Disclaimer: We don't own Ghost Hunt!

~Jealousy in the Office~

Chapter 27

Trying to look as intimidating as possible, Naru made his presence known to the boy.

"Who are you?" Naru demanded. Daisuke blinked in surprise and shot up from how he was lounging at the sudden voice. He looked around only to see a raven-haired guy wearing black attire, glaring at him. Sitting up a little straighter, he tried his best not to completely wither at the harshness of it.

"Uh, hey. I'm just here to pick Mai up so we can work on our school project." He explained slightly nervous. Why was this guy looking at him like that? He never even met the guy before! Who did he think he was anyway? He acted as if he owned the place, which was clearly not possible since he looked barely older than Mai or himself. He must just be another assistant like Mai had mentioned before. Although that doesn't explain the look he's getting right now. "Um..." Daisuke muttered, glancing at the place Mai disappeared to and hoping she'd come back before this guy killed him.

Naru crossed his arms. "I don't appreciate you taking Mai away from her work." He told the guy.

"It's, uh...Mai told you right? It's for a school project..." Daisuke said a bit nervously. Eyes still narrowed, he practically huffed.

"No, she didn't tell me much. I only just found out." He growled.

"Oh..." Daisuke nodded, turning his gaze towards the ground as he did. "Why does it bother you so much though? It's not like either of us can help it if the teacher gives us a project to do."

As Naru opened his mouth to speak, Mai entered the room with a smile, holding Naru's cup of tea.

"Daisuke, are you—oh, Naru." She smiled even more at seeing her boyfriend there and walked to him. She handed him the cup. "As promised, here!"

Taking his eyes off the boy on the couch, Naru looked down at Mai and took the cup gladly.

"Okay, Daisuke, we can go now." She told the boy, who nodded and hurriedly stood up. That guy beside Mai was very unnerving. Mai raised an eyebrow at his sudden movements but left it alone for the time being. "See you tomorrow, Naru."

Naru nodded towards her and placed a kiss on her cheek, sending one last glare at Mai's project partner. Daisuke blinked in understanding now. Ohh, he must be Mai's boyfriend or something then! Flushing, the brunette smiled up at Naru before grabbing her things from her desk. She couldn't believe Naru just did that in public, and in front of basically a stranger of all people. hat was up with him today? Perhaps he was just happy they solved their issues? It didn't sound quite right but she couldn't dwell on that right now. She gave him one last—a bit confused—look as she reached the door with Daisuke. Ignoring the look, Naru opted to shoot one last warning glare at Daisuke just before the door clicked shut behind them.

"I was afraid you really would kill him if you kept looking at him like that." Lin commented in amusement, standing in the doorway of his office. Glancing over at the Chinese man, Naru glared.

"Don't be ridiculous. Even if I could kill him just by looking at him, I don't see how that would do me any good. I just need to make sure that he knows that he's cutting out of Mai's work time." He quipped.

"Of course. That's why." Lin smirked. "Although you didn't seem to think that when you thought Mai's partner was female."

Gritting his teeth, the young man did his best not to grind them in frustration. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Lin's smirk only widened. His charge was too easy to read in times like these.

Naru scowled, his teacup still in hand. Going to take another sip, he found himself even more irritated at the small—and last—mouthful of the beverage. What was he suppose to do now? He would never be able to concentrate if he tried to get back to work. He glared down at the cup as if it had somehow offended him. And now that would be the last cup he got from Mai for the rest of the day and it was all gone.

It was definitely that boy's fault for taking his Mai away during work hours. It was actually only during work hours that he ever got to see Mai... A problem that he would surely have to fix if only so that he can get more tea. He was her boyfriend now, so he had a right to see her whenever he wanted and didn't need any excuses. Of course, that didn't mean he could leave now and see Mai. She was busy with schoolwork. Yes, schoolwork...with a guy. A guy whom he had never met or heard mentioned before.

Naru unconsciously tightened his grip around his teacup. Lin rolled his eyes from where he was standing before turning around and leaving Naru to his frustrations. As long as his charge didn't kill anyone or himself, he didn't much care what he did. Not like he could stop the teen anyways. He never listened. With a shake of his head, Lin closed the door to his office.

Now alone, Naru mentally groaned at his on-coming headache. He glanced down at the cup and let out a breath. He might as well put it back in the kitchen. Not like he was getting anymore today. The strange thing was he didn't even remember drinking it. Not that he ever did when it came to the tea that Mai made.

Naru begrudgingly went back into his office. He'd just have to do what he could without the tea. Tea...of course. It wasn't because Mai wasn't there. He would never be so unprofessional.

A few hours went by, making it around eight o'clock now. Lin had went home half an hour ago. Since he wasn't doing anything productive since Mai left, Naru figured he might as well go home too. But was that really okay? To just go straight home? Mai's been known to fall asleep at any point in time, anywhere. Wouldn't it be the right thing to do and make sure she was home safely? Especially if that boy she was with could potentially hurt her. He may have seemed nice, but who knew what his true nature was. And it didn't seem like Mai knew all that much about him in the first place.

