Chapter 4 Good Cop, Bad Cop
Day 3
Mai wasn't even sure what had happened next.
Just a minute ago, she'd been lying in bed, dreaming. And now, she was sitting on her bedroom floor, tangled in her own bed sheets as the eyes of a corpse stared down at her from the bed.
Mai hadn't even been aware of herself screaming until Ayami appeared beside her. Her cousin crouched down towards her on the floor and reached out to her gently.
"Mai, calm down," Ayami said sharply, her tone a complete contrast to her gestures. "Look at me—"
"Ayami!" Mai sobbed. Her heartbeat thrashed wildly and she grabbed her cousin's arms, needing a true grasp of reality, no matter what it was. "There's a—"
"I know, Mai," Ayami countered. "But I need you to stop."
Mai couldn't calm down. How could she? There was a person lying in her bed and he'd just been robbed of his life. Nothing, not even a miracle, could probably bring this person back. Mai gasped. "There's someone in my bed. He's dead, Ayami."
"Shh…" Ayami soothed. Her cousin held onto her arms gently but Mai didn't feel secure. She grabbed hold of Ayami's arms, unable to let go of the panic that seemed to have permanently set itself in her heart.
"Listen to me, Mai. You're not breathing. I need you to breathe, okay?"
Mai couldn't calm down. Her heart's rates didn't lessen at all. Mai felt another shadow loom over her suddenly, but before she had a chance to even react to it, Ayami dragged her to her feet.
"Dav—Shibuya-san! Watch Mai," Ayami said sharply. Her cousin literally thrust her into Naru's arms before she moved forward to shield them both from the body on the bed. Mai gasped again, then her panic increased when she realised that her throat seemed to have cut off. Naru pulled her against him gently and Mai felt her pulse subside slightly when she realised that he was here now too, with her. She didn't know why that calmed her down, but it did.
"Shh…" Naru murmured, his lips against her ear. "It's alright now."
Mai's heart didn't stop thudding, yet odd relief came to her when she heard that statement from Naru. His voice soothed her more than Ayami's words ever had and Mai stopped, trying her best to match her breathing with his. Naru patted her head comfortingly as he pushed Mai towards his chest and for a moment, she felt as though nothing could ever harm her again.
Then, after a moment which seemed to stretch to eternity yet last only a second, he leant back slowly, careful not to disturb her, and Naru looked down at her.
"Are you alright?"
Mai nodded quickly, her mind crashing back towards reality and she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her flannel pyjamas. Before she touched her own face, however, Naru stopped her and offered her a tissue on the bed side bench. Mai used that instead and then turned over to look at her cousin again, who had moved on to observe the person on her bed. Mai knew that Naru was probably itching to join her cousin but for some reason, he elected to stay beside her instead.
Ayami looked up and her eyes shot directly into Mai's. For a moment, Mai was startled by the expression that her cousin held for her; there, for once, was no twinkle in her eye or laughter in her expression. Every detail of her face told Mai that Ayami was deadly serious on this topic and she was about to get down to business.
"I will need to get rid of the evidence. We cannot leave the body in your bed and connect you to the murder in anyway. Just tell me first, Mai; did you touch the body?"
Mai's mind blanked out. What did she mean when she said 'get rid of the evidence? And why would it matter if Mai had touched the person?
Mai voiced her question vocally.
"We can't connect you to any other murder. Already, in the last case, you found the body of a girl that had been burnt alive. If you're found sleeping next to a body again this time, what are the police going to think?"
Was this getting where she thought it was? "But I didn't do anything," Mai pointed out.
Ayami clearly thought that didn't matter. "They don't think that, Mai. And if you risk the exposure of the Five to public media, then the Wycombes have the right to interfere in your life and a one thousand year old agreement allows them to do whatever it takes to hide the truth."
Naru's face was expressionless but Mai could tell that he was a little loss too. "Who are the Wycombes?" he asked.
"The last of the Five," Ayami answered impatiently. "They believe that it is their divine duty to ensure that the existence of psychics and blue-bloods are kept from public knowledge. That's why we have to make sure that Mai isn't connected to this case."
Still, Mai didn't get it. Was this the politics of the Five? She didn't know, but from what Mai remembered dimly, Ayami, even as the leader of the Caecilius Clan, had never met the Wycombes before. How did she know that they were dangerous then?
