Chapter 4 – Connected
Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt, if I did the series would never have ended and Mai and Naru would have little paranormal grandbabies for Martin and Luella running around by now.
Author's Note: I know this one is shorter, but it seemed like a good place to stop at the moment, and it has been a busy weekend and I wanted to get something out sooner rather than later. I'll work on the next section right after I post this, and the case itself will start with the entrance of Kuroda and the other cast of irregulars. Edited: 9/25
On a side note, my laptop made it all the way through an undergraduate and master's degree but died when I started writing fanfiction, lol! My new one should be here by the end of the week, so I'll be able to work at home again, not just at work like right now, so chapters should make it out more quickly.
Considering the late evening and excitement they all had the day before it was surprising when all three members of SPR awakened early the next morning. Each of the members woke feeling quite refreshed and ready to conquer their respective tasks for the day; their minds were clear, and neither Mai nor Naru had suffered any mental glitches as a result of the influx of information in their minds from the previous day's adventures. Viewing these facts as a good sign for the day ahead, Lin drove both Mai and Naru to her school and then departed to the region Naru indicated he would find Gene's lake in.
Instead of going straight into the old schoolhouse Mai and Naru went to visit the principal of her school, they wanted to discuss the ideas Naru had for Mai's education and try to set them in motion right away. The principal was surprised to find out that, the paranormal investigator he had hired wanted to in turn hire one of his students, and have her excused from any necessary classes she had to miss while working as long as she completed her coursework. Shibuya-san also shocked the principal when he requested the school have Taniyama-san's exit exams scheduled as soon as the case was completed even though she was only a first year.
To say the principal was skeptical about the entire conversation that morning was an understatement of vast proportions. He knew Taniyama-san, after all he was the person in charge of approving all students who applied for a hardship scholarship and he was well acquainted with her circumstances. The high school principal did not dislike Taniyama-san, in fact he felt that she was a very capable student because she very earnestly attended school every day, was polite, and showed responsibility in caring for herself as she lived on her own. Even considering these factors the principal did not believe that the young woman showed anymore aptitude for educational endeavors than the most basic student. Even with his current opinion of Mai's intelligence, the principal, knowing he had already scheduled other, more mature, or more well-known spiritualists to come in the next day in addition to SPR saw no reason to deny the requests he was given and humored the kids in front of him even though he did not believe what they were asking was anything but a monumental waste of everyone's time.
Satisfied with the principal's response to these requests, Naru informed the principal he and Mai would begin some preliminary research that morning but he would have her back in time to attend the classes after lunch, assuring him that Mai would complete all the coursework from the entire day during the afternoon block of classes. After they finished the conversation with the principal and left his office the two left the campus to seek out a nearby café, mostly for Naru's tea habit since they could have used the school library just as well for what they were planning to do.
Once settled at the café, and armed with copious amounts of black tea Naru opened his laptop to create a new database for research pertaining to the astral vision experience or AVE as he named it for short. Naru found this acronym especially fitting as he recalled that in Latin, the word ave meant either a greeting or a farewell and he felt they were doing both things in regards to the future when it came to the vision's message. When he remarked on this to Mai, she just shook her head and mumbled something about it being too early to "Naru", and they should just get on with cataloging their memories before they forgot anything important.
The two then spent the next several hours compiling three separate lists of memories, one for each Mai and Naru's memories that only they had experienced, and one of shared memories for events both were present for. They then split each set off into subcategories of cases, education, personal experience, and world or national events. Each subcategory was then organized into an organized time line as far as they were able to, considering dates were not really the prevalent thing they noticed during the AVE. Satisfied for the moment with the catalog of events they had compiled, Naru decided they should also make a separate list for the skills or talents each one had pre and post AVE, and conduct tests to see where their skill levels matched to what they remembered.
Looking thoughtfully at Mai, Naru explained, "Let's take for instance, your use of English. According to what you have told me pre-AVE your skill was almost non-existent, yet now you speak fluently, like a native speaker of Great Britain. I could attribute this to a skill you brought back from the AVE, except you were already speaking fluently before Gene drew us into the vision. For that skill we have three possible explanations, the AVE, which considering the fact we just discussed makes it seem unlikely as the reason. Gene's or my influence with our telepathic three way bond instilling an imprint of the language that way; and did that bond occur when we all fell into the astral plane together or after the AVE? Or there is perhaps the fact that in the future your medium skills rivaled that of Gene's as a perfect medium, and it is incredibly easy for a perfect medium to retain knowledge of the languages used while channeling a spirit." Naru looked at Mai again encouraging her to share her thoughts on the subject.
