These chapters just never seem to be as long as I want them to be...Then again, this chapter is kind of boring, anyway. Ugh...

Thanks for all the reviews!


Naru stared suspiciously at his mother over the neatly set table. He and his parents, after promising Madoka that they'd eat with her the next night, had eventually made their way to a nearby restaurant. It was Japanese, so their utensils would come with their meal, leaving Lu with only her hands to play with as she avoided her son's gaze.

"Oliver--" She began.

"Naru, Mom. At least while were in Japan." Frowning, the young man glanced at his father, who looked far too smug for his liking. The only time the older Davis got that expression on his face was when he'd found an interesting new puzzle. Or an interesting new psychic.

"I can guess some of your reasons for coming here, but just so we're clear, do you want to tell me?"

Lu and Martin shared a Look but didn't answer, as their waitress chose that moment to come and take their order. Once the waitress was gone, Martin sighed and finally answered his son.

"You wouldn't believe that we just missed you?"

Naru shot him a look that screamed--or rather, since this was Naru, coolly stated--No! I don't trust you! You're a psychic hunter AND a parent!

Martin understood the unspoken words but simply shrugged, grinning sheepishly.

Lu decided that it was time for her to step in. "Now, Naru, we really did miss you. You call maybe once a week, and when I call you, you're always working! In fact, from what Lin tells me, that's all you ever do."

Naru scowled and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Lin needs to mind his own business.

"Mom, I've always been like this; you can't claim to think that something's wrong all of a sudden."

Lu continued talking, ignoring the interruption.

"And, yes, I have to admit that we were a bit curious about your assistant, too. Lin and Madoka are always talking about her, but you barely mention her." She grinned mischievously, and it looked so much like the grins Gene had flashed at him that Naru had to blink and force the image away.

"Mom, I don't know what you're trying to imply but--"

"And here you're supposed to be so smart!" The woman cheerfully interrupted. Her husband chuckled and covered his mouth. Naru had always been a little too serious, so Lu and Gene had made it their mission to tease him every chance they got. When Gene had died, though, Martin had feared that his wife wouldn't have the heart to continue their childhood game. It was nice to see that he'd been wrong.

"Naru, I'm asking if she is a part of the reason that you don't want to come home." Ah, and there was Naru's bluntness. Martin smiled fondly at his wife and son.

Naru, for his part, looked mildly horrified and more than a little embarrassed. He couldn't understand where his mother would have gotten an idea like that. True, he and Mai got along relatively well, now that she'd stopped being so sensitive, but to think that he could be in love with her…

"I am not in love with my assistant, Mother!" Naru gathered himself, directing a Matsuzaki level glare at Lu.

Lu, for her part, blinked innocently. "Why, Naru, I never said anything about you being in love with her!"

Naru's reply--whatever it would have been--was interrupted by his father's attention-drawing laughter. The boy sank down a bit in his chair as his face turned a shade of red that only his parents could inspire. The waitress brought their food over then, luckily, and the other diners went back to their own meals.

"Mother…" If he'd been anyone else, his voice would have come out a growl, but because he was Naru, it was simply impatient and cranky. He briefly wondered what Mai would think of this conversation before deciding that the girl would simply laugh at seeing him so flustered. She loved seeing him flustered, he'd noticed.

"How good is she?" Martin interrupted the scolding, whether to defend or his wife neither could tell.

Lu blinked at the sudden topic change, but Naru answered his father immediately, having been expecting the question.

"It's honestly hard to tell. She doesn't answer questions well." Naru frowned in thought. "Mai doesn't trust her abilities. No, she trusts her abilities, but she doesn't trust herself. Most of her insights come in dreams, but she doesn't often mention them until we're halfway through the case."

He took a sip of water, ignoring his father's intense stare. He directed his own stare at his untouched meal and continued, letting a bit of his frustration show.

"Even when I ask if she feels anything, she says no, when it's obvious that she's felt something. It makes it difficult to figure her powers out. She's stubborn and always does stupid things without thinking, because she doesn't stop to listen to her intuition."

