A guard brings Mai to a room, where the Crown Prince sits at a table. He gestures for her to sit, and she takes a seat across from him.
Now that she can take a longer look at him, he appears to be right around her age, or perhaps a bit older. As before, he wears a serious expression, that dazzling smile from three years ago nowhere to be seen.
Mai gulps.
“After questioning your uncle, I have a basic understanding of the situation. However, I still need to ask you a few questions.” He folds his hands over the table.
“Y-Yes? …Your Highness?” she asks weakly.
“You said you came up with that charm yourself. Were you aware that it was magic?”
She shakes her head frantically. “No! I don’t know anything about magic!”
“You’ve never had a teacher? Never received training?”
“Never!”
He puts a hand to his lips, thinking.
Mai goes on. “But…but even if that was magic, I don’t understand why I was wrong to use it? I was only helping the flowers!”
“It’s not the fact that you were using magic. It’s the fact that you, an unknown entity, were doing it on the palace grounds.”
She blinks.
The Crown Prince sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you’re not merely playing ignorant and explain. There have been many assassination attempts made on the royal family in past years. Therefore, we try to maintain tight security and monitor any suspicious activity on the palace grounds.”
“You thought I was an assassin…?” Mai’s mouth falls open in horror. Honestly, she barely knows anything about the royal family. News trickled in to her rural village slowly, and even then, she’s never taken much interest before. She’s certainly never heard about any attempted assassinations.
“You were snuck in, were you not?”
“Yes…but I didn’t think it was anything wrong! My uncle said there was an opening…he offered me the job…”
“You didn’t go through the proper procedures.” He taps his finger on the table. “We have them for a reason.”
She gulps. “I didn’t know…”
“You may be able to stumble into positions based only on family connections where you come from, but it doesn’t work like that here. Do you understand?”
Mai trembles. “…Please, forgive us. My uncle only wanted to help. My parents are both dead. I had nowhere to go…”
The Crown Prince sighs again. “He’s not really your uncle.”
“…What…?”
“He confessed to us, quite readily, that he only happened to live in the same residence as your uncle before he passed away, and that is how he received your letters. You have no real relation to this man.”
Mai feels cold. She’s been deceived. Why didn’t she trust her own instincts? She knew something felt off about the man.
So she is truly all alone in this world. With nowhere to go, no one to turn to, hardly any money of her own to speak of. No, besides that, would she even be able to leave this place? Would they continue to imprison her, or even worse…?
Blinking back tears, Mai leans forward to make one last desperate plea.
“Please! I was fooled! I didn’t mean to do anything wrong!”
“No, it appears you didn’t,” the Crown Prince relents. “You are, indeed, just a fool. The ones in the wrong are your ‘uncle’ and our so-called palace guards.” He sighs heavily. “Honestly…this is why the kingdom is on the brink of ruin.”
“Then…?” Can she dare to hope?
“However.” His eyes turn to her, cold as ice. “Ignorance is no excuse.”
A chill runs down her back.
“Needless to say, you have lost the job. Normally, we would require you to serve time as well. But I am willing to overlook this, on one condition.”
“Wh-Which is…?”
A small smirk plays on his lips. “You become my apprentice.”
“Your…what?” The Crown Prince’s apprentice? What does that mean? Also, what is with that scheming look? Where has her sweet prince gone?!
“After all, it would be irresponsible to allow you to roam free without learning how to control your abilities.”
“If you say so…” But what does that have to do with her becoming his apprentice…?
And then she remembers. What did her uncle say about the Crown Prince the other day?
“I heard…the Crown Prince is visiting a neighboring kingdom…” she mumbles numbly.
He looks briefly confused. “Yes. That would be my brother.”
His brother. She didn’t even know the Crown Prince had a brother.
“So you are…?”
“The High Mage.”
Of course. Mai clutches her head. She really is a fool.
One day, as Mai is tending to the flowers in the palace gardens, she notices that some of them aren’t doing very well. By habit, she begins singing to them. It’s a song she made up as a child, her own little charm to help plants grow. Perhaps she is only imagining it, but the flowers seem to perk up a little.
When she finishes, she hears footsteps in the grass behind her. “You there,” someone calls out.
Mai turns.
A dark-haired teenager approaches from across the lawn. His clothes first catch her attention; he wears a long, dark blue velvet coat with delicate gold embroidery— like tendrils of lightning streaking across a midnight sky. It is the most magnificent garment she’s ever seen, immediately conveying wealth and power, and it takes her breath away.
His face is no less beautiful; by far the most handsome young man she’s ever seen. But at the same time, he looks somewhat familiar; has she seen him somewhere before?
