I'm back! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and the next couple. I realized that this might be longest case depending on how the next couple of chapters goes. Unfortunately, they will be I guess, "filler" chapters in a way, but I know you guys will love them when you realize why I have to have them! Also Thank you all for 600 reviews! I'm so happy that this fic has gotten such recognition! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I never thought I'd get o chapter 80 let alone with 600 reviews under my belt! I can't thank you all enough! I'll stop now and let you read! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 5-Romania?

March Day 3, 4:02 P.M.

"Naru left his voice recorder?" Ayako asked skeptically as she and Monk walked into room 432. "Since when is he that careless?"

"Well," Monk said, picking up the recorder. "Let's stop recording before we both get in trouble." He pressed the red stop button as he earned a scowl from the priestess. Then he shrugged. "I don't know why he did it, I just know he texted me asking if I would grab it after our E.V.P. session. But something must have happened for him to leave it recording."

"Where are they now?" The priestess's brows furrowed. Monk chewed on his cheek as they headed out of the room.

"We passed Base before getting here and I didn't see them," he answered thoughtfully. "Unless they were in the other elevator and we missed them."

Beep. Beep.

"Is that them?"

Monk shrugged, pulling his phone from his pocket only to shake his head. "Just Yasuhara, the rain's starting to let up so he and Kiko are on their way back. Hopefully, they found something." He quickly responded to the text and put the phone in his pocket. "Hey, do you think Madoka was right about them being the most convincing?"

But Ayako didn't hear him, something else was on her mind. When it finally registered that she had been asked a question. "Sorry, I was just trying to figure out where Naru and Mai went," she said with knitted brows and pursed lips. "Something happened that made them stop the session and book it out of there. But where did they go?"

"You're right," Monk agreed sliding the voice recorder in his pocket and crossing his arms. "I would assume that they would go back to Base, I saw Madoka in there. Maybe they did go down and she said it was perfect timing for a couples session?"

"What the hell is a couples-" Her eyes grew wide as she stopped short. A chill went down her spine. "You don't think they-"

Monk managed to laugh heartedly earning a scowl from the woman. "You're kidding right? Naru's pissed enough as is with this case. There's no way that Madoka could convince him-"

"What if Madoka didn't convince him?" She bit her lip as her mind flashed to a scene just two cases ago.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, however you like to see it, Monk also had the same scene playing in his head. Shaking his head of the thought, a chill went down his spine. "Let's check Base again. Check the cameras, we can at least see where they've gone."

"Ow! Stop!" Came a whimper.

"Hold still, Mai." Came an order.

"But it hurts!" Came a whine.

"If you would stay still and relax it won't be as painful."

"Says the one who doesn't have to go through this." A grumble.

"You're going to get blood everywhere."

"You're going to get smacked if you aren't gentler."

"Do you want your back to get infected?"

Mai gave a huff in defeat. Naru simply rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. They were in the bathroom of their shared room, with the injured party sitting on the toilet letting her "husband" dress the cuts. Or did you think something else was going on?

The brunette scrunched her face as Naru cleaned the cuts with peroxide. She clutched the towel she held closer to her chest. She was thankful she didn't have to ask Naru to turn around when she took off her shirt. He did it without a word.

Once Mai had made it out of room 432, whatever the spirit had done to cause the huge "X" on her back must have drained all of her energy. If it weren't for the fact that she was determined to make it back to their room with as little attention as possible, Naru would have had to carry her. That would have thrilled Madoka in Base too much for Mai to allow. She would be fine. Just as soon as Naru got the bleeding to stop.

It felt odd, to say the least. The same situation happened the night before. Only this time, I'm shirtless, Mai noted as she let out a breath. I shouldn't be so self-conscious, this isn't the first time he's seen my back. She remembered a case several months ago where she woke up from a nightmarish vision with bruises and cuts and words etched into her skin.

Naru dressed the cuts back then, but I didn't have to actually take my shirt off, Mai remembered.

She winced when he stopped applying the peroxide and the air chilled the wet spots on her back. "That's odd," he remarked. Mai rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I'm well aware that there's a birthmark on my shoulder the shape of Australia," she replied, not amused. He said he wouldn't comment on it!

"Actually, it looks more like Romania," he countered, knowing that made her cheeks flush furiously. "That's not what's odd."

