Black Phantom:

Chapter 15:

A stunned silence met his words. The principle of the statement was not surprising as everyone had been presuming that the task force would be closing down, but the wording was unexpectedly harsh, even coming from the narcissist.

"W-What?" Mai stuttered in surprise, not even having a chance to appreciate that Naru was not wearing black for once and was wearing pale blue pyjamas.

"I would personally recommend that you retire from Police work- you don't have the brain for it," Naru continued. "I'm going to get changed and book plane tickets."

He nodded to Lin and left the living room.

Bou-san was the first to recover speech.

"So, where's my thank you for impersonating him at my own risk and exorcising a psycho bitch!?"

Lin frowned. It had been unusually brusque even for Naru. He had been expecting him to at least awkwardly say thank you to everyone for risking their lives and helping him find out the truth about his brother. That might indicate that he was too preoccupied with another issue. For the past month, the omnouji had been very sure that Naru kept getting distracted by Mai so this might be a continuation. Maybe all was not lost yet.

He turned to a fuming Mai to make a suggestion.

"Taniyama-san, Naru is probably in a bad mood as he hasn't had any of your tea for a while. Why don't you make him some?"

As he predicted Mai perked up and left the room after getting directions to the kitchen.


The narcissist was out on the balcony, gazing at the scenery in silence. It was probably the last time he would get to see the sun rise over the Tokyo skyline if he returned to England.

The more he thought about it, the less he wanted to return.

In Japan he called the shots and made all the decisions, if he returned it would be his foster parents instead. He didn't have a problem with them, it was just that he was 21 and now that Gene had been proven to be dead, they would be very overprotective.

In England all the employees at BSPR were terrified of him and was hard for him to give them orders effectively, but here, neither Mai, Yasuhara, the monk or the priestess were intimidated by him and they had all worked together as a team and destroyed the Sakurazukamori.

In addition Japan had more supernatural activity than England and a more varied range...

Naru ruffled his hair in frustration, was he really finding reasons to stay in Japan and not return home to his parents? He had to return to deliver news of Gene's death and remain there for them.

A familiar smell wafted towards him and he relaxed at the calming scent of tea, Darjeeling if he was correct. That was right, if he returned to England he wouldn't be able to drink Mai's tea. He could always employ her personally and take her home with him, but he could definitely could not see Mai agreeing to that and his parents would get the completely wrong idea and assume that they were in a romantic relationship which they certainly were not.

Simply put, she worked for him, made him tea and made some occasionally useful comments and he was just her superior officer and the Phantom Thief that she was supposed to be arresting and once in a while, he kissed her. He pinched the bridge of his nose to maintain some levelheadedness. Why had he kissed her?

Because that's what a fictional Phantom Thief would do, his brain supplied helpfully. You were just conforming to the stereotype. It was also what Gene would have done, he decided which proved to be a catastrophic decision.

"Naru."

He turned to see Mai standing in the doorway with a steaming teacup in her hand which was clearly the source of the smell.

"Are you using my teabags now?" he enquired and arched one eyebrow.

"As it is for you, does that really matter? In any case I thought your parents were paying."

"So you know the truth now..."

Lin had obviously seen fit to explain everything to Mai whilst he had been asleep which seemed to have turned out for the better as Mai didn't look too annoyed with him. If he had explained it personally, it might have been different.

"Yes," she paused. "Your real name is... O-Oriver Davis."

Naru smirked at her atrocious pronunciation of his name.

"Dr. Oliver Davis was what you meant to say."

"Fine, Dr. Or-Oliver Davis," she answered, still mispronouncing his first name.

Cute was the adjective that floating to Naru and he batted it away. Scientists did not use words like that. Adorable was the alternative that his brain came up with.

"No,Oliver. You can always call me Noll, if you like," he teased.

"Oli-I give up. You will always be narcissist Naru-chan to me," she pointed theatrically in tribute to the first time she had used the nickname.

"Can I have my tea now before it gets cold?" he asked, partly to chance the subject and to finally satisfy his cravings.

A teacup was shoved towards him and he smothered a smile. Mai was exceedingly fun to annoy, it would be a shame to leave and not have Mai to tease. He had never met anyone like her before and he wasn't likely to find anyone similar to her in England.

"Naru, are you really leaving?" Mai asked the moment he had finished downing the teacup.

"What do you suggest that I do? Become a normal Police officer? That can't happen, I passed the exam, but it's not really my style and my specialist area is the supernatural not serial killers and burglaries."

The brunette frowned. "Ah! What about setting up a supernatural investigation department?"

