Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Again, ghost hunter babies by now.
Chapter 7 – Casual Sex and Cases-By-Phone
-0O0-
The rest of the night and the following day went by at a pretty fast clip – mostly because all they did was sleep and eat. Ayako and Mai woke up in the middle of the night, watched a bit of television, and fell back into bed until lunch time. Lin and Madoka had come for dinner again. Mai was pleased to realize that they really were (quietly) a couple. After another lovely after-dinner tea with the whole group, Professor and Mrs. Davis set up a movie night in the front sitting room. Mai had collapsed into her comfy chair and hadn't stirred from it in over four hours.
However, she was finally getting tired at one in the morning, England-time. She knew that it was 9AM in Tokyo and she would normally be rolling out of bed now. But between the plane ride, the very long day yesterday, and napping today, Mai's internal clock was almost fully switched over.
She and Bou-san were only still awake because they were waiting for Yasuhara to get back. He had declared that he needed to go for a walk… five hours ago. He was also no longer answering his cell phone, so they couldn't help but be nervous. Mai figured that Yasuhara had stopped at a bar – she had gotten a drunk text about "bangers" about three hours ago. Lin informed her that "bangers" meant sausages in British slang, so he was probably having a snack at a local bar.
Mai rolled her eyes. Of course Yasuhara was at a bar, as he hadn't had a girlfriend or a one-night stand in about a month. He was probably hitting on some poor, unsuspecting English undergrad right about now. But seriously, couldn't he just wait until they were living in the apartment to chase girls? Martin and Luella had been waiting for him, too. They had given up about an hour ago. Yasu probably looked really irresponsible right now. (In her righteous anger, Mai conveniently forgot that she had already mentioned Yasu's womanizing ways in front of their professor and his wife).
Naturally, Naru and Lin were both still awake and going over case files. Mai had long suspected that neither of them really slept for more than a few hours at a time. Madoka was still at the house, too, but she was peacefully snoozing on the couch.
Mai's eyes felt very heavy. She shifted in her cushy seat and forced herself to wake back up. She pulled The Science Behind the Supernatural back into her lap and picked up on page 175. The author was going on about temperature signals that identified different types of spirits. Interesting, although Mai already knew most of it from her fieldwork.
Her phone rang, shattering the companionable silence. Yasu. Mai answered quickly, not wanting to wake Madoka. "Where are you, you moron?" she whispered furiously into the phone.
"Right outside, come open the door?"
Mai unfolded herself and got out of the chair, "He's back." She walked to the front door and unlocked it, then turned away from the source of her ire. She waited until she was back in her comfy chair before fixing her primary researcher with a glare. Yasuhara just grinned gleefully at her.
"You suck at life," Mai hissed. "You couldn't just wait until after we'd moved into the apartment to disappear and bar hop? Do you know how flaky you probably look to the Professor now?"
"Mai-chan, I wasn't bar hopping. I only went to one bar!"
Madoka snorted a bit at his response, apparently having been woken up by the argument. Mai could tell that Naru and Lin were listening, too.
"Whatever, you made everybody stay up for… wait! You were in the same bar for five hours? That's not like you." Mai was curious now.
Yasu grinned cheekily. "Of course not, Mai-chan. I was only in the bar for two hours."
So then where had he gone? Mai considered the possibilities. The only reasons that Yasuhara ever called it a night were if: 1) He was too drunk to stand – and right now, he only looked mildly intoxicated; 2) If she (Mai) complained enough about going home – and of course she hadn't been there; or 3) He left with a girl. Huh. He did look really smug right now. Wow.
"No way," Mai breathed, kind of awed. Lin and Naru exchanged confused glances.
"Yes way," Yasuhara grinned wider.
"But we've only been here for two days!" Mai shook her head.
"I am that awesome."
"Wha – Yasu, you got laid already?" Bou-san joined the conversation.
Madoka choked on the cold tea she was sipping. Lin and Naru both froze.
"Yessir," Yasuhara affirmed, growing smugger by the second. He turned to Mai. "Remember what He-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless said about foreign accents?"
Mai glared. She did not want to talk about That Person right now. She also noticed that Naru had perked up a bit at the mention of a mysterious person. He loved a puzzle.
Yasuhara decided not to wait for Mai's answer. "He said that Japanese girls find foreign accents attractive, remember? Well, apparently it works the other way around, too! I had a lot of fans."
