Old photographs

It was a nice and warm summer day is Shibuya, Japan. The sky was blue, not a single cloud could be seen in the sky, the birds were chirping as they flew around the bright sky, the children's laughter could be heard in the distance, but not for everyone this day was that nice and successful. A beautiful woman, with long brown hair and soft caramel colored eyes with a few wrinkles that were starting to show around them from all the smiling that she's done throughout the years, was running through the streets at Shibuya, because she was late for work. Again! The woman's name is Mai Davis, yes she is married to the one and the only Oliver Davis. Oh, and the reason that she is late is that her husband still didn't learn his lesson throughout all the years, that they were married, that he should wake her up before going out, but he still doesn't do that! She finally reached the SPR office, where her husband was currently standing in front of the door, his icy eyes glaring at her.

"Mai.'' He said through clenched teeth, indicating that he indeed very (very) angry with her being late for over two hours.

"Yes Naru?" she asked, still panting, from all the running that she has done, and tried to put on a very innocent face as if she didn't know why he was angry with her.

"Why in the world aren't you answering your phone? I must have already called at least ten times!" Naru said with anger dripping from his voice.

"My...my phone's battery died. I forgot to charge it before going to sleep and didn't have time to plug it in as a certain someone didn't wake me up and caused me to be late. And you obviously knew where I was, so I don't see why you're so angry with me!" Mai said raising her voice bit by bit, that at the end of her sentence she was almost yelling.

"Well, seeing that you're already here and in one piece, which is surprising" he said teasing her with his usual smirk on his face "go and make me tea." He told her and stalked back to his office again.

Mai's POV

"That idiotic, know it all, narcissistic, big headed jerk!" I muttered under my breath as I walked into the kitchenette area of our office. 'he didn't even let me take off my jacket, that jerk!' I thought as went to fill the kettle with water. As I set the water to boil onto the stove, I prepared the tea for Naru and Lin who surprisingly still works here. I drifted into a daydream about our old cases and my family here at the office, they should all come in, I looked at my watch, 3...2...1... *BAM* I heard the front door slam open and into the office slipped in Ayako followed by Bou-san who was rubbing his head where he was obviously hit by Ayako, after them John walked in while trying to calm the odd couple up and Masako walked in last. These people sure know how to make an entrance.

"Well, I should prepare more tea, for them" I muttered and I put tea leaves into four other cups. I guess I should introduce you to them. I think I'll start with my parent figures Ayako and Hoshou Takigawa.

Ayako Takigawa (before Matsuzaki) is a very but a very nice and kind woman once you get to know her. She might seem violent at first (which she is, but don't tell her that I said that or she will kill me). She had greying fiery red hair that reaches her waist, very soft face features that had wrinkles here and there, but not much. She was like a mother to me from the very first case we took together, then they all didn't even think that I could be an orphan. She is only older than me by 10 years... I think... She is a priestess slash doctor slash mom all in one, she is truly amazing.

Next on my list is Houshou Takigawa, we all call him Bou-san in our little inner circle. Bou-san is a brown haired man with a grey hair here and there ( Ayako always complains that it is unfair that she has more grey than him and then the teasing from Bou-san begin, he starts to call her old hag and ends up with a bump on his from Ayako's brick filled purse, seriously what does the woman carry in there...). he is married to Ayako obviously, which if you looked at the from a side you wouldn't even dare to think that they would be married, because they are at each others throats 24/7. They both are very proud parent of two boys, well, I should say men, as they are certainly not boys anymore, but grown men. Wow, time sure flies past quickly, doesn't it.

Ok, enough about that stupid couple, I'll tell you a bit about Masako Hara now, she is a very popular medium nowadays, way way way more popular than she was when we were 16. She is the older sister I never had. Well, to tell you honestly, we weren't on the best of terms when we first met and all because of that stupid narcissist, you know, how it goes, we were rivals in love, typical teenage girl stuff and all. Thank god she isn't that stuck up and arrogant girl that she was back then. Masako is actually married, but didn't change her surname because of her popularity and TV show stuff that I don't understand nothing of. She is married to our sweet John Brown.

A little about John, he quit priesthood just so, that he could get married to Masako. He is still that shy, blonde haired bundle of happiness and a piece maker in our group, he is especially good at separating Ayako and Bou-san when they are fighting over silly things as always.

And last but not the least of course is Yasuhara Osamu, we just call him Yasu, his name is too long to say every time... He's the researcher of our group, I will never understand how he can gather information in such a short time and how in the hell does he manage to get police reports and all the classified information he provides us. You know what, I don't really want to know now that I really thought about it. It's sad that he couldn't make it today, he told me yesterday, that he won't be here today, because he will be spending time with his wife and kids, and I completely understand him, I want to spend as much time as I can with Oliver and our kids.

