Establishing the Plot

"Guess what?" Madoka exclaimed, bursting into Oliver's office as he sat, red pen in hand, ready to eviscerate the student papers before him. He did not even bother to look up prompting her to continue as if he had. "You are in this book!"

"And you were in the last one," he answered distractedly. "It was bound to happen eventually."

"Yes, but when I showed up, I wasn't a love interest," Madoka practically purred as she sat in the seat across from him.

Anyone else would have missed the way his fingers tightened on his pen, but Oliver knew that Madoka would have caught his reflexive action.

"And what makes you so sure about any of this?" he asked coldly, still refusing to look up.

"Oh, because I've read it! I am supposed to be helping her translate it into English so I got an advanced copy." She smirked at him knowingly as he finally looked up at her. "And let me tell you, some of the scenes in there are pretty juicy."

"Madoka."

The woman sighed. "Noll, your father is fine. You have finished your master's degree and actually earned your doctorate. What on earth is keeping you here?"

"You assume that I wish to return to Japan."

"Assume nothing. I know! Everyone knows! Even Luella was commenting that she was expecting you to leave three months ago when Martin was given his fully clean bill of health." She narrowed her eyes at him. "The only question anyone has is why you are sticking around. I know I wouldn't be sitting there grading papers if the person I loved was sitting there writing fantasy scenes about me half a world away."

Oliver sighed and chose to go back to grading papers. "Ignoring your assumptions – which are assumptions, Madoka – what did you really come in here for?"

"Oh? I didn't say?"

"Madoka."

"Well, you know how you are going to that international panel in Tokyo in September?"

"I was not aware of this, no."

"Well, you are," she grinned. "And I just so happened to tell Mai that the BSPR representative to the panel would be more than happy to help her with her translation, one-on-one so to speak."

Oliver sighed. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Standing up, Madoka took his hand, forcing his attention. The look on her face was surprisingly serious. "Oliver, it is time for you to go live. You put your life on hold for Gene and then for Martin. Even if nothing comes of it, go take this chance to see if you might be missing out."

While the entire trip to Japan had been a hassle, as had preparing for a panel he'd no desire or intention to take part in, it was all made worthwhile at the look on Mai's face when she saw him. Unable to hide any of her emotions, he watched as her face morphed from shock to joy to irritation to embarrassment until finally landing on happy resignation.

"I should have known Madoka would do something like this," she sighed, opening the door wider and motioning for him to enter.

Resisting the urge to look as she bent over to grab her fallen wallet, Oliver politely removed his shoes before carrying his bag into her living area. Silently, he was impressed with how well she was clearly doing. He'd known that her books were popular, but he would never have guessed that she would be able to afford such a large place in the heart of one of Tokyo's more expensive districts. The style also surprised him as it seemed a touch too modern for her tastes and more suited to his own simplistic lifestyle over her innate warmth.

The kettle sounding in the kitchen drew his attention and Mai laughed, blushing slightly again.

"I'm sure you will want some tea. The guest bedroom is through there if you want to drop your bag while I pour us both a cup."

He nodded briskly, taking only a few seconds to look over the bedroom as he placed his bag on the made bed. Returning to the main room, he took a moment to admire the woman busily making tea. She had grown since he had last seen her. Not in height, but definitely in maturity. The adolescent roundness to her face had thinned out to adulthood and her overall bearing spoke of a woman rather than a teenager at the cusp of adult hood. He would be lying to himself if he were to say that he didn't find her to be attractive.

But, then, that had never been the problem.

"So, what all did Madoka tell you before she played her little joke?" Mai smiled exasperatedly as she beckoned him to come sit at the dining table.

He took a moment to answer, momentarily savoring the fact that he was drinking her tea for the first time in four years.

"She explained that your book was being translated into English and that you needed help with the translations."

She grimaced slightly, expression more rueful than anything. "Of course she did."

"Strange how you never mentioned your being a published author in any of our email exchanges," Oliver remarked coolly, smirking at the flush that grew up on her face.

