I HOPE EVERYONE LOVES THIS CHAPTER! I'M GONNA START IT OFF TOTALLY KAWAII THEN IT'LL GET REAL INTERESTING! :)

ENJOY THE STORY THAT I DO NOT OWN ONE LITTLE BIT EVEN THOUGH I WISH I DID. (*cough cough* disclaimer)

Mai's POV:

I couldn't remember a time when I had ever felt as happy as I do right now. Naru had said that we both needed time away from the hotel and the pressure of the case. He used his power to control objects (such as the time he controled a 500 yen coin and made it move around) to hotwire Bou san's western style mustang. I wasn't happy about it but he promised we would return it safely before Bou san had a chance to miss it. We were currently driving down the highway, holding hands and listening to a relaxing song on the radio.

"Will you tell me where we're going yet?" I asked for the millionth time.

"Nope. I gave you the chance to choose earlier and you didn't answer fast enough. I wanna take you to one of my favorite places."

"And where is that?" I hinted.

"Nice try." He smiled and stared out the windshield with a relaxed expression on his handsome face. It might be my imagination or just wishful thinking but Naru seemed to act more alive since we began going out.

After twenty minutes of him driving and me looking frantically for a sign to tell me where we were, we stopped in a parking lot that led to a small, private beach. "We're going to swim in the ocean? It's freezing." I frowned, worrying for a moment about Naru's sanity.

"We're not going to swim in the ocean. What I'm showing you is on the beach."

We both got out of the car and he took my hand, leading me along the sandy shore. The day was much warmer then expected. It had to be at least 65 degrees. I stopped before we got too far away from the car and ran back to sit my coat on the hood. "It's really warm. You aren't gonna walk all the way to wherever we're going in a trench coat are you?"

He gave me a calculating stare before walking back to the car and taking off his coat and sitting it next to mine. He then unbuttoned the black button up shirt and sat it next to the coat. He wore a deep blue t-shirt underneath. "I suppose your right. You wouldn't by chance want to take your shirt off too?"

I hit his arm. "I have a tank top underneath it but I knew exactly what you meant you perv."

He shook his head and smirked. "I'm not a pervert. I just know what I like."

I pulled off the over shirt and ajusted the dark green tank top I had on. "You sounded very much like your usual jerky self when you said that."

"Sorry love..." He kissed my forehead and took my hand again, leading me down the beach.

We had walked for at least twenty yards and I still saw nothing but Naru seemed to know exactly where we were going. When we had walked another twenty or so yards, I finally saw what the big suprise was. It was a restaraunt on the beach and there were people building a pile of sticks for a fire. "They're going to have a bonfire party as soon as the sun sets. I used to go to this restaraunt all the time with my family when we visited Japan. You know...the reason I accepted the case for this hotel so willingly is because it's the very hotel my family stayed at when we visited here. We would drive to the beach and eat out and stay for the parties on occation."

"That must've been so nice...why doesn't your parents ever come to Japan to visit you Naru?" I looked at him as I asked this as watched in awe as his hair moved in the breeze and the sun shown on the waves that crashed behind him.

"We fell apart...my father became preoccupied with his job and so did my mother. They both work as psycic researchers and nowadays they don't even take the same cases anymore...they would both visit me if I really asked them to but part of me doesn't ant them to..."

"Why don't you?"

"I don't want there to be a fight...we used to fight a lot...it was a day to day thing between my father and me. He wouldn't have cared if I were drafted and died in the war. My mother begged him to help get me out of the country. I've always loved my country and I want to defend it if it comes down to where my help is really needed but...I was scared I guess...when my mother said she was saving me by sending me away, I didn't fight her on it...plus...the war we were fighting in at the time was a pointless war...just bloodshed..." He shook his head and we both continued to walk towards the restaraunt hand in hand.

The restaraunt was one of those outdoor ones with a gazebo roof over us. We got a table for two and stared at the waves while we waited for someone to take our order. I looked at a clock on one of the pillars. It was already noon suprisingly. To my imense bad luck, our waitress was young, pretty and blond. She flipped her long hair pulled back into a ponytail and eyed us speculatively, as if checking to see if we were related, friends, or actually together.

