Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga 12 would be in English, along with all the short stories that I can't find anywhere...
Chapter 27 – Receptiveness
-0O0-
Not for the first time, Mai Taniyama woke up in a bed without any memory of having gotten into one. A quick look around confirmed she was at the Davis estate; this was the guest room she'd slept in on her first night in England. But... why was she here? What happened last night?
An answering flood of memories ran through her mind. One of the most crystal-clear (and embarrassing) ones was of Naru standing on the balcony, listening to her talk about how she'd felt when her mother died. They were both drinking tea, the grounds spread out in waving grass below them... the moonlight giving Naru's already-pale face a translucent sheen and making his dark eyes look like glowing liquid sapphires. Mai blushed again just thinking about it.
But at least her efforts had worked! Before she'd fallen asleep on the couch (again), Mai had subtly reached out with her powers to sense Naru's aura – and it hadn't been bad. In fact, his mood had been so tranquil that Mai doubted she'd read him correctly. But then again, Naru must have been the one who put a blanket over her as she fell asleep...
And cue fire-engine blush.
Mai squirmed in the bedclothes, distracting herself with the feel of exceptionally soft sheets. She also rubbed at her gummy eyes with gloved hands – and froze. There was nothing else on her arms! Where had her sweater gone? Naru had put her on the couch... had Naru also put her to bed?
What if... Naru had pulled her sweater off?
The blood seemed to slip from Mai's body as she considered this terrifying possibility. Not that she hadn't imagined Naru taking her shirt off in daydreams... but she was always, er, participating while he did it. The lost blood pooling in Mai's toes rushed right back up to her face. What was I thinking about again? Oh, right.
"Don't be ridiculous, Mai," she murmured, mentally slapping herself. There is no way that Naru changed me for bed, she told herself firmly. The thought would never even cross his mind.
The relief that swept her was laced with dejection. While she was glad that Naru hadn't gotten a glimpse of the scars, Mai couldn't help feeling a little depressed that Naru would probably never want to... She shook her head violently, shaking the silly thoughts away. "Who am I, Yasu? Focus, Mai!"
And she did. Luella or Madoka were both in the house last night, so one of them changed my clothes. Most likely Luella, Mai guessed, absently fingering the strap of her nightdress.
Wait... NIGHTDRESS?
Mai threw off the covers. To her utter shock, she was wearing a deep blue nightgown that fell in waves of soft satin to her ankles. Little shiny beads and lace trimming formed a sweetheart neckline, and thin silky straps held the whole ensemble in place.
It was a beautiful nightgown – Mai had never worn anything so nice. But why was she wearing this, and not the tank top and pajama pants she'd left in the guest bureau? Mai stared down at her satin-covered body, mouth hanging open and mind on overdrive.
Loud voices disrupted her internal freak-out, and Mai instinctively yanked the bedcovers up to her chin. It's Saturday, she realized. The whole Davis family was downstairs.
Then Lin's deep voice wafted up the steps. "We should probably take her to SPR and run tests, just to make sure," he said slowly. "Are we certain there were no nightmares last night?"
"No screaming, no nightmares, and no, you will not bother her," Luella answered sternly. "She needs sleep to recuperate."
They're talking about me. Someone must have blabbed about the double-dream from the night before. And then Mai's blood ran cold once more – they were openly discussing her visions! What if Martin or Luella figured out that she dreamed of Gene's death?
"It's almost ten o'clock," Martin noted, sounding rather impatient. "Surely twelve hours is enough recuperative sleep?"
Twelve hours, huh? Not a personal record, but her professor was right – that was a lot of sleep.
"It will be enough sleep when she wakes up," Luella replied uncompromisingly. "It's horrific enough that Mai regularly sees visions of others' deaths. I will not allow any of you to deny her the rest she needs in order to recover from such awful experiences."
Mai's heart swelled with happiness upon hearing Luella defend her.
"My dear, we are trying to help Taniyama," Martin argued. "You said the same thing about conducting research on Noll, but it was only after extensive testing that we were able to control his powers. Taniyama needs similar assistance."
Ha, not for this particular problem. Mai knew exactly why she was plagued with visions of Gene's death, and researching it was not going to do anything. The only person who could end the visions was Gene himself, and apparently he wasn't quite up to the task yet.
