Mai was twenty two years old when two years earlier the entire SPR team had been invited by Oliver's adoptive family. There were actually two reasons for this. The first was that BSPR had wanted to get to know its Japanese team, naturally. In reality, this reason had covered a second, a more personal one: to find out who had attracted their son so much to Japan...

After Eugene's body had been found, Oliver had returned to England with his family, but it had not taken him more than a couple of months before flying back to Japan. His parents had guessed there were several logical reasons for such an eagerness, including regaining his independence and fleeing the memories and absence of his brother. Because, he indeed went to Japan to retrieve his dead brother, but all the memories he had with him were actually in England so he more likely felt off being alone there. Anyway, after some discussions with Lin and Madoka, they had begun to raise some suspicions about their son's apparent special interest in his young assistant... Therefore, they had wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery and see with their own eyes what exactly it was all about.

As a result, the SPR had spent a few weeks there. Certainly, Oliver's bickering and special treatment towards Mai had not escaped his adoptive parents. What a curious experience it had been! Afterwards, they had renewed their invitation with great pleasure on a few occasions. Mai always found it fascinating to observe Oliver in an environment he was familiar with outside Japan. Besides, Mai had been able to take advantage of the opportunity to learn more about her abilities.

This year was a little different. The invitation had been openly addressed as a non-professional matter, and for once Mai was alone on the plane with Oliver. Every member of the Japanese branch celebrated the end-of-year with their loved ones. Besides, it was the first time Mai and Oliver went there with known feelings for each other. Of course Oliver was not demonstrative, that was his nature. And even if Mai knew Oliver was not against it if it was her, out of respect she rarely dared to go beyond his private space especially in public, except on some rare occasions. So in the end, perhaps the family would not see the difference, but Mai could not help but feel a little nervous about the prospect anyhow.

On the plane Mai could not really sleep, they had left in the late morning, so she was not really tired and her nervousness was not helping either. Oliver had lent her a book in hope it would relax her or lull her to sleep, without any real success whatsoever. It was only over the last few hours of the flight that Mai's nerves had allowed her to doze off occasionally, resting her head on Oliver's shoulder.

They landed in the evening; the family greeted them at the airport before leading them to the Davis' home where they shared dinner. Around the table, they began to eat.

"How was your trip?" asked Martin.

"Drooly," answered Oliver in a casual tone.

The attention was drawn to him and he clarified with his eternal taunting expression:

"It seems Mai wasn't able to sleep with her mouth closed during the trip."

If Madoka had been there at that moment, it was guaranteed she would have made an innuendo.

"Liar," countered Mai immediately, "I didn't drool, by the way, you were complaining precisely because I couldn't sleep."

"There's not much you know how to do," he taunted with a smirk on his face.

For once, Mai pursed her lips, refrained from raising her voice in order to call him an idiot. Oliver only raised a brow, being quite fond of this flustered expression of hers. She squinted her eyes a little. Luella was about to say something to scold her son but Mai beat her to it.

"Oh, so you're willing to admit your own flaws at last?" she replied with a growing predatory smile, Oliver seemed intrigued, she carried on, "You're the one who hired me last time I checked. Undoubtedly, someone as intelligent as you would not have made as big a mistake as hiring me if I was as useless as you pretend. And don't you dare give me the fake excuse of the repayment for the camera, it was insured, you said it yourself long ago."

Finding nothing to answer, Oliver turned his attention back to his plate, fighting a smirk. She definitely grew smarter and smarter every day. That was probably the effect for being around a genius like him. Hearing nothing back, Mai displayed a triumphant expression.

Martin and Luella had followed this little verbal showdown with great attention and the outcome was all the more astonishing. Mai had defeated Oliver. They had already witnessed this kind of exchange between them on several occasions, but it was always both fascinating and endearing all at the same. They were delighted to see their son so open with someone. It was so rare to say the least. However, they did not make any comments for fear of repressing their natural interactions. Moreover, no one dared to broach the topic of their still recent relationship either, preferring to give them the freedom to do so. Such subjects were already not Oliver's forte so it would be a pity to upset him in such a good path...

The meal went on quietly with a few other conversation topics, including work for a good part of the evening, but deciding it was not a suitable topic for holidays, Luella diverted it to Madoka's arrival next morning and Lin's one in the evening. After some time, Mai could not hold back a yawn and apologised.

"Don't apologise, dear, the journey must have tired you out. The room is ready if you want to go to sleep," informed Luella without further details.

