In Vino Veritas (Ghost Hunt) (NaruxMai)

Hitsuzen

Chapter 3: Hitsuzen

Inevitability

Chapter 3:

"Mai...?" he asked out loud.

The girl looked at him questioningly. "My name is Maaya Kudou. I was told that Kazaya Shibuya wanted to see me so I came here and I thought you might like some tea so I brought some with me... Is there something wrong?" she paused as she saw that the person dressed in black really wasn't following the conversation and looked like he had seen a ghost.

Naru unfroze after a moment and tried to make sense of the situation. First, a client came to SPR and mentioned a very knowledgeable sleep talking daughter, then he saw a child that could be another identical twin of him and now someone who makes tea and looks like the missing Mai appears, but her name is Maaya and she has a son...

"I'm fine...Kudou-san," he answered slowly. "Please sit down."

Maaya sat down on a chair opposite him. "Aren't you going to thank me for the tea? I did go out of my way to make it for you."

Naru raised his eyebrows. She had to be Mai, it had been one of her complaints when she had worked for him at SPR.

"Kudou-san, by any chance were you involved in a car accident two years ago that caused memory loss?"

"Yes," she replied with a slight smile, assuming that he had already been informed by Hana. "But I'm fine about it now, I only have a couple of scars."

The corners of Naru's mouth twitched. Her answer was yet another hint that she really was Mai. His former assistant had always had the ability to perk up almost straight away after something bad happened.

"Is Yakumo your son?"

She blinked in surprise before answering. "Yes, he is. Um, what does this have to do with the case?"

"Who is his father?" Naru demanded immediately as soon as she confirmed that he was her son. He was absolutely positive that the girl was Mai and he didn't like the idea that she had disappeared to have a child with some other man.

Maaya looked down at the tatami mats on the floor. "I don't know. My amnesia..."

The narcissist knew that he had gone too far with her. The paternity of her child was clearly a sensitive subject for her. He reached out slowly to pat her on the head, the he stopped. It wasn't in his character to comfort people- that had always been Gene's job.

"You can cry on my shoulder if you like," he offered awkwardly, half hoping that she wouldn't take him up on the offer.

She looked up at him with strange expression on her face before breaking into a smile. "It doesn't suit you to say something soppy like that-" she broke off. "But it does sound familiar."

Naru realised that he had said something similar to that to Mai at the lake two years ago. The fact that she recognised the phrase was another sure sign that she really was Mai Taniyama and not Maaya Kudou.

"Kudou-san, did your amnesia cause you to forget your real name? Maaya isn't your real first name," he probed to confirm his suspicions.

Maaya gasped. "How did you know?"

"Hana Kudou-san isn't your real mother either, there's too much of an age gap between you two," the narcissist continued, pleased that he had got it right.

"That's right. We met in hospital and I was struggling to remember my real name so she suggested lots of names. In the end the only one that sounded vaguely right to me was Maaya."