File 02: Learning the Ropes.

"Okay. Thank you, Masako. I'll be there about six - the office closes early today, anyway." I put the phone down, sighing. I'd done it. I'd actually asked her to help me with this whole spirit medium thing. And she hadn't even seemed sarcastic or anything on the phone. That probably scared me the most. If she was taking me seriously, she must actually think that I could be in trouble if I don't get this thing under control.

I swear I could feel the smirk before I even heard him. I turned around, and sure enough, there was Naru, leaning against the wall with his arms folded and his signature smirk adorning his face. I rolled my eyes. He gave me a curious look.

"Who are you going to meet?"

"Since when did you get possessive?"

Since always, idiot. Gene whispered in my head. I mentally rolled my eyes at him, too. Naru looked away from me uncomfortably then and sighed.

"I can't help if I worry about your ineptitude at caring for your own safety." Oh, he made me so mad! But it's not like I could say that I could look after myself, after all, that was why I was getting Masako to help me.

"Yeah, well… that's kind of why I was on the phone just now." Naru cocked his head at me, his eyes plainly asking the question that his mouth didn't need to.

"I… I asked Masako if she would help me out with this medium stuff."

"You… really?" He asked, slightly taken aback. "And she agreed?" I nodded.

"Yup. She's been acting really nice to me lately. Don't suppose she's possessed, do you?" I joked, and I thought I saw the faint glimmer of a smile on that face of his.

"It's about time you took responsibility of that power of yours, anyway. It could drive you insane if you're not careful." I nodded. I knew that. I'd seen so many things… it'd be enough to drive anyone mad.

But I'm here to protect you! Came the little voice in my head. I sighed angrily.

"Jeez, leave my thoughts in peace for one moment, would you, Gene?" I muttered.

"He's always been like that. Ignore him. He'll go on about how he'd be your knight in shining armour next." I smiled at Naru. This was the man that I loved. The narcissistic, sarcastic, arrogant guy whose brother lives in my head. Damn, I'm weird, but I wouldn't have things any other way.

Aww, Noll, Mai's thinking romantic thoughts about you.

"Ugh, shut up, you pathetic excuse for a ghost.

You're so mean, Mai. Gene pouted at me. Naru chuckled.

"It's like you were the little sister he never had." He said, walking away. It struck me that this had been a pretty strange conversation. I looked at my watch.

"Only 4:45. We'll close in half an hour." I looked down at the work on my desk and my heart sank. "Argh! I'm so going to have to work overtime tomorrow to get this all finished!"

I made it to the restaurant where we were meeting with five minutes to spare. Masako was waiting for me, but she didn't even have a sarky comment for me.

"Mai, hello. I hope you don't mind, but I haven't eaten yet - I've been out on a case of my own and I only just got back"

"Oh no, it's okay. Come to think of it - I haven't eaten since my lunch break." I laughed, and Masako smiled. "So what sort of food do they serve here?"

"Nothing too fancy," Masako assured me, "Just good, simple food."

"Sounds good to me - should we go in?" I asked. Masako nodded. I followed her through the door. She was right - it didn't seem fancy at all. In fact, it seemed the opposite of a place that Masako would choose to eat. But we ordered the food, and it was delicious.

"Mai… You don't seem like you've quite recovered from what happened on the last case."

"You mean with the maggot demon thing?" She nodded. I sighed. I thought I'd been doing a good job of hiding how bad I'd been feeling since then.

"You are, but even the fact that you asked me for help means that on some level, Mai, you're completely freaked out by this." I stared at the girl opposite me, wondering when the hell she'd gotten so perceptive. She put a reassuring hand on mine.

"It's okay to be scared, Mai. It really is. Believe me." The way she looked at me when she said that - I believed her.

"But… I can't let Naru see. He.. He'll stop me from going on cases." Masako didn't even get all defensive and snobby when I mentioned his name. she shook her head sadly.

"You think he can't see what this job's doing to you, Mai? He sees it, but he knows it means the world to you. That, and he can't bear to be apart from you." She smirked at that part, and I leaned over the table to slap her. I could feel my cheeks going red. She laughed at me, then.

"There we are. The Mai we all know and love." I stared at her for a moment, and then I joined in her laughter. The rest of the meal passed fairly enjoyably, and by the time we left for Masako's house, we were chatting like old friends. I mean, I suppose we were friends before - but I felt, I don't know, closer to her than I had before.

"Ah, here we are" She said as her driver pulled up in front of a huge big house with an absolutely gargantuan garden. My eyes just about popped out of their sockets in surprise.

"Wow, Masako! You live here?" She nodded, looking away from me. She seemed embarrassed. "This is so cool!"

"Thank you. If you like, you may stay for a few nights whilst I train you up a bit. I have plenty of spare clothes." I had a horrible vision of me spending my weekend in Masako's kimonos. I shuddered. "I do have normal clothes, you know. I just wear the kimonos to keep up appearances, you know."

"Seeing you in normal clothes would be as strange as aliens invading." Masako giggled.

"If you say so, Mai." I followed her into the grand entrance hall of her mansion. I still couldn't get over how huge this place was. It was definitely the sort of place I had imagined Masako lived in, though. Posh and extremely expensive. Still, she liked simple, cheap (relatively speaking) food. Perhaps Masako would be surprising in more ways than one.

A/N: Short chapter this time, because I am sleepy and have school in the morning. Still, it's better than nothing.

Masako: Glad to see that I am not being treated as the devil incarnate in this series, at least.

Me: Your time may come, Masako. Only time will tell.

Mai: But yay! Next chapter will probably be full of me and my powers.

Me: And Masako. Naru will most likely have zero page time.

Naru: *Glare*

Me: Have a muffin. For the cake is a lie.