These chapters just keep getting longer!

Thank you sooooo much to anyone who has reviewed, I seriously appreciate it. I'd love to get even more in the future- make my dream come true!

Plasticbagfreak: Indeed it was the Kobe Earthquake. I think we've made the subject of my intellect blindingly clear, and so we shall not mention it again.

Ah yes. When Mai gets to the bit about her parents, I know that the mother father thing is switched round. It fitted better with my plot that way.

Enjoy!

Life is the strangest thing...

Ayako heaved a giant sigh of relief at the sound of her mobile phone, and rummaged around in her leather handbag to find it. Finally, a distraction from walking around in a field, examining...leaves...(again, my knowledge of geography...damn, I said I wouldn't bring it up...). Once she had brought it out, naturally the latest and best phone, she flipped it open and held it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Ayako. I need something quickly from you."

"Naru? How did you get this number?"

"It doesn't matter!" Naru almost shouted. Ayako raised her eyebrows at this out of character attitude.

"Well? Spill, I'm so bored- I mean, what's a girl supposed to do in the middle of a field with all this cow shi-"

"Tell me where Mai lives. There's been an earthquake."

"An earthquake?" Ayako's eyes widened and Takigawa, who was standing some yards off, heard and came closer, frowning.

"Just give me her address."

"One sec," Ayako flipped to Takigawa. "What's Mai's address?" she hissed at him. The trainee monk frowned, but then recited it out to Ayako, who then repeated it to Naru who was anxiously waiting.

"Tell me if she's alright-"

Naru had hung the phone up. Ayako and Takigawa were left in the middle of a muddy field, staring at each other fearfully.

"Damn that girl," spoke Takigawa haggardly, trying to lighten the mood. "Why is she such a magnet for danger?"

"If anything happens," began Ayako.

"Don't say things like that," cut up Takigawa. "We're her only family."

---

Naru raced back to Lin, who hadn't moved.

"Car. Now." He demanded. Lin blinked for one split second, but then went to find his keys. He had only seen Naru like this once before. When Gene had been taken from him. It was a known fact to those who knew him that Naru held those he knew well much closer to his heart than he let on.

Once they were in the car, Naru handed Lin a piece of paper on which he had written the address. Lin stared at it.

"That's quite far away..."

"I don't care!" Naru shouted. Lin silently started the car and realising the urgency sped all the way.

When they got into a half an hour distance from the address, the sign of severe damage began to show. Houses were upturned from their foundations, and ambulances and cars were everywhere. The streets were filled with people, lost and scared, and fires were breaking out every few yards. Utter turmoil meant that the roads were unfit to be driven on; there were an impossible number of cars in a small stretch and Lin had just joined it, with a number of cars abruptly behind him. Naru swore under his breath, but quickly turned to Lin.

"Where is her house from here?"

"Go straight until the library, turn right and then a left. " Naru nodded and then opened his car door to step out.

"Wait!" called Lin in surprise. Naru slammed the door behind him and quickly pushed his way past all of the people.

Naru soon made it to what he supposed had been a block of flats, but which was by now barely a pile of rubble. There were even more now homeless people than before, and he strained to catch a sight of Mai. After calling her name a few times, he finally saw her.

On her own, staring at the large pile of bricks, suddenly looking more vulnerable than Naru had ever seen her before.

"Mai!" At the sound of his voice, Mai turned as Naru finally met with her. Her eyes widened.

"Naru? How did you get here?"

"Doesn't matter. Are you hurt?" she shook her head, and Naru felt a bubble inside him burst with relief. "Good. Were you able to retrieve anything?" Mai shook her head, but then forced a smile.

"It will be okay. I'll just stay at Ayako's until I get compensation or something."

"Ayako's on a geography trip." Mai barely registered the fact. She stared into space, trying to remember what was going on, and at the same time slightly scaring Naru. He rolled his eyes, and took her by the arm.

Realising she was being dragged away by something, she looked at Naru.

"What's going on?"

"You're coming with me," he replied, and slightly more certain she was going to follow, let go of her arm. She followed him out of the hustle of people.

Figuring quickly that there was a detour Naru could take to not see as many people, he turned another left and the crossing. As usual, he was right. Mai was remaining unusually silent, now staring at the sky, which had tuned ominously dark.

"It's going to rain," she noted simply.

Understatement of the century.

Rain slashed down at everything in sight, putting out all the fires. Mai kept her head down and tried to ignore the throbbing feeling in her skull. She moved slightly closer to Naru, and rubbed her head, hoping he wouldn't notice as she winced. He did.

"Are you sure you're not hurt?"

"Of course! I'm fine! Well, actually, my head hurts a bit," she confessed. Naru frowned.

