Chapter 1-Tomatoes
April Day 1, 5:15 A.M.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Mai groaned as she rolled over to silence her alarm. It was unusually chilly this morning and she wanted nothing more than to roll back over and sleep the day away. Still, she forced herself to sit up and rubbed her eyes. Tsubame was probably almost ready to go and here Mai was, slacking.
"I might have to convince her to have give me an extra day off," she muttered to herself as she swung her legs over the side of the bed, sucking in a breath as her feet his the cold floor. It was late April, but it seemed that a cold spell had fallen upon Tokyo making it about ten degrees colder than normal that morning. "This will be a fun run."
About twenty minutes later, she was slipping on an extra layer and grabbing her house key and phone before heading to the door. She really wanted to crawl back into bed, but she had things to do.
Mai was getting more sleep in a single night than she had in six months, but despite the consistency she still had a hard time getting up in the morning. I guess I really am almost back to my old self, she mused to herself as she and Tsubame started their run.
Despite her sluggishness, she was grateful for the morning runs she took. They woke her up and were actually helping her fall asleep faster at night. Secretly, she liked feeling of freedom she got with the wind blowing on her face and through her hair. The extra push she gave to get ahead of Tusbame for even just a moment, it made her feeling like she was improving. After months of only getting worse, the feeling was exhilarating. She pushed herself a little harder.
"You might need to find a new running buddy," Tsubame teased as they were jogging back to their apartment building. "If you want to improve our time, let me know so I can keep up."
"Sorry," Mai shrugged sheepishly. They slowed down to a walk as they reached their building and headed for the steps. "Something just made me want to go."
Tsubame threw her head back with a laugh. "I know what you mean, caught a bit of runner's high. Nothing serious, maybe on Sunday we can test it out and see how far we can actually go."
"Maybe, but I have a case starting today, so I'm not sure I'll be available on Sunday," the girl replied as they reached their floor and parted for their respective apartments.
"I get it, gotta get that check," the woman teased with a wink. "Still, we should try it sometime, especially with the weather getting warmer, well, aside from today."
"I'd like that, I'll see you later, Tsubame." With that Mai walked into her home, slipping off her sneakers and shrugging off her jacket. She walked into her tiny kitchen and grabbed a small apple off of the counter and bit into it. She padded over to the fridge to see what she could make herself for breakfast.
She frowned as she gazed inside it. "Looks like I'll need to go shopping, maybe Naru will let me out early tonight to do that," she sighed, then smirked at her afterthought. "'You had plenty of time between your shift yesterday and today to have gotten that done. It's called time management, something you need to work on.'" She mimicked his condescending tone as she spoke.
She grinned as she walked into her bathroom to take a shower. "But would he mean a word of it? Maybe only half." She turned on the water and tested it before she stepped in. "Then he would smirk at whatever outburst or glare I give him and let me go early."
She was shampooing her hair when her stomach grumbled. "At least, I hope he'll let me go early."
***
"Mai, is this right? I can figure out English to Japanese but the other way around still messes me up," Keiko asked, pushing her notebook to her friend.
Mai looked through her friend's translation. "Keiko, you can't write the words you're not sure of in Romanji and leave it." She took her pen and circled the words she was speaking of. "At least mark them so you know to go back and change them."
Keiko pouted, but nodded nonetheless as she took her paper back and grabbed her textbook to help with corrections. Michiru raised a brow and looked at her own paper. "But that works with some words, like table, doesn't it?" she asked scratching her head.
"Yeah, but then you have words like 'bread' where if you write it in Romanji you get an English word but not the one you are trying to say." Mai turned back to her notes while Michiru leaned over for a peek.
"How are you so far ahead?" she asked with a furrowed brow. "At the rate the rest of us are going you have to be a month ahead of us!"
It was an understatement, Mai knew. She was definitely at least two months ahead in her English studies. "I was already ahead at finals," Mai corrected, looking back at her friends. "And then I found out apparently Naru's fluent in English and he's been helping me practice during my shifts at the office."
"Glad to see there were other benefits to sleeping with him on your last case," Michiru said with an evil look in her eye. Before she could stop it, Mai felt the heat rise in her cheeks.
