Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"There was absolutely no need to meet me at the airport," a certain English scientist complained irritably. "Or follow me here. How many times have I reminded everyone that this office is not a cafe?"

"Stop complaining Naru-chan," Bou-san answered dismissively. "We haven't seen you or Lin for two years so we thought we would give you a friendly reception at the airport."

"Like you gave me a friendly send off two years ago?"

He though back to his departure from Japan two years ago. He and Lin had entered the terminal to find a red haired priestess, a long haired monk, a blonde Australian priest, a famous teenage psychic and a bespectacled student waiting to say good bye again. When he had walked off his flight at Narita two years later, he had found the same group waiting for him. But yet again a certain bubbly teenage girl hadn't been present...

Naru snapped back to the present and sat down in his usual armchair. "Is everyone willing to become involved in SPR cases again?" he enquired. "This is why I informed you of my return, not so you could greet me at the airport."

Everyone in the office exchanged looks before nodding at each other. Bou-san spoke first.

"We're all willing to rejoin SPR and help you again, but..."

"But what?" Naru asked interestedly, having a feeling that it involved the missing person.

"...Can you help us track down Mai first?" the monk finished his request.

For a reason unknown to Naru he felt a shiver run down his spine. "Mai is missing? How long has she been missing for?" he demanded as he pulled his laptop towards him and in the corner Lin began to take notes.

"Two years," Ayako answered.

"We haven't seen her since the night before you and Lin-san left, two years ago," John said with a faint Kansai accent.

"Really?" Naru wasn't sure that he had heard right. "Did you inform the Police?"

Ayako sighed. "After three days of having no replies to our phone calls, we visited her apartment and she didn't seem to be there. We talked to her landlord who said he hadn't seen her for three days, but he had seen her leaving on the morning that you left."

"So she had been intending to go to the airport," Naru said slowly. "She disappeared somewhere in between her apartment and Narita."

"That's what we thought so we contacted the Police and they made enquires for several days with no avail," Yasuhara informed him. "Then one of the officers gave us a list of all the people involved in traffic accidents on that day."

The scientist felt the first seeds of dread which increased when he saw the sad looks on everyone's faces.

"There were two traffic accidents with female victims that happened in the vicinity of her apartment and the airport," Bou-san began. "One was fatal.. and the body was so crushed that it was unrecognisable and we couldn't identify it."

Naru began to feel sick. It wasn't right that someone as cheerful as Mai could have an end like that. But then again, his kinder brother had encountered a similar fate."

"The other accident?"

"By the time we got the list, narrowed the results and tracked down which hospital the victim had been taken to, the person had left the hospital and the hospital wouldn't give out their name for security reasons," Yasuhara said.

"So Matsuzaki-san threatened them and they gave us the name, but it wasn't Taniyama-san," John continued. "Apparently the patient had amnesia from the accident, but it wasn't major amnesia and she did eventually give the hospital her name."

"So it seems that the fatal accident victim is Mai," Naru summarised after a moment of silence. "Judging by the fact that you have asked me to search for her, I'm assuming that you are all holding out hope that she was the second accident victim who you can't trace or she was neither and somehow disappeared."

"Is it wrong for us to hope!?" Ayako demanded angrily and stood up.

"Even I hope that she isn't dead," Masako, who hadn't contributed anything yet, said.

Bou-san pulled Ayako back down, fearful of what she would do to Naru who was their last hope.

Lin decided it was time to join the conversation. "I feel the same way as everyone here. I would like to hope that Taniyama-san will be found."

Naru regarded him for a moment before answering, "Of course you can all hope. I never said that I wasn't going to help, I was merely summarising the information."

"So you will help us...?"

The thought of his former assistant lying dead somewhere or being a victim of a horrific car accident did affect him on the inside, he just chose not to let his poker face slip. The memory of her tearful face two years ago when he had asked "Me or Gene?" made him want to trace her even more, he never wanted to see her get that upset again.

"Do you have an item that belonged to Mai? I want to use Psychometry first so we can ascertain first whether or not she died in a car crash?"

Everyone in the office perked up. Ayako drew out a familiar red bow from her handbag. Naru recognised it as being part of her school uniform, which was what Mai had been wearing when they had first met.

Naru got up and accepted the bow from Ayako and entered his office. He didn't like the idea of anyone watching him as he delved into Mai's life and experienced what happened to her.

He held the bow in the palm of his hand and concentrated. He was running down a street which was definitely in Tokyo, supporting the idea that she had been on her way to the airport. As Mai, he crossed at the traffic crossing as the sign flashed blue. He was the only person using the crossing.

There was the sound of breaks squealing. As Mai, he turned his head to watch a car speed towards him and he stood still in fright before being thrown up in the air by the impact and crashing down onto the bonnet of the car, hitting his head hard as he fell.

There was a slight darkening at the edges of his vision, indicating that Mai had lost consciousness. However there hadn't been a green explosion which meant that she hadn't died...yet.

Naru pulled out of the vision as he had got the information that he wanted for now and he could continue later.

"Mai was in a car accident," he informed everyone as he returned to the main office and sat back down. "She wasn't crushed and she didn't die instantly which eliminates the possibility that the dead victim is her."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"That means that she is the amnesiac," Bou-san said in relief.

"It is very likely. She was thrown up in the air and she did hit her head very hard."

"How far did you go, Naru?" Lin asked.

"As far as the accident. I immediately knew that the fact that she didn't die wiped out all possibilities apart from the patient with amnesia. I will continue again."

"But when the patient eventually gave their name after a week, it wasn't Mai Taniyama," Ayako interjected.

Naru paused. The priestess did have a point. Now it was vital that he continued the Psychometry as neither traffic accidents seemed to fit the bill. Had it turned into a hit and run with the driver taking Mai's unconscious body with him or her? It brought Gene's death to the forefront of his mind again. It was imperative that he found out what happened to her, he never wanted Mai to end up like Gene with her body at the bottom of a lake like Gene's and he never wanted to have to identify a body again.

"Do you really have no idea what their name was, Matsuzaki-san?"

"Hospital records are private," the red haired priestess snapped back.

"I thought that the Police were involved? Couldn't they get access to the patient's record?"

Masako took over answering Naru's questions as she was one of the more level headed people in the room.

"Considering Mai's situation, the fact that she was living alone, coupled with her job at SPR and her erratic absences from school, they were reluctant to get involved and that was before I mentioned that she had received an emotional shock a few days before. They seemed to draw the conclusion that she had become mentally unstable and had run away to commit suicide, but they said they would tell us if any likely corpses turned up and when the body from the first traffic accident was identified,"

"We haven't heard anything for two years..." John finished sadly. "You are our last hope."

The narcissist assumed that the emotional shock was the revelation that the nice Naru in her dreams was actually his twin brother and not him, followed by his rejection of her confession of love. A frown passed over his face. If he hadn't rejected her, would she still be here, making tea?

His mind rejected that instantly. Mai had forgiven him and she had been going to see him off at the airport which indicated that she wasn't avoiding him and she had been present at his leaving party the night before. And she had been hit by a car instead of committing suicide.

Unknown to him, Lin was observing him interestedly. It seemed as if his charge was actually having some self doubt for once and showing some real emotion.

Naru stared at Mai's bow which he was still clenching in his hand.

There was a knock at the door as he opened his mouth to say that he would continue the Psychometry.

Everyone in the office stiffened.

Shibuya Psychic Research had a client again, for the first time in two years.

Chapter Text

There was a dead silence after the knock and then the SPR sprang into action. Everyone except for Naru stood up to clear space for the client. Lin answered the door whilst Yasuhara went to make some tea.

The client turned out to be an elderly lady dressed in a flower patterned yukata. Lin led her to sit on the sofa opposite Naru.

The scientist regarded her with emotionless eyes, he was still worrying about Mai, but he had enough focus on the client to come to a conclusion about her. The client's eyes were red rimmed and had black bags underneath, suggesting that she hadn't had a very good night's sleep for several nights running. He decided that she was most likely to be consulting him about a poltergeist, judging from the signs of insomnia.

"What is your name?" he enquired as Yasuhara handed her a cup of tea.

"Hana Kudou," she said and accepted the tea.

"What do you wish to consult the SPR for?" Naru asked as Lin passed him the black notebook which contained information on all the cases that the SPR had ever handled.

"I own a Ryokan and my daughter and grandchild help me. Recently, there seem to be ghosts present. I am losing business rapidly and my daughter has been attacked several times."

"What kind of ghosts?"

"For the first month only my daughter could see the ghost and it would only pull on her leg or arm or frighten her, but after it pulled her down a flight of stairs, the attacks escalated and all the guests began to see ghosts."

As he was listening Naru noted that the client's daughter reminded him of Mai who had always been a terrible magnet for anything that was supernatural.

"In what way did the attacks escalate?"

"Blood started regularly coming out of the shower in my daughter's bathroom and mirrors everywhere keep cracking and one of the guests nearly drowned in the ornamental pond," Hana informed him.

Naru stopped taking notes for a second. Something about the client was bothering him.

"Why did you come here, to SPR? We have only just reopened today."

The client gave him a sharp look. "My daughter was talking in her sleep last night, I shared her room as she has been unstable due to all the attacks. She said "Shibuya Physic Research" and muttered something about a narcissist."

At hearing her words, Naru dropped his pen, Lin stiffened and all the other members of the SPR who were hiding in Naru's office, gasped.

"What is your daughter's name?" Naru asked in a voice that was one pitch higher than his normal tone.

"Maaya Kudou," she said, puzzled at his reaction.

Naru picked him pen up and resumed his notetaking. It wasn't Mai after all, but something told him that there was more to the case than met the eye.

"We will take your case, Kudou-san," he said with one of his plastic smiles.

Having a case to solve would stop him worrying about Mai and there was a chance that the client's daughter might have some connection to Mai, if the words that she had said in her sleep were any indication.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, a plain black van pulled up outside the Ryokan and all the members of the SPR piled out and stretched their arms. The Ryokan was situated on the outskirts of Tokyo and the van had been caught in several traffic jams on the way.

"What are the room allocations?" Masako asked, shooting a derisive look at Ayako, as if to imply that she never wanted to share a room with her ever again.

"Kudou-san said we could decide between ourselves as the Ryokan is almost empty of guests due to the attacks. Apparently there are enough empty rooms for one each and a base..." Lin trailed off as his eyes fell on something outside the Ryokan.

A small child was playing outside with a ball. What had caught Lin's attention was the boy's black hair and pale skin. If the boy didn't have caramel coloured eyes, he would have assumed that it was a young Oliver Davies.

Bou-san peered over his shoulder to see what had attracted Lin's attention.

"Hey, doesn't that boy look like Naru-can?"

"He looks too happy to look like him," Ayako muttered, causing Naru to glare at her before stepping forward to see the child for himself.

His eyes widened as he took in the boy's appearance. The monk had been entirely correct, the boy did look exactly like him when he was younger, before he had been adopted. The only difference was the colour of his eyes.

"Do you think that he is Shibuya-san's illegitimate son?" Yasuhara stage whispered.

The child became aware that he was being stared at by a group of strangers and he ran into the Ryokan. Naru followed in his path and the rest of the SPR trailed after him. Their client was waiting at the reception for them, dressed in another flowered yukata. There was no sign of the child.

"Good morning, Shibuya-san," she greeted with a bow. "Have you decided about the number of rooms?"

