Author's note: I do not own Ghost Hunt

Here is the fifth chapter people. I do not know if I will be able to post the sixth one soon, as I will be travelling, so please be patient with me.

Something happened to the formatting of my Word towards the end of the document but it is still perfectly understandable.

Thank you for the reviews.

Chapter 5: Shopping

It was only seven in the morning and Lin found himself in a predicament; he wanted to take Mai shopping but had no idea how to do so without appearing as an over enthusiastic and pushy adult (somewhat like Madoka or Luella). He knew he needed, and wanted, to do this but at the thought of shopping he couldn't help the mental images of him acting like Luella.

It had been two weeks since Mai had moved in and the thought had ingrained itself in his brain ever since he saw the amount of boxes she had that held clothes. With the aid of the DNA test he had easily acquired guardianship for Mai and had a passport made for her. He had also sent an official notification to BSPR about his familial matters. Luella had been overjoyed and had him arrange a video call through which she could meet Mai, after all he had been with the professors a really long time and they considered him family.

The move had been easy and since then both Mai and him had learnt a lot about each other. Lin learnt that Mai was actually a quiet person at home. The first day after the move, Lin had thought that now that Mai was living with him, his apartment would be...noisier (something Naru was also concerned about. "Here goes my peace and quiet." he had said) but he had found no difference. So, when they were having dinner that night, he told her to be herself and not worry about disturbing him; he had felt she was holding back due to being unsure of how to act around him. Her answer had surprised him. She had said that that was how she usually was at home because if she was too loud her neighbours at the apartment complex would complain and because she didn't have anyone at home to be loud and noisy for. She had then went on to add that because she lived with silence, she liked being noisy sometimes, like in the office or at school as she didn't like the quiet all the time. It reminded her too much of her situation.

Lin also learnt that Mai was an excellent cook. When her stuff had been brought in to his apartment, a luxurious two bedroom apartment with a large kitchen, lounge and balcony, half the boxes contained cooking utensils and items. She explained that she loved cooking and liked making new dishes. She, on the other hand, had been surprised to find that most of the cupboards in Lin's kitchen were empty and the ones that were full held non-perishable items like canned food . He explained that neither Naru or him were experts at cooking (Mai had giggled here)so they mostly ate take-outs or easy to heat items. Mai had then taken charge of the kitchen by keeping all the canned food in the bottom corner cupboard and placing her things in the other and declared that she would cook for them from now on, as it was not healthy to live off on take-out food, and after eating the stew and rice she made that evening for dinner, he easily accepted. Even Naru did not argue with the change in arrangements.

Lastly, and most surprisingly, Lin learnt that Mai woke up early in the mornings. He could not comprehend how she could wake up that early and still be late for work on weekends. She had then explained that the land lady of the apartment complex she had lived in was rather old, so Mai took it upon herself to make her lunch and do her laundry before she left for work or school. This had increased the respect he held for the girl several times over. When he asked Mai about what the old woman would do now, Mai had said that the old woman had called her niece, who was working in the next city, to come and live with her when she had learnt that Mai intended to move out. Mai, however, surprised him further by revealing that when she had cooked dinner for them the previous night, she had made extra so she could give the food to the old woman on her way to school.

Mai, in turn, learnt that he, Lin, lived in a western two bedroom apartment, so it wasn't just spacious. It was luxurious and classy as well. The main door opened to a wide hallway, which led to a large lounge, with a store room on the right. The entire left side of the lounge was an open kitchen, with a dining table at its centre and only a counter separating it from the lounge. The apartment had dark wood flooring and the counters of the kitchen were made of marble. The wall adjacent to the kitchen had a door leading to a bedroom, which was Lin's, and a small balcony behind glass doors. The wall opposite the kitchen had another bedroom, which was given to Mai. Both bedrooms had their own attached bathrooms and had their own air conditioner units. The lounge contained a white sofa set which faced a large plasma screened TV.

Mai also learnt that he, Lin, could play the violin. He had been showing her around the apartment when she had spotted his violin on a chester drawer set and asked if he played. When he had answered in the positive, she had asked, rather timidly, if she could listen to him. So, after dinner that night, he played a piece, with her and Naru as his audience. When he had finished, Mai had stood up and clapped for him while Naru had ignored the both of them and read his book.

