We meet again
"Where is it?" Uneven footsteps pattered across the wooden floors of the hallway. A woman clumsily bumped into random objects from distress. Her legs felt like they were wading through water. In her eyes, everything blurred and wavered as if she was staring at a flickering flame. Time went by very slowly. "Where am I? How could this have happened?" Her voice even resonated oddly. Whipping her head around in confusion, the woman remembered that there were people living in the house but not a single person have been found. "Where is he?" She felt its presence before it appeared before her.
The shadow-like silhouette blocked her path. "You thought you could escape after death?" She didn't reply, but took several steps backwards in anticipation to run towards another direction. She didn't to want to make herself more vulnerable than she felt at the moment.
I set down the metal suitcases by my office and then inspect the place in wonder. The office didn't really change. Someone made it into a law firm after we moved out. However, about a year ago it closed down. They left the layout of the furniture the same way as before strangely enough. I draw a line across a table, expecting to feel dirt on it. However, what surprises me is the lack of dust that should have coated the furniture and window sills. I even smell the faint scent of lemon.
"Welcome back, Shibuya-san." A hoarse voice calls from behind me.
I turn to see the old man who owns this whole building. I bow. "Kazaragi-san."
He cracks a smile, causing his wrinkles to deepen around his eyes. "If you're wondering, a young lady came by every week to clean this place months after the law firm closed. She's such a dear to maintain it for me, considering my age." He pops his back with a grimace as he twists it to prove his point.
This information catches my attention. "Does she have a name?"
He rubs his chin in thought. "Sorry, I'm getting too old. She's the girl who used to work for you. I think it was Taniyama-san."
I freeze. Mai was here? I slowly take a deep breath and release it. "Did she come here yet?"
He shakes his head. "Usually she would come by, but I hadn't seen her for two weeks now. She said something about going on vacation. When she comes back, you should thank her, Shibuya-san." I didn't know what to think. He waves cheerfully and goes down the steps just as Lin approaches with a heavy stack of boxes. "Noll, Madoka is calling everyone so you don't have to worry about it."
I nod and make my way towards the nearest piece of furniture. Why would that girl do such a thing? I pull the sheet off with one sharp tug. It is the black leather couch, which looks a bit worn. She puzzles me. Did she come here because she wanted to work in the SPR again? Lin heads towards his office. Curiosity nudges me forward as I take another step towards it. I make sure he is gone before I touch the back of it with my finger to peer into its memories.
I hear someone humming before I even see what is going on in front of me. Though I still am a head taller than her, she definitely grew up. Her brown hair is up in a ponytail, which reaches below her shoulders. She sweeps the floor with a soft pretty smile on her face.
"Your instincts must have told you I was coming by..." I say though Mai can't hear me. She continues to focus on her task. "...to open up the SPR." In the back of my mind, something tells me she just misses me. I ignore it. Ridiculous. She must hate me.
The tuneless humming stops. Suddenly, she looks up. Mai's eyes meet mine. I tense. The door behind me opens. "Mai-chan." Someone's voice calls out. In the corner of my eye, I see Yasuhara standing at my side. "The taxi is coming soon." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
I open my eyes. I'm going to see her soon enough after she comes back. What is her job now? Does she still have dreams about ghosts? Does she still see Gene?
"Naru-chan!" A familiar voice yells as he entered the office. I cringe at the nickname and his loud entrance.
I smirk. "I didn't invite you to have a party, monk." I say as I turn around, crossing my arms. Takigawa has a bit of a shorter hairstyle otherwise he looks the same as he did four years ago.
His eyebrows widen for a second, but his surprise fades into a grin. "Same as ever in a twenty-one year old body." He pats a hand on my shoulder hard. He looks at me straight in the eye. "The scowl on your face really suits you." This only causes me to deepen said scowl. Then, he raises his hands in surrender.
"Long time no see."Ayako pops her head from behind him. Her hand is on her hip ready for anything that comes her way. She appears to have come from work, considering she is in her doctor's coat.
"Nice to see you too."
"Wow, you are a little nicer than before." She stares at me as if I have grown two heads and then catches the monk's eyes to confirm her thoughts. Apparently everything I do today surprises people.
I snort at her half-complement, half-insult, but I stay silent. "You didn't hear him earlier then?" Takigawa snickers pointing his thumb at me.
"And I'm still your boss."
She gives me an exasperated look and turns away from me. "Kids, these days! They don't respect their elders at all!" It's really easy to ruffle her feathers like someone else I know.
"That's his way of saying, 'I miss you, guys.'" Yeah, right... The monk howls in laughter then spins to face Ayako. "Ha! You called yourself old!" She slaps his shoulder. He continues to giggle like a gossiping school girl.
"Remember who's your girlfriend, Houshou!" I raise an eyebrow. Since they are dating, hopefully they are professional about it. I hear another slap. Actually I stand corrected, there's nothing new about it.
"That doesn't mean that I can't tease you!" This causes her to whack him some more, which causes him to raise an arm to defend his head. "Abusive woman!" Again, my silence is the best way to not get slapped accidentally.
I sigh at their idiotic antics and lift the other sheets. I drone their bickering out. Though I am having a low stupid tolerance at this moment, I didn't tell them to start working though. They better appreciate it.
"Davis-san." A voice with a Kansai accent calls from the doorway.
"Hello, Brown-san."
He enters the room before smiling at the couple still arguing about age. "How was England?"
"Same as always." In other words, not enough interesting cases for me. Even though I go to cases all over England and maybe even France to make myself busy, there was absolutely no thrill.
