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~Jealousy in the Office~

Chapter 16

Mai's eyes widened considerably. How could this be true? What...what was he talking about? He had already rejected her once before... She wanted to deny it so much but...looking into his eyes she saw no lies, nor did she see any feelings other than love. For me... She mentally added. Noticing how tense he was, it confused her. Why would he be like that? As if he was afraid of her reply...

She nearly face palmed at how stupid she was being. Of course he was afraid, he probably thinks he's going to be turned down. She let out a silent chuckle. Like that would ever happen. There wasn't a girl alive who could turn him down. Well...most probably would after seeing his personality, but not her. Never.

"Naru?" She whispered.

"Yes?" His voice was strained slightly, she could tell.

"I love you too." Mai's eyes began to form tears again, but not from sadness, from happiness this time. "I always have."

Naru's head snapped down to look at Mai in shock. She couldn't have just said what he thought she did. There was just no way. Why would she love someone like him? He was cold-hearted, cruel and never showed emotion. She could have someone so much better than him. He looked down again when he felt Mai snuggle closer to him.

"I must be dreaming..." He heard her mumble. His brow shot up at that.

"You're the one dreaming? I'm convinced that I'm delirious." Then he heard her let out a laugh though it was slightly muffled due to her burying her face into his chest. He smiled slightly at that.

"Why...I...why..." Mai seemed to be for a loss of words. "Why...me? I mean...you already said that you didn't..." She trailed off, finally looking up at him again. Naru gave her a small smile.

"Because you're Mai." He explained. A tint of pink dusted her cheeks.

"That's not a real answer." She mumbled, yawning tiredly. She laid an arm over his stomach and placed her head on his chest.

"Go to sleep, Mai."

The girl shook her head. "I don't want to... I'm afraid that when I wake up this really will be a dream...and I can't take that. You have no idea how much I've always wanted you to say those words to me." She mumbled. Naru gave her the smallest of smiles.

"I will be here when you wake up. For now you need to rest." He murmured. He gave her a lingering kiss on the top of her head. Mai blinked up at him in awe before closing her eyes. Despite her inner mind's protests she could feel herself slipping away.

"Just...remember...I do love you..." Mai's words were almost slurred in her sleepy state.

"And I love you." Naru replied though he doubted she heard it. When he looked down at her again, he saw that she was already asleep. He smiled before allowing himself to succumb to sleep.

The first thing the couple heard was muffled giggling upon waking.

"You owe me." Someone declared.

"We owe you nothing!" Someone else, a female, denied. "Just because they're in...this position doesn't mean that they're a couple yet!" Naru's eyes snapped open at that and he glared at the whispering idiots.

"Crap! He's awake!" Monk said in panic, still whispering. He had his phone in his hand, most likely taking a picture. Lin quickly moved before his seat, but not before Naru managed to catch him. The man silently cursed. Ignoring the glare he was given, he smirked and turned back to his laptop. The commotion all quieted down when everyone heard a soft groan.

"What's all the noise?" Mai slurred slightly, snuggling into Naru for more warmth. "It's too early for this..." She whined.

Naru couldn't help but sigh and mentally roll his eyes. Wake up, Mai... He silently pleaded. He didn't want to deal with these idiots this early in the morning. He'd leave all that up to her...plus they would most likely make her blush like crazy, which he always enjoyed. Until he met her, he had never known there to be so many shades of red that one could blush. As if hearing his silent plead, Mai slowly opened her eyes as she heard more of the giggling. She growled slightly in irritation.

"What's the time?" She grumbled.

"I'm not sure, but considering that everyone else is awake, I'd say it's pretty late than I had wanted." Naru answered. Groaning she managed to sit up slightly. When she noticed everyone staring at them—some still giggling—and taking pictures, she blushed deeply. Scowling she attempted to hide herself using Naru. However in doing so, she twisted her wrist the wrong way and cried out again. Mentally cursing himself for forgetting her wrist he moved to look at it. "Idiot." He muttered. Mai let out a whimper as he gently cradled her bandaged wrist to examine it. The others' eyes widened as their gazes fell upon it. All thoughts of teasing the two teens flew our of their heads at that moment.

"Mai! What happened to you?!" Ayako asked worriedly, sitting down beside the girl while Naru still stayed on her other side.

"Uh...umm...well...I don't really know..." Mai muttered, mind still hazy with sleep.

"You don't know?!" The red-haired woman looked at Naru for an explanation. Naru could feel himself getting increasingly irritated.

"I would appreciate it if you kept your voice down." He stated coldly.

"I'm about to yell even more if you don't tell me what happened to Mai now." Ayako shot back while glaring at the young man. He narrowed his eyes at the woman coldly.

"Not only did you force me awake but you also have the audacity to demand such a thing. I would think you'd be more worried about looking over the injury as opposed to screeching like a banshee."

Ayako gritted her teeth in anger, knowing she should be checking on Mai's injury. She could ask questions later especially when Mai was in a lot of pain. She ignored Naru and pulled the brunette closer to her and away from their boss. Mai stiffened slightly at the sudden change. She knew it was stupid, but she had felt warm and save closer to Naru.

"Alright, Mai..." Ayako whispered as she began to undo the bandages Naru had done the previous night. The brunette winced slightly as the cold air hit her wound. "Monk, go get my bag with my medical equipment in it." She ordered, staring down at Mai's cut. It was jagged and stained red. Sighing, she began to clean and disinfect it making sure to be careful. The brunette hissed and tried to pull her hand away from her grasp as she did, however. "Mai, I can't fix this up if you don't at least try to stay still." Ayako scolded.

