Hey guys, I know it's been a long while, but life has not really been on my side lately, and I only recently remembered I like writing, but now I am back on track. Thanks for sticking around!

Quote of the day: Those who matter don't mind, and those mind don't matter.

"Naru! Can you talk to me?" Mai cried. For the past fifteen minutes, Naru and Lin had been sitting together with her at their table at the hotel restaurant in complete silence. Lin didn't say much as usual, and Naru had his nose buried in his black notebook, reading the notes Mai had taken earlier.

Mai didn't receive any reply.

"NARU!"

"We are here for work," Naru droned, and resumed reading.

She picked at her food and threw herself back in her chair and sighed. What she wouldn't give to have John or Ayako or Yasu or Monk or Madoka or even Masako there with her. Anyone would be more talkative than the pair sitting in front of her.

As if her prayers had been heard by someone above, a familiar voice called out to her.

"Hey, Mai!"

Mai spun around in her chair. Her face broke into a smile on seeing the dark haired boy. "Makoto!" she called back.

He jogged up to their table and slid into the empty chair next to Mai. "How's it going, Mai?" he asked.

"Who are you?"

Naru's cold, calculating voice startled Mai. She hadn't heard it so icy in so long that it scared her. She froze under his glare, but Makoto was unfazed.

"I'm Makoto Daichi. My dad is Akihito Daichi. He invited you, didn't he?"

"No one invited you to the table."

"Naru!" Mai chided. "Don't be such a spoilsport!"

"We're working. I don't want him here."

It was Mai's turn to glare at Naru. "I want to take a break, you workaholic! And don't drag Makoto into this!"

"You're still on duty, Mai."

Mai got up and stuck her tongue out at him. "Take it out of my paycheck."

Without looking back at her boss, Mai stalked off with Makoto in tow. "Ugh, that jerk!" she groaned, massaging her temples.

"Seems like a strict boss."

"And don't I know it."

Makoto laughed, and Mai's spirits rose. "How's it coming along? Any luck yet?" he asked.

"Well, we're in the beginning stages, so there's not much to start out with, but I'm sure we'll have more results for Mr. Daichi by tomorrow."

"Don't worry about results," Makoto said. "As long as you guys are here, I think everyone's panic is under control." He laughed again. "Including my dad's."

This time, Mai joined in his laughter. "He was super jittery when he first came to SPR's office. Having Shibuya open the door didn't help things."

"I'm sure." Makoto cracked a lazy, gentle smile and reached out to touch her wrist. "Listen, the bar's open all night. Do you think you could take some time off and come?"

Mai looked back towards Naru and was surprised to see him angrily staring at her. "Um," she murmured hesitantly, looking away from his glare.

"Look, maybe you can get some information while you're at it," Makoto persuaded her, flashing his bright smile. "You know, like undercover reconnaissance."

Mai laughed at his stubbornness. "I'll ask my boss, Makoto."

"Promise?" he said.

"Of course." Mai took another look at Naru. If anything, he looked angrier. Her heart fell. She had just started to get him to open up to her and feel comfortable around her. Had she ruined it all by talking to Makoto?

She pulled her wrist away from his touch and said, "Well, I should probably be getting back. I don't want too much of that cut out of my check."

Makoto grinned. "See you tonight, Mai."

Mai walked back to her dining table hesitantly. Naru had stopped glaring at her and was now boring holes in his notebook with his stare.

"Say, Naru-"

"No." His tone was cool and hurt a little. Mai felt her face heat up, but she tried again.

"I was just wondering if-"

"The answer," Naru said dangerously, "is no."

Mai felt anger rise in her, hot and fast, and she had to fight to keep down the horrible words and rage. Why was he treating her like this? And all because she had talked to Makoto - which she wouldn't have done had he been talking to her in the first place!

She threw down her fork and stood up. "I'm going back to base," she announced, and attempted to stalk off, but Naru stood as quickly as she has, and Lin, his ever faithful shadow, stood up as well.

"We'll go up together," he said smoothly, as if he hadn't just told her off.

That just made Mai angrier, and she tried to walk back as fast as possible, but it just didn't help, and she wished that she had asked Mr. Daichi for the top floor so that she could have walked off her anger on the way up.

Naru continued on as if nothing had ever happened. "Yasu will be coming tomorrow to help set up the cameras and will be bringing some research on doppelgängers and twins. Until then, there's nothing much for you to do.