No, it wasn't. While the oddly shaped stain on her shoulder was amusing, that wasn't what he was concerned about. What concerned him was the large "X" carved into her back. It was healing before his eyes.

It didn't heal completely, but it had scabbed over instantly after Naru had finished cleaning it. If anything, the peroxide would delay healing slightly, he wondered with a knitted brow.

Sorry…

At that thought, Mai jerked her head around. She looked up at Naru to see if maybe he heard it too, but the concentrated look on his face said otherwise. It was the same whisper…

"I don't think you'll need any bandages," he said finally after the wound at completely closed and scabbed over. "But I don't think you'll want to wear your bra for a couple days."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you." The words were out of her mouth before she could even register she had thought them. It certainly caught both of them off guard.

By the horrified look on Mai's face, Naru understood that something was amiss. He decided to ignore the comment. "Do you need me to grab another shirt?" he asked slowly, his tone seemed unfazed.

Mai nodded. "There should be a lavender tank top and a light blue flannel sitting on top if you open my bag."

What the hell was that just now! Her mind reeled as he walked back into their room. Why the hell did I just say that? Whatever is here is making me way too bold for my own good.

After handing the shirt to her, Naru waited in their room for her to change, closing the bathroom door behind him. That's it, if we're sending Kiko and Yasuhara back out for research, I'm going with them! I need to get out of this place!

She quickly put the tank top and flannel on after attempting to put on her bra. The idiot scientist was right, with the cuts on my back my bra will irritate them too much. She made a face as she bundled up the undergarment with her old shirt and walked out of the bathroom.

Together, the two of them walked down the hall in silence, until Naru broke it of course. "So what happened?" he asked as they made it into the elevator.

"Just as you saw," Mai said with a shrug. "As we started the session I felt like the room was getting colder and the next thing I knew there was a burning sensation across my back and I was practically paralyzed. You helped me out of the room and I felt the same burning go the other way on my back and I couldn't stand anymore."

"Did you notice anything else?" Naru asked, something odd in his eyes as he looked down to her. Mai couldn't quite describe it. It wasn't quite suspicious but not worried either. Some sort of odd in between.

Pretty… "No, I don't think so," she lied. Pretty…that's what I heard right before the attack.

They stepped out of the elevator and walked down to Base. "Just rewind the tape to when we walked the Maeda couple out," Ayako's voice could be heard in an annoyed tone.

"I'm sure they're fine. Maybe they just took my advice and are getting reacquainted." Mai could almost see the suggestive smirk on Madoka's face.

"Madoka!" Monk and Ayako were definitely not pleased.

Mai raised a brow and looked up and Naru who for a brief moment looked more defeated than she had ever seen. Moment lost, his face hardened as he walked up to the doorway to Base. "I suggest if you are to have such conversations then leave the door closed." Mai rolled her eyes and followed behind him.

"I don't even want to know where that conversation was going, but some of the guests might have been interested," Mai teased.

"Mai! You're okay!" Monk was the first to rush over and wrap the girl in a bear hug. To which Mai jumped with a squeak.

"Yes, I'm okay, Monk. But I'm a little banged up, mind letting go?" she whimpered as she squirmed out of his grasp. The cuts on her back may have stopped bleeding, but they were still a little tender.

With a suspicious look from the monk and priestess, Mai felt like she was about to get grounded. Aren't I supposed to be a married woman now? She wondered, somewhat amused. Maybe I should use that against their reprimanding one day.

"And just why are you so banged up?" Ayako asked, shooting an accusing glance to the ringleader of the room.

Naru, not amused, walked over to Monk. "Do you have the recorder?"

Monk nodded and pulled out the device from his pocket. About to hand it into Naru's outstretched hand, he quickly changed his mind and snatched it back. "What happened that made you leave the recorder on? And why is Mai all banged up?"

Never had Mai felt the urge to facepalm so strongly in her two years of working with these nutjobs. "Guys-"

"We're back!" Yasuhara sang as he and Kiko walked into Base. With Monk momentarily distracted, Naru snatched the voice recorder from Monk's unguarded hand.

"Yasuhara, why are you wearing a garlic necklace!" Ayako almost shrieked as she held her nose.

"To keep the vampires away, of course!" he replied proudly as Kiko shook her head.

