Same warnings and such apply.

Mai tried valiantly to sneak in late that morning. She didn't actively celebrate Christmas, so Naru hadn't given her the day off. Not that she minded. There wasn't anywhere else she'd rather be. That said, she'd prefer not to get chewed out on such a happy holiday.

No such luck. "Mai, you're late."

"I'm sorry! We got back so late last night, so I slept through my alarm," she called back as she quickly threw her coat in the closet, darting towards his office door. His open door. And he was standing in the doorway, looking distinctly not pissed. He was almost….smiling? He could be possessed. She'd have to check.

"Naru, when's my birthday?"

"July 3rd, but that's beside the point," he answered shortly, brow furrowed. Her suspicion doubled.

"How'd you know that?" She'd never told him, never had a reason to.

"It's in your employee file." He smirked when she blushed. Duh. "Now if you're done asking pointless questions, come here."

She still had the feeling she was wandering into a very pretty trap. Naru wasn't acting much like himself at all. Maybe he was just luring her into a false sense of security before he verbally demolished her. That seemed like something he'd do. So she inched closer warily, not even rushing when he openly huffed in impatience. When she was less than a foot away from him, she shut her eyes in preparation.

Only to open them at the feel of something soft on the back of her neck. "Try to keep warm, Mai. I can't afford to pay you for sick leave."

Mai didn't really hear what he'd said. She was too busy staring at the deep blue fabric draped across her shoulders. A scarf, she realized belatedly, a cashmere scarf. And from the feel of it, probably an expensive one at that.

"Naru, I can't ac—."

"Merry Christmas, Mai," he interrupted softly, his fingers toying with fringe at the end of the scarf, which she noted at the back of her mind was nearly same color as his eyes. But Mai barely noticed it, would've blushed if she had. He was smiling. Barely an upturn of his lips but he was actually smiling.

He was breathtaking.

"Merry Christmas, Naru," she chirped numbly, unaware of the flush creeping along her cheekbones. He nodded once and disappeared behind his door, leaving Mai wondering if this weren't all some elaborate dream.

When she found a watch with a green leather strap from Lin-san, she was half-convinced she'd gone crazy and was hallucinating. Maybe she was still possessed by Kenji and this was her consciousness making up for her lost reality.

"Weirdest Christmas ever," she mumbled to herself before setting to work with filing, hoping she wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

Naru is so inadvertently sweet, all the time.

On a more personal note...

I wish you all a wonderful New Year, and I hope you know how much I appreciate all of you readers and reviewers, and how much joy you bring me and other writers everyday. Your encouragement and advice really keeps me going. So thank you on behalf of all the writers and myself, and happy holidays!