A very short ficlet regarding the scene where (SPOILER SPOILER HUGE SPOILER NO REALLY DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED) Mai confesses her feelings to Naru in the last published volume of the novels. As the series was never exactly finished, this is complete speculation as to what Naru might actually have been thinking when he asks her whether it's him or Gene she's in love with.
Ghost
She doesn't, he thought, see me.
He shouldn't ever have expected anything different, of course. He should never have hoped for anything better. And he hadn't. He hadn't ever thought for a moment that her smile meant something different when it was directed at him, or that the blush on her cheeks when she saw him was anything other than the natural reaction of a teenage girl to his considerable good looks. He hadn't even considered the possibility, not ever, not for a single moment and certainly not every time he saw her.
He had never thought that it wasn't so bad just being with her, even if she was an idiot. He hadn't ever considered the fact that the tea she made was a candidate for the best he'd ever had. He had never had an urge to take her by the hand. He had never felt proud watching her powers develop, and he had never cursed them for the danger they sometimes drew her into. He had never thought much about her at all.
So he didn't feel anything at all when she cried, and he didn't know why he stayed there, as the tears fell. He was nothing, dead as his brother, and much less lucky.
And none of it really mattered, because she had never seen him at all.