Chapter three: a question of ethics
Many, very many thanks to my beta-reader who beta-ed this instead of translating Beowulf, please leave TitanWren flowers, candies, and cookies.
To angelus-2040: you asked where this story takes place. This story takes place directly after the Blood-stained Labryinth arc and is before the Cursed House ending arc.
Yes, this is a short chapter I admit. Shorter than I'm used to, at any rate. Next chapter starts all the lovely, lovely chaos! Naru kissing Mai! Look forward to it. And just to let all of you know, all the SPR guys will get to kiss Mai, yes, even Lin—although his is different. Just an FYI: there are no lemons in this story. I do not write lemons; my beta-reader does not and will not beta them. Since that's how we both are, we have no worries. Onwards to the chapter. CLAMP in this chapter, just a fair warning; let's see if you guys can guess which one. Anyone who wants a jealous Naru that's not so mature, keep reading. Anyone who wants to see Takigawa stand up to Naru, this chapter's for you.
………
Naru sat in the passenger seat of Takigawa's car in stony silence as the musician navigated his way to Mai's apartment without directions. He wasn't certain why it bothered him—but he couldn't seem to stop all the implications from running through his mind, and damned if it wasn't making him angrier.
"What's crawled up your butt?" the former monk asked, glancing at the brooding young man sitting in his passenger seat.
Naru blinked at the crude question. "Nothing."
"You may be good at lying to Mai and the others—save for Lin, but you're not getting past me. You're upset about something—spit it out."
As if. He hired the man to perform exorcisms and help out with investigations; they were not friends or confidants. "I'm fine."
Takigawa put on his signal and pulled over suddenly onto the shoulder of the highway. Turning off the car, he pressed the hazard button and turned to Naru. "Last chance," he said.
Naru gave the monk a look that had in the past made him acquiesce and back down. This time, however, Takigawa simply met his cold eyes with his own cool gaze and a frown. Naru sighed. "I told you, I'm fine. We have a new case and there's work to be done. Please drive."
"No."
For just a second Naru was certain he'd misheard. "Excuse me?" He was under the impression that Takigawa would do just about anything for Mai, so why wouldn't he leave well enough alone and hurry to her?
"Funny," Takigawa commented. "You say 'no' in so many ways. One would think you'd understood what the word means."
"There's nothing bothering me! Drive," he ordered, quickly becoming fed up with the conversation.
The monk removed the keys and put them in his left pocket. "My car, my rules," Takigawa replied. "You can walk for all I care—no one gives me orders in my car."
The young ghost hunter was shocked. He'd never seen this side of the former monk. Well, he'd seen hints, but never had he experienced the colder side of the musician. And apparently, the monk was quite serious—he could either walk, or tell what was bothering him. Neither option appealed to him, so he chose the lesser of the evils.
"I'm upset that Mai waited so long to bring this to us; what if something more serious had happened?"
"And you're pissed off at me because I don't need directions," the bassist commented, taking the keys from his pocket and restarting the car. Turning off the hazard lights, he flipped on the left-hand turn signal and watched for an opening in traffic.
"I never said that," Naru denied.
"Your tone did."
As far as Naru knew, Lin was the only person who could read him besides his parents, of course. Mai saw through him, true enough, but she wasn't able to read him. To her, he remained somewhat of an enigma, beyond his narcisstic and work-a-holic tendencies. He was certain that his tone was the same one he always used: clinical and impersonal.
"Why don't you just ask? It's not good to continually internalize things. Sooner or later, all that pent up emotion will get the better of you."
As if Naru didn't know that. "Are you a psychologist, too?" he asked.
Takigawa glanced at him and said seriously, "All clerical members act as such to an extent. Ask John or Father Toujo. Parishioners don't enter shrines, churches, or temples simply to pray. Many times they go to talk to religious leaders when they need advice or a sympathetic ear. But yes, just because the curiosity is simply eating away at you, I've taken a few psychology classes, back when I was still at Koya Mountain. I bet Ayako and John have, too. I'm a professional bassist, you know, but people still consult me about spiritual problems."
"All right, all right! If you'll leave me alone—"
"If you don't want to know, then don't bother," Takigawa said, finally navigating the car back onto the highway. "It's not worth it for me to tell you if you don't really want to know."
