Oliver heard the knock and sighed. He had enjoyed his week of having this flat to himself. Now he would have to share.

He sighed again and stood up.

Opening the front door revealed a young woman. She was a brunette, with matching brown eyes. Fear had etched itself into her features as she stared up at him.

"Hi, I'm Mai," she whispered. "Are you Oliver Davis?"

Oliver refrained from rolling his eyes, Madoka had warned him against such actions.

"Yes. Come in."

Mai glanced down the corridor then back at him. She stepped over the threshold and took in her surroundings.

Oliver shut the door and waited for Mai to speak, when she did not he tried to recall some of Madoka's other advice.

"Would you like a drink?"

"Okay," Mai mumbled. She shrugged her bag higher on her shoulder and clamped a hand over her other bicep.

Oliver retreated to the kitchen and put two tea bags in mugs, then put the kettle on.

"Do you like tea?" he asked as an afterthought.

"You have tea?"

"Yes."

"Then yes, I do."

"I have no milk or sugar."

"That's fine, I don't get tea at home, just water." Mai slapped herself on the forehead. "At my old place, I mean, sorry."

Oliver did not bother to reassure her. Instead, he poured the now boiling water into the mug and handed it over.

"Thanks."

Oliver noticed Mai's bag and frowned. Was that small bag all she had brought? Did she intend on carrying it around all day?

"This is a two bed apartment," he said. "I have taken the room at the end of the corridor, you can take the other."

"Thanks," Mai repeated. "Did you… Did you get one of the envelope things?"

Oliver rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I did."

"And you read it?" Mai asked timidly.

"Of course."

"Well, I just… I was wondering… I mean━"

"I have no intention of having sex with you," Oliver stated, deciding to get the worst of it out of the way with. "With any luck, they will realise we are incompatible and reassign you."

Mai blinked, taken aback by this statement.

"You've only just met me."

"Yes."

"How can you just decide that we are incompatible if we've only just met?!"

Oliver's brows furrowed as he reassessed the situation.

"You're upset," he concluded. "I did not mean my words to be a slight upon yourself. Only I have no interest in any sort of relationship at the moment."

"So what? I'm just supposed to sit around here until they decide to find me someone else? Why didn't you just tell them this to begin with?"

"I did," Oliver muttered. "They did not listen."

"It's not like I wanted to be uprooted from my life! At least I hoped to make the best of this situation."

Oliver looked away, disinterested.

Mai's frustration grew to the point where she slammed her mug down on the side, turned on her heel and flew out of the front door. Oliver glanced at his watch.

"Seven minutes, Madoka owes me teabags."

He picked up Mai's tea cup and poured the remaining tea into his own mug. Then he returned to his room and unlocked his computer.

Oliver, as an official investigator, was one of the privileged few with access to a computer and access to what was left of the internet. Almost all of the old servers had been wiped, leaving only official records and news.

He filtered through the search options and began reading some of the newer reports. His eyes scanned the screen with practised ease and efficiency, nothing particularly sparking his attention.

A knock on his door thirty minutes later interrupted his reading.

Rolling his eyes, Oliver made his way to the door, expecting to find the girl waiting on the other side.

It was not the girl.

"Yasuhara?"

"How long did it take you to upset her?"

"Seven minutes."

Yasuhara chuckled and readjusted his glasses.

"She's in my place. I presume you tried to explain your plan to get rid of her as quickly as possible?"

Oliver inclined his head.

Yasuhara sighed.

"Look, she can stay with me and Masako, the girl they assigned me. It seems they became friends on the bus here. But I'll need her food rations."

"Okay, come in."

Yasuhara stepped in as Oliver retrieved the ration pack for Mai from the kitchen.

"Unless you want to come around for dinner," Yasuhara suggested.

"No."

"Look, she can only stay for so long at mine. You could at least try to be nice with her until they can reassign her elsewhere."

Oliver did not reply as he handed over the pack.

"Oliver, please, this is a hard time for everyone."

"Are you going to tell this girl of yours that you're gay?" Oliver asked in an attempt to redirect the attention from himself.

"At some point yes. But not tonight as she is currently consoling Mai and I have some level of tact."

Oliver sighed.

"What do you want from me?"

"I want you to come for dinner at mine and I want you to be nice to Mai. What is the worst that can happen? You could become friends. It won't kill you."

"I have no desire for her friendship."

"It will make cohabitation a lot easier in the long run. They aren't going to reassign her until after the new year at best."

"Next thing you'll be wanting me to apologise."

"You read my mind," Yasuhara said, grinning. "Come on."

Oliver sighed.

"Fine."

"And to think I didn't even need to bribe you with tea."

Oliver scowled.

"I will bring two meals worth of food then," he muttered, taking the ration pack back from Yasuhara and returning to the kitchen to sort out the portions.

"None of the space food stuff, bring round some veg and rice or something. I've got a spice packet left over so risotto should be doable," Yasuhara suggested. "I'll cook it."

Oliver complied and followed Yasuhara from his apartment.

"Look who has decided to join us for dinner," Yasuhara said cheerfully as they entered his flat. "Now I was planning to cook risotto for dinner, if you are all okay with that?"

"Sounds nice," Masako said.

Oliver noticed she had an arm around Mai, whose face was red from crying. A pang of guilt twinged in his stomach. He chose to ignore it.

"Mai, you're welcome to stay here tonight, if you want," Yasuhara said. "I'll sleep on the sofa if need be."

Mai nodded gratefully.

Oliver knew how long the sofas were in these flats and pitied Yasuhara before realising that he had caused the situation in the first place. Madoka's words floated through his mind.

"She'll likely be scared and worried, so give her a bit of time before you pull out the 'I don't want any of this' thing."

