Hi, Everyone! This is the first one-shot I have ever written. I have to confess that my first language is not English, and I have made some changes regarding the history between Mai and Oliver.
I hop you will like it.
Please, read and review!
(I don't own Ghost Hunt.)
The Tea-Loving Idiot
Koujo Lin was never one to express emotions. Everyone thought of him as a stoic, heartless man who hated everyone and considered them annoying. But if someone paid closer attention they would know that he was a man of few words but that did not mean that he had had no emotions and was irritated by everything. The first example would be Madoka Mori, the woman whom he had known for years now, and also the woman who secretly owned his heart. The second example would be his young charge, Oliver Davis, whom he had to admit had become like a best friend to him. The boy – now a man- was entrusted to him by his parents, to take care of him while they worked abroad. Lin would not care to admit it, but most of his amusement in his days in Japan came from the arrogant ghost hunter…and his other assistant.
"Stupid, workaholic, tea-addict!" fumed the brunet after slamming the door shut behind her. It was not just any door though. It was her boss` Oliver Davis' door. Who also happens to be Lin`s charge. Said man raised his head but did not bother going out of his room to see what the commotion was about. He did not have to. He knew…It seems his young friend has taken up the habit to annoy the other assistant of their team. He only chuckled and decided to go back to his work while shaking his head.
"Mai! If you break the door I will deduct it from your pay check. Do you understand?" came the voice from inside the office.
The girl gritted her teeth and answered. "Yes, I understand you perfectly."
"Good, now go and make me tea." She could hear the smirk in his boss` voice. She turned around and mock-bowed…To the closed door. She would not do it if he could see her.
"Yes, your highness." She replied, turned on her heels and walked into the kitchen to make his boss` precious tea.
"Why the hell did I decide to work for him again?" mumbled the irritated girl while putting the kettle onto the stove. As she was waiting for the water to boil, her thoughts drifted to her current situation. As in working for her narcissistic boss. It happened six months ago when she got a call from one her friends, if she would like to check out the house that had been rumoured to be haunted. Not one for disappointing anyone, she immediately said yes. She did not think that it would change her whole life. But boy it did. As it turned out, the building was haunted by an evil spirit. Her only luck was that at the same time a ghost hunting team was hired by the owner to check out the supernatural phenomena. That was the time when she met him.
He told them he was there for the same reason as them, to see if the house was really haunted. He was charming and was smiling at them, but to Mai his smiles seemed fake and forced. He looked young and was handsome, and her friends were already turning fangirls on him, but she knew that there was something he was hiding. As it turned out, he was the CEO of a ghost hunting business. But as for how she ended up as his assistant? Well, when they tried to cleanse to spirit it turned violent, and attacked Liz. But Koujo Lin, the assistant of Dr. Oliver Davis saved her, while breaking his leg at the same time. Naturally, the arrogant boss told her it was her fault for being there to begin with, and she should take responsibility…by being his new assistant, until the other one is all healed up.
She of course agreed, driven by guilt. The man did save her life after all. She needed a job anyway as she was at her last year at the university she needed to find a place where she could start her internship. And that's why she was here, six months later making tea for her boss. Even though Lin's leg had healed completely, five weeks after the incident.
The kettle whistled and Mai broke out of her thoughts with a shake of her head. She prepared the tea and went to knock in the door of his boss. Just as she raised her hand the door opened revealing a very impatient tea-addict.
"Finally, I thought I would have to go and see if you had got into trouble even in the office." He scowled then stepped aside to let her in. The girl blinked then went in pondering what could be the reason for his bad mood. A few minutes ago he was all on teasing her. She sighed and put the tea onto the table. She was not in the mood for another fight so she decided to keep her mouth shut. As she turned around she noticed several folders on the desk. Her both followed her gaze and frowned.
"Case files. Though, none seem to be very interesting." After hearing him sigh the girl could not help but grin. So that`s why! He is sulking, because he can`t find a case that interests him and he`s bored.
Seeing her grin the aura around the man`s head darkened. "If you have time to just stand around looking like a fool you can go and look into these." He said putting several folders into the offended brunet's hands. She grimaced but decided not to comment on it. She would not let him ruin her day.