Martin flashed a smile and a wink at Lu, a silent admission that his wife had been right. Their son had indeed been keeping extraordinarily quiet about his young assistant in their phone conversations. Martin had assumed that it was simply Naru being Naru and ignoring everything that didn't have to do with work. However, his tone when he spoke about the girl was definitely not the same tone he used when he mentioned the other members of their team.

"Why haven't you mentioned this before? I was under the impression that all she had were faint impressions." Martin wasn't scolding, but Naru felt chastised anyway.

If he were being honest, he'd have to admit that he wasn't sure why he hadn't been more explicit when describing Mai's abilities. It wasn't that he was irritated at her lingering distrust, or that he wanted to be there when she finally gave in and admitted that her powers were stronger than she pretended. And it certainly wasn't because he wanted to be the one to figure her out. That was just silly, since it was simply something to do with his work. He'd never been jealous over test subjects before, like some of his colleagues had been, so why would he start now?

Unable to come up with an answer, Naru turned his attention to his food. By this time, it was warm instead of hot, and he thought for a moment of Mai's strange ability to make sure his food was hot when he ate it. Of course, that might have been because she would point and say 'Eat!' as soon as it was set down in front of him…Really, when had she stopped being polite towards him?

He was broken out of his musings by his father's next words.

"Actually, I'm planning on asking her to come back to England with us to participate in some tests."

Naru narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"Well, even if you wanted to--" the which you obviously don't was implied--"You don't exactly have the proper equipment over here to test her abilities thoroughly."

Naru's stare turned into a glare. In his mind, he watched Takigawa and Matsuzaki teasing Mai for missing every blink. They'd treated the entire thing like a game instead of the test it was. Perhaps that was a small part of the reason Mai still had trouble accepting her abilities, he mused.

"She has school, and while they don't mind her taking off a few days for work, I doubt they'd let her leave for however long without some sort of penalty." Naru winced inwardly as he noticed how close to smug his tone had come.

Lu and Martin exchanged another glance, this one obviously saying is our son usually this dense? Naru's frown deepened, what was he missing?

"Madoka said that she'll be graduating in just a month or two. Don't tell me you forgot? We thought we'd offer to let her stay with us while we conduct the testing; it could be a break before she enters University or something." Anyone else would have said that the dark-haired young man didn't react to the statement, but his parents knew him well enough to realize that yes, their son had completely ignored the fact that his assistant was graduating.

Another exchange of glances, and Lu cleared her throat gently.

"Has she spoken to you about what she plans to do after graduation? Madoka wasn't very clear on the details."

Naru's eyes were wide and glazed over in his 'thinking mode,' as his thoughts flew over the his friends' actions of the past months, particularly the excess of Mai-hugging. That would explain…everything. Cursing silently, he turned his eyes back towards the couple across the table.

"I'm not sure. If she has any plans, she hasn't discussed them with me." His voice was cold with anger. How dare she! Naru didn't stop to ask himself what crime his mind was accusing the girl of, he simply scowled and planned the scolding she'd receive in the morning.

Worried about their son's major mood dive, Lu and Martin switched the topic back to safer topics. They spent the rest of the evening talking about their friends from home and trying to make Naru smile. For all that he was their adored son, the couple was more than willing to acknowledge that he was a stubborn little prat, and by the end of the night, both had decided that, whatever argument Naru was planning to start with Mai, they were on her side.

It wasn't until he was leaving them at their hotel that Martin brought up Mai again. "I almost forgot to ask you for her number, so we could invite her for dinner. And discuss her plans."

Naru's eyes became frosty as he rattled off the number. Lu decided not to mention that he had her number memorized. Doubtless Naru would just point out that he remembered any telephone numbers he dialed more than a few times. And then she'd have been forced to point out that he'd only started remembering their home phone number when he'd left the country. Naru had a wonderful memory, but he'd never been one to memorize things when he could just write them down.

"So, we'll see you tomorrow, love. Dream well." Lu couldn't help herself; she winked slyly before exiting the cab.

Naru's only answer was a frustrated grunt.


OMAKE:

"How good is she?" Martin interrupted the scolding, whether to defend or his wife neither could tell.

Lu blinked at the sudden topic change, but Naru answered his father immediately, having been expecting the question.

Naru smirked and, to his mother's surprise, winked. "Very. Quite creative, actually."