But he did want to know, Naru realized. For some inexplicable reason, the young president of SPR wanted to know why Takigawa knew the way to Mai's apartment. "Tell me," he ordered.
Does this kid have any manners at all? Takigawa wondered. "I've taken her home a few times."
Naru froze. That was it? "That's it?" he asked.
The bassist shot him a confused glance. "Yeah."
That was an absolute waste of time! Naru thought. He's taken her home a few times, big deal. …Actually, it was a big deal. When had the opportunity for that ever arisen? "And when has that ever had to come about?"
"Uh, let's see…first time I ever gave her a ride was after the case in the park. Second time, Ryokuryou High, the third time—"
"After the park?" Naru asked. In so far as he knew, Mai had gone back to the office after that. Ryokuryou High was a given, now that he thought about it; Mai had gone directly home after that.
"Yeah, you remember that, right? Mai and I pretended to be a couple, along with you and Masako—we ended up getting drenched, Masako got possessed…" he recited.
"You can stop reiterating the details; I'm sure I remember them better than you," Naru said matter-of-factly. "I don't remember you taking Mai home. As I recall, she went back to SPR."
"Duh," Takigawa said, bored.
Naru blinked. Did I miss something?
"You wouldn't remember me taking her home because Masako came by again and took you out to dinner."
"So you just decided to take Mai home?"
"It was late," the monk said, shrugging. "I couldn't very well let her walk home."
"It wasn't that late," Naru objected. "Hara-san and I went to dinner around five-thirty."
"Mai actually didn't get home that evening until at least nine, nine-thirty."
Oh, yes, he was definitely missing something. "What was that?"
"You heard me."
"You guys actually stayed there that long? For crying out loud! The office is not your personal Country Club!" I'm actually surprised Lin didn't kick them out.
"So you've told us. We vacated soon after you and Masako left. Mai was very depressed that you'd accepted the offer of dinner, so in an effort to cheer her up, I suggested we continue our '"date"' from the park. I took her to see a movie and then out to dinner. After that, I gave her a ride home. Ayako and John accompanied us, too, so all in all it was a nice evening between friends. Too bad Lin didn't join us; he might've enjoyed himself."
Naru couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "You continued your 'date'?' That was completely unethical of you!"
"Eh? How do you figure that?"
"She's much younger than you, for starters."
Takigawa's expression hardened. "I don't see how ethics plays a role in this. In order to cheer up a girl I constantly work with and save from trouble, I took her to a movie and then to dinner, with two other people. Then I drove her home—she didn't invite me up to her apartment; in fact, I didn't even get out of the car. I made sure she got inside safely, told her to call my cell when she was in her apartment and to make sure her door was securely locked. It's not like I took her out to try and woo her or coerce her into having my babies. So where do you get unethical?"
Naru had no answer; that had been a very touching gesture on Monk-san's behalf. No doubt she'd enjoyed herself. It was a rare thing for her to be able to go out; he realized that now.
"Well?"
"Well, what? That was very nice of you. I'm sure Mai enjoyed herself."
Well isn't he the master of complete one-eighties? "I hope she did. But you know, if you're that upset about it, there's an obvious solution."
"And what would that be?" Naru asked in a bored voice. What hare-brained scheme did the monk have up his sleeve?
"Take Mai out yourself," Takigawa said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Naru nearly, very nearly choked; he was sure that he'd lost all color in his face and that his eyes couldn't get any larger or they'd fall out. He stared at the other man incredulously. "Out of the question!" he snapped harshly. "If you taking her out on a date is unethical, then me taking her out would also be considered such."
We're back to that again? Takigawa wondered. Doesn't he ever loosen up? "Not necessarily. First, on the subject of age, there's maybe a year's difference between you two; second, you seeing Masako whom you've hired before to help is just as unethical as taking Mai out would be."
"Hara-san brought that case to SPR; she was the client. There's nothing unethical about a thank-you dinner."
"As I recall, Mai originally brought the case to you at the behest of a friend. In reality, Mai's friend was the original client; you only took the case after Masako asked you to. But you know something Naru? You're right."
