Mai had bustled around her house, cleaning up a mere two hours before Mr Shibuya and Mr Lin was due to arrive. Mai would normally have made sure the house was ready the day before at the very least but was not prepared to be alone in the house any longer then she needed to be. She had opted to stay in her parent's room, preparing her own room and the guest room for the base and living quarters. Mai would have given them her parents room had it been bigger, but it was the actually smaller than her own. Also she would have felt weird about strangers staying in her parent's room.
She had asked her friend Yasu, who had set the interview, to help her move the spare bed into her room. That way the guest room was big enough, hopefully, to be used as a base. He had been a little more jittery then she had been, after hearing all the stories that Mai had told him.
They were just about done when there was a knock on the door... 10am on the dot.
~o0o~
Shibuya looked back at the road they had driven down. This house was quite out the way, and it was quiet here. The garden was adorned with flowers, and there was nothing by lush trees for miles. There was what looked like a small bridge in the distance, mostly hidden by the house.
The house itself was modest, perfect for a small working-class family, which made sense since Miss Taniyama stated that she used to live here with her parents. It didn't make sense that they kept the house only to move away, leaving the 20-year-old daughter to fend for herself.
Miss Taniyama came to the door, a smile on her face. There was a boy behind her, who Shibuya guessed was the one who called for the interview. He did not accompany Taniyama to the interview, and it was clearly important to her, so perhaps he was just a friend of hers. Also, Taniyama did not mention him in the interview, so he is likely not an inhabitant of the house.
"Mr Shibuya, Mr Lin thank you so much for coming!" She greeted, moving aside to usher them in. The house was immaculate, but looked rather unchanged, as if Taniyama lived around the house, maintaining it but not comfortable enough to make herself at home. Everything looked outdated, but nothing looked old per say, it looked like they had gone back in time when they entered the house. "Please make yourself at home"
"Thank you" Lin spoke up, still sounding a little distant, but he had dropped a lot of that coldness he had originally sported.
"Let me show you to your room and base" Mai suggested as the two men removed their shoes. She did not feel comfortable asking them to do so but was happy as they seemed to comply with her unspoken wish. "This is Yasuhara by the way, my friend and classmate"
"I was just here to keep her company while she cleaned and to help in any way when you got here" Yasuhara explained, his voice the same one that called for the interview. Suspicions confirmed.
"Well it is nice to meet you" Shibuya greeted, nodding once and then making no effort to continue the conversation. "I would also like to see any rooms you are happy for me to monitor with cameras"
~o0o~
It took a good twenty minutes for Shibuya and Lin to look around and plan where to place all the cameras. It was easily decided that all the rooms would be monitors save for the bathroom and the room Mai would be staying in.
When Yasu offered to help set up base, both Lin and Shibuya gratefully excepted. Mai had agreed to help too, but after the boxes of cables and shelves, everything was extremely heavy. So she reluctantly agreed to stay and make tea, knowing that everyone would be just outside at the furthest.
It still frightened her to be alone, and so had opted to open the windows so she could be heard calling for help should she need to. She felt silly doing so, and Yasu had explained that spirits tend to 'calm down' at the beginning of an investigation. Something about assessing the new people for means of communication.
Taking a few calming breaths, Mai finished the tea and took it to the 'base' just as everyone finished moving the equipment.
"Tea anyone?" Mai asked, trying to smile.
"Please" Shibuya nodded, hoping beyond hope that Mai had any measurable skill in tea making.
"Ooh, yes" Yasu smiled happily, getting up to help. Lin stayed silent.
"Sugar or milk Shibuya?" Mai asked. He shook his head no. Mai handed out the tea, placing one near Lin additionally. Shibuya wasted little time before taking a sip... Heaven. Lin watched he's charges eyes soften, and took a sip of his own tea.
"Thank you" Lin muttered. Shibuya nodded in thanks.
"Cheers Mai, your tea is the absolute best" Yasu complimented.
"Taniyama" Shibuya started. "I need to conduct additional interviews, whenever you are ready"
"Would you like me to make dinner first? It's getting a bit late" Mai offered with a smile. "Yasu, want to stay too?"
"Please" Yasu smiled. "While you do that, I will tell Shibuya what I learned while researching the house"
"Taniyama thank you for your hospitality, but with Lin being a vegetarian, we normally take it upon ourselves to provide our own food" Shibuya started, before turning to Yasu. "And I think it would be very useful to compare note"
"I am perfectly capable of making a vegetarian version, my cooking is actually pretty good" Mai insisted. "I was thinking a western styled lamb roast... it is Sunday after all"
"Thank you Taniyama" Shibuya nodded, a little taken aback by how capable they both seemed to be.
"Ok good! Ta" Mai waved as she left to cook. She could tell that Shibuya was English, and had elected to get food suitable for English dishes. She also got some Chinese meal ingredients for Lin too. She knew how to cook a lot of things, having been cooking for herself for a long time.
~o0o~
"May I see these notes Yasuhara?" Shibuya asked, a little curious at how much effort Yasu had put into researching. Yasu pulled out three big binders for who knows where.
"Here you are boss" Yasu joked. "Since Parapsychology is the field I wanted to go into, I wanted to impress you. That and I knew that this was rather last minute for you"
The binders were separated by the history of the house and surrounding area, the actual condition of the house while looking for none paranormal reasons for what was happening in the home, and an extensive account of all unexplained experiences in or near the house. "This is very extensive, and I'm sure will be very helpful" Lin commented. "Thank you Yasuhara"
"This is of much higher quality then most paranormal researchers" Shibuya noted. "Good work"
"I'm so glad you think so" Yasu might have been mentally celebrating but he just smiled, his teeth and glasses flashing in the light.
"We could probably use-" Lin started, only to be cut off by a high pitch scream.
Lin and Naru sprinted into action.
I told you this story was gonna be updated soon! Look at me go! I will be honest though, I will happily update anytime I get 10 reviews for a chapter. Like the next day... just a suggestion :) Thanks for reading!
