8 Second Case

"A stalker?"

"That's right," the young girl said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest angrily. "There was this guy who kept following me everywhere. I was running away from him and didn't notice the oncoming traffic."

"I'm sorry," Rei said. "Well, do you know the guy?"

"I don't know his name, but I might remember his face," the girl said. "I'm sure he's found another target, but I don't want him to cause another accident."

"I see," Rei said. "And if we can have him arrested, that's better for us, right?"

"Yeah," the girl said. "What's your name by the way?"

"I'm Kurosaki Rei," Rei answered.

"Kurosaki?" the girl asked in surprise. "I thought you were from the Ohtori family. I can feel the spiritual print of the Ohtori family on you."

"That may be because I'm close to the Ohtori family," Rei said. "And you are?"

"I'm Suzuki Chihiro," the girl said. "Well, I can show you where my friends and I used to go. Maybe the stalker is there too. That's where it started for me, at least."

"Sure."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"I'm home," Rei announced as she walked into the house and took off her shoes.

Daisuke and Ruka appeared in front of her and Ruka gave a big sigh.

"Oh great, there's another one," she said.

"Don't be rude, Ruka, this is our second client," Rei said.

"But why is she here?" Ruka asked.

"To stay while we sort out the stalker situation," Rei replied, and gave Daisuke and Ruka a brief explanation of what had happened to Chihiro.

She was going out for ice cream with some friends when they caught the attention of the stalker. Suddenly he was everywhere that Chihiro went.

"Ugh, I hate those kinds of people," Daisuke grumbled. "I should go to his place and kick him in the nuts."

"If we're going to get the police involved, we'll need proof," Rei said, "and so far he's been quite careful not to get caught in the act. Even if he was following people around, he could claim to be innocent and say he just happened to be there and that the victim was being paranoid."

"And that's when we come in handy?" Ruka asked. "He shouldn't be able to see us if you're not around."

Rei pouted. "But we still need a human to actually catch him red-handed."

"Ohtori can come with us," Ruka said. "He's an exorcist, but he doesn't make people around him more sensitive to spirits."

"I see. Okay, so what's the plan?" Rei asked.

"You should call Ohtori here first so we can discuss," Ruka said. "I don't want to have to tell him everything again."

"Ah, okay, fine," Rei said. "I'll go call him. Oh, Chihiro-san, you can have a seat and make yourself at home."

"Okay," Chihiro agreed. She walked over towards the couch and sat down.

"How did you start to notice he was stalking you?" Daisuke asked.

"He was everywhere, but not obviously there," Chihiro said, "like he was hiding behind something all the time. When I ran from him and got into an accident, I actually heard his phone camera take the picture. Maybe he forgot to turn it on silent mode."

"That's rough," Daisuke said. "Well, not to worry. I'm sure Shuichi-san and us will be able to catch him red-handed."

"So now I'm not part of the equation anymore, huh?" Rei asked, slightly miffed.

"Aw, come on, Rei, you know I don't mean it that way," Daisuke said as he sidled up to Rei.

"Hmph," Rei huffed and held Inari close to her. "You're my only friend now, Inari-chan."

"I'm friends with whoever buys me fried tofu."

"Et tu, Brutu?"