Before anyone could make any comments about who they really didn't want to share with, Naru decided for them.

"They will all share rooms for safety and we need one as a base. They can all argue among themselves about who shares with who."

Hana passed Naru five room keys and gave them directions.

Naru paused as everyone walked off to haggle over roommates.

"Kudou-san, who is that boy who was playing outside?"

"That would be Yakumo, he is my daughter's son. But I have to say, only the eyes resemble her," Hana answered thoughtfully.

Naru nodded. "I will need to talk to your daughter at some point, preferably today."

"I will tell her."

Masako looked around her designated room which resembled any room in a traditional Japanese house with a cupboard for futons, paper screen door and tatami mats. She checked out the bathroom and found it was perfectly clean. The only thing spoiling the room was her roommate.

"Why of all people, do I have to share a room with Matsuzaki-san?"

"Because we're the only two females in SPR now that Mai had gone and you are the youngest person here so you have to always be with someone who can exorcise," Ayako explained as he unpacked her suitcase. "It makes sense for us to be paired together. Besides we could have it worse; due to the fact that there is an odd number, the monk, Yasuhara-san and John-san are sharing."

Masako reluctantly agreed. "Did you notice that the child's eyes looked exactly like Mai's?"

"Yes," Ayako said slowly. "I thought it might have just been me.."

"I really do wonder where Mai disappeared to..." Masako sighed. "Looking back now, I think I deserved all those evil glares that she used to give me, for being so close to Naru. And we weren't even close, I was blackmailing him."

"You've learned your lesson now," Ayako decided that it was time to change the subject. "Can you feel anything here?"

Masako closed her eyes and concentrated. After a moment she opened her eyes again. "...There's something faint that I can sense, but only just...however I feel that there is more than one presence here. But I don't currently know what kind of being the presences are."

The priestess frowned. They were going to be working blind in this case as Masako couldn't warn them what they were up against.

The pair walked together the room that had been designated as the base. The base was actually two rooms joined together by parting the paper screens, due to the fact that all the equipment wouldn't fit in one room.

Everyone was already in the base picking up cameras to place at locations that Naru had selected from the floor plan and his notes on where all the attacks had taken place.

"Brown-san, place two cameras at either end of the first floor corridor," he ordered. "Takigawa-san, four cameras in the kitchen area. Yasuhara-san, three by the ornamental pond."

The three men left the room, each with a handful of cameras and Bou-san muttering darkly about how a rock star shouldn't have to carry around everything and be at the beck and call of a 19 year old boy.

Masako relayed her observation about what she could sense and as expected, the scientist wasn't too happy.

"Maybe Masako will sense the presences properly when someone gets attacked," Ayako suggested to placate him."

"That may be right," he admitted. He picked up a clipboard and a thermometer. "Go measure the temperature at all of the locations listed."

Naru returned to reading the case report again, but the mystery of Mai's disappearance and the boy that looked like him were still bothering him and he couldn't concentrate like he normally could. He glanced up at the monitors and spotted the priestess and the teenage physic walking past one of the cameras, carrying the thermometer.

Taking the temperatures used to be Mai's job...

"Naru, would you like me to make you some tea?" Lin asked, concerned about his young charge. "It might help you concentrate better,"

"If you would," the narcissist replied and Lin left to go to the Ryokan's kitchen.

He took Mai's red bow out of his pocket and stared down at it. He did want to continue the psychometry, but he also felt reluctant to as he didn't want to discover that she had died after all, albeit after the car accident.

A cup of tea was placed in front of him and he realised that he had been so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed Lin coming back with the tea. He picked up the cup and took an experimental sip. Lin's tea always paled in comparison to Mai's...

Naru paused as the taste of the tea sank into his taste buds.

It didn't taste like Lin's tea.

It taste exactly like Mai's tea.

He turned round to see a familiar girl with light brown hair and eyes standing behind him holding a tea tray.

It was Mai.

Chapter Text

Inevitability
Chapter 3:

"Mai...?" he asked out loud.

The girl looked at him questioningly. "My name is Maaya Kudou. I was told that Kazaya Shibuya wanted to see me so I came here and I thought you might like some tea so I brought some with me... Is there something wrong?" she paused as she saw that the person dressed in black really wasn't following the conversation and looked like he had seen a ghost.

Naru unfroze after a moment and tried to make sense of the situation. First, a client came to SPR and mentioned a very knowledgeable sleep talking daughter, then he saw a child that could be another identical twin of him and now someone who makes tea and looks like the missing Mai appears, but her name is Maaya and she has a son...

"I'm fine...Kudou-san," he answered slowly. "Please sit down."

Maaya sat down on a chair opposite him. "Aren't you going to thank me for the tea? I did go out of my way to make it for you."

Naru raised his eyebrows. She had to be Mai, it had been one of her complaints when she had worked for him at SPR.

"Kudou-san, by any chance were you involved in a car accident two years ago that caused memory loss?"

"Yes," she replied with a slight smile, assuming that he had already been informed by Hana. "But I'm fine about it now, I only have a couple of scars."

The corners of Naru's mouth twitched. Her answer was yet another hint that she really was Mai. His former assistant had always had the ability to perk up almost straight away after something bad happened.

"Is Yakumo your son?"

She blinked in surprise before answering. "Yes, he is. Um, what does this have to do with the case?"

"Who is his father?" Naru demanded immediately as soon as she confirmed that he was her son. He was absolutely positive that the girl was Mai and he didn't like the idea that she had disappeared to have a child with some other man.

Maaya looked down at the tatami mats on the floor. "I don't know. My amnesia..."

The narcissist knew that he had gone too far with her. The paternity of her child was clearly a sensitive subject for her. He reached out slowly to pat her on the head, the he stopped. It wasn't in his character to comfort people- that had always been Gene's job.

"You can cry on my shoulder if you like," he offered awkwardly, half hoping that she wouldn't take him up on the offer.

She looked up at him with strange expression on her face before breaking into a smile. "It doesn't suit you to say something soppy like that-" she broke off. "But it does sound familiar."
Naru realised that something similar had been said at the lake two years ago. The fact that she recognised the phrase was another sure sign that she really was Mai Taniyama and not Maaya Kudou.

"Kudou-san, did your amnesia cause you to forget your real name? Maaya isn't your real first name," he probed to confirm his suspicions.
Maaya gasped. "How did you know?"

"Hana Kudou-san isn't your real mother either, there's too much of an age gap between you two," the narcissist continued, pleased that he had got it right.

"That's right. We met in hospital and I was struggling to remember my real name so she suggested lots of names. In the end the only one that sounded vaguely right to me was Maaya."

The name Maaya was similar to Mai, Naru mused before moving on. "I take it that she adopted you out of sympathy for your plight as you are an orphan and because you were pregnant."

Maaya's face twitched. The head of SPR was beginning to get on her nerves, he clearly had an elevated opinion of himself. She was willing to bet that he admired his own reflection too. What was the name for someone like that? A narcissist...

"For your information we became friends and I only found out two months after she adopted me that I was pregnant, Naru-cissistic Naru-chan!" she said angrily.

Naru's eyes widened in surprise. This girl was definitely Mai. The reincarnation of his nickname confirmed it. No one expect for Mai had ever thought of calling him that, or been brave enough to say it to his face. Mai's mind had always been unique to say the least.

"You can call me Naru if you like, as an apology," he smiled. "How far back does your amnesia go?

The amnesiac was surprised by the sudden change in attitude. Did he actually like being called a narcissist? She decided that he must be a secret masochist.

"Well, Naru, four years completely, but I'm also missing parts of memories that tell me my real name or exactly where I used to live. I used to try to remember, but I was advised to stop as my brain was trying to suppress some of the memories."

"Do you want to get your memory back?" he asked curiously.
Maaya considered the question carefully before answering. "Yes and no. It would be good to actually know who Yakumo's father is... but I am happy here and I don't mind not remembering anything I learnt in high school- I don't need detailed knowledge like Q=mcAT to work here."

Naru groaned, that answer was just so... Mai. Now he didn't know what to do. He wanted to bring Mai's memory back so she would know what she had friends at SPR again and know who the father of her child was. On the other hand she did seem to be content living as Maaya Kudou and who knew what kind of personality the father of her son had. His brain produced several unpleasant possibilities which he didn't want to even consider.

The sound of the door opening punctuated his reverie and he turned to see the monk, Yasuhara and the Australian priest standing in the doorway, all in various states of shock at the sight of Mai.

Bou-san was the first to regain speech. "Jou-chan?"

Maaya looked puzzled at the shocked expressions on the three men's faces. "Excuse me, who are you?"

"As predicted she is the amnesiac," Naru offered as an explanation.

The monk's expression cleared. "I see. What is missing?"

"Four years and anything involving her name."

"Are you Maaya Kudou?" Yasuhara asked with a friendly smile. "We all saw your cute son playing outside?"

This elicited a reaction from her. "He's always sneaking off to play alone. The moment I turn my back..." she complained and stood up. "Thank god this place is almost empty. I'm going to find him. Good bye and enjoy you tea, Naru."

She rushed out of the room and Bou-san moved out of the way to let her pass. As she hurried down the hallway, he shouted:

"How old is your son?"
"

About 1 and a half, " she shouted back before turning the corner and disappearing from sight.

"That was Mai, wasn't it?" John commented. "Despite her amnesia she still has the same personality."

"Was it really a coincidence that just after we asked Shibuya-san for help, her foster mother consulted us?" Yasuhara asked wonderingly.

"There is no such thing as coincidence, there is only the inevitable," Naru murmured under his breath.

"Was it me, or did someone who looked like Mai just speed past me?" Ayako's voice enquired from behind Bou-san.

"That was the amnesiac Mai Taniyama or Maaya Kudou as she is now," Yasuhara answered sagely. "Inevitability is an amazing thing."

"How for did you get with her, Naru-chan?"

Naru stood up and put down his now empty teacup. "I said some phrases that I have said to her before and there was a reaction. She also called me Naru as well, within two minutes of meeting me; it took her a couple of days last time, so it is possible that she will regain her memory."

"But she may not want it back," Masako interjected.

"At the moment it remains a decision to be made. Please do not forget that we have a case to solve," the scientist reminded everyone, although Mai was a pressing issue for him, but he didn't want everyone to know that.

Masako passed him the clipboard. "We recorded all the temperature as per your instruction. All the locations inside were at room temperature and the exterior temperature match the weather forecast for this area."

"Thank you, Hara-san."
He turned to face the monitors to check that all the cameras were still working and were positioned correctly. He could see Lin making tea in the kitchen from various angles. Naru was about to look away when something caught his eye. His lookalike and Mai's son ran through the kitchen past Lin who had to move to avoid a collision.

"I wonder who the father is?" he muttered quietly to himself.

Despite his quiet volume everyone in the room heard him.

"Isn't is obvious?" Ayako asked.

" Matsuzaki-san, I would be asked if it was obvious," he said coldly.

"...It's you."

Chapter Text

Inevitability

Chapter 4

Naru froze like a statue as his mind whirred furiously, trying to add everything up. It was true that the child looked just like him when he was younger and Mai had never shown any interest in any males beside him, no Gene, who was identical to him in appearance, he corrected himself. It did make sense, but there was something missing.

"I think I would remember if I impregnated Mai," he informed everyone haughtily.

