One Fine Day:

Chapter 12:

"It's a hitogata," Naru proclaimed once everyone was gathered around the well. "Mai, should I explain for your benefit?"

"How kind of you," Mai scowled. "It's not just me, Keiko-chan and Michiru-chan don't know either."

"The shape of the hitogata represents the person being cursed and is used like a voodoo doll," Naru explained.

"It does explain why Taniyama-chan suddenly started being targeted," Bou-san agreed and took a closer look. "I wonder why it's her."

Strangely enough Mai wanted to know too. Investigating the Seven Wonders had never been her idea and she ended up being targeted for it. Naru was the ringleader and Bou-san to an extent- Naru always seemed to know what to do. Why did it have to be her?

"Before you start discussing that, perhaps you should consider that the spirit can still come back as long as that thing is intact," Ayako interrupted. "Taniyama-san lives alone and I don't think she wants the spirit to return whilst she is on her own."

Mai shook at the thought of the spirit returning whilst she was alone in her bedroom in the dark. Admittedly she had been taught how to get rid of it, but she wanted to avoid seeing it in the first place.

"Of course," Bou-san said. "Sorry, Taniyama-san. It's much more important to protect you. We need to take a photo of it first before we destroy it. Then it will stop bothering you."

"That would be much appreciated," Naru said and closed the conversation. "It's getting late now, we can meet up and discuss everything properly tomorrow."

Lin picked him up once everyone else had departed and for some reason was in a bad mood. He didn't even greet him which was unusual behaviour. The omnouji normally asked if he had solved the case every time he picked him up. Lin only spoke when they returned to the apartment.

"You did something stupidly dangerous tonight, did you not?"

Naru jerked in surprise. "How did you know?"

He realised as he said that he had given himself away and Lin narrowed his eyes.

"Perhaps I should join your team of investigators."

The thought of his bodyguard meeting the monk and priestess didn't feel right to Naru. Lin's personality would clash with the teachers even more than his did.

"No. I will not do anything irresponsible again," he promised fervently to avoid Lin joining the investigation. "The dangerous part is over with now."

"If you say so," Lin looked sceptical of his promise. "What did actually happen?"

Naru blinked. "Don't you know what happened?"

Lin shook his head with a slight amused smile on his face. "I sensed you had done something you shouldn't have done so I tricked you into admitting it."

The narcissist sighed. It was difficult to get things past him. He should have known that Lin would detect that he was feeling conflicted over using his PK to save Mai. Undoubtedly she would have been gravely injured if she had fell and he was convinced Gene was in Japan so he could use it without a negative consequence on his body. He had also felt Gene exchange power with him although he hadn't needed it as it only took a small amount of PK. Therefore Gene was certainly nearby in Japan. The problem was that Gene was not supposed to be in Japan.

He gave Lin a summary of the case so far, making sure to leave out the death he had seen with his psychometry. If Lin found out that a death was involved he would ban him from investigating or insist on joining in. Naru didn't want either option.

"It does appear strange that Taniyama-san has been the target. You insist that it cannot be the spoons because you touched them too. It must be the incident with the stairs then," Lin concluded.

"That's what I think, but I can't understand why," Naru groaned. "The Seven Wonders are turning out to be much harder than I anticipated."

"It does sound complex. Would you like to ask the Professor for help?"

Briefly Naru considered going along with it and asking his father. It would look much better if he solved it himself and he wanted independence from his parents.

Lin saw the look on his face. "I suppose not. I can give you something to consider though. How did the culprit know Taniyama's name?"

When he heard that Naru realised that Lin was absolutely correct. The culprit had to be connected to the school to find out her full name. How had he missed that?

He yawned right after thinking that and was sent to bed by Lin who claimed that sleep would clear his mind.


Across Tokyo his twin was still awake discussing the night's events with Madoka. Both were in their pyjamas around the kotatsu. Madoka was drying her hair off, having taken a bath after returning home from the school house.

"I watched it happen. He must have used his PK; his facial expression was a giveaway," Madoka said as her phone beeped with a message which she checked. "Lin says that Noll admitted to putting himself in danger to save Taniyama-san."

"I sensed it too and I sent him some power too just in case- I didn't know what he wanted it for," Gene added.

The pink haired woman looked at him thoughtfully. "He definitely knows you are nearby then."

