Oliver jogged round the corner and saw Mai struggling to get a suitcase out of the boot. Luella clocked him before Mai saw him; Luella smiled to herself as she watched Naru deliberately compose himself before he reached around Mai to pull the suitcase out for her.

Mai turned around and stepped back, surprised at his sudden appearance. Mai bowed. She had been struggling with how she was going to address him throughout the whole car ride from the airport. Calling him the same nickname she'd used in high-school five years ago felt inappropriate, and even though she was no longer in Japan, using his real, first name, without permission felt rude and too forward. Not to mention the five years with no contact. In the end she settled on: 'Hello, Davis-San.'

Because Mai's head was pointing down, she missed the imperceptible twitch on Oliver's face.

Luella, in her hawk-like behaviour, did not miss it.

Mai looked up again and saw that his jaw was clenched, and his hands were balled into fists. Mai averted her eyes, unable to look at him. She felt his indignation keenly. She felt terrible he didn't know in advance of her arrival, but she had assumed his own parents would tell him she was coming.

'Welcome, Taniyama-San.' With that stoic reintroduction out the way, Oliver took Mai's suitcase and walked away with it in tow.

Mai didn't like how cold her last name sounded coming from his lips, and she was already beginning to think this was a bad idea - what Mai didn't know was that Oliver had only followed her lead. If she had called him Oliver, or even Naru he would have called her Mai, with that same familiarity he'd used with her in Japan.

Luella was more than happy by what she had seen so far but Mai, in contrast, was left feeling dejected and forlorn.

Mai didn't see Naru for the rest of the day, once inside the house, she was given a tour by Luella, and then left to settle into her room, to have a nap before dinner in hopes of sleeping off some of the jet lag.

Much to Mai's delight, both Lin and Mori joined for dinner that evening. She threw herself at Mori, and then Oliver watched as after only a second's delay, in which Mai remembered what Luella had said, she also threw her arms around Lin, too. 'Lin! It's so good to see you.'

Lin was thrown off by the sudden onslaught of the petite bubbly girl, but he chuckled, patted her on the back, albeit a bit awkward, and ruffled her hair as he pulled away.

'It's good to see you Mai,' Lin said with a rare smile on his lips. 'You're looking well.'

Mai beamed at him. Back when she was sixteen at SPR she did feel their dynamic change during the later cases they took together. She had felt that gradually he did begin to have some respect for her, but still, the fact that they had kept in touch throughout the last five years surprised her. Her sixteen-year-old self would have found the friendship unlikely, but Mai aged twenty-one appreciated it.

Oliver was put out by the difference in reception between Mai and Lin when he compared it to how cold she'd been with him. He was, however, self-aware enough to know he was the one who created the distance between them. He balled his hands into a fist and averted his gaze. As the chatter continued, he went back into his room to retrieve his research papers and settled down in his spot at the dinner table, ignoring everyone else as they sat down around him.

Martin was about to chastise him for bringing his work to the dinner table, but Luella touched him on the arm. She was just happy he was joining them at all.

During dinner, Oliver answered questions put directly to him, but for the most part, he gave the appearance of focusing on his research. Oliver was in fact only half paying attention to his papers, he turned the pages to give an air of indifference, but he was listening to Mai talk with his parents, Lin, and Mori.

Mai let out a squeal, in response to something Mori had said, and immediately clamped her hand over her mouth.

Oliver watched her, amused. In truth, he was struggling to recognise Mai as the girl he once knew. The woman in front of him seemed very different. The unrestrained squeal of delight however, was very much a Mai thing to do. Oliver was glad there was a part of her that hadn't seemed to change.

'You're expecting Mori? Oh my god, congratulations to both you and Lin!' Mai clapped her hands excitedly and then seemed to remember where she was and tried to calm down again.

It was strange, Mai looked like Mai, but she was different. The way she carried herself and her appearance, were different. Her hair was longer, she was taller, her face had slimmed out a little, and she appeared to be wearing makeup, and her figure had filled out. He wasn't used to Mai being polite and restraining herself, but then again, he considered, she was polite with clients who visited SPR. He just wasn't used to her being polite with him.

