The guest with the mask left with brand manager, Yasuhara. Fr. John was sitting right across the child he used to babysit. The child that had indigo eyes and cinnamon hair was looking back at him. He found the child difficult to take care whenever her father would leave her with him. When she was 3, it took an hour for him to calm her down. He used to pray every night that God would give him in babysitting little Jean. Jean exposed her first supernatural manifestation in front of the priest when she was waiting for her father. Jean was an impatient child, but as she grew a little, she changed.

"Jean, would you like some tea?" John nervously asked and waited for her to either shake her head or nod. Jean just continued to stare at him with wonder; it was as if she was daydreaming.

"Jean?" He asked again.

Jean flinched a little as she heard the priest, she looked down and shook her head.

"Fr. John, Do you think that my parents made me in a one night stand?" Jean slightly tilted her head. John immediately stood up and then couldn't find a simple answer to such a complicated question. He found it hard to believe that the child in front of him would ask such sensitive issue. Jean, on the other hand, trusted Fr. John since she was a baby. Though, she knew that she gave him an awkward time.

"Wh-why do you even know those words?" Stuttering his words due to his confusion, John got back to his seat waiting for a miracle or a distraction.

Luckily, God gave him the perfect entertainment. The door from the supplied room opened, the Chinese man walked from the chamber and looked at the two bonding.

"Li-Lin! Jean has a very, very interesting question!" John was still stammering from Jean's questions. Lin raised an eyebrow, he was interested in why the priest was nervous and of Jean's question. Lin made his way to the seat next to John and sat down. He looked at the young child who was in deep thinking.

"Do you think that my parents made me in a one night stand?" Jean asked, Lin just froze. He couldn't respond to the child's question as well. He had to think of something fast because he knew that Naru would believe that she got that idea from Yasuhara.

"Jean, wha-what makes you think that?" He stuttered as well.

"I just couldn't think of a reason how they did it," Jean spoke too directly. "I mean, father is such a workaholic, and I didn't want to assume that they were both drunk of something."

Lin and John couldn't digest what they just heard from the child. They knew that Jean was smart, she was already in high school for an 8-year-old, but they didn't expect that she would be that intelligent and curious.

"From what I do know is that your mother loved your father," John said thinking about the bright side. Though, he doesn't know if Naru could ever reciprocate Mai's unconditional love for him. Until Lin finally spoke up.

"I also know that your father loved your mother as much as she did." Lin smiled.

"How do you know about that, Uncle Lin?" Jean was starting to get curious.

"Well, let's just say I followed your father once when your mother was in trouble." Lin turned his head to the side trying to remember that night.

The sound of the door made the three people in the room turn. The raven-haired man together with the priestess entered the room followed by the woman in a kimono. Jean jumped out from her seat and ran towards the first man who opened the door.

"Daddy!" She exclaimed and met him half-way. Naru involuntarily knelt on one knee and gave his daughter an embrace. She gave him a peck on the cheek before giving him a big smile. Naru smiled and gave her temple a kiss before standing up. Jean was about to follow him, but she saw the lady with the long black hair in a kimono. So, she stared at her as she walked towards her.

"So you must be Jean?" Masako smiled and slightly bent. "You look like your mother."

Jean pulled out her hand and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Aunt Masako."

Jean noticed the small blush on the woman's cheeks; Masako smiled even more as she found the child adorable.

"So, Did you see anything weird about Mai's file?" John asked Ayako before she could even sit. Ayako exhaustedly sighed and crossed her leg before placing her purse near the coffee table. She looked at the priest and nodded.

"The x-rays from the autopsy wasn't from Mai's." Ayako's words only made Lin and John excited about it. They were thinking of the possibility that Mai was still alive. Naru, on the other hand, did like the feeling and the thought of Mai being alive. He poured himself a hot cup of tea and sat in the kitchenette. Jean sat next to him and shared the tea cup.

"Daddy, I have an odd question."

"Hmm?" Naru opened his notebook and was about to pull out his pen.

"Did you only do it once? and did you love mom?" Jean's question almost made her father choke from the hot tea. She sheepishly looked down and waited for him to scold her due to the inappropriate question. Naru didn't like to talk about any topics with regards to Mai, but there was an exception now since his mood lightened up by the fact that Mai isn't dead.

