A/N: It's been a while! I got the cancers, then beat the cancers, then Covid hit and bam. Just had no energy to do much for a while. Sudden inspiration hit so here we go, but I'm feeling a little rusty :) Thank you for reading as always and I'd love to hear from you!

Chapter 20

The girls held a last-minute practice session before their big match the next day. After saying her goodbyes to her teammates, Mai made her way to the boys' tennis courts and arrived just as they started their service drills. Oliver was with the junior members, imparting tips and making corrections on their forms. She stayed on the other side of the fence (for her safety) and walked towards them, hearing words like 'pronate' and 'throwing motion' as she got within earshot.

Once Oliver was satisfied, he turned around and caught Mai's eyes. She gave him a little wave and a hello, but rather than speaking to her through the fence, she was surprised to see him head toward the gate and step out to formally meet her, face to face.

"What's up, Naru?"

His brow creased. "You didn't come up to the roof."

"Uh, yeah, I couldn't today. Why, were you expecting me? But I don't remember you asking me to meet you there?"

"You weren't in your classroom during lunch, either."

Mai frowned as well. "No, I went to the library with my friends. What in the world is going on, Naru? Are you in trouble?"

"Trouble? No." Naru sighed. "You came for the lessons today. I wanted to warn you that I planned on joining the team for conditioning practice."

"Oh…? Oh! No, don't worry about it! Are you feeling a hundred percent now? Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine. I have been jogging on my own lately and haven't come across any issues."

Mai smiled. "Ok, then be careful."

Naru nodded and hovered around her for a few seconds longer with an inexplicable look in his eyes. Mai translated it to mean he was sorry for inconveniencing her, making her walk all the way here only to ditch her, so she shook her head again and patted lightly him on the shoulder.

"It's no problem, I'll just hit against the wall. More importantly: good luck! And make sure to stop if you feel any pain, got it?"

"Fine." He turned around and rejoined his team.

Before going on her way she said hi to the boys, replied 'exhausting' to Bou-san's question of 'how'd practice go', and asked Kashima a quick clarification about their homework. Once again she attempted to speak with Masako, not having had much luck lately in speaking with her alone, but as usual Masako would not engage beyond the typical pleasantries.

With one last look at Naru stretching, Mai headed toward the wall to start her own training.

Having sufficiently learned the basic form for both forehand and backhand, Naru decided she was ready to learn topspin. However, she found it very little difficult to practice the technique against the wall since topspin arced the ball higher in the air. She decided that instead of focusing on hitting the ball back consistently, she should just focus on the way she swung the racket, but even this quickly wore her out. There was only so much she could do against an immovable wall, after all.

Once the boys left for their run, she quickly snuck into the courts and did some service practice.

"Bend my knees, throw the ball high in the air… throw it straight! Straight, no spinning…"

There were a lot of moving body parts involved. Whenever she focused on one part of the motion, she caught herself unintentionally forgetting about the other motions. It would definitely take more than a few sessions to get the move down, but she found that the more she practiced it, the more she came to realize it was her favorite shot.

She stopped her training once she got tired, but rather than head straight home, she decided to go to the library to do some homework until sun-down. Finally having had enough work for the day, she decided to stop by the courts one more time, hoping to just do a quick check in to see if Naru made it back fine or not.

She met with Gene and Yasuhara at the drinking fountain.

"Did you guys just get back from your run?" she asked them.

"Yep, we ran from here to Manatee Cafe and back."

"Whoa! All the way there?"

Yasuhara, who was currently gulping down water, nodded his head vigorously and rolled his eyes. Gene nodded with a heavy shrug.

"My god, you guys must be so tired… How was Naru?"

"He was fine, slower than his usual, but he kept up with the varsity members."

When Mai seemed unconvinced, Gene laughed and added, "It's alright, he's fine. The doctor cleared him, I double checked. He's just out of practice so he'll be slow the next couple of days. I think he's also cleared to start playing again if pain doesn't come on, but nothing too intense."

As she listened her eyes strayed over to the far court where the rest of the team was beginning to trickle in and was surprised to find Naru looking at her with a frown. She had only meant to check in on him, but now that their eyes met, she thought it would be awkward if she just left without saying anything, especially since he seemed somewhat upset.

Gene and Yasuhara were already conversing about some homework so Mai excused herself and ran up to Naru.

"Hey, how was it?"

She noticed how his chest heaved and found it amusing how he was a little out of breath as he answered, "You're still here."

Without skipping a beat, she retorted, "Why, you don't want me here?" He appeared mildly surprised at this and she laughed out loud. "I didn't realize how late it got. Guess I was just curious to know if you made it back alive or not."

Naru scoffed. "That's over-dramatic."

"I don't think so. Look at you, you're dying."

As soon as Gene and Yasuhara joined them, Naru turned around and formally dismissed the team. Most of the team, tired from the day's practice, toweled off and as soon as they cooled down, bid their goodbyes and left. Kashima tapped Mai on the shoulder and excused himself, holding up his now string-less racket, saying that he had to swing by the tennis store first so he'll be going on ahead. Naru, Gene, and Yasuhara stepped aside toward their bags and changed into a fresh set of clothes.

