I'm so sorry for the delay! Happy New Year everyone! I hope it was enjoyable for everyone and I hope 2017 is doing great for you so far. Unfortunately, it's been a bit trying for me. First I got the stomach flu so I wasn't writing for a few days. And then, those of you who have seen my profile might have seen this, but my very best friend's grandmother passed away two weeks ago. This girl and I have been friends since we were nine so this woman was kind of my grandmother too. I have been helping her deal with the death and have helped in funeral planning as well, so that's taken a lot of my time and left me with little motivation to write. But I think I'm back in the game and just in time for the semester to start!

Anyway, please keep my friend's family in your thoughts and prayers, she is literally a sister to me our families celebrate holidays together and she's trying to keep it together, but she's not doing well. I'm sorry to depress everyone before you start reading this new case, but I wanted to give you a little update. I hope you enjoy the start of the new case!

Chapter 1-Control

"Such a naïve child," the being in front of her snickered as he crossed his legs, sitting in his stone throne. "You won't get rid of me that easily. You won't ever get rid of me."

She sat on her own throne, once again unable to move. This was the first time he appeared to her since the case and she was almost certain that the Reiki had gotten rid of her new friend. Looks like the Reiki didn't help at all.

"I won't leave until you're shattered. Your broken pieces aren't small enough."

"But I've got plenty of glue," Mai replied bravely. "I won't shatter that easily. You need to find a new playmate."

"But I thought you created me?" he flirted, licking his lips. "If you created me, you can destroy me, but then why haven't you?" He lilted his head to the side and laughed. "You know you'll never be rid of me. Just like how you know you'll never get better."

"You're wrong," Mai said. "I'm not hanging on by a thread anymore. And you know it."

"But there is one thread I still have you hanging by. A thread that can never be repaired." Suddenly, Mai was looking at a screen again and seeing her body tied together by thread and the faces of friends who symbolized the bonds on the thread. It was just like the dream on the case. She could see the bonds with Michiru and Keiko were repaired or were for the most part, but there was one bond that was barely holding up.

Naru's bond was hanging on by a thread so thin it was barely visible. She knew it wasn't going to last much longer. Did that mean she had to repair it? "Why are you telling me which bonds I have to fix? That doesn't help you," Mai asked with knitted brows. "By fixing the bonds, I get stronger and you have to work harder to break me."

"You're already broken, child, fixing this bond won't help you," he said, leaning his onto his hand that was propped up but his elbow on the arm of the throne. "No, if you fix that bond, you're only in for more pain and betrayal. Think about it, he almost raped you. Almost finished what that other boy started. He tried to break you-"

"It wasn't him!" Mai shouted.

"But it was." The being stood up and approached her. "He knew exactly what he was doing. He allowed a spirit to possess him and use his body. He knew every word he spoke in your ear. He could have stopped himself, you know what he's capable of. He wanted to hurt you. You're not important to him. You're nothing but an idiot."

"You're wrong." Mai's voice was firm, but she knew she was wavering.

"Am I? Was Shouta?" He brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, like he had done several times before. "Think about it. Was he ever wrong? You tried to create a surrogate family out of complete strangers. You still know virtually nothing about them. They only helped you out of pity and you know it."

"Stop it." Her voice was a mere whimper as she held back her tears.

"That Naru boy works you to the point of exhaustion and never has appreciated you. You really wanted to consider him your family? Perhaps you deserved what you got from that Shouta boy. That's all you're worth, it seems. All you'll ever be is someone's punching bag."

A tear fell and the demon leaned down and licked it with his burning tongue.

"Just accept me and accept your eternal suffering. It'll be delicious."

He licked his lips and Mai's tears fell faster.

March Saturday, 3:01 A.M.

Mai awoke with a start. Her face was completely stained with tears and she knew why. She hated that demon so much. She looked over at the pile of papers she had sitting next to her bed. Was it really true? Was Shouta right that her job was killing her? Was he right to try to get her out of there?