"Idiot!" she whispered with a glare. "Not so loud! I don't need the whole class knowing I had to sleep next to my boss for the case! It would get blown completely out of proportion!"
"She's teasing you, Mai," Keiko chuckled, nudging her friend with her pencil. "Though, I don't blame her for being salty, you did withhold information from us."
Interrogation? Again? Mai internally groaned. I thought we went over this. "Don't bring that up, please." She tried to bring her focus back to her work.
"Ladies, this is silent work," their sensei said, suddenly standing before them. "You may continue gossiping at lunch. And do try to keep the topic school appropriate."
Mai bowed her head to her desk to hide her reddening cheeks. It was going to be a long day.
***
"You may use this room for your Base," a man about Naru's height said, gesturing to a small room set up with two tables and several folding chairs. "It's not much, but as you can see, this building is primarily for my father's office and my own. Most of the property is taken by the greenhouse outback."
"This will do," Naru said, surveying the room. "The activity is centered around the greenhouse, meaning we won't need too much equipment."
"Okay, do you need any help bringing in your equipment?"
"No, we will make do," Naru decided, glancing at his watch. "However, Mr. Ogawa, if you would contact your employees and anyone else who had an experience here, we would like to conduct interviews with them to get the whole picture."
"Sure thing, Mr. Shibuya." With that, Ogawa left and the two men headed for the van parked outside.
"Very tactful," Lin commented as they reached the front door. "Mai must be rubbing off on you."
Naru ignored him as he went to the van and opened the back door. "This case should be fairly simple. There are a couple of places I need to check out, Monk should be able to handle the team for a day if we need."
Lin grabbed a monitor, while Naru grabbed the box carrying the shelves and started back into the building. "We've already been to all the lakes surrounding Tokyo."
"Yes, hence why we will need a day to look into a few more." Naru's tone was impassive, if not a tad annoyed. The two were silent until they were back in their Base. Naru placed the box on the table closest to the outlets. He turned around to see his assistant give him a disapproving glance.
"No." Lin left the monitor on the other table and turned to leave.
"No?"
Lin stopped at the door and turned around. "I will not let you abandon the team on this case."
"It's been-"
"More than two years since his passing," Lin said. "You are anxious to find him and we haven't spent a lot of time searching with our recent cases."
There were very few times where Oliver Davis has ever been interrupted. To be completely honest, only a handful of people have been able to do such an act without severe repercussions. Mai was one of them. As was Madoka. Lin, despite his silent nature, was another. Oliver simply glared his response as the Chinese man shook his head.
"The team will be suspicious," Lin explained. "Takigawa already is, I'm sure he's already discussed them with Father Brown and Yasuhara. You've also revealed to Mai that you are not from Japan. If you leave now, pieces will be put into place and that could be dangerous, Noll."
"I know what I am doing."
"And soon the rest of the team will too." Lin gave another shake of his head. "I'll take a day off and search the areas you want me to, while you and Mai lead the investigation."
"I need to be there." Oliver's eyes hardened as he glared at his friend.
"My Shiki are plenty capable of determining whether or not Gene's there." With that, he left the room.
***
"You look chipper," Yasuhara commented as he drove Mai to the case sight. The high schooler rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"It's already been a long day," she said with a sigh. Something felt off. Not quite right, but she couldn't quite place where the feeling came from. "Are you okay? Did you and Kiko have a fight or something?"
"I guess so," Yasuhara laughed as they came to a red light. Mai raised her brow as she eyed the boy next to her.
"What kind of argument could you have had that you're laughing about it already?" Even more confused, she watched as her friend completely ignore her words and look back at her.
"So tell me, what's bothering you?"
A shiver went down her spine. "What do you mean? What's bothering me is you don't seem to be actually listening to what I'm saying." This time Yasuhara appeared to be listening carefully, almost beckoning her to continue. "It's like you're talking to someone else."
"I see what you mean." His face became much more somber as the light changed from red to green and he proceeded forward.
At least now I think I'm getting somewhere-But a horrible feeling wrenched in her gut. She watched as Yasuhara turned his head and pure terror flashed across his face. No!
