Guys! We're getting closer to the chapter that I've wanted to post for SOOOOO long now! I'm glad everyone's enjoying the lightheartedness of this case on top of Mai's maturity. We get to see a little more of Mai's growth in this chapter as well as her healing process. I'm so excited for what's to come in this case, enjoy!

Chapter 4- "X"

March Day 2, 10:09 P.M.

After dinner, Mai tagged along with Madoka, Ayako, and Kiko to see the garden. The pathway was lit up with Christmas lights and small lanterns. It was beautiful, even though you really couldn't see the color of the flowers too well. When Mai saw the fountain lit up along with the gazebo, she understood why couples would come here for a vacation. It was rather romantic.

She was honestly and understandably exhausted when she returned to her room. She didn't exactly sleep much the night before and she wasn't sure it was because of her insomnia, her nightmares, or perhaps the fact that she had to sleep with her boss. It really was a tossup at this point.

I still feel gross after being near the hot springs, she thought to herself as she closed the door behind her. Naru's still not back yet, he'll probably be working until late. I better take a shower now.

She gathered her things and headed for the bathroom, making sure to lock the door behind her. Not that I think Naru would barge in, but better safe than sorry.

After removing her clothes and getting everything situated, she turned on the shower and got in. She massaged shampoo through her short hair and rinsed it out. I feel like this was a bad idea, she thought as she started smoothing conditioner over her hair. She grabbed her razor from the ledge. Shower scenes are usually in horror movies. I know I'm not dealing with a killer or anything, but-

And then the air grew cold. But she must have been imagining it. She held her breath and slowly let it out. If it was as cold as she suspected, she would see her breath right?

I'm imagining things-

Pretty.

The whisper startled her, but it was the feeling of the hand on her back that sent her falling forward.

Crash! Thunk! Thud!

"Owww…" she grumbled as she propped herself up on her elbows. She felt a stinging sensation on her knee as she brought it up to help her stand. She watched as blood oozed out. "Great, I fell on the razor, didn't I?"

"Mai! Answer me!" That was when she heard the knocking on the door.

Guess Naru decided to call it a night early, she thought with a shake of her head. She pulled herself up to her feet and carefully climbed out of the shower. I'm going to be so sore tomorrow.

"Mai! Answer me! Are you okay?" Naru's knocks had turned into bangs and Mai wasn't too sure why she hadn't answered yet as she wadded up toilet paper to over her bleeding knee.

"I'm fine," she said, though her voice sounded more shook up than she had hoped.

"Do you need Matsuzaki?"

"Her name is Ayako, and no I'm fine." She was slowly getting aggravated.

"You don't sound fine."

"For the love of-hold on!" She grabbed the complimentary bathrobe that was hanging on the back of the door. She put it on and tied it before unlocking the door. She sat down on the toilet and held the toilet paper to her knee. "Come in if you're so concerned."

Slowly the knob turned and Naru poked his head in to see the sight she was in. "What happened?" was all he asked as he still stood mostly behind the door.

"I slipped and fell on my razor," she said with a shrug. She looked back at the still running water. "Can I get back to my shower? I still have conditioner in my hair."

Naru ignored the second comment and walked into the bathroom. There was a small medicine cabinet next to the mirror. He opened it and pulled out a small first aid kit. He leaned over and turned off the shower and then knelt next to her to take care of her knee.

"Naru, this isn't-ow!" She winced as Naru pulled back the toilet paper and began dressing the wound. She watched as he cleaned up the cut and it was then that she realized what was so very odd about this situation. It wasn't the fact that he was kneeling and bandaging her cut in the middle of the bathroom. It wasn't because he had almost barged into said bathroom. And it wasn't because she was only in a bathrobe. A rather short one at that.

No. It was the lack of clothing on the upper half of her employer.

Mai had to admit, it wasn't exactly what she had imagined. Naru was very pale, and without his shirt on the contrast between his skin and his black pants was even starker. He wasn't buff in any way, shape, or form, but he was lean. Probably from carrying the equipment in and out especially with the recent cases, Mai thought as she studied the man who finished dressing her knee.

