Contact Mind Reading

by soulsborne123

Masako always seem to make the wrong decisions... [Written for the GH Challenge Prompt#3: Parapsychology]

A/N:Written for the GH Collection Challenge Prompt#3: Parapsychology.

Contact mind reading/muscle reading: The act of 'reading' a person by taking advantage of the ideomotor phenomenon, wherein the subject makes unconscious small movements in response to the questions presented by the 'reader'.

Setting: Sometime after the Urado case, but before the Yoshimi case.

-00-00-

It was already late in the afternoon. There was no particular reason for doing so, but she still made her way toward the office building in the busiest part of Dougenzaka, passing by the Dolphin cafe, climbing up the stairs, and continuing down the hallway until the brown door with the frosted glass and neat letters stood before her.

She knocked once and pushed the door open, hovering just outside and waiting until Mai finished greeting her in the usual cheerful manner before stepping inside and closing the door behind her. The others who'd arrived before her paused in their conversation to offer their hellos. She politely bowed back.

"Are you here to see Naru about a case?"

Masako smiled, but shook her head. "No, not today. I just happened to be around the area."

It was the same excuse she and the others have been using for the past few weeks, but Mai never seemed to care. She would just smile brighter and as always, offered to get tea or coffee started.

"Tea would be good. Thank you, Mai."

While Mai temporarily disappeared behind the screens to boil a fresh pot, Masako made her way to the sofas and sat on the empty seat beside Ayako. The very animated conversation that had been interrupted between Takahashi and the monk resumed.

"So the guy has to be the real deal though, right? There's just no way he wasn't."

The monk crossed his arms and answered flatly, "I seriously doubt it."

"But he knew things, Norio! I don't know how he could have."

"The others in the audience must have been complicit."

"No way! We must have come at a lull in his show because it was just me and three other friends there to watch him. They didn't know the guy personally!" Takahashi must have realized that Masako probably had no idea what was going on, so she paused and explained, "I was just telling the group about this guy who claimed he was a mind reader. He asked me some questions and he knew the answer to them, but I swear none of my friends were in on it. They were just as surprised by the whole thing as I was."

"You know," Yasuhara suddenly piped up, "I've come across someone who claimed to be a mind reader as well, and I got to admit, it is rather spooky how they do it."

The monk sighed. "And you're going to claim the audience wasn't in on it either?"

"Oh, I don't know if I can vouch for that. It was at a party, so I didn't know some of the other people present."

Mai handed Masako a fresh cup of tea and set the pot down on the table in front of her. She took her spot beside Yasuhara. "Wow, what kind of parties do you go to that involves mind readers, Yasuhara-san?"

Yasuhara laughed. "Well you know first-hand the kind of high schoolers I go to school with..."

Takigawa crossed his arms. "Even in our line of work where we're used to experiencing all sort of paranormal events, I still have to find one respectable spiritualist who believes in a mind reading esper. That should tell you something."

"Maybe it could be a form of PK?"

"Ayako, not you too."

Ayako shrugged. "Hey, I'm just offering a plausible suggestion."

"There just isn't much information about legitimate mind reading capabilities," John said. "But there are performance artists, known as Mentalists, who specialize in showcasing 'psychic feats' such as hypnosis, psychokinesis, clairvoyance, and mind reading, using sleights of hands and all sorts of trickery. One of the most well known was a man named Joseph Dunninger, who was staunchly critical of psychic phenomena and debunked many fraudulent psychics in his time."

Takahashi turned to him. "But aside from some people in the audience conspiring with the performer, how exactly could you pretend to do mind reading and do it correctly?"

John had no answer to that. He shook his head with an apologetic smile and admitted, "I haven't looked that much into it. I don't think many mentalists would willingly divulge such information."

When Takahashi turned toward the monk, he had a similar response. "Beats me."

Masako covered a smile forming on her lips. She set her cup down and asked, "Were you in direct contact with the man while he was reading your mind, Takahashi-san?"