Mai whipped her head around just in time to see a white Sedan heading for them and gaining speed. She tried to cover her face for the impact.
But nothing happened.
"Adachi-ku, Ayase Station," a recorded feminine voice filled the speakers as the door to the subway car opened.
Mai snapped her eyes and realized what was so off. But she would dwell on it as soon as she got off of the train. Just before the doors closed on her, no less. She couldn't stop herself from looking back at the train, still boggled by what had happened.
"Yasuhara-san will not be joining us on this case. He has some things to work out with his school schedule," she remembered Naru telling her the evening before as she was leaving the office.
That felt so real...her mind wandered as she looked down at her hands. Jeez, I'm trembling. I feel like I've seen that scene before too...But where...
Shaking her head, she wrung out her fingers and jogged out of the station. For once, Naru was trusting her to find her way on her own to their newest case. She was not going to waste the moment by being late because of a vision.
"Was that even a vision?" she muttered under her breath as she reached the street and turned right. I was still awake, it didn't feel like a normal vision...
Typically, most of Mai's visions occurred while she was asleep. She wasn't sleep this time, or at least she didn't think she was. She quickened her pace to cross the street before the light changed. Her dream visions also tended to be scenes of the past. Mai recalled seeing a vision while awake at Yasuhara's school where Sakauchi was absorbed by another spirit.
Masako saw that too, but it was happening in real time as we saw it. Oh no! Her eyes widened as she realized it. She stopped at the street corner and swung her bag around and dug through one of her outside pockets for her phone.
Once she pulled it out, she swung her bag back over her shoulder and simultaneously scrolled down for her friend's number. Placing the receiver at her ear she waited as the device rang. "C'mon, Yasuhara, pick up!" Her frustration only grew as she reached the next corner only to find that the light had just changed and she was too late.
"Hello, you've reached Yasuhara," a cheerful voice rang through the phone as relief washed over the teenager. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Mai-chan?"
"Thank goodness," she exhaled as the light changed in her favor and she followed the crowd that crossed the street. But the foreboding feeling was still there, just not quite as strong.
"Mai? Are you okay? You sound like you watched someone die." If only he understood how true that might have been. "Don't you have a case? Is someone hurt?"
"I'm fine," Mai said with a breath. "I just...I don't know how to explain it..." She figured it would be best just to explain what she saw as she continued heading to her next case.
She could practically see the concerned look on his face as she came up to the company that Naru told her to meet at. "You're sure it was me in the car?" he asked after a moment's pause.
"Yeah, I feel like I've seen that scene before, but I can't remember when."
"Okay, well, I haven't driven at all today. My car is in the shop until I pick it up tomorrow, I'll keep my eye out for a white sedan racing at me." His voice had gone light and pleasant, much like his usual tone. It should have reassured her, but it didn't. "Do you think this is something that's going to happen to me today?"
Mai stopped where she stood still for a moment in thought. With a deep breath she finally felt some relief. "No, I don't think so, but it still-"
"Freaked you out, I get it." This was the thing about Yasuhara. He was a total goofball and trickster, but at the same time he was wise beyond his years. He also knew that there wasn't much he could do to reassure his friend as he spoke through the phone. "Tell you what, I'll be extremely cautious when I drive and if you get this overwhelming feeling that I'm going to get into an accident if I drive, just text me and I'll take the train to wherever I have to go."
Somehow, I don't think it'll be that simple, she knew, but there was no sense in worrying the young man further. Especially since he seemed more worried about her than himself. "I guess...Yeah, I guess that'll work. I better go before Naru yells at me for being late, thanks, Yasuhara."
"No, thank you, Mai, I'll keep my guard up." She could almost see the softening look in her friend's eyes. "Take it easy and don't let him work you too hard."
At that, Mai smiled. "I won't, I'll see you later, Yasuhara." She hung up and turned to see a familiar head of blond hair. "John!"
"Hey, Mai!" The blond priest turned around with his boyish smile. "It's been a while."
Mai rushed the few steps that separated her from her friend. "You missed a lot with the last case. How was the blessing in Okinawa?"
"It went very well, another paranormal investigating team had worked with the home owners and cleansed the property. They just wanted me to perform a blessing to prevent any other entities to enter," he explained as they walked up to the door of the building. "How have you been since..."
