Dangerous Souls

To Receive and to Deceive

Chapter 5-Target

December Day 3 8:15 P.M.

"Mai, head up and straight, please," Michiru scolded, physically moving the young girl's head.

"Sorry," she replied weakly, her mind was somewhere else entirely. To be perfectly honest, she was a little upset with herself for allowing this to get to her so much. She was there to have girl time with her friends, yet this case had taken such a turn that she couldn't keep her mind off of it.

"Wow, did you and Naru get into an argument or something?" Keiko asked, sitting cross-legged on the couch with textbooks and notebooks strewn around her. On the couch, across the floor, on the coffee table, the little buggers were everywhere. "Or maybe it was with Shouta?"

Mai just sighed, slumping down in her seat. "C'mon! Do you want this uneven? Keiko you need to stop distracting her!" Michiru scolded, as Mai straightened up and kept her head forward.

"No, it wasn't a fight, it was-"

Kimi to boku to, Sakurabiyori.

"Oh jeez!" Michiru exclaimed, frustrated that she could only get halfway through Mai's hair. She had never dealt with her hair being so long before. "Hello?"

Judging by the surprised look on her face, Keiko really had no clue who it was that had called the young hair dresser's phone. Mai had no idea because she was terrified to turn in any way from the position she had been put into. Suddenly the phone was put to the petite brunette's ear. She grasped it with a suspicious look on her face.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mai! It's Shouta!" she heard his familiar voice and immediately relaxed.

"Hey, Shouta," she replied with a smile. "Why did you call Michiru?"

"I'm just checking up on you, you never returned my call yesterday. And you weren't answering your house phone and you don't have a cell phone."

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's been so hectic this week, exams and we have a new case-"

"It's okay, I figured as much," he replied with a laugh. "I know you've been really stressed out but I just want to make sure you are still up for the party on Saturday."

"Of course, I am!" she answered instantly. "I'm actually over here studying with Keiko and Michiru along with helping get ready for the party."

"Perfect, now, am I meeting you there? Am I picking you up from your place? Work?"

"It depends on how this case goes," she replied honestly. "If we finish before the end of the week, it will depend on if Naru makes me work on Saturday, where you would pick me up. If we don't finish before Saturday, then I'll probably have my stuff over here at Michiru's and meet you here as soon as I am done for the day."

"Fair enough, when do you think you'll have a definite answer?"

"Would Friday be too late?"

"Not at all, I'll talk to you later. I love you," he said, she could practically hear the smile in his voice.

"I love you too. I'll let you know for sure on Friday." With that she hung up the phone only for her friends to go into fit of...

"AAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

The teenager couldn't help but blush at her friends' reactions. "Thank God you guys waited until I hung up for that," she said, handing the phone back to its rightful owner.

"Oh, come on, Mai, that was adorable," Keiko argued, but then looked to Michiru. "How did he even get your number?"

"I gave it to him when we all hung out one time, in case he needed to reach Mai and she wasn't home," she explained, going back to work on Mai's head.