Hello everyone! I'm happy that Liam and Trista are liked. Also, I didn't realize they are kind of like Naru and Mai from the earlier days of SPR. XD That was completely by accident! Happy accident! I hope you enjoy this next chapter! The next one I think will be more about Naru and what's been going on with him these last five years. Maybe. Just depends on what I decide to write. Thanks for reading!


It was finally Saturday and the week had been a very long and interesting one. Classes were going a lot better than she ever imagined. Debates are probably one of the best things she loves. Liam and she had gotten into a huge argument in one of the subjects. Martin completely loved it and enjoyed every bit of it. There, of course, were no hard feelings at the end of it. Both of the shared a laugh as Mai basically completely destroyed him at the very end.

Mai and Yasu very much enjoyed their new friends. They were interesting and very fun to hang around with. Not to mention studying with. When the end of the day arrives they all stayed after to work on the homework. It was exciting to hear from everyone's point of view. Very enlightening.

Today was the girl's day and they finally had sat down for some food. Trista and Madoka had lots of bags and Mai…she had a couple. Mostly because Madoka insisted that she bought a couple dresses for her. Something about wanting to make up for lost time or something. Mai had insisted that she could buy her own items, but Madoka wasn't moving her foot. It was a lost cause for her to argue anymore.

Anyways, for lunch they decided to go to this Italian restaurant. Madoka was very hungry for some sort of pasta. Which she actually ended up getting shrimp fettuccine alfredo. Mai saw the photo they had on the menu and her mouth was watering. It looked really good! Even though most of the time the menu photos looked way better than the dish.

Trista had decided to get carbonara pasta. Seems to be a theme for the girl. She must really like carbonara items. There was no picture though with the dish and Mai was a little bit upset.

Mai…well she had no idea what she should actually should get. She never really ate anything pasta and didn't really know what she would like. She stared and stared at the menu but nothing jumped out to her.

She squinted at one that caught her attention, but not in the 'I want to eat this' way. "What is green spaghetti? Is it like that book Green Eggs and Ham?"

Madoka blinked a little surprise that she would even know of that book. Interesting. "It has a little bit of a kick to it. There are some peppers in it, but I can't really do anything that has even a little spice."

Mai's face twisted and shook her head. "Ugh. Nothing is really hitting me on what I want. This is so hard." She whined as she hit her head with the menu. "Help."

Trista hummed as she looked through the menu. "I'm not sure if you like fish or not…" She mumbled as she thought back to all the lunches they had together. She never saw Mai eat anything that was fish. "Anyways, why not try smoked salmon pasta?"

Mai blinked as she looked down at the menu to try to find the said dish. "I don't see that anywhere."

"Next page." Trista leaned over and flipped the page to the next showing a little more dishes.

"Oh." Mai blinked as she glanced down at the list and quickly found the said dish. "Have you guys tried it?"

"I love fish, so I of course had to try it. If you like salmon I think you'll like the dish." Madoka moved to take a sip of the water she had ordered. Trista was the one who recommended it, so of course she has tried the dish.

"Alright. I'll try it!" Mai smiled as she shut her menu. They all went through the process with ordering and getting settled down. They were all chatting about how classes were coming along.

In the middle of Madoka's sentence though her phone started going off. Which she decided to take it out just to see who was calling. Her face paled a little as she saw Lin's name. "Oh my gosh. Mai, what do I do?" She showed off her phone so she could see the name.

Mai's eyes widen seeing the name and looked back at the panicking woman. "Answer him! It's going to be suspicious if you don't!"

"I don't think I can lie to him! We're dating! He's going to know something is up!"

"He's going to know something is up if you don't answer the phone!" Mai didn't process the fact that they were dating. She was way too panicked about the fact that Lin was even calling.

The call had cut out at that point and both girls were looking at the phone scared for their lives. It was only a second later as another call came through from Lin, again.

"Madoka." Mai said as sternly as she could and giving the woman the most straight face she could handle. "Answer. The. Phone."

