Because of Kieno, and so for Kieno. Has anyone else ever noticed how often we like to hurt Mai? sadistic grin
Don't own, duh.
With a grunt of frustration, Mai gave in to the curiosity that had been building for the past month, stomped into Lin's office and slammed her hand down on his desk.
"WHAT are you doing on the computer, Lin-san?! You've been acting strangely the past few weeks, and I KNOW that you're doing something weird on there!"
Blinking, the Chinese man looked up from his screen, wondering when his stoic--scary--image had been lost. Perhaps it had been when he'd chosen to return to Japan with Naru? Or perhaps it was when he'd given Mai the stuffed doll for her birthday. Whatever the case, the younger assistant looked more irritated at his blank stare than fearful. Drat!
"I'm reading, Mai-san. We haven't had any cases in over a month, and Naru's been home visiting his family for the past thee weeks. I've been," here he hesitated, not wanting to give up even more of his image. But then…Perhaps her reaction would be worth it. "I've been bored. Do you want to see what I've been reading?"
"Yes!" Mai let out a breath and her annoyance with it. It had really been frustrating to come into work to be bored for hours, only to have Lin--of all people--snickering and muttering indecipherable comments every once in a while, staring at his computer screen for long periods and giving all of their friends funny looks whenever they visited. Even John had asked what was wrong with the oldest in their group.
The girl leaned over her friend, trying not to invade his personal space. She might not be afraid of Lin any longer, but she still respected the man and didn't want to bother him any more than she already had. Getting frustrated just because she was bored and he wasn't didn't seem very fair, now that she stopped to think about it.
"Eh? What is this site, Lin-san? Mai stared at the surprisingly dull-but-busy screen. It seemed to be a site where members posted stories about just about anything. She wondered if the stories--unpolished as they must be--were really enough to have caused such a change--if only obvious to his friends--in SPR's other full-time assistant.
Mai's eyes widened as she realized that she recognized some of the 'characters' in these stories. And, now that she was looking closer, the plots sounded like, well, like her job. These stories were about her and the other SPR workers! What the heck?!
"Interesting, isn't it, Mai-san?" Lin couldn't help his evil smirk. The girl looked positively stupefied as she began reading summaries.
"Wait, what is that one?! Mai's in trouble… And that one! Mai's in danger… Lin-san, what are these?!"
"Stories have to have a plot, don't they? Don't worry, for all that everything seems to try to kill you, you almost always survive." Lin almost grinned, but at the last moment managed to keep his face and voice serious.
"Somehow, that's not particularly comforting, Lin-san. Do these people WANT to kill me?!"
"No, mostly they seem to want to get you into bed with Naru, though few of them actually say it in those words."
Mai's face turned beet-red as soon as the word 'bed' left her friend's mouth. "Y-you're joking!"
"No, I'm not. Although, the second-most popular pairing seems to be the two of us." Lin couldn't look at the girl as he gestured with the mouse to a story near the top. He was trying desperately to hold in his laughter, and seeing her face would be his limit.
"Of course, I don't think that's as popular as Madoka and me as a couple. That's the secondary pairing more often than Takigawa and Matsuzaki. Oh, and there's a few pairing YOU with Takigawa as well."
Mai would have regretted her decision to confront her co-worker if she hadn't been--for some sick reason--utterly fascinated. However, she did have a few points to pick.
"They make me sound like a wuss who never does anything but get hurt and cry! I help plenty!" Mai glared indignantly at the screen, trying to steal Lin's mouse so that she could click on one of the links.
"I know you do, Mai-san, but it makes the story more dramatic that way. They like to see you being protected by the rest of us. Trust me, they do worse with some of the rest of us. I, evidently, either don't talk or am extremely nosey; Masako is often horrible, Naru is practically a robot; Madoka is sweet-as-pie and just about perfect, Ayako is either 'motherly' or always yelling about something, Takigawa is obnoxious, and Yasuhara might just be a megalomaniac." Seeing her raised brow, he hesitated.
"Alright, I never said they were COMPLETELY inaccurate. I just meant that people writing stories for entertainment tend to emphasize dramatic points for plot reasons."
Mai apparently decided to drop the subject, since she began trying for the mouse once more. "Lin, let me see! Even if it's freaky, it seems to have kept you amused for the past few weeks!"
"Are you sure you want to look? You do get hurt pretty often."
"Almost as often as Naru asks for tea?"
Lin smirked at the quick rejoinder. Mai had really gotten used to the snarky comments that flew around their bases more often than ghosts. Deciding to reward her, he finally let her catch his arm and pull it to get to the mouse.
"Okay, okay, Mai-san. You can look. But," and here Lin had a rather evil thought, "while you're looking I'm going to go out for lunch."
"Eh, really? You're just going to leave me with your laptop, Lin-san?" Mai blinked at her friend as he rose from his chair and headed for the door, grabbing his jacket from the stand on the way.
"You've sat with more expensive equipment whenever we leave you in our bases. I think I can trust you for an hour or so. Have fun."
Mai blinked at his quick exit; he was almost to the door in the outer office. Shrugging, she turned her gaze eagerly back to the screen. It looked like Lin had been looking through all of the completed stories with certain characteristics, though she didn't know the terminology.
"Oh, and Mai-san?" He called, just as he was about to close the door. Mai glanced up again.
"Yes?"
"You might want to check out the ones I was looking at first. I'm sure you'll find them…interesting." Knowing the girl couldn't see his face, Lin smirked again.
"Okay, thanks!" Mai yelled back, knowing that it was bad manners but not caring. Her eyes were glued to the screen in front of her as she studied certain words that seemed out-of-context or misspelled.
"NaruMai, lemon? What does that mean?" Shrugging, the girl clicked the link.