He hesitated and Mai smiled as she placed her hand on the door. "It worked, John," she said, feeling much lighter than she did the last time she saw the priest. "He's gone and I'm sleeping again. I don't feel like I'm carrying something around with me wherever I go anymore. Thank you."
John grinned, making him look even younger. "I'm glad I could help, Mai." And Mai opened the door to the building and they went in together.
The building was a simple two-story office building. There was a secretary's desk only a few short paces from the door, though it was unattended, it was the only piece of furniture in the lobby. The lobby opened to a hallway on each side with two doors each one of which was open. Behind the desk in front of them led a small flight of stairs that Mai was sure led to more offices or maybe storage.
Why would the second floor be used as storage, Mai? She wondered as she followed her priest friend toward the only open door on the first floor. That wouldn't be practical at all.
"You're right on time," a familiar voice said as they made it to the room. Naru was sitting at a foldable table in a similar chair with Lin on one side of him and a young man across from him. "Mr. Ogawa, this is my other assistant, Mai and Father Brown, a priest who often assists with my investigations." Naru turned back to the newcomers to finish introductions. "This is Mr. Ogawa, his father owns the property and hired us to investigate."
"Nice to meet you," the two investigators responded.
Ogawa stood up and bowed slightly. "Pleasure to meet you, and thank you for coming so quickly."
"Of course," Mai replied with a smile. She looked over to her black clad boss. "Naru? Is there any equipment that you want us to set up?"
"I have Monk and Miss Matsuzaki working on that as we speak," Naru explained, making a note in his black folder. "If Mr. Ogawa won't mind, he could give you a tour so you won't get lost as you have in the past."
Mai scowled at the man at the table who hid his smirk. "When was the last time I got lost?" She crossed her arms.
Naru looked like he was about to answer, but Mai held her hand up. "Never mind, I don't want to know the answer to that, but remember I got here perfectly fine and didn't make one wrong turn!"
Her boss gave her a skeptical look. Without even looking, she knew the priest next to her wore a similar look, only less condescending. With a huff and crossing her arms she looked away from both of them. "Fine! I took one wrong turn but that wasn't even getting here. That was getting to the train station from school and that was only because Taiki was leading me the wrong way."
With that, Ogawa let out a laugh and like that any animosity in the air was extinguished. Mai decided she liked this guy, he had a sense of humor, even if it was at her misfortune of working for such a narcissist. "I don't mind showing you around at all. That is, as long as you're finished questioning me, Mr. Shibuya?"
"We're finished for now, if I have any more questions we will let you know." He went back to his folder as the three began to leave the room. "Mai, try to stay with the group."
In her final act of defiance, Mai rightfully stuck out her tongue at her boss as she lingered at the door. "I saw that," he said not even looking up.
"You were supposed to!" she huffed and turned around following the young men out into the hall. She never saw her boss's smirk, but he also never saw hers.
I kind of missed his teasing, she thought to herself with a shake of her head. I feel like things are finally back to normal between us.
"So this building is really used as offices and extra storage," Ogawa said, as they walked past the secretary's desk. "The door across from where you guys are set up is the break room. Feel free to use it while you're here."
The three of them headed to the open door. "This is my father's office, the other offices are upstairs, but my dad's knee isn't what it used to be. His doctor said we would either have to get an elevator or move his office downstairs." They reached the small office and peered in. It was empty and Ogawa scratched his chin. "He must be out back, but anyway, not much happens in this part of the building but I wanted you to know where you could contact him in case something came up."
Mai and John nodded and followed the young man back toward the stairs and he quickly pointed to the closed door across from his father's office. "That's just storage in case you were wondering."
At least he's thorough, Mai thought as she trekked up the steps.
The second floor was about as exciting as the first floor, in Mai's opinion. Just more offices and claims of knocking, whispering, and lights flickering. As she walked back down the stairs, she sent a look to her blond friend who seemed to share the same thought.
This isn't the type of case Naru usually takes on.
