"I'm late, I'm late! Can't believe I'm late! The teacher is gonna kill me!"

Yata cursed loudly, running as fast as humanly possible without tripping on dirty snow or creating major accidents for the unlucky souls who had crossed his paths. So far he had only knocked down two boys, crashed into a cleaning worker, and tripped over a middle-aged teacher, nothing too serious. Or at least he hoped so.

Panting harshly, Yata tried his best to remember which class he was supposed to have right now. He was still new to the school and its schedule, having transferred here only a month ago, right before the winter semester. Math, right. Who was the bastard that put fucking Math the first class in the morning in cold season? Oh right, the principal. Damn him.

Also damn him ten times to place his classroom in the fucking tenth floor.

Yata sighed in frustration upon looking at the long staircase. He so not had the energy and time to torture himself over walking ten floors just to attend a math period. Yata hesitated for a good minute before making a short trip to the opposite end of the building, where a small dusty elevator presented.

Yes, the school had an elevator, like any other multistory buildings should have. However, Yata had never seen anyone using it. Every single one of his classmates prefer walking the stairs to standing anywhere near the lift. When Yata asked about the strange phenomenon, they just whispered hastily "Something scary is in there!" and left in a hurry. He'd been curious, though figuring it would be the best to follow the examples – nothing good ever came out of rumored spooky places.

But fuck it, he was late, and the classroom was goddamn TEN FLOORS up high.

"I don't even care anymore," Yata pinched his nose and slammed the up button, feeling more than a little dead inside, "I'll punch the ghosts if I have to..."

The flickering red number decreased slowly one by one, implying that the elevator was going down from the twelfth floor. When the doors started opening, Yata couldn't help but inhaling sharply, preparing himself for whatever was inside. Despite his confident announcement, he hadn't been entirely sure that ghost could be punched yet.

To Yata's surprise, the inside of the infamous haunted elevator was bright, cozy-looking, and actually occupied by a boy in the same school uniform. The strange boy was apparently sleeping, curling himself into a loose ball to fit comfortably in the narrow place, with his back pressing lightly to the wall at the back.

"Who in their right mind choose to sleep in an elevator of all places...?" Yata wondered out loud with disbelief dripping from each word. After a moment of recovering, the new transfer student hesitantly walked forward, wondering why on earth he suddenly felt the need to say "sorry for the intrusion".

Yata was about to hit the close button when he saw another man in suit walking hurriedly toward him. Being the nice kid, he held the door with a small welcome smile and an awkward wave. The gestures were politely returned by the man once he got in, though for some reasons accompanied by a confused expression.

"Which floor do you want to go, sir?"

"Thirteen, if you don't mind."

After pushing both the 10 and 13 buttons, Yata sighed and leaned back, staring at the sleeping boy behind him. He had a tall but thin frame, almost fragile looking. A major part of his face was hidden by long silky locks of dark blue hair and glasses, so Yata couldn't have a good look.

"What a weird person..." Yata mumbled and sighed. He turned to the man with the intent to crack a joke about the situation, only to find himself being glared at intensely. The redhead flinched visibly upon realizing the lack of subject in his earlier comment, scared that it might be taken the wrong way.

"Oh no, not you, of course! I meant this freaky guy!" Yata pointed furiously at the other student in attempt to clear himself, not really minding the fact that he was being pretty rude to an unconscious stranger.

The man's glare never wavered, if not becoming even more heated as he scowled. "What's wrong with you? Not a damn thing is there!"

"W-W-What? But!" Yata turned his head around so fast he could hear the bones in his neck cracking in protest. "He's here! Lying right here, asleep! Can't you see him?"

The boy was indeed there. He responded to the noise Yata was making with a small sleepy "Hm...", and shifted lightly to lay flat on his back, still deep in his slumber.

"I see nothing but thin air", the man squinted unfocusedly at the general direction that Yata was pointing, "Are you trying to pull my legs, lad?"

"No, I..." No way. Holy Shit! Yata was stunned speechless, eyes widening as he stared at the sleeping boy in bewilderment. Don't tell me he's the fucking elevator's ghost!? Wait, even the dead needs sleep?

Yata gulped loudly as he kneed to the ground to examine the possibly supernatural creature. But he doesn't look like a ghost at all! The hair was out of the way so Yata had a full view of his face this time. The (supposedly) spirit had smooth, milky but a little pale skin, like someone who didn't get much sun kisses. His head was tilted back a bit, showing a slender, elegant neck just above the partially exposed high collarbones. Long eyelashes could be seen clearly even behind the askew thick-framed glasses, thin rosy lips parted slightly, letting out cute quiet breaths.

What a beautiful ghost, Yata absentmindedly thought. He was so lost in wonderment that he didn't notice the lift had already stopped for a few seconds.

"Why does it stop at tenth floor...?" The man's mutter made Yata jumped out of his skin – he totally forgot he was not alone. Shit! He forgot he was on the way to class too!

