A/N: Set about two months after A Christmas Story. Quick one-shot!
Full Disclosure
Yasuhara Osamu, the male, first-year college student currently working as a part-timer receptionist and researcher at the SPR office, greeted the potential client before him good-naturedly. Even if it felt weird due to the fact that she was usually part of the providing-end of their service.
"To what do we owe this pleasure of seeing you today, Hara-san?"
The raven-haired girl, clad in a light pink kimono with splashes of white and red floral designs, smiled back, though Yasuhara could tell from the way her eyes held on to its sharp edge that it was an empty gesture, void of any humor or feelings. It was a typical response from the young, famous medium, with her cold and stand-offish demeanor, but Yasuhara didn't let that cloud the smile he had plastered on his face.
Takigawa, Ayako, and John, who were currently already using the office as their cafe lounge, greeted the medium and received an equally cold response as well. Yasuhara motioned for her to take a seat beside the others and simply waited for her to move on to business.
"I am here to see Naru. There is a case I require his help with. Would you please kindly let him know?"
"Of course. If you could let me know the details regarding the case? I could then quickly recap- "
"- I know how it works, Yasuhara-san," she cut in curtly. He stopped in his speech and promptly stood up, grabbing his pen and notebook from his bench. He nodded at her wordlessly and began taking notes.
The medium resumed, "I received a request for a case regarding the current haunting going on at a beach in Chiba. It does not seem to be particularly dangerous, only that the frequency of the incidents have been increasing lately and some people have proposed it might be due to Valentine's Day fast approaching. It seems to be targeting young, inexperienced couples in particular."
"A beach!" Ayako exclaimed, clearly excited.
The monk seemed amused upon hearing this and said, "Oi, oi. Doesn't this remind you of that one time?"
John bristled as Ayako laughed beside him, no doubt recalling how difficult it was for him to keep up with the miko's demands. "I-it does bring back memories..." he said sheepishly.
When no one elaborated further, Yasuhara pressed on, "So you've been asked to cleanse the entire beach area?" Masako Hara only nodded at him grimly. "That is certainly a huge undertaking. You say the incidents were not dangerous?"
"No, not particularly. It could be more seen as... playful in nature. Like pranks. There's been reports of couples hearing disembodied voices that mimic their partners' and try to pick fights, some have had their picnics ruined, some have had their bikini tops untied, confessions spoiled." A small silence ensued before Masako continued, "As Takigawa-san says, we have actually dealt with a somewhat similar case before. A nearby park had a resident ghost that attacked couples by dumping water on them, but the team solved the case within a day, so likewise I think this shouldn't be too troublesome. We did, however, have to resort to using... unconventional tactics in order to lure out the ghost and cleanse it."
Ayako scoffed. "Really, I could have sworn that whole case was merely a ploy on your part to snag a date with Naru."
"A-absolutely not! It was a legitimate case!"
"It was lucky it turned out to be a legitimate case," the miko sneered. "We almost wasted our day parading as couples. We just got lucky this old idiot over here decided he wanted to take advantage of Mai, which got the ghost to show up properly."
"Oi! Don't say such misleading things!"
Yasuhara recalled reading the case files his four colleagues were referencing and gave it some thought. Since Lin had not been a part of the away team, the report had been written by Naru himself, and based on the harsh, messy scrawls, he could tell the Boss didn't at all find the case amusing. Yasuhara had wondered what made Naru take the case in the first place, but he hadn't had the time to ask anyone else about the circumstances surrounding said case.
After some consideration, he began, "Hara-san. You are aware that Shibuya-san does not like to take simple cases. He would most likely see this as a trifle matter."
"Yes, but I am asking for his help. As his colleague," she emphasized, "I think he'd be a bit more lax on his requirements and help me out with this case."
"He would just recommend for you to refuse the case."
Masako looked miffed. "Just. Tell. Him."
Yasuhara sighed in defeat and stood up, thinking that Masako would probably just use the same tactic she did before in order to get him to accept the first case. He knocked on Naru's door. "Boss?"
"What is it?" came the reply.
"We've got a client and she insists on speaking with you."
"You know the protocol. Get the case deta- "
"Boss, it's Hara-san." He heard a long, forlorn sigh, followed by the sound of the chair wheels slowly and reluctantly gliding away from the table. After a few footsteps, his Boss, Oliver Davis, a.k.a Naru, opened up the door.
If Yasuhara could properly read Naru's sharp, listless eyes as they locked in a short, wordless gaze against his own, he could have sworn it was telling him, "I know you tried your best. I don't fully blame you for this disturbance." At least, that's what he'd have liked for them to say. He turned on his heels and followed after his Boss' steps.
"Hara-san," Naru began, then looked at the rest, apparently surprised at their presence but chose to ignore them. "Yasuhara-san tells me you've got a case." He sat down gracefully on the one-seated sofa reserved for him when interviewing potential clients, and gestured nonchalantly with an open hand, "Please explain the details."
After Masako recounted everything, Naru shifted in his seat, slumping gently back on the back of the cushion and crossing his arms on his chest. Yasuhara could see the irritation mounting in his body language. Finally Naru said, "I'm not interested."
Masako smiled that unpleasant smile once again and said evenly, "I cannot do the cleansing all by myself."
"Then I suggest you refuse them. Or find others willing to help."
"I cannot refuse them. I owe the person a great, personal favor and would like your help."
Yasuhara was slightly confused. He was not often confused by things, but this one had him stumped. Why did Masako seem to think that Naru would agree simply because this case was important for her? He looked to the others and saw their amused faces.
