Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.

"Work grows out of other work, and there are very few eureka moments."

VIII-Eureka

"If you don't mind, I like to get things done as fast as possible." The sternness in his voice staggered Seiko. Looking at him across the kotatsu, she nervously clung to her kimono. She wondered how he had coaxed her into such a discussion. Not only uncomfortable, but also depressing. Seiko faced the stern blue eyes rather gracefully but she was completely tattered inside. Sitting beside him was the whole team of SPR. The only one whom she could confidently face was Masako, because she had known her for a long time but now she felt embarrassed to reveal anything.

"Shibuya-san, I wonder if you would like some tea." She muttered nervously, yet maintaining the grace in her voice. Noticing his head moving in an affirmative way, she quickly poured the tea into a cup and handed it over to him hastily. "Would you all like some?"

Everyone else shook their head. She noticed Ayako glaring at Naru distastefully. She suddenly felt the confidence to answer on seeing the concern on everyone's face except Naru and his assistant, Lin. She sighed once or twice and took a deep breath in.

"Yes?" She asked him politely. On receiving her approval, Naru crossed his arms against his chest.

"Nakazawa-san, I want you to answer straightforwardly. If you don't mind, no red herrings." He began and noted the surprised look on her face. "Is there something-?"

"Ah, n-no." She stuttered uncomfortably. Her beautiful face had withered away in fear. Her pale complexion paled even more, but surprisingly she took the situation lightly and smiled weakly.

"Was there anything here from the beginning?" He asked.

"Eh? You mean supernatural, do you?" She replied in a question.

"Yes." He replied. She shifted uneasily before lowering her eyes.

"No." Was the reply, with no feeling of guilt in it. For a moment, silence seemed to be more comfortable. Mai let out an inaudible gasp, while Ayako seemed completely shaken. Her eyes fell upon Naru as he smirked victoriously.

"It was all done for publicity wasn't it?" He removed a cut out article from a newspaper. It read 'Nakazawa Lodge - Haunted! SPR investigates!' "Your lodge was pretty hard up for money, and it wasn't easy for you to attract customers."

Slowly, things were starting to make sense, at least to Mai. She understood that this was the reason why Naru had called up Yasuhara and asked him to bring a newspaper. To her surprise, Seiko's answer shocked her even more. The uneasiness in the atmosphere made things further complicated.

"Yes." She replied curtly, the fear on her face had vanished. Since her secret had been found out, she had no more reason to hide it.

"Are you in love with Matsuda Ryuu?" He asked scathingly. She lowered her head.

"Yes." She replied.

"Did you ever love Nakazawa Keisuke?" He asked. The atmosphere had grown heavy. Bou-san looked at Seiko, his eyes wider than ever. There was a pause before Seiko parted her lips to answer.

"No."

Naru shut his file loudly in response. He looked at the frail body of Nakazawa Seiko. His analysis on her character had turned out to be perfect. He looked at her distastefully, but there was a feeling of respect in his eyes. She had been truthful and straightforward. While most women would be beating the bush or would weep, saying that one would never understand a women's feelings, Seiko had been perfectly aware of her position and had told a 'no' so confidently that it shook everyone to the core.

He shook his head and looked at Mai. Her hand covering her mouth, she stared wide eyed at Seiko. The others seemed equally surprised, except Masako. She immediately rushed to her side and comforted her. The beautiful woman had no remorse on her face, instead a mere satisfaction of being able to tell the truth glowed on her face. He sighed before leaving the room.

...

Ayako sat down on a chair in the verandah, her reserved place. She looked at the forest and sighed. Naru and the others were still in the congested and suffocating base. She couldn't take the heaviness of the atmosphere anymore and had given the others a slip. Resting in a comfortable position, she thought of the impending evil. She had probably never expected that Seiko would turn out to be such a woman. Almost dozing off, she heard footsteps in the distance. Focusing on the blurry image of a few men dressed rather formally, she guessed that they were probably from the police department. As they closed up, a young man, strikingly handsome stepped forward, showed her his badge and looked at her with his pure, light, green eyes. Ayako remained sitting, struck by his beauty. His pale skin was complimented by his neat, brown hair. Smiling benignly, he pushed forward his hand in expectancy of a hand shake. Ayako took his hand and shook it slightly.

"Y-Yes?" She mumbled. He smiled politely.

"If you don't mind, can you get the owner of the lodge?" He said with due respect. Ayako nodded in a frenzied fashion and then hurried off to find Seiko and Naru.

After a few minutes, all of them had assembled in the huge lounge of the lodge. Sitting on the couch in a princely manner, the man once again flashed his badge in front of Naru and smiled pleasantly. Naru seemed rather annoyed at the flashiness of the young man. Ayako, Mai and Masako were huddled up in a corner, while Lin, Bou-san and John stood beside Naru. Seiko had taken a seat opposite to the officer.