"Can I get you anything?" She asked.

"I'll take some hot herbal tea and..."

"It's 65 degrees Naru. Try something different." I said, laughing.

He looked confused for a second and picked up the menu. "Um...I guess I'll have the coke. Isn't that a drug?"

The waitress laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world. The little hussy... "He's kidding." I said, smiling. "We'll both have cokes." The waitress wrote it down and left the table, turning her head a few times on her way to the kitchen to glance at Naru.

I turned to him quickly. "You were kidding right?"

"Isn't it a drug?"

"Have you ever even heard of soda before?" I asked incredulously.

"I remember drinking a 7-up when I was twelve."

"You and your fancy upbringing.." I murmured under my breath. "Well you'll like coke. It has nothing to do with illegal drugs. A change from tea will do your body good. You need sugar every now and then. It's in the food pyramid."

The waitress came back and sat the drinks in front of us. "Are you both ready to order."

"Not yet." Naru said, picking up his menu and handing me mine. I noticed that he didn't even look her direction. Not even to fakely smile at her like he did the waitress at the hotel. I smiled. He must get that I don't like him being flirty with other girls. Even when it's fake.

"Alright. I'll give you a few minutes." She left and Naru dropped his menu to stare at his drink. Picking it up, he took a drink from the straw in it.

"Good?" I asked and he nodded. We had just decided to both try one of the western dishes the restaraunt had when the waitress came back.

"We'll both try the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and two sides of white rice." Naru said quietly, both hands cupped around his drink.

She gave him an odd look that he ordered rice with the dish but wrote it down and left without a word. "I wonder how it's so warm if it's supposed to snow in a few days."

"The temperature here is strange. It can be unpredictable." He murmured. We sat there in silence for a bit.

"Thank you..." I said after a moment.

He looked up. "For what?"

"For doing this for me. It was really sweet of you."

He smiled and put a finger over his lips. "But don't tell anyone. Wouldn't want to ruin my reputation as a narcissistic jerk."

"Of course we wouldn't." I smiled and took a drink of my coke.

After we had finished eating, him and I walked onto the beach and looked around for seashells to put into a discarded pail we found. We even found a sanddollar and a starfish still in perfect condition. "Naru! Look!" I pointed out towards the water. There were dolphins jumping from the water, diving back in gracefully. Afraid of being cold but anxious to be in the water to feel the waves, I took of my flats and rolled my jeans into capris. When Naru had nealt down to grab a shell, I stepped into the water. It was cold but not nearly as cold as I thought it would be.

"What are you doing Mai? You're going to get yourself sick." He pulled me back from the water's edge.

"No I won't. It isn't very cold. It feels kinda good. You should try it." I wiggled from his grasp and stepped back in.

I looked behind me to see Naru staring at the water like it might try to drag him in. Sighing, he took off his shoes and socks and rolled his black slacks up a bit. He closed his eyes and stepped into the water. Overwhelmed that he actually listened right away, I hugged him, latching to his waist. "See it isn't that bad."

He hugged me back and made some sort of embarassed huff. I pulled back from him and reguarded his embarassed face. "What? Are you too embarassed to hug me in public?" I teased but he seemed to take me seriously.

"Of course not." He stuttered. "It's just that...everyone is staring at us..."

I looked at the crowd of people that littered the beach and not one person was looking at us. Wait, scratch that. There was a small group of teen girls staring at Naru like they had just saw a unicorn. I turned back to Naru. "You're just paranoid. Hardly anyone is looking this way."

His embarassed expression turned to one of barely conceiled rage. "He is..."

I peeked around my shoulder. There was a blond surfer dude eyeing me with what could only be described as bedroom eyes. He wiggled an eyebrow and I gave him a dirty look. I gasped as Naru pulled me to him and hugged me possesively. I turned my head to watch the surfer dude give me a bummed look and walk off towards the restaraunt.

I laughed. "I thought we were past jealousy."

He let go and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not jealous..." He looked out at the waves. He looked like a male model and I suddenly felt a pang on my self esteem. How on earth did I get lucky enough to deserve this guy...He should be with someone like that waitress or even Masako. Someone smart like him and a lot prettier than I am.