Mai looked pensive as she considered the points her partner brought up and gazing down into her nearly empty teacup replied to his question, "I think that in this instance, it is going to be difficult to know exactly how I acquired this knowledge until we conduct some experiments that relate directly to the telepathic bond, and my medium skills. If I can use my medium skills at this point in time, in the same manner I did nearing the end of the AVE, and I retain information learned during the commission of said skills that pertain to a language I am unfamiliar with, that may lead us to a better hypothesis of when and how I became so fluent." Looking up from her teacup at Naru, Mai paused as he was staring at her so intently it caused a blush to rise across her face, and she said, "What is it Naru, did I suddenly grow an extra head?"
Naru gently closed his laptop, and reached across the table to grasp her hand in his before saying, "How did I accuse you of being an idiot for so many years? Part of it was that I just liked seeing you get all riled up, and I secretly loved to tease you since I thought that was the only way I could ever see your face transform with beauty in such a passionate manner, but I remember not realizing that you were so bloody brilliant until we started dating. I already loved your passion for life and justice. It was your empathy for our friends and clients that slowly melted the hard edges I built after Gene died and I was already so profoundly taken with you that when I realized the depth of your intellect I never told you how sorry I was, and how much more it made me feel even less alone when I was with you." Naru gazed at Mai, noting the shocked look on her face as he continued, "Mai Taniyama, I know I'm not an easy man to live with... or love but thank you for allowing me to shelter your heart. Please, whenever it is convenient for you, will you continue to be my wife? I can so clearly remember the part of my life with you as my partner and it is so much richer, so much more fulfilling than I ever imagined it could be and I never want to experience life without you again. Oh, and your tea, without it for the rest of my life I might just wither away into the dusty annals of time," he said, giving her his trademark smirk.
Mai shook her head gently in amusement and answered him reverently, "Oliver Davis, I will never intentionally leave you, you are indeed the shelter in which my heart seeks comfort and will reside for the rest of our lives. I know you so much better now than the first time we lived these moments, and although I doubt we will have any fewer arguments than before, I believe we will only be stronger every time we do. And handsome? Don't worry so much, you'll ruin your beautiful face with worry lines and then how could I call you a narcissist if you do?" She said and stuck her tongue out teasingly at him before continuing solemnly, "Naru, as far as I am concerned, you're stuck with me forever. Whenever we can let's make it official again, and let Luella and Madoka have fun planning the entire wedding for us, but in the meantime you and I are already wed as far as I'm concerned and have been for…what over 3 years according to the memories listed in our AVE database?" Mai assured the man who she knew without doubt was the love of her life; she knew he could be insecure at times, a feat in direct opposition to the overly confident and arrogant front he always displayed for others, but it only endeared him even more to her.
Giving an almost inaudible sigh of relief, Naru looked at his watch and noticed it was nearing lunch time, and apparently they had been working on their exploration of the previous day's events throughout the entire morning. Turning to Mai he asked her to order them something for a quick lunch from the café along with a refill of the teapot at their table; he wanted to jot down a few more ideas in the AVE database while she handled that. This way he thought, they could have a nice lunch together before she returned to school for the last half of her day, and he could run a few errands before the coming introduction of an important new player in this production.
When Mai returned to the table several minutes later, Naru was still typing furiously at his laptop's keyboard, causing Mai to giggle as she thought Lin would be so proud of Naru for giving his keyboard so much undivided attention. In the midst of her giggling fit, Mai placed a couple of western style sandwiches and a plate of fresh cut fruit down for them to munch on for their lunch. She smiled softly as she took in Naru's concentrating form, just reveling in the contentment she felt at the moment, and waited for her companion to take a break from his typing before she spoke, "Naru, remember I said I had an idea how to deal with Masako and her blackmail?"
Naru nodded, grabbing the sandwich she had placed in front of him, of typical ham, cheese and lettuce and he smiled that she knew at this time of day he preferred the sandwich she ordered for him over her selection of a shrimp cutlet sandwich.
As they ate Mai explained her idea, and even reminded him of the name of the law firm they used in the future to purchase their own building for SPR's office when he originally arrived back in to Japan after returning Gene's body home to England. "I believe we should reveal your true identity after the end of this case, and we earn their trust by splitting credit with them for the solution. If we offer a non-disclosure agreement for them to sign, dangling further work with SPR I am pretty sure that everyone will sign it. We can be sure to add extra stipulations into Masako's contract in the fine print, that include extremely severe ramifications if she attempts blackmail, or to reveal your identity for any reason at all," Mai stated, her breathing getting a little heavy as she gets angry remembering the way the doll-like medium attempted to blackmail Mai's Oliver into being Masako's boyfriend.
Mai knew the point was truly moot this time around since she and Naru were basically the equivalent of an old married couple, but it still aggravated her to no end. Masako never knew the real Oliver Davis, even though she figured out his true name early on. If she knew Mai's Oliver she would never have tried such a blatant attempt at coercing a man who held his pride so dear to his identity; a fact that worked in Mai's favor, no matter how impetuous and inexperienced Mai was when she and Naru first met, it was her honesty and integrity that first attracted Oliver to Mai.