Naru was completely distracted by this inane conversation, much to his displeasure. He couldn't help it, though. His former employees, including the fresh-faced Mai, were talking completely normally about casual sex. He didn't quite know how to feel about this unexpected development. And who was this mystery person who Mai obviously did not like? Foreign, apparently, and a womanizer. But apparently all three of them knew him – Bou-san had glared at the mention of his non-name, too.
Yasuhara was still bragging. "So, yeah, even though Bou-san's the rock star, I'm the one who got some my first night out in a new country."
Mai rolled her eyes. "You are such a man-whore."
Madoka burst out laughing... and Naru choked on his own spit. What did she just say?
"And thoroughly happy to be one," Yasuhara replied, "Hm, I think this is going to be a good college experience." He kicked back on the couch next to Madoka.
Bou-san snorted. "Better not sit too close to him, Madoka-san. You might get pregnant."
It was Lin's turn to choke, and Naru smirked despite himself. Reactions like that from Lin were rare.
Mai rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you don't have a brood of illegitimate children already, Yasu. And Ayako's right – at the rate you're going, you'll wind up with some kind of disease."
Naru and Lin choked simultaneously.
"That's what penicillin is for, Mai-chan," Yasuhara replied airily. "I'm going to bed – again. See everybody tomorrow!"
Mai and Bou-san exchanged a long-suffering glance. After a moment, Bou-san got up and stretched.
"I'm turning in, too," he said to the room. "Let's keep Yasuhara's adventures to ourselves, Mai. I really don't want to have to listen to another of Ayako's hour-long lectures on health and responsibility."
Mai nodded. "Agreed." She opened her book again. "I'm staying up a little longer. I would much rather go to bed thinking about paranormal temperature differentials than Yasu's sex life."
Cue another choking fit for Naru. Lin chuckled.
"Paranormal temperature differentials over sex? There's something wrong with you, Mai-chan!" Yasuhara stage-whispered from upstairs.
"Yasu, you had better be in bed when I get up there!" Bou-san threatened.
"Ooh, are you getting in with me?"
"Shounen!" Bou-san sounded stricken. "I thought we agreed that you would knock that off!"
Mai banged her head against her book. "Everybody shut it!" she snarled. "I'm trying to read here!"
Naru stared. Lin chuckled again. Bou-san just shook his head incredulously and trudged upstairs.
"Wow, did I really just say that?" Mai wondered aloud. "So I want everyone to shut up because I'm reading, Bou-san's ordering Yasu to be in bed before he gets in, and Lin has laughed at least three times today. I guess that settles it - the world must be coming to an end."
Madoka made an amused noise and reached for the TV remote. "Then let's have a Paranormal Investigator Slumber Party and watch another movie while the earth burns around us. I don't feel like driving home and those two idiot scientists will be at it for another couple of hours."
Mai closed her book with a snap. "Sounds good to me. I'll make some tea." She shuffled off to the kitchen, intending to change into pajamas while the water boiled.
-0O0-
Oliver Davis was feeling slightly… lost. Somehow, he expected the members of SPR to always remain the same, hunting ghosts and arguing and throwing office parties in Japan. He was reassured that they were all still recognizably themselves… but all that (internal shudder) sex-talk reminded him that Ma – that everybody was two years older, and that they'd all developed and changed without him there. Naru felt like he'd missed out somehow – and then shook his head, annoyed with his focus on something so trivial. He was very tired.
A few minutes later, Mai returned with a tray of teacups. Naru followed her progress toward him out of the corner of his eye, and finally looked up as Mai handed him a steaming cup of Earl Grey. Naru's drowsy mind absently registered that she looked adorable in a bathrobe and pink socks. Older and more world-wise, but still Mai.
Mai smiled sleepily at Naru's soft look. After a moment, he broke their gaze and re-focused on the file in front of him.
Unfazed at his lack of verbal acknowledgement, Mai set Lin's tea down and walked back to the couch. She gave Madoka a cup and re-settled under a blanket. It felt nice, sitting here in the cozy sitting room with her long-missed SPR members. An ear-splitting grin spread across Mai's face.
Naru watched Mai and Madoka on the couch for a moment, sipping his tea. Delicious as always. Naru felt oddly peaceful and decided not to bother with the why. He glanced at Mai again.