When Mai had seen the set of DVDs in the rack beside the TV, she learnt that Lin enjoyed watching classic movies. Because she herself only watched movies that came on TV and seldom visited the cinema, Mai had asked Lin if they could have a family movie night on Saturday evenings as Sunday was the only day that Naru let them off work. He had obliged and found that it was fun to watch a movie with someone else and that he immensely enjoyed the discussion that followed afterwards. On the first movie night it had only been Mai and him. After the movie she had told him that she felt guilty as it was Lin's duty to watch over Naru so he, Lin, probably spent the evenings at Naru's place, but now that she had made a selfish request, he couldn't do what he wanted. Lin had then calmly told her that he did not spend every moment with Naru and that he actually watched movies over the weekend. He had also added that Naru was welcome to join them anytime, he just didn't like watching movies that much. Mai had then said that since Naru was like family to Lin, she would make sure that he came the next time round, and true to her word, Naru did come. When Lin later asked Mai how she had convinced Naru, she told him that she had told Naru that they were going to watch a horror movie with ghost hunters and the like. Lin highly doubted that that was the reason he came and thought that, judging by how many times he had caught Naru glancing at Mai that night, that it was the boys growing feelings towards his niece that had brought him there.

Lastly, Mai learnt that if anyone could order Naru around (in Japan at least), it would be her uncle. Since Lin was Naru's guardian of sorts as well, Naru spent a lot of time at Lin's place, since they ate dinner together, despite Naru having his own apartment across from Lin's. This meant that Mai would be spending an immense amount of time with Naru as well, not just at work but outside of work too. Lin knew that Naru had a habit of teasing Mai and enjoyed ordering her around because it would get a rise out of her. Therefore, he had decided that if he ever felt that Naru was being too much, he would personally put a stop to it. Such a thing finally happened when Mai had been doing her homework in the lounge when Naru came in as he usually did for dinner. Lin had taken one look at his eyes and the smirk on his face when he saw Mai, and had known that Naru was going to annoy her. As if on cue, Naru opened his mouth and ordered Mai to give him tea. Before Mai could even have opened her mouth to reply, Lin had glared at Naru and said in a dangerously calm voice that if he, Naru, had wanted tea, he could go and make it himself unless he asked Mai politely. Naru had gotten the message immediately and after a heavy silence, in which Mai had stared awestruck at Lin and Naru, had asked Mai, politely, if he could have tea.

Lin sighed as he glanced at his niece's bedroom door. She was still asleep but he only had about half an hour more before she would be up and about and he needed a way to get her to go shopping with him without him appearing out of character and without her refusing, because he knew she would. She was a very selfless person, so he knew she would not accept something like this.

Making up his mind, Lin decided to ask the only other person who he thought was reasonable; Naru. Getting up from the sofa, he quietly walked out of his apartment, crossed the hallway and knocked on the door across from his. He knew Naru was up; his shiki had alerted him. The door opened a few minutes later to reveal a glaring Naru in his blue pyjamas and black night gown.

"What is it?" That was Naru; no greetings and straight to the point. Living with Mai, Lin could now see how rude it felt.

"You know you could invite me in." Lin replied in greeting. When Naru continued to glare at him he added," I wanted to talk to you."

Naru finally moved out of the doorway, letting Lin in. Lin walked into the apartment that looked exactly like his, except now his was a lot more personalised with the arrival of Mai, and sat on the sofa.

"Is this about a case or has mother called you to ask me to call her?" Naru asked as he sank into the adjacent sofa.

"Neither." Lin paused, not sure how to explain the issue.

"If it's neither then why are you here so early Lin?"

Lin decided that with Naru this annoyed in the morning, it would be better to just be direct, like him. " I want to take Mai shopping."

Naru stared at him for a minute before dead panning, "So? Take her."

"She will refuse if I tell her and if I don't and force her... let's just say I'd rather not be your mother."

Naru was silent before he smirked. Lin glared at him in warning to not mock him. Unfazed, Naru stated, "You don't know what to do once you take her to the mall do you?"

Lin glared at him for a full minute before sighing and closing his eyes. "No, not really."

When he opened his eyes, Lin found that Naru was still smirking and the amusement was clearly visible in his eyes. "Just take her to a store, give her a bunch of clothes and threaten her that if she doesn't take them, you'll cut her pay."

"Naru, that's something that only you would do." Lin sighed, exasperated at his ward's insensitivity.

"You came to me, Lin. I'm telling you what I'd do."

"I'm being serious, Noll."

There was silence for a few minutes before Lin looked at the main door.

"Is she coming here?" Naru asked.

"No, but she is awake."

