Woohoo! Another fast update (I think) and 13 reviews for the last chapter :) Okay, so this chapter will be in Naru's POV. I didn't plan this chapter but someone requested Naru's POV so here it is! So this one is dedicated to dancingfingers (For requesting it)
Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt!
Naru's POV
I sat at my desk trying to get some work done before Madoka and my parents come barging in here and refuse to let me do any. I was still angry over their behaviour in front of Mai last night. They tell me I'm rude, but I would never do what they did to someone. I thought Father and Lin would have the decency not to do it, but I guess I was wrong. I'm not surprised about Mother and Madoka though. I'm never surprised at Mother and Madoka. When Gene was alive they were like the three musketeers, only more mischievous.
Gene would probably be laughing his head off at some of the things that have been happening right about now. All while calling me an 'idiot scientist' as he does. I shook my head at the memories that threatened to surface. I shouldn't be thinking about him now, I have other things I need to focus on like how to get rid of my parents. But now they already have their mind set on coming to Mai's graduation, which means if they're going to attend it I'm going to have to also. I didn't even know about it until she suddenly brought it up at dinner. Why am I interested in that anyway? It's not like—
I heard a knock on my door, bringing me out of my thoughts. I looked up to find Lin in the doorway.
"I need to talk to you." He declared as he entered without even seeking permission to do so.
"About what, may I ask?"
"About this phony story you told your parents about seeing Mai."
I mentally sighed. Why doesn't it surprise me that he knows? "I don't have time to talk about this..." I tried to get out of it.
"Well tough, we're going to talk about it." Lin informed. I leaned back into my chair.
"What's there to talk about?" I asked dryly.
"Well firstly there's the fact you lied to your parents, then you brought Mai into your lie and convinced her to go along with it. If you get caught I am not bailing you out."
I narrowed my eyes. "I'm not expecting you to. Tell me how exactly did you know of this in the first place?"
"Oh, please, Naru. I spend most of my working day around you two, do you honestly think I wouldn't notice if something had changed between the two of you?" Lin asked me. "Not to mention the fact that whatever you tell Luella goes straight to Madoka and then to me. The question really is how long did you think you would be able to fool people?"
"It's been three days already and everyone still believes Mai and I are dating." I replied nonchalantly.
"Yeah, until Mai slips up. I know about the restaurant incident, Madoka told me what Luella told her and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that, that poor young man who your parents now think is stalking Mai was actually supposed to be her date."
For some reason I couldn't help but clench my fists until my knuckles turned white as he said that. "Mai isn't dating that guy; she told me she didn't want to go on a date with him in the first place. And if Mai happens to slip up... Well, that's why I'm thinking of an alternative plan."
"Do you... are you jealous?" Lin asked. "Are you jealous of the guy Mai agreed to go on a date with?" A sly look came over his face. My eyes widened a fraction before I looked away and scowled.
"Don't be ridiculous. Why would I be?" Lin just shrugged and smirked a little. Then I heard the front door crash open announcing Madoka's arrival, most likely with my parents.
"Lin! Noll! We're here!" Madoka's voice boomed through the office. "Where are you?"
"Hiding from you." I mumbled under my breath. Lin shook his head at me before going to greet Madoka and my parents. I reluctantly got up from my chair and decided to follow Lin before Mother and Madoka had a chance to come and drag me out unwillingly. Madoka was hugging the life out of Lin when I entered the main room and I wasn't sure if I should back away before she saw me and gave me a hug too. Before I had a chance to decide Mother came and trapped me in a hug.
"Mother!" I growled.
"What, a mother can't hug her son?!"
"You didn't hug me, you ambushed me."
"Oh, Noll! These last few days have been the first I've seen you in almost a year! Give your mother a break and stop complaining."
"You know, son, she's right. We haven't seen you in a while and she does miss you terribly. You're all she talks about at home. Maybe you should take it like a man, eh?" Father suggested. I sighed exasperatedly. Mother and Madoka then insisted I sit in the main room with them as they had made me do the day before. I found that it's better to go along with whatever they want—as long as it's not too absurd—than having to hear them whine and complain about it. I sat in my armchair and waited for the hours until Mai's arrival to roll by. I swore to myself I wasn't going to call her this time just because Mother and Madoka are annoying me to death. But after several hours I had to. Thankfully Mai came quickly and after a slight argument about the previous day I reluctantly agreed to let her go out with the two troublesome women again after they promised to let me call whenever I liked. I breathed a slight sigh of relief after they'd left.
