"NOLL! YOU ARE IN DEEP CHEESE THIS TIME. I SWEAR I WILL SHOW THEM ALL YOUR CHILDHOOD EMBARRASSING-NESS ALBUM AND VIDEOS!" Madoka shouted with such volume, the SPR group could hear the neighboring city telling them to shut up.

"Madoka, what bri-" Mai stopped in the middle of her sentence, seeing Yasu give her a gesture not to continue if she wanted to live. Behind Yasu was the client from yesterday, dressed in formal clothes as usual. Naru's parents, apparently, used to be colleagues with him. You see, it all started like this...

Yesterday...

"You're late," Naru commented coolly, "Mai, tea."

Mai sighed softly and headed out to the kitchen, muttering something about her boss being such a teaholic. Yes, it was totally a word. She made her boss' tea like usual and knocked on the door to his secret lair. She heard the faint come in and entered. She placed the tea on his desk and stayed there, standing and staring at him impatiently. Naru looked up from his book. "Do you need anything?"

"One, the book you're reading, the suspect is the lawyer; Two, I'm waiting for a 'thank you.'" Mai replied almost irritably, her boss returning her sass with a glower. The brunette merely sighed at this and exited with room with a slam. Honestly...

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the door open.

"Is this SPR?" a man asked. He was fair height and looked in his mid-thirties. Most of his hair seemed to migrate to his eyebrows, Mai thought. She wasn't really trying to be rude, but it was true. He had quite the brows. Nonetheless, to top off his image, he wore a light blue blouse and beige pants, along with what seemed like black tap shoes.

"Yes," Mai replied, trying to restrain herself from asking why he had such thick eyebrows. "Do you have an appointment today?" Should I enlarge the words SPR on the door or something, the brunette thought, but didn't say.

"Ah, yes. I'm one of Martin's old classmates. He recommended for me to see his son. I think my appointment should be around 12:30," he replied with a smile. It was warm and polite, a smile Mai doesn't see everyday in this... what is this, bat cave?

She returned the smile with one of her own and nodded. "Please take a seat. I'll call my boss."

She then went off to call the teaholic and laptopaholic. They were in the same room, she knew, since Lin went to talk to Naru. For what reason, she didn't know. "Lin, client. Naru, client." she announced in front of their room. Hearing the groaning of the chair from the other side, she decided to go make some tea. After all, for as long as she worked here, tea = life. As if it was on cue, the door opened again to reveal the rest of the gang, which meant more tea. Great. How does Naru not run out of tea?

As Mai finished the last cup of tea, the interview had already started.

"Hello, my name is Kazuya Shibuya," Naru introduced. "And may I ask who are you?"

"My name is Dylan Castro, but you may call me Dyl." the client, Dylan, replied.

"Pickle," Yasu said, which resulted everyone to stare at him strangely.

"Okay, Dyl-" Naru was cut off by the one and only...

"Pickle," Yasu repeated.

"Okay, Mr. Dyl-"

"Pickle!"

"Okay Mr. Dyl-"

"Pickle~"

Completely annoyed, Dylan shot Yasu with a numbing dart to his lips. Okay, that was totally not expected... Wait, did he even have a numbing-dart-gun-thing when he first came in?

"Okay, Mr. Dyl-" Naru was cut off once again.

"Wiwil (Pickle)!" Yasu happily said through his numb lips.

Naru shot him a warning glare. "Alright, Mr. Dyl-"

"WIWIL," Yasu cheered, holding a pickle up.

"... Alright, Mr. Dyl-"

"WIWIL!"

Everyone suddenly had numbing dart guns and seemed to shoot Yasu from all sides, not minding when the Japanese man fell down with a THUD.

Naru cleared his throat and straightened his posture (if it was still humanly possible). "Alright, excuse the interruption, but let us begin, Mr. Dyl-"

"WICKL (PICKLE)," Yasu interrupted, which resulted Ayako tossing her throwing purse at him.

"Sorry about this, Mr. Dyl-" Bou-san was cut off as well.

"WICKL!" Bou-san threw a hard covered novel at the ever-so-loved Yasu.

Mai sweat-dropped at this. "Er, yeah, uh, sorry Mr. Dyl-"

"WICKL!"

Mai turned sharply to him with a glare, and in all her brunette glory, shot a tranquilizer dart at his butt. There was nothing but silence after.

Taking the opportunity of the silence and unconscious (and practically dead) Yasu, Naru spoke up, "So, Mr. Dyl-"

"Pickle~" Yasu's soul said, the transparent, sheet-like thing escaping from his mouth.

John, being the kindhearted one in the group, decided not to throw a purse of bricks or a book or even shoot a tranquilizer dart at his butt. Instead, he shoved an onion in his mouth. "Mind being quiet for a moment, mate?"