Madoka tapped on the green button to receive the call and brought it up to her face. "Hello, my honey bunch."

There was a very long silence on the other end. "What."

Of course Mai finally processed on how Madoka answered the phone, and the fact that she said that she was dating the man. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE DATING LIN!" She screeched completely caught off guard. Of course she realized she had said that very loudly and the man in question probably heard her. She immediately slapped both of her hands over her mouth and was completely wide eyed.

The woman was equally shocked at the sudden screech from the girl who was supposed to be silent!

Lin of course was very suspicious the moment he heard the voice. "Who was that?" Everyone they knew, knew they were dating. It wasn't really a secret, but he couldn't figure out why this voice sounded so familiar. The tone of the voice is what hit him with a familiar note of nostalgia

"Uhhhh…" Madoka had literally no idea what to say at the moment. They were caught. A lot sooner than she had planned. She thought for sure they had at least until the fundraiser until the jig was up. This…was not in the plan. "My new boyfriend."

Mai gave the woman the most 'are you an idiot' look she could muster up at the moment. Trista had moved to yank on Mai's sleeve to get her attention. "Who is Lin?"

"I used to work with him when I was in Japan." Mai turned to whisper to the other. "My old…boss and he had come back to London about five years ago or so." Trista nodded and decided to just sip her water since she really had no idea what was going on.

"What's actually going on? One, you wouldn't date anyone else but me. Two, that was definitely a woman's voice. What's going on?"

Madoka slumped in her seat and looked at the girl in question. "We're not fooling him. What do I do?"

"You aren't." Lin stated as much.

Mai sighed deeply trying to think of something to try and get out of it. "Do you think he would believe you if you just told him?" She whispered trying not to let her voice carry so Lin couldn't hear her.

She hummed thinking for a moment. The truth could be so insane that Lin wouldn't believe her and would drop it. She was willing to try it! If anything he just finds out and Naru might find out because someone (Lin) obviously blabbed. "Fine. It's Mai. Remember? Mai Taniyama from Japan? We went shopping for clothes and now we are sitting waiting for our food."

"I obvious remember her." He just didn't remember her speaking in English. Lin glared at the wall that was in front of him. They literally just got back from a headache of a case and he was sitting in his own little office. Naru had went to his own office right away, since he wanted to get through the paperwork as fast as possible. He went silent for a couple minutes just thinking about the response he got from his girlfriend.

Did he believe her? Honestly, he wasn't fully convinced. What would Mai be doing in London of all places? It made no sense, but putting the girl and that voice together...

"Where are you eating?"

Madoka blinked looking at her phone then back at Mai. "I think he might come here." She leaned close to whisper in Mai's ear. They were screwed. There was no way out of this.

Mai knew this also as she let out a sigh. She managed to nod and was just completely defeated. All because she was so loud. In reality it's all Madoka's fault! She shouldn't have said that Lin and she were dating! They wouldn't be in this mess then!

Madoka let out her own sigh and finally told him where she was. Just completely defeated about everything that just happened.

Of course, this was when the food finally arrived. The two girls looked completely defeated and Trista…well she dug right in. Not bothering with what was happening. The other two decided to slowly start to eat. It was extremely good and the wait staff were very confused about what was actually happening. The two were clearly enjoying the food, but the faces they were making were weird. Just a mix of wanting to cry and just they really don't know. So, they decided only to check on them to ask about the food and refill their water.

By the time they finally finished and paid for everything Madoka had looked out the window and saw Lin's car. The man was leaning on the vehicle waiting. Madoka leaned over to tap Mai's shoulder and pointed to Lin. "Look."

Mai's eyes followed where she was pointing and saw him. "Wow…he really hasn't changed much from the last time I saw him. Obviously, he looks a little older but he really didn't change."

Trista had managed to dig her phone out as all of them stood up to get ready to leave. She cringed to see the amount of calls and messages from Liam. "I think I'm gonna have to go. I was expecting him to calm down from this morning, but nope."

