Hi, hi!
Let me start by apologizing for my leave of absence. I cannot express to you all how much motivation it took to get back into updating chapters and trying to stay on top of everything. I have graduated from University finally, and now I find myself in somewhat of a rut. While I am currently working in a setting that expresses my degree, I am also preparing for continuing my education.
Just a quick shout out to gellophy! Just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to review! It honestly helped kick start my mind a bit and get me moving!
I digress, you all are not here to read about me (I'd be thinking the same way haha!), so let's just get back into this story! I will do my best to update as often as I can! I am hoping to write a bit every day even if it is just a sentence and will work my way to updating at least once a week. I will also let you all know if there might be a periodic leave of absence that might delay an update, but I will be sure to let you all know ahead of time!
Enjoy!
Currently seated in the Davis' sitting room in their house, Mai was repeating what had happened at the house. While she didn't include the whole Naru kissing her thing, she did mention all of what she assumed from what she saw and heard. The woman she had seen at the house was undoubtedly Jocelyn Adams, but Mai wouldn't have known that without looking close enough.
"Well we're just happy that you're alright," Monk said looking at Mai from his place on the couch.
They had been sitting in the room talking into the late hours of the night. Mai's tea had gone cold, and she was not going to be drinking it anytime soon. With the way everyone kept asking her questions, Mai could hardly hear herself think.
Martin spoke up this time. "What did the crying sound like? How would you describe it?"
Mai thought for a second about what distinct features she could gather from her brief encounter. "Like a baby," Her face twisted in confusion. "It was crying for so long, and then it stopped. It sounded like someone hurt it."
Martin's hands never stopped punching keys into the keyboard on his laptop. "And Lin, Oliver, what were the temperature readings throughout the house?"
"All rooms were at or around normal readings albeit the room Mai was in when the apparition appeared." Lin looked to his notebook. "The reading of the room was six degrees Celsius."
Martin did not seem phased by the answer and documented the information without hesitation, but Luella did.
"My God, Mai," She had her hand to her mouth in shock. "How long were you in there?"
Mai looked down. "I have no idea." She couldn't really keep track of the time when these things happened.
"About 15 minutes," Naru gritted his teeth after he said this. When he first noticed that Mai was not behind him, he went into immediate panic. When Lin came in a few minutes later, Naru was able to think a bit more clearly. They didn't know which direction she had went, so they quickly looked downstairs. They were just about to come back up the stairs when she started screaming. It took another few minutes to get the bloody door open.
Luella looked at Naru with horror written on her face. "Was she very cold?"
"Yes, but we got her out of the house quickly and turned the heat on in the car," Lin said looking over to Naru. "She was feeling better once we started back to the house."
Sighing with as much relief as she could bear, Luella looked at Mai. "You get in an awful amount of trouble, missy." She had her hands on her hips and Mai couldn't help but notice that Ayako did the same thing when she was angry.
"Seriously, Mai," Speak of the devil. Ayako spoke up from her position behind the couch Mai was facing. Ayako never liked to be sitting when she needed to rationalize things, so instead, she paced back and forth behind the couch. "Ugh, I wish you had no choice in any of this." She looked at Monk. "We should have just tried to find someone to train you in Japan. This seems to be a lot more trouble than it's worth."
"No, Ayako!" Mai stood up. "I don't mind being here, and honestly I think Lin will be my greatest asset. Besides, Naru won't even let me participate in the case that much, it is mostly to observe my abilities while on a current case."
Monk sighed and brought the attention to him. "Ayako, there's no way we are going to convince her. We need to support her in her decisions. Mai is an adult after all, and she is old enough to learn from her mistakes."
Ayako watched her husband for a moment and then looked to her adoptive daughter. "I know you're right, but I can't help but just want you safe, Mai."
Mai walked over to Ayako and hugged her. "I understand, and I promise I will not get myself into so much trouble. I will stay close to Naru and Lin, and I will try to stay out of this case as much as possible."
Her arms wound around Mai. Ayako took a step back and looked her in the eye. "If you do not do these, I swear Monk and I will drag you back kicking and screaming."
Mai sighed at the natural stubbornness that was entirely Ayako. Knowing this was the best she was going to get, Mai agreed.
Naru held onto Mai's hand as they walked around the block. After their conversation was ended in the sitting room, almost everyone turned in for the night. Martin was going to type up the information they gathered today and then go to bed after. Still feeling pretty wired, Mai told Naru she was going to go on a walk around the block. She was going to take the time to process what had happened between her and Naru and to reflect on all of the confusing emotions she felt. However, when he said he was going to join her, Mai was a little surprised.
