A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm happy so many of you have followed and favorite-d already! Please enjoy this next chapter!

CaitHawke4Ever - Thank you so much for your review! I hope that it continues to intrigue you. I actually have most of it already written (a first!) so I hope to update regularly. Thank you once again!

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.

Language Key:

Regular = Japanese

Bold Italic = Chinese

Bold = English

Chapter 2:

Lin stared at his laptop's screen as if doing so would produce the answers he wanted. He felt like that's all he'd done for the past three months. Three long, torturous months. Most of which had been spent chasing dead ends.

He supposed it wasn't all bad. The staff at the hotel were mostly decent. Or at least the one staff member that appeared to be assigned to him was nice. She was petite and very young. Or maybe she was just almost childlike, as she did a great deal of jobs that a child shouldn't do.

She was very friendly. She smiled at everyone. She always helped anyone who needed it - whether that be a co-worker or a guest. And she was always, always working. Or at least, that's what it seemed like. She served him breakfast in the morning. She waved to him in the afternoon as he left to follow another stale breadcrumb. She greeted him enthusiastically from the check-in desk when he returned late at night. And apparently she occasionally tended the bar.

Something wasn't quite right there. Even if she wasn't as young as she looked, it still wasn't proper for a young woman to be working that much. It wasn't good for anyone to be working that much. But especially so for someone as small and delicate as her.

Not that he noticed how delicate she was. He definitely didn't notice how her eyes lit up when she was truly happy. Or how serious her little face would get when she was thinking hard about something. Because that would mean she was becoming a distraction. And he couldn't afford any distractions.

He needed to focus on his mission. He couldn't waste time worrying about whether or not she took the nurse's advice. He'd already messed up the day's timeline by staying at the bar until closing. Just to make sure that she made it out if her shift unscathed. Which caused him to oversleep and miss breakfast, so he didn't see if she came to work.

But surely she didn't. She'd looked dead on her feet last night. Even if she did come in, surely one of her bosses would send her home. Right?

He had a sinking feeling as a few of his shiki left him and shot out into the hall. They'd taken a liking to this girl and would go to her whenever she was near. They liked to give him status updates (as if that wasn't distracting, at all). Today's update was not speaking any comfort to him: low oxygen levels, irregular heartbeat, low grade fever.

He expected the knock on the door before it came. He quickly opened it to find a large cart full of cleaning supplies and towels. At the back of the cart, the young lady in question stood. Or rather, she leaned, using the very mobile cart to keep her upright. And nearly pushed it into him.

She realized her mistake and tried to quickly rectify the situation. She managed to stagger backwards just enough to keep it from hitting him. Her eyes were glossy as she blinked at him. And yet, she still smiled.

"Hi, I'm here to clean," her words were surprisingly coherent. "If now's not a good time, I'll come back later."

Knowing her, later only meant in a few hours, when he usually left his room. Which, normally he was fine with. It was the staff's job to keep everything clean and in order. And it had been a week since they last sent her to clean his room (they stopped sending anyone else after the first week). But today was not a good day. Not when she looked like death warmed over.

But who knows what else she'd get into if he sent her off. At least if she was cleaning in here, he could monitor her and maybe call the nurse if she started looking any worse. Wordlessly, he stepped back from the door and granted her entrance. He was rewarded with another smile, one that seemed tighter than her normal.

He left her to her usual task. He pretended he didn't notice her longing stare at his fresh pot of coffee. And attempted not to chuckle at her Chinese mutterings about how unprofessional it would be to ask for a cup. He was sorely tempted to offer her one. But he didn't.

Instead, he went back to his laptop and continued his search. He had overheard some of the conversation at the bar last night. His main task for the day was trying to find the article that Miss Shibuya had mentioned. He hadn't discovered it during the countless other articles he'd read on Taniyama. But maybe there would be something else in it to point him in the right direction.

If the article even existed. He had used several different key words, but even after browsing a multitude of search pages, he couldn't find anything like it. Was it possible she made it up? But why?

She had seemed particularly unnerved when the topic came up last night. His shiki were concerned about her as her anxiety levels had risen rather quickly. But he figured that was due to her fatigue. Lack of sleep could really mess up your emotional health.

But what if that wasn't the reason? Well, the main one, anyways. Maybe, she knew something. Maybe she knew the reason why it was so hard to find anything on the former rock star's daughter. Perhaps, she knew her personally.