This threw them for a bit. Then Bou-san started counting on his fingers.

"Two years ago, it takes nine months...the boy is around one and half. That makes sense!"

"What does?" Ayako demanded. "Wait a second..."

They exchanged significant looks. "The party," they said in unison.

John's brow wrinkled as he did the Mathematics too. "Do you mean that party that we had at SPR, the night before Shibuya-san left?"

"That's right, I vaguely remember the party, I think I got a little drunk..." Bou-san commented wryly. "What did actually happen?"

All eyes turned to John, the priest who was unlikely to drink enough alcohol to get drunk.

"I remember the party very well. Everyone, including Hara-san became intoxicated, some more than others," he began nervously.

"I'm taking it that Takigawa-san and Matsuzaki-san were the worst," Naru inferred.

"Yes. I remember that you weren't particularly happy with it being at the office and you told Lin to drive us all home, but Taniyama-san stayed to help clear up the mess left behind."

"That does not explain how I am supposedly the father of Mai's child."

John took a deep breath and let it out. There was no going back after he confessed this. "Before he left, Bou-san spiked your tea and Mai's with vodka. I saw you drink it before I went out the door and Mai did too."

There was a brief silence as the non narcissistic members of the SPR tried to picture the usually stoic and straight laced Oliver Davies, drunk on vodka spiked tea.

"You and Mai would get drunk very quickly since neither of you seem to have any previous experience with alcohol."

The scientist still couldn't get his head around it. "So just because I was drunk, I had sex with Mai and she let me because she was drunk too."

A vague flash of a blurry image suddenly came to him. In it he was leaning over to kiss Mai..

It was true. He was the father of her son. What would his parents say? They would be appalled, but his foster mother would be happy with having an unexpected grandchild, he decided. He might even be ordered to marry Mai by his father, for some reason the image didn't bother him as much as he thought it would.

Bou-san clapped a comforting hand onto Naru's shoulder. "You see Naru-chan, when you get drunk you often act on some of your concealed inhibitions. Mai liked you and deep down you like her too."

Naru recalled Mai's love confession from two years ago and his subsequent answer.

"She didn't love me. She loved my brother."

Ayako sighed deeply. "For someone who has so much knowledge in addition to special abilities, you're pretty stupid when it comes to love."

Masako intervened before Naru could retort. "Mai did love you and not your twin, it was always evident."

He decided to accept that as the truth for now, as he had initially believed that she had been unconsciously projecting her feelings for Gene onto him; they were identical twins after all. But he wasn't so sure about the idea of him liking her. He wasn't the type of person that loved anyone in a romantic way. That had been Gene. Not him.

The remaining members of SPR watched an expression of pain pass over his face and made an unanimous silent decision to leave the head of SPR alone for a while.

Yasuhara paused in the doorway. "Um, if the story is true, wouldn't he at least be aware of it? He would have woken up in the office with less clothes on."

Naru overheard him. The college student was right, he would have definitely known if something like that happened. "When I woke up the next morning, I was in my hotel room with my pyjamas on. I had a headache which was possibly the only sign of the hangover."

There was only one person who could have moved him. He pushed past everyone and hurried to the kitchen to find Lin.

"It seems as if Lin-san has been holding out on us," Ayako noted.

Fortunately for Naru it had been easy to track down the onmyouji as he had been about to leave the kitchen carrying a steaming cup of tea. Lin stared at his charge in surprise as the boy was out of breath as if he had rushed to the kitchen.

He must be desperate for tea, Lin decided, as that was the most likely option. He held out the teacup.

"Here is your tea."

To his surprise Naru didn't take it. Instead the scientist stared the onmyouji down.

"Lin, why didn't you tell me that I slept with Mai?"

The Chinese man blinked, unsure about the state of his hearing. Had Naru really said that he had slept with Mai?

"Don't play dumb Lin. The party, two years ago. You moved me from the office to my hotel room and changed my clothes."

This part was understandable to Lin. "It took me two hours to drop everyone off as most of them were very far gone. When I arrived back at the office at one in the morning, you were the only person there. I had no idea that you had slept with Taniyama-san. If I had had any inkling I would have investigated it."

"She must have run away and left me there," Naru deduced, now beginning to make sense of the past events that had led to Mai's amnesia and pregnancy.

Lin shot him a sharp look. "Naru, are you the father of the child that resembles you?"

"How did you know?" the narcissist sighed. "Everyone else seemed to know and implied that I was stupid for not knowing."

"Because the child looks exactly like you, but he has Taniyama-san's eyes. I didn't actually know until you asked the question about sleeping with her."

"Why did you cover up the incident of me getting drunk?"

"I had been planning to tell you when you woke up, but you were still grieving over Gene's death so the minor incident of you getting drunk seemed to pale in importance. I would have told you if I had known about Taniyama-san."

Naru knew that he understood Lin's reasoning, being told that he had become drunk at a party the night after discovering his brother's body would seem like an insult to his brother's memory, but he still couldn't quite believe that he had slept with his former assistant.

"What are you going to do now? You will have to tell your parents that you have a child. I imagine that Luella will be delighted."

"I-"

A piercing scream cut off Naru's words. Bother men turned in the direction of the scream which sounded like it had come from down the hallway. The scream was also familiar as during the days of SPR, everyone had become acquainted with the sound of Mai screaming at one point or another.

Naru sprinted down the hallway ahead of Lin, who in normal circumstances was the faster runner. The hallway widened out and he found himself in the reception area where Maaya was crouched on the floor with a smashed vase right by her. The flowers had fallen out of the vase and the water was pooling around her. Instead of looking at the mess around her, she was staring at the wall in fright. Naru followed her gaze and immediately understood why.

Scrawled across the wall in dripping letters of blood were the words "leave us alone".

Having read the message, Naru switched his attention back to his former assistant.

"Are you all right, Kudou-san?"

"Yes..." she answered shakily and started to get back up, before finding that her legs were dead and falling back down.

Naru stretched his hand out, ignoring the sudden burst of warmth that passed over him and helped her up. Maaya winced and he looked down to see that she had a shard of pottery stuck in her leg that looked like it had come from the vase.

"Can you walk?" he asked concernedly.

"I think so," she said and Naru walked on ahead to lead her to the base where the first aid kit was kept.

He heard a cry of pain behind him and he turned to see Maaya wincing again. Not paying attention to the remaining members of the SPR that had arrived, he sighed before picking her up bridal style to carry her back to the base.

"Are you sure that you want to carry her?" Lin asked, remembering that he had been the one to carry her to the infirmary during the case at Ryoukuryou High School.

Bou-san elbowed him the ribs for interrupting the slightly romantic moment.

"It would defeat the purpose of carrying her to the base to give her treatment as soon as possible if I passed her to you," the scientist answered and walked on.

"Excuse me, don't I get an opinion in this?" the girl in his arms decided to join the discussion as she was actually the subject.

"Yes?"

Maaya looked him in the eye before dropping her gaze. "Just don't drop me."

"That's what I thought," Naru smirked down at her.

He had completely forgotten that baiting Mai was this fun.

The other members of the SPR watched him walk away, flabbergasted at his actions.

"So, how long until Baby no.2?" Yasuhara wondered out loud.

Ayako nudged him. "That is not the concern right now. The ghosts have made an appearance. We need to get to work."

Chapter Text

Inevitability:

Chapter 5

Naru gently deposited Maaya down onto the tatami mat floor. Ayako followed him in and grabbed the first aid kit.

"I'm more qualified than you, I'll take it from here," she said, bending down next to Maaya. "You can go order everyone around whilst you are waiting."

She was expecting a reaction out of him, but all he did was nod and walk out of the room. Her attention was averted by a cry of pain from Maaya. Ayako instantly sprang into action and set to work.

Outside in the corridor Naru was issuing orders. "Brown-san, before you exorcise the area of the attack, take a photo and Hara-san, please try to see if you can sense anything."

John nodded and rushed off to change into his priest robes and to pick up his bible with Masako following after him.

"Lin, go pick up the camera- it's still in the van and after giving it to Brown-san, get a kettle and some tea bags from the kitchen," Naru requested.

Lin took it to mean that Mai was going to be staying in the base all day, making tea whenever Naru decreed. The scientist glanced at him and he walked off, leaving Bou-san and Yasuhara to get instructions.

"Yasuhara-san, research the history of this area and ryokan. Ask Hana Kudou-san for recent history and you can go to the local library later."

"Roger," Yasuhara answered and went off to find Hana.

"What about me, Naru-chan?" Bou-san asked.

"Exorcise all the other locations where there have been attacks," he ordered and turned around to enter the base again.

When he entered the base he found that Mai and Ayako were already to becoming best friends again.

"I swear, if he was a woman I would think that he was on his period with that kind of attitude," Maaya was saying.

Ayako giggled. "Nope, he's like that all the time."

Naru fought the urge to roll his eyes. Trust Mai to compare him to a woman at that time of the month. He cleared his throat to make his presence known. Much to his satisfaction the red haired priestess stopped giggling and Maaya jumped.

"Having fun?" he enquired politely.

"Yes we were," Maaya replied with a grin. "I feel much better now, thanks to Matsuzaki-san's treatment."

"Please, call me Ayako-san."

"You can call me Maaya-chan in return then," Maaya smiled. "And I'm already on nicknames with Naru over there."

Ayako raised her eyebrows. "You have no idea how close that is to his real name," she muttered.

"Kudou-san, if it is fine with you, you will be staying in here for the rest of the day so you are safe from attacks. There will be someone who can fight off attacks here at all time to protect you."

Maaya nodded slowly. She was becoming slightly frustrated with being attacked by a ghost at least once a day and she was covered in bruises. However the prospect of being stuck in a room all day with nothing to occupy herself and a narcissist for company was not appealing. Then she remembered her son.

"Could someone bring my son over here. He keeps sneaking off and I don't want him to get attacked like me," she requested.

Unexpectedly Naru volunteered. "I will bring him," he said and checked the monitors for his location. "He is on the second floor corridor."

Maaya squinted to see the camera feed from where she was sitting. "That's the second floor of the old building. To get there, take the stairs on the right by the reception and carry along the hallway until you get to another flight of stairs, then you will be in the right place. He shares a room with me."

Naru accepted the directions with a vague nod of his head and left the base to find his son. Following Mai's directions, he passed through the reception where John was already taking photos. He walked up the two flights of stairs and found himself in a hallway of rooms that had names on the doors instead of numbers, giving him the clue that it was the staff area and wasn't intended for guests.

As he reached the door labelled "Maaya", his son opened it from the other side and came out carrying an handful of children's books under one arm. He stopped as he caught sight of Naru in the hallway who was an imposing figure as he wasn't smiling and he was dressed completely in black.

Naru attempted a friendly smile. "Hello, Yakumo-kun, your mother would like to see you."

There was no semblance of a reply from his son and the boy was just staring at him silently. As he met Yakumo's eyes he realised that they really were just like Mai's.

"Are you going to come?" he asked again and tried another smile.

His son stepped out into the hallway before shutting the door behind him. Naru took that to be an affirmative so he started on the route back to the base. As he went down the stairs he noted that Yakumo was lagging behind due to his short legs so he held his hand out to his son and helped him down the stairs, but only to save time, he told himself. He wasn't developing any sentimental feelings for a son that he hadn't been aware of until 20 minutes ago.