"What made you think about that, Jean?" Naru leaned back in his seat before reading his notebook.

"Well, I'm just curious I guess."

At the other side of the divider, John glanced to Lin and was quite curious about the topic they talked about earlier.

"So, Lin-san, why did you follow Naru?"

"Well, Naru ran out from the office that night and took off with one of the cars, So I followed him with a cab."

8 Years ago

The room was terribly quiet, too quiet. It was normal since Mai asked her boss to leave work early since she wanted to visit an old friend back to her former neighborhood. Hearing his fingers pressing the keys on the keyboard was slowly making him worry, worry about the silence in the office. It was already 8 in the evening, and his cup of tea was empty. Irritated by the fact that he was out of tea, he decided to stop typing and just get some tea in the kitchenette. So, he stood up, opened the door and proceeded to the kitchenette. He noticed that the kettle was empty, and as well as his supply of tea. Curses and swears were slowly lurking in his mind. He needed his tea; he was slowly going to lose it if he didn't have his tea. The fact that he didn't have dinner because he was overly satisfied with Mai's tea.

Tea was his favorite drink, black tea to be specific, Mai's black tea. He irritatedly sighed as he placed the teacup in the sink before washing it. As he washes his teacup, he failed to notice the vibration of his phone from his pocket. He doesn't usually carry his phone around the office, but he had a gut feeling of placing it in his pocket. After putting the teacup on the drying rack, he felt the extreme vibration. Sliding his hand into his pocket, it stopped from vibrating. But, he pulled it out and saw the caller Id.

"Mai?"

Curious of why she called, he slid his finger on the screen and called her. Waiting for her response, he walked back into his office, knowing that Lin was still near the premises. Closing the door, he finally heard her voice, but it sounded rather different from the usual greeting.

"Naru…" Her cracked voice made him worry. He then approached the coat rack to get his jacket ready to leave.

"Naru, please help me." He could hear her hard breathe thru the line, and so was her whispered voice.

"Where are you? What's going on?" He rushed towards the door forgetting that his computer was still turned on. "I already called the cops." Mai sniffed.

Cops? Worrying about what was going on, he quickly left his office and took the keys from a drawer. He left the building and rushed towards the car. As he made his way into the vehicle, he heard sirens from the background and then finally a gunshot.

"Mai?" He asked. "Mai!" He yelled as he drove his way towards the address she gave her. It wasn't a long drive from the office. But, it felt like a long way for Naru. Completely stressed by the fact that he heard a gunshot and Mai didn't respond, he didn't notice that there was a taxi following his vehicle. He was too busy cussing about Mai's situation. He was way beyond speed the speed limit, but he didn't care. Lin, however, did care. He was starting to wonder why he was in a taxi cab to follow him when h can drive his car.

It took some time for Naru to reach the neighborhood, he had to park a quarter of a mile from the destination since barricades were blocking his way. People were behind the barricades, he swiftly moved his way into the crowd, he tried to look for her, and finally, he pushed himself to enter.

"Mai!" He briskly walked towards the back of the ambulance. Seeing her sitting on the gurney with a hooded towel made him a little relieved.

"Excuse me, sir, but you have to go back there." The policeman blocked his way. The moment that Mai heard his voice and saw him. She leaped from the gurney and limped her way towards the officer to inform him that he's a friend. But, Detective Hirota approached the policeman and said.

"He's okay. He knows the witness." The policeman slightly bowed and gave him his way.

"Mai!" His angered voice made her flinched and losing her balance; she was about to fall on her back, but his reflexes were quick, he quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her up.

"Idiot, why did you leave the ambulance? You were being treated." He said as he helped her stand up by holding her shoulders tightly. Mai nodded, she was relieved to see him. She was relieved to see him after she called. Naru felt relieved as well; it was the first time that he saw Mai in trouble outside of a case. Emotions were stirring up, Mai was feeling tired from crying earlier and she felt like she just needed to close her eyes.

"The EMT cleared me. It's just a sprain." She looked down on her foot.

"What happened?"