"Of course Mai requires assistance," Naru spoke up.
Traitor, Mai thought viciously. Weren't she and Naru on the same page when it came to his parents and The Nightmare?
Then he continued. "However, this particular issue does not necessitate research."
Mai froze in the bed. Huh?
"What on earth do you mean, Noll?" Martin sounded equally thunderstruck.
"As I already know what is causing the visions, there is no need to research them. The problem has been explained very clearly, and is slowly disappearing over time." There was a pause. "I am also confident that this incident was a special circumstance... an explicable circumstance. There were no similar problems last night, therefore there is no reason for an emergency trip to SPR." Naru sounded calm and resolute, and spoke in the decisive tone Mai had heard a hundred times on cases. She could picture him now, sitting rigidly straight and staring down his colleagues.
"What do you mean, 'special circumstance?'" Martin's voice rose in both volume and annoyance. "And how can you be certain?"
"Because I understand Mai," Naru replied succinctly.
For some reason, this statement made Mai blush again.
It obviously threw Martin off, too. There was silence for a moment before the professor continued in a calmer voice. "Why are you being so vague?"
"Mai has requested my silence on the matter."
Another pause. "You do not normally respond to such... delicate requests," Martin said in a strange voice. When his son made no answer, the professor rallied again. "You should at least have notes on the subject, Noll."
"I do."
"Alright, then. I'll need to review them."
"I'm sorry, Father. Client confidentiality." Naru's voice was cool and clipped. Mai imagined him sitting at the kitchen table, reading something and looking insouciant. She grinned in spite of herself.
"Client confi – Noll, are you out of your senses? Taniyama is my student and employee, not your client!"
"I am the person in charge of her training and development at SPR," Naru reminded his adopted father, voice still casual.
"Yes, but I am in charge of you. And I insist that you inform me of any critical information pertaining to one of my employees!" Martin sounded almost angry now.
Mai knew it was time to go downstairs and back Naru up. She immediately eased out of bed and slipped to the back stairs.
"Not to mention... client confidentiality doesn't extend to your superiors at SPR, Noll." Madoka had apparently joined the party. "As you well know, it means that you aren't to disclose private details to anyone outside of the company. Besides, you've always documented all relevant information in the case reports. Why is this time different?"
Hold on, why is Madoka on Martin's side? Mai sat down on the top step. Hadn't she and Madoka just agreed that knowing would be worse for Gene's adopted parents?
"I'm not sure what you are asking, Madoka." Naru's voice stayed soft, but Mai detected a new edge to it. Apparently she wasn't the only one confused about Madoka's motivation.
"I'm just wondering why you feel overly responsible for keeping Mai's secrets," Madoka elucidated calmly.
Mai froze. What kind of question is that? Maybe she misheard... she had to get closer. Summoning all of her stealthiness, Mai pressed herself against a wall and eased down enough stairs to see into the kitchen.
Madoka was at the window, while Naru, Lin, Luella, and Martin were all sitting around the table. As Mai had suspected, Naru was holding the morning paper between himself and his interrogators – but he was no longer acting like he didn't care. Now he was staring knives into Madoka.
"I don't believe I feel overly responsible for Mai," Naru hissed icily.
"I didn't say 'responsible for Mai,'" Madoka shot back. "I said Mai's secrets. And I guess that answers my question, although I don't think you really get the point."
"I seldom understand the psychobabble you choose to irritate me with," Naru noted in a cold voice. Mai thought she could hear ice cubes tinkling. Time to go in!
"Noll," Luella started... before the whole room was completely distracted by Mai Taniyama rocketing down the stairs, blue nightie billowing out behind her.
"Don't worry, guys, I'm fine!" the teen psychic crowed, trying to appear as carefree as possible.
Dead silence. Everyone was staring at Mai like she'd escaped from a crazy ward.
Madoka recovered first. "Mai-chan... what are you wearing?" she asked, a note of hilarity entering her tone. She pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.
"Huh?" Mai looked down – and gasped. She had been so intent on interrupting the fight that she'd forgotten she was in a (mysterious) nightie. "Che!" Mai immediately ducked back into the stairwell and tried to become one with the wall.
