Chapter 7: The Calm Before the Storm

As that happened, the four men split into their respective groups, Yoshino and Yukina finishing the last of the spiritual readings and Hatori and Kisa organizing the temporary base. The pair of mediums entered the library, thankful it was the last known place to check, and observed its magnificence. Enormous bookshelves lined themselves in four rows, three to each individual row. A long mahogany table rested towards the corner of the spacious room, two dimly lit lamps adorning its dusty surface. Accompanied with four wooden chairs, it seemed as if no one had sat in them for years, let alone moved them. Immense stained glass windows gave a glimpse of the waining sunset, a plethora of colored light pouring in and flooding the space with an almost ethereal radiance. Yukina was the first to step forward, admiring the elegant craftsmanship of the furniture and taking in a deep breath. "This place is truly stunning,..." Yukina sighed happily before swaggering towards the window.

Yoshino smiled. "It is. I don't sense anything malicious here, in fact, its quite the opposite. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside, and its exactly what I need."

"Yeah, I'm surprised you kept your composure, with your social anxiety and all. I guess with the - so far - dependable guys of the Marukawa Psychic Agency working with us, it automatically made us feel more comfortable," Yukina replied.

Yoshino's cheeks tinted a soft pink, remembering his brief interaction with Hatori. Something about the taller man just made him feel safer. The stern look in his eyes shined with independence, as if he was used to taking care of himself and/or others. Before he could continue his train of thought, Yukina interrupted with a sneaky grin on his face. "Are you thinking about Hatori-san? You're blushing," he teased while walking towards him.

Yoshino furiously shook his head in false denial and answered, "N-N-No! How could you think that?! I-I'm not even interested in men!"

Yukina leaned down to Yoshino's level, saying, "You can't lie to me, I saw you internally swooning when you talked to him."

"A-ABSOLUTELY NOT! I-I was just caught off guard by his personality. When I first saw him, he looked stoic and cold, so I wasn't expecting that level of concern from him!"

"Sure, Chiaki, whatever you say. You'll realize soon enough."

"R-Realize? What do you-" Yoshino grunted in frustration before continuing. "Never mind. And you're one to talk, Kou, eyeing Kisa-san like that. It looks like you would eat him up in one bite!"

"Well, you're not wrong,... but he's too young for my taste. He looks to be around 17, 18, fresh out of high school. I wonder how he even got this job,... probably connections. Anyway, how could I not when he stares so passionately at me whenever we're together, and we haven't even know each other for a full day."

"Well, you do kind of have that effect on people, both men and women."

Yukina flipped his hair. "Well I can't help being born as charming as I am."

Yoshino broke out in laughter and Yukina did the same, letting the overwhelming happiness slowly dissipate into the atmosphere around them. "Ah, I better start dinner. I don't want to be eating too late," commented Yukina before the two exited the library.

Once in the hallway, Yoshino noticed Kisa at the opposite end, struggling to place a video camera at a high enough point to survey the corridor. He gently elbowed Yukina and whispered, "Yukina, I think Kisa needs help. I would do it, but I'm only slightly taller than him, so this is a job for a giant like you."

Yukina chuckled as he replied, "Thanks Chiaki. I owe you one," before heading towards his struggling coworker.

Not wanting to simply stand there, Yoshino politely knocked on the office door where the base was located. When granted permission to enter by Hatori, the man quietly slipped into the room and closed the door behind him.

Hatori was situated in front of a laptop and six monitors, three showing the separate bedrooms and one showing the dinning room, while the other two were black. The other table was cluttered with a pile of smaller equipment, Yoshino unable to identify any of the gadgets.

In awe of the foreign technology, Yoshino commented, "Uwah,... You guys at Marukawa know what you're doing, using all this fancy stuff,..."

The clicking of computer keys continued when Hatori replied, "That is all the basic equipment necessary for 'ghost hunting'. I'm surprised Ritsu hasn't told you about any of them, especially the EVP recorder."

"The what now?"

"EVP stands for Electronic Voice Phenomena. The device records the sounds and words our human ears can't detect by processing the sensitive sound waves into something we can physically comprehend."

"Wow Hatori-san, how did you learn all of this complicated-"

"Just Hatori is fine, we are now colleagues, after all."

Yoshino thought for second before asking, "... Would you mind if I called you Tori then?"

The busy man stopped, slowly turning himself and the chair to face Yoshino, saying, "That's quite forward of you, don't you think, Yoshino-san?"

He was instantly a flustering, blushing, bumbling mess. "Y-YOU DON'T HAVE TO AGREE TO IT! I-I just thought Tori seemed-"

Hatori smiled and laughed under his breath. "Tori is fine, if you feel it necessary, Yoshino-san. We seem to be around the same age as well, so I'll allow it."

Stunned by the other's unexpectedly gentle expression, a few seconds passed in silence before Yoshino decided to speak again. The blush had faded to a soft pink, a childish grin forming on his face. "You can just call me Yoshino, that's what everyone usually does anyway. Oh, and by the way,..." he paused, leaning a tad closer to Hatori.

"You should smile more often. It suits you."

A tinge of red decorated the apples of his cheeks as Hatori coughed into his hand to hopefully disguise his embarrassment. "Noted," he answered, turning back to face the monitors.

Yoshino giggled and pulled a chair next to Hatori's, asking more questions about ghost hunting for what seemed like hours, the pair not minding the time spent together.


Hello again my lovelies :3 I wanted to make a bit of a fluffy chapter since ive become so attached to the pairing Yoshino X Hatori. However, next chapter is going to be horror galore so be ready for things to go down LOL Also, I was requested by a guest to make the chapters a bit longer, but this one ended so perfectly and adding another section would make it too long. Starting next update, the chapters will be longer! Also, the library is an important part to the story, so stay tuned for the action. Thank you so much for reading my story, and I hope to see you soon!~

~Loveless