Naru looked up and caught her staring. Go figure. "Something wrong?" he asked with a raised brow.

Mai just shook her head. "I just never expected this," She used her eyes to gesture to the scene before them, "to happen." She crossed her arms and sat up straighter, feeling a little bolder. "Nice abs, by the way."

Now that definitely caught him off guard. To most his face would have appeared impassive, but Mai knew better. No, she finally managed to surprise him. "You have good taste," was all he said as he closed the bathroom door as he left.

Mai smiled and shook her head. "Idiot," she said softly to herself. "That made absolutely no sense."

Perhaps this case won't be so bad.

March Day 3, 7:04 A.M.

Naru did not like this. No, he did not like it one bit. You see, it was one thing to be forced to share a bed and pretend to be married to his assistant. It was one thing to have recurring nightmares about his twin brother's death. He was glad that so far they haven't bothered the girl next to him. But it was a whole other situation when he woke up for the second time in a row literally holding his assistant.

Growing up, Naru had sometimes shared a bed with his brother, however he was never ever a cuddler. That was more so Gene, Naru remembered as he dislodged himself from his position and sat up. He always wanted to-what was it? Be the big spoon? Something like that.

Mai rolled over and whimpered and Naru knew immediately she was having another nightmare. He almost began to wonder if perhaps the reason he awoke cuddling the girl was because of a certain deceased medium-

Don't be ridiculous, Oliver, he chided to himself, with a shake of his head. It could very well be the influence of the spirit haunting this building, but the likelihood of it being Gene? Slim.

Rubbing his face, Naru stood up and headed for the bathroom. He was about to close the door when he heard it. "No…Naru…stop…" Her whimper stopped him in his tracks.

Was she dreaming about him? He turned around and could see her face contorted in sleep.

"This isn't you…" She rolled over and Naru suddenly hated this case. He knew exactly what was going on in her dream. He wished he hadn't accepted Madoka's offer. Not now that he knew just what Mai's nightmares were about.

Maybe I should have given her more time off, he wondered as he walked back to the bed. "Mai?" He was about to touch her shoulder when her eyes snapped open. She looked right at him, but never really saw him as she pushed herself back away from him. "Mai? Are you okay?"

She blinked and let out a breath. She wasn't dreaming anymore. "Yeah, good morning," she said with a fake smile. This case just keeps getting more and more awkward, she noted.

Naru nodded and went to the bathroom. I hope I didn't say anything in my sleep, Mai wondered as she shook her head. A case shouldn't be this stressful.

"I'm not going anywhere near that barn," Ayako said defiantly as she led the way to the trails. Mai followed behind her, trying to keep up.

"No one's making you," Mai said with a huff as she finally caught up. "What's got you in such a mood? Still mad at Monk from Thursday?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I got over that," the priestess said as she decided to take the most laboring trail uphill. "What I can't get over is what a stinking perv he is!"

"What'd he do?" Mai asked earnestly. It was a nice day and yet there were very few people on the trail. They must have gone for the easier, more leisurely trails, Mai decided.

"The perv kept making porn references yesterday and this morning I woke up to him groping my boobs," Ayako said as she stomped up the slope. Mai's mouth fell open.

"Are you serious?" she asked, falling into step behind the priestess who huffed and slowed to a stop before leaning her hand on a tree.

"Not completely," she admitted and sighed. "He did make a porn reference yesterday, but it wasn't as bad as I'm making it seem. And this morning his hand was on my chest, but he was still asleep so I can't even be too mad him."

"Then why are you mad at him?" They continued walking the trail.

"I'm not even really mad at him," she continued with a shrug. "I'm more so taking my anger out on him, because he's there and there are less repercussions."

"Then who are you mad at?" The trail was no longer covered with trees. It opened on one side and Mai could see they were higher up than she thought. She could see the lake a little ways ahead and further down the slope.

"Madoka. She's the one who put us in this predicament." She hiked further to towards the lake. "Why couldn't she discuss this with us prior to the investigation? I know she didn't tell Naru, hell, I thought he was going to rip off her head the other day. It just made a huge mess of things."

