A/N: Ack, I apologize a million times for the insane wait! This was a hard chapter to write. Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter; y'all made my day. Hope you enjoy chapter ten!

Disclaimer: Seriously. I don't even own Naru's special mirror in this story.

Chapter 9: His Logic

Mai rocketed down the halls, her heart beating painfully against her ribcage, thinking only one thing. Naru's words had been eerily right. That had been a ghost, there was no doubting it. Now she didn't know what to think. She had to tell Naru. But what if he already knew? Wouldn't he have told her the mansion they were currently living in was haunted when he was telling her his ghost story? Sure, she wouldn't have believed him then - but now… now it was a whole different story. She didn't notice anything whizzing past her on the way to Naru's office until she nearly tripped over the teapot and was sent sprawling to the ground.

"Mai, dear!" Madoka said, her tone slightly scolding. "Where in the world are you going so fast?"

Mai, already up and dusting herself off, searched desperately in her mind for some sort of decent answer that didn't make her sound completely delusional. Maybe if Madoka believed her, she'd actually have a chance with talking to Naru. She saw a ghost, plain and simple. But now that she really thought about the logic of it all, it really did sound like she was losing her mind. How could she put it?

"I - I saw a man. In the manor. And… and he wasn't Naru," Mai said, her voice growing steadily stronger with every false word. Could Madoka really believe this lie? "And I didn't know if there were any other people in this castle. I didn't think there was, but I wanted to make sure, because it might have been a burglar, so I dropped my stuff and ran for Naru's office." Mai winced slightly at the shady lie, knowing it was complete crap.

But, for some reason, Madoka seemed to be taking it all in. Mai waited for some sort of recognition, some kind of go-ahead from Madoka before she could realize that this seemingly little white lie was snowballing faster than Mai would have liked. She was only missing a few details… only that the man she saw was…

"Madoka, there was one other thing I forgot to mention," Mai blurted, ready to test her luck. Madoka looked up and tore herself from her thoughts, her eyes wide and alert. Biting her lip hard and weighing her options, Mai felt this was the only way she could know vaguely what Naru would think of it. "The man… he, um… hewastransparent."

Refusing to look Madoka in the eyes, Mai stared determinedly at her black dress shoes, waiting for laughter or mocking of some kind. After several moments of just plain silence, she dared a peek at the teapot. What she saw was not what she had been expecting. The glint in Madoka's eyes went from slightly curious to murderous in less than three seconds. Mai blinked, hesitating at the nerve-wracking change of emotion, and waited for Madoka to speak again.

"What did he look like?" she asked slowly, evenly, just enough to keep the deadly edge from her voice. Mai ignored Madoka's tone, but couldn't help but wonder why in the world it would matter what his appearance was. Nonetheless, Mai tried to remember as much as she could. She had only seen him for a few seconds, after all.

"Well, he was wearing a white shirt, black pants, and, er, he had black hair…" she supplied uselessly, knowing full well this description sounded very much like Naru. Mai had never seen Naru in a white shirt, though. She had actually never seen him in anything but black. Madoka didn't seem to mind the Naru-like description, however, because she was taking it all in as the hard truth, which was something Mai greatly appreciated. Maybe she'd have a chance at getting Naru to believe her now, too.

"He was pretty tall too… taller than Naru," Mai said, grasping at the last images in her mind. Madoka gave a slightly harsh burst of laughter, but she couldn't have been laughing at Mai. She barely seemed to be paying any attention to Mai. If anything, she was remembering something else…

"Did you see his face?" Madoka wondered out loud, her voice heavily persistent, and wandering closer. If she had seen his face at all, she didn't remember it. Mai shook her head, tugging at her sleeve, which suddenly seemed stiffer than it had all morning.

"I only saw the side of him. Uh, why do any of these questions matter?" Mai asked abruptly, unsure of why Madoka was talking this all so seriously. Maybe if she had seen a little more surprise or disbelief in Madoka's reaction, Mai would have been a little less uncomfortable answering these questions. But all she seemed to be getting from Madoka was subtle anger and curiosity.

But her question before fell on deaf ears as Madoka gave another brief, vaguely sadistic smile and muttered under her breath, "That probably was a good thing, I suppose."

Mai cocked her head, not sure if she heard Madoka right. Good thing? What was good about a ghost in the mansion she was living in or possibly seeing illusions that weren't actually there? Mai couldn't find an upside to that. "A… a good thing?" she sputtered, trying to make sense of it all. "Um… care to explain why?"

