The Inconveniences of: Broken Bones

"Naru," she whined, flinching away from said man. "I-It hurts!"

"Would you hold still?" he growled, as if trying to intimidate her into ceasing her retreat from him. He was two seconds away from pinning her down forcibly. "I can't do anything when you keep moving around."

"I can't help it!" she argued, once again squirming beneath his grasp. "You're hurting me!"

"You act like this is my fault," Naru retorted angrily, scowling at the girl beneath him.

"It is!" Mai's brave façade finally slipped, and several tears escaped from the trembling girl's brown eyes. She hiccupped, coving her red face with her hands. "Please, stop! Let me go!"

"I'm trying to be as gentle as possible, Mai; believe me." Naru sighed in defeat.

"You're not gentle at all!" The brunette hissed as he dug his rough fingers into her delicate and bruised skin. "Naru I will not hesitate to kick you in the face," she threatened suddenly, changing her tactics, although they both knew that it was an empty threat.

The narcissist rolled his eyes, finally relenting her leg. "Fine. Matsuzaki-san is already on her way to come take a look."

"Geez," Mai breathed, wiping her teary eyes. "You could've said that five minutes ago instead of trying to break my ankle even more than it already is."

It truly was stupid how Mai had hurt herself. The brunette had finally convinced Naru to have a movie night with her, and of course the genre picked was horror (the decision had been left up to Mai).

At a particularly frightening scene during the no-name movie that they had chosen from Netflix, Mai went from her usual cross-legged seat on the couch to sprawled out on the floor crying. Naru assumed, from the deafening crack he had heard when the event had taken place, that she had hit her ankle on the edge of the coffee table during her spasm, either spraining or breaking it in the process.

"No more movie nights," Naru concluded.

Mai glared up from her laying position on their couch. "No fair!"

A knock on the front door came. Mai nearly got up to answer it when she realized her anklebone was probably shattered into pieces at this point. The brunette groaned as Naru left to go answer the door.

Ayako entered the living room, her eye's landing on Mai almost immediately. She shook her head and sighed. "Idiot."

"That should be okay for now." Ayako stood, examining her work, "The splint and some pain medication should hold you over until the morning, but please go to the hospital as soon as possible. I have an early morning shift, so I'll be there. Make sure you tell a nurse to come get me!"

Naru led her to the door.

The redhead turned sharply on her heel and handed him a pill bottle. She said under her breath, "You take care of her, and I mean that Naru. Remember, keep her ankle elevated higher than her knee and giver her those pain meds every 8 hours. That's some premium strength shit right there. The stuff that they'll give you at the hospital isn't nearly as strong. And please–"

"Matsuzaki-san," Naru interrupted, thinking a vein was about to burst. "Do you really think I wouldn't?"

The priestess took a deep breath, looking into his eyes as if pleading with him. She nodded with conviction. "I know you will."

Naru gave her a thankful smirk. "We will see you bright and early."

"Yeah, yeah," Ayako said before strutting out the door with her first aid kit in hand.

The narcissist shut the door behind her, lingering at it for a moment longer before he turned around to face his pouting assistant. He shrugged. "Looks like crutches for the next six weeks."

Mai groaned, trying to stretch herself in protest, but was quickly deterred by the pain in her ankle. "This totally sucks!"

Naru raised his eyebrows at her choice of words. He retreated into the kitchen. "Yeah, now I have to make my own tea."

Mai quietly smiled on the couch. "You're such a jerk," she said in almost a whisper.

"A car accident and then a week later, a broken bone? You really are accident prone." The dark haired man chuckled. He returned to the living room with a glass of water and joined her on the couch. Handing her the water and two pills, Naru said, "Here, take these. Apparently they're very strong. A present from Matsuzaki-san."

"Thank you." Mai blushed at their proximity and his surprisingly gentle voice, but she took the pills graciously and downed them with a sip of water. She laughed sheepishly, looking down at her knees. "You know, it's going to be kind of funny to explain to everyone how I broke my ankle."

Naru shrugged. "I'm sure they'll be impressed with your new level of stupidity."

"Ugh!" Mai pretended to be offended, but ended up laughing as she pushed his shoulder in retaliation. "You're so mean to me!"

Naru tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't help but crack another smile.

The brunette shook her head, still trying to feign anger. "Sometimes I wonder why I put up with you.

But for some reason, the smile wouldn't stay on Naru's face.

'Me too. I wonder…'

"Naru…?"

God, she was in a world of pain. Was it possible to be in this much pain? Mai looked up blearily, her arm reaching out for something, although she knew it wasn't there. She heard footsteps and called out desperately.

"Naruuuu, I need you."

"Mai? Are you alright?" She couldn't see his face. In fact, she could see hardly anything. It was still dark out, probably around 5 in the morning.

"I'm in pain," she said, tears in her eyes now. "I'm in so much pain. I need medicine."

"I'm going to need you to sit up, Mai," he said a little urgently. His hand brushed her hair out of her face, traveled from her shoulder down to her back, but somehow ended up underneath Mai's arm.

She violently shifted away, afraid of the pain her foot would experience when he decided to sit her up. "It's going to hurt!" she protested, continuously slapping his hands away from her.

Naru took her wrists in frustration. "Mai, you need to sit up if you want to take the medicine."

She simply shook her head in more protest, a continuous stream of tears rolling down her face. "No, I don't want it anymore!"

Frowning, the man threw the medicine into his mouth with a sip of water (that he had already set out for her) and grabbed her arms tighter, pulling her up from the waist.

Mai wailed, trying to twist away from him when she felt warm lips on her own. Her response was immediate and she responded eagerly to the kiss, not even noticing the pills that slipped down her throat. Her fingers were running through his dark hair before she even knew what was happening.

When they were finally out of breath, Naru pulled away, realizing that he was halfway on top of her already.

He took a deep breath, nodding as if impressed with himself. Mai was now completely silent.

"Effective."

No they aren't in a relationship and I can't tell you how their relationship will progress, but you'll see in the end (I mean, the end of this chapter is kind of a good indication of what's to come)!

Sorry I haven't updated in so long. All of those who read my other stories know that I've been slightly more active Behind Closed Doors than with this story. I don't know why, but I've just had so much writer's block for this particular fanfiction.

Anyway, I'm trying my best to get over it. This semester is going to be a nightmare considering the fact that I work 10x what I normally do, so the updates will be slow like usual. But I will try to make them happen regardless.

Thank you guys for your continuous dedication to this horrible story. You fans mean everything to me!