"I'm from Chubu Regional Police Bureau." He said. "I heard that there has been a suicide case?"

"Yes, but not exactly a suicide case." Naru answered instead of Seiko. The young man shifted his eyes from Seiko to Naru, a glint of interest showing up in them.

"You are?"

"Shibuya Kazuya, head of Shibuya Psychic Research." Naru said with pride.

"Ah, these are your subordinates, I suppose." He guessed, pointing at the rest of the team. Naru nodded affirmatively. "I'm Sakurai Ryoutaro."

"Nice to meet you." Mai greeted cheerfully in place of Naru.

"Mostly, people who find suicide bodies, drop them off at the police station near Fujikawaguchiko." Ryoutaro began. "Is there any special reason why you have ended up calling us?"

"I believe this is a murder case." Naru said.

"So you have left the body in the forest." He guessed. Naru confirmed his guess. "Is there someway we can find this body?"

"No need for sarcasm." Bou-san mumbled. "We've made marks on trees, one of us will be able to find the location."

"Is that so?" He asked politely. "Then, can somebody guide us to the spot?"

"I'll go." Lin volunteered.

"I see. You are?" Ryoutaro asked with a pleasant smiling face.

"Koujou Lin." He answered.

"Nice to meet you, Koujou-san." He greeted pleasantly enough to make Lin reconsider his decision.

...

"Hey Naru-chan, aren't we in a fit if this turns out to be a murder case?" Bou-san asked as he sat on the couch lazily.

"And why would that be?" Naru asked as he returned back to his usual chair in the base. The whole team had assembled in the base after having a chat with Sakurai Ryoutaro, who seemed too pleasant to deal with. Good thing that Lin had offered to take him through the forest or else they would have been killed by the man's overly pleasant personality.

"He seemed rather fake." Ayako mumbled. "I was probably just struck by his handsomeness. In reality his pleasant demeanor hides something very dark inside him."

"Agreed." Mai muttered. "He was too bright, even for me."

"Yeah..." Bou-san agreed. "I wonder how Lin's going to manage."

They all laughed, chatted for a few more minutes and discussed about the case for a little longer. Bou-san later suggested that they should probably leave as Naru was getting annoyed at the ruckus that they were causing. Sighing as they all left one by one, he finally asked Mai to stay behind to make some tea for him. complying to his request, Mai sat down on the couch once again.

Mai felt relaxed as most of the people had dispersed from the base, leaving her and Naru alone in the room. A 'win-win' situation for her, after all she did get some time to spend with Naru, all alone. Those two words were ringing in her mind, a pleasant smile gracing her lip unconsciously. She thought about Lin leaving together with Ryoutaro to venture into the deadly forest. She shivered in reaction to the thought and then cupped her face in her hands. Her eyes immediately fell upon a silent Naru.

"Hey Naru, what was the point of questioning Seiko-san?" She asked suspiciously.

"..."

"Well I did see that you wanted the exact truth, but er - what does it have to do with our case?" She asked. "Since everything here was just an act, I wonder why we're still here." Her suggestion seemed to annoy him but he had no time to answer her gullible questions. Instead he smirked at her.

"I like completing my job." He answered plainly.

"Eh?" She whined. "But isn't our job over?"

"No."

His answer seemed ominous. There was something in his voice that felt - vicious. She wondered what had interested him so much. He had changed much after seeing Keisuke's body hanging from one of the distorted limbs of the tree. It seemed like his complete ideology of the case had been rejected by his brain. Mai felt the urge to ask, but she remained silent to seem sensible. Her thoughts rewound slowly. Keisuke, why would he possibly commit suicide? There was no reason. After collecting her thoughts, she came to a conclusion: Keisuke had committed suicide because he couldn't bear to be cheated by his wife. The reason was maybe logically correct but Mai felt dissatisfied. There was a loophole somewhere. Somewhere in the blind spot.

From the beginning, Keisuke had seemed sane. He showed no outrageous jealousy or anger. Neither was there any outward show of love for his wife. Determining a common fact from these two facts, she concluded that everything seemed to revolve around Ryuu and Seiko's relationship. Mai felt uneasy when she finalized her deduction, she felt that there was some catch present here.

In Naru's point of view, Keisuke had been murdered - but why? The only two people who would have a motive were Ryuu and Seiko, but it all seemed impossible. Shaking her head violently, she failed to notice the curious pair of blue eyes on her. They seemed to be fixed on her but somewhere distant too, thinking of something deeply.

"Hah! This all seems completely stupid!" She cried.

"What is?" He asked, coming back from his thoughts.

