"Mai, Tea." He demanded, reading over case files.
"Yes sir." She said in a sarcastic tone, stomping over to the kitchen and prying open the tea leaves container.
Mai is officially graduated and is now living in a small apartment there in Shibuya, Oliver still emotionless as ever. It's been almost awkward between them; with both knowing about Mai's feelings towards Gene, they've hardly had a decent conversation since Naru decided to come back to Japan. Mai has tried to break the barrier that has grown between them by suggesting cases and making his tea maybe a little too sweet to hear him complain, but to no avail.
She lifts up the tray of tea and walks over to Naru on the couch, not even glancing over as he takes a cup and sips. She sighs and walks over to Lin to offer some. As per usual, he politely declined and continued working on his computer. She walked back to the couch opposite to Naru and sat as she placed the tray on the coffee table in front of them.
Once again, silence.. She gently lifted her cup to her lips, glancing over to Naru as he scribbled on his notepad. He catches her stare and she quickly looks away. He puts his cup down and opens his mouth to speak, but is interrupted by the bell above the door.
"Hi hi~" A high-pitched voice rang through the quiet room as Mai smiled happily to be rid of the awkwardness. Naru closed his eyes and went back to his files.
"Aiyako!" The brunette stood and ran over to the red-head, giving her a high five.
"Hey there, shortie." A man with long blonde hair leaned out from behind Aiyako, waving and quickly holding Mai in a gentle chokehold as he ruffles her hair. Mai giggles, holding to the monk's arm to keep her balance.
Naru slamed his files shut out of frustration of the sudden noise. "Would you mind telling me why you're here?"
"What?" The monk let go of the giggly mess and stepped inside, smiling. "We can't visit our favorite narssisist without a reason?"
Naru's eyebrow twitched at that remark, but he decided to ignore it. He sighed and looked over to them; Mai wiping a tear from her eye, Monk's grin bright, Aiyako's arms crossed as her gentle smile directed right at him. He averted his eyes as he stood and walked to his desk, finding it difficult not to smile. He didn't have to come back, his brother was able to rest In peace. But he did. He came back to be with them. His friends.
Mai directed her gaze towards Naru, smiling even as his back was turned. Even though this past month has been rough for both of them, she still managed to find joy in his company. His and her other friends'; her new found family.
John is back in Australia training more in depth in the art of exorcism and Masoko is always busy with her new reality show. So everyone that could be there, is.
Mai skipped over to Naru's desk as he sat and met her eyes. "Have any cases that interest you?" She asked happily.
Naru narrowed his eyes at her, then away and sat back. "A few, but I'm not sure they'll be worth it."
"As in.." Mai started.
"As in, they're either too far or too ridiculous." Naru finished, twirling a pen in his hand.
Monk walked over, leaning against the arm of the couch. "The more ridiculous, the better." He smirked.
Naru rolled his eyes and tossed the files onto the desk. Mai picked them up and started flipping through them. She noticed that his usual side notes weren't In Japanese anymore, but in English. She could make out a few words here and there, but she couldn't quite put them together. Monk noticed her struggle and smirked even more.
"Hey, Naru, why don't you teach little Mai here some English to pass some time?" Mai flinched, narrowing her eyes at the grinning blonde as she mentally cursed him.
"No way." Naru almost immediately replied, resting his cheek on his knuckles. Mai sighed in relief. "This dummy can't even say my name right, let alone learn a whole language."
This sent a jab right through Mai's chest as she clenched her fist. "Very funny." She hissed.
"Really?" Naru teased with one eye open. "I thought I was a humorless jerk, who was good for nothing except making your life miserable." He couldn't help but smirk as he saw how red Mai's face got from anger.
"You are!" She growled as she snatched the teacup off of his desk with a huff. "You don't deserve my tea, Sir British." She did a mocked curtsy as she stomped into the kitchen, both Aiyako and Monk were laughing hysterically. Even Lin couldn't help but chuckle at this. It was as if things were back to normal; the two bickering and mocking each other.
Naru closed his eyes, reverting back to his usual poker face. Aiyako walked over and lifted the files to herself, reading over the cases' details. "Some of these are simple cases. 'Hearing voices,' 'doors slamming..' nothing too interesting. Are these all you have?" She looked at the dark haired teen in confusion.
He shakes his head. "I'm just organizing for right now, I have quite a few that are of higher difficulty if you'd like to look at those." He pulled out a drawer under his desk full to the brim with files.
The Shrine Maiden shook her head, placing the papers back on his desk. "That's fine." Her smile grows weary as she sits on the couch. Monk starts rambling on about who knows what.
Mai leans against the door frame of the kitchen, arms crossed and pouting. But finds herself smiling once again. She may have lost her first love, but at least she has her friends; her family. Family...the word she's hardly known; being an only child of parents who passed away before she was even a teenager. But now...
"Now that everyone's here, why don't we take a case?" Monk blurted, excitedly.
Naru just pointed to the file as he takes out a book. "Have at it." Now that he's found his brother's body and knows he passed on peacefully, he doesn't really care which case to take. This is just something to pass time.
Monk happily takes the file and flips to the last pages. "Haunted mansion, figures in garden, voices in a bedroom..."
Mai slowly walks over, peeking over his arm to read the papers. "The haunted mansion sounds interesting."
"Yeah, I think that the most interesting one on this list." The monk said calmly, turning to Naru who was now engulfed in his book. "What do you think, sir boss?" Naru just nodded, flipping a page.