~Case 1 - A Mother's Love - Part 3~

"Everyone's here!" Mai clapped happily as Lin pulled in to the client's driveway. It excited her to no end to know she was going to see her surrogate family again. Mai jumped out of the car before it even came to a complete stop. "John! Yasu!" She ran to the two boys and hugged them tightly around their necks. Yasu laughed and John smiled. They each put an arm around her to hug her back.

"Hi Mai," John said, making Mai smile with his thick accent.

"Long time no see," Yasu grinned.

Mai grinned back. "Yeah. I'm so excited to see everyone. It's been so boring without everyone around!"

She stepped backward, content and ready to get to work. "Okay, time to...what?" John and Yasu's smiles had faded. John touched his own throat with his hand as an indicator. "Oh, my neck," She supplied unnecessarily. Yasu nodded dumbly as the rest of the team ran up to them.

Mai opened her mouth to speak, but before she could Ayako had taken hold of her face and was examining her. "Oh my God! Mai! What happened?" Ayako whipped around to face Naru and Lin. "What happened? Those weren't there yesterday! Who did that?" By this time Monk was next to her as well, solemnly looking at the hand prints around her throat and giving the two males an expectant look.

"Guys, I'm fine!" Mai placed a soothing hand on Monk and Ayako's arm, trying to assure them that she was alright. "Nothing happened. I just had a dream."

As soon as it came out of her mouth, she realized she hadn't really explained anything. She could see her friends about to explode with questions, but just before they started grilling her, a soft voice interrupted them. "She astral projected into her dream."

Mai sighed in relief and nodded vigorously. Thank Masako of all people to be her saving grace. Now that they had been stunned into silence, Mai took the opportunity to do a quick run-down of what had occurred up until this point, including a full recounting of her dream and the conversation they'd had before they left (though leaving out the sweet moment she'd had with Naru in the car- that was just for her). There was a short pause while her teammates processed the information. Yasu, Monk, Ayako opened their mouths to ask questions but before anyone could, Naru had evidently reached his fill and crossed his arms, glaring at his employees.

"If I may remind you, we are on a case and we won't be doing any good standing in their front yard. Get the equipment unpacked and set up. We can discuss it later."

"Right, sorry," They all muttered and did as he commanded. He'd had a long day already and the last thing they needed was to invoke his wrath.

Mai started toward the van only to be stopped by a hand on her arm. She turned to see Ayako holding a white decorative scarf out toward her. "To cover the bruises," Ayako explained at the sight of Mai's befuddled expression.

"Oh, that's a great idea, Ayako!" Mai grinned. "I didn't even think of that. Thanks!"

"Of course it's a great idea. I thought of it, after all," Ayako laughed and wrapped the scarf around Mai's neck. "Don't mention it. There's no need for you to go scare the small children," She teased as she finished looping it around the girl's throat. "There we go. Now let's get to work before Naru has an aneurysm," Mai laughed with an agreeing nod and they both walked back over to the van

"Mai," Naru called to her as she picked up a box. "You're coming with me to base."

"Okay!" She called, picking up a second box and stacking it on top of the first before hurrying over to him.

Naru took a box from her. "Oh, thanks," She said. "You don't have to carry it for me, though."

Naru just motioned for her to go ahead of him. "We're going to drop these off first, then we're going to interview the family."

"Mkay," She hummed in agreement. "Why aren't you taking Lin instead of me?"

"Lin is stronger than you are," Naru said simply. "And I'd like to get the interviews done as soon as possible. You have the ability to take notes, right?"

"Yes," Mai huffed. "I'm not incompetent."

"That's your opinion," Naru quipped. He reached the front door and stepped through, holding it open for her.

"Thank you," Mai grumbled. She took a step through the threshold and immediately stumbled, nearly dropping the box she was carrying when she had to clamp a hand down over her mouth. Her eyes began to water as the unmistakable sensation of being surrounded by smoke assaulted her. She coughed, glancing up at Naru with watery eyes. "Do you feel that?" She rasped.

