Sir Dorey steepled his fingers, his usually jolly Santa face somber. "Let me restate what happened." He said after a while, resting his chin on one hand as the other moved to scroll with the mouse. His pale blue eyes darted around on another screen, and for a moment I wriggled uncomfortably. Having people read my writing made me self conscious, like they were only picking at the parts they didn't like and holding them under a powerful microscope. "When you walked past Oliver, you could see exactly what he was seeing in that moment."
I nodded.
"He was holding the ancient money from the Meiji era, am I correct?" He waited until I nodded. "Money previously owned by the hospital staff."
My head bobbed up and down.
"Hm. Very interesting." He scrolled a bit more. "Without tests, I'm afraid..."
Nope. No tests. "Look, couldn't you give me an educated guess? A hypothesis?"
Sir Dorey sighed. "Dimensional travel has never been the focus of the Society...though I may have to revise that. If I were to base it off of what I know so far, it would be that you and Oliver are very alike."
I laughed.
"Spiritually speaking, of course. Where you come from, things like psychometry and psychokinesis aren't possible. Here, though, they are."
"So you're saying I'm an dimensional version of Oliver?" I said skeptically. "Shouldn't I look more like him, then?"
He shrugged. "Like I said, spiritually speaking." He reminded me. "Besides, I'm not an expert. So, when Oliver was using his psychometry, perhaps you both overlapped?"
I had to admit, his hypothesis was better than anything I could think up. "You might be right."
"It's worth considering." Sir Dorey broke into his usual grin. "Well, it was nice talking to you, Miss Narumi. We'll talk later."
I shut down my laptop after checking my emails (none, not including the stream of random pictures of Chibi Naru that Madoka was filling my inbox with) just as Naru slipped inside, briefcase in hand. My insides froze the second I looked at him. Naru didn't exactly give off funsie or even casual vibes, but right now he looked like he was about to commit murder. "I give in. I ate all the snacks." I blurted out before slapping a hand over my mouth. I knew very well that this wasn't about the empty wicker basket in the corner of the office. This was about Gene. "Sorry. You probably want to be alone, right?"
"Thanks."
His Royal Highness rarely expressed gratitude, so I made an extra effort to gather my things as quickly as possible. Out on the sofas, Mai stood near Bou-san and Ayako as the trio stared at Naru's office, bewildered. "Why's he in such a foul mood?" Ayako whispered, taking extra care to make sure the irate CEO wouldn't hear her.
"He's always like that after he gets back." I could tell that part of Naru was also about to get shoved under a magnifying glass when the door jingled open timidly. Mai whirled around instinctively. "Welcome!"
A young man returned the smile anxiously, a little girl around four or five clutching onto his much larger hand with wide eyes. "Um, good afternoon. You are...what one could call 'mediums', right?"
This sounded promising, especially since ninety nine percent of visitors usually asked about fortune telling or incense. Mai urged them to take a seat while I called out Naru who, to my relief, had the decency to hide his irritation. "I'm Akifumi Yoshimi and this is my niece, Hazuki." The man was saying when Mai returned with glasses of iced tea. "I was wondering if you could examine her. I was thinking of just bringing her to a hospital for treatment, but..."
I winced inwardly as Naru's eyes sharpened. If this was another 'unusual birthmark', he wasn't going to restrain himself. Hazuki's head snapped up and her grip on her uncle's shirt tightened. "I hate hospitals!" She whimpered.
"It's alright. We're not going to one."
Bou-san took a sip through his straw before speaking. "Naru-chan, it's alright if we examine her, isn't it? It won't take long."
"Please help us." Akifumi requested.
Naru glanced at me. I nodded. He let out a sigh that, in my opinion, could've sounded a little less sassy. "All right."
"I'm sorry to bother you." Akifumi gently unwrapped the thin bandage from around her neck, revealing a rash that went all the way around. "This circles her entire neck."
Naru's lips thinned. "Skin diseases like that are nothing unusual."
Akifumi's gentle hands steered Hazuki around. "But that's not all. If it were, we would've just gone to a hospital, but..." Hazuki had been wearing a bright floral dress with an elastic collar, and now it was pulled down to reveal a rash that traveled down her spine in the form of bright red kanji.
Mai's eyes widened. "Wha...What does it say in the writing?"
"'Zen getsu in rakugoku dounyo'."
Naru glanced at the somber monk. "Monk-san?"
"This is a kaimyou."
"A kaimyou..." Mai swallowed. "Do you mean the name given to a dead person!?"
