Author's note: This will probably be based mostly on the anime, but I might include some elements from the manga or light novels. It picks up from where the anime left off, and will probably end up a LinXOC story with some MaiXNaru... Actually, I really don't know what pairing this will end up as, since I'm a MaiXNaru fan, but I can't exclude the possibility that this may even end up as an OCXNaru story... (. _ . ;) Okay, now I'm just confusing myself...!
Also, I'd like to apologize in advance if some of the characters get too OOC, but since my intention is for the OC to remind Naru and Lin of a certain someone from their past, I think it would probably be harder for them not to be affected by her presence in some way...

I own nothing but my OC.

"English speech"
"Japanese speech"
'Thoughts'
—∞— Scene transition and/or time lapse
–∞– shift from one separate group's perspective to another within the same ongoing scene.
[Setting/scene]
Flashbacks and changes in POVs will be labeled as needed (unless stated otherwise, it will be third person omniscient)
SOUND EFFECTS WILL BE IN ALL CAPS

Case 1: Evil Spirits All Over!?

[April,
Wednesday]

Hitomi sighed as she made her way down the hall to the principal's office, wondering what reason he could possibly have for calling her in to see him. It's not like she had done anything wrong… Well, okay, maybe that wasn't completely true, but sleeping through English class was something she did all the time, and the teacher didn't really care since her grades were the best in her class…

Hitomi shrugged.

'Oh well, I guess I'll find out soon enough…' She thought, deciding to wait and see what kind of trouble she was in before she let herself get freaked out over nothing. "Pardon the intrusion. Matsumoto Hitomi here~" She said as she opened the door to the principal's office, managing to sound both polite and playful at the same time. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Ah, yes. Matsumoto-kun." The older gentleman said, glancing up at her, as the two people seated in front of his desk turned slightly to get a look the girl who had just interrupted their conversation. She had fair, porcelain skin; clear, green eyes; and curly, light blond hair. She looked more like a delicate porcelain doll than a Japanese high school student. "Please, come in, Matsumoto-kun. These people are Shibuya Kazuya-san and his assistant, Lin Koujo-san. Gentlemen, this is Matsumoto Hitomi-kun." The principal said, smiling kindly, as he introduced them to each other."Matsumoto-kun will guide you around the school and do her best to assist you."

'She will…?' Hitomi thought, sweat-dropping, as she hesitated a bit before straightening up from her little greeting bow, slightly chagrined. Not that she really minded showing two handsome guys around, but shouldn't the principal have at least asked her first? "Um, excuse me, sir… but may I ask why I've been volunteered for this duty? Wouldn't Ushio-kun be a better choice since he's the student council president?" She pointed out reasonably. Hitomi was kind of annoyed this had been dumped on her without her consent.

"Hmm. Yes, I see your point, Matsumoto-kun, but since you don't need to study as much as the other third years, and you're already familiar with the old school house… I thought it would be best to ask you instead. Is there a problem with this decision?" The old man asked, frowning slightly. Hitomi sweat-dropped. To the untrained eye and ear, it may have seemed like he was being nice, but really the principal was silently daring her to challenge his authority, and she had a feeling that she could kiss her little nap-time in English class goodbye if she did.

"Oh, no. Not at all, sir." She replied sweetly, plastering a brilliant shit-eating grin on her face.

—∞—

"So, is it 'Rin' or 'Lin'?" Hitomi asked as she and the two ghost hunters walked down the hall together, trying to make a little small talk to fill the heavy silence. Once the initial explanations about their purpose at the school and what they needed to know from her were over, the two of them had become as silent as the grave.

"The correct pronunciation is 'Lin'." Lin replied calmly, though he and Naru both noted that she had said the 'L' as easily as if English were her native tongue, unlike the principal, who had butchered the 'L' to sound more like an 'R'. Hitomi nodded.

"I thought so. Even if this is Japan, it seemed a little strange for a Chinese surname like that to start with an 'R'." Hitomi said, smiling as she glanced up at Lin. He was a little taken aback by how honest and friendly it was. "When I was younger, I had a friend whose family name was 'Lin', too."

"It's a common name." Lin replied simply.

"Yeah, that's what she said." Hitomi agreed, grinning. Lin glanced at her out the corner of his eye again, studying her features a bit more closely. To be honest, he had barely even spared her a passing glance when they were first introduce in the office, but now he was noticing a few details he had missed… like that white patch she was wearing over her left eye.

"What happened to your eye?" Lin asked before he could stop himself. Her talkative nature seemed to be contagious.

