Author's Note: I'M SO SORRY! orz I have no excuses. Instead, I offer you two things: the fruits of Mai's four-year labor (AKA smart Mai) and a romance flag (finally). If you choose to stay with ROI despite my sucky scheduling, I'll love you forever!
Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters.
27 November
Sometimes, Noll wonders if he is being a pushover.
How in the world could he let himself get talked into this?
It does not matter that the request came from an elderly colleague in SPR; does not matter that she had once donated a tracking camera to his laboratory; does not matter that she had been helping him and Gene since they first joined SPR. He despises talking in front of people who, one, are probably going to pay more attention on his appearance than what he is talking about; two, are most probably pumpki—stupid; and three, would not benefit him or his research in any way.
But the elderly lady had once said, "I would love to see you give a lecture even once before I kick the bucket. Hohoho…" right before having a long, alarming coughing fit. He was given no room to decline.
Noll sighs as his colleague begins to introduce him. He is, without a doubt, being a pushover.
It is only recently that he began making public appearances in events not hosted by his laboratory's sponsors. Up until a year ago, Sir Dorey, the former head of SPR, has acted as his proxy in research symposia and academic gatherings. The original reason for this was his age: since Noll was only around fifteen when his first paper was published, the SPR head found it reasonable to represent him in front of prideful adults who would otherwise disregard a child's words. A second likely reason is that Sir Dorey wanted to safeguard the person who single-handedly revolutionized research in SPR—and therefore the future of SPR itself—as much as possible.
If Noll had been told directly instead of coming to that conclusion himself, he would have scoffed at the man in disgust. He is no one special; he just has an unquenchable desire to make sense of the unexplainable. That, and a highly functional brain. But as this arrangement spared him from wasting time on unnecessary pleasantries and let him focus on research, he allowed Sir Dorey the peace of mind and himself the convenience. Now that the man is dead, though, and Noll is already of respectable age, their colleagues see no reason to let him stay out of the limelight any longer than he has. Which brings him here.
Already feeling fed up with just the audience's applause, he walks to the podium.
Despite his earlier prejudice against the audience, it seems that a handful of students actually listened, and he is inclined to answer some of their more insightful questions at length.
"We have time for one last question. Is there anyone who—oh, yes, over there." As his colleague wraps up the question-and-answer part of his lecture, someone sitting near the back of the hall raises a hand. He is surprised to see Mai stand up.
No wonder Luella and Madoka were asking his former part-timer about London; that is where she is studying. The psychometric vision from seven weeks ago comes to mind. UCL, huh? Good job.
Once Mai reaches the microphone, she opens her notebook and trains her eyes on it. She clears her throat. "Good afternoon, Dr. Davis. I'm Mai Taniyama. Your lecture was thorough and very straightforward. You covered all of the recent findings that explain why people get hallucinations of spirits and feelings of presences, and your talk practically shattered all misconceptions about spiritual encounters. But throughout the lecture I kept feeling like something is off until I realized that you structured your lecture in a way that excludes explanations for true encounters."
Noll raises his eyebrows, surprised once more. He had indeed structured his lecture that way and has been waiting for someone to catch on, but for that someone to be Mai takes him aback. The Mai from five years ago would have felt that something is lacking through her intuition but would not be able to point out what or why she felt that way. This Mai, however, was able to notice and explain concisely how she came to her conclusion. How else has she changed? Noll decides to hold a few tests.
First, he sends out a challenge. "Oh? What makes you think that, Miss Taniyama?"
She accepts. "It's been proven that true spiritual encounters can also be attributed to very similar processes that cause hallucinations and feelings of presences, which is why—"
"Please support your claim." He then tries to intimidate. At his severe tone, a hush falls over the hall.
Mai hesitates, and for a moment he thinks she would yield. But after flipping through her notebook she continues to expound her claim. "In the past few years, Dr. Hinnells and his colleagues have discovered increasing scientific evidence and explanations for real spiritual experiences. They reported in their latest paper that certain altered states of consciousness allowed their test subjects to perceive a spirit, and an independent group of researchers was able to replicate the experiment with similar results." She finishes with an excited smile that disappears when she meets his gaze. "Of-Of course I'm not saying that your lecture is wanting, Dr. Davis! I just… wanted to know why you didn't mention true spiritual encounters…"
He tests her stubbornness next. "You are interested in parapsychology, I presume?"
