This story was written due to a challenge that was put out by Lodur. I hope I did well and met the idea plot.

Hero. Such a word has only been used in stories and when it comes to someone doing something brave and all that other admirable stuff you hear about. It was really mostly just fiction.

She was walking around the house doing temperature readings again. It was a boring job and always led to her getting hurt. Of course Naru didn't care. He sent her out anyways. It always bugged her when he did that. Of course he only did it because they had gotten into an argument. As she thought about it she got angry. He knew she always got hurt when she was alone it was just what happened. It was like he was so angry with her he'd rather see her hurt than deal with her in his presence. At that thought she wanted to cry. If he'd rather be away from her then why was she still here? She paused. That thought reminded her of that novel she'd been reading.

It was given to her by one of her friends. They said it was good and she should definitely read it. It was something she'd thought was like her work when she saw the dark castle on the cover. When she started reading it and got past a few chapters she realized she was definitely wrong. Even at this realization she could not put the book down; it was actually good like her friend said. Then again she had read certain parts that made her blush. The author was definitely descriptive in their work. Even with those parts she still enjoyed it and read it. At the memory of all of this she wanted more than anything to get back to the book. The way that author described Rayven, 'the hero', wonderfully well. She quickly finished the temperature readings and headed back to base.

She began to think of the story. It wasn't too bad. The heroine was sold to a mysterious man so her father could take care of the rest of her family. She lived there and was happy. She spent time with the mysterious man and then after a bit of being there she was sent away. Four years later her father died and she returned. She had left wanting Rayven and came back determined to seduce him and 'bed him.' That was as far as she had gotten and now thinking of this she wanted more than ever to get back to reading.

She arrived at base and quickly handed Naru the readings and went to her backpack to grab that book. She sat down on the couch and began reading. No one except for her Naru and Lin were in base. She opened to the page she left off then paused. The main male character in the book had the same physical traits as the two males in this room. All three were tall, well taller than she, dark and handsome. She glanced over toward where the two were and blushed a little. Sure she thought both were handsome but she had only eyes for one. The darn pain in the neck tea addicted narcissist.

How was it she couldn't help but fall for him? That's right he was tall dark handsome mysterious, sort of, and he saved her life so many times. So he must be the hero in her life story. She looked at her book. So if he is does that mean that she'd have the typical ending of the hero and heroine ending up together? Or was it meant to be a tragedy? She sighed. She decided to read instead of thinking what would never come.

Naru had been so frustrated with Mai he just sent her out to do readings without even thinking. It wasn't something he did often. Usually no matter was going on he still thought things through. This time and every time he was around his assistant and every time they argued he couldn't help but not think and loose his control and let his emotions take over. Not moments after he sent her out had he regretted it. He should have used his brain. She always got hurt every time she was out on her own. He kept an eye on her through the monitors the best he could. When she had returned back safely and in one piece he had let out a soft sigh. He watched her after she handed him the readings. She sat on the couch with a book. He saw how she didn't read it immediately. He could see her look this way and he saw her blush too. This caused him to smile a little. He looked at her again and decided Lin needed a break. He told Lin to go and rest and that he would handle it. When Lin was about to protest he saw how Naru was looking at Mai and kept his mouth shut and left quietly.

As soon as the door closed Naru stood up and slowly walked to Mai.

"Mai." He called to get her attention but it didn't work. He called her again but still nothing.

He removed the book from her hand and when he did he received a frown and was about to receive a scorn.

"Mai." He didn't know what to say so he just said the first thing that popped in his head. "Tea."

She scoffed and went and made his tea. When she handed it to him she received a thank you, which in turn made her stare shocked at him. She flopped back down on the couch wanting to read more but then realized Naru had her book.

Naru watched her a moment then spoke.

"Why were you blushing?" He had seen her check pink while she was reading and was curious as to why.

She turned away. "I-I wasn't blushing."

He raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure how to do this but he was going to. He stepped closer to where she sat and held out his hand. She gave him a funny look when he did but placed her hand in his. He gently pulled her to her feet and pressed her against him. She looked away her nervousness and happiness showing through the color of her cheeks. He placed his hand under her chin and gently lifted it and turned her to him. He was so close that he could smell her sweet smelling breath. He leaned down a bit more and ever so slightly brushed his lips against hers. He pulled back slightly a bit hesitant to move back down, unsure of her feelings, but nonetheless he leaned back down and claimed her lips. He kissed her slowly and sweetly at first and each passing second the kiss grew more heated. He slowly slid his tongue along her bottom lip and she knew what to do and complied. He let his tongue explore the inside of her mouth. The kiss was soon rather passionate, and as it continued he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her as close as she could get to him. She had responded by sliding her arms around his neck, pressing against him in return of his pull. Soon enough the need for oxygen was more desirable than continuing the kiss.

Mai looked up at him and saw the pink tint in his cheeks and let her eyes travel to his chest that rose and fell quickly from being out of breath. She could feel her cheeks warming up at the feeling of everything. The tingle of her lips, how their bodies practically molded together, his hands on her waist, all of it. He soon leaned down ready to take another kiss. When he did Mai thought she might die of how wonderful he tasted and how much passion he put into the kiss and the main fact that Naru, her tea addicted narcissistic boss was kissing her.

Suddenly there was a loud high-pitched scream and the two broke apart looking at the door. Naru let out a sigh then looked at Mai.

"We will continue this later."

She smiled. "I'd like that."

Naru then grabbed her hand and they were off to see what happened and to end the case.

So how did I do? I responded well. lemme know...if not either way its a nice lil oneshot I tried out ^_^

~EmeraldStar-goddess~