Quick footsteps approached, and Mai poked her head out just in time for Lin to hand her his black suit jacket. The young woman took it with a burning face, embarrassedly sliding her arms into the sleeves. The jacket could have wrapped around Mai twice, but despite how tall Lin was, the hem didn't reach her knees. There was still plenty of shiny blue fabric left to see as she edged back down the stairs.
Upon seeing a red-faced Mai creep into the room with Lin's jacket clutched around her throat, Madoka lost her internal battle and burst out laughing.
Providentially, this reaction broke what was left of the serious mood – and the main combatants deflated noticeably.
"Oh, Mai-chan," Madoka gasped between cackles, "I know you keep a set of emergency clothes upstairs, but do you think you need a sexy nightgown on standby, too?"
"No!" Mai yelled, her face flaming. "It's not mine! And I actually have NO idea how I wound up wearing it!"
Luella coughed to disguise a laugh. "Ah, I helped you into it last night, Mai dear. It's one of mine. I thought a nice feminine garment might scare off some irritatingly determined investigators from harassing you while you recovered." Luella threw scathing glances at her husband and Lin for emphasis.
Both men avoided Mrs. Davis' gaze, and Mai was amused to discover that they were visibly embarrassed. The list of things that could perturb the nigh-imperturbable Lin was growing...
Then Mai's gaze traveled to the narcissist on the far side of the table. Naru merely crossed his arms and glared into space. Slightly disappointed by the lack of reaction, Mai slouched into the nearest chair and grabbed a fork to play with.
This spurred Luella into hostess mode. "Oh, Mai dear, you must be hungry. I'll just go and find James; he can whip up something for you. I don't think Madoka and Lin have eaten, either." Before Mai could say anything, Luella bustled off.
And Mai lost the only non-parapsychologist in the house.
"Taniyama," Martin said nonchalantly (though internally shaken by the trauma of a teen girl bounding into his kitchen while dressed in his wife's nightgown). "I hear that you've shared your unfortunate dream experiences with Noll?"
The professor is good, Mai thought. His tone was casual, and carried a subtly encouraging message – since she'd already shared with Naru, why not just tell everyone? But Mai had way too much experience evading the relentless Naru to be outfoxed by Martin. "Yes," she replied, coating her voice with a calm veneer. "It's really nothing to worry about. I already know what caused the problem, and it's okay now."
"But according to Takigawa, you've had never had the dream twice in one night before," Martin argued.
"Well, actually, I have." The first night she'd had The Nightmare, Mai had seen Gene's death over and over again, every time she fell back to sleep. She had still lived alone back then. Her neighbors hadn't been happy. "Bou-san just doesn't know that."
At this, Naru sent her a look. It was both concerned (he did care, after all) and demanding (he was definitely going to corner her later to discuss this development). Mai returned a look of reluctant acceptance.
Martin noticed this eye-conversation. "And you didn't know, either, Noll. So why doesn't Taniyama just tell us all the whole story?"
"No," Mai and Naru said simultaneously.
The professor raised an eyebrow at their defensive tones.
"Professor, it's fine," Mai insisted. "I really don't want to talk about it... and I'm glad that Naru respects that."
Martin's other eyebrow flew up. He opened his mouth to speak, but Madoka beat him to it.
"Well, that's understandable," she stated, studiously ignoring Martin's glare of betrayal. "Death visions are not an easy thing to deal with, much less talk about. And Noll's got enough experience to make this call. If he says they've got a handle on it, then they do."
Mai breathed a small sigh of relief. So Madoka was on their side.
But Naru narrowed his eyes at his mentor – if she trusted his judgment, then what had all that 'responsibility for Mai' nonsense been about?
As if expecting his censure, Madoka turned to face her former student – and surreptitiously winked at him. Naru threw a nastier-than-normal glare back in order to cover his confusion.
"Mai dear," a timely Luella said from the doorway. "Why don't you go upstairs and change into some day clothes? By the time you come back, we'll have some breakfast for you."
The harried girl recognized the out, and flashed Luella a grateful grin as she ran for it.
Victory by the skin of our teeth, Naru thought as Mai whirled for the door. She lost her death grip on the jacket as she escaped – and much to his dismay, a brief image of pale skin and shimmery beading caught his attention... again.
When Mai had burst into the room wearing a nightie and long black gloves, Naru had stupidly thought that she was wearing a fancy evening dress. Then Madoka had called it a nightgown, and he remembered his mother's silly plan.
