I shouldn't have taken the case. But Mai had rightfully pointed out we hadn't taken one in weeks and the elderly couple requesting assistance were evidently frightened.
I knew it would be an open and shut case, but that didn't make the three hour journey any less tedious. As usual, Lin was driving the van with me while Bou-san took the rest of the rabble and Mai in his car.
I sighed and picked up the walkie talkie.
"Mai, have you briefed the others?" I asked. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lin smirking slightly.
"She's asleep Naru-bou," Bou-san replied.
"Wake her up," I ordered.
"She said you'd say that," Ayako said. "And she told us to tell you that its your fault she's tired and so you're not allowed to wake her up til we get there."
"Is Mai the boss of SPR?" I asked.
"Is it true?" Ayako countered.
"What?"
"Did you keep her up?"
"I am not going to dignify that with a response," I muttered.
"Naru-bou is cranky today," Bou-san teased. "I think he had a late night too. I wonder what he was doing..."
I heard laughter before I switched the device off.
"You walked into that one," Lin said.
I rolled my eyes and stared my eyes out of the window. If the idiots didn't want to be prepared for the case then that was their business. I was not going to baby them.
Eventually we arrived, I saw Mai jump out of Bou-san's car and rush over to me.
"Hey, the others said you were being 'cranky' while I was asleep?" she prompted. "Are you okay?"
I nodded. As if they'd genuinely bother me.
I led the way to the front door and knocked.
An elderly man answered with a grateful smile.
"Shibuya-san I presume?" he asked.
"Yes," I replied. The team made their introductions with our client; Yamada-san.
"My wife has got rooms ready for you. Nowhere is off limits, but please knock first if out bedroom door is closed. We've got this room ready for your equipment," he said as he showed us into another room.
"Thank you," Mai said. She beamed at the elderly man as he bowed out of the room. "Now did you all read the files I prepared for you?"
I frowned at her, but Ayako spoke up before I could question her.
"I read it out loud, so the daft monk was up to date."
"Excellent," Mai said quickly so that Ayako and Bou-san couldn't argue. "All yours, Naru." She turned to me and beamed.
"I need cameras set up in the living room and dining room," I said. "John and Bou-san, once you've helped Lin bring in the stuff, set up the cameras. Hara-san and Ayako, please do a walk round. Mai, I want you to question the couple."
This wasn't the first time Mai had conducted the interview on a case. Her style of questioning varied from my own and sometimes proved more successful in obtaining the required information.
As the team set about their jobs, I took a seat behind Mai to observe the interview.
Their problem was minor; several things in their house were being moved about presumably by some unknown spirit. The couple had recently had some work done on the house to extend their conservatory into a usable room.
The main activity so far had been in the living room and the dining room, hence those areas being the focus of the cameras.
Mai brought the interview to a close, having learnt nothing I couldn't have, but she had definitely built up a better rapport with the couple that I could ever have done.
Once all the cameras had been set up and Hara-san and Ayako had finished their walk around, the team reconvened in the room that had been chosen as a base.
"There's something faint here," Hara-san said. "But it doesn't seem aggressive."
"That's reassuring," Ayako muttered. "I'm going to grab a shower."
The team watched her go and Bou-san sniggered slightly. I ignored them and took a seat behind Lin, who was watching the monitors.
And so the waiting began.
I suppose in reality it made no difference where I sat and read, though I had a preference for my own office chair.
An hour passed with no activity.
"Mai," I called to her. She was sat on another chair, playing on her phone. She looked up at the sound of my voice.
"Yes?"
"What has been arranged food-wise?"
"Um, they've agreed to let us use their kitchen and stuff, but we need to provide our own ingredients," she reeled off. "But they said they could provide us with rice as they buy in bulk."
"Did you arrange food?"
She flushed red.
"No," she admitted guiltily.
I rolled my eyes and stood up.
"Lin, remain here, Mai and I will be going to buy food."
"Of course," Lin said as he passed me the keys.
"Call me if anything happens," I requested and headed to the door, a shamefaced Mai following in my wake.
"Shouldn't Ayako come with us? She's the best cook…" Mai mumbled.
"I have no desire to be a third wheel," Ayako said. "And should you decide to uh, take a detour, if you catch my drift, use protection."
I ignored their antics as Mai objected loudly behind me. Eventually, we made it to the van and on the way to the nearest supermarket.
"I meant what I said last night," I said after a few minutes. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Mai looking round at me.
"Meant what?" she asked, evidently trying to think back.
"About you moving in with me," I said. "It would mean cheaper living costs for you and a shorter commute in the morning."
"And you'd have someone to make you tea whenever you wanted," she pointed out.
"I am not inviting you to move in so that I can have a personal tea maid," I muttered. "If I wanted one of those, I would have hired one."
Mai laughed.
"You don't think it's too soon?" she asked after a minute or so of silence.
"Why would it be too soon?"
"We'll we've only been going out for six months and that's not very long in the grand scheme of things and-"
"Mai, if you do not wish to move in with me, that is fine."
"I do!" she protested earnestly. "I just worry."
"Then we can do a trial run, if you want."
"That sounds like a good idea," she said. "I would need to give my landlord notice anyway."
I smiled a little at her agreement. For all my talk of hiring a personal tea maid, the idea of a cup of tea in the morning sounded most agreeable. My smile morphed into a smirk, one that Mai fortunately did not catch.
I parked the van in the car park and together we headed into the supermarket. I noticed Mai's hand inching towards my own and then retracting.
I grabbed one of the small trolleys and Mai led me through the doors and down the first aisle. I let Mai choose things as she knew Ayako's cooking style best. She only looked to me to get down things from the top shelf.
About three quarters of the way around the supermarket, Mai suddenly clapped her hands to her mouth.
"What is it?" I asked, looking around at Mai who had stopped in her tracks.
"I forgot the thingy…" she mumbled, more to herself than me. "Ayako will kill me…"
"Could you least attempt to be coherent?" I muttered. She looked up and glared at me.
"Can you just grab some of the premade sushi for lunches-" She began backing away. "- and I'll just go and grab…"
But Mai was gone. I watched her scoot down the aisle and out of sight. Sighing, I looked around at the premade sushi selection.
I honestly had no idea what the others would want. Well, other than Mai and Lin. After choosing things I knew they would eat, I began perusing for some selections that were suitably generic enough that everyone would at least have something to eat.
And then I heard it.
A wailing scream from somewhere else in the supermarket.
A scream I knew all too well.
Mai.
Author's note: Well sorry this took so long. Someone sent in some nasty reviews and I seriously questions evening continuing to write fanfiction for a while, let alone the rest of this story! And then I spent a long time not wanted to write the end of this chapter... So I cut it off with a nice cliffhanger instead - yay!
If you guys all visit my profile page and click on the link next to "AmyNChan's Birthday", I made a little 4 page manga/comic thingy of Mai and Noll (read right to left) for her birthday, I would love to hear your feedback!
I have now started my Masters year of my degree and so am super busy! So will probably not be able to update as often as I want, but will try and get everyone updated once a week - no promises!
If anyone guesses what has happened to Mai you can have a prize :P
Please review :)
