It was just like any other day after school, we met in one of the empty classrooms to tell ghost stories. Michiru had finished telling her story about the old schoolhouse, she switched off her small light. Plunging the room into complete darkness before she starting counting off. You see after you finish a story you turn off your light, once everyone has turned theirs off you count off. The last person is supposedly a ghost.

"One"

"Two"

"Three"

"Four" Michiru and Keiko screams echo throughout the room, Keiko nearly chokes me from the grip she has on my neck. I feel the presence of another person standing inside the doorway before the lights flicker on. Keiko and Michiru both turn to the guy with his hand still on the light switch.

"Please tell us that was you?" Keiko asks, releasing me from her tight grip. I gasp in relief as I suck in a clear breath.

"Yes, sorry if I startled you. I couldn't help myself." I glare over at him, not believing a word he says. His dark blue eyes latch onto mine as Keiko and Michiru jump up and rush toward him.

"Oh no, it's perfectly fine, we were just telling ghost stories!" Michiru tells him, hearts literally dancing in her eyes.

"Really, sounds fun."

Keiko and Michiru giggle madly as they step even closer to him.

"We tell them after school all the time, you should join us tomorrow!" Keiko tells him, this is where I step in.

"Excuse me, who exactly are you? Because you don't look like a student; so what are you doing here?" He turns to me, a flash of, is that amusement, appears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, forgive my manners. My name is Kazuya Shibuya; I am seventeen this year." His answer causes me to frown at him harder. That's weird, a normal person would say they were a senior this year.

"Ok Shibuya, why are you here?" He is saved from answering when Keiko and Michiru jump in front of me, looks of awe on their faces.

"So your our sempai, we are first years." Having had enough of their fangirling, I grab both of their shoulders and start to lead them out of the room. Calling over my shoulder to Shibuya.

"Well we really must be going, and I am sure you need to get back to whatever it was you were doing." I don't look to see if he heard me or not, after leading my friends out of the school, with them both whining might I add. I talk them into heading home before their parents start to worry, with a sigh and a grumble from both they head home in one direction. After making sure they were not going to turn around I turn the other direction and head home myself.

~The Next Day~

I sigh blissfully, raising my arms high above my head as I walk through a collection of cherry blossoms.

"Ah, I am happy I left early. Now I get all these amazing cherry blossoms all to myself." I stop walking for a moment when my eyes land on the old school building. Walking over to the front door I peer inside. I don't understand why everyone believes this building is haunted, I don't feel anything evil about this building. The old school feels a little off, but not evil. Huh, what is that? Peering in closer I realize there is a camera set up in the middle of the front room.

"Why would that be here?" Pushing the door open, I go take a closer look. This can't have been here long, it doesn't have any dust on it like everything else in here. I reach out slowly to touch the camera to see if there's a name or anything written on it.

"Who's there!" I flinch back, my shoulder knocking into an old shoe rack in my surprise. I whip around to see a man in his early thirties, with dark gray hair covering one eye, wearing a dark gray and black suit. Before I can say anything to him I feel the shoe rack shudder behind me, turning to look at it I see it tilting toward me. Before I can move out of the way the man pushes me out of the way, seeing that if I didn't act fast the shoe rack would crush him. I quickly grab his arm and pull him toward me, the rack clips my shoulder as it falls to the floor. While I had managed to pull the man mostly out of the way, the bottom of the rack still got his foot. He grunts in pain when it lands hard on his foot, I gasp and quickly bending down to pull on the shoe rack, ignoring the burning in my shoulder. Once the weight is lifted somewhat he pulls his foot out of the way, I let the rack drop with a heavy breath.

"I am so sorry; I wasn't going to move the camera. I just wanted to see if there was a name or something on it so I could figure out why it was here. I'm sorry you got hurt, it's just your voice surprised me and I wasn't watching where I was going. I understand that your probably angry, it was completely my fault, I should have just minded my own business." While he does glare at me, there seems to be a hint of surprise hidden in his eyes. Reaching forward I gently place my hand over his hurt foot, a light blue covers it lightly. With the glow fading, I lean back and give him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, your ankle has a bad sprain." He looks at me in surprise, but before anything else can be said a cold familiar voice washes over us.

"What happened here?" I turn around to see the same guy from the night before Kazuya Shibuya, I glare at him turning away to help the man stand up.

"Lin, what just happened?" Kazuya asks as he helps me lift the guy up, who I now know is named Lin.