Against his better judgment, Naru had taken a closer look – and noticed the low cut of the beaded neckline and the lacy cutout on one side, both of which clearly marked the outfit as a nightgown. And Mai's panicked gasp only made that more obvious, as her... chest sort of bounced upward with her sharp intake of breath. Abruptly, Naru remembered that Mai was two years older – and dimly noted the maturation was not restricted to internal development.
As these inordinately base thoughts were making their way through Naru's head, Mai dove backwards onto the stairs and Lin practically threw his jacket at her. Thankfully the argument started up again, and Naru threw himself back into the conversation with a vengeance.
But now that there was nothing to distract him, Naru was forced to acknowledge an annoying preoccupation with the image of Mai racing into the room, dark blue silk trailing after her. Were Naru a more typical man, the explanation for such a fixation would be obvious... but he wasn't a typical man.
Besides, Mai is in love with Gene, his practical brain reminded him. There would be no upside to feelings of that nature, and Oliver Davis did not waste his time on fruitless endeavors.
So it couldn't be that.
His momentary interest was likely due to a combination of the strange situation and the observable change in Mai's physique. Naru's irrefutable... appreciation for the color of the gown was similarly explicable – he noticed because it was the same attractive hue as his own eyes.
Madoka stared at her one-time pupil, wondering what stupid mental explanation Noll was cooking up for his totally obvious fascination with Mai's accidental fashion show. Maybe she should help the socially-dense genius out. "Hmm, that nightgown was the same blue as your eyes, Noll," Madoka noted blandly.
Naru froze for a moment before rearranging his face into a disdainful sneer. "Is there a point to your statement?" he asked coldly.
"Ugggh, you're hopeless," the master ghost hunter groaned, slumping into Mai's vacated chair.
-0O0-
Wednesday morning saw Lin's first training session with Mai in two weeks.
His trip to China had been... eventful. Madoka's uncharacteristic freak-out had made Lin rethink the decision not to tell his nationalistic family about his Japanese girlfriend.
So he'd told them. It hadn't been pretty – Lin was now on the outs with most of his family, including his father. And he had no idea how to tell Madoka that his family did not approve of their relationship.
The onmyouji shook his thoughts away. Masters didn't let their personal troubles get in the way of professional ones.
The source of these professional troubles was standing a few feet away, moving through her regular taolu. Lin figured it was high time to ferret out the truth of Mai's maybe-secret glowing from the Reed case. He considered strategic possibilities. Madoka would probably try to worm the facts out of Mai stealthily, but conversationally; Noll would attempt to anger Mai into telling him; Martin would somehow incorporate the question into his regular academic inquiries.
But none of those options fit Lin's style. So he called a break, and Mai sank gratefully to the mats. Once Lin was sure she'd caught her breath, he cleared his throat loudly. He wanted her to be looking at him.
"Mai, does using your PK-MT sometimes produce a golden glow?" he asked directly, staring straight into her eyes.
His student blanched, mouth dropping open. So she was trying to keep it a secret.
"Ah... what?"
Lin narrowed his eyes. "These are not your first lessons with an onmyouji," he noted severely. "I'm sure you're aware that lying to your sensei is not tolerated."
"I didn't lie about it!" Mai denied plaintively.
"Hmm." This was true, technically. They'd never asked her about accompanying visual phenomena. "But you deliberately didn't mention it," he rejoined. "Would you care to explain, then?"
Her eyes clearly said 'no.' However, Mai knew better than to say so. "Yes, my PK-MT produces a glow," she admitted. "Not all the time, though – just when I use a lot of it quickly."
Lin nodded slowly. "Similar to Noll's, then," he surmised quietly, talking more to himself than to Mai.
But she heard him, anyway – and twitched visibly. Lin's eyes snapped to Mai's evasive ones. "Does that assessment bother you?" he asked carefully.
Mai's lips thinned as she thought up an acceptable response. "Thinking about Naru's powers... scares me." In a multitude of ways.
Lin's manner softened slightly. The only time that Mai had ever seen the glow of Noll's full powers, she'd also had to watch Noll fight for his life on the beach. "Have you ever experienced such destructive consequences following the use of PK?" he asked curiously.