Her boss sat down into his chair and started to work as well. What a jerk! Huffed Mai then walked out of the office, slamming the door on her way. The raven-haired man only sighed and massaged his head trying to will his on-coming headache away. He did not mean to be mean to his assistant. But he was not one for kind words and unnecessary small-talk. Especially, when he did not have a case to work on and to entertain him. So he had to find another way. And what else could be more amusing than seeing his female assistant`s face turn adorably red every time she becomes mad. Though, he would not admit this even to himself. At least, not completely. He knew that he had a soft spot for the girl, but there was no way that he, the great Dr. Oliver Davis, who graduated with honours and got his degree in parapsychology when he was fifteen, would fall in love with a completely ordinary girl. He did think that the girl has potential regarding their line of work. After two months they had discovered that Mai has PK and ESP powers that came to the surface only after the girl was touched by the supernatural. He had to admit that after all she was a tad bit interesting…But only from a professional perspective.
"You're in denial." The narcissist gritted his teeth then snapped back.
"Shut up Gene! And how many times do I have to tell you to stop listening in into my thoughts?" His only answer was a loud laugh that just made his headache become even worse. Gene was his one and only brother, his twin to be exact. He loved him dearly, but when he got this annoying he could just punch his gorgeous face until the other could not take it anymore. His face was gorgeous, of course, because they looked exactly the same. He was not called a narcissist for nothing after all. All in all, he just wanted to punch him, were his brother not hundreds of kilometres away from him. They have powers just like Mai, but different kinds. Gene was a perfect medium, while Oliver himself had PK, and the twins were able to communicate with each other mentally, ever since they were just little kids.
"But dear brother, you make it so easy. Besides, I am stuck in the office all day, I need some entertainment." Was he mocking him?
"Then, go bother your girlfriend." He snapped while taking a file from the pile, fully intended to finish this conversation and find an exciting case.
"I can't." He could hear the pout in his twin's voice. "She is out with her friends today." Oliver snorted then smirked.
"So, she decided that she would rather be with them, than with you… Can't say I blame her." He opened the file and started to underline the interesting aspects of the case.
"You are so mean!"
"And you are childish!"
"At least I know how to live. You just work and work all the time. And let's not even talk about your attitude. Are you like this with Mai too? Who am I kidding? Of course you are. I have heard you before. Listen, brother I know that you are not a social butterfly. You did not do anything else but study during your teenage years. Of course, you don't know how to treat a girl properly. But, with your attitude, it is no wonder Mai is afraid to confess her feelings to you. You know, if you continue like this, someone will take her away from you…and very soon."
Crack.
The narcissist's pencil snapped into two. Gene mentally cringed. Maybe he went too far? He could feel his brother's fury through their mental connection. That is way he was very much so surprised when he answered him in a calm tone.
"As I said before, I am not interested in her. Besides, I don't have time for romance. And my social skills are none of your business."
"And as I said before, you are in denial." Oliver sighed. That is why he never liked when his brother bothered him during work hours. He just gets on his nerves every time. He took a deep breath then let it out. And then, something clicked.
"What feelings?" He asked and when he only received a feeling which meant that his brother was confused he rephrased the question. "What do you mean, she is afraid to confess her feelings to me?"
Gene knew he was in a big trouble. He was not supposed to say that. It just slipped. He promised Mai, he would not say anything about her feelings to his tea-addict brother.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Said tea-addict raised an elegant eyebrow, and put the broken pencil onto his desk.
"Is that so?" Gene knew, Oliver could feel his nervousness, so he decided to cut their conversation short.
"Yeah…well…look at the time, I have to go. See ya later, baby brother." And the connection was lost. Oliver tried to talk to him again, but he hit a wall, a mental barrier every time he tried to do so.
"I need tea." He sighed then got up from his seat. "MAI!"
Two hours and several teacups later Mai found herself barely being able to keep her eyes open. She had just finished her work when sudden sleepiness came over her. She glanced at the clock and noted she still had two hours left until she could go home. So she decided to let her eyes rest a little bit.
