Chapter Text
There were many things Zane did in his college years at Falcon Claw University, but he didn’t think exploring an actual abandoned building for ghosts would be something he’d do as an adult well on his way to his thirties. Somehow, his brother, Garroth, convinced him to get a job as a paranormal investigator before starting in a career he actually majored in, Computer Science. He did need the money since the pay was actually great, plus, it was a commission-based job, so, he had all the free time in the world. He’d been going at this job for about a few weeks and only had to actually do his job two times. Even though he’s known for being the emo edgelord amongst his friends and the people he met, he’s actually afraid of the dark, which was why he was grateful when all of his randomized colleagues so far were actual pros at this job, some even said that they did this kind of jig since high school—so he had it easy, that is, until his third mission.
“Zane-kun…?”
In front of him stared a wide-eyed-pink-haired meif’wa that looked like the colour pink had vomited all over her. Pink hair, pink bows, pink skirt, pink jacket, pink shoes, pink jewellery, and so on, with a voice squeaky yet soft, she was basically an amalgamation of every single pink and cutesy anime girl there is—the way she added a ‘-kun’ behind his name, yea that didn’t help her case. But who was he to judge being the spitting image of those emo Tumblr guys pack in the 2000s—after all, he does like cute things.
“Kawaii-chan? Thought you were scared to do this type of thing.”
“Uhm…well yea…but, Kawaii-chan needs some money right now…and Aphmau-senpai promised Kawaii-chan she’d give her something in return for accompanying her friend on the job!”
“Well…I mean, meif’was do have night vision I guess.”
“Oh, but can Zane-kun go in first…? Even though Kawaii-chan does have excellent night vision, she’s still scared of the dark.”
“Uhm…well, maybe your friend can go in first? She seems pretty brave over there setting up her gear and stuff.”
“But, Kawaii-chan thought Zane-kun was a veteran, no?”
“W-well, I’ve only been here for a few weeks so…but, I guess it’s still more than the first day on the job.”
“Oh, okay!”
They continued preparing and setting up their stuff; D.O.T.S Projector, EMF Reader, Ghost Writing Book, Spirit Box, Thermometer, UV Light, Video Camera, a Flashlight and an Irene Sigil. Even though those were the only equipment that were instructed by HQ, Zane knew all too well that they needed an incense and a lighter if the ghost became hostile. Although, as long as they stick together, it shouldn’t be much of a problem, but just in case something does happen, he’s ready.
Zane, Kawaii-chan, and Kim read the description on who used to live here along with the complaints people who liked to jog in this park have made. The owner of the house was known as Emmelyn and people have complained that sometime around after the break of dawn, disturbing noises were heard around the place—especially when there were only a few people at the park. Some people thought it was a warehouse, others wanted to convert the place into a haunted house—which was why the paranormal investigators are here and Mr. Gabe, the owner of the entertainment in the park was the one to commission Wolfgang Paranormal for this mission, presumeably because he wanted some footage he could possibly use to advertise the project.
Zane looked at Kawaii-chan who was rummaging through her pink bag and then pulled out a cutesy bento lunch box. She looked towards Kim, who was nervously mumbling to herself, and gave her the container, “Here, Kawaii-chan made Kim-sama cookies!” upon overhearing their conversation, Zane couldn’t help but smile a little. In this kind of job, morale is always one of the top priorities, yea, that’s totally why he's smiling like an idiot right now. Suddenly, Kawaii-chan came up to him, a sweet smile formed across her face.
“Kawaii-chan baked some cupcakes for you too, Zane-kun!”
“Wh-WHAT!? WHY?”
“Kawaii-chan wanted to give some things to her colleagues as a treat before the mission!”
“O-oh uhm…thanks, Kawaii-chan.”
He opened the box that she gave him and three huge super-pink cupcakes greeted him. Their fluffy swirls of delicious goodness topped with tiny cute My Little Horsies biscuits, his favourite show.
“K-Kawaii-chan…how did you know?”
“Know what?”
“Nothing.”
Zane packed them inside his carry-on, hoping to eat them during their night watch, after all, he was very hungry.
“Uhm…does anyone want to stay in the truck? I-if no one will, I’ll do it,” Kim spoke up, her hands fidgeting slightly. Zane looked at her and then at Kawaii-chan, who also looked very scared but a bit less than Kim was. Although he himself was already thinking of excuses to get the fuck out of there, he decided that getting a bad review from a company was worse than getting jump-scared by ghosts. “Uhh…what do you think, Kawaii-chan?” he asked while he peptalked himself to ‘man-up’ and leave truck duty to Kim, after all, he was supposed to be the veteran here.
Kawaii-chan looked scared—like she was rethinking every single one of her life choices at the moment, and although Zane wanted to tell her they can both have truck duty, he doesn’t think he’ll be able to manage himself in there alone, especially with a ghost who had relatively unknown origins—unlike the other ones he dealt with.
“Um…as long as Zane-kun and Kawaii-chan doesn’t separate, sure!”
Even though she agreed to it, Zane couldn’t help but feel bad about this—especially since she just gave him, someone she doesn’t know that well, some cupcakes that probably took a long time to make.
Then just like that, the two teams got into position; rechecking the heart monitor, cameras, and other essential equipment they needed. Even though Zane had always been scared to go into the buildings themselves, he never really had a ghost that could harm him or his colleagues due to the Irene Sigil protecting them, but little did he or anyone knew, this mission would be the very thing that will change their lives forever.
So, with a heart beating like there was no tomorrow, Kawaii-chan and Zane both marched into the building, leaving Kim alone with her thoughts and machines.