Everything I know about hospitals comes from either personal experience or google. Mostly google. Apologies if I botched any procedures enough for them to fall out of suspension of disbelief.

That said, the universe of Ghost Hunt is one in which ghosts exist and can do damage. So I would imagine that the world wouldn't be as skeptical of supernatural elements as our own. With all the crap the SPR has seen, I'm sure the average layperson has at least heard of enough incidents to not dismiss the possibility of ghosts as a society.

.o0o.

When they had arrived, the hospital's patient advocate, legal advisor, and the healthcare administrator were waiting for them. Ayako had warned the team that the hospital, while getting desperate, were still prickly toward the idea of ghost hunters and extra goings on in their walls. The stress if the peeping specters only made them more wary of strangers. In other words, prepare for a cold reception.

The reception was frigid.

"Remind me, Dr. Matsuzaki, what these people are doing here?" said the healthcare administrator—Suzuki, was her name or something. Lin didn't care to make a mental note.

"They're here to help with the spying reports."

Suzuki scoffed. "We need the police, not ghost busters or whatever."

Lin noticed Mai bristle at the misnomer.

"The police already did an investigation," Ayako reminded her. "They found nothing."

"Ghosts aren't even real," said the legal advisor. He hadn't even bothered to give his name.

"What matters is what the patients think is real," said Mana, the patient advocate.

"To an extent," added Suzuki. "Listening to patients is fine, but feeding delusions is not."

"This isn't getting us anywhere," Naru said. "I thought Dr. Matsuzaki explained our arrival to you long before we came."

Suzuki folded her arms. "She mentioned it. I dismissed it. Clearly she wasn't listening."

"Dr. Fujimoto," Ayako said. Suzuki turned to her. "I'm not going to debate with you on whether or not ghosts are real. If you'd seen half the things we've seen, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I trust them."

Suzuki sighed. "What do you people need?"

"A base of operations," Naru said. "Somewhere to set up monitors—"

"Not a chance," said Mana. "That would violate patient privacy."

"Reports have never mentioned spirits inside the hospital. We would set them up outside, preferably in a secure location where they can't be stolen."

"That's your problem," Suzuki said.

No, it's your problem, that's why we're here, is what Lin would have said, but he knew better than to antagonize the manager on day one.

"Couldn't they use 10-B for base?" Ayako suggested.

"That's a staff room," said Suzuki.

"There's another staff room in 10-F. It won't be for long. Maybe a week at most," Ayako said.

Suzuki stared down Ayako. Ayako stared right back. "Fine. One week."

"And we'll likely need an empty patient room," said Naru. At this, Mai and Lin glanced at Naru. "To avoid violating patient privacy, we'll have one of our own pose as a patient."

Welp. That meant either Naru or Mai was going to be in a hospital gown very soon. Now it was only a matter of who volunteered first. But first, first, they had to get past the barrier of obstructive staffers. Dr. Fujimoto was staring him down with a glare to match. Ayako crossed her arms and cleared her throat. The two women seemed to have some sort of silent conversation before the administrator yielded.

"Fine. Whatever. You will be charged as inpatients for every night you use it, though. And if a patient dies because we didn't have a room open, that's on you."

Well. Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed today. Naru kept his face schooled, save for one twitch of the eyebrow. "Fine."

Suzuki nodded. She and the other two finally let them pass. She gave Lin an extra-long stare, which he was used to. Being the tall, intimidating figure he was, people tended to either shy away or puff up like a threatened cat. Lin preferred the former. It meant less conversations.

Ayako led them to 10-B. It was a tight room with a round table and a window looking out toward the nearby park. They must have been on the edge of the hospital campus, as there were no other hospital wings visible from their window.

"Patients in observation have rooms on this floor and on eleven, as well as fourteen and fifteen," Ayako explained.

"So which one of us is going undercover?" Mai asked.

"The most logical choice is me," Naru said. Yup. Lin should have put money on it. And found a betting partner. "I'm familiar with how hospital stays go. And if something does happen, we need the three who can actually use magic to be ready and waiting."

"But wait," said Mai. "If we want a magic user immediately ready when a ghost shows up, shouldn't it be me? Then I'm right there when the ghost appears, and I can do something. All you can do is alert us."

Mai had a point. Lin silently nodded to himself, impressed with her reasoning.

"Would you know what to do if a spirit with ambiguous intention appears?" Naru countered.

