A/N: Plot bunnies won't leave me alone, so this story emerges. This is my first attempt at Ghost Hunt Fic.
Title: The Ups and Down in the Life of Taniyama Mai
Pairing: NaruxMai
Summary: Mai is not as ordinary as she appeared to be – she has a secret and a latest case taken by the SPR forces her to lay it out in the open. Follow her as she and the SPR gang carried on in their ghost hunting adventures… Eventual NaruMai.
Disclaimer: Ghost Hunt is not mine, copyright belonged to Fuyumi Ono.
Chapter 5 – Case 2: The haunting of Yukai Karaoke Suite 1
A week had passes by uneventfully since the end of the Yukimura case, and Naru had yet to take on any new cases during which period of time. When being asked for a reason, the stoic teen had said nothing but claiming to say that he's giving Mai time to catch up with her lag-behind schoolwork. That caused the eyebrow of Mai to shoot up at least a notch, while thinking – since when did that slave driver boss of hers' start to give any thoughts to his employee's school commitment.
Nonetheless, Mai did not argue with Naru on this issue – he was after all, the boss of the SPR. Mai, on the other hand, is just a mere assistant to him so if he decided to not take case at all, it was still none of her business. As long as her paycheck remained unaffected, she could hardly care if the SPR took on a case, or not.
"Taniyama-san, we are intending to visit the karaoke – would you like to join us?" Mizuki Nanase, a classmate from her class approached Mai just as the school bell rang signaling the end of yet another ordinary school day.
"Thanks for the invite, but I can't. Today's Friday – I need to be in the office for work." Mai responded with her usual cheerful disposition.
"Again…? Don't mind me asking this, but do you even get any off-days from work?" Mizuki Nanase questioned, raising an eyebrow up at Mai while she voiced her doubt across. It seems like whenever she had it in her to try and bridge some friendly relations with Taniyama Mai; she would always be turned down due to the brunette's work reasons.
"Although, it didn't seem to be the case but I do get a day off each week's of work. It just so happens that my off-days were rather irregular and had to subjected to changes at all times." Mai responded in an apologetic manner.
Having been placed in a new class this year, she was separated from her usual group of girls' friend. Michiru and Keiko, having picked a different combination of subjects were in class 3-C, while Mai ended up in 3-B. Therefore, Mai has now gained another new nickname in school aside from the usual 'klutz' – she's also called a 'loner' now.
Not that she enjoyed being addressed as such by the boys in her class, but she had to agree that she was kind of lacking in the personal aspects of life. Despite being 18 year old this year, she had no boyfriends and no weekend activities. Topping it off together, no friends in class – these days she tends to eat her lunch alone in class unlike the previous two years when she was still in the freshman and sophomore years of the high school she was attending.
It was not that she did not tried to expand her socializing group, but the fact remains that whenever she had the intention in mind – she was either pre-occupied with work or she was on 'sick leave'. The so-called 'sick leave' was in actuality issued by the resident doctor of the SPR gang – Matsuaki Ayako, and it was presented to Mai's school to excuse her from classes in order to recover her strength after a particular nasty case the SPR had taken up and solved over weekends usually.
"Well, in that case we shall get going first. See you around." Mizuki Nanase told Mai, drawing the brunette out from her thoughts.
"Aa… good-bye, I'll see you girls tomorrow." Mai beamed and waved in return, sending her classmates off cheerfully.
Mai waited patiently for Mizuki Nanase and the other girls of her class to depart first, and then she started to pack her own bag. Not that she wants to dilly-dally, but it is more of a tactic to avoid the school out rush. Especially, today was Friday – and it usually translated to crowding hallways and foyers. Students were mainly gathering around waiting for their friends to join them for some fun and nice outing, and Mai who has something else planned for the day would normally made her way out using the school's side exit.
"Mai, Tea!"
Silence, and then Naru found his other assistant – Koujo Lin bringing him a cup of traditional green tea.
"…Lin, where's Mai?" The nineteen year old teen asked with a frown.
