Morbid, Part 19

The nurse finished her various tests with a warm smile.

"Well, that's it Taniyama-san. You are free to go." She patted Mai's knee in a motherly way. Mai smiled back. The hospital had insisted that she stay the night, well what remained of it, and she had been tested for concussion, brain haemorrhage and who knew what else the following morning. She stood up, said goodbye and then suddenly turned back to the friendly nurse.

"Yes dear?" The friendly nurse asked.

"Well, I was wondering about my companion…?"

"Um, Shibuya-san, yes?"

"Yup. Er, could I see him?"

The nurse twisted her face. "Well, we're not supposed to let people see patients immediately, except if they're relatives… or close friends." She tacked on as an afterthought. Mai put on her angel face.

"Please? I am his girlfriend." She lied quickly. Having lived on her own for several years she had learnt when to tell a little white lie. Or in this case quite a big lie from her point of view, despite being tiny in the great scheme of things. The nurse apparently took pity on her and nodded slowly.

"Thank you." Mai smiled gratefully. "Um, which room is he in…?"

The nurse was luckily also in charge of Naru. "285." She said promptly.

"Thank you." Mai left the room and walked down the corridor a little way to where she had noticed a large floor plan tacked onto an ex-notice board. She studied it absorbedly before purposefully walking towards the nearest stairwell.

15 minutes later she was standing outside a plain door. She knocked, and then slowly entered. Naru was lying sleeping in bed looking rather worse for wear. Apart from several cuts and bruises, his usually pale skin looked even whiter than normal and his breathing was shallow and rapid.

"Not looking as good as usual." She commented wryly before plopping herself into the chair conveniently placed next to the bed. Naru didn't respond, unsurprisingly, so she was left to stare into space and think over her dream.

Gene had turned up in it, and before she had even managed to become orientated or say 'hello' he had started apologising profusely, occasionally cursing his idiot of a twin. As far as Mai could make out, the gist of it was that he was sorry for making her unhappy because he had told her that Naru was in love, but he had been trying to get Naru to see that as she was so upset she clearly loved Naru. And also to get him to hurry the hell up.

Not to mention that he was also apologising on behalf of his brother for said brother confessing, typically, to her when she was unconscious. It was then that his eyes widened as he realised what he'd said.

Mai on her part was silent. She could vaguely remember orange light, the cold grass under her back and Naru's voice. But she thought that had been a dream… Then again, if it had been a dream, her subconscious could have made Naru a bit more romantic. A pretty setting would have been nice too.

"Er, could you pretend I never said that?" Gene had asked, worry written all over his face. Presumably worry for the consequences of his meddling again, Mai hoped.

Mai had replied by saying that she thought it had been a dream. Gene had looked thoughtful.

"Er, you remember that?" He had asked, surprised.

"Yes, but not very well. I must have woken up or something." She had explained.

The fact that Naru reciprocated her feelings had not quite been absorbed until she had woken up. She was still getting over the shock.

A problem had arisen though. How was she going to tell him that she knew? She could leave the telling off he deserved for not telling her 1) earlier and 2) to her face when she was actually awake for later.

"Why do you have to be so difficult?" She asked his prone body.

"I'm sorry, but only relatives are allowed to see Shibuya-san at the moment."

"But I thought you said he was sleeping?" Monk asked the receptionist.

"Yes."

"So then can't we just at least have a peak? Just to make sure he's alright?"

"I'm sorry, hospital procedure."

Monk sighed in defeat. "In that case, can we see Taniyama Mai? Please?"

"Taniyama-san was signed out earlier today by the nurse."

"Well, where is she then?" Monk demanded, liking the cool receptionist less and less with every passing minute.

"Um… she did say something about that…" The receptionist said thoughtfully, losing her mask of professionalism for a moment. Monk refrained from drumming his fingers on the counter top.

"Oh! I remember now. She's with her boyfriend… whathisname… Shibuya-san!" She finished proudly. Silence reverberated through the motley group in front of the desk.

"Pardon?" Ayako said in sheer disbelief, while Monk realised that his jaw was wide open and it wasn't the most attractive look he'd ever tried.

"She's with Shibuya-san, innnn… (she typed hurriedly in the computer) room 285." She surveyed the shocked faces of SPR. "You did mean Taniyama Mai, yes?"

"Yes, yes. Uh, thank you." Ayako said, pulling Monk away from the reception desk.

"Since when was Mai Naru's girlfriend?" Yasuhara tapped thoughtfully on his newly acquired cast.

"I don't know, but it's great! I wish she'd actually told us though." Monk grinned.

"It might be fairly recent." Ayako pointed out.

"But even so. I am like her foster brother." Monk said unhappily.

"That doesn't necessarily mean she has to tell you everything straight away." Ayako pointed out, but she was just as disappointed as he was, she just wasn't showing it. Suddenly Yasuhara stopped tapping and started laughing gleefully. The other two rounded on him.