"Right. 'Zen-getsu means the foolishness of fearing something too much. 'Rakugoku' means 'descending into hell', and 'dounyo' means 'girl'." He hesitated, unsure of how much to say as the dress hid the kaimyou from view. "The 'getsu' in 'zen-getsu' is probably taken from the same Chinese character used for 'zuki' in 'Hazuki'. The kaimyou was branded onto this girl by someone wishing her harm. It means, 'this foolish girl will descend into hell'."
Naru couldn't exactly turn him away after seeing the rashes. A few days later, we'd driven to the coast—me and Naru in the company's van and Ayako and Mai in Bou-san's car. I stuck my hand out the window, enjoying the rush of cool salty breezes carrying the distant crash of waves and the complementary warmth of the sun. "You know, being stuck with a grumpy troll has its perks." I commented, then yelped as the window began to rise. "Oy, leave it open!"
"Sorry. Grumpy trolls don't listen to mouthy girls."
I sighed, hoping it screamed disapproval.
The sprawling restaurant was built on a high cliff close to the sea in traditional Japanese architecture and decor. Akifumi greeted us at the enterance with a grateful smile and guided us inside to a large room where an ancient woman sat on a futon. She bowed her head slightly as we sat alongside her futon, feet folded up underneath our bums. "My name is Yae Yoshimi. Ordinarily, I would not make a request like this but I'm acting on behalf of my grand-niece." She said, her voice strong for someone who looked so old. "We greatly appreciate this."
I jumped as the sliding door across from us slid open with a soft "Pardon me", revealing a burly man and a matronly woman, both wearing welcoming smiles. "This is my father, Taizou, and my mother, Hiroe."
"We are honored with your presence." Taizou rumbled warmly as his wife moved to offer us fresh tea.
Once we'd been served, Naru addressed Akifumi. "We humbly wish to hear the details of this case again from your grandmother."
"All right." The old woman was silent for a few minutes, gathering her thoughts. "If I were to speak openly and freely about it you'd probably think me a fool, but this house is cursed. There are horrible legends concerning the Yoshimi house. Great misfortune would occur whenever this house would change hands. Actually when the last owner—my father—passed away, people began dying in alarming numbers." As she spoke, her shoulders slumped. "And when my grandparents died and passed the house down to my father, the same thing happened. I don't remember much firsthand because I was very young. However, among my six siblings, I was the only one who survived."
I shifted uncomfortably. For someone who also had six siblings, it was a little hard not to think about how that would feel personally.
"Several days ago, my husband passed away and soon after, those rashes began appearing on Hazuki. Not even one week has passed. The rashes appeared as kaimyou on her back and around her entire neck like a cut."
I was thinking more along the lines of a collar necklace, but I guess growing up in the midst of death could give you a morbid view on life.
Naru waited a respectful pause. "I wish to hear about when your father passed away. When was it?"
"It's been 32 years now." I tried to hide my shock. Just how old was she?
"Do you remember how many people died in total?"
"Yes. There were eight people from this house." She sighed heavily. "The youngest five among the seven children, the oldest grandchild, my cousin, and my uncle. The half that survived accidents passed away due to unexplainable causes."
Naru studied her bent form. "You said 'from this house'. Were there also others outside the family who died?"
"Yes...customers of our restaurant..."
"Mother." Hiroe said gently but firmly. "You should tell them everything."
"What?" Naru inquired.
Hiroe sighed, a hand on Yae's back. "Mother is worried that some of you might not leave here alive."
Wasn't that a given? "Why do you say that?"
"Three mediums have also died."
A gloom descended to my left. I bit my lip, trying to fight back a giggle. Ayako looked terrible.
"I see." Naru said after a while. Naturally, his delayed response worried Hiroe.
"We very much want you to help us. But we realize the risks-"
"If it sounds dangerous, we'll refuse and leave. We understand what's involved." Bou-san cut her off smoothly. "It would be cowardly to leave without seeing what we're up against. But doing so would put the restaurant customers at risk. What do you say, Naru-chan?"
"Are there customers in the restaurant now?"
Hiroe shook her head. "Not right now. Since Father passed away, we've closed it. We let our employees, and even the funeral workers take a vacation." She explained. "Only our family is in this building now."
Naru nodded, satisfied. "I think that was a prudent step. By the way, do you feel anything abnormal, perhaps see anything strange?"
Akifumi blinked. "Oh, yes. First, the myna bird that my grandmother raised died on the day of my grandfather's funeral. Maybe three days later, two more birds and three dogs that she raised also died. The birds died in their cages, but we found the dogs all washed ashore."
That...might have nothing to do with the case. "Anything else?"
"Some of the workers at the restaurant said they saw ghosts peeking into a room from a window."
