Hi there! It's been so long since I wrote a ghost hunt fanfic... I've mentioned before, in my previous story, that I would be making an AU or a sequel that will be posted here last december, but, voila! I wasn't able to do it hahahaaha.. I actually wrote a fic until its third chapter but I was seriouuuuusly unsatisfied with it. Now, I'm making this fic without any actual plans (everything is still in my head). And rather than a sequel, I decided that I want to make an entirely new story. Hope you guys will like this :) Please let me know what you think and please do follow and favorite.

Hope you enjoy it! :)

Chapter 1

A sigh escaped my mouth as another empty day in the library passed by. It was already five in the afternoon and only thirty people visited the library.

I wouldn't say I'm a big fan of books. Even though novels do interest me, I can't go through a single academic book without drowsing off after a few minutes. Perhaps, the reason why almost no one visits the library nowadays, despite being at the heart of the city, is because one click through the internet and you can find almost everything that you needed.

"Where do I log out?" A girl, a little older than me, asked. She was the one having a hard time searching for reference books and kept asking me questions.

"You're not yet a member right?" She nodded. "Just write here the time now, opposite to where your name is."

"You won't be borrowing any book?" I asked, curious as to why she's leaving empty handed despite searching for tons of books.

"Nope." She replied, writing on the visitors' log. "Captured them all." She waved her phone up and smiled. "It will be too heavy for me to borrow them." After that, she left.

I would definitely die to have a phone like hers. A struggling high school student like me can't possibly buy something like that. I'm even having a hard time working for my school expenses.

I heard the door click and through the gap, I saw that it's raining quite hard outside. A man, probably in his late twenties or early thirties, entered the library. He was wearing a black suit with a matching black tie and white long sleeve shirt. His dark hair, which almost covers his right eye, was damp with rain.

I watch the man walk towards the reception, his movements graceful and silent. "Excuse me?"

I blinked, once, then twice. The man was talking to me. Of course idiot, you're the librarian. "Yes?" I stammered out.

"How can I apply for membership here?" His voice, deep and stern, suits his character.

I scrambled through the papers in front of me and searched for the membership form. He was only the second person to apply this week and I don't know where I placed the unwanted forms. "Here." I murmured the moment I finally found the paper. "Fill this up and we'll process your membership card. For now, please sign on the visitors' log."

He nodded, his hair dripping with a few beads of water. "Thank you."

The man reached out for the pen beside him and leaned in on the reception to fill up the form. I was standing directly in front of him and could see how sharp his features are. He has quite a pointed nose, and strong sculpted jaw. His eyes, cold, gaze downwards on the membership form.

"Would you like a towel?" I finally mustered the courage to ask. He's not entirely soaked, but he could still catch a cold.

"No thanks." The man pushed the membership form towards me. "Can I go now?" I nodded.

His retreating back, shoulders broad and regal, left my line of sight and through the cluster of shelves at the back of the library. He was cold, and it's definitely not because of the rain.

At around six pm, I decided to return all the books used for the day. It wasn't that much; the trolley where the books are is not even full. Thank god.

I started to push the cart down the aisles of tall russet bookshelves, placing the books back to their rightful places. It wasn't a hard job, honestly, it's quite fun. The smell of the books and the silence are calming, and it feels like I'm playing a game as I return the books back to their shelves.

One last book and I'm almost done for the day. After placing the books back to the shelves, I have to check the computers at the back of the library; shut down the computers that are on, fix the chairs and nothing else. There's a long list of things to be done in the library as the librarian, but if you have an empty day like today, that list can be finished in less than an hour.

Eh.

There is one computer that is still on. The light of the monitor harshly gleams at the man using it. As I remember from his membership form, his name is "Lin-san?"

"Yes?" He turned to face me, eyes sharp and wary. "Is it closing time already?" His voice, firm and deep, pierced through the deserted library. "Ah, um." I checked the watch at the far wall on the right side of the room. "You still have twenty minutes."

He just nodded in reply and went back to what he was doing. He seemed caught up in whatever he was searching.

I began fixing everything and nothing, trying to buy time. I was really curious to what Lin-san was searching intently that he got lost in touch with time. As I inch closer and closer to the unit he was using, I caught a glimpse of the bold letters on the screen, 'Miyazono Mansion'.

He was searching about the previous owners of the mansion.