"What, exactly, are you laughing at?"

"Nothing." But he was still grinning. Monk and Ayako got the distinct impression that the joke was on them.

Mai was happily unaware of her colleagues' discovery. She was still wrestling with her problem. She guessed that attacking with a kiss as soon as he got up, though the most direct way, may also come as a bit of a shock. And shock was probably not that good for him at the moment.

Her musings were interrupted though when the door opened.

"Good morning, Lin-san!" Mai said cheerfully.

"Morning, Taniyama-san." He nodded before moving forwards to survey Naru. "The others are in the corridor." He said, searching her face. Mai swore she could see a hint of laughter shining in his eyes, though what for she couldn't guess. She was dressed normally, her hair wasn't a mess…

Worried slightly, she got up and entered the corridor. She was immediately set upon by Ayako and Monk.

"Mai, why didn't you tell us?" The latter almost wailed. Mai stared at him confusedly.

"Tell you what?" She asked cautiously. She looked around, but it didn't help her much. Yasuhara was sniggering behind his free hand, John smiled at her sympathetically, while Masako was refusing to acknowledge her presence, though this wasn't exactly new, and glaring at the wall as though it had personally affronted her. If looks could kill the wall would have crumbled into clay dust a while ago.

"About you and Naru!"

"…What?" She frowned.

"That you're, you know, together?"

"Together?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"Yeah, that you two are going out?"

Mai's brain caught up. "Ohh. We're not, I only told that to the nurse so I could get in. What, are you disappointed?" She added, seeing his look.

"No!" He said too quickly.

"How did you get here?" She asked the group accusingly. "Did you tell the nurse that you're all family?"

"Nah, we asked her where you were and she said with Naru in this room so we sneaked here. Though Lin gets to visit him as his guardian." Monk explained.

"How is he anyway?" John changed the subject.

"Sleeping still. And he looks a bit battered." A worried look crossed Mai's face.

"So would anyone after all that." Ayako commented dryly.

"He'll be fine though." John smiled reassuringly.

"Naru always pulls through." Monk pointed out, tapping his chin. "Then again he did get roughed up quite a lot this ti-" He was silenced momentarily by a well aimed elbow to the side from Ayako.

"He'll be fine. Don't worry Mai-chan." Monk corrected himself, eyeing the redhead wearily. Well, specifically her rather sharp elbow.

Mai sighed. Everything seemed to be back to normal. They had returned to the office as soon as was possible after Naru had woken up. Of course they had tried to get him to stay at the hospital but once Naru has made up his mind it's hard to dissuade him, even with the threat of Madoka and Luella.

Mai chewed the end of her biro thoughtfully. To a bystander it looked as though she were concentrating on a particularly difficult problem in her chemistry homework. In reality though the direction of her thoughts were not school related, and the difficult problem she was trying to solve was boss related.

He was acting completely normal! And it was annoying Mai no end. There was no indication that he meant what he had confessed. She would have lost faith by now, if it weren't for Gene frequently turning up and ranting bitterly about his 'idiotic, stupid, slow, useless, pathetic, stupid' twin.

Mai's teeth jarred as they hit plastic. Annoyed now she made a face before putting her biro down in the desk rather loudly. You know what? She would show him that she knew. She would just walk straight in and tell him to his face, just like he should have done.

She stood up swiftly and strode purposefully to the getting-scarier-looking-office-door-as-she-got-closer. She paused just before it, staring at the grains in the wood. All her impulsiveness had disappeared, and she was left with a worrying fear and a distinct lack of ideas for what to say. She hovered nervously.

"What are you doing?"

Mai spun to look guiltily at the person who had just entered the office. Ayako was giving her a weird look.

"Uh, nothing." Technically not a lie.

"You've been standing in front of that door for about 5 minutes." Ayako raised a singular perfect eyebrow.

"Yeah…" Mai managed.

"So? What are you doing?" She asked again.

Mai ran back to the sofas and sat down next to Ayako. And explained. She told her how at one point during Noboru burning she'd woken up and heard Naru admitting he loved her, and how she'd been trying to tell him that she knew ever since she'd fully absorbed the fact that he loved her, and how he was not acting on his confession which was making her lose faith except for Gene and that she'd been about to confront him just now but then she'd got scared.

Ayako remained silent for a few moments after Mai's quiet speech (because she didn't want the other two occupants of the office eavesdropping).

"You've got to tell him." She said eventually.

"I know, but I keep getting scared…"

"You have to show him!"

"I have to show him."

"You have to make the move!"

"I have to make the move."

"Okay now, go in there and tell him!" She crowed, standing up and shoving Mai in the direction of Naru's office.

"I have to- what?"

"And you're not coming out until you sort this out!" Was the last thing Ayako said before opening the office door and shoving her in. Mai heard the door slam behind her with a final tone, and she was fairly sure Ayako was on the other side to make sure she wouldn't come out again. Mai swallowed.

