Terribly sorry. I've been in so much mental, physical and emotional stress this week that I was really planning on not uploading anything this week. I tried, I don't exactly what day, but I messed it up. So I just took the post down a second after I did the upload.

I haven't read my emails yet, both here and in my email address so sorry if didn't reply to any message you may have sent. I still don't have that much time on my hands today so I'll do the explaining part when I get enough of a breather to compose my thoughts and draft my answers.

Anyway, here's the supposed chapter for this week. It's supposed to reach around 4k words but I don't have enough time to edit it all again before the upload so I just cut the content down to 3350 words.

Thanks for your patience!

Mai stared at the screen of her mobile phone as she sat alone in one of the tables of De Kas. She reached the restaurant an hour and half before she should be there.

"De Kas, later at 6?" Mai read the message for the 20th time, still unable to understand it.

Her thoughts kept coming back to her conversation with Naru…to the article she read on the piece of crumpled newspaper page…to the image of Naru with his fiancée, which she wouldn't have seen if she didn't receive the very message she was reading.

She remembered how Naru sat in front of her in the dining room – his hand holding hers the whole time…his blue eyes looking straight at her, showing her his most vulnerable side yet…

"Charlotte Weist was once a student of mine," she heard Naru's voice ring in her memory. "She's the daughter of the Science Minister in England. Her father and my father were…good…friends. They agreed to arrange a marriage between me and Charlotte. But that was two years after I met you," he said squeezing her hand to make a point. "I was looking for you. My parents had detectives hired to assist me because I looked pretty desperate back then."

This got surprised Mai. For Naru to say something like that about himself seemed...just...shocking.

"But after two years of learning nothing about your whereabouts, they decided it would be best if I moved on," he continued – his blue eyes showing so many emotions Mai couldn't believe was possible for an Oliver Davis. "...If they helped me move on. Since I knew Charlotte in a way, and she her family was a friend to ours-"

"And she's a great scientist like you," she interjected, making Naru heavily sigh.

"And she's a scientist like me," he said. "They figured she would be…a good…"

"Wife to you," she finished.

Naru shook his head and looked down at her hands, a scowl on his face. "They're being unreasonable!" he hissed, anger tainting his voice. "I'm twenty-one! I'm old enough to live on my own, let alone choose my bride!"

He looked up at her. "I told them but they wouldn't listen," he said, the blue in his eyes suddenly making her feel desperate and in pain. "Then I saw you again. I wanted to tell them about you but…I didn't tell them everything that happened to us back in Japan – how you got hospitalized because you waited for me in the rain, how you took me to the place where I found Gene…how you found Gene."

Naru paused and Mai watched him think of the right words to say what he was about to tell her.

"I was so frightened," he almost whispered – his eyes moist. "I was so frightened that they would accuse you of killing him that I decided not to talk about Japan when I came back to England. They're SPR, sure, but it doesn't mean that they'll believe just about anyone who tells them they met their deceased son in their dreams."

Naru looked down at her hands again, but Mai knew it was more because of shame than to hide something from her.

"And it scared me," he breathlessly said. "...How they would react about your connection with him. They would have you interrogated by authorities, force you to take medical and psychological examinations, make you take tests to prove you could really talk to dead people... And you don't deserve that torture, Mai." He looked up at her again. "I didn't believe you deserve it…for helping me and my brother…for being you."

Mai closed her eyes. She didn't hate him. She couldn't hate him. If she was in his place, she might have done the same thing to protect him…to keep him safe…

"I'm sorry," Naru whispered, raising her hands to his lips and kissing her fingers. "I should have told them, but I couldn't. When I saw you again, I wanted them to meet you. I really did. I'd be a liar if I told you that I didn't think introducing you to them would save me from marrying Charlotte. It crossed my mind. It crossed my mind so many times I almost thought it was right. But it wasn't...at least not for me."

He looked down at her hands again – his fingers massaging her palm. "I wanted to take you home and have you with us for dinner. I wanted to tell them your name and what you've done for us, and how...you've taught me things I never thought I would learn. And I wanted them to look at you as how I first saw you – the girl who was idiot enough to save a stranger from a car wreck, and share her home with a jerk," he said looking up at her once more.

