12 October

"Madoka—"

"Sorry, Noll, I'm in a hurry. See you later!"

Noll glares at Madoka's rather quickly retreating back. It is apparent that she has been avoiding him since yesterday. He glances at his watch: 5:33 PM. The day is almost over; how much longer will she keep her farce up?

He recalls the direction his former mentor is heading. That hallway leads to Conference Room 2. Conference Room 2… If his memory serves right (and it always does), Dr. Hinnells briefly talked to Martin about it when he passed them by during lunchtime, mentioning others like Dr. Irving and Dr. Watson. All of them are alumni or current professors of Cambridge. They must be discussing the status of the parapsychology course in the university.

Given that Madoka and Martin are included, the meeting would most likely take around three hours. But as Dr. Hinnells is there, too, the two's segues will be reduced by a third. They should be done in two hours, then, if their discussion goes well.

That is more than enough time for Noll to finish up with his work or any requirements in his Master's program that he may have put off for more urgent matters and wait for Madoka in her office.

Madoka Mori sighs in satisfaction. The meeting didn't last as long as she expected. It's all thanks to Dr. Hinnells' initiative to facilitate it that the meeting only took a little over two hours. With the early dismissal, everyone left in a good mood. Martin even offered his house for dinner, and she would've accepted had she forgotten what happened yesterday.

Her mood sours with guilt. The poor, clueless boy, slapped out of the blue (and totally out of context) by his favorite assistant. To be fair, Madoka didn't expect Mai-chan to treat Noll with violence. If anything, Mai-chan seemed so excited to see her former boss that Madoka offered to bring her to Noll's office right away.

Why that reaction, then?

Madoka analyzes the event as she walks. Ever since Madoka suggested that Noll send Mai-chan some books to help her prepare for college, he has conscientiously sent a package for all of her birthdays. Then they must've kept in touch all these years. After all, Madoka and Mai-chan are regularly exchanging emails—No, wait. She stops walking as she ponders further. If Noll and Mai-chan are updated with each other, Mai-chan wouldn't ask about Noll in most of her emails. And she wouldn't address him so coldly—and vice versa, now that she thinks about it.

Could it be?

She rests a hand on her forehead. That's definitely what happened. Noll definitely cut all ties with Mai, all the while sending her a gift on her every birthday. He's not such a poor, clueless boy now.

Madoka hurries to her office. She'll have to take Martin's offer, after all, so she can talk with her former student. She opens her door to find Noll reading on the couch before her desk.

"Oh, speak of the devil," she says.

He looks up at her. "Devil? I am but human. Sorry to disappoint."

"Must you always be so sarcastic?" She puts her hands on her hips. "It seems like I haven't taught you enough."

"You have. I simply selected which ones to retain in my memory."

"Mind your manners, Noll."

"I am not a child anymore."

She smiles sweetly. "So don't act like one."

Noll glares at her, but she keeps her expression.

"—Why is she here?"

"Why is who here?"

"Mai."

"Hmm… so you didn't cut ties because of a fight, given that you haven't removed her existence from your life."

"What are you talking about?"

"I was wondering why you stopped communicating with her."

"I merely found no reason to maintain contact."

"And yet you sent her something on her birthday."

"You were the one who insisted I do it."

"Noll, I suggested it for her eighteenth birthday, not all of her birthdays."

He looks away.

"So," she presses on, "Why do you do it?" His response is to stand up and walk to the door. She blocks his escape. "I won't let you leave without answering."

He stands to his full height, towering over her. She remains unfazed. "I can use force."

"No, you can't."

"Try me."

"I try you."

They maintain eye contact until Noll finally sighs and crosses his arms.

"For an idiot like her, a brighter future for a gift is better than a single set of books."

Aww!

The little boy who used to categorize people as forgettable, stupid pumpkins and must-not-forget, not-so-stupid non-pumpkins is starting to grow up.

Madoka could almost cry.

But Noll ruins the moment. "Now tell me what Mai is doing here."

She beams at him. "If I told you, you two will have nothing to talk about when you meet again." She feels a small drop in her office's temperature. Knowing that this is Noll's version of a tantrum, she laughs and pats him on the shoulder. "Trust me; I'm doing you a favor."

Author's Notes: As always, thanks for reading/faving/following/reviewing! I'm down to my final examinations as a first year medical student, so things are still a bit hectic until the school year finishes next week. But once our vacations start I'll be able to concentrate on writing this fic. Please bear with me! DX The details about SPR and Cambridge are, of course, fictional. I've tried to research as much as I could, but I can only find so much info. If there are more accurate names/terms for the ones I'm using, please do tell me! :) Thanks!

Noll's classification of people (pumpkins and not pumpkins) is discussed more in the entry 'Bits of not much' in Kage Dreams' LiveJournal under the tag 'gh snippet'.

To End-Theory-Confirmed and Seth Vincent: Thanks so much for your patience! I hope you'll stay with Noll until he—

To darkgenius2003: Here you go! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters.