Chapter 8

A/N: this is in Lin's POV – since some people were asking for it so here it is… Please note that this is before the screaming match happens… you know what happened to Mai and Naru it kinda reminds me of this song called 'Thanks for the memories' By 'Fall Out Boy' if anyone bothers or have time or whatever you should check out the lyrics, you'll get it then.

This child… So much like Naru but obviously brought up by Mai.

"Are you hungry?" I ask the child politely. He bites his lips and thinks for a moment before nodding his head.

"Would you like to go out for some food?"

"But… My mum…" He glanced at Naru's closed office door worriedly.

"She'll be fine. We'll just be gone for awhile." He reluctantly nods his head and walks over to the door quietly and waits for me. When I open the door for him he slips his small hand into mine as if that is the most natural thing to do. I feel awkward and I'm not sure what to do so I just let him hold onto my hand without holding his too much.

"Sir can we eat near by?" He asks me politely but embarrassed.

"That's fine. What do you wish to eat?"

"Anything." He says quickly.

"Why don't we just walk around here and see if there's anything you wish to eat." He nods his head in mute agreement and walks along side with me keeping up easily.

Outside it is getting dark and by the time Kenji finds something he would like to eat, the sky had taken on a dark blue colour. A soft bell rings above our heads as we enter a restaurant. Once we are seated and passed the menus, Kenji points to an item on the menu and asks me,

"Can I have that?" I order his food for him and as we wait he starts to get very impatient and fidgety. I just put it down to him being a kid. Then he says something that makes me change what I thought about him.

"Something bad is happening to my mum now… Can we hurry?" He looks genuinely worried and anxious.

"How do you know Kenji?" I ask him.

"Because every time something bad happens to my mum I can feel it. It scares me…" He whimpers.

"Your mum will be fine." I try to reassure him but he answers back with much pain.

"She won't! Not with him around! I can feel it! Mum isn't getting any better! She's getting worse! Can we please go back now? It really hurts…" Kenji bends over and clutches his midsection tightly. Then slowly but surely all the metal items around him start to warp. Not just in shape but in their properties as well. The items nearest him melt but stay solid in the sense that it doesn't stick onto the tablecloth or anything else. The cutlery start to bend and buckle, some even snapping clean in half. This starts to draw some attention from near by customers who are noticing that their cutlery is doing some weird things.

"Kenji! Are you doing this?" I demand. He scrunches his face up tightly and cries,

"I don't know… But it hurts!" He starts to bawl but it seems that the pain is getting too painful to even cry.

"We have to go." I mutter to myself, I pick Kenji up and carry him out of the restaurant running back to SPR. He is in real physical pain. How is this even possible? Upon returning I hear Mai screaming in anger in Naru's office. She's alive but she's angry. To add to that her son is in pain.

"…YOU TELL ME NARU!" Even though muffled I can still hear what she's saying. I set Kenji down on the couch and knocked on Naru's door loudly before barging straight in. It doesn't matter what is going on now but the person who needs the most attention at the moment is Kenji. When I open the door Mai is crying and Naru is trying to comfort her.

"Naru! Mai, Kenji is in pain." I say urgently, instantly Mai pushes Naru away and nearly knocks me over when she rushes out of his office. Fresh tear tracks still on her face, she picks up her son and holds him tightly. Ignoring everyone and everything except her son. Such is the power of a mother's love. Almost instantly Kenji's spasms of pain slowly dies down until he is no longer in pain but just a hurt and crying boy.

"What happened to him!" She demands angrily, cradling her son's head tightly into her chest.

"I don't know, he suddenly had a feeling you weren't alright and it just escalated from there. I rushed back as soon as I could."

"Where did you two go?" She demanded again, patting her son's back gently.

"Kenji was hungry so I brought him out for some food." She sighs and closes her eyes, hiding her face in her son's shoulder whispering a broken lullaby into his ear.

"Cry my little baby, cry my little baby, there's nothing to be scared of. Mummy's here and nothing will harm you so cry and go to sleep."

His breathing becomes even and he soon falls a sleep on his mother's shoulder. Tired from the whole day and now the last episode had drained him of all his energy.

"Has this ever happened?" Naru is the first to break the silence.

"Nothing this bad." She whispered, her face all pale and drawn. She hugs her son once more before kissing his cheek gently and placing him flat out on the couch to sleep. She leans back onto the couch and massages her tired head and tries to relax and calm down but to no avail. She opens her eyes tiredly and tells us.

"I have no where to stay tonight. Could I stay here with my son? Whatever happened near my home, I don't want to know. But I know I'm not returning there with my son. It's dangerous. I could feel it in my body, who knows what it'll do to Kenji if we stay there."

"I am not having you stay overnight here." Naru says in an almost controlling tone.

"Then where can I stay Naru? You know the danger. I know you must know. You were near there!"

"I know." He says grimly.

"You can stay at my home. Just for tonight." I find myself saying almost impulsively. Mai will never agree to stay with Naru and Naru won't have her staying at the office. Although, I must admit I don't like the idea of her staying here by herself either. She glares at me but yields; she's too tired to even argue I'm sure. And she has her son to take care of.

"Thank you Lin." Naru gives me a sharp look.

"I'll leave my Shiki with them." I say to Naru. He purses his lips and says nothing. "Naru," I say to him quietly, "there's something I need to talk to you about." He says not a word but walks into his office.

"Mai, I'll leave soon so that you can get some rest but I need to speak to Naru about something. Do you mind if you wait awhile?" She shakes her head, too tired to even speak now.

I shut the door quietly behind me and I walk up to Naru.

"Kenji; he bent and changed the states of some cutlery when we were at the restaurant."

