I realize after re-reading that i have been calling "Masako" "Madoka" instead. This is my bad. I have edited those chapters and will be more conscious of it in the future. Since it has been awhile since i've written anything, some names have gotten jumbled.

Also the sentence in the last chapter about Monk not being sure about Ayako, was meant to be Masako as well.

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Mai's P.O.V

I wanted to get out of bed and move. My fever broke yesterday but Naru refuses to let me move out of bed for anything but the bathroom and to change.

"Naruuu come on, i'm fine now, please just let me go to the living room at least…" I practically begged. My vision was still hazy but i couldn't just stay in bed all the time. I looked over as his book closed and he sighed.

"The living room, and back patio…that's it…I don't want you losing your balance and fainting again." He said sternly. I smiled and sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. Using the nightstand to prop myself up, Naru took my arm to help me downstairs.

"I hate being this sick…It's never happened to this extent before…" I said quietly. "I'm just more of a bother this way"

"True. You're also more useless when you're sick" He stated. I felt my eye twitch and glanced at him, "So hurry up and get better." He finished, setting me on the couch then going to the kitchen. His eyes are as emotionless as ever. Sighing, i watched him. The way he moved gracefully, silent as the wind. My eyes softened.

"You don't have to be so mean to me now, ya know." I said. He stayed quiet and i hummed, "Or are you mean because you don't know how to show you're concerned?" I asked. That made him tense up. I could see Gene in the mirror's reflection smirking at him.

"You sound like my brother." He said, walking over with a cup of tea and sitting next to me, handing it to me. I leaned back and sipped it, humming quietly. "It's not that i don't know how to show my concern for others, i don't want others to be affected if my emotions cause my abilities to go out of control." He clarified, opening his book.

"But it's me, Naru…You've shown me so much of the secret side of you, i don't want you closing yourself off again." I said, looking at the tea in my hand.

"I know. But you being in this condition makes you more susceptible to being injured by my abilities." I just sighed.

"No use trying huh?.. Even if seeing your softer side would help me recover faster?"

"That's a synthetic medicine. A Sugar pill. It'll help you mentally, but physically your body needs to recover." He said. I blinked and giggled, covering my mouth. Seeing him look at me finally, "What's so funny now?" He asked.

"You idiot…" I giggled out, stopping him before he could turn it back on me, "I know that, that's the whole point of me saying that…When you smile, it makes me feel good…Sometimes you need to really not open that pretty mouth and just accept what's told to you."

"What would be the point of that? I'm not the kind to fake an emotion and you know that."

"Ah, but you are. Remember when we first met? You smiled at me and my friends…even if your eyes were empty and sad, you smiled and acted like you were happy."

"No, i smiled to be polite."

"Polite? You?" I laughed, "you're not even polite to your own mother, Noll!" I kept laughing, setting the tea down, "you are the most cold hearted, narcissistic, un-polite asshole, i have ever met." I wiped my eyes and looked at him, his eyes had widened and he looked surprised.

"You haven't…said all that in a while…" He said.

"You haven't given me a reason to. Plus i had a lot of other things on my mind with my family secrets and all" I shrugged, looking back at my tea with a soft smile, "but…if you think about it…I think that's why i fell for you and not your brother…" I said.

"What do you mean?" He closed his book and turned to look at me.

"You're so cold…and calculated. Rude and you run a tight ship. But you also have a side of you you don't let others see…You're 19 now right?" He nodded, "You were 17 when we first met…and you hated noise and bothersome issues,"

"I still do"

"But…you accepted us. As loud and annoying as we were, you allowed us to be there, and you even participated. Even if you were quiet and had your head in a book, you still sat with us. Part of me likes to believe you enjoyed having that company…" I said, looking at the tea. "Maybe it's because like you, i'm an orphan, and lived a rough life so you felt bad. Using the excuse that i was paying back for breaking the camera even though it was insured. Or maybe it's because i reminded you of Gene…anything is possible at the end of the day, but i think… i fell in love with being able to see the gentle side of you. Like at the orphanage, or Yasu's and the Hexed school…You only showed it to me, didn't you?" I looked at him finally and saw a look i'd never seen him show before. One of admiration and love, yet amusement. His face was leaning on his hand. I felt my cheeks go hot "W…what…?"

Naru's P.O.V

"W…what…?" She stuttered with a face as red as a rose.

"Yes." I said, answering her question. "It was only you i showed that side to back then. And if you really reminded me of my brother as much as you think, i wouldn't be dating you, that's a little creepy." I continued, gently taking a strand of her hair and pulling it to my lips, "It's true you reminded me of him in some ways…You both had the same mentality, similar abilities. Even Lin stated that you said things that made you sound like him. But i still saw you as an idiot girl who never studied and was horrible at English and math. You used the job to get away with slacking off in school. But you also wore your heat on your sleeve and spent time trying to coax me out of my shell."

There's no point in trying to hide it now…I really love this girl with all my being. She poured her heart out a year ago, and again today…and i really can't deny it anymore…

"I'm not an idiot…" She mumbled, i just smiled.

"You still have your moments. But you have grown a lot…Maybe it has to do with my rejecting you that made you more tough and harder to reach…or maybe even just growing up in general. But you went from being a useless idiot who could only do anything of value in your sleep, to someone who can do more when awake then when passed out. Though you still sleep a lot." I said, leaning on my hand again and watching her face change from anger to a blush of embarrassment.

"The hex school…" we said at the same time, looking at each other.

"That's when…i started liking you…with your little pet…" she said, pulling her knees up.

"Guess we were thinking the same thing…" I muttered, pulling her into me gently.

"Then i started realizing that i loved you at Yasu's school, when you saved me from being crushed by the ceiling…"

"Yea that still hurt." I said, rubbing my shoulder, that ceiling was heavy and left a scar on my back. "I realized i loved you during the Winchester house…" I said softly, when you had that nightmare and screamed so loud i heard it all the way down the hall…Then when you disappeared and i had to hide how worried i was about you." I nuzzled her hair softly, closing my eyes. She was still a little warm, though her fever was almost completely gone.

"I…appreciated the gesture you made that night…with the tea..?" She mumbled, voice sleepy, "It made me happy to know that even in the ice cold heart of yours…even i could light a small fire…" She said before dozing off on my chest. I just let her sleep at that point, we'd said all we needed to for the day. Next week…I take her back to Larny to continue her training. Which means i have to go back to pretending i don't want to kill the man. But for now…I let her rest…