Vacay (self-insert #6)

Chapter 5

"Murder, huh?" I mused, still rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Last night, I'd fallen asleep right after feeding Naru porridge and woken up at eleven the next morning, which meant Bou-san and John had the pleasure of explaining what Masako's seance had revealed while the girls had their lunch. "Can't help you."

Bou-san's expression soured. "What happened to being Detetctive Inspector Nira?"

"There's no case if none of the suspects have a motive, and that's only if all of the suspects have been possessed." I explained.

He looked grumpier, which meant I had a point. "Lin, anything from last night?"

"We recorded strange noises." His long fingers flew across the keyboard for a moment.

'Strange noises' was an understatement. Roars and growls filled the base, rumbling deep from within the speakers. Bou-san frowned, leaning forward. "What is that sound? Is it in every video?"

"Yes."

A second later the door slid open to admit the girls. "We're back. We just had lunch. We can take over woah." They flinched as the sound hit them, and Mai instinctively clapped her hands over her ears. "What is that? What's making that sound?!"

"I don't know." Bou-san ran a hand through his honey colored hair. "When we checked last night's data, it was in there."

Everyone gathered around the monitors, taking a moment to appreciate the rumbles. "It sounds like a dinosaur sleeping." John mused as we stared at the screens.

"Yeah..."

Rrrrriiiiiiiiiiiing!

We all flinched (or jumped a mile, in my case) as an alarm went off without warning. My mind blanked, but Mai and Bou-san were on their feet faster than anyone. "Huh...a fire!? Where?" Bou-san called as he dashed into the hallway.

"Monk-san!" Mai shouted, clinging to a window. "The main house!"

Sure enough, a column of thick black smoke was billowing out of the Yoshimi's main residence. The other members dashed out to help, leaving me hastily shouted instructions to stay at the base.

I obeyed, partially because I was currently babysitting the unconscious Naru. I checked on him for a moment, poking my head into the room to watch him snore quietly. He looked more peaceful than I'd ever seen him, and for a moment the devious part of my brain wondered if he'd kill me if I managed to take a picture of him for Madoka. I mean, he couldn't really react if he never found out, right?

Heavy footsteps thumped behind me. I glanced over my shoulder...and blanched before lunging into Naru's room and slamming the door shut behind me. I had just barely scampered to the other side before something cracked against the thick panel, followed by rabid growling. "LIN!" I whisper-screamed. "HELP!"

The line crackled. "I know. I'm on my way." Zzzz.

A hysterical laugh gurgled deep in my throat as the door cracked and crunched even more. "You're so useless, Naru." I whimpered, hunkering down by his prone form. "Why can't you do something just this once?"

I didn't have to wait long before a new set of footsteps entered with a note of caution. "Nira?" Lin called out, his voice muffled.

"Here." I replied as cheerfully as I could manage. "Before you ask, I'm in one piece."

More footsteps pattered in. "Lin-san!" Mai cried, her feet coming to a stop as she took in what had to be Kazuyasu trying to tear down the door with a razor sharp cleaver.