"You know, I am not paying you to slack off." The girl's eyes snapped open. There stood her boss in all his glory. She could only gape at him. He did not often leave his cave...err…office, he usually just called her name and asked her to do something. "I know, I am handsome, Mai and you have a great taste but you should close your mouth before you catch a fly." He just could not help it. He knew that he was saying mean things to her, but her reaction was worth it.
"You…you...You!" She pointed a finger at him, but could not come up with a good remark.
"Yes, me... Now, I need tea, so go make me some." With his hands he gestured towards the kitchen. The girl pouted.
"You know, you could at least ask nicely." Oliver's deadpanned look made her realise that that would happen only when Hell froze over. "Fine, fine, I'm going."
"Good, I am coming with you. I need to talk to you about a new potential case." They started to walk to the kitchen.
"Oh, you so found one?" The girl asked while putting the kettle onto the stove.
"Yes, and I need you to call the client and tell them that we take their case."
"Alright-"she started but was interrupted by a loud voice.
"Mai! Where are you? I need to talk to you!" Said girl could only yelp in pain because in her surprise she burned her finger with the kettle. Oliver was by her side so fast that one would think that maybe he actually cared for her.
"You dummy. You should be more careful." Mai could only blink as gentle fingers took a hold of her hand, as the man led her to the tab to put her finger under cold water. She sighed in relief.
"It was not my fault. I was surprised that's all." When she looked up, her heart almost stopped. Oliver was smiling at her. Which was very rare. She wished she had a camera with her. That soft look on the raven-haired man's face was something that should be capture on a picture. Then that picture should be framed and put onto her wall…
She mentally facepalmed. She was trying to forget him, because she knows that there is no way that he would ever return her feelings. And then he does something like this, and all her determination is thrown out of the window. Everybody thinks, that her boss is a complete jerk, but she knows that it is just a façade. During their cases, he had saved and comforted her many times. It is not surprising that every time they are in the same room, her heart starts to beat faster.
"Mai! Are you here?"
"Yeah, I am coming!" She slipped her hands from her boss's, though it took all her willpower to look away from him. She said a quick thank you, then walked out of the kitchen, leaving Oliver standing there alone, staring at his hands, as if they were some alien objects. All he could think of was why did it feel so right to hold her hand? He only snapped out of it, when he realized that since his beloved assistant left him behind, he was the one who will have to prepare the tea.
"Chi…What are you doing here?" Mai asked her best friend as she walked up to her.
"There you are. I came to tell you that- Wait! What happened to your hand?" Chi was Mai's best friend ever since elementary school. She did not want her to feel guilty, so she quickly hid her hand from her.
"Oh, it's nothing, just burned it a few hours ago…So, what's up?" The black-haired girl eyed her sceptically, but then shrugged because she had more important things to discuss with the brunet.
"Well, you see, my birthday is this Friday…well…I was wondering that you know…maybe, you could…well-"
"Yes?" Mai only smiled. She knew that when her friend wanted to ask for a favour she got all nervous about it.
"Well, I was wondering if you could ask your boss to let you go home earlier that day, and we could hang out and have a sleepover." Chi was nervous, because she knew that her friend's boss was very strict and if she had to be honest, she was also a bit afraid of him. She did not want to get Mai into trouble.
"Sure, sounds like a very good idea." The newcomer beamed at her.
"Really? It will be so much fun! It's been ages since the last time we had a sleepover." Mai chuckled at her friend's enthusiasm.
"True…And you know what? We could watch the new episodes of Arrow, and The Flash together. We could eat junk food, and act like fangirls…what we are definitely not."
"Definitely…But don't forget, Barry is mine." The brunet laughed.
"Alright, but then Oliver Queen belongs to me. But you know who I want to see more? Zero." Both of them giggled.
"You are so smitten with him…Don't worry! On Friday, you can spend as much time with him as you want…I have to go now, though. See you soon then."
"See ya!" The brunet waved and said goodbye to her friend.
