Disclaimer: I own nothing.

a/n: Thank you for reading and reviewing!! I hope you like this chapter because I added a lot of Mai/Naru scenes for you fabulous reviewers, kudos.


Chapter 2: Drivers ED

'Making the first move, little bro?' Gene asked Naru. Naru narrowed his eyes on the road, trying to ignore Gene, concentrate on driving and talk to Mai.

No, he wasn't actually participating in this conversation, Mai was doing most of the talking.

The ride had started silently and Naru hadn't had a single idea why he'd offered to drive her other than 'it's raining.' Which wasn't one of his better excuses. He did manage, however, to break the silence.

"Are you going to talk or does it take you this long to form a conversation?" Naru challenged.

And so Mai talked...

"I can't wait for the case tomorrow, can you? Well of course you can, you're Naru." Mai laughed a little, "Still, do have any idea what's going on with Madoka's niece?"

She waited for a moment, expecting Naru to answer eventually, and he did.

"No, it might not be haunted, it's just a favor to Madoka." Naru said coolly.

"Huh, why do you say it's not haunted?" Mai questioned him. But they had pulled up in front of her apartment building and Naru didn't seem inclined to answer, sighing Mai opened the car door, preparing to leave, without an answer. But Naru stopped her.

He reached over and put a hand on her elbow, stopping her from moving. She looked from his hand to his face, blushing uncontrollably.

"Don't be disappointed, if there aren't any ghosts to distract you." Naru said softly, at least softer than his usual snide remarks.

Mai nodded, stepping outside, and out of his grasp. "Thanks....for the ride."

She wasn't sure why but she felt very shy all of a sudden. As if Naru and her alone meant something more than it used to mean.

She closed her door and watched as Naru left her standing in the rain. She closed her eyes, wondering if it was just a dream, opening them she saw that he was already gone and she couldn't quite remember what had just taken place.

Was Naru...reaching out to her?

*******

June

day 1

Mai hadn't slept a wink last night. Correction, she'd gotten thirty minutes of sleep after she'd finished packing, and now she was late.

As she scrambled down the stairs of her apartment building, pulling her shoes on to her feet as she went, she hurdled straight past the front lobby and through the revolving doors. Pausing, hoping that it was just lack of sleep that was making her hallucinate, Mai walked back in to the lobby and dropped her suitcase.

"You're late." Naru accused her. He was sitting in a chair across from her landlady and, naturally, was sipping a cup of tea. "Luckily I expected this much, I'll drive you to work."

Mai opened her mouth to protest but nothing intelligible spewed from her mouth. Instead she cried, "What?" and as if to add to her frustrations Naru shook his head at her.

"Really, Mai, must I spell it out for you. I'm driving you to SPR, get in the van." he said sternly, rising from his chair. Briefly he thanked the landlady for her services and then proceeded to walk towards his still shell-shocked assistant.

He kneeled only for a moment to pick up her suitcase, and then he was gone.

Mai looked from Naru, to her landlady and then back to the door.

She really should have expected this after yesterday. Naru was becoming a lot to handle. 'Maybe he really is a teenager.' Mai mused. 'He's having some killer mood swings.'

With a sigh she turned around, preparing to leave.

"What a nice boyfriend you have there Mai, so considerate too." her landlady said with a wave.

"He sure is..." Mai said to herself, "Wait, boyfriend!"

*******

"Is there a reason you picked me up Naru?" Mai asked suspiciously from the passenger seat of the van.

She was slightly confused and more than nothing, irritated, by Naru's erratic behavior.

"Not really, I simply needed you to be on time for this case, I can't have you jeopardizing our work." Naru conveyed, no trace of emotion in his voice.

'Our work?' Gene chuckled inside of his head. 'Mai and Naru sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G-'

'SHUTUP.' Naru thought, grinding his teeth. Mai watched his mood change with uncertainty.

'Maybe I was right about those teenage hormones...' she thought, picking at her nails in dismay.

"Actually Mai there is something I have to ask-tell you," he said, uncharacteristically stuttering.

"Ask-tell me?" she teased. "Go ahead. Ask-tell away."

He frowned, still watching the road. This wasn't the way he had planned to ask her. Somehow he'd imagined it a little bit more romantically than in rush hour traffic. But this would have to do.

"Well," he said with a straight face, "Do you still..."

"Naru, look out!" Mai shrieked as they pulled in to SPR's parking lot.

A figure had popped out in front of them, whatever it was it staggered and then fell as Naru hit the brakes.

Mai un-strapped herself threw open her door. "Oh my gosh are you okay...Madoka?"

Naru watched from the drivers side as Madoka smiled and brushed it off. Pulling the computer monitor back in to her arms so she could load it in to the other van. Before she was completely out of Naru's sights she turned and flashed a peace sign and Naru made sure to give her the most menacing glare he'd ever mustered.