"What do you mean?" Mai asked as Ayako wandered off the trail and down the slope a few yards. She found two large rocks overlooking the lake and sat down on one. The brunette followed. "This isn't about-"

"Of course it is, Mai," the priestess said with a shake of her head as she leaned back and used her arms to prop herself up. "I don't really know about Yasuhara or Kiko, but I know Monk agrees with me on this. We're worried about you. We've been worried about you. Especially during and after the case at the college. I know you're not sleeping and I'm sure that you are probably more anxious now that you have to share a bed with him-"

"You're right, that part does make it awkward," Mai agreed sitting down on the rock beside her. It didn't surprise her that Ayako knew about her insomnia, she probably even knew about her nightmares. "But, I swear, I'm fine. Naru's been nothing but a gentleman the last couple days-well, as much of a gentleman he can be with as few words as possible."

"He's worried about you too. I don't even think he's comfortable with this charade Madoka's trying to pull."

That's right, Mai remembered. I wasn't the only victim on that case. Naru was too, technically.

"Okay," Mai said with a sigh as she slouched. "I'm not comfortable with this case. I don't like having to share a bed with him. And I don't like the fact that now I seem to be having more nightmares about that case-"

"Have you told Naru?"

Mai shook her head. "He knows that I haven't been sleeping much or well. He woke up in the middle of the night and found me doing classwork to get ahead for the next term. He knows that I have nightmares, hell, he woke me up from them the past two mornings. I didn't tell him what the dreams were about, but…" She let out a breath. "I think after this morning he figured out what they were."

She told the priestess about both nightmares. The one with Nakajima from the day before and the one from that morning. "You've been reliving your memories?" the priestess asked as Mai nodded. "This is just what I was afraid of." She shook her head. "You never fully healed from that experience and now…" Another breath. "I'm serious about you switching to room with me. I don't really care what our client thinks. I don't care about the fit Madoka will throw. I care about you coping with everything that's happened and I don't think this is the way to go-"

"Ayako, stop." She didn't raise her voice. Her tone was stern yet soft. "I wasn't kidding around when I said enough arrangements had been made for me and I don't want to jeopardize the success of the case. I know I'm not a hundred percent better, I haven't been for months and you know that. But I'm way better than I have been. Thanks to John."

Ayako simply listened as Mai told her about the demon that had been haunting her since the case in Kyoto. Finally understanding the cause of her insomnia and depression and personality change. All the while, she couldn't believe she never knew. "So this demon attached itself to you?" Mai nodded. "How come Masako didn't notice?" Mai shrugged.

"She wasn't with us on a couple of cases and then there was the case at the theater when she lost faith in her abilities, so I think she just wasn't sure about anything for a bit. Everyone had noticed that I had become more reserved and you were right, it was because of the frequent cases. It's just no one thought that I might have brought something home with me."

"I'm sorry, Mai," Ayako said, looking at the girl who only shook her head again.

"No, I'm sorry, Ayako," she sighed. "I'm sorry that I made you worry about me. I'm sorry I was never completely honest about this. And I'm sorry that I still give you the need to worry."

"Mai-"

"Ayako, I'm fine. I'm not better or even really okay, but I will be. Thank you for caring, but I think that maybe this case will be good for me." She looked out onto the lake, the sun causing the ripples to sparkle and glisten. "You know that saying 'things happen for a reason?' I think that maybe there's a reason for all of this. I don't know what that reason is yet, but maybe we're meant to be here and to do this case the way Madoka wants. Even if we come up with nothing, I'm willing to give it a try."

Ayako looked suspiciously at the girl, but managed to smile. "I don't know if you're incredibly wise or incredibly naïve."

"What about both?"

March Day 3, 12:32 P.M.

"My God, it was horrible!" the female guest said as she sat across from Madoka in Base. Monk was to the side taking notes. "It was so dark, and I just knew that Daiki was next to me. We were in so much pain, like we were starving but we still had to keep going. I don't know where we were going but all I could hear was this laughter."

"What kind of laughter?" Madoka asked, placing a hand on the frantic woman's. A calming gesture. "Could you tell if it was a man or woman laughing?"

