look still on his face.

"He's been helping me from the very beginning, Naru, in my dreams…that was how I knew that things were gonna happen…I thought it was you, that's why I never said anything…these past few days, he's been saying things about Noll…that's how I knew the name…" Mai whispered, looking up at him.

"But Mom and Dad never said anything about you two…they never did…"

"Would you tell your youngest child that your eldest could summon poltergeists?" Naru asked Mai, and she looked down at her hands. "Or that your twins were very powerful psychics?"

"It was probably done to protect you, in case something happened to one of us…" he murmured. He shrugged then with a soft sigh. "But I guess we'll never know."

Mai was still looking at her hands as she listened to him talk, her eyes soft, sad. He wouldn't see it at the moment, but there were tears in her eyes.

"I just barely remember…you and Gene would make me laugh…you'd make my teddy bear dance…"

Lin took that as his cue to leave the two siblings alone for a while to reacquaint themselves with the idea of having a family again, silently slipping out the door.

Naru blinked as he thought about that memory. He hardly remembered anything from the time before his father had adopted them, barely had any memories to go along with his past.

But…that was one of them.

"The teddy bear…" he whispered. And, as he sat there, a small smile graced his lips. It was a very rare occurrence for him to smile, and it was as though his face had forgotten how for a moment.

Mai's eyes lifted to look at him again, and she saw his smile. For the first time, he looked like in her dreams. He looked like Gene.

She slowly brought a hand up and placed it atop his head.

"I wish…things had been different…" she whispered, and a couple of tears fell from her eyes.

Naru nodded, his smile beginning to fade again. For the most part, he had to keep a handle on his emotions. He knew that was a dangerous road to go down with how strong his powers were.

But, speaking about Gene, and the times they'd had, even what little the two of them could remember, had allowed him to let out a bit of his powers without feeling a backlash.

It had been so long since he'd done something like that that he wasn't sure what he was supposed to think.

"Are you hungry or anything, Naru?" Mai asked quietly after a moment. "I can have someone get you something…"

Naru nodded.

"Yes," he said, his voice soft. He'd almost forgotten that he hadn't eaten in three or four days until she said that.

He was really hungry, and knew he needed to eat something.

Mai nodded. She let her hand fall from where it had been on his head to look to the door.

"Hey, Lin?" she called quietly, and the door opened. The taller man stuck his head inside.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Could you get Naru and I something to eat?" she asked, and Lin nodded.

"I'll be back soon," he said before he turned to leave again.

"Bring some tea back with you," Naru called, and Lin laughed. "And make sure it's fresh. I don't want crap that's been sitting there for hours."

"Of course, Naru. I'll be back," Lin said with a chuckle before shutting the door behind him.

Mai looked back at Naru as he settled back against the pillows, and whispered, "He hasn't left your side until today…"

"No, he wouldn't have," Naru said gently with a nod. "He feels bad whenever I do end up using my powers, as if he's let my father down or something."

He shrugged a bit.

"I didn't have much of a choice in the matter. I rarely do when I have to use it."

"Well, he shouldn't feel too bad…you're okay now," Mai said, and she smiled. "Of course, you're not a hundred percent, but you're getting better." She then looked down at her leg, and sighed. "Lucky you, though, you'll be good in a week or two, I'm stuck like this for a few weeks."

Naru shrugged.

"But you don't feel as weak as I do, either. At least you can move around," he quipped. "I'll be stuck in bed until they tell me I can go.'

This caused Mai to chuckle lightly, but she bit back most of her laughter to avoid the pounding in the back of her head getting worse.

She just smiled at him.

"I'll stay with you while you're stuck in bed, then," she whispered. "If you don't mind…"

Naru gave another little smile at that. Gene would have done the same…either of them would have done the same back then to each other, should anything have happened.

"I'd like that," he told her honestly. "You should go sleep at your own place though, where you'll be more comfortable."

"Now why would I do that when there's a bed right there?" Mai asked with a gentle smile. "I'll stay, Naru…I don't mind. Besides, it'll be easier to stay here, with my leg and all…going up and down the stairs from the parking garage to here would be hell."

She moved from where she was sitting on the edge of the bed to go sit down on one of the side chairs, propping her leg up on his bed.

"I'll keep you company."

The two of them spent a few quiet hours, Lin coming in and out, together, talking, joking, telling stories and really catching up with each other. They had also discussed earlier that it would be a good idea to conceal their new found relationship from the others for the moment until they'd had a chance to get used to it.

Naru slept on and off during that time, slowly working to regain his strength.

He was awake when Hosho came in, causing Mai to lift her head from her and Naru's latest conversation, a few doggie bags from a restaurant down the street in his hands. Four, to be exact.

"I had a feeling you'd be awake…and I thought you'd all want something not from the cafeteria," Hosho announced with a smile.

"Yes, that sounds very good, thank you," Mai chuckled, extending her hand for one of the bags.

"Good, I'm glad," Hosho said, handing Mai one of the bags, and then offering one out to Lin as he lifted his head from his book to mark the page and set it aside.

"Hey, Naru, back from the land of the dead, huh?" he asked. "How're you feeling?"

