Haruhi took a deep breath and entered the building. The newly polished desk tops smelt like burning incense, and the hard wooden floor took on a burnt umber gleam. The receptionist looked up and smiled brightly, making Haruhi feel immediately welcomed.
"Hello, you must be Haruhi Fujioka. I'm Katsu Takahashi, and I will be your colleague on your first case when you are accepted. Come right this way." Haruhi was surprised by Katsu's quite bubbly and outgoing personality, and followed him through the large, spacious, air conditioned offices to the end of a long, carpeted, brightly lit hallway to a door marked 'Natsumi Kikuchi'. Katsu grinned again and opened the door, and Haruhi walked into a beautiful office, with pale beige carpets, a black desk and white cabinetry, and a tall woman with long red hair and pale skin turned to her.
"Haruhi, please take a seat." Haruhi did so as she continued. "My name is Natsumi Kikuchi, but please refer to me as Natsumi, if you may. I am the owner and manager of this firm, and I don't tolerate lies, excuses or nonsense whatsoever. Now, may you please close the door, and we shall get our interview underway."
Half an hour later, Haruhi walked back out of Natsumi's office, and back into the everlasting maze of hallways. Apparently she was to expect a reply in two to three days, no longer. Eventually Haruhi made her way back to the car and hopped in, to hear her phone vibrating rapidly, and picked it up.
"Hello this is Haruhi speaking?" she chirped brightly.
"Hey, it's me, Akemi. I'm afraid that Tatsuya and Akihiko have fallen off their bikes and injured themselves. The teachers took them to the Tokyo Hospital straight away." Haruhi was once again amazed by her daughter's formal and calm headed approach, no matter the hazard nor the fact that she was only in her first year of middle school.
"Thanks so much for ringing me, Akemi. I'll pick you up now and we'll go and pay them a visit.
They reached the hospital and were immediately ushered to room 73, where Tatsuya was lying down, bleeding heavily from a long gash that ran from his ankle to his knee, and Akihiko was groaning in pain with an awkwardly twisted wrist. Tatsuya blinked open his eyes and tried to sit up, only to give up and lie back down, feeling light headed. "Mum, Akemi, I'm so happy that you are here. We were going to ride our bikes home and then that stupid Kichiro Sato from class 2C knocked us over with his new motorbike that he's bragging about." Haruhi stroked the 17 year old's head with her hand, careful not to let her ring scratch the already purple skin.
"Tatsu, my dear brother," whispered Akemi. "Stay silent, for it will help in your healing." Eventually Tastuya's breathing slowed until he fell asleep, and soon Akihiko fell asleep as well.