After finishing the meal, they wished them a good night sleep. Then, Oliver followed Mai, and the two jetlagged went upstairs together. Upon the time Mai stopped at the door of the guest room, Oliver gently took Mai's arm and led a puzzled Mai to another door.

"N-Naru? W-wait, isn't the guest room prepared?" asked Mai confused.

Oliver only lifted an eyebrow, "Do you want to sleep alone?"

"N-no! I-I just thought we wouldn't… I-isn't it… Do they know we'll..."

Seeing her struggling with words and turning red, Oliver smirked. Of course Mai would be shy about sleeping together at his parent's home.

"Sleep together? Yes. Now you have nothing to worry about," he simply replied.

Then, Oliver opened the door for them to get in.

.

It was quite disturbing to see Oliver's room thinking they were going to sleep together there.

It was not the first time she saw his room; she had already had to bother him on Luella's behalf when he had been working in the quietness his bedroom afforded him.

Nor was it the first time they had slept together, and obviously they had not yet dared to do anything beyond that. For now, they were just getting used to each other's company while sleeping and appreciated it.

It did not take them long to fall asleep, but Mai woke up a few hours later because she was cold. She quickly noticed that the duvet had slipped to one side. She turned around and discovered Oliver had his back to her with the duvet trapped on his side.

He was at it again. He was probably doing it unconsciously – that was at least what he told her every time.

Mai certainly could not wake him up for this, but she could not sleep without a blanket either. So she grabbed the remaining free piece and slipped underneath it, moving slowly towards him so as not to wake him. Unfortunately, that wasn't sufficient. Mai was still too close to the edge of the duvet to be really warm, so she held her breath and moved closer, still shyly until she was pressed up against him. If Oliver was awake, he didn't let it be known. Now more at ease, Mai let out the breath she had held. Her forehead against Oliver's back, she took a breath and closed her eyes. His smell and warmth was always so soothing. She finally drifted off back to sleep following Oliver's steady breathing. Her mind was already between dream and reality when she thought she felt a leg sticking against one of her own.

.

Next morning Oliver opened one eye and discovered Mai in his arms, still peacefully asleep. He did not recall falling asleep like that, but he was not embarrassed by it. This turn of events was particularly soothing for him.

He never thought he would ever be able to be so close to someone in his life. His brother Eugene had been the only one capable of being close to others. At the time, Oliver wasn't even interested in relationships, and he still wasn't interested in them now. It seemed that Mai was, somewhat in spite of himself, the only exception to this. Curiously enough, he was amused to think this was the only enigma he couldn't solve. He also felt that, whether he solved it or not, it wouldn't make any difference as to how Mai made him feel.

As he watched her slumbering face, Oliver remembered last summer after a quite eventful case. Mai had once again ended up losing her temper over him, and this time it was because she had been afraid for him.

Since she was aware of the risks he exposed himself using his PK, Mai had never again reproached him for letting others do the work on his behalf. Only in certain critical situations, Oliver could not just sit back and wait for someone to come and help him. So this time he had had to act alone. Fortunately, the aftermath had not been as dramatic as he had to go to the hospital.

But once the two of them had been alone, Mai had not been able to restrain from calling him an unconscious idiot. One thing leading to another, the scolding monologue somewhat had turned into a psychoanalysis and then had turned again into another accidental confession. With each word out of Mai's mouth, Oliver only had remained silent with all kinds of emotions flowing through him.

He could still hear her last words back then.

"I knew you were idiot enough to still believe I love your brother instead of you, but I was hoping at least you were not stupid to the extent of risking your life with everything you know will happen if you do!"

Her angry and flushed face was so close to his he had not resisted…

He contracted a hand for a bit and he felt what appeared to be Mai's back under his fingers. Her sleepwear top had slipped up a little in the night. He experimentally caressed the soft skin with his thumb a few times. It was unusual to have a skin to skin contact but not unpleasant. Her head snuggled more while she was still not awake. Then he decided to get up to avoid waking her up.

Carefully, he dislodged his blocked arm from under Mai and put the duvet back on her correctly. She definitely was a heavy sleeper. While he was getting ready in silence, he thought he remembered a moment when Mai had lodged against him during the night, but without any certainty. Surely he would hear about it during the day if that was the case. With a smirk, he closed the door to get down the stairs and begin the day.

.

Mai woke up alone in bed. Oliver had already gone downstairs and had not woken her up, probably to let her rest. She was in better shape than the day before, but she was still quite tired due to the jetlag. She stretched and got ready quickly and as she went down the stairs she found Martin and Oliver absorbed by the book they were holding. As only Martin had a cup in front of him, Mai didn't wait for them to notice her presence and went straight away to make tea. Back in the dining room Mai greeted them and handed Oliver a cup before sitting down next to him.