"Fine," Naru answered curtly, taking one of the other two bags Hosho had in his hands, as the monk was leaning over the bed to give Lin his dinner.

"Seems like it."

"Yes, unfortunately, Monk, he's back," Mai said, and looked to Naru with a wink after she'd had a good bit of soup from her bag, drinking deeply from the side of it after taking the lid off. At this, Naru winked back.

Hosho blinked, taking this by surprise. It filled him with a touch of sadness to see the two of them acting like this, though. Were Mai and Naru together now?

He didn't even stand a chance, then, did he?

"So, did you guys all wrap up the case?" Mai asked Hosho, looking up at him.

"Yeah. There wasn't much left to do after Naru killed the demon. We exorcized the spirits that were trapped there, cleansed the rest of the house and that was that. The bodies we could find from the victims were given a proper burial, and the families got the closure they needed," he said. "All in all, it was a success."

Mai nodded.

"I figured you guys would all finish it," she said before she finished her soup. "How are the others? Are they all right?"

"They're fine," Lin said. "They dropped by earlier this morning."

Mai looked to him, and then back at Hosho. "And how are you doing?" she asked him softly.

Hosho shrugged, his eyes closed. "Fine, compared to you two," he said.

However, he couldn't shrug that feeling…what if Mai and Naru really were…then he'd been getting his hopes up all this time for nothing the last few days.

That would totally suck.

Naru, meanwhile, was watching the situation quietly as he ate his dinner. Once he was done, he placed the empty food carton back in the bag.

"That was better than hospital food," he commented as he settled back.

"Your welcome," Hosho told him with a slight roll of his eyes.

Mai, when she had finished as well, sat back for a moment before she straightened. She got up and crossed to the side of the room, pouring hot water from an automatic tea kettle that Lin had brought in earlier into cups with tea bags in them, then brought one back for her, and another back for Naru.

Naru took the cup that Mai offered him, nodding to her in thanks before sipping at it. "I would have preferred the regular tea, Mai, but I'm not going to make you go and get any on a broken leg," he said.

"Oh, how gracious of you," Mai said sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she settled back down with her own cup of tea.

Hosho was quiet as Naru said this, but had taken in all the softness between the two of them.

"Are you two, like…together or something?" he asked.

Naru, who'd been drinking at the time, began to choke, having found what the monk just said to be hilarious.

Mai spewed her drink and she burst out laughing at Hosho's comment.

"N-Noll and I?" she asked, laughing, but then she made herself stop as her head began to throb where she'd hit her head on the stairs. She looked at Hoshi, a grin still on her face, but she groaned as her head pounded angrily, a hand going to the back of her head.

Naru looked up when he heard her groan. After he'd controlled his own choking, he spoke, voice soft. "Be careful, Mai…"

She felt something grab her hand and there was something put in it. She opened her eyes to see Lin standing beside her, and there were a few pills in her hand. She took them and swallowed them down with water, and she whispered, "Thanks, Lin..."

He put his hand atop her head before he turned to walk back over to his chair.

Hosho was blinking at their reactions. They thought this was funny?

Then, he got the meaning of Mai's look.

"S-so you're not?" he asked.

Naru shook his own head for confirmation. "Different situation entirely, Monk. You've gotten it all wrong."

"There's nothing going on between us of that sort," Mai assured him.

She sat back a bit, closing her eyes with a sigh, her head pounding furiously now.

"You should go lay down Mai…" Naru told her. "Those pills will probably make you tired, anyway."

Hosho nodded. "If your head hurts, you should relax," he agreed, seeming more at ease now than he had been before.

Mai nodded and she stood up, grabbing her crutches to begin working her way to the other bed. When she got there she put the crutches against the wall and laid down, closing her eyes to go to sleep.

When she was asleep, Lin shook his head.

"I'm surprised she hasn't slept before now," he said softly as he picked up his book, turning it back to his page.

Naru nodded in agreement.

"Why? Has it been bothering her that much?" Hosho asked.

"Yes and no," Naru said. "On and off…she tries not to show it, of course, like the idiot she is."

"That and she hadn't slept much these past few days while waiting for Naru to wake up," Lin said with a sigh. "She doesn't want us to worry about her…that's why she really bottles it up."

"That's not good…" Hosho said, looking over at Mai on the bed.

"No…" Naru agreed. "But she's resting now, that's what matters."

Hosho nodded, then looked back to Naru. "So if you're not together, then…"

"It's none of your business," Naru told him sharply.

"You should be sleeping, too, Naru," Lin said without looking up from the pages of his book. "I know how much you hate being bed ridden."

"Wouldn't that be rude, though, Lin? To eat and sleep?" Naru asked, sounding peeved.

"It's alright, Naru…you need to rest, that's fine," Hosho said. "No offense taken, really."

Naru sighed.

"Fine," he said.

With that, he rested back against the pillows, and closed his eyes. Soon, he was asleep, as well.

When Hosho was sure that Lin was asleep, he looked to the taller man as he read, not even looking up from his book.

"So, if they're not toge – "

"Leave it, Monk."

"Right…"

So, next chapter begins their next case! YAY! Aren't you all excited?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you review! The more reviews I get, the more likely I am to update soon!