"It was my fault, I was looking on the camera for a name and he called out to prevent me from touching it. I backed up into the shoe rack and he pushed me out of the way." I explain quickly, he nods his head.

"Never mind all that, is there a hospital nearby."

"Yes, if you go down Main street take the first right, the doctor's office is the second building on your left."

"Your one of the girls from yesterday." I glare at him.

"Yes, and you're the guy who came into the school after hours when it is obvious you don't go there." I tell him darkly, his eyes light up slightly with something, amusement?

"What is your name?" He asks.

"What's it to you?"

"I just thought you would like to know that the bell just rang." I pause for a moment, before cursing.

"Damn it, great another reason for the principle to be pissed at me." I mutter darkly, before turning and running out of the building. I can feel the two look at me in surprise as I pass them.

~After School~

I sigh angrily, shoving my books in my bag and standing from my desk. The principal called me to his office after he had been notified that I was late, he gave me a long lecture about 'how lucky I was' to be here. Reminding me that I should put more effort into my school work. Stupid, I have the highest marks in all my classes and the teachers have no problem with me. But I'm late for one class and I get a lecture, doesn't he have other things to do than torture me? Not to mention Keiko and Michiru's obsession with that Kazuya dude, I get that he's cute but do they have to gush about him? Shaking myself out of my thoughts I wave to Michiru and Keiko.

"Well I'm off, see you later." I tell them walking toward the door.

"Aww, but Mai-Chan this might be our only chance to tell ghost stories with an upperclassman." Michiru whines, I roll my eyes.

"Well, I am afraid I will have to miss it." I say sarcastically.

"Did you guys just say you were telling ghost stories, is that what you do every day after school?" An angry voice cuts into our argument. I turn to see a girl with her brown hair pulled back into twin pigtails and glasses walk toward us. She stands in front of me with her hands on her hips, trying to intimidate me. I face her raising an eyebrow, not even trying to hide my amusement at her antics.

"Yeah, so what's it to you?" I ask, she glares harder at me. After noticing that her glare is having no effect she turns toward Michiru and Keiko.

"Then no wonder I've had this headache for so long. I'm very attuned to spirits when they gather in groups I get headaches." I glare hard at her.

"And you're blaming us for that?"

Yes! Because when you tell one of your little stories it attracts low-level spirits and they attract higher spirits then we're all in trouble. So whenever you have your little get together your putting me at risk!" She shouts getting up in my face, I stand up straight and lean into her. Causing her to back away slightly and for her glare to drop somewhat.

"I don't know where you got your information from, but telling ghost stories alone cannot attract any spirits. We would need to be playing with an ouija board or something of the like, and I can promise you we have not. So if you're having headaches because you're so attuned to the spirits you should look more into it, because I can promise it's not from us." I tell her, my voice coming out like ice as I stare her down. She flinches back at my response, but she stands her ground. So she has some guts. Before she could say anything else a very annoyingly familiar voice cuts through the room.

"So tell me have you sensed anything from the old schoolhouse?" All of us whip around to where the voice came from.

"Ah, it's Shibuya-sempai." Both Michiru and Keiko squealed, while I rolled my eyes. The girl that was accusing us a moment ago blushes before yelling at him.

"Are you the one who put these girls up to this?" She glared over at me, I just scuff. We have been telling ghost stories since middle school and you think somehow it's because of this guy. Yeah right.

"You haven't answered my question, perhaps your psychic powers are made up." Shibuya tells her, goading her to get the response he wanted.

"I've seen numerous spirits in there, in fact, I'm positive that building was used as a hospital during the war. I've just seen way too many injured spirits in there." I cover my mouth to hide the small snort that comes out. If you're going to lie about the spirits you see, you should at least do your research.

"I was unaware there was a hospital here during the war; so maybe it was used as a medical school." Shibuya, he said, looking at me calmly. I ignore him.

"I-I don't know, but I really do see ghosts. If you're not psychic, then you wouldn't understand." She blushed, Shibuya nodded then preceded to ignore her. I have psychic abilities and I don't understand what you're saying. I think with a frown.

"Taniyama-san, we need to have a word." Shibuya tells me, ignoring the others and walking out of the classroom. I glare after him but leave as well. It probably has something to do with the fact that I injured his partner. I hate being out in the hallway alone with him, it makes me feel exposed.

"How's the man from this morning? You said his name was Lin-san right?" I ask, sensing he wasn't going to be the one to start off the conversation.