"A bit?"

"Perhaps a bit more that that..." the world started swaying, and Mai's vision began to blur. Alarmed, Naru stopped.

"Naru?"

"What is it?" he asked urgently.

"I'm sorry," and with that, her eyes drooped and she fell unconscious. As she dropped to the ground, Naru swiftly caught her and then carried her in his arms so that he was cradling her; her head resting against his chest. He stared at her wet face, also noting how light she was.

Silly girl. Why did she make everything more complicated by pretending not to be hurt?

He had every mind to drop her.

---

Naru was soaked through by the time he reached Lin's car. He opened the back door, with some difficulty, and slid inside, still holding Mai. He nodded at Lin, who was looking at him worriedly from the wing mirror.

"Find a way to get out of here." Lin hesitated.

"Is she-?"

"I don't know. She must have hit her head somewhere," as he spoke, he gently lifted Mai's head and looked for any cuts. Luckily, there were none.

"It's probably just a light concussion," he said, half to himself. Lin was going to ask if they needed to take her to a hospital, but decided, (as Naru had), that the hospitals would be too busy with more serious patients as it was. He pulled up the handbrake and veered a left, glad that some of the traffic had finally let off and trying to see through the rain and upcoming darkness.

---

As Ayako's phone rang loudly, she shot a scared glance at Takigawa before snatching the phone from her bag and practically ripping it open.

"Yes?" she impatiently demanded.

"She's fine. She with me now." Ayako heaved an enormous sigh of relief, and nodded to Takigawa, who was peering at her anxiously. "She's fine," she assured him. He broke out into a strained but relieved smile.

"Can I speak to her?" Ayako turned back to a tired sounding Naru.

"...No. She's sleeping."

"Ok. Tell her when she wakes up that we're all glad she's okay."

"Sure." Naru hung up, and Ayako turned to Takigawa, smiling. He smiled back at her.

"See? What did I tell you?"

Mai awoke with a throbbing headache, but did not open her eyes. Through her lids she could tell that there was some light shining wherever she was. Sighing, she struggled to remember what had happened before she lifted her lids. Then it all flooded back to her. The earthquake. She had lost her home, her belongings, and the place she had tried so hard to keep. She had lost her home once before, but the circumstances were not quite the same.

As she thought about her first and favourite house, it struck her that she had forgotten something in her flat; the most important thing to her.

Mai's eyes flew open and she quickly sat up, her head throbbing a touch faster at the sudden movement. She noticed that something moved on her pillow and turned to see an ice pack move to the side. Mai was momentarily stunned from movement as she noticed her surroundings.

She was lying in a medium sized comfortable bed, in a luxurious room with beautiful furnishings. On her left was a large window, which was letting in vast amounts of light, but some were blocked by the figure standing in front of it, their back turned away from her. She should have known.

"So I take it this is the upstairs of your house?" she asked, trying to act casual. At the sound of her voice Naru turned and leaned against the window, crossing his arms.

"Five brownie points for your observations," he noted dryly. Damn his always sarcastic mood. Mai was going to make a retort, but then surprised herself by sneezing. Many times.

"Just like me to catch a cold," she said to herself.

"You were in the rain a lot," remarked Naru.

But then Mai remembered what she had opened her eyes for, and she suddenly started frantically searching the small table next to her, and then the pockets of her clothes which were slightly crinkled from having dried from the wet. Naru coolly watched her.

"What are you looking for?"

"My key." Naru frowned.

"Your house is ruined. Why do you want your key?" he asked bluntly. Mai surprised him by shooting a withering glance in his direction.

"Not the key to my flat. The key to my old house.", and Mai sneezed again.

There was a silence, as Mai continued to search, when Naru ventured to offer, "Silver?"

"Ten brownie points for your common sense," she replied, too agitated to be as demoralising as he. He sighed.

"Only, I saw a key fall out of your pocket when we brought you here, so I know where it is, but, if you don't want to know..." he flashed an innocent smile. But Mai was too relieved to be offended, and she sneezed again.

"You have it? Thank God," she replied holding a hand to her chest. Naru straightened and walked over to the chair which was positioned near the bed. He sat down, his eyes staring at Mai.

"Seeing as you're awake, wouldn't you like to make a phone call to anyone to let them know you're alright?" his voice had a suggestive tone in it, but the girl didn't notice. She frowned, confused.

"No..." Naru also frowned.

"What about your parents?"

"I'm an orphan," Mai replied as simply as if she had said 'I don't like cheese' (sorry). Seeing the questioning look on Naru's face, she smiled sadly.

