AN: Characters do not belong to me. Some maybe OOC. This is my first published fanfic so please be kind. Case idea comes from something half-remembered from an old Unsolved Mysteries episode. Enjoy and review please!
Thin Air
Chapter 1
October - Friday
Taniyama Mai was a 3rd year high school student with a very unique part time job. She was working for Shibuya Psychic Research as an assistant. Her duties included filing, taking phone calls, manning the receptionist desk, light cleaning, making tea for my boss and and clients, and helping solve cases in which paranormal activity is effecting people's lives. Unique. Mai had seen dolls get up and move on their own, windows rattle and shatter, doors mysteriously slam and lock, ceilings and floors crumble while standing between them. She had been cursed, attacked, and possessed by spirits, demons, and seemingly nice people. She'd witnessed death and nearly been killed herself - several times, on the job. Mai could have always gotten another part time job if working for SPR seemed too dangerous. When things got bad she even considered it but decided that it can be scary, but helping trapped spirits find their way home and the lighthearted moments in-between with the team Mai had come to regard as family makes the danger worth it. The pay was pretty good, too.
It was during the autumn of her third year working with SPR that a woman walked in the door, bringing in the cool outside air and the case that would change her life.
Naru and Lin were in their respective offices, compiling data and researching and the like. It was autumn break, the beginning of October, so she'd been in the office all week catching up on a backlog of filing and doing some deep cleaning of the various office rooms. Mai was brewing a new pot of tea, her own mix of white and green that both men seemed to like. It was an unusually cold week so, her tin of loose leaf tea was already running low with all of the hot tea she was making. Mai made a note in her head to purchase more for the office. Naru had delegated the office shopping to her when Lin complained about having to break away from his computer and work to buy groceries and office supplies. The two men practically lived in their offices so she was even making lunch and dinner a few times a week. She felt a warm sense of satisfaction when she saw the office kitchen was well used and well stocked thanks to her. Mai sometimes brought groceries to their flat once Naru had given her a key in case of work emergencies. She had taken it upon herself to tidy up Lin and Naru's luxurious apartment once a week or so when I stopped by with groceries. Not part of my job description, but no matter how organized and type A both men were, they were still just two bachelors in a rental. It's equal parts amazing and horrifying to Mai how many instant ramen bowls, beer cans, and take out boxes two grown men can leave lying around after only a week. Besides, no one was ever around the flat to complain. And neither Lin nor Naru even acknowledged the extra chores she had taken on. Despite the lack of gratitude, it felt nice to do something domestic for someone besides herself after so long.
Mai had already finished most of the office cleaning earlier in the week wearing old dusty t-shirts and torn jeans for days so, she had decided to dress up a little that day. She was feeling cheerful despite the ever hovering black cloud that was the end of autumn break and she hummed an upbeat tune, while tidying the kitchenette waiting for the tea to brew. Pretty clothes never failed to lift a girl's spirit. Mai wore a long, ruffly, green and pink printed skirt, a white blouse, a pair of nice grey leather boots, her favorite jade necklace, and set of her mother's old bracelets. It was a nice change from cleaning clothes and school uniform. She gave a mental thank you Ayako-san and her half insulting half generous shopping spree to repair Mai's "completely juvenile" wardrobe.
"Mai, tea!" Naru-chan's voice boomed from behind his office door. So, much for cheerfulness. But Naru's foul moods had long since stopped bothering her personally. The crush she'd had on the handsome boy had faded over the years to feelings of general affection the prickly man and memories of dreams of his brother. Mai shook her head ruefully at that thought. It's complicated. It's always complicated.
"Coming!" she called back. She poured the finished brew into three warm porcelain cups on a tray and made her way to the Naru's office door. Knocking softly and balancing the tray on her hip, she walked into the room, facing a wall of windows and surrounded by tall bookshelves. Mai reached the desk that dominated the center of the room and set the cup and saucer on his desk far enough from the computer and with in his reach enough that he wouldn't complain, and walked out the door. He didn't raise his handsome face at all from his computer, every inch the professional in his impeccably cut black suit. She knew not to wait for thanks from that one.
The two cups left rattled softly as she took the few steps toward Lin's door and knocked. "Enter," his smooth voice called distractedly.