"My intuition is rarely wrong," said Mai. "It's pretty good at telling friend from foe."

Naru turned to Ayako. "What's your schedule?"

"I'm not on call," said Ayako. "I got another doctor to cover me. I owe her big time."

"So you're going to play nurse?" Mai surmised.

"I don't think that's necessary," Ayako said, a bit of discomfort in her voice.

"It's not impersonating a doctor if you are a doctor, right?"

"I'd… have to ask legal about that. But I'd rather keep my interactions with Dr. Fujimoto to a minimum."

"For the moment, it shouldn't be necessary," said Naru. "We just need to look the part. If it turns out that they can tell we're bluffing, we'll switch strategies. For now, we need to unload and get set up."

Parking wing A was the closest to the inpatient rooms. But that didn't mean it was close. There were many back and forth trips, carrying heavy equipment. The hospital staff weren't very welcoming, so much of their stuff had to be carried. There were no spare wheels for them. Understandable, but frustrating.

Lin's shoulders were aching by the time they had brought the last monitor up to 10-B, and there was still more to do. The few locations they had been allowed to set up cameras included the dummy inpatient room, and the perimeter of the campus. Logically, they would set up an outside camera to observe the same place that the inpatient window could see. The rest of them would be placed past the perimeter, facing in toward the hospital.

"But doesn't that violate patient privacy?" Mai asked.

"We have to be able to do our jobs. If a stranger can look up and see into your window, then what's the difference if a camera can too?" Naru said.

"There's a rather large difference," said Lin. "And we can't exactly absorb the legal fees if someone decides to sue us."

Naru rolled his eyes. "Why did we take this case?" he muttered to himself.

Mai and Lin blinked at this (probably unintentional) revelation.

"To… help Ayako?" Mai asked.

Naru startled, realizing he had said that out loud. He glanced at them, and then he spoke. "We'll point the cameras facing away from the buildings. Let's get to work."

Setting up cameras took the better part of the afternoon. The sun was on its way down when they were all back at base. Mai's stomach made its displeasure known. Indeed, they had skipped lunch during their rather lengthy setup.

"There's a cafeteria on floor seven," Ayako said. "And don't worry; cafeteria food is better than hospital food."

"You three go. I'll stay here and fortify the base," Lin said.

"Are you sure?" Mai asked.

Lin nodded.

"We'll bring you something!" she said in her chipper, upbeat way. Lin didn't respond, but he did take a minute to notice that her happy-go-lucky attitude seemed to be back. A case appeared to be what she needed to get her mind off of the dream she had. Lin heard the door click closed, leaving him blissfully alone with his thoughts. He sent a command to his five shiki to begin fortifications.

The little spirits swirled around the room, invisible to everyone but Lin. Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire placed themselves in the four corners of the room, with Earth in the middle. They constructed a strong barrier that an average spirit would have trouble breaking. When they were finished, Lin gave them their second order.

"Patrol the perimeter in twos. Report only spiritual anomalies."

"Leave it to us, boss!" said the Wood spirit.

The Earth and Metal shiki took off in one direction, leaving the Water and Wood spirits to go the other way. Lin's Fire shiki took its customary place around Lin's neck. This was how they usually split up and patrolled—two by two, leaving one with their master just in case. Fire craned its neck questioningly at its master.

"Problem?" Lin asked.

"We don't patrol this early on," said Fire.

"Miss Hara isn't here. Nobody else can sense spirits by their presence alone."

They fell into a silence again. It wasn't long before Fire was tilting its head again, asking for permission to speak.

"What is it?" said Lin again.

"We will protect you, master," it said.

Lin took a moment to figure out what Fire was trying to say. Despite being his familiars, it wasn't exactly easy to understand their thought process—especially Wood, who was well known in their quintet as the ditzy one. He puzzled over what Fire could be referring to, when he remembered how all five of them bristled and hissed when Mai recounted her dream. When the two men came in, Metal and Earth were practically chomping at the bit to interrogate their essences. Lin did not allow it, not when they had no idea what kind of pot they had stirred. And when Ayako came in, Lin had to actively hold his shiki back with an order. They were protective of him, indeed. Despite the fact that shiki should have been closer to mindless robots, Lin could never bear to do that to them. The spirits, so long as they willingly entered contract with him, could retain their original wills. This only made their loyalty stronger. If only his grandfather could see him now.

