November 18th, 10:27 AM, Tokyo
It had been about four months since SPR shut down. The closure came about very unexpectedly after the team stumbled upon the lake where Gene's body was crudely laid to rest. Subsequently, for Mai Taniyama, the transition into a new routine was turbulent to say the least; she did lose her job, after all. Though, it wasn't the prospect of unemployment that upset her most. Rather, it was the idea that her friends might now drift apart since they really had no reason to meet.
As it turns out, her worries were for naught because since the closure, she and many of her teammates had gotten together several times. She stayed in pretty close contact with Bou-san, Ayako, and Yasu, with whom she frequently spent her weekends shopping, seeing movies, going to the park, or grabbing lunch and/or dinner together. In addition, Bou-san and Ayako together sometimes made plans with her during the week. She suspected they worried about her joblessness and wanted to make sure she was okay and, you know, eating. She felt a bit like a charity case, but appreciated their company and thoughtfulness nonetheless.
They heard from Masako infrequently as she went back to her old routine, which involved copious amounts of filming for her television show, but the famous medium did write them letters to keep them up to date on her current work. They saw John more often because of his attachment to the local Catholic parish, but he was often busy with missionary work. Still, Mai was grateful to still be in touch with them.
But as grateful as she was, there was still something missing: their brooding and devilishly handsome narcissist. Unfortunately, as far as Mai knew, no one had heard from him since his twin's funeral. Mai noticed that her friends tended to skirt around the topic of Naru when they were around her, so she wondered if they somehow figured out that Naru left on undesirable terms. At the very least, they probably all knew no one missed him more than she did and they did not want to upset her. Unlike someone, they seemed to figure out and respect the fact that she had feelings for the insufferable narcissist.
He had a lot of nerve, accusing her of loving his dead brother. Before he left for England, she confessed to him her feelings, which was awkward and extremely embarrassing thank you very much. But, her confession was met with rejection. No, it was more than rejection. It was complete dismissal. He basically told her that her own feelings were misdirected and walked away without looking back. What did he know about love, anyway?
She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but it wasn't that. Not even from the unsociable psychic.
For weeks Mai had both raged and sobbed over it. She couldn't blame him for not loving her back; she was well below his league. However, she at least thought they had become close enough that he would treat her feelings with respect. They had investigated plenty of cases side-by-side and spent enough days at the office working together that she would have considered them friends—best friends, maybe. As best of a friend as Naru could be. However, she was clearly wrong.
Despite how angry she was with him, she still loved him and hoped he was doing well. She had sent at least a dozen letters to him at the SPR address Lin had left behind. Maybe if she wrote enough times he would forget how they separated and they could talk like normal. Maybe if he saw how much he was missed, he would come back to Japan again. She even tried writing some of the letters in English for him to show she cared—even though her English was mediocre at best. She had spent numerous hours after school with her English teacher trying to fix the errors the best she could.
None of her letters received a response.
Maybe the one she held in her hands now would be different.
She had stayed up into the early hours of the morning writing and editing that letter so she could send it out that day when Bou-san, Ayako, and Yasu dropped by to pick her up for brunch around 10:30 (she could slip it into a mailbox on the way, she decided). In hindsight it was probably a stupid decision, seeing as she got exactly four and a half hours of sleep and was expected to be a fully functional human being. She awoke at 9:45 that morning so she could take a decent shower to wash away her lethargy and still have at least 2 minutes to throw on a pair of sweatpants and an oversized green sweatshirt she may or may not have stolen from Bou-san.
Mai turned the white sealed envelope over in her hands, eyeing it wistfully.
"Answer me, will ya...?" Mai whispered. A loud knock at the door shocked her out of her despondence. She shoved the letter into her sweatshirt pocket.
"Hey, Mai!" she heard Bou-san call cheerfully from the other side. "Can we come in?" Yasu did not wait for an answer and immediately opened the door.
"Please be awake, I'm starving," Yasu moaned.
"Yes, please, come in," Mai replied sarcastically, ignoring his whining. Bou-san and Ayako laughed, walking in behind him.
"Oh, Mai, is that what you're wearing?" Ayako gushed.
"Me?" Mai's face flushed. "Y-yeah, what of it?" she retorted indignantly, putting her hands on her hips. She did feel under dressed compared to Ayako, who as usual looked sharp. She outclassed everyone in black high-heeled ankle boots, dark skinny jeans with a red pea coat tied at the waist. Ayako raised her finger to offer a haughty response but Bou-san cut her off.
"Oh, come off it Ayako!" Bou-san laughed, leaning one arm against the door frame. "We're going to brunch, not to meet the emperor." Yasu and Mai giggled as Ayako's face turned bright red, a tell-tale sign she was about to start yelling. Again, he interrupted her. "Besides, the faster we get out of here the faster I can tell you some big news I got this morning."
11:15 AM
The four of them decided to walk to the small café Bou-san had chosen for brunch because though chilly, the day was beautiful. The sun was bright, the sky was nearly cloudless, and a slight breeze dusted their faces. It was a day where nothing could ruin her mood, Mai thought. As they walked, they tried to pry the big news out of Bou-san, but he delighted in the suspense. He refused to tell.
When they arrived, they seated themselves at a round table next to the window and adjacent to a cozy wood-burning fireplace, ordered their food quickly, and immediately went back to work on Bou-san.
"Bou-san, will you please, please tell us now?" Mai whined. She always loved a good surprise. Bou-san leaned back in his chair with his arms behind his head, and closed his eyes with a crafty smile on his face.