"Do you really think that was a good idea?" Lin asked blankly as he stared at the door they just went through.
"Absolutely not." I answered. "But Father insisted. Mind you, he could probably use some peace from Mother too."
"Right, now your mother's out of the way, who's for a game of poker?" Father asked. Lin and I turned our gaze on Father and just stared at him. Father just shrugged and produced a deck of cards from his jacket.
"Texas hold'em okay for you boys?" He questioned as he shuffled the cards expertly. I sighed and stiffly nodded. He dealt the cards out and allowed us to study what we'd been dealt.
"What are we playing for?" Lin asked.
"How about work hours?" Father suggested. Lin nodded in agreement then they turned to look at me.
I thought about it for a moment. "Alright."
"I'll keep score." Lin announced before quickly going and getting his laptop and setting it up on the end of the table we weren't using.
"Right, the small ante is one hour, large is two. Minimum bet is two hours." Father announced as he looked at each of us with a glint in his eye before his face went completely blank. 'Damn, he's been practicing, now I'll never get a read on him.'
As I was to Father's left I automatically had the small ante and Lin had the big one. Lin typed this one-handed into the computer before we studied our cards. I have to say, mine was a pretty good hand. There was no way I was going to lose my working hours.
Father started to deal out the community cards once we had all decided what we were doing, whether we were staying in or folding. Our bets continued to increase until the end of the round. I was really confident I could win.
"I'm going all-in. A full week's worth of office hours says I can win." I declared.
"Are you sure, son?" Father asked. I nodded. Even Lin was looking at me warily. I mentally smirked but my outer appearance remained blank. I had two kings and there were two tens in the community cards, I couldn't lose!
Lin and Father decided to also bet a full week of office hours meaning when I won they would either have to stay away from the office and accompany Mother and Madoka or sit and read instead and I don't mean anything that could help them in their work, no they would have to read something like romance novels or some other form of fiction. Well, I guess that's just the way these things go.
As soon as we'd finished betting it was time for the big showdown. I decided not to embarrass them immediately and let them go first.
"Four of a kind." Lin stated as he showed us his two tens that he'd been dealt. Okay, this isn't good, but surely I've beaten Father.
"That's very good, Lin, but not good enough I'm afraid. Straight flush." Father declared as he placed the eight and nine of hearts on the table to go with the ten, seven and jack of hearts in the community cards.
"I... I lost." I couldn't believe it. I decided to go ring Mai to calm myself. Though if they're doing something that would get them into trouble there would be no way that I could calm down.
I dialled and waited. I was relieved slightly when Mai picked up. She gave me an in-depth description of what their tea party had been like and just managed to tell me they were about to go see a movie and would be back afterwards when Mother must've taken the phone from her. She cheerily called down the phone that Mai was fine before hanging up on me. I stared at the phone blankly.
"Everything's okay on their end?" Father asked me. I nodded and flopped back in my chair.
"Mai said they'll be back in a couple hours." I informed them. Lin and Father nodded. I just hope they do what Mai said they were, knowing Mother and Madoka they'll try and do something else. I started to feel restless at the thought.
"—oll! Noll!" I looked up to find Father trying to get my attention.
"Hmm? What?"
He sighed. "I said don't worry about them too much... but it seems you already are."
"Can you honestly blame me?"
Father leaned back in the sofa and rubbed the back of his neck. He opened and closed his mouth a few times unable to say anything.
"I would say it'd be okay since Mai's with them but..." Lin spoke. We all sighed and shook our heads knowing full well what our women were capable of unattended.
"Remember that time your mother brought home that dog?" Father reminisced.
"Don't remind me." I stated, scowling.
"That's nothing compared to some of the things Madoka has done." Lin informed.
"Mai can be just as bad though, running off without a thought." I added. "Why do they do it?"
"Well, son, I have been married to your mother for nearly thirty years, and I still can't bloody figure her out!" Father told us. We just talked for about an hour or two back and forth. I looked at my watch and realized that the girls' movie must be over by now. I decided to call Mai again to make sure they were coming straight here. Immediately a robotic lady chimed in.
"The person you are calling is unable to take your call. Please leave a message aft..." I hung up and growled.
This had gotten Lin and Father's attention. "You couldn't reach Mai?"
"No." I frowned.
"I'm sure everything's okay, Noll." It sounded like Father was trying to convince himself also and not just me.
"Maybe try her again in a few minutes." Lin suggested. I nodded and did just that.