"I'm sorry, but it really hurts..." Mai whimpered. Tears began to form in her eyes as Ayako tried to clean it again. Naru looked away from her. He couldn't bear seeing her cry again. He had seen enough of her teary-eyed face from the past few days. Last night being the worst. When Monk came back, he handed Ayako the things she needed. Mai kept squirming so she ordered John to come and help hold her in place. Mai pouted slightly at this but didn't complain knowing that it wouldn't do her any good.

"Just...hold her, John." The miko gestured to her when the priest had awkwardly put his arms around her.

Naru glanced over at them when he heard her say that. It didn't sit right with him. At all. The fact that John was a priest was completely irrelevant to him. He couldn't help but glare at the man either. No-one was allowed to be that close to his Mai. And here he was just sitting there while Mai was in pain. Mentally sighing, he moved closer to Mai to do the job that John clearly wasn't comfortable enough to do. The priest seemed to visibly relax when he did and Mai also seemed to, too. The others gave him a knowing look, but he ignored them.

"Just calm down, Mai." Naru whispered in her ear. She leant into him trying to do what he had instructed. She screwed her eyes shut and Ayako was able to finish doing it without any interruptions this time. She turned to Naru and glared at him once she was done.

"Now do you want to tell me how exactly Mai got this wound?"

Naru sighed, exasperated, before he began to explain everything that happened after he left to go check on Mai when he saw her on the monitors. The others were silent when he finished, probably due to shock. Mai hung her head down throughout all of it with her bangs covering her eyes. She didn't want to relive it, she didn't want to be reminded of it. She just wished she could forget the whole thing, but every time she tried to she could see flashbacks—glimpses of the things she did. She didn't realize she was trembling again.

When Naru glanced over to check on her and saw her trembling, he felt his anger flare. That stupid spirit was the cause of this. He reached over and placed a hand on hers. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. He tried not to wince at the sight. Before he could comprehend what was happening Mai launched herself at him. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, he hesitantly wrapped his around her waist due to the shock. Coming to his senses he turned to the others and glared as if to say 'why are you still here?' Everyone else glanced at each other, smirking. Where exactly were they suppose to go? He mentally rolled his eyes.

"Miss Matsuzaki, go with Miss Hara and do a walk around. Takigawa, take John and go and change the tapes." He ordered. They all began grumbling quietly as they stood up about what he just wanted them out the room so they wouldn't tease him. With a quick glare they were all rushing out of the room leaving Lin, Mai and himself alone. Naru mentally sighed. If he could he would have forced Lin to leave, but he knew that would have ended up as an endless argument. Although...what was that he heard him and John talking about a bet? Making a mental not to find out about that later, he focused his attention on his crying girlfriend.

"Mai..." He called quietly. The brunette shook her head, burying her face in his chest. He just tightened his arms around her. No matter how many times she cried, he still didn't know what to say. To be honest, he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Not that it really mattered, he could only pray that he never had to see those tears again.

Unbeknownst to him though, Lin had a huge smirk on his face. Despite knowing now was not the right time for such things he couldn't help but notice the small things his charge did for his brunette assistant. Or...should he say girlfriend? Were they dating now? He hoped so. He'd rather not go crazy anymore...plus he needed the money. He made a mental note to find out later—although he was sure that they were. Smugly, he opened a new tab on his laptop. He should inform Madoka about this latest development.

"Mai, it's okay now...nothing like that is going to happen to you again." Naru tried to soothe her. Sniffling, Mai looked up at Naru with tears running down her face.

"How can you be so sure?" She asked quietly.

"Do you trust me?" He asked. She nodded. Of course she trusted him, she love him! "Alright then. I'm not going to let anything else happen to you." Mai's eyes widened slightly before she relaxed. That's right. Naru was here. He would protect her.

"Okay." She said, giving a nod in agreement. She trusted Naru, he always kept her safe. He had never failed her before. And the look in his eyes told her he wouldn't now. She gave a smile before blushing deeply when she realized she was practically sitting on his lap. Noticing the sudden change in behavior, Naru smirked slightly. Perhaps it was time for some teasing to take her mind off things. It's always proven to work so far since he's known her.

Mai scrambled to get out of Naru's lap, her face still burning. However when she tried she found that she couldn't move because of the hands that were firmly holding her hips. She struggled slightly only to pout when his grip tightened instead.

"Na-Naru..." She stuttered embarrassedly. After everything that happened within the last hour, she was finally reminded of everything that had happened last night. Leaning over, Naru rested his head on his shoulder.

"Yeah?" He questioned teasingly.

"You—I need—um...what are you doing?" She questioned. She wasn't exactly sure what to ask though.

"It would think it was quite obvious." He retorted.

"I-I know that...but u-um..."

"You're embarrassed." He teased knowingly. Mai blushed deeper. Did he really have to say it aloud?! And with Lin still in the room no less. Why is he doing this all of a sudden? Mai thought to herself. She furrowed her brows in concentration, trying to figure out why he would be being so affectionate...in his own way. At that her face heated up again when she remembered he had kissed her forehead last night.

Naruisawesome: Hehe, soooo? Did yall like this chapter as well? XD

MzShellSan: We hope so. And holy crap, 33 reviews for the last chapter?! O.O That's the most we've gotten on a single chapter of this!

Naruisawesome: Eheh, I guess it's because everyone really liked the last chapter! *wink, wink* Anyways, thank you to everyone! ^.^

MzShellSan: Please review!