Lin noticed the direction of his one-time charge's gaze and smiled slightly. "Five quid says Taniyama-san falls asleep in 10 minutes."
-0O0-
On day five of their visit, Mai and company were still with the Davis family. The four Japanese visitors had been due to move into their apartment on day three – only it turned out that the air conditioning wasn't working. Ayako, ever the princess, refused to sleep without climate control and arranged for a two-night hotel stay. Luella, ever the proper English hostess, recommended coercively that the foursome remain in the Davis home until the apartment was ready. Ayako (not really looking forward to packing and unpacking four times in as many days) agreed happily.
The apartment would actually be ready sometime today – but Mai still hadn't repacked. She had slept in after a late night argument about spiritual-presence detection with Martin, Naru and Madoka. Mai smiled into her morning tea. It was really fun to argue with Naru when she actually knew what she was talking about!
Not that she came away with a victory, though – Naru somehow managed to come up with about four different arguments for his favored methods. Mai had felt out of her league again – but she brightened now, remembering that she had held her own. And one of the methods Madoka had mentioned involved her powers – she and Yasuhara had new ideas for tests to run on Wednesday!
Hmm. Wednesday – their usual Testing Day – was in two days, and they had nowhere to conduct them. The estate's backyard was big enough, but what if it rained? And any wind would mess up her results. Mai listened to Luella and Madoka talk about the rising prices of tea with half an ear, trying to come up with a location for her testing/training.
Suddenly, her cell phone sang the first few bars of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." John was calling! Mai excused herself and stepped into the hallway to take the call.
"Hello, John-kun?" Mai greeted brightly.
"Mai-chan!" he replied, his tone warm even through the phone.
"Hey!" she smiled. "What's up?"
"Well, of course I want to know how you're doing in England, Mai-chan. But that'll have to wait a bit. I need help with figuring out the ghost's location."
"Huh? What ghost?" Mai was totally lost.
"The ghost in our client's… Mai-chan, didn't Bou-san tell you? I called him last night for his opinion on the exorcism." John sounded confused.
"Client? You're on a case?" Mai turned toward the dining room, where she could see Bou-san talking with everyone. Luella and Madoka had joined the group at the table.
"Well, yeah." John's tone became nervous. "We're admittedly short-handed at the moment, but we accepted the case because the ghost keeps dragging people into a river at the edge of the property. It was only a matter of time before someone drowned."
"Yes, that makes sense," Mai agreed tersely. TTMPI was on a case and Mai didn't know. She stalked toward Bou-san, out for blood.
"And I wasn't sure what kind of exorcism to perform, so I called Bou-san." John had apparently heard the danger signs in Mai's tone; his own voice rose in panic.
Mai swept into the dining room like an avenging angel. She came up behind Bou-san and slapped him hard upside the head, barely noticing that everyone stopped talking and stared.
"Ow!" Bou-san cried, surprised. "What was that for?"
"I just wanted his opinion," John said quickly, tone thoroughly panicky now.
"I understand, John-kun, you did the right thing," Mai replied consolingly, "I'm not mad at YOU." She glared daggers at Bou-san.
"Oh," Bou-san muttered, looking guilty. "I was going to tell you after breakfast, Mai-chan. You were up late last night… I didn't want to burden you!"
Mai threw him a scathing look and went back to her phone call.
As the group at the table watched Bou-san rub his head, Naru became lost in thought. John Brown and probably Masako Hara were on a case in Japan. But… why was Mai upset that Bou-san had known and she hadn't? Mai was in England for an extended period of time, so why should she expect to be in the loop with the company she was working for in Japan? Which reminded him, he really wanted to ask about this TTMPI that everyone worked for. Who was the owner of this company that had hired away all of his employees?
Not that Naru should care about his employees working for someone else. It wasn't like he was returning to Japan… even if he might actually want to. Naru pushed this thought away and refocused on the events at hand.
Mai was still questioning John. "Did you call Bou-san because you needed a tie-breaker or something, John-kun? I know that Masako-chan would vote against jorei. What does she think about the spirit, anyway?"
Bou-san winced and Naru's eyes flew to Mai.
"WHAT?" Mai cried. She turned back to Bou-san and immediately started to beat him around the head and shoulders. "How and when did this happen?"
