A/N: This is Lin's POV of this story. Next chapter is seen from Mai's POV. Warning for some very slight suggestive themes.

Also: italicized sentences are spoken in English.

What Does 'Soba' Stand For?

Koujo Lin is a fastidious man. Keenness and hawk-like observance were necessary characteristics to have for someone in his line of work as he takes a silent watch over multiple screens all day in order to detect the slightest variation in temperature, movement, or sounds. But although his sharp wit allowed him to sort through all gathered data and analyze it carefully to arrive at a logical conclusion, it wasn't always the case. As such, the current curious situation he found himself in left him in a stump. Lately he's felt that the aura around the office has changed, but as to what and how exactly, he couldn't place.

The change had been very gradual, although to give credit to his abilities, he was able to approximate that it began about a year ago since their return to JSPR. Noll's demeanor, although still brusque and pointed toward his colleagues, had began to lose its edge. Lin was sure only he was the one keen enough to observe such a minor change. Additionally, he had long suspected Noll having a soft spot for their spunky part-timer (perhaps because she was so much like Gene), but it still surprised him greatly at how much Noll seemed to get caught up in the whirlwind of her emotions, sometimes antagonizing her to elicit a response, and sometimes getting antagonized himself by her equally pointed remarks. What was amusing to him was how Noll had managed to switched the roles. Before it had been Gene who would start arguments; now he seemed to have taken on the mantle and throw it back to his brother's successor.

That particular Saturday morning started out completely normal. He woke up at four, as usual, and began his morning Tai Chi routine (on his own now, although Noll used to train under him when they stayed in the same hotel when they first arrived in Japan). He ate his morning breakfast consisting of sauteed vegetables and bland oatmeal, showered, and then left for work. To his surprise, he was the first one to arrive in the office. This was the first deviation from the usual. As soon as he opened the door, he closed it behind him and walked straight toward their kitchenette to make himself a cup of tea, willing to bet on the fact that at least his fellow co-worker Taniyama-san would come in very late as usual. As he set the kettle down and rapped his fingers on the counter top, the summer sun starting to come through their office windows and illuminating the small room in a warm, yellowish hue, he hummed a simple tune to himself. It was very still and peaceful. Perhaps if he got here early on a daily basis he can do his Tai Chi here instead of his apartment. The silence made him recall that the noise level in the office had also gone down dramatically as of late. Taniyama-san and Yasuhara-san still kept at their usual antics and was still loud as usual, but quite honestly it was Taniyama-san's daily spat with their boss that brought out the worst in her otherwise cheerful behavior. If only Noll would stop antagonizing the girl. He'd meant to bring it up with him during their weekly one-on-one meetings but always thought against it, thinking it best to let the two enjoy themselves somehow. After all, no one could possibly keep doing the same things over and over unless they found some enjoyment out of it. He sighed.

The office door suddenly opened and in came his young boss. Noll gave no indication of surprise or irritation for being the second to arrive, but merely nodded to him and grunted, "Morning," in English as he closed the door behind him. Lin calmly observed his placid face and simply nodded in reply. Deviation number two of the day: greeting. Usually the two would just share a quiet nod and go about their usual ways.

"Would you like some tea as well?" he asked, motioning toward the water he's boiled. Noll nodded and noticing that his cuff was unbuttoned, set to fastening it. Lin couldn't help but notice that the top-most button on Noll's shirt was also unbuttoned, but didn't see the need to inform him. He mentally noted deviation number three: Noll's slightly unkempt appearance.

They spent a few minutes in silence as they steeped their tea before parting ways at the precipice of Noll's office door. Before walking in, Noll turned to him and said, "Today is Mr. Higgs' last day. He'll stop by briefly to collect a few things, then you will drive him to the airport and make sure he doesn't miss his flight."

"Of course." After hearing the click of the door, Lin sat down the couch in the main office, preferring to enjoy his fresh cup of Jasmine in the bright main room rather than his small dark office, which was even more crowded now that he's had to share it with Mr. Higgs for the past three months. Mr. Higgs was a researcher from the BSPR branch who had been tasked to join their smaller JSPR office temporarily as part of a growth enrichment program. As the brand of SPR ventures into globalization, the upper heads decided that sending scientists to other parts of the world would highly benefit the culture of their company, allowing scientists the opportunity to experience a broader variety of paranormal phenomena, and hopefully redistribute the knowledge, tips, and tricks each branch possesses for the rest.

