Well, like I said before school is back in full swing so updates will be slow, but I plan to update before Halloween. I just want to say thank you to everyone who reviewed! I'm almost at 400 reviews! I'm absolutely thrilled! I hope you all enjoy this next installment and review!

Chapter 2- She told him.

Monday (Technically Day 1) 8:04 P.M.

"I know you told Naru what really happened last night. And I know he has a case. He called you and left a message on the answering machine."

"Mai, I already talked to him and told him-"

"I'm going on that case."

Several hours earlier…

Mai had just gotten back to Ayako's apartment after speaking with Hozumi and realized she still had some time to herself until Ayako came back. I should call Tsubame. Let her know that I won't be joining her for the next few days. I should've done that earlier. She shook her head and headed for the phone.

She dialed the number and waited for her neighbor to pick up. "Moshi, moshi? Nakano Tsubame desu."

"Tsubame, it's Mai." She heard a surprised but probably happy gasp. "I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner, but something unexpected came up and I had to stay at a friends."

"Oh Mai, don't you worry about it. I was worried that something happened when I found your apartment unlocked. Luckily, nothing looked like it had been taken, but you obviously left in a hurry."

"Like I said, something unexpected came up," Mai tried to sound nonchalant, but knew she only sounded tired. Or maybe indifferent like her boss. Don't think that way, Mai. "I just wanted to let you know that I probably won't be able to run with you the rest of this week."

"Your work, I take it?" Mai nodded, despite the fact that her friend couldn't see it. "I hope you let that boy know, he was waiting for you for hours."

Mai's heart sank. He's there? What am I going to do? "Mai-chan? Are you still there?"

"Huh? Yeah," she stuttered, taking a deep breath. "Tsubame, I would appreciate it if you didn't tell him that you spoke to me. I'll talk to him later but I'd rather be the one to tell him where I am." She lied smoothly, hoping that the woman on the other line hadn't suspected the truth.

"Uh, well, sure. That's a little odd, but that's fine." Mai gave a sigh of relief, if the woman suspected anything, she wasn't going to say it. "Let me know when you're back, runs get lonesome when you're alone."

"I will, see you later, Tsubame." Mai hung up the phone and headed for the bathroom to try and remove some of the makeup in case Ayako was upset that she had used it.

As soon as she reached the door, the phone rang. Walking back over she noticed the caller ID. She knew that number just as well as her own home number. Not knowing how she should feel about this caller, she let it go to the answering machine. "You've reached Matsuzaki Ayako, leave a message."

"Matsuzaki-san, I was calling to check in on what we discussed last night. Will you be joining us on this case? Call me back."

Beep.

This was what she was hoping for right? A case! She could get far away from Tokyo, hopefully. But what had they discussed last night-

Her heart stuck in her throat, Mai found it hard to breathe. Letting out a shaky breath she leaned her back against the wall and slid to the ground.

She told him. She told him. She told him.

She repeated the fact in her head, unsure of how she felt about it. Betrayed? Yeah, a bit. Hurt? Maybe, but she really didn't know. While she was upset that Ayako had told Naru, she was a little grateful she didn't have to explain the black eye to him directly. There was no way she could come up with a good enough excuse.

"I don't want to have to explain it to everyone," she muttered into her knees. "But I need to go on that case. I'm safer with them than I am here."

A little later…

"Well, at least we only have a few more hours to drive, my butt's so numb," Monk complained as he sat down between Yasuhara and Masako at a rest stop. "I'm starving." He opened the wrapper of his sandwich and dug in.

"Wow, with that, someone would have thought you were the one who drove this far," Masako remarked, earning a scowl from the monk.

"Wow, with neither Mai nor Ayako here, you still need to find someone to be snarky with," Monk retorted.

"I only stated the truth."

"Not my fault Yasuhara won't trust me to drive his car."

"When was the last time you drove, anyway?" Yasuhara quipped.

"I have no need, the train gets me pretty much anywhere I need to be or I hitch a ride." Monk shrugged and started eating his fries. "I at least have my license."

"I think I'll take my chances with exhaustion." Ignoring the conversation, Naru and Lin came over with their trays and sat next to John in front of Masako.

"If you're tired, Yasuhara-san, I can drive the rest of the way," John offered with a smile.

"Don't worry, John, I'll be just fine," Yasuhara replied, with a grin.

Kiko rolled her eyes, sitting in front of him and on the other side of John. "What he means is I'm driving the rest of the way."