As I was thinking of them my train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the shrill whistle of the kettle that signalled that the water already boiled. I poured water into all of the cups and let the tea leaves soak in the water for a bit before taking them out. I gathered all the cups onto a tray and walked to the sitting area as I gave the cups out to them a collective "thanks!" from all of them and walked over to Lin's office and knocked a few times, after I got a signal that I could go in I went in ant put Lin's tea on his table and heard a tiny thanks from him, in return I only beamed at him and went to give Naru his tea, of course I left his tea for the last, to make him wait longer, serves him right for yelling at me from the instant that I stepped into the office. I went into the batman cave a.k.a. Naru's office and put a still steaming cup of tea on his table in front of him, he didn't even bother taking his eyes from that stupid black folder that he always carries around with him at all times. I waited patiently for a "thank you, Mai" but I saw, that I wouldn't be getting one I spun around and stormed out of his office, I could feel that jerk smirking in the back, I slammed his door closed with all the strength that I could muster, the people in the sitting are didn't even flinch at the sound of door slamming as they were already used to it. I still wonder how after all these years and countless door slams, that door is still intact, I guess that will always remain a mystery to me.

One thing was different this time, a box that was sitting on one of the shelves actually fell down, 'did I really slam that door that strongly?' I thought to myself. Good thing that I thought to tape the lid of the box in place in case something like this ever happened and of course it happened, it would be a pain in the arse to pick all of the box's contents up. This box holds my precious memories with the SPR family. Thank god I put the pictures in chronological order, so I won't have to look where the beginning is and where the end is. I decided that I would share all of those precious memories with my family. A lot of those photos were taken secretly so a lot of those would be new to them. I smiled a little and went to them with this precious box in my hands.

"Look at what I found guys!" I exclaimed skipping to them. That was of course a bad idea, knowing me of course I tripped and fell on my bottom. They all looked at me like I grew two heads.

'Of course that they would look at me like that, who would be that excited about some box that, that they would even trip from the excitement' I sweat dropped and got up on to my feet again and went to sit on one of the couches more calmly this time.

"What is in that box Mai, that made you THAT excited" Bou-san teased me.

"These are all of my precious memories with you guys dating to the time that I started working here. I always kept this box in the office but never found a right time to show it to you guys" I told them with sparkling eyes. I opened the box and started taking out pictures one by one and laid them down onto the table in front of me. Memories from the past started to flood back into my brain.

The first photo showed Bou-san, Masako, Ayako, Naru, Lin, and my old classmate Kuroda standing in front of the old school building, the case was just finished by Naru and they were all arguing about something silly, this photo was taken by me secretly. I was sixteen at that time, so young and naive, on my first case ever. I took this photo because I thought that I would never see any of these strange people or Naru ever again, so I wanted to keep this as a memory.

I took another photo , this time it showed Ayako and Bou-san cuddling on a couch during a hard case, fast asleep. Naru even let them sleep like this for a while, because we were taking all-nighters for a few days straight so he believed, that they deserved a bit of rest. To everyone's surprise, I didn't take this photo, Lin did, surprising, huh? He said to me, that we could use this photo to blackmail if we ever needed them to do something for us. Next few photos were very similar, they were of Ayako and Bou-san stealing glances of each other and blushing, the next photo were when they were just started dating, they were so extremely awkward around each other, that it was even hard to look at them, this photo shows it- Ayako and Bou-san were sitting in the office on one of the couches, not looking at each other, but secretly holding hands, hoping nobody would notice that.

One particular picture caught my eye and I picked it up. It was of Naru and I during one of the extremely hard cases. I think that I was twenty at that time and Naru was twenty-one. The picture brings out very mixed emotions in me. Naru and I were hugging each other desperately as if we would lose each other again if we let go. I remember that case as it was yesterday, during that case I was taken by an angry sadistic spirit (surprising, I know) who liked to torture and kill women who appeared to be my age. they only were able to find two days later, after I manages somehow contact Gene and tell him, that I was still in the house and that he should tell Naru, to not worry that much as I was still alive. After we cut the connection I heard a lot of shuffling around the place that I was located and mustered the last of my strength and started to shout at them that I was in here. They pried the door open and saw me all covered in my own already dried blood, never in my life was I so relieved to see Naru's panicked gaze land on me. He rushed to me and let me bawl my eyes out into his chest while whispering comforting things into my ear until I calmed down a little bit. I guess this picture was taken at that very moment. Right after this case was over Naru asked me to be his girlfriend as he was too afraid to lose me again.