There was nothing wrong with the forty something year old man, but Lin observed that his stiff personality and arrogant airs alienated both their Japanese co-workers (and it surely didn't help that his Japanese was very wanting). But out of the two, it was Taniyama-san who seemed to bear the full brunt of Mr. Higgs' mildly unlikable personality, not that he blamed him. Taniyama-san did have a knack for being clueless and stubborn, and unfortunately would somehow always find a way to unconsciously inconvenience the British man. In the first week of his arrival, Mr. Higgs and Taniyama-san were left alone for a few hours while he and Noll brought the van in for repairs. When they got back they found Mr. Higgs and Taniyama-san sharing a very awkward silence, both obviously quite miffed at each other. Later on the day he found out from Mr. Higgs that he spent thirty minutes trying to communicate to her that her help was needed in translating the newspaper clipping related to a case he was reviewing, but she had been unable to properly get the information across.

"Unsurprising since Taniyama-san's weakness is English, after all," Lin thought. It amused him that later that same day he heard Taniyama-san complain to Yasuhara-san how it was possible that anybody could make him, the stone-faced Lin, seem ten times more approachable than the British man. He was snapped out of his thoughts when the main office door opened and in came her sonorous greeting. "Good morning, Lin-san!"

Lin nodded toward her and took another sip of his tea. Deviation number four: she came in early, just five minutes after Noll, making it the earliest she's ever arrived at the office.

-0000-

Lin was sitting in his office chair, in mid conversation with the British man. When he was speaking with fellow Brits, Mr. Higgs was actually quite sociable. Perhaps, Lin theorized, it was the language barrier that kept him from engaging properly with the others.

"Oh chap, I absolutely cannot wait to get back home. Although Japan had been extremely wonderful, one can't help but pine for home sweet home, eh?" he said in his usual slow, deliberate manner, his accent sounding very posh.

"Indeed. We're honored to have you stay with us for so long and I hope we have been able to show you some new things."

"Oh yes, yes, quite. I did learn quite a lot. The cases we've had were all very interesting and I can't wait to get started on the reports for those. Ah, goodness, will you look at the time. I've two hours at most. Best get this exit interview then."

Lin stood up and escorted the older man out of his office, walking him to the office next door where Noll was sitting patiently. Based on his initial reading of Noll's features: mildly furrowed brows, cross legged coupled with crossed arms across his chest, it was obvious that he was irritated at having to do the formality of an exit interview. Lin nodded toward him and ushered Mr. Higgs inside before closing the door behind him to give them privacy. With his own office being unfavorable to him, he decided to sit back down on the main sofa. His mind was definitely not in the mood for writing or reading at the moment. Instead he found himself quietly observing Yasuhara-san and Taniyama-san, who were both currently working on sorting through some files. It seemed to him that Taniyama-san's mind was also not in the game as Yasuhara kept prodding her side saying that she put the file under the wrong header. She smiled sheepishly and apologized.

After a while, the young man tutted. "What's going on, Mai-san? You keep sighing and staring off into the distance. Fantasizing about a guy? Come to think of it, you're also wearing quite the daring outfit. Are you going on a date later?" he teased.

The girl flushed and cried, "No, what? Are you talking about this tank top? This is hardly date material though!"

"I disagree. Chic and sensual. I like it." The glint in Yasuhara's eyes made Lin uncomfortable. Although now that he looked at it, seeing Taniyama-san in this outfit made him conscious of his own masculinity as well as he traced the curves of her bare, petite shoulders, to her slightly exposed back. The tightness of the cloth against her small frame accentuated her femininity as her chest jutted out to a modest point. Lin coughed to dispel his thoughts away.

"Really, Mai-san," Yasuhara continued, seemingly unaware of Lin's presence in the room. "You should wear that around more often."

"H-hey! I-I know it's inappropriate, but I just didn't have any other change of clothes..."

"I believe she had just worn that shirt yesterday," Lin thought to himself. He recalled that yesterday she was wearing a looser white shirt on top, and when she waved her arms around the straps and bottom part of the tank top she was currently wearing peeked through. He figured he should say something to Taniyama-san to extricate her from Yasuhara's sneakily lecherous stares, but stopped short when the door to Noll's office opened. The two occupants walked out.

"Well that's that, eh, Oliver? I daresay the few weeks have really sped by. Thank you again for allowing me to become a part of this team, although temporarily. I'll pack the rest of my small things here in the office and then I'll be headed out." Noll nodded and asked Mai to get them some tea in the meantime. Mr. Higgs quickly interjected and asked for coffee instead as he needed a 'pick-me-up' so that he can get started with his reports while on the plane, and then disappeared into his shared office space. Lin caught Naru looking towards his assistant and was confused when he saw an unknown glint in his young charge's eyes. What did that mean? But before he could gather more data, Noll had made his way over to Mr. Higgs and leaned against the door frame with arms crossed, suddenly restarting his conversation with him.

