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So another installation is up. Hope you like it.

Chapter 2: Too Hot To Handle

Naru sat in his office, reclined and half asleep in his padded chair. Large blobs of sweat were rolling down his back causing a shiver from the odd sensation. The humid air was something he'd had trouble with since his return from England. Japan's summers were a hell of a lot hotter than those he was used to in his home country.

"Mai," he called with a parched throat.

The scraping of a chair and lightly trodden footsteps told him his assistant was about to enter – probably without knocking.

He was right. She burst through his office door, a flurry of skirt ruffles and chocolate hair.

"You're supposed to knock," he bit out.

Mai narrowed her eyes, "And you're supposed to treat you're employees with respect."

Naru glared, not even attempting a rebuttal. The heat was slowly frying his brain.

"So...what's up?" she chirped, aiming a thousand-watt grin in his direction.

"Make me tea," he glowered. Her expression faltered for a moment at his answer but she quickly bounced back with a nod.

"Sure," she smiled, "Would you like anything else while I am at, Your Highness?"

"No, just tea," he said calmly. Mai rolled her eyes and left as quickly as she had barged in.

Naru remained silent, the unnatural heat draining his energy. How could his assistant be so cheery right now? He was slowly melting away here. Something had to be done about this. He scanned his brain for a solution to his problem.

"There you go!" beamed Mai as she plonked a steaming cup down in front of him. Naru's mouth felt dry and a slight tremor had made its way into his elegant hands. He was about to gulp down the beverage but stopped for a moment before taking a mouthful. Deciding his thirst needed quenching right away he sucked in the hot liquid. The scalding liquid felt like lava as he swallowed. He swore his temperature hiked another degree.

"Change of plans," he announced suddenly, slamming his cup down onto the saucer with a loud chink, "close the office."

"Huh?" baulked his assistant who had been waiting for her non-existent thanks.

"You heard me."

"Bu-," she was about to argue but Naru's glare stopped her in her tracks.

"Okay, whatever," she conceded with a sigh. Naru watched her bewildered face march from the office to flip the sign on the door.

He was too hot to care about propriety or work. He needed to cool down before he became a gooey puddle in the middle of his office floor.

By the time Mai entered his office again, he was standing. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone exposing the tip of a collar bone. His sleeves had been rolled up to reveal milk-bottle arms. Naru felt her stare, He nearly smirked when he realised she was taken aback by his casual appearance.

"Grab your bag, we're leaving," he said with an inflection that meant Mai had better not dare refuse. There was only one thing on his mind and he be damned if he was going on his own.

"Wha-Naru!" she whined, "where're we going?"

He ignored her, grabbing his keys and wallet from the top drawer of his desk and waltzing passed the perplexed girl towards the door. He waited for Mai to exit before locking the door behind them. Pocketing the keys, he sped down the steps to the street below. He heard his assistant's shouts to wait up, which he ignored, and carried on walking in the stilted air. He was squinting in the bright afternoon sun as he wove around passers-by.

"What the hell Naru?" Mai snapped as she eventually caught up to the man dressed in black from head to toe.

"What's going on with you?"

Naru noticed the edge of concern in her question. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She was scowling but her eyes looked worried. He slowed his pace to match hers.

"Are you ill?" she asked as they turned the corner on to a busy street, "You're looking a bit flushed. And, wait... hey, are you sweating?"

He rolled his eyes,"Thank-you for your observation, it was neither needed nor wanted," he shot at the babbling girl. She really was hard work sometimes. He heard her huff, "I was just worried, ya big jerk," she said with indignation.

Naru scanned the shops lining the traffic-laden road and spotted what he was looking for. His target now in sight, he increased his speed, disregarding the protesting girl that was struggling to keep up. Droplets of sweat now cascaded down the side of his face, soaking the collar of his dark shirt. His tongue felt like leather. Naru had never felt so uncomfortable in his life. The usually composed man was falling apart at the seems. Over a little sun, no less. He should be ashamed of himself, he thought bitterly. But all thoughts were wiped clean when the familiar building loomed overhead.

"This way," he shot over his shoulder to Mai as he turned sharply into the small premises that was lightly crowded with people.

He almost groaned in pleasure when a gush of cool air washed over him once he stepped over the threshold. The petite girl following him let out a loud noise of confusion when she stepped in behind him. He found a table over by the window and slid into one of the seats, not caring if it was taken or not. He was relishing the icy breeze with his eyes closed when he felt a presence standing beside him. He knew it was Mai. He cocked an eye up at her.

"Did we seriously just skip off work so we could come here?" she asked, gesturing to the surrounding building. He tilted his head back as he inhaled the frigid air cooling body. It was glorious.

"What can I get you two?" asked an enthusiastic voice that was most definitely not Mai's. Naru lazily lifted his eyelids to look at the girl in a server's uniform. She was smiling at him in a friendly way.

"Two vanilla sundaes with everything and a large mango smoothie," he rattled of quickly. He overlooked the gaping expression on Mai's face.

"Sure," she smiled, scribbling on a note pad, "take a seat Miss. I'll be back in a few minutes with your order."

Mai complied, albeit absent-mindedly. Naru noticed she was too stunned to even blush. Really, it was only ice-cream, he scoffed, not exactly a four-course meal.

"Mai, close your mouth," he grumbled. Her jaw shut with a snap, shaking herself from her awe.

"Are you sure you're not ill?" she asked with a shrewd eye. Naru rolled his eyes but refrained from commenting.

"There you go," said the same girl from before. She plopped down two giant bowls of ice-cream, dressed in every kind of topping he could imagine, in front of the quiet pair. She handed the mango smoothie to Naru, who snatched it from her grasp and began to instantly slurp the sweetly chilled substance. He sighed with content as his overheated body finally cooled to a more bearable level. A snort interrupted his internal bliss.

"What?" he asked with a scowl.

"So you were just over-heating then?" asked Mai with amusement. Naru thought back. Now that he was cool enough to think properly he suddenly felt a little hasty in his decision to close the office. If Lin ever found out he'd never live it down. He was too proud to let himself feel embarrassment so he decided to just make the most of it. He looked at his assistant who was watching him with twinkling eyes.

"Not a word to Lin," he warned from across the table.

"Scout's honor," she said with a grin, raising three fingers.

"Shut up and eat your ice-cream," he growled. There was a short laugh and then the scraping of a spoon. Naru hid his own smirk around the straw of his smoothie as they both sat in companionable silence

A/N: Please read and review :)