The fact that Luella had hijacked his office for her own nefarious purposes made Oliver a little more than annoyed. Besides his own apartment, from which Madoka had ousted him earlier that morning, it was the only semi-quiet place he had to work. The deadline for his latest novel was only two weeks away, and revising his manuscript in a crowded coffee shop was proving to be idle. If it were within his capabilities, Oliver would have cursed both his mother and Madoka for robbing him of a reasonable workspace.

"Can I get you another cuppa, sir?" The waitress that had served him earlier was smiling while she balanced a tray of dirty dishes in one hand.

Glancing at his empty mug, and then at the papers scattered about his table, Oliver nodded. He wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon, despite the numerous distractions housed in the small establishment. Another cup of tea was certainly not a bad idea. There was a possibility that it might have even assisted in taming his wandering focus.

"It was Earl Grey, with cream and honey, sir?"

Oliver nodded his head again as he deadpanned his answer, "Yes."

Once his mug had been cleared, Oliver set his elbows on the table and let out a sigh. He held his head in his hands and stared blankly at his piles of stacked papers. It was positively infuriating to Oliver that he had only managed to sludge through the first ten pages of his own manuscript in the past hour. There maybe had been a total of two grammatical mistakes…

At least he wasn't in the process of writing his book. It had taken Oliver years to produce a mere several hundred pages. The reason… It was quite stupid in Oliver's opinion.

His exploitations in Japan had certainly proven themselves worthy of study and further analysis. Citing his own personal experiences during the majority of his Japanese investigations might have led to new discoveries and a better understanding of paranormal phenomenon - the Urado case along with the Cursed House case were both elaborated on extensively. The transformation of a human soul into something more sinister, and the powers possessed by minor gods or non-human entities had proven fruitful when studied. It was also convenient that Lin had copied all footage taped during each of Oliver's investigations. Seeing it all again had put things into perspective.

Perspective… That's where the problem had introduced itself. The only fascination in Oliver's investigations hadn't been limited to the cases themselves. With the knowledge he had acquired prior to leaving Japan, Oliver began noticing a pattern in his visual records - it was another topic well worth his attention. Not until the discovery of Gene's corpse had Oliver learned of Gene's spiritual connection to his assistant at the time, Mai Taniyama.

When Oliver first met Mai she never once gave him the impression that she possessed any psychic abilities whatsoever. The tapes of Oliver's first investigation had done nothing to convince him of her abilities even existing at that time. Of course, Oliver suspected his proximity to Mai had triggered her dormant powers, but after careful evaluation Oliver doubted that Mai's abilities were even her own to begin with.

A peculiar pattern had presented itself, and Oliver almost felt like an idiot for not recognizing it while in Japan. Each time Mai had a 'dream' - when she admitted it at the very least - on one of their cases, her resume of abilities expanded. In nearly all of her visions, Gene was there. Mai had confessed to seeing him often, and explained that he had helped her cleanse the spirits on their final case.

Really, Oliver should have seen it sooner. He had thought it strange that Mai's powers had started to mirror those his brother had possessed, but never thought much of it. Oliver had convinced himself that it was a coincidence. Upon confirming Gene's involvement with Mai, Oliver should have immediately seen what had happened - but to be fair, nothing like what had happened to Mai had ever been documented, and had been thought a total impossibility.

Gene was slowly gifting Mai with the powers he had wielded in life, every single one of them, and Oliver had solid proof - for the BSPR and ASPR communities, at least. Even with proof, Oliver wanted to conduct one test. It would have been quick, and the results would have been immediate, but despite writing almost half of his book on Mai, Oliver never had the nerve to invite her to London. She wasn't even a phone call away… Just a single thought away.

When Oliver had figured it all out, he had considered opening the mental channel that had likely formed between himself and Mai, but each time the idea crossed his mind, Oliver only reminded himself of the last personal conversation he had shared with Mai.

He was positive that she resented him for his cruel rejection, and Oliver had no reason to blame her. After years of reflection on his time in Japan, Oliver knew he never once had reason to say what he had said. She had been telling the truth, and Oliver hadn't wanted to believe it. He had wanted to convince himself that she was merely projecting her affections for somebody else on him; it had made it easier to leave… But it was going to make it harder to reach out to her ever again.

If she read his book once it was published, Oliver wondered if she would have hopped a plane to England to scold him for studying her and then writing about her without her consent. It was possible… But Oliver didn't even know if Mai continued to hold interest in his work. It was very probable that she wouldn't have read a single page of his book at all. She would maybe have seen the cover and turned her nose up at it.