"Yes about him, he has suffered from a bad sprain to his leg and he will not be walking for at least a week." He tells me, turning to stare hard at me. I swallow hard. So, just like I thought. He did sprain it, just this once I wish my instincts were wrong.

"Is he your partner, or are you his boss?" I ask quietly, he looks at me in surprise.

"I'm his boss, and now my assistant is laid up in bed. Because of this, it seems you have an obligation." He tells me, the surprise leaving his face to be replaced with a hard stare.

"There is also the fact that you broke the camera, he was trying to stop you from touching it." He continues, I glare at him.

"You don't think I know that? I am well aware that he got hurt because of me, if you need help because he is indisposed then fine I'll be happy to help since it was my fault. But don't go trying to blackmail me into helping, that's stupid and childish." I growl at him, he seems shocked by my response. I continue walking since we had stopped during our conversation.

"So what is your work; so I know what exactly I am signing up for?" I ask, glancing over my shoulder at him. He had begun walking after I had, he was looking straight ahead.

"I hunt ghosts." I pause mid-step at that, before quickly resuming my pace.

"Have to admit, I did not expect you to say that." I mutter softly.

"I'm from Shibuya Psychic research, a company that was hired to investigate the old school building."

"Psychic research?" I repeat quietly, he glares down at me apparently taking that as a question.

"In other words, it's a spiritual phenomenon investigation bureau. If you can understand all those long words." He remarks, smirking down at me. I glare at him.

"I know exactly what it means, I wasn't forming it into a question, simply expressing my surprise at what you had said." I snap back, growling lightly. Turning away from him and walking in front heading toward the old schoolhouse. He doesn't say anything else so I assume he has nothing else to inform me about. I stop at the entrance of the parking lot, waiting for him to lead me exactly where we are going. He leads me to the side of the building to where a silver van is parked. As he opens up the back and starts going through things I ask him what had been on my mind since we left the classroom.

"So, Shibuya-san. How did you know my name, I never gave it to you and Keiko and Michiru never said my family name?" I ask, clasping my hands behind my back. He turned and began to load stuff into my hands.

"I asked a teacher, she pointed me in the direction of your classroom." Is all he says before leading me inside, with his own load of things.

"A week ago your principle came to my office, he explained the rumors of the schoolhouse and that many deaths had happened here. Leading him to believe that the schoolhouse was hunted. Looking into it, I was able to verify that up until eighteen years ago while the building was still in use, at least one or two deaths would happen inside the schoolhouse yearly. It is also true that while the building was under construction there was an accident where the roof caved in on the west side of the building. However, no workers died and the accident was pushed off on human error. There was a teacher that committed suicide in the building, but that was explained in the note he left. The runaway truck last year was the cause of drunk driving, that was when construction was stopped for the second time. The stories we have heard most likely had a part in that, according to my study the presence of spirits here is nothing more than stories. For a place this active, all the accidents have a simple explanation." He explains leading me through the halls, I huff at him.

"I could have told you that much." I growl out, he turns to smirk over at me. But there is something softer in his eyes when he does.

"Yes, I'm sure you could have." He says quietly, turning away from me to open a door. Letting me go in first he quickly follows. I grunt sitting down everything in my arms, my shoulder throbs painfully from getting clip earlier, but I ignore it.

"This is where we will set up base." He states I look over at him.

"Is that basically saying this is the main room where we will gather information." He nods his head, pointing toward the pieces of metal we brought up he orders me to start setting up shelves before turning away.

"You're leaving me alone?" I ask, shocked that he would trust a stranger alone with his gear.

"Would you rather carry stuff in? Some of this equipment weighs up to fifty pounds." He states I shake my head rapidly.

"Nope, I am good setting up shelves." Without another word he walks out, grabbing the pieces I start putting the first shelf together. A peaceful silence falls over me, comforting me. After ten minutes, I pause in my work at a creaking sound. What is that? Did a rat get in here, not that I would be surprised. I think silently to myself, listening closely to the noise. Soon a heavy feeling weighed down the room, I blink in shock when I fail to move my fingers. What is this? It's like something is holding me down, but that doesn't make any sense. There is nothing supernatural here, I would have known. Besides this doesn't feel like a ghost, this feels like something else, but what? I think, breathing through my nose deeply before trying to move my hand. It's like something breaks through the fog that had been created around the room, I step forward with no problem at all.

"What was that?" I ask myself quietly.

"Why are you slacking off?" Shibuya-san demands coming back into the room, I glance over at him.

