Me: Here's the next chapter and it hasn't even been a week!

Naru: It's been nearly a week though

Me: But it hasn't been a week

Naru:…

Mai: Naru just got owned! And if Shellsan owned ghost hunt then that would of happened much more often. But it almost never happened so I guess that means she doesn't! *grumbles*

Me: Enjoy! And go and check out Iloveanimex's story A Walk To The Lake ( s/10232929/1/A-walk-to-the-lake ) because it's amazing and needs to be shared with all of the ghost hunt fandom!

"Would you speak in Japanese for crying out loud!" the monk exclaimed from across the table when his frustration got the better of him.

Mai laughed at him.

"Sorry Bou-san, I forgot you can't speak the language."

Said man scowled, "No need to rub it in" he mumbled pouting.

Rolling her eyes, Mai dragged herself out of her seat and gave the pouting man a hug.

The action seemed to spark some curiosity in the mind of Lin.

"Takigawa, did you adopt Taniyama-san?" He asked.

It seemed like a natural thing to ask considering how they act around each other and the bond that the two seemed to have shared since the very beginning. Naru too seemed to want the answer to said inquiry and turned his head to the pair trying not to be jealous of their current position.

"I tried but she was stubborn and when she finally got irritated with my asking she threatened me."

Mai groaned turning away and hiding behind the monks shoulder. It most definitely hadn't been her best moment of the past year.

"You threatened him?" Naru asked rather intrigued.

Mai refused to look at them, too embarrassed about what had happened.

"Oh yeah, if I remember correctly she said and I quote "If you ask me to become your adopted daughter one more time then I will steal Ayako's purse and hit you so many times that you won't be able to think straight for a week"" Ayako teased.

Masako snickered from across the table. Up until now she had been sitting there quietly conversing with John but naturally she didn't pass up the chance to see Mai get embarrassed.

"In my defence it was the thirty second time he had asked, I hadn't slept the night before and I had just finished a busy day at work" she mumbled from behind Bou-san's shoulder.

They looked at her slightly taken aback. "Were you counting or something?"

Mai turned back to them -her blush now only a small pink tint- escaping from what was originally a simple hug and had turned into a battle of trying to breathe while the elder attempted to squeeze the daylights out of her. Catching her breath she grinned at them shrugging while moving back to her own seat.

"But back on the initial topic, are you coming or not?" Naru demanded getting slightly annoyed.

Sighing Mai nodded in agreement.

"Let's try to keep you out of trouble for this one" John remarked smiling slightly. His words were meant to be positive but sparked remembrance in Ayako.

"Wait, are you even able to go?" she inquired, "have your injuries healed yet?"

Mai scowled, "My injuries are no longer existent. They finished healing a few days ago. I keep trying to tell you that but you're not listening" she grumbled.

Ayako rolled her eyes, "I'm just worried about you. How many times have you gotten hurt this month alone?"

The question was meant to be rhetorical so Mai ignored it but a certain man who had been gone for a long time found himself getting rather worried.

"What do you mean injuries?"

The group looked around at each other nervously before looking back at Naru.

"Well while you were gone it was obvious we weren't going to sit around and do nothing. All of us have our jobs to do and on the occasional bigger case we would get together. We recently finished a rather difficult case and during it Mai managed to get herself kidnapped and spent a few days without food and water. She also sustained a few minor cuts and bruises, nothing too serious but enough for a few stitches." Ayako explained.

Naru could have laughed at the fact that Mai still managed to get herself into trouble no matter the occasion. It looked like while he was away was no exception. But if they were working as a team wouldn't it mean that they required someone to make major decisions? A leader to say what has to be done and make sure things stay balanced while figuring out what was going on and the best course of action.

"You're wondering who was the one giving orders aren't you?"

Naru raised an eyebrow at Yasu. "Well?" he asked.

Yasu grinned cheekily, "Oh but isn't it more fun to guess?" he asked.

It was obvious that Naru wasn't going to get any answers there. He turned to the others and scanned them.

"Takigawa-san" he guessed after a moment. Monk shook his head. "Not me Naru"

"Matsuzaki-san" he tried. Once again a negative answer.

Lin looked at them thoughtfully scanning over them. Naru was about to make another guess based on out-dated logic when Lin cut him off.

"It wouldn't happen to be you would it Taniyama-san?" he asked looking at Mai.

Said girl seemed to look around for something.

"I don't see my mother or father's ghosts anywhere so I hope you weren't addressing me," she mumbled jokingly.

Lin gave her a confused look causing Mai to huff.

"My name is Mai-chan if you insist of adding honorifics. Everyone else just calls me Mai so I don't see why you have to be so complicated" she grumbled much to the amusement of the others.

Rolling his eyes the man spoke again, "Fine. Then is it you Mai-san?"

Mai pursed her lips at the intended annoyance. "I don't know how you came up with that conclusion, I was sure I'd be the last person you'd pick" she stated evasively.

Naru silently nodded along. He wouldn't expect it to be Mai. He was sure it'd Bou-san but he had been proven wrong and the one with the next best amount of experience was Ayako but that had been wrong too. Even so there was no way it could be Mai, was there? She had never shown any interest in being a leader, nor did she ever show him the necessary qualities.