She leaned down and picked up the top paper. It was the application to work where Shouta was interning. She never filled it out, but she never threw it away either. "What am I going to do?"

2:12 P.M.

"You're not going to take that guy's case?" Mai asked a little astonished. A man in a suit had just walked out of the office claiming that his office building was plagued by spirits. Several of their employees and interns had been pushed down the stairs. Important documents were going missing and appearing in completely peculiar places. One intern had apparently been lifted into the air in her chair and there were several witnesses. It seemed like the case was right up Naru's alley.

"I do not have to explain myself, Mai," Naru said, sitting down in his swivel chair in his personal office and folded his hands on his desk. Mai of course, had followed him in. "We just came back from another case-"

"Yeah, three weeks ago, you've waited only a week in the past," Mai said rolling her eyes. "It sounds like they need help."

"It sounds like a hoax, Mai."

"Levitating?"

"Wires."

"Missing documents?"

"Someone won't admit to stealing."

"Pushed down the stairs?"

"They either missed a step or someone is behind that too."

"If they're willing to pay you, why do you care if it's a hoax?" Mai crossed her arms.

"I would have thought after our last case you would welcome the break," he remarked coldly as he turned to his computer and began typing. Mai pursed her lips.

"I'm fine, and the office is local so I wouldn't have to miss school. C'mon, you have to admit it sounds interesting."

Naru took a sip of the tea he had brought into the room with him. "You missed two weeks of school, you're already caught up?"

"As caught up as can be, I'm actually ahead," Mai admitted. "So are you going to take their case?"

"No."

What a jerk! Mai thought as she stormed out of the office and went back to her paperwork.

March Sunday Day Before Case, 5:13 P.M.

"Well, it's been a month since you broke up with him," Hozumi said as they drank tea in his office.

"That's because my coworkers and school were able to convince him that I moved and changed my number," she answered. "I ended up changing my apartment number and sent him back the cell phone after I deleted all of my information off of it."

Hozumi acknowledged the comment, but moved on."You've started to consider the people you work with as just coworkers." Mai looked down at her cup. "At one point, you referred to them as friends. You would speak fondly of them as family. Now, you only talk briefly about what happened on cases without going into too much detail. Wanna tell me what changed?"

She put her cup down and stood up. "You know, Shouta really knew how to get under my skin. He knew how to turn one thing I said into something else. Knew how much of an affect my job had on me. Knew just what to say to change my mood. How to belittle my feelings and manipulate it to fit what he wanted. But that's not what I hate about him!"

She had taken up to pacing by the windows.

"What I hate is how right he was, about my friends, coworkers, my job and Naru. Not once did he not make sense!" She hit the wall next to the window. "That's what I hate about him!"

"What specifically did he say? What did he say about your friends and coworkers?"

Mai leaned against the wall and looked out the window. "At one point, I considered them family. Ayako and Monk were the parents, Lin the grumpy grandpa, the rest of us were the kids. It had been so long since I had a family and it felt like one. But Shouta told me how wrong I was, how I knew so little about the team and I knew more about Yasuhara and Kiko than I do my own boss. I didn't know that Monk had a sister, I didn't know why he really does exorcisms. After knowing him for almost two years, now I find all this out. Maybe everyone else has a sibling I don't know about. I know nothing about my own boss. We only hang out during cases or they hang out without me. If I know so little of them, how can I call them a family?"

She wasn't sure when the tears made their way out. But they did. "Then he apologized, like he didn't know what he was doing. Made me determine that he was closer to family. That this was just a coping mechanism from my parents' death, that I needed to grow out of it. Hugged and kissed me like I was finally learning. He made sense."

"Do you care about your team?"

Mai wiped away a few tears. "What?"

"Do you care about your team? Do you get worried about their wellbeing on a case? Do you feel the need to cheer them up when they are down? Do you tease them about their quirks because it annoys them? If it came down to it, would you do anything to save them even if it meant risking your life?"

Slowly, Mai nodded. "Yes."

