The floor was a flat surface, yet Mai still managed to find something to trip on as she crossed the room into the small kitchen to fetch the tea that Naru demanded each day. With a shriek and a thud, Mai was face-down on the floor, groaning in pain. Her arms hadn't softened the fall at all, resulting in a painfully throbbing chest and a very sore nose.

"Try not to damage the floor." Naru called from his office, having heard the entire ordeal. Mai threw a look over her shoulder, despite knowing that he couldn't see it. Peeling herself off the hardwood, she checked herself over for injuries, finding none. Sighing, she went about her business of preparing tea.

'Asshole,' she thought as loudly as she could. If she wasn't allowed to say it, then she was going to scream it in her head. Still, she pried herself from the linoleum and set about making Naru's second cup of tea that day—the second of many more to come.

'I can't believe he's such a jerk! He could have at least asked if I was alright!' Mai fumed while she waited for the kettle to boil. Pouring out the hot liquid, Mai's attention was grabbed by the sound of the bell above the door.

"Hello hello?" The familiar voice of Takigawa echoed into the kitchen. Careful not to knock anything over, the young girl sprinted over to the door, throwing herself at the older man.

"Bou-san!" She cried gaily. His strong arms enveloped her in a bear hug as he twirled her across the floor, making room for the two others behind him to make their way into the room. "Ayako! Yasuhara!" Mai's enthusiasm only increased with each face as they crossed the threshold, although it seemed as though it were only the three of them.

"Hey there, Mai," the Miko greeted, waving a perfectly manicured hand and evading the hug Mai tried to give her. The boy behind her greeted his fellow high-schooler just as happily, and the duo performed their 'super-secret, overly-complicated secret handshake.'

"Come in, come in, have a seat, make yourselves at home!" The young girl ushered her friends to the couches, knowing full well that Naru hated when their colleagues visited without having business—no matter how slow the day was. However, Mai ignored Naru's wishes and indulged in the company of normal humans who liked to talk.

"How are things?" she asked the room; an open question not directed at anyone. Finding it difficult to sit still, Mai bounced up and went to make more tea, listening to her friends explain the new trials of life—whether they be of love, business, or Bou-san's band.

"And what about you, Mai?" Ayako asked, accepting the tea offered gratefully.

"What about me?" the brunette asked. Bou-san chimed in this time, allowing the Miko time to drink.

"How's your love life? Getting any closer to cracking that shell?"

Yasuhara was confused, and looked at Mai, then Bou-san, and back again.

"What are you talking about?" The boy asked, adjusting his glasses. Bou-san's snicker and Mai's blush had him really interested, but it was the older female in the room that answered his question, not bothering to keep her volume in check.

"Mai-chan is in love with someone," she cooed in a sing-song voice. "And a very cold and unfeeling someone, at that." Mai dropped the tray she'd been holding.

"Ayako!" She screeched fearfully, eyes darting to Naru's closed door. "Don't be so loud! He could hear you!"

Yasuhara—a little slow on the uptake—spoke up. "You mean she's in love with Naru?" he asked, incredulous. Bou-san scoffed.

"You're just noticing this now?" Thinking for a moment, he corrected himself. "Then again, you weren't with us from the beginning, were you?" He chuckled, throwing an affectionate glace to his 'little sister' Mai. "I remember the day we first found out that our little Mai-chan loved Naru the Narcissist."

The girl in question did everything in her power to shut her friends up, a crimson blush creeping down her neck. Bou-san refused to cease singing—making Ayako laugh—and before long, Yasuhara had joined in the teasing.

"It's not funny!" Mai protested. "You're all horrible!" She flopped onto the couch, arms crossed over her chest, obviously pouting.

"Aww, don't be like that, Mai!" Takigawa said, still unable to control his laughter.

"Yeah," Ayako chirped. "We won't tell anyone—" Naru's door opened at the most inopportune of moments "—that you love Naru-chan!"

A deathly silence overtook the room as the three caught sight of Mai's now-pale face. Following her gaze, Ayako gasped to see Naru standing in the doorway, frozen in his tracks, eyes slightly widened at what he had overheard.

Lin, too, chose this moment to emerge from his office and see what all the hullaballoo was about. Mai wanted to curl up in a deep, dark hole and die at that moment. She didn't even have the energy to glare daggers at Ayako. Her eyes were locked onto the object of her affection, horrified that he now knew.

