Hi... Sooo, um, yeah, yall can hate me all you like. ^_^; I'm deeply sorry for my updates the last few months I don't know what's happening with my non-cooperative brain. I. Feel. HORRIBLE! *bows* And there's another small thing I'm gonna apologize for, but I'll leave that for at the end of this chapter! Despite my awful updating skills, thank you to the 29 reviews! Yall make me so happy, you'll never know!

Disclaimer: You know what?! I DO own Ghost Hunt! *gets a call from lawyer saying I'll be sued, then laughs nervously* Ehhh...it was a joke! Ahaha... But no, seriously, it was just a joke. O.O

Naru's POV

I sighed quietly as we waited for Mai, Mother, and Madoka to come down so we could leave already. They had dragged Mai upstairs about four hours ago and they've been getting ready ever since then. Don't they realize what time it is? This 'ball' that Mother is making us go to had already started. Truthfully, I really don't care if it has or not, but the sooner we get there the sooner we can leave.

"Son, will you sit down before you wear a hole in the floor?" Father questioned from his position on the couch as he watched me pace back and forth. I just ignored him. Why am I pacing anyway? It rarely happens to me.

"I wouldn't worry, Professor. I'm sure he just can't wait to see what Luella and Madoka are doing to Mai." Lin quietly commented. I stopped and sent a cold glare to him, which only caused him to smirk. If only I could fire him...but no, he just has to be employed by my parents.

Father sighed and shook his head absent-mindedly. "Honestly, I fear for Mai right now. Who knows what those two are making her look like—they do go overboard on many things."

"They both adore Mai...they wouldn't make her look bad, unintentional or not. That's probably why they're still up there to make sure 'she looks perfect', as Madoka kept saying all day." Lin replied nonchalantly. I narrowed my eyes at them. Why does it seem Mai is always the topic of their conversations?

"Ah, Luella did mention something like that also."

I finally sat down with a deep sigh. Now, at the mention of her, Mai has once again invaded my mind like she has been for the past week. Even more so within the past few days. I don't know why, and it's irking me to no end. It feels like the answer is right in front of me, but yet at the same time I—for once in my life—can't find it. Lately I've been finding myself being drawn towards her more and more. Whether wanting to learn more about her or just being closer to her. Every rational and logical thought leaves my mind when she's too close, however. It's ridiculous, so that's why when I can help it I try my best to stay away from her. Albeit, it doesn't go well most of the time especially with the situation I've put Mai and myself in right now. She has to be with me all the time and I can't even sleep without her being right beside me, no thanks to my mother.

Really, what the hell was Mother thinking when she put Mai in my room? Does she even realize the multiple reasons why that's highly inappropriate? And Mai walking around in nothing but a short towel is one of them. Although it was very amusing watching her blush all last night and today when she was around me. The only time she wasn't blushing was when she fell asleep and I had to carry her upstairs to my room. I of course had suggested just leaving her on the couch, but Mother wouldn't have any of it.

I slightly massaged my temples a bit when I thought of the other two previous...unexpected events. Mai had surprisingly done that, which left this indescribable...'warm' feeling in me. And then...there was the thing that I, for some reason or another, did. Well, almost did. I keep asking myself why I almost kissed Mai in the garden a couple of days ago. At the time it just felt as though I needed to—wanted to. But the main question I ask myself is would I have stopped and realized what I was doing, or would I have carried through with it if the maids hadn't interrupted us?

"Alright! We're finished! Boys, come look at Mai!" We heard Mother's voice ring from the stairwell. Sighing, we walked to the stairs to find Mother and Madoka already at the bottom.

"Come on, Mai! Don't be shy; come down!" Madoka shouted up towards the stairs. I winced slightly at her being so loud especially since I was beside her. Then slowly Mai began to appear at the top of the stairs. She was looking down at the floor with a blush adorning her face while her hands were clasped in front of her. Mother and Madoka let out a small squeal at the sight of her.

As Mai shyly walked down I took full notice of what she was wearing. Her strapless dress was a satin royal blue, just barely touching the floor. It apparently had an open back to it also that went half way up her back. There was a large slit on the left side of the dress that stopped a few inches above her knee. Overall the dress fit her perfectly—it allowed you to see the curves of her body and how slim she was. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun. She had makeup on also, but it was light. It was enough it give her skin a glow, but it wasn't over-done.

I've never called anything 'beautiful'...but if I had to at this moment Mai would be it.

"You look gorgeous, Mai!" Mother squealed again when Mai finally reached us. "Alright, everyone! Let's go, let's go! We have a ball to attend!" She ushered us out. But not before Mai linked her arm with mine.

