Author's note: Sorry for the delay, but my little guinea pig is going through some stuff right now, so the poor baby will need more of my attention for a while. The updates might be slower than usual, but don't worry—they're coming!
Case 7: The Bloodstained Labyrinth (Part1)
Mai was once again manning the reception desk at SPR. It was a beautiful day in early March, and it had been shaping up to be an uneventful one as well.
JINGLE~
When the office door opened, Mai had expected it would be Hitomi returning from her break, but it was someone else entirely. And that someone appeared to be a customer.
"Hello…" the woman called as she entered.
"Please come in." Mai said, standing up to greet her. "May I help you?" The beautiful woman with soft curly hair gave her lovely smile. 'She's gorgeous!' Mai thought.
"I have a meeting today with someone in this office." The woman said politely.
"Uh… I'm sorry, most everyone's out right now." Mai said, shuffling the papers on the desk a little nervously. What was she supposed to do in this situation? Should she offer her some tea?
"Well, then… is Lin here?" the woman asked.
'Lin?' Mai thought, staring at the woman blankly for a moment in surprise. No honorific? For that Lin-san? "Lin… -san," Mai said, sweat-dropping, unable bring herself to say his name without the honorific, "is in… uh, pardon me…?" she trailed off, realizing she didn't know the strange woman's name.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Mori. Madoka Mori. You can call me Madoka." The woman introduced herself with another lovely smile. If this were a manga, there'd definitely be a floral background.
"…" Mai smiled back and sweat-dropped again. The way she kept smiling like that really reminded her of Hitomi-sempai. "Uh… um. Please wait a momen—" she said, moving to get Lin, when he saved her the trouble by coming out of his office on his own. "Lin-san!" she called. "If now's a good time…"
"Lin!" Madoka said brightly, smiling her most radiant smile yet when she saw him.
'Whoa!' Mai thought, rearing back in surprise.
"… Madoka?" Lin said, taken aback to see her there.
'Wha—' Mai thought, shocked to hear his lack of honorific, too.
"Sorry for surprising you like this. How are you?" Madoka asked cheerfully.
"I'm good. Why didn't you call ahead?" Lin asked.
"Yeah… I guess this is a bit of a shock." Madoka said. "Did I catch you off guard?"
"You did." Lin said with a small but genuine smile. "But that can't be why you came." Mai gasped.
'Wait!! Did he just smile?' Mai wondered, seriously shocked. For that quiet, aloof, and gloomy guy to smile like that… 'Could she be Lin-san's…!?' she wondered excitedly, blushing slightly at the idea of a possible romantic connection.
"Anyway, is Naru in?" Madoka asked. Before he could answer, the door opened again.
JINGLE~
They all glanced at the door expectantly, which made Hitomi stop and blink, wondering why they were all looking at her like that. Did she just walk in on something, or was it the bag of pastries she was holding?
"Um, hello…" She said a little awkwardly, giving the woman she didn't recognize a polite and friendly smile, figuring she was probably a client. Lin cleared his throat.
"Uh, this is Matsumoto Hitomi. She also works here." Lin explained.
"Oh! So you're Hitomi!" Madoka said, lighting up with another smile as she moved in to meet the new arrival. She had heard lots about this one. "Hello, I'm Mori Madoka. You can call me Madoka."
'… Eh? She knows Hitomi-sempai?' Mai thought, confused. Did Lin-san tell her?
"Hello." Hitomi said again, sweat-dropping as she returned her smile. It sounded like she had heard about her beforehand. No honorific, and Lin actually seemed pleased to see her. Could she be…?
"So, where's Naru?" Madoka asked, turning back to Lin. His smile fell.
"Uh… um…. He's on a trip." Lin answered with regret, lowering his head.
"I see…" Madoka said with a gentle smile. Hitomi could tell from the touch of sadness in it and the look of understanding in her eyes that knew exactly what that meant. That he was out looking for Gene again.
'So, Madoka-san really is someone they know from England…' she thought.
"Then please call him." Madoka said. "It's for business."
Lin invited Madoka to have a seat while he called Naru, and Mai and Hitomi retreated to the kitchenette to prepare some tea and snacks for their guest.
