OMG, you guys all rock! Seriously. Your reviews are awesome, and I'm so glad you all like this! And, as I just finished my last essay after three days of stupidly little sleep while working on them, I felt like celebrating, so this chapter got a little... embellishing. Hope you like!

Thank you to flamegirl15500, seiyuurabu (who also told me a lot more about true canon, thanks! If anyone wants the info, let me n=know and I'll pass it on ;) ), SakaguchiMaya (here, a non-sad ending, please don't cry!), Ms Bat, Jadeturttle (I am honoured to recieve your first review. Hope this lives up to your expectations), Ariana Taniyama (you HAVE to like it? Wow, thanks!), Ru55el (always hon) and Tbonechick2011 (I think you may be a little insane, but so am I so that's ok. Thanks for the cookie! Here, have a chapter!)

The pre-story will be posted in a few days, when I have sufficiently celebrated the end of my essays (for now) and recovered from the inevitable painful consequences.

Disclaimer: I don't own it

Naru tapped his foot impatiently in the back of the taxi. He would much have preferred Lin drive him, but unfortunately Ayako had also called the Chinese man, who was much closer to the hospital than Naru and so had driven straight there. Words would be had, when the teen actually managed to get through the traffic that had sprung up from nowhere.

Finally, almost two hours after the initial phone call, the taxi crawled to a stop in front of the hospital. Naru glared at the price the driver told him, but paid up. It could come out of Lin and Mai's wages; after all, if not for those two, he would not have been in the vehicle in the first place.

Everyone turned to look at him as he walked into Mai's room. John and Masako (when did she get here?) were stood furthest from the bed, Lin close by. John smiled and nodded at him, as did Lin. Naru withheld his glare until such time as he and Lin were alone, when he could give full rein to his ire.

Ayako was trying to hold Takigawa back from the bed, where Mai was blinking around at them all sleepily. The monk was talking too fast for anyone to understand him, least of all the semi-conscious Mai, but Naru thought it was a combination of apology for hurting her and admonishment for scaring them all. Whatever he was actually saying, he would just have to repeat it all anyway when Mai was cognizant.

"Bou-san," Naru said icily, stopping the monk more effectively with two syllables than Ayako with all her medical gibberish and threats of bodily harm. Takigawa allowed the miko to push him away from the girl in the bed and Naru stepped forward, close enough so she could see him without straining. She smiled faintly.

"Naru."

It was muffled from behind the oxygen mask and hoarse from having a tube down her throat, but it was Mai's voice and his name, and he finally felt all the tension drain out of him as he gave her a rare smile in return.

She was going to be alright. And that meant he could cheerfully dock her pay for a few days without feeling guilty about it. She had run off, almost gotten herself killed, worried everyone sick and made him pay far too much for a taxi ride to the hospital. A week on half wages would serve the dual purpose of teaching her not to end up in the hospital when it was perfectly avoidable, and bringing the flushed, irritated scowl back to her face. When he saw that expression, he would know she was back to normal.

It took two weeks for the doctors to deem Mai well enough to leave the hospital, and a further fortnight to convince Ayako that she was alright to work without constant supervision. Mai and Naru were both pushing the miko for an early return, Mai because she was bored at home and Naru because the office was absurdly quiet without the girl. If there was another reason for his wanting Mai's return, he wouldn't admit it, but Lin had been watching the boy for the last month, and something had definitely changed. Nothing major; Naru was still Naru, but the Chinese man noticed a definite increase in the amount of time the boy spent looking at Mai's desk from the corner of his eye. Apparently, it was a substitute for the girl, because on her first day back Naru barely let her walk in the door before summoning her to his office and shutting the door behind her. Ayako, who had accompanied the girl, glared menacingly at the wooden barrier.

"He'd better not be telling her off."

Lin had reassured her that Naru was treating Mai with all the delicacy that the miko had demanded before retreating to his own office and shutting the door. He had conveniently left out that Naru had the art of insulting somebody down so fine that the parameters Ayako had set for Mai's treatment left him plenty of room for manoeuvre. He knew full well what was being said in the next room.

Naru had left this particular conversation with Mai until he knew she was recovered enough for him to vent at her without Ayako ripping his head off for it. If Monk's frequent yells of pain were anything to go by, the miko had one hell of a left hook.

Mai followed the young boss into his office and watched cautiously as he shut the door and leaned against his desk facing her. His expression told her that she was in trouble. She'd been back a grand total of fifteen seconds; a new record, even for her.

"Why," he said, voice smooth and low "did you not tell me the truth when I asked whose name you heard in the vision?"

His tone was arctic, and his expression showed nothing but anger, yet she knew from that one sentence how worried he'd been about her. His first words when she got into the office were normally non-committal grunts (in response to her cheery 'hello Naru!'), a demand for her to leave the house five minutes earlier if she was going to get sidetracked by the cherry blossoms on her way to work (after she walked in the door fifty seconds late on the first day the trees had flowered), or some other sarcastic comment designed to make her huff with irritation and stomp over to her desk in a temper. Not a serious conversation that she knew was going to result in her crying as she tried to justify her actions.

