Chapter 1: Lights, Cameras, Deaths?
Mai gasped in horror as she collided with Yasu, spilling her drink all over his shirt. He screeched like a little girl and fell over, clutching at his chest while Mai apologised rapidly. Lin stepped out of his office, took one look at the two troublesome teens, and promptly marched back inside his man cave, otherwise known as his work place. He had no time for their foolish antics.
"Geez Mai, you'd think you were running a race or something," Yasu complained. Mai tried to hide her smile at his obvious displeasure. His girly scream was rather amusing, but she could see he was a little startled from his encounter.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. We have a client in the office right now, and she's kind of demanding. She's pregnant," Mai whispered the last sentence importantly. Yasu stumbled to his feet and nodded, seemingly knowledgeable about pregnant women when, in fact, he hadn't the faintest clue about women at all.
"How far along would you say she is?" he asked. Mai shrugged.
"I guessed six months, Naru was kind of surprised that I knew that," Mai said. Yasu smirked.
"Mai, all of us are continually surprised by you. You've actually gotten smarter!" Mai frowned at him.
"You say that like I wasn't already smart." Yasu remained silent, and Mai playfully punched his shoulder. Yasu's solemn face finally broke out into a classic grin, his black eyes sparkling. He'd been having a really great day; the new girl at school had asked him out!
"I know that smile, you like a girl!" Mai blurted. Yasu's smile wavered slightly. Damn, of course she'd figure it out.
"Er, I don't know what you're talking about. I need to focus on my studies, I don't have time for a girl," Yasu stammered. He didn't know why he was so embarrassed about this girl, he supposed it was because he didn't want Ayako and Monk hearing of it from Mai and interfering.
"It's alright, I hope it works out. You deserve to have somebody nice by your side," Mai said sincerely. Yasu's smile widened. He thought she'd pull a mushy girly reaction, but she was being surprisingly nice and calm. Suddenly she squealed and threw her arms around him, repeatedly saying, "Yasu's got a giiirl, Yasu's got a giiirl." Yasu protested as he tried to pry her off
"Thanks Mai, but you should probably get back to the new client. Naru won't appreciate you slacking," Yasu reminded. Mai blushed as she realized she had just been standing there talking to Yasu for the last seven minutes. Naru probably wasn't happy.
"Whoops, I guess I didn't get all that much smarter after all," Mai said glumly. Yasu ruffled her hair and turned to walk away when Mai lunged forwards and snatched up the back of his shirt.
"Hold on, why don't you help? I could really use moral support, and Naru isn't the best at that," Mai suggested. Yasu considered this for a second. It didn't sound too bad; he'd been bored out of his mind all morning. Besides, he was always interested in the various cases that came in. He hadn't quite figured out how Mai and Naru selected the ones they'd do, but all the cases seemed interesting enough.
"Alright, but you owe me something," he relented. Mai smiled brightly and tugged him into the office.
"I'm sorry I took so long, we are out of tea. I looked everywhere, I just couldn't find any. I'm sorry for the inconvenience," Mai lied to the client, a petite young woman with wavy auburn hair and snapping green eyes. If Naru heard of her accident, he wouldn't let her hear the end of it.
Yasu stood awkwardly next to her, unsure of how to act. He'd never actually sat in on meetings with promising clients. Naru sat comfortably on the couch opposite the lady, who turned out to be Midori Nanami. Mai sat next to Naru, looking fairly comfortable with her new role of helping the interviewing process. Yasu stood behind the two, looking slightly confused, and Midori shot the young teen a small smile. His lips twitched slightly in response.
"That's fine," Midori said politely, smoothing her white cardigan. Underneath her loose orange dress, there was a small bump protruding from her stomach. It was rather small for someone so far along, so Naru was indeed rather surprised Mai accurately guessed the date she was due. Not that he would admit it to her or anything.
"Could you please repeat the incidents that have been happening at your theatre recently? I know that we discussed them over the phone, but for professional reasons I'd like my assistant to write them down, just so we have a more accurate idea of what's been happening," Naru asked her smoothly. Midori nodded and smiled easily.
As Yasu listened, he learned some things. The woman ran Miyabigaoka theatre with her husband, Kazuko Nanami. It was rather successful, started by her great, great grandfather in the early 1920s. Yasu felt a little thrill go through him. He loved hearing of places with rich history.