"I know you enjoyed her tea more, but mine wasn't that bad either. To answer your question, I told Taniyama-san to make a detour to the nearby stationery stores to restock some stationery that are running low in here." Koujo Lin, the now 29 year old man told his 'ward' with his usual poker face in place.
If Naru was irritated by Lin's decision without informing him in advance, he did not show any hints of it. Instead, he only nodded and commented. "Well, so long she wasn't coming in late without a valid reason."
"…" Lin wisely remained silent, and was half-way out from Naru's office when he heard the teen spoke again.
"Lin…gives her a call and tells her to drop by the post office on her way back to get some stamps as well."
"Sure, is there anything else you require?" Lin questioned, knowing for a fact that if he had to call up Taniyama every five minutes to add order, the brunette would definitely snapped when she came back into the office. The last time something like this happened, it ended with the brunette nearly dismantling the door of Naru's office.
Mai was standing in the aisle where the memo pads were being displayed within the store, when she received a call from Lin informing her to drop by the post office to get Naru some stamps.
"Is that all…?" Mai asked, she do not wish to make another trip down to the post office – again.
"Yes, that should be all – if Naru wanted to add any additional items; I'll get them myself." Lin responded, setting Mai's mind at ease.
"Okay, I'll be back in another 30 minutes or so." Mai told the elder assistant, before hanging up the call and continuing her task of comparing prices between the same set of stationery sets but of different branding. Eventually, she decided to get the brand with a more well-known image – since there was no need to save for the company, and besides the last thing she needs was for Naru to comment about the items she picks as 'cheapskate'.
It was five in the evening when Mai returned to the SPR office, and she entered the office just in time to witness Lin in the midst of ordering them dinner.
"Hold on a minute." Mai heard Lin said into the phone receiver, and then she heard the man asking her if she would want to have dinner together with them in the office.
"Erm…sure, I'm alright with Chinese takeout." Mai responded, allowing the Chinese man to order another set for her consumption – too.
Naru was reading a book on psychology when Mai entered his office with the cup of tea in one hand and the booklet of stamps in another. Placing both the stamps and tea-cup onto the table, Mai said.
"Here are the stamps you want me to get from the post office, and also your favorite black tea." And then she waited.
"Was there anything that you need from me?" The nineteen year old started, causing Mai to sigh inwardly in response.
"No… nothing." Mai shakes her head in response.
"Well, in that case what are you waiting around for?" Naru prompted, causing Mai to huff in annoyance as she turned and stalked out of the office.
The trio was half-way into their dinner session which was engulfed in comfortable silence, when the phone to the office suddenly blares to life. Mai, without the need for Naru to remind her of the fact that the phone is ringing, hurried over to answer the call.
"Hello, Shibuya Psychic Research –This is Taniyama Mai speaking. How may I assist you?"
"Hi… I'm Yamamoto Kyousuke - the manager on duty calling from the Yukai Karaoke Suite. I have a matter that requires some serious help from your company. I'm sorry for calling in after office hours but I'm running out of options here." The man sounded rather desperate from what Mai had gathered, judging from the panicky tone of voice the man had taken to adopt while speaking.
"Not to worry sir, but you're right to say that the office is already close for today. Would you like to schedule an appointment with us to meet up for a discussion?" Mai suggested as she balance the phone between her neck and shoulder blade while she made a grab for her planner and a pen from her desk.
Flipping through the pages of her schedule organizer until she reaches the current month and week – Mai allowed her eyes to skim through the dates briefly before centering on the earliest available slot for the desperate man.
"Yes, that would be great – is there any empty slot that I could dropped by hopefully within the week?" Mai could detect the distress from the voice heard over the transceiver, so Mai do a quick scan on her planner before suggesting the earliest available slot for the said client.
"Well, I do have a slot for tomorrow afternoon at 2pm if that's alright with you." Mai suggested that's the earliest slot available on her planner and if the client wants to meet up at an earlier timing then Mai would have to refer to Lin for that particular arrangement.