"Was that before or during the pain?"

"It was during, and only when the pain was too unbearable. I don't even think he was aware of what he was doing."

"We need to talk to Mai." He says decisively.

"Not at her current state." I tell him.

"Do you really take me for an idiot Lin?" He asks me coldly.

"I'll go now. I'm sure Mai would like some rest. I think you need some too." I leave his office and shake Mai up gently.

"Mai, we have to go."

"Hmm… OK… Do you mind carrying Kenji? I don't even think I can move myself at this present time…" She mummers. I gently pick Kenji up so I won't wake him and Mai struggles to get up. She stagers a little when she tries to walk but she quickly regains her balance and focus. Naru moves forward to hold her but I shake my head making him stop. Whatever happened between the two of them isn't for me to know but I know when Mai doesn't want to be touched.

I keep the door open for her before saying goodbye to Naru; she stumbles past me and leans heavily on the wall to wait for me.

"Mai I don't think you can walk by yourself." I say with much concern to her.

"No… I'll be fine Lin… Just look after Kenji… I'll pull myself together." Between each fragment she had to stop to rest. Even talking is getting too tiring for her. The office door suddenly opens and Naru is standing there almost livid with anger.

"Mai you are not going to 'pull it together' you are far too tired and sick to do anything like that. Will you just depend on people sometimes?"

"NARU!" I bark at him. I turn my attention back to Mai watching her worriedly.

"Maybe… maybe you're right… but I don't have any… Any…" she crumples onto the floor in a heap.

"MAI!" Naru immediately rushes to her side holding her shoulders. She is as limp as a rag doll and most likely heavier than she normally would be. Naru picks her up with ease and rushes down to the car park. I hurry after him and find Naru settling her in the back seat of the car.

"Those two need to sleep. A lot of sleep. I'll go with you to help you carry them in." and just like that Naru is back into his efficient operative self. I think any more emotional stress would just snap him. He's at his limit already. I gently set Kenji down next to his mother and shut the door as quietly as I can. Naru is already waiting for me in the front passenger seat, frowning with his eyes closed.

On the way back Naru asks me quite obviously hurt and confused.

"Why didn't she tell me? I spent so long just wondering and that was the worse thing I had to go through. It kept tormenting me."

"Maybe you already have the answers, you just aren't looking hard enough Naru." I tell him quietly. "Remember that Mai had to go through that too. It was even worse for her. She had a child to look after and their social security. Think about what she went through Naru."

"Now I'm the bad guy."

"I'm not blaming you. I just want you to think." We spend the rest of the ride in silence.

---

I carry Kenji up to a guest room and Naru follows me setting Mai down on the bed next to her son.

"I…" For once in the long time I've known Naru he is speechless. He looks at their sleeping forms and for a long time he just stands there and says nothing.

"You are most welcome to stay Naru." I tell him breaking the silence. He shakes his head and tells me without taking his eyes off them,

"They need space. I need space. I'll see you at work." He leaves without another word. I pull the covers down and tuck them in leaving a lamp on just in case Kenji or Mai woke up in the middle of the night.

I turn off the main lights and close the door leaving it ajar if anyone of them needed to find their way out at night.

---

Mai slept for almost two days before waking. On the second day I happed to be in her room to change the drinking water when she stars to stir. Naru decided not to mention Mai to anyone yet as she still needs to recover, everyday after we finished for the day on the case Naru would come straight here before doing anything else.

"Mai…" She frowns and slowly comes to.

"L.. Lin…?" Her eyes focuses in and out before it settled.

"Have some water." She slowly sits up and accepts the water from me.

"Where am I…? What happened?"

"You're at my house at the present moment. You were so tired so slept for almost two days. If you still hadn't come round by this evening we would have sent you to the hospital."

"Two… Two days?! But – but – but my job! Kenji's school!" She holds her head in her hands and moan in despair.

"Naru fixed it. He called in for you. And Kenji. But you'll won't be well enough to return back to work tomorrow."

"I need to work Lin! You don't know how important it is!" She is near hysterics now and her son is stirring next to her.

"Calm down Mai! You'll wake Kenji." She takes in a deep breath and tries to calm down.

"What did Naru say?" She asks with her eyes closed possibly thinking up the worse case scenario.

"I don't know. You'll have to ask him. Mai, calm down. I'll get you something to eat."

"OK…" She leans back and turns to her son. Just before I leave the room I turn around and find her tending to her son. She pushes some of his hair off his face and a small smile crept out. I knew she'd be a good mother. I return with some plain porridge and pass her the bowl.

"Are you feeling OK for some porridge?"

"Yeah… I'll be fine…" She starts eating the porridge and quickly finishes it. I look at the wall clock and it reads nearly five in the evening. He'll be here soon. As if on cue he pushes the door open gently, a look of relief floods his face when he sees her awake and sitting up.

"Naru." I greet him but he doesn't spare me a glance and only looks at Mai.

"Mai. You're awake." I pick up her empty bowl and leave the room discreetly firmly shutting the door behind me.

They'll come down when they're done. For now all I can do is give them space.

A/N: I have to drag this out a little more because I have to resolve half of their problems before I go into any new problems -.- so sorry about that! If anyone is finding that the story is dragging I'm terribly sorry!! I'll make it move by the next chapter!! I haven't been able to make anything move much because I've been doing the story as seen by different characters so yeah… we don't get to know much about what the two main characters are thinking, so sorry everyone! But for the next few chapters I'll either be telling it in Mai or Naru's POV as that moves the story along much faster!! on a brighter note, we now know what Kenji can do -.o please leave a review too! i'd like to know if you guys think i should just 'hurry it on ALREADY!' or if you feel that this pace is just fine...