Unbeknownst to them, a certain young man heard the end of their conversation, and all he could think of who this Zero could be, and since when was he his female assistant's boyfriend? And who was this Oliver Queen? He did not notice that his fist clenched in anger, and he also did not notice that his brother was again listening into his thoughts and was laughing so hard that he almost fell out of his chair. Who would have thought that his dear baby brother would hear only that part of the girls' conversation that would indicate that Mai has a boyfriend? And under which rock does his twin live that he does not know who Oliver Queen is?
Oliver Davis walked back into his office, determined to take his frustration out on his paperwork. But just as he was about to close his door he heard his assistant's phone ring. Not one to eaves drop on other people he decided to ignore it but when he heard her angelic voice, his hand froze. He just could not believe what he was hearing.
"Yes, put me on speaker...Yuki! How are you? I miss you so much. Yes, I miss sleeping with you too. I will visit you this weekend, I promise." His blood turned cold. Since when was his assistant a two-timer? It was not even five minutes ago that she was talking about seeing her boyfriend this Friday, and now she is planning a date with this Yuki guy? And what was this feeling deep inside him that made him want to break something? Preferably, the other man's face.
"No, Friday is not good. You know it is Chi's birthday, and I can't wait to see Zero too." So, this Yuki knows about the other guy? Just what the hell is he hearing? That is what his assistant was really like? The innocent, beautiful girl, who was loved by everyone she ever got in touch with?
As Oliver's thoughts were taking a darker turn he did not realize that he was losing control over his powers. He only noticed it, when the room begun to shake, and his other assistant decided to check out what the commotion was about. When he saw his twenty-three year old charge go full-blown poltergeist on the room, he quickly tried to make him stop.
"Oliver, calm yourself! You are going to destroy your office!"
Said man only blinked, as he slowly came back to Earth. He looked around his office and saw that several pictures had fallen to the ground and that he also broke a vase. When he looked at his assistant he saw that Mai was standing there as well, gaping at him, phone still in her hands. He saw her open her mouth but he quickly beat her into it.
"I'm fine. Don't worry." He tried to look calm. He did not need anyone to try to interrogate him right now. "You two can go home for the night. I will close up the office shortly."
"But, Oliver-"started the brunet.
"Just go home!" She flinched as her boss raised his voice but knew better than to argue with him.
"Alright, see you tomorrow." Neither of the men bothered to answer her. They just stared at each other.
"Oliver-"
"Don't start Lin. I am fine." The Chinese man decided to leave him be and let him sort out his problems himself.
"Fine…But this needs to stop. It is time for you to finally face your feelings." He nodded. "See you tomorrow."
The narcissist watched his older assistant leave then slowly sunk into his chair.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" Could it be it? No it could not be it. After all, there was no way that Oliver Davis was in love with his twenty-one year old assistant, Mai Taniyama…right?
The next day, what surprised Oliver the most was that by the time he got into the office, his female assistant was already there, doing paperwork. The other thing that surprised him other than that fact that she was on time for once, was that she was doing his paperwork. Just what is she up to?
"Oh…Morning, Oliver. There's a fresh cup of tea on your desk and I put the paperwork I am already finished with there too. There are some interesting cases that may catch your attention." He could only blink at his smiling assistant, and was about to make a remark about how she was finally doing her job, when yesterday's events came into his mind.
"Good. I'll be in my office then." The woman frowned as she saw her boss walking past her without glancing at her even once.
"Wait!" The man stopped just as he was about to close his door but he did not look at her. "I was wondering if I could leave earlier tomorrow. You see, I-"
"No." The girl could only blink.
"No?"
"No." Then he slammed his door shut, leaving a confused girl behind.
Oliver threw his keys and coat onto the sofa then sat down in front of his desk. The hot cup of tea he was staring at was only a cruel reminder of his mental turmoil. He was turning and tossing in his bed all night, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. He barely slept at all. The logical part of him knew that having feelings for his assistant would be fruitless and a waste of time, since the brunet had two men in her life already. But he also realized that he was indeed in denial. Yes, he admits it now. His brother was right…he realized his feelings too late, and Mai is already taken. And now she is asking him to give her time off to see her boyfriend. He knew that he was being unfair to her, but he just could not say yes to her. It would hurt him damn too much.
