SORRY FOR THAT CLIFFHANGER. D: ENJOY CHAPTER NINE!

Chapter 9

I closed my eyes quickly as a bright light overtook my vision.

Mai's POV:

The pain around me ceased and I felt suddenly warm. I no longer felt my feet on the ground. Was this death? Had I not stopped him in time? Oh well...At least this was warm and peaceful. I wonder when I'd see Naru. He died at the same time I did, so shouldn't he be here too?

The bright light behind my lids began fade and I felt panic bubble in me. Why is the light going away? Wasn't I in Heaven? A discomfort in my neck caused me to wince. This definitely wasn't Heaven. "Is she alright?"

Ayako?

"Mai?"

Monk?

"Open your eyes, baka."

Naru...Had we all died when he killed Mr. Kiba? I felt someone's hand press over my eyes, pushing up to force them open. Consenting to the tug, I opened them and let my eyes adjust. I stared around the room in shock. "...I'm...not dead?"

I was slumped in Naru's arms as he sat on the floor of Mr. Kiba's room. Mr. Kiba was lying on the ground by his bed. I gasped. "You're not dead and neither is he. The coward fainted."

I turned my head up to look into Naru's eyes. He looked...frustrated? Yes. Worried? Definitely. Exhausted, even. "What happened?"

His answer came in the form of an expression. He looked very...confused. Lin san's voice from the doorway startled me. "The idiot absorbed the energy back into himself."

I looked back up at Naru in worry, my eyes searching his for any signs of pain. "Are you alright? Do you hurt?"

He smirked. "Why, worried about me?"

"Noll." Lin san called. He walked into the room until he was standing a few feet from us. "Your father will want to hear about this."

"Lin san, please don't." I tried to plead. "I don't want Naru getting in trouble."

A very slight lift appeared at the corner of Lin san's mouth. "I mean about Noll managing to pull such a powerful wave of energy back into himself without instantly stopping his heart. He's stronger than I thought."

I looked around the room at the other faces. Ayako, Monk, John san, even Masako looked concerned. The distant sound of a helicopter could be heard a moment later. Monk looked over his shoulder, out one of the large windows that took up two stories at the front of the house. A very bright light was shining in.

"Looks like the party's arrived. Let's go greet them."

I heard what Monk had said, but I had gone back to looking at Naru's face, and that was all that I really cared about right now. I barely noticed the noise downstairs and when everyone seemed to leave the room. He was alive. I was alive. Everyone was going to be okay and Mr. Kiba would be put behind bars, never to harm young girls again. I was so relieved to be able to look at him, it took a moment to notice he was glaring.

"Do you realize what you were doing when you grabbed a hold of me earlier? If I had not heard you and reversed the pull, you would have had nearly all the energy in your body sucked out. I may be able to survive it, but you couldn't. Your heart would have failed."

I smiled. "You have no idea how much of a relief it is to have you scolding me."

He looked at me like I had told him something truly strange. "What is wrong with you?"

I forced myself to sit up in his arms and wrap mine around his neck. "I'm relieved. You're okay. I thought you were going to die."

"So you decided to come along for the ride?" He asked, sounding exasperated. He grabbed one of my shoulders and the back of my neck and pulled me back, forcing me to look at him. "You're either the stupidest girl I've ever met or-"

"Or I love you." I grinned, cutting him off. I slouched in his arms, the energy burst I was using to move and talk normally suddenly leaving me. I felt very tired, then. Exhausted, really. "Naru?"

He went from looking like he was trying to fathom my response to slightly curious. Maybe even a little cautious. "Yes?"

I yawned. "I'm tired. Let's go home."

As my eyes began to close of their own accord, I got to see his smirk once again. "We will."

"Goodnight, Naru..." I murmured. I was almost violently shook a moment later, making my eyes snap open. "What was that for?"

"Stay awake." He ordered, frowning. "After everything you've been through, you won't sleep until I do."

