Last time: Naru revealed who he was to the group, but no one really seemed shocked to hear about it. On the day Mai was released from the hospital, Naru gave her a promise ring and they established their relationship. What more does Mai have to look forward to?


Coming Back to Life - Part 4: Welcome Home Surprises

At the Cerulean Tower Hotel…

Luella, Martin and Madoka were putting the finishing touches on the "Welcome Home" surprise party for Mai. The guests would start to arrive shortly, but it was beginning to become obvious that they were going to need more time for everyone else to arrive and get into their places.

Madoka murmured, "I hope Naru can keep them occupied for a bit and that they don't necessarily come directly here from the hospital."

Martin heard his cell phone chime and, after looking at it, he smiled. "Looks like you're getting your wish. According to the text message I just got from Lin, Oliver insisted on taking Mai out for a meal at a nearby restaurant. That should buy us plenty of time. He also said he'd text me again once they arrive at the hotel so we'll have plenty of time to be ready."

Madoka hummed thoughtfully, "I can't believe the changes all this has wrought in Naru. He's so gentle with Mai. It's like he's handling an extremely fragile and valuable treasure."

"I think you're right," Luella agreed with a nod. "When I asked Lin more about the soul bond, he said that Naru can feel what Mai feels especially when there are extreme emotions involved. Perhaps he's tailoring his words and actions to better help Mai? I can't even imagine what she must have gone through to make him be this delicate with her. He's never been this considerate to anyone other than Gene. I'm proud of him, even if he still acts the same as he ever did to everyone else."

Martin chuckled, "That's for certain. Oliver certainly read Takigawa-san the riot act the other day." He sighed good-naturedly before mentioning, "At least he isn't shy about giving his opinion."

Luella nodded, "It has been interesting to see Noll interact with the team he's built here. I don't think I've ever seen him quite so animated with any of his old coworkers back in Britain. Perhaps coming to Japan was the best thing for him to do...despite his original reason for coming."

Seeing the sadness creep onto his wife's features, Martin went to her, wrapped his arms around her and reassured her, "There, there dear. Everything will work out, I'm sure of it." After a minute he pulled back just enough to look her in her glistening eyes and said, "Since it's almost time for the guests to start arriving, why don't you go dry your eyes and freshen up your makeup. I'll make sure everything else gets set up." With his arms still around her, he gently pulled Luella towards the bathroom of their suite. "Madoka," he added, "perhaps you could assist her?"

As she left his arms at the doorway, Luella cast him a small appreciative smile. "You are so good to me, Martin." Once the two women were settled into the bathroom, he closed the door and turned to get back to work.

Only moments after, however, someone knocked on the door. Martin went to answer it, only to find a young woman, with a small gift in hand, standing on the other side of the door. Bowing to him, she greeted in a light, quiet voice, "Good morning. I was invited to the surprise party for Taniyama-san. I hope I'm not too early."

For some reason, Martin had expected one of the irregulars to show up first, not one of Mai's friends, and certainly not a girl in a traditional kimono. After all they'd heard about Mai's friends, he had to admit that this friend of Mai's was definitely more traditional than he'd been expecting. Setting his thoughts aside, he smiled and gestured for her to come in. "No, you're not too early. The others should be arriving in the next few minutes or so. Please come in and have a seat Miss," he trailed off, not knowing her name.

"Miss, Hara. Hara, Masako," she introduced herself with a smile and a bow. "Pleased to finally meet you, Davis-san."

Martin's smile faded at the comment. Something about it set him on edge. Her name did too. When Mai had talked about her friends back in the hospital, he could have sworn the name was different, but maybe he was just imagining the unease. After all, the name this girl had given him sounded vaguely familiar. He turned away, walking further into the suite, gesturing for her to follow and replied, "I'm pleased to meet any friend of Mai's."

Behind him, Masako smiled in a strained sort of way before replying, "Taniyama-san is," she trailed off looking for an appropriate word, finally settling for, "kind and easy enough to work with, but, Davis-san, more importantly, I'm here mostly for Oliver. To support him as I should, since I'm his girlfriend."

