"Mai-san, I have heard so much about you!" an exuberant woman walked up to Lin and Mai as they disembarked from the plane. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Madoka told me so much about you, and Naru even mentioned you a few times when up he came home." The woman grabbed Mai's free hand and shook it then looked the girl over. "I see Naru was generalizing while Madoka exaggerated. You are almost how I pictured you although a bit taller." She spoke on in rapid English.
"Taniyama, Mai this is Luella Davis, Noll's mother and cofounder of BPR." Lin made the polite introduction in Japanese then English, "Luella Davis Noll's assistant and tea maker Mai Taniyama."
"Konichiwa, er… Nice to meet you. Mrs Davis-san." Mai shook the woman's hand before politely bowing.
"Oh dear," Luella stated. "Konbanwa Genki desu?" she turned to Lin and switched to English, "I haven't spoken Japanese for so long, I did not realize she may not speak English too well."
"I am learning," Mai said shyly, "I have a few good teachers." She paused looking at the woman.
"I am sure, although neither Naru nor Lin are that talkative." Luella scolded, reminding Mai of Madoka. "We were hoping you would come over for a late supper if you aren't too tired. Martin stayed late in the office but was planning on being home for supper."
Mai looked to Lin who tipped his head slightly leaving her with the choice. "That would be nice." Mai said. "I think we need to stop at the apartments first." She looked up to Lin for confirmation.
"We do need to unpack a bit." Lin agreed. He looked down at his watch. Ten to twelve in japan meant ten to five in England. "Should we come around six thirty?" Lin asked.
"That would be perfect." Luella clapped her hands together in front of her and grinned widely then twirled in place. "I will have everything prepared. I brought you a company car for the next two days, you should have time to get yours out of storage by then and you can either leave it at work or they can pick this one up on Friday morning outside your apartment." Luella stated handing him some keys. "We arranged for her to have an apartment next to yours, in case she needs any translating needs. Here are the keys." Then she switched back to Japanese. "I look forward to seeing you tonight."
"Pleased to meet you." Mai said as the woman walked away waving one hand in the air. She followed in silence until Lin found the car then was forced to ask. "Is she related to Madoka?"
Lin chuckled. "Distantly, but I think they grew up together, close as sisters.
"Ah,"
They headed to the apartments, as Luella had stated the next apartment down was leased for Mai but no furniture had been delivered. The bare walls and rooms insisted Mai take up Lin's offer of taking his guest bedroom. It was already prepared with clean sheets where her apartment only offered a dirty floor. Neither Mai nor Lin was upset about the arrangements.
"Glad to meet you Taniyama-san" a large man bent slightly at the waist to take her hand. "I hope your trip was pleasant?"
"It was Professor, Mr. Davis-san." Mai stated. "Please call me Mai."
"Mai, No need to be so formal at home, I am Martin," he turned to see his wife enter the room. "I believe you have met my lovely wife, Luella."
Mai nodded.
"Dinner should be ready soon, if you would like to come into the parlor." She directed them into the next room.
Mai looked over toward Lin, "Parror?" she whispered.
"A sitting room, similar to a living room." he explained in Japanese.
"Is there a problem?" Martin looked between Mai and Lin.
"Forgive me; I did not know what a parror was."
"A par-lor." Martin corrected. "R and L are two separate sounds in English." Mai understood where Naru learned his linguistics. "a room people sit in before or after a meal. Meant for talking, Parle is French for speak." She could also see where Naru got his skill at explanations.
Mai nodded her head accepting his explanation following him into a smaller room with several stiff chairs and couches in it. Luella sat on one couch and Martin moved to sit next to her. Mai hesitated over the several choices left open. Only one couch but several stiff chairs in front of the couch they had already sat down in. she looked back at Lin who nodded to a couple chairs next to the couch. She took one while he took one next to it slightly farther back.
"Madoka had told me so much about you. Were you really able to pass a key to Masako Hara during the one case?"
"Yes, Masako was quite scared; something tangible helped her stay calm until we could reach her."
"Of course. Have you practiced being able to astral project any other items since?"
Lin leaned forward. "Astral project," he translated to Japanese.
"No, I don't really try." She tried harder not to.
"That shall be one thing we can work on." He stated pulling a pad of paper from his pocket. "Oliver doesn't have the tools to research things in Japan. We should get and MRI and CT scan while you project," he wrote furiously on the pad. "You also have precognitive and post cognitive dreams?" Mai looked over to Lin confused; he had pressed his lips to a thin line obviously not happy. She also felt over her head with all these questions. She shook her head slightly then yawned.
"Gomen masai, Davis-san," she yawned again. "Atashi…" a yawn interrupted her again.
"That is ok, dear." Luella interrupted. "Martin quit badgering the poor girl, it has been quite a long trip, let me see if dinner is ready." She stood and walked from the room.
"Taniyama-san, rest." Lin spoke softly in Japanese. He turned back to the professor and switch back to English. "It has been quite a long trip professor; she will be more able to answer after a few days."
"Of course, it would take a while before we could schedule the tests. What are your thoughts on her level?" they continued to talk as Mai dozed she felt Gene's pull and accepted if only for a temporary reprieve.