I felt a whine bubbling in my throat. "But-"

"No arguing. You're injured." He said firmly, clamping a hand over my mouth. I glared, but didn't fight it. When this narcissist tells somebody to do something, arguing is usually futile.

"Is this the assault victim?" A man in full emergency medical attire asked Naru as he and a police officer ran into the room. I pulled Naru's hand from my mouth.

"Yes, that's me. But I don't need medical attention. He didn't get too far." I told him, pointing to the unconscious Mr. Kiba.

"She's also had some stress put on her heart." Naru told them. Traitor...

"So have you." Lin san pointed out as he re-entered the room. "Make sure both of them won't go into cardiac arrest."

"What happened?" The emergency medical professional asked as he brought an electronic monitor from his bag. He attached the suction cup to my chest, just above my sundress.

"Electrocution." Lin san explained simply. "They both were messing with the stove downstairs, trying to fix it."

The man looked at his heart monitor screen. "Your pulse is a little fast, but I think you're alright. Still, we'll take you to the hospital soon."

He removed the suction cup from me and waited for Naru to unbutton half his shirt, exposing enough of his chest for the suction cup to be attached. My heart skipped a beat and I was glad to not be attached to the monitor anymore. That would cause some to worry. The medical professional took a little longer to look at Naru's results. He seemed to blanch. "Are you sure you haven't been messing with a car battery? I haven't seen a heart rate this high without the person being unconscious."

Naru held me a little tighter when Monk came in and reached for me. "I think I'll be fine."

"You're visiting the hospital when we're back at the mainland." Lin san told him firmly. "I'll expect you to go tonight with Miss. Taniyama. If they don't keep both of you for at least the weekend, I'll step in."

I smiled as Naru gave Lin san a rather childish glare. He paused suddenly. "Sorry about shooting you into a wall."

"You were still alert at that point?" Lin san looked a little surprised.

"Barely." Naru confessed and stood up with me in his arms. "If I had really tried, I could have stopped at that point and for another few seconds."

We were walking towards the stairs at this point. "Why didn't you?"

I had asked this. He looked down at me as we paused at the top of the stairs. He looked like he was fighting of irritation again. He finally settled on glowering, though not at me, I was sure. "Because I wanted him to die. I still do."

I shivered. The ice in his voice as he said this was heavy and made me cringe a little into his arms. I suddenly remembered something. "Tell the police to look for Kitsune too. She helped Mr. Kiba drug me."

He raised his eyebrows as he descended the stairs, keeping his eyes down to watch his step. "Lin did you hear that?"

"Yes, I'll inform them." Lin san responded before hurrying down the steps and up to a police officer that was questioning Tomo. She was shaking like a leaf.

"Make sure they don't try to blame Tomo, please." I looked up at Naru, making sure he was looking down at me. "That poor girl needs to be taken from this island."

"Would you be alright if we detained you for a few questions or would you like to wait until you've been treated?" A police officer nearby asked me.

Naru looked down at me, waiting for me to answer. "Uh...I think I can answer any questions now."

Carefully, Naru put me on my feet so I could follow the officer to the dining room. I was steadier than before, which saved me the embarrassment of falling on my face as soon as I was left to walk. Taking a seat across from the officer, I was asked several things pertaining to why I was on the island in the first place and what sort of behavior Mr. Kiba showed towards me and the other women in my company.

After about five minutes, he stood and shook my hand. "Could you send in the one who called for the ambulance?"

"That would be Lin Koujo." I informed him and headed out of the room. I found Lin san talking with Naru about ten feet away from the dining room. "Lin san, the officer wants to talk to you."

Lin san nodded and walked past me as the emergency medical technician who first checked our heart rates hurried up to me. "Are you ready to go? I can help you two board the copter first and get everyone else next."

"Yeah, sure." I smiled and was about to follow when shouting suddenly started from upstairs. We all stopped and stared as Mr. Kiba was escorted down the stairs by an officer, his hands already cuffed behind his back.

