A breath of relief escaped Ayako as she shut the hotel door behind her. Houshou was almost suffocating her with the mothering attention and the questions he kept asking since her episode in the convenience store bathroom. Granted he had been sweet by immediately purchasing a hot ginger tea from inside the store after she had come back out and climbed into the van. The drink did help immensely but now she figured that she should buy some medicine to appease her upset stomach also. So she was sneaking out and heading to another convenience store that she had noticed just down the street when they arrived at the hotel.

She was exceptionally thankful that early on in their relationship she had put her foot down about him buying her any over the counter medicines. In fact, she also had insisted that if he ever needed medicines in that regard she would also rather be the one to purchase them. Her reasoning was that as a doctor she had more insight about the side effects and what were the best working medicines out there. She was only sneaking out now because she didn't want him to worry any more than he already was. Truthfully the nausea had practically vanished, but she wanted medicine just in case it reared its head again.

Once she walked into the store she took a second to visually map out the layout of the aisles, getting a general idea of where the products she would need would be located. Once she glanced at the items listed in aisle twelve however she found the corner of her lips drooping downward. Her mental list of the purchases she wanted to make quickly changed in her mind, and she went down that aisle instead of aisle eight which had the stomach medicine. She also took a trip down aisle four for saltines and canned ginger drinks.

Once back out on the street she found herself frowning at the bags in her hand. She transferred the purchase she had made from aisle twelve to its own bag and tucked it away in her purse.

The minute she inserted the key into the door of her shared hotel room it opened and a worried, disheveled Houshou stood on the other side. "Where did you go?"

Ayako held up the single bag. "I just stopped to get more stuff from the convenience store. You know, just in case the nausea comes back."

He frowned at her. "I could have done that for you."

She nearly agreed with him, but then found herself defending her actions with reason. "I went to go get medicine. You know our agreement regarding over the counter drugs." It hurt her heart a little when he nodded in agreement. Not because he agreed, but because she had intentionally lied to him about her purchases. Even if she had intended to get medicine from that store. It wasn't among the list of items that she had actually bought herself.

John paced back and forth in the small amount of space that he was sharing with Bennett. He glanced at the young man in question and realized that he was somehow still glued to his laptop. That recognition had John pausing to mentally review if he had ever seen his temporary roommate without his eyes glued to the screen. "Are you researching the current case, or Mai's most recent dream?"

"Neither actually. I am trying to research more on Miss Kimura's psychometabolism ability."

Before he interrupted himself from his musings that had been exactly who had been consuming his thoughts. It was somewhat bothersome that Bennett happened to also be thinking about her. Before he could stop the expression, a frown began to grow on his normally jovial face. The young researcher had shown some avid interest in Akane. Granted it was possible that interest was only in regards to his own personal fascination with her abilities. He heard Bennett shift in his chair and turned his body away from him, hopefully before he could see the sour expression that he was having trouble keeping from his face.

"You have nothing to be worried about. I'm not attracted to--" Bennett cleared his throat interrupting his own train of thought. "Miss Kimura is not my type."

John turned back at him with a curious expression on his face. What had Bennett been about to say? "Are you sure? I mean, you did look pretty interested in her during our initial meeting." Wait. Had he just in a round-about-way just admitted his own attraction to Akane?

"Interested sure. But, not in a romantic way. I've never come across anyone with her abilities before. I find them intriguing." He casts his arm in the direction of his laptop. "I'm not finding much in the factual department regarding her abilities either. A lot of pen and paper games mention it so I have dug a little bit into what they claim someone with psychometabolism abilities can do. Out of all those abilities listed I only found one that struck a chord with me. It seems plausible that she might be able to achieve it."

John wasn't completely thrown off from the previous discussion that Bennett had interrupted. Because he had assisted in many confessionals and one on one personal consultations he was sure occupationally he wouldn't be able to let the subject drop. It was just that now wasn't the time to do so. "What ability was that? Oh, and why do you think a game might have factual findings?"

Bennett paused for a second. "To answer your second question, I always consider the possibility that some fiction may just be rooted in factual evidence. It's not considered prudent in more traditional research roles, sure. But that's why I work for a psychic research company and not journalism. Regarding your first question. I would rather first discuss that with Miss Kimura and Dr. Davis."

John wasn't going to get more information from Bennett in that regard. That didn't stop him from asking about the other thing that was bothering him though. "You were about to say something else before stating that Akane is not your type. Can I ask what it was?"

Bennett looked down. "Because of your religious background I am hesitant to answer."

John's eyes widened as he immediately realized what Bennett was hinting at. "Regardless of my personal religious beliefs I would never judge someone based on their sexual preference. Actually, you didn't meet him but Hashimoto Daichi is another of our associates. He is gay, and I would honestly consider him one of my closest friends."

