Chapter 4: Luella Knows Best

Mai POV

I was out having lunch with Luella. Naru was talking to his father, telling him that Naru will go back to do the seminar. I know I told him he should go, but for some reason I'm actually sad he's going to do it. Why am I feeling so conflicted about this?

Luella looks at me sideways. "Mai, everything ok, sweetie?"

I look up at her. "Yeah."

She shakes her head, "Then why did you sigh like that?"

I sighed? Wow, I must have been lost in my thoughts too long to not notice.

"I… did?"

She nods. "Mai, sweetie, I know that having Noll gone again for a while is going to be tough for you. We just sent him back only a few months ago, and here we are taking him away again."

"How'd you…"

"Mai, I may be a mother, but I am also a wife. I remember what it's like being young and in love. I think I can tell what's going on in your mind."

I smile at her. "It's not like I don't want him to go, I do. When he was telling me about it, he actually sounded excited, even though he tried to hide it. So, who am I to tell him no? What kind of a girlfriend would I be if I kept him back from doing something he really wants to do just because I don't want to be away from him for too long?"

Luella placed her hand on mine. "You're right. And I'm proud of both you and Noll for having such level heads. Normally a girlfriend in your situation would request, or almost demand, to go with her boyfriend. And honestly, I wouldn't object to that at all. But for you to tell him to go ahead and do the seminar and not request to come along, well, to me that just tells me everything there needs to know about your character. You're such a caring young woman and I'm so happy that Noll found you."

I blushed, "Thank you."

Luella nods. "And you know that saying, 'distance makes the heart grow fonder'? If you two don't spend some time away from each other early on, you won't really know how strong your relationship is. And to be doing this twice in the span of a year, it's quite admirable, Mai. It definitely speaks volumes about how you two feel about each other."

I hide my ever growing blush the best I can. "Thank you Luella."

Naru POV

I looked down at the lesson plans my father had already written, looking for what I would want I would want to teach on. At least, that's what I should be doing but, I've been looking at this page for the past five minutes. I can't get Mai's reaction to this out of my head. She was excited for me, yes, but this morning when she came in she wasn't as preppy as she usually is.

"Son?"

I look up at my father. "Yes, father?"

"Mai will be just fine. She'll be here with Lin, plus all her friends."

I sigh as I ran a hand through my hair. "I know. It's just going to be hard to leave her again. Even if it's only for a few weeks."

My father nods as he walked up next me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I know. But Mai's a strong woman, Noll. She trusts you, and that's important in any relationship."

I nod. "I know."

"Noll, you know I'm very proud of you. Not only for managing this office so well, but for actually finding someone like Mai. And I know your mother feels the same way."

"Thank you, father."

"Why don't you take a break, Noll? You can finish looking over the lesson plans later."

I nod as I stand up from my desk. I could really go for some tea right now, but Mai's out with mother. Looks like I'll just have to make my own. Might as well get use to some tea that's not Mai's.

Mai POV

I stood next to Lin as Naru and his parent's checked in their luggage.

"Hey, Lin?"

"Hmm?"

I looked up at the Chinese man. "You think we'll be ok while Naru's gone?"

Lin closes his eyes as he chuckles. "Yes, Mai. I'm confident in your skills that any case that may come our way will be easily resolved."

I nod as I look back towards Naru. "I hope so."

"Mai," Lin said as he placed his hand on my shoulder, "you should start being a little more confident in your powers and intuition. You did manage to save Naru's life last case."

I smile. "I did, didn't I. Well," I look up once again at Lin, "guess we'll just have to wait and see, huh?"

He nods as he removes his hand from my shoulder and turns his attention back to the Davis family, who were making their way back towards us.

Luella and Martin stopped in front of Lin and I as Naru stood next to me.

"Well, Mai, looks like this is goodbye for now," Luella said as she tried to choke back tears. I walk forward and hug her.

"I'll see you again soon, Luella."

I turn towards Martin and hug him.

"Take care, Mai. Noll will be back soon. I promise."

"Make sure he is," I joke as I separated from Martin. Luella and Martin walked over to the side to get in line as Lin followed them, leaving Naru and I alone.

"Mai…"

I turn towards him and wrap my arms around him.

"Be safe," I tell him.

Naru wrapped his arms around me. "You too, Mai. I'll be back as soon as I can."

I nod into his chest. "I know."

I drew back a little from Naru and looked up at him. I saw Naru glance towards his parents and Lin, probably checking to see if they were looking.

Naru turned his head back towards me a second later and leaned down to kiss me. After a moment, we pull away from each other and Naru rests his forehead against mine. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Naru."

"MAI!"

I turn my head towards Luella as Naru straightens.

"We'll have Noll back soon, then you two can start giving me some grandchildren!"

My eyes went wide as I felt my blush cover my whole face quite quickly. I quickly hid my face in Naru's chest.

"Mother!"

I laughed a little before looking back up at him. "Guess you should go now."

Naru looked back down at me. "Guess so."

Naru and I hug one last time before he goes and joins his parents as Lin rejoins me. We watch them go through security and wave a final goodbye.

…

One Week Later

The door to JSPR bursts open as a young teen girl gasps for breath. I look up from my computer and stare at the girl for a second before standing.

"Uhh.. Hello. Welcome to JSPR. How can we help you?"

"You guys are the ones that hunt ghosts, right?"

"Yes," I tell the girl.

"Good. I have a case that you must take."

I look at the girl before nodding. "Please take a seat."

I motion towards the couches and the girl goes to sit while I knock on Lin's door.

"Lin, potential client."

Lin opens the door, laptop in hand and goes to sit across from the girl. I quickly make some tea and hand it to her before taking my seat across from her.

"So, what's your case?" I ask her.

"It's my school. It's haunted."

A/N: And scene! Naru is back in England doing some teaching while Mai has a case to solve! I'm actually really excited about this case. I literally had a dream about it back around Christmas time and I knew as soon as I woke up that I had to write it into a story. Luckily I decided to do a Ghost Hunt series like this, so I get to write it! In my dream, Naru, Lin and Madoka never appeared. Only Bou-San, Masako, Ayako and John. (I was Mai.) But, I had to figure out a way to get Naru out of the picture for a bit so I could do this case and I decided that having Lin in it would be more beneficial and make more sense rather than have Mai go rogue on a case (like my dream).

Thank you all for the reviews and the continued support of my series! Hope you all are excited for the haunted high school! (Name of story still in the works.)

Well, until next time guys!