"Mai must have told him about seeing someone that looked like him and he would have realised it was me. We'll have to move carefully now."

Madoka's phone made a noise again and she read the text message.

"Lin says Noll is more focused on the school house mystery and Taniyama-san than on anything else. Either Noll is trying to make it look that way or it's true. He might not make an effort to track you down until after the case is solved. Do you know who the culprit is in the case?"

Gene shook his head regretfully. "I have never had a dream involving the culprit yet. If I had, I would have found a way to drop Noll some hints before anyone got hurt."

Madoka leaned over and ruffled his hair. "I know you would. Cheer up and drink your hot chocolate. Do you know how much I had to hunt for your favourite British brand?"

Gene grinned and picked up his mug. Whilst his twin had sent Lin on a search for his favourite tea, he had got Madoka to track down his favourite hot chocolate.

The next day at school was difficult for Naru as he spent most of the morning yawning. He had spent the night and early morning thinking about the case and then Gene. He had tried their psychic connection to no avail. However the connection had been blocked a week before he had left England and Gene had avoided him as much as possible so it had been unlikely to work now.

So he had two mysteries to solve. The Seven Wonders and Eugene Davis. At the moment the first one appeared easier. There was little to work with for the second mystery. The only thing he could do was hope that he would randomly bump into his twin in Tokyo and demand the truth.

The Seven Wonders was his priority and Mai had already been injured because he hadn't solved it yet.

As per the usual routine they all gathered in the music room. Yasuhara was absent due to his school council duties this time so there were six of them. As soon as they were all present Naru brought up the subject of the culprit finding out Mai's name for the hitogata.

Bou-san was impressed at his deduction and Naru neglected to mention that he hadn't been the person to come up with it.

"You really are impressive, Naru-chan."

Naru sensed an insult in the offing when Ayako caught his eye.

"If he was impressive he would have found the culprit already."

The narcissist acknowledged that with a tightening of his lips. "Mai is the only person out of all of us that has signs of being in the old school house," he said.

Mai's forehead creased in confusion before she realised what he meant. "The cuts and bruises on my legs from falling down the stairs!"

"Exactly. I suspect that was the function of the trap."

Bou-san leaned against his desk and sighed.

"Practically the whole population of the school could have seen Mai's legs. It's been a few days since she fell and a lot of people have seen her. It could be anyone."

That garnered a smirk from Ayako who poked the monk in the arm with a red manicured fingernail.

"You told us yourself last night. You said the rungs in the well used to go all the way down to the bottom which hints that it was used a number of years ago and the school house closed down years ago. You can eliminate the students."

Despite himself Naru was impressed by her deduction. Like Lin she didn't miss much although she needed to work on her personality. He conveniently forgot that his personality could be just as bad.

"It's a teacher...?" Michiru said unsurely.

"There's other members of staff like the security guard and the school principal," Mai pointed out.

"Exactly. We can narrow it down to an extent, but we may have to investigate each one individually. Mai, what lessons have we had this week and with that teacher?" he requested. "The culprit must teach Mai."

Mai felt around in her school bag for the notebook containing her timetable and was stopped by an apologetic looking Bou-san.

"Sorry Naru-chan, that won't help. All the teachers know about Mai's injuries."

Naru gave him a doubtful glance. "How?"

"Your homeroom teacher announced it in the teacher's office the other day. He raised it as a concern because we all know about your situation so all the teachers know that Taniyama-chan got injured."

The narcissist sighed. Wherever it could, this case was making itself complicated.

"For the moment we need to find out which teachers were teaching in the school house when it closed down. Yasuhara-san may also have some information for us," Naru said.

As he spoke a familiar student president with glasses poked his head in.

"We're having a break at the moment so I popped by to say that I have found a few things to help. I've got time on Saturday afternoon. We can meet somewhere, but not at school."

"How about the cafe we went together before?" Mai suggested.

Naru glared at him. What kind of student president went to cafes with younger female students?

Yasuhara completely misunderstood his glare. "It's okay Shibuya-san, I'll pay."

Keiko leaned over to whisper in Michiru's ear. "I bet that wasn't what he was really concerned about."

Michiru's response was to roll her eyes. "Everyone can see that apart from the people involved. Mai-chan is so clueless sometimes. It's the same for Shibuya-kun."