Standing in the dark, Heiji deeply fought the urge to roll his eyes. Training his flashlight onto the black box in his hand, he turned it over and over, looking for any sign of tampering. The other investigators turned their night-vision cameras in his direction.

"Dude, it said your name Hattori." Yusuke exclaimed as he moved over and began to take readings around him. "The temperature is dropping like crazy!"

"Uh huh, so tell me, who's on the other end of this?" Heiji said waving the spirit box in his hand. There was probably some type of walkie talkie device inside.

"There is no one, Hattori. We haven't tampered with it." Yasuie, the head investigator of O.O.P.S, answered with a sigh.

Out of the static the voice returned, "…Heiji!..."

It was the same voice as before. Yasuie pointed his thermal camera in Heiji's direction, "Can you tell us your name?"

No answer came through. "Why are you here?" He tried again.

Nothing. Yasuie asked a few more questions but nothing answered.

"The e.m.f is going off the charts. It's all focused over here." Yusuke said waving his hand in Heiji's general vicinity.

Heiji sighed out a breath of steam which confused him. It hadn't been this cold before, how were they doing this?

The voice pierced through the static once more, "…Asegawa case!..." she screamed.

A jolt shot through Heiji's body and goose bumps pimpled his skin. He stared at the spirit box in his hand. There was no way. No way any of these guys knew about that case. They had barely heard of him and the case hadn't been highly publicized.

"Asegawa? Case?" Yusuke questioned, "I don't think I heard anything about a case in the history of the building. I didn't hear anything like that from the witnesses either."

"Detective?" Yasuie turned towards Heiji, taking in his stricken expression.

Heiji shook his head to clear it, "Never heard of it." He lied.

So here's the thing. Heiji Hattori doesn't believe in ghosts.

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On Wednesday June 23rd, Silvia Asegawa fell to her death from the roof of Osaka College. At first, police ruled it a suicide.

But Heiji knew better. Everything in her video journals led him to believe she may have been troubled, but not suicidal. For one thing, why would a 20 year old blind college student be on the roof without her cane?

The case wrapped up rather quickly when Heiji tracked down the ring leader of the bullies who tormented Silvia the last few months of her life. The man broke easily revealing the coward inside.

The day of her death Silvia was taken to the roof and her cane taken from her. Left with only a cell phone on which she would receive spoken directions to the door. The bullies laughed as they used her as their own plaything. Leading her back and forth across the roof until finally leading her to the edge.

They never intended for her to fall. Just to lead her to the edge and have her walk along it for laughs and to scare her. What they didn't expect was for the woman, tired of the games, to try to find her own way back inside. The act led to a fatal misstep.

The bully turned over the cane he had not gotten rid of. It was taken into evidence and the three bullies were arrested thanks to the confession Heiji had wisely recorded.

Heiji had attended the woman's funeral along with a few others from the precinct. She had had no family and few friends to be there to remember her.

That was almost a year ago now. The anniversary would be in a few days.

Lying in his bed, Heiji stared at the ceiling. He hadn't thought about that case in months. It was solved, justice had been served. The bullies were serving time for what they had caused.

So why…?

He never should have agreed to go on that stupid ghost hunt.

Yasuie had approached him to appear on his web show. His paranormal research team, Old Osaka Paranormal Society, took local celebrities on their investigations. The event was recorded and posted on their website.

Sounded harmless enough.

Then here he was, the next night ruminating on something a spirit box had spit out. A spirit box that had probably been tapped. Cause there was no such thing as ghosts. Even if that voice had sounded familiar and the temperature had done admittedly weird things.

Heiji decided not to bother with it anymore. It had just been a bit of summer fun anyways.

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Heiji Hattori didn't believe in ghosts.

Which really sucked for me; seeing as I have been attached to his person for almost a year and had yet to gain his attention.

I guess it wasn't completely his fault. I was terrible at being a ghost.

I sighed and stretched my nonexistent muscles, floating above Heiji's desk in his bedroom. He was sitting there, tapping away at his laptop, researching something for a case he was working on. It was a murder this time, with three suspects. Each had their own motive and opportunity to kill this man so it was just a matter of figuring out who really did it.