"Fu-fu, you never mentioned how cute she was, Lin." Madoka said with a grin. "I may need to take some pictures for the professors while I'm here."
"Madoka…" Lin said.
"Don't worry." She said, waving off his worries. "I won't tease Naru about it. Much." Lin sweat-dropped. Naru was never going to hear the end of it. Which meant, neither would he, once Naru discovered that her information had come from him...
–∞–
"Ne, Hitomi-sempai, do you know her?" Mai asked, while she brewed the tea.
"No, I'm just as surprised as you are." Hitomi said truthfully, smiling wryly, as she cut the cute roll cake she had bought for the office while she was out.
"You know, before you came in, those two were calling each other without honorifics, and Lin-san smiled." Mai whispered excitedly with a conspiratorial grin. "Do you think maybe she's Lin-san's girlfriend?"
"Well, they definitely seem to know each other." Hitomi agreed with another wry smile. For someone who claimed to hate the Japanese, Lin-san seemed to have a good amount of Japanese acquaintances, if not friends. Which was a good thing, really. Maybe he'd be able to get over it someday.
"Here you are." Mai said with a smile as they came out with the tray and served Madoka.
"Oh, thank you." She said with a smile. "My, what a cute dessert! Did you make it or buy it?" she asked curiously.
"I bought it when I picked up some sweets for Hinamatsuri." Hitomi explained with a smile.
"Hinamatsuri?" Madoka asked.
"Ah! That's right, Sempai's birthday is the day after tomorrow!" Mai gasped, suddenly remembering.
"Oh! Happy birthday." Madoka said cheerfully.
"Thank you." Hitomi said brightly.
'Wow, I'd almost swear these two were related…' Mai thought wryly, with a little laugh.
"Okay. Yeah, I understand." Lin said, still talking on the phone. "Uh-huh."
'Oh, how sad for him… Naru must be badgering him mercilessly…' Mai and Hitomi thought sympathetically, sweat-dropping. They'd all been there before.
"Okay… Please hold on, I'll transfer you. It's Naru for you." Lin told Madoka, handing her the phone.
"Hello, Naru? Come back home." Madoka said sweetly as she held the phone to her ear. "Yes? Okay, I see… But you will come back?" From the perspective of the others in the office, there appeared to be a long pause. "Thank you." Madoka said brightly, to Mai's shock and Hitomi's surprise.
"H-He's coming back for you!?" Mai asked.
"Yes, he'll be back tonight." Madoka said with a smile as she hung up the phone.
'So formidable…' Hitomi thought, sweat-dropping. She was impressed. How in the world did she manage to persuade Naru with so few words? Especially when it meant coming back early from one of his many searches for his brother…
'I can't believe it…' Mai thought, sweating nervously. This had to be one of the signs of the coming apocalypse. Naru never interrupted his trips for anything! "That's amazing… Naru listened to you? Whoa…" Mai said aloud, seriously impressed. Hitomi smiled wryly in agreement.
"That's right. Hmm, you must be… Ah! The other part-time worker, Taniyama." Madoka said as she sat down again.
"Uh-huh. What you just did was unbelievable." Mai praised her. "Naru and Lin never seem to interact with people… except for work of course."
"That's not entirely, true. Naru did come to celebrate Setsubun with us, remember?" Hitomi reminded her. And she was sure Lin must have some means of unwinding when they weren't looking.
"Yeah, but isn't that because he wanted to gather data on your family…?" Mai said, sweat-dropping. She clearly remembered him filming them throwing the beans with a thermal image camera… She had been shocked when Hitomi's youngest cousins, Asagi and Midori, begged him to show them a trick, and he had actually obliged by doing a really neat slight-of-hand routine. She guessed maybe even Naru couldn't resist those two little cuties… She loved how they had named all of their dolls after fancy deserts that they could barely pronounce.
"Oh? He's researching your family?" Madoka asked brightly with a brilliant smile, perking up upon hearing such an interesting little tidbit. It was rare for Naru to get so personally involved like that on his own.
