You know I thought that since it's summer I'd be able to update faster and more... turns out I was wrong! *sigh* These last two weeks I've been going somewhere everyday... literally! But since I already posted my one-shot, I don't have to worry about that and can focus more on this! Anyways, thank you to the 9 reviews on my last chapter and the followers and favoriters!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt so leave me alone!

Gene's POV

We walked—well, Mai dragged—into the SPR office to find Noll, Lin, and Father basically right where we left them. 'No surprise there, I swear I could sell them to the museum as living statues with their sitting still abilities!'

After Mai discarded her bags on the floor, she flopped down tiredly on the sofa beside Noll so close that their shoulders brushed against each other. 'Aww, how cute, let me just go grab my camera so I can capture this moment forever.' Mai breathed heavily trying to catch her breath and if I had the ability to still do that I would be too, man Mother and Madoka are exhausting!

Mother and Madoka graciously walked in after me and Mai and sat on the sofa opposite of Mai and Noll. I collapsed into my reclining chair. Mai slumped down further so she could rest her head on her shoulder.

"So... tired." 'I don't blame you, me too!'

Father chuckled. "I can see why. Luella and Madoka got you quite a lot." He looked at the bags beside the sofa. Mai lifted her head and sat up straight.

"The shopping wasn't even the half of it!" She whined. 'You're telling me and we still didn't get our ice cream!' Then out of nowhere Noll wrapped his arm around her. 'Don't blush, don't blush! You're 'supposed' to be used to this!' She chanted mentally. 'Smooth move, bro, like it!'

"Oh, what did you two do now?!" Father chided at the two ladies. Madoka and Mother did a small, fake gasp before they balled one of their hands into a fist and brought it to their chest; their other arms linked together.

"Why do you assume we did something?" Madoka asked, acting as though what Father said hurt them. 'Oh please, don't play coy, we all know what you two are capable of together!' Father gave them a stern look.

"Because I know you two. Now, what did you do?" 'Nice one Father, beat them at their game!'

They both rolled their eyes and put their arms down. I swear they could be twins! That would be creepy though, I hope Noll and I weren't like that, although I guess there were those times when...

"Okay, in my defense, I was only protecting Mai plus that guy just really peeved me off!" Madoka's voice snapped me back from my musings of Noll and me.

"What do you mean?" Noll spoke for the first time since we got here. Was it just me, or did his voice sound colder than usual? I looked up and saw him practically glaring at Madoka and Mother before his eyes flickered to Mai. 'Well, this is a development; he was never so... disrespectful to them before, I wonder if Mai has changed him...'

"Well—" Father held up his hand to stop Mother from answering Noll's question. 'Good move. Mother would only make it seem all innocent and harmless or that they were doing the right thing assaulting somebody.'

"I want to hear this from Mai. Who knows what you two might concoct together." Father then gestured for Mai to explain everything.

"Oh, um, well after we finished shopping we decided we wanted some ice cream. I sat down with all of my bags and rested while Luella and Madoka went to the food court. They had been gone for a while when this guy came up and asked me to go out with him. Even after I told him no he still wouldn't leave me alone." Mai paused as she felt Noll's arm tighten around her. 'Ooh, jealous much?!' I glanced at him as did Mai, he was staring at the floor with a look in his eye that I've seen once before, but I can't remember when or where.

"Ha, yeah! Then I came in—"

"Madoka, don't interrupt." Lin scolded. Madoka pouted and leaned back onto the sofa.

"Well, like Madoka said, they came back then and Madoka told the guy off. He said he wasn't talking to her then he called her an old lady..." Mai continued. "She smiled at him before walking up to him, took the drink from his hand, and poured it on his head." Lin groaned and put his head in one of his hands. 'Yeah, I know Lin, I know, but there's more. Mai, go ahead.'

"She said 'that's for harassing Mai!' then she stomped on his foot and shoved ice cream in his face. Then said 'and that's for calling me old!'" Lin groaned louder each time Mai told them what Madoka did. My face sported a bigger and bigger grin though. 'What was the best bit though, Mai?' Mai hesitated before she told them the next part. "And well... she kind of kneed him where it hurts... and said 'that's for just being a jerk like you!'. A security guard saw the whole thing and he started coming after us. Luella yelled 'RUN!' and well, we fled... the security guard chased us out of the mall." Mai finished. 'Bwahahaha, it was freaking hilarious... except for the running part, that wasn't much fun.'

