Hey guys!

Here's the next chapter and it's a little bit longer than the usual. I'll be updating Lost Princess and Someone Like You pretty soon, keep your heads up for that.

ENJOY!

Naru busted the door open, hoping that Mai was alright. "Mai!" he called. Right on the corner of the shower stall was Mai, wet and naked. She was staring at the wall across from her. He noticed that she was shivering even though it wasn't that cold inside. "Mai…?" he whispered. He heard footsteps outside the door and knew that the team will be there soon. Mai didn't respond to him, she just stared at the wall. He took the towel from a rack covered her lithe form. Mai almost jumped away from him when she felt his touch. Carefully, Mai looked at the person touching her shoulder. "N-naru?" she whispered. Naru nodded and covered her with the towel. He assisted her back to the bedroom where the others were waiting.

Ayako rushed to her, taking Naru's place. "Are you alright?" she asked. Ayako sat her down on the bed where Bou-san was waiting. "Naru-bou didn't do anything to you, right?" he asked. Mai shook her head and hugged the towel closer. Ayako then noticed her state of undress and ushered the boys out. "Mai, you can tell me anything" Ayako said as she took a new set of clothes from her luggage. "I saw Naru… he… he… was dying…." Mai sobbed. Ayako's eyes widened and hushed the girl. "That's not going to happen, Mai, Naru can take care of himself, you know that" Ayako comforted. Mai nodded. "Well, why don't you get dressed and I'll make some tea for you, ok?" Ayako said. Mai nodded and got dressed. "I'll meet you at base with the rest" Ayako added as she closed the door and left to go to the base.

Mai got dressed and when she was done, she sat on the bed and remembered what she saw when she was taking a shower.

Flashback:

Mai got inside the stall, turned the shower on, adjusting it to a warm temp before starting to wash herself. Feeling the water hit her skin, she closed her eyes and sighed. Once she opened them, a white figure was staring back at her with blood red eyes. Mai gasped when her vision changed. She was standing near the hot spring, Naru just a few feet in front of her with his hand out to his side trying to protect her. "Naru, stop! You'll get hurt!" Mai called. "I'd rather die than see you get hurt, Mai" he answered and looked back at her. "Naru…" she whispered. He gave her a small reassuring smile but it disappeared like a bubble when he felt a hold against his neck and he was lifted. "Naru!" Mai called. She tried to help him but she was pushed back by a force. "Naru!" she kept calling out. Naru struggled against the force that was choking him in midair but all his attempts were futile. "M..ai" he whispered before he blacked. The last thing he heard was Mai's voice calling out his name. "NARU!"

Mai watched as Naru's limp body fell to the ground. There was no sign of movement, not even his chest that could indicate that he was breathing. "N-N-Naru…" Mai whispered. She noticed his pale face getting paler by the minute. Tried going to him but once again she was pushed back. "Please… let me go" she begged. Her eyes widened when Naru's body was lifted from the ground then thrown like a rag doll back on to the ground. "No!"

End of Flashback:

Mai snapped back to reality when she felt someone's presence by the door. She looked towards it and found Naru carrying a cup of tea. "Mai…" he whispered. Mai then felt a tear dropped on her hand and she immediately wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, you were probably waiting for some tea" she apologized before getting up on the bed and walking towards him. "Don't worry about it, here" he said, handing her the cup of tea. "Thanks…" she murmured. She sat on her bed again, this time with Naru beside her. She was looking at the tea on her hand, still thinking about her vision. "Mai, what did you see?" he asked. "It was just a… ghost" she lied. "A ghost? That's it?" he asked, knowing that Mai was lying. "Yeah, I was just surprised. I mean I was taking a shower and pop goes the ghost. How would you feel when a ghost suddenly came out of nowhere while you're taking a shower?" mumbled. "Alright, well everyone's waiting for you. When you're ready go to the base and I'll let you know what we're dealing with" he said and left.