"The person you are calling is unable..." I slammed the phone back down.
"Where the hell could she be?!" I started pacing.
"Noll—"
"I wouldn't, Professor, he's like this all the time when it concerns Mai."
I turned and glared at him.
"Noll, sit down for goodness sake. They'll be back soon, I'm sure." Father chided. I did as I was told.
Gene's POV
The ladies had decided to watch some really girly romance film. I pity Mai, I really do, she doesn't know what Mother and Madoka are like during girly films. I decided to skip out on the movie and go back to the office with the guys. There was no way I was going to endure two hours of that drivel with kissing and all that nonsense. I mean please, Mai and Noll will do just fine for a romance movie plot and it's interactive!
When I got there I wasn't surprised to see Father has bust out a deck of cards and insisted they play poker. I'll bet he's convinced them to bet how many work hours they'll lose too.
As Noll was to Father's left he automatically had the small ante and Lin had the big one. Lin typed this one-handed into the computer before they studied their cards. I looked at the screen, so Noll has already lost an hour and Lin has lost two, okay. I looked at their cards over their shoulders. So Lin and Noll are level with a pair of cards each but Father might struggle as he has the eight and nine of hearts.
Father started to deal out the community cards once they had all decided what they were doing, whether they were staying in or folding. Their bets continued to increase until the end of the round. Noll was really confident he could win. I took another look at everyone's cards. Oh dear, Noll's lost, I hope he doesn't do anything rash or stupid.
"I'm going all-in. A full week's worth of office hours says I can win." He declared. 'You Idiot! Haven't you learned by now that most likely Father is cheating?! You know he's only doing this to get you to stop working right?'
"Are you sure, son?" Father asked. Noll nodded. Even Lin was looking at him warily. He mentally smirked but his outer appearance remained blank. He thought that because he had two kings and there were two tens in the community cards he couldn't lose. Moron! This is where overconfidence gets you.
Lin and Father decided to also bet a full week of office hours meaning if Noll won they would either have to stay away from the office and accompany Mother and Madoka or sit and read instead and I don't mean anything that could help them in their work, no they would have to read something like romance novels or some other form of fiction. Then again it can be quite entertaining watching Father or Lin trying to read a Mills and Boon novel that Mother or Madoka have so generously provided. They usually question everything about the story and then go on to make points about how absurd some of the plot is and how it wouldn't happen in a million years.
As soon as they'd finished betting it was time for the big showdown. Noll decided not to embarrass them immediately and let them go first.
"Four of a kind." Lin stated as he showed us his two tens that he'd been dealt. 'Okay, this isn't good, but surely I've beaten Father.' Noll thought. 'Guess again, idiot. Seriously and you're supposed to be the smart one!'
"That's very good, Lin, but not good enough I'm afraid. Straight flush." Father declared as he placed the eight and nine of hearts on the table to go with the ten, seven and jack of hearts in the community cards. 'I tried to warn you Noll. Now it will be you who has to read non-work related books or accompany the ladies places. Sure Lin lost too but I think Father will be willing to overlook that small detail as you were the target in the first place.'
"I... I lost." Noll couldn't believe it. He decided to go ring Mai to calm himself. Though if they're doing something that would get them into trouble there would be no way that he could calm down.
He dialled and waited. He was relieved slightly when Mai picked up. She gave him an in-depth description of what their tea party had been like and just managed to tell him they were about to go see a movie and would be back afterwards when Mother must've taken the phone from her. She cheerily called down the phone that Mai was fine before hanging up on him. Noll stared at the phone blankly. 'Now there's a surprise, Mother reneging on her phone deal with Noll... not!'
"Everything's okay on their end?" Father asked him. Noll nodded and flopped back in his chair. I did the same.
"Mai said they'll be back in a couple hours." Lin and Father nodded. 'I just hope they do what Mai said they were, knowing Mother and Madoka they'll try and do something else though.' Noll started to feel restless at the thought. 'I could've told you this would happen but don't worry I'll check in on what they're doing!'
"—oll! Noll!" I looked up to find Father trying to get Noll's attention.
"Hmm? What?"
He sighed. "I said don't worry about them too much... but it seems you already are."
"Can you honestly blame me?"
Father leaned back in the sofa and rubbed the back of his neck. He opened and closed his mouth a few times unable to say anything. 'Yep, guess you are just as flummoxed as we are. Although you are married to Mother I guess so you've had a lot more practice.'
"I would say it'd be okay since Mai's with them but..." Lin spoke. We all sighed and shook our heads knowing full well what our women were capable of unattended.