"Yes, he held my hand and asked me to focus by looking deeply into his eyes. He made it sound like I have an antenna and that being in direct contact with him gave him a better link to my head, or something."

Ayako rolled her eyes and gave an audible shiver. "Gee, that doesn't sound creepy at all."

"Contact mind reading," Masako said confidently, "is just another term for muscle reading."

"Care to elaborate, Masako-chan?"

Masako looked at Takigawa and nodded. "Even better, I can demonstrate. Mai," she turned the other way and held her arm out at a ninety-degree angle. "Come and place your right hand directly on top of my left, and hold on to my wrist."

"Okay!" Mai bounded up and switched places with Ayako.

Masako grimaced. "Please... not so tight."

"S-sorry!"

"You really do have an animalistic streak to you."

"Hey!"

The rest of the group laughed. Just then the door to the CEO's office opened and Naru's disgruntled form stepped out. Masako immediately dropped Mai's hand.

Naru eyed them all warily and frowned. "Here again? The cafe downstairs would benefit far more of your patronage than my office, where you are, in fact, unwanted." His eyes scanned over them, pausing at Takahashi with a raised brow. He tilted his head slightly and said, "Takahashi-san, you were not scheduled to come in for today. Why are you here?"

"Oh uhh, err… I heard the others were coming by and I was around the area, so I stopped by. But don't worry, I'm here on my own time, Boss!"

This seemed to satisfy the young CEO and he turned his sights on Mai. "Get them all out."

"Aww, but Masako was just about to demonstrate mind reading to us! Can you give us a bit more time? There doesn't seem to be anyone coming in today anyway. We won't be loud, I promise."

Masako was startled when Naru's eyes flitted over to hers; there was an unspoken understanding that passed between them, leading her to believe that he knew the secret behind the so-called 'mind reading' (she realized it was idiotic to think otherwise). He seemed to consider whether it would be worth his time to observe her technique, but as he scanned the group she saw that his eyes paused momentarily on the steaming pot of tea. She stood up when he began walking towards them, sitting down in his usual seat. Mai automatically poured him a cup.

Masako held her hand out again, beckoning Mai to stand beside her.

"Lightly this time, please. I'll ask a question and I need you to focus on your answer. For example, if your answer is 'tea', you'll need to imagine yourself making the tea, smelling it, pouring it, and actually drinking it. To help make it easier for you, I'll be guiding you with some descriptions. Do you understand?"

"Got it."

She took a deep breath and steadied herself, acquainting herself with the natural tremors in Mai's hand- her baseline. Once she was satisfied, she lifted her head, looked Mai very closely in the eyes, and said, "Think of an item that someone from this room have recently given you," here Masako noted Mai's eyes darted quickly to her own collar bone. She set that thought aside.

"Picture the day that it happened, and when you first held it. How it fit in your hand."

Masako felt a slight movement and she pursued the line of questioning.

"Was it soft? Was it hard?"

Another tremor.

"Think of its shape…if it had a roundness to it. If you were able to enclose it completely in your hand. Picture yourself actually squeezing it. And feel it dig into your skin."

It seemed Mai was entirely oblivious to her own movements as she scrunched up her face, intent on focusing. Masako almost laughed. Compared to others she'd read before, Mai wasn't very hard to figure out at all.

She mulled over the fact that Mai was a very plain, teenage high school girl, and that the object had to come from someone in the room. From Mai's unconscious responses to her question, she gathered that the object must be something small that it could fit easily in one hand, with hard corners that dug into the skin. Her first guess, taking into account the fact that Mai looked at her neck, is that it must be a necklace of some kind. Possibly something more practical, nothing too flashy- although the monk's taste was questionable...

She pursued another line of questioning.

"Now imagine the person who gave it to you. Picture the person in your mind."