Naru stopped in his tracks, having realized something. What if that idiot invited that guy over to her apartment? If she fell asleep with him around, while they were inside Mai's apartment then the chances of her being easy prey was even more obvious. Gritting his teeth, Naru locked up the office and hurried down the stairs to the ground floor. It wouldn't hurt him to check on her, just to be sure. His efficiency without Mai's tea is greatly lowered so complications would be undesired.

Around ten minutes later, before he even knew it, he was in front of Mai's apartment door. Reaffirming himself, he knocked on the door. He heard a laugh from behind it, which made him narrow his eyes, before it was swung open a few moments later.

"Naru?"

He watched as his girlfriend blinked in complete and utter surprise. Despite obvious confusion, the brunette stepped aside.

"Ahh, come in!"

He nodded, stepping inside and glancing at the surroundings.

"So... what are you doing here?" Mai inquired. Just as Naru was about to speak, something caught his eye. Well, better yet someone did. From near him, his girlfriend gave an exasperated sigh. "Naru." She called, trying to get his attention back. With a slight scowl, he slid his gaze on to her. "What are you doing here?" She asked again.

Naru mentally hesitated. Why was he really here? Obviously to check on Mai and to see if that guy was in her apartment—which he irritatingly was—but it wasn't like he could tell Mai that. Fiddling slightly with his pants, his eyes almost widened at the unfamiliar item in his pocket.

"You forgot this." He explained, pulling out Mai's cellphone. He'd picked it up earlier after Mai dropped it and completely forgotten. Mai's eyes widened and reached for it.

"Oh! I didn't even know I lost it... Thanks!" She smiled brightly. He mentally sighed in relief, thankful that she hadn't asked anymore questions on the matter. He wasn't sure if he had anymore excuses.

"Oh, it's close to nine now..." Naru heard the guy say as he stood up. "I better go."

Mai turned around and smiled widely. "We got what we needed done anyway. Sorry to keep you so late." She apologised sheepishly. Daisuke gave a nod, desperately trying not to look at Naru who was still glaring at him.

"It's fine. Like you said, at least we got it done."

Nodding enthusiastically, the brunette opened the door for him. "Yup. I'll see you at school."

"Night." Daisuke agreed, stepping towards the door. He gave Naru a nod, still not looking this guy in the eye.

"Night, Daisuke." She called one last time before the door clicked shut. She looked at Naru to see him frowning. "What's up, Naru?" She asked.

"Why was he here?"

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I told you we had a project to work on."

"In your apartment?" Naru questioned. Mai shrugged.

"Where else were we supposed to do it?" She asked incredulously.

"You may not know about it, but there is a place called a library where you go to study." Naru deadpanned. Flushing, she looked to the side with a pout.

"Well so-rry." She crossed her arms in defeat. "Why are you up-tight about it?"

"You have a habit of falling asleep when you get bored. He could have done anything to you in that situation." He scolded.

"Done something?" Mai asked in shock. Just what kind of guy did he think Daisuke was? "Did you think he was going to jump me in my sleep?"

Naru pinched the bridge of his nose and gave her a pointed look, ignoring the question. "How well do you know this guy?"

Mai hesitated. "He's in my class...I see him all of the time."

Naru raised an eyebrow. "That's it? You trust too easily."

Mai sighed and grabbed both of Naru sleeve-covered arms. "Naru, if you must know, he does have a girlfriend."

Blinking in shock Naru tried to process the new information. Why hadn't he considered that as a possibility?

"Please don't tell me you're going to think that every guy I talk to or comes around is going to like me. Because they don't." She added, trying her best not to smile. Naru looked away, mentally seething.

"I wouldn't do that. I was just worried after seeing him here is all. Am I not allowed to be?" He muttered. Mai gave him a soft look as she released the grip she had on his sleeves.

"Of course you are... But not every guy is a Takumi." She giggled a bit. At the mention of the other teen, Naru shot her a slight glare. What did that idiot have to do with anything?

"That's not what I was thinking at all."

The brunette nodded sarcastically with a smile still adorning her face. "Of course not." Deciding to change the subject, Mai motioned towards the couch. "Makes yourself at home. I'll make some tea." She offered with a knowing look.

Naruisawesome: So, this probably seems like a weird place to stop...lol.

MzShellSan: Yeah, but because we kept writing and writing...and writing to find a ending to this story, the chapter ended up super long so NIA-chan had to split it into two chapters lol.

Naruisawesome: Yup! Hehe it'll be an even 28 chapters... XD Though we're really sad that the next chapter will be the last...

MzShellSan: Yeah... The next chapter will be posted next week though, so please review! ^_^