Disclaimer: We don't own Ghost Hunt!

~Jealousy in the office~

Chapter 9

Naru blinked in shock at the sudden outburst.

"Am I not allowed to care?"

Mai reverted her gaze back down for the second time since they've been in that room. "Ever since Takumi and his father came to the office...you've been acting...strange... Ah! But n-not in a bad way...I don't think."

"Have I?" Naru inquired, half hoping that maybe- just maybe she had figured it out. His assistant nodded.

"Yeah..." She furrowed her brows as if thinking hard about something.

"I don't remember." He stated, acting as if he had no idea what she was talking about. Mai snapped her gaze back onto him.

"Don't remember?! Don't lie! You keep doing it!" She exclaimed. Naru gave her a cold stare.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Even I can't read your mind." He said calmly, ready to restrain her if necessary. Mai puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.

"Yes, you do." She muttered angrily. At least she does know something is different. Naru thought.

"I'm pretty sure I don't." He replied.

"Stop being such a jerk and tell me why!" Mai practically shouted. She knew something was up with Naru and she knew that he knew what it was too. Naru winced mentally at the tone of his voice. He hadn't intended to make she yell, but then again, he never really intends to make her angry at him either. It just seems that he always makes her mad though... Despite that though, she still stayed around him. ...Could that possibly mean that she— Naru started to think before Mai abruptly cut him off. Not that she knew of course.

"Naru!" Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, Naru snapped out of his thoughts and turned to her.

"What?" He asked. Mai narrowed her eyes at him.

"You know what!" She screamed, infuriated by his attitude. Naru sighed.

"Calm down." He suggested. Really, she was starting to get too loud. He was sure if she was any louder that the others would hear her. And that would not be good... He mentally shivered at the thought of Bou-san or even worse...Ayako.

"Why can't you stop playing dumb and just tell me?" Mai demanded, once again bringing him out of his thoughts. Naru sighed pinching the bridge of the nose. What was he suppose to tell her? That he liked, no, loved her? He wanted to, but he wasn't sure now was the time. Besides they always seem to get interrupted anyways.

"Are you going to answer me?" demanded Mai. She had been standing there for minutes now while he's been off in lala land! Before Mai could continue her mini mind rant she found herself cut off by Naru.

"Why do you 'think' I'm acting differently?" He questioned causing Mai to grit her teeth.

"Because I've been watching you." She said angrily before covering her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that... Naru raised a brow and a small smirk formed on his lips.

"Have you now?"

Mai looked away, her cheeks tinted red. "Um...w-well, I mean..."

"You mean?" He asked, his smirk widening. Mai pressed her lips together as she turned a brightly colored red.

"Well you just said you noticed my expressions changing so you've obviously been watching me too!" Mai retorted, turning the tables around on him.

"If I didn't keep an eye on you then who knows what would happen to you."

"Just what exactly is that suppose to mean?!" Mai refused to believe that she was a danger prone. Naru looked at Mai with a raised eyebrow.

"Name a single case where you have managed to keep yourself out of danger the whole time." He challenged. Mai opened her mouth, ready to tell him off, before she snapped it back shut. She had to think here. There was one case...no, wait, I fell down a well... Not that case neither, I got sent to the hopsital... Nope, not that one... Wait! Mai's face lit up.

"The last case we took before you went back to England! And need I remind you that I saved all of you on that one?" Mai grinned in victory. Naru blinked in surprise.

"So because of one case you're not a danger magnet, is that what you're implying?"

Mai frowned. "That's not what you said! You said to name one case where I didn't get hurt and I didn't on that one!"

The boy in front of her pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"I know what I said Mai. And now I'm telling you that despite that, it's a very likely chance you're going to get hurt so I've been keeping an eye on you. I already told you that you've been targeted on this case." He explained irritably.

"You can't always 'keep an eye on me' you know. You can't follow me around everywhere."

Naru sighed. "Obviously. That's why I have Miss Matsuzaki keep an eye on you when I can't."

Mai pouted slightly. He was treating her like a child who always needed looking after. She was not a child and did not need people watching her every move. Although it made her feel happy that he cared enough to keep an eye on her, which brought her back to Naru acting strange. It was almost...worrying.

"Are you okay?" Naru then focused his gaze on her at the sound of her voice.

"Why do you ask? Why do you care?" He asked.

"Am I not allowed to care?!" Mai shot back, blushing madly especially when she realized Naru took the words from what she said earlier. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Naru sighed.

"I didn't ask you to."

"Well I didn't ask you to care about me either, so I guess we're both just going to have to deal with it!" Mai felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest now. Naru rolled his eyes.

"Aren't you a genius?" He replied, the sarcasm in his voice more than clear. Mai narrowed her eyes, picking up on his tone.