"Unhand me!" He yelled. "This is my house! They're all lying to you! I'll have your badge for this!"

"Save it." The officer said harshly. "Rich bastards like you make me sick."

Mr. Kiba's eyes shot wildly around the room. With his hair in disarray and one cheek bruised from when Naru decked him in the face, he looked a little savage. When his eyes landed on where Naru and I stood, I flinched back a little. I felt warm, familiar hands on my shoulders a moment later.

"You..." It was said with absolute hostility. "I'll drag you both down so far, you'll regret ever being born. Do you hear me? I'll end you!"

The officer jerked him towards the door then, ending his threat. "Keep this up and I'll sedate you."

I reached up and placed my hands over Naru's, squeezing. "Alright, I really want to go home."

Lin san appeared from the dining room then. "Alright, we're free to leave. I feel like we're pushing our luck the longer you two avoid medical treatment."

Smiling, I followed Lin san out of the house, knowing that Naru wasn't far behind. Within a matter of minutes, we were all loaded into the two medical copters along with our luggage. As we ascended and left Seishin Island behind, I felt a sudden burden lift from me. This, for sure, must be the most terrifying case we've ever experienced. Even the case at the labyrinth-like mansion where a blood draining monster nearly killed Masako and myself was nothing in comparison to taking on an ancient deity.

"Do you have a hospital preference?" The medical professional sitting up front asked.

"Take us to the Matsuzaki Family Hospital." Ayako told him. "At least I can guarantee good treatment there."

"How long do you think they'll keep us?" Naru asked her, his arm wrapping more tightly around me. There was a shortage of seats in the copters, even with there being two of them to split up the passengers, so Naru had put me in his lap when we got on earlier. Either nobody noticed or nobody cared. It surprised me. Not even Monk or Lin san looked surprised.

"You all seem remarkably cool about this." I finally said, unable to keep it in any longer.

Ayako gave us that knowing smile of hers and Monk grinned. Monk spoke. "Mr. Kiba has security cameras everywhere, doesn't he? Especially in the hall just outside the base. He paused the footage on a very interesting scene."

I covered my face, not wanting to give anyone to satisfaction of knowing I was blushing. "Oh my gosh!"

"Oh, don't be embarrassed." Ayako said in a teasing tone. "We all expected it to happen."

Dropping my hands, I noticed suddenly that John san was also in the copter. He looked up and gave the most innocent smile I've ever seen. "I'm so happy for you, Miss. Mai, Kazuya."

I looked down to avoid everyone's eyes. "It's not like we're dating."

"We're not?" Naru asked. I looked up to see amusement in his eyes, a frown on his face.

"Are we?" I blinked. This was too much. Is this how one gets a boyfriend or girlfriend? No asking, no courting? It just happens? I suppose I could have learned as much if my mom had lived long enough to talk to me about boys.

He tilting his head a little, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I think that's entirely up to you."

"I don't know, maybe you should tell him no." Monk suddenly said and we both looked at him with an array of expressions. "You could do so much better."

"Am I to guess that you're talking about you?" Naru asked, insult in his voice and a smirk on his face. Monk scowled at him.

"Mai's still in high school and you're already twenty-five." Ayako snipped at him. "Stop being such a dirty perv."

"What, a guy can't joke?" He said casually and flinched out of the way when Ayako reached out to hit him. "Stop being so violent, woman!"

"We're nearing Tokyo." The pilot called back to us, likely to shut Ayako and Monk up. Turning myself in Naru's arms, I looked out the windows as we began to fly over the city, lights shining everywhere. If not for the fact that my body is sort of aching and Naru needs medical attention for his heart, this would be pretty romantic.

Fifteen minutes later, we landed on the roof of our preferred hospital and took the stairs down to the fourth floor, where a few doctors and nurses were waiting, already informed that we'd need help.

"Good morning, Doctor Matsuzaki." A male doctor with blonde hair greeted. "Who will be needing treatment."