I saw Father shaking his head disapprovingly, and Lin looked up in shock. Mai and I looked at Noll to find that he had an amused smirk on his face. 'Why?' Mai asked herself. 'Because he wishes he'd have been there to see the look on the jerk's face for messing with his girl. Probably wishes he could've even finished the job himself but is glad someone took that kind of action.'

"Oh, Madoka, you didn't!" Lin said in English. She glared at him.

"Yes, I did. And I'm glad I did too! That jerk got what he deserved!"

"If the security guard had caught you, you could've gone to jail for assault and or the boy could have pressed charges against you!" 'Yeah, but I'm with Madoka on this one, I mean how do you stop a guy who won't take no for an answer?!'

"We didn't get caught, so it doesn't matter!"

"But I'm saying if you did, you would've brought Mai and Luella into this mess with you." Mai's head snapped round at the mention of her name. 'Right, I forgot she doesn't speak English.' She looked at Naru for help, but he seemed to have not noticed her. 'It's a shame I can't tell you what's going on.'

"Please tell me you didn't do anything." Father said to Mother also in English.

"No, of course not! I just handed her the ice cream... and cheered her on." Mother answered. 'Yeah, but next time I think you need pompoms for the full cheerleading experience.'

"Oh, Luella! How many times have I told you not to encourage her?!" Mai was lamenting the fact that she hadn't paid attention in English class and how awkward she felt being stuck in the middle of two arguments that she felt she'd caused.

After a couple minutes of it she decided to just go home. It didn't seem to her like they would notice she's gone anyways. 'But I'm surprised Naru's letting them argue like this, he always likes the quiet. Although it's Madoka and Luella you would have to get in between... which is the reason why I'm not going to tell them I'm leaving. They would just make a big fuss about it and make me stay. But right now I just want to go home and crawl into my bed.' She thought. So she stood up and grabbed her bags and then tried to ease herself out the door without being seen.

I decided to go with her as the others were starting to give me a headache. Mai thought she had been successful in her escape until she was walking past the SPR building when someone called out her name. She spun around to see Noll walking towards her. 'Naru! Oh my god, did I seriously forget Naru was there too? How could I? He had his arm around me for heaven's sake!' Mai ranted. Her face began to heat up at the thought. 'Who can forget Noll?! That's just not right!'

"I'm sorry. I guess I forgot to tell you I was leaving... distracted, I guess." Mai apologized to him when he stopped in front of her. "I just didn't want to get between the arguing especially with Luella and Madoka fired up like that. I mean, I didn't know what anyone was saying, but they seemed pretty mad."

"They were fighting about what Madoka did."

Mai nodded looking up at the building.

"I thought so." Noll took the bags from Mai's hands and then walked past her. 'Ah, glad to see the 'being a gentleman' lessons Madoka gave us have paid off.' She turned around stunned and called after him. "Naru, what are you doing?!" He didn't say anything so she ran to catch up with him. Mai reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his jacket; he stopped. "Naru what are yo—"

"I thought you said you wanted to go home." He stated more than asked. 'No need to be a jerk about it.'

"Oh... right." Mai replied sheepishly. She didn't know he'd actually take her home. "Thank you." In reply, Noll just continued walking and Mai followed. 'You really need to learn to communicate, Noll; you can't just go doing things without saying something you know.'

As we walked to Mai's apartment Mai wasn't sure what to do. 'I mean I know Naru doesn't really like talking but should I say something? It's not really an uncomfortable and unbearable silence, but I feel a little awkward not saying anything. But that brings me back to Naru not talk—' She was completely lost in her thoughts by this point.

"Mai." 'Too late, Noll, she's gone to fairyland again.'

"Ah... yes?" Mai asked after she came back to her senses. '...And she's back. Wish she'd have sent me a postcard though.'

"I want to apologize for my parents and Madoka's behaviour." 'Well someone has to because they sure won't.'

Mai gave a small smile. "It's alright... you know, I really like your parents. They're..." 'Completely bananas? Not like Noll who needs to be studied to see if he actually is a robot? Not tea obsessed silent people like you thought?'