The woman shook her head. "No, it was so distorted the only thing I could make out was that it was laughing at us." She let out a shaky breath. "Then all of a sudden it felt like I was being crushed and there was a burning sensation on my wrist. When I woke up, I found this." She rolled up the sleeve and revealed a small kanji symbol.

"'Pretty?'" Monk read aloud as he made the note in his notebook.

"What does it mean? What's the point of this being carved into my arm?" the woman asked frantically. Madoka gave a small sincere smile.

"We don't know at the moment, however this is why our team is here. We will take the information that you've given us and apply it to our research. If you remember anything else or happen to experience anything, please, let us know," Madoka said professionally.

"As reassuring as that sounds," the woman said with knitted brows. "I'm not sure if my husband and I can stay here any longer." She stood up and gathered her bag. "This was supposed to be our honeymoon, but had we known this place was haunted we would've gone somewhere else."

"I understand, Hitomi-san," Madoka said, again with a smile. "That's why we're here, our job is to figure out the haunting and stop it so that guests will no longer be disturbed. I'm sorry you've had to deal with such an experience, but I promise we will do our best to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Thank you for saying that, but I'm still not sure-"

"Why don't you and your husband go visit the hot springs?" Madoka suggested. "I hear it's relaxing, in fact, I might go there later with my husband, Lin."

Monk did his best to keep his face straight as the image of Madoka and Lin in the hot springs together came to mind. He could have really gone the rest of his life without that image.

"Perhaps we will, thank you, Kojo-san," Hitomi said with a bow as she and her husband, who had finished his interview with Naru and Lin, left.

"You're going to drag Lin to the hot spring?" Monk couldn't help but ask as Madoka leaned back in her chair.

She smirked. "Well, of course. It's a great couples bonding session, no barriers and you can really get to know your partner," she said with a sneaky look in her eye. "Perhaps you an Ayako should try it. Better yet why don't we bring the whole team?"

"There will be no such event," Naru cut in, heading toward the monitors. "We have a job to do here. Need I remind you that none of us are actually married so there is no need for any of us to go into the mixed bath."

"Never said I would bring the entire team into the mixed bath," Madoka said with another smirk. "Guess that's all someone can think about."

"What the hell?" Monk said with a raised brow and shake of his head. "I don't want to know."

"They were the first couple since we've arrived to have a shared nightmare in their room on the fourth floor," Naru began, turning around and leaning against the table that the monitors were on. "All other couples who have had the same experience have left, but have otherwise made notions of having the same sort of dream as the couple that just left." He crossed his arms. "They were in the dark, wandering around, felt as though they were starving, and finally feeling as though they were being crushed. What's different in this case is the wife woke up with the same word on her wrist that we found written on the wall yesterday."

"This nightmare was also different because there was no dark figure, just darkness. So we are definitely dealing with multiple entities, but are we dealing with an escalating haunting?" Monk added.

"At the moment, my Shiki haven't sensed anything malicious," Lin admitted from his laptop. "That doesn't mean the haunting isn't escalating, but we still have time before we have to be worried about the guests' safety."

"Should we have Ayako make charms?" Monk asked scratching his head. "I mean, I know there's no way to make sure that the guests actually use them, but perhaps we should put them up in the rooms with the most activity. This place is way busier than the Ishikawa's hotel, we should probably start doing some sort of damage control."

"Not a bad idea," Madoka agreed with a nod. "We could at least curb the dangerous activity to the areas we still wouldn't have control over. Not the best scenario, but it's easier than handing out charms to guests who won't use them."

March Day 3, 1:01 P.M.

"Moshi, moshi," Kiko said into her phone as she sat on a bench outside of the library. Despite getting permission to use the device in the room that she and her "husband" were using as their Base, she had virtually no signal. "My name is Yasuhara Kiko and I am actually looking into the history of the Mountain's Eye Resort Inn and I found your name when I was looking into previous owners."

"Why are you looking into that place?" came a rather unamused response.

"I'm studying Business at Tohoku University and for a project we have to find out where successful businesses began," she lied as she crossed one leg over the other and leaned back.

