Troubles with SPR: Thunderstorms
A loud boom of the thunder erupted from the evening sky, illuminating the dim office. Mai felt the goosebumps creep on her skin and she hastily crawled under her desk. 'Why is it happening now?!'
The brunette always had an unknown fear against thunder, and whenever there were thunderstorms, she'd occasionally have to go through it herself. After all, she is an orphan in which her parents couldn't be there for her.
The thunder roared much louder this time. She heard the rain streak the open glass windows. A gust of wind entered the office, giving the papers on her desk a little small blow as they softly fell onto the floor. Of course, it was just the sound in the office for Lin and Naru were always silent in their own rooms.
The brunette whimpered as she heard the thunder rumble once again. She tightened her grip on her knees that were bracing her chin up.
Mai didn't care if her employer and partner heard her. And besides, it's not like they would care.
Oh, how wrong was she.
She heard a door open in the office and decided to muffle her own whimpers.
"Taniyama-san?" She heard Lin's voice.
'As if it was Naru,' she thought. "Y-yes?" she stuttered from under her desk. However, it seemed as though Lin didn't notice it.
The brunette heard footsteps advancing closer to her. She saw the pair of dress shoes stop in front of her.
"Why are you under your desk?" Lin questioned as he crouched down to Mai's level.
Mai blinked. "Oh! Er—A. . I'm searching for something! Yeah!"
Lin looked unconvinced, but let it go. "Need a hand up?" He stood back up and lend her a hand of his.
"Oh, um. Thanks, but I'm still searching for it!" Mai nervously laughed.
Unfortunately another loud roar of the thunder echoed through the sky. The brunette nearly jumped fifty-feet up in the air, but managed to stop herself from doing so as to bite her tongue.
"All right," Lin said. Mai heard a stack of papers being placed onto her desk. "I'm leaving these for you to do tomorrow."
Mai stared at his polished dress shoes for they weren't moving. "Er, aren't you going to go, Lin-san?" she broke the silence.
Lin being Lin, ignored her question and returned her one. "Do you need a lift home, Taniyama-san?"
The brunette blinked. "Ah! No, I'm fine. I've got a few more things to do here before I go. You can leave!"
"I see. See you tomorrow." Mai watched his feet disappear from her sight. She listened to Lin's footsteps fade further away from her and the front door being shut closed.
Just as she began to crawl out under her desk, another big boom erupted from the sky.
"Eek!" She crawled back under her desk. She shivered from the breeze of wind that blew at her.
A hour past by and there were no signs of the thunder stopping. On the contrary, it seemed as though it was getting a lot worse.
Mai had a few tears here and there, but wiped them away before she started pouring her eyes out. Sighing, she leaned onto the back of the desk.
"Mai." She heard her employer's voice.
'Not tea!' She nearly slapped her forehead.
"What are you doing down there?"
Peeking through her knees, she realized Naru was in front of her—crouching in fact.
"Er. . Searching for something?" She used the excuse again.
The brunette watched as her employer examine under her desk. "There's nothing there except you."
Mai slightly blushed. 'What do I do?!' she mentally panicked. "I—Um, found it. Yeah, I found it." She clicked her tongue inside her mouth.
Naru stared at her as Mai returned the gaze. "Um. . You can go now. .?" she said.
"Your work was done a hour ago. What are you doing here?" Naru finally asked as he sat onto the floor in front of the girl.
"Er. ." she started.
"You were not searching for anything. In fact, there's nothing to find under there." Naru proceeded to stare at the said brunette.
Mai panicked. Her hands had turned sweaty and her cheeks betrayed her for turning red. "N-no! There was a keychain that I dropped!" She bit her bottom lip.
"Hm. As far as I know, you never carry a keychain around. Except your cellphone, that is. However, you rarely take your cellphone out." Naru made a point.
"W-well, perhaps I could be today!" Mai squeaked out.
Naru was unconvinced still and pushed a little further. He shifted a bit. "Mai, you can rarely drop anything under your desk." He looked at the window beside her desk. "And why is that window open?"
Mai nervously grinned. Ignoring his first statement, she said, "I forgot to close it."
"Idiot," Naru said and stood. He walked over to the window and closed it. "Get out of there, Mai. You can go home now."
"I still have a few things to do. I'll close up for today, you can go." She crawled out under her desk. Unfortunately it was a terrible thing to do.
A thundering noise came from the sky once again and she froze where she was at.
"Mai?" Naru stared at her.
"Er, oh right! You can go now. Ehe." Mai smiled and glanced at her employer.
Naru, being a narcissistic bastard, proceeded to stare at her.
"Really, you can go," the brunette insisted. "I'm fine."
Another deafening boom echoed throughout the sky and Mai squeaked.
"You're afraid of thunder," Naru finally said and took a step towards her.
"N-no!" Mai denied and waved her hands all over the air as if to stop him from getting closer to her. Clearly it worked as the brunette fixed her gaze back onto the papers she had paused to work on.
"Hn."
A few minutes past by with silence until the brunette broke it.
"It's late, you should head back home." She placed several papers into a file.
"Probably." He ambled towards her. Mai took a large step away as if her employer had some contagious illness.
"Stop being so unconvinced with me. I'm fine." The brunette glared at him. Although it didn't match the cold glare her employer was giving her.
"If you're afraid of the thunder, admit it." Naru continued to stare at her.
Mai's ears burned red, however, both of them didn't realize it as the office was dark.
"I'm not scared of it." Mai's tiny voice broke the dead silence between them.
Her employer silently sighed. "I see. I'm leaving now. Close the office safely."
Mai nodded as she watched Naru walk towards the door.
Just as he was about to touch the knob of the door, a blaring, loud thunder bellowed through the sky—twice.
Mai unconsciously ran towards her employer and lunged herself at his back—wrapping her petite arms around his slim waist. She buried her face into his black coat.
"I'm scared, okay? I'm scared of it. I admit it." Her shoulders shook terribly and Naru could tell she was weeping.
The employer was sandwiched between the front door and his small assistant. He heaved out a silent breath and managed to turn around.
As minutes past by with silence with Mai still hugging her employer and his arms still dangling by his sides, the brunette eventually stopped crying and released him.
"You stained my shirt," was the first thing Naru said. "You have quite cold tears."
Mai flushed red and gave him a soft smack on his arm. "Jerk."
"Hm. It seems as if the thunder stopped." Naru walked to the window panes and stared out of it.
The brunette's brow twitched. 'I see now. .So God just wanted me to hug Naru?!' And just by that thought, her cheeks burned a deeper red.
"I'll be leaving now. Better finish your work up before I come back tomorrow." Naru smirked and twisted the front door knob.
Mai stared as the door shut closed. "You bastard!"
::NaruxMai:: You both should've have a moment together. Seriously.
Here's another oneshot! Woop, woop! Five oneshots in one day! How exciting! Haha, it was to make up for the other days either way. Also, I realize Lin's quite OOC in this one and I hope you don't mind. ^^ Hope you enjoyed it.
Next time on Troubles with SPR: Day Outing. Oh boy will the men in SPR suffer! That's what you get! Hehe.