The trip home with Mai was troublesome…for Naru, that is.

They rode a van that was owned by Emi's family. Naru sat beside Mai who was asked almost every minute about how she felt, what she planned on doing once she got home, about accepting their offer to leave her apartment and live with them again, about no longer working…

Naru, though looking as placid and impassive as ever, could feel the stare of Emi's parents and the other middle-aged people in the van. He would also feel Mai's uneasiness toward that fact. She would check Naru every now and then for any reaction on the various questions and stares that Emi's family were throwing.

"You didn't tell me that you had a male boarder in your house," Emi whispered to Mai. "And he's one hot catch too."

Mai's face tuned red. "It's not what you think," she whispered back.

"What am I thinking, Mai? I also heard he's from England."

Mai sighed. "He's here to look for a relative," she whispered. "He got into an accident. I helped him and took him home. He doesn't want to cause anymore trouble so he stayed with me." Of course she made the story up…partly since she still remembered Gene…

Emi snorted. "A tourist like him would stay in your apartment?"

Mai looked at Emi. "He was robbed." Would that shut them up? "I saw the robbers but they got away quickly. They beat him up to a pulp."

Emi looked shyly away. "You've reported it to the police?"

Mai nodded. Another lie!

Emi looked at Naru and sighed. "That must be why he's so aloof, huh? He's still traumatized."

Mai nodded, feeling triumphant and relieved that Emi took the bait.

They soon reached the alley street towards Emi's home which was near Mai's.

"At least eat dinner with us tonight," Emi said when Mai insisted that Naru and her will walk straight to the apartment upon getting off of the van in front of Emi's house. "We would be very upset if you decline."

Mai checked Naru's face for any reaction.

...None. He didn't seem to care whether she agreed or declined.

"Please, Mai-chan," Emi said.

Mai sighed and smiled. "Okay," she said. "Just tonight's dinner, okay…please?"

Emi chuckled. "Okay – just tonight's dinner. We'll see you later then, Mai-chan, Shibuya-san!"

Naru and Mai bowed and thanked them for fetching them from the hospital. They then walked home together.

"Sorry about earlier," Mai said as she walked with her head bowed in shame. "…And later."

"It can't be helped," Naru said.

Mai looked up at him. He was still emotionless. "If you need to defend your self later, just do it. They get too intrusive sometimes."

Naru looked at her for a moment and then turned to look back at the path.

They remained silent until they reached the house.

Mai excitedly pranced into the room upon opening the door. She slipped on the wooden floor of the kitchen.

"Mai!"

Mai closed her eyes waiting to feel the hard floor against her back. But she felt a warm body instead. Only her behind hit the floor.

She opened her eyes and saw Naru's arms around her – her head leaning back in the crook of his neck.

Naru was glaring at her.

Mai's cheeks flushed. It seemed to have become a habit of hers lately whenever she was with Naru.

"Will you never learn to care about your self?" he snapped.

Mai frowned. "It was an accident," she defended. "I'm sorry."

Naru shook his head and lifted her up. He led her to the corner that usually converted into a bedroom.

Mai gasped seeing two futons on the floor. "You bought that for you?"

"No," Naru said as he walked toward the new futon. He sat down beside it and then stared at Mai. "Aren't you going to get some rest?"

Mai slowly walked toward Naru and was about to walk around the new futon when she felt Naru pull her wrist. She looked at him and saw his head shake. She walked and sat near the new futon.

Naru patted the futon and then pulled a blanket from an open cabinet.

Mai sat on the new futon in confusion. It was very soft and fluffy unlike her futon. She then felt Naru's hands push her shoulders down, laying her flat on the futon with her head against a new comfortable pillow.

Mai's face was red all over.

Naru then covered her body with a new blanket – leaving only her head in view. "Matsuzaki-san said you still need to be in bed rest until tomorrow," Naru said. "You still have five hours to sleep before we go to Emi-san's house for dinner."

Mai nodded shyly. "You bought this for me?" she whispered as if she was afraid to hear the answer.

Naru looked away. "Matsuzaki-san said you need to sleep in a more comfortable bed. Your futon is already worn. I could barely feel the futon when I'm sleeping on it."

Mai scowled. "Why don't you use this futon instead then?"

Naru glared at Mai. "Just go to sleep, idiot."

Mai glared back. "Well I'm not yet sleepy, jerk!"

