Finding You:

Chapter 2:

"Not much of a reaction there then," Yasuhara murmured once they had left Naru's office.

The omnouji shook his head. "I have known him for a long time; his reaction to emotional matters, especially when in the company of others is minimal. He should be planning something by now."

As Lin predicted Naru had recovered from the shock and was working out a way to make contact with Mai.

The priestess and monk obviously did not want him anywhere near her after what happened two years ago. In the past two years, Masako Hara had been the one to give him updates on Mai's activities and told him whenever she ended up with a injury. Several years ago she had become a supporter of his relationship with Mai and had apologised for blackmailing him.

He dialled her number and she picked up after the first ring.

"Naru? I have to go on set in five minutes," she informed him tartly.

"I know about Mai's amnesia," he stated simply.

"How? I supposed Yasuhara blabbed. What do you want?"

"I want to see her," he blurted out, sounding too needy for his liking.

There was an intake of breath over the line before she answered.

"If you had swallowed your pride and apologised you would not be in this situation," she reminded him. "Mai and I have arranged a girls' day out on my next day off, we might visit SPR."

"Thank you, Hara-san."

"Are you going to tell her everything?" she asked anxiously. "That you two dated and were even engaged."

"No, that would overburden her and she would feel guilty about forgetting. I have my own plan regarding Mai."

"Upset her and I will not supply you with photos or information ever again," she threatened, bringing back memories of her blackmailing days, but this time it was out of concern for Mai's well being. Two years ago Mai had been extremely upset and angry at Naru and it had taken her a month for her to return to her cheerful self. A repeat was not something that she wanted to see."

3 days later:

"Are you sure it's fine to visit the office? Naru never liked people hanging around," Mai asked worriedly as they walked up the stairs of a certain building in Shibuya.

"Stop fretting Mai and next time take the lift, you know I don't like the stairs," Masako griped before backtracking. "Of course, you don't remember, in addition to the Gellerini case I got pushed down stairwells three more times."

Mai nodded and silently wondered why she did not work for SPR anymore. Whenever she had come close to broaching the subject everyone clammed up. She must have done something really bad to get fired by Naru.

Masako knocked on the frosted glass of the door to the SPR office and entered without bothering to wait for a reply. Hesitantly Mai followed her in and looked around.

Unlike everyone and everything, the main office had not changed one bit. The layout of the furniture was still the same. Her desk was still there with a layer of dust and even her pencil pot was still there. Yasuhara was sitting at the other desk and raised an eyebrow at their entrance.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked in a low tone.

The medium sat herself down gracefully on one of the sofas. Mai did the same, noting that the sofa was the same as the one she remembered. It was so like Naru not to consider updating decor.

"Visiting," Masako answered vaguely. "I thought I would show Mai how some things have not changed."

A strange variety of facial expressions were shared between then before Yasuhara relented.

"You're already here now, but if this turns out badly, it's your fault, Hara," he warned mysteriously.

Mai frowned. Everyone was acting strange around her and it was not helping her orientate herself into normal life at all. Even after a few days she felt like she was someone impersonating the 23 year old Mai Taniyama.

"Excuse me, is there something wrong?" she asked.

"Not at all," the office worker replied a little too quickly. "Would you like some tea? I think there are some snacks around here somewhere."

There was the sound of a door opening behind Mai and she tensed up before turning to see Lin standing behind her, looking very surprised to see her.

"Hello Mai-san, Hara-san. Why are you two here?"

Masako repeated what she had told Yasuhara and Mai invited Lin to sit with them. Yasuhara retrieved a box of sakura mochi from a drawer in his desk and made tea for everyone.

"Mai-san, how are you feeling?" Lin asked concernedly due to the fact that was being unusually quiet.

"I'm improving," she replied briefly and moved on. "How are you? Have you asked out Madoka-san yet?"

Yasuhara let out a guffaw and even Masako smiled as Lin flushed and averted his eyes.

"...Yes."

Mai clapped her hands happily. "That's wonderful. What about you, Yasuhara?"

Like he had always been so fond of doing, the flirt pushed his glasses up his nose so that the lenses glinted.

"I've had a few girlfriends, but now I've moved onto John..."

The amnesiac's eyes widened whilst Masako and Lin rolled sighed, well accustomed to Yasuhara coming out with similar outrageous claims.

"B-But he's a priest!"

"He's quitting the priesthood for me," Yasuhara swooned onto the sofa before returning to normal. "I forgot how fun you were to tease when you were younger."

