Warning: Contains major spoiler from the books! ....Though really, i doubt there are many here that don't already know about it. ^_^

Woohoo!! 100 Reviews!! *Happy dances* Thank you to each and everyone of you! You guys are simply the best XD

So, to celebrate, here's Gene's first appearance to spread the warm fuzzy feeling amongst the masses.

Enjoy! ^_^

Playing with Naru-chan: Gene's Guidance.

"He said something again, didn't he?"

Mai looked up, surprised by her spirit guide's question. She was met with a familiar smirk and amused dark blue eyes. She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.

"Narcissists should be drowned at birth." She muttered darkly, turning away from the boy that looked identical to her boss. He laughed lightly, patting her brown hair softly.

"Now, now," he smiled down at her, eyes sparkling in a way that their carbon copies never did. "You don't really mean that, now do you?" Mai crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Of course I do." She stated bluntly. His smile widened almost cheekily.

"I don't believe you." He teased. Mai glared.

"Well that's your loss." She said waving her hand dismissively. "But don't be surprised if he suddenly joins you here unannounced. I might just do what should have been done a long time ago."

"Oooh?" He asked, feigning awe. "Like what?"

"Like making him drink the worst tea in existence." Mai said matter-of-factly. The boy laughed.

"You already did that." He chuckled. "Though, you might not remember much about it." He stifled his laughter behind a pale hand.

Mai stared, getting just a tad annoyed. Why did people keep laughing at her whenever she said that?! The girl just couldn't figure it out and no one was willing to tell her, no matter how much she begged and bribed.

Deciding he'd been allowed to laugh at her long enough for one day, she poked him in the arm. "Enough already, I don't see what's so funny about it." Mai crossed her arms and shot him her best 'business mode' face. "Besides, we should be doing research for the case. If go back empty handed, Naru will dock my pay."

"He's not very nice to his most valued worker, is he?" The teen smiled wistfully.

"Valued?" Mai scoffed. "I rank about as high as a bad book; only there to fill the gap because it looks funny if left empty."

'I'm sure my brother thinks quite highly of you, Mai." He said gently, a knowing smile on his face.

"Gene, you're talking rubbish." Mai sighed in exasperation. "Now, you're the spirit guide…so how about you get guiding?" He chuckled in response, deciding it would be a waste for him to argue with her.

"There's no time," he said. "You're already late with his tea. Go back now, before he gets cranky."

"Ahhh!" Mai groaned, not looking forward to waking up. "I should go then. Bye Gene.

"Mai," Gene said, just as she was about to turn and go. "Noll is ticklish behind his ears." He winked at her conspiratorially.

She stared at him in bewilderment. But before she could think to ask him why he was telling her that, he had faded away and she felt the world of the living pulling her back to consciousness…

**^^**^^**

Naru sat in his chair, feeling rather grumpy. He'd waited and waited for Mai to wake up, assuming she'd have something useful to contribute towards the case. However, all he'd got out of her was a nervous laugh and something about bad books, before she'd quickly rushed off across the hall to get tea.

…Speaking of tea. He hadn't had any in hours and it was starting to irritate him; not only had he not got any helpful information, but he'd had to wait for his tea too.

He glanced up from the case file to see Mai enter the base holding a tray laden with three tea cups. He waited for her to hand him his cup, before returning to studying the documents again. Mai delivered a steaming cup to Lin at the laptop, before sipping her own cup in silence, watching Naru read.

The teen ignored her, far too used to it by now to care if she stared. Had he known the thoughts trailing through his innocent looking assistant's mind, he may have reconsidered.

Mai had been thinking long and hard about Gene's parting words. 'Noll is ticklish behind his ears.' The thought intrigued her; she hadn't thought of Naru as the ticklish type. And being ticklish behind the ears only caused her curiosity to pique. She was so consumed by her thoughts on the matter that she didn't even realize that she'd been gazing at his ears. Nor did she consciously decide to approach her unsuspecting boss. But before she knew it she was standing right next to him, her fingers brushing lightly against the back of his ear.

Crash!

Naru shrunk away in a panic, knocking his chair over and falling rather ungracefully on the floor. His eyes were wide in shock, his hand covered his ear, and he looked the closest to pink Mai had ever seen him.

Lin spun around in his chair, alert and ready to call on his shiki for assistance, only to watch the young man in amusement. Mai was staring at him in disbelief.

"No way." She said, her lips tugging into an amused smirk. "He was right, you really are ticklish behind the ears."

Naru gaped at her in horror, unable to do anything else. His most guarded secret had just been revealed, and his mind was frozen in shock at the very thought that Mai now had yet another thing to possibly black mail him with.

Mai stood there a moment, before grinning. Naru's stomach flipped in fear at the sight.

There was a second of complete stillness, before both sprang into action. Mai lunged, Naru scrambled as far away from her as he could. He barely escaped in time, Mai was faster than he thought.

"Stay away from me!" He ordered, backing away from her warily.

"I just want to tickle you!" She flashed the evilest grin he had ever seen at him. He felt a chill run down his spine, and glanced at the door to his left, wondering if he'd make it to the door before she did.

There was a high possibility that, yes, he would. Good enough for him.

He dashed to the door. His escape was so close!

And then Takigawa and Ayako appeared in the door, blocking his way. He skidded to a stop before he slammed into them. They stared at him in surprise.

Shit!

He was trapped.

"Hey, Naru-bou, what's the-" Takigawa asked, raising a curious eyebrow at the youth.

He never did finish his question.

"Oi! Naru!" Mai yelled. "You're not getting away that easily!"

And to Naru's horror, she pounced on him from behind, legs wrapping around his waist, one arm around his shoulders, and the other tickling behind his right ear.

That was the first time any of them had seen Naru stagger around laughing his head off, trying his best to escape Mai's hold on him. He failed miserably before finally sinking to his knees in a fit of breathless guffaws, powerless against the girl's tickling torture.

If only they'd had a camera set up in the base.

Damnit! Naru thought once Mai had finally taken pity on him and stopped. Gene, I swear I'll get you for this!