Hey guys!

Since many of you wanted me to continue "Love Case," I've decided to make a sequel.

So, here's the first chapter!

Enjoy!

Mai woke up bright and early this morning. For some good reason, she has a feeling that something good will happen that day. She took a shower, got dressed in a cute pink ruffled skirt partnered with a white button up fitted shirt with a peter pan collar and a loose white ribbon. She went to her small kitchen and had some tea and a slice of bread before turning on her small tv and sitting on a couch. While munching on her bread, she noticed that the time on the tv was almost noon and the time on her clock was six a.m. Her brown eyes widened in shock. She stood up and rushed to the kitchen to wash the cup that she used. She ran to her room, sprayed a sakura scented perfume, took her small cross-body pink bag with golden chains. Running out the door, she quickly slipped a white pair of flats and locked the door behind her. She ran down the street to a bus stop that'll take her at least 3 blocks from the SPR office. She saw the bus arrive at the stop and she was not even close. Gathering up all her strength, she ran after the bus when it left the bus stop.

Naru waited impatiently for his secretary. She's 4 hours late, meaning he hasn't gotten his tea since he arrived. He was pacing in his office back and forth when he heard the door open and swung shut loudly. He knew it was her. He opened his office and saw his secretary panting by her desk. He noticed how she was dressed and he admired her looks, she was his ex-girlfriend anyway. Naru sighed and walked up to her.

"You're 4 hours 15 minutes and 47 seconds late" he said.

Mai didn't answer since she was still panting from all the running that she did. Once she caught up with her breath, she looked up to her boss and apologized.

"Gomen, Naru. My clock's battery died and I honestly thought it was 6 a.m."

"Too dumb to realize that before you went to bed last night?" he said coldly.

"Why you…!"

"Stop standing there and get me my tea" he ordered before he went back to his office. "JERK!" he heard her yell.

It was a long day for Mai since her boss gave her a lot of paperwork to do, a punishment for being 4 hours 15 minutes and 47 seconds late. She was in the middle of finishing up filing another folder when a woman came in. Mai hurried to aid and the woman and have her seated before calling her boss. The woman, who's about in her mid-50's wearing a business attire, eyed Mai as she went to get her boss. She has an evil smirk on her face and it disappeared as soon as Mai and her boss came out.

"Hi, My name is Hatake Kurenai" the woman introduced herself.

"Yes, I'm Shibuya Kazuya and these are my assistants, Taniyama Mai and Lin Koujo" he said.

Lin sat on a couch near Naru with his laptop while Mai prepared some tea.

"Now, what are you here for?" Naru asked.

"Well, you see… I own a small pension with a hot spring near Mt. Fuji and most of my visitor's been complaining about whispers at night in the hallway. They've also mentioned about seeing a woman who looked she's from the feudal era walking around the hot spring late at night" the woman started.

"I see, well it's not enough to have my whole team go all the way to Mt. Fuji for something this sm-" the woman cut Naru off and said, "Also, there's been people missing for a few days and turn up bruised and battered in their room without any memory of what happened to them, most happens to girls with brown hair. I don't know why but it's scaring my costumers away, I will pay extra to have your team do the work" she finished.

Mai handed the tea out, not hearing the last part and sat next to Naru. She noticed how he was thinking about the woman's case, thinking if they should take it or leave it. With a sigh, Naru came to his decision.

"We need a large room with a lot of outlets for a base. One room for three women, one room for three men, and a room for myself and Lin. Expect us to arrive there the day after tomorrow. You can leave the address and contact number to Mai" he said and left for his office. The lady smiled and handed Mai her business card with an evil look.

"I'll see you and your team there, Taniyama-san" she said and waved goodbye.

"What a creepy woman…" Mai thought. She went back to her desk and continued with her work. She found herself falling asleep after 5 minutes and she carefully moved aside the files to rest her head on the desk.

Mai's Dream…

"Where am I?" she asked. She looked around and saw nothing but pure blackness. She then heard footsteps coming her way. When she turned around she saw…

"Naru?" she asked.

The man in front of her gave her a questioning look.