"Hey, you're making me look like a jerk!" Yasuhara argued as Naru discreetly left the table to take a phone call.

"No, honey, that's all you," she smirked as she took a bite of her sandwich. "Besides, I offered on the way up while Monk took a nap."

"I can always drive," John offered with a smile. Earning a raise brow from the Monk in front of him.

"You can drive in Japan? Don't you need a special license?" Monk asked, but John just smiled and pulled out his wallet. Inside were several IDs.

"I would say that you must be an undercover agent but the names are all the same," Yasuhara teased as John pulled out two specific IDs.

"I have an international license, but I also have a Japanese license since I'll be staying in Japan for a while." He let the interested SPR members pass the cards around. "How else would I have gotten to the Ishikawa's hotel?"

Yasuhara and Monk gave each other a stupid look, causing the girls to laugh. "Well, I don't think either of you should be driving tonight, you're far too out of it," Masako commented, smugly bringing her kimono sleeve up to her face.

"Here, you go, John," Kiko laughed, handing the keys to the priest. "You win the right to drive."

"Thanks, Kiko!" he smiled.

"How? When? What?" Yasuhara stuttered suddenly looking for his keys. "When did you grab my keys?"

"You handed them to me after we parked," the girl shrugged as Naru came and sat back down. "Was that the client?"

"No, it was Matsuzaki-san," Naru admitted.

"Well? Is the old hag going to join us on this case or is she abandoning us?" Monk teased, glad the topic had changed.

"She recruited Mai for a work project and send their apologies. They won't be joining us." Naru began eating his meal. Earning several confused glances.

"I guess that's why Mai's not driving up with us," John commented, more to himself than anyone else.

"Has Mai not been on a case before?" Kiko asked. Monk shook his head.

"She's been on every one that I've been on, since the first case at her school. This is going to be weird without her around."

"At least we won't have to worry about her getting into trouble, we all know how prone she is to it," Masako added, finishing her meal.

"If you're all finished your meals, I think we should head back out. We still have a couple more hours until we reach the university." Naru stood again and threw his trash out and headed for the van.

"Well, you heard him," Monk replied, slowly standing up. "Better get going or we'll never get there. John, you're driving right?"

"Uh, yeah," John replied as everyone followed the monk out.

8:05P.M.

Ayako could only blink as the words processed in her head. She shook her head. "You're what?"

"I'm going on that case," Mai answered firmly. She ignored the fact her eye was throbbing again. Ignored the thudding in her chest of her heart. Ignored all the voices that said this was a bad idea. "Ayako, I know they probably already left and gotten started today, but we need to go there tomorrow. I need something to take my mind off of what happened."

"Mai, I don't think that's such a good idea," Ayako shook her head and looked at the girl, knowing that one of them was right and the other was wrong. But which was it? "The case is all the way out in Akita, do you really want to be that far from home-"

"Yes!" She knew she said it too quickly. She knew it probably wouldn't help her case. "I…I need to get as far away from here as possible, Ayako. I'd rather be trying to figure out why a spirit is haunting a college than sitting around here bored out of my mind-"

"Did Naru say it was at a college in his message?" The question caught both girls off guard. Mai stopped herself and looked down at her plate.

"What? I-I think so." Her brows knitted harshly as she tried to remember. It only made her throbbing eye feel worse. She shook her head. "Either way, I want to be out there. I need to do something or else I'm going to go crazy being cooped up in here all day while you're at work."

"Mai, this isn't a good idea, what if the case is more dangerous than we expect?" Losing her appetite, Ayako stood up and grabbed some foil from a drawer.

"Then I'll sit in Base with your charms protecting me." Together they wrapped up the pizza and began to put the leftovers in the fridge. Obviously that remark wasn't going to get her anywhere. "Look, if it really gets to that point, Naru will probably put Yasuhara in a nearby hotel, I can hang out with him and do research for you guys. It would beat sitting here."

"No." The priestess had finally had enough arguing. She wasn't going to let this keep going back and forth, they were getting nowhere fast. "Mai, you need a little more time to yourself before you even think about returning to work. For now, you need to rest and nurse that eye and we can figure out what your plan is. How long you're going to stay with me, when you plan to return to school, getting homework from your friends. Things like that. We'll get you back to work after the case is over and by then all of this-"

"Ayako, he's at my apartment!" She didn't mean to shout. She really didn't. But it was this only way to get the woman to listen. "I called my neighbor, because we were supposed to go running this morning and she told me he was hanging around trying to get me to come out. He knows your name it's only a matter of time before he tries to find your apartment. I'm sure he's already gone to Keiko and Michiru's."

