Disclaimer: Ghost Hunt isn't mine.

Anti-Valentines Valentine

Valentines Day: the hallmark holiday of the year, much to Mai's consternation. She was, to put it simply, Anti Valentines Day. The celebration was disgustingly cheesy; and even worst, the holiday only existed so card companies and florists could make ridiculous amounts of money. Mai was in no way participating this year, although she would still poke fun at the occasion, for this was the year of the Anti-Valentine!

Mai Taniyama watched from SPR's window as happy couples walked through downtown Shibuya. It was Valentines Day, and yet work proceeded just as usual in the office. Lin sat at his desk, typing furiously. Mai embarked on the dangerous mission of making Naru tea as the black haired teen sorted through yet another stack of files.

"Naru!" Mai shouted from the kitchen, "Do you want sugar in you tea?" She, hearing no answer, put the drink and a bowl of sugar on a wooden tray, and carried it all to his office. She knocked on her boss's door and entered. "I said – do you want sugar in your tea?"

She watched, smiling faintly as her egotistical boss idly swiped ink black hair from his face. As attractive as usual.

"Have I ever wanted sugar in my tea?" Naru asked, not looking up from the files on his desk.

"Well..." Mai deliberated, "Nope! But it is Valentines Day, and I just thought you'd like a little sugar to sweeten things up!"

Naru finally looked up, "Do I look like I care about Valentines Day? It disgusts me how people get so keyed up over such a commercial holiday."

The brunette smiled, Naru felt the same way she did. "You and I both. You want sugar anyway?"

"..."

"I'll take that as a yes!" Mai grinned as she began to spoon a horrific amount of sugar into his tea. "Here you go!"

Mai handed Naru the tea and watched as he wrinkled his nose and stuck a finger into the cup. He swirled a single finger around, watching as the gooey substance stuck to the cup's porcelain sides. Naru frowned, his perfect tea was ruined!

Mai watched, amused, as Naru adopted a puppy dog expression and took the tea from his hands, "No tea for you today! If you don't appreciate the sugar, that is..."

She grinned as Naru's empty hands clutched at the air for a bit before he frowned and looked down, "Mai. Tea!"

"Nope! Sugar?"

"Mai..." Naru said warningly.

"Sugar!"

Naru sighed, but smiled faintly. Mai wore none of the traditional pink and frothy Valentines Day apparel. She always dressed plainly, but somehow managed to look adorable regardless.

"Please?" Mai was slightly taken aback; she had never heard Naru ask nicely for anything.

"...but...but...SUGAR!" Mai blurted out before she could change her mind, clutching the tea possessively to her chest.

"What must I do to have my tea in peace?"

"Sugar."

"Can you speak like a normal person?"

"Yes!" Mai said indignantly.

"Then what do I need to do for my tea?" Mai grinned devilishly; she had cornered Naru. Now…what should she make him do?

"I've got it!" she shouted, after thinking for a few seconds, "You have to take part in Valentines Day!" It was perfect; she got to watch Naru humiliate himself! Although, she would have to see him ask out another girl, which would be depressing seeing as she still had feelings for him. Maybe she hadn't thought this plan through very well...

"No." Naru glared at the petite brunette, there was no way in hell.

"No tea!" Mai bustled from the room, leaving Naru speechless. She simply figured that he would give up eventually and just ask someone out. That guy would do anything for his precious tea.

-One Hour Later-

Naru sat at his desk, staring into space. He hadn't yet enjoyed his tea fix and seemed to be going into withdrawal. He couldn't concentrate on work, he was jittery, and Mai's face kept popping up in his mind and further distracting him. To put it simply, Naru was suffering from an unfortunate bout of ADD.

He needed his tea.

And Mai was using Valentines Day to blackmail him. Great.

Naru knew for a fact that Mai did not care for the holiday any more than him, which just added insult to injury. What would be the easiest way to get his tea?

Well, the answer was simple: Ask Mai out.

And the least humiliating would be to make his own tea, but it just didn't taste as good.

Naru growled, he had wasted yet another hour thinking about tea! This was ridiculous; he needed to do something before he went crazy. The black haired teen stormed from his office, looking for the petite brown haired girl who'd put him in this compromising position in the first place.

"Mai! Tea!"

"Nope!" Mai poked her head around the kitchen wall and grinned cheekily, "Not until you ask someone out!"

"Mai! Tea!" Second time's a charm…

"Not a chance, Naru-chan! Why don't you just get it over with?" Mai pointed out the window to a girl walking down the street below them, "Why don't you ask her? She looks nice." Not. Mai added silently. This game wasn't as fun anymore; she didn't like setting Naru up with other people, but it was too late to stop now. If she did, she would just look stupid.

"..." Naru didn't see fit to reply, instead he pinned Mai with an icy glare.

"Um..." Mai couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence under Naru's gaze.

Naru briefly contemplated just going without tea, and then quickly rejected the idea. He needed his tea! And the quickest way to obtain it would be to ask Mai out. It wouldn't be unpleasant either... in fact, he'd been wanting to do so for ages.

Mai watched confusedly as Naru battled with his inner demons, and then seemed to resolve his internal struggle.

"Mai, will you be my Anti-Valentines Valentine?" Naru asked quietly.

Mai looked at him, cocked her head contemplatively, and then smiled. "Of course! But, that has got to be the cheesiest thing you have ever said!"

Naru groaned quietly at that, "And I've got it on video camera!" the brunette crowed, pointing to a small camera sitting on the kitchen counter, red "on" light flashing.

"Youtube, here I come!" she chirped, grabbing the camera before skipping happily from the room.

And after the madness, all Naru could think was: Wow. Asking her felt pretty good...

the end.

Author's Note: Happy Valentines Day! I suppose this wasn't the traditional mushy Valentines story, but I couldn't bear to do that to Naru. Writing 'Mine' was torture enough... Revised as of August 9, 2010.

~Shinigami's Lullaby~