The statement stopped Martin in his tracks and he turned to look back at the girl, whose smile had become more genuine as she looked up at him. Now that she'd mentioned being Oliver's girlfriend, he could recall the name Masako being spoken of by both Madoka and the others in the group he'd met numerous times at the hospital. Then it finally clicked. This was the girl that had blackmailed his son into dating her. He found himself reassessing the dainty starlet and medium. "Huh," Martin responded, "How come I never saw you at the hospital?"

"The hospital," Masako questioned, her smile faltering. "Wait, was Oliver hospitalized?"

"No, Mai was," Martin replied evenly, watching for the girl's reaction. "The party is to celebrate her finally being released." He wasn't disappointed to watch her face fill with surprise and concern. At least the girl isn't past all feelings, Martin noted.

"I...I thought the party was...about her being found...safely," Masako said haltingly before she sat down on the nearest seat.

Martin shook his head, and calmly stated, "She went through a terrible ordeal, I'm afraid."

"I see," Masako responded while Martin went back to hanging up some of the final decorations. Getting up to help, Masako asked, "So, where's Oliver?"

"If you're his girlfriend," Martin started, "shouldn't you know?"

Masako was a bit upset, she was hoping that Naru's father would treat her kindly as his son's girlfriend, but the man had been acting suspicious of her. Turning away, she admitted, "He doesn't tell me everything."

Five, long minutes of heavy silence later a surprised squeak sounded from the nearby doorway followed by Luella exclaiming, "Martin! You didn't tell me our first guest had arrived!" Luella gave her husband a pout before turning to the girl and smiling at her kindly. "I'm glad you could make it, I'm sorry if my husband hasn't been a good host." When Masako stood to face her, Luella commented, "Oh, what a beautiful Kimono you have, Dear."

Masako beamed at Luella and replied, "Thank you so much! You look lovely, too."

"Where are my manners? My name is Luella, tell me, which one of Mai's friends are you?"

"My name is Hara, Masako," she reintroduced herself. "I'm Oliver's girlfriend."

Luella's smile fell and she looked to her husband who raised his eyebrows and pressed his lips together in such a way that seemed to say, "So she says." Luella was saved from having to respond when there was a knock on the door. Grateful for the interruption, she immediately moved to answer it, hastily saying, "Excuse me a second."

Plastering a smile on her face, she opened the door to greet two teen girls on the other side, both of which bowed. One of them introduced the both of them, "I'm Michiru and this is Keiko. We did knock on the right door for the 'Welcome Home' party for Mai-chan, right?"

Luella's smile became genuine, as she nodded. "Yes, this is the party for Mai-chan. Please come in." She turned and began introductions of her own, "My name is Luella. This is my husband, Martin and this is…" Luella's smile faltered.

"Oh we know who she is," Keiko said excitedly, missing Luella's reaction "She's Hara-san! We've seen her on TV." Keiko shared a grin with Michiru before explaining to Luella, "We like to share ghost stories and things so, of course, we've both watched her show. We were excited when we heard that Mai had been working with her. Ever since the old schoolhouse incident, right?"

At Masako's nod, Michiru grinned, "It's kind of cool Mai gets to work with a celebrity." Michiru gave a bow towards Masako who bowed slightly in return. "It's really nice to finally meet you, Hara-san. Mai speaks of you often."

This caused Keiko to giggle, her smile growing. She bit her lip before saying, "Mai has also told us about how you've been dating Shibuya-san. She's been so jealous. Did you know?"

Masako smiled and stated, "Yes, he and I have gotten very close."

A scoff sounded in the room and the trio of girls looked to Luella, it's unexpected source. "I think Mai is really easy to love. I can't see anyone not liking her."

In response, Keiko nodded and said, "I agree, Mai is easy to like. She makes friends so easily. In fact, I heard a few boys at school who've been talking about wanting to ask her out since she's been absent. Maybe they can take her mind off of her heartache and Shibuya-san."

