Naru sat on her two seater couch quietly, looking around slowly. From behind him where Mai was in the kitchen making tea he could hear the clinking of the tea cups and the spoons.

She had a two seater couch and then an armchair, along with a TV and coffee table. To his right a bookcase was pressed against the wall and then her desk, lined with papers and books neatly placed. He could see the door to her bedroom as well as the washroom and he was surprised to be honest. Her apartment was simple and clean, not at all what he had imagined for his exuberant assistant.

"Not what you imagined?" Mai approached him from behind and placed the steaming cup in front of him.

Naru's lip quirked upwards. "Something like that." He had never come across it himself but if mind reading was a true ability then Mai would be the first person he would suspect. He often wondered if he was as easy to read as other people because Mai had always been able to tell if he was upset, or angry, or even amused when he thought he was hiding his emotions well.

He watched as she sat in the armchair near him, and she smiled a strange smile. One that was almost bitter. "I used to be quite messy and disorganized."

"What changed?" He asked and she remained silent, nervously rubbing her finger against her teacup.

She hadn't quite worked out what she was going to tell him yet. One thing was for sure and it was that her knowing and talking to Gene was to be left out. He couldn't know she was able to talk to Gene, otherwise he would ask if he knew where his body was. She couldn't reveal everything just yet but she needed help.

This was far above her, whatever it was.

If there was something that she was sure about it, it was that the concept of everything happens for a reason existed... whether it be loosely or strictly she didn't know.

She let out a shaky breath, and looked at her reflection in the surface of her tea. "Do you believe in fate?"

She expected him to scoff at her not really thinking he would answer seriously and when silence ensued, Mai looked up and stilled because she saw that Naru had reached up towards her with a far away look in his eyes. His hand brushed past her ear and just barely touched the red clip in her hair with the tips of his fingers before he dropped his hand.

"Naru?" Mai blinked.

His eyes moved from her hair to meet her gaze. "Do you?"

She turned away from him, all aware that his focus on her never wavered. She thought of the protection charm that Bou-san had given her and despite that she still ended up falling down the manhole because Naru somehow found his way there. Then she thought about how she still ended up in the nurses room despite actively trying to avoid fainting.

"I do." She nodded firmly and looked up, and they came face to face. "I'm just trying to figure out what it means for me..."

His eyebrow moved forward slightly, "What fate means for you?"

Mai let out a huff, gathering her courage and then she spoke. "You how we both know that the other is hiding something?"

Naru's grip on his tea cup tightened and he gave her a strange look. "You want to go there?" He finally asked.

Mai nodded with a determined look in her eyes. Mai and Naru both had come to an understanding a long time ago that the other knew something they didn't. They kept to arguing and bickering and talking about case details, but it never penetrated further than things they didn't already know about each other because that was crossing an invisible boundary they had never talked about, but both understood not to cross.

Today, Mai would tear down that invisible wall.

"I know what you're hiding." She revealed calmly and took in his stony expression. Of course he wouldn't crack so easily. "The day you arrived at my school, I had a dream."

Naru frowned and strangely enough he felt nervous, unsure of what was to come in the moments next. "One of those dreams?" It was unclear to Naru what Mai's definition of her dreams really were. Were they astral projection and she just called it a dream? Or was it when she experienced the memories of the dead?

"Not quite." She swallowed hard and shifted in her seat. "You how the dreams I have now are always about things that have already happened? They're retro cognitive." He nodded and she averted her eyes nervously. "That day... I had a pre cognitive dream."

He leaned forward unintentionally, his eyes widening. "You saw the future?"

"Yes. I think so?" Mai closed her eyes, trying to think. "I don't know if it was the future or maybe it could have been memories from another me in a different dimension or-or-"

"Slow down." Naru reached forward and placed his tea cup down.

Mai stood from her seat and walked towards her desk and she hesitated before grabbing her notebook and walking back to sit down. "When I met you, I knew that your name wasn't Shibuya Kazuya. I know that you're actually Dr. Oliver Davis."

Naru's whole body froze before he stood suddenly, turning his back on her. Then, he asked quietly. "You knew this whole time?"

"Yes." Mai didn't dare to look at him the guilt beginning to eat away at her.

They each took a second to reevaluate things, and then finally Naru turned back around after composing himself. He couldn't get angry. He sat down carefully and looked at her eyes which were guiltily looking away and the way she gripped the cup in her hands, making her fingers white. This was a Mai he had never seen before. So scared and unknowing what was going to come next.