Mai blinked looked at the other girl before smirking. "Oh? Liam must really need you right now." She scooted up and managed to grab her phone to look. "My gosh! He's gone insane. He must really need you."

"Please don't word it like that…" Trista mumbled as she grabbed her phone back. "It's probably because he's stuck on some assignment and can't figure it out."

"Yeah, but he could have called Yasu at any point. I thought they decided to hang out today?" Mai grabbed her own bags as the others did and started walking out.

"I'll text you to let you know what is actually happening. Between the two I really don't want to know what is happening." When they got outside the restaurant Madoka and Mai both gave Trista a goodbye hug. She managed to get a taxi easily and went to head back to the doors.

Which was probably a really great thing since she could feel eyes staring at her. This was going to be a long conversation. She turned to look at said man that was walking towards her. "Hey…Lin?" She was shocked when she was being pulled into a tight hug from the said man.

When the group of girls had come out of the restaurant he had noticed his girlfriend right away. The next was the one that he had no idea who she was. It was the third one that caught his eyes. Mai. It was definitely Mai. She had grown in these last five years, and her hair was just past her shoulders now. It was her though. A bunch of questions swirled around in his head as he pushed off the car and headed for the group. Without giving it much thought he pulled her into a very tight hug. Which, yes, shocked himself too.

It wasn't hard to figure that he would miss the girl. It really wasn't the same without her around. Basically keeping both Naru and himself in check most of the time. When she wasn't getting in trouble with the spirits they were hunting or just in her being clumsy.

Then a thought suddenly stuck him as he remembered the phone call. He suddenly pulled back and held Mai's shoulders as he stared down in shock. "You know English." It really wasn't a question more of confirming something in his own head. Mai was also speaking without an accent, which means she probably practiced and practiced for years. It was amazing.

When Lin had hugged Mai she was very much shocked, but decided to enjoy the hug. She had missed him a lot. Even with how his attitude was at the start. Lin must have felt the same way too. All too suddenly he had pulled away stating probably the most obvious thing right now. "Yes…?"

"Wait." Lin let everything process about what was happening. They were in London and Mai was supposed to be in Japan. Probably at a job or something. "Why are you here? What about Japan? Does Noll know you are here?" Then another thing jumped in his head as he turned to face Madoka. "Of course he doesn't. Then I would know. What is going on? Why didn't you tell me she was here?"

Mai could tell this was going to be a long conversation and really didn't want to do this in the middle of the sidewalk. "How about we go sit at a café? That way we can relax and talk?" The couple had agreed and eight minutes later they were sitting at a table waiting for their drinks.

"So, what are you doing in London?" Lin had finally decided it was okay to ask again. He was extremely curious, because there was no way Mai would have come to London just to shop with Madoka.

"I'm going to Cambridge." She gave him a smile trying to calm her own nerves. "I'm studying Parapsychology."

As she said what she was going for Lin couldn't help his eyes going wide learning this. "What?" Did this mean she never left the field when they had left Japan? Did she go with the others on cases to learn more? You obviously needed more than just that to actually take Parapsychology though.

She let out a nervous laugh at his reaction. "Yup. Surprise. Just to point out I really did try to move on from ghost hunting and what not. I couldn't find anything else that interested me enough though and some other stuff happened…"

"What do you mean other stuff?"

Mai hummed thinking about what she should actually tell the older man. A lot of stuff happened in the first year of them being away. Madoka had cut in her thoughts though. "Mai, you should just tell him everything. He's already upset with me enough." It was true. He wasn't talking to her at all since they got in his car and since they got to the café. He did pay for all their drinks though.

It was at this moments their drinks arrived and Mai wasted no time in sipping her green tea. So, relaxing. "Fair enough. Alright, the first year you guys had left my powers suddenly got…a little out of hand. My retrocognition was the first that got out of hand. It basically linked up with any spirit that I had contact with. I spent a lot of time 'sleeping' most days because of this. I had about enough of it and basically locked myself away. Also, around this time I kept astral projecting without actually meaning to. My body was exhausted honestly. Doing both so often was just a lot and I could hardly sleep. Bou-san decided it was a good idea to go to the monks that had taught him. That…was interesting in its own right. Anyways, I spent that summer with them and when I finally graduated from high school I spend several more months with them."

