Loosen Up

Naru stared wearily at the screen in front of him. Then he rose from his chair, put his arms behind his head, and stretched his sore muscles. After a few seconds, he dropped his arms loosely back to his sides.

He sighed. This won't do.

He turned and looked at the mirror image in the window behind him.

His baggy eyes weren't doing much good to his looks.

(You work too much, Idiot Scientist. Loosen up for once.)

Gene told him that through the mirror in the last case.

Naru frowned.

Yes, he did work a lot. He worked much more compared to his lazy (and dead) brother. Rather than lazing around like Gene did, Naru preferred being productive. …But what did Gene mean by 'loosen up'?

This required some investigation.

Naru sat back in his chair and searched for the definition on google.

loosen up

phrasal verb of loosen. 1. relax one's muscles before taking exercise. "arrive early to loosen up and hit some practice shots"; become mentally relaxed. "they taught me to have fun and loosen up"

synonyms: relax, become relaxed, unwind, ease up/off, become less rigid; informal let up, hang loose, lighten up, go easy

"you need to loosen up, get rid of some inhibitions"

He stared at the last sentence.

"…Get rid of some inhibitions."

Naru widened his eyes. He was reminded of something that Mai offered to do some time ago.

Yes, he could make her do that.

When the boss entered the main room, Yasuhara sat up from the desk.

"Boss, a letter came for you."

Naru acknowledged his announcement with a light nod. Then he walked headed into the direction of the kitchenette.

Yasuhara followed him with his eyes.

He expected the boss to say something to the person washing a so-called 'mountain of teacups' in the kitchenette. Yasuhara rose to help his co-worker since none of the tea cups were currently dry.

Surely the boss will request another cup of –

"Mai, give me a massage."

Yasuhara halted. He had expected a request for a cup of tea, but not this.

By the sound of a mild crash in the kitchenette, the requestee had promptly dropped the cup she was holding.

She started sputtering.

"Huh… HUH?"

"Don't 'huh' me, Mai. You are to finish your current task and give me a shoulder massage," Naru said in a monotone voice, and after a pause he added: "I'll be waiting at the sofa."

"Eèhhhhhh?!"

Naru ignored Mai's exclamation and turned to look at a gaping Yasuhara by the reception desk.

"Yasuhara-san, please read the letter out loud while Mai gives me a massage."

His tone was low and steady. Naru did not seem to think of this as an odd occurrence.

Yasuhara recovered with a small smile.

"O-of course..."

Mai came out of hiding with a wary look on her face. A faint blush had crept on her face.

"Yasuhara-san."

"Hm?"

She whispered, "Um, what's going on? Why does he want a massage?"

Before he could respond to her, Naru's voice cut in.

"Mai! Quit dawdling."

Her face reddened even more.

Mai made a small shake of the head and yelled: "Yes, yes. I'm coming!"

She stalked into the main room at once.

By the time Yasuhara sat down on the couch opposite of the boss, Mai's face had turned completely red. She stood behind Naru and nervously looked down at him.

Yasuhara twitched the corners of his lips into a faint smile.

Cute.

Unfortunately for him, Mai noticed his amused expression.

"Yasuhara-san, stop making that face," she pouted. "This isn't for your amusement."

He chose not to say anything and merely smiled. Mai groaned and leaned forward to talk to the boss.

"Naru. I know I once offered you a massage, but I was just kidding."

"I don't care."

"This isn't part of the job description."

"For today it is."

"That's not-"

"You can go home an hour earlier in exchange."

"Geh..."

Yasuhara couldn't help but smile. Ah, so easily baited.

"But is this really okay?" Mai said. Her fingers twitched and hesitated above his shoulders.

Naru barely rolled his eyes.

"If it wasn't I wouldn't have asked," he said.

After Mai put her hands reluctantly on his shoulders, Naru looked at Yasuhara. "The letter."

Yasuhara cleared his throat.

"Well then, here I go."

He stared down at the handwritten letter in his hands.

"Dear esteemed members of Shibuya Psychic Research,

I inherited a house with a barn somewhere in the countryside of Aomori. I started to live there with my family since a few months ago. The barn is right next to the toilet of our house. My husband regularly goes to the toilet at night and reports hearing strange noises from the barn. As far as we know it happens every Wednesday night. We thought it might be an animal, but we only keep goats there, and goats normally do not make such noises… But then the strangest thing happened: A goat disappeared! I find it very -"

"Unsatisfying."

Yasuhara looked up from the letter.

That was fast.

"…Um, do you want me to throw this away already?"

Naru shook his head.

"No, I was referring to the massage."

Mai pulled her hands away at that very instant.

"What."

Naru folded his arms.

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

"No…? But what exactly is unsatisfying about my massage?"

"Everything."

Mai blew up in anger.

"Naru!"

Yasuhara snorted.

It seemed like boss wasn't going to explain it in detail. In other words, he was too lazy to explain it to her.

"Well. This is the first time I'm massaging someone, so this is what you get!" Mai said, stomping a foot against the floor. "If you won't tell me what's wrong, I'll never improve!"

As expected, Naru gave in after her retort.

