It took several minutes for Mai to become fully aware of her current placement in time. She was napping so deeply on top of her boyfriend and then he woke her up. Lately, her lethargic nature was beginning to become a bit of a problem. She rubbed at her eyes and fought off a yawn. The ever-patient Naru was waiting next to her, his father had left to wait for them downstairs.
"Do you want me to carry you?" Naru said smirking at the still drowsy-looking girl sitting up on the couch. She blearily looked up at him, her eyes half-lidded, but she still managed a small glare. He chuckled and Mai thought that he had coughed for a moment.
"I'm hungry," Mai said suddenly and yawned again.
Naru smiled. "Well, the sooner we get downstairs the sooner you can eat something." Mai pouted. He lent down and helped pull her up off of the leather couch. "Let's go,"
Mai sighed but followed him nonetheless. She yawned again. God! Sleep was great and she often had no trouble falling asleep, but this was getting tiring, no pun intended. She briefly wondered what her mother would say about these new developments, and then remembered that Ayako had no idea that Mai was pregnant. There was a high likelihood that her mother would kill her. And then her thoughts drifted over to her loving and overly doting father. She and Naru might start drafting a will and final testament now.
They had entered the living room and Mai saw Luella and Martin sitting on the couch, a figure across from them. Moving further into the room, she recognized the top of the head of the person that Naru's parents were staring at.
"Tadashi?" He looked terrible. Dark bags were under his eyes and he looked skinnier than last time. She frowned at his appearance and he took a calming sip of tea.
She followed behind Naru and he led her over to the plush lounge chair and she happily sat. He remained by her side and took his place next to her on the armrest, his back resting against the chair.
"What are you doing here?" She asked settling against Naru and risking a glance over to Luella and Martin. They looked uncomfortable and worried, Luella more so than Martin. In her peripheral vision, Naru seemed fairly relaxed and at ease which his parents seemed happy for.
"I'm here to help you all stop this group," Tadashi said wringing his hands. "The police having Dr. Thorn isn't going to do much without any evidence to convict him with. I know where to find it and I know how widespread the agency is and where they store their files."
Naru nodded. "If it is any cancellation, we have a collogue who has a talent for hacking any database."
"That would be helpful if we kept out files in on one," Tadashi said looking over to Naru. "Dr. Thorn was a paranoid man and crafted his agency to be similar. We use the psychological office, in-network with BSPR, as a front and store some information on a false database."
"I see," Naru looked down in thought and then tilted his head towards Mai after thinking of something. "Before we start, you need to eat something. What do you want?"
Mai thought for a moment before blushing and looking down. "I don't wanna say. It's kinda random."
Luella laughed. "Cravings?"
The younger woman looked up at her with a curious gaze. "Does wanting to eat ice count?" This time Martin laughed and Naru looked on with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. Mai looked back down in embarrassment.
"Actually, some women crave all sorts of things that don't have any nutritional benefit to them," Tadashi said watching her. "It's an eating disorder called pica. I'm just happy I was able to get you out of there before anything else could happen."
"Which reminds me," Mai said and faced him more directly. "Thank you for your help." A sincere smile stained her lips.
He gave her one back. "If you're important to Oliver, you both," He said glancing at her stomach. "Are important to me."
Naru sighed. He felt the need to brush off his biological father's comment. "So, you really want ice?"
Mai looked up at him. "And pickles?" She smiled and interlaced her fingers in a begging pose. "Please!"
Pressing a kiss onto her forehead, he quickly got up and made his way over to the kitchen. Luella took this opportunity to begin grilling the poor girl, abandoned by her boyfriend.
"So, Mai!" She turned her body to face the pregnant woman. "How have you been feeling lately?"
"For the most part, okay," Mai said. To be honest, she was thankful for this conversation. She still had yet to talk to her adoptive parents and her doctor appointment wasn't for a few more days. "I'm sure you know that I have been more exhausted than normal and I get nauseous here and there."
Martin crooked his head to the side. "What about the cravings?"
Mai laughed. "Those are new!" She sighed and looked down at her torso. "My mother told me that she craved oranges when she was pregnant with me, so I thought that those would likely be a craving I would have, not ice cubes. I suppose pickles make some sense."
"Craving ice is actually a sign of an iron deficiency," Tadashi said after taking another sip of tea. "When you go to see your doctor, they'll likely take a blood test, but make sure to ask about that. They can also recommend supplements and dietary changes that you can take to help with that craving."
"Wow, I would have had no idea." She blinked owlishly at him. "How do you know these things?"
Tadashi smiled. "I am actually a gynecologist, which is why Dr. Thorn recruited me in the first place." When those around him looked at him with varying forms of fear and anger he continued. "I did not participate in anything forceful, I just helped monitor and deliver the babies. There was not much else I could do for them."