Mai frowned and glared at him.

This made Naru smirk.

"But if I introduced you to them back then, they would only see you as someone I was using to escape the engagement," he said. "They would never take me seriously. And my father made that point clear. He told me they would never accept someone other than the likes of Charlotte as my bride. And so would the rest of our family."

Mai looked down. She felt his cold fingers squeeze her hands.

"I don't want them to hurt you," he softly said. "Gene and I had been there. We weren't really related to them. So they didn't accept us the way they would have done so with our parent's biological child...if my parents had any. It took us years to earn their respect. My irritation and hatred for their judicious ways to me and Gene took me to where I am now...to the Naru you met back in Japan...to the jerk talking to you now."

Mai looked up at him.

"I chose to deal with all of it this way as my brother chose the other," Naru said. "I'm not saying you won't survive it. I just don't know what I'll do if they treat you the same way."

Mai sighed and looked down at her hands.

"I know I was being a coward," he continued. "I was being foolish and untrusting but…I just couldn't risk it."

Naru took a deep breath. "My parents had that trash printed when they realized that I met you again," he said, glaring at the newspaper page that broke her. "Perhaps they were hoping you would see it…like you just did."

Mai pulled her hand away and wiped her tears.

Naru pulled her hand away from her face and held them in his grasp. "I'm sorry. I know these won't mean much but I really am. I should have told you this before, but fear just got over me."

Mai looked at him. He was worried...distressed...pained. "Why are we in Amsterdam?" she asked.

"I ran away," Naru answered looking straight into her brown eyes. "I ran away from my parents. I wasn't supposed to. But Oswald said he was planning on taking you to France with the rest of his household. I was being selfish as usual. I didn't want you to move away from me. Not again. It would have been difficult for me – visiting you in France. What with all the things my parents are making me do for the engagement..."

Mai wanted to roll her eyes. Of course it was his ego that brought them there.

"I just didn't want to live away from you," he said. "So I told him I'll take you under my care."

"He lent you the house," she whispered.

Naru nodded.

"You had Florence and everyone else on the plan, but not me."

"Would you have cooperated if I did?"

Mai frowned and looked away. They had that conversation before and the answer of course was 'no.' Even if it would crush her, she would do it…for his sake – to keep his family whole.

Mai sighed. "I'm really not good for you," she breathed.

Naru glared coldly at her.

Mai looked up, feeling his intense glare and chuckled.

Naru's eyes softened. He pulled her to sit on his lap.

Mai obliged, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face on his shoulder.

Naru held her closer, kissing her shoulder, burying his face into her hair...

"That man Iris spoke with," Mai whispered. "He's your uncle."

"No," Naru said. "He works for my father."

Mai sighed again and closed her eyes.

They were going away from Amsterdam because his father had found them...in a way.

She felt his warm breath against her neck.

"How long are we going to keep running away from them?"

Naru sighed this time. "Until I'm sure he'll let us be."

She felt something twinge in her chest. She remembered Mr. Davis, the man she met in the park. What if he was Naru's dad? Naru's family must be worried sick about him!

…And she was keeping him away from them.

"Mai," Takumi's voice broke the memory flashing back into Mai's consciousness.

"Takumi-kun," she acknowledged, smiling back at the man sitting in front of her in the table.

Takumi frowned. "What happened?"

"W-What do you me-"

"I've been sitting here for the past minute," Takumi said. "And I've been trying to call you attention since I came here. What happened?"

Mai shyly looked away.

"You and Naru had a fight..?"

"No," Mai said. "Not…really."

"Tell me what happened then."

Mai sighed and looked down at her phone. "Um…Remember…what you told me about…his parents and…me not meeting them?"

Takumi stiffened. "You asked him about it?"

"No," Mai said shaking her head and smiling slightly at him. "That piece of paper you told me that fell from my pocket this morning…"

Takumi slowly nodded, telling her to continue.

Mai looked up at him. "It was a page from a newspaper," Mai said, trying to smile. "It had an article about Naru's engagement with a British scientist."

Takumi stiffened.