Naru perked up subtly at that. I wasn't sure if he'd ever had a pet, maybe even a goldfish, but ghosts were his thing. Why didn't he just ask Lin to help him capture the spirit of a dog and take it for walks in the dead of the night? No pun intended, of course. "Do you know where that was?"
Akifumi winced. "No, but I was probably the room overlooking the cove. That's the only place where people outside can look in."
Naru filed that away in one of his many mental manilla folders. "I see. In any case, we brought our equipment. Did you prepare a room for us?"
"I'll lead you there."
Our base this time really exceeded all expectations. It was two large Japanese style rooms connected, not including a tiny room on the side of the first one and a little dining room/lounge with a glass sliding door that gave us a good view of the scenery. As was my habit, I immediately found a cozy corner and plunked myself down, leaning my back against the wall. "Well, if you guys die then at least you can do it comfortably."
Ayako flinched. "Why aren't you including yourself?" She snapped.
"Do I look like a medium?"
She huffed and stomped to the other side of the room.
"We set up this room and the room next door for you." Akifumi was saying, ever the gracious host. "Please take advantage of them while the restaurant is closed."
"Thank you." Naru said simply. "Nira, get set up."
So much for corner time. "It'll take me less than a minute."
"So there shouldn't be a problem if you do it now."
He was completely missing the point. Sighing, I leaned over to where I'd dropped my backpack and pulled out my laptop and charger and began booting it up. In the time between the Urado case and now, Lin and Naru agreed that as Lin's lackey, it would make sense for me to have a miniature base set up nearby. Apparently it would save time on the off chance I would need to email Madoka again, which was pretty much the only reason my laptop was useful—aside from doing the research myself, that is. "What do you think of this place, Naru?"
"It's hard to say anything yet." He said, casting a quickly glance at where Akifumi was talking to Mai, Bou-san, and Ayako. Or rather, at where the two men were watching Mai and Ayako nag each other. Right. We couldn't say anything careless in front of them until there was something to say for certain. "What do you think?"
I gnawed on my lower lip, listening to my tummy growl. The few Pringles I'd crunched through had been barely enough to sustain me throughout the car ride. "We need to stay on guard no matter what." I decided. "Things will get from bad to worse real quick."
He nodded, short and decisive. "I see." In a louder voice he called, "Mai! How long are you going to play around?"
"Yes sir!" Came the frantic reply, accompanied by chuckles.
The equipment was brought in quickly, and by that time Akifumi returned with an offer to have dinner with his family. Since Naru enjoyed being waited on, he accepted the offer relatively quickly.
I froze up, though, when the male family members bowed deeply to us right as they took their seats. "We apologize for calling you here." Taizou said with the same warmth he'd initially greeted us with. "Thank you for your understanding."
The seats began to fill up as the women arrived with trays of food and drink, and without pause or deliberation Taizou turned to Naru. "Shibuya-san, would you like sake?"
He shook his head, his bangs fluffing. "No. Neither me, Nira, nor Lin drink."
"Takigawa-san, Matsuzaki-san? How about you?"
The two beamed as they accepted their glasses. "Thank you."
We were all just starting to dig in when Mai piped up. "Huh? Why is your meal different, Lin-san?"
My shrimp nearly escaped down my windpipe. Naru gave me a dirty look as I let out a small wheeze—probably thought I was laughing.
"I heard that Shibuya-san and Lin-san don't eat meat, so I changed their meals. Was I mistaken?" Hiroe fretted.
"Huh? Lin-san, you don't eat meat at all? You're a vegetarian?"
"Yes."
As eloquent as ever. I had been on the brink of saying 'vegetarianism won't kill you.'
Still, Hiroe didn't just drop the matter. It was comfortingly reminiscent of my own family members trying to shove more food down my throat. "Shall we bring a little something outside? After all, we're so close to the sea."
"During investigations, I refrain from meat to purify myself." Lin explained, taking a bite of stir fried veggies.
Hiroe winced as politely as possible. Just because she literally catered to Lin and Naru's preferences didn't mean she had to agree with them. "Oh my...a medium's life is a harsh one." She remarked, missing the way Ayako and Bou-san stared at the roasted meat on their plates.
Dinner was finished relatively quietly, and we quickly returned to base to finish booting up the monitors. Lin originally told me I didn't have to help—I had my own base to mind now, yippee—but seeing how there was nothing for me to do, he relented. "You guys have no faith in me." I muttered, plugging in a monitor. The picture fuzzed and focused as it popped up. "Like, I messed up once."
"One too many times." Naru said behind me.
"Excuse me?" I demanded, aghast. Okay, so maybe there were a few times I accidentally messed up their laptops, but that didn't really count. "You're so mean."