"Well, I didn't think you would care about pulp fiction," she laughed before shrugging. "And, honestly, I was a little embarrassed at the idea of you reading them. You can be so harsh! I didn't want to hear about how badly I was doing depicting the ghost hunting profession."

"Mai."

The single word seemed to make her shoulders sag. While Oliver had, of course, known about her books the entire time, he could admit to being miffed that she had apparently thought to keep them a secret from her.

"I know, I should have told you. I'm sorry," she sighed, giving him a genuinely apologetic look.

"I take it the others have all read them?"

Mai shook her head. "Not really. Bou-san, Yasu, and Madoka all helped me out at the start so they read the first few. But, Ayako was more interested in discussing plots than reading the actual books and Masako doesn't really like that sort of reading. They have all been very sweet, but even Bou-san stopped reading after the fourth book."

"And Yasuhara-san?"

Her shoulders sagged. "He started the fan site."

Oliver was hard pressed to suppress a laugh at her dejected expression. Without any further explanation, he knew that the older man had used his powers of deviousness to harass his younger friend.

"So…um, have you actually read the rough draft that I sent Madoka?" Mai asked after a beat of silence. Her entire posture screamed discomfort at the thought.

"No, I have merely brought her notes and the marked-up draft." Technically, this was not a lie.

"Oh!" she perked up. "That is, um, good. I can go over those notes while you are at the panel tomorrow."

"That would be preferable. Then we can go over any particular sections you wish to work on tomorrow evening and the evening after. I cannot speak to being the most…imaginative writer, but I should be able to give some assistance."

The brunette cocked her head charmingly to the side and gave him the kind of smile that makes knees go weak. "I know she probably tricked you into this, but thank you, Naru. This really does mean a lot to me."

Oliver nodded crisply, finding it unnecessary to respond as the doorbell rang signaling the delivery that she had clearly been waiting for.

~~x~~

She was going to kill Madoka.

Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it now. Thankfully, Naru hadn't read the damn thing yet so she could relax on that account. When she'd seen him standing on her doorstep, she had almost died on the spot. If Madoka would tease her, Naru would have ripped her to pieces with his jabs. Thus, she was determined to have him go through as little of it as possible and she would get his help for the spooky things and call Madoka directly for the romance sections if she continued to feel stuck later.

Still, it was nice to see Naru.

She watched him enter the guest room and shut the door behind him and she couldn't help but feel satisfaction to know that he was staying in her apartment. She also felt that delicious sort of nervousness that only being in love could bring. And any pretense she had fooled herself into that her feelings had faded into a schoolgirl crush were immediately destroyed the first time that he smirked at her.

Age had worn him well and the boyishness that had held his looks back (not that she or anyone else had noticed) had matured until he was some sort of hand chiseled god of sexiness. His casually mussed raven hair and piercing midnight eyes….

It really wasn't fair.

With that thought in mind, Mai went to bed, desperately trying to keep her writer's instinct away from any more provocative thoughts as she tried to sleep.

The following morning, she rose earlier than he did surprisingly. Her 7AM class this semester was still something she was getting used to, but it did mean that she had time to get up, get dressed and ready, and be cooking in the kitchen before he poked his head out of the door of the guest room.

"There is tea on the table for you," she called out as she finished up their breakfast. "Breakfast will be ready in about five minutes."

Naru considered her for a second before nodding and heading towards the bathroom. Surprise at her early hours had been evident on his face and it felt good to know that she was shattering some of his old expectations of her.

"Looking forward to the panel?" she asked as he sat down at the table a few minutes later.

"Not particularly. Panels usually mean I have to listen to undereducated idiots and attempt some sort of polite response. For hours."

"Not exactly your strong suit," Mai laughed causing his lip to curve up on one side in a small smirk. "Are you going as yourself?"

He shook his head at the question as he chewed, politely waiting to finish before he spoke. "No, I am being presented as Shibuya Kazuya. It seemed fitting and I still occasionally get mail from people who were referred by former clients."

"Yeah, people do still ask about you," Mai commented. "I don't go out on too many cases with the others, but there have been a couple of referrals who ask about the handsome guy who used to boss us around."

