A/N: I'm sorry that I haven't updated this fanfic in like...forever. It doesn't feel like it's been years, but it totally has. Holy cow. I know that there is a lot of you who enjoy it, and I totally do too, but for some reason, I was finding it hard to figure out how I wanted to go about doing things. So! I went back and edited the previous chapters, so there may be some more description and character thoughts in some places (mostly the first chapter, I think) if you want to re-read, but that was a while ago so some of you might have already. Just want you all to know that I do indeed love my readers and enjoy all the reviews I've been given (I've re-read them multiple times, they help me greatly)! That also goes for my silent readers and those who may just be finding this fic now. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter that has been years in the making!

Objective 3 – Plant the Seed, Phase 2.1

Two weeks of a similar routine and Mai had become pleasantly surprised at how much she enjoyed Lin's company. Not that she hadn't before... It was just that the Chinese man had never been one for conversation. He seemed to prefer to be on the sidelines more often than not and was pretty quick to finish off a conversation. It took her a while to realize it wasn't personal, he just wasn't much of a talker in general. That said, people would probably be surprised at the amount of detail Lin picked up on when people thought he wasn't listening.

Being blind in one eye, Lin made up for it with really good hearing. And as bold as Ayako was, in particular, she would probably be more than a bit embarrassed to know that Lin had heard her the many times she had whispered to Mai about his hunky good looks.

The first time she'd had the pleasure of Lin's company for lunch, Mai had been really nervous. He was more than a little intimidating after all, and the only times she had spent with just the two of them (that didn't involve mostly silence) was when she was possessed, when she'd pushed Naru into being stupid and nearly dying, and that time she'd chastised the male for his dislike of her for being Japanese. And neither times had necessarily been very pleasant.

That said, she now very much looked forward to when the clock drew closer to lunchtime. The prospect of learning more about her co-worker excited her. Truly, if she had known she'd feel this way she would have suggested the outing much sooner. So far, she had gotten a pretty good rough picture of his childhood history. Much to her surprise and intrigue.

For example, Lin was the middle child of three children. His elder sister was four years older than him, while he and his younger brother were only one year apart. He was born in Hong Kong in the same hospital his father was born in, while his mother was originally from Beijing. When he was around five years old, his family moved to England due to a job opportunity for his father, which is where Lin grew up for a good portion of his life.

He learned Onmyōdō from his mother, who came from a long line of Onmyōji. He was the only one out of his siblings who had a natural affinity for the craft and was also the only one who wanted to learn more about it. His sister chose instead to become a lawyer, wanting nothing to do with it, and his brother (though he dabbles) decided instead to become a teacher for young children. Unlike Lin, neither of them had been very interested in the art nor the spiritual world, even if (in Lin's words own words) they possessed a good sense of it.

As for his parents, Lin, unfortunately, lost his father just after he graduated from high school, and since his mother never re-married, he'd been the man of the house and had to take care of her until his sister married and offered for the woman to move in with her and her new husband. Not long after, Lin was formally approached by SPR (who already had distant ties with his family) and the rest was history.

Mai found watching Lin talk about his family to be fascinating. For one, she'd never had any siblings, so she liked hearing about his... but also, Lin unconsciously showed a lot more emotion when he talked about them. Sometimes he'd even smile. It was a real shame that Madoka was such a busy person since she was sure the woman would have made their lunch conversations that much more interesting. She had gotten to know the pinkette a lot during her temporary role as Naru's replacement during his time in England and was more than sure that woman had plenty more stories up her sleeve for sharing. Unfortunately, though, it seemed that every time Madoka suggested they all go out to lunch, she ended up not being able to go. Part of Mai wondered what kept her so busy...

Maybe she had a boyfriend?

Naru was never able to make it out with them either... or rather, he refused the offer every time Madoka asked him to come. Which, of course, always disappointed her a little each time. Mai didn't really like the idea of leaving him alone in the office... and it didn't really feel like a true outing without him there. She supposed he was probably more content with being in the office over being out in public, but she didn't believe that could possibly be the case all of the time.

Interestingly enough, Mai's train of thought seemed to be right. Or, at least, she chose to believe so when she saw her boss step out of his office with his coat in hand, a grinning Madoka not far behind him.

