Chapter Twenty-Six

A shiver ran through Mai's body as she walked towards the BSPR building, causing her to pull her cardigan closer to her body. The early morning June breeze billowed her long dress around her knees and she held a hand against her leg to keep it from blowing further up.

She came up to the pedestrian crossing and was able to swiftly cross, slightly surprised that the streets were so empty for a Monday morning in London. Another breeze blew and her small hands quickly held her dress down once again. Maybe wearing a dress on a windy day wasn't such a good idea, she thought to herself. She would rather not reenact the famous Marylin Monroe dress scene out in public, no matter how empty the streets were.

Quickly making her way up the stairs and into the building, she sighed in relief at the welcoming warmth of the office. As expected, Yasuhara wasn't in the office yet, since his shift didn't start for another hour. She walked through the lobby and into the other room where her desk was located. Glancing over at Oliver's office across the room, she noted his door was mostly closed but she could hear him inside. With a small smile gracing her lips, she placed her bag on her desk before walking out back towards the lobby and making her way into the kitchen. Opening the cupboard under the sink, she retrieved a watering can and began to fill it.

She walked around the office, watering the plants she had scattered around, until finally making her way to her boss's door. She knocked lightly and waited.

"Come in," his deep voice reached her ears.

Gently pushing the door open, she smiled brightly over at the dark haired man but nearly stumbled when she saw him. He was leaning casually in his chair, one leg crossed over the other, with a book propped open in his hand. His normally kempt hair was lightly tousled as if he had run his fingers through it multiple times already. He wore a pair of slim charcoal gray trousers and a black turtleneck, staying true to his usual color palette. The thing she hadn't been expecting, however, was the reading glasses perched on his nose. She could feel her heart begin to beat faster at the sight of him.

"Like what you see?" he questioned, bringing Mai's attention back to reality. He was staring at her, and she noted how his eyes seemed a deeper hue of blue through the lenses.

She felt the heat rushing to her cheeks and realized she had been staring at him for quite some time.

"What? N-no!" she stuttered, nearly dropping the watering can but catching it before it could spill.

"No?" he replied in amusement.

"I mean, yes! Wait, no, I mean - I didn't know you wore glasses," she struggled. Why was he looking at her like that? She started to wonder if the heat was on in his room for she was growing rather hot.

He couldn't hold back the smirk that pulled at his lips at her reaction.

"You can thank my mother. Something about staring at screens for the majority of the day being strenuous on the eyes," he stated.

Mai brought a hand up to cover her mouth and chuckled. "Well, they suit you rather nicely."

He stared up at her once again and her eyes widened.

"U-um, I just wanted to come in and water your plant," she explained, holding up the watering can for evidence.

"Very well," he nodded, closing his book and placing it on the table. He closed his eyes and rubbed his aching temples. Long fingers reached out and grabbed the disposable cup of coffee he'd picked up on his way to work, and brought it to his lips.

He could hear her soft footsteps as she made her way to his bookshelf. Looking over, he watched as she stood on the tips of her toes to water the vining plant. His eyes slowly raked down her body on their own accord. He absentmindedly noted how the wrap dress she wore flattered her petite figure, and the muscles of her toned and shapely legs tightened as she stretched in her endeavor to reach the plant. The oversized cardigan she wore slowly draped down her shoulders, exposing the smooth pale skin and his hand wanted nothing more than to push it up for her.

Startled at his train of thought he choked on a sip of his coffee and tried to clear his throat. Mai quickly turned around at the sound, and her dress twirled up past her knees. He wondered if this was karma for teasing her just seconds ago.

"Are you okay?" she asked in concern, stepping closer.

Averting his eyes, he turned to open his computer with a curt nod.

"Wait," she said suddenly, causing him to look at her briefly from the corner of his eyes. "Are you drinking coffee?"

He raised a brow at her question. "Am I not allowed?"

She gave him a quick look. "Well, you only ever ask for tea. I assumed you didn't fancy coffee."

Oliver gave a quick sigh and turned back to his computer. "While I do have my preferences, there are days in which coffee is a necessity."

Brown eyes studied the man in front of her, noting the faint trace of circles under his eyes. "Now that you mention it, you do look rather tired. Are you feeling alright?"

"Gene's back," came his short reply.

Mai nodded knowingly. "Ah, say no more. I know how antisocial you are and, even though he is your brother, Gene's energy can be particularly draining at times, even for me."

"At times?" Oliver repeated sarcastically.

She couldn't help the small chuckle that left her lips at her boss's response.

"Here." Oliver suddenly reached down under his desk and revealed the shoes he had taken a few nights ago. "You had left these outside of your building Saturday night."