He always thought she was at one end of the spectrum or the other. The top end, where she was happy and outgoing and then the bottom end, where she was closed off and unreadable. For the first time since he knew her, the Mai sitting in front of him right now was neither at the top end or the bottom end.

So he would listen to her before making a judgment. "Continue."

Mai closed her eyes. "I can't tell you everything." She brought her hand up to her chest where the familiar feeling of her intuition emanated from. "Something is telling me that you can't know everything. It's not right for someone to know the future, it goes against the balance of everything and I don't want to upset it more than I already have."

Strangely enough, Naru understood this. "Just tell me what you can."

She brought her notebook up and opened it to the first few pages. "When we began the first case at the old school building, I knew from the beginning that it was land subsidence combined with Kuroda creating a poltergeist. Lets just say that this is similar for every case we've had so far."

"You know everything from the beginning?" Naru's eyebrows furrowed. "So why not solve it from the beginning and save us the trouble?"

"For starters, I don't know everything. I know the outcome, not every detail. Secondly, anytime I actively try to speed along a case something unpredictable that I haven't written down happens." She looked through the pages where she crossed out points and written new ones as things changed. "The last thing I want to do is change something and it snowballs into something bigger and much worse than what it was originally supposed to be. Or upset the balance and there are repercussions. Like when the floor collapsed on us and Bou-san was injured. He wasn't even supposed to be in the room when the floor collapsed and no one got injured."

The black haired male raised his hand to his forehead, placing his fingers there as a throbbing headache came on. "So... where does the idea of fate or your fate come in?" He asked.

Mai closed her notebook slowly. "Somethings will change easily. Everyone seems to have their own free will, regardless of what I've written down for the future. People make their own decisions based on the situation and they change or either stay the same. No one is truly a puppet with the strings of fate attached to them. However, certain things happen regardless. Almost like they're supposed to happen and everything in between doesn't matter because they will still occur."

"So you believe only certain things are fated to happen?" Naru questioned as he thought about her words. Everyone had free will. But certain events happen for a reason. "So what do you think this dream means? What do you think that having this dream will change about fate? Or is it apart of fated events?"

Mai clenched her eyes closed. These were questions she hadn't even really thought about herself. "I... don't know."

Naru leaned forward, "How far into the future does the dream go?"

She shook her head and he saw the way her face paled. "I- I can't... I don't want to think about that." She raised her fingers to her head and they tremored softly. "Sometimes, I think about it. What's at the end of the dream and it's not clear... it's so far away and then suddenly I see- ah!" Mai flinched suddenly and she grabbed her head like it hurt.

"Don't think about it." He told her with a grim expression.

Mai sniffled and she tried to hold back the tears as she looked up at Naru. "I needed to confide in someone. I thought that if anyone could help me decipher what the dream means or why I received it... it's you."

Naru took in everything quietly. She knew his true identity from the beginning. She knew everything from the beginning. It made sense now that he thought about it. How she never seemed shocked by anything or seemed a lot older than she was. It also made sense why she had such a knowing look in her eyes when she met people for the first time, like she already knew you.

She did already know you, he thought sarcastically.

"Well, this will certainly make things at the office a lot easier." He commented blankly. He wouldn't have to hide the mail from her and Lin and him wouldn't have to talk quietly in their offices anymore.

Mai laughed softly. "This isn't funny."

"I know." He frowned. "It's been nine months since you've been employed by me. Why now?"

The image of Yamaguchi Kai entered her mind and she lowered her head. "Things are changing more and more. Originally, Sakauchi is the one who commits suicide." Her bosses blue eyes widened in shock and she carried on. "And Yamaguchi Kai isn't written anywhere in my notebook. Something changed. Something big and I'm scared for what it means for the future cases."

"What cases?" Naru asked and she gave him a look and he understood that it wasn't something he should know.

Mai sighed and she let the tension release from her body now that the hard part was over. "The best thing I can tell you now that you know is to carry on like normal. If someone brings you a case and you're not interested, reject it. If you're interested, accept it. Like I said, everyone has free will and only certain events are fated to happen so you shouldn't live your life trying to fit into the mold of fate."

Naru smiled wryly and he stood slowly, gathering his things. "You should follow your own advice, Mai."

Ah. Mai looked up at him in shock. "I... I guess you're right."

"I'll find out what I can." Naru told her firmly as he walked to the door, placing his hand on the knob before he glanced over his shoulder at her. "Also, you've been promoted."