"In the Police force? Even though the Chief of Police is a family friend, that's not enough clout to set one up."

"What about setting one up, independently of the Police? Isn't there one in England already?"

Naru gave her a sharp glance. It was a suspiciously plausible idea and it had come from Mai.

"Have you been conspiring with everyone else to get me to stay here?"

She shook her head vehemently. "No, I came up with it just now."

It was a good idea, but his parents would never agree to it. He could probably persuade them if he felt that it was imperative to set up a ghost hunting business, however right now he had no reason to.

"I will shelve that one for now," he said thoughtfully.

Sensing that the conversation was over, Mai turned to leave, but she saw Yasuhara standing in the doorway of Naru's bedroom, gesturing frantically at her to stay where she was.

"Why?" she mouthed back.

Her ex boyfriend made a heart shape with his fingers before giving her a thumbs up, possibly indicating good luck. Then she understood, Yasuhara was telling her to confess to Naru. it seemed that he had guessed where her feelings lay.

She turned back and gulped. She had to get it out now before she lost her courage.

"Naru," she began. "Please don't feel that I am trying to influence your decision in any way..."

"What is it?" he enquired and turned to face her, his interest piqued.

Mai flushed under his scrutiny and forced the words out of her mouth before she lost her confidence.

"I love you."

For a moment Naru was shocked into silence before he recovered.

"Me or Kuro Kaitou?"

Mai stared at him in surprise. Out of all the answers that he could have made, he came out with that.

"Aren't you the same person?"

"No. Kuro Kaitou has the carefree and flirtatious personality of my brother and is based mainly in fiction. He is the complete opposite of me. I am introverted and not the type to be romantic, which one do you prefer?"

"You, of course!" she shouted tearfully. "Even though you are a cold narcissistic bastard, I love you!"

She spun on her heel and left the scene as fast as possible, leaving Naru staring after in surprise.

Mai found Yasuhara waiting outside the door for her. When he caught sight of her face he squeezed her into a hug, making sure that it was visible to Naru who was glaring at him.

"How did it go, Mai-chan?"

"It was a complete utter failure. He asked if I was in love with him or Kuro Kaitou," Mai griped, now feeling more annoyed than upset.

"Don't worry Mai-chan, there's plenty more fish in the sea," he answered loudly to ensure that a certain person would overhear. "Now I've got a chance with Naru-chan!"

He spotted the narcissist shuddering and knew that he could hear their conversation.

"I can introduce you to one of my friends, he did say that he was interested in you," he informed her in a loud voice. "We can go out on the town tonight!"

Mai groaned. "I'm too tired, I want to go home now."

She walked away and Yasuhara followed after her.

Naru frowned. Mai's confession had been very unexpected and he had been surprised at her answer to his question. Who would prefer him, someone who did not tolerate stupidity and was never kind, to his brother was had always been easy going and kind to everyone?

When he had seen Yasuhara comforting her, he had felt strange and he could not work out why. The feeling had been close to the anger that he had felt at seeing his brother's dead body, but it wasn't quite the same. Jealousy?

He scoffed to himself. Osamu Yasuhara wasn't interested in females so he had nothing to worry about. He paused, why should be worried about Mai's love life? He didn't want to be in it, he just wanted to know what was going on in case it affected her ability to work. But she didn't work for him anymore, so why was he concerned?

Because he felt some fondness towards her as she had psychic abilities that were useful and she hadn't tried to flirt with him like most females and she was undeniably fun to annoy.

He tried to add it up and it didn't work out. They were... friends? That wasn't right either. Friends didn't kiss each other on the lips and he might have enjoyed kissing her during that heist.

Maybe he did like her. Just a little. More that he liked anyone else.


That evening, sleep did not come easily to Mai Taniyama who was wound up from her failed confession and her usual calming drink of milk and honey had not worked. Eventually she dropped off to sleep only to be woken an hour later by someone saying her name.

"...Mai...Mai..."

She woke up with a jump to see a dark figure standing by her bed. Fortunately the moon was full and illuminated the person's pale face so she wasn't too alarmed at the sight of a wanted phantom thief in her bedroom.

"Naru! How did you get in here? I always lock the front door," she asked, now fully awake.

"Every good phantom thief has a lock pick, idiot," he retorted.

"I didn't know you were actually a good phantom thief. I was under the impression that the only reason you got away with it was because you were also the head of the task force."

"Some skill and brain power were involved, Mai."

"What are you doing here anyway, surely you didn't come to taunt me?" she enquired coldly and crossed her arms.

To her surprise Naru sat down on her bed and looked down at his hands.

"Mai, can you wait for me?" he asked so quietly that she nearly missed it.

