One thirty in the afternoon on Saturday found Mai staring at herself in the full length mirror on the back of her bedroom door. Her hair was pinned up halfway, and the half that was left unhindered cascaded down her back and shoulders. Those strands in particular had been lightly curled to give it a natural wave. She wasn't wearing much in the regards to makeup. She had added a light coating of mascara to her long eyelashes. Her lips were shiny and lightly tinted in a raspberry shade. The perfect shade between pink and coral that suited her coloring perfect, or so Masako had insisted when the two of them went shopping after work Thursday night.

"So, you are finally going out with Naru on your first date?!? This is pretty exciting!" Masako was normally pretty reserved but she was definitely excited for her closest female friend. It was one of those rare moments that she dropped the indifferent facade she normally kept in place.

"I can't help but remember a time where you would have squabbled about the possibility." Mai grinned. The two didn't often reflect on their non-friendship four years ago but when the subject at hand revolved around Naru at least one of the two of them would pull it up once in their conversation.

Masako made a shoo gesture with her hand. "The past is behind us. So let's leave it there. Today is about getting you the perfect outfit for your first date! Do you know what you will be doing?"

Mai shook her head and informed her that Naru was keeping pretty tight lipped about it.

"Hmm." Masako pulled her cell phone out of her bag.

"What are you doing?! DON'T CALL HIM!" Mai shouted loud enough that she drew the attention of many other people in the shopping center. Masako's bodyguard/driver who was keeping a substantial distance behind them moved forward to close the gap. Mai blushed madly at both the commotion she caused audibly and the fact that she unintentionally garnered a defensive reaction from Masako's bodyguard. The bodyguard in question pulled closer fearing that his charge could be endanger, and if not then at least gathering too much attention by potential unsavory fans.

Masako cast a glare at her bodyguard silently telling him to back off. Then, she lightly pushed Mai's hands, that were reaching for the cell phone in question, away. "Relax. I am more covert than that. I'm going to ask Gene instead."

Mai didn't really get much from the one sided conversation other than the fact that both of them were equally good at being covert and sneaky when they wanted to be. "He says dressy casual with comfy shoes."

The two stumbled on the perfect dress that was warm enough for the cold weather but had spring floral colors that worked best with Mai's skin tones. It was an ivory crocheted sweater dress with eyelet holes running throughout it in an almost a flower like pattern. The graphic flowers on the dress were a combination of carnation pink, raspberry, and mulberry in color. The hem of the dress caressed the top of her knee caps. "If ever there was a dress made specifically for you I think this is it!" Mai smiled in agreement.

Mai strolled over to the shoe display and picked up a pair of pink ankle boots. Masako took it from her hands and shook her head while putting the boots in question back on the display. "I do admit they are cute, and definitely match that beautiful dress. Instead, I think you should go with a more neutral color." She indicated a pair of the same ankle boots in a tan shade.

"If they match so well why should I get tan instead?"

"Because you won't have to limit wearing them only with that one dress."

It was that moment definitively that had Mai deciding that she should probably take Masako with her on all of her future clothing shopping excursions from here on out. Especially after she also pointed out how buying simple metal earrings instead of colored ones made the same kind of sense. Although, Mai had already settled on wearing her rose gold jewelry she wore on the day Naru had first walked back into her life.

Masako had also taken her to a makeup store and helped her decide how to do her makeup and wear her hair. It was due to the other young woman's suggestions that she found herself admiring the finished product in the mirror now.

As she went into the main living area to sit down on the futon and put on her boots she began to feel a bundle of nerve induced fluttering butterflies taking flight in her stomach. She had no clue where the two of them were going on their date, and she wasn't very fond of surprises so that fact only increased the amount of fluttering those fictitious butterflies provoked. She had to admit though, she was mostly nervous to see Naru's reaction to how she looked. It's not that she looked vastly different. But she definitely didn't normally put in as much effort as she was doing for their very first date.

Noll has never done so in the past but now he finds himself drumming his fingers restlessly on the grip of the steering wheel. "Is the normally calm collective idiot scientist actually nervous?"

Noll keeps his eyes on the road but still the line of his mouth sets into the firm expression he would normally shoot his brother when he glares at him for something. He couldn't help but wish he was driving alone to pick up Mai but Gene was actually doing them both a favor. He was going in to help assist in the orphanage to cover for the hours Mai would be missing. Plus Gene would be going on his first date with Atsuko after his own shift was over. So, it saved some more time for Gene in the long run by not having to schedule an Uber to pick him up.

Noll let Gene's question settle over him for a moment but then let loose a sigh in resignation. "What if I am nervous?"

"Are you actually admitting that you are?" Gene goaded his twin.

Noll gritted his teeth. He could either admit things aloud or... He switched to communicating telepathically. "I would prefer not to have to suffer from the unease I am feeling. Unfortunately I can't seem to help it. I didn't anticipate this. I've been on dates before."

