Mai awoke with a start, sitting straight up in bed feeling like she had just been drowned. She immediately ran to her bathroom, dry heaving, not being able to throw up the water that had filled her lungs in her dream. When she was able to finally stop and catch her breath, she walked back into her room, checking the time. "5:55, 5 minutes before my actual alarm," Mai said grumpily turning her alarm off, deciding she might as well get ready for work.
A knock sounded from her front door as she ate a piece of toast. Even though her ankle had healed a week ago, Lin still insisted on picking her up. She grabbed her bag and put her shoes on, while eating the last bit of her toast. She opened the door and left, locking it behind her, before following Lin to the car. Once they reached the office Mai went to get out of the car before Lin stopped her. "Taniyama-san, are you feeling well?" Lin asked, he had noticed the dark circles under her eyes and that she hadn't been her normal cheery self. "I'm fine Lin, just had a bad dream," Mai smiled, only telling him the partial truth and then got out of the car heading into the office.
"Mai, tea." Naru called from his office as soon as the bell above the door chimed. Mai walked into the kitchenette after setting her bag down and got to work on the tea.
The next few hours went by slowly, with the occasional calls for tea from the narcissist and few calls to the office. Mai sighed as she checked the time again, when the bell above the door chimed. "Hello, how may I help you?" Mai greeted standing up and bowing to who had just walked in. "I'd like to see your boss," a girl with black hair and blue eyes, wearing a floral kimono answered. A look of recognition crossed Mai's face as she recognized her from a few articles she'd seen when doing research. "Masako Hara, what does a famous medium like yourself want with a small business like us?" Mai asked, as sickly sweet as she could, but Masako simply shook her head. "Alright, but he really hates unexpected guests," Mai warned as she went and knocked on Naru's office door before poking her head in, "Noll, there's someone who wants to see you."
Naru just raised an eyebrow before getting up and coming out. "Hara-san, what do you need?" Naru asked coldly. "Last time we talked, you were trying to blackmail me, you don't expect me to help you after that, do you?" Mai audibly gasped and looked between them.
"What happened to keeping your identity a secret?" Masako scoffed and turned her nose up at them. "I was hoping you'd reconsider my offer, before I took an interview with the local paper about your business," Masako smirked as he glared at her.
"I don't know what offer you're referring to," Naru stated simply and turned on his heel to head back to his office. "Mai, escort Hara-san out and if she refuses to leave, inform Lin." Naru told her before closing his door behind him.
"You heard the boss, Goodbye Hara-san. Never come again," Mai smirked as she practically had to push Masako out the door. "This isn't the end," Masako warned as she huffed and turned on her heel to walk away from the door. Mai shook her head as she closed the door and then headed to the kitchenette to make tea. "So, what was the offer?" Mai asked Naru as she walked into his office. "Not right now Mai," he said, shooing her away after she placed a cup of tea on his desk. "No, right now is the perfect time to talk about this." Mai said, sitting down in the chair on the other side of his desk. Mai sipped her tea, awaiting an answer.
"Mai, it's not a big deal." Naru sighed and took a sip of his own tea. When she didn't get up and continued to watch him, he rolled his eyes and avoided eye contact. "She wanted me to go on a few dates with her, for her silence on my identity." Naru stated simply, annoyance lacing his tone. "I didn't think she'd show up to the office to try in person."
"Damn, I guess it does suck being handsome," Mai joked and grinned when she received a glare from him. "I mean, I'm surprised your head hasn't exploded from the ego boost this had to have given you," Mai smiled more and sipped her tea. "You think I'm handsome?" Naru smirked as she blushed. "Of course that's what you focus on, stupid jerk." Mai huffed and crossed her arms looking away from him.
Naru was about to say something when a knock on his office door stopped him. "Noll, I just received a call from a student at Yuasa high school," Lin informed him from the doorway. "She mentioned having a case for us, but when I tried to ask her questions over the phone she insisted on coming into the office and would be here after school." He continued, noticing that he must have interrupted something since Mai was blushing.
"Alright, that means she could be here shortly. Mai, prepare another pot of tea and get ready to take notes." Naru ordered her and when she stood she gave him a salute and turned on her heel. Once Mai had set the tea up in the common area, she grabbed her notebook and a pen and sat on one of the couches. The bell chimed from above the door and a girl with her brown hair up in twin buns, wearing a school uniform walked in. "Hello, I called earlier," she said as she walked closer to Mai. "I'm Taniyama Mai, please have a seat," Mai stood quickly and bowed, introducing herself and offered her a cup of tea, which the student took it gratefully.
"You're from Yuasa High School correct?" Naru asked as he came out of his office, the girl simply nodded as he sat in the chair across from her. "Why did you come to us?"
"Well, there's this girl in my class that I think is possessed." She answered her voice wavering a bit, causing Noll to raise an eyebrow signaling the girl to explain. "I know it was stupid but we were playing with an Ouija board in the gym after school and since then she's been acting weird. The next day in class she jumped up on her desk in the middle of the lesson and in gym class she was eating sand." She continued, Mai made a face at the thought of eating sand. "I know it sounds crazy, but I really think she's possessed by a fox."
"Your friend needs a doctor," Naru simply stated, setting his notebook down on the table, pouring a cup of tea for himself. The girl set her teacup down and apologized, leaving before Mai could stop her. "Seriously Noll? Why did you treat her like that?" Mai scolded him, but before either of them could say anymore the door opened.
"Hey Naru, what's up?" Monk said coming in. He was dressed up like a cowboy, with sunglasses on and a guitar case over his shoulder. "Mai won't you be a sweetheart and get me an iced coffee." He sat down on the couch, taking his hat and jacket off.
"You know if I wasn't used to your aura, I'd have no idea who you were." Mai commented and headed off to the kitchen to make a cup of iced coffee.
"I had a live show earlier, thought I'd drop in since I was in the area." Monk said, taking his sunglasses off. "I also need to talk to you guys about a possible case."Monk stated as Mai handed him the iced coffee and sat next to him on the couch. "There's this student that almost comes to every one of our shows, after our last gig she struck up a conversation with me. She asked me if I was really a monk and then told me about a desk being cursed in her class. Each student that has sat at it, has had some sort of accident getting off the train." Monk told them, his face grim. "One more thing, the teacher of that same class has fallen ill as well, she said that he started coughing up blood and they can't figure out why."
"The school wouldn't happen to have been Yuasa High?" Mai asked, making Monk look at her in shock. "Yeah, how did you know?" but before Mai could answer his question someone else walked into the office.
"Hello, I was hoping you could help me." The man said as Mai stood to greet him. "I'm the principal of Yuasa High School.
I thought I wouldn't be posting this chapter before the 18th, so next chapter will definitely have my Ao3 username. Thank you for reading! Sleep well if you read this before bed and Have a good day if you're not a vampire like me!