"The car ride back was definitely interesting," she commented crossing her arms. Her "husband" gave her a cheeky grin. "Oh, no. You're not going back into our room with that thing."

"Fine," he agreed reluctantly as he took off the necklace and tossed it in the waste bin.

"Be sure to have him shower with his clothes on," Ayako commented, still with her nose held. "Otherwise you'll both end up reeking of garlic tomorrow."

Kiko eyed the boy next to her and pursed her lips. "You might be sleeping on the floor tonight."

"And you two didn't believe me when I said they were the most convincing!" Madoka exclaimed with a laugh. Monk and Ayako glared at her. Lin was in the doorway, seeing as he had just gotten back from fixing the microphones. Seeing the scene before him, he promptly turned and left without being noticed.

Good choice, Lin, Mai thought, since she was the only one to notice. I wish I could do the same.

"Where the hell did you get the idea that we're dealing with vampires?" Monk asked with a raised brow.

"Simple, the land was cursed by one!" The college student was way too excited about the thought. Mai shook her head.

"Why don't we all get on the same page and discuss what we've found?" Mai suggested in a very annoyed tone that reminded the whole group of a certain narcissist.

Collectively, everyone stopped their chattering and stared at the teen. "Thank you, Mai," Naru said as he sat down by the monitors and placed the recording device on the table. "Shall we get back to work? That is what we came here for, correct?"

I'm so done with this case, Mai decided as she sat down on one end of the couch. I'm either too bold for my own good or I sound exactly like that narcissist. I just can't win.

"Well, we were gone most of the day, but we really didn't find much," Yasuhara admitted with a shrug as he sat down on one of the surrounding chairs. One of the chairs rather far away from everyone else. "I tried to find anything that might confirm the boathouse woman's story, but I came up short. There was no evidence that suggested that the Kuroki family has or had a child. And I couldn't find anything about unsolved disappearances during the time the resort closed. At least not associated specifically with the hotel."

"What do you mean by that?" Madoka asked with her head cocked to the side.

"I'll get to that in a moment, Kiko what did you find?" he replied as Kiko crossed her legs sitting next to Mai.

"Like I told him," she jabbed a thumb toward the college student, "not much. I called and spoke with Kuroki, Ryoichi and he really didn't want to speak to me. I tried to ask him if there was anything he could tell me about his resort closing and he really just wouldn't answer. I asked him if there were any rumors behind it and he hung up on me."

"So you found nothing conclusive," Naru translated emotionlessly. Just then, Yasuhara's glasses shone a rather devious gleam.

"On the contrary," he said with a smirk. "Since the storm was starting up here before it would make to town where we were, we decided we had some time to kill and walked around the shops."

"You went sightseeing?" Madoka chirped, wiggling her brow toward the other two couples in the room. "You all should be taking notes!"

"Continue before she starts again, Yasuhara," Monk growled rubbing his head.

"Believe it or not, we found a ghosts an legends shop," the young man beamed as he adjusted his glasses.

"How do you sell ghosts and legends?" Ayako raised a brow.

"I think it's more of a legend and ghost hunting shop," Kiko reiterated. "There were a lot of books on local legends and ghost stories and even included some on some other cities and towns in Japan. Some high-tech ghost hunting equipment was sold there too, along with all sorts of protection charms."

"And you decided you needed the garlic necklace?" Mai asked sporting yet another raised brow.

"I just thought it was funny and I'm going to see if the kitchen has a Ziploc bag or something because I paid good money on that thing!"

"Are you going to tell them what the shop owner told us?" Kiko was not patient at the moment.

"Right." He cleared his throat and opened the notebook he had been carrying. "So the owner has lived in that little town her entire sixty years of life. She opened up the shop after her father died a few years ago. She wanted to bring a little more tourism to this small town since the Mountain's Eye became such a hit. She figured with the popularity of ghost hunting shows these days that she had to take up on that idea."

"Get on with it, Yasuhara." The black clad narcissist was not interested in the success of an old woman's business.

"I was getting there. The owner actually knew Kikuchi-san when she was younger. In fact she said she was her babysitter."

"Not only did she remember hearing her talk about a little girl when she would go play at the resort," Kiko continued, "but she said that she met her."

"How reliable of a source is this shop keeper?" Naru immediately responded.