"…I can hardly feel your massage."

Yasuhara held up a hand and suggested: "Taniyama-san, you have to knead his shoulders."

Mai raised an eyebrow.

"Um, okay then..."

"Go on," Naru said.

Mai lowered her hands again and Yasuhara continued reading.

"I find it very regrettable that such a thing happened. To add to this, the goats behave strangely. It's frightening to go to the toilet, because we-"

"Don't do that!"

Yasuhara stopped reading at the sudden outburst of his boss. Mai threw up her hands in the air.

Naru turned to look at Mai.

"Mai, I asked for a massage, not a torture session."

"But Yasuhara-san told me to knead-"

"Then don't dig your fing –" Naru abruptly stopped speaking and looked away, seeming to remember the fact that Mai did not have much practice. "Never mind."

"S-Sorry. I overdid it a little," Mai admitted. She lowered her hands to her side, and looked away.

Naru scratched the back of his head.

"Make me a cup of tea."

Mai blinked. "Huh?"

"Tea, please."

The confusion on her face turned into a frown.

Finally, she huffed.

"Okay, fine."

Yasuhara watched as Mai stalked away to the kitchenette.

If boss sent her away, it meant that the massage had ended. The situation would turn less interesting than expected. Mai would probably feel sad after this, and none of the people in the office liked seeing her sad. Yasuhara considered his options.

Hmm, he thought as he stared at his boss, I should play this situation right into my hands.

Suppressing a grin, Yasuhara said: "…If you want I can massage you, Boss?"

Naru raised an eyebrow.

"…I'm used to massaging my father," Yasuhara explained.

This seemed to do a trick, because after a moment of contemplation Naru said: "I'll take up your offer."

Yasuhara got up and left the letter on the table.

Mai returned at that moment. Her eyes bulged when she spotted Yasuhara behind their boss.

"Eh? Is Yasuhara-san taking my place?"

She sounded a little disappointed.

Naru merely said, "Mai, read the letter out loud."

Mai placed the cup of tea roughly in front of him. Tea splattered on the table. She obviously wasn't pleased about being tossed aside. Yasuhara could only muster an apologetic smile.

"Hmph."

Naru frowned and took the cup of tea in his hand.

"Where did you stop reading?" Mai said as she scanned the letter.

"…It's frightening to go to the toilet, because we don't do that," Yasuhara answered as he put his hands on Naru's shoulders. He began to knead Naru's left shoulder gently; it was tense. His hands slowly worked their way to the neck.

"It's frightening to go to the toilet, because –" Mai knit her eyebrows together at a grinning Yasuhara. "Because we keep hearing noises there. I started yelling because the noises were too loud. At that time, I caught two white figures in the mist escaping from the barn. I called my husband and started to –"

Mai stopped when the boss let out an audible sigh.

"Naru, are you even listening?"

He waved a loose hand.

"Go on, Mai." Naru said and took another sip from his heavenly cup of tea.

"I called my husband and started to chase them. Once we reached our neighbours' house we lost track of them. They had completely disappeared. That's when I started to believe that ghosts might be visiting our barn and are possessing our goats…"

Naru placed the half-full cup of tea back on the table, prompting Mai to look at his satisfied face.

Yasuhara changed his focus to the right shoulder.

"Geez, look at him." Mai said, "How did you get so good at this, Yasuhara-san?"

"Well, my mother taught me all the essential life skills..." Yasuhara lowered his voice. "To please a partner."

"Huh, really..." Mai muttered absent-mindedly.

But Naru coughed below him, obviously having heard the last part.

A devious smile graced his lips.

"Well, go on Taniyama-san."

Mai ignored Yasuhara.

"Naru, why are you hiding your face from me?"

"It's because I'm good at making him feel relaxed."

"Focus on the letter, Mai."

"What did you say to him, Yasuhara-san?"

"Why, Taniyama-san. Could you possibly be jealous that I am able to satisfy our boss, and you cannot?"

"I'm not-"

It took Mai a second to process the double meaning of that statement.

"Yasuhara-san!"

"If you don't want him, I'll keep him."

Mai slapped the letter against her knee.

"You- you, you snatched my position away while I was in the kitchen! It isn't fair!"

"You're really eager to please, huh. I'll give you that."

"Yasuhara-saaan. You're going too far," Mai groaned.

Naru was losing his patience.

"The letter, Mai."

"Ugh… We visited our neighbours the next morning and asked whether they saw something strange. They said they hadn't. Please, we are at our wit's end. Help us find our goat and exorcise the possessed goats!"

Mai rolled her eyes.

"Throw the letter away. I'm not a goat hunter."

She put the letter back into the envelope and placed it on the table.

Mai glanced at Yasuhara's hands which were currently massaging near the base of Naru's neck.

Naru noticed her stare.

"What is it?"

"No, I was just wondering… you really seem to be enjoying this. Does it feel that good?"

"You never had a massage?" Naru asked.

"It's more like, I never asked for one."

Mai looked down with a sad face.

"Hm."

She quickly recovered though, having sensed the awkward atmosphere.

"Oh, never mind me. What should I do next? I finished all of my tasks today."