"So, Mr. Dyl-"

"PICKLE."

That seemed to drive everyone at their breaking point, lifting Yasu up and tossing him out the window.

"I SHALL BE REMEMBERED!" Yasu exclaimed as he flew out into space.

They watched him disappear into the vast sky before continuing on with the interview.

"So Mr. Dyl-"

"YASU CAME CAME BACK WITH A WREEEEEEECKING BALL!" Yasu sang aloud, sounding like a tone-deaf whale. Once he realized the moment, he said with the utmost pride, "PICKLE~"

There was silence at first and then the tossing of the coffee table with the familiar grunts of annoyance. With the force of the coffe table, the wrecking ball seemed to retreat and swing away, taking Yasu with it.

"NEVER COME BACK!"

"YASU LEAVING WITH A WREEEEECKING BALL!"

Everyone sighed and watched Yasu disappear again, continuing the interview moments later.

It seemed that the place that Dylan was staying in was apparently haunted (no surprise there!). He reported strange things happening such as banging on the walls, opening and closing of the doors, shadows shifting and being touched when there's no one there. Naru shot questions here and there, asking for the history of the house - the usual things.

"I heard that the owner's daughter committed suicide one day," Dylan solemnly replied, "Never took it seriously. No one knew why she died or why it was so sudden; everyone just knows that she committed suicide. Hung herself on the ceiling... Ever since then there would be strange things... and worst of all, deaths..."

Naru shot him a half questioning and half stoic look.

"Not exactly the best deaths 'round here, but most of them were the same age as the owner's daughter. Creepy, isn't it?" Dylan smiled thinly. "And they all died on the same day - the thirteenth of Friday."

Naru seemed to think for a moment before asking, "What age?"

"16 years old."

"I see," Naru said, his tone blunt. "That'll be all."

With the tone Naru used, they all knew Dylan didn't have a chance in getting his case accepted.

"Sorry for how my boss acted Mr. Dyl-"

"YASU CAME IN THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR!" Yasu yelled. "Pickle."

Mai giggled as she remembered the events that had happened yesterday. It had been irritating at first, but then just became an extremely hilarious moment that should have been recorded. Come to think of it, where did Yasu even get the wrecking ball?

"Naru, you take the case." Madoka said.

"No." Naru said bluntly.

"Oh... Did you forget I have... the pictures." Madoka said. Naru stopped drinking his tea.

"What pictures?" Mai asked.

"I believe that it is Naru's baby pictures." Masako said, hiding her mouth behind her sleeve. A thought struck Mai and Masako.

"Can we see the pictures?" they both asked in unison.

"Sure, sure. We can look at all of the pictures since we don't have a case. Maybe we should start when Naru and Gene took baths together." Madoka said. Naru choked on his tea.

"We'll take the case." Naru quickly said.

"We'll meet here at 3:00 today since we've wasted so much time. Right, Naru?" Madoka said, holding up an album.

"Y-Yes..." Naru muttered. The things that Madoka does to get Naru to accept a case. Everyone left the office to pack. "Where did you find the album?" Madoka smirked.

"I told Lin if he didn't give it, he loses his pride and humanity." Madoka said. Naru's imagination played. "Plus, everyone will find out his deepest darkest secret.

"You are a demon Madoka. A demon." Naru said entering his office with the album.

"Hey, give me that album back!"

~Time Skip~

"Mai, you're late."

"It's only been a minute," Mai retorted.

"A minute and a half," Naru snapped calmly.

"Oh, so you want to play that game?" Mai asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I have no time to play, we still have to get to the site of the case. That is, if you have enough brain cells to remember." Naru walked away with the familiar Chinese man following him from behind to the van.

"What do you take me for? An idiot!?" Mai huffed.

There was no answer.

"Don't worry, don't worry," Madoka assured, waving her hand casually. "I have the album right now. We could go over it when Naru's not looking."

Mai smirked, "Yeah."

With that said, the two went into the van. Masako, having heard their conversation, stomped quietly into the other vehicle (which was Bou-san's car) with the others. And thus, their journey began...

"Oh my goodness!" Mai gasped, "That guy's Naru?"

"Yeah," Madoka smiled, "Pretty, isn't he? The one next to him is Gene."

It's been only 30 seconds and the two were already making a fuss. Who could blame them? After all, they were looking at Naru's childhood pictures. The picture they were currently observing was Naru and Gene in dresses. Naru was wearing a sky blue dress that glimmered with glitter, a crown on his head and glass heels. Gene, on the other hand, was wearing a light pink dress that looked too big for him and a golden crown.