"Remember that time your mother brought home that dog?" Father reminisced.
"Don't remind me." Noll stated, scowling. 'Ooh, I remember, it was mangy and covered in fleas and yet Mother proclaimed it was the sweetest thing in the world and just needed a good home. It took an instant dislike to Noll if I remember correctly.'
"That's nothing compared to some of the things Madoka has done." Lin informed. 'I'll bet, how you keep up with her we'll never know.'
"Mai can be just as bad though, running off without a thought." Noll added. "Why do they do it?" 'Because they can?'
"Well, son, I have been married to your mother for nearly thirty years, and I still can't bloody figure her out!" Father told us. 'Who could is my question? I don't think even a psychologist would want to touch that one.'
"You obviously haven't been around Madoka long enough then, I think she trumps Luella by a mile." Lin said. 'Ohh, I don't know, I think they're pretty even.'
"No, no, the worst is Mai." Noll informed. "The girl trips over fresh air and then blames me for looking at her as the cause of it." 'Who wouldn't blame you, you're very distracting.'
"She has resilience, I'll give her that." Lin added. "I don't think I've ever seen someone continue an argument with you after it's obviously over like she does." 'Well...'
"You're telling me and the names she comes out with, where does she get them from?" Noll replied. 'You know, I think...'
"Is Mai really that bad?" Father asked. 'In my opinion...'
Noll just snorted. "Trouble magnet I believe is the team name for her."
Lin nodded. 'Now come on, it's...'
"Oh? And why's that?"
"A shoerack… no, two shoeracks, a well, a sewer, water, being possessed by a kid and then running off with no coat on in the middle of winter... need I go on, Lin, or was there more?" Noll listed. 'That's not...'
"Chloroform, an entire floor followed by the ceiling, I can't remember what else but that's when she's outside the office." Lin pointed out. 'You're not being very fair to her are you?! Finally, I managed to get a full sentence out without you interrupting!'
Father's eyes were nearly popping out. "You mean to say that..."
Noll and Lin just nodded. Father shook his head in disbelief.
"Trust me, if there's anything to fall over or even if there's not, Mai will find a way to injure herself." 'It gives you something to do other than look over your stuffy files though, doesn't it?!'
I decided to rejoin the ladies as they were probably more fun. I got there right in the middle of the movie. It had to be one of the most romantic romance movies I've ever seen. This one had so much in it that it was unreal and so corny. It didn't really help when Mother and Madoka gasped, gaped, or clutched each other's arms when something 'interesting' happened. Mai mentally sighed. 'I guess I'm being bitter about the movie because my own love life is down the drain right now. I mean, come on, I can't date anyone because I'm in love with my boss who thinks I'm in love with his dead, twin brother but yet I'm pretending to be my boss' girlfriend to make his parents leave him alone about having one... I should write my own book!' 'Hahaha, yeah you should! I think that would make an excellent movie plot.'
"Oh, I just loved the way David proposed!" Madoka squealed happily. That's right, the main guy's name was David which reminded Mai of Davis. I can't stop snorting with laughter at that.
"I'm so glad Marilyn accepted though after everything that happened." Mother said, relieved. And for some reason the girl's name reminded Mai of her own so that didn't help neither. I was snapped out of my reverie, however, by Mai bumping into someone as we were walking.
"Hey, watch it you little—" 'Is that any way to speak to someone?!'
"Oh, I'm so sor—" They stopped and looked at each other. "Ayako?" 'Oh, so it is.'
"Mai?" Ayako blinked, surprised then she looked behind Mai and smirked. "Spending time with Naru's mother I see." The sly way she said it made Mai blush and nod slowly from being embarrassed. 'So? What of it?'
"Ah, Ayako! Funny running into you here!" Madoka exclaimed as she and Mother stopped beside me and Mai. We had been walking a few steps ahead of them.
"Yeah, it is." Ayako agreed. "I was just getting off from work." Ayako started working part-time at one of her parents' hospitals a few months ago. She, thankfully, still goes on cases with them. Since it is her parents' hospital, she can take a few days off to come with them. As Mai was about to speak she was interrupted by a loud growl. Ayako blinked and put a hand over her stomach. "Sorry. I've barely eaten anything today." She confessed. 'And she claims to be a doctor!'
"Well, we can't have that now, can we?" Mother asked.
"Of course not! How about we all go eat dinner?" Madoka grinned, causing Ayako to laugh. 'Looks like the guys predicted this one.'