Great. So she was stuck there, at base, while she could have been at the bar chatting with hotel customers or Makoto, or even Naru if he would just stop being so angry and talk to her!

She threw herself down on the couch and tried not to strangle Naru with her bare hands. She would have done it had Lin not been sitting there, ready to defend Naru against anything that may come after him. She didn't think she could beat Lin, much less take on his shiki.

After fifteen minutes of feeling sorry for herself, Mai got up off the couch and went for her homework. She wasn't some whiny brat. She wasn't some annoying girl. She was at work, and if she had time off, she was going to study.

Mai took out her things and began to work.

The next day, she awoke happier than the night before. She found that any bad moods from previous days usually didn't carry over to the next, and she was cheerful as she greeted Yasu when he came early.

"Hey, Mai!" he called as she went to meet him outside the hotel. "What's up? How's Big Boss and the silent man?"

Mai laughed at his comments. "Silent as usual. I'm glad you're here now. I thought I would go deaf from all the silence."

Yasu ruffled her hair. "Don't worry - the two of us will make enough noise that Big Boss will wish he never invited me!"

Mai laughed even harder, and Yasu took this opportunity to growl, in Naru's droll, plain voice, "Shut up, Yasu, or I'll take it out of Mai's paycheck."

By the time Makoto found them, Mai was crying from laughter, and Yasu was attempting to do an impression of Lin, which was all the more hilarious because the large Chinese man never spoke.

"Hello, Mai!" Makoto greeted them, an amused but confused look on his face. "What's up?"

Mai panted and wiped tears from her eyes. "Hey, Makoto," she said and let out a final giggle. "This is Yasu, my friend and coworker. He's imitating my boss for me."

Yasu held out his hand and shook with Makoto. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good." Makoto turned to Mai. "Where were you yesterday after dinner? I looked for you at the bar but I didn't see you anywhere."

Yasu's eyes turned huge in mock horror. He held a hand to his heart. "Already moved on to another boyfriend, set up a date, and stood him up?" He whistled. "Dang, Mai, you're on a roll here!"

Mai's face flushed red with embarrassment. "Yasu!" she exclaimed. "That is so not true!"

"I call it as I see it!" he said, and laughed so hard his glasses slipped all the way down his nose.

Makoto smiled, albeit a little awkwardly. "Are you two - going out?"

Yasu roared with laughter at that, and Mai blushed even harder. "No, no!" she insisted. "Of course not - we aren't! We're just friends."

"Oh." Makoto seemed to relax a little. "So what brings you here today, Yasu? Ghost hunting like the others?"

Yasu wiped tears of mirth from his cheeks and pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Nah, I'm just here to help out for the day. Sometimes I have off, or more time to help around, but for right now, I gotta get back to school tomorrow."

Mai realized his words probably made no sense to Makoto, so she clarified for him. "He's part of the team, but whenever he's free, or we need him. Mostly he does research for us."

"Oh, okay. Cool." Makoto looked at her expectantly. "Mind if I help out today?"

"Mind? Jeezus, would you please," Yasu begged, clasping his hands together in exaggeration. "We've got a van full of equipment and three floors of a hotel to cover. It's going to take forever without at least another two people."

Mai and Yasu showed Makoto where and how to unload the equipment, and then began carrying it up into the rooms through a back elevator to avoid all the guests. They mounted cameras and microphones in the corners of hallways, elevators, lobby, kitchen, dining room, and bar. Mai called Lin and asked him to see if they were working, and he replied in the affirmative.

In two hours, their job was done. Every available camera, microphone, and cable they had was set up and in use. Mai sighed and reached her arms overhead, stretching out her aching muscles.

"What now, guys?" she asked, slouching into one of the lobby couches between Yasu and Makoto. "Lin said there's no more work for the day, and whatever there is, he and Naru will take care of it."

"Yes!" Yasu crowed. "Break time!"

"We could go into town and eat out or something," Makoto suggested, and at his suggestion, Mai's stomach growled.

Yasu laughed. "I think that's a yes."

Mai called Lin - too afraid to tell Naru - and let him know that they were going into town to have lunch, and Lin agreed to tell Naru.

They walked into town together and first stopped at a fast food restaurant for burgers. Mai found herself enjoying the two boys' company more and more, and the eventual return to her silent boss and his equally silent companion seemed to loom less large at every joke Yasu and Makoto cracked. Soon, she forgot about Naru altogether, and began to relax.