"I don't know, I kind of enjoy hearing Ayako beg," he opened one eye to peak at the woman. Ayako snorted.
"Oh please, I do not beg," she replied dismissively.
"Really? That's funny, because you sure begged me a lot last night—"
"TAKIGAWA," Ayako roared. "Don't you dare tell such lies! Like hell I'd—"
"Guys," Yasu cleared his throat, trying to suppress his laughter and failing miserably. "Please, not in front of the children," he said, gesturing to Mai. Before Mai could open her mouth to respond, the three of them continued making jokes at one another's expense. She smiled, rolled her eyes, and shoved her hands into her sweatshirt pocket. Her hands brushed something smooth. The letter! She had been so caught up in guessing Bou-san's news that she forgot to mail it. Oh well, she thought, shrugging to herself. She would mail it when they left.
After a few minutes of banter, Bou-san finally caved.
"Alright, alright, I'll tell you," he sat forward to lean in towards them. "You will never guess who called me this morning. Seriously, try and guess."
"I thought we were done guessing, Bou-san," Mai pouted.
"Right, right, fine," he cleared his throat a bit before continuing, a smile spreading across his face. "Our dear old friend Lin called me this morning. There. I said it!"
"Lin?!" Mai squealed, her heart pounding. She cleared her throat and tried to regain her composure. "I-I mean, Lin called you? Why?"
"The Davis family has invited us to spend Christmas with them. In London! Can you believe it?"
Ayako beamed.
"London? I've always wanted to go there, it looks so beautiful, so…high class!" She exclaimed longingly. "They seriously invited us to London?"
"Yes. Well, us, Masako, and John, to clarify. The Davises would have called themselves, but they don't speak much Japanese, so they had Lin call. Lin said they were very insistent about us coming. They would like to thank us for all of the help we gave Naru before…" he stopped himself as if he were about to spew a profanity. "…Before he went back to England. I think our stone-cold Naru might miss us." He sighed and then smiled again. Yasu's eyes were sparkling.
"Can you imagine the research I would be able to get my hands on?!" he slammed his hands on the table in emphasis. "First hand research from the infamous Davises… Is it weird that I'm almost turned on right now?" Ayako gagged. Bou-san began blathering about how Naru had since turned 18 and by the time they got to Europe he would have finished his degree and his doctoral thesis which included the results from his research in Japan. Yasu almost fainted.
"London…" Mai whispered to herself. More importantly, Naru… She would get to see Naru again. The possibility made her queasy with both excitement and resentment, but it's something she had wanted since the moment he left. Maybe they could patch things up. Somehow. Her feelings had not gone away, but maybe seeing him would provide closure. Or maybe he will have changed his mind… 'Not likely,' she thought. As the conversation entered a lull, her heart sunk and she added, "Spending Christmas in London would be great… But there is no way I can afford a plane ticket…" Bou-san waved a hand at her, leaning around the waitress, who had just brought their orders to the table.
"Don't worry about that, Mai! Lin said the Davises have offered to pay for everyone's ticket and let us stay at their residence." Mai's eyes went wide. "I protested and said that would be way too much, but Lin insisted it was their Christmas present to us. Hard to argue with that!" Bou-san laughed.
"That's one big Christmas present…" Ayako murmured.
"I'll say," Mai replied. "That's so generous of them. I would feel guilty accepting."
"Well, they offered. They wouldn't have offered if they didn't want you to accept," Bou-san reasoned. Mai could think of no counter argument.
"Well, should we do it?!" Yasu inquired.
"I'm in," replied Ayako.
"Me too," Bou-san added. All three of them looked to Mai. Yasu seemed to be holding his breath.
"Okay, I'd love to go," Mai finally said. Yasu stood up suddenly, shouted in victory, causing the tea he ordered to spill all over the table. Everyone laughed and he quickly seated himself again to avoid all the strange looks he was getting from the other patrons, face flaming. "Besides," Mai offered, "It will be nice to see Naru again. We haven't heard anything from him since August!" Bou-san and Ayako exchanged concerned looks briefly and Yasu cleared his throat and averted his eyes. Mai tilted her head, confused. "What?"
"You haven't heard anything from Naru since he left?" Bou-san asked, sounding surprised.
"No. Why? Have you…?" she inquired cautiously. 'The answer better be no,' she fumed to herself. Bou-san said nothing for a few moments.
"Well… I mean… I sent flowers for Gene's funeral and received a very nice thank you in poor Japanese…" He finally conceded. Mai narrowed her eyes, glancing between Ayako and Yasu, neither of whom would meet her gaze.
"I… Well…" Yasu began.
"Yes?" Mai asked petulantly.
"I've been contacted a few times to provide details on some of the research from our cases…"
"And I personally haven't heard anything," Ayako asserted emphatically, clearly ashamed anyway, "but I know that John has received at least one letter and Masako received a phone call…" Mai's blood boiled.
"A phone call?!"
"I'm sure he would have contacted you if you wrote letters! You were always Naru's favorite!" Bou-san added in an attempt to cheer her up.
"I have sent—" she stopped herself and took a deep breath, an unfathomable rage still flowing through her veins. She exhaled pointedly. "Please, excuse me for a moment."
The others watched with wide eyes, too afraid to make any sudden movements. She stood up and took the letter out of her sweatshirt pocket. After thinking about it very briefly, she tore he envelope in two. Ayako brought one hand to her mouth to catch a gasp and tightly grabbed onto Bou-san's sleeve with the other. She was the first to understand what was going on. Mai continued to tear the letter into more pieces as she made her way to toss it in the burning fireplace.