This short is based on Naru's thoughts after hiring Mai. I own nothing.

He wasn't sure why he did it, and he always knew everything.

After hanging up and placing the receiver in the telephone cradle, Naru stared at the cordless phone in silence. He could still hear her loud voice in his head. The rhythmic typing of keys coming from Lin's office was so familiar it didn't do much in the way of grounding. So while his assistant was hard at work helping him search for his brother's body, Naru was not.

Instead, he found himself occupied with and acting on foolish impulses.

The clicking keys suddenly stopped. It was the ensuing silence that snapped Naru from his thoughts. He looked up from the phone to find Lin looming in the doorway of his office. For a few seconds, they stared each other down, neither saying a word.

At last, Lin spoke. "It was my understanding that we were to operate without the hassle of hiring anyone else."

Suddenly feeling annoyed, Naru stalked into the kitchenette without responding. How could he when he wasn't sure what to think of his actions himself?

The tall man followed him. "You know that this increases the risk of the media discovering your true identity."

Naru scowled as he set to work preparing himself tea. While it never tasted the best when he made it, the drink was something he needed to think clearly, no matter how horrendous the flavor. "I highly doubt Mai Taniyama knows anything about 'Dr. Oliver Davis'," he said flatly. He filled the tea kettle and placed it on the stove burner.

"'Doubt' was never negotiable to you before."

Naru slammed the tin of tea leaves on the counter and turned to glare at his companion. He felt a sudden tightness in his muscles, and a wave of heat rushed through his body. He could feel the electric charge of energy building under his skin. Years spent mastering Qigong, and he was suddenly losing control over some silly high school girl.

And he couldn't understand why.

Oliver Davis was not completely familiar with emotional attachment the way that most people were. The concept of 'love', in any sense, had always confounded him. He never understood how it was supposed to feel, or how anyone could become so emotionally invested in someone besides themselves. It sounded terrifying and stupid to him. Of course he regarded his adoptive parents with a certain level of fondness, but the only person in his life he felt safe saying he believed he 'loved' was his brother.

And with how it had felt to lose the only person he loved, 'Oliver' couldn't say he was in a rush to form such an attachment again.

But that first case had done something to him. His identity as the distant and efficient 'Kazuya Shibuya' had quickly been replaced by the irritable and brooding character that Mai Taniyama had brought out in him and named 'Naru the Narcissist'. Not only had that ridiculous girl elicited emotional responses from him in a way that only Gene had ever been able to accomplish, she had somehow made him see ghost hunting the way he originally had: as exciting and (though he'd never say it out loud) fun. Her enthusiasm and curiosity were infectious, her stubborn streak amusing, and her fire intriguing. The couple of days following the investigation's close had felt excruciatingly slow and quiet with her absence. Where the austere office had felt peacefully quiet before meeting her, it now felt cold and empty...almost like a tomb.

So that afternoon, following an uneventful and frustrating morning, 'Naru' found himself reaching for the cordless phone and dialing her high school. As the line rang, he had thought of many reasons for why having another assistant would benefit his cause: She could clean the office, and take care of the ridiculous amounts of paperwork that running a company required. Maybe she could even make decent tea, which he and Lin seemed incapable of making.

But in the end, he knew he had no legitimate excuse. He had acted purely on an impulse.

And that terrified him.

Lin turned away in the wake of his charge's silence. "I don't understand your interest. You have more important things to focus on than some silly girl."

Naru's gaze turned to the counter, his mouth set in a grimace.

The tea kettle wailed.

So, I pretty much whipped this out and did no editing, so forgive any errors!

Reviews are my favorite! :)