The pair were still tightly holding hands when they reached the base. Naru opened the door and Ayako gasped at the sight of what looked like two Narus standing in the doorway, albeit one shorter than the other. Maaya looked over and her eyes widened. Naru wondered if she would see the resemblance for what it really meant or not. She certainly looked surprised at the sight and it looked like she was doing some mental calculations.

Then Yakumo broke the connection by running over to his mother. Maaya hugged him tightly before letting him go. The boy stared down at the bandaging on her leg and she whisked her skirt down to cover it. As she did her sleeve flapped and Naru caught a glimpse of a collection of plasters on her arm.

"Kudou-san, are you ready to give me a witness statement?" he enquired as he pulled out his laptop and woke it up from its sleep mode.

Maaya nodded and moved Yakumo so he was sitting next to her and handed him one of the picture books that he had been carrying. After making sure that he was comfortable and entertained she began.

"I was looking for Yakumo when it happened. I had just come back in from searching the garden which is connected to the reception area, when I noticed that one of the vases of flowers was looking different to when I had originally walked through on my to the garden. So I went over and bent down to get a closer look. That's when the vase fell off, I moved just in time. Then I heard a rustling sound and I looked up to see those words on the wall."

"Did you manage to see what pushed the vase?"

"It was a female ghost, I could see the bottom of a butterfly patterned yukata."

Naru made a note before moving on. "Is the same ghost that has attacked you on previous occasions?"

There was a brief interval as Maaya considered how to word her answer. "Yes and no. There have been different ghosts. Last time it was a male ghost."

"How many different ghosts are there?"

"Three."

Naru thought back to his other investigations with Mai. She was intuitive, but being precise and detailed were not her forte. At best she only had animal instincts and could tell between friend and foe.

With that thought in mind, he asked his next question. "Do these ghosts have a harmful intent?"

"The first one was friendly."

It would only pull on her leg or arm or frighten her, Naru recalled Hana Kudou saying and flipped back a page to check. Only when it pulled her down a flight of stairs did the attacks escalate and other people became able to see ghosts.

"And the other ghosts?"

"Definitely unfriendly and ... angry. They are the only ones that I have seen for the past month."

"Can you give a physical description of the two ghosts?"

"One is male and the other is female. They both wear yukatas, but they don't feel like old ghosts, somehow."

"Old ghosts?" Naru questioned.

"You know, the stereotype of a ghost is that they are really old and have been haunting places for centuries? It doesn't feel like that here. Besides, the male ghost doesn't have any facial hair, I swear any stereotypical male ghost has a beard."

"How old do the ghosts look to be?"

Maaya screwed up her eyes in an effort to visualise them. She had only ever seen them for split seconds before she was attacked in some way and no one else but her ever remembered what they had looked like.

"Young. No older than 25, I would say."

"Everything you have told me as been very informative," the narcissist said and turned away to check the cameras and temperatures from the time of the attack. A thought struck him and he turned back.

"Kudou-san, what has been the worst attack?"

The plasters that he had caught sight of earlier were worrying him as was Mai's past history with accidents.

Silently, Maaya held out her arm and Naru approached her. He peeled back the sleeve of her right arm which was covered in burns which were slowly beginning to heal. He pulled the sleeve back down and reached for the other arm which had been the one that he had caught a glimpse of earlier.

One this arm was the collection of plasters which were placed in a seemingly haphazard way. Naru exposed one to find a partially healed cut.

Maaya pulled her arms away and smiled wryly. "Ghosts don't like me."

"You're the primary target of all attacks, aren't you?"

Maaya regarded him carefully as she had not paid any attention before to how piercing his blue eyes were and she found it impossible to make light of the situation.

"...I seem to be. All the attacks on other people have occurred when they have been within close vicinity of me."

Naru let go of her arm and tried to say something comforting as he assumed that Mai was very scared right now as she seemed to gain a wound from each attack and all the wounds were building up, if the state of her arms were any indication.

"I will protect you and solve this case," he said eventually.

Chapter Text

Inevitability

Chapter 6:

Maaya stared up at him, dumbfounded at his words. She hadn't known the narcissist for very long, but she had a feeling that it was probably the kindest thing that he was likely to say. Ayako had her mouth wide open which confirmed her suspicions.

"...Thank you, Naru," she said and bowed her head respectfully, making him realise the weight of what he had said.

"It's what we do for all of our clients," he said and turned away to analyse the reading as well as avoid seeing her.

Maaya pouted and Ayako sighed deeply, wondering when Naru was actually going to say something nice to her without going back on it seconds later.

The amnesiac switched her attention to her son who was studiously reading a picture book about ghosts.

"He's very quiet for a one year old," the priestess commented. "Most of the one year olds that I have met don't stop babbling and stumbling around everywhere."

"He has always been very quiet," Maaya agreed. "He hasn't cried since he was six months old and even then, it wasn't very often. He is a quick leaner, I think he must take after his father since I'm pretty slow."

Naru felt a fragment of warmth for a moment as he overheard Mai talking about her son's father which was him, of course. He reminded himself that there was a case to solve and he had to solve it before it was too late and Mai became seriously. The feeling of warmth evaporated immediately. He had to retain his impervious persona and solve the case.

Lin entered the base carrying an electric kettle and a small tin of loose tea.

"Maaya, tea," Naru ordered and a feeling of normalcy returned to him. He was on a case and Mai was making tea for him.

"What's with the dropping of honorifics?" Maaya muttered before accepting the kettle from Lin.

"You're using a nickname for me, in return I'm dropping honorifics," Naru explained. "It makes it fair."

Lin sighed. Some things never changed. A case of drunken debauchery and amnesia was never going to stop the bickering between Naru and Mai.

Five minutes later Maaya placed a teacup down on top of the table that Naru was using with more force than was necessary.

"Here's your tea, Naru-sama," she said sarcastically before handing Ayako and Lin their cups with a smile.

"I'm glad that you have seen the light and are being respectful to me," Naru retorted, unable to help himself.

Fortunately for the other three people the room Yasuhara came in carrying his notebook before the argument could escalate.

"I have gained some information from Hana Kudou-san."

The narcissist nodded. "Was there anything useful?"

"Not really. She bought the ryokan seven years ago and she isn't from this area so she doesn't know any local folklore. Apparently the previous owner never mentioned anything about ghosts so she was surprised by the attacks when they first occurred."

The scientist frowned, yet again there was something wrong with the case. In his experience, ghosts occupied buildings that they had a connection to and did so for a number of years and didn't suddenly crop up and focus on attacking one person. Unless, that person had done something to where they were buried.

"Maaya, have you desecrated any graves or shrines recently?"

Unsurprisingly the brunette took offence at the accusation. "What are you implying!? I'm not the type of person that would do that!"

"Just answer the question."

"I definitely haven't been to any cemeteries since I came here two years ago and I haven't been disrespectful to anyone's shrines when I have visited other places."

"So that washes out that theory," Yasuhara summarised. "The only unusual thing that Kudou-san told me was that this ryokan is made up of two buildings, one is the original and the other is an extension built in the 1970s, but designed to look the same as the other part."

"That's right," Maaya confirmed. "If you take the stairs on the left of the reception you are in the old building, but take the ones on the right, it's the new building. The two parts are only connected by the reception so on the first and second floors, there is no way to go between them. It often confuses guests."

"How many guests are here at present?" Naru questioned thoughtfully.

"Just three, but after my scream earlier one is definitely on the brink of leaving. I think the other two were in the onsen at the time."

"Ooh, has anyone been interested in purchasing the ryokan recently?" Yasuhara asked excitedly. "Someone may be rigging the attacks to make you go out of business."

At the same time that Naru retorted with "This isn't a detective story," Masako entered the base, hiding her face behind her sleeve and announced:

"It's definitely real."

"Anything further that you would like to add, Hara-san?"

"I sensed a great feeling of malevolence... directed at her," Masako pointed at Maaya. "But I could not sense why."

Naru frowned. "We still haven't worked that out yet. I think we are missing some vital information. Yasuhara-san and Hara-san, go to the local library and find out everything you can about the history of the ryokan and the surrounding area. Ask Hana Kudou-san for directions."

"Understood," Yasuhara said. "Come on, Masako-chan."

"Please don't call me that, we don't know each other than well. In any case I thought you preferred the monk," Masako retorted as they left the room together.

Whilst this was going on, Yakumo yawned and put his picture book down before laying his head down on his mother's legs. Maaya winced before patting his head and adjusting his position so he wasn't putting pressure on the place where the shard had been.

"Is there anything you want me to do?" Ayako asked, feeling slightly maligned as everyone else seemed to be busy.

"Help Takigawa-san exorcise all the locations. When you are done, set up another futon in your room."

"Why?"

"Because Maaya will be sharing with you. We can't leave her unprotected."

"That makes sense," Ayako admitted, feeling nostalgic about sharing a room with Mai and Masako again. "But what about Yakumo-kun? Has he been attacked yet, Maaya-chan?"

Maaya shook her head. "It's only been me and a few other guests, Hana hasn't been targeted either."

"In any case, we should protect him as he is a young child. He can share a room with Brown-san or Takigawa-san..." Naru paused. "He could also shared with Lin and I."

The priestess' eyes nearly boggled out of her head. Continuing on from his vein earlier by holding hands with his son and saying he would protect Mai, he was now offering to share a room with his son...

"...I'll let Yakumo decide later, " the amnesiac said with a smile. "Thank you for the offer."

"I just don't want to end up with a court case if he gets hurt," Naru answered and turned away.

In the background Ayako rolled her eyes before leaving to change her clothes and Lin sighed whilst typing.

The next hour passed slowly for everyone in the base. Lin spent his time typing and Naru frowned over his notes and dug out one of his books on ghosts for help. Maaya spent her time staring into space and trying to avoid glancing at the narcissist. Eventually she picked up the stack of Yakumo's picture books and started reading.

As she finished the first book she became aware that her son's head had cut of blood circulation to both her legs which was becoming uncomfortable.

The onmouji noticed the discomfort on her face in the reflection of his laptop screen and nudged Naru and gestured for him to look at Mai.

The narcissist glanced at her and turned back. "What about her?" he whispered.

"Go help her," was the reply.

He stood up and walked over to her. When he got closer he understood the problem so he bent down and gently moved him so his head was no longer on Maaya's legs.

Instantly Maaya felt the blood flow return to her legs along with a case of pins and needles.

"Thank you, Naru," she said, expecting him to go back to the book he was reading.

Instead he sat down next to her and asked a question.

"Do you think I'm handsome?"

Chapter Text

Inevitability

Chapter 7

"Um, I don't think that I properly heard what you said," Maaya said hesitantly. Surely he wasn't flirting with her?

Lin facepalmed and Ayako and Bou-san who had been about to come back in, sweat dropped.

Naru sighed. He was not seriously asking the question, he wanted to see if she reacted in any way, as he had asked her the exact same question before.

However in retrospect, it hadn't been the best question.

"I said: do you think I'm handsome?"

Maaya stared at him unbelievingly and flushed a tomato red. It did sound like he was flirting with her after all and it did sound familiar for some reason. She took in his pale skin that seemed almost translucent and his raven black hair and his sky blue eyes which were very nice to look at, but she felt as if there was something missing. She cocked her head to the side.

"Can you smile, please?"

The narcissist demonstrated his usual smile by simply stretching his mouth.