"Nothing, I was just lost in thought, sorry." I apologize, turning back to the shelves in front of me. I guess he didn't sense it, not that I'm surprised. He didn't say anything just headed back out to get more gear. Shaking off the experience I just had I focus on finishing the shelves. I had just finished setting up the last one when I felt Shibuya-san standing outside the door.

"Are you coming in or are you going to stand there all night?" I call out to him, not turning around. He doesn't respond, just comes over to the table and sets down two different types of cameras. I pick one up and gently turn it in my hand.

"These aren't like normal cameras, are they like night cameras, or are they for something more specific?" I ask him.

"An infrared camera and an ultra-high-sensitivity camera, they are used to shoot in the dark. Thermography is done with cameras that pick up temperatures. When spirits appear, the temperature around them drops." He explains I nod my head.

"I knew about the fact that the temperature changes when a spirit appears, but I have never seen a camera that was able to catch it. It's amazing that you know how to work all this stuff, I'm sure it took a long time to learn." I say, looking over the other camera.

"Of course I can, my brain works differently than yours." I growl at him.

"Well, you are the manager so I would sure hope so." I snap sarcastically.

"Why are you in the ghost hunting business anyway?" I ask curiously.

"Someone has too."

"Have you ever had a case that you couldn't solve?"

"No, I am very good at my job."

"Wow, smart and handsome." I say softly, he freezes.

"You think I'm handsome?"

"Well yeah, it's kind of hard to miss given all the girls made such a big fuss about you. I don't fully understand why, looks aren't everything." I respond without much thought, he hums in thought before smirking down at me.

"They have good taste." I look up at him wide-eyed. I get that he's successful at a young age and he is handsome, but I have never met a bigger narcissist. From now on I will call you Naru the Narcissist, Naru for short. I giggle lightly at my thoughts, he glances down at me with a frown, I just smile brightly at him.

~End of The Day~

I slump over a desk in exhaustion, my shoulder humming painfully. I let out a soft groan.

"You can go home; We've done enough for today." He tells me, bending over me. I push myself up with a groan, following him out of the building. Wait, today? Dang it that means I have to come back tomorrow. I groan again, Naru looks down at me with a frown.

"Is there a problem?" I shake my head.

"No, I just need to know what time I should be back tomorrow."

"Be here by eight in the morning, I'll show you how to look over footage." With a lazy nod I make my way out of the school grounds. Turning the corner, I was blinded by a bright light.

"Mai-Chan, were you here with Sempai all night?" Michiru and Keiko ask at the same time, I sigh again as we walk a little farther to a bench and sit down. A twenty-minute conversation where I explained to them exactly what Naru and I were doing later.

"So, he's not an upperclassman?" Keiko asks in shock; I shake my head.

"Nope, not at all. He's actually a ghost hunter."

"Why did he chose you to help him Mai?" Michiru asks, a little put out that he didn't pick her. I wave my hand at her.

"It's not that he chose me really, it's more of the fact that I accidentally broke one of his camera's this morning before school. I'm helping him investigate to make up for it." I explain. Not to mention the fact that I injured his assistant. I think with a sweatdrop. Light footsteps caught out attention, we turn to see the girl from earlier step out of the shadows.

"Taniyama-san do you think you could introduce me to Shibuya-san? I really think I could help with the investigation." She asks me politely. Wow, if I didn't know any better I's say that she didn't have a mean bone in her body. But after the ordeal this morning I know she has more than enough anger to fuel if needed. I try to smile politely at her.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, he is a professional after all," I tell her. Not to mention he doesn't seem to care much for girls flaunting over him when he's working. And the fact that the school isn't actually haunted, you'd just be wasting your time. She glares heatedly at me.

"Well, I'm by no means an amateur!" She shouts at me, the same feeling from the schoolhouse washes over me. Like there was a heavy sense of energy weighing me down, it was as though it was pulsing off of her. Does she have what I think she has? I silently ask myself, watching her closely. I'll need to watch her more carefully before I make that decision. I take a small step away from her, trying to space myself from the energy a little bit. Michiru grabs my arm and drags me away, Keiko following close behind us. I look behind us to see her slowly disappearing in the darkness.

"Let's go Mai-Chan." Michiru calls over her shoulder as she continues to drag me away, after a few more feet we slow to a walk.

"That girls really weird." Keiko mumbles. I look over at her in question.

"You were in middle school with her, weren't you Keiko? What's her name?" I ask as we stop walking. She looks over at me with a frown.