Masako made the minutest movement of their joined hands toward the monk and felt a resistance. She tested Takahashi and the miko and received a similar response as well. Yasuhara was not likely to have given her anything, as they barely knew each other as yet. And Naru…

At any rate, that only left her with one option: John.

So the object definitely had to be practical, most likely religious. For a Catholic priest, that really only gave her one option. She knew exactly the right choice words to use and tried her best to not smile in satisfaction.

"I'm sensing male, kindness… The object is small. It has a holiness to it. I see corners; maybe a cross? Possibly in the form of a necklace? It's definitely something that has become important to you."

The last part was just simple psychology. Anything anybody would give Mai would obviously become important to her, but it was necessary to give her educated guesswork the air of mystique so necessary for showmanship.

"I think it came from John."

Mai gasped and let go of her hand, hastily pulling out the necklace that was carefully tucked under her shirt and revealed a small, simple crucifix. "Masako! How did you know all that?!"

There were gasps and scattered clapping all around. Naru's reaction was more subdued, but still his expression suggested he was clearly impressed.

Masako blushed and felt the butterflies in her stomach. She cleared her throat and answered, "I was merely doing muscle reading."

Takigawa hummed and scratched his chin. "How does it work?"

Masako turned to Naru, expecting him to jump in and answer the question, but to her surprise, he politely stayed silent and contented himself with playing spectator. It was as if he was telling her this was her show, and she currently had the floor.

"In psychology there is a phenomenon called 'ideomotor response'," she began, making sure to check in with Naru from the corner of her eye from time to time to gauge whether she was doing it right, "which is the body's unconscious reactions to any stimuli given. They're usually very minute, and often the person is unaware that they are even doing it."

"Oh! Like in that Ouija board example Naru gave me one time!" Mai cried out.

"I'm glad to know you're able to recall information."

The brunette glared at Naru and crossed her arms.

"I simply ask leading questions and pay close attention to all the subject's movements-it could be a little tremor, maybe a slight resistance, the way their eyes shift, and so on. There's definitely psychological manipulation involved as well. The technique itself isn't hard to master, but it does take a lot of practice to be able to put all information together and interpret it properly."

Yasuhara asked, "How is it that you've become quite adept at this technique, Hara-san?"

"An aunt had taught me this technique when I was still a child, and I've been practicing it ever since. She had no psychic ability herself, but she wanted to ride the wave of our family's name so she resorted to tricks." Masako smiled bitterly. "She wasn't all bad, however; I think she taught me the technique because she genuinely wanted to share her knowledge. Besides, it's helpful to know the tricks so you don't get tricked yourself. Isn't that right, Naru?"

Naru merely shrugged.

"Does it work on everyone? Or only people susceptible to it?"

Masako turned to Ayako and replied, "Some people are easier to read than others, but I would imagine everyone has the ideomotor reflex, to some degree. It's all just a matter of whether the reader is able to pick up on it and interpret it." She thought for a moment. "Shall we test it?"

"Sure, I'm curious."

"Me, too."

The rest of the group nodded.

She turned to Naru and smiled sweetly. "I think this means you will have to participate, Naru."

Mai made some strangled noise beside her, and Masako swore she heard some choice curse words. She hid her smirk behind her kimono sleeve and threw her a side glance.

Naru sighed, but surprisingly, stood up and held out his hand. Taken aback at the ease in which he agreed, Masako blinked and stood up slowly before making hurried steps to stand beside him. She held out her hand as before, and motioned for Naru to place his arm on top of hers and grab her wrist. Mai looked like she was about to burst an aneurysm.

If it makes it any better, I think I'm about to pass out as well, Masako thought fleetingly as Naru's hands grasped hers. He was surprisingly gentle. She realized now that this was the very first time Naru held her.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. He let go and let his hand hover over hers in the meantime.

Masako was startled, feeling disappointed at the momentary loss of contact, and turned her head towards him. Naru would have to cut his hair soon, it was getting a bit long; his bangs were now slightly obscuring his beautiful blue eyes. She blinked again.

