(chuckles guiltily) Uh...hehe...I guess I haven't updated anything in a while, huh? I'll start with this, I guess.

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Lancer sighed as he walked down the halls of Casper High. School had let out hours ago and the whole place was deserted. Even the evening janitors had gone home! The only reason he was here was because he had forgotten the stack of assignments he was supposed to grade.

The halls were dark due to the later hour. Every once in a while he would have to flick on a light switch so he could see the way to his classroom. It only took a few minutes to get there, but once he arrived, he didn't open the door. The light was already on.

Maybe the janitors forget to get this one, he thought to himself hopefully. With as much grace as the hefty teacher could muster, he creeped up the window and peeked through it just to be sure. At first, he saw nothing, but then he noticed a propped up book on the corner desk in the far back. Behind it, he thought he saw a figure.

Lancer's heart sped up a bit at the prospect of someone entering the school at this time. Even more so, how they got in. He mentally debated with himself whether or not to just forget the papers and leave. After a few seconds, a thought hit him.

Why would anyone come here this late just to study?

It was a good question, he had to admit. He peeked in for another moment. The figure hadn't moved. Taking a deep breath, he assured himself that whoever it was meant no harm. In fact, if it was a student, he might even congratulate them on being so dedicated. He steeled himself and opened the door.

He was shocked to say the least when the person did not move a muscle. Quickly, he grabbed the papers he needed and was about to leave when he noticed the figure stir. For a moment, he was paralyzed. His muscles tensed even more when he heard a yawn.

"I can't believe it, I actually fell asleep reading this stuff," a teenage voice muttered.

Lancer's muscles relaxed a bit. Although, now he was a little peeved at whoever it was for criticizing the English Literature. The rest was just a reflex reaction.

"That boring is it?" he asked in irritation.

The teen tensed, realizing he'd been caught. This erased most of the man's earlier worry. His mind instantly switched over to teacher mode. Instead of an intruder, this now seemed like a misbehaving student.

"Are you aware the school closed several hours ago?"

The figure was silent for a moment before he sighed. "Yeah."

"Then why are you here now?"

"Because…I needed a book and this was the quietest place I could think of."

Lancer pondered that for a moment. Glancing at the cover, he realized it was once of the books that the students could pick to write an essay on. "Are you stuck on something?"

"Kind of," he replied, the book still in front of his face.

"And that would be?"

Another sigh. "I'm trying to figure out what this guy's motives were. It just goes on and on about how he wanted to rule the kingdom, but I can't figure out why."

Lancer considered that for a moment. It was an interesting topic to do an essay on, especially for that book. He didn't get many students who thought of that. They were usually more interested in the village girl who often followed the main character, Elias, secretly or analyzing a particular scene.

"What do you have so far?" Lancer questioned.

"Just this one passage. It says, 'I wanted to rule and nothing more. Possession and power are my heart's desire. It has become a thing of obsession now. If I fail to gain control, I will surely cross paths with the Grim Reaper himself, for that would be more pleasing than living a life without it.'"

"And you still don't understand?"

"No," the boy replied.

Before continuing, the teacher exhaled deeply. "You do realize how hard it is to understand you with that book in front of your face, right?"

Slowly, the teen grabbed the edges of the book and lowered it until it was flat on the desk. This action had revealed his shockingly white hair and bright green eyes. He bit his lip nervously, wondering why in the Ghost Zone he hadn't just vanished when Lancer started talking or why he forgot to turn human.

Lancer seemed shocked for a moment but recovered quickly, not wanting to scare the ghost boy. So, instead of screaming or, as the teens say, "freaking out," he pulled up a chair, ignoring the stunned look on Danny's face. Obviously, he didn't get this reaction very much.

"Why are you interested in this in the first place?" inquired the elder.

Danny seemed to finally grasp that Lancer was going to treat him like any other student instead of a ghost. So, he shrugged in response.

"I don't know. I guess it's because a lot of ghosts seem to think that way and now I'm finally wondering why. It doesn't make any sense to me."

Lancer nodded at this, lightly scanning over the page he had the book open to.

"You don't see the need for power as a good motive?"

Danny shook his head.

Lancer paused for a moment, thinking of some way he could apply this to his new pupil; a way that was understandable.

"Well, when you protect the town, do you feel like it's something you need to do? That it's important?" Lancer suddenly questioned.

Danny wasn't expecting that kind of question and ended up just blurting out the first thing that came to mind. "Yeah, it's part of who I am now."

"And could the need for power be part of who Elias is?"

That seemed to completely stump the ghost boy. His face went totally blank as an effect. After a few seconds of this, he was finally able to come up with a response. "I guess so. I never really thought about it that way."

"Anything else?" the teacher prodded.

Danny was silent for a second before he answered. "I think I actually get it now. Thanks." He smiled at the educator.

Lancer stood up and put the chair back in its regular position. Turning around, he watched as Danny did the same and replaced the book back on the shelf.

"You know, most students would take becoming a ghost as an excuse not to learn," Lancer mused.

Danny stifled a chuckle. "Actually, a…um…friend of mine started telling me that I should work on my education a little more. She sort of tutors me sometimes."

Lancer quirked an eyebrow at this. Phantom had a tutor?

Danny squirmed a bit and looked out the window. "I'm sorry for keeping you. I should probably go now. But, um, thanks again."

With that, Danny became intangible and flew out through the ceiling. Lancer stared for a few seconds before gathering the papers he had come to get. He shut off the lights and locked up, exiting the building quickly. For a brief moment, he wished he could have seen what Phantom's essay would have looked like.

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Yeah, I wish I had something better to greet your guys with than this, especially since I started it before my hiatus. It's sad, my fanfictioning abilities are out of tune. Already, I've tried writing a new chapter of "Adventures After a Mistake" only to fail miserably and get completely stuck after three paragraphs. (Hits head on desk). I'll keep trying, though.

In other news, two of my friends have gotten me hooked on some animes, so I've been surfing those sites as well. I was contemplating drabbling in those catagories until I found inspiration, but I'm not sure. So far I've watched a lot of Bleach, all of Death Note,most of Ouran High School Host Club, and Fruits Basket. Blame the boredom and lack of inspiration as well as my friends.

Lastly, I did finish that book I was writing. On December 25 (Christmas Day), in fact. 'Twas my own little miricle. My friend, Mom, and Aunt are editing it before I send it anywhere, though. Just keeping my fingers crossed.