"I went out of business forty years ago. You're better off talking to the current owners-"

"That's just it, Kuroki-san," she interrupted, fearful that he would hang up. "I have already interviewed the current owner and I would like your insight and experience when you were running it and see where you differed. And possibly see if there was a specific reason that you went out of business."

"What do you mean specific reason?"

Crap, wrong choice of words. "I just mean if it were a business strategy or simply the economy or time period or even rumors-"

"Rumors? Where the hell did you hear that? What kind of rumors?"

"I just mean if perhaps rumors were going around prior to your business closing it could have been a potential cause," she said quickly, her brows knitting together. "Were there rumors suggesting a reason why you were closing?"

Click.

"Well, that went well," Kiko sighed as she hung up her phone. She put the device in her pocket and sat for another moment in the warmth of the sun. It was rather warm that day, for them being in the mountains and it only the very beginning of Spring, but she was grateful for it. She looked out and beyond the hills she could see storm clouds gathering. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. April showers bring May flowers…

But it's not even April, yet…

"Any luck?" a voice called her back as she snapped her head to the young man before her.

"No," she admitted as she scooted over for Yasuhara to sit down. "I wanted to see if maybe I could get him to tell me why he went out of business, but he wouldn't say." He sat next to her as she crossed her arms and let out a breath. "Although, I think I might have gotten him to admit there was an issue with rumors when he closed his hotel. Unfortunately, I think he realized that he either said too much or eluded too much to what I wanted to hear."

"So we have nothing?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Nothing conclusive," she said, looking up at him. "Find anything else that might be useful?"

He shook his head. "Nothing that would really help the investigation." He leaned his head back against the wall of the building. "I haven't found any evidence to support that the Kuroki family have or had a child. And I haven't found any articles or anything about an unsolved kidnapping or disappearance or anything of the sort dating back that far around the time of the resort closing."

"So it's the college case all over again?" Kiko asked with a shake of her head.

"No, on that case we were missing history, this case we're missing information," he replied. "Now, we have a few possibilities with the boathouse woman Mai spoke with yesterday. She could very have played with a child, but she was a guest not the owners' daughter. She could just be confusing her story since it's been forty years. This could all be a misunderstanding."

"And the rumors that Kuroki seemed concerned about?"

"Probably just that, rumors." Yasuhara shrugged. "When he had to close his business suddenly forty years ago, I'm sure stories went around about why he did it. Unfortunately, it's looking like Mai's lead goes nowhere."

"At the moment, yes," Kiko agreed, pursing her lips. "But in my experience, rumors tend to have a hint of truth. It sounds like there were definitely rumors back then, I wonder what truths they sprouted from."

"Sprouted? What are they? A weed?"

"Exactly that. Unless you pull them at the beginning of the season and keep up with it, they take control of your garden," she said, shrugging. "Just like how rumors can control your life if they get too far."

"Hironaka, room 432 requested towels thirty minutes ago, what have you been doing all this time?" Saburo scolded as Mai overheard as she walked into the lobby with Ayako. Out of the corner of her eye, Mai could see Chika giving the front desk manager a low bow.

"Forgive me, I was busy cleaning up room 214," she explained, crossing her arms. "I'm also not the only maid employed here, no need to pick on me."

"Yes, all of the other maids are very busy do their jobs, you were to have finished your task at least fifteen minutes ago."

Oh no, this won't end well, Mai thought to herself as she followed Ayako but remained within earshot of the conversation.

"You gave me all of the rooms that had to be scrubbed," she argued, crossing her arms. "It's not my fault you waited until thirty minutes after 432 requested their towels. However, I'll certainly get on it."

The woman huffed and walked away before the man could respond. As she walked quickly past Mai, Mai could see a look on her face that was different from the one of defiance she wore just a moment before. "I'm having a little déjà vu," Ayako commented, as they headed in the direction of Base.

"So am I," Mai said with a shake of her head.

"Yasuhara and Kiko are going to wait out the coming storm and possibly get some more research done, but from what he told me, it didn't sound like they found much," Monk said just as Ayako and Mai walked in.

