Oliver did not receive his reply until 6pm on Saturday.
"Which makes it 3am…" He mumbled as he opened up the browser after hearing the ping from his speakers.
Dear Naru,
Are you actually capable of giving someone a compliment without insulting them at the same time?
From Mai xx
Was she annoyed? Oliver frowned. She had still put the kisses at the end, so she couldn't be too pissed at him right? It was infuriatingly hard to tell without seeing her face.
He could read her face like a book.
Dear Mai,
What on earth are you doing up at 3am?
From Naru xx
Fortunately, Mai was much swifter with this reply.
Dear Naru,
I came home from work and emailed you back and then I might have fallen asleep at my desk and just woken up…
From Mai xx
So she had fallen asleep! That insolent annoying idiotic little…
And he had spent all this time worrying!
Dear Mai,
Go to bed. We can talk in the morning once you have rested.
Sweet dreams,
From Naru xx
He sent it. Then re-read it.
'Sweet dreams'?!
Really? What had gotten into him?
'Sleep well' would have been acceptable. 'Sweet dreams' was just…
Oliver felt his face hit the palm of his hand and he sighed.
But Mai had responded.
Dear Naru,
I'm going! I'm going!
Jeesh you nag worse than Ayako…
Talk in the morning!
From Mai xx
Oliver smiled.
It seemed no matter how much he screwed up with Mai, she would always just carry on.
Yet a small part of him was slightly disappointed.
His choice of words had been somewhat revealing as to his feelings for her and yet she had given no real response to them.
His years of Ghost Hunting had taught him several things about the way the human mind worked. Dealing with ghost's issues had forced him too. However, nothing had really prepared him for this.
A ghost he could look at rationally and study in order to work out what they wanted and why. When it was his own feelings… He seemed somewhat incapable.
He knew Mai would not wake up for another few hours. He had ages to write his reply.
Dear Mai,
He began. Good start.
I do not 'nag' and I am certainly not worse at anything than Ayako.
Then a thought occurred to him. What if he just wrote down all of his feelings?
Explained everything clearly to Mai and let her decide.
No.
As much as he'd like to do something like that by email, where he was safe from the pain of seeing her face screw up in disappointment or anger, it would be wrong – and cowardly – do not do it in person.
Oliver nodded to himself. He would do it when Mai arrived.
Or perhaps when she was about to leave.
He didn't want to ruin her visit.
From Naru xx
He sent the email and pulled out a book to read.
But how would he word such a discussion.
In fact how would he even bring up such a discussion?
When Mai had told him she had liked him over a year ago, she had just blurted it out. Oliver would not be blurting anything. He had far more composure than that.
'Mai, I want a word with you.'
That sounded like a good start.
'Mai, I have been forced to realise that you stir weird feelings inside me that I don't like one bit. But I can no longer ignore them.'
However, this did not seem a good way to continue.
'Mai, I think I love you.'
Also a bad choice. Too forward.
Oliver continued to muse about how he would share his affliction until a 'ping' interrupted his thoughts. He glanced at his clock before opening his email; 10pm.
"Where did the time go…?" He muttered.
Dear Naru,
You do nag.
But anyway, I was wondering… I have a maths exam tomorrow and I've been practicing for it but I am really stuck on one part of integration. It's to do with changing the variables and stuff and I don't understand it… So I was wondering, if you aren't too busy and are familiar with it, would you be willing to teach me it?
I can set up my webcam and everything, so you'll be able to insult me properly every time I do something stupid.
If you can't, it's okay! Don't feel bad! I can ask Yasuhara instead!
From Mai xx
Webcam…
She wanted to video-call him.
Dear Mai,
Of course I will teach you.
Go and have breakfast – I do not want your rumbling stomach interfering – and inform me when you are ready.
From Naru xx
The fact that it was now past 10pm was forgotten. The fact that in Japan it was early morning and Mai would want to be revising this for the day was irrelevant.
Oliver would get to see Mai again.
Author's note: Sorry its another short one! But I am super busy atm! I spent the whole day serving tea and coffee to Particle Physicists... Woop! Please review and tell me your thoughts :)