"It was a just a joke," Mai sighed in relief. "You had me worried that you had seduced John."

The conversation continued on similar lines with Yasuhara's claims becoming increasingly ridiculous until his claim regarding Dendrophilia caused Mai to giggle a little too loud and brought the manager of SPR out his office.

"How many times do I have to say that this is not a cafe?" he intoned and glared at them before whirling back to return to his sanctum.

Mai assumed that he had not registered her presence as she had her back to him and had only heard his voice, but he added a very familiar order onto the end of his gripe.

"Mai, tea."

"I don't work for you!" she protested and stood up.

He turned to face her. "Amnesia does not exactly prevent you from making tea. On the contrary, it might improve your amnesia- it is a familiar routine."

Five minutes later Mai was boiling water in the kitchenette of SPR where she had spent most of her working hours as a teenager. Naru hadn't even said hello to her, however manners had never quite been his area. That had obviously not changed and neither had his fashion sense, he was still in black trousers and a shirt and was annoying good looking, although his face was slightly less rounded.

Once she had prepared the tea she poured out three cups for her acquaintances, one for herself and one for Naru. She left the other cups in the kitchenette as Naru had always hated it when she served him last and he ended up with lukewarm tea.

She walked into his office and deposited the cup on the edge of his desk where he was busy writing. He lifted his head up to glance at her.

"Thank you, Mai," he said with a soft smile that reached his blue eyes.

Mai's response was to freeze. Her former boss smirked at her.

"Did you just say "thank you"!?"

His smirk grew wider. "You persuaded me to start saying it. It was something about being kinder to your gi- employees."

"I did?" How had she managed that one?

"You will have to work that one out for yourself, Mai," he answered cryptically and took a delicate sip of tea. "If you like, you can work here again."

She paused. It would be advantageous to work at SPR again as she wouldn't be able to do her normal job until she got her memory back which clearly was not going to happen anytime soon. Also she had nearly had a heart attack when she had seen how the price of her rent had risen in six years so it would be useful and it might bring her memory back. On the negative side, her acquaintances had been acting strange whenever SPR was mentioned and she was still in the dark about why she no longer worked for Naru.

"Why did I stop working here?" she asked instead of replying to his job offer.

He looked her straight in the eyes "You will have to remember that for yourself."

"Did you fire me?"

Naru shot her a warning look. "Mai..."

"Fine. I will think about it."

He flashed her a smile. "I'll be waiting."

Mai raised an eyebrow and left the room, closing the door behind her. Naru had seemed to be the same, but he was smiling frequently which was strange to see. She picked up the other teacups and joined her friends.

"Naru offered me a job and he smiled a lot," she blurted out the moment she sat down. Cue surprised looks all around and a three-way eye conversation, as she predicted. Mai rolled her eyes.

"I'm taking the offer unless any of you have something to tell me."

Yasuhara spoke up first. "I have nothing against working with you again and it will integrate you into your new life as a 23 year old. Just don't mess with my filing system."

"Of course not- wait, does that mean you messed with my filing system?"

Lin jumped in before an argument over filing could start.

"I would be happy if you returned to working here. It's a lot quieter without you here and I get sent out for tea every half an hour."

Mai nodded understandingly. It was bad enough making tea every half an hour, let alone having to go out and purchase it.

"It should be fine for you to work here," Masako told her. "There is no animosity against you here."

The amnesiac stared at her, not following what she was saying, but they all seemed to approve and she needed something to do and a job so she strode back into Naru's office.

"I'll take it."

"It will be pleasant working with you again, Mai," her new boss said with a glint in his eyes.

Unknown to Mai there was a hushed conversation in the main office.

"Hara, you told Naru that you and Mai were coming here," Yasuhara hissed. "He wasn't surprised at all to see her."

"Yes, I did. I am tired of watching them, waiting for the other to apologise. I do not think there is anything to worry about. He is acting fairly normal and he seems to be happy to see her again," Masako managed to maintain a ladylike demeanour whilst whispering frantically.

"Matsuzaki-san and Takigawa-san will not be happy when they find out," Lin pointed out.

"Neither will Mai when she gets her memory back."

A/N: I tried Sakura (Cherry Blossom) Mochi in Japan and it tasted like I was eating a tree, but it is popular in Japan.

If anyone is curious as to what Dendrophilia is, just don't look it up on google images. If you are in the company of someone else I would suggest not looking it up full stop. The hint is trees.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed on the first chapter.