Usually his anger was hot, sparks flying as he verbally cut down whoever had pissed him off. Right now, it was all she could do not to shiver. He was really mad.

"I..." she mumbled, unable to meet his eyes. She didn't know, in truth. She had followed her instinct, which at the time was screaming at her to shut up and run away. So she had. It all worked out alright in the end, right?

Naru gave her three seconds, then launched into a tirade that simultaneously told her how worried he'd been (not that he said anything to that effect, but the subtext was there) and cut her far deeper than the knife the surgeons had pulled from her side. Most of it seemed to consist of the emotional trauma she had caused Takigawa, and was she too stupid to consider other people before she ran off and threw herself headlong into danger? Her eyes teared up.

"Well, sorry I'm not perfect!" she spat back, her own temper coming to the fore. His eyes narrowed and he took an unconscious step forward.

"You don't have to be perfect to know that running off when you know your life is in danger is stupid. You almost died, Mai!"

"Like you'd care!" she shouted back and whirled for the door. She was damned if she would cry in front of him over this. His hand gripped her bicep and he pushed her back against the wall, leaning in far too close and cutting off all her avenues of escape.

"Never," he growled, stopping her protests short "accuse me of not caring."

He glared at her and leaned in closer; for a second she thought that he was going to...

He exhaled angrily and pushed away from the wall. Mai took several deep breaths before she looked over at him. She'd really thought he was going to kiss her then. Some hope. All she'd done was piss him off more.

He was facing away from her, leaning on his desk. She moved towards the door slowly, and this time he didn't stop her. Not until the door had closed again, signalling her successful escape, did she allow herself to relax.

Ayako hurried over, taking in her flushed cheeks, and scowled.

"What did he do?"

"Nothing," Mai said. It was the truth, after a fashion. The miko looked disbelieving, but thankfully dropped the subject.

In his office, Naru sat wearily in his chair. Mai was going to prove the death of him. He had never known anybody like her. She attracted deadly accidents like she was some sort of magnet, and he almost certain that there was a big cosmic sign above her head that said 'ghosts please attack me'. She was utterly unrepentant when she managed to convince herself that what she'd done was the right thing, and she was the only person he knew who came close to matching his temper when he really got going. She made him lose his head; not an easy thing to do, but she managed with surprising ease. Like just now, for example. He caught himself just before he kissed her, but barely.

Why he was kissing her, he wasn't entirely sure, and that shook him enough to drop his righteous anger with the girl just to get her away from him so he could think clearly again.

You like me.

He growled and cursed the stupid letter. That's what had sparked all this. Mai had one moment of (amazing) insight into his life, and her words manage to imbed themselves into his mind and make him do stupid things. Like nearly kiss her in the middle of an argument. He shook his head violently. She was turning him stupid.

There was a tap on his door, too light to be called a knock. He didn't respond; he wasn't up to another shouting match just yet. The door opened anyway, and Mai came in with a cup of tea balanced in her hand. She set it down gingerly on the edge of his desk and stood looking at him, dragging her toes along the carpet nervously. She was building her courage up to say something. Maybe if he ignored her she'd go away.

"Um, Naru..."

If she was waiting for a 'thank you', she would be waiting a long time. He didn't thank her when he'd asked for tea, why would he do so now? He knew what it was; a peace offering. Mai was always grumbling about making him tea fifty times a day, the only time she'd do it of her own violation was to attempt to pacify some sort of situation between them.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. He looked up at her despite himself. That hadn't been what he was expecting. She continued, still staring at her feet.

"For worrying you. And for saying you don't care. I know you do. I was just angry. Sorry."

There was a few seconds silence. Mai felt awkward and started to leave, but Naru's voice stopped her.

"I read the letter."

It took her a second to realise what he was talking about, but when she did she flushed scarlet and tried to run. His hand grabbed her wrist for the second time, pulling her to a stop. She refused to look at him, and she wouldn't speak because she had no idea what to say. She'd forgotten about the letter. When she'd told him to read it, she'd thought she was dying. A last request wasn't meant to have consequences. In her embarrassed panic, she didn't process that he hadn't sounded angry or teasing.

She tugged half-heartedly at his hand, trying to make him loose her. He stood and walked around his desk, careful not to spill the tea perched on the edge. Her face was titled to the ground, and she showed no signs of looking up any time soon, so he used his free hand to lever her face upwards. She avoided his eyes. He sighed and leaned in close again, making her swallow hard.

"Idiot. Of course I like you. I wouldn't keep you around if I didn't."

Her eyes grew very wide and flew to meet his. He could see the hesitation in her gaze; she was wondering when the putdown was coming. He smirked and let her go. Let her make of that what she would.

She stumbled for a second, having lost her footing at some point while staring into his eyes. He was obviously amused by her clumsiness. With no idea how to react, she mumbled an excuse and left the office, waiting until the door had closed before she began hyperventilating.

Naru sat back down and took a sip of his tea. Perfect. He smiled. Everything was back to normal.