"This is Kazuya Shibuya and Mai Taniyama. They need treatment the most. Check their hearts and check Miss. Taniyama's digestive system for harmful substances." She gestured at Naru and me. "The rest of us just have a few scrapes an bruises."

Two nurses, one with blonde bobbed hair and the other with long black hair tied up, popped up then and gestured towards a hallway to the left. "The cardiac unit is this way. Please follow us."

As Naru and I followed the two overly enthusiastic nurses, I heard Lin san speaking to a doctor behind us. "If Mr. Shibuya is released before Tuesday at the earliest, I'll bring him right back. Don't let him convince you not to check everything thoroughly."

I glanced up at Naru. He was scowling. Well, it looks like this is gonna be a fun few days. The nurse with the blonde hair stopped by a door and opened it, her eyes taking in Naru. I felt a scowl of my own forming. "I'll be assisting you here, Mr. Shibuya. There's a hospital gown on the bed. Feel free to disrobe."

The dark haired nurse opened a door next to Naru's. "And this is your room, Miss. Taniyama. I'll be back to check your vitals as soon as you're changed into your gown."

I paused as Naru went into his room, the blonde nurse trying to follow him right in. The little tart. I grabbed her arm and allowed Naru to shut her out. "Why don't we leave him to change on his own. I'm sure he knows how to put the thing on without help."

She flushed, knowing she had been found out. She pressed her pointer fingers together. "One can never be too sure."

"Of course." I said between clenched teeth. Giving her one last loaded look, I went into my own room and put on the slightly itchy gown.

The next few days were unpleasant to say the least. It took a full twenty-four hours before I was trusted without a heart monitor hooked to me, but Naru was stuck with one until his stay at the hospital is over. By Monday, I was permitted to leave, but Naru would be expected to stay a day longer, much to his dismay. He had Lin san to thank for that. But with no work to go to and it already being after school hours by the time I was checked out, I was able to spend that extra day keeping Naru from ripping out his I.V. and storming out of the hospital.

"Stop messing with it." I said for the nth time as he moved the I.V. cord out of his way. "You've already pulled it out on accident once today."

"I don't need it." He insisted, looking ready to snap. "I'm apparently well enough to leave tomorrow at noon but they won't even let me wear my normal clothes."

I snickered as he adjusted the collar of the hospital gown he wore. "I think you can thank your nurse for that. If you ask your doctor directly, he'll tell you that you can wear your regular clothes."

He blinked, his frustrated eyes widening. "You mean I could have been out of this damned thing this whole time?"

Holding my sides, I burst out laughing. When I had calmed down, I reached for the plastic bag on the table beside me. "I'm pretty sure. Lin san gave me this to give you. I think it's a change of clothes."

The look of relief on his face was priceless. He gave me an expectant look and I stood, holding my hands up. "I get it. I'll go find a vending machine. After that, I should probably get some of my homework done. Luckily I take homeroom with someone willing to copy things down for me."

I had barely taken a step from the bed when I felt his hand grab my wrist. Turning around, I looked down into his dark eyes. He was still frustrated, but it was tinged with something else I couldn't quite place. "Don't go running off on me. If I'm stuck here another day, so are you."

My cheeks flushed as he spoke. Unable to meet his intense eyes, I looked at the floor, at a book bag I had brought. "I intended on doing it here if that's okay. I've got everything with me."

His mouth formed a cross between a smirk and a smile as he let go of me. "Alright, you're free to leave for five minutes. No longer."

I crossed my arms as I backed towards the door. "Excuse me? I'm not currently working. If you want to boss me around, you'll have to wait until tomorrow afternoon."

"Five minutes." He repeated as I left and I shook my head. Baka. If he's gonna be demanding like that, I think I'll take six minutes. As I walked down the hall, I paused by a vending machine up ahead and looked at the options.

"That one's broken." A woman at a nearby desk called. "You're better off checking the vending machines in the cafeteria."

