A/N: Hi everyone! Is it unusual to start a fanfic with an author's note to you? Hmm…I wonder…well, I wouldn't know what you guys would think 'coz this is my first fanfic! WooHoo! Eh, you probably don't want to hear this stuff anyway…On With The Story!
Disclaimer: I'll only say this once. I DON'T OWN GHOST HUNT OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS! The plot is all more though…or at least I think it is…
Important::: Italics means that it is not actually said. It's just a thought.
1:37 PM
The SPR van came to a halt in front of an old run-down building, followed shortly by another vehicle driven by Houshou Takigawa, AKA Monk-san/Bou-san. Everyone stepped out of their vehicles and did a quick survey of the building. It was a high building, with around 27 floors, at least. It was unbelievably old and looked as though it would fall apart. The outside walls were covered with graffiti and almost all the windows were shattered. Bits of grass and other weeds sprouted up everywhere, covering the lower part of the cracked walls. A few shutters hung loosely on their hinges while some creaked whenever a breeze blew. The building, despite its current appearance, was actually refurbished a few months ago. It used to be a hospital but closed down some years ago. Now, the people decided to reopen it, which is exactly why they had it restored.
That's where SPR comes in. Two days ago, they received a client asking them to "cleanse" the building. According to their client, strange things have been keeping the people and the construction crews from fixing the building. Their client called via phone so they didn't get many details, but he said that he would fill them in once they arrived on the spot.
So, here they are to investigate the "paranormal" occurrences. But where was their mysterious client? No where to be found.
Naru sighed deeply. Clearly he was very annoyed with their current situation. For one thing, they'd been traveling on the road for over six hours and none of them even had any lunch yet. To add to all that, their client, who barely told them anything about their case, wasn't even around to brief them, let alone give them anything to eat. Yes, everyone was hungry and probably very irritable about all that's happened so far.
Bou-san squinted his eyes and started to look around. "Where is that guy? Shouldn't he be here by now?" he asked.
Naru shrugged. "He's supposed to be here to let us in on our next case," he said with a little more edge in his voice than usual.
Everyone, except for Lin, stiffened. Naru was really upset and most likely more moody than usual. They took this as a hint to keep their mouths shut. Deciding that it wouldn't really do them any good to stand around there doing nothing, they went to walk around the outside of the building and take notes along the way.
Halfway around the building, the walls seemed to get nicer. The paint, although cracked in some areas, was in pretty good condition and the windows were a bit rusty but still stood firmly on their hinges. There were noticeably less weeds and less garbage.
As they continued to walk on, the building looked better and better. Finally, when they reached the part of the building opposite of the side where they parked, the entire structure actually looked like a real hospital. Fresh white paint, clean windows, and glass doors. In the front was a beautiful garden dotted with vibrant flowers.
The team pushed open the huge glass doors and stepped onto a marble floor. The walls inside of the building were painted a soft green and pale yellow. There was a counter directly in front of the main entrance and there were a few couches around the lobby. A handful of people moved around the foyer with a quick pace, none of them even realized SPR's presence.
Calmly, Naru made his way to the front desk. "Excuse me," he said in his usual cold tone. "I'm looking for someone. Do you know a Mr. Yasuo?"
The woman behind the desk looked up at him. "Yasuo-san? Sure, everyone knows him. He's the one in charge of rebuilding this hospital. Do you have business with him?"
"Yes," Naru said in an irritated voice, "Do you know where he is?"
The woman thought for a moment before saying, "I think he's outside, at the construction site." She looked at the rest of the SPR team and continued, "Would you like me to ask someone to take you there?"
"We'd appreciate that," Lin cut in.
The woman nodded and pushed a button on an intercom device. "Kaoru, come here for a minute," she spoke into the machine. A few seconds later, a spiky brown-haired boy appeared. He looked about 18 and stood at about Naru's height. "Yeah?" he asked.
"I need you to show these people to the construction site at the back," she told him. "They want to see Yasuo-san." She then turned to the SPR team and smiled sweetly. "This is Kaoru, he'll show you the way."
Kaoru smiled at the group, particularly at Mai. "Right this way," he said as he began to make his way to the door. He led the group out the building and around a corner. They kept walking until Bou-san paused. They had arrived back at the uglier part of the building, where they parked their vans. "We're back here, huh?" Bou-san commented.
Kaoru turned back to them. "We're almost there." Kaoru resumed his pace, and everyone followed. They walked further along until they reached near the end of that wall. Soon, a job site came into view. People were carrying beams and sacks around. There was a lot of yelling and the sound of machines working filled the air.