Getting back in to the car Mai sighed. "Madoka's been getting in a lot of trouble lately hasn't she? Oh, what was it you wanted to ask Naru?"

Without an answer Naru crisply turned in to an open space and parked the van as close to the office as he could manage. He unbuckled himself before he spoke.

"Nothing Mai, don't worry about it, it was nothing."

*******

Fact 1: Naru forgot to write Madoka's pay check this week.

Fact 2: Madoka knows kung fu.

*******

"The van's loaded and the others are coming on their own." Madoka announced several minutes later. "Who's going with who?"

Mai looked up from her position on the rear bumper of Naru's van. Normally she'd go with Naru but she couldn't just leave Madoka alone...

Seeming to sense what Mai was about to do Naru caught Mai's hand and dragged her, forcefully, in to his van and then got in himself. Lin, already at the wheel, gave the two a suspicious look.

"Fine then, I'll go by myself!" Madoka harrumphed as she slammed the drivers side door closed behind her.

Amusedly Naru watched from his seat, finally something had gone right for him...

"Mai I-" he turned around to ask her, finally, the question that was still nagging him. But he turned to her and sighed.

Just his luck, she'd already fallen asleep.

*******

"Can't sleep?" Lin asked Mai, surprisingly, as they got out of the van. She turned to him, blinking and actually stunned herself.

"I guess not." Mai smiled, "No dreams this time around. I'm usually out like a light until we reach our destination."

Which was true. Mai hadn't slept a wink the entire way to the cottage. Except for when they'd first started out, for about five minutes, and then Naru had shaken her awake for no reason at all.

Although she couldn't blame herself for not sleeping in the van. Especially since she was between Lin and Naru, neither of which were homely, or comfortable to sleep on. Not that that usually bothered her. She scratched her head and stood solemnly facing the van until Naru snapped her out of her reverie.

"Mai, equipment." he said sharply.

"Right!" Mai said, coming out of her daydreams. She grabbed a monitor and headed to the other side of the van to catch her first glimpse of the house.

She smiled as she saw Bou-san and Ayako but then saw the house and nearly dropped the monitor. "Mai, only unload things you can carry!" Naru shouted from the door.

Mai was hardly listening. She ran inside the house, shoved the monitor on to a desk and then ran back outside all in the time frame of ten seconds.

Mai had never been to a lake like this, she'd never seen anything quite so beautiful as what lay before her. This cottage was on a gorgeous lake, boats and jet ski's skimmed across the surface. People in nearby houses tanned on their docks and everything was sunny and fresh and-

"Mai!" Bou-san said enveloping her in a hug, "We haven't seen you in ages!"

"And whose fault is that Monk!" Mai protested, struggling in his grasp.

"Oh let her go Takegawa," Ayako said from behind him, and he did.

"How are you guys?" Mai asked cheerfully. "We haven't spoken in at least a few weeks..."

The two shared a look, Ayako was busying herself by gazing out over the lake and Monk was scratching his head sheepishly. Both of them looked embarrassed.

"Are you getting married already!" Mai yelled, suddenly nervous. If they were acting so weird then what was....

"No!" Monk protested, "Gosh no, we'd never..."

Ayako hit him before he could continue. "What Monk means to say is that we've moved in together, we are not getting married anytime soon...if ever."

"Oh, you guys!" Mai said happily, then something occurred to her, "Monk why didn't you just tell me this over the phone instead of making me call Ayako as well?"

Fortunately Monk was saved from that embarrassing explanation by the ever-so-generous Naru who had Madoka announce that they should all meet in the living room.

*******

Naru was talking but Mai was hardly paying attention. She was engrossed in the small quarters of this cottage. It was absolutely puny and new. Neither of which SPR had worked with before. Nothing was ever this small and new AND haunted.

Mai saw a flat screen TV, new kitchen and appliances, it looked like it had just been remodeled.

Ayako elbowed her, forcing her to pay attention.

"There are three very small rooms here." Naru said, making it very clear. "This place is so small that there will be no escorts, no matter how bad anything gets because everyone is visible unless they go to the bathroom. The smallest room is the base, the front room is the girls and the remaining room for the men."

"Notice how he says 'girls' and 'men'." Mai said rolling her eyes. "Like he's macho or something."

Ayako laughed prompting Naru to raise an eyebrow in their direction.

"As I was saying Madoka's sister didn't give many details so we're looking for everything. I'll have Ayako and Mai set up the camera's and microphones. Monk will take temperatures. And Mai?" Naru asked while she was spacing.

"Yeah, Naru?" she replied hastily.

"Try not to set up the camera's so that we're tripping over wires."


OOOh, Naru's going to get it :P

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RXR