I rested, entering an almost nap like state. It was my one year anniversary in a few hours and I wondered what it would have been like to turn 21. (Drinking age in Japan?) To try my first sip of sake at that sushi shop down the street from home.

There were some perks to being a ghost though. I never got hungry or thirsty. Being able to see again was a plus. I had gone blind when I was 6, and imagine my surprise!

I turned over to stare at Heiji. He seemed off ever since the ghost hunt.

Boy had that been an experience. I yelled until my face turned red at that stupid little box and only a handful of words went through. How I wished I could just speak to him.

The other ghosts where no help. They were either to mad to see reason, didn't know they were dead, or in the same situation as her. She had met a few ghosts who seemed reasonable but they had become so bitter they refused to help her learn how to communicate or do other ghostly things.

Every now and then I would help to console some poor soul at one of Heiji's investigations where someone had perished. And so far they had moved on once their cases were solved.

Over the year I had been tethered to him I had to admit growing rather fond of Heiji. I knew when I woke up after the fall, that I owed him. No one else would have cared enough to look beyond suicide. He had watched my journals so closely, actually listening to what I said.

Ok, maybe I was a little more than fond.

Seriously, can you blame me? After spending a year never any further than 50 yards from a person and you kinda have to grow to love them.

While I was away with my thoughts Heiji had gotten ready for bed and was now turning out the lights. I floated over to sit on the edge of his bed near his pillow. He sighed heavily and stared around the room, waiting for sleep to come. Around 11 o'clock he finally did fall asleep.

I watched the clock as midnight crept closer. Absently I ran my fingers through Heiji's hair, amused that there was no displacement of the strands and I couldn't feel anything. A sense of peace washed over me and I closed my eyes.

Suddenly I felt a shock which left me gasping. It was midnight. An invisible force jerked me away from the bed and an electric sensation washed over me. My vision began to swim and my ears rang. I couldn't breathe. Then I felt consciousness leaving me and I couldn't help wondering, was I dying? Could ghosts die? Before I could even panic everything went black.

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Blinking her eyes open Silvia wondered what had happened. She was in Heiji's room hovering a few inches above the floor. The room was otherwise empty. Checking the clock, which read 7:15 AM, meaning Heiji was probably at breakfast with his parents.

Getting up she passes through the door and decides to walk down the stairs to check. She makes it to the bottom when she hears the front door open.

"I'm going to meet Kazuha! See ya!" Heiji yelled back inside.

Silvia jogged to catch up, bypassing the door slamming shut through her. Heiji put on his helmet and straddled his motorbike. Silvia floated up and sat on the seat behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She startled though when suddenly Heiji whipped around and looked at the back of his jacket. He ran a hand down his side and surveyed the area.

After a moment he resumed starting the bike and drove away.

Heiji acted off the rest of the day. He seemed distracted. Silvia didn't pay too much attention to him as she worked on her own project. Trying to re-learn how to read without using braille or your sense of touch took up much of Silvia's days hanging around Heiji's school.

Kendo practice was a whole other story. Typically there was nothing to do but watch Heiji practice. She made sure to stay clear of the changing rooms, feeling like to much of a pervert to spy on high school boys. There was just enough of their invisible tether for her to wait outside the door.

After practice and after he had dropped off Kazuha at her place, Silvia took up the space on the back of the bike. Heiji jumped once again and mumbled to himself.

Once home, Heiji spent the evening rushing through homework. Silvia watched from her place floating above the desk. She groaned as she turned onto her stomach and Heiji jerked. He stared up towards the ceiling and unbeknownst to him, Silvia stared back.

Thinking back to earlier Silvia felt hope tickle the back of her throat. Leaping down she knelt next to his chair and whispered into his ear, "Can you hear me?"

This time Heiji leapt from his chair, but he didn't respond. In shock Silvia placed a hand on the desk and pushed herself up. Startled, she realized she could feel the grain of the desk. She moved her hand over the papers littering the desk. They moved. Adrenaline pumping through her veins she reached for the pen but her clumsy fingers could not catch it, instead knocking it to the floor.

She let out a frustrated growl, almost immediately the lights began to flicker and the papers on the desk flew into the air. As they settled she turned back to Heiji.

His eyes were wide as saucers. He took in his room and the mess she had made and abruptly sat on his bed. He ran his hands through his hair multiple times. Silvia began to approach him but thought better of it. Maybe she should leave it alone for a while so she didn't permanently scar him or something.

