National holidays are good because this means I can update! Thank you for your encouragement!
Important Notice: Some of you may have noticed that I deleted this chapter and reuploaded it. This is because the update was not being reflected correctly on the website proper. Sorry for the confusion. The content for this chapter remains the same except for this new note.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Ghost Hunt.
Barricaded inside Mai's room, Naru had the entire pink and yellow wallpapered afternoon to contemplate the events that had transpired so far. First, his twin had borrowed the place in order to admonish him and to nag at him about time constraints. Then, Madoka and Lin both came in and repeated the same tirade at him, with the added threat that he completely deserved to be stuck as a frog. Lin in particular had stared fiercely at him and issued the following warning, "I am responsible for the happiness of my ward. As such, prince or no prince, I expect that you treat her feelings with the care that you ought to show others."
This was really too much. No one had ever said anything like that before to him. Not that they hadn't tried. He'd usually used his killer glance at them first. If Naru was completely honest with himself however, he would have admitted to feeling guilt at the way his sharp tongue had lashed out unmercifully at Mai. After all, he'd been on the verge of telling her his predicament before he'd been so rudely interrupted, by Lin (of all people) and Takigawa (unsurprisingly). As such, he felt that the ill-favoured look he gave his tutor when Takigawa next came in was not uncalled for.
"Look. I suppose you do have a reason to be mad at me, but if there's anything I can do I would you know." his tutor said as he sat down on Mai's bed. When Naru merely eyed him with indifference, the man shrugged easily and said, "What I mean to say is, I can lend you a listening ear… that is, if you've anything to air…" Takigawa Houshou hadn't really expected the prince to listen, and was therefore taken aback when Naru finally spoke.
"There was a short period, when, after falling out of your window, that I couldn't remember who I was. And when I did, I swore that the first thing I would do would be to sack you."
"That bad eh…"
"You're a horrible tutor."
"Now that's putting it too harshly don't you…"
"Think? Not when you fall asleep during class."
"Well-"
"When your Latin is worse than mine," Naru added.
"…"
"When your grasp of arithmetic is almost certainly of an elementary level…"
Takigawa sagged. "Alright, now that you've put it that way…"
Naru continued on relentlessly as if he hadn't heard, "And you ended the last etiquette class early because one of the palace maids came in to give you a hiding about stealing the Queen's fan." His tutor winced. "But," he said finally, "I have to admit that you make a passable music tutor."
"Really? Come on, be honest now… I was more than passable wasn't I?" Takigawa smirked.
"If you say so," his student answered shortly. "I don't remember learning to play anything other than the guitar from you."
Takigawa chuckled. "And here I was being prepared to hear you lament about the sad state of your love affair with Lin's ward. You really do know how to pick em don't you."
Naru ignored the jibe. In truth, he was already secretly panicking about that, not that his tutor was going to ever hear him confess to that. However, he didn't have to as his lanky tutor nodded as if he had and smiled in a fatherly fashion at him.
"I know I don't set a good example, but trust me on this. Apologise to her," he advised before leaving.
As she fought back her tears, Mai wondered why on earth she was being so strongly affected by a mere pond frog. If it had been any other of the stupid creatures, she would have kicked it back to the well from where it'd crawled from, never mind if it could speak a dozen languages. She placed the tea before Lin, who still seemed to be in a black mood and hastily backed away upstairs. On seeing the new housemaid going up the stairs as well, she told the brown-haired girl to inform the Cook of the mess in the kitchen. The girl nodded politely. Then, changing her mind, Mai went back to the kitchen where Madoka and Gene were unceremoniously dumping Naru into a bowl of clean water.
"May I borrow your room again, Mai-chan?" Judging by Gene's ominous tone, Naru wasn't going to get off the hook lightly.
"Of course," she replied loftily and went to get the rag again. Madoka stopped her this time.
"It wasn't your fault, Mai. Aya-chan and I will clean up in here," she said as the countess poked her elegant head round the door curiously.
"What? Oh, er yes. You should go and rest up. Healer's orders."
"That's right. And Gene? When you are done, Lin and I would have something to speak to Naru about."