"Need I remind you that people already know of my true identity, so blackmail will no longer work to your advantage, Hara-san," Naru said, as if to answer Yasuhara's inner monologue. Of course! It made sense now, and Yasuhara wouldn't put it past the conniving medium to hold something over Naru like that.
Ayako lamented, "Ah well, I thought it was at least interesting since it was at a beach."
"Maybe it's good we refuse it, in that way you wouldn't feel the need to scar us by showing yourself in a bikini." There was a resounding thump as Ayako landed a square hit on top of the monk's head. "Yowch," he cried, as he nursed his deserved injury and continued, "Anyway, sorry, Masako. I agree with Naru-chan, this one is too troublesome."
Masako the porcelain doll finally showed some emotion on her face as she narrowed her eyes and blushed angrily. The tremor in her voice was barely existent as she responded, "I was hoping we'd moved past that," referring to her less than honorable past actions. "I brought up the request with the hopes that you'd help me out of your own good will."
Naru sighed and reiterated, "I am not interested in this case."
"Fine," she suddenly said and made a motion to leave, but then a new comer diverted everyone's attention to rivet back to the door. Everyone's favorite auburn-haired colleague stepped through and greeted them with an enthusiastic 'Good afternoon'.
"Uwa, why is everyone gathered together? Is there a case?" she chirped happily with a hint of surprise as she walked over to her desk to deposit her bag and books.
"Hey, Jou-chan!"
"Mai-san!"
"You've finally come, Mai! We've been waiting for you. Yasuhara made us make our own tea," Ayako complained.
Mai laughed. "I'll put on a kettle then, if everyone wants another set of tea. So what's going on?" she looked at everyone, but more pointedly toward Naru, a move that didn't pass Yasuhara's keen observation and an idea quickly formed in his mind.
Yasuhara assessed the situation and figured out that he could use it to his advantage. For a while now he had been wondering if any developments have come up regarding two of his co-workers in the group, but it was difficult to ascertain their current situation. He was sure something important had happened over Christmas and he had tried once to ask the girl directly, but he only received a vague response as she appeared to be uncomfortable talking about it. He figured she was probably refusing to answer directly in consideration of the stoic boy's privacy and he couldn't really blame her. He figured he could also try asking the man directly, but even he wasn't that tactless.
If he was to find out whether Naru and Mai were dating, he'd have to figure it out himself and allow them the opportunity to announce their relationship themselves. Or he could make the announcement himself and receive the satisfaction of surprising everybody's pants off.
He answered Mai's question. "Hara-san had brought us a case, requesting our help."
"A case! Finally! We haven't had any cases for the past two months."
"Shibuya-san rejected it."
Mai's face fell. "W-what? Why? Masako's the one who brought it, so it should at least be legitimate, right?"
"It doesn't seem to be dangerous or worth the time. Also I suspect it's because it's at a beach, in Chiba."
"Beach!" Mai practically glowed. "It's still cold out, but a beach is nice anytime! It wouldn't hurt to go check it out, would it? And Masako needs the help."
Yasuhara shrugged and turned to Naru. He noticed that by now, Masako sat back down and crossed her arms across her chest. It was Masako who replied haughtily, "Naru isn't interested. There's no need to push the issue."
"It is a shame, isn't it?" Yasuhara said toward Mai in particular.
The girl replied sadly, "Yes... a shame. I would have really loved to go..." Mai then took a deep breath and shrugged, walking away dejectedly toward the kitchen to prepare the group their tea.
Once she was gone, silence blanketed the group. Before Masako could make to stand up, Naru suddenly stopped her. "Hara-san. We will take the case."
The entire SPR (sans Lin and Mai), cried out in surprise. Yasuhara mentally rejoiced at the turn of events. This was the proof he'd been looking for. He was trying to think of some clever ways to drop hints of his new intel to the others once everything settled down, but he was, unfortunately, beat to the punch by the following conversation.
"Wait, Naru-chan. Why did you just suddenly change your mind?" Takigawa asked incredulously. Masako looked strangely at Naru, half thankful, half apprehensive. Ayako looked stunned, while John looked on with naive curiosity. Takigawa teased slowly, "Did you change your mind because of what Mai-chan said?"
"Aren't you kind," Ayako teased further.
Oh what you poor fools don't know, Yasuhara thought gleefully.
Naru stood up from his seat and stalked back toward his office, and for a minute, everyone thought he would just ignore them as usual, but to everyone's further surprise, he turned around and elaborated dryly, "I was under the impression that men should be doing nice things for their girlfriends." Yasuhara could have sworn he saw a faint smirk pass before Naru turned around and shut the door gently behind him. The group stewed in their shock.
Masako blubbered, "G-g-girlfriend?"
Takigawa joined in, "Mai-chan is?"
Ayako blinked. "Those two actually managed to work things out?"
John exclaimed excitedly, "That is happy news!"
Yasuhara just sighed, depressed at the fact that his moment had been stolen by his Boss. Oh well, he hoped that the next intel he gets, like maybe their news of engagement, or elopement, or maybe even pregnancy, would be the next big gossip he could announce to blow away everyone's underwear. He could only hope.
A/N: I don't think Naru really cares if his relationship is known or not. He just wouldn't go blabbing about it to others unless it came up in a conversation. But that doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy messing with his team's heads.
Before some of you folks get angry, I am currently working on Game, Set, and Match! at the moment! Sorry for the delay on that. It's hard to write when other ideas pop into my head. But it's going! I promise... *cries*