Questioning

"What is your involvement here?" asked a voice unknown to Mai.

"I was hired to get rid of the ghost," said a plain voice that she could recognize as Naru's.

"A ghost?" asked the other voice, sounding more confused than anything else. Mai looked around in the darkness, struggling to remember what had happened.

"Yes," Naru said flatly "Is there an issue with that?"

"No," said the voice as a scribbling sound began to form.

"Just one more question." he said "What happened to her?"

Mai listened for Naru's voice, but it took some time before it came. Once it did, it stated, "She is clumsy and thoughtless. When she was walking to get some equipment for me, she tripped over herself and hit her head on a bench. Is that a crime?"

"No, of course not, but don't you think she should go to the hospital if she hit her head?"

"I think she will be fine. It isn't the first time this has happened and it isn't going to be the last."

"Very well. I would still like to talk to the rest of your team and if you find anything, please call," said the voice before his footsteps started to fade away. Mai listened to the silence in the room. Someone sighed before she heard about three more footsteps.

"Mai," said a voice next to her ear, making her jump. She opened her eyes to see dark blue ones staring at her. "How long are you going to pretend that you are asleep?"

"Who was that?" she asked, ignoring his question and sitting up. Naru stood straight and looked at her, wondering if he should tell her.

"His name is Jirou Masahiko. He is a detective with the police department."

"Police?" Mai asked. "I thought they already did their investigation."

"Apparently this is the first time that they have ever heard of these killings," Naru stated before turning around and walking over to a black chair that held his files in the seat. Mai stayed silent as she tried to think of why the Father kept these events from the police.

"What do you think killed them?" Mai asked suddenly. Naru looked up at Mai, surprised by the question, though never letting it show.

"Why does it matter what I think? We were hired to exorcise the ghost, that's all that matters."

"But let's just say that it did matter," Mai said. Naru glared at her, not liking her comment. She shoved it off and continued, "What would you say it was?"

Naru sighed to himself before closing the file. "I don't know any of the circumstances of the case, or even what the bodies looked like, but from what I have been told, it looks like nothing more than a hate crime. So it could be a ghost," Naru said, "but it could also be a human." Mai glared at him, knowing that he was not going to give her a straight answer. There was a knock on the door and Bou-san walked in.

"Hey, you're up!" he said as he saw Mai sitting on the couch.

"What did they say?" Naru asked, drawing Bou-san's attention to him.

"Well, they really didn't say much of anything. They just kept asking a bunch of questions, some about you," Bou-san said as he walked further into the room.

"And what did you say?"

"Oh, just that you were the nicest boss in the world. Quite a lie on my part," Bou-san said with a grin. Mai giggled as Naru glared at him.

"Mai tea," Naru said before once again opening his file and looking through the small amount of information he had. Mai stood up and walked out of the room, ever obedient. She lightly closed the door behind her before heading for the kitchen that was in the basement. As she made her way, she passed no less than ten police officers. They seemed to be crawling around everywhere.

"Excuse me," said a voice, making her stop in her tracks. Mai turned around to find a gentleman standing there. He wore a white shirt and a black tie that matched his thick black hair that fell a little over his forehead. He did not have a beard, but he did have a slight five o'clock shadow. "Where are you going?" he asked politely. Mai recognized the voice as the man from before.

"I'm going to the kitchen to make my boss some tea." Mai said turning around completely to face him. She remembered that his name was Detective Masahiko.

"I am afraid that you are no allowed down there."

"Why?" Mai asked.

"It's a crime scene," the man said, "By the way; I don't believe I have had a chance to talk to you yet. Why don't you come with me, and we can have a little chat?" he said, wrapping his arm around Mai's shoulder and pulling her toward an empty room. Mai shivered at the cold touch of his arm on her neck. She entered the small closet area and took a look around. There wasn't much room to stand since every inch of space was covered in stacks of large boxes. Mai coughed a little as she inhaled the dust that was sitting on every surface. "Now that we are alone," Detective Masahiko said, drawing Mai's attention towards him. "How long have you been here at the church?"

"Not long," Mai said, not sure exactly how long she had been here. "maybe since this morning."