"Or they're just tired of pretending to be married to each other and don't have to lie to the people in town," Ayako muttered to Mai.

"Well, aside from you and Monk constantly bickering like an old married couple, those two are probably the most convincing couple out of all of us," Madoka remarked bitterly as she overheard the priestess.

"They've been in the library, away from the hotel for the past two days!" Ayako argued, crossing her arms. "And they're the most convincing couple? What about you and Lin? You two are actually dating compared to the rest of us."

"So that is official?" Monk asked with a raised hand, earning a glare from the priestess. "What? For all I knew she was just really into roleplaying."

Mai sweatdropped and pinched the bridge of her nose. This isn't working, we're all terrible actors, she noted, looking up and seeing Naru hold the same position she did. What are we going to do now? We're never going to turn the activity on us at this rate.

"Lin, I want you to check on the microphones on the second floor, we've been getting static," Naru ordered with crossed arms. He looked to Mai, Ayako, and Monk. "You three and I will perform EVP sessions on the fourth floor."

"What about me?" Madoka asked with hands on her hips.

"You're on Base duty," he said simply as he walked out of the room leaving the rest of the team wide eyed.

I think that officially makes Base duty a punishment, Mai determined as she quickly followed her "husband" out.

Still jaw-dropped after the rest of the team left, Madoka crossed her arms. "Fine," she said with a huff as she stood up. "If Mr. Davis is going to put me on Base duty, then I'm going to make sure this team is more convincing in their roles."

She crossed the room to the monitors and grabbed her purse from the table. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. "Moshi, moshi, Juro-kun? It's Madoka, I have an idea that I think you might be able to help me out with."

The walk to the fourth floor was silent between the four investigators. We are not going to get anywhere with this case are we? Mai thought with a shake of her head as she followed behind the monk and priestess who looked a little more than tense.

Naru lead the way as they followed, Mai stuck at the end of the group. She twirled the ring on her finger nervously as they walked the nearly empty hall. I suddenly don't feel so good, she noted as she bit her lip.

Finally, Naru stopped at room 426. "This is the room where the shared nightmares were first reported," he said, handing a recorder to the monk. "You two will conduct a session in here."

"Great idea, Naru, but one problem," Monk said as he placed a hand on the door. "We need to find a maid to let us in."

Looks like you're losing it, Naru, Mai thought in amusement as her boss let out a breath and walked down the hall. He's probably still fed up with Madoka-

"Maeda-san! Please, wait!" a feminine voice called from an open door down the hall. "Please reconsider!"

"I can't reconsider!" a different voice argued, this one was male. "My wife is having panic attacks from this place! We can't stay! C'mon, Hitomi."

The SPR crew stopped in their tracks as they watched a man lead a young woman out of the room while trying to wheel out two suitcases and a duffle. The woman could only stare at the floor as she walked. She blinked her eyes hard and looked as though she were given rather disturbing news. "The lake…" she said, shrugging off the jacket her husband had given her. "I need to be in the lake."

She was about to run down the hall to the elevator, but her husband dropped their bags and grabbed her. "No you don't!" With his arms wrapped around Hitomi, the man picked his head up and noticed the group of four before him. "You're the ghost hunters. I know you guys promised to fix whatever the hell's going on here, but we can't stay. Can someone help me with the bags?"

Monk was the first to respond, grabbing one of the suitcases and the duffle. "Daiki-san? Why does your wife need to go to the lake?" he asked as Ayako came around and taking the other rolling suitcase.

"Hell if I know, she can't even swim for God's sake!" He kept his arms around his wife as they walked. "She wasn't like this until we came here. Whatever is going on, you guys need to stop it, but we're not sticking around."

Naru turned toward the maid who looked very disheartened. "Mizushima-sama is going to kill me," she groaned as she shook her head. She looked at the young couple in front of her. "I assume you're Shibuya-san? Well, both of you?"

Mai smiled and crossed her arms. "Can't seem to catch a break, can you, Chika-san?"

The young maid shook her head with a sigh. "No, I sent them over to you this morning when I overheard them talking about Maeda-san's nightmare last night."

Mai looked up at her "husband" who simply nodded. "Yes, they came to our Base earlier and we recorded their experience," he answered matter of factly.