There was another silence, in which both geniuses of their time tried to think of an inconspicuous way of taking an eighteen year old girl shopping. Finally, Naru broke the silence," Why don't you say it's for missing eighteen of her birthdays and leave no room for argument. You have taken custody of her financial matters haven't you?"

Lin nodded and pondered over this idea before accepting it as the best route forward. He then had another idea. "Noll, will you come as well?"

The ferocity of the glare that Naru directed at Lin nearly made him drop the subject. Nearly. "I will write a positive report about you to the professors for the next three months and tell your mother that you are being nice to Mai, so she can get off your back about helping her settle in."

"She wouldn't be on my back if you hadn't babbled in the first place." Naru hissed.

However, Lin held his gaze and silently asked the question again. Naru glared at him but Lin could see that he was thinking the offer over. After a considerably long time, he uttered a barely audible "Fine" and walked in to his room, closing the door behind him. Lin grinned before getting up.

"Breakfast will be ready in half an hour. We will leave after that."

Breakfast was a quiet affair with a confused Mai glancing at an annoyed Naru, who was mutinously glaring at Lin, to an indifferent Lin. Her attempts at conversation were useless towards Naru, although Lin replied normally. When breakfast was finally over and the dishes cleaned, Lin set his plan in motion."Mai, there were some things that we-" Naru's glare became fiercer, if possible-" needed to buy and I was hoping you would accompany us."

Mai brightened up immediately. "Of course! I needed to buy a few things too. When are you guys leaving? "

Lin smiled slightly before replying. "About now."

Mai nodded and quickly went to her room. "Let me get my purse and then I'm good to go."

Naru huffed and headed out the door. Lin waited for Mai and followed her out, locking the door behind him. The drive to the nearest mall was, again, quiet. When they got out after parking, Mai turned to Lin.

" Do you want to meet back here in an hour ?"

Lin shook his head. "I'll need your help in picking some of the items. We can buy what you need after that."

Mai nodded and pulled the long strap of her purse over her head so that the strap was across her chest and the bag itself to her side. They entered the mall and Lin felt Mai stiffen beside him. He turned to look at her to find her fidgeting with the strap of her bag. Naru, noticing their pause, looked at her as well.

"Is everything okay, Mai?" Lin asked.

" People are staring." She replied uneasily.

The two men glanced around and found that, indeed, people were staring at them as they passed them by. Naru turned back to her and said, "People will always stare, Mai. They don't realise it's rude. They just can't get enough of my handsome face."

This seemed to have struck a nerve with Mai as she glared at Naru, forgetting her nervousness, and reprimanded him. "Not everyone loves staring at your face you narcissistic jerk! You are so full of yourself sometimes that it's sickening!"

Lin realised that by riling up Mai, Naru had managed to distract her from the stares they were getting. Hiding his smile, he put a comforting hand on Mai's shoulder and said, "Mai, you know you can't reason with him. Just leave him be. We have work to do."

Mai glared at Naru a moment longer before moving on with Lin. They walked deeper into the mall, surrounded by people going in and out of shops and their chatter. They arrived at a departmental store, but before Mai could pass it, Lin put an arm around her shoulders and guided her in. Once inside, he did not let go and steered Mai towards the ladies clothing section. Before Mai could gather her bearings and ask what they were doing, Lin grabbed the nearest clothing item, an off-white dress, shoved it in Mai's hands ,pushed her into a changing room and closed the door.

A moment later Mai's muffled voice was heard from the changing room. " Shūshu, what are you doing? What am I supposed to do?"

"I think it's obvious Mai, even you should know. Lin wants you to try on that dress." Naru spoke dryly while aiming a smirk at Lin. He then said to Lin, "This is your brilliant plan? Congratulations, you have acted exactly like my mother."

The door to the changing room opened, revealing a confused Mai still holding on to the dress. " Shūshu?"

Lin sighed. This was not going well. Deciding to come clean, he put his hands on Mai's shoulders and spoke in a quiet voice. "I wanted to take you shopping and buy you things. Forgive me, for I have never done this sort of thing."

Mai tilted her head to one side and replied, looking up at her tall uncle."You do not need to do this, shūshu. I already have everything I need."

Lin shook his head. "I want to do this, Mai. I feel as I must do this, at least to make up for the years of your life I have missed."

" Shūshu, you have done more than I could ever ask for. You have given me a new home. You take care of my school fees and you even refuse to let me pay for the grocery and most of all, you are there for me. That's everything I could ask for."

