Behind Closed Doors

File 3: Justifying the Means

Naru sighed into his cup rudely. Mai would've glared at her uninterested boss had she not been preoccupied with cleaning up the tea their client had spilled just seconds earlier.

"I'm so sorry, dear! I've been so shaky as of late. I really should've turned down the tea anyway – stomach can't really handle the stuff."

Mai smiled up at the middle aged, balding man as she mopped the liquid from the coffee table with a paper towel. He was the headmaster of the only all-boys boarding school in Japan – Kaiyo Academy. And although it had just recently been built, some seriously crazy stuff must've been going on at the school to make the headmaster this incredibly nervous.

"It's fine, really."

Naru ignored their little side conversation, and immediately got down to business. "So, can you explain what kind of activity your students have experienced, Fumei-san?"

"Oh! Ye-yes, I can," he said, taking out a handkerchief and wiping away the beads of sweat that were starting to form on his brow. "Books will fly across the classroom and hit students, some students have been tripped several times, they feel like they're being watched and hurtful things will end up on being written on the chalkboard. These things have always really happened, there just haven't been so many...incidences all at the same time. All of the sudden the activity has increased."

Naru looked at the headmaster skeptically. "Sounds like a couple of bullies to me."

Fumei rose from his seat. "Please, Shibuya-san, our school is quickly loosing accreditation and its reputation as one of the most prestigious schools in all of Japan. I'm begging you."

Naru took a moment to steal a glance at his assistant. Mai was shocked upon seeing his stoic gaze set on her, as if he was asking for her opinion.

Unsure of what to do, the brunette just nodded at him.

Naru sighed again, and turned to face the balding man. "We'll take the case."

"Dang! What a snazzy school," Bou-san said as he craned his neck to see the entirety of the main building (which wasn't even the biggest building), "Makes me feel kinda out of place."

Ayako scoffed, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "When are you not out of place?"

"Hey now!"

Mai laughed, stretching as she hopped out of the van behind Naru. Despite the fact that Bou-san and Ayako were now in a romantic relationship, in reality, nothing had changed. They still fought more than ever and Mai couldn't have been any happier about it. Like, how awkward would it be if they started acting all lovey-dovey now?

"Mai."

Naru's voice startled her. Mai tore her gaze away from the red head and the monk. "S-Sorry. I'll get to work–"

Naru shook his head. "You'll be accompanying me and Lin."

The brunette had to stop herself from chocking and looked up at Naru with wide eyes. "Wh-What did you say?"

Naru obviously didn't feel like repeating himself, because he simply turned around and followed Headmaster Fumei through the school's front entrance. Mai rarely ever went on the tours with Naru and Lin. In any normal occasion, she was usually forced to move equipment.

Upon second thought, they had even taken the case itself due to Mai's suggestion (or her nod, technically). Both of these occurrences were very un-Naru like.

Was this…an UPGRADE?

Mai was content with the idea of being promoted from unimportant-tea-fetching-assistant to you're-an-important-asset-to-this-operation-and-I-require-your-opinion-(also,-go-get-my-tea)-assistant. Putting some pep in her step, she made sure to follow closely behind her associate (who took the time to write down little details in his handy-dandy notebook).

"Right now we're in the main building. Down this corridor is the east wing which is comprised of classrooms for grades 1-6, and down that corridor is the west wing which is comprised of classrooms for grades 7-12. The east wing has minimal activity, so you'll only be investigating the west wing–"

Soon Headmaster Fumei's voice began to fade, Mai noticed, as did everything else. Instead, a piercing ring took its place, echoing loudly in Mai's ears. She looked down at Lin's feet, trying desperately to match their pace, but just couldn't seem to keep up. Why were they going so fast? Or was she just slowing down?

It occurred to her that it might have been easier just to look up (Lin and Naru weren't that hard to spot against the pallid hallway walls), but with a horribly cold sweat having come over her and a thick saliva filling her mouth, the girl was seriously afraid of puking if she did so. Before she knew it, it didn't even matter anymore. Not only were Lin's black shoes absent from her vision (Mai had quit trying to keep up long ago), but the world was beginning to turn white.

'Shit. What the hell is going on, here?'

She did the only thing she knew to do in situations like this: deep breaths. Needless to say, it worked for the most part. After a while, things started coming back to her (although, she hadn't a clue how long that took).