As Mai finished her preparations and carefully made her way towards the table, passing nearby Noll on the way, the usually stoic young man cryptically mused, "Soba sounds good again for tonight." Lin assumed he was still addressing the comment towards Mr. Higgs and wondered what in the world possessed him to choose that subject matter out of the blue. But then at those words, Taniyama-san suddenly froze and turned red all the way to her ears before setting the cups down, obviously trying her very best to not look her boss in the face. Deviations five and six.

"Ah, soba, you say? I heard that is just the perfect thing to eat during these warm summer nights. Did you have yourself a plate of Soba last night, Oliver?"

Lin's confusion mounted higher when Noll's smirk widened as he answered, "Why yes, I did enjoy it last night." Taniyama-san had coughed and ran back to her desk to busy herself with filing. As Noll and Mr. Higgs continued their small chat, something nagged at the back of Lin's head. Suddenly he realized the discrepancy. Why had Noll spoken those words in Japanese if he had meant to address Mr. Higgs? Unless it was a slip of the tongue, since he's been switching between the two languages constantly these past few months, but that was unlikely. Noll's mastery of both languages left no room for error. He pulled out his phone and opened up a text field.

Madoka, this is Lin. It might amuse you to know that Noll suddenly quipped that 'soba sounds good again for tonight'. I cannot comprehend his meaning, nor his reasoning for randomly spouting out these words. As I'm sure you're aware, he's not particularly loquacious and therefore this comes as a surprise. I can only surmise this is some kind of code. Do please let me know if you're familiar with any slang that might be related to soba. Thanks, Lin.

He sent the text and hoped it will be all illuminated for him later.

Noll and Mr. Higgs made their way toward the coffee table once all his belongings were securely packed. Before sitting down, Noll raised his brow and addressed his assistant, "Mai. I believe Mr. Higgs asked for coffee. You have given him tea."

"A-ah! Oh no, I'm sorry, I'll take it back and make him a new one right away!" the girl scrambled, but Mr. Higgs held out his hand and said in broken Japanese that there was no need, but there was certainly some hint of irritation in his voice. The poor girl, most likely unable to take any more from the older man, resigned and shrunk back down into her chair. She's given him a very bad impression throughout his entire stay. A most unfortunate, although astounding feat.

Eventually the hour of Mr. Higgs' departure arrived. When it came to say goodbyes, Mr. Higgs warmly expressed his gratitude to the team (even toward Yasuhara), speaking in his native tongue and thus by default becoming more friendly and open. But when it came to Mai, he switched back to Japanese and spoke slowly, as if to a child. "Sayonara, Taniyama-san." It was almost comical the way Taniyama-san's eyes and mouth opened in a slight shock at this special treatment of her, her veins popping out in anger on her forehead, but to her credit she was able to responded politely.

When he led the English man out the door, he heard Noll ask Mai to go into his office, his voice stern. Lin assumed it would be the usual argument behind closed doors over her lackadaisical attitude as of late, but thankfully he wouldn't be around for a while to hear them. Yasuhara would be the only witness.

-0000-

After dropping off Mr. Higgs and escorting him through the terminals, Lin headed back to the office, hoping to finally have the energy to get back to work. As he made his way upstairs, his phone vibrated. He took it from his pocket and read Madoka's reply.

Lin! Txts shld be short and not formal! idk what Soba means. Ill ask mai later if u want?. Lin sighed. This was going to weigh on his mind for a while.

When he entered the room he found Taniyama filing away, covered in a black scarf. His eyes met hers and she must have seen his questioning look for she replied with a pout, "Yeah, it's hot, but boss says I'm wearing something inappropriate so I have to cover up." Lin smiled at her.

Yasuhara-san chuckled at this and lamented, "It was a very beautiful view, too. Maybe the big boss was jealous that your flawless skin practically glows like the morning sun."

"Perhaps it would be best if the two part-timers stopped messing around and finally do some real work around here." Everyone turned their heads and met Noll's scowling face. Lin noticed that his shirt had been buttoned up properly and wondered if Taniyama-san had finally pointed it out to him while they were no doubt arguing behind the closed doors. He coughed and excused himself, disappearing into his dark office that was once again all his. Now that he had more breathing room, he felt more at ease. He rolled up his sleeves and resumed his work.

Mai's POV next! For that one there will definitely be lots of suggestive descriptions so please be wary. Also on a side note, Introspection is also going along, but really slowly... and here I am wasting time with my fluff-shots.