His student shook her head. "No, I don't have anywhere near that amount of power." Mai looked down again, marshaling the courage to ask a question that had been on her mind for ages. "But speaking of destruction... I worry about Naru." Her hands twisted in her lap. "I mean, what if... he uses too much power again?" And what if I'm not there when it happens? Or worse, what if it doesn't work?
The onmyouji heaved a sigh. It wasn't like he didn't worry about such a thing himself. Noll was still headstrong as ever, unfortunately. And to complicate matters - Mai was back on their ghost hunting team. If she were to get into serious trouble on a case, Naru would likely show much less restraint than he should. After all, both of Noll's PK overuses in Japan had been prompted by Mai. "We're all concerned about that, Taniyama-san."
The teen psychic bit her lip, eyes far away and nervous.
Lin felt the annoying compulsion to placate her. "But he hasn't done anything like that since Japan."
Mai's gaze swung back to Lin. "Are you implying that being in Japan made Naru less careful somehow?"
She'd put enough emphasis on the word Japan for Lin to recognize that she was asking whether his resentment for Japan was showing. He raised an eyebrow at her boldness... but he also knew that Mai's insinuation was based on personal knowledge he'd given her. "Are you implying that I consider the nation of Japan to be at fault for Noll's poor judgment?" he asked dryly.
She colored and looked away. "I don't know, maybe."
"I wasn't," Lin assured her. "Noll was noticeably more reckless as the head of Japan's SPR, but I considered that a byproduct of being away from his parents. Or a break in self-control stemming from mourning for his recently deceased twin." Or he found such reckless behavior increasingly necessary to save a certain person, Lin continued in his head. But he was not about to lay that responsibility on Mai. Noll's decisions regarding her were just that – Noll's decisions.
"Naru also probably felt more responsible for everyone's welfare, since he was in charge at Japan's SPR," Mai said judiciously. "So if something went wrong, he'd be more inclined to use his own abilities to fix the problem." Her lips twisted. "No matter how dangerous it was."
Lin raised an incredulous eyebrow, reminding himself to give Mai more credit. "Yes... I'm sure that had something to do with it."
"Do you think that's why Professor Davis makes Naru work under Madoka-san, instead of giving him his own team?" Mai asked suddenly, spearing Lin with a clear, demanding gaze.
Lin's other eyebrow joined the first. "I have always thought so." Mai was certainly more on-target than Lin was used to. Perhaps he should offer her an informational boon to encourage such behavior. "I also believe that Luella's desire to keep her only remaining son from a more dangerous position impacts Noll's career stagnancy."
His student nodded slowly, digesting this information. Lin is being strangely open today...
"Taniyama-san, I would like you to call enough PK-MT to produce a glow," her instructor said abruptly.
Mai froze for a moment. No, don't look guilty! "O-okay, Lin-san," she agreed, quickly rising to her feet. Maybe he won't notice. To keep her nervousness at bay, Mai closed her eyes and pretended Lin wasn't there. Slowly, she rocked back onto her heels, raised her arms, and summoned the PK.
Lin watched carefully as Mai got into proper position. His shiki buzzed around him, informing him that the energy of the room was shifting. Excellent. The onmyouji quietly slid over to the dimmer controls by the door. Slowly so as not to alarm Mai, he slid the switch down. When the overhead lights had faded to about half-power, Lin moved back to his student. Instead of observing her from the other side of the mats (as per usual), Lin stood right next to Mai, staring unblinkingly at the black fabric which hid her forearms from the world.
He heard Mai take a deep breath. She flexed her fingers... and a powerful glow erupted just below her elbows. The golden-colored light burst right through the dark silk of the gloves. It spiraled down her arms before bathing her covered hands in a golden haze.
Lin suddenly felt prickly all over – all of the hair on his body was standing on end. He backed away a couple of steps, narrowing his eyes on the glow under the gloves. The glow's intensity stabilized, indicating that Mai's PK-MT had hit its maximum. "Alright, release the energy," Lin instructed calmly. He should have brought some testing equipment in for this session. He wanted to examine the difference between the amount of power she used for testing and the sudden, but large quantity she was harnessing at the moment. But that would have to wait until next ti –
"Ai-ya!" Mai yelled, pulling her arms back and then throwing them forward. A small wave of golden electricity flew across the room and broke heavily against the far wall. Teacher and student were so focused on the energy wave, neither noticed that three overhead lights shattered until broken glass started raining down from the ceiling.
