Hey, it has been a while since I posted my last story and here is a filling one-shot for my absence. The next story will wait.
Well then, enjoy! Happy reading!
Tap...tap...tap...Crack! The poor, abused pen enclosed in Naru's hand finally snapped. The black haired boss was irritated to say the least. Mai was two hours late! Usually he could understand his bubbly assistant arriving a couple minutes behind schedule. On a normal day he would go to her apartment and bring her to the office by force. But today he was feeling lazy.
Naru stalked angrily from his office and opened the front door to find Mai catapulting towards him, apologising profusely. Naru stared his assistant down, even though, suprisingly enough, he was rather happy to see her.
Lin wasn't at the office today, so they were alone. Mai made Naru his customary cup of tea. The black haired teen smothered a grin as the brunette once again complained over his lack of proper thanks. Actually, he was usually quite well mannered, but seeing her pouting, and her angry blush, made him want to tease her even more.
Naru liked a lot of things about Mai, her cheerful smile, her mother nature, almost everything. He also loved to see her peaceful face when she fell asleep in the office lounge while in the midst of scattered files.
Mai sleepily mumbled 'five more minutes' to nobody in particular.
He reverted back to his usual poker face and poked her forehead. "I don't hire you to sleep, Mai." Naru said in his usual voice.
Mai snapped awake and blushed. The black haired teen smirked at her. "You could wake me up better than poking me hard on my forehead!" She protested.
"I can hear you loud and clear, Mai. Louder than necessary, even. I'm not deaf, although if you keep this up, I will be soon. Oh, I had tried to wake you up like a normal people but seems a normal method couldn't be used for you."
Mai scowled. "Damn handsome narcissist." She muttered.
Naru smirked amusedly. "At least you've got your facts straight."
Mai blushed more and stomped to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.
Naru went back to his office and laughed quietly. He didn't want his assistant to know he was enjoying himself at her expense. Naru's 'teasing Mai' quota satisfied for the day, he went back to his job.
After a while he emerged from his office and noticed something strange. When he went out and found Mai napping, there was no paper on his assistant's desk. Did Lin forget to give her work? His assistant rarely forgot something. Or had Mai finished it all? He was pretty suprised, that speed was quite the improvement for her. But then again, it was impossible. Mai had only been a while and when he found her, she was asleep.
Naru heard the front door squeak open and assumed it was the monk, he was the first who would stop by after his concert or whatever. He sighed irritatedly at the idea of the monk shouting a loud greeting to Mai, and distracting her from her work. Or, today, her lack thereof. But instead the monk knocked on Naru's office door, which he usually didn't bother doing, and peeked in.
"Naru-bou, er..." The monk started uneasily.
"What?" Naru asked irritatedly.
"Are you... alright?" Houshou asked.
Naru looked at him with a frown. Then he sighed, thourougly confused. "Yes, of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Uh, that's great then... Haha..." Houshou took one last nervous glance at Naru before edging away and closing the door behind himself.
----------
That's strange, Naru thought. Houshou was unusually quiet today. He didn't talk to Mai at all, and he didn't even tell her a joke. Naru shrugged and went returned to his files.
The bell sounded again, accompanied with the sound of the door being swung open. He heard Masako's voice outside. She talked a bit with the monk but she didn't argue or even talk to Mai, not even a simple 'hello'.
Masako knocked Naru's door and came in. The medium lowered her kimono-ed arm and looked at him in concern. "Naru, are you okay?" She asked. "Does your hand still hurt?"
Naru rubbed his temples. What was the matter with these people? Masako usually would walk gracefully to him and stayed near him even she knew it bothered here she was, keeping her distance and talked quite far from him like he could infected her if she stood a step further.
"I'm okay, Hara-san." He replied.
"Are you... ugh... nothing... never mind... Excuse me." Masako bowed a bit and left the room as Ayako entered his office. Ayako and Masako changed a glance before both went to their destination. Naru looked at Mai who scowled at Masako's back before she went to the kitchen. Before the door clicked shut, he saw Masako hone in on Houshou. Masako once again did not bother gracing Mai with her customary insult.
