March 14 - Omake

The small pin Mai received from Naru on White Day: it was small, colourful, and in the shape of a small stemmed red rose with a leaf. And when Mai went to give Naru her thanks...

"Mai, you should make sure to wear that three days from now. You might regret it if you don't."

But Mai was very scared of losing that pin, and in the end, she couldn't bring herself to wear the pin. And then...

"Here's your tea, Naru," Mai said as she set his tea down to one side of his desk.

When she turned to leave, Naru reached out and grabbed her by the wrist.

"? Did you want something else?" she asked as she turned back to look at her boss.

Mai was a little surprised at his action, but even she managed to learn to be a little more careful around him and set herself such that she couldn't easily be pulled off balance.

Naru said nothing for a long moment as he stared at the girl with his eyes slightly narrowed. "......The pin," he said neutrally.

Mai looked slightly embarrassed at his comment; he'd told her she might regret not wearing it today...

"......I... didn't want to lose it, so I decided against wearing it. I'm sorry," she finally admitted after a long pause.

Naru nodded slightly and slowly released her wrist. When Mai turned her back to him however, he reached out and pinched her on her bottom.

"Kyaa! Naru! What do you think you're doing you perverted narcissist?!" Mai shrieked.

*choke* *cough* *cough* The sound of Bou-san choking on his iced coffee could be heard from the reception area.

Naru ignored her scream and turned his attention back to his work when the Irregulars, Yasuhara, and Lin who'd been in the reception area suddenly came running into his office.

"You hormonal brat!" Bou-san yelled angrily
"Naru!"
"Naru?!"
"Shochou!"
"Shibuya-han?!"
Lin, Ayako, Masako, Yasuhara and John all exclaimed shocked.

Naru grimaced at the commotion but ignored the other members as he tried to concentrate on his book again while a teary eyed Mai rubbed her sore bottom gingerly for a moment.

Mai ran straight to Lin and grabbed his sleeve then pointed at Naru.

"N-n-n-... h-h-he... Lin-san...!" Shock and embarrassment kept Mai from putting a coherent sentence together as she tried to tell Lin what had happened.

"Taniyama-san, please calm down, and tell me what happened." Lin said as he put his hands on her shoulders.

Mai turned bright red but said nothing.

"Naru, explain yourself." Lin's voice was low and there was the slightest hint of anger in his tone.

Naru shrugged slightly. "It's her own fault," he said coolly.

"Wh-wh-wh-what're you talking about?! You're the one who pinched my butt!" Mai shrieked.

The others instantly froze at Mai's words.

"You hormonal brat, what do you think you're doing touching my daughter like that?!" Bou-san demanded. He started to move purposefully towards Naru when Lin suddenly reached out and stopped him.

"Don't try to stop me, Lin-san! That boy needs to learn a serious lesson or three!" Bou-san snarled.

Lin shook his head as he glanced at the calendar on the wall. His stared at Mai for a very long moment before letting out a long suffering sigh. "Taniyama-san, did Naru tell you anything about today?" he asked quietly.

"Eh??" Mai looked surprised as Lin's question. "Umm... the pin he gave me on White Day; he told me to wear it today."

Lin nodded slightly and pat Mai on the head. "I'm sorry, Taniyama-san. Not wearing the pin in itself isn't a problem, but since you're not wearing anything appropriate to replace it..." Lin shook his head slightly.

"Lin-san?!" Ayako sounded surprised that Naru's guardian wasn't taking his charge to task over his actions.

John had an embarrassed smiled on his face. "Taniyama-han, you might not want to go near Shibuya-han today," he said gently. "You're not wearing what you should be."

Mai looked utterly confused at John's comment.

Yasuhara looked surprised before he looked more closely at Mai. "Ah! I see!" he exclaimed.

"Yasuhara-san, do you know what this is about?!" Mai asked surprised.

"I think I have an idea, but I'm not sure about all of it," Yasuhara said. "I think it has something to do with what day it is today, isn't that right, Lin-san?"

Lin nodded wearily. "Naru grew up as a child in the United States," he said. "So naturally, he learned their traditions regarding St. Patrick's Day. I'm sorry, Taniyama-san, but you're not wearing anything green. If you'd worn the pin, as he'd told you, he wouldn't have touched you. But since you're not, he's allowed to pinch you." Lin gave his young ward an odd look. He never expected the day to come when he'd see the serious young man do something as juvenile as this. Lin shook his head in disbelief. Martin and Luella are never going to believe him when he tells them about this incident.

Ayako considered Lin's statement. "Being able to tell a person's wearing green on top's one thing, but what if they're wearing green underneath? It's not like you can tell something like that, right?"

Mai frowned at Ayako's comment when she suddenly turned bright red.

Masako stared at Mai when she suddenly realised one possibility and stared at Naru. "Naru! You didn't...! Did you read Mai?!" she exclaimed horrified.

Yasuhara sighed. "I can't believe I missed this chance," he said shaking his head stunned. "Mori-san would've loved to have seen the boss do something like this!"