"Kuroda-san, I don't know her first name. She's such a freak."

"I've heard of her, she's been telling anyone that we give two seconds that she has psychic abilities. But I've never seen any abilities, just her complaining about headaches and seeing the ghosts of people from the war. But she's never given any proof, she just does it for attention." Michiru states, I look over at her with my head tilted.

"So she's always said she's had these abilities, even in middle?"

"Yeah, maybe even before then." I bring my hand to rest on my chin.

"Has she said anything thing else about what she can do? Other than the headaches and seeing spirits?" Michiru and Keiko give me a side look.

"Don't tell me you believe her stories, Mai?" Keiko asks me in disbelief.

"It's not that I believe her, I just want to know all the facts before I make my decision on what I think of her. So has she said anything else?" They both pause for a moment to think before long Keiko snaps her fingers.

"Ah, there was, for a short time anyway, that Kuroda-san said she could bend a spoon. I never saw it, but a lower classman said they saw it once. I don't know if it's true or not, but that's the only other thing I can think of." I nod my head, smiling at her in thanks.

"Ok, thanks for telling me, you guys. We should all probably head home, I have to be back early tomorrow. I guess I'll see you on Monday, bye." I wave to them as I take off in a slow jog. They wave back, calling out 'goodnights' as well. Later that night when I'm lying in bed, I think over everything Michiru and Keiko told me about Kuroda-san. If what Keiko said is true, then maybe she really does have that. With determination to look more into it tomorrow, I roll over and go to sleep.

~The Next Day~

I yawn as I stretch my arms high above my head, Wincing slightly at the tug of pain from my shoulder. Walking around the van to see Naru already at work typing up something on his computer.

"Good morning, did you learn anything new from yesterday's footage?" I ask him, stopping beside him and looking over his shoulder at his notes. He gives me a side glance when my shadow falls over him. I grin at him and he just shakes his head, but I spot a small smirk before he turns away.

"I'm just checking over yesterday's data now, so far there doesn't seem to be anything unusual." He tells me, before I can say anything in response we both paused at the sound of footsteps. Looking to the side I see two people walking toward us, one is a middle-aged woman with fiery red hair that goes all the way to her waist, with bright red eyes to match. She is covered with an expensive-looking yellow coat, with a dark purple dress shirt just peeking out the top and some red high heels. Behind her is a middle-aged man with dirty blond hair that goes just passed his chin, his eyes are a chocolate brown. He's wearing jeans, and a red collar shirt, with a dirt brown jacket.

"That's some fancy equipment you got there, seems a bit too high tech for a couple of children to be playing with." The woman remarks, stopping a few feet away from us. Naru glares hard at her, I cover my mouth with my hand to hide my smirk. Probably shouldn't have called him a child, not a good way to start the day.

"I'm Ayako the shrine maid, the principle wasn't sold on you; so he called me to drive out the spirits." She tells us, staring down at Naru condescendingly. Naru looks down at his clipboard.

"I was under the impression that only innocent virgins could become shrine maidens." I turn away from the two adults, coving my mouth to stop my laughter from coming out. You should never start a battle until you know more about your opponents. I think, remembering what a caretaker had once told me, when I was younger. I looked up to see the man trying to contain his laughter as well, while the woman looks hard at Naru with a vein beginning to poke out on her forehead.

"I see, and you point?" She asks, her voice dripping with acid.

"At the very least, I'd say you're looking a little old to still be calling yourself a maiden." Her face flushes red as she clenches her fists.

"Nice, very funny you smart-ass." She mumbles, Naru isn't quite finished though. He turns toward the man that is still trying to hold in his laughter.

"What about you? I would guess that your too intelligent to be the shrine maiden's assistant." The guy stands up straight to answer, his laughter gone.

"I'm a monk from mount Kyoya, names Takigawa Hosho." He tells us, this catches my attention. Since when were monks allowed to grow their hair out, as far as I know, they cut it off as part of their training. Naru seems to read my mind.

"Since when were monks allowed to have long hair?"

"Apostate." The Miko mumbles under her breath, the monk turns and glares at her.

"I'm just on a small break, ok." He shouts at her; she just smirks at him.

"At any rate playtime is over kids, now you may have gotten this job because your office is nearby. But the principle himself said it seemed like a scam to have a teenager running the show." The monk turns his attention back on us, I roll my eyes at his response.