"Are you planning to start monitoring tonight?" Bou-san cut in, preventing a battle of words that, like usual, was sure to end in a stalemate.
Mai shrugged, turning to where Naru was lounging in the chair. "Shouldn't we?"
"Usually, there are more clues to investigate." He said, glancing at the monitors. There were so little that they didn't need to be stacked on shelves. "But we'll try going to the local library in the morning. Monk-san, do you have a protective charm for Hazuki-chan?"
"Of course. And I set up a spirit barrier around the room, boss."
Naru nodded at that as the door slid open, revealing Akifumi and a huge...it reminded me of a water cooler/dispenser people take along to picnics so you don't have to make a trip to the poop smeared bathrooms just to wash the ketchup off your hands, except it was metal. "Thanks for the hard work so far. I brought you some tea. Please, have some."
Mai reached for it eagerly, helping him pour out some of the yummy smelling warm goodness into dainty cups. "Thanks a lot! Any place that serves tea from time to time has got to be good!"
Akifumi accepted the compliment with a smile, probably because he and his family got that a lot. "Did you enjoy your meal?"
"It was very satisfying! It's the first time I've had cuisine like that so I was actually kinda nervous." She laughed wryly, scratching the side of her head. "Speaking of which, your family sure is quiet when they eat. Your brothers barely said a word the whole meal."
Akifumi's smile wavered. "I'm sorry. They're usually quite lively, but...lately they've been moody."
"It can't be helped. They're worried." Mai said, taking her turn to be the gracious one. "Eijirou-san seemed to be in a particularly bad mood."
"You're right. I wonder what happened all of the sudden..."
I don't know, maybe the fact that their house was cursed and there was a growing possibility that they might be the next one to kick the bucket? Growing bored of the conversation, I moved back towards my laptop and checked my email. Madoka had sent me a message that, blessedly, wasn't a picture of ten year old Naru glaring at and reaching for the camera. Heard about your talk with Sir Dorey. Spiritually similar to Oliver? At least you've got a better personality.
Right? I thought it was pretty whack when I first heard it, and I'm an expert on whack. Trust me.
I was just starting to browse through computer games—did this universe have Poptropica?—when she replied. Did you tell Oliver?
Never got a chance. He was pretty cranky when he got back from his trip, and we just took on a new case. This family-owned seaside restaurant.
Ooh, fancy. Let me know how it goes, and email me if you need help!
That brought up the question of if she was still in the country or not, something she'd been dodging every time I'd asked. That could potentially mean she was, but you could never tell with Madoka. It was always best to expect either. Will do.
"The ones whose personality has changed the most are the children." Akifumi was saying once I resurfaced from pondering the photo of Naru giving the camera a dirty look.
Mai tilted her head. "As in Hazuki-chan?"
"No, there are two more children beside her. Kazu-niisan has two children, Katsuki and Kazuki. And Teruka-neesan has one child, Wakako. Katsuki and Wakako are the one's who have gotten...strange."
"'Strange'?"
"How should I say this...until now, they were perfectly normal, but recently, they've been clinging to each other. On top of that, they've been secretly talking nonstop to themselves." Akifumi hesitated. "And if you try to hear what they're saying, they exchange looks and run off."
"When did this behavior start?" Naru inquired.
"Around the time of grandfather's funeral, of course." He said. "Naturally, Youko-neesan was worrying a lot after that, but then, two or three days later, she seemed to have stopped."
"I see."
Once Akifumi left with the empty pot and cups, I raised an eyebrow at Naru. "You say 'I see' a lot." I observed.
"You spout nonsense a lot. Mai, the camera in the hall across from base is crooked." He barely seemed to hear her grumbling as she padded out of the room. "What do you think?"
I pursed my lips. "Let's see. How many people did he say were acting weird aside from the kids?"
He barely even blinked before he spouted the information. What was he, some robot? "Kazuyasu-san, Yasutaka-san, Eijirou-san, and Youko-san." This time he blinked and, glancing at the monitors, tapped his earpiece. "It's fine. Get back here."
I took my time typing out the names. "We should monitor them. Couldn't their change in behavior be a sign of possession?"
Bou-san laughed outright. "Behavior change means nothing, newbie. Like Mai said, they could be worried."
"Oh? If something happens to all of them, you owe me a box of daifuku."
He shrugged as if victory was already a given. "Which one of us will be going to the library, by the way?"
Ayako snorted. "Who else leaves in the middle of cases?"
"This is only the beginning." Naru remarked mildly. "Though you're right for once. I'll be going since none of you can be spared from the situation. Lin and Nira will be in charge while I'm gone, so go to them if you need anything."
I grinned at Bou-san. "Heh."
Somewhere in the distance, a scream rang out.