Minasan, konnichwa! Well there's not really much to say... but thank you to my 10 reviews on the last chappie! And I know I don't say this all the time, but thanks to everyone who followers and favoriters! And guess what! I almost have 100 followers! Just a few more and I'll have it lol. Anyways, hope you like this chapter! It was real fun to write!
Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt... yet *laughs evilly*
Gene's POV
'My date! Oh my gosh, I completely forgot about it! What am I supposed to do now?!' I heard Mai scream in her head. 'Date... date... what date would that be?'
"Mai." The sound of Noll's voice snapped her out of her mental panic. She turned around only to find him right behind her. He stared into her eyes for a second before turning his head to the side where she could hardly see his face. "Thank you... for doing this." He said before heading back to his office. 'He just said what?!'
'Naru just said... thank you.' Mai thought. 'That what I thought he said. I am shocked!'
Then Noll paused in his doorway. "Go ahead and go home, Mai. I'll pick you up in an hour and a half so be ready." She nodded. He went in his office and the door shut with a soft click.
The way Noll said it, it didn't sound like he was ordering her. More like he was... suggesting it? Nah, couldn't be. He was probably just tired from having everyone here and what was going on. Yeah, that's it, he's tired... or his mind's finally gone.
As Noll said Mai decided to go home and get ready. I decided to follow her as she is more amusing than Noll. On the walk home she thought about what she should do. 'I guess I have to go with Naru and his parents. I don't want to get in another argument with him and make him mad at me again. Though I did plan my date first... but I already told Naru's parents I'd go. I can't just say 'Sorry, I forgot I had a date tonight that's not with your son.' Ugh!' She mentally rambled. 'I'm still confused about this date... And who wouldn't want to go out with Noll?! I mean, other than his rotten attitude, most of the time he's a great guy and I'm not just saying that because he's my brother!'
Mai sighed as she reached her apartment. 'Do I even really want to go on my date? I mean, sure, Hiro's a nice guy, but I love Naru. Even if I said I need to get over him, I just can't! I love Naru and I guess I always will. I just wish he felt the same way. And besides it'll kinda be a date! Even though it's fake... and his parents will be there... Okay, so not really a date.' She was still contemplating the situation she was in. 'Ohh, Hiro, I remember now, he asked Mai out on a date. Well, I guess he isn't so great if everyone has forgotten about him! Now Noll, there's a fella to remember, he's unforgettable! Don't give up on your love for him, Mai! He does love you back, he's just too blind to see it right now.'
She opened the door to her apartment and went in. Placing her bag down, Mai sat on the couch and just stared at her phone. 'Come on, call him! It won't be that hard. Just tell him you can't go!' She tried to coax herself. 'Yeah, Mai, you can do it! Tell that guy where to stick his date as you have someone better to go out with!'
Mai took a deep breath before picking up the phone and dialling his number.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Hiro... it's Mai."
"Oh, hey Mai! Is something wrong? I mean I'll see you tonight..." 'No, you won't!'
"Uh, yeah... about that." She was thinking about how much she hated doing this as he's been nothing but nice to her and so understanding. 'Noll's nicer, in his own weird way.'
"Let me guess, your boss is making you work overtime again?" He asked. 'Guess again, weirdo!'
"Yeah. I'm really sorry but..." 'I'm lying a lot here lately! Curse you, Naru!' She thought. 'You mean to say you're not sorry? Great!'
"It's alright. I understand, you need your job." 'Butt kisser!'
"Thanks, Hiro. I'll see you later then. Bye." Mai said apologetically. 'I'm horrible person!' She thought. 'No, you're not, Mai. Noll is for making you feel this way!'
"Bye, Mai." They hung up and she set her phone down. 'Now to get ready!' She thought. 'Make sure to wear something that'll have my brother's tongue hanging out!'
Mai looked at the clock an hour later. 'Naru should be here anytime now...' She ruminated. Just as she thought it she heard a knock at the door. 'Ah, Naru!' She mentally squealed as she was surprised. 'Well, Noll always has been a stickler for punctuality.'
When Mai opened her door her eyes widened in shock. Noll stood there looking as handsome as ever, but that's not what shocked her. It was Noll wearing a dark blue dress shirt. I mean yes, his pants and jacket were still black... but his shirt colour had changed and Mai thought it brought out the colour of his eyes. 'Meh, I've seen Noll in an entire range of colourful clothing, I mean there was this one time where Mother and Father took us on holiday and Mother had only packed things like Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts in really bright, jazzy colours.'
