Prologue

Hinami was sitting out on the back patio, watching how the rays of the sun danced on the lakes surface. Only a few birds could be heard chirping, and the cool breeze gave her a slight shiver. The calm and beautiful scenery contrasted sharply with her internal turmoil of emotions. She bit her lip to suppress the tears stinging her eyes, choosing instead to take a large gulp of her tea. It burned her throat, but feeling that pain was more tolerable than the pain she was feeling at that very moment. Hinami needed a distraction. Just something, anything, to not think about him. She stood and entered the cabin, casting her eyes on the sleeping form on the overstuffed couch.

Oh, her daughter. Her precious little Mai. At just six years old, Mai was so sweet and adorable. Those rosey pink chubby cheeks, locks of brown hair that glowed a little red under the sun, and such large compassionate eyes. Hinami never really understood what a mother's love meant, but after Mai had been born she understood. It was like having a piece of her heart exposed to the world, which needed to be loved, protected, and cherished. It amazed her. It scared her. It was her new world.

However, as much as she felt disgusted by her current feelings, the love for her daughter could never fill the gaping hole in her heart. She just knew it would never be enough. And for that she hated herself. What type of mother was she? Takashi loved her when no one else did, and it didn't matter that their families didn't approve. Or that no one but a few friends attended the wedding. Or that even now, with Takashi gone, that her family still remained silent.

The funeral was just last week. They had gone for a trip to the ice cream parlor, yet no one could predict the truck that had come barreling towards their car. The car had flipped over twice and slid down the embankment by the river. Hinami had been gifted with the power to heal, and had been forced to make a choice. Mai and Takashi had suffered fatal injuries, the amount of energy needed to heal herself from bleeding out left her with only enough energy to save one more person. It was too late to wish that the accident didn't happen, but she had wished that maybe the injuries weren't so severe. That was not the case. Even now she could still feel the hot blood seeping into her clothes,, when she closed her eyes she could only see the life leaving Takashi's eyes. Mai was suffering from nightmares, and Hinami couldn't help but shake the nagging feeling that something was wrong with the whole accident. Nevertheless she packed a few bags and took Mai to a cabin far out into the countryside to be safe and more importantly, to heal. Hinami layed a blanket over Mai and stepped outside again, this time unable to hold back her tears.

Four years later…

Mai stood at the front of the crowd, watching as the casket was lowered into the ground. The clouds were getting darker, and Mai wondered if she should have brought an umbrella in case it rained. As the casket was finally set down, Mai grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it into the hole, followed by a single white lily. The few people at the funeral followed her lead. Mai didn't recognize them, but it made her feel relieved that there were people who would miss her mom too. The caretakers started filling up the hole and slowly people started to leave. Except for her. The minutes felt like hours, she couldn't move, didn't want to move. There had been so much she wanted to know, to learn from her mom. It felt like everything happened too soon and Mai hadn't been ready for the day her mom died. Suddenly she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Mai turned around to face her sensei.

"I'm sorry, but it's time for us to go."

Mai's eyes glistened. She was ready to protest, but her sensei was kind enough to take her in when the lawyers couldn't locate any of her relatives. Not wanting to be a burden already, Mai clenched her fists and nodded.

This was her new reality.

"You're late Taniyama!"

Mai winced at the angry glare her sensei was casting upon her. It really wasn't her fault this time. Really! How was she supposed to know that the power went out, thus resetting her alarm clock and waking up with only twenty minutes to get ready, catch the train, AND stop to pet the stray cat outside the school gates?

In one breath Mai gasped, "Gomen nasai, I promise it won't happen again."

"I've heard that before. Hurry and take a seat so that I can continue with today's lesson."

"Hai!" With that Mai slid into her desk, watching as her classmates smirked behind their hands. Clearly today wasn't going to be her day.

Math was undeniably Mai's worst subject, even though she had no idea what she planned to do in the future, she just knew math would not be part of it. Japanese literature and English were easy enough today, but it didn't stop their teachers from piling on a ton of homework to prepare for next week's exams. When the bell rang for lunch Mai moved her desk to join her friends.

"So, what do you guys think about the old school house?" Michiru asked, stealing Keiko's english homework to copy.

Keiko yanked her homework back, "This is why you're failing. But since I'm feeling good today I'll let you copy for that pack of gummies you have." A sob was heard as Michiru praised Keiko while simultaneously removing a few gummies for herself.

Mai rolled her eyes at their antics, "I think it's a waste of space, the school doesn't even use it. I heard that the building is haunted and that's why they've stopped doing construction."

"I agree, but I think it's cool. Just picture it, me, walking past the old wooden building that's falling apart. Boom! A ghost! I scream, but a handsome man comes in to save me, vanquishing the spirit and we kiss, fall in love and have tons of babies."

"Keiko! Be more realistic. Anyways, you'll probably end up alone since you're such a drama queen. I can't imagine any boy who'll be able to put up with you." With that, Michiru took a large bite of her bread.

"Why don't we share ghost stories today? We can go to the audiovisual room after school, you know, if Mail doesn't have detention for being late." Mai laughed and agreed to the meet up. She had only gotten a warning and a stern lecture from her sensei. Maybe the day wasn't that bad after all.