"Now, have they shown the same care towards you?" Mai just stared at him. "Have they worried about you during a case? Tried to cheer you up? Teased you to get on your nerves? Would they put themselves in danger to protect you?"

Flashes of previous cases came to her mind. All the happy times. All the times someone had to save her. The warm feeling she used to have whenever she was with her team. "Every time."

"Mai, knowing about someone doesn't mean they're family. Family is made up of people who care about each other, blood or not. Families do everything possible to build each other up, not tear each other down. Encourage you to pursue your dreams and goals, not convince you to change them. Families are made up of people who care unconditionally about each other. You have your ups and downs, but honestly, you have a family many would kill to have."

"It's not something my mind made up to cope?"

"It probably helped, but it's not uncommon. A lot of people have put friends, coworkers, and even neighbors into familial roles to form a surrogate family. And from the sound of it, Shouta was upset that you had a better one than he did. It was his way of having control over you."

Mai came back and sat down in front of her empty cup. "You're right." She shook her head. "But he was right about Naru. He is borderline abusive with what he's said and done to me on cases and at the office."

"Has he raised a hand to you?"

"No, well, technically when he was possessed."

"Has he forced you to do manual labor without proper pay?"

"No."

"Has he forced you into potentially dangerous situations simply because he is your boss?"

"Well, yes, I've had to check cameras and change equipment only to be attacked."

"Did he knowingly put you in harms way?"

"Yes, well…no…I don't think that was his intention."

"Okay, what has he said specifically to you?"

"He insults my intelligence, he has said anything to get a rise out of me, not include me in on information, refuses to even acknowledge my theories-"

Hozumi raised a hand. "Okay, tell me about the theories he refused to believe. Let's try to make sense of this."

"Why are you defending him?"

"I'm not defending him, Mai."

"Then why are you trying to dissect everything? I've already accepted that I've been fooled by two important people in my life. Two people I deeply cared about. And it already made sense. No need to make more sense of it."

"But there is, Mai," Hozumi said as he leaned forward. "You were just in an abusive relationship while dealing with the spiritual toll that your job has given you. The only way I can help you through this is if I understand whether or not this psychological toll is caused by your personal relationships or your professional." Mai bit her lip. "I'm trying to help, Mai, but I need you to tell me more about your relationship with Naru."

"The most recent case I can think of is the theater," she began after a moment. "I suggested that we might be dealing with a poltergeist, I also had no recollection of being on the roof or that I had nearly jumped. Naru did mention I might've been possessed, but never told me I almost jumped until after the experiment failed. As though to rub it in my face that I was wrong. If I wasn't possessed then I was suicidal, that made sense, but I've worked for him for almost two years. Even in my darkest hour I've never thought to end it all."

"You have valid reason to be angry, I won't take that from you. But is it possible that he was worried that maybe the job may have pushed you that far?"

"I see your point, but I can't stop being angry. I've never been one to hold a grudge before. I used to hate them. Now I seem to thrive on them."

"Tell me about another time he refused to believe you. It may have been around the time the toll started to take effect."

Mai shook her head. "No, the nightmares and loss of sleep was before this case. But this was the case where I decided to contact you." She leaned back. "I met Shouta on this case. It was at his aunt's nursing home that she ran. It was a mental hospital and a girl who was too young to be properly diagnosed was schizophrenic. She died during ECT treatment. I didn't want to believe that she was causing the deaths. That she wasn't causing them, just predicting them."

She bit her lip again remembering that case all too well. "An exorcism wasn't necessary. Naru said I had no proof. The research we uncovered wasn't enough and for the safety of the residents an exorcism was to be done. He didn't want to let me contact the former nurse who worked with the girl so I could prove it. I had to beg him and he finally agreed, but if I didn't have my evidence by a certain time he world start the exorcism without me. I got the info I needed. The spirit was a latent psychic when she was alive, but due to clocks being wrong and Naru turning his phone off, he had started the exorcism.

