"Mai you'll be late to school!" Mai heard someone shout as she woke up. She looked to her right, at the alarm of the stand. It was seven, so she had an hour to get ready and go to school, and she moaned while getting out of the bed. With some effort she took a quick shower, pulled on jeans and a sweater, and set out for the living room. Naru was there, tea in hand as he looked outside at the flurries of snow. The dim lights of the home contrasted with the bright snow that was illuminating the home through the sliding glass door. It seemed March was going to provide one more spurt of snow before giving in to spring, and Mai had to admit she was glad, happy to enjoy one last glimpse of the snow.
"Oh thank you" She said, looking up to Naru handing her tea and a breakfast bar. She sat down at the table and watched the news, glancing over at the man how was cleaning out his own cup. Since they had come back from the last case Naru had bought a bed for his room, and with that came the establishment that they were now living together. He now only had her keys on his hook and Lin sometimes came by to give him work, or to the check on the two of them. Naru had moved in his real computer into the home, and his own coffee cups. He bought new towels, silverware, spending his money whenever she was out with her friends so she couldn't argue about him spending money. Mai had never been asked if this ok, and while she didn't mind the man, she knew he was doing this out of worry. He was treating her like Gene. Once he got back from the case he had her go to the doctor, have her bones x-rayed for any fractures, he walked her to school and home. During a night a few days ago her powers had flipped the couch upside down and he had dragged her to the hospital. Naru was too cautious now, and while she wanted to fight back she could see how scared he looked every time another cup flew across the room.
"Come here Mai, you have to go to school soon" Naru said and she walked her cup to him, which he set in the sink, before pulling out the BP and wrapped it around her arm. The two sat in silence as it squeezed her arm, watching the snow fall and land on her balcony.
"You know, I'm alright"
"I know"
"Hm" She hummed, watching him write down the numbers onto the paper and the two left her home, locking the door behind them. There was a good thirty minutes left to get to school, so the two walked slowly, admiring the snow gathering on the road. "I wish we would get out of school every time it snowed" She said with a sigh, wishing she was at home, enjoying a day off from the daily school life.
"It snows up to your stomach in England and people still go to school" Naru said, but it just caused Mai to sigh ever more.
"Ya, but it's Saturday, it's just a half day anyways"
"That's what lazy people say" He said and she frowned at him, pushing him in the side and she could hear him chuckle from under his breath. The two walked up to her school and she waved him goodbye before going in, her friends from school waiting. While she had grown very close to Masako and Yasu, she continued to be friendly with her friends from school, they went out to eat sometimes, and the photo booth was a tradition for them.
"Oh Mai, your boss walked you to school today? You're so lucky! He's so handsome!" Her friends giggled once they made into the classroom, settling into the seats. They were always so snoopy when it came to Naru; she couldn't let them come over to her house anymore, scared that they would wander his room and go crazy. It was obvious that he was good-looking, but she had in fact grown use to it. He was though, still some eye candy for her friends and she let them talk on about him till class started and she took notes. Every once in a while she looked out the window, and watched the snow come down. It seemed that time was going by so slowly, and by lunch she let out a large sigh, before running after her friends to eat outside. They spread out a blanket and ate as quickly as possible, choking a few times, before then laid out on the blanket, side by side.
"Say, what are you going to do once you're out of school?" Mai said to go to her friends and they shrugged.
"My dad wants me to take over the family store" Yoko pouted and the two others giggled, Mimi who was on Mai's right, tapped her chin.
"I wanna be a lawyer, that way I'll be a big business woman and have lots of money" She said and they laughed again, the other thinking of their little sweet friend as a high-class lawyer with a brief case. "What about you Mai?"
"I don't know. I want to go to college, just not what for yet" She mumbled as snow fluttered down onto her lashes, and she blinked, feeling them melt on her face. They were already so close to the end of school, and the end of her high school life. What would she do when she got to college? While she wanted to stay with Naru, and the gang, she knew that getting an education mattered. Monk had already been hounding her with that and she wasn't going to let him down. It was all the matter of what, what she would do.
"Why not just marry your boss and help him run his business?" Mimi whispered and Mai face heated up, she sat with embarrassment. The other two girls made fun of her the rest of lunch before they rolled up the blanket and headed back to class, just barely making it in time, so as to not be scolded. The rest of the day passed by without much trouble, with Mai having to stand up only once to read part of the story they were going over. Once the bell rang she headed to the floor to change out shoes and waited at the school door for Naru. She had learned that he would get very annoyed if she didn't wait for him. Her friends left and she sat there waiting, clubs let out and it got late enough that she considered just going home alone without him, but he rounded the corner finally, jogging to her.
"A customer came in and had a breakdown; it turned out a ghost actually possessed her as well." He said and she looked up shocked at him. No one had ever been possessed when coming to see them; in fact she had never seen someone possessed outside of the case site. Naru helped her up and took her bag, the two walking home. Halfway there the lights turned on and it was completely dark when they made it up the front steps of her apartment and went inside. The two took off their coats, sitting down to take off their shoes.
"I'm going to change; you sit down on the couch and rest. I'll cook dinner tonight" Mai called back to him, heading back to her room, and listened as Naru turned on the TV to watch a comedy show. She pulled on a pair of leggings and a long shirt before heading out to the kitchen and reached under the counter to grab the cutting board when she heard the whistle of the knife fly off the counter and crack into the TV. It sputtered for a few moments before going silent, leaving the two people in shock. Naru was around the corner before she knew it and grabbed her, pulling her off the ground. "I'm fine" She whined weakly, but he pulled the two around the corner of the kitchen and grabbed her face in his hands tightly. She tried looking away, up or down or anything, just to not look at his pained face, eyebrows pushed together as if he was trying to find an answer to an unsolved riddle. The two stood there and she finally looked down, and glanced over at the knife lodged in the television.