"Thanks." I smiled and headed for the elevator. While I'm down there, I might as well buy lunch for Naru and myself. Looks like I'll definitely be taking at least six minutes.

As the glass elevator quickly lowered to the first floor, I stared down at the cafeteria tables and spotted Ayako's familiar cherry red hair. She was in her lab coat, talking with Monk. More like yelling based on the way she's swinging her arms around. As soon as the elevator stopped, I hurried to join them.

"I'm this close to throwing you out of here." Ayako said between gritted teeth. She had a very fake smile on her face, like she was trying not to let anyone else know how furious she was. "When I said no free lunches, I meant it. Now stop asking for money. And if you page me for something so stupid again, I'll ban you from the hospital and you'll have to find a new primary doctor."

Monk crossed his arms and huffed. "You're so stingy. I left my wallet at home. I'd pay you back."

Glancing at me, Ayako turned away from him. "How's Naru?"

"As grumpy as last you saw him." I said with a shrug. "He really wants to go home."

"With everything that happened on the island, he's lucky to be leaving tomorrow." Ayako snipped, irritation back in her eyes. "I meant what I said earlier. If he pulls that I.V. out again, I'll make him stay an extra day."

"Trust me, he understands." I held my hands up and glanced around her at the vending machines across the room. "How are the prices? Am I better off buying a full meal or sticking to the vending machines?"

"The vending machines are a complete rip off. Stick to the full meals. And if you're picking something up for Naru, give my name and Naru's room number and they'll wave the fee for his since he's still checked in." Ayako told me before hurrying towards the elevator.

As soon as she was gone, Monk grinned at me. "She's so easy to tease."

"She's easy to tick off, too. I'm surprised she hasn't tried to beat you up, yet."

He waved a hand to dismiss it as we both entered the cafeteria's food area. "She's mostly bark."

"I saw how hard she fought the villagers back on the island in the basement of the first house. She's got some bite. Do you think Naru likes anything besides tea?"

"As his girlfriend, shouldn't you know?" Monk said while poking my side. He's trying to get a rise out of everyone today, isn't he?

"I'll just make him some tea upstairs. They have a kettle and I brought a tin of the loose leaf tea he likes. As far as food..."

"He likes agedashidofu." I heard Lin san's soft voice murmur behind me. Turning around, I found him getting a tray of food for himself.

"Really? I never pictured Naru as the type to like fried Tofu." Monk said. He glanced at the buffet style food line and wrinkled his nose while sticking out his tongue. "I can't stand the stuff."

"I thought a Buddhist monk would practically live on Tofu." I said.

"As you've probably guessed, I'm not like most monks." Monk gave me a lopsided grin and winked.

"I think everyone's aware of that." I rolled my eyes and turned towards the food line. "One order of agedashidofu and one order of sukiyaki steak, please."

Collecting the food, I headed back to the glass elevator and made it back to Naru's room in what I thought was only five minutes. He was already dressed in his normal clothes and sitting on the bed again. His answering scowl told me I took too long for his taste. "You're late."

I returned the scowl. "And? It takes time to order from the cafeteria. On top of that, there was a line and I had to stop and talk to Monk and Lin san."

"Lin is here, still?" He asked, ignoring any mention of Monk. "He said he would manage the office today."

Closing the distance between us, I sat his to-go box on his lap and bopped him on the head. "He'll probably do that after he gets something to eat. You need to relax for once or you might be kept here longer than another day. Putting stress on your heart is something you're trying to avoid, remember?"

His answering frown was deep but also laced with a resigned look. Accepting a pair of wooden chopsticks from me, he broke them apart and opened his lunch. He paused, a look of confusion on his face. After a moment, it settled back to his usual passive expression. "You spoke to Lin, I see."

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I took a quick bite of my own meal before speaking. "I never thought you'd be into tofu, honestly. You seem more like the drink the blood of your enemies, type."

He furrowed his brow. "What?"