The amnesiac emitted an exasperated noise. "That's what's off about you. You don't smile properly and you have a cold demeanour."

"So you don't think that I'm handsome?" Naru said after recovering from the initial shock that Mai was being intuitive for once.

She waved her hand dismissively. "I'm sure most girls and some boys would think so, but it doesn't work for me."

"What would make me more handsome?"

By this point Lin had turned around in his chair to observe the scene while Bou-san and Ayako had eased open the door and were peeping through the gap.

Maaya reached out nervously and tickled him under the chin. Naru moved her hand away gently whilst he tried to deduce the reason for her sudden action.

"Maaya, what are you doing?"

"Trying to make you laugh so that I can see your real smile and decide if you are handsome or not," she answered as if it were obvious.

Unintentionally Naru smiled warmly. It was so like Mai to seriously consider his question and strive to give him a proper answer. No one else, besides Gene, had considered tickling him under the chin to make his genuinely smile.

Maaya beamed. "That was a good smile! It reached your eyes. You aren't too bad looking after all!"

He felt taken back by the depth of her smile which seemed to radiate happiness and sunshine.

"Thank you, Maaya," he said and stood up to return to his book. "The eavesdroppers can come in now."

The monk and priestess walked in with embarrassed faces at the scene they had witnessed.

"Sorry, we didn't want to interrupt your... moment together with Jou-chan," the monk laughed.

"Maybe I'm not giving you enough work," was Naru's simple answer as he sat back down next to Lin. "As Maaya is staying here, I might assign you some of her usual duties. Did you have anything left to do, Maaya?"

Maaya itched the back of her neck as she thought about it. "I was about to clean the shower area in the onsen, but it's all right, we don't have many guests and it doesn't really need cleaning."

Bou-san perked up. "Naru-chan, can we use the onsen? The old lady and I are exhausted from all that exorcising and I'm sure John-san is too."

Their boss considered the request for a moment. The monk and priestess were obviously not going to be doing anything useful for a while and if they stayed in the base all day they would be too noisy and distracting.

"Fine. You may use the onsen, but report back here at half past four. If any of you are late, you will be taking up Maaya's cleaning duties."

"Yes boss," Bou-san answered in English before departing, followed by Ayako. "Have fun with Naru-chan, Maaya-chan."

The amnesiac pouted. Now she was definitely stuck in the base with nothing to do and a silent black haired man and a narcissist for company. She considered waking up her son to have some non narcissistic company, but she knew that was too selfish so she settled for making some tea.

"Tea," Naru ordered instantly as soon as she filled the kettle.

Maaya poured the tea into a teacup and held it out to him. When Naru reached out for it, she moved it away out of his reach.

"What are you doing, Maaya?"

"I'm bored. Can you lend me a book to read? If you do I will give you the tea," she smiled sweetly.

"I am capable of making my own tea," Naru grumbled as he reached in one of the cardboard boxes on the floor.

Well why don't you, Lin asked silently in his head. The amnesiac Mai was catching onto Naru's personality quickly and she seemed to be less shy towards Naru than her former counterpart and she didn't seem to be adverse to manipulating him.

The narcissist's hand encountered a familiar book at the bottom of the box. It wasn't exactly case solving reading material, but it had been written by a very good author and would give Maaya some hints about her ability to predict the future in her dreams.

He picked it up, then a thought struck him. "Maaya, can you remember your dreams?"

She shook her head. "Not a single one in the past two years."

Naru handed her the book and inwardly smirked as he watched her mouth out the author's name.

"Dr.. O..river... Davis," she read hesitantly.

"Your English pronunciation is still terrible," he muttered before speaking in a normal tone. "The author's name is Dr. Oliver Davis. He is a famous scientist, the monk you saw earlier is a diehard fan of his."

"What is he famous for?" Maaya questioned suspiciously

"He is well known in certain circles for his PK. In a demonstration he threw a 50kg block of aluminium against a wall. There is a video of it, but not many people have seen it."

Her eyes widened until they were as big as saucers. "Really!? Have you seen the video?"

Without any trace of the amusement that he was feeling inside, he answered in a serious tone. "I have a copy. If you behave I will show it to you."

"I will!" Maaya said happily and looked down at the title of the book which was also in English with some unpronounceable words. "...This book isn't in English, is it?"

"The original is, however that one is the Japanese translation."

She sighed in relief. The last thing she wanted to do now was have to be in the same room as the narcissist and have to struggle through a book with lots of complicated English words.

So she sat back down and started to read. One look at the contents showed that even in her language, the book was going to be hard to read. PK meant nothing to her as did Astral Projection.

Discreetly Naru glanced at her and swallowed a smile at the sight of her face which was deep in concentration. Being Naru he couldn't resist a pithy comment.

"You never know, your IQ might go up a few points by reading that."

Maaya glared back at him. "Anything is better than being in love with myself, Naru-cisstic Naru-chan!"

The aforementioned narcissist raised his eyebrows. Two years ago Mai would have answered back, but her retorts would have never been that good. She had obviously matured a little. Unintentionally he eyes moved from her face to her body which appeared to be curvier than it had previously been.

Once he realised that he had been checking out Mai, his idiot tea maker; an amnesiac, a ghost magnet and the mother of his son, he hastily resumed reading again.

Lin took pity on him and decided to distract him for a while. "Any ideas about the case?"

Naru looked up from his book. "A few, but I want to make sure that I'm absolutely correct before I decide on preventative measures."

"I get the impression that the two violent ghosts are a couple," Lin said to start Naru off.

"Yes, the "leave us alone" was the hint. The man and woman are possibly lovers and Maaya has upset them in some way and it has to be a recent thing, based on her testimony. That said, I'm finding it hard to fit the first ghost into the equation. We are missing puzzle pieces."

"Maybe Yasuhara-san will give them to us when he comes back."

Naru flipped through his case notes again and realised that he was missing a physical description of the first ghost.

"Maaya, did you ever see what the first ghost looked like?"

"Hmm, not their face, but I did see their clothes."

After she told him exactly what she had seen, Naru's brain began to put everything together in some semblance of an order. The ghost had been wearing a school uniform that Maaya did not recognise.

"I think I'm beginning to understand this case a little more."

Chapter Text

Inevitability

Chapter 8

Dinner was a subdued affair. Ayako and Bou-san had been attacked whilst they were in the onsen- the priestess had been pulled under and only after starting the 9 cuts incantation did the ghost release her. The monk himself had simply been pushed in and neither had seen their attacker so Naru had not been in a good mood with them when they returned.

Masako had gone to the library with Yasuhara and had nearly been knocked out by Yasuhara accidently dropping a book whilst he was on a ladder. The college student himself had eye strain from skin reading 15 books on local history.

Maaya had been suffering from insults from the narcissist who was the only person who didn't seem to be in a black mood. Lin had been present during all of Mai and Naru's disagreements and had developed a headache.

"Wow, the boss looks happy," Yasuhara whispered to Bou-san.

The pony tailed monk glanced over and pretended to drop his chopstickful of rice.

"I think you're right. His mouth looks more curved than usual and he's got that sadistic look in his eye..."

"Shall we all take bets on how long until Baby no.2," Yasuhara grinned demonically.

"Shounen, surely you're not planning on making a profit out of Naru's predicament?"

"I say a year," Ayako interjected. "¥20,000 if I am right."

"2 years, ¥30,000," Masako joined in. "Brown-san?"

"I'm not going to bet, but I'm sure that Shibuya-san will soon realise that he loves her," the priest said solemnly.

"Personally I would give it a couple of months. When Mai regains her memories, Naru-chan is going to have to answer some serious questions," Bou-san mused. "Shounen?"

"Naru seems to be a repressed 19 year old boy. Once Taniyama-san regains her memories... a week."

The participants in the conversation gasped before glancing over at the narcissist on the other side of the room who was still calmly eating, leading them to believe that they hadn't been overheard.

Then he put his chopsticks down and demonstrated his best saccharine smile.

"Yasuhara-san, I'm glad to know that you have volunteered to clean all of the Ryokan's bathrooms. Maaya, how many are there?"

Naturally Maaya had no idea of the conversation that had taken place regarding her so she was confused as to why the narcissist had volunteered someone to clean toilets. "Um, 48."

"I retract my bet," Yasuhara said hastily.

Naru's mouth curved into one of his more genuine smiles, albeit an evil one. "That's what I thought. You can clean 24 then."

Yasuhara put a hand to his heart in a theatrical fashion. "Is this how you repay me for all the research that I did? Even you admitted that the information was vital to solving the case."

"Naru, how come you didn't mention this before!?" Ayako demanded angrily. "We need to prevent any further attacks occurring before someone actually dies."

Naru sighed. "I was getting to that. I have not yet solved the case, but I am very close. Yasuhara-san, please explain to everyone what occurred in 1925."

Yasuhara pulled out his notebook. "The daughter of the family that owned the Ryokan was discovered to have been having an affair with one of the guests who was an outsider here. She was forcibly engaged to her childhood friend as she was the only child and had to inherit the Ryokan. The man she was having that affair with was forced out of the village and her wedding date was pushed forward."

"I'm guessing that she never got married. Did she run away and get hunted down by her family?" Bou-san questioned. "It's a familiar story."

Yasuhara shook his head. "She didn't take that route. She was found on the morning of her wedding with her wrists cut, holding hands with her lover who had matching cuts."

"So it became a suicide pact? That's strange, they should be at peace now," Ayako commented.

"Her family mourned her death and buried the lovers together in the garden of the Ryokan which passed into a distant relation's hands after her parents' death."

"All the more reason why they should be at peace and not haunting this place," Masako said. "Their spirits did not feel at peace."

"There was no sign of any graves in the garden and Hana Kudou-san had never heard the story which led me to believe that the Ryokan's extension is built on top of where they were buried," Naru explained.

"That is probably true," Bou-san acquiesced. "But if the new building has been there for over 30 years, why is Jou-can being targeted now? She has nothing to do with their past."

"Well, she is a magnet for trouble..." Ayako commented.

"We may have to perform some tests as we seem to be stuck for a motive. If we have not made any progress in 3 days time we will just have to use Maaya as bait to lure them both out and exorcise them, but I don't want to use this idea before we know the motive and it would be dangerous. The pair of ghosts seem to be very volatile considering their attacks on the monk and priestess," Naru said.

"Do I have to be bait?" Maaya asked Naru beseechingly. "It's frightening not knowing how they are going to attack me."

He turned to her, ready with a reply, but was taken aback by the sad look in her brown eyes and he lost his train of speech.

"...Only if there is no other alternative. It is a last resort and you will be protected at all times."

"I suppose so," she replied doubtfully before perking up. "What is it that you do?"

"What do you mean?" he enquired with a raise of an eyebrow.

"Well, Ayako-san is a priestess, Takigawa-san is a monk, Brown-san is a priest, Hara-san is a physic and Yasuhara-san is a researcher, so what are you?"

She had been wondering how he fitted in the equation as he didn't seem to have any abilities like the others. All he did was order everyone around, drink tea, read books with complicated scientific words and make fun of her.

"I'm the brains of SPR as well as the handsome face," was the reply.

The room became so silent that a grain of rice could be heard falling off Maaya's chopsticks.

"That was supposed to be a joke," Naru said irritably a few seconds later.

"I bet it wasn't," Bou-san muttered.

"What are you really?" Maaya pressed on.

