Chapter 5: Changing disposition

Naru stared down at his very drunk assistant using his shoulder as a pillow. It wasn't like he wasn't used to it, every time she would have sat beside him on the van on their way to the case her head would have slowly tipped until she was leaning with her whole body against him. Then, he had been in the van with Lin driving beside him and someone in the back, now he was sitting on the couch, her on his shoulder and no one else around, alone.

Naru shook his head to stop his mind going down that train of thought. Mai groaned shifting in her sleep causing the young man to freeze until she settled down again.

Glancing at his watch he noted that it was twelve o' clock and he had been in her apartment for three hours. Three hours worth of talking, of drinking and of Mai revealing secrets.

Naru got up slowly making sure that Mai wouldn't fall over as he did so. He swayed unsteadily on his feet; Mai had a very free hand he had just learned when it came to drink. Tilting his head he debated the problem that was Mai's sleeping arrangement through his slightly drunken state. He couldn't just leave her sleeping on the couch; she'd wake up with a hangover and a sore back. Sighing, yes he was still sober-ish enough to be exasperated, he put his arm beneath her knees and supported her he placed his arm behind her back before heading towards the back of the apartment.

He ignored the open door to his left which led to the kitchen and the one ahead which was the bathroom. The first door to his right looked promising; it was open but closed over slightly with a small crack. He gently used his foot to open it and sighed with relief as he spotted the bed, Mai was getting heavier and heavier in his arms. He walked quickly to the side ignoring the curious stare the baby, who was supposed to be sleeping, was giving him.

A faint thought of, you shouldn't sleep in your work clothes, passed through his hazy head but he threw it out from quick soberness, Mai would gut him when she woke if she thought he had undressed her that was if she didn't put it down to drunken induced amnesia.

He stared down at Mai. Really and truly, when had she grown up? One minute she was a cheery awkward teenager with a fiery passion for helping others and when he next turned around she was a grown woman. Naru groaned things had been so much simpler when they were younger; the world had been smaller then.

Without really thinking he went back out to the living room and grabbed a piece of paper and pen before scribbling out a note. He contemplated finding cellotape and sticking it to her forehead so there would be no doubt that she would miss it but he was hesitant to do so. Mai had practically bared all of the last few years of her life to him, the part of her life outside work that he hadn't been part of.

Naru was determined that what he was feeling right now wasn't shyness, not he the amazingly brilliant scientific genius who knew all the answers and all the facts. How could he be shy around someone so dim minded at times?

Sighing he finished the notes and with a flick of his wrist signed it before leaving it on her coffee table, where she would hopefully find it.

"You're my friend and I… I promised my parents I'd look out for you,"

Naru sighed, what had he been thinking? Committing himself to help Mai for custody was bad enough but to let her think that he was doing it because he thought of her as more than a friend that was bound to chase her off. She'd probably run screaming away after he asked her out on a date.

What was he thinking; she'd never go out with him. To think that she'd been leaning in to kiss him was laughable and thank heavens he had pulled away when he had, what would Mai have done grabbing her phone only to find him kissing her.

Gone berserk perhaps? A small thought of Naru though, a very tiny part, thought that maybe, just maybe she would have responded. But now it was too late to find out and he wasn't going to be attempting anytime soon that was for sure.

Pounding headaches were never fun, Mai decided as she dropped Yuki off to day-care. First of all they were a pain and definitely made it hard to focus; secondly they tended to put her in a bad mood. It was ten o'clock and her shift didn't start until twelve, so that left her plenty of time to meet with Naru.

Even though he'd said to come in at eleven Mai was sure it wouldn't be so bad if she came in an hour early. Naru was always one for being early or at the least punctual; she couldn't help but think sourly.

She took the familiar route and dashed up the stairs to the second floor before sweeping into the office. Yet again she was struck by how very little had changed since she'd left, she swore that if she went into the top left hand drawer her chewing gum wrapper would still be there. Before she could be even tempted to check the door, which she'd closed, tinkled behind her.

Slightly shocked and still having some of that clumsy gene stuck in her body Mai did, and she comforted herself in this, what any normal women would have done. She dropped her handbag and its contents scattered all over the floor.

Mai knew her face was burning, just knew it was as she quickly dropped down and picked up her stuff.

"Excuse me," she glanced up, wasn't this person even going to help her grab anything, it was their fault after all, she sent them a glare, "I need your help,"

And we have the introduction to our case. yay, and for all you people out there glaring at your screens, you didn't really think I'd reveal the juicy info between Naru and Mai straight after the last chapter did you? lol

oh and any mistakes in this chapter, I blame it totally on my dog who insisted on helping me type by nudging at my hands and pressing keys. Thank you Bobby but no thanks, don't give up the day job on sniffing things ;) lol