Surely Naru didn't slip the paper into Mai's pocket. It would ruin everything he had planned! Unless that was the plan…but that would be insane and mean! He knew Mai well, didn't he? He would know how much it would hurt her!

"You're sure it's him?" Takumi asked.

Mai gave a sad smile. "Naru admitted it was him," she said. "Please don't get mad at him though. He…didn't want to get married to his fiancée. It was arranged by his parents."

"So let me get this straight," Takumi said. "He basically ran away from his marriage to be with you? But he left you in the dark about his engagement?"

Mai nodded. "He was trying to protect me," she said. "His family…wouldn't accept me," she whispered.

Takumi gave a long sigh and looked away.

So Mai already knew. Not all though, since she was still that open to him.

"So what are you going to do now?" Takumi asked.

Mai shrugged her shoulders, her eyes fixed at her phone.

Takumi rolled his eyes. "Okay, wrong question," he said. "What do you want to do now?"

Mai looked up at him.

They stared at each other for a moment.

Takumi smirked. "Let's get this date finished first," he said, taking Mai's hand in his. "Thinking with your stomach full is better than thinking with your stomach empty."

Mai smiled.

Lin sat on the porch and stared at the darkness swallowing the lawn.

When Mai left the house, he quickly knocked on Naru's door, knowing his charge would need company.

He didn't hear everything from outside. But he did understand, from the muffled words he heard outside the window, what Noll had been doing all along. He had to admit it was surprising. Seeing Noll's selfish ways reach an unselfish level was a rarity. And for him to admit feeling an emotion such as fear wasn't something people never thought Dr. Oliver Davis could do.

And it only happened when he did something for the people he deeply cared for.

Naru sat down beside him on the porch with two cups of tea. When he opened the door and saw Lin, he could only stare at him. He knew Lin had heard his heart-to-heart talk with Mai. And though he was ashamed of what happened, there wasn't much that he could do so he just looked at Lin.

Lin was kind enough to not say anything too. He just looked at his face and gave a tired sigh. Noll decided to offer him tea. Lin accepted and proceeded to sit on the porch where Noll was at that moment handing him one of the cups of tea he prepared.

The two took a sip of the tea at the same time. They sat silent for a while, looking out at the night sky, staring at the lawn, gazing at the dust on the pavement, looking out at the gate that was being swallowed by the evening...

"So," Noll began, eyes fixed at the gate.

"No," Lin said looking out at the same gate.

Naru raised a brow at him. "I wasn't finished."

"You were going to ask if I can go with you to a bar," Lin said.

Naru frowned and stared at the gate again. "I was going to ask if you'll go with me to buy some booze."

"Still no," Lin said before sipping his tea. "I'll take you to your parents if you insist. Martin would love to have a drinking session with you."

Noll glared at Lin. "Why haven't you called them anyway?"

Lin shrugged. "I forgot..?"

Noll smirked. "I thought you work for my father."

"I do," Lin said.

Noll sipped his tea. "But you're going to help me now?"

"Help you with what?" Lin asked, eyes fixed at nothing in particular. "Eloping somewhere else?" Lin shook his head.

Noll rolled his eyes and took a sip of his tea. "Were you ever told that eavesdropping is wrong?"

"If I didn't spy on you, you'd be alone out here," Lin said.

Noll shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not Gene," he said looking up at the night sky.

"Which exactly justifies my presence here," Lin said.

Noll glared at him.

Lin smirked. He looked down at his tea and took a deep breath. "You really…love her…don't you?"

Noll looked out at one of the trees standing in the lawn. He remembered that it was supposed to be an apple tree. "Do I?" he asked. "I thought I was acting on lust."

Lin chuckled. "You didn't bang her though," he casually said. Madoka confirmed it when he tricked her into spilling some facts about Noll.

Noll sighed. "Wish I did," he muttered, looking down at his tea.

Lin shook his head. "You're just saying that," he said. "Fact is you respect her. And that kind of respect is a far greater proof of love, than making love to her every night or getting her pregnant."

Noll drank his tea. "You do it with Madoka though," he said.

Lin sighed. "Not the same banana," he said.

