me again! anyway here's the long awaited case 3! i hope you guys enjoy it tho it will most likely be the shortest case in this story i actually came up with the idea for this case before i came up with the last case but i didn't want to make it seem like the cases were only going to get shorter again this will be a short case and sorry if it's a little boring, but i need this case in order to build to what i have coming up in later cases
Chapter 1- Appearances
September Day Before Case… 6:30 P.M.
The summer break over and school making its way back into Mai's life, she found herself not only overloaded with paperwork, but her own homework! Couldn't her teachers give her a break? Luckily, Naru had some sympathy, and didn't add more paperwork when she finished what he had already given her, but let her complete her schoolwork.
Stuck at her desk on a not particularly nice day, with dark cloud threatening to pour a waterfall onto the Japanese citizens below, the bell attached to the front door jingled. A middle-aged woman walked in. "Yes, may I help you?" Mai asked, standing to meet the woman not much taller than she.
"Yes, I hear you exterminate ghosts?" she asked, removing the hood from her jacket. She must have been worried for the rain as well, it was only a matter of time before it just poured.
"Yes, ma'am, do you have an appointment?" Mai replied cheerfully, offering the woman a seat on the sofa.
"Yes, I made one for 6:30, I'm sorry if I'm late," she said humbly.
Mai shook her head. "It's no trouble, and you're not late at all. Give me a moment and I'll alert my boss that you've arrived and make you some tea."
"That would be lovely, dear."
Mai walked over to the closed door that lead to the cave her tea addict of a boss dwelled. She knocked on it cautiously. "Naru!" she called softly. "You're 6:30 appointment is here."
Before she could say anything else, the door opened, Mai almost began knock on her boss's chest! Red from the slight embarrassment, she took a step back. "Want me to tell Lin?" she asked.
He only nodded, walking towards the living area of the office. Lin, having overheard the conversation followed him with his laptop. Leaving Mai to make tea, and eavesdrop on their possible case.
"Gensai-san, explain what your family has experienced," Naru ordered coolly, as the teakettle whistled.
"Every since my late husband and I moved into our house we've experienced activity, but nothing as serious as now. My husband died two years ago, so it's just been myself and my daughter. The activity escaladed to the point where we have heard voices, laughter, and I was pushed down our staircase! Furniture has been turned over, things have gone missing, I have even been attacked in my sleep!" the woman explained rapidly, fear present in her eyes, as Mai place a cup of tea in front of her.
"How old is your daughter?" Naru asked, nonchalantly, Mai knew exactly where this was going. It was just like the case they had back in July.
"She's sixteen, what does that have to do with anything?" the woman replied, taking a sip of her tea, hoping to calm down.
"It's very common with teenage girls undergoing stress to unknowingly create paranormal phenomena. Has she experienced things as well?"
"She's told me of feeling she is watched, but nothing more. She's says it hasn't bothered her, but that's a lie!" she exclaimed worriedly.
"How so?"
"One night, I was awoken by shuffling coming from my daughter's room. Fearing someone I had broken in, I snuck into her room and no one was in there, aside from Jinru, my daughter. However, she was floating a few feet from her bed! Still asleep! I ask you, is that common!" she yelled at him, his eyes widening for a fraction of a second.
"Levitation…" he responded, it wasn't a question, it was a fact.
"Yes, it was as if something or someone were holding her. Please! I beg of you! Help us!" The woman broke down into sobs, Mai reached a hand out to the woman's shoulder, attempting to comfort her. Sending glares to her contemplating boss.
"We'll take your case, we shall require three rooms, two for sleeping and one to use as our base, leave you're address with my assistant and we should arrive tomorrow at one," Naru stated, standing up. The woman's face fell.
"I-I'm afraid we only have one spare bedroom and you could use the den for your base, forgive me…"
Naru looked from Lin to Mai. "Mai, call the others and make reservations at a nearby hotel. We'll be at your residence at one tomorrow, Gensai-san." With that, the anti-social workaholic retreated to his lair, his taller Chinese companion did the same, leaving Mai to show the distressed woman out.
"Oh, I'm sorry, my house is simply too small and-"the woman rambled only to be stopped by the seventeen year old in front of her.
"Gensai-san, it's no trouble, I'm sure that some of us will take turns staying the night in your house. We're going to help you and your daughter, regardless of there not being that much room. I promise you that," Mai smiled, as the woman wrote her address down.