"H-huh?" Mai tilted her head, caught off guard.

"You're an investigator now." He opened the door and she jumped forward.

"Wait!" He paused and Mai felt her ears beginning to burn as she remembered what she had yelled at him yesterday when they fought. "I... I don't hate you."

He turned and smiled, slightly cocky but more genuine than she had ever seen before. "I know."

Then he left, leaving her with a red face.

Four Months Later
April

"Mai."

Mai spun around from looking above her and she turned to see John standing at the edge of the veranda, looking out beyond the railings of Kyomizu-dera temple with his finger pointing. She followed his line of sight and saw the image of the mountains, covered in trees and the pink flowers of cherry blossoms in full bloom around them and above them.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She asked in amazement as she took in the sight.

John smiled softly. "Yes, it is."

The morning sun had started to rise and Mai glanced over her shoulder and saw that a tourist group had arrived. She turned to look at the scenery one last time and then to John. "I think tourists are going to start coming now. We should leave before it gets too crowded."

It was spring vacation for Mai and in a few days she would be starting her second year of high school. Because Mai had never taken a trip before that wasn't with her school and John hadn't gone much sight seeing since he was in Japan and busy with the church and work, he had taken a few days off and they planned a trip to Kyoto to visit a few places.

They stayed at a small traditional inn for a couple of days and visited lost of places like Nijo Castle, Fushimi-Inari Taisha Shrine, The Golden Pavilion, and ended off with the Buddhist temple Kyomizu-dera on their last day in Kyoto.

Kiyomizu-dera was beautiful.

Up on a mountain peak covered by cherry blossom trees combined with the old architecture, it was a sight to see.

They had come very early in the morning, before tourist groups would begin gathering so they could enjoy a moment of peace but that time was coming to an end now. Mai knew the temple would become so crowded it wouldn't be enjoyable any minute now so the two of them made their way down slowly, passing by many foreigners and sightseers.

They found a place to eat nearby and sat in, waiting for their food.

"You ready to return to work?" John asked as he sipped his water.

Mai groaned. "Urg, not ready at all. The weather is warming up so quickly and Naru becomes so temperamental in the summer."

John chuckled as he thought of the males cold eyes. "You'd think having grown up in Japan he would be used to the summers here by now. His black layered clothing doesn't help him much either."

Well, Naru hadn't grown up in Japan so to him the summers here were probably brutal. "He better take it out on Lin, not me."

"Say..." The blue eyed male in front of her tilted his head as he looked out the window, noticing the cherry blossoms. "Wasn't it around this time last year that we all met at your school."

Mai blinked. Oh yeah. "I guess it's been a full year since I started working for SPR. Time flies."

"What is Yasuhara doing at this time?" John asked curiously. He knew that Mai and the boy were close, so she most likely knew what he was up to.

"Well, he graduated from Rokuryo High School and passed all of his exams." Mai told John as she thought back to the last time Yasu and her spoke. "He told me that he was planning to work a few odd jobs before heading to University. I think he wants to take a break from schooling for a bit."

John's face began to turn pink. "Does he still pursue you romantically?'

Mai coughed into her tea cup, caught off guard. "N-no! After the case at his school was resolved he stopped with all of that. We're just friends."

"Oh." John tilted his head. "What ever happened to Sakauchi-san?"

"Sakauchi?" Mai repeated in shock, having not thought or heard about the boy in months. "Yasu told me that shortly after we left he switched schools." Mai never truly knew what had happened with Yamaguchi or Sakauchi besides that. She hoped that he had let Yamaguchi go so he could pass on finally, but she guessed she would never know. Something must have changed for the boy to go as far as switching schools.

"It's a pity that not all loose ends were tied up by the time we left." John said with a genuine look before he noticed the forlorn look on the other girls face. "B-but what about Mai? How is Mai doing in school these days?"

Mai grinned and she gave him a thumbs up. "Great! I made honor roll this year."

"Really?" John asked her in surprise.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Mai practically yelled and her ears turned pink. "I actually have pretty good grades, aright?! Don't look so shocked."

John scratched the back of his neck with a nervous laugh. He walked right into that one. "Good for you, Mai. How's English going? I know last time we spoke you said you were studying hard on it."

"That's probably the one subject that I struggle with." Mai admitted truthfully. "I know all the basics and can understand it, but speaking it is the hard part."