Now, hand-in-hand, walking down the lit street covered in the occasional small group of people, Mai couldn't help the butterflies in her stomach. Neither one of them had said anything yet. She figured she couldn't just sit in the dark. So, she stopped walking and when he felt his hand being tugged, Naru stopped as well and faced her.
"Naru, why the hell did you kiss me?"
He was not expecting that sort of reaction. "Do you not like me?"
Slightly taken aback, Mai blinked a few times and tried to fight off the blush coming to her cheeks. "I do, but you made it clear that you didn't believe me back when you were about to leave. I just don't understand what exactly you're getting from this. Are you just messing with me?" Mai let his hand go and looked to the ground defeated. A cold empty feeling settled over her.
"Mai, look at me." His voice was hard, but Mai couldn't find the courage to look up at him. The life felt like it had been zapped out of her. A warm hand was placed on either side of her cheeks, and Naru gently lifted Mai's head so that she was looking at him.
"I cannot change what I said in the past, but you must understand that throughout our juvenile years, girls our age were extremely cruel. I am sorry that I was insensitive to you. I should have shut my mouth, but I didn't want to believe that anyone would ever want to be any closer than friends. I shouldn't have denied your feelings." He let out a long breath. "I love you, Mai. Call me selfish, narcissistic, or greedy, but I do not want to see anyone else but me with you."
Mai couldn't believe, not only how much Naru was talking, but how much he spoke more openly about his feelings. She briefly wondered if he got hit in the head.
Reaching a hand up, Mai held onto one of his warmer hands pressed against her face and leaned into his palm just a bit more. Tears came to her eyes just by how beautiful he was for saying what he said.
"I love you too." She said.
A smirk appeared on his lips. "I know," Mai laughed at this. Naru pressed a kiss onto her forehead and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into him fully and sunk into his embrace.
"So, does that mean we're dating?" Mai asked, knowing that she hoped he would say yes. He shifted them a bit so he could see her.
"Isn't that what most people who are in love do?" He watched as a grin spread on Mai's lips.
"Is that a yes?"
He sighed. Her slow brain could only do so much. "Yes."
At this moment, Mai wished she was able to relive memories forever. Her heart jumped at the feeling of happiness she felt, and how much love she had to give, and how much she received from this man.
"Do you want to keep walking?" Naru broke the silence between them and when he felt Mai nod, he released his arms around her.
Mai held onto his hand as they continued down the street.
Breakfast was a quick occasion considering Martin and Naru wanted to get a jump on the case as early as possible. Sitting sluggishly in the back seat of the van, Mai was thankful for the gentle nature of Lin's driving. Neither he nor Naru liked the music or the radio playing, so the car was silent. Due to the setting Mai got about half an hour of extra sleep in before Naru was rousing her.
"We're already here?" Mai said rubbing her eyes. She then yawned and stared at her boyfriend tiredly.
He brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Yes, love," To this Mai groaned. "Let's just try to get this case wrapped up."
Following Lin and Naru inside and over to the room on the first floor where they were going to set up base, Mai started working on setting up shelves. She had done it so many times, that it was an automatic process. She didn't need to do it with much thought, so the time she spent setting them up allowed her to wake up more.
Lin and Naru came in one by one dropping off various pieces of equipment and devices, which Mai started to organize on the shelves once they were up. Considering the size of the house, they had about 20 cameras in all, and Lin and Naru began reviewing the blueprint of the property to mark off spots that they wanted to place cameras in. At that moment, Mai had a thought.
"Hey, are we the only ones working on this case?" She was curious to know if Monk and Ayako were going to help on this one. They had already scheduled a flight back to Japan, but it was not for another week.
"No," Naru said looking at her. "There will be a few individuals accompanying us from BSPR as part of their internship. Back at the house, my father, and mother will be assisting us from the outside with any interviewing we need to be conducted on the owners. Madoka will be joining us as soon as she picks up the BSPR individuals."
Mai nodded and continued with her task of plugging in all of the various cords of the monitors.
Lin choose this quiet moment to speak. "So," He marked off another location for a camera. "How long were you two going to wait to tell everyone you're dating?"
Blush immediately caught Mai's face like a flame to gasoline. Her head shot up and she slammed it painfully into the bottom of the table she was under. Both men looked at her in concern and mild humor.
Rubbing her head and pushing backward out from under the table, Mai glanced at Lin. "Lin, I have no idea what you are talking about!" She wasn't sure if Naru wanted to disclose their relationship just yet.
Mai looked to Naru and he sighed. "We aren't trying to hide anything if that's what you mean." He eyed the older man. "Are we that obvious?"