Naru was a bit disappoined, it was quite entertaining to watch the two girls fighting over him.
This time, Ayako came into his office. "Naru, how are you feeling?" She asked.
Naru put his pen on the desk to look at her. "I'm well."
"You... slept properly, didn't you?" Naru frowned confusedly. Something odd was afoot..."Are you eating properly? You didn't try something funny, did you?"
"I don't understand what you are saying, Matsuzaki-san." Naru stated.
Ayako sighed deeply. "Oh well, if you need something... You can tell me." Ayako opened the door. Mai stepped in and let Ayako walked out. Ayako also didn't bother to give a glance at her.
Mai walked to him. "Hey Naru, do you have something to do today? I mean after work..." She asked with a blush.
"Hm?" Naru gave her a confused look.
"Well..." Mai started to fidgetting nervously. "I mean, there's a new cafe near my house... I wonder if you want to... ugh..."
"Mai, I know that you're stupid but I don't think you suffer from a speech impediment." Naru deadpanned.
Mai scowled. "I want you to come with me to that cafe!" Mai shouted.
"So you want to go for a date with me?"
Mai blushed. "Not exactly a date... But if you say so..."
"I think I have a free time today."
"So you agree?"
Naru nodded. Mai jumped happily and went to hug him. Naru didn't show any respond. He just merely stood there and let Mai hugged him.
It was like a dream. They had just finished a very dangerous case a week ago and some of them even been sent to hospital.
A week ago, the SPR went to a haunted factory. It was placed on the outskirt of the town. Mai was uneasy to step in nor Masako. The girls were too frightened. Masako said that the air was very heavy and the ghosts were too much.
Mai begged Naru to go back and refused the case but Naru was persistent to go on. He told them that they could go back by themself if they were frightened.
They didn't go home but their face was pale. Naru felt a bit bad to Mai but he had given her a choice to not attend the case.
Naru had checked the history of that factory. Certainly many people was killed by many accident and it didn't make sense. The last incident was the leaking of toxic gas out of nowhere. Since then there weren't any other people want to buy that place.
A man came to them and begged to check at that factory. In the monitor, it was clearly said that the factory was haunted. There were a bunch of the ghosts there.
Naru was worried that it would attack them in the night. He asked Ayako to put some protective charms in the base and for everyone. They would stay in the base since it was quiet big. The charms were effective enough to drive away the ghosts from that room to another room.
John performed an exorcism with Houshou assisted him in case of something. The ghosts were exorcised but it didn't vanish. It was going back to its usual form.
Masako told that they were bounded by something and that something wouldn't let them go.
Naru and Lin went out to find out the source. When they went up to the roof, Houshou and Ayako ran after them. They panted heavily. They told them that Mai said not to open that door. But Naru being Naru, ignored that warning and he opened that door. There was a big circle with an unknown spell on it, A bloody red circle which smelled like steel. It didn't need a further reasearch to know that the circle was made of blood.
Lin recognized that circle. He wasn't sure that he could destroy that spell but he would try. Naru leaned to the railing near Lin. When Lin had started to chant, Mai came and shouted at them. He couldn't catch what was she saying. But with a blink of eyes, a black smoke appeared. Lin was knocked away but his shikis guarded him.
That black smoke shifted to Naru. Lin wasn't fast enough to order his shikis to guard Naru when that demon attacked him. The last thing he saw was Mai in front of him and the sound of the broken railing behind him along with the sound of screaming.
When he was awoken, he saw Mai greeted him. He wasn't really injured, he only got a cut on his hand. The other said that Mai protected him. He was relieved that Mai wasn't injured.
Now here they were, leaving a bit strange behaviour of his team, they all were safe.
Mai stood up and faced the window as John and Lin came in. He faced the two who had interrupted his bordering-on-romantic-scene with Mai.
"Good evening, Naru-san." John greeted him uneasily. Lin nodded as usual. They shifted around uneasily, stopping a few times as if they were about to say something, and stopping as the other shook their head. Eventually they turned to leave.