The narcissist realised that she was not going to give up and he was still having fun playing with her. "I will tell you if you behave for the next 3 days. For now, I'm a paranormal researcher and the manager of SPR."

"Remember you promised to show me that video with the PK demonstration," she reminded him.

Bou-san spat out his mouthful of salmon, "Naru-chan! That's not fair. If you show her you have to show me too."

Maaya turned to him with a teasing glint in her eye. "So, you really are a fan of Dr. Oliver Davis!"

Bou-san backed down as he realised that Naru had essentially said the Bou-san was his hardcore fan which was embarrassing considering that he hadn't worked who Naru really was until the end. He waved his hand dismissively.

"Actually, I think I will pass, my interest in Oliver Davis has abated over the years."

Next to him Ayako and Yasuhara sniggered and John hid a smile.

"Is that so?" Naru smirked. "In any case, Maaya, could you ask Yakumo-kun to decide whose room he wants to sleep in."

She nodded and tapped her son's shoulder. He had been sitting in the base with her all afternoon and had been very quiet, taking in all the equipment in the base with wide eyes. Unusually he had not tried to sneak off at all.

"Yakumo, you are going to have to share a room with someone else tonight, but you can choose. Yes?"

The boy made a noise which she interpreted as an affirmative from previous experience.

"You can share with him," she pointed at John. "Or him." Bou-san was next. "Or him." Her finger came to rest on Naru.

The child stared all the prospective candidates down with a chilling stare, reminding the monk and priest that he was definitely Oliver Davis' son. Naru was struck by the resemblance to himself and he knew for certain the child was his son and he didn't hate him for it.

Yakumo reached out and pulled on Naru's black shirt sleeve. Naru stared down at his son, feeling please about the choice. His son appeared to have good instincts; he would not mind admitting to his parents that he had a son.

Chapter Text

Inevitability:

Chapter 9

Maaya stretched her arms as she stared at the night sky which was full of stars, illuminated by the full moon. A rustling sound behind her reminded her that she was sharing a room so it wouldn't be appreciated if she left the curtains open all night. One of the people she was sharing with looked like she was the type of person that would complain.

The amnesiac closed the curtains and adjusted her pyjamas self consciously. The girl in the futon next to her looked flawless, like a doll, even when she was about to go to sleep.

"I am Masako Hara, we never had the chance to introduce ourselves earlier," the girl said, surprisingly politely.

"I've seen you on television so I knew who you were. I'm Maaya Kudou by the way."

"I knew that," Masako answered with a faint trace of a smile.

The moment was interrupted by Ayako coming out of the ensuite bathroom and announcing:

"It's time for some girl talk."

"Matsuzaki-san, I don't think now is the appropriate time-" the physic started and was cut off by a glance from the priestess. "Actually I think now is perfect."

From what she understood of the priestess' personality she was going to interrogate Mai under the pretext of girl talk in order to gain more information about her and her amnesia.

"I don't mind talking, but I don't have a lot to say. I don't have any memories of high school," Maaya said with a smile.

"That's fine. So, what do you think of SPR?" Ayako asked to start off on a light note.

"I have no idea how you can all stand to work for someone that narcissistic..." Maaya said darkly.

"Tell me about it. He has his moments, but it is possible to keep him in line," Ayako replied, before remembering that Mai had been the one to do it, normally by arguing.

"He can be a gentleman, with the appropriate stimuli," Masako added thoughtfully, neglecting to mention that the aforementioned stimuli was really just plain blackmail.

The amnesiac snorted. "I'll believe that when I see it."

"Your son seems to like him," the priestess commented in what she hoped was a casual manner.

This caused Maaya to pause and consider it. "I did think that it was strange, I thought that he would choose Takigawa-san as he gives off more of a fatherly demeanour."

"Masako-chan, don't you think that there is some resemblance between Yakumo-kun and Naru?"

The physic threw a glance in the priestess' direction as if to say, don't drag me into this.

"I suppose there is some; the hair and face are similar," she answered hesitantly. "But the eyes are yours, Kudou-san."

The medium then noticed that Maaya wasn't paying any attention and was staring into space. Her eyes were still focused, indicating that she wasn't in a trance or being possessed. For the sake of safety, Masako waved her hand in front of Maaya's face.

"Kudou-san. Kudou-san," Masako said.

"That's not my name," the amnesiac said, returning to her normal personality with a blink of her eyes.

Masako and Ayako exchanged looks, both wondering the same thing. Had Mai recovered her memories?

"What is your real name?" Ayako enquired nonchalantly, unwilling to hope that she had regained them this easily.

"I don't know, I just know that it isn't Maaya Kudou. I took on Hana's surname when she adopted me and the name Maaya felt like it fitted, but after hearing you all say it, it doesn't sound right anymore," the girl answered and balled her hands into fists.

Was that the effect of hearing "Maaya, tea" and not "Mai, tea"? Ayako mused.

"Should we try to come up with other names?" she suggested.

Upon hearing this Masako reached out to tug Ayako's sleeve. "We don't have permission from Naru to do this," she hissed as quietly as she could.

Ayako twitched. She had forgotten that Naru probably had his own plans involving Mai and it would not be a good idea to mess with those.

"It's all right. I gave up on finding my memories a long time ago," Maaya said sadly. "Yakumo could have been conceived when I was drunk for all I know..."

Unable to help it, Ayako pulled Maaya into a hug and patted her head comfortingly.

"There probably were people that tried to search for you, by became stuck by the fact that you had lost your memories and didn't give your real name to the hospital. Yakumo-kun's father is probably still looking for you."

"I suppose so..." Maaya conceded doubtfully. "In any case I have an adoptive parent and a son so I'm not lonely anymore."

Masako glanced at the clock that she had placed next to her futon.

"It's getting late. Naru likes us to get up early so we should go to bed," she informed them.

Maaya yawned sleepily. "He really is a workaholic."

She settled into her futon comfortably. It had been a long day for her and she was looking forward to some sleep. Ayako switched off the lights and got into her own futon whilst Masako did the name.

"Ah, Maaya-chan?" Ayako asked as Maaya was drifting off to sleep.

"Mmm...," she groaned in reply.

"Let us know if you have any dreams."

"I don't have dreams," Maaya murmured as she lost herself to sleep.

In Naru and Lin's room, the narcissist was trying to get his son to go to bed. Instead of behaving all Yakumo wanted to do was stay attached to Naru. The omnouji found this to be amusing whereas unsurprisingly the narcissist did not.

"Lin, stop smirking at me and get him off me," he ordered irritably. "And put your phone away. You are not to take photos."

Reluctantly Lin put his phone away. The sight of a mini Oliver Davis doppelganger attached to the genuine article had been too much of a photo opportunity to miss.

"Naru, he obviously has good instincts and has picked up that you are his father," he hinted with a smile.

This comment threw Naru for a second. "Just get him off me."

"Have you admitted that he is your son yet?"

The scientist sighed. "Yes, it can't be anyone else. Now, get him off me."

"I personally think that you should take this opportunity to create a good impression. Children are very impressionable. He might hate you when he is older for this and Taniyama-san would be unhappy with you."

"Stop getting ahead of yourself, Lin. We have a case to solve," Naru said. "Could you deign to remove my son from my leg?"

"So you aren't denying that you want to stay close to Taniyama-san...?"

He knew he had gone too far when Naru gave him one of his best glares.

"Lin. Get. Him. Off. Me."

The omnouji bent down so he was eye level with Naru's son.

"Yakumo-kun, if you let go of Naru, you can share a futon with him."

Instantly Yakumo stopped doing an impression of a limpet and looked up at his father. Naru glanced at him suspiciously.

"Lin, you haven't been spending too much time with Madoka, have you?"

"Just go to bed, Naru. Children need a lot of sleep and we are keeping him up."

"Fine," Naru answered sulkily. "Yakumo-kun, if you try clinging on to me when I am asleep, you will be banned from sharing with me."

Lin rolled his eyes. Was Naru really saying that to a one year old that probably didn't understand most of what he had said?

Yakumo had just settled down next to the narcissist when there was a knock at the door. Lin got up and opened it to find Masako Hara outside, dressed in her night clothes.

"Hara-san, is there something wrong?" he questioned as he remembered that she was sharing a room with Mai, the ghost magnet.

"It's Mai..."

"What!?" Naru barked and came out. "What happened?"

"She is talking in her sleep. She said your name..."

Chapter Text

Inevitability:

Chapter 10:

Naru was out of his room like a shot. He sprinted down the hallway until he came to the right room. He pushed the door gently to make the minimum amount of noise as it would not do any good to accidently wake up Mai.

The room was in complete darkness, with only some illumination from the lights in the hallway. He focused his eyes to discern Ayako kneeling next to Mai's futon.

Silently Ayako stood up and walked past him to the door, leaving him alone with the amnesiac. For a moment the only sounds in the room were their breathing.

"Who are you?" a familiar voice, inflected with sleep, asked.

"Naru," he said immediately.

There was a sighing sound. "Who am I?"

Naru began to add all the clues that he had been given into the equation along with his knowledge of sleep talking. He replied with the only answer that made sense.

"Maaya's unconsciousness. Also known as Mai Taniyama."

"Yes. I've been waiting for you..." Mai said, her voice sounding slightly different to usual due to the fact that her body was asleep.

"Sorry for being late," he apologised. "But you didn't exactly make it easy to find you. The name change was confusing."

"Stop complaining, narcissist. I did all I could to get you here. I can't bring back my memories so it has been hard."

"Doing all you could entails using Astral Projection to appear as a ghost to Maaya?"

"It was supposed to get SPR here with the hint being that it was only visible to one person, but I realised that it wasn't big enough."

"So you pulled Maaya down the stairs and created a spiritual disturbance, waking up two ghosts in the process?"

Naru had deduced this when Maaya had given a description of what the first ghost had been wearing. The description had matched Mai's school uniform exactly, he had recognised it instantly as that was what she had been wearing when they had first met at her high school. From then on it had been fairly easy to work out what had really been going on at the ryokan.

"I was getting desperate and I didn't think the idea through," Mai admitted.

"You didn't just lure me over here to make me take responsibility for..." he trailed off, unwilling to say it to Mai.

"There's more to it than that," she replied, sounding slightly amused. "I wouldn't mind having my memory back and not being trapped in my unconsciousness."

"And on the astral plane," he pointed out. "All of the supposed attacks really took place when Maaya was asleep. I noticed that Hana Kudou-san said that her daughter was the only one to see the first ghost and there were no visible marks on Maaya until the other two ghosts came along. Maaya herself said that she never dreamed, it was just that she couldn't remember that they were dreams."

In her sleep Maaya twitched slightly and Naru watched her with bated breath, hoping that she wasn't going to wake up and sever the connection.

"Mai, are you still there?" he asked worriedly.

"...Yes but not for long. I can't normally speak as long as this because I get blocked by the fact that she doesn't want to remember. Ayako provided me with a gap in her will so I can speak fully. You're going to exorcise?"

"Yes."

"Jourei or Jorei?" she questioned, referring to the peaceful or the more violent method.

"Jorei. They hurt you." Ever since he had seen her cuts and burns he had wanted to wring the ghosts' throats. The closest he was ever going to get to that was doing an exorcism.

Maaya's breathing stopped being even and steady and the gaps between each breath began to get shorter.

"Bye, Naru," Mai said and he knew that she had gone.