The SPR normally started its operation for weekdays from 2pm onwards, and closes off for the day by 7pm in the evening. Weekends wise, it will depend on whether there is an ongoing case or not – if there is a case then probably it will be closed for the whole of weekends but if there's no particular case going on then the office would be open under standard office hours (9 to 5) for weekends.
Mai had no idea what Naru and Lin busied themselves with during the morning hours of the weekdays. She did not think it her position to be inquiring them on their whereabouts, besides even if she did asked – she highly doubt either one of them would filled her in on their plans. Mai was snapped out from her reverie, when she heard the sound of their potential client responding to her suggested timing with an affirmation response.
"Yes, that would be fine. So I'll see you and your team in the office tomorrow at 2.p.m then." Yamamoto Kyousuke said, sounding relieved that the SPR is granting him an opportunity to present his case to them.
Placing the phone back down on the cradle, Mai headed back to where her half-eaten dinner now lays with her copy of black planner in hand. The planner was given to her by Lin, and hence the color black – seems like everything in the office prior to her employment were going by the black and white schemes. Shaking herself to rid off such unwanted thoughts, Mai started to speak.
"Well, seems like a client would be coming in tomorrow at 2p.m. for a discussion. However, I might be late due to a fitness test in school tomorrow…" Mai left her sentence hanging, upon noting the look of irritation on Naru's face.
"…Don't tell me you have another appointment at that time?" Mai started, upon noting the look of hesitancy on Lin's face.
"Actually, it's nothing really… we can rescheduled." Lin was saying but Naru cut in then, with a strong and firm 'No' to Lin's words.
"…Never mind, you know what I'll just reschedule the client's timing. I'll just call him up now and put him around 5.30p.m tomorrow. Is that arrangement okay with you now, Mr. high and mighty?" Mai cut in snidely, this was exactly the reason why she dislikes consulting Naru on scheduling matters. Lin was easier to approach when it comes down to scheduling issues…
Mai was about to made her way to the phone and call up the client to amend the time, when Naru changed his mind and said.
"Never mind, I'll made the amendments on my side instead but you better make sure not to be late tomorrow; else I'll be docking the minutes off your paycheck for this month."
"You know, Naru – threatening to dock my pay all the time is really unbecoming." Mai retorted with a huff of annoyance, before heading back to her work desk and started on her filing work.
Naru, on the other hand, stalked back to his office to read in peace while Lin cleared away the dishes and leftovers of their dinner in silence.
The following day, Mai went to her school principal requesting for the permission to do her fitness test first because she have a case later on in the day. The principal of course agreed easily enough, he was quite grateful to Naru and the SPR and hence his willingness to create leeway for Mai's convenience.
Mai dashes into the office of the SPR around 1.45p.m, and wasted no time in getting the afternoon tea ready for both Naru and the incoming client. Once 2.p.m arrived, the door to the SPR office was pushed open promptly and a man in his mid-thirties appeared in the doorway with some slight apprehension.
"Hello, I'm here for a discussion with the boss here. My appointment is at 2…are you Ms. Taniyama?" The man asked, upon landing his eyes on Mai.
"Yes, I assumed you are Mr. Yamamoto?" Mai started, as she took in the dreadful appearance of the man.
"Ah yes, thank you for being willing to hear me out on this issue." Yamamoto Kyousuke responded, sounding extremely relief that Mai had been willing to listen to his problem faced at his work place.
"Its fine, come over and take a seat over at the couch while I'll go and get my boss out to speak with you." Mai told the man, before heading towards the other two offices and retrieved her boss – Naru, and the Chinese onmyouji - Lin.
Soon after Mai informed them about their client's arrival, Lin emerged from his office with his laptop in hand and Naru followed suit with his black book. Mai, on the other hand, entered the kitchen to get them tea for the discussion.
"I apologized for my sloppy attire, but I had the misfortune to be caught in another washroom crisis of a mini-flood." Yamamoto explained the reason behind his half-drenched attire, seeing as it wasn't even raining outside.