The very thought of Mai acting as if his work was worthless bothered Oliver. Each time he had sat himself down to write Mai's portion of the book he thought of that particular scenario over and over again. Her opinion shouldn't have mattered that much to Oliver, but it did, and he wanted to desperately deny the reason as to why it mattered. After many revisions of the footage he had brought back, Oliver couldn't argue that Mai was a special person to him - he had treated her as such… From flicking her forehead, to holding her hand and performing magic tricks...Oliver noted that his actions towards Mai seemed odd at the time, since physical touch made him very uncomfortable. He honestly hadn't even been that comfortable with Gene, and Oliver had spent the first sixteen years of his life with his late twin. Somehow, Mai had wedged her way into Oliver's innermost categorization of people. Hell, she was her own category. She wasn't a pumpkin, or a non-pumpkin… She wasn't the same special as Gene, or Luella and Martin.

It had taken three years for Oliver to come to the realization that he had loved Mai, and accept it. It had taken another three from him to complete the second half of his book. It was amazing… Six years without seeing her, or hearing from her, and she was still able to complicate a multitude of Oliver's ventures.

"Ocha," came a calm, warm feminine voice. It didn't register to Oliver that he had requested, in Japanese, that his tea be set at the edge of the table; not until the last word he had spoken slipped past his lips.

Surprised, he lifted his head and removed his glasses. Standing before him was a woman near his age with chin-length brown hair, and deep, chestnut colored eyes. Pink dusted highlights stained her cheeks while a layer of glistening gloss coated her parted lips. She set the mug down, exactly where Oliver had requested, before cupping her own beverage with both hands.

"May I join you, Naru?" Her request was whispered nervously in flawless English.

Oliver was incapable of tearing his eyes away from the woman that had been occupying his thoughts for years. He hadn't expected to see her there, in the same coffee shop he frequented most days for a light lunch. He was even more surprised that he hadn't noticed her in the crowd that had assembled for breakfast.

"Of course…" Oliver gathered his manuscript and quickly stuffed it into his leather messenger bag.

"That's the book of yours that supposed to premiere this July, right?" Mai asked as she seated herself across from her former employer. "It's been delayed three times… That's quite unlike you, Naru."

"Research takes time. Sometimes one finds something unexpected, and it takes months to develop a proper analysis… And yes… It's July third…" Oliver glanced at Mai from the corner of his eye, gauging her reaction. The planned date of release was no accident. It was to get her attention, though, it seemed he already had that.

With pursed lips, Mai drummed her fingers against the side of her mug. Oliver noticed that she had gone to the trouble to have her nails painted. She had certainly changed in the past six years, considering her mild reaction.

"My flight got in an hour ago," Mai began, reading the silent question swimming in Oliver's eyes. "Madoka called me, and told me to come here. She said we'd meet for tea and catch up before discussing an assistantship at Cambridge. Low and behold my surprise to see you here… I hadn't really prepared to see you quite yet… But I suppose this was purposeful on Madoka's part."

Oliver raised a brow as the corner of his lip tugged upward. Madoka and Luella… They both knew Mai was coming. They had set him up.

"I see… But if you weren't prepared to to associate with me again, then why have you chosen to do just that? I was busy. You could have easily left, and I wouldn't have even noticed that you were here."

Chuckling, Mai sipped on her tea. She gave Oliver a knowing look before replying, "You weren't busy, Naru. I was watching you stare at the same exact page for over five minutes. You were distracted. And I figured that we likely wouldn't be able to see each other again in relative privacy for a while. I thought I might as well swallow my fears and speak to you now."

"I'm that intimidating?"

"No… You, yourself, are not. What I want to discuss is… You see," Mai slid her purse from her shoulder and set it on the table. She opened it and retrieved a package from inside. "Madoka has been sending me copies of your book-in-progress." She handed the dense box to Oliver, who blanched at the sight of the return address. It matched the address of his office. Oh, he and Madoka were certainly going to have words.

"You aren't wrong," continued Mai, "about me. That's why I've decided to attend Cambridge for my graduate level studies. See, after you left Naru, my abilities continued to develop. Gene didn't leave either… Not until I promised him I would tell you exactly what he had been doing, but it doesn't look like you really needed anyone to tell you. You figured it out on your own. Anyway, since I now possess of your brother's abilities, I can help you."

Arms crossed, Oliver leaned back, the package Mai had given him dangling from his fingertips, "I don't need your help, Mai."

Again, the brunette reached into her purse, "I thought you might say that. Madoka sent me these too." She held up a blue file, one that Oliver recognized. He thought it had gone missing when moving from his parents' house and into his own flat.

"You had absolutely no right to view my medical records without permission."

Mai shrugged, "You had no right to use me by name in your book without my permission. Let's call it even. Besides, you do need my help. Cardiac arrest four times in the past six years? Naru, at this rate, you'll die before you're thirty. If I'm here, you won't have to worry about your heart giving out like that, and you can use your abilities on a more regular basis."