"I managed to stop it and tell him I had my proof and he said I had no answer other than why she haunted the building. Not an answer as for what should be done with her spirit. I managed to perform a cleansing without anyone's help. Later I found out that he didn't start an exorcism, but had John do a blessing. Monk said he might have believed me from the start. But why force me to jump through hoops?"

"I think I'm starting to understand," Hozumi nodded, jotting something down. "You have some extraordinary gifts, Mai. Clairvoyance, empathy, astral projection, great assets to have in this field. You are young as well, so young that even those immersed in this field may be skeptical of you. Something I think your boss understands very well. So when your visions may be fact, many might not believe you. It's important to be able to properly research and back up what you know with facts in case there are any discrepancies in your story."

"Well, why didn't he just tell me? Instead of threaten my job. Instead of belittling me. Instead of refusing to even acknowledge my theory."

"Mai, would you say Naru is stubborn?"

"Without a doubt."

"Would you say you are?"

"I mean, I wouldn't say particularly." Her eyebrows knitted together. "Why would you ask?"

He ignored her question and answered with one of his own. "When did you get my number from my grandfather?"

"The case before that one. I was hospitalized twice. Naru lied the first time because I came in with slit wrists. He didn't want to tell them we deal with the paranormal. I was able to convince them to let me leave after speaking with your grandfather. The second time they wanted to keep me again but your grandfather helped me out."

"And the following case you met Shouta and Naru was starting to be harsh to you."

Mai nodded. "Even from the start Shouta was trying to encourage me to go against Naru, so I could prove myself. So I decided to defy his orders and went out with Monk and Yasuhara to the library."

"Did you ever tell Naru you wanted to go to the library?"

"Well, no, but-"

"You don't need to defend your actions, Mai. You solved the case."

"Then why are you asking?"

"Because, I'm trying to understand what your boss did. I don't need to understand why your boyfriend hit you, he had no right. However, what I want to know is how much your boss actually did and how much Shouta tried to convince you." He turned back a page in his notebook, rereading. "Your sudden realization of him didn't happen until recently, correct?"

"Yes…"

"From what you've told me, it didn't start until after you began dating Shouta." She was about to interrupt, but he continued. "You can't deny it because you became involved shortly after we met and once you two became closer you began to say very negative things. I know he has said some things that were out of line, but is there a possibility that maybe Shouta blew it out of proportion?"

Mai looked down at her hands and thought. Thought back to the past few cases recently. She had defended Naru and Shouta always argued back. Reminding her of the times Naru was mean to her. But one thing came back to her that even Hozumi couldn't argue. "He didn't need to threaten my job on that case…"

"Why did he threaten your job?"

"Because he wasn't believing me when I said it wasn't the fault of the spirit. Masako said that an exorcism kills a spirit, I didn't believe that was right in this case. He was mad that I went out and found the info to support my claim."

"Did you ever make it known that you wanted to research her?"

"Well, no-"

"So you went on your own without telling Naru where you were or what you were up to?"

"But, wait-"

"Mai, I need you to look at this from his side. As your boss, he is responsible for the safety of his employees during a case, correct?"

"But I was safe, I was with Yasuhara and Monk at the library."

"But he didn't know that, did he?"

"No, I was to conduct interviews."

"So, one of two things could have occurred. Naru had no clue where you were and was worried you." Upon seeing the eyeroll that the high schooler failed to suppress, he opted for the second option. "Or he was upset that you disobeyed orders and threatened you in order to force you to learn a lesson." Mai was about to argue, but Hozumi didn't give her a chance. "I'm not defending him, you've thought on several occasions that maybe you should leave. I want you to possibly see things from his perspective. I'm not saying he was right, I think he said something that he shouldn't have and didn't go about it the right way. But he doesn't seem controlling. For example, if you were to decide to quit, would he go to great lengths to make you stay?" Mai looked at her hands in thought. "What you need to decide, is whether or not you still believe what Shouta told you."

"What do you mean, if I believe him?" She looked back at the man in thought. "What he told me made sense and I have thought a lot about previous cases. It just makes too much sense to not be right."