Oliver breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth.

"I'll help you cook," he offered.

"No, I'd rather you didn't," Yasuhara said hastily. "I've seen you in a kitchen."

"I could help?" Mai whispered. "I haven't burnt anything in at least a year."

"That sounds more promising," Yasuhara said, pointing at Mai with a wooden spoon. "You can be my assistant. Oliver, on the other hand, is banned. I hope you can cook because he's utterly useless. His limit is making tea."

"I used to cook with Keiko and Michiru."

"Your flatmates?"

"Yeah."

Oliver took a seat and waited, only half listening to the conversation. He could feel Masako glaring at him. He had no reason to explain his motives to this woman, so remained silent.

"My mother taught me to cook," Yasuhara told the room at large. "She insisted it would be a valuable life skill. My father insisted I would have a wife to do it for me, but I think my mother was right, not that she could have foreseen all of this."

"My mother tried to teach me, but it was Keiko and Michiru that really taught me," Mai said. "Mainly because whoever cooked did not have to wash up and I hated washing up."

"What about you, Masako?"

"I… I had a cook."

"What?"

"My parents were rich before the fallout. We had a cook. After… Well I never needed to cook. I lived in this place with a canteen type thing. So I never learnt."

Masako did not quite meet anyone's eye as she spoke.

"We'll have to teach you then," Mai said. "I'm sure between us we could manage."

"You say that, but I tried to teach Oliver to cook," Yasuhara muttered.

Oliver smirked at the memory. It was not like he had tried to be bad at it, but equally it was hard to be good at something he had no interest in.

"Let's just say, it ended in fire."

Mai giggled and Oliver felt glad she was no longer crying. Not crying people were definitely better than crying ones.

"So Mai," Yasuhara went on. "Oliver told me your file said your hobby was socialising."

"Is that what it said?" Mai asked, evidently surprised. "If talking to my two housemates counts, sure. They really must have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for that one."

"So you aren't a raging socialite?"

"No…"

"I am so disappointed. I was hoping you could tell me where all the good parties are at."

The two young women laughed. Oliver watched Yasuhara with a slight feeling of envy. This man could waltz into any conversation and make all participants feel at ease.

Soon the food was ready and being served into four bowls. They squeezed around the small table and tucked into the food.

"This is good," Masako said. "But I guess I'm washing up?"

"Nah," Yasuhara replied. "I'll do it, you girls travelled a lot today."

"Tell me about it," Mai groaned. "So much sitting around waiting… Though the train was fun. Haven't been on one of those in ages."

"Do you remember bullet trains?" Masako asked. "They were such a luxury."

Oliver did not care for such small talk, so concentrated on his food. He had to admit it was the best thing he had eaten since he had moved out of his last shared accommodation. There one of the other young men cooked for them all.

Once he had finished, he collected the dirty bowls up and assisted Yasuhara with the washing up.

"Now, Mai, would you like to stay here? Or return with Oliver?" Yasuhara asked. "Either is fine by me."

"Same here," Masako added quickly.

Mai looked to Oliver to gauge his reaction as Yasuhara coughed pointedly.

"I would not mind if you came back."

Yasuhara coughed again.

"We could talk," Oliver added, his voice stiff.

He knew he ought to smile or something, but that really would be a waste of energy.

"Okay," Mai agreed.

"Well if that goes tits up, you're always welcome here," Yasuhara pressed. "Anytime."

"Thank you."

Oliver nodded his own thanks to Yasuhara before walking to the front door and letting himself out. Mai followed him back to their own abode.

"I'll show you your room," he said as the crossed the threshold. "This way."

Oliver opened the door to the second bedroom, the one he had not touched since moving in. He had had no need to until now.

"Thanks."

Mai entered the room and put her bag on the single bed.

"The other room has the double, if you'd prefer it?"

"No, it's fine," Mai replied, not making eye contact. "I've been sleeping in a single for ages, it doesn't bother me."

Oliver shrugged, indifferent.

"I'm sorry for overreacting earlier," Mai said quickly, the words rushing from her mouth.

"It is understandable."

"This is all just… Scary."

"Yes."

They stood in silence for a moment.

"Mai?"

"Yes."

"You being reassigned would be best for the both of us. I have other priorities in my life right now and as I am sure you have gathered, I am not the best at dealing with people and their emotions."

"You don't say…" Mai muttered, her face barely concealing her curiosity.

Oliver swallowed. Another silence grew between them.

"Um, what am I expected to do here then?" Mai asked after a few minutes.

"Whatever you want, though I am sure that Yasuhara has pressed upon you how bad my cooking is so I would appreciate if you would cook at the very least for yourself. I can look after myself."

"Okay."

"I have been given tomorrow off from work because of your arrival, we can talk more then, if you want."

"Yeah, okay," Mai agreed as a yawn escaped from her lips.

"Goodnight."

Oliver closed the door on Mai and returned to his own room. Stripping out of his shirt, he then flopped onto his bed and let out a long breath. He cursed Madoka for not getting him out of this situation despite his repeated requests.

Requests would be putting it lightly. He had been doing nothing short of begging.

"I'm sorry Noll, there is nothing I can do. If I put a toe out of line, they'll cart me off to the factories and neither of us want that. The best I can do is find you someone who looks nice."

As if looking nice would help. Oliver knew that Madoka had meant she would try and find someone who would not piss him off entirely and in that respect, he supposed she had succeeded.

Mai was tolerable.

And if she did not remain so, he could cart her off to Yasuhara's. Problem solved.

Author's note: Well I kind of forgot to mention last week, but I plan to update this every Friday unless I am feeling particularly generous. In which case I may release random extra chapters! Please review with your predictions and thoughts!