Before Luella could mention that there would be no need for that, the door sounded with a couple knocks once more.

This time, Martin was the one who went after the door and opened it to reveal a gently smiling John. "Good morning, Mr. Davis. He said jovially." He also greeted Luella and Masako before exchanging introductions with both of Mai's friends.

Over the next half hour, Monk, Yasu, and finally Ayako arrived, each with some kind of gift in hand.

Upon seeing Masako, Ayako frowned and demanded, "Who invited her?"

John quickly confessed, "I did. She wasn't able to come visit Mai in the hospital. I'm not sure anyone else remembered to tell her about the party so I did."

Ayako folded her arms and looked at Masako, a frown furrowing her brow. Then she looked back at John, "Since it was you, I guess I won't complain about it...this time." She sent another dirty look to Masako before asking, "Where is the group that's picking up Mai? Shouldn't they be here by now?"

"They went out to eat nearby...they're stalling," Madoka piped in anxiously after finally coming out into the main room. "They're all together...like a date." This fact seemed to trouble her, though the others didn't seem to pick up on her unease.

With his phone in hand, Martin walked into the center of the sitting room and announced, "Everyone, they're on their way! We have less than five minutes to be ready!"

In the elevator at the hotel…

"I don't know if anyone told you, but my parents are staying here too," Naru mentioned nonchalantly, "In fact, they're just down the hall from you. Would you mind if we went to visit them before we let you rest?"

"Uh...sure," Mai hesitantly replied.

"Do you not want to? Are you tired," Naru asked with a hint of worry.

Though her wounded legs were hurting her from all the walking, Mai shook her head, "It's not that, I've had a good deal of rest and recovery, so I can make do without for a while longer...I just don't want to be a bother."

Naru gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "You wouldn't be a bother," he assured her. "They would be happy to have you visit."

"He's right," Lin agreed, "The Davis' have spoken nothing but kind and sympathetic words about you since they met you."

Mai looked between the two males and nodded her acceptance of their words just as the door to their floor opened and they exited the elevator.

When they came to one of the doors, Aria and Lin stopped. Pulling out the key-card, Aria volunteered, "We'll put your things in your room, Mai. You two go on ahead, we'll catch up shortly."

Naru didn't need any more prompting to guide Mai on to his parent's suite. After a quick knock on the door, Luella immediately opened it, like she'd been eagerly waiting right behind it. "Hi, you two, we've been hoping you would come over. Where are the others?"

"They're putting Mai's things in her room. They'll join us shortly." Naru replied.

"Oh, of course!" Luella said thoughtfully.

When she paused, Martin proposed, "I'll watch the door if you want to..." he trailed off gesturing further into the suite.

With a warm smile, Luella seemed to reanimate, "Thank you, Dear." She turned to Mai who was looking at her quizzically. "We wanted to congratulate you on being discharged, Dear. I hope you don't mind. We even got you a gift."

Mai's face relaxed into a smile as she replied, "You didn't have to do that for me, but thank you."

"Nonsense, we wanted to," Luella responded. "Now, if you'll follow me, it's right in here, Dear." Luella beckoned Mai forward to the darker toned sitting area.

As Naru helped settle Mai on the couch, Luella brought her attention to a banner. As Mai read the words on it, a loud chorus of, "Surprise," sounded all around the room as everyone started popping up or out from their places behind furniture, from behind curtains, and even from different rooms of the suite. The sudden sound and movement alarmed Mai at first, but she relaxed quickly when she realized that she knew every one of the faces around her. It also helped that what they were saying were a range of congratulatory remarks. She found herself laughing and hugging Michiru and Keiko as well as a few of the SPR crew. "You guys fooled me. I was so sad that no one seemed to care that I was being released from the hospital today, but no wonder you guys didn't show up!"

A grinning monk ruffled her hair, "We just wanted to have you get out of there as soon as possible." He handed her a bouquet and gave his own congratulations to her.