The onmyouji reacted first, yanking Mai out of harm's way. He dragged her across the room and opened the door – only to be greeted by the blare of the lab's alarm. Groaning, Lin brushed his electrified hair back from his face and waited for the inevitable. Mai looked okay, though obviously freaked out by all the noise.
All of a sudden, there were a whole bunch of people in the room. Everyone was talking at once, and between the gaggle of voices and the emergency alarm, no one's questions could actually be heard. Finally, someone thought to shut off the alarm.
An overwhelmed Mai removed her fingers from her ears just in time to hear Martin calling out over the crowd. "Out of the way, please!"
The throng of curious employees parted obediently, and Professor Davis rushed forward, followed closely by a tight-faced Naru and a wide-eyed Madoka. Mai noticed that Yasu didn't come over, but instead stuck to the wall like a barnacle. Chicken, she mouthed at him. He grinned as Martin skidded to a stop inches away.
"Is everything all right in here?" he asked rather breathlessly.
Triggering the emergency alert usually shut down the elevators, so Lin guessed that Martin had just run up two flights of stairs. "Yes, we're fine. We just had a little misunderstanding."
"Huh?" Mai was confused. "What misunderstanding? You told me to release the energy."
"I expected you to break your stance and allow the energy to dissipate slowly," Lin clarified.
"Ohhh," Mai said stupidly. Then she blushed. "I'm sorry." Then she took stock of the burned wall and the broken glass all over the floor, and whipped to face the professor. "I mean, I'm really, really sorry!"
But Martin was grinning widely, staring at the damage with fervent admiration. "Whatever for? That was obviously a fantastic showing, Taniyama!"
"But the wall... and the lights..."
"Are replaceable," Martin replied dismissively. "It certainly wouldn't be the first time. You are aware that this is a psychic research facility, yes?" Where Ayako would have been ready to kill Mai, the professor looked like he wanted to hug her.
"Of... of course, Professor." Mai couldn't help bowing. Whether Martin took it as acquiescence or apology was up to him.
"Are you all right, Mai-chan?" Madoka asked solicitously, noticing the burgeoning tremors in the young psychic's hands.
Mai cringed as every eye in the room flew to her. "Um, yeah!" she lied brightly. She was actually getting very dizzy, and the room was shaking a little around her. She hadn't caused the room to shake, had she? That definitely took more power than she had...
"You need to sit down." Naru's voice cut through the haze. Mai's annoyingly blurry eyes focused on an approaching blob of block. She felt a warm arm wind itself around her waist – and energy began to zing through her all over again. Not sure whether it was romantic or psychic, Mai fought it back before the issue became a visible one. No need to help Lin out with his completely unexpected and way too dangerous line of investigation.
Then her feet unhelpfully gave out beneath her, and Mai grabbed onto Naru for dear life. She heard him groan as her face smashed into his chest, but Naru's arm tightened around her waist and he managed to pull her upright.
Naru was not surprised that Mai was on the verge of passing out – that was certainly more PK power than he'd ever seen her release at one time.
He was surprised at the way his skin tingled at the warmth of Mai's body against him. Naru very much wanted to explain it away as a reaction to leftover PK power... but that would not explain the tingling's current epicenter. Naru's body buzzed hottest at the neck, where Mai's nose dug into him and her breath heated his skin. If PK-MT were causing the reaction, Naru's back and arm (upon which Mai's PK-infused arms rested) would be the focal points. "You're heavy," he muttered combatively, trying to dispel the completely stupid things his brain was telling him.
Mai wasn't physically able to indignantly remove herself from his person, but she managed to slur out, "And you're a jerk, Naru."
The brief banter successfully reset Naru's internal workings to a more comfortable configuration, and he set about dragging Mai over to the lab's 'fainting couch.' (This nickname had been decided upon by Madoka and Gene, following Naru's several collapses onto it.) Naru tried to glare Lin into helping him with Mai, but his former assistant seemed entirely engrossed in studying the burn marks on the wall. And Naru knew better than to ask Madoka – she was no doubt enjoying his suffering. Most of the other employees were too afraid to come near him. Naru found their fright useful most days. Not so today.
Several agonizingly long moments later, Naru heaved Mai onto the long couch and backed away with alacrity. He was examining her for signs of further trauma when Madoka appeared at his side.
