Naru's Pov…
'That little…' Naru seethed silently as he rode with Lin in the van. Yuki had proceeded to help load the van and made Naru actually help by dropping hints that Mai hadn't slept well.
'Wait, why did that affect me?' No matter how he looked at it, Naru simply had no explanation for it. Well, he did but that didn't mean that he would admit to it.
"Idiot scientist."'You're early.' Naru responded to the familiar voice of his dead brother, Eugene, often called Gene.
"Not really. I'd think you'd be happy to know that I'll be helping out." Gene's voice was like Naru's but, according to Mai, it contained a happier note, whatever that meant.
'I'd be happier if you'd just move on.'
"What!? You don't think I've tried? Now I know that you're an idiot scientist! No doubts left." Gene sounded a tad annoyed with his brother.
'Very funny, Gene.' The words came out as a growl.
"Yuki beat you again, didn't she? Mai's probably sitting in the passenger seat of the car, scolding her mercilessly. And Yuki is tuning her out. You know Lin likes Yuki, right?" Gene's voice started off somewhat wistful and turned serious.
'Yeah, and? His life is his life. It's not my business.'
"But Mai is." The teasing lilt of his voice was obvious.
'Shut up!' Gene flinched, as much as a spirit could, as his brother's voice yelled at him.
Naru ended the conversation there, unaware that Gene was laughing at his brother's stubbornness. Eugene Davis had been killed in a hit-and-run while on business in Japan, which led to his brother going to Japan to find his body. Oliver had given everyone the alias of Shibuya Kazuya and avoided the media. Gene's body was found, but his killer wasn't, and Naru didn't know what type of person it was. So, for his safety, he remained, to his clients, Shibuya Kazuya, his real name realized by his part-timer and the Irregulars four years ago.
"You know that Yuki is only trying to help Mai out. She doesn't really think your arguments are worth the effort. Mai already knows her job and will do it without much hesitation." Lin broke the less than comfortable silence.
"I know. I just talked to Gene." Naru stated, matter-of-factly.
"Really? What'd he say?"
"A lot of stupid stuff, that's all. I certainly hope he focuses on business when we get there."
"…" Lin didn't glance at his boss, knowing that if he did, he may not be able to refrain from laughing. Gene had obviously commented on Naru's affections for the petite part-timer who was currently sleeping in the passenger's side seat of the black BMW behind them, after having already given the driver an earful. Lin maneuvered the car skillfully, knowing that Yuki was right behind him.
'Right behind me, huh? That doesn't sound half bad. I'd prefer her to be beside me though. Through thick and thin, isn't that how the saying goes?'
"Mai's birthday is coming up." Naru's voice broke the silence.
"In two days, right?" Lin glanced at his 'boss' out of the corner of his eyes.
"Yeah. I don't know if I should get her something. I never have before." Naru stared out the window, to look at the scenery as it flew by. Or was he looking in the mirror to see Mai in the car behind?
"That doesn't mean you can't get her one this year. I'm sure she'd appreciate it. After all, even if she doesn't really like it, the fact that you bought a gift for her will make her very happy."
"Mmm." Naru watched Mai's eyes flutter in the mirror as she started to wake up in the car behind them. He saw her look around a little, temporarily disorientated. Realizing where she was, she turned quickly to look at Yuki and the two began to talk. Naru wanted nothing more than to have Mai in the backseat of the van, where he could ki-, keep an eye on her.
Mai blinked, where was she again? Looking to her right, she saw the scenery as they drove by.
'That's right. I fell asleep in the car again.' It seemed as though she always fell asleep in the car, especially if it was Yuki's car.
'I don't think it helps me any, that her car always smells like lavender and lavender always makes me drowsy.' Yuki drove a black BMW 328xi Sedan. Mai had known that when she met Yuki, the woman had a love for the color black and the car left no doubt about it.
It wasn't long before the car slowed to a stop in front of a large building. Yuki got out of the car and snorted.
"This is an orphanage? It looks like one of those houses that you see in bad horror movies, you know, the ones with a cliché plot?" One of Yuki's pet peeves was bad horror films.
"It looks nice. I'm sure the children enjoy having such a large house to run around in."
"You have the annoying habit of being an optimist." Yuki sighed.
"Mai! Hurry up and unload the van!"
"Hai! Coming Naru! Let's go, Yuki."
"Okay." Yuki trudged after her.
"Yue! Yue, come back here! Yue!" Mai turned around only to go tumbling down to the ground as a young boy ran into her.
"Yue!" Another little boy came running up. The first one, who Mai had decided was Yue, sat up and Mai found herself face to face with a seven year old. He had ebony black hair, a tad messy from running (it reminded her of Naru's hair), emerald green eyes that were full of laughter and yet, Mai could see he was very intelligent. She looked up at the other boy and found that he looked identical to 'Yue', who was still sprawled across her.
"I'm very sorry, I should have been watching were I was going." The boy on top of her stated, after he crawled off of her. "I'm Yue, and this is my older twin, Shing. It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too Yue-kun, Shing-kun. My name is Taniyama Mai." Mai smiled at the two boys.
"Mai!" Naru barked out, annoyed at the lack of progress.
"Coming Naru! I'll see the two of you later." Mai stated, before scurrying off to help the others unload the van.