"N-no, why do you ask?"

"You were trembling."

She heard someone give a silent chortle. It must have been the monk. She could practically feel Mai rolling her eyes. For her part, she felt embarrassed to be caught and called out so publicly. Leave it up to Naru to not pick up on social cues.

Masako cleared her throat and shook her head. "You are mistaken. Please grab on to me again so I can acquaint myself with your movements."

When he did as she asked, she closed her eyes and focused.

The first thing she noticed was his confidence, nonchalance, and clarity of mind. He was much more stable than anyone she's ever read, but still she could feel the littlest involuntary twitches in his fingers if she focused hard enough. It would be difficult to read him, if she was being honest, but still, she would try. She was very good at muscle reading, if she could say so herself.

After getting her baseline, she looked around the room to think of a question.

What would be a good one?

When she caught Mai's eyes, a quick jolt shot through her: a mixture of excitement, wonder, and fear. There was something she's always wanted to know and this presented her the perfect opportunity.

"Something… in this room... " she trailed off.

But did she really want to know?

She breathed deeply and began again. "Think of something-," she couldn't say someone, "-in this room that you've realized you've grown fond of."

Masako felt a very light movement. She turned to read his face, but it was calm and stoic.

"If you'd walk with me around the room, I'll be able to get a better reading," she said, as she stepped around the coffee table and led him around. She closed her eyes and tried all sorts of direction until she thought she found a hint.

She opened her eyes and felt her stomach drop. She tried leading him away but, to her displeasure, felt the slightest resistance. Naru must have quickly realized the involuntary movement himself for his pulse suddenly quickened and his trembling became just slightly more pronounced. This time he was purposely leading her away.

Masako feigned ignorance and allowed herself to be steered. For a moment, Naru turned to her and she could feel his questioning gaze.

Did I really lead you there? His eyes seemed to ask, as if he himself was questioning his unconscious thoughts, but she ignored him and tried to appear focused on her performance. Eventually Naru appeared convinced that she didn't pick up on it and relaxed once again.

Her heart ached.

For him she would swallow her pride and accept defeat.

Masako sighed loudly and dropped his hand gently, saying, "I'm afraid it is difficult to read him. I couldn't interpret anything. The movements were very subtle, subtler than anyone I've ever read, and I almost couldn't pick them up."

Takigawa smiled. "I had guessed Naru-chan would be too difficult to read. He's too poised."

Mai sighed. "I was so sure the answer would be tea!"

Tea! That was it!

Masako's spirits lifted as she glanced over the tea on the table, directly in front of Mai. That was it!

"Do you know how to mind read, Naru?"

"No."

"Oh, thank goodness! It would be very difficult to work with you, if you were."

Takahashi laughed loudly and teased, "Lucky for you, Mai! If the Boss could read minds, you'd be in big trouble because he'd know you think of putting cat pee on his tea some days!"

"Taka! Shh! Thanks a lot!"

"Oh, oops!"

Naru sighed and crossed his arms. "I don't need mind reading to know what goes on in her head."

Mai raised her brow. "What does that mean?"

"I've told you, haven't I? I can understand everything just by looking at your face."

He said this with a strange, playful smirk and Masako felt her heart and gut constrict once more. He turned and caught her eye-she almost gasped. Another unspoken understanding suddenly passed between them and Naru's face quickly turned stoic once again. He turned around, clearly agitated.

"The demonstration is over. Mai, see them all out."

"O-okay…"

Masako turned away.

When she had found out Naru's true identity as Oliver Davis, she had wrongfully taken advantage of the situation and used it to try to get closer to him. It was at the Kaneyuki mansion that she fully realized that that had been a grave mistake and only served to alienate herself further from him. She had wanted to take it all back and start over, wanted to forget knowing his one greatest secret.

But now she knew two.