"Mai?" Naru tapped his foot, waiting for an explanation as to why his privacy/work had been so forcefully and unexpectedly interrupted. Mai's mouth went dry. How to begin, how to begin…

"I, er, um… You know when- never mind."

She was about to pound on the door in a desperate plea for Ayako to open the door when Naru stopped her.

"What is it Mai?"

She turned again to face him. She couldn't tell him! It was like telling a hungry lion that you were very tasty!

"Mai, what is it?" He asked again, slightly more forcefully. She licked her lips nervously.

"Well, um, you know when you burnt Noboru… what, er, happened?"She asked.

Naru raised an eyebrow slightly in surprise. She'd been thrown into/entered his office because she wanted to hear what happened when they burnt Noboru? There must be something else that she was trying to get at.

"He was burnt. Is that all?"

"No! I mean, um, what did you do?"

"What did I do? I watch him burn. Until I fell unconscious. Why?" He lied swiftly and easily.

"No, but, um, well, you know I was knocked unconscious…"

"Yes. Get to the point."

"Well, I woke up at one point."

He froze. What if she'd heard him? No, that wasn't possible. He was sure she'd been unconscious. He'd checked her face after he said it, there had been no expression change.

Mai watched him nervously. His face didn't betray anything, but he was looking at the page a lot more intensely then before. Outside the door Ayako refrained from giving them a 'helping hand'. If it was her… well if it was her the whole situation wouldn't have happened in the first place.

"Well, er, that is, I woke up when you… I mean, um…" Mai, you're blathering, she chided herself.

"Mai, you're blathering." Naru frowned and suppressed a sigh.

"We make a great pair then, me the blathering idiot and you the genius who is so socially awkward you can't even tell a girl you love her to her face!" Mai shouted. Their eyes widened as they realised what she had said.

"So you've known all this time."

Mai didn't say anything.

"And you didn't do anything?"

"Says you. I was waiting for you." Mai said bitterly.

"You were waiting for me?"

"I've been waiting for about 2 years."

"Oh."

Neither of them said anything for a while. When it became clear that Naru wasn't going to do anything, she moved back to the door to leave. She knew that it had been a hopeful and pointless exercise. He hadn't denied loving her; but he wasn't going to act on it at all.

"Wait." He mumbled, quickly standing up and grasping her hand. She turned quickly, finding herself face to face with his chest. It threw her off balance and his arm wrapped around her waist to stop her from falling. Due to their positioning and the fact that Naru wasn't relinquishing his hold on her (in a literal and metaphorical sense) Mai suddenly felt emboldened. She stretched out and nervously kissed him.

She drew back. Now that she had taken the big leap she may as well go the whole hog.

"I love you." She whispered. Well, she only got half way before Naru's lips found hers. His arm tightened, pulling her closer. He could feel her hands run through his hair to rest in a knot at his neck. The kiss was hesitant and gentle at first, but as both of them grew more and more confident the kiss became more heated. Finally they broke off.

"I guess we're both idiots." Mai smiled.

"You, maybe." Naru smiled lopsidedly when her face darkened. He quickly kissed her to prevent any damage.

On the other side of the door, Ayako, Bou-san, Yasuhara and Lin silently rejoiced.

THE END

*goes and crys in a corner* I hate finishing stories (except for one-shots for obvious reasons) and I have an annoying tendency to feel like crying. Okay, I know this is the second multi-chaptered story we've finished, but you all know what I mean. This chapter took ages because I didn't really want to finish it and OMFG I HATE WRITING KISSING SCENES. I'm such a NaruxMai fan, but I always feel really awkward when I write them. And all my knowledge of kissing romantically comes from fanfiction. I'm a (as I like to put it) a 'kiss-virgin'.

We've finished! *does dance of happiness* XD took a loooong time to write the last chapter, so frankly, I'm quite glad it's finished. Cass ain't so happy though. Can't see why...
So yeah, now focusing on our (many) other stories. Bit stuck with Cursed, but we're in the middle and that's always the hardest bit :( Should be picking up again soon (hopefully). Anyway, adieux to our readers of Morbid, thanks for sticking with us! And thanks to all our reviewers especially! XD

In DT we were making wooden toys (at the moment my box has about 37452826 layers of paint 'cos I'm rubbish in DT so all I ever do is procrastinate which often involves painting excessively) and mine has a wooden ghost (it's meant to go up and down when you spin the handle on the box. Emphasis on the meant. I never attached it to the box). It's only a simple cartoon ghost, and after I painted the eyes and mouth I thought, "You know what would make this better? BLOOD." So I splattered red paint on him and named him Noboru.

I took Noboru to sports day as a good luck charm. I think he gave me more bad luck than good. Probably in revenge for having him burned alive in the last chapter.

Y'know, the last chaper was exactly 1,500 words according to Document Manager. I thought that was cool. And I'm nattering on...