The Voodoo Club (self-insert #3)

Chapter 1

There was no better way to start your day than with a little hissy fit and a cowboy.

"Hey, Naru?" Mai was saying as I stepped out of Naru's office. I'd borrowed it to pray Asr, and in the meantime he'd taken a break from the four smaller cream colored walls. "Something's been bothering me." She set done his steaming teacup.

"So?"

She paused. I smiled. This sounded very familiar.

"Just 'so'?" She was doing her best to keep her temper in check, but that was like damming a river with plywood and nails. "Shouldn't we normally ask 'what's the matter?' or something like that?"

His answer was swift and smooth. "Unfortunately unless it's something work-related, I really don't have time for it." He turned a page in the book he was reading.

Wow. This time, I had to hand it to Mai. The reply was more annoying in real life—or rather, in person—and she was doing a good job of keeping it together. For now. She took a few deep breaths, and when she was able to continue she spoke in a dangerously sweet voice. "Actually, it is related to your most favorite work. Do you remember the story a high school student told you about her classmate being possessed by a fox spirit?"

"I probably remember it more clearly than you do."

The dam broke.

"I'm sure you do!" She burst out. "Because you're the one who rejected her and told her 'bring your friend to a psychiatric hospital' instead of visiting our office!"

I winced. I'd been there for that particular consultation and I'd been dying of secondhand embarrassment the whole time. "Yeah, that was pretty bad." I agreed, moving to make a glass of ice coffee. If I wasn't mistaken, we'd be needing it soon.

Naru sighed, still focused on his book. "I gave her the reccomendation I did because it sounded like something that should be seen by a doctor." He spoke in tones one would use to talk to a child, doing nothing to help Mai's temper.

"Well, you could have said it a little more politely, you know?" She snapped. "You could at least have referred her to someone you know or—"

"Hello!"

Enter Cowboy.

Mai and Naru stared at the beaming long-haired man with a guitar case slung over his shoulder. "Hello, Naru-chan." He gushed warmly. "You know, I should've known better than to come to Shibuya on a Sunday. Ah, Mai-chan, can I have a glass of ice coffee?"

He pulled of his sunglasses and cowboy hat, revealing his identity with a grin. "Monk-san, that outfit!" She managed.

"Oh, this? It's for my part-time job."

"As a cowboy?"

"Yeeeeehaaaww." I whispered.

He glared at me. I didn't tease him as much as I teased Ayako or even Naru, but still I somehow got on his nerves with a few well placed words. "In a back-up band." He said pointedly, very wisely saying nothing further. After all, I was the one making his coffee.

Mai paused, processing that. Then, "WHHHAAAAAAAAT?!"

"There was a show I got called for at the last minute." He said glumly. "Some pop star who couldn't sing a note."

"A back up band?!" Mai was still having a hard time wrapping her mind around it. Even Naru still looked a little startled—though maybe it was the outfit. "You mean playing a mokugyo or a shakuhachi, right?"

"Oh, that sounds real fun!" He said sarcastically before straightening and tugging on the strap of the guitar case. "How dumb are you? Look at this. It's a bass guitar. I'm a bass player."

"No kidding! And there isn't a shamisen in there?"

I almost felt bad for the guy as he cleared his throat sheepishly. "You know, I guess I haven't gotten around to telling you this yet but my real job is a studio musician. I even have my own band, but our singer isn't very good." He confided as if it were all completely normal.

"Then being a monk is a part-time job? Huh? Didn't you tell me that you used to live on Mt. Koya?"

"Yes I did. My family runs a temple, so my father wanted me to be a monk." He explained bemusedly. "But I just couldn't do it. They wouldn't even let me bring my CDs to the mountain."

"But you still work as a monk, right?"

Bou-san nodded firmly. "Believe it or not, this business keeps me busy with so many curses and all." He said. "Every time something happens, because I'm an ex-monk people ask me to pray for them. So working as monk has become more of a side job. Get it?"

Understanding finally dawned on her. "I get it."

Naru sighed, having heard enough of something that wasn't work-related. "So? What brought you here?"

"Oh, yeah. I actually came here to talk about a job. I need your expertise on something." He nodded his thanks as I set his drink on the table. "One of the fans of my band is a local highschool student and according to her, there's a desk in her classroom that students think is cursed. Everyone who's sat in that desk in the last three months or so has been in some sort of accident. There are four people who've sat in it so far, and all four of them have been in the same type of accident."

Naru was unimpressed. "Didn't we have the highest number of accidents in Japan's history this year?"

Bou-san made a face at him. "I knew you were going to say that. Yes, but these weren't common accidents. All four victims were dragged by a train, all in the same manner. Their arms caught between the doors."

My stomach churned. Mai blanched. "What?"

"Since September, this class has changed seats three times. Every student who has sat in that seat has been in an accident. One of them got off with only light injuries but the other three were injured severely. Luckily none of them were killed, but...don't you find that strange?" His face, usually smiling, was grim. "And that's not all. This girl's teacher used an art prep room for his office. He started saying that he was seeing a ghost in there and soon after, he fainted and was admitted to the hospital. He's been coughing up blood and his doctor still can't figure out what he's suffering from."

"That sounds strange." Mai admitted.

"Doesn't it?" He picked up his glass, studying the ice cubes before taking a swig. "And I've heard many other horror stories about mysterious illnesses and incidents at her school, so she came to me to see if there's anything I could do to solve the mystery."

Something clicked for Mai. "Hey, Monk-san. She doesn't go to Yuasa High, does she?"

His eyes widened. "How did you know?"

Whipping out some papers, she slammed them on the coffee table and slid them towards him. "Just today we've had three people come to our office regarding Yuasa High cases!" She exclaimed. "Naru turned them all down, but I was wondering if maybe you or John might want to help them out? So I took their contact information?"

Bou-san picked up one of the papers, grim. "This...can't all be a coincidence. So many incidents at one school in a short period of time?"

The door swung open. "Hello..." An older man in a suit stepped in uncertainly.

Mai was on her feet in a flash. "Ah, yes? May we help you?" She asked, pasting on her customer smile.

"Please...may I have a word with you?" He asked. "Lately there have been a lot of strange things happening at my school and I was wondering if you could please help us out?"

While Mai and Bou-san exchanged a glance, I met Naru's gaze and nodded. He sighed imperceptibly and addressed the Yuasa High's principal. "Please, take a seat."