Bennett looked up and a small smile began to touch the corner of his mouth. "Maybe I could meet him when we are done with the case."

"Hm. I'll introduce you, but honestly he has been acting a bit moony-eyed lately." John pauses for a second. "It's strange because he hasn't even mentioned seeing someone new."

Daichi tore his lips away from the kiss where Katsuo was doing a thorough job of inspecting his molars with his tongue. "Fuck!"

Katsuo managed to step even closer to Daichi, closing what little distance remained completely. Their pelvises now snug against each other, and both of them immediately quite aware of what their shared kisses had done to one another. "I'm sure that can be arranged." Katsuo blinked and looked at the desk that Daichi was perched on. "Not here though. The others may be on a case, but this is unprofessional and risky." Despite his words he pulled Daichi's lips against his own once more. This time only pecking him gently. "Also, perhaps we should start with a date first."

Daichi's mouth popped open in a silent o. It took him a few seconds to regain his composure, and even then he still was able to only manage a nod in response.

"I always wondered if kissing you would be the only way to get you to stop your ceaseless rambling." Katsuo uttered. He gave Daichi an impish smile to punctuate that he was only teasing. "I guess I got my answer."

"You kissed me senseless. Of course there isn't going to be ceaseless rambling. There isn't a thought left in my head to ramble about!" Daichi chuckled in retort.

Madoka walked toward the desk that Lin was manning at the main door of the building. "I think Mai needs to consider hiring more assistants, especially in the orphanage. Those kids are a handful."

"Shouldn't you still be with them?" Lin asked noting the time.

"I'm taking a quick break. The younger ones are taking a nap, and the older ones will hopefully behave themselves for ten minutes." Madoka frowned at her own statement. "Actually, maybe I should just take a short break here, and head back in a few minutes. I'll only act in a supervising position to the older ones so I will still be mostly resting."

Lin's forward crinkled in confusion and concern. "What about Daichi or Katsuo? Couldn't either one of them take over for you for a bit?"

Madoka smirked. "I tried to call Daichi at his desk. I figured Katsuo was probably trapped behind a mountain of paperwork. He didn't answer. So, I went up to ask face to face." She paused for a second as her smirk grew even wider on her face. "The two of them were both pretty busy. I caught sight of them through the glass window in Katsuo's door snogging like crazy."

"Snogging? Perhaps, it is good that we are going to be in Japan for awhile. The British slang is starting to take root in your personal vocabulary." Lin smirked back at her. His statement somewhat to tear her away from gossiping too much in the office. "Why don't you head back to the kids. I will call up to Daichi again and send him that way so you can get a lunch break in." Madoka leaned in and pecked a kiss on Lin's lips. "That was hardly professional."

She shrugged her shoulders. "At least I didn't take a few minutes to have a private snog fest with you."

"No, that private 'snog fest' as you called it will be happening at home after hours, and I am sure I can talk you into it becoming a lot more than simply snogging." His hands gripped tightly to her waist for a brief moment but let her escape when she made some effort to pull away. She caught the heated glint in his eyes and made a conscious effort to sashay away, exaggerating the swing of her hips as she walked. Lin blew out a breath enunciating his growing frustration at watching the back and forth movement she added for his benefit. "I am definitely going to have my hands full with her for the rest of my life." The soft complaint managed to pull a small whimsical smile from his face. The phone ringing soon after pulling him from his momentary realization.

The call was coming from within the building and the extension number was Katsuo's office. "Do I have to worry about what Madoka saw?"

"When she comes back with her lunch I will make sure to encourage her to be discreet." Lin assured him. Madoka must have admitted what she saw when she got up to Daichi's desk. Damn, that woman worked quickly. "Why are you so concerned though?"

"I shouldn't have gotten so carried away in the office. It was highly unprofessional of me." Katsuo admitted.

"With the amount of romantic pairings in this building I somehow doubt you are the first to take a moment for yourself behind closed doors during working hours. I do think you should probably tell Mai what's going on yourself though. Especially if it is more than a simple fling." Lin had to admit he was curious himself about the pseudo-psychiatrist's intentions.

"I wouldn't risk our professional relationship for a fling. Granted, we haven't yet went on a date, but I am working on rectifying that in the near future." The tone of Katsuo's voice became hard and defensive.

Sounds like he is serious about this becoming much more than a romantic entanglement. Sounds like he is planning on letting it blossom into an actual relationship. "Then I definitely encourage you to let Mai know about it." She would probably be more excited than put off by it.

"I'll make sure to call her personally and let her know."