"Have you called them?" Kiko was right…

Mai shook her head. "I want them to stay out of this as much as possible. They probably think I'm on a case, and if we go to Akita it'll be one less lie I have to tell them." The determined look in her eyes said everything. Ayako sighed, crossing her arms.

"You really think he's going to go looking for you here? You think he'll be that determined?" Mai nodded.

"I never gave him what he wanted. He might try to get it anyway." She shrugged, closing her eyes. She was so tired. So much had occurred in so little time. She wanted this to be over with. "Ayako, I'm safer out on a case than I am in my hometown. At least there I'll have friends I can trust. Can we go on this case? Please?"

Ayako thought for a moment, she pulled out her cell phone and looked through her messages. "You're lucky Naru sent me the address in case we decided to go," she said with a sigh. "I'll have to see if I can switch out my shift tomorrow with someone, but a few people owe me a favor, so it shouldn't be too difficult." Mai's face lit up with relief. "Let me make a call before you get your hopes up."

Ayako walked out of the kitchen to make her calls. Thankfully I only have two more shifts this week, she told herself as she dialed the number. This might mean working overtime next week, but this could work.

While the call was made, Mai had finished cleaning up the kitchen and did the dishes. Please, Ayako. Please. She pleaded in her head. She finished putting the dishes away and sat back on the couch in front of the T.V. "What did Ayako get from my place?" she wondered aloud as she opened the duffle.

Inside, she found jeans, shirts, sweatpants, pajamas, undergarments, her uniform, her school bag, brush, toothbrush, an extra pair of shoes. Yup, just about everything she would need for a possibly extended stay. "Okay, I got my shifts covered," the priestess said, coming back into the room. "You up for getting up early so we can beat some traffic?"

"Yes!" Again, she didn't mean to shout, but the relief she felt that she was going on this case was overwhelming. Mai even stood up and ran to hug her friend. Surprised, Ayako just smoothed her hair.

"Well, I was thinking of getting up around five and leaving by six. We'll probably get there around one or so."

"That's perfect! Thank you, Ayako!"

10:23 P.M.

"Land! Solid land!" Monk mocked as he got out of the college student's car. Everyone, but the priest, rolled their eyes in exhaustion. John simply laughed the mockery off.

"You weren't even awake most of the drive," Masako chided. "Your driving is just fine, John."

"Thanks, Masako." Everyone stretched their legs as they discussed the snow that started to fall around them.

"Thank you, for coming so quickly." A middle-aged man came out from the main building to greet the group. "Like I said on the phone, I want this solved as quickly and quietly as possible. We've managed to limit the publicity, but if this continues I don't know what we'll do."

The man was just a tad taller than Naru, with a stocky build, his black hair was graying at the temples, and his wire-rimmed glasses framed his faded brown eyes. Next to him was a young man not much older than the college student with the group. He was probably about as tall as Ayako with light brown hair and dark brown eyes.

Naru walked up to the older man. "Due to the time and the weather, we will begin to conduct our investigation first thing in the morning. If someone could show us where we are to stay, Yamasaki-san."

The man tried and failed to hide his surprise. "You're Shibuya-san?"

Indifferent, Naru nodded slightly. "Yes, I am. Is there a problem?"

"Forgive me, but I was expecting something…different."

"Our rooms? Yamasaki-san." Impatient as ever, Naru stood there waiting for what he asked. Finally, the man snapped out of his trance and turned to the younger man next to him.

"Kohaku, show our guests to their dorms. Answer any questions they have to the best of your ability and if you need me, I'll be retiring for the evening." With that, the man walked back into the main building.

Kohaku came and grabbed Masako's bag. "If you will all follow me," he said walking towards the next building. "You will be staying in the dorms with the other students. It's where most of the occurrences have taken place." With their head snow covered, they entered the side building. "The third door down this hall is where you can set up your equipment. Your rooms to stay are upstairs."

Everyone followed the young man up the stairs. They reached the second floor and walked down past several doors. "These two rooms are for the men, two in one and three in the other." Kohaku opened the doors to reveal two empty dorm rooms. "You girls will be staying with the other females up on the third floor. If you follow me."

"Okay," the girls nodded in agreement.

"Good night, I guess," Kiko raised her brow as she spoke.

