"Mai. We need to talk."

Those were the first words Naru said when she came into the office. Apparently, he had been waiting for her, sitting on the sofa and watching the door.

Before she could say anything back, Naru stood and went to his office, beckoning her to follow.

"Close the door behind you," he said, sitting in his chair. Mai did so, and stood before his desk, twisting her fingers together.

The air felt heavy. Naru couldn't seem to look her in the eye, and settled on staring at his desk. He hesitated to speak, choosing his words carefully.

"Have you had any...unusual dreams lately?"

Mai took a deep breath. Last night, after a series of nightmares, most involving finding Naru dead in various ways, she had woken up in tears, and promptly vomited. It had taken her a while to regain composure after that, and even now, she felt shaken. She'd seen awful things like that before, but seeing it happen to someone she knew was something else.

Given all of that, she decided to be honest. "I've been dreaming about being on a train. With you. And last night...it was awful. I went to look in the other compartments, but...I only found horrible things. You...you were..." She put a hand to her mouth, as another wave of nausea washed over her.

Naru held up his hand, signaling that that was enough.

There was a long silence before he spoke again. "...You have also appeared in my dreams. Several times."

"What?" Her heart beat faster. "What does that mean?"

"It seems you have been...sharing my dreams."

It took a moment for the full horror of what he said to sink in. Wait, did that mean...those Naru's in her dream were actually him? All of them?!

"But how?!"

He let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Gene."

"R-Really? You think so?"

"I can think of no other explanation. He's transmitted my visions to you before. I don't know of anyone else who has both a telepathic connection to me and a close spiritual bond with you."

"Well, that's true…"

"Furthermore, it started soon after our last case. You saw him then, didn't you? Did he mention anything? Whether he would try something?"

Mai shook her head. "I don't get it though. Why would he do this?"

"It's possible that he did it by accident. Or perhaps he meant well, but did not anticipate the adverse effects. That would be like him."

She had to admit, that did sound like something Gene would do.

"We will have to ask him." Naru stood, signaling that he'd come to a decision. "Mai. The next client who comes to us with a case, report it to me immediately. We will accept."

"What? But you don't even know what the case will be—"

"It doesn't matter." He looked dead serious. "We need to fix this as soon as possible. And to do that, first we need to contact Gene."

Mai gulped. The fact that Naru, who was usually so picky about cases, was willing to take on any potential case that came his way…

"Right," she nodded.

"Also…" He averted his gaze again. "I'd like to ask that you keep this a secret."

"Even from Lin-san?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask why?"

"It would get back to my parents. If possible, I would like to solve this between ourselves."

A bead of sweat ran down his face. Mai realized that he looked even paler than usual. What had happened on his end of things last night? She got the feeling it involved more than tears and vomit.

On one hand, keeping this secret didn't sound like a good idea. But she could also understand how it would complicate things; would his parents demand that he return to England? Would he have to explain to them that Gene was still hanging around?

"Fine. But if talking to Gene doesn't work, then we need to tell them. Okay?"

Naru reluctantly agreed.

Mai had hoped that the new understanding of her situation would help her cope with the dreams that night. But no sooner did she see the train compartment again than it filled her with immediate dread.

Thankfully, Naru leaned forward, placing a tentative hand on her knee.

"Mai. Is that you?"

She took a shaky breath, trying to calm herself. "Yeah. It's me, Naru."

He nodded, then stood, surveying their surroundings. "Don't go wandering off this time. If you stay here with me, you'll be safe."

Compared to the past few nights, his attitude had done a 180. Now he paced the small compartment and peered through the door, checking the corridor. Restless beneath his cool exterior. She knew what this reminded her of: he only acted this way on their most dangerous of cases.

Mai turned to him. "Naru. If we're going to be stuck like this until we can talk to Gene, then I think we need a plan to deal with it."

"I've just told you the plan. We stay here."

"But what is here?" She gestured around her at the compartment. "How can you say that this place is safe?"

"By practice."

"But is that foolproof? Can you guarantee 100 percent that this won't turn into another nightmare? That I won't see you turn up dead again?" Her voice cracked.

He pursed his lips. "No."

"Of course you can't. Because you're not the only Naru here." She pointed to the corridor. "All those other Naru's out there...they're all a part of you, aren't they? All of them, combined, make up the real you."

Since he didn't want anyone to know, she'd tried not to talk about it at the office. But now they were alone. And after keeping it in all day, she couldn't hold back any longer.

"Some of those things I saw the other night...that was from your psychometry, wasn't it?"

His jaw tightened, but he didn't answer, glaring out at the corridor.

"You always act like you aren't phased by anything. But you actually do get hurt, don't you? Somewhere deep inside."

Naru still didn't reply. But it wasn't like he could deny it, what with all she'd seen.

"Do you just box everything away, so you don't have to deal with it? Is that what this is?"

Tears pricked at her eyes. "It's messed up…" By now, Mai's shock had morphed into anger. Anger at herself, but also, at the circumstances that led to Naru having these dreams in the first place. "Why are your dreams either mundane or horrible?! Don't you ever have any good dreams? Even you must have one or two!"

Again Naru was speechless, but this time, the reflection of his face on the glass showed surprise.

Mai took that opportunity to push past him and slide the door open. "Come on! We're going to find one!"

"What?! Mai!"

He tried to stop her, but she had already stormed over to the next compartment and grabbed the handle.

"Mai!"

She opened the door, and froze.

Inside was the middle of a dim forest. A short distance ahead, a man was shoveling dirt into a hole in the ground. Sticking out from the soil, she spotted a pair of black dress shoes.

The door slid closed. Mai looked up. Naru had shut it from beside her.

"This isn't a good idea," he said quietly, gaze distant.

Mai shuddered. It's not like she wanted to see Naru dead anymore either. But… "If it's all the same no matter where we are, then I'd rather take a risk, to find something positive."

"This isn't your dream. It's not for you to decide."

He had a point. And from his expression, he didn't seem too optimistic about their chances.

She clenched her fists at her sides. "How about this? I won't look. So you tell me whether something is worthwhile."

At last, he sighed. "Fine."

They went down the corridor, Mai in the lead. Naru quickly peered through the door of each compartment, and without comment, moved on. Mai tried to keep her eyes facing straight ahead. This went on for three more train cars.

Just as she began to worry whether Naru really didn't have any decent dreams, he paused at one door and stared inside.

"Naru?" Mai stopped and came to his side. "...Is this it?"

He gave a short nod, and slid the door open.

Four people were inside the compartment. Closest to the door, sitting opposite each other, was a middle aged British couple. And closest to the window were two identical twin boys. A young Naru and Gene, maybe 7 or 8 years old.

Mai immediately identified which was Gene. He was glued to the window, staring at the countryside in awe.

Naru looked a little overwhelmed, as the woman plied him with various baked goods.

"Luella, you're scaring the poor boy," the man chuckled.

"But look how skinny he is! He'll never grow if he doesn't eat!"

She thrust a scone into his hands, and Naru looked at it, confused.

Gene let out a noise, somewhere between a squeal and a gasp. He grabbed at Naru's clothes and dragged him to the window, pointing outside. "Look, Noll, look!"

The man and woman peered over the boys' heads, then exchanged a smile. "Those, boys, are sheep."

Mai smothered a laugh behind her hand. She glanced at Naru beside her. He stood leaning against the door frame with his hands in his pockets, now at ease.

She looked back at the scene playing before them and smiled.

"Yeah, I think this counts as a good dream."