Michiru and Keiko were the next to each present small gifts to Mai and she was forced to lay the flowers aside in order to open the presents. Within them were a pair of omamori, one of the charms was for luck; the other for protection. Several more people in the group offered her their gifts including the Davis couple. Earlier in the week they'd found out that the necklace she'd kept her lucky key on had been snapped and so they presented her with a new one to replace it. Madoka had gotten her a new phone because, apparently, they'd found her old one broken in her apartment.

Shortly after she'd given Mai her gift, Lin and Aria came in. Still feeling annoyed at the woman, Madoka pointedly asked Aria what she'd gotten for Mai. Aria simply reminded her that she was remodeling her house to make more room so the two of them could live comfortably together.

Directly afterwards, not giving Madoka any time to say anything more, Lin claimed that his gift to Mai had been that he'd dealt with her rather upset landlord when he'd paid the last of her rent and damages. He explained that he'd done his best to be nice throughout the whole affair, even going so far as to give the old man a dogeza on her behalf in case Mai ever needed the man to give her a referral in the future.

After Lin and Aria explained their gifts to the group, Mai opened Ayako's rather large gift which ended up being full of clothes. The first set had been a complete outfit. Ayako had even gone so far as to give Mai a pair of shoes, purse, and necklace to match. The second set she found inside was what Ayako called "a decent pair of pajamas" to replace the ones that had been shredded.

Yasu didn't give Mai or her classmates much time to ponder on the ruined pajamas before he and John handed over their own gifts. Upon opening them, Mai was surprised to recognize several of the pictures from her apartment, each now preserved within new frames. When she looked to Yasu and John for an explanation, John explained that the previous frames had all been smashed.

When it was Masako's turn, she handed over the small bagged present she'd brought along. Within, there were several sea salt caramels. For the simple gift, she chose to explain, "I heard it was your favorite kind of candy. I'm sorry that I didn't visit you in the hospital, I didn't even know you were hospitalized until I came to the party today."

"Sea salt caramels are my favorite and don't worry about not coming to see me in the hospital," Mai said, instantly forgiving the medium. "You can't help the fact that you didn't know."

"Yeah," agreed Ayako. Meaningfully she added, "It's not like you went on the case or anything." The two locked eyes and Masako was the one to break contact with a frown.

Looking at Ayako, John put his hands up and stood between the two girls, "Please don't take it out on Masako, we were the ones who didn't inform her what happened."

Ayako crossed her arms, "It's her own fault for not being able to go, and she knows it, John."

Mai piped up, "Masako can't help when she has to film something. It's no big deal."

Aria stepped forward, "Mai, she didn't have filming that day, I'm the one who told her not to come along."

"What," Mai asked. "Why?" Mai turned her confused gaze at Aria.

"I'm not going to go into the details, but it boils down to the fact that something she did made me angry...I got really snippy about it, actually."

"That's kind of impressive," Mai admitted to Masako before looking back at Aria, "I've never seen you angry enough to lose your temper."

"Well, even I lose my temper sometimes, Mai," Aria admitted with a shrug, "especially when someone I love is in trouble, it seems." She smiled and gave Mai a hug.

Monk eyed Naru with a playful gleam in his eye. "Where's your gift, Naru-bou?"

Naru looked at Monk with a bored expression and responded, "Not that it's really any of your business, I gave Mai my present at the hospital."

Sitting up straighter in interest, Monk looked to Mai and asked, "What was it?"

Having the attention turned to her, Mai quietly responded, "A...a ring."

Around the room there was a collective cry of, "What!?"

One of the people that shrieked was Masako who stood then proceeded to grab Naru by the arm and pull him along, insisting, "I need to talk to you."

She pulled him into one of the suite's rooms and slammed the door behind them, but not before she heard Michiru excitedly ask, "Does this mean you guys are going out?"

"I can't believe you gave her a ring! What do you think you're doing," Masako demanded.

With a calm expression, Naru looked towards the door separating him from Mai. "I'm being true to my feelings."

Masako clenched her fists and demanded, "What about our agreement!?"

"It's over," Naru responded coolly.