She might even be her, for all he knew. The last image he'd seen of Mai Taniyama, she was only twelve. She had long hair and heavy makeup on for the role she was portraying onstage. The last role she ever did for the public. That was almost five years ago.

Mai Shibuya had short hair. She never wore makeup. She spoke fluent Chinese. And her appearance made her seem somewhere near sixteen to eighteen years of age. However, her job load and her work ethic were at odds with this. But it could make sense that she worked under the table to sustain herself as she had no living relatives (that gave a care, anyways). Her overall maturity could be a side effect of her being forced into independence at a young age.

But if they really were one in the same, why was she working so hard to disappear? Was she hiding from the music industry? Was she evading foster care (admittedly, he was clueless when it came to the Japanese foster system)? Were loan sharks after her? Was she avoiding her father?

Having met Ikuto Taniyama, that last one seemed pretty plausible. If his father was anything like that, he would've changed his name, too. He'd even move out of the country if he was able. But luckily, his father was a good man. So, the only reason he left home was to head an impossible search for a girl who might possibly be twenty feet away, cleaning his bathroom.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to do a little research on her. It wasn't like his current search was going anywhere.

Five search pages and many, many 'Mai Shibuya's later, Lin wasn't any smarter. The name was fairly common. But everyone he'd found was too young or too old or too dead. And none of them lived in the area. There weren't even school records for someone around her age.

It he didn't know any better, he'd say she was like a ghost. But he worked with ghosts and they usually left a far better trail. Even if that trail was merely an obituary. But this girl just didn't exist.

As he clicked at the sixth page, his shiki called out to him. Their mysterious maid was unconscious. Exiting his page and cursing himself for not checking on her, he rushed to the bathroom. He found her with her head on the tub's edge. Her gloved hands dangled over it, with a sponge in one and a bottle of cleaner in the other. Her legs bent beneath her and her back was twisted in a way that couldn't be comfortable.

Removing her cleaning tools and her gloves, he checked for her pulse. His shiki had told him that it was fine, but he wanted to feel it for himself. Thankfully, it was steady. Her exhaustion must've been too much for her and she simply fell asleep. Still, the bathroom floor was no place to take a nap. Lin scooped her into his arms. Her thin frame felt so frail as he carried her effortlessly to the bed. After taking off her shoes, he made sure she was comfortable under the blankets.

All the while, she never stirred. The only movement she made was the involuntary rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. That and her heartbeat were the only signs of life in her bones. Something about it unnerved him, but he didn't know why. It was almost as if her slumber wasn't entirely natural. His shiki hovered over her in an agitated manner and ignored any request for information. He'd have to be content with the fact that her vitals were all okay (not good, but passable).

He'd decided to finish cleaning the bathroom while she rested. She shouldn't have been doing the task in the first place - he surely wasn't about to let her go back to it when she woke up. He had half a mind to call up the management and reprimand them for letting her work in such a state. But he didn't know what would happen to her if he did so. He didn't want to be the reason they fired her. Regardless of whoever her true identity was, she seemed to desperately need this job. If she wasn't Taniyama (a speculation that seemed closer to the truth the more he thought on it), then when he finally did find the real one, he'd leave Shibuya behind. The guilt would eat at him if he left her here jobless. Japanese or not, no one deserved that.

Fifteen minutes later, the bathroom was spotless and the towels were all changed out. The young girl was still motionless as he sat back down at the desk. Another fifteen minutes passed in silence.

Then, the girl let out a strangled sound. It was almost like a scream that couldn't quite reach the surface. It got stuck in her throat as she sat up. Her hands went to her neck. Her unfocused eyes were wide as saucers. Her breaths were shallow as she struggled to catch them. Tears now streamed down her face. Her hands fell to her lap, wringing the blanket in panic.

"He killed me," she choked out. Her horror stricken words didn't appear to be meant for anyone. Lin saw a flash of realization cross over her face as she looked down. "Just a dream. Wasn't me."

Lin was paralyzed in his chair. He held his breath, not wanting to scare her while she was already in such a delicate state. His shiki surrounded her, nudging her gently in an attempt to get her to lay back down. And he could only stare as she looked right at them. He could feel the soft whispers they caressed her with. He watched as she nodded along, allowing herself to sink back down into the soft mattress. He could see her tiny body still trembling for a moment longer. Until, finally, she slipped into a more natural sleep.

Cautiously, Lin crept over to her. He readjusted the blankets that had fallen off of her during the ordeal. This time, she stirred. She rolled over so she was facing him and curled up with his pillow. Her soft brown locks fell over her closed eyes. Instinctively, he reached out and brushed them back.