"Goodbye Mai," he returned the dismissal and left the room. If all went to plan he would be seeing her again the next day. If it didn't... he would lose her again.

He opened the door of his room to find the omnouji, physic and priestess playing with his son. He gave them a cold look.

"That child needs to go to sleep. Matsuzaki-san, Hara-san, you can go back now."

Ayako appraised him thoughtfully. "You have solved the case?"

He nodded.

"Care to actually tell us this time?"

He took that to be a reference to some of the cases where he had left them out of the loop until the conclusion of the case. However he had no intention of doing that this time. He couldn't afford to have any of them acting on out of date information that no longer applied to the case.

"I will tell you tomorrow, I want everyone to be well rested," he hinted.

Without any further coercion Ayako and Masako left the room, sensing that their boss was completely serious. Ayako waved good bye to Yakumo before closing the door behind her.

"By any chance, did you talk to Mai?" Lin asked interestedly, picking up on the fact that he had been very undecided earlier and now he seemed to be sure about what to do.

"I did. The idiot brought the attacks on herself, but she cannot undo it so I will have to," Naru informed him as he got into his futon followed by Yakumo.

He doesn't sound like he was forced, Lin noted amusedly to himself. It had always been interesting to observe the reaction that Mai managed to elicit from Naru. If the case went to plan and Mai regained her missing memories, there would be a very different set of reaction to observe.

"Did Mai say anything about her amnesia?" he asked and turned out the light, plunging the room into inky blackness.

"It appears that Maaya is very determined not to dwell on it, making it hard for any stimuli to have any effect on it. I think it might possibly be because she does not want to be disappointed by who the father of her son is."

"That is quite the situation. Most amnesiacs actually want their memories back."

"Mai has always been unique, it is fitting that even with amnesia, she is still one of a kind," Naru answered before yawning. "The boy is asleep already."

Lin smirked. It was typical for Naru not to refer to his son by name. Hopefully it would soon change...

Breakfast the following morning had more of a lively air than dinner the night before. The other members of SPR were not so intimidated by their boss, leading Naru to suspect that having his son clinging to him was making him lose his normal demeanour that made them slightly more respectful of him.

And that was before Yakumo accidently spilled milk on his raven black shirt. Everyone stifled giggles.

"Maaya, I thought you said that he was well behaved," Naru said to Maaya who was shaking with silent laughter.

"He normally is, but he seems to like you a lot. He might think that... you are his father figure," he answered thoughtfully with a strange glint in her eyes. Then the moment passed as she burst out laughing. "Just be glad that you didn't meet him as a baby, he would have puked up over you which would smell worse."

"I'm going to change," Naru said after a brief moment of silence.

Mai had been right after all. Maaya did black out any stimuli that would help her get her memory back. Maybe if he told her that he was the father... no, he still couldn't get over the fact that he had slept with her whilst drunk and had completely forgotten about it which would be quite the insult for her and would not help the situation.

In addition she didn't blush like Mai often did when looking at him, suggesting that she didn't like him a romantic way. Why had Mai liked him?

Because of Gene.

Uncharacteristically for him, he ruffled his hair in frustration before changing his shirt in a more calm manner. He couldn't lose it now. Once his parents found out about his child he would be under scrutiny and his mother would notice that he didn't really love Mai.

He didn't see Mai in a romantic way, but he had slept with her.

He ruffled his hair again, feeling genuinely confused for the first time in his life. Naru took a deep breath.

That dilemma could come after the exorcism.

He entered the dining room with his usual blank expression on his face and sat back down. However Lin sensed his turmoil. As if guessing all of his charge's thoughts, he said in a quiet tone:

"In vino veritas."

In wine there is truth.

Naru instantly knew what it meant. It was a fairly well known Latin phrase, fitting for the situation that he was in.

He must have some feelings for Mai as he had come on to her when he was drunk and it wasn't just because she had been the only female there, but he still couldn't see her in a romantic light.

Romance to Naru signified red roses and hearts, an unfortunate side effect on Valentine's Day.

Everyone apart from Maaya noticed the turbulence of expressions on his face which seemed to be the result of Lin's remark.

"It wasn't in English, was it?" Bou-san asked of the Australian priest.

John smiled wryly. "It was Latin and very applicable. Shibuya-san, remember that there is such a thing as fate."

"Ooh, are we giving Naru-chan some well meaning sounding advice? Well, always look below the surface of someone, it isn't all about appearances. Shonen?"

Yasuhara pushed his glasses up his nose, causing them to glint. "There is no such thing as coincidence, there is only the inevitable."

That was a point. Did the fact that he had run into the missing Mai within two days of returning to Japan, mean that they were connected by fate? It couldn't be a coincidence.

"My turn now, love isn't all about roses and hearts. It's about appreciating the object of your affection whether or not your feelings are reciprocated. It isn't about material things."

Naru's eyes widened slightly. Ayako was right. For all his intelligence he was lacking the basics.

"Hara-san, you haven't said anything yet," Ayako nudged her.

"I whole heartedly approve of your relationship with that person, but if you ever consider anyone else I will never help you out on a case again," Masako told him with an unusually dangerous glare, a contrast to her doll like appearance.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, but you should always try your best in whatever you do. If you have done your best then there is nothing more that you could have done," Maaya said softly with a caring smile.

The advice from everyone made Naru realised that he lucky to have employees like them who may not be the most considerate people, but it was undeniable that they always tried their best when the appropriate time came.

He glanced at Maaya involuntarily as he remembered Lin's comment and to his surprise he found that his face was heating up for some reason.

In vino veritas.

Chapter Text

Inevitability

Chapter 11:

An hour later everyone was lined up in the base like soldiers ready for battle. All the employees of SPR were dressed appropriately for the occasion with John, Bou-san and Ayako in their respective robes and holding their applicable equipment like vials of holy water for John and tokkosho for the monk. Naru was in his customary black ensemble and Masako was in a flower patterned kimono.

"Are we all clear on the plan?" Naru asked. "If anything goes wrong we cannot make another attempt because we will not have our bait anymore."

"The bait has a name, you know," Maaya retorted.

"I will take that as a yes. Yasuhara-san, leave this ryokan with Hara-san, Kudou-san, Yakumo-kun and the three other guests that are staying here."

It had been a concern that the ghosts would become violent and attack people who had no way of protecting themselves so it had been decided that they would be evacuated from the premises leaving only the SPR and the bait.

"Matsuzaki-san, you have told Maaya how to protect herself if no one can get to her in time?"

"Yes."

The narcissist nodded and stood in front of Maaya who was looking pale and apprehensive despite her claims to the contrary, a fairly normal reaction to being told that she was going to act as bait to lure out two very angry and violent ghosts that wanted to harm her.

"Maaya, we are all going to protect you as much as possible. Do not worry about anyone here getting hurt, they are all trained and experienced. Stepping in front of them to block attacks or yelling at the ghosts to stop will not do any good. Do you understand?"

"I understand, Naru. Pinky promise?" She held out her baby finger. Upon seeing his perplexed reaction she elaborated. "Shake my finger with yours. It makes it a sealed promise."

Clearly a variation on "cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye, Naru noted to himself before holding out his shortest finger and shaking Maaya's, generating surprised looks from everybody.

"It's less trouble than alternative," he offered as an explanation before returning to the plan. "As we discussed we are going to the kitchen which contains the greatest number of hazards out of all the locations here."

The group make their way to the kitchen. It was still early in the morning and the sky was cast with grey clouds blocking out the sunlight, which set the scene for the exorcism.

Naru led Maaya into the centre of the kitchen and stepped back to check. She was in the trajectory of all the knife blocks ranging from meat cleavers to pastry knives as well as the fire extinguishers and a blowtorch for burning sugar, exactly as planned. The ghosts who were targeting her would be unable to resist such an opportunity for killing her.

The omnouji, priestess, monk and priest took their places in a circle around the amnesiac. Naru moved to he was behind Lin as he had promised the omnouji that he would stay out of harm's way.

"Is everyone ready?" he asked quietly.

Everyone nodded in synchronisation and focused their eyes on the bait who still looked pale and scared.

"Maaya, pick up a knife and hold it," Naru instructed.

As she did a gust of wind blew through the room, ruffling everyone's hair.

"They're coming. Get ready," he said. "Keep hold of the knife."

Maaya made a mewing noise of fright, but she stood her ground.

Her hair blew as the ghosts materialised above her revealing, that as suspected they were the lovers that had committed suicide, as they were holding hands. The woman glared ferociously at Maaya and dived for the knife block and grabbed a handful.

"Now!" Naru shouted.

"Naumaku Sanmanda Bazaradankan!" Bou-san chanted.

The woman glared at him and threw a knife in his direction. He dodged to avoid it and in the process of doing so, he stopped chanting.

Meanwhile the male ghost had approached Maaya and was standing behind her.

"Mai! Behind you!" the narcissist shouted desperately as John who was close enough began to read from his bible.

Maaya spun around and screamed at the sight. The spirit grabbed her by the neck and began to squeeze.

"Killing you is the only way we can have peace," she saw him mouth as her vision faded away into black spots and she distantly heard Naru shout her name.

Then a drop of holy water from John hit the ghost and he released her. Maaya crumpled on the floor, gasping for air.

"I'm sorry," she apologised between gasps. "I don't know what I did, but if you tell me I will stop it."

Both spirits paused and Naru saw an opening for a less violent exorcism.

"She will stop disturbing you after today, I know what she has been doing and she will stop," he said, stepping out from behind Lin. "But you two will have to leave here and pass on properly. If she could disturb you, then more people can and neither of you want to stain your hands with blood anymore. I know how you two died."

"If you leave now we will create a gravestone in the garden for you," Bou-san added to tempt them further. "Then no one will disturb you."

Everyone waited for a form of response with bated breath. The response was to drop a knife on top of Maaya which pinned her leg to the ground by catching on her trouser leg.

"Naru-chan, I think there has been a breakdown in negotiations," Bou-san shouted. "What do we do!?"

Another two knives pinned Maaya to the floor so she was spread-eagled with only one free arm.

"The nine cuts! I taught you!" Ayako screamed as the female spirit aimed another knife.

Maaya blinked in fright as she realised exactly what was happening to her. She reached out her free arm and did her best at attempting the nine cuts.

"Rin. Pyou. Tou. Sha. Kai. Chin. Retsu. Zai. Zen!" she chanted and made the appropriate slashing motions with her fingers as a feeling of familiarity swept through her.

The female spirit recoiled and she saw cuts appear on her translucent form.

"You two died to leave the living world together! Why are you still here?" Maaya demanded as she lay trapped on the floor. "If I managed to disturb you, then you never fully left this world. You will never get any peace if you remain in this world. In fifty years time this building will probably no longer exist. It could be a block of flats or a skyscraper, or an airport which would disturb your rest even more. If you really wanted peace, you would leave here."

She glanced fearfully at the spirits, afraid to see their reaction. Maaya had no idea where her speech had come from, the words had come out of her mouth without her really thinking.

The spirits' forms began to fade around the edges and Maaya knew that they had understood.

"Good bye," she said as the ghosts became more transparent than translucent and faded into nothing.

For a moment everyone froze and stared at where the ghosts had been. Then, everyone apart from Lin and Naru ran over to Maaya to pull the knives out so she was no longer impaled to the floor by her clothes.