"We'll meet up and set up Base in the morning." Was Naru's only response as he and Lin walked into the room set for only two students. The girls followed Kohaku up to their rooms, leaving the remaining men to file into their room.

"It may be exhaustion setting in, but I don't have a good feeling about this case," Monk commented as he began to set up the sheets for his bunk.

"I don't think it's exhaustion," John agreed as Yasuhara nodded.

February (Officially) Day 1, 5:34 A.M.

Ayako was only slightly surprised when her alarm went off at five that morning, to find Mai already in the bathroom blowing her hair dry. With the high schooler's stuff already packed in a duffle, it was just the priestess who had to pack for their excursion. She also found the time to check the message Naru had left her.

Naru, never mentioned where the case was, how did she know? She wondered to herself as she sipped her coffee at the table. Mai was doing her makeup now. He also never mentioned knowing what happened to her. Ayako was pretty much ready to leave as soon as she packed up her makeup again. I still don't have a good feeling about this.

Mai came out of the bathroom with the makeup bag in her hand. "Ayako, I packed everything up in here for you," she said, handing over the bag. "Thanks for letting me borrow it."

"You're welcome, good thing we're almost the same shade," the priestess smiled, finishing her coffee and washing her cup. "Do you want anything to go?"

"No, thanks, I think I'll be fine," she replied, grabbing her bag from the couch.

Ayako let out a breath and proceeded to yawn. Looking sympathetically toward the teen, she thought to herself, I may not have a good feeling about this case, but I have a worse feeling about what might happen if she stays here.

She put the cup away and grabbed her bag along with a couple of pillows. "Ready, kid?"

"Yeah, let's go." The lights were turned out and the door was locked, it was time to hit the road.

Day 1 9:54 A.M.

In base, everyone was accounted for. "Let's start bringing in the equipment," Naru decided after they had breakfast. "I've asked Yamasaki-san to let word of our arrival get out to the students who have had experiences to come by for interviews this afternoon. Hara-san, I want you to do a walkthrough of the campus. Take Father Brown with you and get a tour from Kohaku-san or Yamasaki-san."

"Understood." Box by box, monitor by monitor, they brought everything in. Kiko stayed behind to set up the stands for their wall of monitors.

Soon, Lin stayed behind as well to help her with setting up the equipment. The rest of the boys brought in the cameras. "Hey, Naru, do we have a floor plan?" Monk asked after their tenth trip to the van.

"Lin will be setting it up on the bulletin board, we'll be using it to organize the paranormal claims," Naru replied as they made their way back into the dorm. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious, we didn't use one last case."

"The activity was in a small area, a mapped out floor plan on a building that small was unnecessary. However we have several buildings to cover during this case."

"Is that why you brought every single camera you had crammed at the office?" Monk propped his foot to hold the door for the men behind him. "I don't think we used this many at the mansion back in April."

"If you're going to complain you are free to leave." It was Yasuhara's voice that spoke earning a sweatdrop from the monk.

"You are way too good at your Naru impression."

"I practice everyday!"

"If you are going to mock me you are also free to leave. If you two are quite done your childish antics, we still have equipment to bring in." Somehow Naru had made it in front of the monk and college student and all the way down to Base.

"Great, why do I get the feeling we're all going to be moody today?"

"Because you are a pessimist at heart."

"Yeah and you're Mr. Sunshine and Rainbows."

"That's right, my love!"

"Please, stop that."

"Pessimist."

"That made no sense!"

"Are you hungry?" Ayako asked, after several hours of driving. Their drive had been mostly quiet, both girls were not exactly morning people, it didn't leave a lot of room for talking when the driver would rather be sleeping. And when the passenger would just love to find a way to have a decent night's sleep for once. "We're going to need gas, we can grab something at a rest stop."

"I'm not particularly hungry," Mai replied. Actually she felt nauseous. She also hadn't eaten since that pizza the night before, but the thought of food made her stomach churn. Still she needed to eat something, she at least knew that much. "But if you are I don't mind stopping."

"I'm not really hungry either, but I have a feeling with the case, we're probably not going to eat until after eight." Ayako pulled off at a rest stop right off of the highway. At the gas station, Ayako parked and handed the girl money. "I'll take care of the gas, you go get us something to eat."

Mai just nodded and walked over to the building next to the gas station. Unsurprisingly, there was a decent amount of people already in line. So much for a quick stop, she mused to herself.

Please…

The voice startled her. It sounded so familiar. Almost as though it were her own.

Please! Please stop! I can't take anymore! Where are you!