"Mai." She snapped out of her reverie and blinked up at Noll. "Are you ready?" He asked, all emotion gone. 'I guess when he was being—kind of— nice at the office was a one time thing.' She thought. 'No, you just need to get used to him. Trust me, he was being very considerate, if he wasn't he'd have just turned and expected you to follow him.'
Mai nodded. "Yeah, let's go." She walked out the door, closing it behind her and I followed. When we got to the car Noll opened the door for her.
"By the way Mai," He began and she paused to look at him. "You look nice." 'Yeah, you go bro, excellent complement!'
Mai blushed gazing away from him and looking down at her dark purple dress that's sleeveless and ties around her neck with her back bare. 'I second his opinion; I mean he's practically drooling!'
"T-thanks." She stuttered as she got into the car. A few minutes later after we started driving to the restaurant, Mai turned her head to face Noll. "Can I ask my questions now?" He looked at her from the corner of his eye and gave a short nod. "Why are you lying to your parents about this?" 'Because he slipped up big time.'
Noll sighed. "My mother... she has always had this obsession of trying to get me to date someone. In fact, when I still lived in England, she always tried to secretly set me up with someone. And of course I always walked away and went to my room. I'd let Gene deal with the girl." 'Don't remind me! I swear I saw more snot and tears than a man should deal with in a lifetime, however short!' "Every time Mother calls she just has a make to comment about me not being in a relationship. I thought that if I told her I had a girlfriend then she would leave me alone about it. Obviously I was wrong; I didn't know she'd fly all the way to Japan to see you." 'Then you obviously don't know Mother very well then.'
"But why did you say I was your girlfriend?" Mai questioned.
"You were the first person that came to mind." She started to blush but then Noll continued. "Mainly because when Mother asked who my girlfriend was, you yelled because you tripped." 'Talk about timing! I wonder what he would've said had Mai not tripped...'
"I'm guessing she was the one you told me to say hello to on the phone last week then?"
"Yes. Any more questions?"
Mai thought about it for a moment. 'Yes, I have a question. What will you do when this is all over?'
"Yes... a few actually. What are we going to tell the others after your parents leave? I mean they think we're actually d-dating." 'Ooh, I guess great minds think alike.' "And what are we supposed to do after they leave? I know that just because they go back to England doesn't mean this will be over. Of course they're probably going to come visit again or they'll call to see how we're doing. This can't go on forever, but if you tell them we broke up, they'll think it's weird that I'm still working for you. And I am not going to get fired because of this Naru! Have you even thought this through?!" She ranted. 'Well said. I'm totally in your corner, Mai. Noll, answers to the lady's questions?'
Noll sighed heavily. "Relax, Mai. You're not going to get fired. We'll figure that out later. For now, just play along."
Though she still felt frustrated on the inside, Mai nodded meekly, knots in her stomach from how wrong all of this felt. "Fine." 'Not "fine"! You're letting him get away with this, I would demand answers if I were you.'
She knew she should be mad at Noll, at least somewhat, but nope, here she is, agreeing to play along with his lie. I mentally sighed along with her. 'I don't know... I guess I'd probably do the same thing if I was in his situation.' She thought. 'I hope not! Trickery is never the way to go!' 'I'd be annoyed if someone always tried to set me up with someone too. But I know Luella's just doing it because she loves him and wants him to find happiness, but if he's happy being a workaholic then she should let him be. Though if he ever falls in love... I'm going to envy that girl...' She continued to ramble mentally. 'You would envy yourself? Interesting. I envy Noll, he gets to have all these adventures and I am just stuck watching him. Not that, that's bad sometimes, I mean it can be quite entertaining.'
We finally arrived at the restaurant. Mother and Father were already there, waiting for us outside. Mother waved at us when we got out the car. Mai smiled and waved back, glad to finally escape out of the car—the silence was killing her. 'Not being talked to is killing me, metaphorically of course, because I'm already... *sigh* you get the idea.'
We all went into the restaurant together, and the waitress led us to our table. But on the way to it, Mai caught a glimpse of someone that made her eyes go wide and she started panicking again. She made sure she walked right beside Noll, hoping he would hide her. She didn't want him to realize he was hiding her though. I looked in the direction Mai had been and saw there was a guy about her age.
