Needless to say, all three of them are stunned silent. Lin, in pure, unadulterated shock. Mai, in embarrassment. Naru, as a spectator who is surprised at the turn of events.
Mai stands up and promptly escapes. She cannot believe she said that. Of all times, of all places and of all people rather than Naru to bear witness, she confessed her love to Lin. She runs to her room and is glad to find it empty. She shuts the door and grabs a pillow. She presses her face against it and screams, her voice muffled by the pillow. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she chants over and over in her head.
She really cannot believe herself. This little slip of tongue is going to cost her so much.

Back at the base, the two men sit still. Naru with his eyes on Lin, trying to gauge the older man's reaction but he cannot because Lin has his head bowed. His fringe conveniently covers his face. Naru clears his throat, "Uh, Lin?"
"Why me?" Lin murmurs.
Naru hears it. That is a rather odd thing to ask. He looks closely at his friend of years. Suddenly he realises. Koujo Lin never had any love interests in his life before. Sure he went on casual dates now and then in London. But he never did love anyone. In short, Naru concludes, "You have never been in love, have you?"
Lin shakes his head. He knows by now he has feelings for Mai, but he did not know if they were love or not. She is in love with him and he couldn't do anything about it. God knows what she thinks of him now.
Naru sighs, "I don't know what made her fall for you but…Lin, don't keep her hanging along."
Lin looks up sharply at Naru who laughs, "Relax! I am not talking about me, I am just saying that the next man in her life might come along and sweep her off her feet while you stupidly look on."
Lin doesn't miss his tone. He sounds gloomy. Suddenly he remembers a little incident that occurred two years ago…

"Naru! I think…I love you!" Mai says hastily. She hadn't noticed that Lin hadn't left the room.
Naru had his back turned to her. His shoulders droop. He turns around and solemnly asks, "Do you love me or do you love Gene? We do have the same face."
"Naru, bu—"
"No Mai. You think you love me, but it was Gene who you really love," he sighs and looks tired, "You don't love me Mai."

Lin didn't understand why Naru had seemed so tired back then. He slowly says, "You liked her. All those years ago, you liked her."
Naru rubs his nose and slightly nods. Lin continues, "But she told you her feelings and then after when you got to know she was seeing Gene in her dreams, you realised her real feelings were actually not for you but for Gene."
"That is why Lin," Naru says, "Don't do something you might regret."
Lin stands up. He is going to go see her.

Mai lies spread-eagled on the floor. Her gaze locks on the ceiling as remorse hits her hard. The phase of embarrassment was over. Regret and sadness descended upon her like a thick dark cloud. Why did she tell him she loves him? He doesn't love her. She is definitely not his type. She is younger, immature and is perpetually in trouble. He would never come to love her. Why did she have such poor choice in men? The first guy she fell for was actually dead and she thought he was someone else. The next man her heart decides to trip over is out of her league. It is like he is the sun and she is the farthest planet in his solar system. Neglected and ignored, shivering in the darkness. How did she ever fantasise that she could be with him? She isn't worthy. She is just Mai Taniyama.
Just then, she hears his voice through the door, "Mai?" She doesn't respond. She cannot face him, not now. "Mai please, I need to talk to you."
She gets up and crawls to the door. Her hand reaches out to slide the door open but she stops. She puts her back to the door and sighs, fighting the tears. This will break her heart, no this is breaking her heart, she says, "Talk."
"Like this?" Lin asks. The fact that she refuses to see him worries him.
"Yes."
"Okay," he sits down outside the door, "Mai…I…"
"You cannot love me, I know. I sort of prepared myself for this," she needs to do this quick, like ripping the Band-Aid off a wound—the quicker you do it, the less it hurt, "It is okay. You are not at fault. Neither will I impose on you. I fell for you, this is my problem, not yours. I just…don't want your…" she cannot hold back, the floodgates open, "Pity."
A tightness closes around his chest. This was the last thing he wanted to hear from her. No, not like this. He rests his palm on the wood and feels helpless. He doesn't pity her, he really doesn't. He hurt her and that makes him feel like a criminal. He says, "Mai…"
"Lin," she sniffs, "Please leave. I…it is nothing…just I want to be alone for a while, okay?"
He mutely obeys. His limbs automatically support him as he stands up and let his feet take him wherever. His mind is in a mess. He doesn't even recognise the typhoon of emotions swirling and crashing against his conscious. He doesn't even acknowledge Ayako who asks him thrice what is wrong. He goes down the stairs and down the corridor. He walks out of the house. His eyes fall on the cherry tree. He gulps, trying to suppress the memory of first kissing her here. He puts his back to the tree and looks over the lake.
The sun is a red sliver in the horizon. The chill is setting in but the cold in his bones isn't the weather's doing. She was crying. And it wounded him to know he caused it.

Back at the house, Mai is curled on the floor in a foetal position as she lets the tears flow freely. It hurt so much, so freaking much. She did it quickly, ripped off the metaphorical adhesive, but…it didn't make a difference, it still hurt.
When her tears run dry, she sits up and rubs her face. She had made a decision—she is going to quit SPR after this case. No way can she stay any longer around Lin without feeling hurt and sad. She drags her knees to her chest and thinks it would have been better if they had never returned.
No, she regrets thinking like that. The three months they were here and all the cases they took made her very happy in a long time. She just didn't take into account the fact that she would fall in love with Lin. Sure, by the time they had left two years ago, she knew she was over Naru. But when they came back, she gravitated towards the older man. It wasn't fleeting, it wasn't an infatuation. This isn't the mild disappointment she felt when Naru rebuked her. This landed a blow down to her very core.
She feels very tired. Who knew crying your heart out led to such tiredness? Her eyelids droop and she doesn't resist the pull of Hypnos as she grabs a blanket and dozes off.

A/N. So I got two exams back to back. I will not be posting before the tenth. So the nice person that I am, I leave you two chapters. :3