"Well, good luck figuring this crap out. I'm thinking of taking some sick days because of this," Chika said. "I need to alert Mizushima-sama. He's not going to be happy, especially since I took too long to get them their towels."

Mai looked up at Naru who gave her a confused glance. "So you've met?" he asked as Mai shrugged.

"Yeah, she was the one that told me and Lin about the writing on the wall in room 307. From what I heard her say in the lobby it sounds like she doesn't get along well with her boss." She watched as he seemed to shrug and walk into the now vacant room 432. "What's wrong? You looked like you missed an opportunity or something."

"We'll need to have a word with that maid," he responded, turning around to look at his assistant. "You coming?"

"You sure you want to head home in this?" Monk asked as he loaded the suitcases into the trunk of an SUV. "The rain's already started and it looks like it's only going to get worse."

Daiki came around the car after making sure his frantic wife was strapped in. "I have to, Hitomi can't swim and for whatever reason she's drawn to that freaking lake," he said, closing the trunk. "It's like it's giving her a death wish. I'm afraid I'll wake up tomorrow to find that she snuck out and went there. I can't lose her, you have to understand that." He made sure to look back at Ayako who was waiting under the awning. "How long have you been married?"

"A year," Monk lied effortlessly.

"She drives you insane but if you went a day without her you really would go insane." Monk only nodded. "I need to go before-"

"Hitomi-san! Wait!" Ayako's voice called out as she ran out into the rain. Hitomi had gotten out of her seat and was heading towards the trails.

"Shit!"

"Room 432, Kazuya," Naru said after he turned the recorder on. They were both sitting on the edge of the bed in the hotel room.

"Mai," Mai said. "Is there anyone here with us?"

A long silent pause held in the air as they shared a glance. "Are you the one causing nightmares?" Naru asked.

Mai felt a chill go down her spine. Something was definitely there. Pretty…

She held her breath. There was no way she heard that, right? She took a breath and seeing her boss's face, she knew she must have looked freaked. "A-are you the one leaving messages on the walls?" She internally cursed herself for stuttering, but it was suddenly getting so cold in there.

Why wasn't Naru phased by this?

"Is either Moto Kenshin, or Moto Haruna here with us?" he asked, keeping an eye on his assistant.

Is it getting colder in here? Mai wondered as she shivered. "Is-is there-ah!" She doubled over in pain as a burning sensation spread across her back.

"I wonder if she'll be okay once they get off the mountain," Ayako wondered as she and Monk watched the SUV leave the property.

"I hope so, whatever's here put her in a trance," Monk replied with crossed arms. "I just hope she doesn't try to jump out of the car."

"I guess we should get that maid to let us into that room," the priestess said with a shrug. Monk gave her a look.

"Everything okay?"

"I just don't think I'm going to like what we're going to find."

"Mai!" Naru's voice seemed to be muffled in Mai's ringing ears. Why were they ringing?

She simply laid on her belly gripping the comforter until her knuckles turned white. She bit her lip and kept her eyes shut. It felt like someone took a lighter and dragged it across her back, slowly.

When she didn't respond, Naru came around and pried her of the bed. He needed to get her out of that room, but every time he touched her back she would jerk away. "Mai, I need you to help me get you out of here." His voice was stern, but muddled in the ringing.

Luckily, she managed to understand and let him lead her out of the room. She made it to the doorway when her knees gave out and one more sharp sting slashed its way across her back. She whimpered when Naru knelt down behind her and lifted her shirt.

His eyes narrowed when he revealed a large bloody "X" carved into her skin.

So Base Duty is a punishment and Madoka is planning her revenge. What do you think she's going to do? And poor Mai, but it wouldn't be an SPR case if she didn't get attacked or hurt at least once, right?

Thanks to some of you who told me your thoughts about kids! I'm going to ask that you again give me some names, because, 1. I like seeing what you guys think and the reasoning behind them and 2. because maybe I might use the name in my other fic The Haunt Continues (I'll give you credit of course if I do use the name)

Also, any predictions?

Thanks for reading! Please review!