The McLinden Misadventures

How Reigen Arataka Made One Of The Biggest Mistakes Of His Entire Life pt 2

"Listen, I am incredibly sorry," said Reigen, "but I'm afraid it's just not possible for us to help you."

"But you promised you could!" cried his client, and she started digging around in her purse. "I can double the payment we agreed on. I'll TRIPLE it!"

"It isn't a question of money," Serizawa intervened. "It's a question of... well, usually we deal with cases involving spirits."

"Hence the company name!" Reigen pointed out, sweat now beading on his brow. "Now, if your mother had already passed away, that would be a different matter entirely. Opening up a channel to communicate with her would be easy for a psychic of my expertise!"

"But she might as well be dead already!" the client said as she closed her purse. "Is there really nothing you can do?!"

Reigen gulped.

He looked at his client's worried face, then at that of the somehow-almost-as-worried Serizawa, who shrugged despite his expression of what could only be described as abject terror.

Then he looked at the elderly woman who lay, silent and unmoving, in the bed that separated him from his client.

What the hell could he do? He had agreed to come to the hospital with the expectation that this poor woman's mother would be a spirit lingering in their morgue, waiting to say goodbye to her daughter so that she could be freed and pass to the afterlife in peace. Either that or she would be angry and out for vengeance, in which case Serizawa would easily be able to send her on her way.

The comatose were uncharted territory. So uncharted that this poor lady may as well have 'Here There Be Dragons' written across her forehead.

He cleared his throat and tried – and probably failed – to wipe his brow clean with his sleeve.

"What I mean to say," he said, "is that we're unable to help you right at this moment because of our current staffing situation. We do have a mind reader in our employ, but unfortunately-"

"Boss, what are you doing?!" Serizawa whispered to him.

"Stalling for time," Reigen responded under his breath. "We just need to find a telepath before the end of the week and everything should be okay."

"Before the end of this week?!"

"Just trust me, I can handle this!"

He cleared his throat again, because that's what accomplished professionals like him did when they had everything under control, and gave his client a reassuring smile.

"As I was saying-"

He was cut off by a knock on the open door.

"Excuse me?" said an unfamiliar voice.

All three faces turned to the doorway.

The woman was young – college age, perhaps, or maybe even fresh out of high school – and if the unnervingly pale skin wasn't enough to indicate that she wasn't Japanese, the terrifyingly blue eyes certainly were. The dyed hair combined with the piercings, leather jacket and neck tattoo to suggest a street-hardened thug, but the jacket itself and the rest of her clothes seemed too well-kept for that. And surely a tough delinquent would be sensible enough to wear two fingerless gloves, wouldn't they?

"So I was just heading past on my way out to the parking lot-" yes, that was a thick and so far unidentifiable accent she was speaking with "-and I couldn't help overhearing that you lads were in need of a telepath...?"

Reigen straightened himself up.

"There you are!" he almost shouted. "What took you so long? We were expecting you here almost half an hour ago! I am this close to chopping your pay in half, young lady!"