"How can I trust you on cases if you can't even control your powers at home?" He asked into the silence, but she couldn't find a response and he finally let go of her face to send her to the couch, before pulling out the knife from the television carefully. It let out a few more sparks and he carried it outside, setting it in front of the door. Mai moved to get up when he came back in but with his warning glance she sat back on the couch. He was mad, and while not at her, she could tell he was holding back his temper.
"Let's just eat ramen for tonight" He said, and he heated up two cups for them, the two slurping them up quietly. Naru threw away the cups before coming back to sit by her and put the BP monitor on her again, and wrote down the numbers. He gave her medicine, checked her temperature, and brought her toothbrush to her to brush her teeth. Before she could get fed up with him and get up he sat down by her and wrapped a blanket around her. "Just go to sleep here for tonight" He said and she glared over at him as he pulled out a file and started to read it, it seemed he too was going to camp out on the couch for tonight. Mai sat there pouting for a bit, watching him read the file, and he finally looked up at her, irked. "Come here" He said and she looked at him curiously and scooted over till he grabbed her face and sat her head down on his knee, the girl tensing for a moment. "Now go to sleep"
"I'm sorry" She said softly, the dim lights above her buzzed. The young woman could feel Naru looking down at her and he let out a sigh.
"Don't worry" He said and she closed her eyes, feeling the inhale and exhale of the man. The night went on a bit longer, her eyes growing heavy, before she gave in sleep. A hand rested on her head.
"Lets go swimming"
Mai woke up, lights coming in through her thin curtains. She was a bit confused for a second as to where she was, since she was staring at the stand that had in fact held her television last night. Looking to her left she noticed Naru's leg, which she had in fact been sleeping on, and raising her head she saw he too was fast asleep, though it looks rather uncomfortable. He was leaning back, neck pushed into an odd position and she got up from the couch quietly. Mai then slowly moved him onto his side and wrapped her blanket around him; he deserved to rest for now. She headed back to her room and changed, before going out the front down and slowly walking the TV down the stairs to the garbage. It was destroyed beyond repair, so she was going to have to go buy another one today. Getting back up the stairs she saw Naru waiting for her by the door and the two ate breakfast together.
"I'm going to go buy a new TV today" She said and he glanced up at her
"Why not just let me buy it instead?"
"Because I broke it, and I watch more TV than you anyways." The woman grumbled, picking up the plates and setting them into the warm water of the sink to wash later. The two pulled on their shoes and headed out to go the park, seeing that they had the day off. They sat down on the bridge, legs hanging over the side. Everyone was out walking today and the two threw down roads to break the ice, though this time it broke by a few rocks since it had slowly started to warm up the past couple days.
"We actually did get a case, from that woman who came in" Naru said and she looked over at him expectantly. "She told us the ghost has been at it for about two years, but the area that it has been in hasn't been bothered. Lately it has been trying to drown people, so she wants us to come in and take care of it"
"When will we be leaving?"
"Probably Wednesday"
"But that's the middle of the school week" She whined, flailing her arms around
"It's too far to go today and she wants us there as soon as possible, so we can't wait till next weekend" He said and she sighed, slumping. By now it was lunch and he pulled her up, the two headed back to her home, chattering, not noticing how the ice continued to break after they were gone.
Oh hey there guys! Oh look there, i'm only two days late on when I was going to post! (wait didn't you mean you were going to post last Frid-)
sh.
Anyways, I spent that time thinking up a new case, and I hope you guys like it, cause i'm excited to get to the climax. It's going to be so climatic. So.
I now have 47 followers! ekkkkkk, i'm so excited, you don't even know! _ And welcome to all those favoriters too. I love you.
Naruisawesome, oh thankkkksss yoouuu. It makes me so happy when people look forward to the next chapter!
shinigamiinPeru don't worry, I'm just glad you're bad. I missed you. Anyways, yup, working hard to put this story together for you
p. ageha...I think...you commented...for the wrong story. Hahahaha, ya, I don't believe I have any 'boxes' in this story. Or i forgot. hm.
coraltide86, thank you, your comment really keeps me going as a writer :3
Ferb. O. Oche wahhhhhhh, if you turned that into a panel by panel manga I might just die. Like sit there, read it, then fall over foaming at the mouth. I am happy you enjoyed it, and hope to hear moe from you
thearistcrat hehehe, thanks, I have planned this one piece out since the begining of the case so I wanted it to the be the big centerpiece. You do not want to know how many times I rewrote that. keke, don't worry, the relationship is slow but it'll keep growing, I promise
WhisperToTheWolves I know right! I have to admit, I somehow feel nervous in Mai's place, knowing that Naru and Lin now know her secret.
deadlyrose123, meh, Yasu is a weirdo, there is no explaining him. Hehehe, don't worry, you'll both have your own computers by now
Muscial Teardrops, sorrrrryy. I just wanted to pump out as much as possible before last week. Moving, a ball, an anime convention and...lots of other stuff don't mix well with writing fanfiction. So much Fluff coming soon though. So much.
TheUniqueDead I wonder that too...well, hopefully an idea will come to me soon, and untill then please continue to support me ^^
Thank you for all the lovely reviews, it makes me so happy! I planned on posting last Friday, but I found it impossible to even have the time to get on my real computer. The only thing I could get on was my ipod and I checked everyday on my fanfiction so I could reread your reviews. They just make me so happy! I will admit, every time you write a review I get more energy to write a new chapter, and so all these reviews got me so excited to write more without even being able to!
Please look forward to the next chapter! I also want to start another story at some point that is...a fairytale. So. Um, please give me a heads up if you would like to read it.