For those of you who liked Truth About Mai, I hope you'll love this. I'm now a better writer. It is the same story idea, but going more with the 'Naru left' theme. Mai's powers continued to grow even without SPR around and, without SPR around, she had to learn to cope with them alone. Now that she's been alone for far too long, SPR has returned. I know it's probably been done before, but oh well.

Please review and give me your opinions.

I'm not defenseless

Mai wasn't, and still isn't, sure what the hell to think of SPR. She'd once considered them her family. She thought they'd always be there for her, just a phone call away. But then they disbanded, scattering to their normal lives. Mai felt like she was orphaned all over again. And then her powers became physical. At the beginning, she'd beg and plead for someone to come for her, to remember that she was an orphan and come check on her to see if she was alright. But she wasn't alright.

Three years passed. She had to leave of her school and transfer to a lower-class school where, so long as she could pass the test at the end of the term, she could pass her classes while still disappearing for sometimes a month at a time to train herself to control her powers. Within the first month, she'd been kicked out of her home and onto the streets.

And now that her powers were completely under control and she's finally figured everything out, Lin comes and finds her at her school. He offers her the job at SPR just like Naru had four years prior. She took the job as if everything would go back to what it used to be but, even now, she knew it was different. Everyone acted the same as if only a week had passed. How could they do that? How could they leave for three years and just COME BACK? Had they all kept in touch and just forgotten about her?

"Shit its cold out there." Monk cursed as he burst through the door and nearly slammed it to keep the frigid air from coming in. "Hay, Naru, it's a blizzard out there. Literally. I'd head home while you can still drive."

"Oh man, he's right." Yasu muttered as he pulled back the blinds and looked out the window. "Mai, we'd better head home before the snow is too deep to walk in. That alright, Naru?"

"Do what you want." Naru called from his desk.

"You go ahead. I've got a friend named Sasha that lives not too far from here. I'll crash at her house." Mai told him. "I'm in the middle of, like, four files."

It was Mai's job to take the phone calls and construct files for every single case that came in, handing them off to Lin and Yasu so they could gather historical information that might not have been added by the person that brought the case. Naru decided if he wanted to do the case or not.

"Ah, so I'm gonna have a pile of work in the morning, thanks a lot." Yasu chuckled as he grabbed his jacket. "Stay safe, Mai."

"You too. Don't get frostbite." Mai chuckled. The second he was gone, she got back to work on the files.

"Where does this friend live, Mai? I don't want you walking too far." Monk stated.

"Just up the street a bit. No biggie." Mai answered. "Go on."

"Well, alright then." Monk said hesitantly. After downing a cup of hot tea, he left as well.

"Mai, lying is a nasty habit to get into." Lin called from his office.

"And here I thought I was good at lying through my teeth." Mai chuckled. Figures she'd get caught by Lin. "But, hay, what he doesn't know won't kill him."

"Where does this friend actually live?" Naru questioned.

"I made her up." Mai shrugged. "I don't need them staying up all night worrying about me."

"And us?" Naru questioned. "Or do you think we wouldn't care that our young female secretary is walking a long distance alone, in the dark, during a blizzard?"

"In case you've forgotten, Naru, I'm an orphan. I've been alone sense I turned 12. And, yes, I've been female all that time." She chuckled by the end, closing one of the files and setting it on a growing stack. "And if you're still worried, we could always spar some time so you can see for yourself just how helpless I am."

"How about now?" Naru called from his doorway, grinning smugly as if he caught Mai in a bluff.

"Seriously?" Mai deadpanned as she finished the sentence she was writing. She sighed, setting her pen down and getting up. "Sure." She took off her jacket, taking her ipod, wallet, and pocket knife out of her pockets. She strode up to Naru, who still looked like he thought she was bluffing.

Suddenly, she came at him, a fist right to the face. He caught the fist easily and then suddenly felt himself falling. He landed flat on his back with a rather loud thud. The wind was knocked out of him.

"That's hardly fair." Naru grunted.

"I fight dirty." She purred.

"Then so can I." Naru grinned, quickly kicking her legs out and pinning her arms behind her back when she landed on her stomach. "Now what would happen in this situation, hmm?" He whispered in her ear.

Her head turned. "I'd fight dirtier." She purred, her lips brushing against his.

Too close. Far too close. Instantly, a certain limb he'd been denying for twenty years got an excessive blood flow. Damn it. Not now! Not here!

Suddenly, Naru was flat on his back again. Mai was on top of him. One of her legs locked his at the knees, his arms pinned at the wrists above his head. "You learn to use every advantage, Naru." She purred. "Being a girl has its perks."

Four years ago, when he'd first hired her, she was a skinny little twig that looked defenseless. Every second of every day, he'd worry about her. Now she was different. She'd filled out over the three years he's been away. She now had curves in all the right places. She was a woman, not some teenager.