Then, dread strikes her. For she realizes he is glaring at her as if she’d just committed some horrible taboo.
“Don’t stand there like a dunce. I asked you a question.”
“Wh-What?” Mai stammers, jolting back to reality.
“I said, what did you just do?” His gaze pierces through her, scrutinizing.
“I was…tending the flowers?”
“You were singing something.”
“Y-Yes…it’s my special charm. To help them grow.”
“Where did you learn it?”
Mai blinks at him. “I didn’t…I came up with it myself.”
He stares at her, incredulous.
They stand in dumbfounded silence until a palace guard jogs over. “Your Highness, is there a problem?”
The young man immediately turns on the guard, seething. “Yes, there is a problem. We have someone performing magic on the palace grounds. Right under our noses. How was this overlooked?”
“Sir, I don’t—”
“This girl.” He grabs Mai by the wrist, wrenching her over. “Who hired her?”
“Ow!” she squeals. “Let go!”
The guard continues to stammer until he spots her uncle nearby, who is attempting to sneak away. “You! Do you know this girl?”
Her uncle throws her only a brief glance before looking away. “…Never seen her before in my life.”
“What?!” Mai gapes at him. “Uncle, what are you talking about? You invited me here!”
Her uncle snaps back, hissing, “Stupid girl! What did I tell you about keeping your mouth shut?!”
“Uncle?!”
The young man looks between the two of them. “…We’ll need to get to the bottom of this.”
And before she knows it, both Mai and her uncle are thrown in the dungeon.
Mai sits alone in a cold, dark cell while her uncle has been taken for questioning, wondering what in the world just happened.
Magic? What was that young man talking about? No one in her family knew magic, and she had certainly never been taught any. How could her silly nonsense song land her in so much trouble?
And why did her uncle deny knowing her? Did she really do something so horrible? He is the only family she has left in the world, and yet he didn’t even try to defend her….
That young man’s appearance gnaws at her too. She could swear she’s seen him before. Perhaps not so up close; she’s sure she would remember someone that handsome…
Then she realizes. She has seen him before. Three years ago.
It all makes sense. He is clearly in a position of authority here, despite his young age. Then there is the quality of his clothing. And hadn’t the guard called him ‘Your Highness’?
She has finally met the Crown Prince of her dreams. But in the worst way possible.
The story begins with Mai, a rural peasant girl, newly orphaned and forced to sell off her family farm to pay off debts. With nowhere else to go, she writes to her uncle who lives in the capital city of the kingdom (though she’s never actually met him). To her relief, he sends a reply: he says she can come live with him, and he even has a job lined up for her. Apparently he works in the palace gardens, and there is another gardening position open there.
Upon learning this, Mai remembers the one time she has ever seen someone from the royal family. Three years ago, when she was 13, the Crown Prince passed through her village. She only saw him from afar, smiling and waving to the crowd from his carriage, but he still left an impression on her. He had such a lovely smile.
It would be nice to see him again, she thinks, even if from a distance.
And so, she packs up and leaves for the capital city. When she arrives and meets up with her uncle, he sneaks her into the palace grounds through a back gate. She lives with him in a small shack, and Mai quickly realizes that she doesn’t really like her uncle. He forces her to do all the chores in addition to her job, and gets annoyed whenever she asks anything about their family. But she supposes this is the price she has to pay for being able to work in such an amazing place.
The gardens are vast and beautiful, and since she is used to caring for plants from working on the family farm, the work isn’t too challenging. And she can gaze up at the palace whenever she wants, imagining the splendor inside.
“Does the prince ever come outside?” she asks her uncle. “Do you think we might see him soon?”
Her uncle grumbles. “Heard he’s out visiting a neighboring kingdom. We won’t see him for weeks.”
“Oh…” Mai is a bit disappointed. But she can wait.
Once or twice, as she is working in the gardens, she feels a tingle on the back of her neck. Like she is being watched. But when she looks around, there is no one. She only spots a tall stone tower overlooking the gardens, looking out of place on the grand palace grounds.
“Uncle, what’s that?” She points at the tower.
Her uncle looks up briefly, before lowering his head again. “The High Mage’s tower.”
“The High Mage? Who’s that?”
“The greatest mage in the kingdom.”
“And he lives here? Next to the palace? Why?”
“To give guidance to the king, of course.”
“Hmm.” He must be very wise, this mage, to have such an honor. “What is he like?”
“That’s enough questions from you, girl,” her uncle growls. “You’d best keep your head down and your mouth shut if you want to stay in this place.”