"You think he doesn't care about you?"

"I mean-"

"That's what it sounds like Shouta wanted you to believe."

"I mean, I wouldn't say that, he is worried when I get into dangerous situations."

"So more like, 'crap now I gotta bail her out again?'"

Mai's eyes widened. "You sounded just like him."

"Like who, Mai?"

"Shouta…" And she just might have started to understand.

"You feel that your boss looks down on you, sees you as nothing but a nuisance, but is that how you feel? Or how Shouta made you feel?"

Mai sat there and thought about it. Yeah she felt underappreciated time to time, but it wasn't until she met her ex that the feelings were continuous.

"I'm not saying you weren't right to feel that way now and then, I don't work with your boss. I just want you to see how much control Shouta had over you and still does."

She faintly remembered Madoka's voice a year before, "He may not show it, but Naru cares very deeply for his friends."

"I think your boss has been scared quite a bit," Izumi had told her not very long ago. "No one's fearless. Weren't there times where he became extra cautious when things took a turn for the worse? When he made sure his ultimate goal was that no unnecessary risks were taken?"

"Maybe he wanted to teach you a lesson…what did you learn?" Monk had said.

"My God, he really did have control over me," Mai muttered shaking her head. Hozumi nodded.

"We are always taught to recognize the signs of physical abuse. But rarely do we ever notice the signs of mental abuse until it's too late. And sometimes we never notice."

"But he made so much sense."

"I know, and he still does by using what you were feeling about your boss to make it worse. He knew how independent you are and tried to make you dependent on him. He thought because your parents are dead that it would be easy. You proved him wrong."

Mai wasn't exactly sure when the tears started to fall again or when she had wandered over to the window again. But she was sure of one thing, she hadn't been healing at all the last few weeks. Hozumi offered her a tissue.

"I know, it's hard to take in right now. Not only are you dealing with the toll your cases have put on you, but you also had an emotionally abusive boyfriend. It's okay to feel unsure of anything right now. It's also okay to wonder if trusting me might have been a mistake. And it's okay if you want to stop for today. We can continue next week-"

"No." She didn't move. She stood still with her eyes watching the wind blow through the trees nearby. She couldn't stop now. Not when she was starting to get somewhere. She was feeling angry, but it was better than feeling empty and stupid. "I…" She took a breath and gathered her thoughts. "I keep having this recurring nightmare. I think my toll might be supernatural."

She wandered back over to the couch and sat down. She told Hozumi everything, from the nightmares of past cases, to the demon who tried to drag her into Hell returning. The scratch that appeared after the first dream and the others that happened afterwards. All the while Hozumi listened intently and made notes in his notebook.

"You don't…" She had to gather her thoughts again. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was crazy. She was starting to think she was crazy. "You don't think I brought this thing home with me? That I'm possessed? Or maybe he's attached-"

"Okay, calm down," he said sternly, snapping her out of it. "I can't answer you for sure, but this could be the case." He saw the fear in her eyes, and decided it was best not to tell her that this demon would match the dark presence Izumi had sensed in her mind. "Why don't you talk to your priest friend? He might be able to help you."

Mai nodded again slowly, furrowing her brow. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll call him tonight," she decided.

"And I'm going to stop our session for today. I think you need some time alone to process what we've discovered. I'll see you next Sunday, okay?"

"Okay," Mai agreed and gathered her bag and coat. She stopped at the door and turned around. Hozumi was behind her to walk her out and she hugged him. "Thank you, Hozumi. Thank you for everything."

Hozumi smiled and patted the girl's head. "You're welcome, Mai."

Mai got back to her apartment not very long after she left Hozumi's. She was glad that she told him about her real nightmares. What was really plaguing her sleep. She was sort of apprehensive about calling John to ask for his help. Would he help her?

She closed her door behind her and looked at the clock, the blonde would have been preparing for services at that time. There was no need to interrupt him right now. She took off her shoes and coat and walked into the kitchen putting her bag down on the table. She noticed the blinking light of her answering machine.