Naru deliberated over this idea quickly and nodded his agreement with Mai. "You are exceptionally brilliant Mai. We can engender trust with the rest of the team, especially Takigawa-san and outmaneuver Hara-san before she even realizes there is a play available on the chess board." He gave Mai one of his rare, true smiles and continued speaking, "Do you want to reveal our relationship at the outset to halt any confusion with the others, or just see how long it takes them to realize?" Naru tilted his head at her in a way he had picked up from Gene when they were children, making him look devastatingly adorable in her eyes and she smiled at him with mirth in her eyes.
"Oh, we should definitely let them figure it out. I'd like to see if Ayako still hits on you this time around, and it might also be wise not to reveal it too quickly with my classmates," she coughed out Kuroda's name and went on, "Some of them cannot keep a secret if it would save their lives, and since Keiko and Michiru know I technically just met you yesterday it might hinder the investigation and how it compares to the AVE if they know right away. We can always tell Keiko and Michiru after the case is over that we fell in love working together late at night on the case when you saved me from a terrifying ghost or something, like a story out of a shoujo manga." Mai grinned at Naru, giggling to herself as she turned them into a cliché.
Naru huffed in annoyance at the idea of being one of those manga hero-types with a glittering, flower-strewn backdrop behind him as he walked by, and the kind of guy that dazzled crowds of random school girls who chased him with visible hearts in their eyes. Mai, seeming to know what he was thinking laughed even harder until tears of glee streamed from her eyes, and scooted her chair closer to him, rubbing comfortingly at his shoulder before stating, "Don't worry, I know the truth. You're no shoujo manga hero. You are more the like the dark anti-hero you'd find in a Fuyumi Ono anime adaptation, and it's really quite sexy," she winked at him before leaning over and giving him a quick buss on the cheek. "Unfortunately I think I have to get back to school, we did promise the principal I would return in time for the afternoon block of classes. Oh, wait! I just had an idea that is almost as brilliant as you!" she exclaimed, moving her hand from his shoulder to grip his hand excitedly.
"This afternoon when you meet me at the school, we should have your introduction to Kuroda, and I just had a thought. Remember during the vampire case, there was that really kind woman whose assistant went missing….Igarashi-sensei? We should find her information, and I will call her and ask her to take on a student? What do you think?" She looked hopefully at Naru, and broke out into a luminous smile when he nodded at her, pride evident in his eyes.
"You amaze me, that is an ingenious idea. We can use BSPR as our introduction to Igarashi-sensei since she would have heard of our original branch of investigations, and that would definitely leave us with a connection to her later during the other case and she will trust us more easily in that situation. Another thought in relation to the extras we will pick up during this case… we should be careful to speak Japanese around them and only use English when we're alone. Have you noticed we keep swapping back and forth between the two languages? It's something Gene and I would do at times, so I don't make note of it like I should."
Mai nodded thoughtfully, and said, "Good point, I'm used to only knowing one language so I didn't even notice I was speaking English." Mai blushed self-consciously, and smiled at Naru, "I will be careful, so let's do our best together!" Naru let out a small chuckle at her excitement, because his Mai was just far too cute for words.
At this point, the two split up with Mai returning to her school to finish her day out like any normal high school student would. Naru on the other hand went shopping. It was in the third shop that he found exactly what he was searching for; he made his slightly extravagant purchase and found himself very excited to unveil it later that weekend. (And it should be noted that Naru was very glad that at this point in his life, no one checked his spending or he would be answering a lot of questions.)
Once his impromptu shopping trip was completed, Naru made three phone calls, the first one to secure contact information for the spiritualist Mai remembered, Igarashi-sensei. The second call was to check on Lin's progress. He was pleased to find that Lin had made all the arrangements necessary to have the search and rescue divers begin their work the next morning. After discussing the matter with Lin, it was decided that Naru would call his parents late that evening to accommodate for the time difference and update them on the situation in Japan. He knew he wouldn't spoil the surprise that was Mai on a phone call, but wait to introduce her in person so they could share the story in full face to face. His third phone call was to the lawyers he knew they had used in the future, and he requested an urgent meeting to discuss several legal matters with them that afternoon, when the receptionist at the attorney's office offered to work him in within the next hour or so, he smiled to himself.
Isn't that nice, he thought, it looks like we can alter some of the aspects of what happened in our AVE, and he made a mental note to make a new category for any new variables they added that were previously unknown within the time frame of the AVE. Satisfied with his plans for the afternoon until it was time to go rescue Mai from Kuroda, Naru went on his way to complete the rest of his errands, unwittingly looking just that like dazzling, glittery, blossom-bedecked shoujo manga hero he so abhorred to be compared to.
Am I the only one who wants to see Naru drawn that way? Any artists out there? Haha, I would literally pay for that to put on a tshirt, especially if Mai was in there with him. ::heart eyes::