Although she was already used to seeing this, Mai still became flustered at the sight and turned away toward Bou-san, who was one of the few people still remaining nearby. "What happened to Kashima's racket?" Mai asked.

"Broke the string again."

"Oh, that sucks. But he seemed a little smug?"

Bou-san laughed. "You'll feel that pride too when you break your first set of strings. Mostly everyone here have broken a set—it's like a rite of passage. Davis used to break his often." He hefted his large tennis bag over his shoulder and grinned at Mai. "How's the tennis bag going for you?" he asked.

"It's great, I love it! Keeps my water cold and everything fits in it. Thanks again for giving it to me. Seriously."

"Nah, it's nothing. My uncle got me this new bag as a present so I figured since that one is still in perfectly good condition, it'd be better for you to have it."

She heard some shuffling of bags and footsteps coming up behind her. "You don't have a younger sibling to give it to?"

Suddenly Yasuhara jogged past her toward Masako, crying out, "I can help you with that, Hara-san." He plopped his bag down in the tennis ball cart.

Masako turned to him and followed suit, placing her school bag gently beside his and thanked him, relinquishing her hold just as Yasuhara reached for the cart handle. "Give me a moment while I grab the scorecards."

Mai and the others watched them for a few seconds. Once Masako came back with the cards, Yasuhara turned around and waved.

"After I put this away I'm headed home. See you kids tomorrow."

Masako also nodded her goodbye, but did not glance toward her, nor Naru.

As they walked away, Bou-san resumed their halted conversation. "I'm an only child. You're practically my younger sister. Anyway, I'll also head off. I've got a test tomorrow I really should study for. Will you be okay going home on your own? It's getting quite dark."

Before Mai could answer, Gene announced, "We'll walk her home. You take the train, right Mai?"

Naru sighed, but to Mai's surprise, did not argue this time. He merely readjusted the bag on his shoulder. "Let's go."

Gene waved his goodbye and motioned for Mai to come along, following after his brother. Mai and Bou-san looked at each other and shrugged, then smiled and waved goodbye before splitting up.

-0-

He heard a low, growling sound to his right and saw Gene doubling over, clutching his stomach.

"Oh god, I'm so hungry."

To his left he saw Mai rub her stomach as well. "Me too."

Together they glanced at the nearby family restaurant and turned their heads to look at him expectantly. Gene was obnoxiously batting his eye.

"What?" he asked, rather pointlessly.

"We're starving. Let's stop by for a quick bite?"

"Eating at a restaurant does not fit the definition of a 'quick bite'. There's a convenience store next door, grab something from there."

Both of them pouted. Oliver crossed his arms and looked away angrily. "I'd like to get home quickly."

"Hey look there, it's Luella!"

Oliver turned around and sure enough, the lady walking out of the convenience store was none other than their mother. Gene's exclamation caught her attention and her face lit up in recognition.

"Oh, hello boys. If I'd known you'd be in this area, I'd have phoned you to pick these up for me."

Gene rushed up to her and dutifully took the bags she was carrying. "What are these for?"

"I just found out I was missing some key ingredients."

"Oh you were cooking dinner already? We were just deciding where to go for food. Mai's with us."

"Mai?"

Oliver heard Mai panic beside him, probably from hearing a string of unintelligible English then suddenly hearing her own name pop up in conversation.

"Gene was just telling her we were considering our dinner options. And that you were with us," he explained.

"Oh! Ah, is she your mother?"

"Yes."

Gene was leading a smiling Luella toward them. Mai started fidgeting and mumbling, "What do I do, what do I do? What do I say?" as she, in reflex, stepped back a little.

"It isn't a big deal. She can speak Japanese," Naru muttered.

"Hello, I'm Luella Davis," the woman announced in awkward, but perfectly understandable Japanese.

Mai bowed and stammered, "A-ah, hello, my name's Taniyama Mai. I'm a friend of your sons. N-nice to meet you."

"Very nice to meet you, too," Luella replied with a laugh. "Yes, Gene was just telling me about you. Please, you can call me Luella, dear. May I call you Mai-chan?"

"Y-yes, of course."

"Were you going to eat out?" Luella asked, mainly addressing the boys. "I'm actually in the middle of cooking already. Do you think you three can just eat at home? I should be done soon."

Oliver frowned. "You left the stove on?"

Luella tutted, as if disappointed her son would have so little faith in her sensibility. "I asked Yakitano-san next door to check in once in a while. I haven't been gone more than ten minutes, but I do have to rush. So, what will you do?"

He shrugged. "I don't mind."

"Okay, let's eat at home. Mai would you be okay coming over? It'll be late by the time we finish, but we can take you home.."

"Ah, I don't want to impose-"

"-Please? It'll be fun! Please?"

Slowly, Mai agreed with a shy smile. "Okay!"

-0-

She wasn't entirely sure how it ended up this way, but Mai currently found herself inside Naru's room, sitting on his bed.

After arriving at the Davis household, Naru had excused himself and went straight to his room. Luella sighed and muttered at her son's unsociability, but Mai instead redirected the situation and offered to help prepare dinner instead.