"Mai doesn't need to hear this right now," Naru said. His voice lashed out with a direct cut and Mai almost grimaced. Oh, God. They were going to argue, weren't they? And at a time like this too. Perfect.
"I don't expect Mai to know of the importance of this but you've been involved with the Five in the past, Shibuya Kazuya. You have to know that we will not allow a thousand year old tradition to be broken by one person, and the Wycombes themselves are fanatical and obsessive individuals. There is no way that they will allow for Mai to expose us to the media. And if she does, the only way to save her is to override this law and to do that I would need the siding of two other leaders—"
"The matters of the Five reside with you. As far as I'm concerned, it's not Mai's problem."
"Nor is it yours, yet I see you butting yourself in my business anyway."
They glared stubbornly at one another and now Mai felt like sighing. Somehow, in the middle of all this, her cousin and employer and managed to get themselves into a disagreement.
Then, disgusted, her cousin snorted and turned away from Naru. Ayami's eyes softened just a little bit when she took in Mai's appearance, which Mai suspected, was actually quite grubby.
"Get out of your current clothing, Mai. I need to burn it. Fabia, Pinaria," she called out gently, and immediately, two women seemed to materialise by her cousin's side. Mai held back a gasp when she realised that these women were Ayami's familiars – just like Caecilia had been. With the minimal light, Mai could barely make out their features, but even from here, she could tell that both women were rather tall and were bowing respectfully at Ayami.
Her cousin didn't even look at them.
"You know what to do," she said calmly.
"Yes, domina," the women acknowledged, their heads still bowed in submission. Mai watched in morbid fascination as they then walked over to her bed.
Naru took a step forward. "What are you doing?" he asked sharply. "They're demons. And we don't know how that man died. If your demons touch him—"
"I'm willing to risk it," Ayami interjected coolly. "Mai, get out of your pyjamas."
Mai didn't move. "What's Naru talking about?" she asked. Mai didn't know what had Naru reacting like that, but whatever it was, she had a feeling that it wasn't good.
Ayami rolled her eyes impatiently. Then, almost as though it were on cue, sirens sounded from a distance and shortly after that, blue and red lights shone from the window by the front of the inn. Ayami but back a curse.
"I don't have time for this," Ayami said impatiently. Her eyes turned back to both of them. "Mai, get out of your pyjamas," she repeated. Then, she turned her eyes to Naru. "Both of you go downstairs now and join the other crowd. I'll deal with the scene up here."
Naru wasn't moved. "What are you going to do with the body?"
"The cops will have to find the body now, or do you think that they won't notice a bright, shining white light that will suddenly blaze from this room?" Ayami snapped.
Mai blinked, suddenly aware that this went a lot deeper than she thought. Never had she seen Ayami so out of element before. Her cousin was normally so suave that she forgot what it would be like for the other girl to worry. Her cousin wasn't disturbed by the fact that someone had died, though. Clearly, something else was bothering her instead.
At Ayami's words, the two demon familiars dimmed out of sight, fading as though they had never been there in the first place. Naru didn't respond to Ayami's words. He still looked carefully emotionless as he turned over to Mai instead.
"You've calmed down now. Get some clothes," he told Mai. "You'll have to get dressed in my room."
Mai nodded. She was still relatively confused about what was going on. What on Earth could Ayami do if she remained? But she didn't even try to question her, as her cousin had already flipped open a cell phone and was now speaking in a rapid dash of English to whoever it was who was on the other line. Clearly, her recipient didn't mind being awaken at 1.00AM in the morning.
When they got out to the hallway, Mai questioned Naru immediately.
"What's going on?" Mai asked. "And who was in that bed with me?"
Naru didn't pause in his walk, nor did his grip on her arm lessen at all. "We have suspected that you might have become a target of whatever it is that haunts this inn. Clearly, we weren't wrong."
We? "You mean you and Ayami, right? That's what you guys were doing before, weren't you?"
His eyes turned to her quickly, though he didn't respond. Then, Mai realised that they had stopped and that they were now standing outside of Naru's room.
"We have to join everyone else downstairs or it will look strange if we're not there. Go in and take a shower. You have three minute before I go in after you."
