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A/N: hey y'all look who's back with an update after so long LOL

but um... so i basically rewrote EVERY CHAPTER of this fic before this one because whatever it was before was really cringe bc ew my middle school writing. i'd love it if you guys gave this fic a reread from chapter 1! i promise you'll find something new and interesting in at least one of the chapters! :)

a Hotel del Luna AU.

The moon has risen. Let's open for business.

Piercing blue eyes, auburn hair, and a confident smile. The woman who stood before him was a stranger, but she seemed all the more familiar. He wondered if he had seen her somewhere before — in the streets, on television, or perhaps his past life? His heart pounded in his chest as she approached him, her stilettos clicking on the floor with each step she took.

It wasn't that he was scared — he was Shinichi Kudo, for god's sake; as if he hadn't seen enough brutally murdered corpses to be completely immune to horror. But as the lights of the Kudo residence flickered on and off, on and off, with every step she took towards him, he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

She seemed to show up out of nowhere; he was just taking a break in the study, casually rereading A Study in Scarlet before he looked up and saw her. He tensed up, furrowing his brows at this sudden intruder — perhaps he should call the police?

"You know, it's considered rude to never send a reply," she said. "Even though I know you've read my letters."

So this woman was the one who sent him a letter every day for the last two months, recruiting him to work at her hotel of some sorts. Shiho Miyano, was it? He never responded not because he didn't want to (although he had to admit, he had no interest in such a position, anyways), but because he had been so busy these days that it had completely slipped his mind.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't think I'll be able to accept your offer. I like my current job as a detective, you see, and I have no experience in hotel management, anyways."

"You seem to be under the impression that you have a choice," she said, chuckling. "It's what the deities have decided. Besides, you won't need any experience with hotel management to work at my place."

He raised an eyebrow. "But you're offering a hotel manager position?"

"I forgot to mention, haven't I?" She smiled. "Hotel Silver Bullet is not just any other hotel, because you see… We serve the dead."

"That's impossible," Shinichi said immediately. "You serve the dead? What are you saying, that ghosts exist?"

"You sound surprised."

"Ghosts don't exist. What do you think I am, an elementary schooler?"

She raised an eyebrow at his confident words before smiling at his naivety. "When's your birthday, Kudo-kun?"

"Why, all of a sudden? It's May 4th."

"Oh? That was a week ago, wasn't it? Happy birthday."

"Well… Yeah, thanks."

"I'll give you something different for your birthday gift," she said. "It'll be something… Ah, something you can never get rid of."

Before he could react, she pulled out a gun and put it to his chest. In one swift movement, she clicked the trigger, and the sound of the bullet was deafening. Within a few seconds, Shinichi realized that he felt no pain, and he certainly wasn't bleeding. He stared at her in confusion and disbelief; she definitely fired a bullet just now, but why was he still standing here in one piece?

"Don't worry, Mr. Great Detective," she said, seeing through his confusion. "You will be just fine."

"What have you done to me?" He asked through gritted teeth.

"I've given you a gift. Happy birthday — this present is very special."

Three days ago, a strange woman paid him a visit and fired a bullet into his chest. Ever since then, he's been seeing… things. Things he thought didn't exist, and things he didn't want to see.

He wasn't scared of ghosts or anything. His work forced him to deal with dead, anyways, so he was used to seeing these things. But it did pose somewhat of an inconvenience to his work when he keeps getting jumpscared by sudden appearances of the undead and the police force stares at him like he's gone mad.

"Are you okay, Shinichi?" His childhood friend Ran Mouri asks him. "You look a little pale."

"I'm fine," he reassured her. "It must be the lack of sleep. Don't worry about it."

"Seriously, you detectives are all the same," Ran said, sighing. "When Dad was still, well, greatly involved in his job, he wouldn't sleep properly, either."

Shinichi completely tuned out her words, because as they walked past a cafe, he saw her. That woman was sitting at a seat by the window, leisurely drinking a cup of coffee as she gazed at the newest edition of Vogue.