"Then will you do this for me?" Lin asked, placing a hand on her head. "Take it as eighteen years of birthday presents." Naru coughed . "Do it so I can put my conscience to rest, little one."

The last words seemed to have done the trick as Mai's eyes widened and then became slightly watery. She stared at Lin then nodded and went back into the changing room. Lin straightened up and sighed in relief. Now that that was out of the way, he looked around the nearest shelves and selected a few items and placed them in a basket. He wasn't that worried about getting the wrong size; as Mai was so thin, he just picked the smallest size on the rack.

Naru cleared his throat as he leaned against the wall adjacent to the changing rooms. "I must say, that was something. If mother saw you, she would be pleased very much." He had spoken in English, presumably to avoid Mai from understanding.

Lin scowled slightly before replying, in English as well. "Shut up, Noll."

"You know, I can understand what you guys are saying. I may not speak English but I can understand it. I have been studying it for the past three years." Mai's muffled voice came through the changing room before the door opened and Mai stepped out. The dress fit her perfectly. It was like a fitted dress shirt from the top, with three quarter sleeves that ended with cuffs and gold buttons down the front to the waist line. There was a brown belt at the waist and underneath that, the dress flared out till Mai's knees.

Lin, who had been busy placing more items into his basket, looked up and smiled slightly. He had not expected the first item he had picked up to fit this well. He walked towards Mai and was about to compliment her when he saw something that Mai had missed while she was fixing the sleeves of the dress; Naru was staring at her. He was openly staring at her and from the way his lips were slightly parted, Lin could tell that he had been caught off guard from the surprise of seeing her so dressed up. However, it was his gaze that surprised Lin. His gaze was so soft, so gentle that it was as if he was looking at something incredibly delicate, committing it to memory, because touching it might break it or make it disappear.

Mai seemed to have felt Naru's gaze because she looked towards him. Lin watched silently as their eyes met; as Mai blushed; as Naru ruined the moment (and saved his dignity) by smirking and as Mai stuck her tongue out at him before crossing her arms and huffing. When Lin cleared his throat to get her attention, she jumped slightly and Naru's head snapped towards him; they had both forgotten that he had been present.

"You look wonderful Mai. We will be taking that." Lin told her with a small smile before giving her the filled basket in his hand. "Now, go and try these."

Mai's eyes nearly bulged at the amount of clothes in the basket but Lin turned her around and gently pushed her into the changing room.

An hour and a half later found the three loading the trunk of Lin's car with dozens of bags of shopping. After selecting the clothes to be bought, Lin had taken Mai to the shoes section but Mai had put her foot down and refused to buy shoes. When Lin had tried to convince her, she had relented to buying a single pair; a pair of black ballet flats with a small black bow at the front. Her reasoning was that they were stylish enough to be worn for special occasions and sombre enough to be worn in the office, thus complimenting most of the outfits Lin was buying for her.

As they finished loading up the car, Mai leaned against its side, exhausted from changing clothes so many times." I think I need a break."

Lin checked his watch before saying," How about we buy the things that you need, then take a tea break in a cafe here?"

Mai considered this and nodded. "Sure." Then she turned to Naru and asked," What do you think?"

Naru shrugged, feigning indifference, but Lin could tell that the idea of tea appealed to him too. So with that decided, the trio headed up to the stationary shop that Mai wanted to go to on the third floor of the multi-storey shopping complex. This area of the mall was relatively quieter and less crowded and once inside the shop they were greeted by a much needed silence; they had still been stared at on their way to the shop. Mai headed to the art section and Naru to the science one, while Lin remembered that he needed to buy toners for the printer in his office.

As he put his toners in a small trolley, he felt his shiki buzz around him. He looked towards Mai's direction to find her standing at a wall with paints, brushes and other art items hanging on it, staring indecisively between a pack of paints and a pack of, what appeared to be, pencils. He watched as her hand went towards the pencils before quickly changing course, picking up the pack of paints and hurrying away from the wall. He watched the girl head towards the cashier before heading to the wall she had been looking at and picking up the pencils she had abandoned.

He felt Naru approach and stand next to him. When he looked at the young man, Naru looked at the pencils before pointedly looking at Mai, who was bagging her purchases. The message was clear; buy it for her. For the smallest of moments, Lin considered not buying the sketch charcoal pencils, so that Naru would buy them for Mai, but alas, his senses returned and he placed the little packet in his trolley; it would not do to upset Naru after forcing him to go shopping, of all things. He could always get back at him by accidentally letting Luella know that Naru had gone shopping with Mai. Yes, that would do nicely.