"Yeah, well the principle also believes that if you like the color black you must be a follower to Satan. So, what he believes and what is true can be two very different things." I tell him offhand, leaning back over Naru to finish reading the notes from yesterday. He hands me the clipboard when he sees what I'm doing, giving me a curious look at my response. I just focus on the notes, not bothering to answer him. Naru turns his attention back to the monk, smirking at him lightly before going back to his laptop.

"Did he now." He says, before turning fully to his computer.

"Either way, the principle is wasting his money. He doesn't need to have all of us for such a simple job." The Miko says, an air of self-confidence surrounding her. The monk smirks over at her.

"yeah, all he really needed was me." It seems the monk has plenty of confidence as well, the Miko glares at him.

"Right, I wouldn't be too sure." They are stopped from having an argument when a worried voice cuts through the air.

"Oh I am so glad you are all here, that old schoolhouse has been terrorizing me for weeks." I hold in a grown at Kuroda-sans voice, turning to see her walking toward us. I go to say something to her, but get cut off mid-sentence.

"You see I'm a psychic, the souls of those trapped there-"

"Stop grandstanding, you're just looking for attention." The Miko's voice cuts through her words, with a cold tone. I glance over at her, to see her glaring at Kuroda-san.

"Are you really that desperate for people to like you?" She continues, I glare hard at her stepping forward.

"Hey! You don't need to be such an ass! You're an adult, shouldn't you try asking her about why she said those things before accusing her like a child. Even if she's not telling the truth, you have no proof; so who are you to give her a lecture without all the facts! You're an adult, not a child; so why are you speaking to her like a jealous teenager!" I shout at her, she looks at me in shock. Kuroda-san looks at me in surprise. The Miko glares at me.

"Do you have proof that she's telling the truth?"

"No, I don't. Because I never said I did, I don't care if she's telling the truth or not. What I care about is how you are talking down to her, nobody should be talked down on because of what they believe in. Just because you don't believe she has those abilities doesn't mean she doesn't." Her mouth slams shut after that, not seeming to know what to say in response to that, I turn toward Kuroda.

"As far as you Kuroda-san, I get that you want to talk to the people here because they're professionals. But that doesn't change the fact that this place can be dangerous and it's not safe for you to be here. If you want to talk to them fine, but you need to find time to do so somewhere safer." Kuroda doesn't seem to know what to say to that, she instead turns toward the Miko with a glare.

"I'm going to call a spirit down to haunt you, you're the fake and you will regret this." With that dark response, she turns and walks away. I feel a shiver go down my spine at her cold words, the same feeling from yesterday coming back. It almost felt as though the energy in the air was pushing down on my lungs, making it hard to breath. Turning back to Naru I call out to him to distract myself.

"Hey, Naru. So what's up, what are the plans for today?" I ask him, he spins around to face me with a shocked look on his face.

"Wait, what did you just say?" I pause, biting my lip lightly. Crap I didn't mean to say that out loud.

"Did you just call me Naru?" I blush lightly, covering my face with my hands.

"Uh, sorry. I didn't mean."

"Where did you hear that?" He demands, cutting me off. I stop for a moment before a smile comes to my face, leaning over him I pat his back.

"Of course, I couldn't have been the first person to come up with something like Naru the narcissist!" I say, grinning big. Before he could say anything else a light voice falls over us.

"Morning everyone, so nice to see you all. Say hello to John Brown." We all turn around to see the principle and a guy that couldn't have been much older than me, he has blond hair, with blue eyes, and he's wearing a blue sweater with brown slacks.

"good' ay mate. My names John Brown and I come from the great outback of Australia. I can't express how excited I am to join you." John greets us, the monk and Miko immediately double over laughing at his accent. I stand straight up, my eyes not leaving my principle.

"John is relatively new to our country; so please show him the respect he deserves." The principle glares harshly at me when he says this. Sure glare at me instead of the two adults that are laughing at how he talks, that makes sense. I think with an eye roll, I see Naru look between me and the principle with a frown. Ah, so he caught that too huh.

"Ahahaha, no, no, no, let me guess. You're looking for a playground." The Miko asks in between her laughter. John just looks at her goodheartedly, answering calmly.

"Well, actually I practice the ancient art of exorcism." As soon as those word come out of his mouth, a deep silence falls over the group. I feel my mouth drop slightly at his response.

"Only those who have been ordained as priests in the catholic church can conduct the form of exorcism. You seem a little young for that." Naru states, coming to stand in front of John. John smiles at him.