He touched my forehead, rubbing the wrinkle between my eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "It's just that...I still don't get why you chose me..."

He sighed and smiled softly. "You don't see yourself clearly. Why do you think that guy was trying to get your attention? Or the group of guys from the hotel restaraunt?"

I shrugged my shoulders. Leaning into his embrace, he leaned down and kissed me. "Aww..." I heard the girls that were eyeing him earlier say. "That's so cute."

We spent the few hours left before sunset walking in the water and collecting shells. As the sun finally set, the bonfire roared to life, making us feel warm even though the temperature dropped. "Should we head back?"

He looked around at the beach then at the watch on his wrist. "Ya. We've been gone for seven hours."

"We have?" I began to freak out.

"It's alright. I told Lin that we were going to be gone for a while. He probably told everyone."

I looked back at the sea, not wanting to leave. I loved being here with him...it let me forget all about the case and my fearful dreams and the threat. The threat..."I wish we didn't have to go back...I'm afraid that ghost might try to hurt you or someone else..."

"He won't. Don't worry. We'll put a protection charm on the hotel door." We put on our shoes and rolled back down our pants. He led me back down the beach. We found our way back to the car and put back on our overshirts and coats. We didn't make our way back to the hotel till close to eight. When we finally walked back into the hotel room, everyone was shuffling around with phones in hand.

"There you two are! We've been worried sick! We called you a million times! We almost called the police!" Bou san yelled.

Ayako gave me a big hug. "Aww, poor thing. Did this bad man do horrible things to you."

Naru glared at her and tried not to blush. "Of course I didn't. Don't be stupid."

"Really. We just drove to the beach." I said, smiling.

"The beach? I didn't think any of the public beaches were open this time of year." John san said, confused.

"They aren't. It's a private beach owned by a friend of my father's and he keeps it open year round for the general public."

"So we were stuck around the base all day watching the monitors out of bordom while you two went to the beach?" Bou san said with slight anger. "Did you guys swim? It's freezing."

"No. We didn't swim. I'm not stupid." Naru walked to the base with tired eyes and shut himself in.

"What's got up his butt?" Bou san murmured.

"It might be that you guys always assume he's up to something bad. Give him some credit. He's a smart guy." I defended, crossing my arms.

"We know that Mai. That's why we tease him." Ayako said soothingly. "If you want we can apologize."

"No. It's okay. I'll go talk to him." I went to the base and opened the door just enough to slip in, shutting it behind me. Naru was sitting at the table reading his book. "Ignore them Naru. They're just joking around."

He looked up and smiled tiredly. "I'm not upset. I'm just tired...I havn't gotten more than fourteen hours of sleep in the past week..." He burried his face in his hands.

"You can sleep if you want. I can wake you if anything happens." I offered, rubbing his shoulders.

"I don't think I should...it's still work time. I could go downstairs and ask Mr. and Mrs. Bara a few questions I've had and...gah..." He rubbed his eyes and started to stand but collapsed back into his chair. I put one of his arms around my neck and used all my strength to lift him up. The base door opened and Ayako and Yasuhara came in to start their shift.

"Is he okay?" Ayako asked and Yasuhara helped support most of his weight.

"Ya. I think he passed out. He really needs sleep."

We finally got him into bed and I sat in a chair by his bed. "Are you coming Mai?" Ayako asked.

"I told him I'd wake him if anything happened." I said. She looked like she was unwilling to let us be alone, even if Naru was asleep. After a second, she finally left. About ten minutes after Naru was put into bed, he jerked awake.

"It's hot..." He unbuttoned the overshirt and pulled it off then pulled off the t-shirt. I blushed. He kicked off his shoes and started trying to find a confortable position. He was back asleep instantly as soon as he settled down.

I looked down on him and felt the extreme urge to curl up with him. I looked carefully at the door and laid carefully by him on the bed. I laid perfectly still and closed my eyes. I felt his arm go around me and pull me closer. "Are you awake Naru?"

"Hnnh...yes...what are you doing in bed with me?"

"I don't know...sorry..."

"Don't apologize. You need sleep too." I snuggled into him and we both fell asleep in eachother's arms.