"Someone's impatient," Kiko said with a roll of her eyes. "I know what you're thinking. If this woman wants to make money off of the local legends, what's stopping her from back up Kikuchi's story to make a quick buck?" She turned back to her partner in crime. "Yasu, tell him what else the owner told us."

"She also thought the girl was just the daughter of a guest and thought nothing of it when she disappeared. Here's where it gets weird." He flipped a few pages until he found the one he needed. "Only a few months later did the resort close. Up until that point the business had been thriving and it's closure was a shock to the town."

"So the question remains, if the resort was doing so well, why did it only take a few months to completely shut it down?" Kiko asked as the group sent looks around the room.

"Simple. The hotel was not doing as well as everyone thought," Naru responded in an almost bored tone. "Was that everything you found?"

"Well, after that we decided to head to the police station and ask if there were any cold child abduction cases from around the time of first resort closing," Yasuhara answered. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to get much info until Kiko flirted with the officer and convinced him-"

"You make me sound like such a tramp!" Kiko exclaimed with wide eyes.

"What? You batted your eyes and left him your number after I stepped aside so that he could call you if he knew anything. What did I say that was wrong?"

"Did you have to announce it like that-"

"Okay, you two can attend marriage counseling later," Monk said with a hand up, ceasing the argument. With a glance toward Madoka he said, "Madoka will not be officiating it either."

With pursed lips the woman glared at the monk.

"You're right," Yasuhara agreed after a breath. He looked back at Monk. "So what happened on your end?"

Quickly, with four out of the six team members who had stayed at the hotel all day, they explained the events of the day. From the Maeda couple's nightmares to said couple having to leave the property because one of them was in a trance. And finally, Mai was explaining the E.V.P. session gone wrong. "Naru practically had to drag me out of the room, the pain was so bad."

"And on her back was this," Naru said, turning around Lin's laptop and showing the picture of Mai's back that he had taken. A large "X" was carved and bloody on the girl's back.

"Madoka, if you say one word about the context of this picture, I will stab you." Once again the words were out of her mouth before she could realize she had thought them. This time, however, seeing Madoka actually shut her mouth, Mai wasn't exactly complaining about her bluntness.

"Is that Australia?" Monk commented absently. Yasuhara leaned in to look closer.

"Actually, I think that might be Romania-"

"Guys…" Mai growled, shutting up the discussion.

"So what about the E.V.P. session?" Ayako asked, getting back to the original topic. "I saw you listening to it while we were explaining the Maeda couple. What did you find?"

"Nothing." Naru's voice almost sounded bitter at his statement.

"You mean nothing of use?" Kiko offered.

"No." He shook his head briefly. "There's nothing saved on the recorder."

"Impossible," Monk countered. "It was recording when I grabbed it."

"Judging by what happened to Mai, I don't think the recording deleting its data was your doing," Naru said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Something doesn't want us to know about it."

"So we're at a standstill," Mai determined with a sigh. She leaned forward with her chin resting in her hand and that same elbow propped on her knee. "What's our next step?"

"Mai and I will go talk with Hironaka-san about the Maeda couple," Naru decided, turning to everyone else that wasn't Madoka. "The rest of you will do a temperature sweep."

"What about me?" Madoka asked with a raised brow and crossed arms. "You can't expect me to be on Base duty again."

With that, Naru stood up and smirked. "Well, someone has to." He turned to Mai. "Let's go."

Mai quickly ran out of the room to catch up with her boss before Madoka blew a gasket. You're still pissed at her, aren't you, Naru?

6:01 P.M.

"I was sent to Maeda couple's room to give them fresh towels," Chika explained, eyeing the door rather impatiently. "Hitomi kept saying she needed to go in the lake. Needed to find something she dropped in the lake or something. Daiki kept shaking his head and telling her otherwise, but she wouldn't see sense."

"What else was Daiki saying?" Naru asked as Mai jotted down notes in her very own notebook. "Why shouldn't Hitomi go to the lake?"

Chika cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Well, you heard him, Hitomi can't swim. They hadn't been anywhere near the lake their entire visit. I can't tell you why, but I'm pretty sure all Daiki could see was if his wife went to the lake, she was going to die. You'd have to ask him why he was thinking that, but I don't know how you'll be able to do that since they've left. Mizushima-sama is still blaming me for their departure."