"Sounds great." They all looked at Mai for her answer. Mai gave them an apologetic look.
"I don't know... I mean I already told Naru we'd be back at the office after the movie. And I don't think he trusts us that much after what happened yesterday..." 'Good girl, you tell them!'
Mother just rolled her eyes. "Just call him and tell him we'll be a little late."
"What happened yesterday?" I heard Ayako ask Madoka. So she began telling her all that had happened as they started walking off. Mai was hesitant but finally agreed and Mother, Mai, and I caught up with them. After sometime Mai took out her phone to call Noll, only to find that it was dead. 'Great, just great! Naru's probably going to be mad!' She thought, sighing. 'You're right there, he's already worried sick about you.
Once we arrived back at the office, Mai took a deep breath and braced herself before she slowly opened the office door with Mother and Madoka behind her. Noll stood up from the sofa with a glare when he saw us walk in. He came towards us, and Father and Lin stood up and walked over to Mother and Madoka. 'Uh-oh, looks like they're planning their escape before Noll starts on them again.'
"Where the hell have you been?" Noll asked coldly. I flinched and so did Mai. "You should've been here almost two hours ago."
"W-well, we ran into Ayako on the way here and then we went and ate dinner together." What Mai said just seemed to make Noll's glare harden. Behind me I heard Madoka ask if they had ate yet. Father said they did about an hour ago. 'Well, at least it's not hunger making him grumpy. Have you burped him and checked he hasn't soiled himself… oh, wait, that's babies isn't it? My mistake!'
"Why didn't you call me then?" Before she got to answer Mother meekly walked between them.
"Um, Noll, we're going to go back to the hotel now. I think everyone's had a tiring day." She said. Mai's mouth mentally dropped. 'That better not just be an excuse to leave before Naru yells at them again.' She thought. 'Sadly, yeah it is!' They were out the door saying their goodbyes for the night before Noll could even reply. After they scurried out the door, Lin went into his office.
'Traitors!' Mai thought. 'Maybe Naru will go easier on me since his parents aren't here and he doesn't have to act like he is so worried about me but he isn't.' He still glared and spoke coldly. 'Noll, lighten up, she's back safe isn't she?'
"Well?"
"My phone died..." Mai replied as Noll went and sat back down. He put his elbow on the arm rest and placed his head in his hand.
"That's why you weren't answering your phone." I heard him mumble lowly. 'He tried to call her? Of course he did, he was worried sick about her when I left.' I sat down across from him on the other sofa and Mai did the same.
"I'm sorry... Luella told me to call you after I was hesitant to agree. I didn't try and call until we were walking to the restaurant. By the time I found out it was dead, it was kinda too late... I wouldn't have been able to convince your mother and Madoka." Mai explained. Noll sighed but said nothing for a while. I guess he knows how the situation Mai was in was. Although considering the fact we grew up with them…
"Lin knows." He said a lot more quieter and calmer. Mai blinked and furrowed her eyebrows. "He knows what I'm doing. Fooling my parents. He told me this morning before they got here."
"Oh..." Mai replied surprised. "Is he going to tell them?" Noll shook his head.
"No. He said I lied and got into this mess by myself, so I'm going to have to get out of it." 'I don't blame him!'
"How did he find out?"
"He said last week when I told Mother, she told Madoka, and then Madoka called Lin to ask him why he hadn't told her sooner. Lin said he immediately knew that it was a lie but most likely knew why I said we were dating so he just decided to play along."
"How did he know it was a lie?"
"He claimed that no matter what there would've been a change in our behaviour if we truly were dating. Lin's always around us, I'm not the slightest bit surprised he knows." Noll replied. Mai nodded, having nothing else to say, and looked around the office when her eyes landed on her desk.
"Do you want me to do any work since I'm here?" Mai got up and walked over to it. 'Don't you dare...' Noll shook his head again. 'Thank goodness, I was afraid you were going to say yes just then.'
"No, you should just go home and get ready for school tomorrow." Mai snapped her head towards him. She thought for sure he'd want her to do something. Noll stood and walked to the door and beckoned her over. "Come on, I'll take you home." Is he sick or something? Two nights in a row? Mai decided not to comment on it though and just enjoy it. 'Oh, Noll, you gentleman.'
"You know, Naru... I don't know what you said to everyone to make them apologize like that... but thank you." Mai smiled at him and walked out. Too bad she missed the small smile he gave her in return. 'Careful, Noll, your emotions are showing.'
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