Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a warm day in Shibuya when fate brought them together again. Oliver had planned to make his return to the office as much of a non-event as possible, he had been doing it every few months as it was.

Unfortunately, with Madoka as his stand-in, there was no way to get out of it scot-free and, by the set of Lin's shoulders, he was sure the older man was feeling the same way. They were both very similar in that regard. Why Lin fell for the madwoman in question, Oliver will never understand.

They had made it up the steps to the office, Yasuhara hot on their tail with a dangerous glint in his eye and their luggage in hand when they all stopped short at the door.

The soft feminine laughter tinkling from the door was weirdly reminiscent of what one would hear at a café, despite Oliver’s many attempts to keep his office a proper workplace. There were two voices inside; one very obviously Madoka, but the other wasn't familiar at all, not Ayako or Masako.

A client perhaps? An unbothered one if that were the case.

Either way, it meant work and work meant a severe lack of Madoka’s brand of celebration.

‘It seems some greater force is actually looking out for us after all’ Oliver thought as he took the initiative and turned the knob, stepping into the office, trailed after by the other two men.

The intrusion of the three mean broke the pleasant bubble of laughter shared between the two women, leaving the space in a comparably stale silence as they all looked around at each other.

Before Madoka could make a move to break the quiet, the other woman stood up from her seat and bowed at the new arrivals.

Rising from her bow, she smiled at the three men, kind and warm, the feeling shining forth from her eyes, "Hello, I'm Taniyama Mai. If I remember correctly, you must be Shibuya, Kazuya." She said, taking the few steps to close the distance between them and offering her hand.

Her aura had much the same effect as Madoka’s presence, maybe to a lesser degree, in the way the silence now felt less heavy and more inviting to the conversation. She seemed to call this feeling towards her with the outstretch of her hand.

Oliver stood in his place, studying her through a mask of apathy, "Do I know you?" his tone unforgiving and straight to the point as he made no move to accept the woman’s hand.

She seemed close to his age, around her early to mid-twenties. Normally that meant he had a significant upper hand in business situations but she seemed unphased by his gaze, easily retracting her hand to cover her laugh in a move so natural it nearly erased the awkwardness of his lack of reciprocation.

The way she laughed seemed familiar, an odd bell of acknowledgment ringing at the back of Oliver’s mind, quashed by the simple thought that her laugh was… quite attractive. Not so high pitched as the one Masako used to toss out back when they had been younger, and she had fancied herself in love with him, it was a natural sound, an earthy one, genuine.

"I see you haven't changed, sir." She says, a knowing twinkle in her eye.

Oliver's only response was to raise his brow.

With a soft click of her tongue and a playful roll of her eyes, she bows her head in a soft reboot of the bow she'd given them from the waist a moment ago.

"We worked together once when we were younger, not that I expect you to remember. I went to the high school where you investigated ‘The Old School House’?”

With the lack of acknowledgment flickering in his eyes, she continued on with her hints, “I may have indirectly caused the loss of one of your cameras? I worked under you to pay off the amount.” A pause, again no recognition.

She gave a small huff, her hands coming to her waist, her friendly demeanor of a few minutes ago gone as one of frustration seemed to ooze from her, “I worked as your assistant for nearly three days. You chalked up all the activity in the old building to land subsidence. That can’t be a normal conclusion to a case, can it?”

“I thought you said you didn’t expect me to remember.” Oliver finally offered, a small quirk to his brow as the party around them watched the exchange like a tennis match.

"Land subsidence? Latent psychic ability? Hypnotic suggestion? You made me barricade a whole classroom with plywood just to prove that one of my classmates was behind the poltergeist activity of a sinking school building. Or rather, should I say, it was to prove yourself right." She accused, her hand twitching at her hip as if fighting the urge to prod at his chest.

"That…does sound like Naru." Yasuhara supplied, ever unhelpful, his input shattering the tension slowly growing around the other two young adults.

Suddenly the laser focus Miss Taniyama had on him was gone, her eyes flickering to Yasuhara,  "You all kept that silly nickname I gave you?" she asked, her eyes flickering to everyone in the room, landing back on Oliver with a disbelieving smile curling the corners of her lips.

His eyes narrowed at her, acknowledgment finally registering on his face, though before he could say a word, Yasuhara strode forward, "You originated ‘Naru the Narcissist’?"

With a self-deprecating chuckle and a hand coming up to rub the back of her neck she shrugged, "I was in high school, it wasn't very original…but, I mean, if the shoe fits?"

Yasuhara snorted a laugh, leading Miss Taniyama back to the couches, "On the contrary, it’s pure poetry! The simplicity, the directness…” Yasuhara went on, kissing his gathered fingers and shaking them in the air, “You’re my hero."

She laughed, "That's very sweet of you, but I'm afraid I've come here on business, not to relive old times.”