The open mouth look of shock on her face was almost comical before it morphed into pain and anger "Then I'll tell everyone who you really are, Oliver Davis. You only have yourself to blame!"

"I've already told them," Naru blandly reported.

"What," Masako gasped. The shock of his words forced her knees to give out and she sat down heavily into the nearest chair.

"I got sick of it, sick of hurting Mai while I was forced to go on dates with you and sick of keeping the truth hidden-at least from those we work with regularly." When she didn't respond, Naru asked, "Were you planning on telling the media too?"

Masako's face jerked back up to meet his "No! The person who killed your brother is still out there! Telling the media would be like killing you, myself. There's no way I'd ever do that! I'm not evil! I don't want to see any harm come to you!"

"Good, then you'll let this whole 'blackmail dating' thing go," he said with finality and turned to start making his way to the door.

Desperately, Masako got back to her feet and threw herself at him, holding him back by grabbing onto his shirt. "I love you! Please, just keep dating me!"

He looked back over his shoulder. "You may be infatuated with me, Hara-san," he corrected her, "but people don't blackmail the people they like."

Whatever it was she said next was left unheard because Naru's mind was suddenly bombarded by a wave of sickness, and a desperate desire to throw up. On top of the nausea, there was a whirlwind of emotions that accompanied the symptoms including a feeling of being trapped. Naru quickly recognized that the entirety of what he was feeling was not coming from him and tore out of Masako's grasp. After he jerked the door open, his eyes found Mai, still sitting on the couch, but now she was sitting stock still, one hand over her mouth and the other over her stomach. Her eyes were looking blindly ahead, but, thank goodness, not dead looking. He rushed from the room and grabbed a nearby tissue from its box as he passed.

"Back away from her," he barked at Michiru and Keiko who were sitting close to her on both sides. Surprised at his sudden demand, the two shared a look until he barked out, "Now!" This time, the two jumped to comply. Bracing one knee on the couch, he put the tissue to her lips and leaned close to her face. "Spit it out, Mai," he whispered to her gently, "You don't have to keep it in. They're not here, you're safe." Naru repeated the words until she started focusing on him and began to cry. After she complied and spat out the candy, he pulled her to himself. When he sat down on the couch, the action pulled her along with him until she was sitting in his lap. Naru then began gently stroking her hair and back alternately in an effort to help calm her down.

Because he was so focused on her, he barely noticed the group talking around him about what had just transpired, but it was enough that he heard Keiko explain, "Mai offered Michiru and I some of the sea salt caramel and so we ate some with her, but then Mai started acting strange. It was like the caramel was the grossest thing she'd ever eaten or something. I was shocked when Shibuya-san came bursting in and insisted she spit it out!"

"What? That's her favorite candy," Masako insisted, coming close. "I bought them from a well known, expensive brand, the caramels I bought for her shouldn't taste bad at all!"

"Oh, they didn't," Michiru added helpfully.

"Doesn't that mean that she's just doing this to get attention? To make me look bad or something!?" With each word, Masako was becoming more frantic, like she was trying to both make herself believe it and prove to the rest of the group that this wasn't her fault.

"Get a hold of yourself Hara-san," Aria admonished her, "Mai isn't playing around. She's feeling extremely ill right now."

"But they're her favorite!" Masako protested.

Feeling that the starlet was quickly becoming unhinged, which wouldn't help Mai, Aria grabbed Masako by the arm and guided her back to the room the girl had just vacated. Closing the door, she turned and faced Masako, a frown marring her face. "I'm afraid that's no longer true," Aria explained, "not since she was abducted."

"How the heck could being abducted change your favorite candy!?" Masako crossed her arms as she practically glared at Miss McLoughlin.

"It's salty and even though it's sweet, it's bitter," Aria trailed off and her eyes became unfocused. "They must have forced her to," she trailed off again, her face contorting into an expression of disgust.

Masako demanded, "Forced her to what?"

Aria swallowed and looked back into Masako's eyes in horror as she explained. "Swallow their seed."