Mai and John sent each other a look and then a glance at the young man kindly giving them a tour and once again back at each other. They both nodded and Mai was a little startled that they had seemed to understand each other. Maybe I don't have to work too hard on my relationship with John, she thought, then mentally shook her head. Either way, we both know we can't say how boring this case will be in front of Mr. Ogawa, that's just rude. And it's pretty much common knowledge that Naru only takes on cases that interest them. So what about this case was so interesting?
"Um, Mr. Ogawa?" Mai's voice piped up as they walked out into the back courtyard. Behind the building was another structure. It was a massive glass building with its windows fogged up from the humidity inside. Ogawa stopped and turned back to acknowledge her as he reached the door to the greenhouse. "What exactly do you and your father grow here?"
"Call me, Takuya, and if you come inside I can show you," Takuya said and opened the door, sending a gust of warmer air at the two investigators.
Ayako is going to be such a joy on this case, Mai thought with an amused smirk.
Inside, the greenhouse was split in half. On the side they had walked into was full of small shrubs with little leaves upon rows of shelves. The scent of the room was very light and Mai recognized it instantly. It was no surprise to her when she looked at Takuya and he smiled as he said, "We grow and distribute tea to most of Tokyo and the neighboring towns."
Suddenly, it all made sense. And Mai couldn't help but laugh. She saw Takuya's face as that wasn't the reaction he had been expecting, and laughed harder.
John was the first to react as he gave his sheepish smile and placed a hand on Takuya's shoulder. "Don't take it personally, Mate, she's only laughing because Kazuya...well..."
"He's such a tea addict I'm almost sure it runs through his veins instead of blood," Mai finished as she calmed down. She looked over her shoulder and happened to see a camera pointed directly at her. "Yes, I know you heard that!"
Takuya gave the priest a look and he only shrugged. "She's also the one who usually makes tea for him."
"It's the first thing listed in my job description."
At that, Takuya laughed. "Well, I'm sure Shibuya-san will enjoy plenty of fresh tea during your investigation. Hopefully, he doesn't enjoy it too much and you guys never solve it."
Mai laughed again, she could almost see Naru extending the case solely for the fresh tea. Then again, he would probably just make Takuya's father give them discounts of their tea and send her there to pick it up once a week. She wasn't sure which would be worse!
"So what goes on in here?" Mai asked, getting them back on track. She didn't want to think about the potential errand days where Naru wouldn't reimburse her for her shopping for him.
That's a lie and you know it, her mind interrupted. He always reimbursed you, even if he said he wouldn't. He paid you for working the case at your high school and that was supposed to be free work.
"Well, on this side of the greenhouse we have only had one specific thing that keeps happening," Takuya said, before going over and using a crate to prop open the door. "Something keeps shutting and locking the door on us when we're in here. That wouldn't be too much of an issue if it weren't for what happens on the other side."
"What happens on the other side?" John asked. Takuya waved for them to follow him.
While the front half of the greenhouse grows tea plants, the back half seemed to grow...tomatoes?
Mai tilted her head to the side, she wasn't expecting that. "My uncle convinced my father to start growing tomatoes and sell them to local markets since the last couple of seasons hadn't been so good for farmers. Ever since we brought them in the activity started."
"Haunted tomatoes?" Mai couldn't stop herself from saying out loud. She covered her mouth and muttered an apology, but still couldn't help but think, I think that one ties with the lady with a haunted ferret.
"Not quite," Takuya said with a chuckle. "That would be unbelievable. What I think is that the tomatoes gave a way for the spirits to make contact with us."
Don't tell me they talk. Mai wanted to smack herself. Where the hell was this coming from? She normally never immediately dismissed the claims of an actual case like this. Maybe she had spent too much time with Naru. Does Naru's mind come up with these comments too?
"How do they make contact, Takuya?" John asked, doing a much better job at hiding his skepticism.
"See those vines?" He pointed to the vines that had been tied back. "We've been trying to tie them back because they have been grabbing our employees while they are working here."
And now we know why Naru was actually interested in this case, Mai realized. "And that's why the door locking has been an issue," she said, crossing her arms. "Not only has it been locking people in but locking anyone who can help out. I guess the key won't work if you try to unlock it that way?"