"What? You're admitting I'm right?"
"You're right that there's nothing unethical about a thank-you dinner as you've put it. But, if what Masako's told us is true, then you've seen her outside the realm of a client. It's generally frowned upon in business to have a relationship with someone you work with; some businesses expressly forbid employees to date other employees—and the punishment is being fired if that rule is broken. If you're paying Masako every time we go on a case and she's constantly showing up at the office like the rest of us, then she might as well be considered an employee. But if you don't mind dating people you work with, then disregard everything I've just said."
"And just what was I supposed to say?"
"No always works. If you don't want to go with her or have no desire to see her in a more personal setting, then make it clear to her that you don't want to see her that way. If you're feeling more magnanimous, a polite refusal works as well. You're a great paranormal investigator, but you've still got a lot to learn about life."
"Don't you mean women?" Naru asked.
"Naru-chan, only gay men understand women."
"Oh? You seem to understand Mai very well."
"What? No poke-poke, or witty comment to make me defend myself? Mai's like a little sister to me; so she's easy to read. Masako's easy to read, too. I don't understand Ayako at all."
"Agreed."
"Just out of curiosity, since you're in such a talkative mood—"
"That can be easily rectified," Naru said.
"Don't be a brat. Why did you hire Mai?"
Naru blinked. Did he just… "Did you just call me a brat?" he asked incredulously.
"What, Madoka-san's the only one who can comment on your attitude?"
Naru sighed; he wasn't really ready to divulge the entire truth of why he'd hired Mai. "I don't know why I hired her, really," he said, looking out the window. "Originally, I needed her help since Lin was injured, thanks to her poking around—and she broke my camera."
"But that doesn't usually motivate people to hire someone. If anything, it should have caused you to cease all contact with her once you finished at the school."
Except something woke up within her; no, it simply blossomed more while she was working with us. There's a burden of responsibility when working with the paranormal. More importantly, she's an orphan and that I understand very well.
"Naru?"
"I think I hired her because she saw through me."
"Eh?" Takigawa asked, looking at the younger man from the corner of his eye.
"Strange, isn't it, Bou-san?"
No stranger than you only telling half-truths. "What do you mean she saw through you?"
"I first encountered Mai when she and her friends were telling ghost stories in an empty class room. You know how the game works, right?"
"Of course. I'm not that old."
"Could have fooled me with how much you complain."
"Hey!"
"There were four of them, including Mai," Naru said, continuing his narrative. "When they began counting, I was the fifth voice. As you know, I'd been hired by the principal to discover what was delaying the demolition of the condemned building. When I met Mai and her friends, I told them I was a transfer student and that I was interested in telling ghost stories, too. Could I join them next time? The other three accepted me right away, fawned over me even. Except for Mai, that is. She saw my insincerity right away."
Takigawa was silent for a few seconds. He could well imagine Mai seeing through the young man—he didn't exactly try very hard, sometimes. "Is that… the only reason, Naru?"
It wasn't. But why show all his cards? "There's also her latent sensitivity. Working with psychics should give her confidence. In turn, her powers will continue to grow."
"True, I guess. I mean, she's clairvoyant, post-cognitive, pre-cognitive in some cases, and already seems to be able to do things out of her body—like handing people solid objects to hold onto. How much more do you want her to do?"
Naru didn't answer and Takigawa didn't expect him to. They lapsed into silence until Naru's cell phone began to chime a familiar tune. Taking it out, he flipped it open and looked at the display: a text message from Lin, Please stop and pick up allergy medicine. Two bottles at least. Trust me, it's bad.
"What is it?" the monk asked.
"Is there a drug store near Mai's apartment?"
"I've seen one or two. Why?"
"Lin asked me to stop and pick up allergy medication. Please stop at the closest store."
"That bad, eh?"
"Apparently. Bou-san, might I inquire as to why you decided to take the highway—which is taking us longer to get to Mai's, instead of the main roads?"
"Why, so we could talk, of course!"
That idiot! Naru snarled mentally.
"So? What's Mai gotten herself into this time?" the bassist asked, his face losing its jovial look and becoming serious.
Naru frowned and began to recap all that he'd been told. When Takigawa pulled into a parking lot and turned off the car, he was frowning.