"… so then the woman went back to the public restroom with the police officer… and as he'd instructed she went inside, and waited to hear the 'voice' again. After a few moments she heard a scary voice asking her, 'Shall I put the red veil over your face?' The woman said yes. Suddenly the police officer heard a loud scream! He pushed the door open and rushed in to find… ," Mai paused, "... the woman lying dead, covered with blood as if she were wearing a red veil. There were small holes all over her body, as if someone had repeatedly stabbed her with a knitting needle." Mai turned off her flashlight. Apparently once everyone turns off their flashlight after telling their ghost story, the group counts the number of people and an extra voice will be heard. The extra voice is supposed to be the voice of a ghost!

"That's so scary Mai-chan, this is why girls shouldn't go to the bathroom alone." Keiko nodded quickly, clutching Michiru. "Just a reminder, we have to keep our voices low."

"Oh right sorry. It's your turn Michi."

"Okay, well you know how we were talking about the old school building?" The girls nodded. "The building was supposed to be destroyed a long time ago, but construction was stopped because of a curse." Mai thought about it, for it did seem to make sense. There were so many fires, accidents, a teacher committed suicide, and even worse… a dead child was found.

"When the construction workers tried to demolish the place, they either got sick or were injured. When they tried to demolish the west wall, the roof fell through to the second floor and everyone on the first floor was killed. It forced them to stop. Last year they tried again, but they had to stop when the incidents started up again. A driver lost control of his truck and ran over some students who were on the volleyball court. That's not all, one evening, my senpai was passing by the old building and saw a ghost staring at her and gave her such a wicked look. My senpai said she had never feared for her life like in that moment." Michiru shivered and turned her flashlight off. The room was engulfed in darkness. It was time

"Are you girls ready?" Everyone nodded.

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three…"

.

.

.

"Four."

"KYAAAAA!" The lights flickered on to reveal Michiru holding Mai in a choke hold, Keiko was hiding under the desk with her hands over her ears.

Standing at the door was a boy dressed in all black. Mai didn't have much experience in the boy department but she was unable to deny that he was heart stopping, panty dropping, shojo manga handsome. That wasn't the only reason Mai remained frozen on the spot. It was as if time had stopped, bringing everything to a grinding halt. The boy seemed to have noticed, unlike the other girls who were too busy fawning over his looks. He looked at her with curiosity and wonder that Mai had to look away, unable to handle the intensity of his stare. However, that split second was enough to leave Mai tingling from her head to her toes.

"Ano, were you the one who said 'four'...?"

The boy blinked and looked at Keiko, withdrew his hand from the light switch, and tilted his head. When he spoke it was like the angels were singing. "Yes, is something wrong?"

Boom.

Mai practically saw her friends panties drop. Without any hesitation at all, Keiko and Michiru approached the stranger.

"Oh my, you scared us! It's good to see that we've been greeted by a pleasant sight rather than a frightening ghost." That Keiko, had she no shame?

"Sorry about that. The light wasn't on, so I didn't think anyone was in here, but then I heard your voices so I came to check."

Michiru was totally playing the sweet cute girl act. "It's okay, no worries!" She batted her eyelashes and held her hand to her mouth. "Are you a transfer student?"

"Sort of."

"What grade are you in?"

"I'll be turning 17 this year." His response left Mai puzzled. Normally students responded by saying what year they were in versus their age. Something about him didn't sit right with her.

"Ah! This makes you our senpai. We're first years, and we were just telling ghost stories. My name is Keiko Fueguchi, but you can call me Keiko. This is my friend Michiru Kobashi the other girl by the whiteboard is Mai Taniyama."

"Oh really? Would you mind if I joined you next time?" His eyes looked at Mai for a split second. Mai noticed and finally felt her tongue loosen.

"Of course not! Pleasure to meet you! I don't think Keiko has given you a chance to properly introduce yourself?" Mai used her super sickly sweet voice.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, "Shibuya. Kazuya Shibuya"

"Shibuya-senpai, do you like ghost stories? I absolutely love them!" Keiko was quick redirect his attention to her.

"Somewhat," then he flashed the girls a smile.

That smile.

Mai knew right away that it was fake and could only suspect that he was up to no good. However he looked at her determined eyes and reciprocated with a look Mai could only describe as a challenge. Her heart began to beat fast, from fear or intimidation she wasn't sure. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"I had some errands to run." Aha! Mai found an escape.

"Well then why don't you get to your errands? It's getting late and we should be heading out soon anyways." Mai said with a slight edge to her voice. Keiko and Michiru glanced at Mai and then at each other.

Michiru stepped in and clasped her hands behind her back, rocking on her heel. "Um, we'll meet you tomorrow after school. Our classroom is 1-B, see you then!"

The girls left, with Keiko muttering threats to Mai for ruining their once in a lifetime chance of scoring a date with the "hottest guy in the world". Shibuya watched the girls as they left, his eyes focused on Mai's retreating form. She didn't seem like a threat, but somehow he was sure that the electricity he had felt in the room had occurred because of her. Was it brought on by their eyes meeting? Or perhaps she was attempting to intimidate him. Threat or not, his gut told him that he would need to keep a closer eye on her. Shibuya shook his head, this was not the time to get distracted. He was here for business and whether or not he was interested in pursuing the enigma called Mai could wait.