"Yes…" Hitomi said with a sigh. He had been curious about whether or not anyone else in her family had PK. Asagi and Midori were both running a little hot, but no one was anywhere near the same level as Hitomi and their grandfather. Well, it did help settle the debate on whether or not they were throwing the beans too hard when Shou-chan and her uncles complained. It turned out they weren't throwing them harder than the others, but because they were excited by the festivities their PK unintentionally gave them a little extra oomph. Nothing serious, just enough to give a little tingle. It was decided they should probably play the onis next year instead.
"Say… Mori-san, how do you know Naru?" Mai asked curiously.
"How? Strictly speaking, I'm their master." Madoka replied. "I'm the one who taught Naru how to 'ghost hunt'." Mai's eyes widened.
'Wha—!?' she exclaimed internally, staring at the smiling woman in astonishment. 'There was no reason to think that Naru was born a ghost hunter… but how could someone so gentle be Naru's sensei? I can't believe she didn't teach him some manners…' she thought, sweat-dropping.
'I see… So she's his mentor.' Hitomi thought. They weren't just acquaintances, they were colleagues. She was bursting with questions, but she knew better than to ask with Mai there, since she wasn't in the loop.
"Um, well… H-How about Lin-san…?" Mai asked curiously, blushing a little. 'Why am I feeling shy?' she wondered.
"Huh? What about Lin-san?" Madoka asked, not understanding her meaning. Hitomi smiled wryly and sweat-dropped.
"Um, how long have you known each other?" she asked.
"Oh, years!" Madoka answered brightly, smiling as she enjoyed the tea and cake.
'I guess I… really don't know that much about Naru…' both girls thought as they watched her. Hitomi might have the advantage of knowing his real identity, but she was beginning to realize just how little she actually knew…
—∞—
So, the next day…
"Oh! Hitomi-chaaan. Taniyama-saaan." Madoka greeted the girls enthusiastically with a little wave when they arrived at the office on time for their usual shift.
'That was fast!' Hitomi thought when they saw that Naru was already there. For him to have bee able to return so soon from where he was… He must have come straight back as soon he ended his call with Madoka-san.
'He really did come back…' Mai thought, amazed.
'But… it looks like he's still pouting.' They both realized, smiling wryly and sweat-dropping, when they saw the mood he was in. Hitomi thought that was kind of cute.
And there was another surprise. For some reason, Masako, John, Ayako, and Bou-san were all there, too.
"Oh, Bou-san, you cut your hair." Hitomi observed, noticing his ponytail was gone. If Naru hadn't kicked them out yet, they must be here for work.
"So I did…" said the monk.
"Why is everyone else here?" Mai asked.
"Because Naru-chan called us in." Bou-san replied.
"Huh? For business?" Ayako said, glancing at their petulant fearless leader.
"A client has offered us a new case." Naru said. "I'd like to ask for everyone's help. It's a big case to take on. The client has asked us to use our utmost discretion. If the press hears about it, it'll become a media circus. I really don't want to take the case, but various circumstances make it unavoidable." Hitomi glanced sideways at Madoka, wondering if it had something to do with her, since she had given 'work' as her reason for calling Naru back. Madoka smiled at her in a way that seemed to indicate that her suspicions were correct.
"Was it brought to you by someone called Ohashi-san?" Masako asked. "I already received this case last week."
"Then maybe you'd like to solve this on your own." Naru said coolly.
"Of course, you'll have my full cooperation." Masako responded quickly with a sparkling smile that was partly hidden by the sleeve of her kimono. Wow. Mai and Hitomi sweat-dropped.
"Anyway… I personally want to avoid all contact with the media…" Naru said, continuing where he left off. "So, I've asked Yasuhara-san to be my stand-in."
"Hello." Yasuhara said cheerfully, popping out of Naru's office with timing straight out of sitcom.
"Wha—!!?" Mai and the others exclaimed in surprise while Hitomi smiled, a little amused by the way he chose to appear.
"Congratulations on your graduation!" she said brightly.
"Thank you! It's thanks to everyone's efforts." He said humbly, still very grateful for all of their help saving the students of Rokuryo High School.
"I know you hate the press… but to the point that you need an impersonator?" Bou-san asked Naru dubiously.
"If it wasn't true, I wouldn't have asked Yasuhara-san to come. The client has apparently called together other mediums… and the media will flock once they get a whiff of something suspicious going on. I don't want to get involved if I can help it." Naru explained.
