*Rumors of Red Riding Hood –Other

One day, as summer comes to an end, Moe and Tsukasa suddenly come to visit. As we're catching up, another former Mark Bearer appears. It's Mashita. Before our surprise can even settle in, he stars telling us about a request that the fortune teller, Towako Yasuoka, brought to him.

There's a ghost story that takes place on the hotel street in K City. A young girl wearing a red raincoat appears on rainy days, and anyone who enters a hotel with her ends up missing. Even worse, they're later discovered to have gone insane and tragically ending their lives. That's the dark rumor swirling around K City.

Mashita makes me investigate the rumors because he's pissed I told Yasuoka about his office. Moe gets excited about the occult, but I can't get her involved again so I ask her to gather info for me while I visit the hotel in question, Masquerade, alone. Mashita thinks the whole mess is bull, but… For some reason, I'm uneasy. Maybe it's just my imagination.

*Encounter with Red Riding Hood?

We meet a girl in a red raincoat inside the abandoned hotel. For some reason, she calls me 'miss' and asks me questions, as if she wants to confirm something. Before she vanishes, I hear her whisper, 'All the immoral people died.' More pressing, Hiroo dashes up the stairs after her, without me. It's too dangerous. I need to follow her. She headed up to the 4th floor.

*Christie's Information

I'm awakened by a noise the next morning and find that Christie and Suzu are here. Mashita asked Christie to bring me the results of his research on the hotel. Seems the place was famous for providing 'illegal services' though it was never reported to the police. It might've been because some of the guests were (allegedly) political bigwigs.

*Repairing Ritual?

We notice something odd as we search the elevator. The guide says there's a 6th floor, but the buttons only go up to the 5th. What could that mean? We might just have to try to get the elevator moving like Banshee suggests. But how do we do that?

Daimon says something odd. That even if we can't really fix it, if we pretend to, aka performs a 'repairing ritual', that might work. That's his theory anyway. It's true that I used the same principle to defeat the spirits by releasing them of their grudges, so it's possible it'll work. There should be clues to help us perform the 'ritual' in the hotel, so I need to keep looking. Though I feel weird calling a 'fixing the elevator' a ritual of all things…

*Circuit Breaker

We find a broken circuit breaker. If we're going to do a repairing ritual for the elevator, we're going to need 'electricity'. But how do we fix it? The breaker vibrates slightly and the metal whines. Daimon claims the vibration is why there aren't any spider webs here. Apparently spiders 'hate things that vibrate'.

*A-ko's Testimony

Moe shows up and gives us the testimony of A-ko, a student who used to work at Masquerade. One day, her classmate S-ko learned about the 'job' and threw everyone into a panic by saying she'd tell a teacher. The students were afraid of the police getting involved. A-ko wasn't sure what to do, but when she went to the hotel that night…

She witnessed S-ko standing in front of the hotel in a red raincoat. She'd told A-ko she was going to the police, so why was she there…? After that night, S-ko stopped coming to school and for some reason the police never got involved. After everything, nothing happened. Why in the world didn't S-ko go to the police?

*The Elevator's Puzzle

Red Riding Hood mentions the 'top floor' then disappears. Does she mean the 6th floor? But the buttons only go to the 5th. I suddenly remember the word 'combination'. It could be that the buttons need a secret code to work. But what order should I press them in? I'm sure there's a clue in the hotel.

*Mashita's Report

I face Red Riding Hood on the 6th floor, where she had waited for me. I manage to drive her back, but she nearly takes me with her…until Mashita saves me at the last second. He's furious with me for disobeying his orders. I'm given his research file on the hotel. This is what it says…

S-ko tattling to her homeroom teacher N-Mura about the 'job' is what started it all. N-mura proposed to S-ko that they gather evidence first, and they arranged to meet at masquerade that night. But the only thing waiting for S-ko there was utter betrayal by the teacher she was in love with. It turned out that N-mura herself was one of Masquerades' customers.

No one knows what exactly happened to S-ko. She was found wandering the streets in her red raincoat and immediately admitted to a facility unfortunately, her mental state was too far gone already and she committed suicide by throwing herself from a 6th floor window of the hospital. The night she died was cold and rainy, just like today.

The report has info on N-mura as well. When she was arrested for other illegal activities, she ended up testifying about Masquerade as well. Having your partner wear all red was code that you were planning to use the deluxe suite of the hotel. That could be the reason S-ko wore that red raincoat that night. Not long after the trail, N-mura apparently hung herself in jail.