"You're coming too, Naru?" she blurted out, surprise evident in her voice.

The stoic man glanced at her with a slightly bored expression, "Will that be a problem?"

Mai blanched, shaking her head, "N-No! Of course not!" She assured, not wanting him to re-think going. That would be the last thing she would want.

Madoka cleared her throat to defuse the silence that ultimately followed with Naru giving his assistant a calculating stare as the girl looked away with a fidget. "Why don't you kiddos go on ahead before all the good seats are taken. It's the lunch rush after all! I'll stay behind and wait for Lin," the older woman suggested with her usual beaming smile.

The younger female blinked and tilted her head to the side, "Are you sure?"

The pinkette waved her off with a snort, "Uh-huh! Lin's such a diva, it may take him a minute."

Mai found herself unable to give a proper response to Madoka's suggestion, her mind sent reeling at the idea of heading off to the cafe with Naru by herself. She was already starting to feel butterflies in her stomach at the thought and she couldn't really tell if she was more happy or terrified at the thought. In truth, though, it was probably both. It was one thing to spend a lot of time with him at work or on cases. That, after all, was mostly business. However, to spend casual time with Naru? Alone? Even if it was just for a bit... that was... it was…

Mai felt her cheeks flush slightly. Maybe... Maybe it wouldn't be so bad?

With the assistant lost in thought, Naru took the initiative and acknowledged his former mentor's request by opening the front door of the office. "Let's go, Mai."

Snapping out of her daze, the young woman's flush deepened. "Hai!" she called, sliding on her coat as she followed him out of the door. Pausing last minute, she gave a grinning Madoka a quick wave before shutting the door behind her.

Naru wasn't sure what had possessed him to go along with Madoka's whims. He supposed a plausible answer was the woman's insistence. Two weeks of her constant pestering and even he was likely to give in just to placate her. This, mind you, was not out of the weakness of resolve, but rather re-evaluating after a point well made. As Madoka had so simply put, too long in one place and even he was likely to go stir crazy. While SPR was having no shortage of inquiries for cases, there were no good ones. Anyone who called or came in did not have any occurrences that were not easily explained within minutes of hearing the problem. Either that or they were obvious cries for attention and had no leg to stand on.

In any case, nothing had yet to catch Naru's eyes and feeling the frustration that came with a lack of acceptable work as well as the effects of having to spend his hours locked away in his office for weeks. Madoka had made an annoyingly correct point. While they didn't often agree with each other, Naru couldn't deny it. Much to his chagrin. Hence the situation he currently found himself in.

The prospect of eating out did little to quell his mood. But the opportunity to leave the office for an alternate destination was a welcome distraction. Even if said distraction included spending more time with a certain chatty pinkette.

But, for the moment, Naru was complacent. With Madoka waiting behind for Lin, that left him with Mai… whose presence, he'd learned, was never too unwanted. And if he was honest with himself, he did enjoy her company when she wasn't reprimanding him for his (lack of) manners.

As uncomfortable as it was to admit, Naru had missed his assistant during the time he'd spent in England at the behest of his parents. And if he were to be truly transparent for a moment, the girl had been one of the lists of reasons he had decided to come back to Japan for a more extended stay. Of course, the more aggressive nature of Japanese ghosts was also part of the decision and ultimately the only one that should have mattered... But it wasn't. Oddly enough.

The thought made him pause in his steps with a frown, Mai bumping right into his back at the sudden lack of pace. Silently pondering his train of thought, Naru turned to fix his gaze on the girl as she tried to catch her breath as discreetly as possible, obviously having had to practically run to keep up with his long strides. He half expected a lecture or a complaint of some sort, but it never came. Instead of being furious, Mai merely smiled with a confused look, silently questioning why he had stopped.

Unwilling to give up an answer, Naru turned his attention ahead and continued on once again at a more reasonable pace. Mai seemed to notice the change and grinned to herself, hands clasped happily behind her back as she snuck a glance in his direction. He pretended not to notice her eyes on him as both of them walked in relative silence.

Much to Naru's interest, she seemed to have been doing that a lot after his return. At first, he assumed it was merely because she had missed him... but now he wasn't so sure if that was the only reason. It wasn't something he was used to, not being sure when it came to Mai. She tended to wear her heart on her sleeve, so it usually wasn't hard to tell what she was thinking. Usually.