Lin paid for his items, bagged them and joined Naru and Mai, who had been waiting for him by the door. They walked out in silence but stopped by the escalators as Mai asked them where they wanted to drink tea. Naru's response had been "anywhere drinkable". So, rolling her eyes, Mai had led them further upstairs to a quaint little cafe at the end of a corridor, by the glass wall overlooking the streets below. They had settled in a table at the back, with all their bags on one chair. Lin and Naru perused the menu while Mai looked at the dessert advertisement on the table. When the waiter arrived, Mai ordered a mixed berry smoothie, while Lin ordered chinese herbal tea and Naru, earl grey.

"You seem familiar with the place, Mai." Lin said, as they waited for their orders to arrive.

Mai nodded. " My friends and I used to come here every other week, just to hang out. We couldn't meet up as much as we used to because of my job so every other week, Michiru and Keiko would drag me here and ask me to tell them 'ghost stories'."

"Don't tell me you have been babbling about our cases and personal client information to your friends Mai." Naru poked at her.

Mai huffed. "They are just ghost stories to them, Naru. Besides, the stories we share stay between us. Even if we 'babbled', narcissist, people in my class would think us crazy. Why do you think we were in an empty and desolate room, telling ghost stories, when we first met?"

Naru leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms across his chest. " I don't know, but a group of teenage girls can only amount to trouble."

Mai glared at him but realised what he had said. "You don't know? You don't know? Shūshu, I heard him right, right? Naru, the narcissist, just said that he doesn't know! And here I thought that you were a brilliant scientist, idiot scientist."

" I don't know everything, idiot. What I do know, though, happens to be more than what you know."

Mai pouted but accepted that she could not argue any further; she would only end up embarrassing herself. She had not kept the fact that she could see Gene, Naru's dead twin brother, in her dreams, a secret, that was why she could use Naru's other nickname easily. Lin and Naru were both aware of it but they had decided against telling the professors about it. It would unsettle them to know that their late son still hadn't moved on, despite how Naru had, potentially, risked his life to find Gene's body and take it back home, to be laid to rest. Mai usually met Gene during cases and the durations of these meetings varied, depending on how much energy Gene or Mai had.

Apparently deciding to drop the current discussion, Mai took her bag from the extra chair and fished out her handy sketchpad and pencil and started working on the sketch of her friend Michiru, which she had started yesterday, after dinner. Lin leaned towards her to get a better look before asking," Have you finished the one you made before we went to the cemetery?"

Lin could see, quite clearly, that Naru was very interested in what Mai was doing and what he was talking about. Lin sighed quietly; the boy hadn't been paying enough attention to Mai to know of her artistic talents. On the other hand, and if he be fair, neither had he been doing so, not until two weeks ago, when Mai became one of the most important people and priorities in his life. Mai nodded enthusiastically before flipping back a couple of pages and handing the sketch pad to Lin.

The portrait looked nearly life-like with the details added in and Lin couldn't help but smile. He also couldn't help but notice how Naru had shifted in his seat to see the sketchpad and how Naru's eyes had widened at the image. Turning his attention back to his expectant niece, Lin said, "It's turned out beautiful, Mai. Keep up the good work."

Mai positively beamed before taking back the sketchpad. Naru's eyes followed the sketchpad but before he could ask about it, the waiter arrived with their orders and Mai put the pad back in her bag. Lin tasted his tea and found it to be very pleasant. Naru drank his quietly, not making any comments, while Mai sipped her smoothie happily, looking out the window, watching the cars go by, down on the street. However, as she turned back to look at them, Lin noticed her eyes widening before she choked on her smoothie and started coughing. At once, both men thumped her back and Naru went to the counter and demanded a glass of water. Lin continued to pat her back as she coughed and took the glass of water from Naru, when he approached them, and put it to her lips. Her hands enclosed around it and she took a long drink out of it. When she finished drinking, she took three deep breaths.

"Are you alright?" Lin asked her. She nodded.

"Pay attention to what you're doing, idiot." Naru chided, but Mai ignored him and turned to Lin, her brown eyes wide with curiosity.

"Do you have a shiki that looks like a small white dragon?"

Lin's eyes widened at this sudden question. He glanced at his left shoulder, where his shiki was floating, before looking back at Mai. "Can you see him?"

