A/N: I'm sorry if this really sucks. I rewrote it twice... Thank you all for your reviews.
Disclaimer: Nuttin' to say... but I have to say that I never really have been in love so sorry if Ayako's descripion is weird...
By the light of the moon
Mai rolled around in her sleep. She couldn't get comfortable no matter how much she tried. One person kept popping into her mind.
'Naru...'
--
Early that next morning, Mai gave up on sleep. She crawled out of her bed, taking her blankets with her, and walked to her window seat. Pearching herself upon the pillowed seat, Mai looked out across her country. The sun was just peeking out from behind the mountains in the distance and Mai smiled, commiting the image to memory and thinking that the beauty reminded her of a certain person...
'Why must my thoughts always return to Naru? I just don't understand...' Mai pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head upon them. Slowly, she lost her grip on her consciousness.
--
"Mai, wake up, sweetie." A woman's voice pulled Mai from her sleepless state. Looking up at the speaker, Mai rubbed her eyes to try to erase any evidence of her lack of sleep. She saw redish hair and smiled weakly.
"Hello, Ayako. Is something the matter?" She asked polietly. Ayako took notice of her sleepy state and answered slowly.
"Mai, you slept through breakfast and almost lunch. Come, if we hurry, we might make it on time." Ayako pulled her from the saftey of her window seat and helped her get dressed. Ayako chose a lilac dress with many various sizes of matching ribbons. Mai let her dress her seeing as she was still extremely tired.
"Ayako, do you love Houshou?" Mai asked suddenly. Ayako paused in trying the ribbon in the back as a final touch. She quickly tied it in a big flourish and stepped back to admire her work.
"...Yes. I do. But I don't want him to know. Houshou would probably brag about it... But yes, I love him..." Ayako blushed and answered slowly, not for Mai's sake this time, but for her own.
"What does it feel like to be in love?" Mai asked, hoping to find some insight as to why she felt so oddly towards Naru.
"At first, I couldn't form a coherent sentence around him. But after I came to know my feelings I became more confortable. Still... when I see him, I feel... fluttery and light. It's rather hard to describe..." Ayako closed her eyes and smiled at the memories that she had thought she'd forgotten.
"Wow..." Mai whispered the word so quietly that even Ayako could not hear. 'That's almost my exact feelings... Does this mean I'm in l-love with Naru?' She blushed a deep red at the thought.
--
"Naru?" Mai wandered through the bookshelves looking for the man she thought she loved. She was surprised to find a window door that lead to a good sized balcony. Gently pushing on the handle, Mai opened the door and was greeted with a scene that scared her.
A large man wearing all black was chokeing Naru at the edge of the balcony. Naru was resisting and trying to escape but his small frame could not overpower the large man.
"NARU!" Mai screamed and rushed forward. The man let Naru go almost instantly and turned to look at the interrupter. It was like it was in slow motion for Mai as they made eye contact. His masked face glared at her with narrowed eyes and he jumped backwards off the balcony.
"Ack..." Naru fell to his knees to try to catch his breath. Mai rushed to aid him trying to forget the creepy look in the man's eyes.
"Are you alright? What on earth happened?" Mai asked getting on her knees and helping Naru stand. He was slightly dependent on her for some balance.
"I was attacked, obviously. I was in the library and he knocked me out and tried to kill me out here. Luckily, I woke up while he was trying to force me over the railing." Naru said gruffly, not at all happy about the event that had happened.
"I don't want you to be alone from now on. I set a guard to stay with-" She started thinking of ways to keep Naru safe when he stopped suddenly and jerked his arm away from her.
"No." He spat the word at Mai and stumbled into the library, leaving a hurt and confused Mai in his wake.
--
"I thought you said that they wouldn't attack until the ball?!" Mai yelled at Houshou who looked quite suprised when she explained what happened to Naru.
"I said no such thing. Perhaps it is best for all of your close friends to have a guard or something? I could protect Ayako and maybe you should stick with Naru and have a guard with you..." Houshou thoughtfully put a finger to his chin.
"And who would protect you?" Ayako said sarcastically and Mai giggled. Houshou took a moment for the sentence to make sense before he protested loudly.
"Excuse me, Miss Kaori has just returned." A guard poked his head in and informed the group. Mai's face lit up in excitement.
--
"...And that's all that you missed." Mai explained to Kaori, who was sitting with her mouth wide open in shock.
"And you didn't take that oppertunity to get closer to Naru?" She asked teasingly. Mai glared at her, a blush staining her usually pale cheeks. Kaori shook her head at the girl while grinning.
"Mai." A voice stopped the two girls from the fighting. Mai blushed harder when she saw it was Naru.
"Yes? Is there um, something wrong?" Mai gulped, her mouth suddenly becoming dry. Naru stepped aside to show them Houshou.
"Yo." He smiled a the girls.
"Why is he following me?" Naru bluntly asked. Mai couldn't look him in the eye.
"You need protection if you get attacked again." Mai said and Naru sighed.
"Don't concern yourself with my welfare. I have protection." Naru said and turned on his heel and left. Mai felt helpless.
"Please, Houshou follow him until we can be sure he has protection." Mai pleaded and Houshou nodded.
"Leave it to me." He said before running after the sulking boy.
--
"Mai, let us spy on him. Maybe we can decide then if he has protection or not." Kaori grinned evily and Mai was shocked at the shamelessness of the idea.
"I can't... W-We can't... Kaori!" She whined but the maid took no notice and pulled Mai toward the library. Mai was hit with a nauseating feeling of deja vu.
--
The two girls opened books and relaxed, leaning against the bookshelves as their eyes mulled over the pages, not taking in any words. Their eyes were really on the lone boy in the library, reading up on a topic that neither girls knew of.
"What's the target doing now?" Kaori asked quietly. Mai rolled her eyes and gave her a sarcastic look.
"You're kidding me right? You asked that not even a minute ago." Mai returned her face to the book, but her eyes roaming over the face of man she loved.
"You've fallen hard." Kaori commented.
"Maybe..." Mai muttered in reply. Kaori smiled and looked into her book.
"T-The target's moving." Mai whispered, stuttering in excitement. Naru had replaced the book in it's proper place and walked in a direction away from the girls. They followed slowly, at a pace close enough to see him clearly but far enough for him to not notice his stalkers.
"Let's go." Mai said following Naru down a hallway that led out of the library. Their adventure was just beginning.
A/N: Seriously, this was extremely difficult to write. I had almost no inspiration. Sorry if it's bad again!