Mai frowns, but returns to work. However, deprived of answers, her mind is left to fill in the blanks. She imagines a mysterious old man, with a long, flowing gray beard, befitting of someone called the High Mage. Perhaps he is kind. Perhaps they could even become friends.
Prompt: Naru and Mai shares a dream (or multiple dreams), but neither of them know they’re actually sharing it. - @seoulsborne123
------
A week later, a client finally came in with a promising case. Promising, in that at least it didn’t sound totally bogus, but it was still the type of case that Naru normally wouldn’t take interest in. Nonetheless, he accepted the job, to Lin’s visible surprise.
The next issue was whether this case actually had any legit paranormal activity, and if not, would Gene even appear? Naru had Mai contact Masako right away, and while they were setting up the base, she spotted him checking a hand mirror periodically.
They had managed to get through the past week without another spree of nightmares, but Mai could tell he was impatient to get his dreams back to himself. She tried not to take it personally.
Masako arrived on the evening of the first day. So far, they had collected very little data, and their investigation showed that the reported phenomena could be easily explained.
Mai watched anxiously as Masako walked around the house. At last, she came to a stop.
“There is a spirit here,” she said.
They breathed a sigh of relief.
“It is the spirit of an old man,” Masako went on to explain. “I see this kind often. I believe he must have passed away in his sleep and simply hasn’t realized he has died. It would be very easy to purify him.” She turned to Naru. “Shall I?”
“No,” said Naru, a bit too quickly.
Masako blinked.
“I’d like to gather more data first,” he lied. “If you could please come back tomorrow.”
“If you insist,” she smiled.
Mai facepalmed and sent the medium a mental apology. This wasn’t what it looked like!
------
That night, Naru and Mai left Lin to watch the base and went to bed at the same time. This earned them a suspicious look, but they could deal with that later.
They sat in the train compartment and waited. And waited.
Finally, they heard someone walking down the corridor. Gene appeared outside the door, and his face lit up when he saw them inside.
He opened the door and came inside. “It worked!” he said.
Naru stood up. “Like hell it did.”
Oh shit, Mai thought. She could actually see the murderous aura gathering around him. Naru was furious.
As his brother approached, Gene’s smile widened nervously. “N-Noll?”
Naru grabbed his twin by the shirt collar, and Mai decided now would be a good time to intervene.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” She cut in between them, holding Naru back as best she could. “You can’t kill your dead brother!”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Naru seethed.
“I’m sorry?” Gene looked confused. “I didn’t know if it would work! It was just an idea I had...and then I fell asleep before I could fully see it through...why, did something go wrong?”
“Oh, Gene…” Mai groaned.
“What?” he looked at her, now worried.
“It worked,” Naru said through grit teeth. “And it’s been stuck that way for over a week.”
“Oh.” Gene looked between them. “Oh.”
They watched as the news continued to sink in.
Then finally, Gene put on a smile. “Did you guys have fun though?”
Naru smacked him upside the head.
“NARU!”
“I’m sorry!” Gene put up his hands defensively. “I’m sorry, both of you! I just...ow, why does that hurt, I’m not even alive…”
“Give me one good reason not to do it again,” Naru said.
Gene hung his head. “I’m sorry…I only wanted to see if I could meet you face-to-face, instead of just through a mirror. So I thought, maybe this way…”
There was an awkward silence.
Naru lowered his hand and let out a sigh. “If you ever pull something like this again, I swear, I will exorcise you.”
“Naru!”
“I guess that’s fair,” Gene smiled weakly. “It is good seeing you again, though. Despite the violence.”
“And? Can you undo this?” Naru crossed his arms, with an unspoken ‘you’d better.’
“I’ll try my best.” Gene turned to Mai. “I’m really sorry, Mai. I didn’t mean to subject you to my brother’s subconscious for that long.”
“Oh, it’s okay,” she said, blushing a little. “It was, um...interesting.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Naru huff and look away. A little bit of regret settled in her heart.
------
Mai and Naru saw Gene out at the doorway to their compartment.
“Just sit still, you two. I’ll go get this figured out.” Gene wandered off down the corridor.
As they watched him go, Mai gripped the door frame for support.
“Hey, Naru?” she asked. “Before we wake up...can I ask you something?”
“What?”
“Do you ever dream about me?”
Naru hesitated.
She already knew the answer. And judging by the look on his face, he knew that she knew.
“Sometimes,” he admitted.
Mai knew that wasn’t necessarily a good thing, as she’d seen before. But judging by how unphased he’d looked seeing her in his dream the first time, she hoped those instances didn’t all become nightmares.