"Yes, but none of those dates really mattered to you before." Gene adapted a look of complete sincerity then switched to voicing his thoughts aloud. "Noll, Mai matters. That's why you are nervous. You don't want to mess up anything on your first date. But, I will let you in on a secret. As long as you look at her in those ways that you try to keep hidden, and make her the center of your focus throughout your date I doubt that she would see it as anything other than perfect."

A few minutes later he pulled into the parking lot of PRI. He shifted himself out of his car and found himself gawking at the vision he saw through the front windows that looked into the lobby.

"I guess she didn't end up staying in her apartment like you asked."

Noll gulped. He should be mad at that small key factor. He wanted to pick her up directly from her door and bring her back to said door at the end of the night. But she took the first opportunity away from him. Instead of being annoyed or even angry he found himself emotionally bowled over by how beautiful she looked.

Perhaps that had been the reason that instead of casually walking from the parking lot to the lobby door he found himself almost stumbling. His normal svelte grace he normally displayed had disappeared without a trace. He frowned for a second as he thought about how he must have looked like a bumbling idiot instead.

Gene laughed. "No worries brother. She hasn't looked this direction yet." He nodded back at Mai. "She's still conferring with Monk about something."

Naru found himself breathing deeply when he realized it was Takigawa she was conversing with. Was he about to get the third degree from Mai's practically adopted big brother? Damn, he hoped not. His body was already built of raw tension as it was.

"Come on, Noll." Gene began to drag him along, and Noll couldn't find it in himself to put up much of a fight; verbally, telepathically, or even physically.

Gene bounded over to Mai and per normal made a huge spectacle of his entrance. "Mai! I want to hug you like normal but I am afraid I might wrinkle you! You look wonderful!"

Mai smiled easily at Gene's praise but then her attention quickly altered focus when she turned toward Naru. She felt exceptionally off balance because even though he hung up some of his black attire it still almost always played a small part in his ensemble. But not today. Today he wore a button up dress shirt in a brilliant sapphire blue that made his normally dark eyes seem a shade or two brighter and even more strikingly beautiful. She got caught up in staring at his irises for a few seconds before she mentally shook herself and continued her perusal. She had to note also that instead of his normal dark slacks he wore a pair of khakis. They did seem more casual but were still also somewhat dressy because of the creases that ran down each leg.

Noll's eyes skimmed over her appearance once again while she cast her own eyes over his. He found himself saying, "Mai, you look exquisite!" There was a part of him that almost wanted to take his praise back immediately, simply because it wasn't how he normally talked to her. He normally scrutinized her and came up with something that was partially joking and partially, quite frankly, borderline rude. But he would only tease her this way because he liked how her cheeks puffed up and became bright from her annoyance.

He found he was quite glad that his tongue ran away from him when he noted her cheeks become more flushed just from his praise. He almost wanted to pull her into his chest right then and there, audience be damned. But he also didn't want to rumple her appearance. He mentally took inventory of the fact that his fingers were twitching from an immediate desire to run them through the loose strands of hair tumbling down her back.

Mai bit her lower lip and took a few moments to calm her accelerated heartbeat. "You clean up nicely yourself, Naru." She giggled at the near absurdity of her statement. "Not that I expected differently but it's nice to see some bolder color choices made an appearance in your attire today."

The two probably would have puttered around for longer just complimenting and admiring each other if Gene hadn't cleared his throat and interrupted their moment. "Didn't you want to be there sometime this afternoon, Noll?"

Noll ran his hand through the back of his hair. "Oh yes." He proceeded to the glass door and held it open for her. "Shall we then?"

The rare gallant behavior didn't stop there. Naru also opened the car door for her both before leaving and when they seemingly arrived at their destination. She looked at him curiously upon arrival. There were plenty of buildings nearby but all she knew about her current location is that she was in an underground cement parking garage. "Where are we?"

Noll found himself fighting a secretive smile. "You'll see." He really hoped that she appreciated what he was planning.  

So, quick note.  I am not really sure what is happening.  But, a few times I have looked over past chapters I have written, and I feel like they may have been truncated (shortened, part of the paragraphs cut away from the chapter).  I'll try to take some time to glance over these and leave a comment on the ones that don't look correct to me.  See if anyone else sees the same thing.  I'll either edit this chapter with those ones that look wrong or the next.  Hopefully I can get through a few chapters at a time.

Oh, and I do also apologize that this chapter is a tad short.  I started to add the date itself.  But I wasn't even half way through and there was already 3500 words when I did that.  I try to get my chapter around the 2,000 to 2,500 word mark.  This one is only 1987.  Perhaps I will make it up to you all by doing a second chapter this month.  But only if I get two more chapters written first.  ;)