"Like I said before, you need to start working out, Noll," she giggled in his ear. "Get that stamina up."
"You're ridiculous," Naru spat.
"Not nearly as ridiculous as you are," she shot back. Then she shifted her attention to the semiconscious girl on the couch. "Mai-chan? How are you doing?"
"Okay," Mai murmured. "I could use... some electrolytes or something... though."
"Alright," Madoka assented warmly. "Greg!" she barked. "Go get Mai some Powerade!"
"Who's Greg?" Mai wheezed.
"My new gopher!" she replied brightly.
Professor Davis cleared his throat.
"I mean, my new intern," Madoka amended with a wink.
Mai giggled, and tried to sit up. But the room spun sharply, and she fell back onto the cushions.
"Maybe you should take a little nap?" Yasuhara suggested.
So he'd finally come to help? Mai glared blearily at her best friend. "I can't – the PK is trying to level out. Too twitchy to sleep."
"Level out?" Naru asked sharply. Had he released a great deal of PK energy, he'd be unconscious by now. But... when Gene released an overabundance of energy...
"Yeah," Mai muttered, a sudden tremor running through her arms as if to illustrate her point. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply. "My body is used to a steady flow of energy – not a lot, but some." Mai was vaguely aware that she'd reverted to Japanese. "And I just expended much more psychic strength than usual, so my powers are trying to pull more from somewhere. To replace it." That's how it had been explained it to her, anyway.
"That's... interesting," Naru said quietly, an icy chill sliding over his skin. That implied that Mai's PK was more receptive than offensive. Like she could be capable of receiving an outsider's PK energy.
Like Gene had been able to receive Naru's energy.
Madoka was very silent beside him, and Naru knew she was thinking along the same lines. "Don't even consider it," he muttered blackly.
"But Noll..."
"Even if it were possible – which I don't think it is – it would be far too dangerous." Naru gave his mentor his coldest glare. "I would not allow it."
"She's hurting now," Madoka whispered cajolingly. "She needs power. Why don't you toss her a little and see –"
"Not a chance," Naru hissed angrily. "And don't even think about telling Father." Madoka met his gaze. "Don't," he said authoritatively, trying to stare her into submission.
"Naru?" Mai moaned. "Are you... alright? Your aura feels kinda wild."
"I'm not the one lying half-dead on a couch," he replied archly.
"I'm not half-dead, Narcissist," she scoffed, finally managing to sit up. "And you're not answering me."
"I don't have to answer you."
"Ugh, can't you just accept other people caring about you?" Mai griped weakly.
"Can't you refrain from asking stupid questions?"
"Can't we all back off and give Taniyama some breathing room?" Martin asked evenly from behind them. He came forward and pressed a Powerade into Mai's shaky hand, before firmly grasping the shoulders of his favorite student and his son. "We are returning to work," he informed them. "Lin and Yasuhara, stay with her."
He ushered everyone else out of the room, making sure to push Madoka and Noll all the way to the elevator.
-0O0-
Yasuhara left almost immediately after the crowd. Knowing that Mai could use some food, he decided to ride down to Glen's Diner and order some lunch.
Mai would have been grateful, had this action not left her alone with Lin. Her instructor was not a comfortable person to be around most of the time – but now that he'd unexpectedly gotten closer to figuring out the Big Mystery, Mai could barely contain her nerves.
"Taniyama-san, may I ask you something?" Lin requested rather formally.
The girl gave him a weird look. "Why so proper all of a sudden?"
"My question is personal," he replied uncomfortably.
Mai's still-recovering mind tried to guess what he wanted to know... and failed. She did need food. "Um, okay. What is it?" She could only hope Lin didn't ask about something she had to keep quiet.
"What... was Tominaga-sama like in person?" Lin felt annoyingly like a teenager asking about a celebrity crush.
This feeling was not lessened by Mai's giggling like a schoolgirl. "Wow, I wasn't expecting that." Lin glared, and Mai hurried to continue. "He was very... peaceful. Peaceful and incredibly connected, if you know what I mean. And you probably do."
He did. "Noll tells me he wrote personalized sutras for the both of you." Lin tried not to sound envious.