"Really?" he asked, curious, "Are you aware that everyone else said that they have been here for four days?"

"What?" Mai asked. There was no way she had been knocked out for that long, otherwise Naru would have taken her to the hospital, and if not him someone else. Masahiko laughed at the look on her face.

"I'm only joking. Lighten up. You aren't in any trouble," said the detective. He scribbled something down on a small note pad before asking another question, "What do you know about Father Shiro?"

"Who is that?" Mai asked. Detective Masahiko looked up at her, confused.

"You were hired here to work for the Father and you don't even know his name?"

"Well, I was out cold for some time," she said, using it as an excuse. Now that Mai thought about it, she realized that the Father had never told them his name.

"Alright, now that you know who the Father is, what do you know about him?"

"Nothing really." Mai said thinking. "As soon as we got here, he let us in and told us not to use cameras and then left. That was the only time I've seen him since I got here." Detective Masahiko scribbled some more things down. "Now, what can you tell me about your boss, Kazuya Shibuya?"

"Why do you want to know about him?"

"I just want to make sure all angles of the case are covered. I mean no harm to him or his name, don't you worry."

"But what does he have to do with the investigation?"

"I didn't realize that you were a detective Miss…?"

"Taniyama," Mai said, "And I'm not. I just think it's strange that you are investigating my boss."

"I'm not investigating your boss, I-"

"Then why do you need to know anything about him?"

"Well for starters-" Detective Masahiko was cut off when the closet door opened. "I am sorry to bother you Detective, but we've found something that you might want to see."

"Very well," he said before turning to Mai. "We will continue this later." He then turned and followed the officer out. Mai stood there a moment, confused, then decided to head back to base. She opened the door to see that everyone was back, waiting for her. Bou-san opened his mouth to say something but was cut off before he was able to get a word out.

"Where is my tea?" Mai found Naru sitting in his chair, looking at her and annoyed at the absence of his tea.

"They won't let me near the kitchen. They said it's a crime scene and that no one other than department staff are allowed down there." Everyone in the room turned to Naru, who didn't look one bit happy.

"Takigawa," Naru snapped, making everyone jump "Take Miss Hara and Father Brown around the church to check on the cameras. Miss Matsuzaki, take Yasuhara to the balcony to collect data from the equipment up there."

Everyone in the room but Lin stood up and quickly made their way to the door, glad to escape Naru's annoyed grasp. Mai stood there in the middle of the room, wishing that she could have gone with them. The room remained silent except for Lin's fingers that ran across the keyboard. Mai sighed to herself and made her way toward the couch.

"Mai," a voice stopped her. She turned to find Naru looking up at her, "What did he ask you?" Mai stared at Naru confused, not sure what he was talking about. "If they had only told you that you could not get my tea, you would have been up here quicker. So I ask again, what did the detective ask you?"

"He asked about the Father and if I knew anything about him."

"Did he ask you anything else?"

"...no," Mai lied, "Another officer interrupted and said that he had something to show him, so he left." Naru put his hand to his chin, thinking. Mai waited penitently for Naru to say something when he suddenly stood and made a move to leave. "Naru?"

"I just remembered something," he muttered as he slid the door shut behind him.

Hey everyone! Sorry i didn't update last week i have been soooo busy with crap lately! I mean today i have District tryouts! I'm sure some of you remember me ranting about them some time last year around this time. OMG I WAS SO SCARED! my hands kept shaking when i tried to play and if any of you play an instrument you know its extremely difficult to do that...Yea but that was last year so i should be good this year, though i am still soooo nervous... But back on topic!

GUESS WHAT! WHITEPHOENIX108 IS COMING HOME ON TUESDAY! i am SO excited to see her! i have not seen her since last time we dump (noticed that i use DUMPED not LEFT) her off in Kentucky^^ Though of course (don't tell her) but i went to F.Y.E and bought her and her roommate a GIANT gummy bear on a stick...i really wanted it...

Before i forget, why don't we all give a big hand to Naemlezz Reedr who is now my editor cause my sister dumped me for horses! (you might find that funny but it is so very true) Anyway! She is going to be helping me a bit on somethings like my horrible grammar and spelling crap that i paid my sister to do! hehehe I love my friends...