"You know, a meat eater. A steak eater specifically. It's surprising that you're a vegetarian. Though it does explain why you're so healthy if your diet is just tea and tofu and vegetables-"

"Mai, I'm not a vegetarian." He interrupted. "I also do not particularly like tofu. It's what I'm forced to eat during any time I'm hospitalized. Lin usually concedes and lets me fry it on occasion as a compromise."

I blinked. "Oh, so you like fried foods. Really?"

He took a bite, his jaw set. "I only fry tofu. Nothing else."

I turned completely towards him, letting one knee rest on the bed and the other dangle. "I'm starting to get the feeling I know nothing about you."

"You don't." He replied simply. "But I do know quite a bit about you."

I glared. "Oh, and what makes you think you know a thing about me?"

He was silent for the time it took him to take another three bites and wash it down with a sip of water from the cups I also brought up. "You're as easy to read as a book."

I felt a flare of irritation bubble and nearly boil over. Old habits die hard, I guess... "Oh? Then what is my favorite food?"

"Mochi. Only the fruity kinds." He answered right away. Dang it...he's right. But I'm not giving up yet.

"Least favorite food?" I quizzed.

"Brussels Sprouts."

"How could you possibly know that? I haven't had to eat them since I was a kid so I don't even talk about them."

"Miss. Matsuzaki offered you some from her lunch shortly after you started working for me for the first time. Your reaction told me how much you disliked them."

I felt my mouth go slightly agape. "How do you remember that?"

"It's called paying attention. You should try it sometime."

"You're really pressing my buttons today. I know you're having a bad time but don't take it out on me." I said a little louder than I intended, causing him to pause as he was bringing a bite up to his mouth. Oh, man...Now he's gonna yell, isn't he? He put the fork down and closed his box before sitting it aside. Reaching forward, he took my box and put it on top of his.

"Uh, Naru...? I'm sorry, okay?" I murmured, trying to get an idea of his mood. His expression looked as passive as ever. I flinched as he leaned forward and grabbed my shoulders before jerking me onto the bed and into his lap. I caught myself against his chest before I could hit my head against him. I could feel myself shaking with nerves, especially as he moved one arm around me and placed the other under my chin, forcing me to look up at him.

"I'm sorry for offending you." He said after my face was sufficiently red.

"Okay!" I managed to get out. "Don't mention it."

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards as he leaned in and placed a firm his on my lips, not bothering to shut my eyes for me this time. I couldn't close them, especially since he kept his open and half lidded. It was impossible to look away when he had me captive this way. I felt my fingers itch as the desire to touch his hair or the back of his neck surfaced. Before I could get up the courage to do either, he pulled away.

"I'm forgiven." He said and finally let a smirk take over his face.

I held in a growl and lifted up a hand to hit him when the door opened. We both froze as Ayako came in, a clipboard in her head. "Alright, Naru, cooperate with me. I need to check your heart activity...Am I interrupting something?"

"N-no!" I stammered and we quickly pulled away from each other. Climbing off the bed, I went to lean against the wall and hide my face with my hair while Ayako stepped forward. She pressed a button on the heart monitor and printed out a copy of his heart rate.

"Alright, let's see what we're working with and then you two can have the room to yourselves. You clean up any messes you make, got it?"

Any good humor Naru had was gone. He gave a dark glare to Ayako. "Enough about that, you're mistaken."

"Sure I was...Alright, your heart rate was a little fast early this morning, around 3:05AM. Can you remember what you were doing or thinking about at the time?"

I didn't miss the way Ayako's eyes darted towards me as she said the word 'doing'. Isn't she presumptuous. I looked away. Naru answered. "You gave me clearance to sleep at midnight last night and I fell asleep shortly before three."

"Nightmare?" She asked and Naru chose to avert his eyes to the window.

"I don't remember."

Ayako sighed. "Try to. If you don't, I'm going to have to assume that you need to stay here longer. I'll clear the room if you're embarrassed to admit that something scared you in front of your girlfriend."