"That's where Shiori's mother works." I gasped the moment those words left my mouth. Lin-san glared at me, chilling me to the bones with his cold eyes. "I thought librarians were not supposed to be nosy."

"I'm sorry!" I began, trying my best to defend myself. Me and my mouth. "It's just, I caught a glimpse of the mansion and I remembered what my friend told me about it. I never really meant to peak." No Mai, you did mean it.

Lin-san's eyes widen after my little defensive speech. "What did your friend told you?"

"Um," I really don't know if I should be telling this to a random stranger, but, with those curious eyes staring intently at me, I can't help but spill everything. "My friend's mother was working there. She said that strange things kept happening inside the mansion so she asked her mom to resign."

"What kind of strange things?" He asked; intrigued by the story that I was going to tell. I remembered acting the same way that he did when Shiori told me about the Miyazono Mansion. I was at the edge of my seat the whole time, nodding and gasping at every story she recounted.

I pulled the chair out of one unit and sat, facing the curious man in front of me. I knew this would be a long talk.

"I'm not clear on the details, but I heard that the other maids kept seeing a young woman dressed in white along the corridors of the mansion. They thought that it was the spirit of the daughter of the owner who died almost five years ago." I paused, trying to remember what Shiori told next.

"How did the daughter die?" Lin-san asked.

"I heard she was killed by robbers inside the mansion, but strangely, the police never caught any robbers nor found any trace of a break in."

"So it can be an inside job." Lin-san placed his hand under his chin, looking as if he was thinking about something complicated. "Continue."

Am I your damn storyteller? "Well, strange things kept happening, but Shiori's mother didn't really resign until a fire broke out inside the kitchen." Well, that certainly surprised him. "A fire?"

"Yup." I replied, feeling smug that I just dropped something that caught him off guard. But, he was back to normal after a few seconds. "Her mother was a cook and she said that it came out of nowhere, as if the fire suddenly appeared, burned the kitchen, and then gone."

"Wait, what? How did the fire disappear?"

I shrugged, "She said that someone doused the room with a basin filled with water then the fire was gone. They were really confused. They didn't know how such large fire in the kitchen disappeared with such small amount of water."

"Was there any casualties?"

"Shiori's mom got a few burns as well as the rest of the people in the kitchen, but," I paused trying to remember what Shiori said about the person. "It was a server I think. That person was burned so much by the fire that until now, she's still confined inside the ICU."

Lin-san reached for something inside his suit and, not surprisingly, it was a small black notebook that detectives usually use in the movies. Is he a police officer? A detective? "When was the fire?" He asked, now writing things down to his little black notebook. "Almost four months ago."

"But there was no report of fire four months ago."

"Well, this is really why I don't know if I should be telling this information to you." I took a deep breath and continued, "The current owner of the Miyazono Mansion bought the silence of those involved in the incident and pretended that nothing happened, as if no one was battling for her life inside the ICU until now."

A few minutes of silence passed, no one spoke between the two of us. He was profusely writing something in his notebook and I didn't dare interrupt him. After a few moments, he clicked his notebook shut. "Thank you for the information." He turned towards the computer unit he was using and proceeded to shut it down.

"Oh! I just remembered." Lin-san turned to face me as the computer was shutting down. "You won't find out the previous owners of the Miyazono Mansion through our database or through any other place here, it seems like they're not really keen on telling the world about those kinds of information."

"But I heard that it is almost considered as a historic house for being built hundreds of years ago."

"You're not from here are you?"

"I just arrived today from England." He declared, as if that answers everything. And it did.

That's why. "It's not really a secret here, but I heard that the Miyazono Mansion was owned by 'controversial people' that you really can't tell if the person living inside that house right now is really the owner, like they are just renting it or something." I shrugged, "I don't really know. It's too complicated to explain."

"I kind of get the idea. Thank you." Lin-san nodded, as if he really did understand my explanation.

Suddenly, I remembered a smug looking man that would certainly know how to dig a person's deepest darkest secret. "Yasuhara might know though."

"Excuse me?" Lin-san raised an eyebrow, curious to what I just mumbled. I stood up, feeling small against the gigantic height of the man in front of me. "Well, I have a friend who's great at digging those kinds of information. I just remembered him right now."

He nodded and checked his watch for the time. His steel colored watch looks cold and expensive from my point of view, definitely the 'Lin-san' type. "It's almost seven pm. Are you free after this?"