"Please, call me Nishi, and thank you…"
"Mai. Taniyama Mai."
Nishi smiled, as Mai opened the door for her. "Well, thank you, Mai. You're such a sweet girl."
"Thank you," Mai smiled back as Nishi left the office.
She seems nice, Mai noted to herself as she went back to finishing her homework.
September Day 1 12:30 P.M.
The next day, Mai had notified her school of her absence, to which they agreed to have her homework collected and sent to her when she returned. Now she stood outside the SPR headquarters waiting for everyone to show up. Masako and Yasuhara would not be able to make it that day but promised to come the next day with research done on the house. They were just waiting for John and the bickering monk and priestess.
I hope John's not the one driving, Mai thought to herself leaning against the van, waiting. Sure enough she saw the priest's black sedan driving its way up to the parking lot. Poor John…
"Nice going Old Man! You broke John!" Ayako hollered, getting out of the sedan, as John wobbled over to Mai.
"Me! You're the one who screamed in his ear Old Hag!" Monk yelled back.
THUNK!
"What the hell do you keep in there!"
"Watch your language! Damn it!"
"You didn't!"
The two continued to bicker as Mai steadiest the woozy priest. The little brunette tried to figure out a way to make the trip lighter on the Australian priest, despite the fact that the house wasn't even half an hour away.
"Seeing as you are all here and we need to head to our client before the next hour, I suggest you act like adults and stop your squabbling," Naru remarked coldly, the two 'adults' crossed their arms and huffed.
"He/She started it…" they grumbled, as Mai raised her hand.
"Nee, Naru?"
"What is it, Mai?" Mai brought her hand down and tried to figure out if this was even a good idea.
"Is it okay if I go in John's car?" she asked innocently, he only sighed.
"If you must." With that he got into the van and the four social members of SPR climbed into John's car.
"Shotgun!" Mai exclaimed, beating Ayako to the front seat by a second.
"No fair!"
"Old Hag, just get in the car!" Monk exclaimed, tired of the priestess's whining.
John could only whimper slightly as he got into the driver's seat. Mai smiled sympathetically at him. "Don't worry, John, it only takes about twenty minutes to get to the house."
John smiled weakly. "Thanks, Mai."
"Thank you so much for coming so quickly!" Nishi exclaimed, greeting the bunch with a gracious bow.
Seeing that her antisocial boss was not planning on replying anytime soon, Mai took over. "It's no trouble at all," she smiled, bowing as well. "We brought some of our friends who will be able to help, Takigawa Houshou, Matsuzaki Ayako, and John Brown."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," the older woman bowed again.
"Greetings aside, if you would show us to where we may setup our base," Naru interrupted coldly.
"Of course, right this way," Nishi replied, walking toward her small two story house.
Monk elbowed Mai's shoulder. "Hey, did you forget to make Naru tea this morning or something?" he whispered as they walked into the house.
"No, he practically drank the whole pot before we left, he probably has to pee or something," Mai brushed off, shaking her head.
"Or he's pissed you didn't sit in the van with him…" the monk teased, ruffling her hair.
Mai practically snorted. "Yeah right, no need to play with my emotions. Monk!" she whispered back.
"Here's the den, there are outlets everywhere and I've taken the liberty of bringing out extension cords and plug-in multiple outlets, for your disposal. My daughter is currently at school, however she will be home in a couple of hours, but please don't bother her, she has a very important exam coming up and needs to study," Nishi explained, gesturing to the room filled with a table and a couch and some chairs. "If you need anything, feel free to ask me."
She left the room, leaving the group to do as they pleased. "Matsuzaki-san, you and Mai will do a sweep of the house and take temperature readings. The rest of us will set up the equipment," Naru ordered and the group split up after Mai grabbed the thermometer.
She and Ayako wandered throughout the small house, nothing seemed unusual temperature wise, so why not a little friendly conversation? "What the hell did you do to Naru?" Ayako wondered aloud after checking the temperature.
"What?" Mai questioned, shocked by the priestess's outburst.
"Naru. He's in more of a pissy mood than usual, and he'd normally rather have me do this on my own so you can carry in the equipment. And you said you gave him his tea, so it can't be withdrawal…"
"PMS?" Mai unknowingly threw out there, remembering a similar conversation on their last case.