Naru lurked at the back of the fray whilst the girl received tearful hugs from all of his employees. Lin pushed him forward and Naru turned to stare at him in surprise.

"Go on. She is the mother of your son," the omnouji said with a discreet smile.

The scientist glared at him, but he did as he was told. Bou-san and Ayako parted so he could bend down next to Maaya.

"Well done," he congratulated and ruffled her hair. "You took the initiative and persuaded them to leave by yourself."

"Thank you," Maaya grinned at him and readjusted her ruffled hair.

"I think reading that book must have helped you," he added with a smirk.

Maaya rolled her eyes along with everyone else. "Thank you for ruining the moment, narcissist."

The monk decided to employ some underhand techniques to improve the situation. "Hey Naru-chan, what's that over there?"

The moment Naru looked in the indicated direction, Bou-san pushed the narcissist so he was on top of Maaya, squashing her to the ground again. Both flushed a very bright shade of red as they stared into each other's eyes.

Naru became aware of how close he was to someone that he had slept with and he felt that he should probably move off her, but he also felt surprisingly comfortable with being in such close proximity to his former assistant.

"Um, Naru..." she said hesitantly and he felt her breath tickle his cheek.

"Yes?"

"I can't breathe," she huffed and pushed him off.

This reminded him that Maaya still wasn't his Mai so he stood up and rearranged his facial features so he had his default poker face, showing no sign of his emotions.

"Meet me in the garden in half an hour," he ordered and walked out the kitchen, leaving all the SPR employees staring after him in a daze.

Everyone except Maaya exchanged significant looks.

"Has he worked it out?" Bou-san questioned.

"...Confession?" Ayako guessed.

Chapter Text

Inevitability:

Chapter 12:

Half an hour later, after a change of clothes and a cup of tea, Maaya walked out of the ryokan to the pond outside where the narcissist was waiting for her. The light wind was rustling through his hair and he was staring at the water with a pensive expression on his face. He turned around to face her as she approached.

"I have something to tell you," he said eventually.

"What is it?"

For a moment she could have sworn that a nervous expression passed over his face.

He tenderly laid a hand on her cheek.

"I love you, Mai. I'm the father of your child," he said and touched his lips to hers which were unyielding, then she softened and he deepened the kiss by probing her mouth with his tongue. Their tongues met and Naru kissed her more ferociously as he twisted his hands into her hair and her arms wrapped around her shoulders.

Eventually they parted for breath. Naru looked down at the girl in his arms who had her face hidden in his chest.

"Do you remember now?" he asked, hoping that she did, otherwise he would have some awkward questions to answer.

He felt her nod against him and he smiled.

"Mai, look at me," he ordered.

She looked up at him with an incandescent red face and Naru found himself admitting that she was cute. What had she done to him?

"Naru, you don't remember that night, do you?" she said and looked down again.

The narcissist began to get a bad feeling. "By any chance, do you?"

"Only a few parts. You were... very assertive and said and did things that were very unlike you. Some of it was in English."

He began to feel concerned. What on earth had he said to Mai when he was drunk?

"You told me that you had wanted to do things to me since you first met me," she whispered to the shocked scientist.

He buried his face in her hair. If he claimed that it had been the alcohol talking... she would hate him forever and as Lin had said, "In Vino Veritas"...

"It's true, I never dwelled on it thought. Remember I was a healthy 17 year old boy and you wore a lot of short skirts..."

She stared up at him again and blushed. He tightened his arms around her.

A shout of "Jou-chan" interrupted their moment. The pair turned to see everyone from SPR walking towards them. Naru released Mai and waited for the onslaught from everyone who seemed to harbour protective feelings for Mai which was something he could understand.

"Jou-chan! Do you remember me!?" the monk wailed as he enveloped Mai into his arms.

"Bou-san... can't breathe," she choked.

"Bou-san, let her go so she can breathe," Naru sighed.

The monk relinquished his hold. "I'm just glad that you are back. The old lady priestess was getting scary."

Ayako hit him around the head with her fist. "It's good to see you Mai."

Yasuhara wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "So... how did Naru make you get your memories back? I have heard that the body has memories that are never forgotten... Did you use that?"

Mai's blush and Naru's smirk provided the answer.

"I'm never going to call you Naru-chan again! Instead I'm going to call you pervert, pervert!" Bou-san shouted tearfully. "I can't believe you did that to my Mai."

"She is not your Mai, she is my Mai," the narcissist retorted and gave her a quick kiss on the lips to prove it. "Mai, I meant to tell you earlier, your mouth tastes like tea so keep drinking it."

This caused everyone including Lin to avert their eyes in embarrassment.

"Is that really Naru?" Masako whispered disbelievingly to Yasuhara.

"Yep, he is sadistic enough," he hissed back. "It's probably just his hormones catching up."

"I'm glad to see that you have volunteered for some more toilet cleaning," Naru smirked. "I'm going to talk to the client now. You can start packing up all the equipment."

He patted Mai on the head as he walked away, followed by Lin.

"John, I have a question," Mai started once Naru was out of earshot.

"Yes, Taniyama-san? It's good to see you again by the way."

"Naru said this to me when he was drunk. It was in English so I didn't understand," she whispered it in his ear, causing the priest to flush a very bright red.

Bou-san curled his hand into a fist. "What was it, John?"

The embarrassed priest relayed the translation to a mortified monk.

"Naru! You pervert! I'll get you for this, I never thought you would use such dirty words!"

Naru turned around, guessing what had transpired the moment he had turned his back. "My name is Oliver Davis, not pervert. Don't I have a video that you wanted to see?"

He smirked as he returned to the ryokan. Once they were inside Lin asked a question which had been bothering him all day.

"Have you told your parents yet?"

Naru groaned. "I need to, but I have been avoiding it. I know that Mum will be furious with me for what I did to Mai; I should mention that I'm marrying her first."

"I didn't see you propose. You are just assuming that Taniyama-san will say yes."

"Not assuming, she will, but I should obtain permission from her foster mother first and tell her that the case is solved."

Their client was waiting in the reception area with Yakumo who lit up at the sight of Naru.

"I'm assuming that the exorcism was successful and Maaya is unharmed," Hana said with a smile.

"Yes and her real name is Mai Taniyama," Naru began to explain.

"You're Yakumo's father." It wasn't a question, she knew.

"I am. How did you know?" he questioned. It seemed as if everyone but him knew.

"He looks exactly like you, only he has Maay- I mean Mai's eyes. Are you going to marry her?" she asked, hiding a smirk.

For the first time in his life Naru said "Um."

"Not sure?"

"Do I have your permission?"

Hana grinned. "On the condition that you invite me to the wedding and come here for your honeymoon and regularly visit."

Lin decided that he respected the proprietor of the ryokan; for a second Oliver Davis had looked like a gold fish.

"I have a feeling that my mother will say that too..." he trailed off. "I agree to the conditions."

"Are you leaving today or tomorrow?"

"I think that everyone wants to catch up with Mai tonight, so tomorrow morning."

Hana nodded. "I did hear something about a party."

As predicted the SPR employees threw a welcome back party for Mai that evening. Everyone apart from Mai and Naru had teamed up to decorate a room with streamers and banners and made a music playlist.

Due to the fact that Mai was the subject of the party she danced with everyone and Naru was able to stand in the corner unobserved.

"Are you practising your marriage proposal?" Yasuhara teased as he danced past the narcissist with Lin.

The college student received a glower so he tried a different tack. "Or are you jealous that she is dancing so much with Bou-san? Or could it be that you can't dance?"

"Yasuhara-san, it isn't wise to bait Naru at the moment. You can do it tomorrow," Lin advised as they moved away from the fuming narcissist.

The reason behind Naru's mood was the phone call that he had had with his parents. He had been told off for the one night stand by his parents, but they had been delighted to hear that he was getting married and requested invites to the wedding and for the honeymoon to be in England.

The only thing was, he hadn't asked Mai yet. They hadn't been alone together since their kiss in the garden and he wasn't sure now if she could say yes.

Of course she will say yes, one part of his mind said, she returned your kiss and blushed a lot. But doesn't she like Gene? another part of his brain reasoned.

"You're a fool," someone next to him said.

He turned to see Masako Hara standing next to him, holding a glass of water.

"How am I a fool?"

"She likes you and not your twin brother. If you still are not convinced, ask her yourself," Masako answered from behind her sleeve as she walked away.

He was granted a moment of respire before someone else disturbed him. Naru stared at the cup of sake in her hand.

"Please tell me that you aren't drunk, Mai."

She looked down at the cup. "I've built up a tolerance over the past two years from socialising with guests. What would you do if I was?"

"Get you to sober up of course. I don't want a drunk for a wife," he hinted.

Mai nodded vaguely before the force of his words sank into her slightly alcohol befuddled brain.

"What!? We're married! I'm pretty sure that I have all my memories back now," she yelled before sniffing at his face dubiously.

Naru gripped her chin and stared at her right in the eye. "I'm not drunk, I just have not asked you yet."

Everyone rolled their eyes. So this was how Naru proposed. Going down on one knee was too mainstream. All you had to do was tell her that you were going to marry.

Mai's speech came flooding back to her after a few second of dumbfounded silence. "You haven't asked me yet. Isn't it a bit too much to assume that I'm going to agree?"

The narcissist blinked. "Well, you aren't going to say no. I have already got Hana-san to agree and my parents have granted permission."

There was no reply from his "fiancée".

"Don't you want to marry me?" he asked puzzledly.

"What she means is you should be asking her the proper way, Naru-chan," Bou-san stopped the music and walked over to gobsmacked Mai and the confused Naru. "You also need to ask us for permission, we are all family after all."

For his helpful effort he received a derisive look from Naru. The narcissist sighed and grabbed Mai's hand and pulled her out the room. He led her to his bedroom and locked the door.

"Naru, what are you doing?" she asked nervously as he approached her.

"Mai, do you love Gene?"

"Are you really asking that now?" she complained, looking up at him. The intensity of his stare told her that he definitely was serious.

"Naru... I love you, even your narcissistic parts," she answered slowly. "Your brother may be a lot kinder than you, but it wouldn't be you if you were like that too. Because you only have short bouts of being kind, it makes me appreciate them even more."

She was interrupted by Naru giving her a searing kiss on the lips and pulling her tight against him.

"Thank you Mai," he whispered softly in her ear. "I just needed to make sure."

"You really are an idiot scientist for not recognising the signs."

"I know. Mai, will you marry me?"

"I thought that I already was. Where is the ring?" Mai smiled as she snuggled into his chest.

"I have not procured one yet," he admitted. "Will you say yes?"

"Yes," she replied, looking up to check his reaction.

On his face was the best smile that she had ever seen. It reached his eyes and she realised that he actually had dimples.

"Mai, are you blushing at my smile?" he smirked. "I might smile like this more often, but only to you."

His fiancée blushed even harder which he hadn't thought was possible.

"Do you think that if I continue you will go purple?" he mused out loud.

Everyone who had been listening outside the door sweatdropped. Teasing/bullying Mai was clearly Naru's method of showing affection and Mai's way to answer back. As he teased her on a regular basis it seemed that they would have a happy life together.

Mai hid her face in his shirt again, then she brightened. She may have been very unlucky in life so far, but not everyone had someone like Naru for a fiancé, as sadistic and narcissistic as he was. It made up for all her bad luck in life.

The End