Mai's eyes grew wide and a smile spread across her face. She reached out, happily taking the shoes she had been searching for and held them to her chest. "Thank you. I thought I had lost them forever."

Oliver nodded and avoided looking directly at her bright smile.

"Thank you, again, for all you did for me that night," she said softly. "I really don't know what I would have done without you there. If you hadn't gotten that door open, he wouldn't have lived. How were you afterwards?"

He looked at her confused. "How do you mean?"

"You used your power to open Mr. Hicks' door, didn't you?" She continued. "I know how using your powers can affect your health. Were you okay afterwards?"

Oliver regarded her for a moment. She wasn't scolding him like his family would have, rather she was just genuinely concerned for his well being. "Something as small as opening a lock has little to no effect on me. If it had been something larger, like a chair or table, then I would have needed Gene's help."

"Gene acts like a buffer between your powers and your body, right? You didn't explain it in much detail in your books," she said, leaning against his desk in intrigue.

"I didn't want Gene to be bothered with interviews for a book I had written. He's more social than I am but he prefers his private life to stay private," he explained matter-of-factly. "It's not my place to tell the public about abilities that aren't my own."

"Very thoughtful of you," Mai nodded. "So, how does he help you with your ability?"

The black haired man thought momentarily. "It depends on what I'm attempting to do. It works best if he is holding on to me, but he has also been able to help while standing next to me. My body can easily become overwhelmed by the amount of energy my psychokinesis can conjure. To put it into simple terms, Gene is able to take a small amount of energy and then alter it and amplify before sending it back to me. Depending on how much energy I require, we will do that back and forth until I have the amount needed."

"That makes sense, but also...tricky," she replied. "How did the two of you find out you could do that?"

"Through trial and error as children. As I grew older, my body couldn't handle my powers as much as when I was younger. We eventually began to notice that when Gene was around I never felt any side effects," he shrugged slightly.

"That's brilliant," she said, pushing off of his desk. "You two really are something."

Oliver took another sip of his coffee. "How is Mr. Hicks fairing?"

Mai smiled sadly. "He's better than it could have been. His heart is still weak, though, so they are sending him to a rehabilitation center to do some physical therapy. It may take over a month. His grandson, Phillip, you met him, will be acting as landlord until Bertie comes back."

The raven haired man froze for the faintest of seconds as his hand placed his coffee down. An uncomfortable feeling was tightening his chest.

"Does this Phillip have any previous skills as a landlord?" he asked coolly.

Mai chuckled at the odd question. "Not that I know of."

"Then why is he taking responsibility if he has no qualified experience?" He tried to sound indifferent.

Mai narrowed her eyes curiously at his question. "He's helping his family."

He huffed slightly and turned back to his computer. "It's not very wise of them to appoint a landlord who doesn't even live close by. What if something needed maintenance?"

"Well, actually he moved in over the weekend so if anything goes wrong he'll be there," she explained.

His jaw tightened slightly and he continued typing.

Mai put her hands on her hips and frowned slightly. "Well someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

He grunted. "Tea."

"But you just had coffee," she stated, perplexed.

"And?"

"I've never seen you drink coffee before. I'm trying to imagine what an over-caffeinated Naru is going to be like," she said, eying him skeptically.

Oliver impatiently rolled his eyes.

Chocolate brown eyes gave her boss a long stare. "Fine," she sighed. "But, if your body explodes I'm not going to be the one to clean it up."

"I'm confident my body will refrain from exploding," he drawled.

She chuckled and grabbed his empty coffee cup before heading towards the door.

"Mai," he suddenly said, stopping her.

Turning curiously, she raised a questioning brow. "Do you need something else?"

"I've requested Gene's help in aiding you with your abilities. He's going to be coming by today,"

Oliver stated as he typed something on his computer.

"Oh," Mai said, stunned. "I thought I wasn't going to start training with him until Lin was finished training me?"

Oliver sighed and leaned back in his chair, resting an ankle on one knee. "With Madoka on bed rest and only days away from delivery, Lin is going to stay by her side indefinitely. Because of this, I felt the need to begin sooner than we had first anticipated."

"Why's that?" she wondered.

He crossed his arms over his chest and broke eye contact momentarily. "Your abilities are increasing at such a rate to the point where your safety is becoming a concern."

"My safety?" she echoed.

"Twice now you have been pulled into some vision or another by a spirit. Mrs. Hicks pulled you into a vision so quickly you fell on the sidewalk and harmed yourself."

"Oh, please, Naru. It was just a few scratches. It's nearly healed now. See?" she waved off his concern and lifted her skirt slightly to show him the healing wound on her knee.