She poked my head in. "Tea, Lin-san?"
"Eh? Oh, yes, thank you, Taniyama-san. It's cold again today," he murmured. Lin-san's office had a different lay out than Naru-chan's, low book shelves all around and a large L-shaped desk facing the wall with two monitors near the rear/center of the room. While Naru's shelves were stuffed with only reference books and binders, Lin's shelves held a few photos, plants, and knick knacks and the walls had various art pieces framed up. The windows here let in a bit more of the warm afternoon sun. He too didn't initially look up when she walked in with the tea tray. He seemed irritated with his computer and shoved his mouse away from himself in disgust. The steaming tea cup and saucer tinkled when Mai set it on Lin-san's desk and turned to leave with her own cup. She heard his chair creak as it swiveled around and just as her feet reached the door she heard him quickly ask in a dry voice, "Why don't you sit for a while, Taniyama-san? This program is frustrating and I could use some company."
She was surprised, but pleased and Mai turned back to him smiling. "Sure!" He pulled up a chair near the corner of his desk and she placed my own cup and saucer on his desk, leaning the tray on the floor. Picking up her cup, Mai thought she saw Lin-san eyeing her now shoulder length hair, but dismissed it as a trick of the light. We both sat comfortably as we sipped from our tea. They'd had tea like this before when the quiet of the office seemed a little too lonely. Thinking back, Mai couldn't remember Lin-san ever asking her to sit together. The few times in the past year that they'd had tea together it just happened by chance that she ended up leaning her hip against a shelf in his office and chatting with him while he listened. Or he sat on one of the couches in the sitting room where she brought him a drink and stayed again to talk. "So, what seems to be the problem with your computer, Lin-san?" she asked, amused at his frustration. Lin seemed to never be flustered.
He considered the question for a moment before answering in his mellow voice. "Well, it's not so much the computer as it is the equations that Naru is having me input. They're not adding up. I can't figure out what step I may have missed." He sipped a mouthful of tea, closing his eyes briefly in pleasure. "I showed him the problem this morning but he only told me to check again." Lin gave Mai a look to say, 'You know how he is.'
She did. Mai smile crookedly and said slyly, "Did Naru-chan create the equation by any chance?"
He gave he a puzzled look. "Yes - why?"
Shrugging, she asked, "Could it be possible that you didn't miss any steps? That it's Naru's equation that's incorrect?"
Startled, Lin swiveled his chair to face his computer screens and looked again at his failed results, pulled out a sheaf of notes, made some scribbles with a , then let out a bark of laughter. He swiveled back to Taniyama, eyes glowing with triumph and a smirk on his lips. "You're right. The equation is wrong. How did you know?"
She laughed. "It's funny that everyone seems to think that Naru is infallible." She smiled again. "Even Naru. I-" The jingle of the bell from the front door rang through, and she sighed. "I'd better see who that is." She quickly bent to pick up the tray and placed their empty dishes onto it, balancing it on her hip again as she opened the door. Mai thought for a moment that felt his eyes follow her as she walked out of the room and dismissed that thought away with a quick shake of her head. Mai hadn't wanted to leave Lin's office just as they began to really talk. It was so rare that he opened up to her as a friend and even more rare that he laughed and truly smiled. Despite the cold of the day, she felt warm all over from their brief tea.
"May I help- John-san! I thought you were in Australia for a few weeks! Didn't you only leave on Saturday?" Mai set the tray down at her desk to greet John with an enthusiastic hug. Traditional greetings with John had gone out the window after a particularly awkward case where Mai and John had been trapped in a crate together and they'd been able to get to know each other. They talked for hours to relieve their fears before Bou-san had found them and released them from the crate. From then on, John was more friend than team member.
"Mai-chan," the boyishly handsome foreigner smiled brightly as they parted. "It's good to see you again. I came back early because I think I may have found a new case. The client should be here shortly." Just as the last words left his mouth the front door opened again and a middle aged woman with a sheet of long, straight, black hair and a threadbare coat stepped through the threshold. "Mai-chan this is Watanabe Fei Liu. I met Watanabe-san on the plan to Australia and she has an interesting story." For a a brief moment, Mai saw what a beauty the woman had once been, but the vision passed and she was left with the reality of a warm faced, desperate looking woman.