"Ma'am? You're next." Luckily the voice behind her broke her from whatever experience she was having.

"Thank you," but her voice was barely a whisper as she realized she had been holding her breath longer than she thought. She walked up to the counter and ordered, a shiver went down her spine as she remembered what she heard.

That wasn't a vision of the case, was it? She wondered to herself. She shook her head and headed back for the car. That wasn't a vision, Mai, you idiot, it was a voice. Besides you haven't had visions in a while, maybe it's from the lack of sleep. Not that you can really help it.

She mentally cringed at her inner bluntness. She was never like this before, what really changed? "Long line?"

Ayako's voice startled the girl from her thoughts and she just nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay, c'mon, we only have like two and a half hours left, luckily traffic isn't too bad but that could change." Mai nodded and slid into the passenger seat of the car.

12:56 P.M.

Base had been set up but there was still a matter of getting cameras and microphones set up throughout the campus. Naru was in the middle of dividing the team into groups for interviews and for equipment distribution. But the monk wasn't sure if the nagging urge he had to look out the window was really just that fact that he was still exhausted from the long drive the day before or if he really needed to look outside for something.

He decided to look outside and before Naru could question his distraction, Monk turned around and wore a confused look. "I thought you said, Mai and Ayako weren't going to be on this case?"

That caught everyone by surprise, but Naru did his damned best not to show it. "They're not," he responded simply.

"Mind explaining why Ayako's car just pulled up?"

As calmly as Naru could manage, he stood up and walked out of the room, leaving everyone feeling confused. John of course was the one who perked up. "Well, why don't we all go out and greet them? They did drive all the way out here, and they are not morning people."

"Well, you heard the man," Yasuhara chimed in with a smile and lead the group outside. When they got out there, something odd clung to the air. Almost like static, but it was too wet for there really to be any static.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to join us," Monk said in a teasing tone. "And here I thought you were going to miss out on all the fun."

"Well, trust me when I say our decision to come along wasn't originally expected," Ayako said, opening her trunk and pulling out a couple of bags. "Well, are you going to at least pretend to be a gentleman and help me unload my car?"

"How much stuff did you bring?" he laughed, but then Mai got out of the car. "Mai-chan, good to see you again!"

"Hey, Monk." Mai's voice was quieter than usual, she hoped everyone would just chock it up to exhaustion from the drive. She gave a smile that wasn't her own and saw the look in the monk's eyes change. Her stomach felt hollow but heavy at the same time. I shouldn't have come. Damn it. I shouldn't have come.

"Mai-"

"Hey, Mai!" Kiko's bubbly voice filled the awkward air as she ran up and took one of the bags. "Glad you guys were able to come. John, mind giving me a hand?"

The priest nodded and ran up to grab one of the bags. "How was the drive up?" he asked.

Mai continued the small talk instigated by the two investigators, thankful for the subject change. "Matsuzaki-san, may I have a word with you in Base?" Naru's cold voice could be heard, but John kept Mai distracted.

"C'mon, it's freezing out here and it'll snow again soon. The room next to Masako and I's is empty so we'll put your things in there," Kiko suggested leading the girl into the building followed by the priest. The rest of the team filed into Base.

"I need to speak with Matsuzaki-san, alone," Naru stressed the last word with such venom, most would have run out. But not a determined monk who sat on the sofa and crossed his arms.

"Not this time, Naru, you want answers and so do I." He looked from the manager in the room to the priestess who sat in a separate chair across from the sofa. "From both of you, obviously, the rest of us missed some sort of memo that Mai helps you out with work or something. But that was a lie seeing as you're both here and," he looked directly at the manager, "you knew it was a lie. What's going on?"

But Naru ignored the question and accusations. He looked to Ayako. "You weren't supposed join us," he said crossing his own arms. "This is a dangerous case, you shouldn't have brought her."

"She didn't give me much of a choice," Ayako replied, crossing her legs. She knew she was in deep water. And no matter how she worded her argument it wasn't going to convince Naru. Unless… "She was in danger sitting in my apartment. I can't actually babysit her when I'm at work for twelve hours at a time."

"Bringing her here wasn't a good idea either, I'm not thrilled having Hara-san or Kiko here but we need them." He let out a long breath. "You need to take her home."

"I can't do that." She was firm as she spoke. She wasn't going to be swayed. "Like I said, she's in more danger if I leave her in my apartment and she can't go to hers-"

"What's going on? Why can't she go to her apartment?" It was Yasuhara who spoke.