He turned his head away, not allowing himself to stare at her legs once again. "This time, yes. But what if I hadn't been around or if you had fallen in the street? As my employee, your safety is my concern. If we were on a case this would have been a liability for you to be pulled into visions so suddenly."

Mai ignored the painful tightening of her chest as his words resonated with her, realizing his concern stemmed from his role as her boss.

"Right," she replied quietly with a small nod.

"Gene should be here shortly and he will discuss what to expect in your training," Oliver finished, leaning forward once again to type something on his computer, signaling he was finished.

She nodded once more and turned towards the door. "Okay. I'll go get your tea then."

Closing the door to his office behind her, she let out a soft sigh. What was wrong with her? A man gives her the slightest bit of attention and now she can't stop getting her hopes up or jumping to conclusions? She scolded herself for allowing his words to affect her so. Of course he would be nervous of her safety as his employee. If she were to ever get seriously harmed he would have to deal with the legality of it all. Squeezing her eyes shut, she shook her head to clear it.

"Enough with that silly nonsense," she muttered to herself before placing her shoes under her desk and making her way to the kitchen.

It didn't take long for her to prepare his tea and before she knew it she was entering his office once again. He looked busy so she placed it down silently and began to leave when suddenly the door opened, startling her. Her boss's lookalike emerged from behind the door.

"Gene! Welcome back," she smiled in greeting, grateful to see a different face even if it did happen to look very similar to the one she was trying to avoid.

"Morning, Mai. Already typing away, Noll? It's so early," Gene grinned.

Oliver glanced up at his brother. "Work hours are called that for a reason; to work."

"Rough morning?" Gene laughed.

Mai turned to the man. "How was Japan?"

"Perfectly splendid," he grinned. "Brought back the future missus. She'll be coming by tomorrow so you'll be able to meet her."

Mai's eyes went wide with excitement. "Masako Hara?"

"That's her," he winked. "Are you a fan?"

Mai smiled sheepishly. "Well, I don't watch a lot of television, but when I do get the chance I really enjoy her show. She went to my old school back in Japan for a case once, it was all anyone could talk about for the entire term."

"She's pretty spectacular, if I do say so myself," Gene said softly.

"If the two of you are going to just sit around and talk all day, could you at least leave my office? Some of us have things to do," Oliver scolded.

Mai rolled her eyes and walked out of the office, allowing Gene to follow before closing the door.

"I don't know how you put up with him all day, Mai," Gene laughed. "I had to live with him for the better part of twenty years because I had to and I don't know how I survived. That attitude has really aged with time, and not in a good way like with wine."

The brunette chuckled and took a seat at her desk. "On the contrary, he's really not that bad. We all have our days. Even me."

"I find that hard to believe. You're too kind sometimes, Mai," the twin sighed as he pulled up a chair. "Never be afraid to give him a piece of your mind if he goes too far some day."

She decided it was time to change the subject. "So, Oliver tells me you'll be training me from now on."

Blue eyes sparkled with excitement. "Ah, yes! He thinks I can help you control your dreams and visions."

"Can you?" she wondered.

"I don't know," Gene shrugged.

She wasn't expecting that answer.

"Truthfully, I don't get post cognitive dreams like you," he began. "I can only really communicate with spirits and don't get visions. I've been doing this for so long it's kind of hard to remember how to go about building those skills. I've done some research but I'm not nearly as skilled as my brother thinks I am. Noll and Father are the real scientists."

"I bet you're being too hard on yourself. Oliver wouldn't have trusted you to do this if he didn't think you were capable," Mai comforted. "I mean, you're a medium after all. Actually, I remember him saying you were a perfect medium. What is the difference?"

Gene leaned back in his chair and scratched the stubble growing in on his chin. "There are many different skills that a medium can have. Some can only see spirits. Some can communicate with them. Some can do both or more. I have a difficult time seeing spirits, but I can sense them and communicate with them. I'm also able to conduct my own seances as well as allow a spirit to possess me. I'm a 'perfect medium' in the sense that when I get possessed, I am fully the spirit. I once held a seance for the spirit of a russian grandmother who had passed away. When she possessed me I spoke in fluent Russian. I have to clue how to speak Russian."

Mai's eyes widened. "That's brilliant. Did you have anyone at the seance that could translate for you?"

Gene gave her a look, suggesting she knew the answer.

"Oliver?" she wondered.

"The one and only. I'm guessing he never told you he's fluent in eight languages?" he laughed.

"It never came up in conversation," Mai said, shaking her head in shock. "What can he speak? Well, other than English, Japanese, and Russian."

"Let's see," Gene thought. "I think he also knows Mandarin, French, German, Spanish, and Latin. The latter comes in handy during exorcisms."

