"If you're not careful, I might kill you!"

John's tone was playful and easygoing, but Yasuhara felt a bead of sweat spring up on his forehead.

Those big blue eyes were swimming with a thousand warnings.

Did I...upset him when I flirted with Mai...?

Mai and Naru had been fighting (what a shocker), so Yasuhara had tried to ease the tension with a joking invitation to go see some weird porno that was coming out in theaters.

It obviously hadn't been serious.

Even the girl in question seemed a little surprised at the blonde's outburst.

"Um, are you sure you meant to say kill, John-kun?" She tried, smiling warmly, her eyelashes fluttering against her cheekbones.

John cocked his head like a puppy, his eyes wide and sweet and innocent. "Blimey, I didn't say something strange, did I?"

Relieved, Mai laughed. "Don't worry! Japanese isn't your first language, so no one expects you to be perfect!"

She slung her arm around John's shoulders, whispering loudly that he was by far the funniest in their group. The Australian's baby face broke out in a grin, his cheeks slightly flushed.

Yasuhara got up to go splash some cold water on his face - his life was still flashing before his eyes - and passed Lin, who was sitting in his desk chair watching the monitors.

"He wasn't joking."

The younger man paused at the Chinese man's quiet words. "What?"

Lin glanced back at him. "You shouldn't be so relaxed. He most certainly isn't."

Yasuhara looked back over at John, frowning at the way the man gazed so fondly at Mai, the icy fury long since melted away.

"Hey, you wouldn't want to be my bodyguard, right?"

Lin chuckled for a brief moment and shook his head, turning back to his work.

Yasuhara scratched the back of his neck. Maybe I should hire a food taster.