"Can we please not talk about it?" Mai continued to look down and thought of a way to divert the topic. "The cops will be driving me home. I have to talk to them tomorrow about what happened." He noticed her tight grip on the towel wrapped around her. She stepped back, and he dropped his hands to his side. He had something in mind that might help the brunette's safety. With no hesitations, he asked.

"I'll take you to Matsuzaki or Hara." At some point, he did hesitate on inviting her over to his place for her safety, but no, he thought that it would be inappropriate to take her in his place while she was vulnerable.

"That's sweet of you, Naru. But, I'll be fine on my own. Masako is out of town, and Ayako is working tonight." Mai slightly blushed but faded after she smiled. "Why would I need to stay with Ayako or Masako, anyway?"

"We have a case tomorrow, your apartment is an hour from the office, and I expect you wouldn't be late." He folded his arms. Her eyes started to twitch. She was irritated by the fact that her boss wasn't giving her a time to recover from her sprain.

Isn't he a little bit concern about my health now? She thought angrily but heard his sigh as he turned around.

"Let's go, You can stay at my place for the night, and I'll drop you off the police station before going to the office." His concerned words started to bother her. She followed him towards the car and left the scene.

Flashback end

"I didn't hear their conversation because I didn't want Naru to know I followed him there. The last thing I saw before going home was Taniyama crying, and Naru just embraced her." Lin smirked looking at Naru, who was standing across the room, placing his coat on the rack. Everyone in the room including Jean looked at the guilty looking man.

"I knew it! You did love, mommy. It wasn't a one night stand at all!" Jean exclaimed with an endearing expression and ran towards him. Naru sighed and turned towards his previous guardian with a glare.

"Honey, where did you hear those words?" Naru froze and shuddered; he felt that his daughter may have heard a conversation that wasn't supposed to say near a child. Jean slightly tilted her head and then tried to remember when and who she heard it.

"I may have heard it from Aunt Madoka or Grandma." Irritated with the two women that weren't present in the room, he turned to Lin to throw the blame on behalf of his wife. " Lin? You should control your wife."

"I tried to. You couldn't even control Mai." Lin felt that he needed to backfire and defend his wife.

"Have you ever won an argument against, Mai?"

"We barely talk, Naru!" Lin was starting to get annoyed.

"My, my, I didn't know that Naru was into romance." Ayako sarcastically said and grinned.

"If I wasn't maybe this beautiful child won't be right in front of you now, would she?" Naru mumbled to her daughter as he caressed Jean's hair from the back.

The team was once again complete, except for Mai since she was still missing. The door creaked, Jean was the first one to notice since she wasn't a grown up to join the group discussion. The tall brunette opened the door.

"Hello Everyone!" Bou-san greeted, he stepped inside and was being followed by a young boy. He was wearing a white polo shirt and black pants, his eyes were indigo but it looked passive, and his hair was dark as the night. He had a beads bracelet on his right hand. Bou-san stood behind him as he touched his shoulders.

"Naru, Jean, I would like you to meet someone."

Naru and Jean approached the young boy. He held his beads bracelet as he stepped forward. He closed his eyes and tried to sense the surroundings and energy around him. With a few seconds of silence, Ray was able to know his whereabouts and some people that were inside the room. He was annoyed by the fact that he had to wear shoes so that it wouldn't look weird. The monk behind him was the one who insisted letting him wear civilized clothes. It wasn't wrong to wear the clothes; he just felt a little uncomfortable with it. With his eyes opened, he finally took a breath and greeted the people in front of him.

"Good Afternoon to all of you." Ray bowed down and pulled himself once again. "My name is Ray. It's finally nice to meet you, Jean and Fr. Brown. It is truly an honor to be in front of you, Dr. Davis."

Jean smiled and ran towards the young boy. She gently reached out for his hand, but he didn't flinch nor was surprised. His head and his eyes were still in one direction.

"I apologize if I'm little stiff. To be honest, I'm nervous about meeting you and Dr. Davis. But I guess there is a little advantage to being blind."

ShyMaryButterfly, kuroicalidra,soulsborne123 , TakaTaro xSapphirexRosesxFanx, blue hummming bird:

We are chapters away in discovering what happened to Mai and the past! Thank you for the reviews I hope you will like this new chapter!