"You really know your stuff mate, and to be honest I just turned nineteen a few weeks ago. That's why I look so young." He's nineteen? That's means he's older then Naru is." I look between the two, they're both so young, but have come so far in their lives. Looking between us the principle smiles before saying.

"Well now that you all know each other; I should be on my way. If you have any troubles just let me know, oh and Miss Taniyama." I turn toward him.

"Yes, sir." I keep my voice calm and my face blank.

"If you don't mind, try not to get anyone else hurt. We both know that anyone who seems to come close to you ends up getting hurt, try not to drag anyone else into the darkness you allow to follow you." I clench my fists tight behind my back, forcing out a small smile.

"I understand sit, I will do my very best." With that I turn away and head into the school, leaving my principle glaring at me, and the others looking back at me in shock. The stupid principle doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. I think angrily, making my way straight to base, knowing Naru will not be far behind. Once everyone is settled in, Ayako comments.

"So we have an exorcist, apostate monk, and a ghost hunter. Obviously this boneheaded principle doesn't have much faith in my unique cleansing abilities. Hump, just watch. I will clear this entire area myself." She turns and struts out of the room.

"I'm going to do a walkthrough, see you later." Monk says, before also leaving the room, although going in the opposite direction as the miko. Your both wasting your time since there isn't anything supernatural in this building. John turns toward Naru, asking quietly.

"Um, excuse me sir."

"You may do as you wish." Naru deadpans, I sweatdrop. Geez Naru, you could at least let the poor guy finish talking.

"Um, actually I'd really like to work with you on this." John tells him before Naru can say anything else a shrill scream cuts through the air.

"That sounds like Ayako." I say aloud, before running from the room in the direction of the scream. Naru and John follow me. We run down the hallway to a door that is jammed shut, Ayako can be heard yelling through the door. Monk slams into the door once before stepping back. I look down and notice something shiny sticking out of the wood at the bottom of the door. What is that? Before I can say anything Naru leans down and grabs it.

"Stand back, I'm going to kick it down!" Monk yells through the door.

"Hurry up and do it!" She yells back, the fright clear in her voice. A few minutes later we are back inside base, with Ayako sitting down shaking slightly.

"I was looking around the classroom, suddenly the door slammed shut. I tried opening it but it wouldn't budge, there's definitely a spirit here."

"No, there isn't." A soft voice calls out from the hallway, everyone jumps but Naru and I. I could sense her outside the door, and I'm guessing Naru is just too stubborn to jump.

"I don't sense one paranormal being." Finally, someone who gets it. A young girl, she probably couldn't be much older than me, walks in through one of the open doors. She's wearing a long red kimono, she had short black hair, with dark blue/gray eyes to match. She walks over to us with her sleeve pulled up to cover her mouth. What's Masako Hara doing here? I look at her in confusion, this wasn't her type of scene; so I find it odd that's she's here. Guess the principle is really dedicated to making sure there are no spirits here.

"Great, fantastic; so now their calling in a tv star." Monk says sarcastically. Ayako stands up and faces Masako.

"This is ridiculous, it's easy to fake results on television. The only reason she gets ratings is because she's pretty and wears that kimono." She says, turning her nose up in the air. Masako stares at her evenly, a small smirk poking out from behind her hands.

"Well, thank you I take that as a compliment." I sweatdrop at her response. It's like she's a female Naru.

"Well trust me it's not." Ayako tells her with a frown.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you before." Masako says, turning toward Naru. He looks at her with a blank face.

"Yes, we've never met but your reputation precedes you." He says blankly.

"I see." She turned toward me next, a small frown gracing her features.

"You seem oddly familiar. Have we perhaps met before?" I frown at her question, before quickly bringing a smile on my face.

"Nope, I don't believe so. I think I would remember meeting a celebrity, besides there's no reason that we would be at any of the same functions." I say cheerfully, she stares at me a moment, before slowly nodding her head and turning away.

"Anyway there is a haunting here, In my professional opinion we're dealing with an earthbound spirit." Ayako says.

"I believe we're dealing with a residual haunting." Monk says I look over at him.

"You think someone had something terrible happen to them in the building that caused them to die and now they're coming back for revenge, or because they don't know they're dead?" I ask him, he looks at me in surprise.

"Yeah, I think either that, or the spirit is worried it is going to lose its home and is trying to stop construction." He explains.

"I don't think it's that, nothing traumatic has happened in this building, nothing that would cause a ghost to start haunting the place anyway." He looks at me in shock, before frowning down at me.

"Then what do you think it is kid?"