Hara-san must've gotten hurt, Naru guessed. And Bou-san neglected to tell Mai. Naru could understand why she was upset about that; Mai had always been very concerned about her friends. She hated when people got hurt. He saw that Mai was now listening very hard to John, every once in a while throwing a hard glare at Takigawa. Suddenly feeling someone's gaze, Naru looked up and noticed that Madoka, Yasuhara and his mother were all watching him. Did they expect him to burst into flames or something?
Yasuhara grinned as Naru became aware that several people were watching him stare (unblinkingly) at Mai. Yasu was used to the way that Naru reacted to Mai (even though Naru himself didn't seem to understand the significance), but it was fun seeing Mrs. Davis' shock at her son's interest. Yasuhara and Madoka exchanged a secret gleeful glance.
Meanwhile, Mai was pissed. Not only had Bou-san neglected to tell her that John and Masako were on a (dangerous) case, but apparently a spirit had pulled Masako out of a first-floor window and yanked her through the garden. She had been halfway to the on-property river when John saved her by throwing an entire bottle's worth of holy water at the spirit. John had apparently been in base when he heard Masako scream and saw a thermal image of the spirit drag the medium through the window.
Masako was scared afterwards, obviously. Her arm was injured where the ghost had grabbed it and pulled, and she'd been scratched up pretty badly as she was dragged along the ground. John had sent her to the hospital. Mai supported his decision.
"But John-kun," Mai interrupted, "I don't want you there by yourself. It's bad enough that it was just the two of you, but you can't see the spirit without a medium. Plus, it's not limited to the grounds, if it pulled Masako-chan from the house and to the river. Get everybody out of the house, wait for Masako-chan to come back, and I think you should also call Father Toujo for an extra set of hands."
She saw Naru and Lin exchange identical looks of surprise. Mai cringed internally, knowing she sounded like a lead investigator.
"I sent the family away last night," John replied, "And Masako-san should be back tomorrow, but I don't want to wait that long. They have neighbors that could be attacked. And Father Toujo is with me now."
A cry of "Konbanwa, Mai-chan!" sounded in the background. There was a brief scuffling noise as the phone changed hands.
"Happy to assist!" Father Toujo continued in Japanese. "We have decided to exorcise the ghost using jorei tonight, as without Hara-san, there is no other option."
Mai grimaced. She hated having to utilize jorei. That type of exorcism 'killed' the ghost, erasing its existence completely from the world. She and Masako preferred jourei, or helping the spirit to move on. However, John and Father Toujo had a point.
"Good evening, Father Toujo, and unfortunately, I think you're right," Mai said with a sigh. She noticed that Martin was staring at her confusedly. Mai realized that she had unconsciously switched back to Japanese and now the professor couldn't understand her.
Naru was surprised to hear Mai revert to her native tongue. She was talking to Father Toujo; John had already summoned him. Father Brown obviously had the same idea that Mai had – increasing the number of spiritualists on the case. Naru wasn't sure why, but he felt relieved at hearing Mai speak Japanese. It sounded more… normal to hear Japan's familiar cadences from her lips.
Mai caught Naru's eye and was momentarily shocked to see the soft look there. What was he thinking about?
"The only problem," Father Toujo continued, "...is that if the ghost can wander freely outside, how can we trap it for the exorcism?"
"Well," Mai said thoughtfully, "I guess you're going to have to lure it somewhere. Where does it appear most often?"
The phone changed hands again. "In the garden, Mai-chan," John replied. "And Masako-san said that the spirit is someone who killed a woman he loved by drowning her in the river. Apparently she cheated on him. The spirit dragged Masako-san out because she tried to reason with him about it. She suspected it would be a futile effort, though… she doubted the possibility of removing him with jourei even before she got hurt."
"Great, a violent murderer," Mai muttered, switching back to English for Martin's sake.
"But… I don't think that the ghost can actually get in the house, Mai-chan," John continued. "It never appears there. Masako-san leaned out of the window to argue with it, and that's when it grabbed her."
"Alright, well at least you're safe there," Mai nodded, slightly reassured. She hated not being there and not knowing all this already. "So then does the ghost always follow that pattern? Dragging people out that one window?"
"Yes, according to the family," John replied. "Do you want me to send you some video?"