"I did for a moment, but now I can't. I know he is there though." Here Mai pointed at Lin's left shoulder. " I've been feeling them around me since I turned eighteen. I feel them at the office, in the car, at home and in school too now."

Lin had three shiki; spirits who were bound to do his bidding through mutual agreement and contract. Feng, the white dragon spirit that Mai had seen, was his family's shiki. He had become Lins' when Rinne had been taken, as she had not formed a contract with him and was, therefore, Lins' first shiki. Lin's other shiki included Seki, a blue dragon spirit, who Lin had saved from a horde of lost spirits during his search for Rinne, and Sen, a red dragon spirit who Lin had met during his visit to China, four years ago. Sen was, therefore, the youngest bound spirit he had, which often lead to disagreements between him and Feng, as Feng followed certain rules of conduct for bound spirits, being a bound spirit for so long, which Sen disregarded.

"Who you saw was Feng; a family shiki. I have asked him to watch over you when I am unable to. That would explain his presence in places where I am not."

Mai nodded at this and stared at his shoulder a moment longer before turning back to her smoothie. She was about to resume drinking it when she suddenly cried out, dropped the smoothie and clutched her head with both her hands. Her body was tense as she doubled over, her head nearly touching her knees. Both men moved instantaneously; Naru kneeled next to her while Lin sat on his knees in front of her.

"What's wrong Mai?" Lin asked her while trying to pry her hands away from her head to see her face. When her only response was to groan in pain, Lin placed both his hands atop hers and said in a gentle, calm, yet slightly commanding tone, "Tell me what is wrong Mai? Please, look at me."

Slowly, Mai raised her head to reveal tears at the corners of her eyes. "There are so many spirits here." Her voice was but a whisper, filled with pain. " I can feel them around me. I can feel what they are feeling right now and-Oh!" She faltered and whimpered before pressing her lips together to stop any further sound.

Lin took a deep breath to calm down; panicking was not going to help anyone. His mind was racing. He had not expected Mai's powers to burst out like this. Obviously, she was inexperienced in dealing with spirits like this because she could only feel them momentarily, with the exception of his shiki, apparently, and that too was on cases. Having to suddenly feel the emotions of all the spirits around them in the complex (there were quite a few, according to his shiki)must not be only taxing mentally but physically as well and for an emotional person like Mai, the emotional effect would most likely be doubled.

She did not know how to meditate so he, Lin, would have to calm her down another way. He placed his hand atop her head and spoke gently, "I want you to focus on my voice Mai. I want you to try and ignore everything but my voice. Do you understand?"

Mai gave a weak nod, signalling Lin to continue.

"I want you to imagine yourself in a square room with four doors; one on each side. Can you see it?"

Lin watched as Mai's brow furrowed and she gave a weak nod. From the corner of his eyes he noticed Naru heading to the counter, presumably to pay for their drinks. He also noticed that they were attracting quite a lot of attention but ignored this; Mais' need was greater than worrying about attention.

"What you are feeling right now are not your emotions, Mai. They may feel as your own but you need to separate them from yourself. I want you to focus on your emotions. What are you feeling right now? Focus on an emotion that you feel easily. Focus on something happy."

Mai's brow further furrowed and she wrapped her arms around herself, her hands clutching the fabric of her shirt. After a moment she nodded again.

"Now, I want you to imagine all the extra emotions as noise, like the noise here in the mall. Imagine this noise coming from the doors around you. Once that is done, you know how to shut out the sound, Mai. Shut the doors."

Lin waited with baited breath. This was the most difficult part. Converting something that was present in the physical or spiritual plane into a mental image, to manipulate it, was not easy. It required focus and familiarity. Whatever was being converted, or manipulated, needed to be pictured as something familiar so it could be imagined easily and manipulated. He had chosen noise to represent the surge of emotions as it was present around them and something Mai could easily relate to and, hence, picture it.

He watched as Mai's body slowly relaxed before she sat up, breathing deeply. Despite the tears running down her face, she gave him a weak smile. He stood up and patted her head.

"I think it's time we head home. After you rest, I will teach you meditation, to better prepare you, should your powers surge again."

Mai nodded and gathered her things. As she stood up, she swayed slightly, but before Lin could grab her, to steady her, Naru appeared at her side and held her by her arms to keep her upright. Mai blushed ever so slightly and mumbled a thank you while Naru turned to glare at Lin.

" I agree with you Lin, but while she rests, you have to explain what just happened."

Lin sighed.