"…Was that mini-flood the problem that sends you coming to us for help? If so, I highly suggested for you to get a plumber in to look at the piping about the place." Naru said in sarcasm.
"Naru, be nice!" Mai interrupted, upon catching the look of distress on the client's face after emerging out from the kitchen with the tea-cups in hand.
"Here, Yamamoto-san – do have some tea to unwind. Now can you tell us in details, what are the strange happenings that plagued your work place?" Mai coaxed patiently, visibly noting the way Yamamoto Kyousuke was behaving under the scrutiny of Lin and Naru's observant eyes.
"Okay… like what Shibuya-san had said before, the flood was indeed one of the reasons that send me here. Trust me when I say I did get in the plumbers to look at the pipes, but nothing changed at all even after the maintenance work was completed on site. The toilets are still flooding on daily basis, and not just the toilets are affected even the kitchen would be flooded when it happens. Once I even have staff coming to me with feedback about the water tasting weird – like copper, they say. There's another instances, the chef working in the kitchen was telling me that the water that flows out of the tap was red in color, and it looks like the shade of a blood that is being diluted in water."
Lin took notes while Naru appeared to be contemplative on the issue, Mai listened attentively while her mind race with possible scenarios of how the phenomena may have occur.
"Was that all or are there other disturbance occurring?" Naru prompted next, Mai could see that he was thinking whether or not to accept the case.
"Yes, aside from the toilet flooding issues – there has been reports of teenage girls being attacked in the hallway of the facility." Yamamoto started with some hesitancy on his part that caused Lin to pause for a split second in his typing before prompting.
"You mentioned girls being attacked, by that – what kind of attack are you talking about?"
Yamamoto Kyousuke blanched, before answering. "Sexual assault…"
Upon his response, Mai stumbled back in shock before she regained her composure and gasped. "How horrible…"
"When you say the girls were assaulted sexually, were there actually anyone responsible for the deed or were it done by some invisible force?" Naru asked, cutting direct to the point.
"Well… yes and no."
"I beg your pardon?" Mai frowned, as she wonders what kind of answer was that.
"According to the female staffs working there, there are times whereby they would feel something touching their butts and other areas of the body but when they turned around and try to pinpoint the instigator of those acts – they can't see anyone. Our patrons though, claimed otherwise – there have been 3 cases of molestation cases involving our waiters already."
"3 cases you say… are the culprit behind the molestation acts the same person, each time around?" Naru asked again.
"No… and that is what makes it so strange, no matter how many waiters we changed – the situation will simply keep on happening over and over again. And if we tried to switch to having a waitress serving the guests, the situation would be reversed with our male patrons assaulting our waitress." Yamamoto Kyousuke responded, sounding quite stressed out by the whole situation in general.
"I see…how long has this been going on already?" Naru prompted, and Mai could easily see the wheels turning in his mind now. In fact, the moment she heard Naru asking the client this question – she knew, the case is on.
"From what I've heard, this situation has been occurring every now and then. However, during its initial stage – the happenings were mild to say and it always takes place only during mid-nights hours but recently, it worsens."
"Alright, do prepare a room for us to be used as a base. We will be taking on this case, and would be there by tomorrow morning." Naru told Yamamoto Kyousuke, and then Mai was instructed to note down the contact information of the client.
Date started: 2/2/2013
Date completed: 2/2/2013
P.S. I took the comment of reviewer – Hikari Reizumi's advice to heart by trying to keep the sentence short. I apologized for some redundant and repetition of sentences sometimes, cause my head goes all fuzzy while writing – so it might slipped my notice, until I actually re-read it after I post the chapter.
Once again, please do review – so I would know where to improve on…aside from grammar errors, I'm weak in grammar. I'll try to finish this fic by this year end. I am working on my vampire knight's fic sequel at the same time, so I might be a little slow on this fic. This is Case 2, I've scrapped and re-write it twice… and let's hope this one is good enough.
I edit until I want to vomit blood, am now writing the next chapter to say… so please do kindly review, okay? Also let me know if there's any spelling errors sometimes I just missed it.