She looks away. "It's dangerous for a… renowned scientist such as you to presume things, sir."
"But I am correct to presume as such?" he pushes.
"…Yes," she admits begrudgingly.
The corners of his lips quirk up into a small, amused smile. He is impressed with her ability to calmly stand her ground in a discourse. But the fact that she has not grown out of her stubbornness impresses him more. "Then it will please you to know that Dr. Hinnells and I have just finished a book on that very topic, for which he will give a lecture following its publication early next year. The scope of the topic will need two full hours to cover so I left that one to him—" A short wave of laughter comes from the audience. "—and focused instead on debunking widely known misconceptions on alleged spiritual encounters." A small bell rings, and his elderly colleague raises her hand to signal the end of his lecture time.
Mai visibly deflates at this, as if she regrets running out of time. Her disappointment confuses him. Why are you reacting like that when "you can schedule an appointment with me in SPR's Pratt Laboratory for the rest of your questions?" Noll freezes as the weight of the microphone and, apparently, his words sink in. Mai's widened eyes and parted lips confirm that he has unwittingly vocalized his thoughts.
"Thank you, Doctor. As Dr. Davis had said, there will be a related lecture for those interested…"
They stay rooted to their spots as all around them everyone gathers their things in a flurry of movement. The uncomfortable feeling of having miscalculated returns to him with a vengeance: it rushes to the forefront of his mind and firmly settles there, and he is certain that it will not abate this time until he fathoms it.
"…Again, please give a round of applause for Dr. Oliver Davis."
Noll extracts his gaze from Mai's to nod at the applauding audience, then heads straight for the exit after bidding his colleague a brisk goodbye. He had come into the lecture hall armed with all the answers, but he leaves it now with nothing but two questions.
What had he miscalculated?
And why was Mai blushing?
28 November
In light of the educational but disastrous lecture yesterday, Mai Taniyama became an instant celebrity, known to the whole Division of Psychology and Language Sciences as the woman who got invited to SPR by the gorgeous Dr. Davis.
"How did you do it?" and "Did he give you his number?" ask many of her classmates. A curt "I read and studied." and a snappier "No." are her only answers.
When another girl—this time a freshman—approaches her group of friends during lunchtime, she groans, lays her forearms on the table, and drops her head. "I wish I hadn't raised my hand."
One of her friends chuckles beside her. "You were so adamant on staying under his radar for some reason, but you just couldn't stop yourself from asking a question once it's stuck in your head, could you?" Her friend shakes their head dramatically. "You and your brilliant mind."
Mai raises her head and narrows her eyes at them. "…I don't know if you're being serious or sarcastic."
"What do you think?"
"I think I don't want to think anymore."
"I heard you used to be like that. You miss being stupid?"
Cries of amazement and chants of "Mai just got roasted! RIP!" erupt. Seeing her friends' teasing grins, Mai can only slam her head onto her forearms again in surrender. She closes her eyes.
She does feel stupid.
She's been avoiding Naru this whole time because she was sure that he's mad at her. After all, who wouldn't be, when the first thing someone does to you after five years is slap you out of nowhere? While she feels a little guilty, she plans to keep her promise to herself on her twenty-first birthday: go to the United Kingdom, slap Naru, and never ever apologize for it. She's listed to herself the possible consequences of her actions, from Naru's wrath, to a temporary restraining order, to being blasted by his PK, to getting deported back to Japan for assault. That's why she makes sure to stay out of his life now that she'd done what she came here to do.
Their interactions so far, however, have been nothing but civil, rendering her at a loss on how to act around him when they do cross paths. And as usual when it comes to Naru, all she's left with are questions. Why isn't he mad? Does he think he deserves it, or does he just not care? How would she feel for either answer? Why did he act like they don't know each other only to publicly invite her to meet with him? If he's not mad, then what does he feel toward her?
"You can schedule an appointment with me in SPR's Pratt Laboratory for the rest of your questions."
She feels her face heat up as all kinds of implications run through her mind, and she's glad that her arms obscure her face.
Naru hasn't changed at all, still an idiot scientist and still dragging her into dangerous, uncomfortable situations just like before.
But she's realizing that she, too, hasn't changed at all, still doing idiotic things she'll regret and still unable to resist being affected by him even after all these years.