Luella looked positively awed and exclaimed something in English that she couldn't understand, while Gene merely laughed.

Luella looked at her and shook her head, insisting that she was a guest and should make herself at home. "But you can help me keep the boys out of trouble. I'll have dinner ready for us soon, so I'll call everyone down then."

At this, Gene practically dragged her out of the kitchen and excitedly led her to his room, until he opened the door and realized the messy state it was in. He quickly shut it, red in the face, and apologized, then knocked in Naru's room and without waiting for an answer, ushered her in and said he'd be back, slamming the door closed behind her.

She stood by the door awkwardly as Naru stared at her. Eventually he realized that he needed to actually invite her in and vaguely suggested for her to sit. There was no other chair apart from the one he was sitting on, so she glanced at his bed and made her way toward it.

That had been ten minutes ago.

She bit her lip and scanned the room once more. His room was neat and clean, but she supposes, with almost nothing in it except his desk, bed, shelves, and books, it wasn't so hard to keep it so.

"Very nice room," she mumbled absentmindedly, feeling overwhelmed by the silence.

"You already said that."

"Oh? Sorry."

Naru sighed and closed his book, then turned his chair so that he was giving her his full attention. "Are you uncomfortable being in here?"

She laughed nervously and shook her head. "No."

Not that it was much to his credit as much as it was due to her being an obvious wreck, but he picked up on this cue and waited for her to explain.

She gulped. "Not… much. It's just I've never been in a boy's room before . Nevermind being alone… with a boy. In the room. Alone. Before?"

Naru raised his eyebrow but, surprisingly, did not point out her babbling. "We can leave the door open, or stay in the sitting room," he offered.

"No, no I'm fine. It's alright. Do your thing, I'm just going to look through your books here."

Naru shrugged and went back to his work. "Once Gene finishes cleaning up his mess of a room, you might find it more enjoyable in there. He has video games."

"Ok. Gene-kun's such a dork," she commented offhandedly, chuckling to herself as she remembered his antics, and perused the books. There were a lot of difficult books nestled there, mainly English ones. Most had to do with advanced math and science, but there were a couple ones that piqued her interest.

"Ghost?" she asked. "That means yurei, right?"

Naru nodded without looking.

"Demons and demono-lo-gi-"

"Demons and Demonology."

"Wow, I never knew you were into scary stories."

"Those are non-fiction. A lot of those are occult textbooks, mainly dealing with parapsychology."

"I like scary stories, too. Keiko, Michiru, and I used to share scary stories all the time."

Naru sighed again. "I just said those aren't stories."

But something else much more interesting had caught Mai's attention. Sandwiched in between two giant textbooks was a curious Japanese magazine. She reached for it and pulled it out.

"Gravure?" she muttered out loud as her eyes widened. In front of the magazine was a young, pretty girl clad only in a bikini, leaning in a cute, provocative way. "Wha!" her ears reddened but she was much too curious to put it away. She opened to a random page and whistled.

This caught Naru's attention. "What are you-"

"-Oh!" she cried, covering her mouth and trying to stifle a laughter. "This page was earmarked. I see you prefer ladies with large chests." She turned to him and found him looking aggravated, eyes narrowed, but it only made her laugh harder. "I'm sorry, I don't know if you'd be able to find very many big chested girls at our school. You'll have to look elsewhere."

"That's Gene's."

"Oh sure! That's why it was hidden so well between your large text books."

Naru stood up from his seat and grabbed the magazine out of her hands, while she doubled over on the floor with laughter. He sat down beside her and flipped the pages nonchalantly.

"These do not interest me."

Mai sat up, wiping tears out of her eyes. "Oh? What type of girls do you like then?"

"Don't be stupid."

"Come on, if you had to choose?" she touched the magazine in his hands and thrust it closer to his face. "If you answer, I'll leave you alone, promise."

He rolled his eyes and carelessly flipped through each picture, much to her hilarity but she held it in, fearing he'd stop humoring her if she continued to laugh in his face. She thought he would only roll his eyes some more and point to some random one just to get her out of his hair, but to her amazement, he seemed to be actually giving it some thought. He casually pointed to a picture of a young woman, petite and slender, with a chic, bobbed hair and a playful grin, wearing a short spaghetti strapped dress that barely covered the top of her thighs. It was the tamest looking one out of all the pictures.

"Ohh, so you're into legs, huh?"

Naru shrugged and replied, "If that's what you take out of it."

Mai gave him a sly grin until the two of them realized she was wearing her tennis skirt and was currently showing a lot of leg. Mai scrambled to cover it up while Naru cleared his throat and put the magazine away.

Before things became awkward, Gene burst in and cried, "Okay, I've cleaned up a bit. We can go to my room, Mai-"

"-Dinner is ready! Boys, Mai, come down to eat!"

Gene hung his head. "Aww damn. Well, I guess at least it got me to clean my room. Come on, let's head down. But after this, let's play this new game I borrowed from Yasu."

Mai smiled and nodded. Naru followed after the two of them without a word.