"And if it doesn't work?" Oliver raised a brow skeptically.

"You and I both know it will work just fine. Honestly, I really am carrying around a part of Gene with me. When he did finally move on, he wasn't able to pull me to the astral plane. I was finding him on my own. Just like your book says: he passed his onto abilities to me. Slap his face on mine and you wouldn't know the difference! So don't try and pull that bullshit on me Naru!" She chewed her lip, slightly embarrassed for raising her voice. Mai lowered her shoulders before shrouding her mug with her hunched form. Her eyes met Oliver's for a brief moment. Mai looked away, unable to face him properly as she spoke again.

"I… I know you don't like me that much, Naru. You don't even have to be my friend if you don't want to. I get it. Really, I do. But don't turn down my help. There are too many people that care about you, and couldn't stand to see you in the hospital again, or dead, because of your momentary loss of control. If you don't accept whatever assistance I can offer you for your own sake, then do it for the sake of the people you care for most." She stood up, leaving her cup on the table and grabbing her purse. "I'll see you soon Naru, just…consider what I said."

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Oliver just sat in place, like an idiot while watching Mai excuse herself from the coffee shop. He should have followed her… And he shouldn't have made himself look like an ass for no reason. He knew that she could balance out his own powers, and he had even considered entertaining the idea of testing it! Why on Earth had he questioned her belief that she could have helped when he knew she was right?

Pride, perhaps? Impuls? Maybe he was just that shocked to see her?

He didn't know. All he knew was that he needed to be careful the next time he and Mai spoke. After six years of not even a word, denying Mai when she was correct wasn't the smartest move, especially when at the least he didn't want her to hate him. Somehow, he would have to make up for his rash behaviour.

But first, Oliver would have a small chat with Madoka. She should have told him that Mai was coming, and she shouldn't have been sending her copies of his manuscripts, or his hospital records.

After finishing the last of his tea, Oliver shoved the package Mai had given him, along with the file she left on the table, into his bag. He picked up his glasses and placed them in the breast pocket of his burgundy button-down before departing the coffee shop as well.

While walking to the Underground, Oliver adjusted the strap of his bag and reached into a side pouch for his pass. He cast his gaze up to see gray clouds hanging in the sky. If he didn't hurry, he would be caught in the rain on the eight block trek from his stop to his apartment. Hopefully none of the trains would have been too busy. Oliver never could force himself onto a crowded car. The risk of accidental usage of his psychometry was too high.

Increasing his speed, Oliver rounded a corner and descended down the stairs of the Mile End Station. Thankfully, he wouldn't have to change lines in order to reach Bond Street. It was much more convenient taking the tubes home rather than a car all the way out to Saffron Walden, though, when the school year started, Oliver wouldn't have a choice but to live with his parents again, with the house only being twenty minutes from Cambridge. The flat in London really only severed useful while Oliver spent more time working rather than teaching. At least he had an escape from Luella for another two months.

Oliver boarded the train and took an empty seat near the back of the car. He set his bag in his lap. Normally, Oliver would have read for the entire duration of his ten minute ride, but the conversation he and Mai had kept playing itself over in his head.

She had said something about an assistantship at Cambridge. Oliver suspected Madoka had already set everything up…without telling him. If Mai was to attend Cambridge for further studies, Oliver knew she would have applied for the program in parapsychology. So, why hadn't he seen her application? Oliver had a say as to the admission status of every applicant in the program. That meant Martin had to have known about Mai as well, and kept her arrival a secret since he failed to even mention that she had applied.

What reason was there to have kept everything a secret from Oliver? He would have been nervous about Mai attending Cambridge, sure. He was actually nervous about her attending... But Oliver wouldn't have rejected her from the program. If he had known that Mai wanted to study at Cambridge he would have bent all sorts of rules to get her in had it been necessary. Oliver knew that he would have owed it to Mai after treating her so poorly.

It appeared that Oliver would have been having a rather interesting discussion at dinner on Sunday night with his parents, though he was likely about to have a more interesting conversation with Madoka in several minutes. Oliver doubted that she had left his apartment. She had furniture delivered, as well as dishes - all of which he didn't need. It certainly would have taken her a while to put everything away.

The intercom on the train crackled as an automated voice announced the train's arrival at the Bond Street Station. Oliver stood and moved to the sliding doors as they opened with a hiss. He stepped onto the platform and began to jog. He didn't want to be caught in the rain without an umbrella, or a coat. While swiftly making his way up the stairs and to the street, Oliver rolled his eyes.

Thunder…

He really had to hurry if he didn't care to get drenched.