Noll smirked and sipped his tea.

Lin took a deep breath. "I can't believe I'm having this talk with you," he said. "Have you had 'the talk' with the professor before?"

Noll looked out at the gate. "You mean that discussion about sex?"

Lin nodded.

"He didn't like to talk about it," Noll said. "He tried at some point though. He gave up when I told him what I knew about human reproduction and sex education." He remembered how loud Gene's laughter was when Noll discussed about how to use a condom. They were around fifteen years old back then. And it made their father's cheeks red. That was the only time they saw Martin that embarrassed.

Lin chuckled. That was Oliver Davis alright. "Is that why you didn't do it?"

Noll shrugged his shoulders. "We're young," he said. "She has dreams."

"If you're going to have protection-"

"There's still a point-one percent chance she'll get pregnant," Noll said. "And it's just not something that should happen now...while this is all happening."

Lin knew what he meant. Though it could possibly tear the engagement to shreds, it wouldn't guarantee acceptance from Prof. Martin and the rest of the Davis clan. "There's a high chance she won't."

Noll looked up at him. "You're telling me I should just bang her?"

Lin blushed. "I was just wondering why you didn't," he said. "Men in your situation wouldn't think twice about it."

Noll looked away and sighed. "Maybe you're right," he said. "I respect her."

Lin smirked and shook his head. "I like this," he said.

Noll raised a brow at him.

"You admit that other people are right about you," Lin explained. "You should be in love more."

Noll glared coldly at him.

Lin just chuckled and sighed.

Noll sipped his tea. "This conversation would be better if this was beer."

Lin nodded.

"Did you bring your car?"

"No."

"Gordon Bennett," he muttered.

Lin chuckled, remembering something he needed to do. "Madoka's going to kill me."

"If she does," Naru said. "Send her my love."

"Sure."

Mai walked down the street with Takumi.

They didn't talk about Naru while they had dinner. Everything he asked and told her was about Japan, how her friends and 'family' were doing, and how they missed her.

She liked the distraction. But she knew it wasn't going to last long.

They were on their way to the bus station. And soon she would reach the house, she would see Naru, and she would remember everything – the pain, the disappointment, the shame...the guilt...the fact that she was the reason why Naru tore himself away from his family.

She suddenly heard Takumi give out a heavy sigh. She looked up at him, wondering what was wrong.

"I'm assuming you still love Naru," he said. "...Even after...what happened."

Mai looked away.

Yes. Yes, she did. That was why it caused her so much pain. She loved him. She knew he was suffering. She knew his family was suffering. And she wanted to help him.

But the only way she could help him was to...

Mai looked up at the bus station a few blocks away from them. She decided to every road sign and poster on the way, just to keep her thoughts away from what happened a little longer.

"I'm not going to judge you," she heard Takumi's voice say as she read a soda advertisement posted on a shop window. "I know how it is to feel...what you're feeling..."

A cigarette advertisement...An antique shop sign...a liquor brand...

"And I'm here," Takumi said shyly. "I'm here for you. I will always be here for you. And I'll support you in whatever you decide to do."

An advertisement poster about a sleeping pill...a poster about a fastfood restaurant...

Mai looked up at him and gave him a smile.

Takumi smiled back.

Takumi had known her for a long time. And she was sure he was thinking about the same thing that she had been thinking.

If only she was as smart as Naru...He would certainly figure out a way to do what she wanted and what she needed to do.

She wasn't good for him. She was tearing his family apart and she was hurting people. It wasn't right.

But she couldn't just run away. Naru would stop her at all cost. She knew it seemed impossible for Oliver Davis to kneel and beg for something but her conversation with him earlier about the truth was like...Oliver Davis pleading that she stayed with him.

And if he begged her to stay one more time, she might not be able to gain enough strength to do the right thing again.

But if she didn't do anything, she most likely won't be able to sleep well at night...beside him...even if he held her close and-

Sleep.

Mai stopped and walked back to the poster about a brand of sleeping pills.

"Mai?" Takumi asked, quickly at her side.

Would it work?

Mai bit her lip.

And if it did...would she...really do it?