Prompt: Naru and Mai shares a dream (or multiple dreams), but neither of them know they’re actually sharing it. - @seoulsborne123
——
Rolling green fields and pastures streamed by in the window. A quaint countryside the likes of which she’d only ever seen in movies. Mai stared, taking it in. “Is this…England?”
She then looked around, examining her surroundings. She sat in a cozy train compartment. Alone, except for one other person.
Naru sat across from her, clad in his usual black suit. He was shuffling a deck of cards. Over and over, the cards flowed through his hands like water. His eyes focused, but at the same time, lost in thought. It appeared almost meditative.
She watched him for a while, mesmerized. Then finally spoke up.
“Hey. So where are we headed?”
He paused, and his gaze drifted out the window. But then, as if deeming it too much trouble to figure out, he just shrugged.
“Huh? What kind of answer is that?”
But Naru resumed shuffling, paying her no more attention.
Mai sighed. Out of a lack of anything else to do, she looked back out the window. Just in time to catch sight of white puffballs scattered about the scenery.
She gasped. “Wow! Are those sheep?”
Now she was glued to the window.
“Look, Naru!” She waved towards him. “Aww, they’re so cute!”
Naru paused again. He looked up, first at her, and then out the window.
When he spoke, his voice was oddly soft. “Yeah…”
——
“What the hell?”
Mai slumped face down over her desk, clutching her head. Her dream from this morning still hadn’t left her mind.
It wasn’t all that significant of a dream, really. She probably would have forgotten about it if not for one detail.
Why was she dreaming about Naru? Now of all times?
No, no, no. She’d learned her lesson once. She wouldn’t fool herself into thinking this might mean anything. After all, it wasn’t as if he was being especially kind to her in the dream. He was just being his usual aloof self.
But…was it really him?
Since he was playing with cards, she’d immediately assumed it was Naru. But couldn’t it just as well be Gene? And the way he’d responded at the end…that definitely sounded more like a Gene thing to do. If it were Naru, he would have just called her childish for being excited by sheep. He wouldn’t agree with her, let alone waste time watching the scenery with her.
So it must be Gene.
A thrill of excitement ran through her. He’d come to visit her, even outside of a case? But at the same time, she wasn’t convinced, precisely because of the fact they weren’t on a case (in fact, they had just finished one a few days ago). Why would Gene appear to her now? It didn’t make sense.
Still, she hoped it was him. What if Gene had figured out a way to stay awake even off of cases? What could that possibly mean?
The door to Naru’s office opened then, and he stuck his head out. “Mai. Tea.”
“Okaaay…” she sighed, and got up from her seat. Seeing him act as usual made her ideas suddenly seem silly.
It was too soon to get her hopes up. After all, it could have just been a dream.
——
And yet that night, just like clockwork, they were back on the train again.
Mai bounced in her seat. This was it. It was one of those dreams. It had to be.
Gene sat across from her, engrossed in reading through a bundle of papers.
Mai smiled. Leaning forward, she asked gently, “Gene…? That’s you, right?”
He froze. Then looked up with a smile. A deeply cynical smile. “I’m sorry to disappoint.”
“Naru?!” Mai drew back, mortified. Oh god, no. She didn’t mean to confuse them again!
The shock was enough to jolt her awake. The next thing she knew, she was in bed, hiding her burning face beneath her hands.
Prompt: Naru and Mai shares a dream (or multiple dreams), but neither of them know they’re actually sharing it. - @seoulsborne123
——
That day at the office, Mai tried to avoid Naru as much as possible, still feeling awkward.
Fortunately, Naru seemed to be avoiding her too. The most she saw of him all day was when he called for tea, and even then…
The door to Naru’s office cracked open. Mai jumped.
Through the crack, he said curtly, “Tea.” Then closed it again.
She groaned, sinking down into her chair. “Ugh…”
Yasuhara chuckled. “Would you like me to get it?”
“Please?”
He stood and headed to the kitchenette. “Did something happen between you two?”
“No…?” Mai frowned and shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“Then why so tense? You’ve both been prickly all day.”
“I don’t know, why don’t you ask him,” she grumped, crossing her arms. “I know I didn’t do anything wrong.” At least, not while awake…
Yasuhara returned from the kitchenette carrying a cup of tea. “Very well. I think I’ll ask.”
Mai watched intently as he disappeared into Naru’s office. But when Yasuhara emerged again, the amused twinkle had left his eye, replaced with a puzzled look.
“What? What’d he say?”
“Well…he denied that anything had happened between you two. When I asked about the tension, he said I must be imagining things.”
“Wait. So he didn’t blame me for anything? Not even one little thing?”