"That would be awesome," Mai replied gratefully, "Give me a second." She walked over to Yasu's messenger bag and pulled out his laptop. After turning it on, she hit a couple of buttons to call up the video connection program.
"Of course you can use my laptop," Yasuhara said sarcastically – but Mai was too focused to care at the moment.
"You should put the phone on speaker, Mai," Ayako suggested.
Mai nodded absently and pressed the requested button. Everyone else was up and moving towards her now.
John's voice echoed in the sitting room. "Okay, Mai-chan, I just activated the video connector on my end. You should be seeing something in a minute."
A video feed of a Japanese garden and a lovely old house popped into Yasuhara's screen. "This is the live feed," Mai noted. "Can you send me the feed of the attack from this view? How many cameras caught it?"
"Coming right up, Mai-chan!" John agreed happily. "And four cameras caught it. Two in the garden, one in the room that Masako-san was standing in, and one that we set up by the river."
"How close did she get to the river?" Lin asked.
"Lin-san!" John exclaimed. "So nice to hear your voice! Masako-san had been dragged about halfway to the river when I got there. It seemed to vanish temporarily after I doused it in holy water, but I can still feel its presence."
Mai's fingers flew over the keys, and she successfully split the screen to view all four feeds at once. They were kinda tiny, though. Mai glanced around the room, eyes locking on the large flat screen television mounted on the wall.
"Professor Davis?" Mai asked in her nicest voice. "Can I maybe commandeer that TV for a little bit? The laptop screen is too small to really see anything."
"Of course!" Martin replied jovially. "Plus, that way we can all help!"
Mai smiled warmly and then turned to Yasuhara.
"Way ahead of you, Mai-chan," he replied. "The connector cables are in the equipment suitcase." He bounded up the stairs.
Mai turned back to watch the feed while everyone greeted John.
A strange feeling came over Naru when he heard Father Brown's voice. It intensified as he listened to the former SPR employees, including Lin, discuss the case at hand. It felt like… homesickness. But he was home, Naru thought, as he glanced around the sitting room. This was where he grew up. And yet…
Naru shook his head a bit to clear his mind. This was a case. "Father Brown," Naru interrupted, "Start playing the recordings at 5 minutes before Hara-san was attacked."
"Naru-san!" John exclaimed enthusiastically, "I was wondering if you were there! I'm so happy to be working with everyone again!" There was a series of tapping noises. "Alright, mate, I've got the video keyed up. Should I start it?"
Naru opened his mouth but Mai beat him to it.
"No," she said with authority. "Wait until we get the TV up and running."
Naru raised an eyebrow. Madoka narrowed her eyes at Mai, thinking something over.
Yasuhara returned with a length of cable and quickly ran it from the TV to his computer. Once he had connected them properly, Mai did some rapid typing. All of a sudden, the video feeds popped up on the TV screen.
Mai smiled with satisfaction. "Okay, John-kun!" she called. "Run them, please!"
"Right-o, Mai-chan!" The videos started rolling, and Mai, Naru, Madoka and Lin all moved to see the screen better.
"There." Naru observed, pointing at a slight change in the thermal image on camera #2.
"John-kun, stop the tape," Mai ordered.
The video was paused obediently – and Madoka grinned, having puzzled something out. Oh, boy, this should be fun, she thought excitedly.
"Now roll it forward at one-third time," Mai continued in a no-nonsense voice. Lin and Naru exchanged confused glances at Mai's tone. Madoka's grin became wider.
Mai studied the thermal images carefully before pronouncing her verdict. "Naru's right, the spirit is there, and it seems to just hang in the air…"
The teen parapsychologist scoffed, giving her a look that said, 'Of course I'm right, stupid Mai.'
She grinned and rolled her eyes at him before turning back to locate her assistant. "Yasu, can you use your derivative formula-thing to estimate how often the ghost stays in that spot? I mean, we can lure it back to the window using Father Toujo, but it would be easier to exorcise the ghost in its 'home' location."
"Sure thing, Boss," Yasuhara replied cheekily, winking at Mai. She glared.
Naru frowned. Yasuhara had always called Mai 'Boss' on cases, since she was his 'immediate supervisor,' so to speak. However, his calling her 'Boss' now felt different somehow…
Yasuhara had taken back his laptop. He called up a spreadsheet with a lot of numbers on it.