"No. I'm not and I've never claimed to be." She stated before swiftly leaving the room—successfully this time. Not wasting a second and risking the chance of Mai getting herself into trouble again Naru was quick to follow her.

"Mai." He warned as he finally caught up with her. The brunette stopped but didn't look at him.

"What?"

Naru silently sighed, hoping not to upset her anymore.

"Didn't I just say you weren't suppose to go anywhere by yourself?" He asked. Mai crossed her arms and huffed.

"I was only gone for a minute." And anything could've happened. Naru added to himself. Instead of voicing his opinion though, he chose to ignore her obvious irritation and opted for walking down the hall towards base. It was getting close to noon now, and when he heard a low growl coming from beside him, he realized it was true. Naru glanced at the girl beside him to find a small blush decorating her cheeks. Rolling his eyes, he changed his course for the kitchen. Mai stopped when she—surprisingly—realized they were going the wrong way to base.

"Naru, where are you going?" She asked. Naru looked down at Mai and smirked.

"Tea."

"You jerk!" She shouted after recalling what he said. Ignoring her, he continued walking towards his destination. Mai briefly wondered if she had to go with her boss. As if reading her mind Naru spoke from in front of her.

"Don't even think about wandering off. I made it very clear that you aren't to go anywhere alone."

"But why do I have to go?!" Mai pouted, catching up to him then mumbled. "Can't you make your own tea?"

"Who's the boss?" Mai turned her head to glare at him, which just made her look adorable! Seeing that glaring wasn't working she found herself giving in and pouting in annoyance. Unknown to her the pouts affect Naru a lot more than the glares. He even considered calling it a crime. Naru gave a small cough and turned his head away from her. Mai tilted her head.

"Are you sure you're not catching a cold?" She asked worried. "I'm fine." He insisted as they entered the kitchen. Sighing, Mai grabbed the kettle and filled it with water before placing it on the stove to boil. She wondered why exactly Naru brought her here to make tea. Didn't she just make him some before they left to speak in private?! A thought suddenly came to her mind.

How long had they been gone exactly? He kept her in that room for a long while...which wasn't her fault. She tried to leave, but he wouldn't let her! Sighing again, she gave up on her inner thoughts and finished making the narcissist his tea before he started going through withdrawal. When she turned around to give her boss his tea, Mai was surprised to find Naru behind her with food in his hand. She smiled at him and handed him his tea. In exchange, he gave her the food with one command.

"Eat."

Mai didn't even think twice before she started eating. Naru sighed after sipping his tea.

"Idiot. If you were hungry, you should have said so." He told her nonchalantly. The brunette blushed.

"I wasn't that hungry." She denied. Naru lifted an eyebrow in disbelief.

"I beg to differ." He said, closing his eyes momentarily before an amused smirk made its way on to his handsome. "I'm sure everyone could have heard your stomach begging for food."

Mai pouted, crossing her arms. "Whatever." And that was the last thing either of them spoke while in the kitchen.

It wasn't long before Mai and Naru were headed back to base. As Mai opened the door and walked in, Naru stopped and mentally cursed himself. He forgot to ask Mai about her and Takumi being together last night! That girl really was going to be the death of him. Forgetting such an important question was something only she could make him do. The raven-haired man sighed before walking into base also. He'd just have to wait until he got his next chance. And he promised himself there would be before the day was done.

As he walked in he caught Lin's eye. The Chinese man slowly shook his head, indicating that nothing had happened while he and Mai were gone. Naru nodded in understanding before walking over to where Lin was situated. He sat down in his chair before giving a brief glance to each of the monitors. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary he turned away and pulled out his little black book.

"So Mai..." He heard the monk began to say. "What was that about? You were gone a long time."

"N-Nothing." Came Mai's reply. Bou-san grinned and pushed himself off the couch, grinning.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really!" Mai tried to lower her head as Monk neared her so he wouldn't see her on-coming blush. Before she could though she felt herself being hugged tightly.

"Aw, come on, Mai! You can tell me!"

Mai blushed. "I told you it's nothing!" She claimed.

"Then why are you blushing Mai?" Ayako smirked, butting into the conversation. Mai struggled to get away from the monk's death grip.

"I'm not!" She denied. Ayako 'tsk'ed as she examined her nails.

"I bet Naru tried something inappropriate, huh." She stated more than questioned, quietly though so everyone except Lin and Naru would hear. Mai immediately felt daggers being thrown at her by a certain medium.

"He would never!" Mai denied, blushing furiously at the thought and trying desperately to stop the hateful looks she was receiving.

"Keep telling yourself that."

Naruisawesome: Aha... Sorry it's been so long! ^_^; *looks pointedly at Shelly*

MzShellSan: I know, I know, sorry! I haven't been able to be on for multiple reasons.

Naruisawesome & MzShellSan: Please review!