"Feel what?" He frowned at her.

"The smoke," Mai coughed, taking his answer as a solid 'no'. Naru took her box from her and set it, along with his, on the ground. Ignoring her mild complaints, he instructed her to lean back against the wall until she could breathe normally again. She did as he said, slowly feeling the "smoke" start to dissipate and aware of Naru alternating between jotting something down into his notepad and looking up to see how she was.

This was how Tai Oita found them a minute or so later. He walked up to them curiously. "Hello again. Are the pair of you alright?"

Naru shook the client's hand. "Yes, thank you," He said, glancing over at Mai out of the corner of his eye. She was taking a few deep breaths but otherwise appeared to have recovered. "We were hoping you could direct the way to the room we'll be operating out of."

The man nodded enthusiastically. "Certainly, Mr. Shibuya. Please follow me."

Naru quickly stooped down and picked up both of the boxes they had dropped (ignoring a hissed "Naru!" from Mai- he knew she'd never argue with him in front of a client) and followed Mr. Oita up a massive flight of stairs (if these were the stairs his wife had nearly fallen down Mai could understand Mr. Oita's concern) and down a hallway. "I've already met the rest of you're team," He informed them as they reached their base. "I'm so glad you could all make it here so quickly! My family and I really appreciate it!"

Mai smiled. What a nice man. It was sad that he and his family had to deal with something like this. "We're just happy to help!" He turned and gave her a kind smile, stepping out of the way so they could enter the room.

The room was large and furnished with three large couches and four big shelf computer tables- way more than they were used to getting on an investigation. "Wow," Mai admired, turning in a circle.

"I hope the room is satisfactory," Mr. Oita smiled from the doorway. "Your bedrooms are the last two at the end of the hall. Is there anything I can help with?"

Naru faced him. "If at all possible, I'd like you to direct the rest of your family here so we can talk to them about what they've experienced."

"Of course. I let them know now," He closed the door softly behind him as he left.

Naru turned on her. "What just happened?" He asked as soon as the door was shut.

Mai snorted at the bluntness. "Well I don't feel it anymore, but when I walked in it almost felt like I was in the middle of a fire..." Mai pondered what she felt and began to unpack the boxes. "It smelled like there was smoke everywhere. It was weird and really took me off guard. I don't know what it was, exactly."

He leaned back in his chair. "Strange," He commented, putting his chin in his hand contemplatively. "I'll have Yasuhara investigate anything that has to do with fire when everything is set up," He said, more to himself than her.

They looked over as the door to the room creaked open. In the open doorway stood a middle-aged woman with dark blonde hair and a kind smile. Behind her stood two young children- a boy and a girl- who must have been twins. They couldn't have been older than six and they shared the same color hair as the woman they were currently hiding behind the legs of.

"Hi," Mai immediately crouched and gave them a sweet smile. She loved children and these two were both so adorable! "I'm Mai. What are your names?"

The boy and girl glanced up at their mother who nodded at them encouragingly. "I'm Misao," The little girl said shyly.

"I'm Hiro," The boy followed his sister's lead. "And this is our mommy," He added after a second.

"I'm Sei," The woman corrected with a laugh. She walked forward to give both Naru and Mai a handshake. "I'm assuming you're Kazuya Shibuya," She said.

"I am. This is my assistant, Mai Taniyama," Mai stood to her full height and bowed politely at Sei.

"Do you want some candy?" Mai asked the kids. They nodded enthusiastically, all former shyness gone. Sei chuckled softly while Mai went to retrieve some lollipops from her bag.

"They're not hard to please," She smiled fondly. "My husband said you wanted to speak with us?"

"Right," Naru gestured for her to sit on a couch. Her kids soon sat next to her, content smiles on their faces as they ate their candy. Mai came to stand behind Naru, a notepad and pen in her hand. "Have you experienced anything other than the incidents that your husband has informed us of- that is, hair pulling, pushing, being locked into room, and being nearly strangled?"