At the same time, Luella entered the room and greeted them.

"Did you sleep well?" Oliver's mother asked them.

Mai was going to take revenge from Oliver's teasing last night.

"Quite well, until the duvet disappeared..." Mai replied, hardly containing a smile.

"It has disappeared?" Luella asked confusedly.

Oliver had not taken his eyes off his book, but he stopped reading. So it had happened.

"...Not really," Mai added, "but it has been kidnapped," her smile was clearly apparent now as she glanced at Oliver.

Luella understood the meaning and sneered, "Oh, Oliver, do you have no heart?"

The latter ignored his mother and replied, "So that was why you were suddenly so close."

Martin looked up from his reading. Oliver was more talkative around Mai, that surely was a thing.

"O-of course I would," Mai justified, "I was obliged to as you wouldn't have let go of the duvet!"

"I was under the impression you were not so angry about this in the end," he said mischievously, eyes still fixed on his book.

Mai was shocked and felt her cheeks getting hot as she averted her gaze away. This time she lost the battle. Oliver hid a smirk after eventually taking a look at her and then resumed his reading.

Both Martin and Luella looked at them during their discussion. It really was funny to see them like this, both parents took a glance at each other and could not help but grin.

Timidly after this embarrassing exchange, Mai offered Luella a cup of tea.

"I've already had some a little while ago, thank you, dear," she declined softly. Shortly afterwards she went out to prepare lunch. Luella would have liked to stay and witness more of the young couple's loving interactions, but she knew other opportunities would occur.

Soon after, Madoka arrived.

"Good morning Martin! Hello you two lovebirds! So, did you sleep well?" she sang. She called them as such for teasing purposes, knowing fully well that ridiculous bird names and nicknames annoyed Oliver.

As expected, Oliver rolled his eyes and ignored her. Mai blushed slightly at the reminder of the previous discussion, and then honestly replied:

"I slept better than the night before, at least."

Mai rarely managed to get enough sleep before trips like this one, usually too excited and nervous at the prospect of such a trip.

Putted as it was, Madoka could not help but jump at the opportunity.

"Oh, so you didn't get any sleep last night?" Madoka smiled mischievously as he glanced at Oliver, still not paying her any attention, reading his book.

Martin watched Madoka with an amused look while shaking his head slowly from right to left.

"Hm, I'm too jittery before traveling," explained Mai as she drank her tea, completely clueless at the double meaning of Madoka's thoughts.

"Mh-hm, I can guess..."

Madoka was disappointed. Her goal had failed, neither of them was cooperative and she could not find a way to continue the conversation without being too crude, so she gave up for now...

The morning flew by and at the end of lunch, Luella suggested a family walk to take some fresh air and enjoy the snow. Oliver finally accepted, although not without some reluctance.

.

The weather was ideal. The sky was cloudy as one would expect on a snowy day. The landscape was covered in white and combined with the cold, Mai's skin was reddening and her eyes could hardly keep from watering. The discussions proceeded smoothly and Oliver simply listened to them most of the time. He always felt a little something he could not really define when he watched Mai interacting with his adoptive family.

"Do you know what the Japanese team will be doing on Christmas this year?" asked Luella to the Japanese affiliates.

She was walking hand in hand with Martin.

"I heard Masako is celebrating with her family, as well as Osamu. John will be at the church with father Tojo with the kids. And Ayako is with Houshou for Christmas, they said they would go see each other's family too." answered Mai.

"Oh? Are they together?" wondered Luella.

"Those sneaky little ones! They like to talk about others, but when it comes to them, no one's willing to share!" exclaimed Madoka.

"Actually, it's hard to tell the difference. They were acting like an old married couple since they met each other, nothing really changed in their behaviour," said Mai giggling.

"You're right," mused Madoka, "and actually it also makes me think of someone else..." she grinned mischievously, throwing a meaningful look toward Mai and Oliver.

They were walking side by side, their arms brushing sometimes, but other than this new physical closeness no one could tell the difference.

Oliver only shrugged, uninterested by the current topic at hand. After being caught in Madoka's gaze, Mai ducked her head and tried to non-quite-subtly change the conversation. Alas, Madoka seemed very willing to stay on the same topic and was unfortunately risky to let her do so. Knowing her she was probably going to slip in order to get some crispy details…

Surprisingly an unexpected voice rose to save them from embarrassment.

"Are you not more interested in taking care of your love story Madoka?" asked Martin very politely with a knowing smile. She was indeed watching someone from far away for a long time now but never dared anything yet.