Masako looked confused as she asked, "What do you mean, their seed?"

Aria had an almost defeated look on her face as she told Masako the hard truth. "They raped her, Hara-san!"

"No way," Masako uttered, looking down, trying to take in what she'd been told, "that can't be."

Aria wrapped her arms around herself. "It's true, Hara-san, and I'm not sure how many times they got to her. She wouldn't say anything about it in the hospital. In fact, now that I think of it, she kept changing the subject whenever we mentioned anything even remotely close to anything dealing with her abduction."

"No," Masako breathed out. Once again, she sat down in shock. "Mai doesn't deserve such a thing."

"That's not what you seemed to think a week and a half ago," Aria deadpanned. At Masako's look of shocked horror and the shake of her head, Aria pressed on to remind her, "If I recall correctly, you wanted your 'love rival' to disappear so you could have Naru all to yourself. You also wished that Mai would never be found, but, if we hadn't found her, she would still be getting raped." The room was full of silence in the few moments Aria let the information sink in. After a minute of silence Aria went on to quietly inform Masako, "I'll have you know that when we found her, it was like she'd died inside. There was a void where her emotions should have been and she was completely unresponsive."

The pained look Masako gave her and the amount of shock and horror she felt from the girl settled Aria's mind that she'd learned her lesson or at least a lesson of some kind, but she felt like she needed to press it one step further. "Do you intend to continue working with SPR?"

Masako's voice was quiet when she finally nodded and whispered, "Yes."

"Then, if I were you, I'd give up on Naru completely. The two are a soul bound pair and anything else you do to try and win him over or push Mai away will only further damage your relationship with both of them."

After taking a moment to process Aria's words, Masako inquired, "You called them a soul bound pair...do you mean...soul mates?"

"No," Aria responded curtly. "Soul mates are when ordinary people talk about a mutual, strong attraction. Though they don't think that their attraction and love could dim, the fact remains that they can grow apart, break up or divorce, and live without each other."

"Then how is this any different," Masako demanded.

"Mai is an empath. In order to deal with everyone else's emotions, most empaths tend to bond themselves to a partner to help tie them to reality, almost like an anchor keeps a ship steady in the water. Since the bond is literally tying their souls together, chances are high that destroying it would end up destroying both of them."

"Wait," Masako huffed, "does that mean Mai forced Naru into this soul bond?"

"Forced," Aria scoffed. "For a soul bond to happen, there needs to be at least some form of attraction and desire on both ends. It's hard to say exactly with who or how it happens, but Naru has proven that he wants it."

While Aria explained the details of Mai's rescue and recovery to Masako, just in the other room, several members of the group were marveling at the fact that Naru was crying along with Mai as they clung to each other, and the fact that he seemed deaf and blind to everyone else's antics.

Luella led her husband into one of the rooms a short ways from the group, distraught enough that the door remained wide open in her need to ask him, "Martin, doesn't this concern you even in the slightest!?" Her voice was high pitched and obviously upset, but hushed.

Seeing and hearing his wife's panic rise, Martin responded equally as quietly, "Well, yes, but Lin seems familiar with this soul bonding thing and he doesn't seem concerned so I feel like we shouldn't either. Plus, he did warn us that Oliver might be," Martin waved his hand towards Naru and Mai trying to come up with a fitting word, but he ended by saying, "like this?" Martin hated not knowing what he was up against, but all he could really do was to wait and see what happened and try doing research when they could get back. "I think we should let Oliver ride it out some more, don't you?"

"Maybe...but I've never seen him burst into a room looking that worried, not to mention clinging to a girl, and crying like this before. Have you?" Before he could open his mouth to answer, she continued, "Even when it came to Gene he was always calm and collected, not even when Gene was wounded or killed and they were exceptionally close. I swear they had telepathy, but right now Noll almost seems like he's just an extension of Mai…You know how unstable a woman's emotions can be!"

"Yes, but-" Martin looked at his wife, resignedly.

"Even if he only feels her emotions whenever they're in upheaval, does that mean that her emotions are going to keep taking him over like they did just now?"