“You could have fooled us, Miss Taniyama.” Oliver says, arms crossing over his chest.

Once again, Miss Taniyama’s eyes are sharp with a challenge, “Forgive my rudeness, Shibuya-san. Unfortunately, I’ve come across a…situation. SPR was the only answer I could think of.” She admits, picking up her tea delicately and taking a sip before meeting eyes with Oliver again, "Won't you listen to my case?"

Her inquiry came out as more a demand than a request.

And still, Oliver found himself nodding and taking the seat beside Madoka, who, with her lucky cat grin, handed him a black padfolio.

Eyes equally as sharp, he spoke to her again, "What do you have for us, Taniyama-san."

Mai mirrored his nod of acknowledgment and set her tea down with a soft clink, folding her hands over the knee she’d crossed over her other leg, her dark fingernails stark against her pale skin, "I'm an Officer with the Shibuya Police Force."

"That's very impressive!" Madoka gushed, always one to place polite conversation before work, though Mai didn't seem to mind as she shrugged self-consciously.

"Thank you, I pride myself in my work. I'm a member of the Cold Case Unit of the force, and it seems I've found myself out of my depth with this case I've picked up."

"Will you have a location for us to investigate, I'm afraid we don't do police investigations."

Mai smiled, laughed, this one sounding tenser than the polite chuckle of their first meeting, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. If you'd let me proceed?"

Oliver waved for her to continue, settling back into the couch in a lazy lean, a taunting smile quirking the corners of his lips, "Please, get to the point."

Mai cleared her throat and settled in her seat straighter, eyes narrowing at the man sitting across from her, "The order we chose to take on cases isn't set in stone, we work on those that call out to us. A few weeks ago, a family related to a case that had been buried in our archives had asked to speak with me, asking for my attention on their case specifically…” She goes on, eyes averting slightly as she thinks on how to frame the rest of her situation, thinking on what she can and can’t exactly say,  “It seems they've bought the house which was built on the sight of one of my cases. They came to me with concerns about a lingering….thing in their home. Whether it's a ghost or a poltergeist or some kind of residual haunting I can't be really sure about, I don't know. They've vacated the premises and placed it in my care.”

Miss Taniyama’s eyes were again on his, serious, but still so warm and brown. He could see her very easily being good at the job she has. Interacting well in the delicate situations of reopening old wounds for families who’d long given up any hope of closure.

"I've slept there for three nights and the activity in the house is…pretty loud. It barely kept itself hidden the first day I was there and that had been only to visit. I feel I may be out of my league with this one." Mai finishes, eyes settled on her clasped hands, the willingness to meet Oliver's taunts faded. He could practically feel her concern coming off of her in waves, see it dancing in her downcast gaze, the kind of desperation that was familiar to the members of SPR.

Oliver’s eyes fell back to his paper, jotting down the last of his notes before he looked to her again, "What was the case in question that was in your archives?"

Mai nodded, reaching for her purse and removing a hefty file folder from it, handing it across the table where Madoka took it and studied it, Lin scanning the pages from his place behind the couch, "It's a case of a serial murderer, Showa 60 about. The man suspected of the crime was the head of the household, Fujiwara Hiro, but there hadn't been enough evidence beyond hearsay and horrible rumors to move on him. The case never got farther than the word of people in town against the word of his family and himself.

Watching Madoka flip through the folder Oliver could glimpse well-organized lists of names as well as pages and pages of notes that seemed relevant to the area surrounding the site.

“These lists of suspects are extensive and so are the notes on the area’s history.” Madoka said, glancing over at her protégé, “I can definitely work with this.” She added, a warm smile directed at Mai once she looked up at her from the file, "You're making my job easy for me."

Mai laughed, "Your job seems to be my job, Madoka-san." the smile she wore was warped by the furrow of her brows, turning her gaze towards Oliver pleadingly, "Will you take the case, Shibuya-san?"

With a sigh Oliver looked down at his notes, the ‘no' biting up his throat was incessant though he had the suspicion it was a very petty ‘no' that wanted to spring out. One glance at his mentor and the word went crawling back down to hide from her, "We'll need a place to set up a base with access to electricity-"

"Yes, yes, of course, anything you'll need." Taniyama burst out, her brows high, eyes wide with hope, shoulders lowering with relief.

"…We'll also need to contact the family in question to get a better idea of the activity at the house."

Mai nodded, removing a small spiral notebook from her purse and jotting down notes, "I'll get in contact with them and ask them to prepare for your call." She said, ripping out a paper and sliding it across the table, a phone number and a family name scribbled in a neat bubbly hand under an address, "That's the house, the streets have been changed since the police report had been made." She says, a confident smile on her lips like she's won something.

Oliver hates it because it makes him feel like he's lost somehow.