"What is that?" Naru asked interestedly.
"I got bored in calculus one day and got to thinking," Yasuhara began, typing furiously. "I wondered if I could adapt derivatives and figures – the ones used by mathematicians to collect aggregate data – and develop a way to estimate the frequency of a spiritual presence at a haunting. And I did it. I eventually tweaked it to account for hypotheses on attack locations and victim selection. Mai-chan and I also figured out a scale to measure the relative strength of the spirit."
"That is amazing," Martin noted wonderingly. "Does it work?"
Yasuhara grinned. "Of course it works." He had taken the two feeds from the garden cameras and dumped them into the analysis program. He then split each feed into second-long frames and ran the tapes through the formula. A few minutes later, numbers and percentages appeared at the bottom of the screen. Naru nodded appreciatively at Yasuhara's excellent work.
"You didn't put this into the paper," Martin noted.
"Well, we had to save something impressive for when we got here," Yasuhara replied slyly. The computer beeped, indicating that the program was finished. "Okay," the researcher stated, "According to the results, that area is definitely the ghost's home base. It spends 62% of its thermally visible time there, and another…" he typed something quickly… "23% of its time in that immediate vicinity. The only significant movement made during the entire investigation was when the spirit attacked Masako-chan." He looked at Mai.
"Alright," she decided. "We'll do the exorcism there."
"I'd like some more data to analyze," Yasuhara murmured. "John-kun, can we get a copy of the case file?"
"Of course, Yasuhara-kun. I'll scan it now."
"What information are you looking for, Yasu?" Mai asked, grimacing as she watched the video of Masako-chan being dragged along the ground. Her friend screamed and clawed at the dirt, looking terrified.
"I just want to check myself," Yasuhara answered. "Here we go. And… aha!"
Mai turned away from the TV. John had just rescued Masako and was kneeling next to her on the ground. "What is it?"
Yasu grinned. "I checked our conclusion about the 'home base' against the original criminal report of the incident. Our ghost, who is named Hideyo Tsukishiyo, by the way…"
Mai shuddered involuntarily at the name. Apparently, her instincts could still work for cases in Japan, even when she was halfway around the world. "Yep, I've got creepy feelings, it's him."
"Well, apparently blood from the original victim was found on the garden walkway in that exact spot," Yasuhara finished. Everyone was silent for a moment.
"Right," Mai finally said. "Good job, Yasu. John-kun and Father Toujo," Mai began, switching back to Japanese, "I want you guys to ring in a section of the garden around that spot with either holy water or some of Ayako's charms. Did you bring them with you?"
"Yes, Mai-chan," John-kun replied. "We'll start setting it up now."
"Leave a hole at the northeast corner," Naru added. The ghost had to have a way in, just in case it happened to be wandering when the exorcism started.
Mai growled. "I was just going to say that, Naru." He just stared blankly back at her. She stuck her tongue out at him and was rewarded with a smirk.
"In a couple of hours, put the live feed back on, John-kun," Ayako spoke up. "That way we can watch the exorcism."
"Will do, Ayako-san! We'll need time to set this up, so we'll call you back later!" John was always so cheerful.
"Okay, John-kun," Mai assented. "And get me a status report on Masako-chan!"
"Yes, I'll call the hospital after we're set."
Mai thanked him and pressed the "End Call" button on her phone. Then she rounded on Bou-san.
He had the grace to look abashed. "Really, jou-chan, I was going to tell you after breakfast. But you were busy arguing last night, and I knew you'd freak out about Masako-chan, so I wanted to wait until morning."
"I've been up for two hours now," Mai growled, "And I spent a good ten minutes of that time talking to you."
"Yes, but I kinda forgot about it," Bou-san admitted. Mai scowled.
"Oh, come on!" Bou-san whined. "Who's the person who has dreams almost every case and forgets to tell us half the time?"
Mai winced. "Well, that's me… but I've gotten better!"
"Well, it's still about 50 to 1, advantage Takigawa," Ayako muttered.
Mai huffed and conceded. "Fine. But seriously, you have to tell me next time!"
"Oh, don't worry," Yasuhara cut in, "I think you scared John-kun so badly that he'll definitely call you first from now on."
Everybody laughed. And then Madoka struck.