"I don't know. Isn't he just trying to help her through her issue? Since bonded pairs do feel each other's emotions, wouldn't it be natural for him to cry with her? If you think about it, his actions just look like he's trying to soothe and calm Mai from whatever it was that upset her. He could simply be crying because she's upset. Either way, they'll figure it out, for good or bad, eventually. Let's see how it plays out."

"But that's not the only thing worrying me about all this, Martin. He's not even 18 years old yet. I like Mai and all, but isn't he still too young to be proposing to her? All the marriage studies I've read suggest that the younger you start, the harder the marriage. Do you really think he's ready for that kind of commitment? Do you think she is? He needs to go back to his work at the university, how can they keep a relationship going once he goes back? His sabbatical can't last forever, he has to go back! Mai will have to stay here, and finish school. I wouldn't mind covering her expenses, but he can't speak English so there's no way for her to be able to transfer. Separating them sounds so cruel, but at the same time, I don't know what else can be done. This bond thing makes me so scared. Who knows if they'll even be able to function so far apart from each other! Oh, What a time for him to propose!"

"Mai only said he gave her a ring," Martin pointed out. "Giving her a ring isn't necessarily a proposal and it's not going to hurt either of them. It's just a piece of jewelry."

With a glare, Luella asked, still keeping her voice at a quiet hiss, "Is that all our wedding bands represent to you!?"

"W...well," Martin stuttered, "No."

Luella looked back through the door at her son, Mai, and the band that circled her finger. "Any way you look at it, that ring," she pointed to the band still in plain sight, "looks like a wedding band, Martin. Even if it's only a promise ring, it represents a serious commitment!"

Martin sighed. "We shouldn't jump to conclusions, My Dear. We don't have all the facts yet. We don't even know if he actually proposed to her or if it's a promise ring or whatever so let's hold off panicking until after we have a chance to talk to Oliver about it."

Not far away from the room, a certain young man adjusted his glasses as he eavesdropped on the hushed conversation. Mai had said that they were just going out, but looking at the ring on her finger, he had to admit that Naru's mom had a point about the ring looking like it was a wedding band. The discrepancy had the potential to cause chaos and Yasu, for one, was kind of excited to watch the fallout that was sure to happen if everyone found out that the band was meant as more than just a start for their relationship. In the least, there could be a fight between Big Boss and his parents. There's also the monk's reaction. He always treats Mai as something like his daughter or kid sister. Either way it happened, if this was found out, things could be seriously blown out of proportion.

Across the room, Mai, who was feeling much calmer, got off of Naru's lap and took herself over to the box of tissues. Since blowing her nose around others would be seen as bad mannered and unladylike, she grabbed the box and made her way to the bathroom, wiping and dabbing at her face along the way.

When she was out of sight, Naru wiped away his own tears and turned to look at both of Mai's friends, "Sorry for yelling at you guys earlier, I could tell that with the both of you sitting by her sides, it was adding to her panic and I needed her to come out of it as soon as possible."

"Did you just apologize," Ayako asked, "I think that's only the second time we've ever heard an apology fall from your lips, Naru."

"Since it's happened before, there's no need to be surprised," Naru retorted in return. Turning back to the girls, he asked, "When Mai goes back to school, will you two help watch out for her for me?"

"Sure," Keiko said uneasily. Her expression of concern deepened and she looked off towards where Mai had disappeared.

Michiru nodded solemnly alongside Keiko, and commented, "I'm not sure how we'll help her, but we'll try. What happened to her?"

"I don't think she's ready to have the details exposed, but in summary, she was abducted and the ones that took her were cruel. It might be enough to just help keep people away from her, especially strangers."

"How long do you think she'll be like this," Keiko asked.

In answer, Ayako spoke up, "She could be dealing with the fallout from this for several months, even years. We'll just have to support her the best we can and learn from any mistakes we make along the way. Like the ones from not too long ago. From now on, no sitting extremely close, at least not for a while."