Yasuhara tilted his head. “If you had bothered him somehow, he would usually make some complaint…”
“Right? He’d say something petty like, ‘Why can’t she keep quiet?’ or call me stupid.”
“You know him so well,” Yasuhara chuckled.
“Then I guess it doesn’t have anything to do with me after all…” Mai mused. Which should have been a relief. But something didn’t feel right. What was bothering Naru? And why did she feel somehow responsible?
——
The third night on the train. Naru sat across from her again, this time writing in a notebook.
Mai felt stupid. In hindsight, there had been every indication that it was Naru the whole time, save for that one moment with the sheep.
But now that she was sure it was him, what to do about it?
She moved to sit next to him, watching him carefully. After a moment, she peered over to take a look at what he was writing. It was all in English, of course, so she couldn’t read it. But soon she realized that he was just rewriting the same line over and over, crossing words out before penning them in again.
Fascinating stuff…not.
“Do you like this face that much?” Naru suddenly asked, giving her a quick glance.
Mai jumped and looked away. “N-No…I’m just bored.”
Truthfully, she was a bit disappointed. If she was going to have actual recurring dreams about a guy, the least she could ask for was that they would be a little more interesting.
She sighed. “What am I even doing here? I want to leave…”
“Be my guest,” Naru muttered.
“Fine.” Mai huffed and got up from her seat. “I’m getting out of here.”
She opened the door of the compartment and closed it behind her without looking back.
Now she stood in a narrow corridor connecting several compartments. Beautiful countryside continued to stream by in the windows. No other passengers were in sight.
“Hmm, now what…”
Mai took a few steps down the corridor, and out of curiosity, peered into the next compartment.
“Huh?”
Naru sat in this one as well, reading a book.
“Wait…”
She went back to the compartment she had just left. Naru was still in there.
“Whaaa?”
She walked down the corridor, peering into every compartment she passed. Naru. Naru. Naru. He was in every single one of them!
“Okay, now this is scaring me.” Just how obsessed with him was she?! No, don’t answer that!
Mai crossed over to the next train car, hoping there would be some way off this damn train, or at least another soul she could talk to. But the compartments in this car were full of Naru too.
She walked faster, giving each compartment only a passing glance. She only stopped when something caught her eye.
“Wait, is that…me?”
This compartment was different from the others. Instead of Naru sitting alone, there was another person sitting across from him. Someone who looked exactly like her.
The Other Mai was saying something. Mai pressed her face against the door’s glass, trying to overhear.
“Why’d I have to get stuck with someone so boring anyway?” she whined. “I wish Gene was here instead. That’d be so great.” She sighed forlornly. “He’d smile at me and be so nice and actually talk to me like a normal person. It’s just my luck…”
Mai couldn’t help but cringe. Not that she didn’t totally agree, but wow, did she really sound like that?
But it got worse.
“I mean, why are you even alive right now? That doesn’t make anyone happy. What’s the point?”
Her blood chilled. “Wait…that’s…”
Going too far.
The Other Mai let out a loud sigh. “I wish you were the one who died instead! Now that would make me happy…”
Mai slammed her hand against the door. “No! I’d never say that! I would never…!”
“Can’t you do something about it?” Other Mai asked.
Naru didn’t say anything. The entire time, he just stared down at the floor, expression blank.
Mai banged on the door. “Stop it!”
Why wasn’t he talking back? Why did he just sit there and take it? He didn’t deserve this. No one did.
Hastily, Mai found the handle of the door and slid it open.
“Stop—”
But when she entered the compartment, no one was there. Both Naru and the Other Mai had disappeared.
“Wha—”
The door slid shut behind her. Mai whirled around. “Hey!”
She pulled at the door handle, but now it would not budge.
That was when she heard the water.
Mai turned at the trickling sound, just as it started to pool around her ankles. Cold, dark, muddy water, rising fast.
She threw her weight on the door, straining to get it open. “What is this?!” she said through grit teeth. The water rose to her knees.
“Come on! Please!” It rose up her thighs. Panicking, Mai banged on the door. “Help! Someone!”
The water was nearly up to her chest, when a pair of slimy, decomposing arms emerged from the depths, encircling her waist.
“Huh?” She only had a second to react before the arms tightened, and tugged. She screamed. They were trying to drag her under the water!
“NO!” Mai clung desperately to the door. “Naru! Help! Naru, please! NARU!”
She heard footsteps running down the corridor. There he was, outside the compartment, eyes wide. “Mai!”
“Naru…” She nearly cried in relief.
He immediately began pulling at the door. He seemed to have better luck at it, and the door finally slid open, causing the water to rush through the opening, dragging Mai with it out into the corridor.