As dinner was winding to a close, Lin spoke up. 'Mai, how about some tea?'

Mai went to stand, 'That sounds lovely right now.'

Luella stood, too. 'Mai dear, you're a guest, I'll make the tea.'

'I really don't mind Luella, I'm happy to pay back the hospitality you've shown me today.'

Lin shot Luella a look, and then he pointedly glanced at Oliver, who was still pretending not to take any notice of his surroundings.

Luella didn't fully understand what the look was about but settled to sitting back down and directing Mai on where to find the various tea things.

As Mai was waiting for the kettle to boil, she leaned slightly over Oliver. 'What are you working on?'

'Research for my PhD.'

Mai tried to read some of it, but she couldn't understand all the English jargon.

'It's too high level for you to comprehend. You're only going to give yourself a headache.'

Mai seethed internally but deigned not to respond with her true feelings, not in front of his parents. She shrugged instead and went back to making tea. Oliver turned in his chair to watch her, surprised at her lack of response. He had fully expected her to get mad, before throwing back a jab of her own, like she would have at sixteen.

'Noll, that was rude,' his mum chastised.

Oliver ignored her and went back to his reading.

Once tea was served, Luella watched in surprise as Oliver not only tried the tea but finished the whole cup. Martin almost had to push Luella's bottom jaw back up as it lay slack in shock. Lin was the only one to notice, and he sniggered. Luella turned at the noise, and the tall, usually stoic Omnyoji just nodded at her, a small smile gracing his features.

Since returning from Japan, Luella couldn't remember the last time Oliver had finished a cup of tea that she'd made for him. He would take a sip for politeness, but she'd not seen him drink more than that, not for years. She was constantly picking up full cups of tea that had been left to go cold. Even tea he made himself, he would try and sip, before grimacing and pouring it down the sink.

'Ever the tea addict, huh?' Mai took Oliver's mug back to the kitchen, refilled it, and took it back to the table. Oliver just nodded, forgoing manners in favour of his papers. Mai rolled her eyes.

The next week saw Mai settling into England, the weather, as Ayako had predicted, was quite bad, so Mai spent a lot of time sat at the dining table, or in her room, doing English studies, and getting ahead on the reading materials for the year ahead. She'd made the decision in the end to come to England during the summer, before her second year started, so she could spend some time getting acquainted with a new country. She was keen to start using English as soon as possible as she knew it would help her when she started her second year.

Luella and Martin had been amazing hosts so far, but Mai was still feeling awkward around Oliver. She was still struggling with the idea of referring to him by his first name, and not wanting to seem rude or improper in front of his parents by lashing out at him when he was rude. She suspected she'd feel awkward around him until she addressed him on the reason why he refused to have any contact with her after he had left, and why he had ignored her emails.

They weren't just ignored, either. The first email she sent was marked as delivered, and the second that she sent a week later, was marked as undelivered. She'd checked the email address several times, and it was correct. This meant he had blocked her or deactivated that email address. She was being polite for appearances, but it hurt. It was clear he was uncomfortable around her, too. He interacted with her when she spoke to him directly, but they had barely spent any time together.

Mai wasn't sure what to do. She was trying to be friendly with him, but five years with no contact was a long time. They were different people than they had been at sixteen and seventeen, and it showed. She wasn't sure how to broach the gulf that she felt between them. She also wasn't sure if she even wanted to bridge the gap between them. His mum clearly wanted her to try, but she wasn't sure where to begin. She had tried to reach out after he left and he had clearly not wanted it, so why was it on her to extend the olive branch? Mai was beginning to wonder if it was too late to change her mind and go back to Japan. Luella had said if it didn't work out, she would arrange for her to go back. At the very least, she needed to get her own space and give him his privacy back.

Right then, Oliver came out of his room and surprised Mai by joining her at the dining table. Mai, who had been looking at places to rent, put her phone face down on the table.