"Would he be able to contact the couple for us?" Mai piped up after ceasing her scribbling. "That way there wouldn't be a confidentiality issue."

"You'd have to ask him, but in case you haven't noticed, Mizushima-sama is-"

"Right behind you, Hironaka-san, but don't stop on my account," Saburo said, startling the poor maid. Obviously enjoying the woman's discomfort, he turned to the investigating couple. "Maeda Daiki is on the phone asking for you. He says they made it off the mountain safely, but wants a word." Naru nodded. "I'll show you the way, as for you," he turned back to his maid, "don't forget you're to work a double tomorrow. An overnight double."

"Yes, sir, anything else?" She did not look excited about her upcoming shift.

"Just tend to your remaining rooms before the dinner service lets out." With that he showed the investigators to where the phone was. It was a simple cordless phone behind the front counter. "You may use the room behind the front desk for privacy, just make sure to take the phone off of hold instead of hanging up."

"Thank you, Mizushima-san," Mai said with a smile as she followed Naru to the room mentioned.

"Shibuya," Naru said as he picked up the phone. "One moment." He turned back to his "wife." "Aren't you supposed to be taking notes? Come here."

Confused, Mai stepped closer and Naru bent down a little so that the phone was between their ears and they could both listen.

"Go ahead, Maeda-san."

"I just wanted to apologize for our hasty exit earlier," Daiki said through the speaker. "We're not back home but we're far enough away from the resort and plan to spend the night at another hotel."

"What specifically did you wish to speak with me about?" Naru asked, impatiently, earning a jab in the rib. Serves you right for wanting me to stand so close!

"Right. The reason we came to you guys earlier was because of that mark that my wife woke up with on her wrist. You remember?"

"Yes."

Pretty. That's what it said, Mai remembered.

"Once we were off the mountain, she started scratching the spot on her wrist. And once we were out of town she snapped out of whatever trance she was in. It was the strangest thing!"

"Does she remember anything?"

"Not a thing since we went to tell you about our nightmares. She's a little disappointed that we had to call off our honeymoon early, but she's not complaining too much, I hope you can imagine."

"Maeda-san, aside from your wife not being able to swim, why were you so determined to get her off the property?" Naru asked, eyeing the listening girl next to him.

"I was worried that if this was caused by the spirits at the resort that they would force her to do what her sister did five years ago."

"What did she do?" Mai's words were barely a breath as she felt her hands shake.

"What did she do?" Naru repeated for her benefit.

"Her sister rowed herself out into the middle of the lake and overdosed on sleeping pills. Her body was found floating in the water the next morning."

"So did you really turn up the charm for that cop?" Ayako asked as she and Kiko waited for the thermometer to set.

"In the moment, it wasn't as bad as Yasu made it sound," Kiko admitted with a sigh. "Actually, we even discussed using such a plan prior to walking into the station. You know, after the minefield we had to go through at the college. I just can't believe he would announce it in such a way."

"Well, what exactly happened?" The priestess scribbled down the temperature and grabbed the thermometer.

"We walked into the station after coming up with the plan to get info, we went up to the desk and they referred us to another desk where a younger officer was posted. Seemed like he was being punished by his position and was not looking to help us out." They walked over to the next room on the first floor. "When he refused to look into any cold case files, I nudged Yasu like we had discussed. He walked away and I-"

"Used feminine charm to manipulate a cop?"

"Ugh, it is as bad as it sounds!" the teen groaned rubbing her temples. "But if he was so against the plan, why did he help come up with it and encourage me-"

"Whoa." The priestess stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Slow down there. You said he helped come up with his plan?"

Kiko nodded. "Yeah, he brought up how hard it was getting the police to talk with us when we were at the college and I jokingly offered to charm the cops into giving us what we wanted. He was the one who said he would walk away if I nudged him so we could see if I had better luck than him."

"And what did the officer look like?" She offered her arm to guide the teen into the next room, to which Kiko accepted gratefully.

"Well, he seemed a little shorter than Naru, but definitely more built. He wasn't bad looking, kinda cute, actually, but not my type-"

"Uh-huh, and how old do you think he was?" Ayako placed the thermometer on the table in the empty banquet hall.

"Probably around twenty-four or so. What does that have to do-"

"Sweetheart, I think your 'husband' was feeling a little jealous." The priestess's smirk was bright on her face as Kiko almost laughed.

