March 14

March 14 - 3:00 PM

Taniyama Mai stared at a certain item on her desk. She cocked her head to one side and looked at it. She tilted her head to the other side and stared at it again. The item neither disappeared nor did it change shape. Any way she looked at it, it was a slice of apple pie. And she had no idea why there'd be a slice of apple pie on her desk when she arrived at work.

Today was White Day; the day when, in Japan, guys returned the Valentine favour and gave girls gifts of chocolate and other items. So, why was there pie on her desk? Mai shook her head in bewilderment. Currently, there were two other people in the office other than herself: Naru and Lin. Mai considered the possibilities.

'Maybe it's possible Lin left this for me...?'

Mai shook her head.

'I get the feeling it wasn't him. Which would leave Naru.'

Mai shook her head even harder at that thought.

'That seems even less probable. Not to mention, why pie?! Today's White Day. Chocolate would be one thing, but pie? Apple pie... I don't get it.'

Mai heard a door open deeper in the office, and looking up, she saw her boss Shibuya Kazuya, a.k.a. Naru, come out of his office.

"Mai, tea," he said when he spotted his part-time investigator.

"Okay..." she said slowly as she left her desk and headed for the kitchenette. A strange thought crossed her mind. 'Could Naru have left the pie on my desk? After all, he didn't seem to understand about Japanese Valentine's Day at first...'

Mai considered everything that happened on Valentine's Day for the past few years and couldn't help blushing furiously as she remembered what happened this year. One small kitchen mishap led to a series of very startling events. She had no idea that that Naru...

Mai shook her head violently as she chased the memories of Valentine's Day out of her mind. Now was definitely not the time to be thinking about that. She had a different mystery on her hands at the moment.

Several minutes later, Mai exited the office kitchenette carrying Naru's tea on a tray. A quick glance at the reception area revealed her incredibly good-looking boss was sitting at his usual seat at the sofa set reading a book. Mai carried his tea over setting it on the table next to him. She sat down on one of the sofas next to him and frowned. The pie was seriously bothering her and she couldn't help alternately glancing at her boss and glancing at the item on her desk.

After several minutes passed with her alternating between staring at the pie and staring at her boss, Mai heard a soft whump as Naru closed his book and glared at her.

"I realise I'm good-looking, Taniyama-san, but even I don't enjoy having people stare at me that much," he said mildly annoyed.

"Aa," Mai said and blushed. "I-I didn't mean to bother you, but..." Mai's voice trailed off as she glanced at her desk - again.

"......Umm... Did Yasuhara-san leave that pie on my desk for me...?" she finally asked Naru.

Naru sighed and shook his head. "Yasuhara-san hasn't come in to the office yet today," he said coolly. "Do you know what day it is today, Taniyama-san?" he asked.

"Eh?" Mai looked at Naru surprised. She really didn't expect Naru would know what White Day was. "It's March 14th... White Day. The day guys in Japan give girls..." her voice trailed off when she saw Naru shake his head.

"It's March 14 - Pi Day," he corrected.

"P-pi... day...? What's that...?" she asked thoroughly confused.

Naru sighed. "Don't you even know that much, Taniyama-san? Do you know what pi is; that you learn in math?"

"I know that much!" Mai snapped annoyed. "I think it's... 3.14159."

Naru nodded. "Right, 3.14159. If you change that into a date and time, you end up with 3/14, 1:59 or March 14 at 1:59." A faint teasing smile flickered across Naru's face as he looked at Mai. "If you'd been here earlier, I would've fed you some."

Mai instantly turned bright red at his reference to one of the many things that happened on Valentine's Day. It was one of the many things that happened that she was trying very hard not to think about at the moment.

"N-n-n-n-no, th-th-th-that's okay," she said stuttering badly. "I-I-I wasn't expecting anything l-like that!"

A hint of amusement played across Naru's face at Mai's reaction.

Mai frowned slightly as she suddenly realised what Naru had said. "Y-you mean you brought the pie, Naru...?" she asked incredulously. Naru didn't like sweets, and while apple pie wasn't necessarily that sweet, it usually was.

Naru didn't bother answering her question and gazed at Mai.

"Mai, tea. In my office," he said before he got up and returned to his office.

Mai stared at the pie on her desk.

'While I'm really happy he gave me pie... Hmmm..... It's just so not White Day...' she cried mentally.

*knock* *knock*

Mai knocked lightly on the door to Naru's office before entering.

"Naru, I brought you your tea," she said.

Mai put Naru's tea down on one side of his desk. However, when she turned to leave, Naru suddenly reached out and caught her arm.

"? Naru?"

Mai turned to look at Naru when she suddenly sensed she was in danger. But it was already too late.

Naru pulled her firmly to him and kissed her. Mai was so shocked by his action that she forgot to resist leaving Naru to take full advantage of the situation. By the time he finally freed her from his kiss, Mai was completely unable to put a coherent sentence together.

"Wh-wh-wh-wha..." she stammered.

A faint smile flickered across Naru's lips.

"You looked like you were hoping for something. Is this more to your liking?" he asked amused.

"! What do you think you're doing, you idiot!" Mai's words were still echoing inside when Mai fled Naru's office.

Mai never noticed the small, colourful flower-shaped pin attached to her collar until Yasuhara arrived and asked her about it.