"Sorry, Ran, I have to go!" He said, heading towards the entrance of the cafe. "I'll catch you later!"

"Wait, Shinichi!"

He stormed into the cafe and made a beeline to the spot she was sitting at. She looked up and smirked as he sat down in the seat opposite hers.

"Fancy seeing you here," she said. "Well? Have you made a decision yet?"

"Well, I've had a decision for the beginning," he said. "Which is no, I don't want to work at whatever hotel you're at."

She turned the page, dragging on the silence for a little longer before responding. "Did you like the gift I gave you?"

"You…" He thought back to all the encounters he had in the last three days and felt his blood boil. "I knew it was you!"

"Who else could it be?" She laughed. "You said that you don't believe in ghosts, so what better way could I prove it to you?"

"Not in this way! It's very inconvenient for my work. Please undo whatever the hell you did."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," she said. "There's no 'undoing.' At least, not until you accept the job."

"This is blackmail!" He exclaimed. "You can't do that!"

She shrugged. "Well, I guess I've already done it. Besides, with your current state, it'd be best for both you and I if you worked for me. Our manager is the only human position we have, and as manager, you must deal with the human aspect of the hotel and help any guests with their last wishes. Sometimes, you even have to solve mysteries regarding their lives. Doesn't that sound appealing, Mr. Great Detective?"

"You see," he sighed, exasperated. "I'm a world-famous detective, nicknamed the 'savior of the police force.' I should be patrolling the living world, not dealing with the dead. This is not somewhere the Great Detective of the East should be."

"Well, if you don't come, then you'll be seeing these things for a long time," she said, a smile tugging at her lips. "Forever, to be precise."

He frowned at her words. "Why do you keep showing me these things?"

Shiho put her magazine to the side. After taking another sip of her coffee, she rested her chin on her palms and stared into his eyes.

"Come to Hotel Silver Bullet. There, you'll find all the answers you've been looking for."

Ever since he starts working at Hotel Silver Bullet, he occasionally sees her in his dreams. She's cold and distant, aloof yet focused. She worked for some sort of organization, as far as he could tell, as a scientist back in her time, going by the name of "Sherry." She had a sister, someone she loved greatly. They never really got to see each other much, but she loved her sister regardless.

The other members of that organization, however, seemed heartless enough. Out of them all, the worst would probably be the man called "Gin." He seemed to have some sort of infatuation with Sherry, and Shinichi shuddered every time he saw him approach her.

When Sherry was with her sister, she smiled in a way Shinichi had never seen before. He couldn't help but think that this smile suited her the best, instead of that scowl and tired look she always seemed to wear in the real world. But that smile faded when her sister died; he wondered what happened and what would happen next, twisting and turning in his sleep.

And then he woke up.

Seeing Shiho in real life made him wonder even more about her past — she was a bundle of mysteries he couldn't solve, and that made Shinichi all the more intrigued. He found her standing under the tree of the hotel, which bound her to this place.

"I saw you in my dreams," he said suddenly, unable to think of a better way to word his thoughts.

She didn't seem too surprised. "Really? What did you see? Was it the Organization? Or was it the cold, boring person I was?"

"I saw your sister."

Shiho turned around and stared at him, a mixture of overwhelming emotions showing clearly on her face. She wanted to say something, to find some witty retort to get back at him with, but she was unable to speak.

"How did she die?" He asked.

"That's none of your business," she said, turning away.

"Tell me."

"Do you think that being the manager lets you dig around the owner's past?" She asked coldly. "Save it, Shinichi Kudo. You don't get to play detective all the time."

"Why do you have to always be so cold?" Shinichi yelled. "I'm worried about you, goddamn it!"

The two of them stared at each other in silence, lost in thought. Over the time he spent with her, Shinichi couldn't help but become a little attached to this mysterious woman. He wanted to know more about her, to figure out Miss Mystery.

"Are you alive?" He whispered. "Or are you dead?"

"Neither," she said, smiling ruefully. "I'm just… existing."

You take up all my nights and dreams.