Who called me? She wondered absently as she pressed the play button.

"Mai, it's me. We have a case. I'll have Yasuhara-san pick you up tomorrow after school." Beep.

Short and to the point, never sweet. Definitely Naru, Mai determined erasing the message.

"I guess I won't have to call John tonight, I'll just talk to him tomorrow if he's on the case," Mai decided aloud as she filled her kettle and placed it on the stove.

She just hoped her new best friend wouldn't make another appearance that night.

March Day 1, 3:31 P.M.

"Well, look who got a haircut!" Yasuhara exclaimed as Mai got into his car. "It's been a while since your hair was this short. It looks great."

"Thanks," Mai said, buckling her seatbelt. "I had Michiru cut it a little while ago."

Yasuhara pulled out onto the road and pinched a lock of hair at his temple. "Think she could cut mine? I could use a trim."

Mai tapped a finger to her chin in thought. "I'm not sure, I think she used to cut her ex's hair. You'll have to ask her. Is everyone else at the office?"

"Ayako and Monk aren't going to be there, something came up for them," Yasuhara said with a shrug. "They said it was work, but I'm pretty sure it's couples' therapy to help them work out their differences. It did wonders for Monk and I."

"You guys are polygamists now?" Mai said with a raised brow.

"No, Ayako is Monk's side chick. I'm his main course."

Mai knitted her brows in confusion and sweatdropped. "There is so much wrong in that statement, I don't know where to start," she shook her head. "Then what's Kiko?"

"Complicated."

Should've seen that one coming, she thought to herself. Then again, she understood why it was complicated. She knew why the girl had left her old school and lost contact with everyone she knew there. She also knew that Yasuhara knew some of what happened, but obviously Kiko hadn't completely opened up to him about it, she said so herself.

Amidst her thoughts, Mai yawned. "Did you not sleep?" her driver asked.

"I woke up too early this morning," she lied, scratching her head. "I normally get up at five to go running and this morning I woke at four."

Truth was, she hadn't slept more than an hour in total the past two nights. Not since her dream with the demon on Saturday morning and Hozumi agreeing that the demon might not be something her mind made up like she had thought. It was very unsettling and until she talked to John, she wasn't sure she would even be able to sleep that coming night. Hopefully, he wasn't skipping out on this case.

"Will Kiko be on this case?" she asked.

"No, I think she's busy studying for exams. She's graduating next week."

"What about John?"

"I think so, I haven't been to the office we're investigating yet, so I don't know who's there," he answered honestly. "Naru just asked me to pick you up and drive you over after your classes ended and after I got out of my internship. Any reason why?"

"No reason," she said too quickly. "I mean, I happened to get a Christmas card from the Ishikawas that was lost in the mail and wondered if he got one too," she lied smoothly.

"Lucky! I want a Christmas card!"

That was close.

"Mai, you and Hara-san will do a walkthrough of the property, while the rest of us set up the equipment," Naru decided once Mai and Yasuhara made it into their new Base at this office. "We've already conducted interviews so we have a general idea on where to start."

Mai made sure to grab a clipboard and thermometer as she left the room with Masako. I guess Masako and I will be partnered up for walk-arounds, she thought to herself as they stopped in one of the empty offices. She looked at the notes on the clipboard as she waited for the thermometer to set. So this is the office that Naru wasn't going to investigate. I guess I finally got to him.

"How have you been since our last case, Mai?" Masako asked, breaking the girl from her reverie.

"Well, I've been out of school for two weeks so I had a ton of homework to catch up on," Mai said with a sigh. "Luckily, I had been ahead of the rest of the class by almost a week, so I really only had one week to catch up on." She jotted down the temperature and they walked into the next office. "What exactly have people been reporting here? I know someone reported missing items and employees being pushed down the stairs, but really the only interesting thing I know about this case is some intern was levitating?"

"That's right, her name is Toyama, Sayaka, she's a little more than a year older than us," Masako explained. "She's also been pushed down the stairs several times, it seems that she is a target for activity, but several other interns have been experiencing activity."