"No way." Her face became somber. "Yasu doesn't feel that way about me." This time the priestess wanted to laugh.

"You're kidding right?" The girl shook her head. "You know, I'm starting to think there might be more than one definition for the term 'love is blind.'"

"You're going to just leave Madoka to fester in Base?" Monk asked with an amused grin as Lin assisted the two investigators in their temperature sweep.

"I'll still have to hear her repeat her rant of rage when we turn in," Lin admitted as he checked the windows for a draft. "If you can imagine, I'm hoping to close that window of time a little."

"And what was that with you and Kiko in Base?" The monk raised a brow at the college student who scribbled the temperature.

"I wish I knew," he admitted, scratching his head. "The words came out wrong. Really wrong. It's not even like she gave him her number. She gave him mine."

"Madoka just might right about you two," Monk decided with a shake of his head.

Meanwhile, in Base, Madoka was keeping her eye on the team, making a mental note to speak with Lin about abandoning her in her Base duty. But what she was focusing on, was a certain British researcher who, she had determined, would never be able to have an acting career. A rather devious smirk graced her lips as she crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. With a chuckle, she propped her legs up on the chair next to her.

"Oh, Oliver, you're going to have to do better than Base duty," she said to herself with a shake of her head. "Just wait for what I have in store."

March Day 3, 10:43 P.M.

With the case at a bit of a standstill, Mai headed to her room early. There wasn't anything else for her to do and she would much rather be doing something rather than nothing. Homework seemed like a good idea, until she changed into her pajamas and realized she had absolutely no motivation to do that kind of work.

I got a decent chunk of it done last night, she thought to herself as she went through her bag. Now, I know I brought a few books, but where did I put them?

After wrestling with the insane amount of items on her suitcase, Mai decided that whatever was the first book she could grab that wasn't a textbook would be her reading material for the night. Lo and behold, she found one.

The Parapsychological Research of Dr. Oliver Davis Volume I, Mai read the title in her head. Japanese translation of course, my English isn't that good. Yet.

So she curled up on her side of the bed and read. Naru couldn't possibly be annoyed at her productivity level if she was reading this, right?

By the time Mai made it to chapter two, Naru had returned with an odd look on his face. Mai ignored him and continued reading as he grabbed his own pajamas and went into the bathroom to change. "You're reading Oliver Davis?" he asked when he came out buttoning the last button of his nightshirt.

"I didn't feel like doing homework and figured if I was going to read on a case, I better make it something productive otherwise I would get a tongue lashing from you." She looked up with a sly smirk. "Considering everyone obsessing over the fake Dr. Davis guy last year, I thought he might actually be one of the more interesting researchers to read about."

Naru couldn't help but smirk as he crawled into his side of the bed. "Well, you have excellent taste," he commented, grabbing his own paperback. Mai rolled her eyes.

"Wow, my taste certainly has come a long way, hasn't it?" Once again, she couldn't stop herself from saying it, but now she was kind of interested to see where her words would go. "When we met, my taste was simply, 'not bad.' Last night, it went all the way up to 'good.' Now it's 'excellent?' I think someone's a bigger fan of Dr. Davis than he wants to admit."

Naru blinked and kept his expression straight. It wasn't the reaction Mai was hoping for. What he said next certainly didn't help matters. "Now if only we could get your thought process up to par with your taste."

"Naru!" She elbowed him as he smirked. He won this battle. He got a rise out of her. Now that Mai thought about it, it certainly had been a while since he made it a point to tease her like this. As much as it drove her nuts, she kind of missed this side of him. Then something caught her eye. "You're book's in English?" She cocked her head to the side.

"Yes, I'm fluent," he answered, bringing his attention back to the book in his hands.

Mai rolled her eyes as she finally realized it. "Well, that explains why you curse in English."

"I don't curse," he stated simply. Mai let out a laugh, but didn't take her eyes off her book.

"Yes, you do. Your office isn't soundproof. I can hear you say 'shit' every time you sip your tea when it's still too hot."

"Then don't make it so hot."

"I'll make sure to remind you of that when you yell at me for bringing cold tea."

March Day 4, 7:08 A.M.

