11 October
The first thing Oliver Davis sees in his office is the stack of books on his desk. The books look familiar but unnatural, as he is sure they were not there when he left yesterday. He closes his door and approaches the stack. It is topped by a thick English book. Recognition niggles at the back of his mind.
He knows this book.
Just as recognition hits him, his door opens.
"'Morning, Noll!" He turns to see Madoka entering his office with someone in tow. "Have you met my friend?" she queries in a cheerful, smug manner, as she always does when she is terribly amused.
Noll narrows his eyes.
Taking Madoka's question as a signal, his former mentor's friend steps out from behind her. And just like that, he comes face to face with a smiling Mai Taniyama.
"How do you do, Dr. Davis?"
From the moment his former part-timer greeted him, Noll knows that he had somehow miscalculated.
Exactly what?
Mai's intelligence? Her capability to navigate in an English-speaking country? The sincerity of her last email? Her hatred of him?
As of yet, he is not sure, but he is sure to find out, should he so choose to think about it.
For now, he greets Mai just as formally. He gives her his business smile. "I am well, thank you. And you, Miss…?" Standing beside Mai, Madoka frowns disapprovingly at him. Just as she opens her mouth to speak, Mai approaches and—
Slaps him.
"Taniyama. Mai Taniyama. I feel great now, thanks to you."
He barely registers her words and Madoka's gaping face as the sudden physical contact induces a psychometric vision. Since the source is alive and he is still aware of his own consciousness, the vision comes to him in moving frames, like watching a movie and skipping from scene to scene.
Mai glares at her inbox with undeniable frustration. She refreshes the page several times until she sighs and closes the lid of her laptop.
Mai sits at her small dining table, perusing the piles of books and notes before her.
Mai leans forward and starts crying over her handouts. "This is impossible. I can't do it."
Mai paces her kitchen, reading aloud from the book in her right hand and occasionally sipping from the mug of tea in her left.
"I… should probably leave you two alone…" Noll vaguely hears Madoka say.
Mai discusses with her professor as they go through the set of documents he handed her.
"No. I'm done here, Mori-san. I'll leave with you."
Mai presents her passport and boarding pass to a flight attendant before walking into the boarding gate.
Noll blinks at the sound of his shutting door. He finally separates himself from the vision only to realize that he is alone.
For the rest of the day, the events of that morning linger at the back of his mind. He strongly feels that his still unknown miscalculation portends a great disturbance in his conveniently planned life, and he must do all that he can to find out what it is and fix it.
Author's Note: I'm back! :3 Here's the first chapter of Return on Investment. It's gonna be quite the slow burn—I'm really no good when it comes to romance. (I do try though! XD) I'm breaking my SOP (publishing complete fics) because I wanted to convince myself to continue this, for the readers who waited for this sequel. I know it's not the WWE kind of smackdown some of you have been waiting for, but please tell me what you think anyway! Thanks!
Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters.