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Mai peeked down the hallway from the door of the living room and shivered when a cold breeze wafted into her direction. Osamu had returned home with a grocery bag, completely drenched. And so was the person who had followed him into their apartment. It was Naru. He closed the door behind him, then took off his coat and shoes.
“Well, I hope the weather clears up by the time you leave,” Osamu said, then proceeded to wipe his glasses with a handkerchief he had pulled from his pocket. “Otherwise I’ll lend you my umbrella.”
“Thanks.”
Mai stepped into the hallway.
“Hey.”
The men looked up at her. It was only then they had noticed her presence.
Looking at Naru, she said, “What’s the occasion?”
“I found a drenched puppy,” Osamu said, pointing to the side.
“That’s not a puppy,” she said.
“A kitten, then?” Osamu grinned. “He’s cute. Can I keep him?”
Mai rolled her eyes hard.
“Close, but no.”
Naru ran his hand through his hair.
The slicked back, wet hair was a good look on him.
“This kitten is going back to England in a few weeks,” he said, “Don’t worry. I won’t stay long.”
“But long enough for dinner?”
The men nodded.
Osamu had not informed her about a surprise dinner guest. They usually ate vegetarian once a week, but not on this day. An hour earlier he had informed her by text that he would buy groceries to cook a vegetarian meal, which had raised her suspicions.
While Naru headed into the living room, Mai went along with Osamu to the kitchen.
She looked down at the large grocery bag on the side-table.
“That’s for dinner?”
“Not all of it,” Osamu said. “I figured I might as well stock our fridge since we’re cooking vegetarian anyway.”
They started to separate the ingredients from the other items in the grocery bag.
“You should have told me Naru was coming.”
“Sorry about that. It was very last minute…” Osamu said, “I’ll start cooking right away.”
“Aren’t you going to answer my question? Did anything happen?”
Their boss wasn’t the type to drop by for dinner.
“Oh, right. Remember my idea? Naru finally agreed.”
Mai’s jaw dropped.
“What! The farewell party?! How?”
She had listened to Osamu scheming with some of the others over that ridiculous plan. Mai had thought it was impossible. There was no way Naru was going to agree to a party, not to mention attending one himself.
Mai turned to look back at Naru. He was already sitting on the sofa, with a book in hand.
“It’s not a farewell party…” he said.
“No, it’s a year-end party!” Osamu said with a brilliant smile.
Their boss frowned.
“It’s only a year-end dinner.”
“What’s the difference?”
“He doesn’t want to see us in tears,” Osamu said, “And, he doesn’t want to party too much either.”
Naru shrugged.
Mai had to make sure she was hearing this right.
“You defeated him at chess?”
Osamu cut up the carrot into thin slices with precision.
“Yes, I have.”
“No. Way.”
In the early years of SPR it would have been unthinkable that a chessboard would make its appearance in the office. To the surprise of everyone, including Naru himself, it was there to stay thanks to the generosity of his parents. Although he had no prior interest in board games, Naru had taken up chess after his parents bought him a chess board during their last trip to Japan. Apparently, Martin had joined a local chess club and desired to play chess with his son too sometime in the future. He suggested that Naru should play chess with his employees and the SPR irregulars.
Lin had taught them the basics.
Naru turned out to be a fast learner, while the majority, including Mai, either had no interest or lost hope in making good progress. On the other hand, Yasuhara took his time learning the game despite repeatedly being defeated by Lin and Naru. Eventually, Naru improved to the point that he remained undefeated in the past year.
Until now.
“You might not believe it, but it’s true,” Osamu said, smirking. “You should have seen his expression after I ended his winning streak.”
He was still basking in the aftermath of his victory.
Mai’s jaw was open wide.
A defeated Naru.
“I would have paid to see that.”
“…I can hear everything,” Naru said from the couch. His profile looked more glum than usual.
Osamu ignored him.
“As you can see this is a dinner to make up to our boss. This is the least I could do after hurting his pride!”
“Naru sure looks ecstatic.”
Osamu grinned, then leaned down to whisper in her ear.
“Why don’t you ask him that question? Now’s the right time.”
Mai blinked.
So that was his goal.
“Would you mind if we named a kid after you?”
Naru blinked, then stared at her as if she had grown horns on her head.
“What?”
His gaze moved to Osamu who was scooping up a ladle of rice for Mai.
“Yes, she’s for real,” he said.
Naru looked back at Mai. His voice was more composed this time.
“…You’re expecting?”
“What?” Mai nearly fell off her chair. She shook her head. “No! Not yet! I was just wondering. That’s all!”
Osamu laughed with a nervous smile on his face.
They were not ready for a child at all. It wasn’t anywhere within their plans for at least the first five years. There were all kinds of other things to be considered first. Osamu needed to get settled in his new job, while Mai had to finish her bachelor’s degree before they even started thinking of beginning a family.
Naru stared at him.
“And you were wondering as well?”
“Well, Mai was the one who suggested it, but she has my stamp of approval,” Osamu said, “By the way, it’s not going to be Oliver or anything like that.”
Naru looked at Mai again.
“You want to name your kid ‘Naru’?”
“Yeah, why not?” Mai said. “I mean, you’re the one who brought us together. …Sort of.”
“Either that or something along the lines of Narumi, Naruaki, Naruki…” Osamu said.
“I see.”
Naru gazed down at his plate for a moment.
They watched his contemplating face with suspense.
“I don’t mind,” he said.
“That’s great to hear,” Osamu said, smiling.
“Or rather, would it be more appropriate to say that…” Naru paused, looking at pair on the other side of the table. “I feel honoured?”
Mai’s jaw dropped. Osamu adjusted his glasses.
“What did I just hear—”
“Excuse me?”
Naru groaned at their overreaction.
“It’s not every day someone decides to name a child after me.”
“No, I mean. Can you say that again?”
Mai held up a hand next to her ear in anticipation.
He gave her a glare.
“Mai, I’m not going to repeat myself.”
Osamu laughed.
“I’m going to tell your future namesake all about you!”
Naru sighed.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Well, perhaps I’ll skip the part when you turned me down…”
“You had better.”
After the trio finished eating dinner, they sat on the sofa to finish up their drinks.
“How about you?” Mai asked. “What will you do in England?”
“Research.”
Mai made a face. That much was obvious.
“How about… starting a family?”
Naru frowned at her.
“…I don’t have any plans like that.”
“Not even a relationship?”
“No. I’m content as it is now.”
“So, it’s just you and your parents.”
Naru nodded.
“I’d like to stay closer to them. I’ve been away for too long.”
Mai and Osamu exchanged knowing glances.
“He sounds so noble when he says that,” she said.
Osamu nodded.
“He really does. I bet those people will be delighted to see him again.”
Naru frowned at them.
“Those people?”
“Yeah,” she said, “Good luck with sucking up to the sponsors to fund your research.”
Naru resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
Osamu squinted at the soapy water in the kitchen sink where he had dropped the knife.
“I guess this was a bad idea after all.”
“What’s wrong?” Mai said from below.
“I dropped the knife in the water and now I can’t see it.”
Recently, Osamu had been taking his glasses off more often. His old prescription was giving him headaches.
“Geez. Be more careful.”
“The same goes for you.”
Mai puffed her cheeks at Osamu.
Rice grains had spilled over the floor minutes earlier. The culprit was Osamu who had neglected to tell her that he had placed the rice bag in the corner. Osamu had been planning to refill the smaller container that they kept in the cupboards. Unfortunately, it had toppled when Mai accidentally kicked the bag when she walked into the kitchen.
It was already embarrassing enough for Mai to show Naru that she was as clumsy at home as she was during cases, so she decided not to make much a scene. Without complaining too much about Osamu, she had started to clean up.
“Still haven’t picked up your new glasses?”
Osamu showed a sheepish smile.
“Not yet. I forgot about it.”
“You’re really turning into an old man, huh…” Mai said. “Always forgetting things…”
He ignored her comment and turned into the direction of the living room.
“Naru. Can you pick up my glasses? I believe I left them on the dinner table.”
Yasuhara waited for a response but heard nothing from the other side.
“Naru?”
Mai rose and looked through the doorway.
To her surprise, he did find the glasses on the table, but for whatever reason he didn’t pick them up.
“Naru?” she said.
“It’s okay,” Osamu said. “You can give it to me.”
Naru nodded and picked the glasses from the table, without any hesitation. He went over and handed the glasses over to Mai.
“Um, thanks,” she said, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Naru returned to the sofa where he sat down with his book.
The situation left Mai completely puzzled. She had an inkling of what might have caused Naru’s hesitation, but she didn’t dare to ask him directly.
When she was about to press Osamu for details, he merely lifted a soapy finger in front of his lips.
“Later.”
Osamu felt Mai’s deep stare on his back. She would interrogate him after Naru left even if he hadn’t decided himself to tell her about it. Their boss was standing outside their home. Osamu had been discussing some minute details with him about the upcoming dinner party.
After saying goodbye, Naru turned but then paused. He looked at Osamu again.
“Does Mai know about what happened back then? The glasses, I mean.”
“No.”
Naru glanced for a moment through the doorway, where Mai stood.
“You’ll tell her, I assume.”
Osamu nodded.
“Yes, it’s only the right thing to do.”
“Good.”
He scratched the back of his head.
“It’s been so long. I didn’t think it would come up again.”
Naru sighed a little.
“I see.”
They were silent for a moment.
Then Osamu leaned outside the doorway, lowering his voice.
“By the way… did you see or feel anything?”
“Nothing at all.”
Osamu smiled.
“Right. It’s not like before,” he said, “so don’t you worry about us. Me and Mai will be fine. Trust me!”
Naru scratched the back of his head.
“I’m sorry. I can never be sure about these types of things.”
“Don’t apologise. It’s not your fault.”
“So, what happened?”
Mai was on the bed, dressed in a pink pyjama. Her legs stretched out over the blanket. Osamu was sitting down on the opposite end, cross-legged.
“Well, that’s how he found out.”
“Huh?”
“About my crush.”
Mai gave him a long stare before replying.
“Okay, I assume this was when you were crushing on Naru and not on me.”
Osamu nodded.
“Precisely.”
Mai had found out about his crush several months after the Agawa case. Osamu had vaguely told her about it once in an intense conversation. That was long before he had started going out with her.
“Okay…” He started. “Let’s just say I tripped over something, spilled tea all over and lost my glasses in the process. You know the colour of the old carpet in the main office?”
Mai nodded.
“It pretty much rendered my glasses invisible. I didn’t want to step on my glasses, so I called for help. The boss was the only one in.”
Osamu sighed. It had been one of the worst decisions in his life.
“He went looking for your glasses,” Mai said with a calm voice.
“Yes. Apparently, just touching that got his psychometry acting up,” he said, glancing away from her, “I suppose the feelings embedded on the glasses were really strong.”
The image of finding Naru hunched over was still clearly embedded on Osamu’s mind. Naru was kneeling while covering his face with his other hand. At first glance it seemed like the boss suddenly had felt unwell, but on further inspection that didn’t appear to be the case at all.
“Then, he handed over my glasses and returned to his room.”
“Did you ask about it?”
“Yeah, because his behaviour left me puzzled. But he insisted he was fine, so I went about my day again. I didn’t realise until about an hour later what had occurred. I panicked and asked the boss about what he’d seen.”
“What did he say?”
“Naru said he knew. And, he also apologised, for being careless.” Osamu inhaled a breath. “I’d never seen him apologise that much to me, or to anyone else for that matter. I accepted his apology, and then asked to take a day or two off. I was too shocked to continue working. I must have said more things, but I don’t remember much about that conversation. It’s still a blur to me.”
Mai’s eyes were wide.
“Well, that explains a lot,” she said, “I think you ended up taking a whole week off.”
He nodded.
“It was very embarrassing, for both me and him, so we didn’t tell anyone else,” Osamu said with a light bow. “In hindsight, I should have told you earlier, so I’d like to apologise.”
Mai shook her head.
“No, it’s okay! It wasn’t any of my business at that time.”
Osamu frowned at her.
“Yeah, but you did make me tell you that I got rejected by the big boss.”
“Well, sorry about that,” Mai said, twitching her brow. “That’s because you looked so damn miserable whenever you came into the office! You looked like you didn’t want to be there!”
“I wanted to be there, to do my work; I just didn’t want to see the boss.”
“Well, that much was obvious. I just wanted to cheer you up.” She sighed. “When did he turn you down, by the way?”
“The very day I returned to work.”
“You did ask him out after all?!”
“Not really. I didn’t have any hope, especially after something like that happened. It was just a delusion I entertained at that time. I wasn’t even thinking of pursuing a relationship with anyone back then. But you know how I am… I was curious about how he felt,” Osamu said, “and I also asked for the peace of my mind. And in the end, he turned me down.”
He paused.
Naru had no special feelings for him, and even then, he had told Osamu that he had no intentions of entering a relationship with anyone. He felt that he wasn’t made for that kind of a life. Osamu didn’t understand it much back then, but the more he learned about Naru the more he understood.
“As you know, it hurt, much more than I thought it would. Obviously, my feelings were stronger than I had realized,” he said, “But more than anything I was relieved that he okay with it. He accepted it. I could move on from that.”
Mai smiled.
“But I’m still surprised you got along well after something like that happened,” she said, “Now you’re closer to Naru than Lin or me.”
Osamu smirked.
“Jealous?”
“Not at all. I’m happy Naru has at least one close friend. You two have similar interests.”
“Well, it was also our way to cope from that situation. It’s not like us to let something like that stand in our friendship.” Osamu smiled, but then frowned. “Speaking of which, boss needs to go find more friends when he goes back to England.”
Mai grimaced.
“I worry about that sometimes…”
“I don’t think he even cares about having a social life.”
They sighed.
Mai crossed her arms.
“Why does it feel like we’re parents sending our child abroad?”
Osamu nodded.
“Right!”
She laughed.
“I guess we worry too much about him.”
Osamu nestled into his place next to her. He pulled the blanket up until his chest and grabbed a book off the night table.
“You know, Mai.”
“Hm?”
“Now that you know this. Do you still want to name a kid after Naru?”
Mai pause, then smiled at him.
“Why not? I guess it’s also my way of thanking him for turning you down.”