It would be later that night that Silvia would figure out the significance of her anniversary and the black out to the sudden ability to affect her environment. She wondered what all she could do now.

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Over the next few weeks Heiji would become accustomed to the temperature drops, flickering lights, and things disappearing and reappearing.

Seated at his desk in his room he debated on what to do. Other people were beginning to notice so he knew it wasn't just him. Something was going on but ghosts just…couldn't exist. But there was no way it could be a prank, there were just to many factors.

His stereo turned on, static filled the air. Sighing he got up and turned it off. Three times he turned it off. He was pacing the fourth time it turned back on but this time the voice came back.

"…Heiji?..."

Turning slowly to face the stereo he took notice of the drop in temperature. It was like that night with O.O.P.S all over again. Though this time there was no one there to ask the questions he felt too silly to ask before.

"…Can…you hear me?..."

The voice faded in and out but yes, he could hear her. Crossing his arms Heiji took a breath, "Who are you?"

A breeze from nowhere stirred the papers on his desk. The voice returned "…Silvia…"

Heiji had to sit down, and he sucked in breath after breath. "Why are you here? What's happening?"

"...I died…I'm tethered-" The voice, no, Silvia, fizzled out and a loud bang made Heiji jump. There was a sound like static and suddenly there was a figure leaning over his stereo.

Silvia was fuzzy around the edges and she banged a fist against the stereo, "Dammit I thought I had this thing working." She muttered.

Heiji's blood ran cold, and he found himself paralyzed. Silvia turned and their eyes met. She blinked in and out of existence a few times then disappeared altogether.

"…Did you…just see me?..."

Heiji could only nod dumbly. He had just legit seen a ghost with his own eyes.

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Silvia jumped up and down in excitement, careful not to make any sound as she did. He saw her!

After a year of longing for it, it had finally happened. Tuning into the radio signals again Silvia continued, "I'm happy. It's been a long year."

Heiji is quiet for a while then looks back toward the radio, "Year? Are you telling me you've been here the entire time?"

"Since day one. You're pretty oblivious." Silvia sighed.

Heiji puts his head in his hands and just breaths before he begins muttering to himself. He falls backwards into the bed and laughs, "A ghost. I'm being haunted."

Silvia grins despite herself. It must be strange for him, suddenly having his world turned upside down. He must be questioning so many things right now. He suddenly sits up and looks back towards the radio, "Why me?"

Silvia had expected this question and had tried to come up with an answer before and failed. "I think…it's because you saved me."

"What? I didn't save you, you're dead." Heiji covers his mouth suddenly, embarrassed at his own brashness.

Silvia laughs anyways, "There is more than one way to save a person."

Heiji looks skeptical and Silvia kneels before him though he cannot see her at the moment. "You do not realize how many lives you have touched, how many souls you have moved on through your work."

Heiji shrugs, "I mean I know I help people but…"

"No one ever paid attention to me." Silvia begins, "I had a relatively happy life, but I never had anyone to stand beside me…to stand for me. If not for you…my death would have been ruled a suicide without a second thought."

Heiji is quiet for a moment, "So, why did you stay?"

"At first? I felt that I owed you. That I needed to do something to return the favor…but now…now I'm just glad for the chance to thank you." Silvia places her hands on top of Heiji's, managing to pull his attention from the radio.

"You never owed me anything. Solving your murder was…it's just something I do." Heiji laughed half-heartedly. "I've got so many questions…"

"I know." Silvia felt herself getting lighter, "But I think it's time to go now."

Heiji locked eyes with hers and she knew he could see her again. The light feeling expended until there was actual light filling up the room. Sadly, Silvia stood and then pressed the gentlest of kisses against his mouth. "If only we had met in some other way."

Heiji blushed and watched wide eyed until Silvia faded away completely leaving him seeing spots from the light.

For a while he just sat there. Finally after a long while he picked up the things skewed around the room, turned off the radio, and moved on.

In the end, it was all he could do.

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The next day, Heiji would be confronted by pesky neighbors about the bright light from his window that lit up the night. Heiji would only shake his head and answer that, "You would never believe me."

Then he would continue on his way to the cemetery to place flowers on a certain grave.