Twigs snapped and leaves crunched underfoot as Falco and Akira trudged through the woods to a nearby cabin. They all shined their flashlights on the ground and through the trees with Falco half-heartedly searching the area with Akira waving his around, looking around with far more gusto. Nothing out of the ordinary was found so far. Falco's expression was serious and wary as he suspiciously glared at the shadows around the duo.

The moon was a thin crescent in the sky and some stars were out while a lone cloud occasionally passed by. All-in-all, it was really late, dark out and very spooky in Akira's opinion. Falco sighed and cursed himself for being so weak for the ravenette.

Really, the boy should be asleep in bed right now. Phantom Thief/high school student or not, he was still technically a kid and needed plenty of rest. The Starfox pilot wasn't just saying that because he himself was tired but was still pretty tired regardless, though if the lack of sleep was anything to go by.

Falco sighed as he could somehow picture Fox smirking at him for going ghost hunting late at night. 'Really, Falco? Ghost-hunting? The only ghost showing up at night here is Wolf raiding my fridge and he sounds like a giant rat.'

Akira owed him for this, so it's the least he could do for dragging him out to a dingy old cabin in the woods in the middle of nowhere. Once inside his companion stopped walking before Falco paused and looked back at him. The younger man had a somewhat nervous look on his face before it morphed into shock and Akira frantically looked around their surroundings.

"What's up?" He asked.

"You didn't feel that, Falco-san?" Akira whispered while Falco shook his head before answering with a simple "Nope."

Akira narrowed his eyes then reached into his backpack to pull out a spirit box to use for them to communicate with any ghosts who were haunting the place. Falco nodded for the sake of nodding. He wasn't superstitious and didn't really believe in ghosts or the supernatural, but the serious look the ravenette was giving him almost made him believe it. In fact, that very same look was the reason enough to convince him to tag along in the first place.

Loathe as he would admit it, Fox was right. Falco was too soft for his own good.

The two began walking around the cabin as they searched for the room with the most paranormal activity. Falco was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by Akira asking if there was anybody in the house with them. A grating, ear piercing noise soon followed which nearly made their ears bleed, startling the pilot enough that he dropped his flashlight to cover his ears and closed his eyes.

Shadows spun around the room, followed by a crash, and the noise disappeared. Falco opened his eyes then uncovered his ears as Akira had a similar, more violent reaction. He had somehow managed to throw the spirit box out of fright.

Falco glared at Akira as he retrieved his dropped flashlight who gave off a sheepish chuckle in the meantime. Carefully, as if afraid of setting it off again the ravenette crouched down to pick up the broken spirit box. He looked at it mournfully, mumbling something about expenses and that he might have to replace it before stuffing it into his backpack. He then pulled out a smaller device and his friend squinted suspiciously at it.

"Akira..." Falco warned.

"Okay, okay, I know, I'm sorry, Falco-san! But EVPs don't make any noise, alright?"

"Akira."

Akira moaned, "Please don't make the face! I promise! Just a little while longer, okay?"

He immediately sighed, Akira was giving him the puppy dog eyes, and they both knew he was weak to it. Damn him and his soft heart, and damn the teenager for his adorableness. The ravenette grinned victoriously, his steel gray eyes shining in the darkness. His partner did everything in his willpower to resist a groan. Falco had the feeling it wasn't going to be 'just a little while longer' though.

Well as long as they were here, he might as well have some fun with this.

While Akira fiddled with the EVP (which Falco wasn't completely sold on), Falco quickly pocketed of few loose rocks that were near it. He kept the light pointed in one direction then checked to make sure Akira's attention was still on the device before swiftly throwing one of the rocks behind him.

The Phantom Thief jumped and spun around to face the direction of the sound. The pilot spun around as well, keeping a startled expression. He faked waving his light around and pretended to search for the source of the noise.

"The hell was that?" Akira asked then shook his head.

"Probably just an animal or somethin'," Falco lied, although he kept his tone uncertain.

Normally, he'd feel bad about lying to his friend like this, but the teen did drag him outside in the middle of the night over a superstition. He'll consider it payback for now. Seeing the ravenette's attention was occupied once more with scanning the area, Falco pulled out another rock and tossed it behind them. They both spun around, and this time Akira crept a bit closer to him.

"H-hello?" He called out, "Is someone there?"

There was no reply, save for the sound of crickets chirping and rustling leaves, as well as the third rock Falco threw. The Phantom Thief jumped and crept even closer. This time, Falco did feel a little bad for scaring him, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Akira, look at me, kid," he said gently, and frowned at the fearful look in his companion's steel gray eyes.

It was time to wrap this up. With one more nervous glance over his shoulder, Akira turned to face him. Slowly, Falco let him track his movements then reached into his pocket to pull out the remaining rocks. Confusion marred the teenager's face before he tossed one of the rocks aside and Akira realized what was actually happening.

"You," Akira grimaced, "are an asshole. It was you the whole time?!"

"Yep."

"Seriously?!"

"Mhm."

"You scared the shit outta me, man!"

"I can't believe you! You..." The anger and indignation drained from Akira's face as he started laughing, though he continued trying to feign it. Soon enough, the teenager couldn't even pretend to be angry, and dissolved into a fit of laughter and Falco couldn't help but to join in. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all...

...Akira still owed him for this and it wouldn't be long before he found a suitable punishment to get back at the boy.