Regarding Mai's dreams however, he had to admit, he was disturbed. Mai had told them every detail. He had kept his mind as blank as possible while Mai described it, trying to simply absorb the details without letting his emotions get in the way. But now that he was alone and doing his best to not think about it, he couldn't help but shudder. Mai's dream depicted medical torture, not at all helped by the fact that they were currently taking a case in a hospital.

Lin didn't really hate hospitals; he had just spent more time in one than a normal person would. A normal person might have a bout of illness or some freak accident that would put them in maybe five times in their lives if they were particularly unlucky. Lin on the other hand had two twin psychics with powers that, if even looked at the wrong way, would delight in unsubscribing the children from life. Hospital visits became nearly bi-annual. Normal for them, but not at all pleasant.

All of this was to say that Lin was the slightest bit pissed that pretending to be a patient to lure out the ghosts was Naru's best plan. If it came down to it, Lin would have volunteered himself to play patient had Naru been a stubborn bastard, but it would have been against Lin's every instinct to do so. Then again, his specific job was to protect Naru (even though the boy made it difficult). Unlike Takigawa, who was happy to make the sacrifice play, Lin was the kind to find a third option. Better me than him? No, better none of us.

The others came back relatively quickly. Lin smelled the food before he saw the containers. They hadn't eaten in the cafeteria. Naru and Ayako were holding bowls, whereas Mai had a container in her hands.

"They had burgers!" she exclaimed.

Lin raised an eyebrow.

"One of the meal choices for the inpatients tonight is turkey burger. We're trying to keep as many things consistent as possible," Ayako explained.

Naru walked over to Lin and handed him a vegetable stir-fry. Lin joined the team at the small table.

"The fortifications are in place. I sent my shiki on patrol," Lin reported. "No other activity to report."

"Makes sense," Ayako said. "Patients have only reported feeling watched at night. Same with staff."

Naru nodded. He turned to Ayako. "What other details can you tell us? Has anyone been able to describe the figures beyond black humanoid shadow?"

"Just their eyes. Two glowing white eyes staring at them, like distant, faint stars."

"And the spirits have never tried to enter?"

Ayako shook her head. "Not that I know of."

Naru looked at Lin. "Can you spare a shiki tonight?"

Lin nodded. "I can have one stay with Mai."

"So do you want me to stay awake tonight?" Mai asked.

Naru didn't answer. He turned to Ayako.

Ayako blinked before realizing what he was asking. "I can't say whether patients have been watched in their sleep, but more than once, they've woken up in the middle of the night because they felt they were being watched."

Naru nodded. "I thought as much. It would be best if you tried to stay awake, but don't fight sleep if it calls you. Your dreams are as much an asset at your waking observations."

"We'll have a camera on you at all times," Lin said. "Besides, I'll be awake late tonight."

"We'll be night-shift buddies!" Mai said.

Lin stared at Mai. Okay, she was starting to sound a little too cheery. It was probably the case that her visions were still bothering her.

"This isn't a sleepover, Mai," said Naru. Ah, there was the boy's typical annoyance. Probably not helped by the bill that they would be eating, which was ridiculous by the way, as the hospital was hiring them. Speaking of which…

"Who hired us?" Lin asked. Surely it wasn't that Suzuki person.

"It was the board," Ayako said.

"I'd wager that the board didn't clear it with the hospital staff," Naru interjected.

"I went over their heads," Ayako said. Lin was glad he didn't have anything in his mouth at that moment. "They weren't listening to me when I said we couldn't fix this ourselves. We can't have our hospital accosted like this! You know how it is, ghost problems don't go away on their own, just like infections."

"They do say that doctors make the worst patients," Mai said.

"It's true!" Ayako blurted. Her tone made Lin's Fire shiki jump and bristle.

"Easy," Lin soothed, and Fire settled.

"So I went to the board myself."

"Is that something we should keep quiet?" Lin asked.

"Oh no, they know. I'm gonna be on the blacklist for a month."

"Is that why you were getting so many dirty looks in the café?" Mai asked. Oh dear, that was unfortunate. To have one of their own on the bad side of their clients, especially when she was supposed to be a liaison between them.

"Finish up. We're going to have to get you into a gown soon," Ayako said, motioning to Mai's teeny burger and potatoes. Lin took that as his cue to begin his meal, as did Naru. They ate mostly in silence, as was usual for them. The veggies were okay, as could be expected from a hospital. Nothing he wasn't used to.

