Veritas #2: Heels add oomph to any outfit

Chapter 3: Call It Even

Mai was waiting outside SPR when Naru arrived the next morning. He paused when he saw her sitting beside the door, then decided against acknowledging the incident the previous day. He strode up to the door and unlocked it, watching as she shoved herself to her feet before following him inside. She dropped her bag and coat onto the sofa without a word and headed directly to the kitchen; he heard the kettle clanking and surmised that this was some kind of apology for yesterday's behaviour. He left her to it and went to his office, turning the computer on and settling in his chair. Mai knocked on the open door and hesitated outside it, eyeing him nervously. He waved her inside. Sighing, she came up to the desk and pushed a cup of tea across to him. There were biscuits on the saucer. He raised an eyebrow at her. She blushed, understanding the unasked question.

"I made them. I've been up since five, so I did some baking. I figured the neighbours were already annoyed with me, so maybe the smell would calm them down. Then I thought you might like them."

She waited a few seconds longer, watching him, then she looked down and scuffed her toe along the carpet.

"Naru, I'm sorry about last night. I was out of line. It won't happen again."

He nodded and reached out, taking a biscuit from the saucer. She smiled at the implied forgiveness and whispered "thank you" to him before backing out and shutting the door behind her. He watched her leave then took a bite. It was actually quite good.

The rest of the day went downhill rather rapidly.

Mai had apparently decided that the best way to show that she was serious was to do exactly as Naru expected, before he expected it done. Three times she brought him tea just as he was about to call for her to make some; she brought him the files he had detailed to her yesterday without any prompting, and she tidied the entire office from top to bottom. It was like watching a robot version of his assistant. She was utterly efficient and tidy and, as much as Naru liked those qualities in himself, she was driving him nuts. She was replacing his tea for the fourth time when he snapped.

"I didn't ask for more tea."

She flinched like he'd struck her and backed out of the room, apologising. Naru sighed and got to his feet, following her into the main office. She refused to meet his eyes. He shook his head.

"Mai, look at me."

She did so grudgingly, and he could see a look of resignation in her eyes. He took a step closer to her and took her chin in his hand so she couldn't look away.

"Stop it. I'm not angry at you."

She closed her eyes and exhaled shakily.

"I know. I am. I let them get to me, and you were being so nice… I'm an idiot."

"Yes, but that's nothing new."

Her eyes flew open at the insult, indignation overcoming the pathetic look. Naru smiled, his barb having achieved the desired result.

"That's better. I knew you were in there somewhere."

She froze for a second, then relaxed and smiled back.

"Sorry."

"I know."

There was several seconds silence, and Naru saw Mai's eyes flick down to his mouth and back. His own followed suit. She was wearing gloss of some kind; her lips shimmered in the artificial light like water. His free hand clenched at his side.

She leaned in closer, stopped, then sighed and went to move away. He held her in place for three heartbeats, breathing heavily, then closed his eyes and dropped her chin. She stepped back, and he heard her move into the kitchen and shut the door, in all likelihood so that she could hyperventilate in private. Naru berated himself silently, his nails digging into his palms as he tried to calm down. Once his breathing had returned to normal, he opened his eyes and retreated to his office, shutting the door behind him and leaning against it lightly. The point of going out there was to make things less awkward between them. He sighed and shook his head.

"Idiot."

Xxx

Naru had kept to himself in his office all day since the incident earlier. Mai had avoided him like the plague, and he was actually rather grateful for her absence as it made working through just what had happened much easier.

He couldn't believe he'd almost kissed her. He had told her off for her behaviour last night, and there he was acting like a teenager on his first date. The situation couldn't be more awkward if Yasuhara had walked in on their little moment. At least the boy would make jokes about it, which would lighten the atmosphere. They would probably be better able to talk to each other if he'd just gone through with it and kissed her – at least then she'd be talking to him.

So then, why hadn't he?

Because he still wasn't sure quite what he felt for her, he realised. He hated psychoanalysing himself, but in this case it was a necessary evil.