"Ah! It's my floor! Thank you sir!" The student all bout bounced out and broke into a run, not wanting to waste any seconds. He faintly heard the man saying something again, but he really didn't have time to pay attention.

He was ten minute late already, and his teacher was one scary old hag who would literally haunted him in his dreams for the rest of his life. Even if he was going to be haunted, he'd much prefer a prettier one.

Pretty...like...that ghost earlier.

"What. Wait. What the actual fuck am I thinking!"

Needless to say Yata couldn't get a word of his lessons into his head the whole day. The memory kept coming back and stirred a weird feeling in his stomach. Countless questions swirled nonstop in his mind like a raging typhoon. He even decided to skip eating in lunch break and buried himself in thoughts, which was a rare event that had happened only three times in his entire 16 years of living.

Who exactly was that guy? Why was he in the elevator? How long had he been there? Was he an evil spirit or just a lingering soul? He looked harmless enough, but the rumor did state "something scary", and he had been sleeping so it was really hard to tell. Again, why did a ghost need sleep? And he was even breathing!

But the most important thing was...

"Why the heck could I see him?" Yata muttered in complete confusion, suddenly feeling a strong urge to bang his head against the table. It would hurt, yet he was having a headache anyway so a little more hurt wouldn't hurt, right?

It didn't make any sense at all, but Yata smashed his head down anyway.

"It's totally insane. Does this mean I have spiritual power or something? But I'd never seen a ghost before...I think? He looked perfectly solid though...Argh! I don't get it!"

"What's wrong, Yata-san? You look troubled. Are you upset about your punishment for being late?" Yata looked up to see his classmate, Kamamoto, peering down with concerned eyes while stuffing himself with two breads at the same time. Because nobody wanted to walk down to the canteen in the first floor, almost everyone brought their own lunch and ate in the classrooms.

"Don't remind me...That heartless teacher actually gave me a full week detention. What's wrong with her? I was late for 10 minutes and then BAM! I have to waste 100 minutes afterschool every day for fucking 7 days!"

"It can't be help, though. Somehow it has become a tradition. You know our school is pretty strict."

The redhead groaned, resisting the need to hit someone hard, preferring the school principal. "This kind of tradition would drive someone insane soon."

"Yeah, I heard that some seniors and teachers really have to quit school due to mental illnesses. The rumors have it that there're even some murder cases inside the school. Of course nothing has been confirmed yet, so the myth is still the myth. " Kanamoto shrugged nonchalantly as if he was talking about the weather, already on his way to eat the third bread.

"That's...scary", The new transfer student shuddered, then widened his eyes when he thought of something, "Wait, murders inside the school?"

"It just a non-based chain-telling, don't worry! I think this school is built on an old battlefield so people like to scare newcomers with that twisted joke."

"But...there may be a chance that the school has many, I don't know, dead people...?" Yata felt shaken to the core. What the hell. He should really, really researched more about this damn school before moving in.

"You mean ghosts? Well actually nothing seems out of ordinary, besides the elevator. People say it has a chilling aura of some sort, but that may be just the broken air-louver." The blonde laughed smugly, biting his fourth bread as if he was starving. "Like I said, everything is chit-chat material, don't sweat it!"

Don't sweat it my ass! I saw a ghost in that very elevator which apparently is located in a school full of rumored dead cases! Yata bit his lower lip hard to prevent himself from yelling all his thoughts out loud.

"Then why don't you use it? You don't believe the myth but you choose to walk anyway?"

"...Ahahaha! I will gain weight if I don't work out! Ha. Ha. Ha" Kanamoto's nervous laughter was accompanied by the tearing sound of the fifth bread's package.

"...Right."

So that's how it was. Maybe he should follow his classmates and never set a foot on that lift again. However there was something unsettling about the whole deal. Like, what people mean by "chilling atmosphere"? He could swear the elevator was nicer and warmer than his own department. And hadn't a man actually used it with ease? Was it because the ghost had been sleeping so he couldn't stir trouble? So many unsolved questions...

Despite the promised horror of the situation, Yata still wanted to see seek the answers from the spirit. Dead people couldn't be that bad, right?

And it wasn't like he just wanted to see the beautiful ghost once more time or anything. Nope.

"Alright, the moment of truth." Yata mumbled nervously, index finger hovering the down button. He had just finished his detention, which was a total torture by the way, and now he was left in the deserted school while the sun had almost set. A perfect situation for a school-setting horror movie, but goddamn it, he just couldn't give up his curiosity.

Yata glanced at the red number thirteen and chuckled. Maybe no one had used the lift after that man in the morning. However he was proven wrong right at that moment, as the number suddenly jumped down to twelve. Breathing deeply to encourage himself, Yata hit the button with a tad too much force than necessary.

The elevator's doors opened immediately, making the redhead jump up an inch in surprise. He didn't expect it to be that fast!