After that photo I picked up a few others and looked through them. Some were from Masako's and John's engagement. I took those photos that evening as I was the one who helped John to prepare the whole evening for them. I don't think, that I've ever seen John to be as red and stutter as much as that one evening in all of those years that I knew him, that was quite adorable and quite hilarious, if I do say so myself. Masako looked absolutely stunning that evening , she wore a midnight blue strapless dress that reached past her knees, her usually straight hair was slightly wavy and her makeup was very light, barely even there, so I could see her natural blush come out in the photos. I can't believe, that this was almost twenty years ago. Gosh, that makes me feel old.

I looked over to Bou-san to see him giggling about something while looking at one of the photos in his hand. Curiosity got the best of me.

"Hey Bou-san, whatcha looking at giggling like a young high school girl?" I said giggling a little bit, damn that man, his laughter is contagious.

"Nothing much Mai, I just found the photo from your wedding day, where you tripped and fell down while going down to the aisle" he said while trying not to laugh, but failing miserably.

'Damn it, I thought that I put that embarrassing photo away from this box!' I thought as I snached the photo from his grasp and put that thing into the box where it belonged, all that while turning beet red.

"Aww Mai, don't be embarrassed about such a thing, we've seen worse!" Bou-san said while laughing even harder than before until a loud *THUMP*was heard following a groaning monk.

"Shut it you stupid monk, let's not forget who got so drunk at our wedding, that Naru and Lin had to drag you home" Ayako yelled at him furiously and hitting him with that brick filled purse of hers.

"That hurt you old hag! Watch what you're doing!" Bou-san yelled back at her and earning another one hit on the head. And as if on que John stepped in and tried to save the day as he always did. Praise that saint soul of his.

"Now now, let's stop fighting now, guys, please" he pleaded them. Masako and I only watched the hilarious scene unfold in front of us as I suddenly caught the sight of two photos sitting the far end of the table. So that's where these photos were!

One of the photos was taken when we were all still young. In front of the camera proudly stood Ayako, Bou-san, Lin, Madoka ( who came from England to visit us for a bit), Yasu, Masako, John, Naru and lastly me. Wow, this brings back memories, this was during the vacation we had by the sea, that was one the most awesome vacations that I've ever had, honestly. We were all slightly tan from all the sun bathing that we had done the day before even Naru and Lin were a bit red and not ghostly white like they always are. The sun was already starting to set, so we decided to take a photo by the beach one last time as we didn't know how long it would be before we could all go out to vacation with everyone like this. This was actually the fourth or fifth photo that was taken. The camera was standing on a tripod, which was not a very good idea considering that the sand was very soft and the wind was blowing quite harshly. So after a few misfortunes of wind knocking down the camera or forgetting to set the timer or something else the photo was finally taken. I think I'll hang it up in the office somewhere.

The other picture was not very long ago, it was a miracle that everybody found time to go to the very same beach that we went ages ago, we went there with our children, who were quite pleased with the sudden vacation that they got. In the photo we all stood in the same spots as in the last but with our children in between us, thank god they all got along just fine. I think I'll hang this one up too, below the other one.

As it was nearing the closing time, I collected all the photos that were scattered on the table and put them back inside the little box. The others took that as a que to leave as it was getting kind of late.

I went over to Naru's office and knocked a few times, after I got the signal that I could come in went over to him and plopped down onto his legs and kissed him. I felt him kiss me back and quickly went into a make out session, until I remembered what I came here for.

"Oh yeah, Naruuu, can we go home a bit earlier today? I'm exhausted" I whined to him as I put my head onto his chest.

"I don't see why not, I'm already finished with all of my work for today" he said while smiling a bit and kissing the top of my head "well, if only you get up. We can't go home if you're sitting here like an idiot" he said replacing his smile with his infamous smirk. 'Way to ruin the moment' I thought sulking as I go up.

'Well, some things never change, do they?' I thought while smiling a bit and hurrying to catch up with my husband who was already dressed and waiting by the door.

'But I wouldn't have it any other way' I thought as I locked the office and caught up with my husband and linking my hand with his.

THE END (?)

Authors note:

Thank you all for reading my one-shot, it means a world to me.

I would like to tell you, that English is not my first language, so please axcuse any mistakes that I may have made, I tried to correct all the mistakes that I saw myself.

Please review if you find any mistakes and would like to comment on my work.

Indigo-Fires