He wasn't worried about being rejected – Mai had made it abundantly obvious that she had feelings for him. It was his own emotions that were confusing him. His feelings for Mai were beyond that of co-workers, or even friends, but he wasn't quite sure how far beyond. If this wasn't the kind of thing that had the potential to last, he would tear apart his carefully crafted team, as well as break Mai's and probably his mother's hearts. He wasn't willing to do that.

So, he had backed away and made an idiot of himself in the process. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He had to fix this before Monday, or the entire team would feel the tension and start asking questions. He could silence them with a glare, but Mai would tell somebody – likely the monk or miko – what had happened, and then the whole team would know. Aside from the loss of productivity he knew would result, he had to make sure Lin didn't hear about it; the last thing he needed was the Chinese man tattling to his mother.

Slowly, with all the enthusiasm of a man walking to the gallows, he stood and walked to the office door, pulling it open to see Mai sitting on the sofa with her head low, studying her script. She looked up as she heard the office door open, flushing even before she met his eyes.

"N… Naru!"

He sighed and sat beside her, ignoring her uncomfortable shuffling as he did so. She didn't move away from him, which was a good sign, but she dropped her gaze and began to fiddle with the script, which was not. Naru was very glad that Lin had gotten in so late last night; he would sleep most of the day and was not going to be back at SPR until Monday. That was plenty of time for him to sort this out.

"Mai, I'm sorry."

She blinked and looked at him, not expecting the apology. True, he didn't do so often, but then he didn't normally foul up to the degree where it became necessary.

"I shouldn't have behaved as I did. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

She continued to watch him in silence for several seconds, apparently still processing the fact that he was admitting he was wrong. He was beginning to get annoyed by her lack of response when she finally spoke.

"So, are you apologising for almost kissing me, or for not kissing me?"

It was his turn to be confused. Why did she insist on reading things into his comments? She must have read the look on his face, because she rolled her eyes and muttered "never mind" under her breath. She recovered from her ire quickly and turned a smile on him.

"I was stupid last night; you were this morning. How about we call it even?"

Surprised at her maturity over the matter, he nodded. She was willing to ignore it altogether, which was far more than he'd hoped for. Looking happy at his approval, she nodded back and looked back down to her script, which was beginning to get rather crumpled from the number of times she'd stuffed it into her bag. It was open to song lyrics and Mai, probably unaware that she was doing so, trilled the tune in the back of her throat as she read them through. Naru had heard her humming briefly the day before, but she had cut off before he could hear the tune properly. Sitting this close to her, he could hear that she was, in fact, in tune. He listened to her humming the song, not realising that he was staring until her gaze met his own.

"Naru? What is it?"

He flashed a genuine smile at her before pushing to his feet.

"You were singing."

She blushed again. Naru turned and headed back to his office. Her voice stopped him before he entered.

"What… what do you think?"

He looked at her over his shoulder and nodded.

"Very good."

She blushed harder and he turned back around, walking to his desk.

"Tea, Mai."

There was a stunned silence for a few seconds, then Mai stalked off to the kitchen, grumbling. Naru smirked and returned to work, and this time he was able to concentrate.

Yasu's case notes

Very mature, Mai. I'm disappointed in you.

...What?

You had a golden opportunity to torment the Boss-man for the rest of his life, and you threw it away!

I have to work in the same office as him. Every day. He's bad enough when he's being civil; if I held it over his head, I wouldn't last a week before I had to find a new job. Besides, this way had its perks.

'Perks' she says. Is that how you're describing it?

Yes, yes it is. Stop talking now, before you say something you shouldn't.

Fine. Next time: Time for truth number three! 'Children like Mai'.

That's it? After all that, that's the title you went with?

Hey, it's true, and this case is a perfect example of that.

And it's an actual case this time, not one that Yasu made up.

I did not make them up; they were in Naru's journal. If he left it lying around carelessly…

Locked in the drawer of his desk…

… then that's his own fault. Anyway, next time Naru gets serious and Kitty runs away.