03: Elation

Mai sighed.

Working overtime was definitely not her forte. Her manager had asked her to stay behind for another three hours because a worker called in sick. However, men had constantly been giving her inappropriate looks and dropping things to get her to pick them up because she was wearing a skirt. She felt sorry for the workers that had to deal with this on a daily.

"Mai, could you take out the trash?" Her manager called out from the other side of the room.

"Sure thing!" She smiled back, anything to get away from these men.

She rolled up her sleeves and picked up the garbage bags from the trash cans. As she walked down the hall, she couldn't suppress her excitement for tomorrow. It had been so long since she worked on a case, and even longer since she worked with Naru.

After he had left, Mai took on small cases for people who had been referred to her by her friends or previous clients. They were always little cases that only required persuasion to get the spirit to move on.

Mai opened the door to the back, letting it close behind her as she hauled the trash and placed it to the side. She whipped her head to the side where she saw a group of men approaching her.

"Hey there pretty lady!" A man yelled out, howls of laughter following behind him. As the men approached Mai, she moved back in hopes to reach the door knob. Just as she was about to grab it, one of the larger men grabbed hold of both her arms and twisted them.

"Play with us sweetheart, while I'm being nice." The large man spat on the ground. Mai was disgusted at his attitude and for a split second, her anger got the best of her, forgetting the danger she was in.

"I would never do anything with you. Let me go now." Mai glared at the man, but then released her eyes when she came back to the reality that it wasn't just one man she was dealing with.

Why did she have to run her mouth? She was in deep shit. Mai regretted not taking self-defence classes when she had the chance.

"What did you say?!" The man, obviously angry at her words, abruptly slammed her back into the wall. Mai squinted from the pain and felt light headed. Suddenly everything became a blur and the tight grip on her arm was loosened.

Instead of the large man who was previously there, Mai saw a familiar face standing above her. She thought she was dreaming.

"I don't care what she says Ayako! Mai is not working at that restaurant anymore, period." Mai turned in her half-awake state at the sound of her name. Was that bou-san?

"You can't just decide things like that. It's not your call!" That was most definitely Ayako. Mai decided to get up, not wanting her parent figures to argue any more than they already were. As she rose, she grabbed onto her head due to its immense pounding.

"Mai!" They both yelled at the same time and rushed over to her.

"What happened to me?" The confused girl looked up and was surprised to see Naru sitting in a chair in what seemed to be a hospital room.

"Naru found you being harassed by those men and brought you here after you hit your head. What would you have done if he wasn't there Mai?!" Monk scolded her.

"I would have gotten out of it somehow! I've done it before." Mai really didn't want to hear this right now, especially with the banging in her head.

"This has happened before?" Naru was suddenly glaring at Mai.

"Yeah..it has." The young girl was flustered at his sudden question and didn't know how to react.

"Yet you continued to work there, denying your safety." Naru stared her down. Mai was taken aback at his sudden sternness.

"Mai, you're not working at that restaurant anymore, I don't care what you think." Bou-san declared. Mai's eyes widened,

"I can't stop working there! How else am I supposed to pay for university?" Mai understood her father-figure's concern but the pay at the restaurant was above average, and she was the only person responsible for making the money she needed. Bou-san and Ayako had offered to give her money but the amount she needed was quite a bit, and she didn't want to burden them with it.

"Find another job, Mai." The younger of the two men stated, not back down from their argument. He made it sound so easy. It was already late March, which meant majority of the permanent jobs were already taken care of. Even if she were to look for another job, she would still need to work at her current workplace in the meantime.

The pain in Mai's head got stronger and Mai bent over to bear it. Ayako rushed over with painkillers and helped my swallow them. The older woman turned to glare at the two men,

"Can you guys do this another time? The girl got slammed into a wall for god's sake." Ayako sighed, "Men, I swear."

Mai grinned at Ayako's remark. She was relieved that Ayako saved her from the obviously one-sided conversation. Bou-san never failed to worry when it came to anything related to Mai.

"You need to stop worrying so much Monk. Don't think I forgot about the time you and Yasuhara took her to the emergency room over a cut on her finger." Ayako deadpanned. Mai laughed as she recalled their panicking states.

As if on cue, Yasu made his entrance,

"Mai! I was so worried. What happened are you okay?" Mai watched her friend rush over to her bedside and sit on the chair next to her, hugging her tightly.

"I'm fine I really am. Stop worrying so much." Mai smiled, she appreciated all of her friends' care but she really didn't like seeing them so anxious. Yasu released Mai, letting her breathe.

"Fine, but monk, Ayako and I are going to the convenience store to buy you snacks. I can't watch you stomach hospital food, I'll die just by looking at you." Yasu exclaimed, making efforts to force the two adults outside.

"Why do all three of us need to go?" Bou-san questioned.

"Oh just come!" Ayako dragged him out with Yasu, leaving Mai and Naru alone.

Mai looked over at Naru after a long silence and cleared her throat,

"Thank you for today, I appreciate it." Mai's eyes locked with Naru's,

"You need to be more careful Mai." Her former boss was being dead serious, Mai noticed. His voice was always monotone but after being around Naru for a long while, Mai had picked up on certain hints that indicated towards his feelings.

He was most definitely right though. If she told the truth, Mai had been scared to death. She didn't have the slightest clue what she would have done if Naru hadn't shown up. Mai had dealt with harassment by men before, but not four at once. However, she was more worried about the fact that she would be kicked off the case.

"Can I still come in for work tomorrow?" Mai knew what he would say, but she wanted to convince him otherwise.

"Absolutely not." The indigo-eyed man glared. "You will stay in this room until you are fully healed." Naru got up and strode over to the table next to Mai's bed and placed his empty tea mug on the table, his glare still prominent.

Mai looked up at Naru with pleading eyes,

"But it's been so long since I've been on a case! I promise I won't wander around, I'll stay in the base at all times and only go out with either you or Lin." Mai knew the protocol, it wasn't the first time she had been injured. She was hoping her boss would agree with her suggestions, but she didn't have expectations.

Naru eyed Mai for a few seconds and gave in,

"Fine," he sighed. "But if you go against any of those rules just know you're off the case and I'll make it so you're off the next couple cases as well."

Mai got up and hugged the lean man, "Thank you."

After a couple seconds of silence, the younger girl suddenly realized what she was doing and quickly let go of the still man, laughing the awkwardness off. Mai scratched her head, but her eyebrows suddenly twisted when she remembered his words.

"The next couple cases?" Mai eyed him in confusion. Her former boss raised an eyebrow, and looked down at her. The brunette couldn't suppress the redness creeping on her cheeks as she noticed their closeness.

"Well, you're most definitely not working at that restaurant anymore. You will work when you are able, and be paid accordingly." Naru stated. Mai had to conceal the urge to hug him again and instead, she smiled widely.

Mai couldn't stop being thankful to him today.

Author's Note - Mai keeps getting hurt I feel bad LOL. I'm really blank lately, I had this chapter mostly written for a long while but I didn't know how to end it off. This was kind of a sweet ending, I'd like to know your opinion on it. To the person that recommended Lin's perspective - I'm planning on adding it in the next chapter. Please review I would like some feedback and input about the story so far, thank you!