"How about your parents? How are they?" I grimace at the thought. Father kept nagging me to get out and explore the world. No, he doesn't mean travel. He meant go out and date some girls. Those packages he "anonymously" sent me supported those implications. Stupid old man. Mother also thought along those lines, asking me about my assistant and then bugging me about how she is getting old. Then, I would have to remind both of them very carefully that I'm merely twenty-one.
"Same as always." I repeat.
The blond priest chuckles. "Does this mean that I have to call you Oliver now?" He says jokingly in English with his Australian accent. "Sorry, I hadn't spoken in English for a while." He rubs the back of his head bashfully.
"Whatever." I reply tersely. I can't do small talk. "I don't mind either way." I really don't unless we're in a case.
"Well, we are all glad you came back. Things weren't really the same without you and Lin."
I open my mouth, however, someone beats me to it.
"Speak it in Japanese. I don't understand at all!" Monk scolds us, stopping his argument with the miko.
"It."
Though I don't like small talk, I hate being interrupted. "Did Naru-chan make a joke?" He exclaims with a loud gasp. I roll my eyes.
"John." I start as I sit down on a chair. He looks at me in surprise. "It's mutual. Don't tell them that." Though my voice is flat, he smiles but he doesn't say anything else.
"Are you insulting us?" Monk is about to yell at us in irritation but then I hear a knock a the door. My fingers drum against the leather. An image of my brown-haired assistant rapping the door forces its way into my mind. However, Madoka arrives with Hara-san. I lean back relaxing my stiff muscles. I bite back my frustration. That clumsy assistant is driving me crazy even without her here. "Hello, Naru." Masako still wears a kimono, but she puts her short hair up with a clip.
"Nice to see you again, Hara-san." She nods in acknowledgement as she hides her slightly pink face with her sleeve.
"Noll, I can't reach Mai-chan or Osamu-kun." Madoka pouts disappointedly with her phone in hand. Her finger hovers over the green 'talk' button.
"Its fine." Though, I say this I'm disappointed myself. "You don't need to add anymore messages in their voice mail." I sigh and play with the loose thread on the arm rest. I need tea. No Mai equals no tea. No tea equals incoming headache. Just as I suspected, I can feel a headache coming in. I rub the bridge of my nose in annoyance. "The owner knows Mai and told me that she went on vacation." I hate this.
I see the rest of them filling the couches. My eyes wander towards the door again before directing my gaze to my currently present coworkers. "Poor Naru. He must have come back because he wanted to see my beautiful sis so ba-" The doctor elbows the monk. He opens his mouth again. I glare at him, daring him to finish that sentence. I can feel the room's temperature going down a few degrees. He visibly shivers before continuing. "Mai forgot her cell phone in her apartment probably. I wish she could at least call me during her vacation though."
"Who's fault was it that she's not talking to you, huh?" Ayako responds with another elbow to his rib. "You just had to treat her like she is still a little girl. I would go off and vacation too if you do that to me." It is definitely like her to storm off with that temper of hers.
"Ow! Woman!" Takigawa yells. Then, he completely changes the subject. His demeanor changes. He clears his throat. "Ne, Naru." He starts awkwardly. Out with it! "Why didn't you ever contact us when you were in England?" The question hushes everyone's individual conversations.
Everyone's eyes point at me. I mentally wince. The lamp on the table opposite me is definitely more interesting than where this conversation is going. "Many things happened..." Yes, many things indeed, which involves dealing with my twin's death. I cross my arms and look away from their stares. "As your boss, that was uncalled for on my part..." Hopefully, they can fill in the blanks because this is getting very uncomfortable.
They still stay silent until the monk breaks the silence. "Well, close enough."
"What do you mean 'close enough?'"
"Close enough of an apology. Some of us are still mad though we kind of forgive you."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"We get it. You still care. You still send us our paychecks. Deny it all you want, Naru-chan." He emphasizes the last part to annoy me or at least get a reaction from me. The others had smug smiles on their faces. He said all that needed to be said.
I didn't comment. His observant eye is a curse as well as a blessing.
"Jou-chan still wants to kill you. She once told me that "it doesn't hurt to actually have his pen touch a piece of paper to write a letter or call us at weird hours because of his vampire-like sleep cycle and the time difference."" They all crack up at the sound of his voice imitating Mai's voice. I glare at him, causing him to frown. "It's true its her exact words."
"Where does she work anyway?"
The monk laughs for some odd reason. "She is a college student. She works part-time in a tea shop. Then, in our free time John, Mai and I would go ghost hunting for old times sake." Very interesting.
"What about Yasuhara? Anyone?" Yasuhara is known to always answer our calls before without fail. That's strange...
As everyone shakes their head, Lin arrives with a file. "I received it in an email." He hands it to me. I open it. Already a request? I scan through it.
Shibuya-san,
Our family home is haunted. I fear for all of us because it became violent. It started with rapping noises, unexplained footsteps and stuff going missing, but then we would hear a woman screaming at night. Furniture is now getting tipped over by an unknown force. My daughter, Chizu, told me that she saw the spirit of a woman running through the hallways. Please, reply as soon as possible. I'm at my Wit's end.
Megumi Kaname
"Are you guys still up for working?" I look up from the letter and spot each person's sign of agreement. I'll need to call Kaname-san back then. "We may have to start tomorrow. We'll have to make do without them."
AN: Aw, he can never get a break, can he? Naru is such a challenge to write in a good way. Hopefully, he is not too marshmellow-y. As for the client's name, Kaname is the first name that popped out of my head. Sorry, no Vampire Knight here.