"Immature and a little insane?" 'That one too.'

Mai laughed. "I was going to say fun and wonderful, but if you want to put it that way." 'Absolutely! Trust me you haven't been exposed long enough to get the full effect!'

"...I can tell they really like you too." Noll said after a while. What he said made Mai's smile widen and made me smile myself. A blush starting to appear on her face, and she looked down. 'Don't be embarrassed, Noll doesn't usually give someone such a high compliment. I think he's grateful you distracted Mother for a few hours.'

'If only Naru liked me more than a tea-making assistant.' She thought. 'Oh he does, trust me.'

When we arrived at Mai's apartment she told him thank you again and goodnight.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mai." He said before he left. 'Wow, the equivalent of kissing her in Noll language. He really must be hung up on her.' Mai went inside and put her bags in her room before getting her night clothes on. 'I'm not looking, I swear I'm not!' Mai snuggled up in her bed, waiting to fall asleep and seeing what the next day would bring. I quickly grabbed my fold out bed from the other realm as I decided to stick around Mai and Noll for a while. Besides, Mai won't mind me as an uninvited houseguest.

Mai's POV

Just like yesterday I'm on my way back to SPR. At least this time Naru didn't call me until I only had an hour left of school. Though I didn't really mind this time... I hate my last class anyways. I still can't believe I'm graduating! I have to say, part of me is going to be ecstatic to finally be free, but the other part is probably going to be sad. After all, I've spent almost every day there for three years with all of my friends, and... it's where I met Naru.

Still not exactly sure on what to do with college, so I guess I'll be working for Naru full-time until then... Oh my god! Full-time with Naru! I don't know if I could do that without going crazy...er. I laughed. But I'll be able to be around the guy I love so I think I'll be okay.

This time when I walked into the office I was engulfed with hugs so fast that I didn't even have enough time to close the door, almost falling over.

"Oh, Mai! We're so sorry! We didn't mean to be rude, sweetie!" I heard Madoka wail and then Luella as they hugged me.

"Wh-what?" I manged to get out. They released me before they each grabbed one of my wrists and dragged me to the sofa where the guys were too. I sat in the middle between Madoka and Luella.

"Naru yelled and scolded us last night after he walked you home. We're sorry, Mai, we didn't mean to make you uncomfortable and make you leave!" Madoka apologized. My heart skipped a beat. Naru did that? I looked at him and saw he had his eyes closed and arms crossed. Martin and Lin also apologized after Madoka finished. Even Lin? What did Naru say to them?!

I looked at everyone before waving my hands in front of me. "No, it's fine, really! You shouldn't apologize; I should be the one doing that for leaving without saying anything. I was just tired."

Luella wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a hug, catching me off guard. She started rocking us sideways, back and forth. "Oh, Noll said you would say that!" She kept squeezing me tighter and tighter, it felt like.

"Mother, I believe I told you to apologize, not shake her until she loses brain-cells. She barely has enough as it is." I could hear Naru's teasing voice. Luella stopped and let me go as she glared at Naru.

"Noll!" She reprimanded.

"It's alright, he says that all the time." I told her, waving it off. Luella looks at me incredulously.

"Noll, is that anyway to treat your girlfriend?!" No, it's not. But I feel even if I was his girlfriend, he'd still treat me the same.

"Luella, that's just their way of flirting. Naru playfully teases Mai and she usually acts like she's mad and upset with him." Madoka 'explained.' Flirting? Naru doesn't flirt! He just teases me to tick me off! Luella just smiled, Martin chuckled, and Lin smirked while I inwardly groaned. Naru was probably doing the same. Madoka turned to me. "Anyways, Luella and I were wondering if you wanted to go to—"

"No."

Madoka frowned at Naru. "I don't believe I was talking to you, Noll." She hissed.

"I don't care, Mai's not going with you. I don't want you getting her into more trouble that you caused."

Madoka huffed. "It was that guy's fault, not mine. Besides I protected her yesterday, you should be thanking me."

"You shouldn't have left her alone to begin with." Naru retorted. I can't tell if Naru's just acting, for his parents, that he doesn't want me to go or if he really doesn't want me to.

Luella stood between the two before Madoka could yell at Naru any further. "Alright, you two, that's enough. Madoka's right, Noll, you should be thanking her—"

"Ha!" Madoka stood up and smiled in victory.

