So here is chapter two! I honestly don't have any idea what my posting schedule is going to be like. I'm trying to get through my last week of college ever (please send halp). I'm excited to graduate, but procrastination is the fuel for this post, and the majority of the writing I have done over the past week.

This chapter and chapter three will hopefully be the last introductory chapters before we get into our first case!

Enjoy!

Naru wondered how much his father had worked on his Japanese since realizing he was going to be speaking at the university. It was the most fluent he had ever sounded, though, every once in awhile Naru would correct his father when needed.

His eyes drifted over to the right side of the classroom once again to find Mai seated between a petite dark-haired girl and a boy who seemed to be overly excited for the lecture. All three were taking vigorous notes as his father spoke about himself and some brief studies he had done over the years.

His father had motioned and mentioned him several times, but Naru had no intention of speaking unless specifically asked to. This lecture had not been his idea, and if it had been, it would not have been scheduled for an hour after their plane had landed.

He had taken note of Mai as the class had finally settled into their seats. This had been helped by the boy that was seated next to her as he had basically shouted her name. He took note of the fact that she had grown out her usually short hair, something he really would have not thought to notice had it been anyone else. Past that though, he noted the way she held herself, there was a certain confidence in her posture that she had always had. Though the circles under her eyes and her haphazard appearance hid that.

He dragged his eyes away before he could be accused of staring at Mai or ignoring his father's lecture.

Martin checked over his watch for the time, the class would officially be ending in about fifteen minutes, but he had been reassured that the class would most likely be willing to stay longer.

"Alright then, any questions? I understand that your class ends here soon, so if any of you have another class or previous engagement following this you may leave when your official time is up, but I will stay as long as there are questions to be answered or until your Professor decides to kick me out." This caused a bit of laughter to drift across the room, breaking the academic silence and creating a casual atmosphere.

When time ran up and people were still asking questions, Mai wondered if it would be impolite of her to leave. While she had no prior engagement following this class, she felt like leaving now would save her from an awkward situation.

Before she could decide, Daichi brought attention to her side of the room. "This is a question for Dr. Oliver Davis. What is your opinion on hauntings in Japan versus hauntings in England?"

A few students had asked Naru questions before this, but his answers were always short and clipped. Mai could tell by his tone and demeanor that this lecture was not pleasant for him in the slightest. That and he obviously had not had a caffeinated beverage in several hours.

Naru switched places with his father to answer the question.

"It is difficult to determine this considering the large number of cases I've done in England versus the few I had taken while here in Japan. Though there are a few themes I found consistent across both countries and also themes that differ as well. The few cases I came across and researched while here in Japan were exponentially more active and in some cases violent than most I have taken in England. As a researcher, it is hard to conclude why that is, as many factors could play into this. It is hard to recreate and even test most of these factors. One factor to take into consideration is the culture and religion of a country and space. England is a mostly Christian culture while Japan has many different religions, the most practiced being Shinto. Another factor that I considered is the team I worked with while here." Mai could have sworn that Naru's eyes flickered towards her.

"For those of you who have not read my latest book, I worked with a team of basically spiritualists, all with different talents and skills. My team consisted of a Monk, a Miko, an Omnyoji, a Catholic priest, and two mediums, one of which could astral project. It could be understood that because of this grouping, we were susceptible to drawing in spirits. Especially since our astral projector tended to draw the spirits in so that she could understand them better. If you have any questions about that, she is actually in this room." Naru stepped back from the podium with a smirk as students started to turn to each other in question.

Mai narrowed her own eyes as Naru looked towards her. He was trying to rile her up, she knew it. He had done it for the express purpose of watching her squirm.

Even Professor Tatchi looked shocked as he scanned the classroom in wonderment.

Mai hoped that no one would notice the subtle stare off her and her old boss were having. They challenged each other silently.

Naru had even surprised himself with that comment. It had not been his intention to oust Mai, but his uncaffeinated, jet-lagged brain wished to see what kind of ride he could get out of Mai. He would pay for this later, that much he was certain of.

Martin looked over at his son, interested to understand what had just happened. Maybe it had been a bad idea to let Noll take Madoka's place. Martin had been ready to behave himself, especially after his son had basically scolded him, apparently, Noll had decided he wanted to cause some trouble.

Martin stepped back up to the podium, hoping to take control back before things got out of hand. "Any more questions?"

"Uh yeah, who?" This was a basic question from many of the students in the class.

Mai was trying to make herself smaller as the class became excitable.

"If she does not wish to share, then neither will I," Martin answered seriously.

Some of the class quieted, but most still whispered in the background, trying to figure out who in this room was even capable of something like that.

"Ahh come on, you can't just drop a bomb like that and not tell us?" Daichi said.

Mai wanted to smack him, Martin had just begun to quell the majority of those who were asking questions, this would only rile them back up.

Mai noted that Naru still had a smirk plastered on his face.

Mai placed her hands on the desk, two could play at this game.

"It's nice to know that the great Dr. Oliver Davis would stoop so low as to pick on someone he has not spoken to in four years and oust her in front of her class just so his uncaffeinated brain could be stimulated. If this is quite over, some of us have finals to study for." The classroom was so quiet one might have been able to hear a pin drop.

Mai made her way out from her desk and out the door of the classroom before anyone could wonder what had just happened.

Though this was not her luck as she heard Daichi's voice follow her down the hall.

"Mai, wait, Mai," he yelled.

She stopped once she was around a corner and waited for him to catch up.

She was momentarily surprised when both Daichi and Momo came from around the corner.

"You used to work for Dr. Davis?" He questioned.

"Yes," Mai answered shortly.

"You can astral project?"

"Yes."

"Can you do anything else?"