“Oof!” She landed on the floor with a splash. Except it felt harder than the carpeted floor of a train. It was colder, uneven…were these…cobblestones?
Mai opened her eyes. She lay in a narrow alley, dark but for a dim streetlamp at the far end, just enough light to cast stark shadows from the dumpsters and trash bins lining the walls.
“Wh-Where am I…?” Mai struggled to her feet. She was dripping wet, shaky, and cold, but at least the arms were gone. But so was…
“Naru?” She hugged herself, shivering. “Where are you?” There was no other sign of life anywhere.
Slowly, she made her way down the dark alley.
“Naru? Where did you go? Na—“
She tripped on something and stumbled.
Mai fell to her knees, catching herself with her hands. Reflexively, she looked back at what she had tripped over. Her eyes widened.
A body lay on the ground behind a dumpster, hidden in the darkness except for a pale arm outstretched into the alley. And a pale face.
Naru’s face, speckled with blood. His eyes, lifeless.
The trees on the mountain path shimmered with morning dew. Gene passed through a row of red-orange torii gates lining the path, so dense that they practically made a vermillion tunnel.
Fushimi Inari Taisha. He had come here first thing in the morning, to beat the crowds and the heat. Gradually, he made his way up the mountain, snapping pictures now and then.
It was like he’d entered a different world. He could sense it, in the trees, in the shrines, in the thousands of torii gates. This was sacred ground.
This place is fantastic, Gene thought. You’re really missing out, Noll. Told you you should’ve come.
He knew his thoughts would not reach their intended recipient. Their abilities had weakened enough by now that their telepathic link no longer stretched across oceans. And yet, throughout his trip, Gene kept trying. Maybe it was just habit. He’d grown used to the fact that, no matter where he went— even when he was alone— he would always be able to reach his brother.
Which meant this was one of the few times in his life that Gene was truly alone.
On one hand, it was liberating. Being able to go anywhere and do anything he liked without anyone to caution or complain. But now, nearly a week into his trip, he was starting to realize just how isolating that could be too.
After making his way through another tunnel of torii, Gene stopped by a small shrine to catch his breath. The hike was tougher than he’d anticipated, and the humidity didn’t help. He sat on a mossy rock and sipped from his bottle of tea.
He sensed it before he saw it. A familiar tingle up his spine. He turned to his left, just in time to see it appear from behind a tree.
A white fox. Said to be the messengers of the Inari Okami, he had seen many statues of them along the way, many of them holding keys in their mouths. This fox didn’t look quite as fearsome; actually, it looked downright adorable.
“Hey, there,” Gene said. “Come to check on me?”
The fox stood still, staring at him.
“I’m no threat, I swear. Just visiting.” He gave it a disarming smile, and a short bow for good measure.
It sat, tilting its head curiously at him.
Slowly, Gene set down his bottle of tea and raised his digital camera, getting the fox into frame.
“Shhh…just hold still a second, okay?”
Briefly, he wondered if this might be considered disrespectful. Well…hopefully he wouldn’t be cursed afterwards.
The camera clicked, and the picture was taken. The fox didn’t seem perturbed; it merely stood and wandered away, having seemingly lost interest, and disappeared in a sunbeam.
Gene looked at the preview screen of his camera. There was no sign of the fox anywhere in the picture, even when he zoomed in. No smudge of light or anything. Just background scenery.
He smiled wryly. Gene knew that a camera couldn’t capture everything that he saw. Not even SPR’s high tech cameras could do that.
It was a shame. Noll might have actually liked to see this one.
The main reason for this trip was a client’s request, of course. And some research on the side. But also, Gene had hoped to visit his ethnic homeland someday, so he had been grateful for the opportunity.
Their ethnic homeland. Unfortunately, Noll hadn’t been interested enough to join him. But Gene still wished he could share what it was like. In one form or another…
——
It was on the weekend after the Agawa case. Mai brought Naru tea in his office as usual, but instead of leaving right away, she spoke up.
“Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you something. I mean, I would’ve told you when you first came back, but we had that case… Anyway, Mori-san already approved it, but since you’re my boss, you should know too.”
Naru sipped at his tea. “Please get to the point.”
“I won’t be here next weekend.”
He blinked. “Huh?”
Mai grinned. “That’s right, this time I’m the one going on a trip! To Kyoto!”
He stared at her, looking a bit lost.
She took a moment to enjoy that rare look on his face before explaining. “It’s my school trip. Do you have those in England? My whole class is going for a few days.”
Understanding dawned in his expression. “I see.” Then he nodded. “I will make note of it.”