The very first play ever put on was Suzume, or Sparrow. It starred Yoshio Tetsuya as the handsome young lead, and Kito Takamura as his love interest. The play went well, but right after opening night, four people died in various accidents, all only a few hours apart. Shortly after that strange things started happening.
"It was only after my husband and I decided to recreate the play Suzume that it got really bad. It's like this play brings up some terrible things," Midori explained.
"Could you tell us when it first started getting worse?" Naru prompted. Midori took a shaky breath, and Mai silently wished she had brought her some hot tea. It would soothe her nerves and make this easier on the poor woman.
"Yes. We had cast our actors, and started our first rehearsal. My husband and I were sitting in the audience, watching and surveying the play. They had gotten to the scene when the two kiss when out of nowhere, a light overhead blew out. We had to move really quickly before the hot sparks hit us, but my husband managed to get burnt a little. Then the most awful sound we've ever heard started up from backstage. It sounded like a woman screaming unintelligible things; but the worst part was how murderous she sounded. It gave me the chills," Midori said, rubbing her arms slightly.
To ghost hunters, this seemed typical. Electric interference and noises, but to someone who wasn't used to it, it was rather frightening. Even so, Mai, who wasn't the smartest person in the group, could tell that the occurrence wasn't just your run of the mill poltergeist.
She quickly jotted the encounter down, keeping her notes short and precise. Naru watched her as she scribbled, and once she was done he turned back to Midori.
"I assume there's more," he said simply. Midori nodded and continued hesitantly.
"My husband was locking up, and was about to go to the main hall and exit the building when he was pushed violently down the stairs. He was fine, rather shaken up, but he understandably left the building in a hurry. The next day was rather quiet, nothing happened at all." Mai wrote down some more words and showed her list to Yasu, who pretended to understand completely, when really he had no idea what he was supposed to be looking at. He was still fairly new to this, after all.
"Then when night came, as he was locking up, he was pushed again! He didn't return for a week, and left me in charge of everything. Strangely, the ghost never attacked me, just him. I think the ghost doesn't like men at all; it's scared some of our male cast. Fortunately, none of our lead characters have been hurt, but they are very wary."
"I see. Well, I have to say, that is rather strong activity if it can manipulate the living in a physical manner," Naru remarked. Mai could tell he was turning something over in his mind.
"Please Shibuya-san, take our case. We need to do this play; it's been something we've dreamt of for a long time. I can't risk our actors getting hurt and throwing it all off," Midori pleaded.
"I would be more concerned about you getting hurt," Yasu piped up, and quickly turned away as Naru shot him a scornful look. He clearly didn't appreciate being interrupted.
"Ah, well, the ghost doesn't really want me, as I've said," Midori said quietly, and Yasu blushed slightly. Mai reached up and comfortingly patted his arm, feeling the embarrassment radiating off of him.
"I'll admit, this case does sound rather interesting. This is obviously a spirit with a strong attachment to the past if it's been hanging around for so long," Naru finally said. Mai looked at him with expectant eyes. To her surprise, he turned to her and stared at her seriously for a second.
"Mai, what do you think, should we take it?"
"W-Why are you asking me?" Mai spluttered, squirming under his intense blue eyes. She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks.
"You seem rather eager to hear my answer. Perhaps you would like to say something?" Mai sat quietly for a second, trying to think her response over carefully.
"Well, yes. I have to admit, her story is intriguing, and besides, we've never actually investigated in a theatre before," she finished. Midori beamed at her, glad the young girl was taking her side. She noted that this girl had some sort of hold over the handsome young lad, which was amusing to see. The girl, Mai, looked sweet and innocent, so she didn't understand how she could influence Shibuya-san. He was rather imposing.
"Very well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt. We'll take the case, but we do have requirements. Do you remember what you discussed over the phone?" Naru said quietly.
"I will provide rooms for you. I'd like it if you stayed on site during the investigation, in case anything happens. Our security cameras haven't been too reliable for night time doings," Midori asked uncertainly. Naru just nodded.
"Very well, we'll see you in a few days' time."
Midori smiled and shook their hands, giving Mai a sweet smile. She would be eternally grateful the girl felt pity on her. Maybe now things would start looking up.