"What?" Maybe she had misheard after all.

"For me to give a proper answer to your confession," he replied. "I'm sorry for my original answer."

"Why not now?" Mai was mystified.

"There are a few things that I have to do first in England. When I am done, I will come back for you."

There was a silence and Mai blinked.

"...Does that mean that you love me?"

She was rewarded by a scowl.

"Don't push it, Mai. I'm having enough trouble with it as it is," he growled.

She blinked again. "Okay, when can I expect you back?"

"I'm leaving early this morning and I have made arrangements regarding your job. I recommended that you join Takigawa and Matsuzaki's unit which has been permitted. At the very least I will be gone for a month."

"I'll wait for you," she answered. "Don't cheat on me."

Naru flashed her a smile, a real smile that reached his eyes and she flushed a deep read, praying that he wouldn't spot it in the dim light of her bedroom. Unfortunately for her, nothing she ever did got past Naru.

"Are you blushing at my good looks?" he smirked and leaned in closer so that their noses were nearly touching.

Mai squirmed away and felt her back hit the headboard of her bed, indicating that she couldn't avoid him so she fought back had gave him a quick kiss on the lips which silenced him momentarily until he pulled her closer to return the kiss.

They broke apart a few seconds later when Naru's phone went off. He glanced at the caller's identity and then at the time.

"It's Lin and I need to go."

Mai pouted and he smiled.

"Once I return we will have all the time in the world," he said and stood up. "Good bye, Mai."

"Bye Naru."

He stopped the doorway. "I meant to say this sooner, nice pyjamas."

She glanced down to find that her pink Hello Kitty pyjamas were rumpled and the top had ridden up, exposing her stomach. She hastily pulled it down.

"There's no need to be so shy," the scientist informed her. "If we get married, you are going have to get used to it."

With that parting line he left her apartment and two hours later, Japan.


The first month passed at a snail's pace. As promised, Mai was transferred to Ayako and Bou-san's unit so work hours were passed by reading gossip magazines and listening to her unofficial uncle's latest crackpot conspiracy theories and occasionally she did some actual work. She often thought of Naru and these thoughts became more frequent once Ayako had wormed everything out of her and spent most of her time complaining that her niece was going to get married before her.

Once a month was up, Mai began anticipating Naru's return, but it never came and she heard nothing from him. One month quickly turned into two and she began to feel less optimistic. Either something was delaying him or he had changed his mind about being with her, something that she considered to be the more likely option.

The answer came a week later. After a hard day's work at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police headquarters she returned home to find a job application form for something called Shibuya Psychic Research in her mailbox. It wasn't until she had read it five times that she realised the significance.

"Shibuya Psychic Research...SPR," Mai said and her heart skipped a beat. "Naru..."

She went to return the form to its envelope and a small card dropped out. She immediately recognised it as being a Kuro Kaitou heist notice which normally detailed an address and time.

This one, however simply read: rooftop.

Without wasting any time Mai slipped her shoes back one and ran up several flights of stairs until she reached the rooftop of her apartment block. She glanced round and saw a figure dressed in black waiting for her.

"Naru!" she shouted and launched herself into his arms which caught her safely.

"I apologise for taking so long," Naru said and squeezed her tighter."However, as a result, I have set up Shibuya Psychic Research to investigate supernatural cases."

Mai jabbed him in the chest. "See, it was a good idea after all."

"I know and you are starting work there in two days time," he informed her and waited for her reaction.

"...Don't I get a say in this?"

"No."

"What if I don't want to?" she said with a glint in her eye.

"I don't see why you would want to refuse; it's good pay and you get to use your abilities to help people."

"...Am I going to making you tea all day?"

"Occasionally," he tried to hide a smirk unsuccessfully so he changed the subject. "Do you want to try out my hang glider again?"

Mai narrowed her eyes at the change in subject, but let it pass. She had been waiting for Naru to return and she didn't want to ruin it by getting annoyed with five minutes of seeing him again.

"By the way, Mai," Naru said once they were in position to launch off the rooftop. "There was a condition attached to my return to Japan."

"What is it?"

"I have to supply grandchildren."

As soon as the line left his mouth he jumped into the night sky with Mai in his arms who was protesting about lack of consent and tea obsessed narcissists. Once they were safely gliding with the wind, Naru sought to correct her.

"I can't be a narcissist if I'm in love with you."

The End


Thank you to everyone who favourited, subscribed and reviewed this story, especially 14AmyChan, WhisperToTheWolves, magpiefeather, Ferb O. Oche and xsapphirexRosesxFanx.