Disclaimer: Ghost Hunt doesn't belong to me. All the rights are with Ono Fuyumi.
Goodbye – III
Recap
The bell signalling the end of lecture brought Mai back from the past. That memory was fresh in her mind. This had happened a week ago. They had discovered that their Naru was none other than The Great Oliver Davis. It was a shock to all of them. Mai sighed once again, going back again to the same day. After all that was not all that had happened that day. She replayed all what had happened after that again in her mind.
END
Flashback:
Mai sighed. After all that questioning, Naru had simply refused to answer and had left from there. Takigawa turned to Lin-san.
"Was our theory wrong Lin-san?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, Naru-bou did not answer and just left."
Lin-san gave a small smile. "He probably thought that he didn't need to give one, since you all were so right about it." Saying so he too, left the room. Bou-san slumped to the floor.
"You still can't believe that, that brat is the Oliver Davis, whom you admired, can you?"Ayako asked looking at him.
"Shut up!"Bou san looked at her, a bit red in face.
Mai still couldn't believe that the person they thought to be their boss was actually the famous Oliver Davis in person. She always had the image of an older, middle-aged person in mind, when Oliver Davis was mentioned. Mai needed some fresh air. She needed to think. She decided to take a walk in the forest.
'This is just too much for me to take in.' Mai thought to herself. 'Now that I think about it, Naru took up the Urado case just because Madoka-san asked him to. It was to unmask the person impersonating Oliver Davis. No wonder Naru knew that that guy was a fake.' She sweatdropped. She continued to think about it as she went down a small path in the forest. She arrived at a little clearing, with a few trees here and there. A figure she recognized stood leaning against the tree. 'So this is where he went.' She thought as she took a step forward towards him. She stopped.
"Something… Something is different…" she whispered. The figure was none other than Naru. He stood leaning a bit as his hand rested on the bark. His back was turned to her. A feeling of Déjà vu nagged at her mind. He turned. It was a scene she had seen somewhere. That somewhere was her dream. Naru turned to her with a gentle expression. He was not smiling. But there was a bit of sadness reflected in his eyes. Mai shook off the nagging feeling. She figured she was just being paranoid. This was Naru. He doesn't show his expressions. She looked at him again. No expressions. 'See! That's what I'm talking about!'
"Naru."
"Mai."
"Are? (A/N: it's a Japanese expression for "huh") Is something wrong?"
"Mai, I have to apologize."
"EH? For what?!"
"I did not mean to lie."
"Oh… That's not like you Naru. And you couldn't help it right?" she smiled as he turned to her with a small apologetic smile. Her eyes widened and she turned, her back facing Naru.
"I really am sorry. I did not mean to lie. I wanted to tell you but…" Naru trailed off. Mai waited for him to continue but was only greeted by silence. She wanted to know what Naru wanted to say. She turned. Naru was nowhere in sight. Mai was shocked. Naru was just there! She didn't even hear him walk away. No matter how silent Naru was, he couldn't stop the sound of the grass being tread on, surely!
"N – Naru?!" she called out.
"What Mai?" the reply came from behind her. Mai spun around, shocked. 'Wait! Naru was just here! How could he get on to the other side without my noticing?!' She then voiced out her thoughts. "B – But we were just talking!"
"You were talking to someone?" he raised his eyebrow. He didn't or rather could not see anyone.
"You! I was talking to you! You were just here, apologizing to me just now!" She pointed behind her. He raised his eyebrow a bit higher at that.
"Mai, what are you talking about? I was apologizing? Why should I? As a matter of fact I just got here. It's my first—"He stopped short at the realization of what Mai was saying. "Mai can you repeat that?"
"Huh?"
"Repeat what you just said. Where was I standing?" Mai was confused, but still she answered pointing behind her.
"Right there. Against the tree."
"That was not me Mai."
"Hah?! What do you mean?!"
"Mai, I just got here. There is no way I would be talking to you and then appearing behind you without you noticing." He said and then added, "No matter how much of an idiot you are, even you would notice it." A vein popped on Mai's forehead.
"Excuse me—"She started but was brushed off by Naru.
"That was not me."
"Then who was it?" Naru just looked at her. she blushed and looked away. "W-well, I did think something was different. Like in my dreams…" she trailed off. Naru's eyes narrowed.
"Dreams?" Mai's eyes widened as she realized what she just had slipped out. Her hands went straight to her mouth, clasping it. She turned beet red.
"N—Nothing!" Naru's eyes narrowed a bit more.
"Mai? What dreams? Explain." Said Naru in a perfectly no-nonsense tone. Mai's face flushed once more. She knew she was not getting out of it.
