Episode 5:

Silent Christmas

Day 1

It was December 24th, Christmas Eve and somehow Mai had managed to get a real tree into the SPR Office's lounge, she felt pretty accomplished as she stood there decorating the tree whilst Lin and NAru were out.

Clack

Mai looks up from her decorating, "Oh, good morning Naru, Lin!" She calls from behind the tree happily with a smile.

Naru blinked, he was surprised, and should have thought about what Mai was doing. Why is she putting up a tree?

"What are you doing?" Naru asks, stepping closer, he felt angry for some reason.

"It's Christmas Eve, silly. I think this place needs some festive color." She replies, pulling out another ornament to hang up. She hoped they liked it.

"Take it down."

"What?! I've spent the last hour putting it up."

"Take it down."

"Come on, Naru. Please?"

Clack

Stealing that moment to distract, Mai looks to the door, spotting Masako. "Oh, hello Masako." Mai smiles.

"Oh, what a beautiful Christmas Tree." Masako says, moving closer to look at it. "It really looks great Mai."

Smirking, Mai looks up to Naru, he sighs in frustration. Another lost battle, and he was the boss. Too late now.

Clack

"Hey guys!"

"Hello!"

Called to familiar voices, belonging to a man and a woman. Ayako appears, her hair and make-up on point even though the weather was cold. "Ooo, you have a tree?" Ayako asks, looking it over.

"Nice job," Monk walks forward. "It really puts you in the christmas spirit."

"You're a monk who celebrates christmas?" Ayako jabs. "Look who's talking, Miss Priestess." Monk retorts.

Chatting all silly-like with each other while Mai smiles in triumph. "Why are you all here? There's no work at the moment." Lin speaks for once.

"We're just spending some time with our dearest friends." Ayako starts fixing an ornament which looks crooked. "After all, it's Christmas Eve."

"What do you say we throw a little office party?" Monk proposes, helping with some tinsel.

Naru crosses his arms, looking away from them, "If you're so desperate to celebrate, go find yourselves a church. I don't throw parties in my place of business." He remarks in a rather unkempt voice.

Clack

Naru turns, noticing John at the door, "Let me guess, you've come to join the party?" he asks snidely.

Staring in surprise, "Ah...No, no. I've actually came by for something else entirely." John says timidly. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in a case? It's for my local parish."

Everyone in the room turns their to stare at John, confused. He had a case?

"A case? On christmas?" Mai asks, holding an ornament in her. Her mind reeling in thoughts of calling Houshi-sama and letting him know of the change in her schedule or sending him a letter, she wasn't sure.

"Alright, Mai could you get some tea, please?" Naru asks, pushing John over to the couch in the lounge they all stood in.

Nodding, she made her way to the kitchen, thinking very hard about what to do. As she left the pot to boil some water, she made her way to the phone, dialing the number she had memorized.

Hearing the sound of the dial ringing, a clicking sound was clear as someone answered the phone. "This Houshi Hikaru, how can I help you?" a familiar male voice answered.

"Hello, Houshi-sama, this is Taniyama Mai."

"Oh, Mai! You know I hate it when others call me Houshi-sama. Just call me Hikaru. What do you need?"

"Oh, okay. Hikaru-san. I wanted to let you know, I've a case today, and I don't know if I'll be able to join you for Christmas."

"Well, that's a bit of a problem, no worries. Where is this going to be?"

Without thinking Mai responded, "At a church, it's at…." She replied giving the information to him.

"Alright, you take care of yourself, let me know if anything changes. We'll pick you up any time! Even if it's not Christmas."

"Thank you so much. See you soon. Bye bye."

"Bye, good luck with work."

Ending the call, Mai blinked, she thought it would be much harder to change things, but it looked like everything was going to be fine. Making her way back to the kitchen, pulled out cups for others, and steeped the tea carefully.

Mei, it's Christmas Eve, and I think I'll have to work on Christmas Day. I wish you were here. She thought.