"You seem to forget that I have known you since you were young. I know when you're lying or hiding something." Lin crossed his arms. "However, I was also in the vicinity when you were speaking to Mai in the car. But you both have been acting strange around each other since yesterday. More comfortable in your presence."
She almost face-palmed. Of course, he could hear them. He was with them on the way here. She felt stupid. Taking that in stride Mai shrugged her shoulders. "Well, someone was bound to find out. I am happy that it was you though, Lin. Madoka would have-"
"Oh my!" Madoka walked into the room beaming. Three people stood at the back; Mai assumed the interns. One of them was Tommy who looked at Mai with sympathy. The color left Mai's face. "Do my ears deceive me or did I just hear my lover just say you two are together!?"
She wasn't sure whether to laugh at how she referred to Lin or be sick with nerves knowing Madoka is a gossip.
"Madoka," Unfortunately, Naru's growls were bouncing right off of Madoka's aura.
"I knew it wasn't going to take long for this to happen!" She looked to Mai. "Luella said it would take time, and Yasu thought that it would take a day, but I knew! I always know!"
Mai puzzled her face. "Wait, did you bet on us?"
Madoka waved her hand around. "Oh please, honey! I like to think of it as an educated guess!" Mai sighed. "Aside from all of this, I do want you two to know that I am extremely happy for you both!" Lin agreed with his wife by nodding.
At this, Mai lifted her head a little and looked to Naru who looked at her. They both looked back to the Madoka. "Well, thank you," Mai said, smiling a bit.
"Of course!" She walked over to Mai and hugged her. "If you two had dated a bit sooner, I'm sure this conversation would be about Naru proposing to you!"
Mai felt her stomach drop. She loved Naru, but marriage was in the far future for her. She was in no rush to get into anything quite yet.
Naru cleared his throat. "Madoka, while I do appreciate your opinion on our relationship, please do not forget that we are on a case. One I would like to get solved as soon as possible."
Letting go of Mai, Madoka feigned shock. "You're right," A cheeky smile came back on her face. "It's probably better to discuss this after the case! Preferably with Luella and Ayako!"
Mai shouldn't have been surprised by Madoka's thinking process, but she also knew her well enough to know that she was joking. Maybe.
"Let me introduce you guys!" Madoka walked over to the three people from BSPR. "I'm sure you already know Tommy, Mai," Tommy nodded to Mai and she smiled back. "Next we have Adrian Baker," She pointed to the man next to Tommy. He was just a few inches taller than Tommy, with brown hair and brown eyes. Mai thought that he seemed rather nice judging by the polite wave he gave her. "And last, we have Kelly Baker, Adrian's sister!" Mai looked to the young woman next to Adrian. They looked extremely similar; the only difference was their gender.
Mai nodded to them. "It's nice to meet all of you, and it's great to see you again, Tommy!"
Naru stood up and walked closer to Mai. "Let's get started. Adrian and Kelly, you are both going to do a walk-through. See what you can gather from the house. Feel free to walk around outside as well." They both nodded to him and walked out of the base. "Tommy, you and Mai are going to set up some cameras." He handed Mai the map of where the cameras needed to be placed on the first floor. "These are only a few of them we need set up, come back to me when you are finished."
Mai nodded and moved over to where she had placed the tripods and the cameras. Grabbing a tote bag, she loaded it with five tripods and set the cameras on top. Tommy rushed over to lift it.
"I'll carry this, Mai!" He said taking it out of her hands.
Mai smiled at him. "Thank you!" Tommy made his way out of the base, and Mai went to follow.
"Mai," Naru spoke up. She turned around to face him, slightly confused.
"Yes?"
He walked up to her, grabbed her hand, and placed a walkie-talkie in it. "Be careful."
A little laugh escaped her. "I will!" She smiled up at him.
Tugging her closer, Naru placed a chaste kiss on her forehead before he watched her leave. Madoka squealed.
"You two are so freaking cute!" Madoka gushed as she took a seat on the couch in the middle of the room, brought out her laptop, and began researching the history of the land.
Taking a seat next to Lin, Naru let out a sigh. This case was going to be stressful and they had barely started.
There you have it! The next installment of TBU has been posted! Let me know what you guys think! Or just tell me something good that happened to you or happened in the world! I need cheering up. While this may seem out of the blue, this world is absolutely flawed in so many ways and I wanted you all to know that if any of you need to vent or talk, please do not hesitate to reach out to a friend, family member, or even me. I will gladly listen and let you be heard.
I will talk to you all next time!
Cheers!