"Hey, Mai," she began, "About this TTMPI you all work for…"
"Yes?" Mai answered warily. Madoka looked way too sneaky right now.
"Who runs it? I mean, you said that John and Masako were working the case by themselves. Aren't there other investigators that could have gone with them? And why would you guys be running the show from here? Surely that's the lead investigator's job?" Madoka finished. She willed her face to look innocent and confused.
And the reaction was everything she was expecting and more. Mai blanched, looking like a deer caught in headlights. Takigawa grinned and looked pointedly at Mai. Ayako tried to disguise her laugh by coughing. Yasuhara gave Mai an evil-looking grin, glasses flashing in the light. All eyes in the room had turned to Mai.
"Uh… well…" Mai stalled.
Ayako sighed impatiently. Mai was ruining her chance to show Naru up! "Mai's the lead investigator, obviously," she replied matter-of-factly, pointing at her daughter-to-be for emphasis.
A moment of silence.
"Hah…" Naru managed a syllable.
Madoka giggled maniacally. Her star pupil was actually speechless with shock.
Mai noticed, of course, and her trepidation was quickly replaced with glee. "That's a new look for you, Naru. I didn't know you could do total shock."
Lin actually snorted.
"Oh, Mai-chan!" Madoka sang, "Are you really? When did you become a lead investigator? Did you take over for someone? You were so authoritative just now; I figured it had to be you!" Her voice got so high at the end that Mai needed a moment to figure out what Madoka was saying.
"Ah, yes, I guess I am a lead investigator, although Bou-san and Ayako take turns as well." Mai took in everyone's confused looks and elaborated. "TTMPI stands for Taniyama Takigawa Matsuzaki Psychic Investigations. We founded it. Well, I thought of it ("And was the driving force behind it!" Bou-san chimed in), Bou-san got us our first clients, and Ayako supplied us with most of our start-up money. And since they both have other jobs, I run most of the investigations."
Naru was still stunned.
Across the room, Martin wondered when his son was going to snap out of it. Luella bit her lip and fought off a vision of her son and Mai running SPR together.
"And Mai-chan here convinced Masako-chan to give us a lot of her used equipment," Ayako added. "And then when Masako-chan started working cases with us, she brought top-of-the-line stuff with her and sometimes 'forgot' to take it back. When Mai-chan called her to come and get her stuff, Masako-chan said that it would be too much trouble to retrieve it."
"And that 'a new model was sure to come out by the time her drivers came for them,'" Yasuhara imitated Masako's voice perfectly.
"I don't know why she had to go to such lengths to give us stuff," Mai said, rolling her eyes. "She could've just said, 'Hey, you guys are my friends. Have some really nice presents!' But nooo, she has to be difficult."
"Anyway, Mai-chan really runs the show," Ayako continued, really wanting to drive that home to the still silent Naru.
"You run the show, too," Mai countered, blushing.
"Hmm… but who signs my paychecks?" Yasuhara asked, faking confusion. He dug into the pocket of his jacket and brought out a folded check. He made a great show of smoothing it on his pants leg and studying the signature. "Hmm, it says Taniyama Mai."
"Ayako and Bou-san can sign the checks, too!" Mai cried, swatting at Yasuhara.
"Yeah, but you do it!"
"Whatever," Mai yelled, just wanting to end the embarrassment. Staring at the video feed to stop the conversation, Mai considered TTMPI's current predicament. Outdoor exorcisms were risky; what if the ghost was too strong for the charms and escaped? What she really needed was the file from two cases ago – that exorcism had been outside and tricky. Maybe there was something helpful in there. The disk that held that file was in her suitcase… which was an excellent excuse for escape!
"I need my file backups," she said aloud. "One of our recent cases needed an outdoor exorcism." Mai rose from the couch. She and Naru locked eyes for a moment before Mai blushed and tore her eyes away. She flew up the stairs.
Naru listened to the excited conversation flowing around him for a moment, but his eyes remained glued to the spot where Mai had vanished. Then he was in motion himself.
"I have notes on several such cases myself," Naru heard himself say. "I shall retrieve them." He ignored the stares of what seemed like every eye in the room and moved forward smoothly, trying not to appear like he was running after Mai.
-0O0-
AN: Okay, I kinda rushed while editing this chapter. I really wanted to post it today So it's not as polished as it could be, but I hope you guys like it!