13. Thantophobia (1/2)

thantophobia: the phobia of losing someone you love

so, i think this chapter will be a bit of a surprise. a huge thanks to you guys for reading and favoriting, following, and/or reviewing. i'm curious to see what you guys think about this one! :d

tap. tap. tap. mai hammers in a nail with more force than strictly necessary before grabbing another and repeating the process. though she's not thrilled about being told what to do by naru of all people, mai does admit that hammering in nails is a constructive way to take out her frustration on something. naru, on the other hand, presses 'cancel' for the third time on his phone screen. a moment later, it starts vi

ating again. he heaves a sigh, stepping from the room and putting the phone to his ear.

"first you block my thoughts and now you don't answer my calls, noll!" a mockingly outraged voice says. "if i didn't know any better, i'd think you're ignoring me!"

"i'm on a case, gene."

"yes, yes. father agrees with your theory, by the way-"

"of course he does," naru interrupts smugly.

"-and mum says 'hello.' she wants you to call her soon."

"fine," naru says bluntly. "now, did you have a particular reason for calling or should i just save myself the time and end the call now?"

upon finishing boarding up the second floor classroom, mai stands back, her grip on the hammer loosening as she admires her and john's handiwork.

"what now, naru?" she turns, looking around the room. "naru?" she huffs, stomping over to stand by bou-san, her loud grumbling ending mid-complaint by a softly spoken but no less sharp reprimand.

"please, noll?" if you spoke to mum, i'm sure you-"

"no, gene," naru says sternly.

"it was only a little mishap-"

"you nearly died," naru snaps. "even you cannot make light of that, gene."

"but don't you want to use your pk?" his pk, locked away by massive amounts of self control and discipline, feels as though he's missing a limb. no, that's not completely accurate. not being able to use his pk is like a surgeon unable to keep his hands steady enough to conduct precise surgeries or a pianist's fingers contorted in odd directions by arthritis. so, yes, of course he does and gene very well knows it.