Naru sighed. "Don't tell me I have to tell you a story to make you fall asleep."

Mai stuck out her tongue.

Naru shook his head. "You're so childish," he said sitting beside Mai.

Mai turned her body to completely face Naru. "Naru, what do you think of this place?"

Naru looked at Mai. Her eyes were fixed at nowhere. He leaned his back on the nearby closet. "Small, cramped, cold, poor..."

Mai glared at Naru. "Not my house, jerk!"

Naru looked down at Mai again. He hid the smirk peeping from his shut lips. "It's okay."

"Is it more beautiful than England?"

Naru sighed. "This talk again," he muttered.

"I just want to know."

"I know," Naru said looking at the opposite wall. "It's beautiful. I can't say which one is more beautiful. It would be unfair. It's a given fact that I would prefer England because I live there."

Mai sighed. "You don't like it here then," she said.

Naru looked at her again. "I didn't say that."

Mai looked up at him. "What did you say then?"

Naru smirked. "You shouldn't make me choose which of the two is beautiful. I won't be able to give you an objective answer."

Mai smiled. "Can you give me a subjective one then?"

Naru looked at the opposite wall. "It's beautiful here too, but I will still prefer to stay in England. This is an interesting place. The culture and society is different – even the people. The sceneries are magnificent."

"But if you were asked to choose where you would prefer to go, you'd prefer your home, right?"

Naru looked down at Mai. She was staring at nowhere again. "Why are you planning to go to England if you don't want to go there?"

Mai froze. Blood filled her cheeks again. She looked up at Naru. "I never said anything like that."

"Your train of thought is on the idea though," Naru said. "And that blush on your face is enough proof to tell me that my deduction was right."

Mai looked away.

Silence filled the room.

Mai sighed. "When I was younger, my parents told me a lot of stories about how they met. They told me about the brick pavements that they walked on. They told me about the restaurants where they dined in. They told me about this huge clock where they looked at every night when they thought about each other. They told me about that…magic that gave birth to me. I never found those things here. I was hoping to see them in England."

Naru thought for a moment. "Your parents went to England before?"

Mai nodded. "My mother had some sort of work-related tour there once. My father worked there. They met there one night. They moved here after my father proposed to her. They told me about their plans to go back there someday with me so I would see the things they saw."

Naru looked down at his stretched legs. "Your parents are maudlin people."

Mai chuckled. "I guess they really are my parents. I actually keep a key from our house as a lucky charm."

Naru looked down at Mai and saw her pulling something out of her pocket. She showed him a key – a silver house door key.

Naru held the key.

Flashes of images hit his face.

There was an image of a couple using the key to open a door. They let a cheerful little girl inside with them.

There was an image of a woman grasping the key in her hand as she walked away from the house with the little girl. They were both in black.

There was an image of the woman on a hospital bed clutching the key and handing it to Matsuzaki-san. The woman asked Ayako to give it to her daughter.

There was an image of a middle-school girl with two brown pigtails holding the key in front of her chest. Tears streamed down her face as she faced the portrait of the woman from the hospital. Incenses were lit on either side of the portrait.

Naru handed the key back to Mai. He felt so heavy that he wanted to cry. They seemed too harsh to be experienced by anyone.

Mai kept the key inside her pocket again.

"Do you really think they would be happy if you went to England despite the fact that you don't want to go there?" Naru asked.

Mai sighed. "Should it really matter? Couldn't 'liking' something come later?"

Naru looked at the opposite wall. "You only like something when you decide to like it," he said. "When you admit that you like it."

"What if when your body decides that it likes it? Does that count as 'like' too?" Mai asked as she looked at Naru.

"No," Naru said. "That's lust."

Mai blushed and glared at Naru. "I wasn't thinking about…"

"…About what?" Naru asked smirking.

Mai looked away – her face redder than before.

"Mai."

Mai looked up at him.

"Sleep."

Mai froze and looked away. Somehow she did feel a bit sleepy.

"Just close your eyes."

Mai closed her eyes and curled up closer to Naru as she fell into unconsciousness.

Naru smiled and gently brushed her hair with his fingers. It had grown to be a habit of his ever since he slept on the chair beside her bed in the hospital.

At first he felt ashamed of it. But after that, he just couldn't seem to help his hand from doing it.

"Yes," Naru thought to himself. "Even if it's just your body that decides that it likes it, it can still be counted as 'like.'"