"Stop looking at me like that, why are you in my dream?" asked again.

"Don't you know who I am?" he asked.

"You're my narcissistic boss, Naru" she told him.

"Did you lose your memory or something, Mai?" he asked.

"As a matter of fact I did and that was a few months ago, you should know that because you were there when it happened" she informed him.

"Oh… yeah… I was" he lied.

"Anyway, what am I doing here? Why are you here?"

"Well, I have to show you what's your new case is about"

"Oh really? How's that?" she asked as if she doesn't believe him.

In an instant, the scenery changed. She was now standing in a forest and she can see Mt. Fuji from there. She looked around and found nobody but 'Naru.' "Ok, where are we?" she asked. "Wait and see, Mai. You're going to have to tell me what you learn in this dream once you wake up because it will help the case" he said. Mai nodded in reply and wait for something to happen.

After a couple of minutes, she saw a woman with a long brown hair wearing a feudal era clothing. She was barefooted with a small basket on her hand full of herbs. Mai followed the woman to her destination. The woman's eyes widened and she hid behind a tree. Mai wondered why so she looked up ahead. About 20 yards away was a gigantic tree and there was a man leaning against it. The man was wearing a black pants tied by a white sash, his top a v-neck long sleeved shirt with a fishnet undershirt. Half of his face was covered by a mask and the rest was covered by his dark hair. Mai noticed the woman advanced to the seemingly unconscious man. She knelt in front of him and tried to wipe away the strand of hair that was cover his face. The woman was shocked when the man held her hand before she could even touch his hair. He was looking directly into her deep brown eyes and she was staring at his blue eyes.

The man pushed the woman away as he tried to stand up with the help of the tree. Mai noticed how the man held his left side of the abdomen. 'He must be injured' Mai thought. The woman watched the man slid down after his knees buckled on him. Without any hesitation, the woman took her basket with her and carefully walk back to the man. "I help the healer in my village…" the woman told the man, he just stared at her, thinking if he should trust the woman or not. "I can help you heal if you are wounded" she assured him. Hesitantly, the man pulled his shirt up and revealed his injury, there was a kunai stuck on his abdomen. 'A shinobi?' Mai thought. The scenery then changed, she was now in a small village.

Mai saw the woman being dragged in the middle of the village, she was bruised and scratched. She wasn't fighting the old man who was dragging her, she was letting him drag her. Once in the middle, the man held the woman up by her hair, making her wince.

"This wench has been seen talking to a shinobi! She's a spy from another village!" the old man announced to the villagers.

"I am… not a spy" the woman muttered.

"Then explain why you were with the shinobi!" one of the villager yelled.

The woman didn't answer.

"See! She cannot answer. Death will be her punishment unless she brings the shinobi to us"

The woman was dropped on the ground, making her wince after she fell hard on her right ankle.

"Bring us the shinobi, Hideyoshi Kinuye, and we'll let you live" the old man told the girl before a couple of well-built man dragged her to the forest.

Mai followed the woman, she was limping her way to the huge tree from before. When she arrived, Mai saw the man from earlier waiting for her. "Kinuye, you are late" the man said. He then noticed her state. He rushed to her and carefully carried her to the tree. "Run, Kawanari…" she whispered. "What? What are you talking about, Kinuye?" the man asked.

"They want you, the villagers…. They want you dead"

"I'm not leaving without you, Kinuye" the man argued.

"Please, I'll be alright… Just leave now before they find us" Kinuye begged.

"I told you before, I'm not leaving without you" Kawanari carried Kinuye bridal style and leaped on to a branch when he heard some rustling by the bushes. Looking down below him, he saw a group of villagers carrying bows and arrows with them.

"She was here!" one of the villagers said.

"She must have met with the shinobi, she won't be far, let's scout" the other one said.

Kawanari jumped from tree to tree until they reached a hot spring near Mt. Fuji. She carefully put the sleeping woman down and checked the surroundings.

Mai watched the man care for the woman, she can see how much he loves her. She also wondered how much time has passed since they met until now. But before any more information was gathered, she woke up from her dream.