"Thank you, again, for taking my case." She says, making to stand and bow to them, Yasuhara standing to walk her out.

Before she can leave the coffee area, Oliver takes one final shot, "You didn't thank us, to begin with."

But rather than give any sign that the shot landed its mark,  the young woman only turned to toss a look over her shoulder, a mischievous smile curling her lips, "Oh, well, I figured you’d be familiar with that."

Madoka stifles a snort beside him by smacking a hand to her mouth dramatically as his eyes narrow. Mai only shrugged on her long tawny coat with a flourish she gave a final wave as she made her way to the door.

"See you soon!" She tosses over her shoulder, the gallop of her heels down the stairs cut off by the click of the door behind her.

With too much enthusiasm Yasuhara turns on them all, meeting eyes with a giddy Madoka, "I think I'm in love."

Madoka squeals laughter in agreement, "Oh my god, she was fabulous! I'm so glad you said yes, Oliver!"

"Did I have a choice?" he huffs, snapping closed his black padfolio and standing from his seat, "I'm exhausted, you can find me in my office."

Madoka snags onto his wrist before he can get too far, her familiar glint looking up at him, "Oh, no, you don't! You're not getting out of this welcome back lunch so easily, little Noll." She giggles, standing and hugging him close like he hadn't gained a head on her over the years of her tutelage, "We're throwing you two a party, and you can't stop me." She sing-songs.

Lin only offers a resigned sigh in solidarity before bending to the whims of his lover, Oliver was left with no other choice than to do the same. Unfortunately.

Chapter Text

It was a few days later when Mai waited out in front of the location, looking for the van she'd seen parked outside of the SPR office.

She stood against the brush of a fall breeze in a black turtle neck and her favorite pair of comfy jeans, her same tawny coat swaying around her calves. The warmth of the day prior wasn't present in the early morning, leaving the slightest bite of chill in the air which she fought off with her hands buried deep in her pockets.

She cursed the chill every time she had to tuck a fly-away behind her ear, though most of her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. She cursed in the same vein when she had to remove her hand from the warmth of her pockets to wave down the van into a parking space in front of the house.

"Good morning everyone." She said, shifting her weight onto one leg, the jut of her hip casual and easy, "Ready for the grand tour?"

Lin, silent upon leaving the van, simply gives an acknowledging nod while Madoka groaned about the early hour. Naru was the only one to leaves the van looking genuinely unfazed, "That would be best, yes."

Mai gives a bouncy nod before spinning on the sole of her boot, short heels clicking up the walkway, ponytail swinging around her shoulder blades as she goes, expecting them to follow.

She unlocks the door and toes off her boots at the entryway, walking them into the main living area after shrugging off her coat and draping it over a couch, "We'll have you set up in the office next door, it's the biggest room with the most electrical access on the first floor, as you requested." She begins, leaning her hands on the back of the love seat in the room.

"Have you spoken with the Shouyo family about their experiences here?" she asks, watching as Naru and Lin examine the room, looking as if they could measure the room down to the inch with only their calculating gaze.

"Yes, we have. It seems the activity is attached to people rather than being specific to any one location in the house.” Naru says, the information tossed over his shoulder with an air of indifference, “Though they did say there was one apparition…”

“Yes, she appears at the top of the staircase. I’ve seen her.”

“Right…” Naru mutters to himself pensively, cupping his chin in his hand a moment before examining Mai with the same calculating gaze he’d used on the room, “That was all I was able to get from them though, might you have anything to add, Taniyama-san?”

Mai crosses her arms pensively, looking down at her house slippers with a soft frown, "Not…that I can think of. The activity seems to follow around Mrs. Shouyo and their two daughters, nothing particularly strange or obviously paranormal has happened to the husband, Mr. Shouyo." She tacks on, tapping a finger to her chin, her gaze mapping up to the ceiling.

“Other than them, it’s been relatively active around me, as well. Not inherently malicious but still…maybe it’s the fact that we’re women? The apparition on the staircase is also a woman…”

“We don’t know for sure if she is the cause of everything occurring in the house. Though you have a believable hypothesis, it’s much too soon to say as much, Taniyama-san.” Naru says, eyes once again tracking around the living room.

Mai childishly uses his lack of attention to poke her tongue out between her lips before giving her response, tone a bit snippy, “Of course, Shibuya-san.”

"Show us to the second floor, then. The floor plans you gave us shows that there isn't much else here on the first floor that we won't become readily acquainted with." He says, turning to face her once more.

Mai seems to jolt in place, a soft sort of shock on her face that leaves her eyes a fraction wider and her lips open in a small ‘o'. Her eyes look so big when they look at him like that but just as seamlessly as the expression had come to her, it melts away, and her eyes crinkle at the corners with a playful smile, "As you wish, my liege." She offers, waving a hand out of the room and towards the stairs up to the second floor.