"Is Naru dressed up as Cinderella?" Mai asked, trying to hold her laughter back.

"Cinderella?" Madoka parroted, her tone playful. "More like Naruella."

"I thought she wasn't going to take a picture," Naru muttered irritably.

"What about Gene?" Mai asked, "Who's he dressed up as?"

"Him? Oh, well, he's dressed up as Aurora." Madoka replied with a smile. "Back then, Noll and Gene loved to play dress up." She then turned to the next page. "This one if my favorite. Just look at Noll, rocking that Princess Jazmin outfit!" Mai couldn't suppress her laughter anymore.

"I am so keeping this," Mai said between in laughter, taking the photo.

"Wait, you might want to keep this." Madoka smirked, turning the page again. This time, it was a solo picture of Naru standing in front of a Christmas tree. He was dressed in a pink Hello Kitty tank top and a black skirt.

Mai's laughter rose to a degree as she swiped the picture away. "Are you sure this is even Naru?" Nonetheless, she placed the pictures in her purse.

As if Naru's prayers were heard, the van abruptly stopped and the album flew out of Madoka's hands. Swiftly, the narcissist caught the album and held it close. "This," he smugly started,"is confiscated."

Madoka merely laughed at this and brought out another album from her purse. "Oh, don't think I that I don't come prepared."

"My hero," Mai whispered breathlessly. And thus, the invasion of Naru's privacy begun. This time, it was labeled Naru's Most Happiest Moments in elegant arches of loops. Mai couldn't help but smile on how Naru looked back then. He was actually smiling in these photos - straight at the camera! In some pictures, he seemed to be laughing... She wondered what had happened in these pictures, seeing that Naru was so happy.

"We're here," Naru announced, snapping the duo back into reality. He sounded relieved, happy even, to arrive. Wait, how long have they been looking through the album? Huh, time goes by fast... Putting the thought aside, she grabbed her purse and hopped out the van. Man, her legs fell asleep! She kicked out her feet a few times in an attempt to wake them up as Madoka placed the album back in her purse.

"Looks pretty creepy," Madoka commented, "I can't believe Dylan would pick such a desolate place to live."

Mai blinked, confused, but then realized what she meant when she saw the house. Well, the proper term would be mansion. It stood firmly under the beating sun, vines and cracks crawling up its pale walls. There was no other houses or whatsoever around, only the cluster of trees, which added to the eeriness. The trees shrouded almost everything in sight, their branches reaching out into the sky like hands. Hands that were trying to reach something out of their grasps...

"Gives me the creeps too," Mai shuddered.

The others arrived shortly, Yasu being the first one to come out. The Japanese man attempted to hug Mai and ended up bumping into the wall instead, hard. The others were stretching, though, once they came out. Must've been an uncomfortable trip, Mai thought.

Once verifying everyone was present, Naru went on ahead and knocked on the door.

No answer.

Naru knocked much harder this time, but nothing happened. Well, that's strange. Haven't they discussed that they were all going to meet at 3 o'clock? Maybe they went somewhere...? Naru continued to knock, which was more liking banging, to the point that his knuckles were cherry red. If he continues on, Mai thought, they'll bleed. And she was right.

After fifteen minutes of knocking, there was still no answer. Naru had given up then, deciding that they must have went somewhere else and that they should wait. He looked a bit irritated while announcing this, but still calm. Mai sighed heavily, turning around, and the walking back to the van. Great, this would be boring. They'd be waiting for probably 6 hours or something!

"Where do you think you're going?" Naru asked, receiving a half bewildered and half annoyed look from Mai.

"The car, where else?" the brunette snapped bluntly.

"We are not going to waste gas while waiting," Naru stated coolly, "We're waiting out here."

"But it's hot," Mai whined. "Plus, we could just leave the doors open!"

"What happens if we all end up sleeping and we get robbed?"

"That would never happen!"

"That's what Gene had said..."

"I think you need to stop thinking of the money in SPR's account, Naru."

"Then I'll reduce your pay."

". . . You win this round," Mai spat venomously, retreating to a carpet of emerald grass. The others followed her example, sitting on the ground.

Monk, John, and Yasu had started to play Crazy Eights with leaves, which they surprisingly managed to doodle on (thanks to the markers Yasu brought). Masako was watching the leaf card game, being the only spectator. Ayako had started to do her make-up, eyes glued to her little hand mirror as she tried to add more volume into her eyelashes. Lin was reunited with the love of his life - his laptop - while Madoka watched him. Mai, being the restless one, was trying to reach the tip of her shoes. She saw this on some exercise poster before. You needed to put your legs together and straight, then try to reach your toes (or in this case, the tip of your shoes) without bringing your legs up.