"—But you were right too. We shouldn't have left Mai by herself." Luella continued. 'They're acting like I'm a little kid...' Madoka frowned while Naru just smirked. "Which is why you can call us whenever you want to check up on Mai. We won't be too far away or gone that long anyways."

"I think that's a wonderful idea, don't you, Noll?" Martin asked, giving a nod telling him to agree.

Naru sighed exasperatedly. "Fine."

"Good. So do you want to go, Mai?" Luella inquired. I felt a little reluctant, but I guess if Naru agreed... plus I can't really say no to her anyways.

"Okay, sounds good." I agreed. Madoka grabbed my hand and dragged me to the door.

"And don't worry, Naru, we won't let some guy take Mai away while we're gone!" She practically sang and slammed the door after Luella walked out. We had walked about five blocks when Luella pointed out a little outside café. She said we could sit and talk since we didn't really get to yesterday with all the shopping and... other activities. She also said 'plus Noll can't complain about this'. So here we are; I'm sitting facing the building while Madoka and Luella are sitting in front of me, facing the street. After the waitress gave us our orders of tea, Madoka and Luella turned their attention on me and had goofy grins on their faces.

"So, Mai, since Naru's not here to stop us..." Madoka alluded as they both leaned foward. I leaned back warily. They suddenly started laughing.

"Oh Mai, dear, you should've seen your face!" Luella laughed. "Sweetie, we're not going to eat you so don't look so frightened. Although... you are sweet enough to eat!" She squealed. I just laughed nervously and took a few sips of my tea.

"Isn't she?! I bet you're very popular with the guys, aren't you?" Madoka winked at me but then playfully hit her head. "Oh, what am I saying? With what happened yesterday and from what Luella told me what happened at the restaurant, of course you are!"

"Ah, no, not real—"

"Oh, and don't forget that boy who made Noll so jealous he confessed!" Luella reminded her, ignoring what I was saying.

"Ah, yes," Madoka grinned. "Naru sure does have his work cut out for him. You better watch out with who you talk to, Mai, or you're going to have a very jealous boyfriend on your hands."

I gave a small laugh. I wish.

"I'll have to remember that." I smiled.

"I'll be right back." Madoka stated, standing up. "I've got to use the restroom." After she left there was a moment of silence between me and Luella before she decided to speak.

"I can tell you're very special to my son." She began. I looked at her surprised. "The way he looks at you when he thinks no one is watching or the way he just seems to relax when you're around."

What? No... no, she's just thinking that way because she thinks we're together. If we weren't then she wouldn't be.

"Noll's never even been interested in a girl before, he would never even give them a second glance!" Luella laughed softly. "He's only ever been school or work unless Gene made him stop and drag him off somewhere." She smiled sadly at the mention of Gene. Her eyes began brimming with tears. I felt like doing the same. "So thank you, Mai... for being with Noll."

I didn't know what to say, but thankfully Madoka came back so I didn't have to. "You wouldn't... wait, what's wrong?" She asked once she noticed the strange atmosphere. I prayed to God she wouldn't end that sentence with 'who died?' I'm sure Luella really would start crying then.

"Nothing's wrong. What are you talking about?" Luella asked cheerfully. The signs of her almost crying vanished. Madoka just shrugged it off. Luella's like Naru... she can change her emotions in a matter of seconds.

Madoka and Luella began talking while I kinda zoned out for a bit. I couldn't stop thinking about what Luella said. It's all an act, even if Naru did do what she said. He probably knew she'd be watching him, he doesn't love me. Luella even thanked me for being with him though... I feel sick.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I noticed the two chatterboxes were actually being quiet. I saw Luella looking at something that was behind me and then she nudged Madoka and whispered something to her. Curious, I started to turn around.

"Mai!" Madoka suddenly yelled causing me to jump as she quickly reached over the table and grabbed my arm. "Uh, I mean... why don't we go see a movie?!"

"That's a wonderful idea, Madoka! After that we'll go back to the office, let's go!" Luella stood up, slapping some money down on the table. I was then jerked out of my seat and down the street.

It might be my imagination, but as we went, I could have sworn I saw Hiro across the road from the café...

Hopefully I can update faster next time! Please review!