"Oh, this old thing?" Hitomi asked, touching the eye-patch. "It's nothing, just an old wound from a childhood accident." She explained carelessly, shrugging it off.

"Yes, this is all quite fascinating, but when are you going to show us to the old school house?" Naru cut in. Truth be told, it was somewhat interesting to see his normally taciturn assistant talk so much to someone they had only just met, but they had ghosts to hunt, equipment to set up, and data to gather.

"Well, I just thought it might be a good idea to swing past the club room for the school newspaper while we're in the same building. They keep an archive of all their past articles, as well as clippings from local papers that featured articles on our school." Hitomi explained. "But if you don't want to…" she added, slowly turning to change their course, suppressing a smirk when she noticed the slight frown on their cranky guest's face. She just couldn't resist teasing his type.

Lin had to suppress his own smirk as well when he saw the priceless expression on Naru's face. Although he still looked calm to the outside observer, anyone who knew the boy really well could tell Matsumoto-kun had gotten him pretty good for a moment there. However, Naru quickly recovered.

"There will be plenty of time for that later." Naru said coolly, a bit miffed that he had let her teasing make him falter for even a second. "First, we need to set up our equipment in the old school house so we won't miss any paranormal activity that might be taking place there while you would have us waste time playing around."

Hitomi frowned slightly at his snarky comeback. Jeez, couldn't this guy take a joke?

"Okay, but most of the club members are third years, so don't be too surprised if no one is there to open the door for you later." She warned him. After all, she and the other third years were already on a shortened schedule, so most of her classmates would be at home study, attending cram school, or trying to take as many college entrance exams as possible while they had the chance. "And, for future reference, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." Hitomi decided to add, throwing in a wink for good measure. The look on his face as he tried to remain stoic while fighting back simultaneous looks of astonishment, annoyance, and awkward discomfort at her playful faux-flirting was just too priceless.

Lin nearly laughed.

—∞—

"Well, this is it." Hitomi announced now that they were standing in front of the old school house. It was incredibly decrepit and dangerously dilapidated. "Please be careful and watch your step. The old school was supposed to have been built some time before World War II, so it's pretty ancient. Also, as with any place this old and neglected, it isn't very safe to wander around on your own, because the wooden walls and floors are rotted in some spots, and it gets more unstable the closer you get to the side of the building that's already been partly demolished. My class learned that the hard way when we tried to have a test of courage in here last year, and one of the girls got hurt when her foot went through the floor." She continued to explain as she led them around the inside, avoiding the more hazardous areas for everyone's safety.

"Test of courage? Aside from that student being injured, did anything out of the ordinary occur?" Naru asked. This must be why the principal had chosen her to be their guide. She and her classmates may be able to provide them with valuable information if any of them had experienced paranormal activity firsthand.

"Hmm… Not really…" Hitomi said thoughtfully as she sifted through her memories of that night for any useful information. "It's a creepy old building, especially at night, but I think most of the things we heard and felt had less to do with ghosts, and more to do with how damaged this place is. I doubt there are any ghosts in here."

"You don't believe in ghosts." Naru asked, more like concluded.

"Well, I wouldn't say that…" She said a little cryptically. "It's just that the noises we heard could have easily been caused by warped and creaky floorboards or wind whistling through cracks in the walls and broken windows. It was colder in one of the rooms further down the hall, but that's probably because there's a hole in the wall, and it was only covered with a thin tarp to keep the rain out. On a chilly night like that, it wouldn't have taken to long for the cold air to seep in from outside and lower the room's temperature."

Lin and Naru exchanged a brief glance. If they didn't know any better, they might think Hitomi was a ghost hunter herself. She was able to approach the problem from a scientific point of view, and she seemed to have good instincts.

"On the other hand, I have heard a rumor going around that someone saw a ghostly figure in one of the windows, so maybe there is something?" Hitomi added as an after thought. "Supposedly it was a third-year who saw it, but no one really knows for sure who started spreading it." It was probably just something someone had said as a joke to tease the underclassmen.

PING~ PONG~ PIIINNG~!!

"Ah!" Hitomi suddenly gasped when the dismissal bell for the end of the day chimed loud and clear over the loudspeakers and reached her sensitive ears. "Is it that late already! Sorry, Lin-san and Shibuya-san, but I'll have to end the tour here or I'll be late for my archery club's practice! If you need me for anything tomorrow, I'll be in class 3–A!" She explained hurriedly as she practically flew down the flight of creaky stairs, escaping before they came up with some reason for her to stay and help them with more work.

Naru and Lin stared after her for a moment before getting back to business.

What a strange girl…