I don't Hardy Boys or Hell Girl.

Enjoy!

"In all my years as a PI, all the cases I worked on with the police, I never came across anything that couldn't be explained by physical evidence and human motives."

-Fenton Hardy, The Hardy Boys, Undercover Brothers: Haunted

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Gill had not been spoken about again through the whole next two days, to which Frank was grateful about. It had appeared that the television star had decided to only acquaint himself with the retired investigator. Was it part of the grand plan that Hell Boy had plotted?

If only the brunette knew.

The doll was still in his pocket. Every now and again, Frank took it out and examined it. Kukiko usually said nothing to this treatment, and answered most of his questions with ease. Sometimes, she even responded to things he said aloud and offered her opinion about certain decisions.

The scarlet thread around her neck taunted him, though. He knew he could not pull it quite yet, and the emotions within him were mixed into a giant puddle full of life.

On one hand, he was still scared. Kukiko had already gone over the process multiple times, reminding the anxiety within himself to settle down. He was not going to Hell. He was just helping his brother and the girl that gave him butterflies in his stomach… Yeah…

There was another side of Frank's mind that was rebellious. It demanded that the adrenaline to be released, that he should take joy in pulling the string. It was equivalent to him sending someone to Hell, just without consequence.

Back and forth, his mind battled over the feelings of a string tied around a straw doll's neck. Truthfully, if he had learned of this fate more than a year ago, he would have laughed and brushed it off. Even with the additional information of his brother's spirit helping ferry souls to Hell, Frank was sure he would have thought nothing of it.

If only it was nothing.

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"Why did he… Why did he do this to us?!"

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Frank slowly counted down the minutes until his father was to come back to the Shibata house. It had been a week since the initial contact with Gill, and nothing more had risen from this. At least, nothing that he knew of.

Closing his eyes, Frank allowed his back to hit the couch, as he gazed at the ceiling. His mind began to drift off, demanding the rest it rightfully deserved. It had been another long night of plotting and wondering, thus he missed his sleep yet again. So slowly, the brunette settled down and allowed his eyes to close…

It was dark and cold. He heard his father calling for him. He opened his mouth, and heard his own voice responding.

Someone said something, and he felt his mouth close. Then he saw something being pulled out, the black metal shining under the dim light.

The last thing he heard was a bang that deafened him, and a shout of worry and sadness.

Frank sat up so fast, he risked falling off the couch completely and bumping his head on the coffee table. He barely glanced at the clock hanging from the wall. The hands told that his father would be home within five minutes. Not wanting to risk being caught, Frank sprinted towards his room, locked the door, and went to the balcony.

"Kukiko… I… I…"

"You okay?"

"I… I think I just saw my death…"

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Something welled up within Joe, as he could hear a faint gunshot and his father screaming. He didn't know what to think of it: all he knew was that his brother was at the Shibata house and his father was at the library or something.

He didn't think about the incident for another few days, until he saw the damage himself.

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"You want to what?!"

"Please, Kukiko…"

"Are you so sure that you saw your death?"

"Yes, I am. I… I can't leave this world yet. You and Joe and Ai… I have to help somehow. I can't just allow it to happen."

"You know what you're asking for, right?"

"Yes… but it'll be worth it. Believe me, Kukiko. Please."

Her hazel eyes were wide open, but the rest of her of her face was a stone statue under the moon's light. She had taken a risk and went back to her human form, and Frank admitted that he calmed down when the thread had disappeared.

"I'll… I'll talk to Mistress about this. And Joe-"

"Don't tell him. I can't…"

"You don't want to worry him, right?" The sympathy mixed into her voice surprised him a bit, but then again, Kukiko had studied psychology.

Frank could only nod. He felt that he was out of his body and mind, thinking and responding, but at the same time it wasn't really ihim/i that was doing the talking.

"I won't tell him. Just do me a favor and try not to run into Gill while I'm gone for a few minutes." Kukiko began to slide the glass the door quietly, creating an opening just big enough for the two to slip through one at a time. "Then again," she mumbled "trouble seems to always find you and your brother, so I shouldn't get my hopes too high."

Frank gave a small chuckle. "It's a gift."

"From who? Your guardian angel?"

They quietly walked toward the bathroom, where the mirror over the sink waited silently, reflecting the little light the window had allowed through the door. With one swift motion, Kukiko jumped over the obstacle and went through the mirror as if it were water. Ripples marked her entrance point for a few seconds, and then before Frank's eyes the mirror was back to its original state.

Absent mindedly, the brunette allowed him fingers to glide over the glass and allowed the cool touch to comfort him. Frank was in a half trance, wondering if he had asked for the right thing. Of course I have! It's the only way…

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"Is he sure that he wants to take this path?"

"Judging by the accuracy of his visions so far, he really is convinced that he saw his death. He's more than sure about his decision."

"Tell him yes, then."

"As you say, Mistress."

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To the purest of luck, Fenton Hardy did not come home for another twenty minutes. Whether it was a good sign or a bad one, Frank couldn't call it just yet.

Kukiko came back through the mirror about five minutes after she had disappeared, and resumed the innocent looking doll form. Frank had pocketed the purple doll, and slowly walked to the kitchen to cook the dinner. By the time his father had gotten home, the fear that the younger Hardy had seemed to have been wiped off his face completely.

"Did you find anything, Dad?"

"Not much, but I have a hunch about something." His father set his books down, and walked over to the brunette. "Your… your visions might be able to help us."

Frank did not like where this was going, and assumed that Kukiko didn't either. "How so?"

"They can help us predict who made contact with Hell Girl. We'll find them, and stop them before they do anything drastic. And if we're lucky, we'll catch her."

"Yeah Dad… sure." Frank's heart was definitely not into it, but he remembered his initial task. "And maybe Gill can help us."

"Yes, yes…" Fenton's spirit seemed to have grown, pushing away any happiness that Frank had left within him.

I'm sorry Frank! :(