Base…

Everyone was waiting for Mai, hoping that she was alright. They all know how sensitive the girl was but they've never seen her this shaken up before. "Are you sure Mai's alright?" Bou-san asked the leader. "She's fine, Takigawa-san, she'll be here when she's ready" Naru answered without looking up from his book. As if on cue, Mai entered the base with a tray of freshly brewed hot tea. "Jou-chan!" Bou-san cheered. He wanted to hug her tightly but he couldn't because of the tray of tea on her hands. "Sorry for making you guys worry, here, I made some tea" she said and handed everyone a cup of tea. Once everyone was settled, they all looked up at Naru, waiting for him to discuss about the case. On cue, he closed his book and looked up at the SPR team. "We are dealing with multiple entities in this place, according to Hara-san, there's a female entity and 3 males" he started. 'Female? Could it be Kinuye?' Mai thought. "Unfortunately, there's no history about this hot spring that is recorded past 1905, therefore, limiting the sources needed to solve this case" he added. Mai wanted to cut him off and tell him her dreams but decided to do it later. "So, we'll exorcise each room in the inn and outside. Takigawa-san, Brown-san, and Matsuzaki-san please prepare yourselves. We will do it tonight" he finished. They all nodded and left to get themselves ready.

"Naru, I need to tell you something" Mai started. Naru looked at her and motioned for her to continue. But before she could say another word, all the lights inside the inn suddenly turned off. "Everyone alright?" Yasu asked. They all answered in unison except for Naru and Lin. "Ow" Mai said as she tripped over something. "Watch yourself," she heard, probably from her boss. They then all felt the temperature in the room to drop quickly, announcing the presence of an entity. Lin's shiki was ready but before he could do anything/whistle, they heard Mai gave a yelp and a loud thud. "Mai!" they all called out. There was no answer. There was another thud and another and another with a variety of things breaking. "Mai" Naru called. The lights turned on and the group found themselves in a messy room. All their equipments were broken. The monitors were on the floor with each screen broken. But all their attention was towards the brown haired girl who was bleeding from her head. "Mai!" Naru ran to her, who was laying by the door, not moving. "Lin, call the ambulance" Naru ordered. Ayako knelt next to Naru and examined Mai's injury. "She may have a concussion and a few stitches with bruising on her body…" she told him. Naru cradled Mai carefully, as if she was a fragile glass that'll break any second. He wiped the blood from her face with his handkerchief, ignoring the looks the team was giving him.

'Damn it' he cursed to himself. He wasn't able to protect Mai, the love of his life. That's another proof that he's not the right man for her. For the second time or maybe third, who know how many, he let her get hurt when he promised that he'll protect her from anything. 'I'm sorry, Mai, I'm so sorry.'

Mai's dream (Mai's POV)…

I woke up in this void, again, but this time it feels like whatever I'm about to see is not related to the case. For some reason I felt relieved but then I remembered that I need to dream in order to solve the case. I was confused about my feelings but all was forgotten when I felt a sudden push on my body and I ended up in a restaurant. I saw myself sitting on a table with Naru and an older couple. I didn't know who they were but they seemed so kind. Why was he giving me one of his infamous death glare? And did he just call the beautiful mother? Is that his parents? But I've never met his parents. I saw myself go to the lavatory but my instincts told me to focus on Naru and his parents.

"Noll, you could be nicer to her. She's your girlfriend" his mother said.

Naru will never be nice to me, he's a jerk and he'll always will be, right? I hope so but for some reason it feels like I'm attracted to him, deep inside.

"You weren't suppose to find out until I bring her to England next month" Naru replied.

Find out what? Is he hiding something from me? I'm lost. Is he leaving again? This dream is so confusing, I'm not used to this.

"Now or next month doesn't matter, Noll, she's a nice lady and the way you're treating her is disrespectful" his mother lectured him. "I can't change who I am, mother, believe it or not. Besides, everyone just forced me to confess to her at the first place. She wouldn't even be my girlfriend if they didn't. You two wouldn't be here and everything will be just the way they are. Me ordering my assistant to get me tea without you two in the picture" he plainly answered and stood up to leave.