"W—well, you see, I kept having these dreams on all our cases before… well… I would always see Naru in them. Well… you'd be very kind to me in my dreams. And you'd also lead me through them. The one who lead me to Masako-Chan was also you Naru. B—but of course! That's my imagination. I mean it was a dream after all…" Mai shut her eyes, ready to hear an insult from Naru. However, she was only greeted by silence.
"I see." He said silently. Mai looked at him. He had a far off look in his eyes.
"N—Naru?"
"That was not me either."
"Eh?"
"The one in your dreams, Mai. That was not me. Neither was the one you were talking to just now." Mai flushed again.
"I know that! I told you it was my dreams! My imagination!"
"It was not your imagination either."
"What do you mean?"
Naru looked at the sky. "That was my Aniki." (A/N: Aniki = big brother)
"Eh?! But he looked like you so I thought it was you! How can he look like you? And didn't he pass away? That's imposs—"Her eyes widened. She looked at the man in front of her. He was looking at her with a small, sad smile. Her heart almost broke looking at him. "You were twins?" Naru nodded.
"The one guiding you in your dreams and the one you were talking to before was my brother, Eugene Davis. His spirit."
"But… but how?! I am not a medium! And I thought he was you!"
"Why would you think that, Mai?" Mai flushed another deep shade of red. It was now or never.
"B—because I—I like… you…" she said softly. She didn't dare look at him. Her heart was beating very fast. Then, she heard him say something. Her eyes widened and tears welled up in her eyes.
"Do you mean me or Gene?"
She started crying. He had rejected her, hadn't he? What did he mean by that? She was crying. She knew it would hurt. But she was surprised at how she had underestimated this hurt. She did not know how long she cried. However, when she opened her eyes, she did not expect Naru to be still standing there. She had thought he had already left for her to cry alone. She looked at him. He gave her a soft smile. Just like her dreams. But this was reality. He extended a hand to her. She looked at it. It was a handkerchief. She smiled. This was so unlike Naru.
"Thank you." Naru remained silent.
"Naru? Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"Why did you say that?"
"Think about it Mai. We were twins. Both our personalities were opposite of each other. One is friendly. One is cold. One with a good personality. One with a bad personality. Eugene was always the one with a good personality and I was the one with the bad personality. If you had to choose out of one of them, which one would you choose?"
"… The good one." She said slowly. Naru gave a small smile.
"See. There you have your answer." Mai looked down. Something did not feel right.
"Will I see him again?" she asked. She had a few questions; she needed the answers for, to ask Gene. Naru looked at her and then at the sky.
"Hopefully. In time." Was all he said. She wanted to say something. However they were interrupted.
"Noll!"
It was Lin-san. He had come to fetch Naru, as his parents had arrived. Mai went along with them. They had found the body of Eugene Davis. The Davis couple had arrived to claim the body. Mai looked over at them. It was an elderly couple. A tall man with brown-grey hair, not quite young, but still looked stout. The woman, Naru's and Eugene's mother, she too, was an elderly woman with short blond wavy hair that reached up to her shoulders. She was also quite pretty. She was crying. Crying for the loss of her son. She was being supported by her husband.
Bou-san and the others joined Mai. It was quite sad. Bou-san had told them that Oliver and Eugene Davis were adopted by the couple, as they did not have their own children. Mai wanted to cry. Cry for them. For herself. For Naru. She always thought that Naru did not understand her. No. He knew exactly how she felt. She really was an idiot for saying things recklessly without knowing anything. For not thinking how Naru must have felt.
Later, they all were introduced to the Davis couple. Martin and Luella Davis. They were very nice and kind people. Martin Davis did not know Japanese. It seems Luella Davis had learned Japanese to understand Oliver and Eugene. Apparently they knew almost all about the Mai and the others from Mori Madoka-san and Lin-san. Mrs. Davis showed Mai a photo. In it were two identical boys. One wearing a black shirt and the other wearing a green shirt and blue jacket. Both were smiling. Mai really liked the photo. Mai pointed out the boy wearing black as Naru. Mrs. Davis shook her head.
"That boy is Eugene. Noll wears black most probably to mourn for Eugene."
The next day. SPR was disbanded. The office was closed down. The whole team had gone to the airport to see off Naru and Lin-san. Mr. and Mrs. Davis had departed earlier to prepare for the funeral.
"Naru." Mai went to him and handed him the photo. "Your mother probably forgot it. Return it to her." Naru looked at it and handed it back to Mai. He turned to go, but stopped and looked back.
"Mother has many more. Its fine if one is missing. You can keep it if you want to." And with that they departed. Mai smiled brightly and nodded. That was Goodbye.
END OF FLASHBACKS.
Hiya! Sorry for such a late update! Will try and update soon.