Mai had never been one of those girls that took forever putting clothes on, but with Naru's warning, she showered and dressed even quicker than usual. She didn't even spare herself a glance in the mirror as she redressed into unstained clothing. Mai did notice, however, that the pyjamas she'd left on the bathroom floor seemed to have vanished. Had one of Ayami's familiars collected it while she'd been in the shower?
Mai shivered at the thought and exited the room quickly.
Naru wasn't standing outside the door where she'd left him though, so Mai made way down stairs on her own.
As she'd moved so fast before, Mai hadn't even had a chance to recollect her thoughts. Being alone again scared her a little, especially when she remembered the body that she'd been sleeping beside. Still now, the image of that person's eyes still burnt into her mind. Mai might not have known that person but she knew that she would remember their face forever. It had been horrifying, really, and her dreams before that had been as elusive as ever. Mai wasn't naïve enough to think that the two events weren't linked to one another.
Don't tell them anything, Mai. Or you'll be sorry.
It had been a warning. From Yukito-chan. But had he been the one to bring the body in? Mai hoped he hadn't, but at the same time, the chances of that were slim. Too many things had happened simultaneously for her to believe otherwise.
Lost in thought as she was, Mai didn't even realise that she'd reached the main corridor of the inn now. Various other guests donned night gowns as they stood in the hallway, wondering what all the fuss was about. Uniformed police officers seemed to crowd the inn and Mai paused, realising that they must have known that someone had died.
A shadow suddenly appeared over her and startled, Mai looked up. She recognised the face of Detective Kaito, someone she'd met in the previous case when she'd discovered a burnt corpse. Beside him stood Detective Ichinose, looking incredibly sober as he looked down at Mai pityingly. She felt two other police officers surround her from behind and Mai's mind blanked out. What was going on?
Then, with a vindictive triumph in his eyes, Detective Kaito faced her. "Taniyama Mai: you're under arrest for the alleged murder of Mizuki Seito. You have the right to remain silent as all words spoken here and now can be used as testimony against you in the court of law."
This could not be real: it was like a scene right out of the movies. Mai watched, horrified, as handcuffs pressed over one of her wrists. From a distance, she could see Naru trying to make way through the crowd, Ayami pressing close behind him.
And then, before she'd even gotten a chance to call for help, she was taken away.
Mai was nervous.
Well, actually, truth to be told, she was a little more than nervous; she was tense, anxious, and rather close to panicking. Just an hour ago, Mai had woken up beside a body, and now, she was stuck in a police interrogation room – or whatever they called it – waiting to be committed for a crime that she hadn't even conducted.
Why did it always happen to her? In the last case, Mai had been hurled to the police station – or 'human pound', as Ayami liked to put it – because she'd found the corpse of a girl that had been buried alive. In this case, she'd actually woken up next to a body. And she didn't even want to know how this person had died, really. Just remembering her experience brought goose bumps to Mai's skin.
But then, she probably shouldn't panic as much. Mai knew that Naru and Ayami would definitely come for her. All she had to do at the moment was wait for them to come.
Brightening slightly at the thought, she turned to have a better look at the room, just as the door opened and Detective Kaito and Detective Ichinose walked in with a man that she didn't recognise.
Kaito and Ichinose had been the police officers that had dealt with Mai during the last case too, which had surprised her, since she hadn't thought that they were from this region. Mai still remembered the strange questions Detective Kaito had asked Mai the morning after her visit to the station.
The man that Mai didn't recognise stepped forward and looked down at her, unsmiling. "Taniyama Mai. My name is Yamamoto and I am the Chief here. You're cousin has enlightened me to this predicament. You have friends very high up, young lady."
Mai frowned. What was that supposed to mean? And did he say that Ayami had called him?
"You've spoken to my cousin?" Mai asked.
The Chief nodded. "Your cousin has already pleaded to four different courts for your immediate release and she's had an army of lawyers raining down on me before you even entered the station. Your employer seems to also have contacted several politicians high up in the system to pressure our station. Clearly, you're well taken care of, Taniyama-san."
Mai didn't know what to say. Ayami and Naru clearly made quite the team when they worked together. Mai hadn't even known that Naru was that influential. Sure, she knew that Ayami wasn't what she seemed – her mysterious acquaintance, Raimon Mimisaki, was a billionaire after all – but Naru? Mai had always thought that he was just a paranormal researcher with professors as parents.