After the meal was finished and cleaned, they began to get Mai dressed up. Naru had asked if any of the staff were willing to answer a few questions. Most were not, as they had things to do, lives to save, the usual. Those who did had nothing of use to say, just reporting things they had heard. Being stowaways on a tight-knit ship, as it were, made the SPR's job remarkably difficult.

"Is it possible," Naru said to Ayako, "to get the patients to report all spiritual incidents in the morning?"

Ayako let out a breath. "I'll have to contact Dr. Fujimoto and get her to give all the morning nurses the order. So doable, yes, practical, no."

"What about getting reports from last night today?" Mai asked. She was now in a hospital gown.

"No. I don't want to prime anybody. If we ask them about their haunting experience, they might become over sensitive to things that would otherwise be completely ordinary. Mai, you should go to your room."

"Wait," Lin said. "Take one of my shiki with you." He inclined his head. His Fire shiki unwound itself from his neck, making its serpentine form visible to the humans. It turned its tiny head toward Lin, protest clear.

"Go. That is an order."

Fire floated from Lin's body to Mai's clinging to her left shoulder.

"It will let me know if there's any trouble, and it should aid you if you need it."

"She'll be in 10-21," Ayako said. She and Mai went out of base and down the hall.

Now alone with Naru, they had a chance to debrief.

"Have your other shiki returned yet?" Naru asked.

"No. They're still patrolling."

"They usually don't take so long."

"The campus is large and not well-defined."

"They can't get lost, can they?"

"They might not always know where they are, but they always know where I am, unless our bond is broken or they are otherwise incapacitated."

"Call one back. You shouldn't be without at least one."

"I sent them off in pairs. I'll call a pair back, but that will take the other pair longer to finish their patrol."

"That's fine."

Lin decided it would be best to call back Wood and Water. That way, should Fire need help, Wood could assist it. Once they heard their master's call, the two little spirits made a beeline for him. Wood, noisy and juvenile, greeted Lin first.

"Hey boss, what's up? We weren't done."

Water swung its head around. "I sense no threats."

"Wait. Where's Firebrand?" Wood motioned to Lin's neck.

"With Mai."

"And you're alone without any of us to protect you!?"

"I don't answer to you."

"But boss! What if something happened to you? What if some crazy lady kidnapped you and strapped you to a table and—"

"Enough!" Lin barked. Naru jumped, head snapping up to see what the fuss was about. Wood and Water also jumped. Taking the hint, Water drifted down to its customary place around Lin's left bicep. Wood floated in front of Lin's face and the two stared each other down. Without a word from either, Wood finally relented and flew to Lin's right ankle.

"Are you all right?" Naru asked.

Lin nodded. "I'm fine." He paced over to the wall of monitors. He sat down, ready to record everything since the morning. As he typed (truly a mindless task), he reflected on his shiki's behavior. Overprotectiveness was nothing out of the ordinary for his Fire shiki, whom he had been bonded with the longest. For Wood to be up in arms and up in his face about his own safety, the group of five must have been really spooked. It was uncharacteristic of them. There were two ways he could handle this. Brush it off, or take them seriously. So, the stupid way or the smart way.

"Did you find anything worth reporting?" Lin finally asked.

Water answered. "No, Master."

"How much of the campus did you patrol?"

"We swept over about half the campus."

"What about Earth and Metal?"

"We didn't pass them."

"Were you circling in opposite directions?"

"Yes, Master. As usual."

Lin paused. None of his shiki were particularly faster than any of the others. If Water and Wood had enough time to circle half the campus, they should have passed the other two on their rounds. He sent a message to Earth and Metal.

"Report."

Silence. He sent out tethers, trying to locate them.

"Earth and Metal. Report. Where are you?"

Despite the bonds he shared, he could not exactly pinpoint their locations. He was also unable to see what they were seeing or hear what they were hearing. The only sensation he shared with them was pain, and he was not experiencing that.

It was Wood who spoke next. "What do we do, boss?"

Lin furrowed his brow.

"Lin, what's wrong?" Naru snapped.

"Two of my shiki aren't responding. They haven't been harmed to my knowledge."

"How many do you have now?"

"Two with me. One with Mai."

"What could cause an inability to communicate?"