"Pissed off male syndrome?" Ayako surprisingly responded, leaving the little brunette jaw dropped. "What? You're not the first person to come up with that."
The two just started laughing. Ever since Mai began her work alongside this self-proclaimed priestess, she couldn't remember a time where they really hung out and laughed, in other words…girl time. Actually since taking up her job at SPR she really had missed out on girl time with her friends, with her workaholic boss having her at the office all the time, on her days off she really just tries to catch up on sleep.
She made a mental note that at the next chance she was invited somewhere by her friends, she was going to take that day off of work. Hey, she deserved it. "So what do you think about the house?" Ayako asked, breaking the girl from her reverie.
"Huh?" Mai replied, shaking her head. "What do you mean?"
"Well, usually Masako makes some sort of snooty remark about how she can sense spirits and whatnot-"
"And you miss that?"
"No, I want another person's point of view."
"Since when?"
"Don't start acting like that old monk again," Ayako crossed her arms as Mai wrote down the temperature of the master bedroom.
"Okay, but I don't really know how to sense spirits…" Mai replied with a sigh.
"You have far more psychic ability than Masako. You've had more visions and have been of more help, well, in my opinion. Sometimes I think you might end up being the strongest psychic out of all of us," the priestess rambled, then stopped long enough to sigh.
"Really?"
"Look, don't worry about sensing a spirit, just feel the environment around you. How do you feel in it?" Ayako tried, making Mai sit down on the bed.
Mai tried to protest, but knowing it would be futile, she sighed, and closed her eyes. Everything around her felt- "Warm." she blurted, eyes still closed. "It feels warm and inviting…" Mai seemed to relax in the moment, opening her eyes in realization. "The exact opposite of what Nishi told us."
"That's what I was thinking, what do you think it means?"
Mai pondered for a moment, fairly certain she might say something Naru-like. "I think it means we don't know the whole story…" She really needs a day off.
"You might be right, c'mon we still have a few more rooms to check out," the priestess suggested, heading for the door.
"Okay."
The front door opened and a pair of footsteps patted into the home, startling the priest who just happened to be setting up a camera at the bottom of the stairs looking up. He and the girl who walked in made eye contact and shared a cry of surprise. "Oh, sorry, you must be Jinru, I'm John," John apologized, she still appeared to be frightened.
"I-it's fine. F-forgive me, I-I have homework to do. T-thank you for coming to help our family!" she rushed, bowing and racing up the stairs.
John looked up at her trail with sympathy in his eyes. "Poor girl, she's terribly shy," he noted under his breath, heading for Base for Naru to give him more work.
Given another two cameras, John was ordered to set them up in the kitchen and in Jinru's room. "Hey, John, need any help?" Mai offered, seeing him set it up in the kitchen.
"I just have to set up one more camera, but I'd enjoy the company," John smiled, and the two headed upstairs.
"Nee, John?" Mai asked aloud as they were walking through the hallway. Her companion turned his head toward her. "Did you feel a difference in the air not too long ago? Like compared to when we came here?"
John thought for a moment before he answered. "Now that you mention it," he began, knocking on the door in front of them. "Jinru-san, could we come in?"
"H-hai!" she called back, opening the door. Jinru was almost as tall as John with brown hair tied in a ponytail, and light green eyes. "C-can I help you?"
"Uh, if it would be alright with you, could we possibly put a camera in your room? Your mother reported activity happening in here at night," Mai explained sweetly, the girl could only nod.
"If-if mother said it was fine, then, okay," she replied, returning to the pile of homework on her desk.
Something isn't right. But what? Mai wondered, helping John set up the camera.
I have a bad feeling…
Me: sorry this was a short chapter :(
Naru: you should be...
Me: you're just pissed cuz i had Mai go with John and not you!
Monk: you guys need to calm down
Masako: i thought i was the one having the mixed readings! why does Mai get the spotlight!
Mai: Uh...
Yasuhara: and why do you always have me come in the next day?
Me: that one i can answer, you're in college u probably have to have more time before you can actually get to the cases not to mention u always do research which requires like a day of searching
Ayako: u are right about one thing...Mai really needs a day off
Me and Mai: thank you?
Lin: arigato everyone who is enjoying this story
John: please leave a review :D
jaa nee :D