Holding the door open to their café of choice, he found himself left letting Mai talk to the hostess as he eyed the busy place warily. Madoka had not lied when she had mentioned it being the lunch rush. A good part of the restaurant was packed and a number of people, as well as the level of noise, had him second-guessing his decision to come. He began to picture how easy it would be to merely backtrack out of the establishment and find another way to quell his boredom.

As if sensing his hesitation, Mai took him by the arm and lead him toward an open table. He frowned slightly at the contact but sat down at the table in silence regardless. As his hands instantly going to busy themselves with a menu, Mai made chit-chat with the woman who'd seated them. What it was they were speaking about he didn't particularly care and so he filed it in his mind as background noise.

Refusing to let himself think about work, least his frustration resurface, his mind went back to the only distraction he had at the moment. His assistant. Aside from the long looks in his direction (well, the ones that were longer than what was normal for her), nothing else about Mai had changed. She was the same as before when they had first met. Short hair. Tiny waist. Big mouth. During his time back, Naru had found this oddly comforting.

Everyone else had changed, but she seemed to be the only constant. From the moment he'd stepped back into the office they'd fallen right back into the same old routine. It had been like he had never left, and he'd often wondered if that had been more for his benefit or for hers. Perhaps both.

"So..." Mai trailed off when the hostess left, her finger tapping against the tabletop absently as a goofy smile crossed her features. "How long do you think it'll take those two?"

"It's hard to say..." Naru sighed, lowering the menu a little to get a better view of her. He trailed off as their eyes met, her big brown eyes staring at him curiously as she waited for him to continue. "...Lin is a diva, after all."

The scientist's mouth twitched up ever so slightly as he watched Mai slowly realize that he'd told a joke and lifted the menu back up to hide a smirk as she began to laugh.

Madoka stepped into Lin's office with a pleased hum on her lips, her good mood undeterred by the cautious look sent her way by her colleague and long time friend as he paused in his process of slipping on his coat. She had to admit that she sometimes enjoyed the fact that she kept him on his toes. She loved the attention.

"No need to rush," the woman purred, walking over to lean against his desk with a devilish smile. "I sent Mai and Noll ahead, so I suggest we take our time."

Frowning, the Chinese man retook his seat and placed his jacket behind him. His visible dark gray eye looked her over with an ounce of curiosity. "Noll came out of his office?" He asked her, genuinely surprised for a moment before fixing her with a look of apprehension. "What did you say to him?"

She gave a one shoulder shrug in response. "Nothing he wasn't already thinking. He was going to go crazy if he stayed in that office any longer."

Lin nodded in response, though if it was out of acknowledgment or agreement even she couldn't tell. "How long do you plan to make them wait?"

Again she shrugged. "Short enough that Noll doesn't expect anything, but long enough that they have a chance to talk a bit amongst themselves."

"What will that accomplish?" he fished, raising a brow. Even he found it hard to follow her train of thought at times, another thing that she was proud of. Not many people could say that they stumped him, or Noll for that matter. The trick, she'd long ago found out, was to be spontaneous. Men who thought in numbers and patterns like they did couldn't predict the unpredictable.

"Patience, Lin, patience," she giggled, patting him lightly on the arm. She couldn't go giving away all her secrets. What fun would that be?

He glowered at her for withholding information, but she had her reasons. The less he knew the better. His reactions had to be as genuine as possible and in the event that they were caught, he could plead innocent without it being a complete and utter lie. She hadn't fibbed when she said that she'd take full blame should things go south and her plan be discovered. She highly doubted the likelihood of it happening, but she always liked to be prepared. Besides, she wasn't the type of person to allow someone she forced into helping her go down for her mistakes. Especially not Lin. Never Lin.

Glancing at the wall clock, Madoka righted herself and clapped her hands together, not about to let the man have any room to protest her secrecy. "Alright, time to go!"

A/N: I had intended phases to end each chapter, but this one is probably going to take one more to complete it. Haha. At the very least, we've got some NaruMai moments, ne? Anyway, I hope this showed that I haven't given up on this one yet!