“Come to think of it, you went to Kyoto too, right? A little after I started working here? How was it?”
“Hot.”
She waited for him to continue, but that seemed to be all he had to say about it.
Then again, he didn’t exactly go there to sightsee, did he? He had gone to search for Gene…
“Wait, does that mean Gene went to Kyoto too?”
Naru nodded. “I’d been retracing Gene’s steps during his trip, and learned that he had gone there to meet with a spiritualist. As far as I know, the man was one of the last people to have spoken with him before the accident. I went to ask if he had any idea where Gene had planned on going next.”
“Did he know?”
“No. It seemed they only discussed mediumship or trivial matters. If it had gone that easily, I would have found him much sooner.” Naru sighed.
And then, within only a few short months of them meeting, Naru would have left. And Mai would have never found out anything— about Naru’s identity, why he was here, or…about Gene. Selfish as it was, she was almost glad that things played out the way they did.
“Hey…” she began, hesitantly. “Do you think I could meet with that spiritualist too?”
Naru frowned. “Meet him? Why?”
“I guess…I’m just curious. Maybe if I talk to him, I could find out where Gene visited in Kyoto. I could see the same things, walk the same places…and stuff.” She blushed and shook her head. “N-nevermind, it’s stupid. You wouldn’t understand anyway.”
She took her tray and quickly exited his office.
What was she thinking? There was no use trying to explain something so sentimental to him. As if he’d even care.
——
Later that afternoon, John dropped by the office for a quick visit. Mai welcomed him eagerly; she had been hoping they could talk.
“Hey John, you lived in Kansai for a while, right? Do you have any recommendations for places to visit?”
John did indeed have a few recommendations, beyond just the usual tourist sites too. Mai took notes, nodding with excitement.
But partway through, the door to Naru’s office opened, and he poked his head out.
“Mai. Bring me a large trash bag.”
“Huh? Right now?”
“Yes, right now.”
She pouted.
John gave her an understanding smile and whispered, “We can talk again later, Mai-san.”
She sighed. “Sorry.”
Grumbling, she found a trash bag and took it to Naru’s office. “Here, I got you the—” she stopped.
A heap of maps, travel guides, notebooks, and paper was piled on top of Naru’s desk. As she watched, he rummaged through a desk drawer, pulling out another handful to add to the pile.
“Bring it here,” he said.
She closed the door behind her and walked up to the desk. “Don’t tell me…you’re throwing all this away?!”
“I found Gene. I don’t need them anymore.”
“That’s true, but…you should at least sort them for recycling!”
“Then I’ll leave that to you.”
Mai groaned. She just had to create more work for herself.
Having cleaned out his drawers, Naru sat on the edge of his desk, sifting through the pile. He gave each item a cursory glance before tossing it into the trash bag she held open for him.
This might take a while. She was tempted to just leave the bag with him and return to her conversation with John, but since Naru hadn’t dismissed her yet, she decided to stay for now.
Besides, she was curious what had spurred on this sudden cleaning spree. It had to be what they talked about earlier, right?
“I kinda forgot you still had all this stuff,” she admitted.
“Yes, well, I didn’t have time to throw them out before I left for England, and I didn’t have time when I came back, as someone immediately forced me to take on a case.”
Jeez, he was still holding a grudge about that?
Mai peered inside the trash bag. “You know…this stuff has been here since before I began working at the office. It feels weird to see it all go away. Like it’s the end of an era…”
She thought back to all those times she caught Naru in the office, pouring over maps. She used to think it was just a weird hobby. But she should have suspected; that look of concentration he had while tracing his finger over roads, mountains, lakes…she should have known the reason couldn’t be so frivolous as that.
Naru tossed several travel books, clicking his tongue. “Madoka had plenty of time while she was here,” he muttered. “She could have cleaned this out herself.”
“She probably thought you’d complain about her touching your stuff,” Mai sniffed. “Besides, she was busy. Actually teaching me stuff.”
He frowned. “…She never cleaned Gene’s desk either.”
Now this got her attention. “Gene’s desk?”
“At the Pratt Laboratory. I didn’t get around to cleaning it before I left for Japan, as I had too many other things to worry about. But I assumed Madoka would do it eventually. And yet when I returned, after the funeral, I found it exactly the way it was two years ago.” He shook his head. “Ridiculous.”
Mai gulped. If she were in his position, coming back to see that desk unchanged after all that time would have felt like a punch in the gut. “So…you cleaned it out yourself?”
“What little there was to clean, yes. It was mostly odd scraps of paper he had doodled on. He was active in the field, but the rest of us generally took care of the paperwork.”