"That little idiot! Why did she wait so long to get help?"
"Lin and I wondered the same thing." He looked at the shop that Takigawa had stopped at: Green Drugstore. Oh, right, allergy medicine.
"You want to go, or stay in the car?" the monk asked.
Naru was already out of the car before the bassist could finish his question.
"I guess that settled that," he said, stretching and focusing on the ceiling of his car. His frown returned. Mai, he thought, how do you manage to attract so much trouble?
Inside the store, Naru looked up at the signs hanging from the ceiling. Allergy medicine, allergy medicine—what aisle, he wondered.
"May I help you?"
The young businessman turned to face a tall, dark-haired man with startling green eyes. "What aisle is the allergy medicine?"
"Aisle four, halfway down, bottom shelf," the man said, pointing.
"Thank you," Naru replied heading down there. He located what Lin requested in short order and approached the register with some impatience. He wanted to leave as soon as possible.
"That all, kid?" the man at the register asked.
"It is," he replied, wondering why the man was wearing sunglasses inside the store and whether or not he was related to the man who he spoke to earlier.
"That's a lot of allergy medicine," the man said conversationally, as he rang his purchase up and packaged it.
"My girlfriend has a lot of cats and I'm allergic to them."
"They have shots for that, nowadays."
"I'm not overly fond of needles, either," Naru said. "How much do I owe you?"
The man at the register told him his price. "That your friend out there?" he asked, nodding to the monk in the car.
Naru looked over his shoulder at the bassist that stared at the ceiling with a frown. "Older brother," he said, handing the man a few bills. "My change?"
"Certainly in a hurry, aren't you?"
Naru smiled coldly. "My girlfriend absolutely hates to be kept waiting."
The other man laughed as he put the bills in the money drawer. "Damn, kid! That's quite a smile you've got there! You nearly gave me the chills! Just for that," he said reaching over the register to the box that sat near the young ghost hunter's arm, "I'll give you a free sample of our latest product."
"That's unnecessary," the young ghost hunter replied, shoving the box out of reach.
"Ruin my fun!" the man said pouting.
"Tell you what," Naru said, now wanting to be out of the store as quickly as possible, "I really do need to be somewhere right now. Throw in the sunglasses and you can keep the change."
"No way," the man replied, slapping bills and coins into Naru's waiting palm. "Why would you want my glasses anyways?"
Naru smirked. "Because I would make them look so much better."
There was another laugh, followed by a hearty thump on his shoulder. "Nice try, boy. You have yourself a nice day now."
Not bothering to answer, Naru picked up his purchase and left without a backward glance.
………
A quiet chuckle made Saiga look behind him. His lover stood there with a soft smile. "I did warn you not to play verbal parley with that one when he came in."
"So that's him—the ghost hunter?"
"Yes. Quite beautiful, isn't he? Too bad he's so young. The monk isn't bad either. Oh, but just wait until the young man's assistant and protector comes in a few days from now. He's truly something."
"Cheating on me already, Kakei?" Saiga complained.
"Oh, no—never. After all, beauty doesn't mean everything. It's merely in the eye of the beholder. Besides, that young man has someone else in mind—someone that's very precious to him."
Saiga wrapped his arms around his lover's slim body. "Does their story end happily ever after?"
"Who knows?" Kakei said, looking up at the ceiling with a smile. "Their story is just beginning, after all."
………
Naru got back into Takigawa's car, his eyes stormy and expression murderous. The monk started the car and said, "Was it my imagination, or did the guy at the register try to give you a condom?"
"Drive!" Naru snapped.
Smirking at the younger man, he turned out of the parking lot and said, "There's nothing more unethical than promoting children to have sex. But I suppose it's not all bad. At least he promoted safe sex, right?"
"Keep your thoughts to yourself!" Naru snarled at the monk.
Takigawa glanced at the young man and noticed that his cheeks were a lovely shade of pink, despite the overall expression to inflict serious harm. He's totally flustered! I can't wait to tell Lin-san and Mai-chan what happened!
"And you'd better not tell Mai or Lin."
"You wound me," he said dramatically, putting one hand over his heart. "The thought never even crossed my mind."
"Right."