Detective Ichinose turned to the Chief. "Chief, let me have a few moments with her. We need to get the interrogation underway before Domjouji gets here."
The Chief paused and Mai could tell that he was clearly torn. His hesitance probably had to do with his reluctance to get on the wrong side of his superior, whilst deep down he knew that traditional protocol had to be kept for all cases. While Mai understood his predicament, she didn't appreciate being the one that was being judged here and now. Finally, the man nodded and quickly exited the room, leaving Mai alone with Detective Kaito and Detective Ichinose, who had yet to even talk. He did give Mai a brief smile, however, which told Mai that she had at least one ally in here.
Detective Kaito wasted no time at all. "We received a call which stated that you, Taniyama Mai, were seen with Mizuki Seito right before he died. Can you tell us what you were doing with him and why you were there?"
Mai didn't quite understand him. "Someone told you that I was with him?" she blinked twice. "That's not right – I woke up and he was lying beside me. I don't even know what was going on." Mai told them what had happened. How she had woken up with him sleeping beside her. She didn't know if they'd found this person – Mizuki Seito – after Ayami had finished with him, so she didn't tell them about her cousin or Naru's barging into her room.
Detective Kaito didn't seem to believe her. "Then why didn't you call the police immediately? We must have arrived around the same time you discovered that body. Instead, you went off to do whatever you did and you didn't even tell anyone about what happened. Our forensics theorised that Mizuki must have died about an hour ago."
And how could she explain that Ayami had stopped her? If she said anything, it would have put Ayami under suspicion instead and Mai knew for a fact that her cousin was unrelated to this murder.
"Does Domjouji have anything to do with this?" Detective Kaito asked, seeming to have read her mind.
Mai shook her head, but that only caused the officer to snort. "Somehow I doubt that," he told her.
Mai turned up sharply. "What's that supposed to men?" she asked.
Kaito shrugged. "Domjouji Ayami is one of the richest heiresses in the southern hemisphere. The fortune that she is set to inherit when she turns twenty-one is enough to buy a small country. Everyone wants to be her friend, and I've known a lot of rich kids like her in the past. They think they rule the world and all. Tell me you didn't know that your cousin is the influential female teenager in the southern hemisphere, Taniyama-san."
Mai hadn't known that, but she wanted to keep Ayami off the topic. She didn't want her cousin to get involved in this at all. It would probably do well for her to change the topic.
"Why do you suspect me anyway?" Mai asked. "I don't have any reason to harm him and I don't even know him. Why would I want to hurt him?"
Kaito snorted. "Wherever Oliver Davis goes, injuries and murders follow. You're employed in his wake; don't you think I know that you'd be involved in this little crusade now?"
Mai's mind blanked. "Excuse me?"
The detective's eyes widened just a little in a more than mocking manner. "The one you call Shibuya Kazuya. Don't tell me, Taniyama-san, that you don't know that his real name is Oliver Davis? Shibuya Kazuya is just a title he adopted for business in Japan."
Mai's mind dimmed. Oliver Davis. Why did that name sound so familiar? Then, it dawned to her: Oliver Davis had been the famous European professor that Bou-san idolised. Apparently, this man was an incredibly powerful psychic that was almost a celebrity overseas. The officers must have mistaken; there was no way Naru was related to this man. For starters, Oliver was a western name and Naru was quite clearly Japanese.
"I think you've made a mistake," Mai told him.
Detective Ichinose moved forward, speaking for the first time since she'd come in. "Shibuya Kazuya does also go by the name Oliver Davis, Taniyama-san. Shibuya Kazuya had been his birth name, but after he and his brother, Eugene, were adopted by the Davises, they were given Western names and a new identity instead. Apparently, he decided to reuse his birth name when he re-entered Japan."
Mai's mind blanked. Somehow, it made sense, but she wasn't quite catching it. Naru was Oliver Davis? It couldn't be; he was Shibuya Kazuya. He had no reason to change his name like that. And why would he have lied to them for that long? Surely if he had been someone so famous, one of them would have figured it out by now. Bou-san for one was apparently a fan of the professor too. And Ayami –
Mai paused, her mind reeling. Ayami. Her cousin had always placed a heavy emphasis on his name, almost as though she were mocking him. Could she have known? Could it be true then? Mai remembered Masako mentioning once, a year back, that Naru had a secret and she knew it. Was this it?