"It wasn't that it scared me. I'm having my own flashbacks of the last time we were all in the village." He finally told her.

She wrote a note next to that time on the sheet. "And what about 4:27 this afternoon? There was a fluctuation in your pulse for just a moment, like you were briefly startled or something."

I could have answered that one. My face turned a bright shade of red. That was around the time I was checked out from the hospital and went to see him. I looked down at my shoes for a moment before looking back up at him. Did I really have that kind of affect on him? He glanced up and our eyes met, which didn't escape Ayako's attention.

"It's probably your faulty machinery." Naru told her as soon as he broke our eye contact.

"Sure it was. And I can answer why your pulse sped up about three minutes ago. Alright, looks like you're good. I'll go show your chart to Lin and see if he wants to let you check out early. If he agrees, you're to pick up the prescription I write for you and stay home for the night. I also am mandating that you refrain from taking any serious cases for at least the next month. Lin is backing me up on that one, got it?"

If Naru wasn't irritated with her a second ago, he was now. "It's my company. You, nor Lin, can tell me when to take cases."

Ayako dropped the doctor act and sat her clipboard on the edge of the bed. "Naru, this case nearly killed you and Mai. You can't keep putting this kind of stress on your heart. You're still in your teens and you have the heart of someone who's thirty. That can be fixed with time and the right kind of diet, exercise and medication, but not if you keep putting stress on yourself."

I stepped forward. "She's right. Please, for me, don't keep pushing yourself past your limits. One month. Just one month of only taking easy to solve cases. Please."

His subtle expressions changed around for a moment. Finally, he went back to looking passive. "There's been an offer for a case located at a local business. Just a standard poltergeist that hasn't shown any violence. I could probably solve it in a night. Is that too dangerous to accept?"

"That sounds reasonable." Ayako conceded. "Stick to cases like that. And try to stay clear of any case that absolutely requires the use of your powers, alright? Don't openly walk into something you know might kill you."

"I'll see what I can do." He told her and looked to me. "Mai?"

I stood up straight. "Yeah, Naru?"

"Tea?" It was more of a question this time, as if he wondered what my answer would be. I fought the smile I felt and eventually surrendered to it.

"Sure. Give me a minute." I grinned and turned to boil some hot water in the electric kettle.

As I prepped his tea, I thought about how things have changed since Naru's return from England. Just a little over a month ago, I was working elsewhere and resolving myself to never speak to Naru again. Who would have guessed that I'd be here now, making tea again for my boss who I was apparently now dating. Deep down, part of me wonders if I should have given him another chance. There's no promise that things won't end badly. He could go back to his old distant behavior and cause me to hurt. He could turn out to be a bad boyfriend or I could turn out to be a terrible girlfriend. There's nothing currently stable about this relationship and I'm not sure if I should be worried or not.

Finishing the tea, I turned to bring it to him as Ayako left the room. Taking it from me, he gave me a slight, mesmerizing smile that made me feel weak in the knees. In that one smile, I realized that, whatever the cost, I don't care. I love him and that's worth whatever pain it may cost, even if it results in something unspeakable down the road. Whatever may wait in my future, I hope with all my heart that it includes him.

~FIN~

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING MY FANFIC! I HAVEN'T FINISHED A FANFICTION IN A LONG TIME AND IT FELT SO GOOD TO DO THAT AGAIN. THANK YOU TO ALL THAT STUCK WITH MY STORY, WROTE REVIEWS, FAVORITES OR FOLLOWED. IT WARMS MY HEART AND I HOPE TO WRITE MORE FOR YOU IN THE FUTURE. I DON'T WANT TO GET YOUR HOPES UP THAT THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL, BUT IF THAT'S EVEN REMOTELY SOMETHING YOU GUYS MIGHT WANT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. IF ANYONE COULD FIND TIME IN THEIR DAY TO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THE STORY AND WHERE I WENT WITH IT, IT WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED. THANK YOU AGAIN! :D

-SPIRITEDCHILD