A knock snapped him of his miserable thoughts. He quickly straightened up and called out to the person to come in. A tall man with dirty-blond hair stepped into the office with his usual grin plastered all over his face.
"Takigawa, what can I do for you?" asked Oliver while lacing his fingers together on the top of his desk.
"Mai said that you have a case for us. I came to talk to you about the details." The other man nodded. Takigawa was also someone with supernatural powers. He was a monk who had joined their team almost the same time as Mai did. And as goofy and childish he may have seemed to Oliver at first, he turned out to be a reliable person. Someone, who is very good at his job.
"But before that…" the monk eyed his work-partner, wanting to see the reaction he will get from him after his next words. "I heard that you have been very unfair to Mai lately…Care to explain?" The narcissist frowned. He knew that Takigawa saw the girl as his little sister but he believed that it was none of his business how he treated his employees. On the other hand, he knew that the man would not be satisfied with a vague answer.
"I'm not being unfair. She is the one who wants time off to go on a date with some guy. I am not paying her for that. If she wants to stay at this company, she needs to learn to live her personal life after her shift ended." There, he said it. It was a very good argument, a very logical one. Not one that would immediately mean that he is…dare he say, jealous.
Takigawa looked confused and then turned furious.
"What date? My dear little Mai is not allowed to date some low-life." Oliver inwardly agreed with him. She was not allowed to date anyone, for that matter. Anyone, except him, of course. "Who is this guy?" Glad, that he has an ally in the matter, the scientist immediately replied.
"I don't know. I have only heard his name…Zero." he spat. "She said to her friend that she would finally see him on Friday." The man in front of him frowned. "And it's not just him. I have heard her agreeing to meet up with a guy named Yuki."
"We cannot let this happen. Who knows what kind of guy this Zero is. And this other guy too. You did the right thing, when you refused Mai's request." Both of them nodded at each other.
"So, what should we do?" Before the monk could answer, there was another knock on the door. A beautiful brown-haired woman stepped into the office. She went to Takigawa's side, gave him a kiss then turned to the man sitting behind his desk.
"Hey, Oliver! How are you?"
"I am fine, Miss Mitsuzaki. And yourself?"
"Never mind that now. We have a huge problem, Ayako. Mai is dating this delinquent, and we have to make her end their relationship." Ayako wanted to hit her fiance for so rudely interrupting her, but when she heard that her friend's name was mentioned she decided to ignore his stupidity…but only this once.
"What? Seriously? Why didn't she tell me? Who is this guy?" Even Ayako thought of Mai as a little sister. She did want her to date someone and find happens, but if she is dating a delinquent, then…well, she will have to take matters into her own hands.
"Zero, and there's this other guy Yuki. And I am pretty sure I have heard her talking about someone named Oliver Queen." came the narcissist's answer. The two men thought that maybe she could help them with their plan.
"Yes, she is meeting with Zero tomorrow." Ayako though, could only stare blankly at them…until she finally could not take it anymore and started laughing so hard, she had to grab onto her husband.
"Err…Ayako? Why are you laughing?" But the woman was not able to say a word to them. She could barely breathe for God's sake. The two men looked at each other, their expressions saying, has she lost her mind?
"Y-you b-both…you b-both are idiots!" She finally said, then decided to sit down. After a few seconds she seemed to calm down, but when she looked at the two men's confused faces, she broke into another laughing fit. "Oh my God!" She could not believe how dense these two idiots could be.
Oliver was having none of this, though. He did not like being laughed at but what he hated more was being in the dark. He was a scientist for crying out loud. He was not an idiot!
"If you are rather finished, would you please tell us what is so funny, Miss Mitsuzaki?" Hearing Oliver's icy tone made Ayako stop laughing. She did not want the man to go all poltergeist on her.
"Fine…fine." She waved them down. "Oliver Queen is a fictional character in the series called Arrow, which is periodically aired on every Friday…and Zero is the name of the cat of her best friend. Mai is not meeting with her boyfriend. She is having a sleepover with Chi and they are going to watch the new episodes together." The two idiots just stared at her…then stared…and they stared some more, until Takigawa started laughing as well.
