Chapter 24 – Not Running the Risk

After the equipment had been brought in and set up, the sun started to go down, signaling the ending of another day. Ayako and I were lazing on the couch in the base as our worry-wart partners refused to let us overwork ourselves. Ayako was now five months pregnant; she's lucky because she is only having one baby and isn't as big as I was when I was that far along. My over-sized stomach was starting to get in the way of everything I do, but that just means that Naru isn't going to make me do a whole lot of things, the only problem; he doesn't ask me to make his tea. He waits for me to ask if he wants any because he'll only drink tea from me if I was willing to get up and make it.

"Mai," I turn to see that Naru was facing me.

"Yes?" I ask him as he comes and sits on the side of me that wasn't taken up by Ayako and her stomach.

"I want you to tell me about your dream," he informs me as he takes my hands knowing that the dream will be hard for me to speak about.

"What, she had a dream?" asks Ayako in surprise.

"Yeah, it was on the way here," I answer.

I then tell them of what happened in my dream, but when I got to that part, I broke down crying again. Naru held me the way he did on the trip here and stroked my hair while whispering comforting words in my ears. By the time I had calmed down and finished drinking the tea Masako had gotten me, it was dark outside. "I think it's time we all went to bed; we'll start the investigation tomorrow," says Naru as he pulls away from me to say it.

So everyone makes their way to the rooms that have been allocated by Taichi-san. Naru pulled me along beside him by my hand and we made our way to our room. We got changed into our pyjamas and lay down in bed. Naru wraps his arms around me as he knows I'm still upset from the dream. "What do you think happened to her after that happened?" I ask him in a tired voice.

"I don't know Mai, I just wish Gene had pulled you out of the dream before it happened so you didn't have to see it," he mutters.

"I don't think he could pull me out, he had difficulty getting to me when I entered the dream, he may have had difficulty getting to me during that part of my dream," I answer in defense of Gene.

"I suppose you're right, but I still wish you didn't have to see that," he says with a sigh. "I'll get Yasuhara to research the name Arisa and see what he can find about her; she may have something to do with this case."

"Maybe he killed her and she is getting revenge by not allowing them to continue on with what they want," I suggest while I start to drift.

"Or maybe, she's bound to the asylum and is scared that she will get hurt if they take it down," he suggests also. "Let's just get some sleep; we'll worry about this in the morning."

All I do is nod as sleep finally overcomes me.

When I wake up, Naru isn't in the bed, but from the sound coming from the bathroom, he's having a shower. I wait in bed for him to come out to get dressed so that I can have my shower and we can start the case. "You're awake, you were sleeping rather peacefully and I didn't want to wake you up," he says when he notices that I'm awake.

"That's okay," I say as I get out of bed to have my shower.

"Hold on a minute," he says as he makes his way over to me.

He pulls me into an embrace, "You forgot to give me a good morning kiss," he explains with a smirk.

Before I can answer, he places his lips firmly on mine and we have a passionate kiss. When we finally pull away, I can feel my face turn red at a rapid pace. "That was some good morning kiss," I exclaim when I start to catch my breath.

"That's because we didn't have a good night kiss," he responds as he pulls away from me. "I'll head over to base now, but I'll be back, so don't leave the room until I do; I don't want you going anywhere by yourself."

"This isn't even the place that is haunted," I state in protest.

"I don't care, I'm not taking the risk when you can't run away from anything," he reprimands. "I want to be able to protect you and the two children you are currently carrying."

"Fine," I mutter with a sigh.

"Thank-you," he says as he visibly relaxes. "I hope you know that you will not be entering the asylum, ever."

"What? Why?" I ask in protest.

"Mai, do I have to tell you again? I'm not running the risk that you and our children get hurt when I can prevent it," he informs me impatiently.

"Fine, but I want to be able to do something," I plead.

"You can help Yasuhara with the research he gathers when he gets back from the nearby library," he answers.

"Okay then, I'm going to have a shower now," I tell him as I make my way to the bathroom. "You better be here when I get out and if you're not, I'll only wait five minutes before leaving on my own."

"I'm only going to see who's awake and give whoever is some orders; I'll be back straight after," he says as I close the door.

I start to undress while also trying to avoid my overly large belly; the bigger I get the harder it is for me to undress. When I'm done, I go over to the shower to move the curtain aside.

What I see inside the tub makes me scream.

Ohhhhhhh, I wonder what will be in the tub, even I don't know yet. Anyway, I have exam block next week and only have to go to school 2 days, therefore, when I'm not studying, I will try to update again. I love exam block; nooooo school. I wrote this up in my spare lesson and it was funny because the school's hottest male teacher came into the classroom to help one of the year 11's and I couldn't concentrate, lol.

Yes, Ayako is 5 months preggo because she was 2 months when she finds out.

Oh, I plan to have this as my last case, then I'm going to skip to the birth and then the epilogue will be a few years later (not sure yet how many). I want to be able to be proud of the fact that I have finished a fanfic and I can't think of anything to write for Mai staying at home for 3 months.

Anyway,

Seza, over and out.