Holding his breath, Yata carefully peered inside. A young blond man was standing near the control panel and the dark blue haired boy was sitting at the back right corner. Both of them looked as startled as Yata, if not much more – like he wasn't supposed to have the right to use the lift at all.

"Oh? It's rare to see such a young kid here!" The man smiled lightly, his eyes softened in an almost sympathetic way. The rumor must be stronger than Yata thought, for the reaction might or might not imply that no student had been using this elevator at all. It also confirmed that the man could not see the ghostly boy in uniform right behind him.

Well, whatever. Yata mentally shrugged and strolled in as if he owned the place. He noticed that no button on the control panel was lightened up, so he chose the first floor while glancing at the blond man, assuming that they had the same destination. He was greeted with a cheerful smile and a nod, which more or less confirmed his guess.

So people still used the lift all the times, like this guy and the man in suit this morning. Figured...only the kids were scared by the rumors and the adults actually gave no shit.

Yata felt a little nervous upon realizing he had been stared at by a pair of piercing glacial eyes from behind the entire time. This feeling must be the "chillness" that people often referred to, if the ghost stared at everyone like this. Keeping his eyes straight forward, Yata figured it'd be best to pretend he couldn't see ghost when there was normal people around. After all, he didn't want to look like a madman who appeared to look at nothing and talk to himself in public.

"Are you new?" The question was voiced by both the man and the other boy at the same time, making Yata fidget involuntary.

"Yes. I've just transferred to this school a month ago." He tried his best to not look back as he nodded slowly toward the older stranger.

"Oh... You're pretty unlucky neh? It's alright, everything will work out somehow! My name is Totsuka Tatara, by the way!"

Yata smiled. This Totsuka sure was the happy-go-lucky type. "I'm Yata. Nice to meet you."

A soft noise, which suspicious sounded like a tongue clicking, could be heard from the back. "No one asks your name."

...What an attitude. Yeah, Totsuka didn't really ask his name, but it was only polite to reply like that after receiving a self-introduction. Yata scowled but didn't move or say anything.

"Yata...?" Totsuka tilted his head, an amused smile danced on his lips.

"Mi..." Ugh. How he hated his girly name. "Yata Misaki."

Again, the ghost clicked his tongue. "Tsk. Who cares about your name? But really, Mi-sa-ki, huh?"

So annoying! I'm not even talking to you! Yata gritted his teeth, trying to keep his temper in check. Don't think you can insult people just because you're a ghost and nobody can hear or see you!

"Hurry up and get out. Don't you know that this elevator is haunted? Even if you're new here, you should hear people gossip about it left and right." Yata felt, rather than heard, that the cold voice was getting closer to his nape. Totsuka was saying something, but Yata's ears only caught the sound of his own crazily fast pumping veins and the quiet breaths right behind him.

The low voice continued to drawl dangerously. "So...Don't come back here, neh? Who knows when the ghost will jump out? A shortie like you...may become an easy victim, don't you think so ~?"

So that was how he shooed people away. The ghost himself might look like an normal boy (okay, more like a handsome teenage celebrity...), but the sheer presence of his created a heavy pressure, conflicting with the seemingly cozy air within the elevator. People who couldn't see what was happening had every right to be frightened.

Yata barely noticed Totsuka stepping toward him with a concerned expression. "Are you okay, Yata? You look...unwell. Is there something wrong?"

At the same time, the shadow behind Yata moved forward with an irritated "Tsk. Hey, are you ignoring me?"

To know a person was a ghost and to see him in action was totally different experiences. Yata's heart suddenly leaped to his tightened throat as he saw Totsuka went right through the scowling dark haired boy. It felt surreal and, to a certain degree, ridiculous, because both of them looked perfectly solid but somehow managed to intermingle, like a visual error in a 3D game.

And it was scary as fuck.

Before Yata could utter a word, the elevator stopped with a small "ding", doors immediately opened. He sucked a large gulp of air through both his nose and mouth, and forced himself to smile at the blonde – involuntary the ghost too, since they were practically existing in the same space.

Scary. Way too scary. Terrifying! Holy crap, I need time to get over this! Mission aborted!

"N-No, nothing, nothing at all! Look, it's the first floor already! L-Let's go." Yata all but jumped outside as he tried his best to act as normal as possible. If his voice trembled, Totsuka didn't comment on it and simply walked out.

Right before the doors closed, Yata heard an annoyed mutter of "what the fuck" inside of the elevator.

What the fuck indeed. Yata sighed, realizing that not only he didn't get any information to conquer his curiosity about the myth, but also he probably didn't leave a good first impression with both the ghost and Totsuka. Speaking of which, who was Totsuka anyway? He looked too young to be a proper teacher, so he might be an assistant in training or a part-timer.

"Totsuka - san, what are you doing in school this late?"

Cold winds met his question. Yata glanced back, only to find the blond man had already gone without a trace.