A mid-October morning found a 20 year old Mai Taniyama sat in the SPR office. It was obvious to anyone nearby that she was bored. Secretly, she longed to hear her boss yelling for tea, just so she would have something – anything – to do.
Mai watched the clock on the wall by the door. She would have sworn on her life that it had slowed down. The second hand seemed to be dragging around the face so lazily Mai wondered if the batteries were dying. Unfortunately, the time matched that on her mobile.
Sighing dramatically, Mai stood up. She would go and offer her boss some tea. Even if he refused that would waste a whole minute, wouldn't it?
"Naru?" She called through his office door as she knocked.
"Come in." Her boss replied. Mai opened the door and stuck her head in.
"Would you like some tea?" She asked, trying to keep the note of boredom out of her voice.
"No." He said. Oliver Davis was reading a stapled document that Mai would have guessed was in English. She thought he looked as bored as she felt. As she left, she closed the door and offered Lin tea. He also refused.
Mai decided to make some tea for herself despite not really wanting any. How could it only be 10 o'clock? Surely it had to be almost time to shut up shop and go home? She briefly considered texting of the SPR regulars to come in, before remembering they were all busy. Madoka was in England, Ayako and Monk were still on their honeymoon, Yasuhara was at university, Masako was away filming and John was in Australia visiting his family. At least Madoka would be back the following weekend, and then she would have someone to talk to.
While turning the kettle on and pulling out a mug, Mai heard the office door open. A potential case? She set the mug down on the side and left the kitchen. A small woman was standing in the doorway. She was a little taller than Mai, with black hair and sad brown eyes. Mai judged her to be reasonably well dressed but she couldn't help but think something was off about the woman. Shrugging this thought aside, Mai smiled widely at the customer.
"Hello, may I help you?" She said politely and bowed deeply towards the woman.
"My name is Kimi Yoneda. I am looking for Oliver Davis." She said in a quiet voice. Mai was startled; no one in Japan – apart from a few select individuals – knew that Mai's boss was really Oliver Davis, a famous English paranormal researcher and PK user. Officially her boss was Kazuya Shibuya. Behind Mai, Lin stood up from his desk.
"And why do you think he would be here?" Lin said lowly, the hint of a threat present.
"I am his birth mother."