The room was now filled with a solemn air and Mai was having a hard time sitting in the silence. She did not have to wait long, however, as Naru walked back into the room with Mai's food and handed them over to her, which she happily took.
"Thank you, thank you!" She said biting into an ice cube. Naru bent over and pressed a kiss to the side of her head as a response and took his seat next to her.
"What information do you have for us?" Naru said wasting no time to get into the heart of the conversation. He smirked slightly watching Mai indulge in her snacks.
"Dr. Thorn might have created the agency in the first place, but there are others in there that are willing to continue their experiments with or without the man." Tadashi shifted in his seat. "Selectively breeding psychics was not their only intention, the others were more interested in pushing them to the limit and utilizing their abilities for military gain."
Mai gasped. "What, like a weapon?" When the man nodded to her, she grimaced. "For what reason?! How would they be able to control them in the first place?"
"Well, some of those that were captive and did bring a pregnancy to term, their child would be taken from them and raised by those in the agency."
Mai's hands curled around her stomach, a sick feeling flooding her veins. Her face twisted into a frown and she felt tears well up in her eyes just thinking about a mother being forced away from her child.
"What about the mothers?" Naru said folding his arms across his chest. He was not happy seeing Mai so depressed over this conversation and he contemplated having her go into their room until they were finished. "Surely the mothers of those children wouldn't let that happen without a fight."
"You'd be right to think that, and in most cases, the mothers would have a power influx and destroy some things in the room, but they were usually quickly sedated and disposed of." He said grimly.
Martin looked at Luella and she looked back to him, worry cascading over their faces. They looked over to their son and noticed that he didn't look much better, his face fixed with a frown and his hand locked in one of Mai's. The girl was quivering and she refused to remove her hand over her stomach.
Luella could only imagine what she was feeling. As far as they knew, selective breeding was all that they were aware of. But now hearing that even after they do have a baby, the mothers were killed off was almost too much for her to comprehend. When they adopted the two boys, she had been so happy to be a mother – a dream she had set for herself at a young age, and despite trying, fate had a cruel way of expressing itself. Even if she couldn't have her own children and she didn't birth the twins, she never saw them as being separate in their family.
They were a family and that was that. She never treated them like they were not her own children and Luella prayed for the day when they would call her mom. Thinking about it now, she felt nostalgia hit her full force.
But it was a strange feeling, sitting here being with one of the birth parents of her children. She wasn't sure how to feel exactly, and she ventured a guess to say that her husband likely didn't either. Was there a right or wrong way to interact with this individual? Somehow, she doubted it. All that mattered to her was that her son was happy and safe. She had already lost one child and she sure as hell was not going to lose another. Not if she could help it.
Time went by at a slow pace, but it was decided that Martin would call in the officer who was appointed to their case to come over and take witness statements from Tadashi. The next step would be trying to figure out how they would approach this situation. If they knew where to start looking, how could they set a trap to ensure that they would gather enough data and evidence to put all those who participated in this endeavor behind bars?
It was a double threat, it seemed, and Mai was stressed. There was too much happening at one time. She felt like everything was just going to push her and push her until she couldn't stand it. Suddenly, she felt the urge to see her mother. It was seeming to be the only form of comfort that she wanted at the moment, and it was unfortunate that she didn't have that source around her at the moment.
Naru placed a hand on Mai's shoulder snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Yes?" She had jumped a bit and looked up at him. "Sorry, I was zoning out."
"I know," He said watching her with careful eyes. "I've been trying to get your attention for some time now."
"Sorry," Mai mumbled and brought a hand up to rub her forehead. A sharp headache began to move from the back of her head to behind her eyes and she had to shut her eyes to cope.
"Let's go," Naru said pushing himself to his feet. "We're going on a walk."
"What? But what about…" She then noticed that the room was empty, save for her and Naru. She thought at some point she would have heard some sign of movement, but thinking back, nothing came to mind. "Where did everyone go?"
"Mother likely went to start dinner – apparently she has a recipe she has been dying to try – and father and Tadashi are in the office talking to the officer, he'll be here in about thirty minutes." He helped Mai up out of the chair and kept a firm grip on her hand as they moved through the room to leave.
"Where are we going?"
"On a walk," Naru said plainly. Mai glared at his back.
"I know that asshat," She said. "Where, though? Where are we walking to?"
She watched his shoulders shake as he chuckled. "A new nickname for me, hmm?" He questioned. Mai just realized what she said and blushed.
"Yeah, well you had it coming! You knew what I meant."
He stopped walking and she blindly walked into his back. Before she could move, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug.
"Yes, I did know what you meant, I am a genius, after all, Mai." He said.
She laughed and hugged his torso tightly. "You're a jerk."
Hello again! Here is another update! I am a little bored of this chapter, not much seems to happen, but I will make sure to spice it up next time! Until then, let me know what you thought and I will see you all next week!
Cheers!