"All this ghoulish business, the suicide or murder or - whatever! I don't care! It all seems messed up!" She muttered unhappily.

"'It's all messed up.' That's the catch." He muttered. Mai once again lost herself in her deep thoughts. Noticing the sudden silence from her side, Naru rested his back on the chair comfortable. He picked up a file from the table in front of him and glanced through it attentively. Suddenly, after thinking for a long time, she struck gold.

"Naru, I remember that you examined the body carefully before we left. Is there something that you thought was peculiar?" She asked with sudden interest. He remained silent for a moment then parted his lips to say something.

"I did notice something, but it's all messed up." He smirked at her, curiously waiting for her reaction.

"Maybe I can solve your problem?" She asked sarcastically.

"Maybe."

"Then tell me."

"..."

"Oh! I hate you!" She cried angrily.

"Fine," He began, "I smelt no burnt almonds."

A moment of silence passed. Mai let her eyes widen as she noticed Naru smile rather conceitedly. She quirked her eyebrows, fidgeted with her fingers and displayed utmost confusion but Naru remained stiff with determination. He wasn't about to let go of the answer at any moment. His posture being a confident one, Mai felt inferior.

"You mean, that the old man we met earlier that day was lying?" She asked, then shook her head frenziedly.

"Probably." He said. "Or-"

"Or?"

"Maybe, he was saying the truth, only, we failed to notice it."

...

"So, is this the spot?" The man asked quietly.

"Yes." Lin answered indifferently. He noticed the young man look up the distorted tree. Looking carefully, he made a round around the tree, then he signaled to his subordinates, who immediately came running in with tons of equipment loaded in their hands. As Lin managed to keep an eye on everything that was being done, he sighed unconsciously. Things were getting complicated for them. Everything seemed blurry, including the truth that he thought was probably the truth. He had always wished to stay out of nasty businesses, but here he was, standing right beside a dead body!

"Is something wrong?" Ryoutaro asked politely.

"No." Lin replied back curtly.

After carefully removing the body from the tree, it was placed on a stretcher with utmost care. His subordinates managed to take a complete analysis of the surroundings and reported to him precisely. He nodded at periodic intervals and noticed everything carefully, taking in every detail that was visible to him. Lin wondered if it was possible for him to miss something - something that wasn't visible but then he shook his head and thought that this young man probably wouldn't believe in the supernatural.

"Nothing strange, sir." The man who had been examining the body reported.

"Yes?" He asked. Then turning towards Lin, he looked for an expression of defeat on his face but could find none. Lowering his neck, he knelt down in a comfortable position and examined the body carefully. He put on a pair of gloves and slowly turned the body's neck and narrowed his eyes at the marks on his neck. Removing a notepad from his pocket airily and then jotted down a few things. After several minutes of further examination, he nodded and then got up. He looked at his subordinates, signaled that they should leave along with the body and then turned to face the stolid man with a perfectly, pleasant smile.

"This is a suicide case." He said. "His neck broke immediately and led to his death."

"Ah." Lin muttered, least surprised.

"I suppose your boss will be a little disappointed?"

"Hn."

...

"You seem rather deep in thought." Ayako sneered playfully at Mai.

"What do you mean?" Mai snarled.

"Well, you sure seem a lot more like Naru now." She commented. "Always immersed in thoughts."

"Sure. I'm just being a little sensible." Mai laughed

"Putting your neurons to work, eh?" Ayako joked.

"Mm-hm."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nah, just the usual." Mai laughed. "When are we going back home?"

"Ha! Don't kid me." Ayako said with a sudden seriousness. "You are bothered about something."

Enveloped in a moment of silence, Mai looked around with sudden curiosity. The ticking clock seemed symbolic to her, but she shook her head and just laughed. Maybe she was reading way too many detective, occult books. Eying the girl with narrowed eyes, Ayako sighed. Falling back on the bed, Mai felt the softness of the bedsheets and the pillows. She played around for a while before stopping to look around once more. The once bright room seemed too - dark. Everything seemed dark, or was becoming darker and harder to understand. She had left the base in an utter confusion. Since she didn't want to be confused anymore, she had returned back to the room to find that Masako was with Seiko and that Ayako was the only one with whom she could converse. Ayako wasn't comforting at all, instead she seemed to be in a mood for a questionnaire. No fun at all.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just worried." Mai mumbled unhappily. "Things are taking a nasty turn."

"I can see that."

"Naru is behaving rather devilishly." She continued blabbering. "And there is a catch everywhere."

"What?"

"Oh! Don't mind me." Mai smiled. Suddenly a knock on the door disrupted their little conversation. Bou-san creaked open the door and stared at them, then coughed and looked at them once again. Mai nodded at him and he came into the room. She got up and straightened her curled up shirt and smiled at him as he blushed a little.