"Wait." He said. The two looked at him. "Why don't you two say something to Mai? Are you fighting?"
The two looked surprised, and then looked down sadly. "Shibuya-san... Mai is..." John clenched his hand. "Mai died." He whispered.
"Eh? But..." Naru turned but Mai was no longer there. He looked around madly, she was nowhere to be found.
"Mai died a week ago when she protected you from that demon's spell." Lin looked away. His face was as blank as ever, but his eyes told a different story.
"Don't you remember? She saved you?" John added.
Naru looked at them in surprise, and then gestured for them to leave. He stared into space, shocked.
They didn't talk to Mai. They didn't greet her. They didn't look at her. They didn't ask for drink. They... They said... she had died...
"Are you... injured? Are... you... hurt?" Mai gave him a pained smile as his hands fluttered over her body, unsure of what to do.. "Are you... okay?"
"Naru... Don't cry..." She panted heavily. Her hand caressed his cheek and wiped at the twin trails of tears making their way down his cheeks.. "No, don't cry... Smile...Naru... Smile that... honest smile... that you... ever do that time..." She chuckled a bit before coughed blood.
" I'm relieved.... Naru...You're safe...Naru..." Mai stiffened and grimaced. "I...love you..." Her hand fell to the ground, limp.
Naru sighed, and leaned back in his seat. That couldn't be the truth.
Mai was there when he woke up! "You couldn't attend the funeral because you're unconscious."
Mai was still here with them, with him! "It couldn't be her ghost, Hara-san should have noticed it."
No, they were lying to him. They wanted to make him surprised. Yes, they must be! "Accept the truth. Mai has died for protecting someone she loves. At least, live on, move on, for the life that she has saved in the exchange of her life."
His eyes teared up as he relived the images his mind had hidden from him. He once again caged all the memories. Tears dripped onto his desk, ink began to run on his messily written notes.
Mai hugged Naru from behind. "Hey, Naru-chan! I want cheesecake!"
Naru twisted in his seat and smiled at her as if his dead assistant asking for cheesecake was the most natural thing in the world. Maybe to him, at that moment, it was. "My treat, Mai." Naru said.
"Yay! Love you!" Mai kissed his cheek.
"I love you too, Mai." Naru said as his tear once again welled up from his eyes. "I love you too..." Mai giggled, she smiled her usual smile, still talking like always. More tears welled up and threatened to fall down as Mai's figure began to fade. "No, don't disappear! Don't leave me!" Naru whispered.
"That was only the illusion that you made."
Even it was only an illusion, he didn't mind. He needed her. More that he ever did.
A soft sound was calling for him, he turned at his back. He saw Mai was smiling at him. She looked like an angel with a pair of big white wings behind her. She moved her mouth like saying something. Her wings were moving and she started to float.
Naru tried to reach her hand but his hand was going through. Mai spreadt her hand like she was offering to hug him before she completely disappeared. Naru clenched his fist as he started to cry. "She has gone..." He whispered. He felt into his knees. "No, she isn't." He let out his sad smile. "She said that... Yes, she certainly said that."
His world wouldn't be able to rotate if she was missing. Now he knew that she was important. Not only her, the SPR members, his assistant, his parents, and all the memories of them. Not the false or illussion that he placed to hide.
Naru was wearing a black glasses in that hot day. He was standing in front of a grave. "You're going to watch over me, right?" He whispered before walking back to his members who were worrying him. "Let's go, we have a case." He commanded in his usual tone.
"Yes, boss." The members replied at him sarcastically. They saluted to the grave before went into the car.
The figure on the sky was smiling at them.
"I'm watching over you."
There's time... You realized that something becomes precious when you have lost it forever.
A one-shot story to fill my absence for a while.
Many thanks for Hikari-chan for the opinion and the encouragement. Also, many thanks for Shinigami's lullaby for the idea, opinion, beta, and the time. You two really helped me a lot.
Coming soon, the other story after wheel of fate as I had promised. Well, not so soon I guess...
Please REVIEW!!!