Well, Naru was pretty sure something was influencing the actions of his team. Whether it was his deceased brother or Madoka's plan worked to draw the attention of the spirits to them, he wasn't sure. All he knew for sure was that he kept waking up with his damn arm around his assistant.

Gene, if you are behind this. Stop and just tell me where to find you, he internally groaned. But he didn't really mean it. If Gene told him where to find his body, then Naru would have failed his brother. Again.

While mentally shaking off the haze of sleepiness, Naru slowly and carefully pulled his arm off of his assistant. He was glad she was such a heavy sleeper, she didn't even flinch at the movement. I wonder how long she's slept?

He had the vaguest recollection of her getting out of bed at some point. After learning about her insomnia he could only assume she woke up and occupied herself until she was tired again.

When she didn't move after he dislodged himself, Naru got out of bed and grabbed his clothes. He headed for the bathroom and turned on the shower.

Once the bathroom door closed, Mai began to kick in her sleep. She clawed at her sheets as she tossed her head side to side. "Stop…get away…" she whimpered, but Naru couldn't hear her. He couldn't bring her out of her nightmare. She clawed at her wrist as though trying to pry something off of it. "No…"

Pretty…

Her eyes snapped open and she gasped for breath. Slowly, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Another nightmare, you've gotten be kidding me. She ran a hand through her hair. Just one dreamless nap, that's all I ask…

"Are you okay?" a voice asked, startling the girl. She looked up to see a wet haired Naru, dressed and ready for the day.

"Yeah," she lied with a breath. "Just a dream."

"You're bleeding." Mai took her hand out of her hair and saw the trail of blood going down her arm.

"I must have scratched myself or something," she said, shaking her head. She stood up and walked to the bathroom. "I'm fine go down for breakfast without me." She closed the door behind her before he could argue. Grabbing a Band-Aid from the medicine cabinet, she covered the cut without another thought.

8:30 A.M.

"Good morning, everyone!" Madoka said in a very cheerful manner once everyone was gathered in Base. "I hope everyone slept well!"

Looking at the group of sleepyheads, Mai concluded that Madoka was the only to have the luxury of a good night's sleep. Ayako and Monk looked like they spent the entire night fighting over the covers. Kiko looked like she couldn't sleep and Yasuhara looked like he slept on the floor, by the way he was massaging his neck.

Maybe he really did…Mai thought as she sipped the tea she brought with her from the dining hall.

Then there was Naru and Lin. Naru just looked indifferent to everything. Meanwhile, Mai still wasn't convinced Lin actually slept. The only time she actually saw him not awake was after he was possessed and fell unconscious. That didn't count, right?

"No bloody messaged found in anyone's room?" Madoka pried, trying to get some type of reaction. No one wanted to acknowledge her. "No? Well then, maestro, what's our plan for the day?"

"Another temperature sweep to help create a pattern. We'll then compare it to the chart we made on the first day," Naru explained. "After that, I'll want a group to look around the perimeter of the lake. There might not be anything to find, but Maeda Hitomi certainly thought there was. After that, we'll hold another E.V.P. session in room 432 since the one performed yesterday was deleted-"

"Wrong," Madoka said, as though she were a college professor unamused by her student's lack of effort in answering.

Naru's eyes narrowed and everyone's attention was gathered. "Excuse me?"

"The temperature sweep and E.V.P. session will happen, but after that today will be a day of rest," Madoka explained with a soft smile. Though her eyes held a devious glare.

"What do you mean a day of rest?" Monk asked with a smirk. The only time Naru rested was after he had been sent to the hospital.

"The spirits here haven't been attracted to us, despite us all being 'married,'" the woman continued.

"What about Mai being attacked?" Ayako asked with a raised brow.

"Even with that, we have nothing to go on and our case is at a standstill," Madoka said, crossing her arms. "The only way we're going to get anywhere is by making contact with whatever's here."

"Madoka, don't tell me-" Mai began, but seeing the grin on the woman's face, she knew it was no use.

"It's date night, guys!"

This chapter is definitely one of my favorites to write to be honest. From Mai and Naru's awkward wound dressing to Yasuhara's garlic necklace, to Mai and Naru bickering in bed, to Madoka's antics. I love it!

Keep it up with the names, please! I like seeing what you come up with! Other than that, are there any predictions about this "date night?" Hope you enjoyed!