"Naru wants you guys to be there at the lounge." He informed. "Sakurai is back from the investigation of the body."

"Then we better go." Mai suggested.

...

The atmosphere was rather dark and unpleasant. Naru stood there, flabbergasted by Ryoutaro's sudden revelations. Naru's ideology had most probably been crushed completely by now, or so Mai deduced. He stood like a brick, leaning comfortably against the wall and his hands crossed across his chest. Ryoutaro looked calm and composed. His demeanor was the one that was probably making everyone uncomfortable. Mai looked down at the exquisitely carpeted floor. The lounge was lit well enough for Ryoutaro to notice the surprised look that lasted on Naru's face for a second but had disappeared the next moment. Bou-san was the one who uttered a cry as Ryoutaro sighed and shook his head to answer confidently that this wasn't a murder case at all.

"Sorry for crushing your hopes, but this is a suicide case." He announced, emphasizing on the 'is' a little too much.

Everyone present in the lounge looked at his confident face. His face was bright and had a look of satisfaction on it. His soft green eyes were eying everyone piercingly. The one who seemed even more surprised by the fact was Mai. Her dream had completely turned out to be wrong. Maybe it was just a premonition of Keisuke's suicide, nothing more than that, but she had always felt confident about her dreams. She buried her face in her hands and calmed her mind. Naru noticed her and as she raised her head once more, he nodded at her.

"So?" Ryoutaro continued.

"Did you perform an autopsy?" Naru asked.

"No." He answered. "No need for such a thing. It was clearly a suicide case. Death caused by hanging - breaking of the neck."

"So are you implying that this is no more than just a mere suicide case?" Bou-san asked unhappily.

"Shouldn't you be happier? Things are now simpler for you, aren't they?" He asked casually.

"Can we see the body?" Naru asked.

"We've sent it to the nearby mortuary." He informed. "You are welcome to examine it."

He then turned towards Seiko standing in the corner of the room. Her presence hadn't been noticed at all. Her face was worry stricken and clearly pointing towards the fact that she had been having sleepless nights. She slowly raised her eyes to meet his green eyes.

"Nakazawa-san, you can prepare for the funeral rites at any time you please." He said softly, with a hint of concern in his voice for the poor widow.

"Y-Yes." She answered quietly. Standing next to her were Ryuu and Ken. Ryuu comforted her while Ken suggested that maybe she should leave now.

"Sakurai-san," Naru began, "do you believe that people can have signs before a certain someone's death?"

"You mean to ask if I believe in supernatural stuff and occult?" He asked and then laughed. "No."

After several more minutes of silence and passing stares, comments and whatnot, Naru finally left the room. His abrupt departure from the room showed that he was rather unhappy. It was as if he implied that it was useless talking to an officer who did not believe in the supernatural.

"He is one hell of a conceited guy." Ryoutaro muttered under his breath. Looking at him funnily, Mai first remained silent then suddenly started laughing. Ryoutaro joined her with a silent smile and the others just sighed.

...

He lay there lazily. He was frustrated, overwhelmingly. He picked up a file, then dropped it back on the table harshly. He huffed and then focused his blue eyes on the wall. The slow ticking of the clock made him uneasy but he shook of the feeling. He had to maintain his calm. In all probability, he would be losing his calm if he saw those bright green eyes staring at him. He ran his long fingers through his raven hair and buried his face in his hands after that.

"Naru!" His assistant screamed as she entered the base. "That was no way to leave the room!"

"Hn." He answered back.

He lost himself deeply in his thoughts. His ears stopped taking in the words that his assistant was pouring. He looked at her, an annoyed look on his face but he continued thinking. There was something that he had definitely missed. He forced himself to think harder. Running more fingers through his hair, he rested his elbows on the table in front of him.

And then it suddenly it hit him.

He got up instantly, drove himself out of the base frenziedly and ran towards Keisuke's room. As he ran up the stairs, he noticed Ryuu stepping out his room. Ryuu gave him a funny look before going downstairs. Naru banged open the door and eyed Keisuke's room with fervor. He felt the excitement run down his spine. Smirking unconsciously, Naru headed towards the small table next to Keisuke's bed. He looked around calculatingly and then eyed the things kept on the table. One by one, he examined everything before something rather interesting caught his eye. Smiling triumphantly, he sighed satisfactorily.

"Eureka."

A/N: Alright! Two more chapters (hopefully) and then BAM! The end. Thanks Dunhaveaname. :D I hope things seem a lot more interesting and gripping now. I wanna know what you think of this chapter, so please tell me! :D Read & Review. Thank you, SnowSisters, for your inspiring words!