Veritas #1: Nightmares can affect your waking life too

Prologue: All Riled Up

The clock on the wall ticked in the silent room, the hands aligning perfectly on eight am. Naru smirked and raised one eyebrow, counting down mentally in time with the second hand. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

The outer door slammed against the inner wall as Mai arrived, six seconds late and windswept. She wrestled the office door back into its frame, fighting the winds that were responsible for her current unkempt appearance. Slumping against it, she paused to get her breath back, then straightened and threw her jacket and scarf onto the coat rack. Naru shook his head at her attempts to calm her hair and leaned against the doorframe of his office, waiting for her to notice his presence. She cursed under her breath as she resorted to pulling a band from her pocket, then jumped as she turned and saw him. He hid his smirk and shook his head at her. She could be so oblivious…

"Mai," he said, enjoying the fleeting look of panic that crossed her face as she tried to think why he'd be waiting for her. She started babbling before he could continue speaking, as he knew she would. It was why he had paused after saying her name; he rather enjoyed watching her expressions when she was flustered.

"Sorry I'm late Naru, it was really windy and I nearly got blown into the road twice, I swear half the people out there can't drive, and why is it always so busy this time in the morning, all you can hear are the car horns and people get so irate…"

He raised an eyebrow at her, and her breathless babble slowed to a stop. Yes, she was late, but even he wasn't picky enough to get upset about six seconds. He waited until she squinted at him quizzically, her head tilted to one side like a dog that's heard a high-pitched noise. She even wrinkled her nose in the same manner. He found her rather cute when she pulled that face, though he'd die before he told her so. He cleared his throat and nodded slightly towards the kitchen.

"Tea, Mai," he said, eyes firmly on her face.

What kind of mood was she in this morning? Would she roll her eyes and sigh loudly, proclaiming him to be an addict before flouncing off to the kitchen muttering thinly veiled insults under her breath? Or would her eyes widen that tiny amount before she nodded and hurried off to the kettle, apologising for taking so long? She tended to swing between the two extremes, and which he saw would determine how he dealt with her for the rest of the day. So sue him, watching his assistant all riled up was the most entertainment he got in the office. The monk and the miko dropping round to play coffee-morning didn't count – they were noisy, disruptive, and not cute in the slightest. Also, Mai was harder to irk when they were in the office.

Given her reactions so far this morning, he was betting on the flustered, apologetic Mai who ran to the kettle. He was right. She jogged into the kitchen, gathering her hair into a ponytail as she went. Naru returned to his office and sat behind his desk, opening a file on his computer and paying half a mind to the information it contained. The other half of his concentration was trained on the kitchen, where rattling and chinking noises told him how far along in the tea-making process Mai was. The whistle of the kettle sounded the readiness of the brew, and thirty seconds later he heard Mai's footsteps crossing the common area towards his office. He blinked and focussed on his computer as she rapped twice on his door, not waiting for an answer before pushing it open with her hip and entering. He paid her no mind as she placed the cup on the desk, hovering for a few seconds with a hopeful expression on her face. He knew what she was waiting for; when she was in one of her feistier moods, she would stand there for up to a minute, tapping her foot before snapping at him that manners never killed anybody and she would get a 'thank you' out of him one of these days, mark her words. It hadn't happened yet; it was a sure-fire way to rile her up and made the entire day more amusing.

In this current mood, she wouldn't confront him about it, and sure enough after seven seconds with no visible reaction to her presence in his office, she sighed and her shoulders sagged as she backed out of the room, closing the door behind her. He looked up as he heard it click shut and smirked, reaching out to take a sip of her tea. He'd never known anybody who could make the beverage as well as her, and today he'd be asking for multiple cups, but not because of the taste. It was a brilliantly easy way to annoy her, and that would take extra effort today due to her more subservient attitude. That would dissipate after another, ooh, three demands? He smirked and turned back to his file. Give it ten minutes.

The man sighed and rubbed at his temples, trying to erase the migraine that was gaining a foothold. The woman who'd just left his office was the third one today to come to him complaining of the same thing. They all used the same words too; early hours, interrupted sleep, screams and thumps… the list went on. He suspected that they had gotten together and decided to make his life difficult, but there wasn't a lot he could do about it. They were right. It did keep happening, and it was waking up most of the building at unsociable hours. What was more, it had been happening for a couple of years now. He was actually surprised the tenants had put up with it this long.

He ran his hands down his face and shook his head. He had no choice.

Yasu's case notes

Don't worry, we're just getting started. The entries will get longer, more stuff will happen, and all will become clear. I hope.

Next time: Mai gets pissed off, and Naru gets caught in the line of fire.