Takuya shook his head. "Nope, and Aina was most recently attacked and it was as she was trying to walk out of the front door. Somehow those vines stretched all the way out there and dragged her back. I almost had to break the door down, but when it suddenly opened I went to see if she was okay. I found her covered with limp vines and she was coughing pretty hard. Turns out the vines had tried to strangle her. Needless to say she didn't come back to work the next day. That's when we called you guys."
Mai let out the breath she unknowingly held. This was going to be an interesting case for sure. A chill crept down her spine and she was grateful for the amount of cameras already set up.
She would not be going in the greenhouse alone. Of that she was certain.
"Well, that's pretty much it. The only thing left is the shed and there's nothing important in there. Well, about the haunting, that is," Takuya said, turning to leave. "I'll show you guys back to your Base, after that I'll be in my office finishing up some work before we close."
***
Well, this isn't the usual group I'm with, Mai thought to herself as she walked from room to room with Masako at her side and Ayako behind them. Since when does Naru want me to walk around sensing spirits?
You're abilities seem to be evolving. I'm fairly certain that you may progress into an active psychic, Naru's voice rang through her memory.
Well, I guess that explains that. She decided giving a glance back at the priestess who seemed to not take notice. Naru will usually pair me with Ayako and occasionally Masako but not usually both of them. I guess he wants me to try this sensing thing out and compare to Masako.
They were upstairs in one of the vacant offices. They had all been silent for too long and Mai was sick of it. She wasn't sensing anything and usually by now, Ayako would make some type of complaint about how exhausting this part of the job was. "So, Masako, are you sensing anything?" she finally asked.
"I hate to say it, because Naru will certainly not like it, but I'm not sensing any spirits. Not even the slightest presence," Masako admitted with a sigh. "If there is a spirit here, it's not hiding in the offices."
"I was thinking the same thing," Mai agreed, crossing her arms. Which means they are in the greenhouse...I don't have a good feeling about all this...
The teen shook her head and smiled at the priestess who had been far too silent that day. "What about you, Ayako?"
But Ayako wasn't listening. The passing cars below were much more interesting than the case they were on. Leaned against the window, the priestess had turned away her attention away from the girls with her, letting her mind wander. The two teens shared a concerned look with each other and approached the redhead.
"Ayako? Is everything alright?" Masako asked, from behind her sleeve.
She snapped her head up cast a quick glance at the girls. "Uh yes, I agree, we better tell Naru about what we've found," she said hurrying toward the door.
"Actually, we were talking about how we don't sense anything," Mai corrected, looking back at the medium. "Should we check out the greenhouse?"
"Fine with me." The priestess led the way.
The two teens shared another look.
***
"Unless you truly wish to stay, all our readings are normal and Lin and I can take it from here," Naru said once the entire team had gathered in Base. "Have a good night."
Dismissed, the team left after gathering their personal items. Monk was the first to run out, his phone ringing as he shut the door behind him. Why is he in a hurry? Mai wondered as she threw her schoolbag over her shoulder. Ayako was the next to run out, though she was more sluggish and not nearly as graceful as she normally was. She didn't wear her heels today...
As though there was a silent agreement, Masako and Mai were the last to leave and left together. What are the odds of that? They both stood outside the office building watching as John's blond head bobbed in the direction of the subway. Looking in the other direction, a certain redhead could be seen taking her sweet time.
"I'm going to take it that you noticed something's up with Ayako?" Mai asked with a hand on her hip.
"I'm surprised it took you this long to figure it out," Masako said with a cold look in her eye. "I didn't think that even you could be that dense."
"Haha, very funny, Masako." Mai rolled her eyes. Normally the doll-like girl's comments would get under Mai's skin like no other. But not today. Why was that? "I was wondering if maybe you had any ideas. You did get here before me."
"As a matter of fact, I don't have any ideas. Perhaps she had a rough day at her other job?" With that, the other teen turned away. "Excuse me, I must take this." She pulled out her phone from her kimono sleeve and answered it. "Hello?"
"Probably the usual trivial stardom crap," Mai grumbled as she shook her head. "I'll see you later, Masako."
At least I have time to run and grab some food for the pantry, she mused as she headed for the train. Until the case is over, that is.