Oh, god.
Something in her snapped at that realisation. Suddenly, so many things made sense now. Naru's dislike for the media; his high-funded equipment; his absence from school; even his parents had to have been professors too, or he couldn't have had obtained that title at such a young age. Mai couldn't believe it.
"The fact that you've been involved in two recent murders—" Detective Kaito stopped in midsentence and his eyes snapped behind her. Mai turned over too, just to realise that the door was now open and her cousin was standing by it.
Kaito swore. "Domjouji; you should know that you're not allowed to be in here."
Her cousin huffed indignantly and moved to stand next to Mai. "You were saying?" she drawled.
"You aren't authorised to come in here, Domjouji. Get out, or we'll have our officers escort you out."
"And I happen to know that it is illegal for you to come strutting in here like this and arrest someone without proof. Do I need to add that no evidence whatsoever convicts Mai towards the crime? On what a ground is this arrest held for, because I assure you, my lawyers are already along the way, and if there is not a legitimate reason for this, I will personally ensure that you are held solely responsible for this act."
"This is not the first time that her name has linked to a murder in a phenomenal crime."
"No, but the crimes do generally occur wherever I go too yet I do not see swamps of police officers ready to arrest me."
The officer bit back another curse. Ayami had to know that because of whom she was, no one was going to question her unless they knew for a fact that she was truly going down and they had the backing of an even more powerful figure.
And the debate flew on. Detective Kaito didn't seem ready to give up and Mai knew for a fact that her cousin wasn't going to give in. The man beside Ayami looked ready to sigh and many times, Mai saw that he was about to butt in but Ayami was always quicker than him to respond.
"I don't think you quite get it," Ayami said, her tone telling Mai that she was incredibly peeved. "My taxes alone in Japan fund your entire department. And the ten million US dollars donated yearly by the Mimisaki family to your government will fluctuate depending on the outcome of this event. Tell me now: when will Mai be released?"
The man snorted. "The more you threaten, Domjouji, the better reason we have to keep her here. Besides, with Mimisaki's latest lost in the stock market, it's not as though he'd be able to buy his way into the government anyway.."
"Oh, please. You must know the heir of the Mimisaki family better than that. He's just splurged twenty million at Sotheby's just to prove that he could. You think he really needed the Picasso and Monet that he purchased? If his stocks drop at the moment, it's because he's trying to lower his value so that his competitors will undermine his company. Not that you'd be able to understand that anyway." Ayami crossed her arms. "Now, why don't you go back to eating your donuts and on your way out, lead me to your Chief so that I may have a word or two with him."
Detective Kaito glared witheringly at Ayami and her cousin smiled back at her sweetly. The man beside Ayami sighed, almost as though he were so used to her antics that he didn't know what he could possibly do now to avoid them. Detective Ichinose didn't look overly impressed either. Then, Kaito took a step back and shuffled haughtily over to the door. Ayami smirked and moved over to follow him, just before casting Mai a slight smile. All four of them left the room and Mai watched them go before realising that there had been one more person in the room, just hidden behind Ayami and her guest. He'd been so quiet that she hadn't even known that she was there.
Naru.
And now Mai was stuck in the same room with her employer.
And she was annoyed at him.
Grand.
15.12.2008: Okay, I am so sorry for being off with the next update. Originally, I meant for this chapter to be about 2500 words but by the end of it, it stretched pass 4000 words. And I ended up spending so much time shopping instead. I am in debt, guys. Serious, serious debt. LOL okay, hope you liked this chapter. Ayami was a but more of a bitch, as usual. And I hope you enjoyed the Naru part.
Many thanks to: bladzesword, SimplyChristine, Moons-chan, lurkmoar, Shadow Eclipse, ONIX-21, Ayjah, crazymel2008, Gabryell-P, azuyama-chan, canadianviolet (LOL I won't tell you anything about Mai and her 'help' but yes, Ayami truly does need to sort out her priorities. She does worry about the wrong things, doesn't she? I don't know about being a horror writer; lol, I like writing the other themes too. Fantasy and Supernatural are my favourite themes though. If you read Eternus, you'll get a more 'me' themed story), Ariana Taniyama, luna-moongoddess, syNemYoA, miss koneko, Aoi Faith, Tomato-Vampire-Countess, and Twilight Journey.