NIGHTMARE SCHOOL:

CHAPTER 19:

"Eh? Shibuya-san?" Michiru was the first to notice Naru and Lin in the lobby of the hospital. "And Lin-san?"

Keiko looked up and there was their ex-crush.

"Good evening, Shibuya-san, Lin-san," she slightly bowed to them. "Are you here to visit Mai-chan?"

The two men in black bowed back and answered in the affirmative.

Keiko and Michiru had been visiting their best friend and now they were about to leave. To be honest, they were sad that Mai's condition was worse every time they visited her.

Sometimes they blamed themselves for not paying attention more to her. But being in a different class made it difficult for them to see Mai.

They knew Mai wasn't comfortable with her new class and not because she had to socialise with new people. Mai was a kind-hearted person and everybody loved to be her friend.

Mai's class had been strange from the start and they had known that a class like that wasn't meant for her.

Therefore, the two of them had always invited her to have lunch in their classroom or the canteen or on the benches outside. But after a few lunches, she hadn't turned up and they had become worried about her. Every time they saw her, she acted like she was on edge.

They hadn't been friends since middle school for nothing. Something was wrong and Mai wouldn't tell them what was wrong. She always told them not to worry about her and promised to explain everything later.

Their only hope at saving Mai was in front of them. They knew Mai was still in love with the jerk. Anyone could see that, but he chose to be blind.

"Shibuya-san, have you made any progress with Mai-chan's case?" Keiko questioned.

"Yes, we have."

That was his short answer.

"And?"

Michiru wanted to pry for some information even though his eyes were piercing her like he was ready to slaughter them for delaying him.

"We will finish this case as soon as possible."

That still wasn't the answer they wanted.

"When that supposed to be?" Keiko's tone was laced with desperation. "She is getting worse by the day. She looks more like a corpse every time we see her."

Michiru elbowed her sharply and Keiko realised that Naru's mood was now even darker than before.

"Actually, can I ask you two some questions?" Naru requested.

"We'll do anything to help Mai-chan," Michiru said and Keiko nodded fervently.

Naru narrowed his eyes. He had a vague theory that he wanted to test by asking them certain questions.

"Do you know Hisakawa Momiji-san?"

They frowned at his question and then looked at each other in confusion. Naru was almost ready to dismiss the theory.

"Ah! I remember him! He was in our homeroom in first year. Keiko-chan, you should remember him. He sat right behind you," Michiru looked at her friend. "He had curly hair with a mole under his right eye."

"Hmm… behind me?" Keiko clicked her fingers when she finally remembered him. "Yes! He was a shy boy, but he was smart. He helped me with my homework once."

Michiru nodded eagerly and then her face fell.

"You know, I heard he went missing."

Naru found his opening there. "How?"

"I don't know. One day he was there and the next he was gone like a puff of smoke. No one found him. There was a rumour that he had been bullied, but there wasn't any evidence for that."

"Is he related to the case?" Keiko asked when she realised that Naru was staring at them with a hawk like gaze.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Naru nodded his head at her and didn't bother to answer her question.

He walked past them without much care due to the many thoughts going around inside his head. Their information had been mostly what he had expected, although it hadn't been quite enough to verify his theory. He needed a little more.

Lin frowned at Naru's rude attitude. He was fully aware along with everyone else, that Naru did have some special feelings for Mai and was on edge because of that personal sentiment, but it didn't excuse his bad manners.

Keiko was shocked at Naru's dismissal and Michiru wasn't willing to stand there and take it. She clenched her hand into tight fists. For heaven's sake, they were the clients and had the right to be treated with respect.

Michiru turned around and called out to him.

"Shibuya-san."

Her cold tone stopped Naru in his tracks. If they weren't Mai's friends, he wouldn't have bothered to stop.

He turned to face his clients and waited impatiently to hear what Michiru had to say.

The school girl stared him down bravely.

"If you fail to bring Mai-chan back, I will make it my personal mission to hunt you down. Remember, this all happened because you never trusted Mai-chan before so she didn't tell you anything before it was too late."

For a second there was pain visible in his eyes, but it disappeared as fast as it came.

"Are you done?" was his reply.

Without any further comment, Naru continued on his way to the lift leaving them staring after him.

He wasn't surprised by Michiru's threat nor was he scared, but he did think about what it would be like if he failed to bring Mai back. It would be ironic if the first case he couldn't solve was the one that killed the person most important to him.

Lin didn't speak until they got into the empty lift.

"You know, I won't help you if she really hunts you down."

Naru glanced over at him without saying anything. He didn't answer the question as he was pondering what he would become if Mai's life slipped away from him.

"Are you going to tell me what you are hiding from your team?" Lin asked from his seat by Mai's bed.

The first thing he had done when he'd got there was to check Mai's charm. Sadly, it had weakened and he'd had to rectify it again. He didn't like how fast it was degenerating although he was glad it was still protecting Mai.

Ayako wasn't present as she had duties elsewhere in the hospital.

"Lin, you don't need to be here," Naru said.

Naru felt Lin's gaze strongly even though Lin's visible eye was focused on his laptop.

"I'd rather play it safe, thank you."