Lin wanted to ask why she didn't call them and explain what was happening to her. He already knew the answer though. There was no reason for him to ask. He couldn't help but frown though. Her powers had apparently grown and they were so far away and couldn't do anything to help her out. They basically dragged her into a whole new world and probably were one of the many reasons she had even started experiencing these powers. Yet, they just ended up leaving her in the end. What would have happened if the others hadn't been around to support her?

"Anyways, when I was there I started to develop aura sensing and that was a lot more trouble. There were so many colors all the time and it took forever to be able to see properly. It was a lot more intense than they were used to and it took a couple years actually to calm it down enough for me to have full control over. A lot of the time when someone can sense aura they usually have to train themselves, but mine just came out of nowhere. Even if you have the ability to naturally sense them it's something very mild, so they couldn't fully explain why mine was so intense." Mai just shrugged as she took another sip from her tea. At the beginning she had freaked out about the whole thing, but now she was completely calm. She had accepted her powers after a while and really it was perfect for her. She wanted to help the spirits pass on properly. Sometimes, that isn't obviously the case. She tried her best though for them.

"Wait. You can sense aura's now? That's a new one."

"Yeah, but honestly I kind of like it. It's like…it connects me to something that just has this warm feeling to it. It's hard to explain though." Plus it wasn't always warm. She couldn't help but close her eyes for a moment while she sipped her tea. Mai calmed herself enough to reach for the auras around her and then focusing on Lin.

Violet…and a mix between actual blue and indigo. Which was very interesting and she couldn't help a smile taking up her face.

"Your aura is very…not what I was expecting. Yet, it explains you perfectly."

Lin blinked a little surprise at the information. He wasn't expecting her to suddenly read him. "So, besides your powers, why did you come to Cambridge? Was there any other reason besides your powers? Does Martin know who you are in relations to Noll?"

"Obviously to study Parapsychology. There is so much to learn all the time, and this program is perfect for that. Also, Martin has no idea who I am. I don't want to think how he'll react when he eventually finds out…" Apparently, Yasu and she were one of his favorite students. That's what he said when they decided to stay after class to ask him a couple questions about her psychic powers. Yes, of course he knew about them. It was logical and he was very much interested in them. He wanted to drag them off to the SPR office and do his own testing. Not to mention how they were in class and in debates. Martin had taken a shine to them pretty fast and it was kind of scary. If the fundraiser doesn't blow her cover then Martin will probably be the reason.

"He's going to be in a whole new area of enchanted. We might need to study Martin himself with the new scientific area." Madoka couldn't help but laugh, because she knew Martin completely adored the two. They were great in class and Mai's abilities were something else. She saw her boyfriend give her a weird look and she figured she should explained more. "He knows about her abilities and in class Yasu and she are very amazing with their knowledge and ability to debate against the others."

He nodded understanding. It might have been five years, and he thought she had changed from all those years. In reality, she didn't change at all. Her personality has just matured and she found something she seemed to really love. "So, Yasuhara is here too." He mumbled getting lost in his thoughts before speaking again. "Speaking of debating…What about Noll? He's going to be mad that you guys didn't tell him that you were coming. You really should have reached out to him."

Mai hummed thinking for a moment. "Speaking of Naru…you can't tell him that we're here. Don't blab." She got a weird look from the other. "I just don't want him to be unhappy I'm here. If I can hold off that pain for him a little while longer than I will do it the best I can." She gave the man a painful smile trying to look as cheerful as she could.

Lin was completely confused on why she thought he would be unhappy. He would be more upset that she didn't reach for help during the past few years. Did she have any idea what kind of effect she had on the man? Was she even aware of the feelings he harbored for the young girl?

There was only one thing he could think that might have happened. Something must have happened before leaving Japan and he had no idea what that was. Meaning it was something serious since Naru had not talked to him about it. Suspicious.