Did he just say girlfriend? I'm his girlfriend in my dream… I'm his girlfriend in my dream! Wow! I'm his girlfriend! Then I saw myself a few feet away, I looked heart broken. I felt it, the feeling of someone when they have their heart broken. Why am I feeling it? It's just a dream.

I saw myself ran out, I was about to follow myself but the scenery changed. I now found myself under a gazebo with Naru. We were having dinner? I'm lost. First we're a couple, then we fought, sort of, and now we're dating. What is going on? I'm so confused right now.

"Simply because I want my parents to meet the love of my life" he answered her as he took a sip of the sparkling wine.

Who's the love of his life? Is it Masako?

"Oh" I replied, but something kicked in. 'Did he just say the love of his life?' I thought.

I'm really slow. Is that the reason why Naru never saw me as more than an assistant?

"L-love of your life?" I asked him, now I was totally confused.

"Yes. Taniyama Mai is the woman I love" he looked at me and gave me a smile, the smile that I only see in my dreams.

"Naru, I- I don't know what to say.." I told him honestly.

If Naru tells me that now, I'd be speechless. It's so unlike him. But this dream is actually really good. I might enjoy this.

"You don't have to answer now, Mai, I'll give you time to think about it since I've been horrible to you since day 1" he explained to me. He stood and walked towards me, I also stood up and faced him.

"That's not it, Naru, I love you, believe me. But you loving me is just- just-"

"Just what?"

"Just so unlike you. I mean I would expect for you to love someone like Masako-chan or someone who has the same interests or someone who's very intellectual or someone-" I kept blabbering about nonsense and Naru just kissed me to stop me from talking and also to prove that he means what he said.

I can feel his lips on my lips the moment he kissed me. It's so soft and relaxing. Is this how it feels like to kiss Naru's lips? I'm curious.

Suddenly, I was pulled away from the scenery and I was back in this empty void. I turned around and found Naru. I blushed, I think, because when I saw him I thought about the kiss. It's so inappropriate because he's my boss! What is wrong with me? "Mai" he started. "Yeah?"

"I'm not Naru" he said. He's kidding right? He's Naru, but the younger version, like when he was just on his teens. Like he's just 15. "Stop joking, I know you're Naru" I said. He gave me this serious glare before he spoke again. "I'm his dead twin brother, Eugene Davis, or Gene for short." Wait… What did he just say? Twin? Dead? What is going on?

"I know this is hard to process, Mai, but what you saw earlier is not a dream. It's a part of your memory. Remember the case… well of course you don't remember it since you lost your memory, but case you took before this case caused you to lose your memory" he started. "Huh? What? I know I lost my memory during one of our case but I don't see any connection" I said.

"You lost your memory because you protected my idiotic brother. You two were a couple until the argument from the restaurant. After that, you only went to the case because I begged you" he added.

"So you mean, Naru's been lying to me all this time? And you were lying to me?" I said.

"Yes and yes, but it's for your own good. Well, in my case it is but I don't know why my brother didn't tell you the truth" he added again.

"Me… Naru… couple… fight… case… lose memory…" I said to nobody. Then something woke up from the back of my mind and before I knew it I was opening my eyes.

End of dream (Normal POV)…

Mai was in the hospital for 3 days and she hasn't woken up yet. Everyone was worried about her well being, especially Naru. One beautiful morning, Naru and the team were visiting Mai, everyone felt something that they should be there because they felt like something was going to happen.

Around noon, Mai showed a sign of waking up. Her eyes started fluttering and before everyone knew it, she opened her eyes gently and slowly, trying to adjust her eyes from the light. "Mai…" she heard. She closed her eyes again and opened them up, this time on the full scale. Around her was the team, surrounding the bed. The closest to her was Naru…

'Naru…' that thought brought back a lot of memories from her dream and from the back of her mind. Before she knew it, she slapped him across his face as tears flowed down her cheeks. "Liar" she said in a cold tone with anger.

"Mai…" was all he could say.

Thanks for the reviews from the previous chapters guys!

Also, the italics are from the Love Case chapter 7 and 8 if you're lost. They're flashbacks in a dream...

Anyway, thanks!

Reviews?