Yasuhara quietly stared at her as a weak smile turned up on her face.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

He let out a breath.

"How about it, Boss? Still want to give Taniyama-san a chance? Or would you rather have me?"

Naru paused.

"Give her a massage, Yasuhara-san."

"Eh, really?" Mai's eyes widened.

"If Yasuhara-san wants to," Naru said as he took his cup of tea and sipped again.

Yasuhara smiled primly.

"Why, of course."

Mai looked a little alarmed at this statement. "Um sure, but… don't think anything perverted okay? I know how you looked at Naru."

"How?"

"Like a beast."

Yasuhara laughed.

"Haha, I did think it would be better if he took off his shirt, but I'm afraid it's improper in office setting."

Mai's face reddened at the thought.

"I knew it."

Naru used this moment to leave the sofa and took the cup to the kitchenette.

"Come here, Taniyama-san, and learn."

She hesitantly moved to sit in front of Yasuhara and let him do the work.

The massage seemed to work wonders because after a few seconds Mai already exclaimed:

"Whoa, this is really good!"

"Right?"

She continued to make content noises as Yasuhara-san massaged her shoulders.

When Naru was about to re-enter his office, Mai called out: "Hey Naru, can I still go home an hour earlier or not?"

He looked back at her.

"Massage Yasuhara-san and then the two of you can leave."

"Yes boss." His employees said simultaneously.

Then Naru closed the door behind him.

After a while, Mai said: "Hey, Yasuhara-san? Don't you think Naru got away too easily? He didn't give us a massage."

Yasuhara looked at Mai. She was right.

An idea started to form in his head.

"…What if we slip out of the office right now?"

She frowned at his suggestion.

"But wasn't I supposed to give you a massage?"

"Weellll…" He stared at the ceiling and loudly proclaimed. "We can go on a date first, and after I take you home you can give me a backrub. How about it?"

"Yasuhara-san!"

Mai blushed red.

"Why not? I can give you a backrub too. The shoulder massage I just gave you was only a fraction of what I'm capable of."

"Seriously?" Mai widened her eyes.

The door of Naru's office suddenly slammed open. Mai nearly jumped out of her skin.

Naru stood there with wild eyes.

Mai held her breath. She was obviously panicking, but Yasuhara remained calm.

"Only a fraction?" Naru said, eyeing him with a serious expression.

"Well…" Yasuhara started.

Suddenly, Mai got up and went to stand in between them.

"Oh no. Yasuhara-san was just teasing me about giving each other backrubs. Hahaha-" She said, laughing it off.

"I wasn't teasing," Yasuhara said with a blank expression.

"No no no, Yasuhara-san and I are only going on a date, right?" Mai said, grabbing Yasuhara's arm and linking it into hers.

Yasuhara raised an eyebrow.

"But after that I was going to take her home, then we'll give each other some nice backrubs, and –"

"I want a backrub too," Naru interrupted.

Mai glared at him and started dragging Yasuhara to the exit.

"You can't have him, Naru! Don't even think about it!" She yelled. "Yasuhara-san is going to make me an apprentice. I need lots of backrubs to get it right!"

He snorted.

"You can't simply take him for yourself. He's my employee."

Naru closed the door behind him and stepped forward.

"I'm coming with you."

Mai fumed.

"Yasuhara-san asked ME on a DATE. Not you. Even if you're our boss I can't let you ruin our date!"

Yasuhara laughed heartily.

"But I don't mind if boss comes with us on the date~ The more the merrier."

She groaned.

"Yasuhara-saaan. You're not helping me."

"Well, I only help myself," Yasuhara said as he took Naru's arm with his free arm.

Naru smirked down at Mai.

"Well, do you have anything to say to that, miss apprentice?"

Mai stuck a tongue out at him.

"Then promise us to give both me and Yasuhara-san a backrub."

Naru raised an eyebrow at Mai and then turned to look at his other employee.

Yasuhara innocently blinked at him.

"Well?" Mai prompted.

Naru sighed.

"…I can't promise it will be any good."

Yasuhara grinned.

"Oh, I'll be sure to give some pointers. …Though we'll have to take off our shirts this time. It feels much better."

Yasuhara winked at a fiery red Mai.

"Right, Taniyama-san?"

Author's note

The idea came from a scene in the Ghost Hunt sequel Akumu no sumu ie: Naru returns to Japan after less than 2 months in England. He immediately begins to scold Mai because he's too tired to take a request on the same day of arrival. Then Mai offers him to read the request out loud while he's resting, or have Yasuhara read while Mai gives him a massage...

I ruminated the idea since the beginning of the year. The result is this abomination.

I wrote this in response to a prompt for the Ghost Hunt Prompt Meme Challenge 2: Obscure Emotions on AO3. The prompt was:

liberosis: n. the desire to care less about things—to loosen your grip on your life, to stop glancing behind you every few steps, afraid that someone will snatch it from you before you reach the end zone—rather to hold your life loosely and playfully, like a volleyball, keeping it in the air, with only quick fleeting interventions, bouncing freely in the hands of trusted friends, always in play.

Visit ghosthuntcollection on tumblr for more info on these challenges.