Naru had been watching from the corner of his eyes and was slightly annoyed by what was Mai doing. He got up from his place and approached the brunette, pushing her back. Mai reacted by shrieking and writhing.

"There," Naru said, "Now stop doing that."

The brunette huffed. "I bet you can't even do that!"

Naru shot her one of his signature glares, getting down to the position she was in, and reaching the tips of his toes.

"Now, you're just showin' off!"

"No, I'm not. I just demonstrated how to do it with ease," Naru simply said and grabbed his book.

As the battle between the employee and employer, the game of Crazy Eights is reaching its end. Yasu, having only one card left, was thought to be the winner.

"AHAHAHAHAHA I SHALL WIN! BOW DOWN BEFORE ME!" Yasu boasted annoyingly.

"I'm sorry Yasu, but I will be winning." John said as he put down a card... Spade of Eight...

"WHY YOU DO THIS TO ME JOHN!? DON'T YOU LOVE ME ANYMORE?! I FEEL SO BETRAYED!" Yasu suddenly had a spotlight right towards him, making his /fake/ tears glisten. His eyes looked like a brokenhearted girl from a shoujo manga.

"Uhh... Takigawa, how do you make him stop?" John whispered to him. Monk just shrugged, their game continuing seconds later. Yasu's loud weeps, however, echoed in the air.

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT YOUR DAMNED MOUTH?!" Ayako screeched at the top of her lungs, throwing a small, yet heavy, rock at Yasu's face.

Their game soon ended with the victor being John with Yasu finally admitting his defeat... sooner or later.

"Unfair Naru! You pushed me down every single time! Don't you know how much that hurts!" Mai complained with her signature glare directed at the narcissist.

"Well, if you don't like it, stop doing that." Naru then returned his attention to his book.

A sudden thought popped up.

"Oh Monk, don't you want to see a cute picture of-" Naru quickly covered the brunette's mouth, muffling her voice to a grumble.

"What was that Mai?" Monk asked.

The brunette simply shook her head in response. Monk pursed his lips, stared, and then shrugged, returning his attention to the current game. Sometimes I have to wonder about that girl, Monk thought.

"Who gave you those?" Naru's face was tinted with red, but his voice remained cold and bitter.

Mai pointed to a smiling pinkette, who sat next to the laptopaholic.

"Madoka!" Naru balled his fist and stomped over to her, face colored an even brighter shade of red. Mai couldn't help but smile sympathetically at the pink-haired maiden.

Before the narcissist could start his rant, the door swung open and caught everyone's attention.

The one who opened the door wasn't Dylan or looked human at all! The group stared, unsure of what to stay.

The. . . thing looked like a young boy. He had pale skin, messy hair, and red eyes- the kind of eyes you get after crying. He also didn't seem to care about his appearance since he wore his pajamas. Not a good first impression. And when he spoke, his voice sounded somewhat hoarse, "Oh, it's you people. Uncle said that the Ghost Hunt weirdos come today. He's in the dining hall. Get in."

The SPR group all glanced at each other before reluctantly going inside. The place was beautiful, they had to admit. The walls were painted a soft, dreamy beige; and the furniture was the same color as the wall, except for the glossy coffee table made out of glass that stood in the middle.

"Sorry I took long to open the door. It was. . ." The boy paused and covered a hand with his white, skinny hand. ". . . very, very far away. . . from my couch."

"It's no problem." Naru assured with his fake smile.

"Whatever, losers." the boy spat. To keep him alive, however, both Monk and Yasu had to restrain the furious brunette in the background.

"Careful Mai, you're wearing a skirt." With that, everyone followed the boy until they reached the dining hall. It was a huge room, big enough to house a whole village. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, crystals glittering proudly, and a long table with over 20 seats was centered in the middle. On one of the many chairs, Dylan sat, smiling kindly over at the group.

Then without saying a word, the boy left, bumping into doors and walls. As if he can go through.

This time, Mai wasn't the only one to be restrained. It was Ayako who also wanted to send him to hell. The nerve of that boy! How dare he act like that. Who taught him his manners?

"Please excuse my nephew's behavior. He's been like that since Alison died." Dylan said. "Why don't you all take a seat?"

"It's alright, we'll stand." Naru smiled his plastic smile and said, "I'm very sorry for your loss, Dylan. We would like to start the case to find the reason why the entity targeted your daughter. Would you please show us to our base?"

"Yes, please follow me." Dylan got up from his seat and then lead the gang to their base.

It was strange, they could divide the dining area into four rooms. They didn't understand why Dylan, his wife, and his nephew would live in such a huge house. But then again, in this generation, big houses are often occupied by little people. It's just sort of hard to accept, it seemed.