Disclaimer: Ghost Hunt isn't mine.


Candy Cane Christmas


What kind of boss would keep their employee at the office until midnight on Christmas Eve? The answer was simple: Naru Shibuya.

"Naru, I want to go home. This is ridiculous!" protested Mai Taniyama. She mentally prepared herself for battle but immediately retreated, silenced by one icy glare from her boss. One would assume the short brunette would get used to his dirty looks after enduring three years of them. As a matter of fact, Mai had never seen Naru smile, not after she brought the most adorable kittens into the office, and not even after he received news of his brother Gene's engagement. Never.

"Not until you're finished – that deadline won't make itself, you know," said Naru, shoving long black hair from his face. Mai sighed and looked at her watch: 11:50 PM. Naru briskly withdrew papers from a bulging folder and threw them in his reluctant subordinate's general direction faster than she could file them away.

"Bu-"

"No buts. I don't want to be here any more than you, Mai, but we've put this off too long. Get to work."

"Why can't you get Lin to do this?" She complained, referring to her absent co-worker. "You two could have fun being unsociable together!"

"He's visiting his parents."

"Oh... well, I have parents too! I've got places to go, people to see!"

"At 11:55 PM? Mai, I didn't figure you were a partier. Plus, aren't you an orphan?"

Mai turned to him, shocked: "A partier? What the-" she screeched, blushing madly, "You know me better than that!"

This was true enough. He did know her well – better than most people, in fact. This of course meant that he knew just how to push her buttons.

The self-important workaholic stared pensively at Mai, who was sorting absentmindedly through the nearest stack of papers until, "Its midnight – Christmas! And yet, I'm still here," she trailed off, pouting.

Naru wordlessly held out a merrily striped candy cane to his sulking assistant, in some odd semblance of a peace offering. He watched bemusedly as she hesitantly reached out and took the candy, and the countdown began. Three, two, one…

And there it was. He amused himself by cataloging the different shades of red her face could turn, and mentally added number thirteen to his ever-growing list. He smiled at the thought.

Mai blinked in surprise at the peculiarity of the situation. Naru with a smile on his face? Impossible. "Na-" she began.

"Now get back to work. I gave these files to you four hours ago. Could you be any slower?" He deadpanned, returning to his irritating self.

"I hate you!" Mai shrieked.

And yet, Mai saved the candy cane as a souvenir, keeping it as a reminder of the first day she ever saw her boss smile.

the end.


Author's Note: I really enjoyed writing this, although the edit turned into more of a ...rewrite. Anyway, thank you Jing for the inadvertent plot bunny, and to all my amazing reviewers! Revised as of August 9, 2010.

~Shinigami's Lullaby~