"I've already said that I won't use my psychometry. In fact, I said it twice," Naru argued with clenched teeth.

"I would have believed you before," Lin told him. "Then you met Taniyama-san and you put yourself in danger for her more than once."

Naru didn't answer and looked over at Mai's heart monitor. It was beeping at a steady rate, but it was too slow to be a normal heartbeat.

"We all know that your affection towards her can make your brain melt like butter," Lin commented casually.

The younger man turned to face his bodyguard with a hard frown.

"Excuse me?"

It wasn't like Lin to pry into his business.

Lin looked at him with a disappointed expression.

"You still haven't realised your feelings towards her?"

"And what are my feelings towards Mai?"

Sometimes Naru questioned why his life was full of people who liked to interfere in his personal affairs.

"Love of course."

"Don't be ridiculous," his denial came fast.

The Chinese man knew his ward well enough to have expected the denial and simply shrugged.

"My eyes work well enough to see your interactions with Taniyama-san."

"What kind of interactions gave you the impression that I love her?"

She loves Gene anyway, Naru though darkly.

Lin's mouth twitched like he was fighting the urge to smile.

"You tease her everyday like a normal school-boy, help with her problems, protect her from harm and worry about her if she's late."

Lin was more observant than Naru had given him credit for.

"I'm her boss. She's my responsibility."

That answer had always been his shield.

"You can't even live without her tea and ask for it every half an hour," Lin continued on. "That is what some people would call 'flirting'."

Naru almost blanched at that term.

"I have never flirted with her."

"Yes, you have," Lin insisted. "Remember to keep your temper in check."

"Are we really talking about my non-existent love life?"

Lin grabbed his cup of cold coffee from the table.

"I'm just stating the truth."

"Will you shut up about that if I tell you about my theory?" Naru spat out the question.

He was done with Lin's roundabout persuasion technique.

"I thought we were going to have to talk until your hormones became the subject of conversation," Lin said.

Talking about Naru's love life wasn't Lin's area. He would have rather let Naru work it out on his own. However, he needed to know what Naru was thinking to prevent him from doing anything rash.

Pushing Naru a little to realise his feelings wouldn't hurt anyone as well.

Naru was internally groaning at the conversation subject. It was hardly the right time to bring something like that up. They had much more important matters to be discussing. If he was lucky, Lin would take the hint and end the conversation.

Lin waited for a couple of minutes, but Naru remained silent so he took the initiative.

"You know, when a man-"

"I think Ariade-sensei placed a spell on the school and not the people. Therefore, when they leave the school grounds, they can remember the missing students," Naru said quickly.

They both sighed in unison. Finally, the topic was back on the right track.

Lin considered it for a minute and found the flaws in the theory.

"But that doesn't explain Hirai-san being unable to remember her missing classmates. Additionally, why haven't we forgotten the missing victims when we've been in the school?"

"Maybe it's because we aren't officially linked to the school- we're not students or teachers. As for the other question, it is the missing piece of the puzzle. I'm not sure if I'm right about it or not- that's why I didn't tell the others. I cannot afford to be wrong in this case."

"It's still worth a shot," Lin noted "Did Gene say where Ariade-san performed the spell?"

"No, he didn't." He cursed himself for not asking. "Can your shiki find the place by tracing the residue of the spell?"

"Yes, if he recently did it. It could take some time. My shikis know where is something wrong with the school, but they haven't found the source."

Naru frowned. "It would be hard to find it. Ariade-sensei isn't stupid."

His gaze shifted to Mai.

"I agree with that sentiment, but I will try sending my shiki out for a search."

Naru nodded, but never moved his gaze from Mai.

"You should tell everyone about this," Lin said and started typing again. "They are your team and friends of Taniyama-san. They deserve to know the full details of the case and of her condition."

"I have my own reasons."

Lin shook his head at the return of Naru's bad habit.

"Your reasons are nowhere near as strong as they were before when you had to hide your true identity."

He shut down his laptop and closed it.

Naru glared at him in return. "I don't need any more of your advice."

Lin ignored the cold tone and rose to leave.

"I will give you time with Taniyama-san. I'll be in the van. You can't stay here too long because you have school tomorrow and we need to discuss our next steps at the apartment later."

Lin was out the door before Naru could reply. Naru lost his façade after Lin left the room. He stopped resisting the urge to hold her hand and placed his thumb on the inside of her wrist to feel her pulse.

He was tempted to use his psychometry to obtain more information, but it would get him into trouble with Lin who would scold him. Or worse, he would call his parents or Madoka.

Outside Mai's hospital room, Lin's gaze met with some sharp eyes. He was startled by the sight even though his blank face didn't show it. He hadn't predicted them to be here when he had just thought about them.

He needs a raise.

"Ple… elp… us…"

The whisper from the distance bothered Mai's nap. She needed sleep badly and chose to ignore the sound.

"…yama-san… e… ed… ur… hel…"

Her tired soul wanted to ignore the voice.

"TANIYAMA-SAN!"

The loud voice surprised Mai to the core and caused her to open her eyes wide. Now that she was awake Mai was able to note that there was more than one voice speaking.

Mai sat up and her jaw fell.

All hell is about to break loose.