Mai could tell that they had nothing more to worry about as they packed up; it was warm and smelled of old wood and dust bunnies in the huge house, and she felt incredibly at ease, once again able to admire the architecture and annoy Lin while they picked up all of the cameras. Her body was still sore, but the incredible, constant terror was long gone.

Naru and Lin were as silent and tense as before, but Mai bothered them with her bubbly energy anyway. The three had managed to pack up everything by the time that Masako, Ayako, Monk, and John returned; as much as they'd like to, everyone was too tired to celebrate, and while Monk drove Masako, Ayako, and John home, Lin took Naru and Mai.

Rather than going home, Naru, his bodyguard, and his assistant went to the Shibuya Psychic Research office in order to finish up some paperwork for the case. It was a long drive back, so it was nearly sunset when they arrived. Mai made them both tea, and while she knew he'd never admit it, it was fairly obvious that Naru was completely enervated; his normally sharp and precise movements had become a bit sluggish, and he frequently had to stop and blink at the sheets of paper in front of him to process what he was reading. Mai watched this for close to a half hour before she gave an exasperated sigh.

"Naru, you need to sleep," she advised sternly, her hands on her small hips. Naru turned slowly to glare at her, but before he could protest, Lin spoke up.

"She's right," he said. "Come on. I will finish these papers up once you are in bed."

"I'm fine," Naru maintained flatly.

"You hardly slept!" Mai protested, her voice rising steadily in aggravation. "Stop being so stubborn, Naru!"

He looked as though he wanted to keep arguing, but under the combined disapproving faces of Lin and Mai, he gave in with a long exhalation.

"Fine. Mai, you need to go home as well." The dark-haired boy paused for a moment, and then continued, "Let's go."

"Oh, I'll just take the bus and then walk the rest of the way," Mai told him. That was what she always did, after all. She found it a little odd that he'd suddenly want to take her home, as he hadn't offered to do it before.

"I'm your boss. Don't argue with me," Naru instructed tiredly. "Now let's go."

Mai couldn't honestly say that she minded him accompanying her, although she was a bit confused and concerned about how fatigued he looked. Lin also looked hesitant, but apparently deciding that it wasn't worth arguing about, he let them go.

The bus ride was a quiet and awkward one for Mai; she wanted to try to read his face, but she didn't want to stare. She wanted to say something, but she never knew how to begin, since he generally wasn't overly fascinated by normal topics of conversation. As far as she could tell, he seemed to have regained his alertness by moving around, but was unenthused as ever.

By the time the bus stopped a few blocks away from her building, it was dark except for the dim light of the moon; crickets were already chirping in the dead silence, although they quieted as Naru and Mai walked by. Mai attempted several times-unsuccessfully-to start a conversation, but Naru wouldn't bite.

Why did he come along if he's just going to sulk silently?

When Mai had finally stopped trying to speak to him, still a few blocks away from her place, Naru spoke up.

"How are your injuries?"

His voice was low and kind of grouchy, but Mai blushed at his words. She didn't know why, of course-feeling rather flustered and frustrated with herself, she responded as evenly as she could. "It's really nothing. I think injuries obtained by your spirit don't affect your real body too badly. We all just ended up with nasty bruises." Try as she might to speak normally, her voice sounded oddly pitched even to her.

Naru went silent again, not looking at her. Just when Mai had again resigned herself to quietude, he abruptly continued. "You did well." Mai glanced up at him, but he was looking straight ahead, as if trying to avoid her searching eyes. "Everyone ended up safe, so good job." He paused, and finally met Mai's gaze, his tone lightening a bit. "You know, for someone so stupid."

"Is that why you came with me?" Mai responded mischievously, grinning now. "Because you can't admit I did something right in front of the others?"

"I came along," Naru told her, "because with your-special skill set, I assumed you'd fall on your injuries and pass out again."

Mai couldn't help giggling a little at this. "Aw, Naru. You do care."

Naru turned his nose up at her. "Actually, I figured it would be a source of amusement, were I here to watch. Also, if you were to disappear, I doubt I'd be able to connive another assistant into accepting as little pay as you do. You're quite cheap."

"Gee, thanks."

Naru's face became very serious again, and he tilted his head, his bangs momentarily covering his eyes. "You really need to be more careful in the future." Another heavy pause. "You shouldn't have shoved me out of the way."

There was an odd tension between them; as they passed another house, a small dog began to yip annoyingly at them, and Mai found herself fighting the spread of heat in her face again. To combat this, she gave an unnaturally loud, fake laugh. "Well, if you weren't so useless as a spirit, I wouldn't have to save you. Plus, pushing you was fun. You had it coming."

To her dismay, Naru did not look amused at her awkward joke; instead, Mai got the distinct impression that he was offended. Knowing anything she said now would probably just make it worse, she shut up.

At long last, they reached Mai's place; he walked her to the door, still obviously grumpy and tired. Despite the weird ups and downs of their conversation, Mai felt a strange, happy glow in her stomach. When she smiled at him, it was sincere and with as much warmth as she could muster.

"Thanks for walking me home, Naru. Make sure not to fall asleep on your feet on the way back."

"Don't worry," he retorted. "I'm not as clumsy as you. I won't randomly fall over."

"Well, see you tomorrow!" Mai said brightly, ignoring the insult. Naru wordlessly turned around, but before he'd taken a single step, he hesitantly turned back.

Mai could only stare back as he looked at her, and although his facial expression was as even and indiscernible as ever, she thought she saw something moving behind his eyes. After a solid three seconds of charged silence, he reached into his pocket, taking her hand with his free one simultaneously.

Mai felt rather as if she were going to explode. Her face was undeniably hot now, and she had to repress the hyper squeak that threatened to rise from her throat. It was difficult, feeling so excited and emotional like this while also trying to figure out what the hell Naru-stiff, humorless Naru-was acting like this for.

Before she could have another confused thought, he placed her pebble in her hand, then withdrew quickly. He raised a hand in farewell, and mere moments later, he had disappeared again into the darkness, hidden by his simple black clothing as he left.

Mai sat down on the pavement, her heart still thundering in her chest. He'd kept the stupid little pebble, the one that she would have immediately discarded were it not for the fact that Naru had given it back twice now. Unable to determine whether Naru was actually feeling something like this emotion that he'd given her so easily or whether he was just being infuriatingly unaware of the impact he had on her yet again-or, worse, if he was just messing with her-she rolled the pebble over and over in her hand.

It was still warm.