"She also has a propensity for pre and post cognitive dreams and an animal like gut instinct that has never led her astray." The man himself Dr. Oliver Davis was now standing behind Daichi and Momo.

"Woah, really Mai, that's so cool." Momo agreed to Daichi's statement with a nod.

Mai pushed past her friend though, to get right in Naru's face.

"You have some nerve for what you did in there, and an exceptional amount of explaining to do Naru," Mai said while poking a finger into his chest.

Naru slowly lowered a hand over her own.

"I was under the impression that you knew I would be arriving today." Naru's voice was calm, though he had to admit, the fact that he could still get this type of reaction out of Mai amused him.

"That's funny, I don't remember receiving a call or an email from you."

"He was supposed to have contacted you."

"I didn't realize that he has become your messenger boy now."

"Excuse me," Momo spoke up. "This may not be the right place for this."

Mai and Naru looked to the growing crowd they were attracting.

"The young lady is right, Mai would you mind joining us for dinner?" Martin smiled at her warmly. She deflated right there under his fatherly gaze but didn't miss the chance to send Naru one more glare.

She turned to her friends, "I promise to explain this to you guys later, maybe we can get lunch tomorrow and talk?" Mai had enough gall to be sheepish, it was one thing to not tell random strangers about her backstory, but Daichi and Momo happened to be friends she had grown close with over the years.

"Yeah, yeah, but it's your treat." Mai sent Daichi her largest smile she could muster and nodded. Momo smiled and nodded in quiet agreement.

Mai quickly followed the two Doctors away from the growing scene into a cab that had been waiting outside the school. Apparently, while they had been arguing, Martin had called a cab.

The ride was awkwardly silent as Mai tried her best to ignore Naru and stared out the window, watching the traffic go by. They were traveling deeper into a better part of the city. Mai had rarely traversed this part of Tokyo, but when she did, she was accompanied by Ayako or Masako.

While Mai liked the thought of shopping, she never really had the money or the mentality to do so.

The silence in the car was broken by the ringing of Mai's phone. Mai jumped as the familiar tune played and she quickly answered it, before even reading the caller ID.

"Hello," Mai breathed out.

"Mai, hey, what's up? Are you okay, you sound a bit winded." Monk's voice flowed through her phone's speaker.

"I'm fine Monk, what's up with you?" She tried her best to sound nonchalant. She snuck a glance over to Naru and his father. Martin seemed to be eyeing her curiously while Naru looked ahead, seemingly ignorant to her even being there.

She rolled her eyes.

"You will never believe who I just got a call from?"

Mai pinched her eyes closed and breathed out her nose. "Oh yeah, who?"

"Lin! He said that he and Naru are back in Japan indefinitely, and are looking to start researching here again. Can you believe that?"

"Yes," Mai deadpanned, "I can believe that."

"What do you mean, did Lin call you first?"

"No, I'm currently in a cab with Naru and his father."

"What," can the loud voice of not only Monk but also Ayako. Mai pulled the phone away from her ear, as she did so it was slid from her hand by Naru. Mai was actually astounded by the causal way he took her phone and began talking to Monk.

"Monk, I would appreciate it if you did not deafen Mai, she is already hard of hearing."

Martin had seen many sides of his adopted son, but this teasing side of him was new. It had not been unusual for Gene and Noll to tease each other, but Martin had not ever seen Noll causally tease others. Especially people he had spoken highly of in passing and in his book.

Martin looked to Mai and wondered how she had brought out such a demeanor in his son. But when he glimpsed the sideways glance from Noll and the puffed, red cheeks of Mai, he recognized the way a young boy would treat a girl he had a crush on. He smiled into his hand in hopes that Noll would not see and question him. Luella was going to love this.

"Naru, how are you doin'. I almost couldn't believe it when Lin called and told me you were back in town. Though I gotta say, it hurts to know that I was not your first priority, then again I understand that Mai is cuter than me." Naru chose to ignore most of what Monk had said and got swift satisfaction when he heard Ayako give Monk a slap. "Ow, geese woman, watch where you're swinging them things."

"Monk, what did Lin relay to you guys?" Naru spoke as he dodged Mai's attempts to grab her phone. He grabbed her hand and held it so he could finish his conversation.

"All fun and no play huh Naru. Glad to know you haven't changed. Anyways, he told us about you guys returning and also that you would like to get us all together for a meeting, but that you would wait until everyone is contacted before setting it up."

"That sounds about right, would some time this week work for you and Miss Matsizaki?"

There was a paused silence as Monk and Ayako talked in hushed tones. At this point, Mai had given up on retrieving her phone and ripped her hand out of Naru's. A lite blush had dusted over her cheeks when Naru had so casually grabbed and held her hand. Naru glanced over at her again when she ripped her hand away but did not acknowledge it any farther than that.

"Yeah that should be fine, my band is on a break right now so I'm pretty open. Ayako is the one we have to work around, but she usually has evenings off unless there is an emergency at her parents' hospital."

"Okay, I will keep that in mind as I speak to the others, thank you." Naru promptly handed her phone back, which she snatched none too kindly and brought it back to her ear.

She quickly ended the conversation with Monk, with the promise of seeing them soon.

Martin was just about to question the two young adults when the driver signaled that they had arrived at their destination.

Mai stepped out of the car and then promptly came to a dead stop. They stood in front of a large and regal looking building with doormen standing out front and tourists milling around.

"Mai close your mouth or you're going to catch flies." She quickly reacted to Naru's quip with a snide mumbled remark that didn't even make sense to her. He quirked an eyebrow at her in response.

Mai wondered what she had done for her day to turn out as it had. From waking up feeling like the dead to being utterly humiliated in front of her entire class and now standing here in front of a regal hotel with Naru. Someone had to be playing a trick on her.

Gene would definitely be getting an earful later, from both parties it seemed.