Finding You (Ghost Hunt) (NaruxMai)

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Finding You:

Chapter 12:

"What is it?" her former fiancé enquired after a few seconds of silence.

Mai took a deep breath. If she hesitated now she was going to lose her determination. She had not gone through losing her memory for nothing to ever change and for the status quo to remain.

"Can I meet you?"

"If you like." She could hear the surprise in his voice.

"I will come over to your apartment now," she said and put the phone down before he could protest.

She pulled her coat back on and as an afterthought, she dug through her desk and picked out a small red velvet case that had been hidden underneath an untidy stack of utility bills. Although she had returned the photos and his clothes, she had kept the engagement ring and stashed it away somewhere until Naru apologised. Now that time had come. She slipped the box into her pocket and left her apartment.

The door was opened by a stone faced Naru who let her in silently.

Mai sat herself down on the sofa and looked around his living room which consisted of two sofas and an armchair and a whole wall of bookshelves filled with neat rows of scientific books. Like the SPR office, it had not changed in the basics, the small details were different. The photos of them together were missing.

"Earl Grey or Darjeeling?" the scientist called from the kitchen like he always used to.

"Darjeeling," she requested.

Shortly he returned with a teapot, milk jug and one teacup on a tray which he placed down on the coffee table in front of her.

"Aren't you going to have any?" she questioned.

"You know full well that I can only drink tea if you make it," he stated simply as he poured the tea into the cup and added a dash of milk before handing it to her and sitting down opposite her.

"I saw Lin buying you tea from a cafe when I met him after the accident."

"I have sampled from all of the teashops and cafes in the vicinity of the office," Naru explained and gracefully crossed one leg over the other. "How did you get your memory back? I had only just got back here when you called so it could not have been astral projection."

Mai smiled. "Ozawa-sensei. I would have liked to see you trying to persuade her to lie to me like you did to Keiko."

Naru's face seemed to blanch slightly. "Keiko-san and Michiru-san have not known you for as long as Ozawa-san and she is more of a mother to you and not a friend. They were easy to persuade as they agreed it was for your benefit."

Mai took a sip of tea and savoured the familiar taste, bringing back memories of their relationship. She had made him green tea and he made her milk tea whenever she came over and later when they had lived together.

"Why did you appear to help me with my amnesia and at other times, be an obstruction?" she enquired. Haruka's explanation had been the breaking the point, nevertheless the earlier cracks in her amnesia had been caused by Naru.

"I liked having you close to me again, however I knew that the amnesia was not comfortable for you to live with so I started to help you subtly with the photos. Once you found out about our relationship I had to tell you more significant facts that were likely to cause you to regain some memories. What else could I do? It would not be fair to you to never get your memory back."

Mai narrowed her eyes at him. "You did not tell me about my miscarriage."

Her words caused Naru to flinch. "I could not bring myself to; it would cause you pain again and I did not want to see that. How are you feeling about it?"