A series of shorts, most likely...This has been floating in my head for a while now. Don't any of the other characters ever wonder why Mai was hired?

APPLICATION ACCEPTED

When Houshou Takigawa (otherwise known as Monk-san) thought to ask Naru why he had hired Mai, even though he was always pointing out her deficiencies, Naru had merely glared at the older man and reminded him that, really, it was none of his business. This, of course, made Monk-san even more curious but still nervous enough that he stopped asking. Neither he nor any of the other helpers at SPR liked to get on Naru's bad side, if anyone could kill with a glare, it would be Naru.

When Mai asked Naru why she'd been hired—in the middle of a rant about how mean her boss was—he simply said that he'd already told her the answer when he'd first hired her: another worker had quit, and she had seemed—at that time—fairly competent. Mai had pushed for no more answers about that, and instead began muttering about the use of the words 'seemed competent.'

Lin never asked Naru why he'd hired Mai. She was a hard worker, when Monk-san wasn't distracting her, and she seemed interested in their work. So, Lin put aside any resentment he might have still felt over their first meeting and resigned himself to a louder workplace than he was used to.

Naru never thought about why he'd hired Mai. Once the idea had popped into his head, it wouldn't go away until it was done. He never thought about the (rightfully) suspicious looks she's shot at him while her friends had fawned over his good looks. He never thought about how many different girls he'd had to call to find any information on her, or the fact that the only information he found about her personal life was that she was an orphan struggling to pay for food and other 'extras' that the scholarships didn't provide. Naru never thought about how cheerful she was, or how curious, or how lonely she looked when he told her not to bother waiting to say goodbye to him.

Naru never thought about these things, and it wouldn't occur to him to mention them if someone (such as Madoka) somehow managed to force an answer from him. It was very rare for Naru to rely on intuition or to act without thinking, but it was even rarer for him to admit to some sympathy for another person. So, of course, if he were seriously asked and forced to answer, he'd repeat that she'd seemed interested and competent and leave it at that. That was enough for him, and any other thoughts he might have had about his part-time worker were his own business. Anyway, he should be getting back to work, so whoever might be asking should go out and bug Mai. She was always willing to take a break, after all. Sometimes he wondered why he had hired that girl.