"My mum had been ill for as long as I could remember. When she died when I six, my dad would keep our house key as a sort of lucky charm. Then a year later my father was involved in a car crash on the way to work. He died later in hospital, and he gave me our key, so now I keep it as a lucky charm," she explained. Naru nodded, his hand reaching into his pocket. Mai saw a glint of silver as he took out her key and gave it to her. She smiled warmly in thanks. But Naru wasn't finished.

"So there's no one else you'd need to talk to...?" She slowly shook her head.

"Unless you mean Ayako and Takigawa and John..." Naru nodded to himself. He should have known that Masako would lie. Mai was tapping her key against her chin as she thought.

"Seeing as I just told you, I might as well also tell you that three days ago it was my mother's anniversary, so I went to visit them both. And lots of the money I earn is to pay my bill and stuff. So now you can laugh at me." She waited expectantly. There was only silence.

Naru was never going to admit that he had been an idiot to believe Masako's lies, and because of it had got angry and argued with her unnecessarily.

Seeing as he wasn't laughing, Mai's opinion of him softened and she ventured further than she would have usually done.

"So, when we 'argued' before, I'm sorry for shouting at you and saying that I hated you." Naru nodded, and Mai waited for him to apologise in turn. The silence lengthened. Mai started to get angry. Wasn't he going to say sorry?

More silence. Mai started fuming, to Naru's amusement, who apparently hadn't noticed. Finally the thread snapped.

"Aren't you going to say sorry?" she demanded. "I take the pains to say sorry, and you-you!" Naru chuckled under his breath, and once again Mai was stunned that he was capable of such a happy action. And also capable of making her like him even more. Argh.

Naru then unexpectedly leaned forward slightly, and stretched his arm out so that his hand nearly touched the side of Mai's face. Her heart started beating tremendously fast, and she hoped he didn't have good hearing. And then his fingers paused by her face...and stretched right past it to pick up the ice pack which was on Mai's pillow behind her. Mai stared at him blankly as she tried to get her heart beat under control. Naru smirked.

He walked to the door, tossing the ice pack in his hands, and just before he left, Mai heard him say,

"Probably catch her germs now..."

Mai glared at the empty doorway, cursing any man who was really named Oliver. Why was he so insulting and confusing? She struck the bed next to her and swore revenge any person who never stopped insulting her. She was just muttering a number of foul curses under her breath when Naru's head came back into view, still smiling.

"By the way, it's a Monday."

"So?" grumbled Mai. Naru shook his head at her stupidity.

"I'm going to school. See you later." Mai scrambled out of the bed, and was just about to fly out of the room after Naru, when she looked down and noticed she was wearing her own clothes. Which meant that she didn't have a uniform.

"Bugger."

---

By the time Naru reached school, the bell had rung for break. He swiftly blended into the crowds that went out of the classroom, and either into the canteen, their form room, or outside. Naru made his way to the canteen, not because he was hungry, but because Ayako and the others would probably be there.

He was right.

The canteen was not as busy as it usually was; it seemed that many students had been affected by the earthquake. Takigawa filled Naru in about the assembly they had had from the head teacher. No students had died, but many had lost their homes and a few were seriously injured. Naru nodded.

"So where's Mai then?" asked Ayako angrily as soon as she came with John to sit by them. "You said she was just sleeping. Don't tell me you've left her alone in your house with librarian Lin." Mai had already told the others about her job and relating matters.

"No I didn't," replied Naru casually. "Lin's in the school library right now." Ayako was just about to swing a left hook at Naru's face when John, who had been staring outside the window for some time, stood up and started squinting. The others on their table looked at him.

"John," began Takigawa sternly. "Have you forgotten your glasses again?"

"Isn't that Mai?" John exclaimed. The other three craned their necks to where John was pointing.

Mai burst into the canteen, looking just a tad ruffled, (due to the fact that her clothes were her own, creased and covered in dust,) but nevertheless triumphant. She soon spotted John, (not a hard task considering the fact that he was still standing up,) and went to the table. She grinned at Naru, one finger pointing at him, the other hand on her hip.

"Ha! You thought you'd got rid of me! But here I am! And you're not going to be able to get rid of me now. Not for one minute!" she sat down at the table. Naru was ignoring her, very skilfully. Takigawa groaned.

"Mai, I'd love to see you keep that resolution, but if you don't have a uniform you have to go and see the matron, and she'll give you one. Meaning Naru doesn't have to come with you. Meaning as you will be longer than a minute, it means-"

"I know what it means!" she snapped, her face now fallen. She dragged herself up and left them.

Once she had left, Ayako turned on Naru, suddenly interested in a few details.

"So how did she get to your house?"