With that, Mai found herself being pushed by two pairs of strong female arms towards the exit. There she found herself face to face with Sir John who appeared to be waiting to speak to her. Still sniffling slightly, she gave the mild looking knight a watery smile.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Yasuhara-san told me that you had a copy of Lord Townsend's book on Nihon. I was wonderin' if I could borrow it," the young man explained.
"Oh… that's in the library."
As they went up the stairs, Mai could hear soft rustlings from the Blue Room, a sign that no doubt meant that Masako was once again holed up in it. Sir John sighed gently and looked wistfully at the door as they passed it. Mai who had looked back to see what was detaining him smirked. Sir John blushed a little.
"She's really shy isn't she?" he said and ran up to join her at the top of the stairs. If she wanted to be brutally honest, Mai would have said it was more like she was a royal pain, but a look at the devoted expression on the knight's face and she found herself grunting noncommittally instead. The book was lying on a chair where she'd left it earlier and she held it out to him.
"It's actually Lin-san's," she explained. "You might want to let him know you're borrowing it. I think he ordered it because he wanted to prepare for the trade negotiations with Masako." The knight nodded.
"Thanks," he said gratefully. "If there's anything you would like…"
She smiled at him. "You know, there is one thing. Have you ever put down a fight at The Hunter's Inn in Grimmwood?"
The knight blushed again, this time in embarrassment. "Oh. You were there were you?" He ran a hand distractedly through his hair.
"You were really good! I never saw anyone who could throw a punch like that," she said. The knight grinned.
"There were always monsters out in the desert where I lived when I was younger. I grew up practising," he explained sheepishly.
"I bet Masako would be very impressed if you tell her," Mai remarked casually.
"You think?" The knight asked hopefully.
She nodded sagely. "And, it so happens that there are some really nice long walks around the house. You should show her some of them…"
"Great! I'll go ask her," he said eagerly as he ran down the stairs towards the Blue Room. "Oh…and Miss Mai? Everything'll turn out just fine, you'll see," he smiled.
Feeling slightly more cheered up by the knight's assurance, Mai hummed lightly as she rounded the corner and bumped straight into her guardian. Lin looked down at her solemnly. "Would you please come into my study?"
INTERLUDE
What Sir John did next
"Why do you think the sheep are thinking?" she eyed them doubtfully. The sheep looked as they always did, vacant and chewing cud.
"I don't really know," the young knight admitted. "Except, today, they just look more… intellectual, I suppose. It's a look in their eyes, a spark of awareness that isn't always there on show."
And true enough, the sheep had indeed been thinking. They had in fact been wondering why on earth it always rained on them, that so far, in spite of being set in a story titled A Froggy Tale, they had only so far encountered only one small and completely forgettable mundane green frog.
"Oh, let's get going," Masako said eventually. "Looking at all those wet wool makes me feel dampened." Sir John nodded in agreement.
"It's getting late too, and it'll be cold out. Here," he said, and held out his unfastened cloak to her shyly. "You'll better keep warm, princess. Albion is far wetter than what you're used to..."
Author's notes: Not much Mai-Naru this time. But I feel that after ten chapters, now's an apt time to build up some of the other characters that have had little beyond theatrics (Takigawa) and cameos (John) so far. As for the timeline for this chapter, it sort of mirrors the time spent with Naru and Mai each separately getting the encouragement they've been needing.
Ariana Taniyama: Thank you for being so understanding! I guess the snail booster worked though because I've updated again even before I myself expected to.
MochiMochi-tan: No worries. And yup! Absolutely correct. The description of how it's a place for rest and light entertainment absolutely fits the story... until Yasuhara turned up at least. That and how Lin reminds me a little of the film version Elrond... being all stern and all...
Tenru Wingstorm & HarunoRin: Ah yes... thank you for reminding me. So it's not too far off if he blows a fuse then
The Narrator: Wow. FOUR reviews at a go?! Thank you very much. I am most honoured. (ref. Chp 4 - *grins* You noticed! =D)
Toyama-chan: You know I can't give away the plot... =p