"I wonder why we didn't hear this when we got here," Ayako said, covering her ears. Everyone did the same.
"THE CREW WAS PROBABLY ON THEIR LUNCH BREAK," Kaoru shouted over the noise. "LOOK! THERE'S YASUO-SAN," he pointed to the man in a white hard-hat.
They approached the site, their heads aching from the noise. When one of the workers saw them coming, he signaled the crew to stop working. He advanced toward them. "Kaoru, who are these people?" he asked. "They're here to see Yasuo-san," Kaoru replied. The man nodded and went to the man in the white hat. Some words were exchanged before both of them approached to join the group.
"Are you Yasuo Hatori-san?" Naru asked impatiently. The man looked flustered for a moment but he replied, "Yes, that's me. You're SPR, am I right." Naru replied, "Correct." Hatori excused himself from his crew and walked Naru and the others away from the site before he gave them the signal to continue with the equipment.
Yasuo was about to begin talking about the case when Ayako cut him off. "Oji-san, can we talk about it over lunch? We haven't had anything to eat yet!" she demanded.
"Oh, yes, sorry. I'll treat you all to lunch. It'll be at the same place you'll be staying, I hope that's alright."
"That's fine," the miko snapped.
And so, they headed back to the hospital's parking lot, got into Yasuo's van and drove a few miles to a small hotel. There, they ordered lunch and Yasuo started explaining the case.
"The hospital's been run down for years, but everyone decided that it would be better if we reopened it just incase someone would need immediate help. Our town is far from big cities so it would be inconvenient for those who have an emergency," he began. "We managed to rebuild the eastern wing of the hospital fine, but it's the west wing's construction that concerns me. We can never manage to work on it. Things just keep happening, things that shouldn't be happening…"
"Things like what?" Naru asked just before their food arrived. Everyone started eating as soon as the plates were set down.
"Equipment suddenly breaks down, cables just snap, there were even casualties! I had to hire an entirely new crew because the old one was too spooked!" He paused a moment to settle down. "Anyway, it's not just the construction I'm worried about. There's something wrong with the east wing too."
"I thought you said the east wing was already fine," Bou-san said with a spoonful of food halfway to his mouth.
Yasuo shook his head. "The construction was fine, but business wasn't as well. Didn't you notice that there were only a few people there? The east wing is already open but we can't seem to get any doctors or patients. We had some good doctors before as well as some frequent patients. Everything went well at first but…" he trailed off, seeming uneasy to continue.
Naru took a sip of his tea and set the cup down. "But what?" he prodded. Yasuo took a deep sigh and continued, "Patients suddenly", he paused, "…die…"
Everyone stopped from what they were doing and stared at the man in front of them. "Suddenly…die…?" John repeated. "W-What do you mean?" Mai asked. "How can people suddenly die? There has to be a cause, right?" Bou-san asked. "Yeah, like a stroke or something, maybe?" Ayako said.
Once again, Yasuo shook his head. "No cause of death. One minute they're healthy and the next, they're dead. Sometimes a healthy patient would suddenly stop breathing or a person near recovery just drops down dead. That's the reason no one wants to come to the hospital. They believe it's cursed, and right now, I wouldn't blame them. After those incidents, the doctors just quit. Even the people there now are thinking of resigning. There are some people there who aren't afraid of the things happening, but if this keeps up, I'll have to close down the hospital anyway." He ended with a deep sigh.
Naru nodded, and then he turned to Masako. She shook her head. "I didn't sense anything outside, but there was something inside. I still can't tell if whatever's inside is dangerous or not."
Naru closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again and directing his dark orbs towards Mai. Mai cringed. "W-What? Why are you asking me? I'm not the psychic here…"
"True." Naru looked away. He directed his gaze back at his client. "Anything else we should know?"
The said man shook his head. "That's about it, I think. But if you need something, you can feel free to come see me anytime. You could ask the people at the eats wing too, if you'd like. They all know about the stuff that goes on."
After that short conversation, Yasuo left the SPR team to get back to the construction site. Lin and Takigawa went back with him to get their cars as well as their luggage. Meanwhile, the others were left behind.
Mai stretched her legs under the table. "What now?" she asked. Naru checked his watch. 4:15 PM. "Well, for now, let's try to get some information about the hospital. Its history, legends, anything you can get from the people around this town. We'll set up base at the hospital tomorrow morning," he said. The rest agreed to this plan.
A/N: That's it for the first chapter! How is it? Good? Bad? Let me know what you think! Thank you!!