Thank you all so much for taking the time to read and review the chapters I uploaded! And I must say I love Music-Lover2011's suggestion. I'll see what I can do about that.

One word for you, people. AWESOME! ^ v ^

So again, please read and review! And no, Ghost Hunt is not mine. Tah!


Naru walked Mai to her school again.

Ever since that nightmare, he noticed the pain in Mai's smiles. He noticed how her eyes would look dead while she walked with him. He noticed how she seemed to be hiding something painful from him.

Mai ran to her friends again after she bid him goodbye.

"Did you give your graduation invitation to Shibuya-san?" he heard one of her friends say.

Graduation..?

He looked at the school gate and saw a small banner about the upcoming graduation ceremony.

He remembered that Mai was on her last year of high school already.

Naru sighed and looked away.

She must have been upset about graduating without her parents beside her. He could relate to the feeling. Though he graduated with his adoptive parents beside him, he still felt hurt that his biological parents didn't know about his achievement.

Naru continued to walk on the street until he reached the town.

He had been checking lake after lake and yet he still couldn't find the right one. If only he could ask Yasuhara about it…

But there was a part of him that always held him back from talking to Yasuhara about it. There was a part of him that was scared about finding the lake, about finding Gene…and about leaving…

He turned to his side and realized that he stopped beside a jewellery shop. He looked at the displays and noticed a gold necklace with a gold key dangling from it like a pendant.

He remembered the key that Mai kept in her pocket and smirked.

Naru took a deep breath and walked into the jewellery shop.


After school, Mai ran to the nearest Internet café in town. She searched for information about the place that Yasuhara gave her, and checked the closest lakes in the area.

She checked a number of pictures of lakes until she came across one that brought her back to her nightmare.

She bit her lips.

She knew where Gene was.


Naru sat in the train car. He held the small box that was deep in his pocket. He felt nervous for some reason.

He looked at the window and wondered what made him submit himself into such idiocy. It was illogical – all the feelings, all the emotions…all the intimate things he was doing.

Mai was a pawn in his chess board. She was an unlucky soul who came into his life and became a tool in his pursuit to find his brother. She was an instrument, an apparatus, a utensil…and she was Mai.

Naru took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He hoped that Mai would like his gift.


Mai was dead and walking.

She walked home on her own from the café to the house without a care in the world. She was grieving…grieving for something that she was never supposed to have.

The moment she got to the door, she threw her self on the floor. She started to feel suffocated again so she sat up and curled into a corner.

Naru was still away. It was Friday and she called Haruka-san that she would skip work because she wasn't feeling well.

Haruka-san was worried and told her that she should skip her work the next day as well. After all, Haruka-san said she was going to have her monthly check up and she wasn't planning on opening her shop that day.

She thought twice about calling Naru. She would now be officially lying to him. She knew where Gene was and she couldn't help but think twice about telling him.

She pulled out her mobile phone from her pocket and put it as far away from her as possible.

She buried her face in her arms and let the tears roll down her cheeks.

"Mai," she heard a familiar voice call.

She looked up and saw Naru smiling sadly at her…no…It was Gene.

She was back in the weird place where she first met him.

"You can just forget it," Gene said. "I can help you."

Mai smiled at him and shook her head. "You need to be found," she said.

Gene shook his head. "I'm happy here," he said. "I'm happy to watch him with you."

Mai chuckled. Tears continued to flow down her cheeks. "He needs to find you."

Gene winced and looked away. "But if you tell him," he said before looking back at her again. "You will lose him."

Mai smiled. "He was never mine to begin with," she said. "I have no right to hold him back. Besides, he would be happier this way. Believe me."

Gene sighed and embraced her. "Mai, this end…is unfair."

"I met him for a reason," Mai said. "I met him…I met him so he could find you."

"What if…what if this is wrong?"

"How could it be wrong? You know in your self that it's right, don't you Gene?"

Gene closed his eyes and buried his face into her hair. "It's…painful…"

Mai closed her eyes.


Naru came home after Haruka-san told him that Mai wasn't feeling well. He called Yasuhara to tell him that he and Mai wouldn't be able to go to work that night. Yasuhara said it was okay, and that it was a good thing that the next day was their day off. Mai would be able to rest.

Naru opened the door, wondering why the lights were still off. It was already past seven in the evening.

He switched the light on and saw Mai curled up in a corner. He walked toward her and saw her mobile phone on the floor.

He sighed.

…No wonder she didn't answer his calls…

There was a notice of seven missed calls on the screen of the mobile phone. He took the phone and placed it on the shelf. He saw the graduation invitation on the mantelpiece.

He picked it up and read it.

It wasn't addressed to anyone. But he saw a trace of pencil on the blank – a writing that had been erased. He took a pencil and lightly rubbed the lead on the space.

He smirked.

"Shibuya Kazuya," it read.

He erased it again and walked to Mai with the invitation in his hand. He sat down next to her and gently shook her shoulders.

"Mai," she heard. She opened her eyes and raised her head. She saw Naru sitting beside her.

"You didn't tell me you weren't feeling well," he said.

When she first met him, she always saw nothing on his face – no emotion, no expression. But now, she could clearly see an emotion but not on his face. It was in his eyes. She saw the concern in his gaze.

Mai smiled at him. "Sorry," she said.

Naru sighed and stretched his legs on the floor. "When is your graduation?" he asked.

Mai looked away. "Next week," she shyly answered.

"You weren't planning on inviting anyone," he said.

Mai shrugged her shoulders. "Bou-san has an important gig," she said. "Ayako has a scheduled organ transplant operation. Yasuhara's busy helping out in his school's graduation affair. Shiro-kun will be graduating that day. So is Emi's younger sister."

Naru nodded. "And you didn't ask me," he said. "Idiot."

Mai glared at him. "Wouldn't you be busy in a trip that day?"

Naru shrugged his shoulders. "It can be postponed," he said. He then looked at Mai and gave her the blank invitation.

Mai smiled shyly and accepted it. She looked at Naru. "Will you really be there?"

Naru smirked. "Are you inviting me?"

Mai scowled, her cheeks blushing. She then stood up and took a pen. She sat back and wrote Naru's name on the invitation. She handed it to Naru.

"Will you come to our graduation ceremony?" she asked.

Naru looked at the invitation. "I'll think about it," he said.

Mai sighed and looked sadly away.

Naru looked at her and smirked. "I've decided."

Mai looked up at him.

"I'm going."

Mai smiled. "Can you promise me that you'll come?"

Naru rolled his eyes muttering something like, "childish" before raising his right hand. "I, Shibuya Kazuya, promise to attend Taniyama Mai's graduation ceremony," he said looking straight into Mai's round brown eyes.

Mai chuckled as Naru put his hand down. "You better keep that promise," she said. "...Because if you don't, it will really break my heart."

Naru smirked. "I never break a promise."

Mai smiled and hugged him tight.

Naru sat stunned at the gesture but he slowly wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

Mai closed her eyes and let her tears fall. This was the last time she would be able to do it.

"Hey, Naru," she said still holding him tight. "Since tomorrow is our day off and Haruka-san said she'll be closing the shop for her monthly check up, can we go somewhere? Just a quick vacation..?"

Naru thought about it. "Where do you want to go?"

Mai smiled and let her tears fall again. "I saw this really beautiful place I want to visit. The trip won't cost us that much."