14AmyChan: Okay, this is gonna be harder than I thought... XD
Mai: why?
14AmyChan: I've never written couples as official pairs before. Only when they're about to date or already married do I write them. XD
Naru: Then now is an excellent time to learn.
14AmyChan: shut it Naru. XD
Mai: 14AmyChan doesn't own Ghost Hunt!
Mai glanced about the office with a slightly nervous look before entering in—what she hoped was—a quiet manner. She tip-toed passed her boss' door, over to her desk, and made herself comfortable in her chair. Perhaps if she started filing right away, he would not notice the fact that—
"You're late," his voice stated in a smug manner. Mai was caught by surprise and yelped in fear. She swiveled her eyes to the door of her boss' lair—er, office—not believing his uncanny ability to appear invisible when she was sure she had checked the door to his lair. …office.
"Naru!" she huffed at him, massaging her heart. "Quit scaring me like that! That's the second time this week!"
"Cease to be late," he countered, turning back into his office. Mai frowned and stuck her tongue out at his retreating form, just knowing that he could not see her. He, however, stopped after taking only one step.
"Stick your tongue back in your mouth, or I will have to do it for you," Naru stated, causing Mai to quickly retreat with a blush on her face. Even though she could not see his face, she absolutely knew he was smirking at her embarrassment. And probably relishing every moment of it, too.
It had been two weeks since the team had returned to Japan, and they were still awaiting the arrival of Martin and Luella Davis, who had been held up in England making further arrangements for BSPR. The Japanese team had gotten to their homeland safely enough, and there had been no cases as of late. At least, none that had caught Naru's particular interest. The irregulars continued to pop by every now and again, but things were generally quiet with only Naru, Mai, Lin, and Madoka in the office, the latter having opted to return with the Japanese team than with the Davises.
However, more frequently, Naru and Mai had been left in the office alone, as Madoka would drag Lin off to look at something or another, headhunt on possible cases for the team to take that would allow Martin to evaluate, or even something simple such as eating lunch. During these alone hours in the office, the two who had been left behind would flirt, argue, make out, or vainly attempt to get some work done. The latter would result eventually one of the former three activities being done instead. And the second would somehow eventually lead to either the first or third options being chosen instead. However, all of the activity that would clue the others in on their relationship ceased when others entered the office, and Mai knew exactly why and was glad Naru had informed her.
"Madoka is a line to my mother, and Lin to Madoka," he had explained. "If Luella hears of this too soon, she may get rambunctious ideas in her head and drag you along for the ride."
She had been inquisitive.
"What kind of plans?" she had asked, curious.
"Our mother," Mai took note that he used the word 'our' instead of 'my'. "Has always enjoyed planning exuberant celebrations. Anything from birthdays to family reunions. Even when a cousin visited the house, she had to make a very large deal."
"So... she'd make it a party that you finally got a girlfriend?" Mai had jested, poking Naru's cheek for fun. His clear cobalt eyes made it crystal clear that she had not understood something. Her red flags had gone up then.
"She would start planning a wedding," he had stated, gently taking her finger off of his face. "And while I do care for you immensely, I'm not sure either of us are ready for that step. Not for a while, at least."
Mai had thought about that for a long while (*coughtwodayscough*), and while she had initially thought that Naru had stated that he did not want to marry her—a miscommunication that had been cleared up on the third day through a fight and a few hours of tea deprivation—she had come to terms with the fact that neither she nor Naru were ready for that step just yet. It would be a while, for sure. After all, they still had to work out how to behave professionally—so far they had been avoiding each other almost entirely when everyone else was around to remain professional—and Mai felt that if this would work, a year's worth of quality time together would simply enhance the relationship they had just begun, not destroy it.
This was how they had come to agreement that the relationship be kept a secret. Not because they were embarrassed of one another, but because they did not want to be forced to move ahead in a relationship that had only just begun.
Right now, Madoka and Lin seemed to be out, as Naru—who had seemed to quickly rethink the pros and cons of returning to his office versus staying with Mai—had turned around and was heading in her direction with a sly smirk on his face. Mai grinned in return before popping up out of her seat and practically flying into the kitchen. This area was out of sight of the front door, so it was usually in the kitchen or in Naru's office that the flirting and kissing was done.
Arguing could be done anywhere.
"So your parents are going to be in town soon? And where are Madoka and Lin? Did they find another case to look over, or did they just go out to breakfast?" Mai asked as she made tea. The activity gave her a good reason to be in the kitchen, should anyone come snooping. Naru came up behind her and rested his arms around her waist loosely, nonverbally claiming her as his to the empty air. He could not express how glad he felt whenever he did that now. Now that he knew he could do that. He loved to call her his. As he would normally have quite the aversion to touch, it was a strange new feeling whenever he yearned to keep Mai close.