'I can't let Hiro see me!' She thought. 'Ohh, it's Hiro. I think things just got more entertaining.'
Mai's POV
We all sat at our table. I was placed beside Naru with Luella in front of me and Martin across from Naru. The waitress had just left with our orders and I came to find Luella staring at me and Naru. Her eyes flickering back and forth between us then all of a sudden she let out a squeal, startling me.
"You two are just so cute together!" She exclaimed happily.
"Mother." Naru groaned, which that in itself shocked me. Even Naru can be embarrassed by his mother?
Luella blinked. "What? It's true!"
I just laughed nervously and discreetly looked around me to see if I could spot Hiro anywhere. I couldn't, so I relaxed little by little, the anxiety starting to leave me. Maybe he left? But why would he even be here in the first place?
A while later I saw Hiro though; he was walking towards us, carrying our food. I quickly looked at Naru and his parents. They weren't really paying attention to me so I slowly started sinking down into my seat. Once I was low enough, I made a quick dash and went under the table.
"Mai, dear, is everything alright?" Luella asked me in a worried and perplexed tone.
"Uh yeah! E-Everything's fine! I just, um, dropped... something!" I said hesitantly from under the table.
"Mai. Get up." Naru ordered in a low-like whisper.
"I-I will, Naru. Just got to find what I, um, dropped." I frantically looked around me to see if there was something—anything!—that I could use as my 'thing' that I dropped when I get back up there. Nothing! Man, this place is spotless! Up above I heard Martin say something about the food is here.
"Mai Taniyama, get up here. Now."
I froze at Naru's cold and threatening voice. I was right, I'm in so much trouble! Wait, Hiro's out there! And Naru just said my name... Come on, Mai, think! Hiro can't know about me 'dating' Naru, but most importantly he can't say anything about me canceling our date! If he does, Luella and Martin will think I'm two-timing Naru and then they'll ask questions... Naru will be furious at me for ruining this... and I'll be stuck in the ride home with him!
I slowly—and I mean slowly—got out from under the table and sat in my chair, my heart beating fast. I was met with a very annoyed and suspicious Naru, Martin and Luella looked bewildered and Hiro... well, his eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets.
"Mai...?" He asked in disbelief. I looked at him shamefully and did a small wave.
"Hi Hiro..." I said in a half whisper.
"What... what are you doing here? I thought you said you had to work." His tone is making me feel more guilty. I saw Luella looking at us with intensity. Okay, I have to be careful with this.
"I..." I could just feel Naru's death glare on me, daring me to ruin this whole thing. I gulped. "I am. I—This is a business dinner." I tried my best to sound convincing. I looked at Luella and Martin, begging them not to say anything. "So what are you doing here?" I asked hastily before Hiro could say anything.
"My uncle owns this restaurant. I'm just here helping out." He informed. I nodded my head. Please leave now!
"Well..." He began warily. "Here's your food. Hope you enjoy." After Hiro left all eyes were on me.
"Mai, dear. Who—who was that?" Luella asked cautiously.
"Yes, Mai. Who was that?" Naru questioned in a icy voice. I gulped again.
"He's a guy from school. He, um, always tries to ask me out even though I told him I have a boyfriend. He's very persistent! Even followed me home a few times." I laughed awkwardly. Oh great, I just made him sound like a stalker!
"Why didn't you tell me, Mai?" Naru asked. His voice had a hint of concern in it, but I know it was just for his parents. His eyes were still angry; he knows I'm lying!
"I just didn't want you to worry." I replied, playing along. I'm so going to get it later. Looking away from him, I started eating my delicious food.
"Does you parents know about... him? Oh, that reminds me, when can we meet them? I would absolutely love to!" I stopped chewing and slowly looked at Luella. Her hands were clasped together and her eyes sparkled with hope.
"I'm afraid you can't. Both of my parents have passed away." I replied wistfully. Luella gasped.
"Mai, I'm sorry! I didn't—"
I smiled softly at her.
"It's okay, really!" I tried to assure them. Luella didn't know; I don't want them to feel bad. I had enough of people feeling that way towards me when my mom died.
"Who do you live with then?" Martin questioned.
"No one actually. My mom died while I was in middle school, so a teacher took me in but I moved out as soon as I was old enough. I didn't want to be a burden on her. My school's really great to people like me. I don't have to pay anything for it and with my job everything else is pretty much covered. I'll be graduating soon too..." I trailed off.