Again, she leads the group up to a single hallway that has four rooms and a full bath, "I've helped the owners set aside two rooms for you and your crew, there are extra futons and one reserved in the office just in case anyone pulls an all-nighter." She explains, opening the two doors as she spoke, walking further down the hall, "I'll be sleeping in the master bedroom if you need me." She says, waving her hand towards the door at the end of the hall dismissively. 

"You'll remain here with us?" Naru asked, the faintest of quirks to his brow at the insinuation.

Mai met him with a raised brow of her own, though hers seemed much more playful and was accompanied by a smile that softened the challenging look significantly, "Is that a problem? Do you not normally work around the families of the homes you investigate?"

"We do." Naru supplied, pausing just as Lin brushed passed them and back down the stairs to begin bringing in the equipment, "But you aren't the owner of this house and, for all intense and purposes, you aren't a victim of this case."

His cold statement of fact seemed to darken the area around them, sap any warmth she brought into their little back and forth as her face set into the severe look he'd seen in the office during her inquiry, a look that meant business,

"Then perhaps you simply don’t work well with others, Shibuya-san.”

Her words were like ice, demanding his attention and respect. Unfortunately, he was not one of her subordinates, “To work well with others I’d need to acknowledge them as my colleagues. You, Taniyama-san, aren’t even a client. You’re more of a…representative to my clients.”

Her eyes narrowed and something about the action was almost amusing, childish, though he knew better than to do something as silly as smile at her after baiting her like that.

“This case is one that I brought you. Because it's mine." She declares, the statement hitting clear and strong. "I'm sharing it with you, Shibuya-san, don't go letting your ego trick you into thinking this is somehow your stage. It's mine, I'm just allowing you to be on it."

The chill in the air wasn't the work of some supernatural force, it was the chill in her voice, a tone he's sure she took with men bigger and stronger looking than he was to get their attention and respect. He can't say it worked, but it certainly changed the playing field they both stood on.

With a fully raised brow and a challenging grin to his lips, Naru decided to answer her challenge, "Oh? Those are strong words, Taniyama-san."

"They are. You'd do well to listen." She says, backing down from her position leaning into him, trying to make herself bigger in the shadow he cast over her.

She brushed passed him like a wisp on the wind, her ponytail snapping at his shoulder with her turn back down the hall, "I take my work very seriously, Shibuya-san. I don't say those words lightly." She spares a moment to glance back over her shoulder at him before descending the stairs, cold steel in her honey eyes before her face brightens with a smile, "Now are you coming? I should probably show you to your base."

Again, the hard edge in her eyes offsets the gentle smile she wears, making the bouncy lilt of her voice sounds like a demand that pulls him along with her down the stairs by an invisible string.

A soft frown sets on his face as he does so, nearly unconscious of it until he catches himself in the mirror mounted on the wall shared by the stairs. The playful smile that flickers to life out of his stern frown twinkles back at him and only serves to irk him more, the frown setting more permanently on his face when he hears Gene's cloyingly sweet taunt in his head,

"Are you just gonna let her talk to you like that?"

He rolls his eyes at the taunt just as Gene's soft laugh fades away as he reaches the foot of the stairs, schooling his face into apathy as he meets eyes with one Mai Taniyama again.

"It seems like your assistant has found the office all by himself." She says, nodding towards the room she’d been leading him to. 

Naru doesn't deign to offer her a response as he brushes past her and towards the room she’d motioned to, the gentle frustrated huff he hears behind him only sparking a flame of amusement in his chest that nearly cracks his poker face. 

Still, he hears her soft footfalls following him to the office where she leans herself against the door frame, out of the way so he can look over the space slowly being filled with their equipment.

"Any more requests, Shibuya-san?" Mai asks, examining the dark tint of her nails, polishing away lint on her turtle neck, her legs crossing at the ankle under her 

"Yes, some tea." 

Mai only throws a smile to the back of his head as he goes about setting up the base, "Yeah, tea does sound great right about now." She allows a short silence that leaves Naru thinking she's waiting for a ‘thank you' of some kind to soften his request.

Instead, she merely shrugs after the moment has passed, "Well then, goodbye, Shibuya-san. I'll be back in the evening." 

Naru looks back at her, his face still unreadable but she sees something in his eyes, the confusion, the question, and that alone brings a playful smile to her lips.

"I'm not in the business of fulfilling requests." She offers as an answer to his unvoiced question before again spinning on the sole of her foot to leave for work, the soft padding of her feet on the hardwood floor following her until the clack of her heels accompanies her out the door.

Naru is left in the silence of the room, mildly infuriated with her cheek. His assistant and teacher join him a moment later and, upon seeing the tension in which he moves and the furrow of his brow, continue setting up base tossing equally amused and concerned glances back and forth.