"When did Andy say they'd meet us?" Walker lowered the binoculars he'd been looking through to look down at Skulker as he and the mercenary perched on a downtown rooftop.
"After the whelp's classes ended." Skulker accepted the binoculars from the warden. "…Are you sure your men need to be here right now?"
The mercenary jerked his thumb towards a few of Walker's guards, who were further back on the roof and currently occupying themselves in a card game.
"I figured the more eyes we have now, the better chance we have of spotting the perp." Walker shrugged. "You never know."
"…Never know what?" A voice that belonged to no one on the roof piped up.
"When the ghost Andy's chasing would show up." Walker answered. "Weren't you… listening?…"
Pausing for a moment, the pair turned to see a Japanese man in a blue yukata smiling innocently, hovering just off the edge of the building like he was standing on the air itself.
"YOU!" Skulker and Walker caught up their weapons and started firing at the spectre, who just stretched around the bullets, dodging them with ease.
Extending his neck out towards the mercenary as Skulker went to reload, Hibiki smiled cruelly. "I will not be returned to Hell. Least of all by the two of you."
Before Skulker could react and grab the ghost, Hibiki vanished into separate balls of foxfire and disappeared.
"What are you waiting for? We have to get to Andy!" Walker glared at his dumbstruck guards as they scrambled to their feet, trying to keep their distance from Skulker, who was fuming as he angrily jammed another clip into his gun.
--
Inside the school's library, Danny and Tucker were showing Oleander maps of the city while Sam read an Edgar Allen Poe anthology, warily stealing glances at the reaper from over the pages.
"…He might go to the cemetery, but most of the ghosts we fight don't bother with it." Danny pointed to an area in the northern section of the town.
"We should check it out just in case. You never know… Hibiki never was very stable in life." Andy shrugged.
"How did he die?" Sam asked, gaining the reaper's attention.
"Well… he was obsessed with the occult in life, mostly the bakemono that existed in Japan. I think he had tried to summon Ao-Andon during Obon…" Oleander started, catching the odd look from the children. "Um… it's like Halloween, but it's in August… and revolves more around ghost stories and revering the dead than it does about giving out candy to appease evil spirits."
"Okay." Sam nodded appreciatively.
"When I got there, not only did he fail to summon Ao-Andon, but he'd died of heatstroke and a heart attack. It's like he'd scared himself to death." Oleander shrugged. "He went downstairs pretty easy under the pretence of meeting the mythological creatures that he'd been infatuated with in life… but he got bored and escaped."
"He got bored?" Danny looked up from the map.
"You would too if you spent a hundred years trying to scare the dead with ghost stories." Oleander snickered. "He found out that he could manipulate his form… sort of shapeshifting, really… and escaped as a will-o-the-wisp."
"Then shouldn't Danny be researching these spirits instead of looking at a map?" Sam cautiously inquired, looking up at the reaper.
"I thought that's what you were doing." Andy tilted her head at the girl. "You and Tucker said you wanted to come along… I thought you'd be the spirit expert."
"Well… not really." Sam shrugged. "I mean, most of the things that attack us around here are pretty set in their ways… and it's either a well known legend… or the research is easy enough."
"I see." Oleander nodded. "Well, we're dealing with a really weird kid. He knows what gets a scare in Japan… I don't know if he's aware of the customs in this country…"
The reaper paused for a moment. "Speaking of which… I haven't done a lot of research on American spiritual behaviour. Is it normal for ghosts to have extendible necks, an extra mouth in the back of their head, or no facial features whatsoever?"
"No, no, and sometimes… but rarely." Danny ticked off the answers on his fingers.
"Then you kids are going to want to read this." The curly-haired reaper pulled a large book out of her bag titled 'Obakemono and You: A Definitive Guide to the Spiritual Nature of Asia'. "It might save your lives."
"…Um… speaking of which…" Sam started. "How… ah, that is… are we…."
"Go on, dear. I don't bite." Oleander smiled.
"That's sort of what I'm worried about…" Sam half-smiled. "Are we really going to be safe around you?"
"Oh, of course, sweetie." Oleander nodded. "I had Azrael make me a local-area reaper's ban for the extent of my stay. Unless someone's name isindelibly on the list, nobody's going to die while I'm here."
"That's good to know." Sam smiled, realizing a moment later what the reaper had just said. "… Wait, you mean Azrael, the Angel of Death?"
"He's my boss." Oleander nodded. "He's a pretty cool guy, all things considered."
"I see." Sam nodded slowly, turning her attention to the giant book.
A/N: If you're unfamiliar with Japanese spirits… well… we're gonna have some fun. They are STRANGE. And by strange I mean… well, you'll see.
Mythology:
Ao-Andon – A popular Edo period pastime involved 'hyaku monogatari' (one hundred stories) where people would gather in a room where a hundred candles would be burning inside andon lamps covered in blue paper. One hundred frightening tales would be told, and a candle would be extinguished after each one. When the last candle went out, the Ao-Andon demon was said to appear from the darkness. This 'game' is normally played around Obon.
Obon – A Buddhist holiday to honour the departed spirits of one's family. It traditionally includes a dance festival and care of the family grave sites and is held either between July 13-15 or in the middle of August. On the last night of Obon, paper lanterns called 'toro nagashi' are floated down a nearby river to guide spirits in their journeys into the afterlife.