There was something about this girl. She was like a magnet, drawing him in. He wanted to help her. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to know more. He needed to know more. Whether she was the girl he was looking for or not, he couldn't leave her alone anymore.

Mai opened her eyes to find a small, glowing orb hovering in front of her face. She blinked a few times, but the orb didn't disappear. Slowly, she started to take in her surroundings. The soft mattress beneath her wasn't anything like the tatami mat she usually slept on. And it was far too comfortable to be one of the beds in the nurse's office.

That was where she had planned on taking a nap when she finished her mandatory clean of Lin's room (it's not like Ayako was ever there, so there would be no one to reprimand her for coming in to work). She couldn't take the whole day off as no other maid wanted this task. But her bosses had compromised and said she could go home after she did this one thing. But problem is, she didn't remember doing it.

She remembered making it up to room 403. She knocked on the door. She almost hit him with her cart. He let her in (or maybe he was just getting out of the cart's path). She thought she had started cleaning the bathroom, but that was a little blurry. That could only mean. . .

She shot up. She did it a little too quickly as the world started spinning. More orbs came into view, but Mai wasn't sure if they were new or just the same one from earlier. It was difficult to tell when everything was a blur. With a groan, she fell back into the fluffy pillows and closed her eyes.

Mai was almost afraid to sit up again. And not because it made her dizzy the last time. No, she was more worried about the embarrassment that was sure to follow. Only she could make such a blunder as napping in a guest's bed. And of course the guest just had to be none other than Lin, her beautiful, mystery man. Why couldn't the bed just swallow her whole? It's not like anyone would notice her missing. How long had she been here, anyway?

It was pretty quiet, maybe he'd left the room. If that were the case, she could just sneak out and avoid any confrontation (or at least save herself from a lifetime of embarrassment). If only she could remember how she got in the bed. If she was lucky, there was a possibility that he'd left the room before she shamelessly crawled into it.

Slowly, she opened her eyes again. Now, three glowing orbs stared back at her, studying her. They didn't seem malicious, just strange. One of them brushed against her cheek, as if to say everything was okay. It was soft and warm, she couldn't help but reach up and touch it. She smiled as it leaned into her fingers. Whatever they were, at least they were nice.

Sighing, she stopped petting the orb and sat up. This time, she did it carefully. Now that the world was standing still, she could observe a bit better. The lights were all off. The curtains that covered the balcony doors were closed. The only sources of light were the orbs, the open laptop sitting on the desk, and the glowing numbers on the alarm clock. The numbers that revealed just how late it really was: six in the evening.

She recalled that she had gotten to work around ten this morning. It had taken her a good half hour to grab a cart and fresh linens and make her way up to the room. If she had cleaned at least another half hour before crashing, that put her at maybe seven hours of sleep. She couldn't remember the last time she slept that much. She couldn't remember the last time she had as little as four hours of uninterrupted sleep. Why did it have to be in someone else's bed? Someone who had every right to get her fired for such negligence.

Her chances of him not seeing her seemed almost impossible now. Of course, she kind of knew they weren't great to begin with. Her luck had never been good. All she could do now was hope that he'd take pity on her and not tell her bosses. Maybe she could bribe him. Would a basket of chocolates work? A little gift for the inconvenience. The inconvenience that was her. Seriously, why did they let her be the primary employee for his needs? They should've known she'd mess it up sooner or later. Unless that was their plan all along. Maybe they wanted her to mess up so they could do away with her. But no, her bosses liked her. They probably just had faith in her capabilities. Very misplaced faith.

Another groan escaped her lips as she threw the blankets aside. She swung her legs over. There, both her shoes were sat neatly beside the bed. Far neater than she ever would've placed them. Did he carry her to bed? She could feel the heat creeping up her neck. Her entire face felt like it was burning. It was a fire fueled by all her shame. Did she snore in his ear? Did she drool on his shoulder? Did she say anything weird while she slept?

She should've stayed home.

She was momentarily distracted from her mortification as the glowing orbs started to buzz around her. They seemed agitated as one got in her face. The other two kept bumping into her shoulders, as if they were trying to push her back down. Two more had flown in from somewhere and began to assist the others. Mai could feel their concern.

"I'm okay," she tried to assure them. She used Chinese instinctively, oddly enough. It might've been her first language, but she was more accustomed to speaking her second tongue.