"It wasn't simply about sitting close to her," Naru corrected the woman. "It was the combination of that and the caramel." He grabbed the remainder of Masako's gift and quickly separated them into two relatively equal piles and handed them to the two friends. "I think you two should have these. I don't think Mai will ever like salted caramel ever again, not after what she went through."

The two friends looked at each other in concern and put the candies away, one into a purse, the other into her pocket. Shortly afterwards, Mai came back out with dry, still red, eyes and a dry face.

Michiru smiled at her in a concerned, sad sort of way and asked, "So, Mai, when do you think you'll be coming back to school?"

"Monday," Mai answered decisively.

"Are you sure you should be going back so soon," Naru asked in concern. "Shouldn't you take some more time off? You haven't been getting as much sleep as you need, and you could use some more time to heal."

Mai shook her head. "I've missed enough school as it is and I don't even have half of my make-up work done. In fact, I'll be working on that the rest of today and tomorrow so I can try to turn it in the next day. I don't want anyone calling me an idiot," she said pointedly.

"You're not an idiot," he said. At her look of surprise and the way she cocked her head to the side and put her hands on her hips, he recalled his own words and all the times he'd called her an idiot. Looking away, he quietly amended, "Not where it counts," and added, "My Love," to soften his words further. The addition caused all three girls to blush and a few smiles and laughs from the surrounding crowd. Throughout the rest of the party, there were no more hiccups, but there was plenty of teasing.

Not long after she exited the room with Aria, Masako was the first to leave. Very few people noticed, but Yasu was one of them and it made him realize something. By the time Masako had left the building, Yasu had decided he'd had enough time to determine that no argument would be started today and decided that it was time for him to go as well, but not before he stirred up a bit more trouble of his own. Coming to the center of the main room, he stood up on a chair, raised his hands to get everyone's attention and proclaimed, "Big Boss wanted me to announce that he's ready to have Mai all to himself now! " Taking advantage of the look on Naru's face, he smirked before suggesting to the group, "Judging by his glare, five minutes won't be quick enough!" Yasu jumped off the chair and made his own way to the door. After opening it, he made a show of stepping out only to lean back in to suggest, "Guys, next time, let's not hang around 'his love' too long or he might become blind with jealousy and then we'll never get to see our dear Mai ever again. Everyone knows jealousy can do funny things to guys like him. He might even start locking her in her own Cerulean Tower, but I could be wrong..." and with that, he slipped out the door.

After Yasu left, the teasing continued on for a while, but it wasn't long afterwards that the rest slowly heeded his words and drifted out one after the other, each claiming various obligations and activities were on their schedules. Until finally it was down to the Davis couple, Aria, Lin, Naru and Mai.

Luella asked, "Do you guys want to watch a movie or something?"

Lin was the first to shake his head. "I've actually got to be going into the office again. There's still papers to file, mail to go through, messages on the phone, and the occasional client, like usual. It's been closed long enough today."

"But we don't have a case right now and it's Saturday," Naru pointed out.

"I haven't gotten as much work done as I'd like during the week," Lin admitted, looking a touch sheepish. "If you need anything important, though, I'm only a call and a few minutes away."

"I need to be going, too," Aria admitted, "Earlier this morning, A few of the companies I own emailed me about some decisions that they need me to make before the end of the day." She pulled out a pair of key cards and handed Mai her copy of the key. I'll be in the suite, but here's your key so you can come and go when you want."

"Thanks," Mai said and stowed her key in her pocket for later.

"I'll take at least most of your gifts over for you too, if you'd like," Aria volunteered and began collecting them.

"Thank you, Aria."

After collecting what she could she addressed Naru, "I expect you to escort her home when you two are done here."

He nodded his assent, and answered "Yes, ma'am. I had no intention to let her walk back alone anyways."

Aria smiled and nodded before she stepped out with Lin's help.


Spirit_Weaver: What? Masako returns!

Koujinbutsu: Too bad the first thing she did was ram head first into all that guilt. Think it will hold her down long?

Spirit_Weaver: Maybe?