Feeling was first…If relief were a physical thing, that's what it would've felt like. It was as if someone had dumped a bucket of cool water over her head. She realized soon enough that she was leaning with her back against a metal locker.

Then sound…The ringing eventually gave way to the sounds of shuffling clothes and footsteps on the pale colored tiles – movement. Whispers, too.

Lastly, her sight returned…When she finally regained her vision, she was staring down at her own feet.

There was something wrong. When she was with Lin and Naru, no one had been in the hallways with them. If that were the case, Mai thought vaguely, what was with all the noise? And the shadows swimming in and out of her peripheral vision?

It was at that time she noticed eyes on her. When she was brave enough to look up, Mai had found almost the entire hallway (which consisted of at least 20 teenage boys) had stopped to gape at her. 'Of course the bell would ring when I'm not aware of my surroundings.'

Embarrassed more than anything, Mai took another deep breath before taking out her phone to make herself look occupied. With how her world spun so much earlier, the brunette's sense of direction was pretty much out the window. She had no clue how to start working her way back to Naru, or even the school's main entrance, for that matter! But how awkward would it be to just stand there, not doing anything while being stared at by a whole bunch of boys?

Pretty awkward…

'I know! I'll call Bou-san!' Being that Mai had just recently got the phone, and the one who had bought it for her in the first place was Takigawa himself, his and Ayako's were the only numbers she had registered at the moment.

She was about to press the send button when the phone's weight disappeared from her hand.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing here?"

She raised her brown eyes in shock. A boy her age, maybe a bit older, with messy chestnut hair towered over her, caging her against the metal locker. He was much taller than her (and probably Naru as well), and had a fairly muscular body, Mai noted. If the school had a basketball team, this guy would most likely be on it. "The names Hiromasa Takeda, but you can call me Masa."

Mai quickly went from being cute and timid to rather dangerously pissed. She glared daggers. "Give it back," she extended her hand in hopes that he would comply with her request/demand.

Hiromasa laughed at her attempt to be scary and tossed the object in the air before catching it. "This crappy thing?"

This spoiled rich kid! Just because the phone this guy was dangling just out of her reach was a fairly cheap model…! Bou-san wasn't the richest guy in the world (being a base player hardly paid that well), but he had used his hard-earned money to buy that for her.

"Well, my family can't really afford much nicer than this," Mai said, annoyed. "Now, if you don't mind, I really need to make a call." She reached for the phone, only to have Hiromasa stick it in his back pocket.

"Come get it."

A bunch of 'oooooh's and laughs were exchanged by the onlookers.

Mai's eyes widened to the point where it was beginning to hurt. She clenched her fist, wanting to punch this stranger in the face, but at the same time she was unable to do so. He was just doing this to get a rise from her, she thought, calming herself. She would be losing to him if she gave in now.

At that moment, her phone rang. It must have been Bou-san, judging from the cute rock tune she had set as his ringtone.

Mai broke out into a nervous sweat. One of Bou-san and Ayako's conditions in getting her a phone was that she had to answer it. If she didn't pick up, would they take it away from her? She had a pretty legit excuse, though…But if she told them the truth, they'd be wondering why it was in some random boy's back pocket anyway. Would they take it away regardless?

In order to get her phone back (and quick), she would need to think of a reasonable compromise…

"Let me answer it and…I'll give you my number."

The moment she said it, Mai cursed herself for not having actually thought through the deal before blurting it out. Naru was right; she really was an idiot sometimes.

But the suggestion had worked, although Hiromasa opened the phone and held it to her ear, without letting her touch it.

"Geez, Mai! Answer it on the third ring at least, will you?" Bou-san's voice came across the line.

Mai laughed, not in relief or at what he had said, but at the general situation she was in. "Sorry. I'm just getting used to this thing. You, of all people, should know how technology impaired I am."

She had expected him to laugh at her little joke, but he turned serious. "Where are you? Naru called me saying that he lost you?"

"Um," Mai paused to look around, but only found a hallway full of boys, "I'm not quite sure. All of these hallways look virtually the same."

"The boys are in between classes now, right? Just ask one of them the way–"

"Oh, so you're telling me to ask for directions? Why don't you practice what you preach instead of getting lost every time we–"

"For the thousandth time, I was not– Eh? Oh, hold on, Ayako wants to talk to you."