"Lay down," one of the orbs spoke. His voice was unlike any she'd ever heard. It sounded ancient and not quite human. The orb in question had left his friends to float in front of her. His color, she noted, was tinted with yellow. His form had become almost sharp, like he was irritated. "You are unwell."

Were they the reason she'd slept so long? If that were the case, she wondered if she could take them home with her. Why were they here anyways? What were they?

"What are you?" she asked cautiously, her curiosity overriding her need to push back.

"We are spirits tied to our Master," the yellow orb spoke again.

"Your Master?" Mai mused aloud. Her musings fell short when an orb circled her neck. The sudden warmth tickled her skin, causing her to giggle. The red tinted orb fell in line beside the yellow one, looking satisfied with itself.

"They seem to like you," a voice came from behind her, much closer than she expected. She hadn't heard him come in from the balcony.

Slowly, she turned around. Her handsome stranger was across the bed, standing at the other edge. His eye held a glimmer of, dare she say, amusement. Her cheeks flushed again as she remember where she was and what she'd done. "I'm so sorry, sir. I- I . . ."

"Are you feeling better?"

"I-, y-yes, sir,"

"Good," then he gave her a smile. A real smile and not one she'd just imagined. It was soft and genuine. And it left her speechless. All she could do was gape at him and nod her head.

A few of the spirit orbs left her to go to his side. Looking closely she could see their colors were orange, green, and blue. She could hear them whispering to him, but couldn't make out what they were saying. The red spirit rested on her shoulder. The yellow one still stood guard, watching her every move.

"Your fever seems to have improved," Lin commented, moving closer as he spoke. He stopped when he was standing only four feet in front of her.

Her hands flew up to her forehead, checking for a fever (mostly attempting to block her view from his gaze). "It's amazing what a little sleep can fix," she chuckled sheepishly.

"Any particular reason you haven't been sleeping?"

His warm hands pulled hers away from her face. His beautiful grey eye peered at her, waiting for a response. She'd put several hours in at work over the past few months in an attempt to avoid going home. So, she could imagine what he probably thought she'd say. He'd expect her to say something about how the establishment was overworking her or something. But truthfully, she volunteered for most of the hours.

"I don't know. Nightmares, insomnia," she shrugged. She ignored how his eye darkened and how the orbs became agitated again. "But I'm feeling much better now. Thank you for letting me stay here. And for not calling my bosses when I passed out while on the job."

"Will you be in any trouble for going missing for so long?"

"No, sir. This was my only task for the day," she assured him, not missing the look of relief that passed over his face. "The only trouble I'll be in is if Ayako catches me while I return the cart to the maids' station."

"Maybe it'll be a good reminder to listen to the nurse's advice," he smiled again, definitely amused now. She was momentarily dazzled. Until she realized that her predicament was the cause of his amusement.

She pouted. It wasn't so funny when you were on the other side of the fiery red-head's wrath. Maybe she should sic her on him. He didn't seem to like it when Ayako's attention was on him. Granted, it was a short lived moment that ended as soon as he shut her down. She mostly ignored him ever since.

"It really isn't healthy to push your body to the point of unconsciousness," his seriousness stopped her half-hearted plans of his demise.

Instead, images of her mother's lifeless body filled her head. The cancer didn't kill her; the chemo didn't kill her. But working non-stop while dealing with them both did. Hearing those words really brought home how close she'd been to following her mother's fate. She'd been working so that her mother would be proud when she looked down at her. And she almost threw it all away by working too hard. What would she think of her now?

A warm hand on her cheek brought her back to the present. Long, pale fingers wiped away at tears she hadn't realized were falling. He was kneeling in front of her now, looking up at her in concern. This poor stranger. He probably didn't know he was dealing with such a headcase when he let her into his bed (that sounded so wrong). He probably couldn't wait until she left his room. He was quite the gentleman, patiently waiting. What was she still doing there?

"Yes, I'll - I'll be more careful," she said suddenly. "I'll work on getting more sleep and not overworking myself."

"Mm, and you might want to tell someone about the nightmares. It would probably help if you talk about them,"

"Maybe," her nightmares were a burden she didn't want to place on anyone. They usually involved someone dying or getting hurt in gruesome ways. The one she'd been having lately was especially horrible. Four young women, including herself, were held hostage by an evil man called Vlad. She couldn't fathom trying to describe what he did to them. And it always ended when he'd strangle her for trying to escape. That's what she saw every single time she closed her eyes. For the past four days. "I, um, I should really get going. I'm sorry, again, for troubling you."

