Hello all, Maron here. I'm fulfilling a somewhat prompt from Adventure Skyward Girl, the individual who actually inspired me to write "Lips on a Teacup" from Naru's POV and aided in the creation of this story full of oneshots.
On with the story!
An interaction between Masako and Mai surrounded a cup of tea.
Masako always wondered why she thought going to the office would change anything. She supposed it was her own stubbornness that guided her there. Pulling the door, she let herself inside.
However, she wasn't greeted with the usual perky welcome. The office was next to silence. Taking quiet steps into the receiving room, she looked about for any signs of anyone being in the office. Walking toward the private offices in the back, she felt someone's eyes on her.
"Hara-san." The tall Chinese man greeted her. "Mai-san still out on her lunch break."
She pulled the sleeve of her kimono to cover her mouth. "Is Shibuya-san here?"
"In his private office." He gestured to the closed door. "However, I do not think Naru will be able to go with you today. We are leaving in a few hours."
The girl nodded. "Is it alright if I just stay here in the office?"
The man shrugged, returning back into his own office.
Masako made herself at home, making her way into the kitchenette. Deciding to make herself some tea for once, instead of Taniyama-san, she looked around for some green tea. The cupboards offered no such thing, instead they had black teas and coffee bags. But I've had green tea here before, haven't I? How odd. She resolved to make herself some black tea, though she'd never done it before.
Leaving the kettle to boil, she examined the kitchenette. Taniyama-san keeps everything very tidy. She processed her thought. She's your competitor in love! She doesn't deserve any compliments.
As much as Masako wanted to hate the girl, she couldn't, not really. After what happened in the mansion, she owed the girl her life. Although rather brainless at times, Mai did have some redeeming features. Her own hardheadedness was always in the best interest of others. She was trying harder to remember more about the supernatural, although her sudden knowledge was alarming for a novice, perhaps someone was tutoring her.
Masako flushed. What if Shibuya-san is tutoring her? What if he's giving her private lessons when we don't have cases to work on? The girl shook her head violently. No that's not possible. Shibuya-san doesn't have the patience. The thought was broken by the whistling of the kettle.
Shuffling through the cupboards for a tea cup, she dropped a tea bag into the cup. She poured the hot water over it. Her eyes widened as the clear liquid quickly darkened. Am I doing this right? How quickly do I remove the bag? Her panic was broken by another person entering the room.
"Masako-chan? What are you doing?" The girl had a plastic bag swinging around her wrist. She raised an eyebrow. "Are you making tea for Naru?"
Masako raised her kimono sleeve to her mouth. "Someone had to when the office assistant is missing." She said. "I would also rather you use a more formal honorific when we're speaking, Taniyama-san."
Mai frowned. "You're in a foul mood today Masako-chan." She put an emphasis on the honorific. "And I already told you call me Mai."
The brown haired girl started to take out the groceries from the plastic bag. One of which, was Masako's favorite brand of tea. Mai noticed Masako's line of vision.
She offered a smile. "We ran out so I went out to buy you more. Would you like some?" She eyed the cup in front of the medium. "But you've already made yourself one."
"Who said it was for me?"
Mai glanced to the clock. "Well, it's 12:45. I made Naru a cup before I left at noon. He normally won't want another one until about two." The girl shoved her hands in her pockets. "The boss is on some tight schedule that I had to figure out a while ago."
Masako was amazed Mai knew this much about Shibuya-san.
"But I'm pretty sure you don't want that. It doesn't taste very good without milk and sugar. Apparently the British drink it like that. " Mai scrunched up her nose. "I can prepare it if you'd like."
Despite herself, Masako nodded.
Mai prepared her tea with a kind of finesse, something similar to a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, but in a more western styled way. Hands fluttered between the milk and the sugar, wrist twirling the spoon. When she was finished, Masako was somewhat disappointed it ended.
"Here you go." Mai presented the tea to the dark haired girl.
"Thank you." Masako was apprehensive of tasting this tea. What sort of person puts milk and sugar in their tea? Westerners are such strange tea drinkers. It ruins the integrity of the tea. It smells nice enough. She took a tentative sip.
It was such a foreign taste to her tongue. The milk cooled down the tea, making it cooler than the tea she was used to, but it added another layer of flavor. The sugar surprised her, sweetening an already muted tea. "It's good."
Mai's eyes brightened. "I'm glad."
"But I still like green tea more." Masako put the tea cup on the counter. "I would be appreciative if you would make me a cup like you normally do, Mai-chan." The dark haired girl offered a lovely smile.
"You got it, Masako-chan."