They went afterwards for ice cream, and took their cones to a park where they sat by a small lake. Makoto told them about his father's business, and Mai and Yasu told him about SPR. Mai was suddenly aware that she was sitting too close to Makoto, and that she could feel the heat through his shirt, and that her head was perilously close to touching his shoulder. When she blinked, she could see Naru, Naru down in the tunnel, the smile that was only for her, Naru sitting next to her while she lay in the hospital, Naru slumped in the couch after she had kissed him.

She slowly leaned away from Makoto and tried to remember how big their argument had been. It wasn't that big of a deal, was it?

As they talked, the sun began to set, and only when Makoto commented on the pretty colors on the horizon did Mai realize how late it was getting.

She jumped up from her seat and glanced at her phone. "Yasu!" she exclaimed. "Naru is going to kill us!"

Yasu glanced at his phone and jumped up next to her. "Five o'clock already?" he yelped. "We gotta run!"

Mai pulled Makoto up off the park bench and they began walking quickly back to the hotel.

Mai huffed and puffed, and Yasu panted and wheezed, but Makoto seemed to be walking along and breathing just fine. Mai was suddenly reminded of Naru, who was totally unfazed by anything. Then again, Naru would never be running in the first place.

"Do you - do sports or something?" Mai asked between breaths.

Makoto smiled. "Yeah, I do a couple of sports around school."

Yasu gasped. "A couple?"

"Like baseball and track and swimming, you know?"

"What? Why?" Mai asked.

"I just like to work out." Makoto looked at her, and winked.

Mai felt a blush creeping up her throat at that, and pressed it down. No, she thought forcefully. Makoto was giving her too much attention. That wasn't casual. That was not okay. A wink was not okay. She was dating Naru, and whatever his faults were, whatever his weakness were, she loved him, she loved that stupid narcissist, and she had to stop Makoto before he got the wrong idea and started thinking that she was leading him on.

She didn't answer Makoto, just smiled a little so he wouldn't be too put off, and they got back to the hotel without much further conversation.

"Thanks for helping, Makoto!" Mai called to him as he went off in search of his dad. He waved in response and then jogged away.

"I think you have a not-so-secret, admirer."

Mai yelped at the voice in her ear and swatted Yasu away. "Yasu! Don't do that! And Makoto is not my admirer."

"He sure thinks so."

"And you weren't helping one, single, little bit," Mai pouted. She pulled her collar away from her neck. "He really thinks I'm not dating anyone."

"And I wonder who's not telling him you are."

"You!" Mai said vehemently.

Yasu raised an eyebrow. "Or maybe it's you."

They stared at each other.

Mai looked away. "Fine. I guess I'm not doing that much to push him away. I'll tell him."

"Tonight."

"Tomorrow."

"Tonight."

"I can't do it tonight unless Naru's there. It's not like I can go up to him, like, hey, by the way, I'm dating my boss!" Mai fanned her heated face with her hand to no avail. "Why are we talking about this again?"

Yasu looked confused and shrugged. "I don't know, really."

Mai groaned. "You are so annoying, Yasu."

"And don't I know it!" he said gleefully, and took her hand, and dragged her all the way upstairs.

"Hello, Big Boss," Yasu called in his most cheerful voice.

No reply.

"Hello, Lin!"

"Hello."

"Lovely day we're having, isn't it?"

No reply from either of them.

"Well, Naru, I really have to be going. Note the time. I'm not letting you play cheap with me again."

Mai silently shook her head furiously at Yasu. Please, no, please no, she mouthed. Don't leave me here with him!

Yasu put his hands on her shoulders, and for once, he was serious. He leaned in until only she could hear. "Fix it," he breathed in her ear. Then he leaned away, put his smile back on, and said, "Bye, Mai!"

Mai slumped down into the couch and tried to summon the anger to muster a glare, but she only ended up summoning sadness. "Bye, Yasu."

There was only one thing left to do.

Mai pulled out her phone and made a call.

So, this chapter's not much about the case, but I liked playing around with these two. I feel like in a lot of fanfics, Mai is oblivious to other guys who like her and unknowingly leads them on, but I think she's smarter than that, and I'm trying to make her realize it. She's still being a little bit too casual with this boy, I think, but we'll see what happens next. Let me know what you guys think!

For next time: sneaking out, a spilled drink, and some not-nice things being said