Dear Mai,

Oliver began typing and hiragana characters appeared on the screen in front of him. Then deleted it, and started again.

Dear Taniyama-san,

Better.

It is customary for BSPR to follow up on previous employees after the period of one month has passed from the date of the termination of employment.

This was, of course, complete bullshit.

This correspondence has been initiated to ensure you have found employment or if not, to offer further references and recommendations.

Also complete bullshit.

BSPR would also like to further express regret for the circumstances with which JSPR had to cease operating. It had been hoped that a foreign branch would expand the capability of research.

This was not bullshit. Oliver had returned to Japan six months after returning to England with Gene's body. But only six months after that BSPR had pulled the funding. The internal review of funding had declared that the quality of research had not been worth the extra cost of the foreign branch.

However, as you are aware, this was not considered the case.

Oliver could not help but release his bitter thoughts. He was stuck in England; with boring cases and boring people and awful tea. Not only that, but he now had to attend stuffy dinners and paste a forced smile on his face to please sponsors. He had to bat away people begging for his help. He was no longer a stranger on the street but a recognised figure within the paranormal community and Oliver missed the anonymity he had had in Japan.

Please respond swiftly with your current situation and state any further help that may be given.

Yours sincerely,

Naru

Oliver deleted the last line.

Oliver Davis

He couldn't help but think how weird his named looked in katakana. O-ri-va-a de-i-vi-su.

Oliver sank back in his chair and noticed the time on the glowing led display of his clock; 2:03am. He knew he ought to sleep. Luella would no doubt be on his back tomorrow about not getting enough rest.

But 2:03am in England meant it would be 11:03am in Japan. Mai would be awake, probably at school. She was now in her third and final year of high school.

Oliver re-read the email he had just written. Somehow the email did not convey his disappointment at the closing of JSPR. He could remember the day that he had received the email telling his of the future of JSPR.

Oliver had immediately called Martin and demanded that he revoked the decision. But Martin was unable to do anything.

"It's above my head." Martin had said. "I fought for your case, Noll. But I couldn't do anything."

Oliver had hung up without another word, fully aware how rude he had been to his adoptive father.

"Mai!" Oliver had shouted. And a few minutes later, though he had not asked, she appeared with a cup of tea for him.

"Here you go." She had said, smiling.

"Mai, SPR is shutting down." Oliver ignored the cup of tea, knowing full well it might be one of his last. "BSPR has cut the funding. Lin and I have to return to England."

It had been heart-breaking for him to watch her face fall. He knew it was not the money that she would miss, but the oddball family that SPR had formed.

"When?" She had asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"Technically, today is the last official day of business. But we will be in until the end of the week packing things up." Oliver had replied stonily.

Mai had only nodded before running out of his office. He knew she was crying and had wanted to go after her. But he was leaving now. There was no hope.

He had attended the leaving meal that Mai had organised. He had remained quiet and just listened; trying to memorise the sounds of everyone's voices. He cared for these people. He had known he would miss that bunch of idiots.

Oliver glanced over the email again.

P.S. I miss you.

He stared at the words for a full minute before deleting them.

And then he sent the email.