"So… if something's distasteful to you, you dump it on somebody else?" Bou-san asked with a derisive tone.
'Although Yasuhara-san seems fine with it…' Hitomi thought wryly. He was really doing them a huge favor, since it was dangerous for Naru to have his picture spread around.
"If you're not interested, do you think I'd care if you left right now?" Naru retorted. Mai and Hitomi sweat-dropped at the ice in his voice.
"Hey, now…!" Bou-san started, when Madoka suddenly spoke up.
"Enough!" she said sternly, putting her hands on her hips. "Why can't you ever ask for a favor properly? Is that the tone we use when asking people for favors? You always talk like a selfish brat!" she scolded Naru. Everyone stared, positively stunned by the scene they were witnessing. "I apologize!" Madoka said quickly, smiling sweetly, as she whipped her head around to look at them. "This child hasn't learned his manners. But he's not a bad child at heart (maybe)."
'This child!!?' Bou-san, Mai, and Ayako exclaimed internally, beyond shocked by her bravery. The monk and Miko looked like they thought she should run. Hitomi had to hold a hand over her mouth to hide her smile. A couple of hairs were sticking up from Naru's head, and he looked like he was trying hard not to blush out of embarrassment.
"Madoka! Would you please be quiet? Stop talking." He said sternly with a small vein throbbing on his forehead. It was interesting to see him acting more like a normal teen for once.
"If you insist. I'm sorry. So watch your mouth." Madoka retorted, leaning over to flash him a brilliant grin. Naru tensed.
"…" He furrowed his brow slightly but said nothing in response. Again, everyone stared in awe. This woman was amazing. She had gone toe-to-toe with Naru and won. She was practically sparkling! Hitomi decided to start secretly calling Madoka-san 'Shishou' in her mind. They watched as Madoka straightened up and turned to face them again.
"Naru hates to make a big show of things. He's refused cases similar to this in the past… but he's taking this on as a favor to me. I know this will be a great inconvenience for everyone, but I humbly request your assistance." Madoka said politely, giving them a deep bow to show her sincerity.
"Oh, no, we insist." They answered instinctively as they all returned her bow.
"Huh? But… I'm confused, Naru. What will your role be?" Mai asked.
"This time I'm just a mere investigator." Naru answered.
'That's absurd…' Bou-san and Mai thought. He was never this humble. Hitomi smiled wryly and sweat-dropped. This should be interesting…
"So… who's our client?" she asked. Naru placed the case form on the table with a newspaper article clipped on top. Hitomi leaned over to pick it up, and Ayako, Mai, and Bou-san crowded around her to see it. Their eyes widened in surprise.
"No way…" Mai said. It was an article about a former prime minister! No wonder the whole thing was so hush-hush…
—∞—
Fortunately, they didn't have to depart for the job right away, so that gave Hitomi plenty of time to celebrate her birthday with her family and friends before they left. Which is how she and the rest of the SPR gang found themselves standing outside an enormous, antiquated western-style mansion five days later.
"This is breathtaking…" Hitomi said as they stared up it. The exterior architecture of the building made it appear to have been built around the late Meji to early Taisho era.
"Yeah… I can't believe there's really a mansion like this in Japan…" Mai agreed, astonished.
"It may be breathtaking, but it's still a haunted mansion." Ayako said, feeling apprehensive.
"Obviously. We wouldn't be here otherwise." Bou-san quipped.
"I know that." Ayako huffed, while John smiled wryly, hoping it wouldn't come to blows. But then what the monk said sank in, and Ayako suddenly turned on him when he sighed and shook his head at her in a caricature of a foreigner. "Hey, what's with the sudden attitude, you jerk!!?" she shouted indignantly with a vein throbbing on her head.
"Oww! I was only being honest!" Bou-san protested when she hit him.
"Yeah!? You're trying to piss me off!"
"Stop it!"
"I see you two haven't changed." Yasuhara observed with a smile. He was wearing a very nice suit today in order to look his part. "They remind me of a cat and mouse cartoon."
"Tom and Jerry?" Hitomi asked.
"That's the one!"