John nodded slowly as he thought. "Yes, I struggled with the same thing while learning Japanese. The best way to learn a language is to speak it with a native speaker. I could help you if you want?"

"Really?" Mai smiled at the priest and he nodded. "Thanks!"

Suddenly, her phone rang from her pocket and she smiled as she answered it.

"What time will you and Father Brown be returning from Kyoto?" Naru asked as soon as she picked up, straight to the point.

Mai glanced at the time. "Well we'll be taking the shinkansen around 11am, so... we'll be back in Tokyo around 2pm?"

"Stop by the office shortly then, Ito-san from below brought you something again." He told her and then the line went dead.

"Heh, he really has no tact." Mai huffed as she took the phone away from her ear.

Just then their food arrived, and her face lightened up.

Naru sighed softly as he looked at the basket of baked goods in front of him.

Lin exited his office just then and took notice of it. "The woman from below again?"

"Yes." Naru nodded and turned away from the basket.

The space below their office had been bought by the Ito family and it became bakery that was run by an older woman and her son. The older woman had become acquainted with Mai a few months ago when the younger girl went in to check it out and ever since then, the woman and her son consistently brought up baked goods for Mai to take home.

The older woman had good intentions, Naru knew. It was the eighteen year old son who seemed to have ulterior motives. He always seemed a tad too happy to see the brown haired girl.

The bell rang as the door opened and a slender red head walked in, heels clicking against the floor. "Where's Mai?" Ayako asked right away and Naru glanced at her outfit, raising an eyebrow at the dressed up appearance. The red head noticed his judgey look and glared. "Oh shut up, I have a date today."

"So why are you here then?" Naru asked as he walked towards the seating area, the woman following after him quickly.

She held up a pretty dress that was covered by a clear garment bag so it was safe from dirt. "I was out shopping for an outfit for my date and I saw this dress and thought it would look good on her. It's a gift for entering her second year of high school."

"So a gift congratulating her that she didn't flunk out?" Naru questioned pessimistically. "Normally, presents are gifted after one graduates."

Ayako rolled her eyes and placed the dress over the back of the couch carefully. "Just give it to her, will you?"

The bell rang once more and this time, Bou-san entered. "Hey, how's it goin?" He greeted Ayako and Naru cheerfully. He blinked as he took in Ayako's fancy outfit. "What's the occasion?"

"A date." Ayako stated and then turned to look at the item in his hands. "What's that?"

Bou-san grinned and held up a sighed album from his band. "A gift for Mai entering her second year."

Naru placed his head into his palm. "You two are worse than doting parents." He sighed. "Place it next to the growing pile of gifts."

"Hello!" Mai called out as she entered the office, carrying a big bag of souvenirs from each place they stopped at while in Kyoto. "Naru? Lin?"

Naru's office door opened and he exited, taking in her bright appearance. "You're back."

"Yep! And I brought gifts!" She cheered brightly and saw the way his expression darkened. "Uh... you don't like gifts?"

Lin came out of his office just then, slowly making his way towards them. "I don't need a gift." Naru stated blankly and walked towards the seating area to sit.

Mai ignored his grumpy demeaner and sat across from him and started to unload her items. "It's not technically a gift so don't feel too burdened. In Japan it's customary to bring back souvenirs for your coworkers and friends if you travel somewhere. It's rude not to." She explained and pulled out the items she bought for Naru and Lin. "Here you go!"

Naru and Lin each grabbed the small box from her. Naru slowly opened it and blinked as he saw tea leaves sitting in the box. "Tea?"

"Green tea. Kyoto is known for their green tea." Mai explained happily.

Naru closed the box lightly. "Hm."

"Thank you." Lin bowed slightly.

Mai rolled her eyes when she saw that Naru wasn't going to admit that he liked the souvenir and instead he pointed to items behind him. "You also have gifts here from Ito-san, Matsuzaki-san, and Bou-san."

Surprised, Mai stood and walked towards the items. She took in the smell of the baked goods from Ito-san, and then grinned at Bou-san's album, and her smile slowly faded away to wonder as she took in the dress Ayako had bought for her. It was new and elegant, and Mai seriously doubted that she would ever have somewhere to where it to but she was grateful regardless.

She picked up the price tag when she saw it was still attached and her soul left her body as she saw the number.

"Mai?" Naru glanced over his shoulders and watched as the price tag fell from her fingers. "Don't die in my office."

Ayako was truly the spoiled daughter of doctor parents, Mai realized in shock.