"You are? How soon?" Martin excitedly asked.
"At the end of the week." From the corner of my eye, I saw Naru freeze. His food half way to his mouth. Did he forget I was graduating or something? It's unlike him to forget something like that.
"Really?! Fantastic! We'll be able to come then!"
Well, that somewhat answers my question as to how long they'll be staying then.
"So, Mai, are you planning on going to college?" I looked up at Martin.
"Oh, well, I haven't really thought much about it. I mean, sure, it's crossed my mind a few times... but yeah, I guess I am... If I can afford it. I don't think I could just stay at SPR for the rest of my life." I looked down at my lap, disappointed. It's true, I haven't thought about college. I guess I was just hoping to stay at SPR forever but what if—what if Naru leaves again? All of his family is in England, not Japan. Is he going to leave again? Leave me again? When he left for those couple months, I knew he was coming back. He said so. But I still missed him and couldn't wait for the next day cause it was closer to him coming back... but what if he leaves forever and I'll never see him again? I took a sip of my tea to calm myself.
"Oh, sweetie, don't worry! You don't ever have to leave SPR if you don't want to! After all, when you and Noll get married it'll be part of yours too." Luella gushed as if it was the most casual thing to say. I almost choked on my drink. Married?! I cleared my throat to get it back straight again. Naru glanced at me and our eyes met. I blushed and looked away then took another sip of my tea. "Oh, I just can't wait until you two give me grandbabies!"
This time... I did choke. Grandbabies?! I violently coughed and my tea leaked out of my mouth. Good thing I had a napkin on my lap so it wouldn't ruin my dress. My eyes started tearing up as well, and I felt someone patting my back, trying to calm me down. I guess it's Naru since he's sitting beside me. I wonder what he's thinking of this.
"Oh Mai! Are you alright?!" Luella asked worriedly. I coughed a few more times before I was able to speak.
"Yeah, you just caught me off guard there for a second." My voice came out hoarsely.
"Oh, Luella, look at what you did to the poor girl!" Martin said, gesturing to me. "You shouldn't say such things!" And this resulted to Luella saying that it was true though, and Martin replying that even if it is true she shouldn't say it so causally. I glanced at Naru to see him calmly eating his food while his parents were arguing. This must happen a lot or something. Naru's parents are very interesting; they're not really how I thought they'd be. I mean... Naru's their son.
"Mai, what the hell was that?"
I flinched. We finished dinner with Naru's parents, and now we're on our way back to my apartment. It's been almost an hour and Naru hadn't said anything... until now. I was wondering when he was gonna explode. There was so much tension in the uncomfortable silence that you could've cut it with a knife. He was clenching the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were pure white. Sometimes it seemed he was gonna say something, but he never did.
"I'm sorry! I really am! I had no idea he'd be there!" He didn't say anything, only stared forward, so I continued. "But hey everything went okay! It's not like the wrong thing was said or anything!" He gave me a sideways glare.
"Oh yes, Mai. Everything went fine—my parents now think you have a stalker." He coldly and sarcastically stated. I looked out my window and saw we were coming up to my place.
"What was I suppose to say?! Hiro had asked me on a date yesterday, and with your parents here, I forgot about it until after they left. So when I got home I canceled it." I looked at Naru before looking down at my lap as Naru parked the car infront of my apartment. "I... I didn't even want to really go on it anyways so I didn't care if I canceled it."
"Why?"
I looked up to find Naru staring at me. I swallowed thickly, gripping the fabric of my dress with my suddenly sweaty hands.
"Because... my feelings wouldn't let me." My feelings for you, I mentally added. Naru looked away and started to get out of the car. As he was doing so I heard him mumbled that I still must love Gene. I know he didn't intend for me to hear it, but I did. As Naru walked around the car to open my door, I quietly whispered to myself.
"It's not Gene who I love, Naru."
Gosh, Naru! Why you gotta be so dense?! Mai loves you! Haha. Sooo, SolemnPassive? How about it? Call off all the spirits? Though I've kinda gotta use to them being around... lol. And I know I ain't said anything about Mai graduating before but... just go with it ;P
Okay, so, I hope yall all review! It makes me so happy when you do and makes me want to update faster! Hehe ;) Until next time, sayonara!