"Um," I stuttered, I don't really know if I should be going on dates with a person I just met and for god's sake! I'm still a high school student even though I'm already at the legal age. Nevertheless, I can't deny that I'm really attracted to Lin-san's looks, and he seems like a decent person but, I don't want to look like an easy girl. "I don't know."

"I just need someone to introduce me to that friend of yours who's 'great at digging information'." Lin-san frowned.

Oh!

Of course he wouldn't be asking me out on a date! I mean, for heaven's sake, we just met and I probably look like a little kid for him. "Yes! Right, um," I paused, pretending to think. "I think I don't really have any plans after I close the library. I can bring you to him."

A ghost of a smile graced Lin-san's lips, but it was really subtle that I even doubt if it was really a smile. But still, it made me giddy. "I just need to shut the power and lock the doors. You can wait outside."

Everything was coming down to me fast and hard the moment Lin-san left. I didn't even know the person really well, but I talked my mouth off and told him everything I knew about the Miyazono Mansion. What if I get killed because of it? No, I hope not.

And why is he even interested about the mansion? What if he's the real owner? No, I don't think so. He said he just came back from England. But what if he's a burglar and is planning on robbing the mansion?

Theories about who really Lin-san is have filled my head as I shut the power off of the library and went towards the entrance to lock the door. The moment I step foot outside the library, I saw Lin-san standing, looking much more handsome under the light of the moon. I coughed twice to catch his attention. "I'm done."

"Good." Lin-san stared at me, his dark eyes illuminating against the darkness. "Let's go?"

I nodded, my voice stuck in my throat. What if he's a killer who preys on stupid teenage girls like me?

"Lin-san?" I choked out, nervousness slowly engulfing every nook in my body. We arrived at the sidewalk of the street and I'm still trying to muster the courage to ask him. When we're almost at the corner, where we would cross the street, I inhaled deeply. "Why are you so interested about the Miyazono Mansion? What's your work? Why did you come to Japan? You're not planning something bad, right?"

A little chuckle left Lin-san's mouth, it was barely audible, but I knew I heard it. He turned his head towards me, fascination evident in his eyes. Why? "You really took your time. You should've asked those questions earlier."

I scratched my head, feeling sheepish about myself. "I don't really know when I should ask."

"Well, now that you did, let me answer your questions one by one." Lin-san paused when we arrived at the corner, stopping under the traffic light. Red. "I came to Japan because of my work and the Miyazono Mansion is related to it. I'm not really planning something bad, don't worry."

I struggle to stare at him since he is too tall, probably a foot taller than me. I took a side step closer to him. "What's your work Lin-san?"

"I'm a ghost hunter and the current residents of the Miyazono Mansion asked for our help." Lin-san's voice was the same as before, unwavering, but his words seem to be unclear to me. Ghost hunter?

I know I probably looked like an idiot staring at Lin-san with my mouth slightly open. I don't really know if I should take his words seriously or if he's just joking. Then, I decided it was the latter. "That was a good one," I spoke in between laughter. "Honestly, I never knew you could joke."

"I'm not joking."

Those words stopped my laughter. His voice, his eyes, they are serious.

"I work for Shibuya Psychic Research and we just came here today here in Japan." He explained, as if everything was normal. Are ghosts real?

If your dreams are, then ghosts are not really impossible.

"Our first client is the owner of the Miyazono Mansion. They requested for us in the main branch in England."

I blinked a few times after Lin-san spoke. So is he really telling the truth? From my peripheral vision, I saw the traffic light blink from red to green, signaling that it's alright to cross the street. With my head out in the clouds, I took a step forward, not noticing the car fast approaching.

There was a blinding light that glued me to the ground. I don't know what I should do. I can't breathe. I can't close my eyes even if I know what's going to happen next. A hard force made me fall on the ground, making me twist my ankle in the process.

The loud shrieking of the car horns plus the screams of the bystander woke me up from my little trance. I blink a few times, registering what was currently happening. My legs and arms hurt, my ankle swollen, and my hands scratched from the rough surface of the road. I'm fine.

But someone isn't.

My eyes widen when I saw Lin-san bleeding in front of me. He was lying flat on the ground, eyes closed, and head bleeding.

"Lin-san." I gasped.

End of Chapter 1

Thank you for reading! Soooo, what do you think? :)