"Mai, Welcome to my house!" Gene greeted her, the sad eyes he normally had were overpowered by a charming smile and excitement. "Come to the garden," he grabbed her hand and pulled her along. She followed through double white doors. Stepping out she was surrounded by roses. A trellis lined the first five feet then a trail of stones wove its way around assorted flowers of all colors and sizes.
"Mother loves roses," Gene stated, walking slower. "I have always liked the irises." He motioned to a tall single white flowers. "I planted this the first year Martin and Luella adopted us." He pointed to one of the larger ones.
"It is impressive."
"Noll doesn't like flowers," his voice sounded dull. "Lin had always a fancy for the smaller ones," he led her to a little waterfall. "He wasn't family but he helped us learn." He knelt down and picked a small blue flower. There was a single stem with several short stems hanging down with flowers that hung like a bells all in a row. He moved back in front of her. "Here," he handed her one. Then he took another and tucked it behind her ear. "Perfect." He looked up as though he heard something. "Dinner is ready. Best not make them wait, don't agree to anything without Lin or Noll's approval." He said almost as an afterthought. "Sometimes people forget there is life outside of work." He gave her a wink before waving goodbye.
Mai twirled a flower in her fingers, "Thank you, Gene."
She woke as Lin's hand touched her shoulder. "Taniyama-san, supper is ready." He spoke softly in Japanese.
"Arigatou-Lin-san," she stretched and yawned again. As she brought her hand back, she realized she still held the small blue flower.
"Where did you find a Bluebell on the way here?" he mused looking at her hands.
She shrugged then touched above her one ear to find the other flower was still there. "Is that what they are?" she asked in Japanese. She wasn't going to mention Gene in his parents' house.
He nodded taking the flower from her hands and threading it through her hair on the other side. He saw her hesitation and sad smile, "I see," he gave her a weak smile and she nodded.
"Are you too tired to eat? You can take a rest upstairs, we have several guest rooms." Luella offered as she approached behind Lin.
"Thank you, Davis-san, but I will be fine." Mai stated. If Miss Davis noticed the bluebells she did not mention it but for a few minutes she couldn't pull her eyes away from the girl.
The food was more than Mai had expected and she nearly dropped her fork when the maids brought out more. Monk had stated Naru was rich and famous but she had not realized how rich. Martin asked about different things in Japan, chattering away in English. Mai noted Lin was more talkative then usual but realized the pattern. Martin would speak for a while, quickly lecturing in English then pose a question. Lin would either pause for a moment or would respond when Martin either looked at her or his voice lilted to what she assumed was a question.
Soon after supper had finished Lin excused them both apologizing for the long trip. Their hosts graciously accepted and they headed back to the apartments.
"I hope that supper was not too overwhelming, I had not realized Martin had reviewed your history quite so thoroughly."
"He wanted to test me also?" Mai asked. "I thought you already knew I was a latent psychic?"
"That was just one of many possible tests." Lin stated as he pulled the car into the parking lot. "Noll could only bring the one test with him. There are many more geared to many different possible abilities. Also the professor researches psychic abilities, studying people with abilities to attempt to explain them. Similar to Noll only he tests people not spirits."
"Gene said not to agree to any tests without you or Naru agreeing." Mai stated.
"He supplied the bluebells?"
"He said you like the smaller flowers."
Lin nodded. "They are small, wild and resilient flowers. He always liked the irises; they take much time and patience. Cultivated beauty, I am glad Martin didn't notice the flowers."
"I think he did." Mai stated. Lin quirked an eyebrow up at her. "He looked at me strangely for a few seconds then got quiet. He kept looking when he didn't think I saw him."
"I noticed he got quiet." Lin agreed. "Gene liked putting flowers in girls' hair. He might have brought back a memory." Lin noted. "Gene was just as scheming as Noll although he exploits human emotion better."
Mai nodded as they entered the hall with their apartments. "They know about me passing a key to Masako, are they aware of the Gene connection?"
Lin silently turned the key in his apartment door hesitating to answer while thinking. "It was never included in any of my reports, unless Noll told them when we returned to England I do not believe so."
"Masako told me that Naru visited her at that time. Did she tell you?"
Lin raised an eyebrow, "No, I was not aware."
"It was Gene of course, but neither of us knew at the time. I think she believes she imagined Naru, she really didn't fully believe it was me until she still had the key outside of the mansion."
"Possible," Lin agreed.
Mai nodded, "Gene has called himself my spirit guide. I think I will only refer to him as spirit guide, without a name, if it comes up."
"That might be best."
They both knew how hard it was for Noll to accept her connection to Gene and neither wanted to put anyone else through it again. Lin set up the internet and wifi in the apartment. By the time he set up a connection to Japan via SKYPE Mai had fallen asleep on the couch. After confirming all were safe Lin closed the connection and moved her into the guest bedroom.
おやすみなさい
Chapter 2 complete, Thank you all for reading and reviewing, favoring and following. Knowing that someone is reading always makes it easier to keep writing. It is a little slow in the beggining but I have bigger things to come. A few things just have to be resolved first.
Ask me anything and I will try to answer, review if you like it. Tell me if you hate it or what you think will happen. (I like honesty, I don't just need the good reviews.)