"Nothing on accident. Whatever is causing this is doing so on purpose. Things like this don't happen naturally."

"What about you? Are you all right?"

"So far. And you?"

"I'm fine."

"Physically perhaps. But your mind. Is it clear?"

Naru hesitated. Then he shook his head. "Too many strange things have happened today. I don't like this."

Lin sighed. Looks like he'd have to be direct. "And Mai's dream? Are you all right?"

"Mai's dream is information. Nothing more, nothing less."

"It didn't bother you?"

Naru glanced at him. He folded his arms. "I don't have time to be bothered."

Let's just say Naru was lucky that Lin's shiki knew how to hold themselves back. Water was literally blowing steam—the only reason it didn't fog up the windows was because it wasn't on the material plane.

"You little brat! The boss is trying to help you out and you can't treat him with an ounce of respect!?"

"Hush," Lin soothed. "You can scold him later. Right now, I need you focused." He thought for a moment. The first priority was Mai playing lookout. A close second was his missing shiki. Fire was with Mai, and it could quickly respond to danger should there be any. With that covered, Lin strategized how best to locate the two stragglers.

"I have a task for you two."

Wood and Water perked up.

"Go out on patrol again, but one of you stays farther behind than the other. That way, if the interference strikes again, you reduce the chances that it gets both of you. Should you find anything remotely suspicious, you contact me however you can."

Wood and Water exchanged glances. Water spoke. "Forgive me if I overstep, Master, but this is a dumb idea. If this goes wrong, you only have one of us to protect you."

Lin turned to look at his Water shiki. "This clinginess better not become a habit. If you have no objections to my instructions beyond leaving my side, then you can save it. Get going."

Water and Wood floated off of their master. Water motioned to Wood.

"You lead. If you get in trouble, I can help you," said Water. Lin nodded in agreement. In the elemental cycle, Water fed Wood, so it was strategically sound for Wood to lead and for Water to be surprise backup. With their master's approval, Wood floated through the wall, and Water followed about five seconds behind. And now it was time to inform Naru.

"I sent the other two shiki to find the missing ones."

Naru's binder snapped shut. "You what!?" he blurted. "What if they go missing too?"

"I've given them a strategy. One leads and the other follows at a large enough distance to assess any risk. I'm hoping it will work."

"That's stupid. Call them back right now."

"I need to investigate how the others went missing."

"Call them back."

"I'm not defenseless without them."

"You're very nearly there!"

Lin gave Naru a look that he knew the boy probably couldn't read. He wouldn't be so callous as to tell the boy to his face that this was evidence of his being bothered. It was at that moment that the door to base opened. The two men turned to see Ayako coming in, holding her phone.

"What's all the shouting about?" she asked.

"Lin's decided to use a total of two brain cells," Naru said. Lin glared in his direction.

"Well at least it's not you for a change," muttered the redhead.

"Which is more than the number of shiki he has right now," continued Naru.

"What are you talking about?"

Lin put a hand to his forehead. "Two of my shiki went missing on patrol. I sent the other two to go investigate and report whatever they find. Have there been any incidents on your end?"

Ayako shook her head and waved her cellphone. "No, I just came back from getting chewed out by the board. Bastards can't make up their minds. First they agree to us helping, and now they're all up in arms because the healthcare administrator is throwing a tantrum about it. How's Mai?" Ayako leaned over Lin's shoulder, peering at the monitor. Mai was sitting in the bed, looking bored out of her mind. Poor girl didn't even have a book. Every now and then she pointed at the ceiling and said something. Curious, Lin put the headphones on.

"I spy with my little eye… something white," said her monotone voice.

To Lin's surprise, his Fire shiki responded. "Ceiling tile."

Mai groaned and turned her head toward the door and the camera. "I spy with my little eye…"

Lin sent a silent message to his Fire shiki. "You're speaking with her?"

"She. Wouldn't. Stop. Talking." Was the response. Lin couldn't help but smile fondly.

Lin's five shiki, Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth are based on the five Chinese elements and their interactions. All five compliment each other in the cycle, and with two missing, there is a rather large gap in Lin's defenses. The five shiki all have nicknames for each other (Firebrand being one), which will be different from their names in my other story, Lower Birth. There were just too many names to remember over there, so I decided to keep it simple this time around.

I still have only a general outline of what I'm doing over here. I'm still having fun though. Hope you are too.