REPLACEMENT

Chapter 4

The Year Oliver Turns 21

"Though he won't openly admit it, he sometimes wonders who she sees when she looks at him."

"Mai, tea."

Yet another day in the SPR office in Shibuya has found Oliver Davis buried nose-deep in reports and research papers that he had to finish for the Society for Psychic Research back in Britain. Though he had finally acquired his university degree from the Cambridge Trinity College earlier that year, it was not uncommon for him to still receive tasks from his mentors and colleagues who expected a lot from a young prodigy. Plus, that much was required so his father would not complain about his frequent trips to Japan.

Anyone who knew him was aware that he was the type of person who dove right into his work and got things done as soon as possible. However, he was currently running the risk of falling behind schedule with the overwhelming workload he had been given as of late. He found this frustrating as he hated to submit things on the day they were due. What would irritate him further would be if he ended up missing a deadline or two. That was something he had to avoid at all costs, for the sake of his reputation.

He rotated his wrist which was starting to feel numb from all the writing he was doing. (Yes, he still preferred to write things by hand before asking Lin to type his final work into the laptop.)

Where was his tea?

A quick succession of raps on his door signalled the arrival of his tea. This was soon followed by his part-time assistant-slash-investigator entering his office to place the cup on one of the unoccupied spaces on his desk. She made no sound as she did so, not even a hum or a grumble. He found that kind of odd considering that she was not exactly the quietest person in the world.

Glancing at her face, he saw that she looked a bit pale. She paid no heed to what he was doing though and just nodded at him before turning to leave. He was about to ask her if she'd had another one of those dreams when his mobile phone rang. The number on the screen told him that it was from the society. He heard the door click shut behind Mai so he answered the call which was likely about one of his reports.

Had he not felt the pangs of hunger, Noll would have gone on working through the night. There was no denying that he was a workaholic but that was because he disliked leaving unfinished work for the next day. Still, he knew how to set limits now that he was a tad older. This was especially true when it came to taking care of his health. The rest of his tasks would have to wait until tomorrow as he really had to grab a bite to eat.

As he stepped out of his office, he mentally went through his dining options for the night. He had been left to fend for himself as Lin was currently running errands a city away. They had both agreed that they would see each other back at the apartment complex. The older man had mentioned that he would be back around ten so Noll had no choice but to get dinner on his own.

Though it was already past eight in the evening, Noll noticed that the window blinds were still open. Not to mention that the visitor area was still brightly lit. Did the assistants forget to close the office properly? Then again, he remembered that it had only been Taka who had said her goodbyes for the day as she left hours ago for her evening classes.

There was nobody working at the receptionist desks but there was a red bag sitting innocently on one of the chairs. From the Psychology book peeking out from beneath said bag, Noll knew who the bag belonged to. He immediately walked to the pantry which was separated from the rest of the office by a divider. The owner of the bag was probably still cleaning up in the mini kitchen.

The sight that met his eyes beyond the divider was not what he expected though. He immediately found himself kneeling beside an unconscious Mai who was slumped on the floor with her back on the refrigerator. He tried to shake her awake but she was absolutely out. So, he put his fingers on her wrist then her neck. She had a pulse, but her skin felt hot and she was breathing laboriously.

From the look of it, the illness was not serious enough to go to the hospital for. She probably just needed to rest and take some medicine. The pantry floor was the least comfortable place to sleep though. So, Noll slowly took her in his arms and carried her princess-style to the couch. He might never be as physically strong as Lin or Bou-san but he was certainly capable of carrying a petite 20-year-old girl for a few metres.

After he laid her down with a throw pillow under her head, he draped his coat over her feverish body and called Matsuzaki-san. She was the one person he could rely on for situations such as this. The miko told him that she was just finishing up a job and would be arriving in the office in an hour or so. He was thankful for that though he did not say it out loud.

Noll was famished at that point but he couldn't very well leave a sick girl all by herself, now could he? He reluctantly called in a delivery order from the Japanese restaurant down the street. Some nama tofu and kappa maki sounded tempting. It wouldn't hurt to have some inarizushi and kabocha soup either. He had never been a big eater but he was hungry, you know.

Now that he had made all of the necessary calls, he sat on the couch across where Mai was resting. He didn't want to go back to his office as he might get tempted to finish his work and lose track of time. Left with no other option, he decided to observe Mai as she slept fitfully.

Briefly, he wondered whether Gene was visiting her dreams right that minute but he immediately shot the thought down. His brother only popped up during investigations, after all. This would often mean that Mai had to be in his vicinity so Gene could connect with her. Was there a certain physical range for this to work? He should look into that further the next time he talked to his twin.

A pained groan escaped the lips of the sick girl across him. Her eyelashes then started fluttering which indicated that she was waking up. As she was facing him, the first thing she saw was Noll staring at her intently.

"Mn...Naru...?"

Her voice sounded hoarse so he fetched her some water. She was sitting up when he returned from the pantry so he handed her the glass and watched her drink.

"...Are you all right?"

"A dream...?"

"No. You are-"

"I have to water..."

"What?"

"Cactus...Yasu-san gave me...I graduated high school."

"Now is not the time-"

"Naru."

"...What is it?"

"I have to water Naru. He might die!"

The world-renowned Oliver Davis was not sure how he was supposed to take that. She named her cactus after him? Wait-was it normal for people to name plants in the first place? He didn't notice that a small smirk had made its way to his lips. He never knew what to expect from this girl sometimes.

"Rest. Now."

She didn't argue with him and lay back down on the sofa. He adjusted his coat to cover her upper body better. The whole time, he felt her eyes on him, particularly his face. He made eye contact with her as he pulled away to sit on the wooden coffee table.

"Naru."

He wasn't entirely sure if she was talking to him directly or referring to her cactus again, but he grunted at her all the same. Her eyelids had started to droop which was good because he didn't want to spend the next half-hour waiting for her to fall back to sleep.

"Ne...What do I...have to do...so you'd smile...sincerely...at me...again?"

Her eyes were closed by the time she had finished asking her question. Moments later, soft snores could be heard from her.

"...Sorry. I can't be his replacement."

Note: I have made some changes to the previous chapters so if you would please check them out too, I would really appreciate it! You will notice that I've added time references to each chapter so you guys would be aware when each chapter is set.

Thank you to everyone who left a review and will be leaving a review! I'm so glad I managed to pull off Gene's POV in the previous chapter. Whew~ I'm always so happy to hear from my readers. :)