"Glad to know my looks are still in high demand," he murmured with a smirk. "And appreciation."

Unable to stop her blush, Mai still laughed. "Narcissist!"

He failed to respond and the two went back to their breakfast quietly for a few minutes before Mai stood up and placed her things in the sink.

"I have to head out to my Saturday lab class. This is a spare key to the apartment so please lock the door when you have to leave. I should be back well before your panel is done for the day, but I will email you if I am running late."

"You would trust someone you haven't seen for four years alone in your apartment and even give them a key?" His tone indicated that he was calling her foolish, but his eyes were clearly curious.

"Naru, just because you left doesn't mean I don't still trust you with my life," she responded seriously, a soft smile on her face. "My apartment is definitely less valuable."

The man stared at her for a moment before nodding and taking the offered key. With a few more words, Mai was out the door and heading to class. As she walked away and all throughout her train ride to the campus, she considered his words and the look in his eyes as he asked them. Something told her he was asking something completely else and with that a small spark of hope lit in her heart that maybe she wasn't alone in her feelings.

~~x~~

There was something strange about being left alone in Mai's home. Even if her faith in him to keep her safe remained undiminished, this unadulterated access into her private life showed an entirely different form of trust that he was not sure how to take. With the panel only twenty minutes away and starting at 8, he had more than an hour to inspect the quiet rooms, which he felt zero compunction about doing.

Her office was warmer than the main room and he could tell that she spent a lot of time in there. Pages of notes were scattered about the desk and the larger work table. There was even a whiteboard hanging on one wall where she drafted story ideas, judging from the partial erasures. There were also pictures of the irregulars, some older from when they had been working together and others more recent. He found himself surprised at his own pleasure upon seeing them. Mai had not been the only person he had left behind after all.

He hesitated only a moment before entering Mai's own bedroom. Surprisingly uncluttered, the room gave of an almost Zen feel (though her open closet did demonstrate some disarray). Spying an open journal on her bedside table, he glanced at it just long enough to realize that it was a dream journal and he wondered if the attempts at tranquility were to help her get more restful sleep. (He would also have to ask her if Gene had already shown up to bother her the night before.) The only other thing of note was also sitting on her nightstand and it was the picture of Gene and himself that he had given her all those years ago. The only picture of him that she seemed to have.

A true travesty considering his looks.

It was as he was packing up his portfolio that he finally realized what felt so strange. Normally, when left alone in another person's personal space, there was a feeling of awkwardness, of being out of place. Yet, here, he had felt almost at home.

Sighing to himself, he quickly left after that thought had struck him.

He was getting maudlin and that was never a good sign. Thankfully, the irritation of the panel would probably drive that straight out of him.

Sigh.

~~x~~

Mai's class went by quickly and she stopped by the grocery store on her way home, trying to remember which meals Naru had liked best. Her attempt to impress Madoka with sushi had ended up with her quickly putting together some vegetarian options and she wanted to be better prepared. After grabbing what she might need for dinner, she hurried home, ready to look over the marked-up draft (which she had brought with her for safety's sake).

Within twenty minutes, she was sitting at her worktable with a cup of tea and looking at what Madoka had highlighted for change. Thankfully, there were fewer scenes than she had thought there would be and most of them were the ones she had fully expected would need work. Creating tension in text typically required precise wording and Mai had known from the start that she had done a clunky job of it.

And, of course, Madoka highlighted the romance scenes. Initially, Mai wondered if it was done out of spite but the older woman had made a few notes about awkwardness that were hard to argue with. Still, there were several scenes that she could go over with Naru safely and she set to work segregating them out – along with the original Japanese texts – so that they could work efficiently that evening.

Work organized, Mai spent the next hour completing her homework before checking the clock. It would soon be time for dinner and there was no way of saying thank you to someone like keeping them well fed with good home cooked meals. Thus, Mai went to the kitchen to cook dinner in higher spirits than she could have thought, eagerly looking forward to the evening to come.