"I don't think it's anything, this is an old building and it's falling apart. Most of the rumors that surround this place is about the building creaking, moaning, shuttering, stuff like that. All of that can be blamed on the building being old, or on the foundation that it sits on. I know that there used to be a lot of wells in this area, it's possible that the school was built on top of some that were dried up." I explain. Something similar had happened in another town I had lived in. The only thing that I can't explain is the heavy sense of energy, but if I'm right about Kuroda then that can be explained as well. Coming out of my thoughts I see the others looking at me in shock, except Masako who just kept trying to study me, and Naru who looked a little shocked and amused. As soon as the expression was there it was gone, turning toward John he asks.

"John, what do you think?"

"Well honestly I'm not sure, but usually a haunting does originate with a ghost or spirit occupying the structure." He responds, Naru nods his head playing with a nail in his hands. Is that what was sticking out of the door? He's going to hurt himself playing with it like that. Stepping toward him I snatch the nail out of his hand, he looks at me with a frown.

"You're going to cut yourself if you keep playing with it like that." I state, crossing my arms so he couldn't get it back. He rolls his eyes and turns his attention back to the others in the room.

"So, it's either a haunting or fiction folklore." He states, looking over at me to make sure I'm listening.

"Enough talk, I'm getting rid of this thing as soon as I get back," Ayako states, stalking out of the room. She is stopped at the door when Kuroda steps in her way. Well, I guess my warning that it was dangerous went completely unheeded. I think with a sigh.

"I wouldn't be so confidant in your abilities, the spirit that haunts this place is extremely powerful." She speaks darkly, Ayako glares at her and shoves her aside.

"Move aside." Kuroda falls to the floor, I bit my lip to stop myself from sighing as John goes to help her up. The shove was completely uncalled for, but I know she didn't shove hard enough to make her fall. We get shoved more in the hallway between classes.

"The spirit attacked me." She stated we all paused in shock. Processing her words. What?! That's not possible, there is no spirit. She wouldn't go as far as lying about being attacked, would she? I frown at my thoughts, knowing that after what I had seen the last few days, yes she would lie.

"It's true, I was walking down the hallway when suddenly my hair was yanked backward with an amazing force. When I tried to flee it started strangling me. 'Your interfering psychic' It said." I frown at her words.

"When did this happen?" Naru asks.

"A few minutes ago, in the second-floor hallway." She tells him, he goes to rewind the camera while Masako steps forward.

"That's false, there are no spirits here." She states, her voice strong. Kuroda glares at her.

"Yes there are, there definitely are, and their angry." She says, her voice low and dark. One things for sure, she could definitely fake an evil spirit voice. I think to myself.

Naru shows us the video from a few minutes ago, we watch Kuroda walk in the building, travel up the stairs, go into the second-floor hallway, then the video cuts off.

"Naru, ghosts can cause electronics to malfunction right?" I ask him, he nods sending me a questioning look.

"I read a lot of ghost stories." I explain.

"To answer your question, yes a ghost could be the cause of the camera not working, but I'm not so sure that's the cause here. Is it the cause of a spirit or EMP" He tells me, Kuroda frowns.

"It's quite obviously a spirit, interference doesn't cause someone to be attacked." She growls at him.

"But Masako said that there are no spirits here." I remind her.

"Well, let's just say that I'm a little skeptical about her." I have to bite my lip to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

"It's common for female mediums to either be exactly right or completely off the mark. Even if she can't sense any spirits now, it doesn't mean the haunting isn't active." I frown at him. What is he doing, I know he doesn't believe this place is haunting so why is he telling her it could be?

"If what you say is true then maybe you are attuned to the spirit more." He continues, Kuroda smiles widely at that.

"Yeah, I mean that's what I've been trying to tell everyone." Nobody says anything else on the matter, either because they know it's not worth it, or because they don't want to start another argument. I examine Naru closely. Why is he playing her game? He knows there's no ghost here I'm sure of it; so then why does he keep going on with this charade? It's not because he's worried about what others think of him, he has already made it really clear that he doesn't care what others think. If they can't see things the way he does, or if they can't back up their claims with facts, then he doesn't bother himself with them. I've only known him a few days and I know all this, so what angle is he playing at by following along with Kuroda-san? My thoughts swirl around my mind, trying to piece together the bits of information I have on me. Glancing over at Kuroda I frown slightly. I know that she truly believes that something is here, is it possible that she believes in it so much, that to her she really was attacked?

~The End~