"My parents arrived at the airport ten minutes ago. Madoka and Lin have gone to bring them to their hotel to unpack and then to return here to the office," he answered, his face right next to hers. Mai, feeling brave, turned slightly to give him a peck on the cheek, but he swiftly caught her lips and they were soon lost to the world.
Until the kettle shrieked for their attention. Blushing dreadfully, Mai pulled herself away from Naru and returned to the task at hand; preparing the tea that had only been meant as a cop-out if someone came into the office. However, she knew better than anyone how Naru was without his tea. Even a cop-out had its purposes.
"So when are they going to be here?" Mai asked, the blush still furious on her face. No matter how often they did that—the flirting or the kissing—she would get the butterflies. Every. Single. Time. And she kind of loved it.
Naru, not happy with Mai's sudden distance from him, checked his watch with a frown. If Lin were driving, they might take up to thirty minutes to return. However, if Madoka or Luella were driving—
"Noll! We're here!" a boisterous voice called from the front of the office. Naru expertly moved further away from Mai as she finished making the tea, giving the impression of a healthy personal bubble for the both of them. Just in time, as well.
"Mother, do not make such a loud noise in a place of business," Naru chided, though his words went almost completely unheeded by his mother, who had easily found the two teenagers in the kitchen. Madoka was not far behind the excitable woman.
"Eh?" the pink haired woman with an obvious taste for trouble asked upon seeing that her former student was in the kitchen rather than in his office. She continued with a sly grin. "Noll, why aren't you in your office? Did Mai tempt you with her wily charms?"
Madoka's jest was met with a furiously blushing Mai and a glaring Naru, who never liked the fact that his teacher always seemed to hit the nail right on the head. Perhaps his teacher was as instinctual as Mai…?
Still, he had to think of some valid reason for himself to have moved from his comfortable office to the kitchen in the ten minutes she had been gone.
"Mai screamed, and I had thought that she had gotten herself into trouble again," Naru lied smoothly, his excuse not quite being heard by the last occupant in the room, Lin and Martin having decided earlier to wait in the front section of the office until Luella and Madoka had gotten their usual mischief out of the way. Naru flicked his eyes over to Mai, who was still blushing furiously and muttering about how Madoka was 'not fair'.
"Ara?" the pinkette asked, a knowing smirk on her face before turning to Mai, who had been zonked out of the conversation by then. "So what caused that, Mai?"
At the sound of her name, our favorite assistant came back into the conversation, her face still red. She looked between Madoka, Luella, and Naru, who all looked at her expectantly. Naru wanted to know what she would say, given her obvious history of excuse making whenever she was late for the job.
"Forgive me, I didn't hear what you were talking about, Madoka-san," Mai stated politely, but with enough force that one could tell she was mad at Madoka for saying such things. But more than they knew, she was embarrassed because they had come so close to the answer without being even five minutes in the room together.
"Why did you scream?" Luella hinted, not saying when Mai was supposed to have screamed or for what reason. Completely out of context, the brunette was on her own. She looked around the kitchen quickly, hoping an answer would come to her—
"A bee!" she finally blurted out. Two heads cocked to the side in confusion, while the third occupant of the room simply raised a curious eyebrow. Mai began to panic as she was supposed to be making an excuse, so she kept her eye trained on Madoka and Luella, for whom the excuse was being made up for.
"Yeah, it was a bee! It came in and was all bzz bzz, so I tried to get it back out of the window, and then it flew right up to my face!" Mai explained animatedly, pointing to her right cheek for emphasis. Madoka's mouth opened in an 'o' shape and Luella looked like she was about to have a heart attack, so Mai continued her graphic bee story. Naru simply watched and forced himself to remain exactly where he was, not moving an inch.
"So then, I screamed, and then Naru came out and—"
"Noll, you didn't get stung, did you?!" Luella asked hurriedly, turning to her son. Mai was left hanging midsentence with her hands in mid-gesture. She cocked her head curiously to the side. Yeah, bee stings hurt, but being tossed around by a ghost would hurt more. So why would Luella worry over a bee sting as opposed to all of the other dangerous activities—
"I'm fine, mother, the bee did not sting me," Naru smoothly supplied, his face an almost perfect mask of indifference. Mai could detect the slight amusement behind it and—based on their reactions to his slight humor—so could Madoka and Luella.
"Don't act like it's not a big deal, young man," Luella scolded her son, turning into mom-mode before Mai's eyes. She could feel herself gaping as the English woman openly scolded the head of this business. "You know how allergic you are to bee stings!"