"It's fine, Miss Shibuya," he assured politely as he slowly backed away from her.

"Still, sir," her voice strained as she bent to lace her shoes. "if there's anything I can do to repay you, please let me know."

With that, she thanked him again and went on her way. Her face was crimson red the whole journey down to the maids' station. The further she went, the more embarrassing it became. She couldn't believe what just happened. She was definitely going to have to start taking better care of herself, even if only to avoid these sort of situations.

It didn't help her to forget the whole thing when two of those spirit orbs followed her. The red one had nestled itself between her shirt and her neck. The yellow one just floated behind her. She could feel his disappointment.

"I'm fine," she stressed. A few of her coworkers gave her funny looks, but most of them were used to her talking to herself in another language. So, talking orbs probably wouldn't phase them.

"You should return to Master," Mr. Yellow argued. "He can help you to better understand and control your visions."

"My vision is just fine, thanks," There was no way she was going back up there unless it was for work related purposes. "And I highly doubt your Master wants me bothering him again."

She managed to make it all the way to the vacant maids' station without running into a certain nurse. The tricky part was going to be leaving the hotel. It shouldn't be too hard if she used the main entrance. Or pretty much any entrance that wasn't connected to the restaurant and bar. Of course, it would probably help if they stopped talking. The discourse didn't make it easy for a sneaky exit.

"You still believe leaving is the best course of action?"

"Yes, I still have to go home. Where I live,"

"Very well," Except it wasn't well, because the weight of his disappointment increased tenfold. "Take Yi with you."

"Yi?"

"Yes, the spirit attached to you is called Yi,"

"Oh. What are you called?"

"My name is Jun,"

She supposed it made sense that they had names. They probably all had different personalities, too. But why was she just seeing them now? Could everyone else see them? Is that why no one liked to serve Lin?

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. Why are we just meeting now?"

"Your abilities appear to have grown quite rapidly since the time we arrived,"

"Abilities?" she didn't have any abilities. But then again, she was talking to a glowing orb. "Can people not normally see you?"

"No, usually only Master can see us, unless we choose to reveal ourselves. There are, however, some people powerful enough to sense us,"

Then, why was she able to see them? Was it because they'd revealed themselves to her? But why would they do that? Her head hurt as she tried to wrap her brain around it. This was too much new information on top of an already stressful day. Plus, as Jun seemed keen on pointing out, she still hadn't fully recovered. For once, all she wanted to do was go home.

"Won't your Master worry if I take Yi with me?" The spirit in question vibrated in response. She grew warmer, sending waves of comfort to Mai.

"He'll worry more if you don't," Jun responded cryptically. Then, he disappeared altogether, leaving Mai and Yi alone in the maids' station.

"Okay, guess it's time to go," Mai spoke to herself, as much as to her silent spirit companion. "Here's hoping we don't get caught."

She made her way to the lobby silently. She could've used a back entrance, but most of those led to the parking garage. She liked to avoid that area if she could. Something about it always gave her the creeps. It was probably safe, but every time she went through the parking garage she felt like someone was watching her. It didn't help that when she first started working, one of the senior maids told her the story of a young stewardess that was murdered and thrown in the back of a car. In that very parking garage. It could've very well been a rumor, but she wasn't taking that chance.

So, to the lobby she went. She passed through the hallways victoriously, without a single sighting of her favorite red-head. She stopped before exiting the the last hallway. Remaining partially hidden, she peered around to see if the coast was clear. The lobby was clear, but the restaurant was connected to it. It was separated by a wall with windows running the whole length of it. Through the windows, she could see Ayako talking rather irately with a familiar monk. Her need to succeed increased with this new piece of information.

She was short enough that if she did a crab walk below the windows, she wouldn't be seen. She just had to be careful not to get hit with the door that was always opening and closing. Surging with confidence, she started her awkward descent towards the exit. She had passed the door obstacle and was nearing the finish line. Then, she made the mistake of looking up. The sight before her compelled her to stand.

There, up on the wall adjacent to the restaurant, was a bulletin board. It held the usual flyers for pot lucks and band gigs. Various business cards added to the collage, largely ignored and forgotten. But today, four new posters joined the cluster. From three of them, three familiar faces smiled at her. All of them were barely twenty, full of life, and looking forward to the future. The look on their beaming faces were a far cry from the terror that'd been ingrained into her brain. Their last seen date was four days ago.

"Yo, woman, she's right here. I told you she'd be at work,"