She bit her lip. Now she felt torn. It seemed like such a waste. Gene would never put pen to paper again. To her, even little doodles would be priceless.
“But…if there wasn’t even that much stuff, it couldn’t have hurt to just leave it that way, right? Did you even need the space?”
“That is not the point.”
She looked at him, inviting him to explain.
He sighed. “My parents are free to preserve Gene’s bedroom as they wish. But we don’t need a shrine in the workplace as well.”
There was something about the way he said that. Not quite annoyance, more like…a deep discomfort. It made her hesitate. But at the same time, the dismissiveness of his words bothered her.
“And why do you get to decide that? Gene was an important member of Mori-san’s team, right? Are you saying her feelings don’t count, just because she’s not family?”
Naru paused. “…Even so, it’s been two years.”
“You don’t get to decide how long it takes!”
“It’s just paper.”
“Maybe to you, it is. That doesn’t mean you have to remove everything that reminds you of him!”
She had been wondering for a while. Why exactly Naru decided to return to Japan. He said it was for research, and that might really be all it was. But she also wouldn’t be surprised if he was just running from something.
“Is that what you think I’m doing?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Isn’t it?”
A bitter smile crossed his face. “I see his face every time I look in the mirror. What other reminder do I need?”
Mai shut her mouth. She couldn’t argue against that.
An awkward silence passed. Naru lowered his gaze back to the notebook in his hands, flipping through the pages. Mai looked away.
When he finished flipping through the notebook, Naru tossed it in the trash and picked up another map. “Okinawa,” he said, looking at it with disgust. “He made me go to Okinawa.” This also went in the trash.
Mai rolled her eyes. “It couldn’t have been that bad.”
“I never intended to come to Japan in the first place. But he ended up dragging me here after all.”
“He didn’t drag you, Naru. Complain all you want, but no one forced you to come here. You made a choice.”
He scoffed. “The only other choice was to leave things to the incompetent police. He would have never been found.”
“But he was. Thanks to you.”
That was one thing she could say in his favor. Whatever his reasons— whether out of brotherly love, or merely because he wanted to dissect his brother’s brain— despite all the odds, Naru didn’t give up. She could admire that level of dedication.
And now, this clearing of the past seemed to signal a new start. His life had been in stasis for nearly two years, devoted to the search. Now, he could finally live for himself again. So, did that mean…that this time, he was here because he actually wanted to be?
Mai glanced at him. Maybe that was just wishful thinking. But it would be nice, if that were the case.
Minutes later, Naru was flipping through another notebook, when he stopped to tear a sheet out of it.
“Here.” He held it out to her.
“Huh?” She took the paper. “What’s this?” On it was a name, written in romaji, and a phone number.
“The man I met in Kyoto.”
She gasped and looked at him in surprise. “You found it for me?”
“It turned up while I was cleaning. It’s going in the trash anyway, I don’t care if you feel like salvaging it.”
“Uh-huh.” She wasn’t entirely sure she believed that excuse. Mai turned back to the paper and read the name out slowly. “Suzuki…Akitarou?”
“I’m surprised you could read that much,” Naru smirked.
Mai glared at him over the sheet of paper. “What’s the kanji?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Pfft. Even if you could, I bet you couldn’t write it.” Mai grinned, in better spirits now. “So I should just give him a call, ask if we could meet? Can I tell him I work for SPR?”
“Yes. He might be more willing to see you if you mention my name.”
“Which name?”
There it was. The ‘Are you an idiot?’ look. “Oliver Davis, obviously.”
“Well sorry. How was I supposed to know you didn’t introduce yourself as Shibuya Kazuya?”
He sighed. “It doesn’t take more than two brain cells to figure out that if I went asking about my identical twin named Eugene Davis, using an alias would be pointless.”
“My bad. It’s just that you have sooo many names, it’s enough to confuse a girl.”
“I have, at most, three.”
“Not counting nicknames, you mean.” She laughed, and waved the piece of paper. “But thanks, Naru. I appreciate it.”
Oliver is feeling a bit out of sorts and in need of someone with a higher emotional intelligence...
For: @csakuras
From: @snavej
Preferred Gift to Receive: Fanfiction
Themes Preferred to Receive: Romance/Fluff, Friendship/Fluff, Fluff, Family, Supernatural/Mystery, AU
Themes Unwilling to Receive: Crack Fic
Content you are uninterested in receiving: Rape, incest, pairings between adults and teenagers
Characters or content Preferred to Receive: Twins (platonic), Naru/Mai (platonic or romantic), Twins/Mai (platonic or romantic). Possible prompts: “I didn’t expect to see you here” or “Secret”