She was on top of him, his slowly hardening length pressing into her thigh. Then she lowered her upper body, her face a quarter inch away from his. "Is there a problem, Naru? You look a little flushed."

"When did you turn into a vixen?" He groaned as he tried to ignore their position and fight. The second he proved himself to be stronger than her, he could yet again have all grounds to go on worrying about her safety.

"You should try reading the novels by Stephanie Meyhoff." Mai told him. "You'd be surprised how accurate her facts on demons and psychics are."

Romance novel. He knew of the author because his mother got into the series while he was away and he'd gotten her a few for birthday, Christmas, anniversary, Valentines, and Mother's Day presents.

Naru groaned softly, struggling to NOT think about the vixen reading a heated romance novel. He knew from his studies as a psychologist that women tended to be more turned on by written words. Shit. Bad thoughts. Damn it. He broke her heart, left her crying in the airport. Alone. He left her there, crying, ALONE. He didn't have the fucking right to get horny at the thought of her-

"You know, it's rather entertaining to watch people's eyes change shades as they think about random things." Mai chirped, still on top of him. "But I'd like to get back to work so feel free to surrender any time you want."

"I think any man would rather like that position." Lin chuckled as he walked out the door. "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone. Take your time." Just kiss her, apologize, and beg for forgiveness, Noll. They'd all be much happier if Naru finally put his words at the airport behind him. Somehow, Lin doubted Mai held a grudge.

"Damn that Lin." Naru groaned as he struggled. But the struggling only stimulated a rather annoyingly hyperactive organ located between his legs. The more he squirmed, the stiffer the appendage became. Soon, she'd surely notice the rod jamming into her leg. She'd be disgusted with him. "How about we restart, now that we know both are going to fight dirty?" Naru offered, begging for there not to be a tent in his pants when he stood.

"Round one to me." She purred, getting up.

"A-Alright." He breathed, willing his erection to calm down as he crouched in a fighting position. "Round two, then."

Two minutes later, Mai was the one pinned to the ground. They were both panting and – in exhaustion because it was hard to hold it up – his head fell. She froze underneath him. Naru realized what had happened and pulled away quickly, only to see her lift her head slightly to regain the contact.

"Damn it, Mai…" He breathed, struggling to stay in control. "It's really not appropriate for me to fight my defenseless female secretary."

"If we were really fighting, Naru, the office would be destroyed by now." She purred. "My right leg is free, my knee just low enough to come into contact with three rather vital organs to the male anatomy. Your hands are too sweaty to pin a newborn's hands and you're a bit too distracted to-" In a flash, she'd ripped her arms out of his grasp and wound her arms around his neck. "Really do anything useful."

"We… we need to stop this, Mai." Naru stammered for the first time in his life.

"Or do you still have yourself convinced that I am in love with your brother when it was you saving me and calming me down when I needed it most?" Mai purred. She met his lips again and, all too soon, pulled away and scooted out from under him.

His self control went out the window. When she stood, he bolted to his feet and pressed her against the wall. Never before had he let his control falter and it terrified him that it did when it was her that he was pinning to the wall like a madman. Forcing himself, he pulled away from the kiss, not missing the disappointment that flashed across her eyes.

"We… Mai, we need to stop." Naru panted again, out of breath. "I know, back at the airport…. I was an idiot. I regretted it the second I said it. I swear it. And then I was too ashamed to come back." Unable to stop himself, he trailed kisses up her neck. "And I'll gladly spend another year rescuing you and calming your fears to earn that love back. Ten years, even."

Tears fell, pouring from Mai's eyes. "Naru." She called seriously. "If this is a dream, I swear I'll come to work in the morning and do this all over again right in front of everyone."

"Be my guest. Maybe then Yasu will finally stop flirting with you." Naru shrugged. It pissed him off to no ends how much the bastard flirted. Suddenly feeling a thousand tons lighter, he began to kiss her tears away. Happy tears. He'd made her happy. "I should have said that weeks ago, huh?"

"No. If you'd done that then I would have been pinching myself all day long thinking it was some stupid dream." Mai told him. She crashed her lips into his again.

This was different than the connection she had with the other members of SPR. It had to be. Naru wouldn't abandon her now that he's made such a proclamation. She hoped and prayed that it was true but then decided to ignore that fear and enjoy the moment.

"I do love you. But feel free to stay with me for one or ten years just for the hell of it." She told him.

"I think I'll do that." Naru told her.

Somehow, he doubted it was truly that easy. He'd left her bleeding, sobbing in the airport. That'd leave scars. He'd torn her heart out, crushed it, and then handed it back to her. Even if she didn't see the scars after so long being alone, he knew they were there and was hell-bent on spending the rest of his life mending them and becoming worthy of her love.

Well, at least Naru realizes that he's got some work ahead of him. Mai is a little dense in the anime, and I'm having her a little unaware of her own need for companionship. Review and tell me if I made either of them too OOC or not. Or just review for the hell of it.