"So do you think that we're dealing with a hoax?" She jotted down the temperature of that room and they moved on.

"I am sensing something, so I don't think we're dealing with a total hoax, but it wouldn't surprise me if someone is trying to mess with the young interns here."

Mai looked around and nodded. There were a lot of interns. A lot of very young interns. Some even looked like they were still in high school. I can see how they might be targets for pranks, Mai noted. "But if you sense a spirit here, then what is the spirit behind?"

Masako shrugged. "Not sure. It's too early to tell."

Mai was very tempted to ask her if what she was sensing was the spirit in the building… Or the demon I have… But she shook the thought out of her head. She would wait until she spoke with John. She would rather keep this as quiet as possible and knew she could count on John for confidentiality.

"Ah!" The shriek startled the two girls as they turned and saw an intern stumble out of out of the restroom with blood on her hands. "The-the sink! B-blood!" Her hands trembled as she tried to point at the bathroom.

Naru and Lin were the first ones on the scene as Mai and Masako came over. Masako tried to calm down the hysterical intern while Mai followed Naru into the bathroom. Sure enough there was blood in the sink. A lot of blood.

Mai let out a low whistle she heard Monk sound many times. "You so sure we're dealing with a hoax?" Mai asked as she watched her boss inspect the puddle of blood in this sink.

Naru ignored her and touched the mess with his index finger. He rubbed the blood between that and his thumb for a moment. Finally, with a disgusted look from his petite assistant, he tasted the crimson liquid on his fingers. Mai thought she might be sick.

"Naru!" she gasped, horrified.

"It's fake," he said with a shrug. Mai was still too nauseated by what he did to really understand.

"That's still gross!"

"Taste it," he said, gesturing to the blood filled sink.

"You're kidding, right?" But she saw his serious face and realized that Naru never kids. "No!" He sighed and scooped a little more onto his finger and moved toward her. "What are you doing? No! I'll take your word for it!"

"Just smell it, Mai," he said in an annoyed tone with his finger right by her nose. She reluctantly sniffed and realized what he meant. "It's obviously fake."

"Cherry juice?" Mai realized as she spoke.

"Probably mixed with cornstarch and a little green food coloring for thickness and color." He wiped off the rest of the fake blood on a paper towel. He continued to stare at the mess in the sink thoughtfully. "The question remains, how did it get there?"

Mai crossed her arms, still appalled at what her boss had just done, and leaned against the doorframe in thought. "You guys haven't finished setting up the equipment, so we don't have a camera angle on what happened," she said. "I noticed a few security cameras, but I don't think any of them were in a position to really see who might have done this. Masako also said she sensed a spirit, whether it's behind the strange activity here, she doesn't know."

"What is going on?" A loud voice echoed as an older man walked into the women's bathroom. "Good lord! What the hell happened in here!"

"Mai, this is Kawaguchi-san, he's the head of the company who hired us," Naru said, despite the older man's shock at the scene. "Kawaguchi-san, this is Mai, my part-time assistant."

"What happened!" The man was not up for introductions as he watched blood drip from the sink to the floor.

Mai internally sweatdropped, her boss was desensitized to the situation, the company head thought someone, or perhaps and animal had been murdered in that room, and Mai had no clue where Masako and Lin went. This is going to be a strange case, I can feel it, she told herself as she shook her head.

"Kawaguchi-san, everyone is okay," Mai said, plastering a smile to her face. "Your intern is a little shaken up, but the blood isn't real."

"Who are you?" the man asked finally seeing the high schooler for the first time.

Yep, this is going to be an interesting case.

There we go! The first chapter of the new case! This will be a short case probably about four chapters or so and maybe a post case before we get into a case that I'm absolutely ecstatic about!

Mai's taken a very big step in healing with this chapter. She still has a ways to go, but she's getting there. I'm also trying to put some of the lighthearted moments back into the cases like with my earlier chapters and the anime so here goes everything! Hope you enjoyed! Please review!