Madoka looked briefly surprised, like Mai had just asked to where the poison was to put in Naru's tea, (not like she'd actually think of doing that…) but she quickly returned to her calm state again, blinking innocently as she answer, "Oh, nothing. It doesn't concern you. You best be off to tell Naru then, don't you think?" The finalizing tone in Madoka's voice clearly showed that this conversation was over, end of story. Mai's gaze flicked back and forth from Madoka's expectant expression and the end of the hall, where, if she just turned the corner, she would reach Naru's office. After several tense moments of hesitation, Mai finally nodded and took off uneasily. Maybe her conversation about the ghost would go much smoother with Naru…

…Or maybe she was just digging herself into a hole. A very, very confusingly deep hole. Either way, she was too persistent about this matter to let it slip. She waved to Madoka before disappearing out of sight. The teapot watched Mai leave and swiftly began bounding the other way, her aura dark. Someone had a lot of explaining to do… and thanks to Mai, she knew exactly who to target.

Tap. Tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. Taptaptap—

"Just come in, Mai," she heard Naru growl through the closed door, obviously annoyed with the constant knocking. She quickly let herself in, banging the large door shut behind her. He nearly blended into the black wing-backed leather chair he was seated in, except for his pale face and deep eyes which seemed to never unlock from her own gaze. He set whatever he was reading (another ghost book?) down on his desk. His eyes narrowed as soon as he saw Mai had come devoid of any tea.

"Is there something you need? I suppose you must have a reason you did not do as you were told." His condescending tone did not turn her away for once. Mai stepped farther in, desperately wanting to be heard. She had to get this across to him.

"Yes, I – I do have a good reason," she began hopefully, feeling ridiculously tiny under his scrutiny. "And, well… I think – what I mean is – I remembered your story and—" No proper string of words would come together. He was making her too nervous! God, who could possibly get anything comprehensible out under that gaze?

"Sometime this century would be nice, Mai," he nearly drawled, getting a more over-the-top response than he had been waiting for. Mai clenched her jaw, prepared for the worst, and hoped for the best. Here goes nothing.

"Okay! Well, before I sawthisman anditwasn'tyou, and hewastransparent andIthinkyouwererightaboutghostsbecause Ijustsawone!" she said all at once, staring determinedly at her feet, her voice coming out high and chirpy. Her words hung in the silence. Naru stared back, not saying a word. His lips were pressed in a thin line and he almost looked angry. What was he going to do? Should she wait and see his reaction—or make a run for it?

Naru remained impassive, however, and stood from his desk. The black chair slid back almost too forcefully. It seemed like he was doing his best to act like he didn't care. Mai's heart jumped at this sudden insight. Oh, God. His reaction confirmed it. She was living in a haunted house. And his story – his story… Ice plunged into her stomach. She only needed to know one more thing.

Did that story happen here? Did it actually happen? Mai was shaken from the reality of it all. She could be dragged away and murdered tonight for all she knew. A wave of dread hit her full on and a sweat broke out along her forehead. She was in way too deep. What was happening to her?

Naru's blunt voice brought her head back down from the clouds and snapped her from her own little nightmare. He dashed her whole train of consciousness as he said, "I believe you are taking this a little far." It took a few seconds to register what he had just said.

"What?!" she suddenly burst, throwing her arms up in the air. A mocking smirk was all she received. He was enjoying this like it was some kind of circus routine. Like she was something to be gawked at. She didn't care what he had to say. She knew for certain she had seen a ghost. No one was going to sway her. But Naru was going to have his say whether she wanted to hear it or not.

"Do I need to repeat myself every time you do not pay attention? I'd have a sore throat by the end of the day." His expression seemed to ridicule her even more. He continued with the same demeaning tone. "Don't try to fool me, Mai. I know very well you merely made up that ridiculous story to get out of your chores for tonight. It's not going to work."

"But – but–" she tried to explain, putting together sentences that only made sense in her head. "There are ghosts! You were the one who told me that not believing in ghosts was stupid as well! And I am not trying to get out of my chores; I'm telling you about something that I think is serious!"

Her tone went from pleading to insistent to indignant, her face lined with earnest. Naru stared back, raising an eyebrow. Mai shrunk away from the empty stare he was giving her. It felt like she was being X-rayed. Mai felt an odd twist in her stomach and knew right then she needed to run for cover or she would be sorry she ever brought this up.