It didn't work; Mai's giggling rose in pitch. "Yeah, well, Ayako pretty much came out and asked him to do it. She was worried about me and my control problems." Mai sighed. "I'd destroyed lots of stuff that week."
"Noll said that the problem was your visions, not the PK," Lin informed her, his gaze sharpening.
Ugh, I'm an idiot! "The visions were the main problem," Mai explained. "But I broke Ayako's favorite wine glasses the morning she decided to take me to Tominaga-sama, so I've always considered that incident the breaking point." She smiled in what she hoped was a disarming manner.
"Hmm," Lin replied unhelpfully.
Mai had no idea whether her answer had led him back off track. Time for evasive maneuvers. "Tominaga-sama kind of reminds me of you, Lin-san," she told him.
"Really?" Lin drawled disbelievingly. "I've heard he's quite chatty once you successfully locate him."
His student laughed again. "Only if there's practically no one else around," she replied. "But I meant that his aura was quite similar to yours – it was very settled, if that makes sense."
Lin nodded, trying not to feel pleased at the comparison. "The sutra for Noll, though – how did Tominaga-sama even think to make it?"
Mai's pallid face went bright red. "I, um, sort of asked him to." She squirmed... and her eyes locked on something behind Lin. "Oh, hey Yasu! You're back!"
Yasuhara definitely heard a 'thank goodness' embedded in that exclamation. "And I bring food," he noted, throwing Mai a curious look. She ignored it.
Our tête-à-tête is obviously over, Lin thought as Mai opened up a tin of pasta. He saw that her hands were trembling. "Do you need anything else, Taniyama-san?" he asked quietly. She didn't look nearly as bad as Noll would have after such a demonstration, but she was still sweating and shaking. Remorse reared its ugly head, and Lin's lips pressed together tightly. He should have been more cautious about asking Mai to use so much energy; it wasn't like he didn't know what could have happened.
"Lin-san?" a voice broke through his heavy thoughts. Mai seemed more a bit more awake... and very concerned. "Are you okay?"
It was times like this that Lin's perpetual disdain for the Japanese seemed rather forced. "Yes, Taniyama-san," he replied gruffly. "I'm alright."
She gave him a doubtful look before rolling her eyes. "You know, Lin-san, you should really start calling me Mai. I really think we've known each other long enough. And you have to be over our little leg-injury-causing accident by now."
Lin smirked. "I suppose I'm over that, yes." Then the smile dropped. "However, during this last case, you forced me to make a rather affectionate exhibition."
Mai flinched. "But I had to – it was f-for the exorcism!"
"And no one else could have taken that role?" he asked dryly.
His student regarded him incredulously. "Do you seriously think that Naru would have done it?"
She has a point there, Lin was forced to admit. But... "To my knowledge, Yasuhara-san has no problem whatsoever with public affection."
"Are you propositioning me, Lin-san?" The flirt in question asked, a forkful of noodles frozen halfway to his mouth.
"Hardly," Lin drawled. "But surely you would have been a more sensible choice."
To his surprise, Mai grinned impishly. "Okay, you win, Lin-san – I'll make sure to have Yasu hugging on Madoka-san during all future exorcisms."
The onmyouji threw her a glare so cold that Mai almost felt her soul freezing.
"As you appear to be fully recovered, I will leave you now, Taniyama-san," Lin intoned, voice menacing. Unsaid threat delivered, he stalked away.
Yasuhara watched Lin depart with a rather frightened look on his face. "Are you trying to get me murdered, Mai-chan? I don't want shiki attacking me in my sleep!"
"Guess I botched that friendship attempt, huh?" Mai flopped back onto the pillows.
"Don't worry, Lin-san's your friend," Yasuhara assured her. "You just have to remember that he doesn't really have a sense of humor."
Mai snorted. "No wonder he and Naru get along so well."
"Speaking of getting along with Naru," Yasuhara started, grinning mischievously. "You haven't told me about your little talk with him the other night. It must have gone well, if you felt confident enough to wear a silky nightie to greet him the next morning."
"Remind me to kill Madoka-san later."
-0O0-
AN: So, have you guys ever done something like that? Embarrassed yourself with accidentally revealing clothing? I certainly have - just last week, I wore this square-necked shirt to work - and then I bent over in front of a mirror and realized that the front gaped open and you could see my bra and all the way down to my stomach. I had been flashing everyone all day:/