Sei tilted her head, thinking. "I think that's it for the physical part."

Mai looked up. "Physical?"

Sei pursed her lips. "Something keeps whispering to me. No one else can hear it but me. It says the oddest things. 'I won't let you hurt them', 'I'll protect them' things like that."

Naru nodded. "He mentioned that as well. Do you know who 'they' are?"

Sei pursed her lips. "I think they're talking about Misao and Hiro. Normally things happen to me when I play with them or just get done playing with them. But I don't know why anyone would think they need to be protected from me. I hardly ever even discipline them- that's normally my husband. I'm a huge pushover and they get away with a lot," At the last comment she reached down and teasingly poked both children in the sides. Mai smiled when they both giggled and squirmed away from her.

He waited for the children to calm down before continuing. "What about your kids?" Naru asked while Mai scribbled away in the notepad. "Have they experienced anything?"

The twins were silent. They looked at each other briefly before seemingly coming to some sort of mental agreement. "Sometimes we hear a boy," Misao said.

Sei looked at them with a startled expression that told Mai that she probably hadn't been aware of this. "He talks to you?" Naru asked.

"No," Hiro shook his head. "It just cries and stuff."

"It yells sometimes, too," Misao added.

"Have you ever seen anything?" Mai asked. They both shook their head.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sei asked them, wide-eyed.

Misao shrugged. "We didn't think it was important."

"Is that everything?" Naru interrupted as Sei began to open her mouth.

She looked at her children. They nodded. "Yes, that's everything."

"Then thank you. We've got what we need," Naru said, standing up. Mai handed him the notepad and he read through her notes. She beamed when he nodded approvingly.

"Our pleasure," The woman responded politely before shepherding her children out the door.

Hardly 30 seconds had passed before the door was slammed opened. Mai jumped a foot in the air and whirled around with a loud gasp to see that the rest of the gang had made finally made it up.

"That staircase is way too long," Monk panted, discarding his cargo and collapsing onto the couch.

"You said it," Ayako agreed, sitting down with a little more grace.

Masako looked at them and shook her head. "Disgraceful," She muttered behind her sleeve. She walked over and delicately sat down on the couch Mai was currently inhabiting.

"Hi Masako," Mai said nicely, preparing herself for the scathing remark she knew was coming.

"Hi Mai," Masako replied with an odd look on her face. It looked like a cross between embarrassment, shyness, and friendliness. "How have you been? It's been quite a long time."

Mai's eyebrows creased in confusion. Since when was Masako nice to her? "Yeah, it has been," Mai said, deciding she didn't care what caused Masako's sudden warmth. She wasn't about to complain- she'd just enjoy it while it lasted. "I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm good," Masako said, smiling a little more calmly than before.

"Miss Matsuzaki and Miss Hara, I want to both of you to take temperatures," Naru announced as he plugged the monitors into the wall. Ayako sighed heavily while Masako nodded. "Mai and Monk, go set up cameras," Monk sidled over to Mai and ruffled her hair affectionately. "And Yasu, take John with you to find information," He handed the student a piece of paper. "This is the information we have so far. I want you to find everything you can about any fires on the property."

"You got it!" Yasu said, flashing a grin over at the young priest. John smiled back and gave Yasu a thumbs up.

Mai looked around the room contently as everyone set about their assigned jobs. She held a camera to her chest and smiled fondly. It was good to be back.

Aw look, the gang's all here and ready to begin their case! I don't know about you guys, but I was just like Misao and Hiro when I was a little kid. My parent's were on a need-to-know basis and for a while it was rare for them to need to know. I remember when I was maybe six my mom was in the bathroom and a mailman came to deliver a package so when he knocked I yelled "Mommy says not to talk to strangers!" and ignored him and he left. Later my mom was talking to my dad and mentioned that a package should have come and I told her what happened and she got made at me for not telling her. Anyway, I digress. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review and let me know what you thought! Thanks for reading, I love you all!