"Listen to me, Mai, and listen well. You know nothing of this house. You know nothing of ghosts. You know nothing of the supernatural. Do not just assume you know more than me about a place where you have lived for merely two days. I don't remember ever saying that you must believe in ghosts. I was telling you a story to pass the time and I was merely surprised someone as young as you did not believe. You were skeptical and I only wanted you to see the other side of things. To lighten up. I accept the fact that you believe in ghosts. But in no way did that mean you had to go making up lies."

Naru paused for a second, subtly catching his breath, but just as fast as he had cut himself off, the haughty tone continued, making Mai grind her teeth. "Now, you're dismissed. I want tea before you retire to dinner. Good night." Naru sat back in his chair, swiveled back around so he could not see her any more, and left her dumbstruck.

What – what had just happened? He had changed his mind about everything. He was telling her to lighten up? He needed to take another look in that pretty little mirror of his. And she was not making up lies! Why would she possibly lie about something like this? She opened her mouth to protest again, but was cut off by his authoritative, demanding voice. He hadn't even been looking at her and he knew she was going to object.

"The door is behind you. If it isn't too much trouble, would you mind leaving? I actually do have work to finish."

And that was that. Naru's word was law (no matter how heavily sarcastic it was) and being a lowly servant, Mai could unfortunately do nothing to fight that. Mai backed her way from the office, rubbing her eyes. Remembering his last order, she hadn't even noticed she skipped both her breakfast and lunch. She guessed the mind-numbing hours she spent trapped in the library with Naru had been longer than she thought. Right now, thinking hurt her brain too much. She'd just get something to eat in the kitchen before bringing Naru his tea (screw his orders; she was hungry) and pass out in bed directly afterwards.

But even though Naru thought he had crushed her imagination, he had done exactly the opposite. She would be looking for that ghost again and looking for more signs that she was right. She slipped down the hallways, mindlessly walking toward the kitchen.

She was so tired she didn't realize she was falling asleep on her feet.

She was so tired she didn't even realize she had already stopped.

Mai was out.

When she opened her eyes again, she was again in that never-ending oblivion of blackness. She was back in that dreamland state. Huh. She wondered when she had fallen asleep. She couldn't even remember eating dinner. As she looked down at herself, she saw that she was glowing ever so slightly. She slowly lifted her fingers in front of her face and wiggled them, gazing in awe. Her dreams simply could not be beat.

Even though Mai seemed to light up like some kind of odd human flashlight, she could barely see what was in front of her. She dared her luck by taking a step at a time, waiting for her eyes to adjust. What was she going to see? Another ghost? Another person? Or maybe…

"Hello, Mai. Welcome back."

Right then, Mai decided she was never going to understand Naru.

Naru was thinking.

So to explain everything he was thinking about in a word: yes. Yes, he felt bad about lying to the girl. Yes, he knew that he would pay dearly for it. Yes, he knew that everyone was still plotting. Yes, he knew she was their only hope. Yes, he had heard all of this before. And, yes — he knew he was running out of time. They all knew that. But what was Naru to do? He would not spill his secret to her. That could put him in even more danger than she was already – and Mai didn't even know it.

He raised his head to look out at the starry night sky. It was just on a harmless night like this one that it happened. These silent nights reminded him of the night their lives changed, even though he'd never dare show it. Most of the time on these nights, he couldn't bear himself. What an idiot he had been…

Naru didn't like to think of himself as foolish or unintelligent. In fact, he had a hatred for anything shameful attributed to his name. But he could feel the change coming. Part of him wanted that change to come. Part of him wanted to keep it away and stay away from it forever. Just by looking at Mai, he knew that very soon he would have to adjust, whether he was ready for that change or not. It wasn't like he would give in willingly, however… He would just have to watch and wait and see what happened.

And ever so slowly, he tugged that silver mirror out of its drawer again.

He would see if Mai had been telling the truth about ghosts.

After all, the ghosts knew they weren't supposed to come out yet.

A/N: Chapter ten is finished. Awesome. My updates may be coming a bit slower now because I just started high school and I'm behind on homework already. And unfortunately, school always comes first. I just have to get back on track and wait for what comes my way. I'll still be working hard on this story… just maybe less often. Anyway, I wanted to say that.

Please review!