"Oh my…That is gold. Pfft, Oliver, you made me think…Pfft." The only thing Oliver could do was to glare at the laughing couple. His ears were burning from embarrassment. He could not believe how stupid he was. But he felt relived at the same time. Less competition to worry about. He looked at his guest.
"Leave." They stopped laughing.
"What?"
"Leave…and tell Mai to come in here." Takigawa grinned at him.
"Alright, boss. See you later then." He took his fiance's hand and tried to drag her out of the office but the woman was having none of it. She pointed a perfectly-manicured finger at their boss.
"Listen here carefully, Oliver. You better explain to her why you were so cold towards her. She has been worried sick about you. Especially, after your little episode yesterday." Her eyes bore into his, willing him to promise to not to hurt the girl again. The man nodded, and after Ayako decided that the man will make things right between him and Mai, she left the office with her fiance on her heels.
As Oliver was waiting for his assistant to come in, he was thinking about what he should do. True, he was an idiot for thinking that Mai was dating a guy named Zero, especially he had turned out to be a cat, but at the same time, there was still Yuki. Interestingly, Miss Mitsuzaki did not explain him. He could not confess his feelings to her when there was a possibility that the girl was already taken. He could only hope, that as some kind of miracle, that guy would mean nothing to her as well. And then, there was still the question whether the girl would return his feelings or not.
Knock, knock.
"Come in, Mai."
Mai had no idea what was going on. All she knew that yesterday she and her boss were teasing each other as usual, he was even nice to her when she burned her finger but then all of a sudden, Oliver's mood had taken a drastic turn. He also lost control over his powers, which, she had to admit, scared her a lot. She knew that if the man used his powers too much, he could even end up in the hospital. She was worried sick about him, so she decided to come to the office earlier than she usually does, and help him with his paperwork. He seemed fine when he walked in, that is why she dared to try and ask him whether she could go home earlier the next day to celebrate Chi's birthday with her. But when he saw that dark look on his face, she was at complete loss
"What is it, Oliver?" The man sighed.
"It seems I may have misunderstood the reason behind you wanting to ask for some time off, and I would like to apologize." Mai blinked owlishly at him. It was not every day that her boss apologized to someone. Actually, it had never happened before…at least during the six months she has been working for him. "I thought that you have only wanted to skip work in order to go on a date with your boyfriend." That surprised the girl. Where did he get the idea from? And why won't he look at her?
"Oliver…" She was speechless. "I don't even have a boyfriend." The man suddenly raised his head and looked at her.
"You don't have a boyfriend?"
"No. I don't." Why was this suddenly so important?
"Then…who is Yuki?"
"Yuki?" She did not understand where he was going with this.
"Yes, I heard you talking to him yesterday. You said that…" He trailed off as if not knowing whether to say what he intended to say. He shook his head then continued. "You said that you miss sleeping with him." Oliver stood up and walked over to her, all the time the girl could only stare confusedly at him.
"Yuki is my dog, Oliver. She likes to climb up onto my bed and sleep next to me, especially on rainy nights." Why was he inching closer to her? And why does he look so happy? "And since we had a very large storm the other night, it made me remember those times. The person I was having a phone call with was the vet who happens to be a nice old lady I have made friends with years ago. Yuki's leg broke three days ago and Mrs. Yonda insisted to keep her with her until she recovers." Mai took a step back, as her boss was standing right in front of her, but her back hit the wall. The girl wondered…was he happy because she did not have a boyfriend? She could only hope.
"I see…Then you surely won't mind if I do this, right?" Before the girl could ask what he was talking about, she was silenced by a long awaited kiss from her narcissistic boss.
Unbeknownst to them, outside the office stood Lin, who recorded everything that has been said in that room. He was even able to snap a picture of the fresh couple, since Mai forgot to close the office door. He eyed his camera in his hand, while thinking what he should do with the recording and the pictures. Maybe, he should send it to her girlfriend, who just loves to tease his young charge. Or, maybe he could send it to Oliver's parents. God knows how long his mother had been waiting for this moment. Or…maybe he should keep it as a blackmail material…Oh, the possibilities…
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