Mai huffed in awe. "You'd think he would have mentioned that in his books."

"In his eyes, he probably didn't see that information important to the book. You know how he is about 'trivial' things," he smirked.

"How could I forget?" she chuckled. "So, you said that you can't always see spirits?"

The man shook his head. "I've never been able to see them like you or Masako can. I can see them at times, but it is usually only when they want to be seen. When I was younger I could see them more often, and it caused quite the ruckus at our old orphanage. On the other hand, Masako can see and communicate with spirits as well as hold seances. The only thing is that she can't host a spirit like I can. When she holds a seance she can focus her attention onto that spirit and ask them questions directly and get answers. There have even been times where she acts almost like a megaphone for the spirit so they can talk through her but not actually enter her body."

"I never realized there were so many different skills mediums could have," Mai muttered to herself.

"I'm excited to see how your abilities progress. Noll told me how they had been relatively dormant until your arrival in England. The fact that you have grown so much in just a month is quite impressive," he admitted.

The brunette sighed. "I just hope it doesn't get much worse, I'm already enough of a burden on the team as it is."

Gene's eyes narrowed. "A burden? Who said that?"

She shook her head. "No one! I just keep getting hurt or in trouble, I can only imagine the stress I'm putting on you brother to have such an accident prone employee."

A small smile pulled at Gene's lips. "Trust me, you're not a burden to him."

Mai looked down at her desk, not really feeling reassured. "If you say so."

Gene stretched and let out a yawn. "I'm famished. Are there any snacks in the kitchen?"

Mai nodded. "I bought some last week and put them in the fridge."

He was about to stand up when a pair of beige high heels under her desk caught his attention. He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face and he sat back down in his seat.

"Those are some pretty fancy shoes you've got there," he teased, wondering what she would say.

She looked down and saw the heels under her desk. "Oh, yeah, I had forgotten them over the weekend, your brother just returned them to me."

"Oh, did he now? And why would my brother have your shoes? And over the weekend, might I add." he asked suggestively, hoping to appease his curiosity.

Mai rolled her eyes. "He had given me a lift home after Takigawa's final performance but things got a little hectic to say the least, and long story short, I misplaced my shoes when I had to go in an ambulance with my landlord."

"Oh," Gene deflated. So really, nothing actually happened between her and his brother. Noticing the look she was given him he realized his response was off. "I mean, I hope your landlord is doing better now. When Noll asked for my help he had mentioned you had a vision and wound up saving the man. Very impressive" he grinned. "But if I'm being honest, I never would have expected my brother to attend a private concert, especially for Takigawa. He usually tends to avoid social gatherings as well as people with personalities like Houshou and Ayako's. He's not really a people person, you know?"

Mai laughed. "I was shocked too. Ayako had called him and lied, saying I couldn't get home or something like that."

Gene's interest was piqued yet again. "Oh really? And he came to take you home?"

Mai shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "Well I mean he was just looking out for the wellbeing of his employee. "

Gene smirked. "Sure he was."

Mai was about to deny his accusations when Oliver's door suddenly opened. The irritation on the man's face was abundantly obvious and Mai paled as she wondered if he had heard their conversation.

"What's got your panties in a twist, dear brother?" Gene questioned.

"Father just called," the man sighed. "I'm needed at a conference in France."

Mai looked at him in shock. "When do you leave?"

Blue eyes met hers. "Within the next few hours. I may not return until next week."

"Next week?" she gasped. "But didn't we have a case scheduled for this week? Should I call to reschedule since both you and Lin will be unavailable?"

"No need," Oliver stated.

She began to feel nervous. "Um, but that leaves just me. I'm not sure if I feel ready to do a case on my own."

"You won't be alone," he corrected. "Gene and Masako will be joining you."

"We will?" Gene asked with a raised brow.

"You will. I just got off the phone with your fiance and she agreed to assist. This will also be a good way for you to view Mai's abilities firsthand," he said, pulling on his jacket. "Mai, I trust you will be able to keep things afloat in my absence. My father will be taking time off from the lab so he will be here to run the office."

"O-okay," she stuttered.

"Very well. The case file is on my desk and you have my number," Oliver said as he finished buttoning his jacket. "Gene, I expect you to keep my assistant out of harm's way."

Gene chuckled. "No problem, I can manage that."

"It's harder than you think," Noll said, sending Mai a look. "She's a magnet for danger."

Mai chuckled. "I'll be fine, Naru. Now get going so you can pack before your flight."

With another quick nod, the man quickly left the office.

Gene looked over at Mai with a lopsided grin. "Well this should be fun!"