"You don't have to be so embarrassed" Yasu cooed, moving from his seat to sling his arm over her shoulder.

"I'm not embarrassed," Mai denied crossing her arms and looking away from him.

Yasu smirked, "so you admit it?"

Mai turned back to him, "wipe that smirk off your face and I didn't give orders" she huffed.

Bou-san raised an eyebrow, "then what do you call it?" he asked curiously.

She looked deep in thought before she grinned back at them triumphantly. "I call it using my intuition to keep you guys out of trouble"

"And then getting yourself hurt" Ayako added causing Mai to glare at her.

"I don't always get hurt!" she protested.

"Oh yeah? Name one case where you've gotten out unscathed" Challenged Ayako.

"Um, ah no, there was always… no not that one, what about… not that one either" Mai muttered to herself before deflating slightly.

"You win"

"I told you so"

Mai rolled her eyes, noticing the sun going down out of the corner of her eye. "I hate to say this guys but it's getting late, I haven't eaten since breakfast, and I really need to shower, study, and sleep. So I just need to know when we're leaving and then I can figure out the next part of my schedule"

Nodding Naru stood up from his chair followed by Lin, "We leave to go back to England in one week. BSPR will be responsible for costs and I'll ring you all soon to let you know the rest of the details" Naru informed.

The Mai and the others stood from their chairs too and they all made their way out. Mai was about to leave when she realised she had forgotten her phone.

"I'll see you all soon" Mai called going back to get her phone. Once she had grabbed it and made sure that she had the rest of her things she quickly made her way back to the doors. Aas she was walking back she noticed Naru still standing there.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked.

Naru sighed, "I wanted to talk to you. Besides, you shouldn't be walking around on your own at times like these"

Mai rolled her eyes and gave him an exasperated look, "what? Because I'm a woman?" she snarled walking out the door and turning to lock the doors. Once they were locked she gave him a pointed look. "because I can take care of myself"

As she stepped to walk away Mai's foot hit a small stone and before she knew it she was falling towards the ground. Right before she hit the ground she felt herself pulled back into a strong chest.

"No, I think I'm more worried about you getting yourself killed," he whispered into her ear. "And I already told you, I needed to speak with you. Not that your small amount of brain cells can remember what happened only a minute ago" he added smirking.

Mai shivered before quickly moving away to glare at him, ignoring how much she instantly missed his arms around her. Without waiting to see if he was going to follow her she began walking towards her apartment. After a few moments Naru had caught up to her with. Neither one of them spoke as they finished the walk to her apartment in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable but it wasn't exactly comfortable either.

When they finally reached her complex, Mai walked into the lobby and made her way over to the elevator with Naru following close behind. Mai hit the 23rd floor and waited in silence for them to reach her floor.

Once they finally did, she made her way to her door and opened it, turning on the lights. She turned around and saw Naru standing there. Sighing she gestured for him to come in.

"Since you're already here, do you want some tea?" she inquired.

"Yes"

Naru inwardly smiled. It had been too long since he'd had her tea and despite having some of it this morning, he was still going through withdrawal symptoms.

Mai didn't comment about his lack of manners as she made her way to the kitchen and place the kettle of the stove and waited for it to boil before adding tea leaves and letting them steep. She took the next few minutes while waiting to think of what Naru could want to talk about. But even with those minutes she couldn't think of anything.

Deciding she'd find out soon enough, Mai grabbed the tea and handed Naru his cup.

"Thanks" he stated.

Mai nearly fell over from shock but quickly bypassed it when she noticed the slight smirk on his face.

"You're welcome. Now what did you want to talk to me about?" Mai asked, getting straight to the point as she took a seat across from him.

Naru seemed to look slightly nervous as he smelled his tea before taking a long sip, something Mai recognised as what he did when he felt guilt or similar.

"I wanted to apologise for what I said that day at the lake. It was completely uncalled for and inconsiderate. I am truly sorry"

Mai looked at him in shock.

"It's ok" she sighed, "I got over that for the most part within a month. Emotions were running high and it was a bad time to confess my feelings for you. However and do take offense to the fact that you told me how I felt and that you think I would be so inconsiderate as to use you as a replacement"

Naru nodded, "I just felt like it was necessary for me to apologise to you. It would be very unprofessional for us to go to England under such awkward circumstances. As the leader of the others and a soon-to-be student of Cambridge surely you can understand that."

Mai nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I can understand that and wait are you mocking me?"

Naru smirked, placing his empty cup down on the coffee table, "No, simply checking to make sure that you hadn't lost anymore brain cells since the last time we spoke" he spoke, standing up and moving towards the door.

"YOU NARCISSISTIC JERK" Mai shouted as Naru opened the door. Before he left he turned to a slightly angry Mai and smiled a genuine smile before closing the door and leaving.

Me: And that is all for this chapter

Mai: Are you alright?

Me: Ummm yeah.. no not really. Just a warning that if this wasn't anything like the first 1000 words it is because the only reason I had this chapter out so soon is because I needed to get away from my asshole of a father and was crying while I wrote this…

Everyone: *awkward silence*

Me: And I have no idea while I just shared that with the world but oh well

Naru: Idiot