School's Out (self-insert #1)

Chapter 3

"They were fine. Exactly how I said they'd be." I growled, stomping over to him as he selected a clipboard. A new day brought a nitpicky Naru, which meant I had no choice but to check on the equipment while he pored over the clipboard. "If it's not Lin it's Mai, and if it's not her it's me. I wonder how you'd survive on your own."

"I'd be great. No doubt I'd have a moment of peace." He said cooly, picking up a different clipboard.

I snorted, snatching up the one he'd just put down. "Staring at these isn't going to make the numbers change." I remarked. "Now, I could probably make something happen."

He raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure I have an eraser somewhere." I made as if to search my pockets, but the clipboard was whisked from my fingers before I even budged a centimeter. I waggled my fingers tauntingly at him, but it was as if he hadn't moved. He turned a page calmly.

"Hello!" Mai called as she trotted over, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after a night's sleep. I raised a hand in salute that she returned. "What are you doing?"

"Reviewing the data we collected yesterday."

"Huh." Bemused, she leaned over his shoulder. "Did you find anything?"

"Nothing unusual. Either there are no ghost or they're hiding for now...so there doesn't appear to be any danger at the present time."

I leaned against the van. "Y'know, I'd do the same if I was a ghost. Then, when you're least expecting it—"

"Well!"

I almost died of fright.

"Impressive equipment!" The voice—a woman, the haughty I-think-I'm-a-hotty type—rang out as two people stalked forward: the aforementioned woman with red hair and stylish clothes and a tall ponytailed man dressed slightly more sensibly. The man looked pretty impressed, but the woman kept on smirking. "For kids' toys they seem pretty fancy, don't they?"

Ah. There was a dangerous glint in Naru's eyes as he drolly asked, "And you are?"

"I'm Ayako Matsuzaki. Nice to meet you."

I bit back a gasp of realization. Ayako and Bou-san. The team would start to show up—not that they would act like a team in the beginning, of course.

"I'm not interested in your name."

Bou-san snickered. Figuring this would take a bit, I shifted position until I was a bit more comfortable.

Ayako looked like she was fighting back the urge to chuck one of her shoes at his head. Note to self: only tease her out of arm's reach. "Thanks. But you know, you can't exorcise spirits with your face."

Someone should've told her that before she caked her face with makeup.

That comment caught Naru's interest. "You're in the same business?"

"You could say that." She said casually, preening a bit. "I'm a miko."

Mai snickered incredulously. The gleam in Naru's eyes grew: here was what he'd need for revenge. He was almost as bad as I was. He smiled sweetly. "I thought you had to be a pure and innocent young lady to be a miko."

A vein popped in her forehead. "Oh? That's not how I look to you?"

"For starters, I'd say you look too old to be innocent." He watched her face flush red with a fiendish delight. Another note: get better at verbal sparring. "And you wear too much makeup to be pure."

Bou-san couldn't help it— he burst into guffaws that shook his entire body and, unfortunately for him, caught Naru's attention.

"And you? You don't act like you're Matsuzaki-san's assistant."