DEATH MARK

Three days later…

The day sure is nice out; I silently thought walking through the crowded streets of H City. Even though it's fall…the weather is still beautiful and nice out for a stroll…though that's not why I'm out here and not back at the mansion doing some research.

In all honesty…it's from a strange case that I got from a construction worker…that Yasuoka sent over, again. After hearing the explanation…I sent the guy away. Honestly, it just sounds like a prank from the school right next to the old school and no one really got hurt. Still, though…I keep getting this nagging feeling that something up about that place, nothing bad really.

Anyway, I told the dude unless it gets worse and/or they actually see a spirit…then I'll talk. I'm not going to be wasting my time for things that can easily be explained.

"Sigh…It's around here somewhere." I held out a small white card with an address written on it. After the Red Riding Hood case, I've been giving a lot of things a thought, and well…

"Ah, here it is. Huh, and a nice café in walking distance too. Wonder if he goes there for lunch or interviews?" I give the building a look over. From what I have gather on the top-floor is an apartment of sorts and at the bottom is his workplace/office. Well at least he doesn't have worry about traffic when getting to work…

"Might as well head in…" I open the door and step inside.

Private Detective
Satoru Mashita

"Anyone home…?" I called out as the door closed behind me.

"Hm, Yashiki?"

I looked over at the direction of the voice and spotted Mashita crouch down next to a filing cabinet. Looks like he was searching for something.

He closed the cabinet and stood up from his spot before heading back over to his desk, that is a bit full of paperwork.

"I'm…not coming in at a bad time am I?"

Mashita glances over at the stack of paperwork before sitting down. "No, not really. Was there something you need?"

"Uh…kind of?" I shrug sheepishly.

"That sounded like a question then an answer, Yashiki."

"…" Come on, give me a break here man! Sighing I held out the card he had giving to me three days ago. "I've…giving some thought about what you said, and…" I trailed off looking to the side.

"…?" He raised a brow as if asking me to continue.

"And…I was wondering if the offer still stands."

"That's all?"

"Grr…Hey! I've been hounded with cases left and right after that case three days ago! And after you had brought up the Hyakki Yagyo, I've been thinking about a lot of things." I snapped at him before taking a deep breath to calm myself down "Look…I know you've been hounded down with spiritual cases too, and unlike you I have general knowledge of what to do. So…I thought if we work together…we could help each other out…"

By now…I'm looking away from Mashita after explaining myself. I feel embarrassed for some strange reason. This was probably a stupid idea in the first place. Oh man…I wish I can go back and time and just stayed at the Mansion…

"…All right."

"Eh?"

I looked over at him blinking dumbfoundedly.

"Did…you just say 'All right'?"

"Sigh, yes, Yashiki, I said 'All right', do you know need hearing aids too, old lady?"

"Ergh!"

Why you…!

"Honestly, your timing couldn't be even more perfect." He continues to speak as if he didn't just insult me not even a minute ago.

Then what he said had click to my mind. "Wait, what do you mean?" I asked walking over to a chair sitting on the opposite end of his desk.

He pulls out a drawer from the desk and takes out a folder, "Yesterday a principle at H Highschool came to me about a weird case."

"H Highschool…? Isn't that where Moe goes to?" I frowned for a moment; didn't that construction worker mention the same school to? And next to it was… "Was he talking about a 'haunting' going on at the old school building next door?"

"…" Mashita blinks in surprise, most likely shock that I knew about the old building. "Yes. Heard about it."

"Heard?" I snorted. "Just before I came down here, a construction worker came by, by Yasuoka request, and told him about this old school building and all the trouble is causing them. Not to mention the ghost stories surrounding it."

"I see…" Mashita leans back in his chair folding his arms. "What are your thoughts about it? Think a spirit is involved."

I let out a sigh leaning back in my seat too. "Not sure. The rumors alone are enough for it to be caused by a spirit. However I don't think that's the case."

"Oh?"

"Though, I go by a different name, I'm still a Kujou. We take on a lot of spiritual cases. However, we try to rule out if it's just the work of nature or a prank, before we get involved with the cases. Most of the times some 'haunting' can easily be explain."

Mashita tilts his head "I'm hearing a 'but' in there."

"But…the fact that Yasuoka sent me this case means there's something going on. And that you also got one too…It looks like we might have to check it out and see for ourselves. If only to get them off our cases."

"Indeed." He snorts "Looks like we'll be working together from here on then."

I chuckled "Looks like it. So…when do we start?"

"Now." He said standing up and grabbing his trench-coat "The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can go over somethings with you."

"Heh. Sounds like fun. Let's get started then…partner."

"Don't flatter yourself."

"…Hey! Mashita! Get back here, you asshole!"

The End…?