'Hello,' she said in greeting. She still wasn't sure how to refer to him so tried to avoid addressing him directly where possible. Even though she was in England, referring to a man, similar in age, by his first name, felt too intimate, and she had no idea where they stood with each other. 'Oh yeah, I kept hold of this, I was meant to return it to you. I didn't realise it was a first edition. Sorry I kept it so long.' Mai went to push the book he'd lent her back in Japan across the table, but Oliver stopped the book with one hand and pushed it back towards her.

'It's fine, you'll likely need it. Keep it. In fact,' He pushed away from the table and returned a moment later with another book. He opened the first page, scribbled inside it with a marker pen, and pushed it across the table. 'Here.'

'Is this your latest book?' Mai opened it and was in shock. He'd signed it, and this one too, was a first edition. She felt overwhelmed and shook her head. 'I can't accept this Davis-San,' She swallowed past her emotions. 'It's a first edition of your latest book.'

Oliver shrugged. 'Both Luella and Martin have copies if I need to refer to it. It's not currently on the reading list but it will be by the time the new semester starts.'

'But it's your copy of a book you spent years writing and researching.'

'It's collecting dust on my shelf. It's going to get more use with you. Books are meant to be read.'

'I don't know how I can ever thank you.'

'You can start with tea.'

'Oh, sure, of course!' Just like she did when she worked at SPR all those years ago, she jumped up and moved to the kitchen.

Oliver watched her go. 'You could also refer to me by my name.'

Mai froze.

Oliver sighed and joined her in the kitchen.

'Why do you insist on calling me 'Davis-San'? You're not in Japan anymore. We don't refer to people we know by their surnames. You call my mum by her first name.'

'She asked me to.' Mai couldn't look at him.

'Right, and now I'm asking you to use my first name.'

She tried to move past him, but he sidestepped into her path.

'You've been calling me Taniyama-San!'

'You set the precedent. You called me Davis-San when I first saw you last week. I just followed suit.' He leaned round to try and see Mai's face, but she'd turned further away from him. 'You call Lin without honorifics, and you've been referring to Madoka as Mori.'

'That's different!' Mai finally exploded. She finally shouted, looking up at him with barely contained anger boiling under her skin. She could feel it pulsing in tandem alongside the hurt his actions had caused her. She could feel herself on the edge of blowing up at him.

'And I'm asking why.'

'Because Lin and Mori actually bothered to stay in touch!' She jabbed a finger at his chest, and he stumbled back, his eyes widened slightly in surprise before he composed himself. Mai continued: 'You didn't!' Her voice was getting louder, anger bubbling over like an unwatched pot. 'You refused to give me any contact details when I asked and when I did finally get an email address for you from Mori, you ignored me! Twice!' Mai felt her face redden and visible tears pricking her eyes. 'Make your own damn tea!' With that, she gathered her study materials, pointedly leaving behind the book he'd offered to her, and stormed out.

Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose and braced himself against the counter.

Martin came round the corner, and Oliver sighed, realising that his dad had heard the entire exchange and he was likely about to get a lecture.

'Go after her Noll.'

'She's made it evident that she doesn't want to be around me. Why else would she have stormed out?'

'Just, trust your dad.' He nodded to the window where it had been raining heavily on and off all day. 'She didn't grab a coat or an umbrella.' There was a brief pause before Martin continued. 'She's planning on moving out, and that's if she doesn't go back to Japan.'

Oliver grabbed his coat and the big umbrella. 'Why would she move? There's plenty of room here. She's wasting money.' He didn't address the last part of his dad's remark. He was sure Mai wasn't the type to give up before she'd even tried, right? Then again, she was a different person. She had been a teenage girl back then, now she was a grown woman.

'She believes she's making you uncomfortable by living here, so she's started looking at places.' Martin nodded at the door. 'Go talk to her.' It bugged Oliver that his father seemed to know more about Mai than he did.

Oliver pulled on his coat, and took off out the front door.

A/N Thank you for reading! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, followed and favourited this story, it's really appreciated. One review said they hoped the reunion between Mai and Oliver wouldn't be too cold or weird, I'm sorry! I saw no way of it not being weird and awkward given the circumstances. Please keep reaching out with comments and suggestions, it's all appreciated. I hope you take care, and I'll see you again next week :)