Mai sighed, not stopping the smile from spreading across her face.

"Mai!"

"What's up?"

"How's it going? I'm sure you have a whole bunch of eyes on you right now. Getting any numbers from any guys?" Mai could hear the sound of Bou-san protesting in the background.

"You have no idea, Ayako," Mai shook her head with a laugh.

Ayako squealed, "You realize I want all the details later on, right?"

"Of course you will. By the way, do I have unlimited texting?"

"Yes, why…? Oh my GOD, you really are getting a guy's phone number?"

Mai laughed. "I'll tell you all about it later. Bye."

Hiromasa closed the phone and yanked it away from her before she could even think of a way to win it back from him. "Your number?"

"You better not give this to anybody else, understand?" Mai said, holding out her pinky like a child.

"I'll keep it all to myself," the tall brunette said and he shook on it. He winked at her as he took out his own phone to add her as a contact.

Mai sighed, whispering the number in his ear so that no one else could hear.

After he finished typing it in, Hiromasa gave back her phone. "Wait, what's your name?"

By the time he had asked, Mai managed to get herself quite a good distance away. "I never promised to give you that much."

"A-Are you lost?"

Mai hadn't even heard the footsteps approaching her from behind. The bell had rung long ago, so she thought she was wandering the hallways alone, but apparently not.

Mai turned and a small figure entered her vision. It looked like a girl with short black hair. She was tiny, because, not only was she short, but she was also the size of a toothpick. She was dressed in a baggy white shirt and shorts that reached just above her knees.

But what on earth was a girl doing at an all boy's school, Mai wondered. She smiled sheepishly at her question. "All of these hallways look exactly the same and I apparently have no sense of direction at the moment."

She laughed this cute bubbly laugh. "I know. It's very easy to get lost at this school."

Mai blushed, envious of this girl's natural beauty. She could easily get any guy if she tried, Mai observed, just like Masako. Well, except Naru. "My name's Mai. I'm here with Shibuya Psychic Research."

"Hmm. I was wondering why–" the girl hesitated, her face dropping. "Oh, it's nothing! My name is Shizu Sasaki. It's nice to meet you. Would you like me to show you to the front entrance?"

"Really? You would do that for me?" Mai inquired gratefully.

"I don't see the harm," Shizu said quietly as she started walking.

"Thanks for showing me the way! It was nice meeting you." Mai waved as Shizu walked away in the direction they had just come from.

"No problem! It was my pleasure." She said, disappearing around the corner.

"Mai, is that you?"

Mai turned, accidentally bumping into a worried Bou-san. "Oh hey, what's up?"

"Don't 'hey, what's up' me!" Mai was taken aback by the harsh tone in the older man's voice. "You took, like, twenty minutes to get here! Where were you? What on earth were you doing?"

"I was lost! I told you that over the phone, didn't I?"

"Didn't I tell you to ask someone for directions?"

"Why should I? You never want to ask for directions."

The monk pursed his lips and shook his head in disappointment. "You're a girl. It's different."

"Oh, so you want to make this a battle of gender? Should I bring your girlfriend into this?"

"You never answered my question! What were you doing?"

"Oh, so now you're avoiding the question? Hm?"

"Mai!"

Mai sighed and pouted, crossing her arms. She could never win an argument with him. He'd always use that really stern tone with her, and although Bou-san was usually passive guy, he was hella scary when mad. "I was trying to find my way back! That's what you do when you're lost, right? Although, this girl eventually found me and showed me the way back."

"Girl…?"

"Yeah, she was really cute, too. Kind of like Masako, except nicer."

"Is that a compliment or an insult, I wonder?"

Mai choked on her spit, whipping around to see said medium and Ayako side by side.

The red head bounced on the balls of her feet. "So Mai? What's this about you getting a guy's phone number?"

Bou-san's mouth dropped open and Mai glared at the older woman.

"Oh, that was a secret?"

I'm so so so so so so so sorry for the delay, but I've had the worst writer's block everrrrrrr. I'm also going to England for a week soon, so it might take a while for the next chapter to be posted as well. I apologize in advance.

UGHGHGHGH.

Haha! Ayako is a traitor.