"What's really going on, Ayako? What happened to her?" Monk was not going to be ignored. Not if he could help it.

Ayako let out a humorless laugh. "I would be stating the obvious. You noticed her appearance, Mai never wears makeup. And concealer can only conceal so much."

"Well, who did this to her?" Monk was not happy with the evasive priestess.

"Someone who knows where she lives," Masako replied behind her kimono.

"Look, it's not my business to tell," Ayako answered, wishing Naru had been harsher about speaking to her in private. "If you want to know so badly then you should ask her."

"But you obviously clued Naru in on what happened, why keep us in the dark?"

"Hey, Monk, maybe-"

"You think I wanted to tell him that his assistant came to my apartment without a coat, crying and all bruised up?" Ayako snapped. She let out a breath with a reluctant smirk. "Guess you're satisfied with your mouth catching flies."

"We're off topic, you need to take her home before this storm hits." Naru brought back the focus of the topic at hand. "It's supposed to be a bad one and I don't want you getting stuck in it."

"And if I take her back, then what? I can't babysit her twenty-four-seven."Ayako shook her head. "I have to work and she was so bored yesterday she actually cleaned. No snarky remarks from the peanut gallery, please."

"I resent that." The medium wasn't too thrilled to be called out.

"It's too dangerous here, she's safer at your-"

"Cut the crap, Naru, this bastard is stalking her apartment right now waiting for her to come home. Kiko and Mai's neighbor confirmed it."

"You had Kiko scope out her apartment?" Yasuhara raised a brow.

"I needed to get some of Mai's things and I was working a twelve hour shift. There was no way I was going to be able to do it. And I didn't want to leave her alone longer than I had to. Kiko said she saw his car leave as she got to the complex." Ayako sighed again and leaned back. "As for her neighbor, apparently Mai's an avid runner and she called her neighbor to apologize for missing out on their run. She was then informed that Shouta was indeed at her apartment waiting for her."

"He will get the picture soon enough," Naru determined, his patience wearing thin. "As long as she stays with you-"

"You don't get it, do you?" Ayako practically laughed again, maybe it was the exhausting couple of days she had on top of the drive. "Mai didn't give him what he wanted, she's convinced he's going to keep trying to get it. He probably has already gone looking for her at her friends' houses. He knows all of us, it's only a matter of time before he figures out where she's staying. But the fact remains that she's not safe in her own hometown. At least all of us can keep an eye on her. What is so bad about this case that you want me to take her back? Can't be worse than what she's going through."

Oh, how wrong she was. It can always be worse.

"The entity here is possessing male students and physically attacking female students and staff," Naru answered without any warning. No buildup, no more of an explanation than what he just said. He watched as the realization hit the priestess and her eyes widened dramatically.

"Well, shit," she said, suppressing a nervous laugh. She slouched further into her seat. She shook her head. "She's still better off here."

"What makes you say that? Seems to me like she isn't safe anywhere," Monk said bitterly.

"Because she has us." She really wanted a nap. "Look, this may be a blessing in disguise."

"A black eye a blessing? That's a new one," Yasuhara remarked dryly.

"No, this whole situation." Ayako sat up straighter in her chair. "We've all noticed Mai's become distant lately. She's been distancing herself for months and I'm certain that prick didn't help matters. We've all tried fooling ourselves into believing she was getting better, but obviously she's not."

"What's your point?" Monk leaned forward in his argument. "Because the point I'm seeing is that Mai's not mentally stable enough to handle a case of this nature. Especially if she's been distancing herself from us, does she even trust us anymore?"

"That's just it, she has been distancing herself from us. And the relationship didn't help matters. The point I'm trying to make is that this may be our only chance to close that gap."

Alrighty Ayako's banding everyone together to help Mai! yay! But I do want to make it know here that it is because of this case that I may have to change the rating of this fic from T to M. Or I may just make a warning for certain chapters that will be rated M due to language and graphic scenes. This will be SPR's darkest case yet. Not just because of the graphic nature and themes, but because it will become personal.

Mai will take the first steps to healing in this case, but don't worry, she won't be alone. She's going to need a lot of help from Hozumi and a few other characters will be instrumental to her healing process. But I will confess, she has a long road to recovery, but she'll get there. And she'll end up with Naru...eventually.

Once again thank you all for your wonderful reviews I really hope I have you guys until the end! Thanks for making this fic go so far! I hope you've enjoyed and please leave a review!