"Your mother's right, Noll," Madoka frowned, also taking part in the scolding. Mai felt her mouth drop as Naru did nothing to defend himself from their berating words. "Last time it happened, you—"
"I'm very well aware of what happened, Madoka," Naru intervened. It appeared as though Mai had thought too soon. Though curious as to what had happened, Mai felt as though she should save Naru from the two overbearing yet completely well meaning women.
Mai: 1 save. Naru... we are not even going to go there...
"It's okay, the bee left out of the window and then I shut it good and tight," Mai said to put the women's fears to rest. Both exhaled in relief, though Mai could not stop interesting and curious thoughts from coming into her mind. She turned her attention to Naru with a slight smirk. "So... bee stings?"
His eyes flashed dangerously in her direction. And not in the "I'm angry" dangerously way either. Mai gulped.
"Mai, tea," he stated sternly as he turned tail and—with the sophistication of a poodle—went out to the main office to greet his father and Lin.
The betrayers who had left him at the merciless hands of Luella and Madoka.
"Ungrateful, tea-addicted, narcissistic..." Mai grumbled as she went to make another cup of tea, duly noting that Naru had left an empty cup in the kitchen for her to wash. Why did she love him again...
And he her...?
No, bad Mai! Stop thinking about it! Soon, you're going to—!
"Aww, isn't that adorable, Mai's blushing!" Madoka crooned from the brunette's right side. Surprised the girl made a slight jump to the left, where she promptly fell into Luella. Flustered, she took a step to the right, so she was now smack-dab between the two women.
And they looked like they were observing something quite interesting.
"N-no I'm not," the girl squeaked as she hastily made to grab the teacup Naru had left. Luella beat her to it.
"Oh, come, my dear," Luella chirped happily. "I know the signs when I see them~!"
"Signs?" Mai questioned, playing dumb and hoping the women would not push her. "What signs?"
It took one look between the two women and a chorused answer to make Mai feel scared.
"The signs of love, of course~!" the two practically sang. Though, somehow, it was quiet enough for the men in the other room to have not heard. That, or they were ignoring the ruckus from the kitchenette.
Betrayers...
"I—I don't know what you're talking about," Mai attempted to say past her blushing face as she gently took the teapot from Luella who let it go easily. Too easily...
Mai filled the kettle and began to set the heat on the stove.
"What's this?" Madoka inquired, leaning against the counter, her head lazily drooping off to the side so one could see the puzzled, yet very much mischievous, look upon her face. "Have you given up on your everlasting love for Naru?"
"Madoka!" Mai seethed, hoping to quiet the woman. However, the damage was done. Luella had heard.
"A girl still has a crush on my Noll after knowing him for at least a month?!" the woman asked, clearly delighted. Mai could practically feel the exuberant joy coming off of Luella, and tried to ignore her by focusing on making tea.
But there is only so much concentration one can give to boiling water without being ridiculous.
I'm going to be ridiculous, Mai committed, staring intently at the kettle as Luella chimed on about how she was going to plan a wedding and how she was going to have grandchildren and how she loved Mai the instant she met her and—
Wait.
"What?" Mai blurted, finally turning around to look at Luella, who had somehow managed to bundle her arms with mass amounts of white, pink, and blue fabrics, gather white roses, lilies, and baby's breath, and several streamers. The poor girl felt herself overwhelmed at everything the Davis woman had managed to collect in the span of perhaps two minutes!
"I liked you the instant I saw you! I just knew you were the one for Noll! After all," the elderly woman chimed, though as she continued, Mai's face may or may not have created a new shade of red. Quite similar to vermillion, though a few shades deeper.
As though it were some sort of gift from heaven, the kettle finally decided to shriek, ultimately taking priority for Mai's attention. As she fixed up six cups of tea for all who were there, she hoped that something would happen to stop Luella's fantasies right there.
The second gift appeared.
The bell chime, indicating a client, sounded.
They had a new potential client.
And Mai had to make more tea.
-OMAKE-
Surprised the girl made a slight jump to the left, where she promptly fell into Luella. Flustered, she took a step to the right. Then, a music track appeared and she and the two women with her were in playful costumes.
Mai just went with it.
"And bring your knees in tiiight~!" Mai sounded with a silly grin.
"And it's the pelvic thruuust~!" Madoka sang, enjoying every moment of the dance.
"That really drives you insaaane~!" Luella chirped, waving her head to the beat.
With one look towards the other two, they all grinned and sang the chorus line together in one great happy shriek.
"LET'S DO THE GHOST WARP AGAAAAIN!"
14AmyChan: *listening to the Time Warp*
Mai: that was fun!
Naru: you made me allergic to bee stings...?
14AmyChan: Well, you can't be invincible. That's just not allowed.
Mai: please read and review!
14AmyChan: and if you want me to try and make omakes, leave a comment about it. It was actually quite fun to make. XD