Mai's POV

We finally made it to Luella's friend's house—mansion—where the ball was being held. I've been super nervous all day long. A million thoughts kept running through my mind. Will anyone there like me or will they all hate me? How will I know what to do? How am I suppose to have a conversation with anyone when I'm not that advanced in English? What if I completely embarrass myself, and even more so embarrass Naru and his family? I just know I'm bound to mess something up, if not multiple things. And Naru keeps giving me a glance every now and then, which is not helping me calm down, with a weird look that I can't describe. Why does he keep looking at me like that? What's he thinking? Do I look okay?

"Oh! There they are!" Luella exclaimed as she began to lead us to a woman. As we got closer, the woman saw Luella and Martin then smiled brightly.

"Luella, Martin, and Madoka, I'm so glad you were able to make it." The woman greeted before turning towards Naru. "And Oliver, Lin, it's great seeing you two again." Lin gave a curt nod while Naru gave a verbal greeting.

"Mrs. Reed." He said. Then the woman's gaze flicked to me, making Naru subconsciously tighten his arm around me.

"Caroline, this is Noll's girlfriend Mai Taniyama." Luella introduced me to her. "Mai, this is Caroline Reed. She's one of my best friends and she's the mother of the birthday girl tonight." I nodded in acknowledgement before turning my attention back to Caroline as she began to speak to me. I tried my best to understand what she was saying.

"Hello. Nice to meet you, Mai."

"N-ice to m-eet you too. Your ho-me is ve-ry pre-tty." I smiled, despite flinching at my horrible pronunciation. But she smiled as well, nonetheless. Because I wasn't looking at Naru I missed the look of surprise that crossed his face when I spoke.

"Thank you and you look absolutely beautiful." Caroline said, looking at my dress in awe. I furrowed my brows, having trouble on the last word.

"Beautiful, Mai." Naru whispered to me, causing me to snap my eyes onto him. Then I suddenly realized he told me the word I needed to know. I flicked my gaze back to Caroline.

"Oh, tha-nk you."

"My, she is something! And you're right, Luella, she's adorable!" Caroline laughed.

"I told you! Say, where are Brandon and Michelle?" Luella asked the woman. I was already at a loss in the conversation. I had no idea what they were saying especially since they were speaking so quickly, or at least it just seemed like it.

"Oh, they're in here somewhere." Caroline looked like she was trying to look for someone in the crowd. "Michelle has been going around greeting all of her guests, but I know when she spots all of you she'll come over."

It wasn't but a minute later that this brown—almost black—haired girl came to us with a bright smile on her face. She looked to be about my age, maybe a year or so younger, but she was taller than me. Probably four or five inches taller. She said her 'hello's to everyone before turning towards me and Naru. Although she completely ignored Naru, her attention was directly on me. In fact she spoke to me like he wasn't even there.

"Hi! I'm Michelle Reed, thank you for coming to my birthday party! So you're Oliver's girlfriend, huh? You poor thing. I've known Oliver—and also knew Eugene—since I was ten. I've never been able to stand his rude attitude for too long. He had always said I was annoying because I ramble too much... Oops! I'm rambling again, aren't I? Anyways, enough about me, you're from Japan right? What's it like there? I've always wanted to go!" The girl stopped talking and stared at me expectantly, like she was waiting for an answer. She might be though... After she said her name I was completely lost. She was talking really fast...even faster than Madoka and Luella!

"Ah...Michelle, Mai can't understand English very well... I highly doubt she knew what you said." Madoka spoke up. The girl, Michelle, gasped in realization.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, I must look like a total idiot!" Then she addressed Naru. "Oliver, help me out here! Tell her I'm so sorry, I didn't know." Naru gave a slight eye roll.

"You should have guessed that to begin with." He mumbled before sighing. "She said she's sorry. She didn't know you couldn't understand English very well. Don't worry about anything else she said, she rambles like that all the time. It was nothing important." Naru told me. I nodded and turned to Michelle with a reassuring smile.

"It's...ar-right." I said. I really felt out of place... I didn't know what anyone was saying... Although what exactly did I expect? This is England, of course no one is going to speak Japanese!

"I'm sorry." Michelle apologized to me herself in Japanese. I had a strong feeling that's all she knew how to say though. I shook my head to let her know it really was okay.

"Ha-ppy...Bir-th-day." She beamed at my words and surprisingly gave me a very small hug.

"Thank you. Well, I wish we could talk more, but I have to go greet more guests. Hopefully we can talk later on, but for now, please enjoy yourselves and have fun!" She exclaimed happily. Naru translated for me as she left to meet her other guests, as Naru told me. I silently took a deep breath and pulled my hand to my chest. I hope I can make it through tonight.

So the other thing I'm apologizing for is that Naru's POV is even more OOC than normal. *sigh* He was mostly the entire reason this is late. -.- And sorry that this chapter is shorter than normal... Omg, my A/N's in this chapter are just full of apologizes ain't it? Lol! Anyways I'll try not to make the next update so late! I don't really have that much more to write for this story, I believe...

Till next time, please review! :)