"Is this true, Mai?" he asked, his voice sounding unaffected by the news; as if it didn't matter. Typical Naru.

"I…uh…" The girl fidgeted in her seat, looking anywhere but his face as her blush crept back from the dead.

"Answer the question," he pressed.

"Y-yes, Naru. It's true." She bit her lip, expecting a cold rejection then and there. Instead she was met with that unnerving silence she hated.

"Mai. My office. Bring tea." He retreated behind his door once more.

Lin found this to be a good time to busy himself with the filing cabinet, pretending to look for something. Yasuhara reached for the newspaper that lay untouched across the top of the coffee table. Bou-san and Ayako threw horrified looks to their young friend. The latter reached her hand out.

"Mai I'm so sorry," she began. "I didn't mean anything…"

"It's fine," the psychic interrupted. "It was bound to happen at some point." She faked a smile and got up to make more tea, though in reality she was forcing back tears.

The kettle was still hot from the last pot she'd made, so the tea-making process went too quickly, giving her no time to think. She left her mind blank as she picked up the mug, placed it on the tray, and shuffled into her boss's office, closing the door behind her with her foot.

"You wanted to see me?" She asked, placing the steaming mug down on Naru's desk. His chair spun around quickly and he stared up at her. Her eyes never left the floor. She was terribly interested in that little dustbunny peeking out from under the desk.

"Mai."

His voice was as cold as usual, and Mai could see nothing but rejection headed her way. This had been the main reason behind not confessing; she'd known for a long while that there was no chance of Naru reciprocating her feelings.

To her dismay, the older boy stood from his chair and walked around the desk to stand in front of her.

"Mai, look at me."

His assistant shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Naru!" she cried. "I wasn't going to tell you, since I knew you wouldn't want to know, but Ayako and Bou-san figured it out and—"

"Mai."

"And Masako already knew and I'm pretty sure Lin guessed along the way, and now Yasuhara knows and—"

"Mai."

"And I think John's probably the only one who doesn't know now, and I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen, please don't fire me! I really like—"

"MAI!"

"This job and even though I don't think I can just forget my feeling so quickly I promise they won't interfere with work and—"

"Mai, shut up," Naru's voice was a feral growl as he advanced on the petite girl, pressing her against a wall and kissing her hungrily. Her eyes widened, still glistening wet with tears, before she melted into his lips, his touch. In the back of her mind she briefly registered that he even kissed like a narcissist—proud and dominant. But for once she didn't mind.

The metal tray slipped from her hand, allowing her fingers the freedom to entangle themselves in his hair. His hands snaked down to her waist and yanked her body flush against his, pulling them ever-closer.

She could only pray this was not a dream.

-----

"What do you suppose he'll do?" Ayako asked, still feeling guilty. "What if he fires her?"

Bou-san tried to calm her down. "He wouldn't do that. He's probably going to yell at her for slacking off and that'll be it." He tried vainly to keep the Miko from biting her nails—knowing she would blame him if her manicure was ruined later.

Yasuhara piped up, adding his two cents. "He wouldn't make fin of her, would he?" Everyone in the room froze and exchanged worried glances, turning their attention to the door Mai had disappeared behind, only noticing now how uncomfortably quiet it was.

"No, he wouldn't." Having forgotten Lin was in the room, everyone jumped when he spoke. Leaning against the wall by the filing cabinet, the onmyoujin gave the three a knowing glance. "He's doing nothing of the kind."

"Care to put money on that?" Yasuhara asked, making light of a dark situation. Bou-san immediately jumped on the wager. "Pray tell, Lin-san. What do you suppose he'll do?"

"Knowing Naru, he's probably kissing the hell out of her."

"Like that would happen!" Ayako shouted, slamming down a twenty. "You're so on."

-----

A few moments later, all eyes were on Mai as she exited the office unaccompanied. She looked no different from before she'd gone in, except she was no longer crying, and her lips were considerably swollen.

She hummed and danced her way to the kitchen with dirty mugs to wash, completely oblivious to the looks of disbelief passing from her to the closed door of Naru's office. Mai never knew about the bet, and never bore witness to the money exchanging hands. Lin, sixty dollars richer, smirked triumphantly before returning to his office.

He knew more about Naru than anyone else, after all.