"Lin took me part of the way in his car, then we walked back but she fainted, so I had to carry her." Ayako and Takigawa raised their eyebrows while John smiled.

"And where will she be staying until she finds a new home?"

"I was hoping you would figure something out." Ayako laughed slyly.

"Oh, I'm sure she's fine where she is..."

In class, Mai and others had to be continually excused for not having any books. In English, Mai had to share books with Naru, which she did reluctantly. Masako, who was sitting behind them, watched her scathingly. Her friend next to her gave a gasp of shock.

"Oh my god! They're at the sharing book stage!" Masako ignored her. Naru must have believed her lie about the boyfriend, and so now hated Mai. Yes. He hated Mai. He was sharing his book with her because he absolutely hated her. But Masako still had another part to her plan, and her anger and jealousy was enough drive to keep her doing it. What was added anger was that she had passed her cheer leader trials, but Naru had not been there. That was not her fault. It wasn't even his. It was Mai's. But everything would be okay, because Naru hated Mai.

"Naru likes Mai!" exclaimed Ayako as she made her way with Takigawa to chemistry. He frowned.

"You don't know that for certain," he warned. No doubt she would do something silly now.

"Yes I do! He tries to hide it, but it was clear from the start. I thought it would be," she said proudly. "I am so good."

"What have you done about it?"

"...Nothing in actual actions... but" Takigawa burst into laughter, surprising some small young student who were passing by. They shrank back into the wall.

Whack.

The young students looked at Ayako in absolute horror, and scuttled off. Ayako continued.

"Anyway, I have to tell Mai. It's obvious she likes him. A lot."

"I know!" exclaimed Takigawa. "Let's make it more fun! Let Mai find it out for herself!" Ayako didn't notice the sarcasm in his voice. He didn't approve of butting in other people's private lives. Unless that person was Ayako.

"Hmm..."

We'll say a week later.

Mai walked into Naru's study, a curious sparkle in her eyes. Ayako was being too sneaky with her, continually making small yet frustrating remarks about a 'someone' that Naru liked, but she couldn't say her name, so the only way to settle her nerves, and heart, was to ask him straight out.

"Naru?" she ventured. The subject of her thoughts had his back to her, leaning against the wall behind his desk and reading a book which was resting on the mantel piece. Mai came closer.

"Ayako told me...that...there was someone you liked. Who is it?" Ma's own frankness finally became clear to her.

Silence.

Mai came up to the desk, eyes now teasing, although Naru couldn't see.

"Come on Naru! Tell me please? I won't laugh. I promise." Although it might hurt me, she realised.

"Mai," he said suddenly, not turning around. Mai took a step closer eagerly. "Tea." She scowled at his back. But persistent Mai was not finished yet.

"If you don't tell me," she said, stepping to the side of the desk and forward again, "I'll just have to assume it's someone like...Ayako."

Silence.

"Oh my God it's not Ayako is it?" she cried, gasping and holding her mouth.

"If you don't make me tea in the next five minutes..." threatened Naru. Mai wondered how he could concentrate on his book when she was bothering him so much. Mai advanced towards him slowly.

"Tell me. Tell me tell me tell me. Pretty please. Pretty please with sugar on top? And hundreds and thousands?" By now she had reached Naru and although he still seemed to be reading her book, she craned her head around so that it was directly in his view. Her eyes were still sparkling mischievously.

"I promise I won't say anything if you tell me, I can keep secrets...and I swear that I won't mind who it is- not that I ever would mind-because it's not like this matters to me or anything-so-"

Mai's flustered babbling however was suddenly cut off, by the fact that she was no longer able to speak. Naru's lips were on hers and Mai now had a much harder task on her hands. Stopping her heart from blowing up.

It took a moment to sink in.

Naru.

The Naru.

Was kissing her?

And then, all too soon for Mai, (but of course, as we'd all like to imagine, it was actually much longer than she thought, ;D) he broke off, and stared at her, a mixture between amusement and irony on his face.

"Now will you get me some tea?" he demanded, his cool breath cooling her face. Mai took a deep breath, trying to act as if what had just happened didn't matter to her.

"S-sure..."

She somehow groped her way across the room, using anything she could for support, for her knees had gone weak, and it was very possible, that without help, she would fall over.

Mai left the room, never so confused in her life.

Yes, it finally happened!!

And of course Mai's happy, but she's more confused at the moment, I'll go further into in the next chappie.

Coming soon: Enter Yasuhara! and maaaaaybe some sort of social event, I havent decided yet- all ideas are most most welcome. We'll get back a bit more to the plot now.

By the way, I'm thinking of devoting a small part of the next chappie to poor Lin and his lovely life. Tell me what you think :D

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