Madoka looked his way with a shocked expression. They were on holidays, not at work after all, Martin would have never permitted himself to say such things otherwise. She blushed furiously and tried saying something coherent but emotions made her stutter.

"I-I…Can't! It's... What love story anyway? I don't... You know very well how he is. I'm pretty sure I'm not even an option. I'm Japanese, i-it just can't happen," last words were murmured.

The poor Madoka was interested in none other than Lin. They interacted quite much for working matters but she never said anything about her feelings for obvious reasons. While Madoka conceded he was better now than before in regards to his interactions with Mai and even herself, she also knew this was completely different from actually dating someone. If Lin's thoughts on the topic shifted a bit, she doubted it was at this point.

Before anyone could say anything, Mai suddenly felt something hit her back. Looking back she only saw Oliver trying to seem bothered and innocent, hands in his pocket but Mai knew better. As he was not looking at her she bent to take some snow, formed a ball and threw it right at him. She wore a delighted grin when she heard and saw the snowball hit his coat.

Mai was thankful. This would hopefully distract Madoka from both her strong curiousness and her obvious despair.

From nowhere, another white ball came crashing on Mai. Taken aback, Mai looked at him wide eyed. Luckily, they were in a deserted place.

"Cheater!" accused Mai, "you're not being fair!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," replied Oliver glibly.

"You liar, you'll see!" Mai squinted her eyes and quickly began to form snowballs. When she was ready, they started to shoot. The others looked at them laughing, sometimes dodging a snowball here and there. Oliver was not even trying to hide behind a tree or anything he just stood straight and stepped aside when it was needed. Not even bothering if he was making a fool of Mai. During battle, some snow even managed to slip into her collar despite her scarf.

When no ball was left, Mai clearly was defeated. Her coat had traces of melted snow on it while Oliver's was almost as clean as before. Mai was sweating from the effort and cold at the same time. Seeing her beginning to shiver, they decided to get back home.

Oliver patted her head with a proud look.

"You had no chance against me and you'll catch a cold, dummy."

"You jerk, whose fault is it?" Mai pouted and took his arm as repayment. They headed home, all private couple matters forgotten at least for now…

.

Back in the warmth of the house, Martin and Madoka went away for a work-related matter, promising Luella that it wouldn't take long as she preferred rest days to be respected.

Meanwhile, as they were not in a boss-assistant dynamic here, Oliver could not quite order Mai tea, but after all those years she was now used to Oliver's habits, so she went to prepare them some.

Some time later, Oliver and Mai moved to the lounge on the couch side by side, with a hot tea and a cover on their back. Eventually, Luella exited the room, decided to retrieve Madoka and her workaholic husband to persuade them to enjoy family time.

Oliver just beside Mai on the couch was taking a look at her alternatively while reading the book he was holding. The more he looked at her, the more her lips on the cup were distracting but he said nothing and resumed his reading.

Mai put her cup down, she sank a little further into the couch and, since they were alone, she innocently found Oliver's free hand to tie their fingers together, letting her head down on his shoulder. Mai felt Oliver's head rest against hers, still reading. A smile drew her lips.

Unbeknownst to them, Madoka and Oliver's adoptive parents were back and looking at them from the door frame, smitten at the scene. They decided to make their arrival heard in a subtle way so as not to surprise the couple. Once they were all back in the lounge, the lovers' posture had changed slightly. They had both lifted their heads, but strangely enough, their hands were still tied for anyone to see. Both adoptive parents were smiling sweetly. Discussions resumed and not a remark was made about them, although it was tempting – especially for Madoka – to tease Oliver, she sometimes preferred to remain silent and keep witnessing this kind of interaction. Moreover, it was not uncommon for Oliver to return the favour, and she was not in the mood to argue at the time.

.

Lin arrived for Christmas Eve's dinner as planned. The meal turned out wonderfully, they exchanged shared memories and the discussions were lively between Oliver's teasing, May's retorts and Madoka's remarks.

Madoka's few glances only went unnoticed by Lin as well as his glances at her went unnoticed by Madoka. Around the table, the Davis family understood each other in a single glance. They were going to have to be patient with these two...

The evening ended in the living room. At a late hour, Mai and Oliver were found asleep on the couch in each other's arms, the book he was reading closed on the side.

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A/N: I planned on writing other little fics related to it (such as Mai's confession) so keep in touch! ;) I hope you liked it. English is not my first language so I apologise for potential mistakes. Merry Christmas everyone! See you soon and take care of you~