Cases had been popping up on the P.I.A's doorstep daily and sometimes even multiple. It kept you extremely busy.

You found it a little concerning however. Why had there been so many cases so suddenly? And out of seemingly nowhere? 

At first Mr. Bang had been mildly annoyed with you for taking the case revolving around the haunted park, but realised that you were healthy enough to take on normal cases like that again. He just made sure to keep any possession cases out of your hands for the time being. 

You preferred this, working again, keeping yourself busy and unable to think of needless things. Some would say it wasn't mentally healthy to bury yourself with work, but you found solace in it. Or perhaps it just kept your mind off the bad things. 

Both Jackson and Yugyeom had been swamped with their own cases that you hadn't seen them around for a few days. 

You arched your back and stretched your arms upwards, working out the stiffness and clinks in your shoulders. You paused suddenly, your ears picking up a faint sound. A muted plonk and a skittering from above you. You looked up, listening in slight puzzlement. 

Had that come from the attic? Did the building have an infestation of mice or rats? 

Sighing you looked back down, your eyes landing on the pile of letters and files on the desk. You plucked a letter from the top of the pile, ripping it open to scan through its contents. 

The letter was from a female elementary school teacher by the name of Miss Lee, writing to the P.I.A in concern that a recent death of one of the children at the school hadn't been of a normal occurrence. Not that children dying was a normal occurrence to begin with, but in the nature of the death, the teacher was sure that it had been paranormal. 

The teacher had also mentioned in the letter that the school's decision about the child's death was to keep it very hush hush, in hopes not to lose their reputation and that they had hired private detectives on the matter. However Miss Lee had decided to contact the P.I.A in fear that this had been no human's doing. Due to this, you would most likely have to go in undercover. Basically not show up as a paranormal inspector and preach about how a dead person is threatening the students. Yeah, that always worked well...

The way Miss Lee had described the way the child had been found made a light pop up in your head, more specifically, where the teacher had mentioned the kid's body had been found had you remembering something.

Swinging out of your seat you moved over to the shelf of books and scanned the titles on each of the spines. 'Weapons & Mystical Artifacts', 'Pagans, Wiccans & Witches', 'Exploring the Paranormal', 'Japanese Yokai'- Ah ha! That was the one.

Sliding the book from your-self you opened it and thumbed through the pages and found the section you were looking for. 

'Aka Manto (あかまんと)...

...is a Japanese urban legend about a masked spirit who wears a red cloak, who appears to people using toilets in public or school bathrooms- usually in elementary schools and asks them a single question. As the number four is commonly associated with death, it is the forth stall that is usually the cursed one. 

Accounts of the legend vary, but the consistent part of the story is that the spirit will ask the occupant of a toilet a question.

Upon finding that there is no toilet paper when the occupant finishes their business (even when they had been certain that there had been when they entered) they will hear a voice made of air: "Do you want red paper? Or blue paper?" If they were to answer "Red paper," they are then violently stabbed and sliced up, usually the skin on their back, so much so that blood sprays everywhere, soaking their body, the flayed skin like a crimson cloak.

On the other hand, if the occupant was to answer with "Blue paper," they would be suffocated, turning their lips and face blue, leaving them in a dead heap on the floor.

Some may try to be clever and bring extra toilet paper with them, only to find that it would disappear before they are even able to use it.  Those thinking they can outwit the spirit by answering with a different colour such as"yellow paper," they would have their face forced down into the dirty toilet bowl and held there until they drowned. The only instances where some have been able to escape is when they answer aka manto with"I don't need any paper," which distracts the yokai long enough to escape before anything happens.

Other names for Aka Manto is Red Cape or Red Vest.'

The child's body had been found in one of the old stalls in the bathroom, back skinned to shreds and neck sliced open.

You knew it. You knew you had heard of something similar before. Fortunately you hadn't ever had the misfortune of dealing with an Aka Manto, however this lead to the question of how you were going to get rid of it. 

If you recalled correctly the story of the legend was based a true crime story of the "ao getto" murder, roughly translated as blue blanket murder. In 1905 in Fukui, Japan, three family members were assumed to  be kidnapped and brutally murdered by a man wearing a blue blanket over his head. No one was sure how the investigation of the crime ended- 

Your thoughts were interrupted by the softest of scratching noises, again from above. Placing the book back on the shelf, curiosity getting the better of you, you left your office and went to investigate. 

You found yourself staring up at the same hatch you went through that time with Jin to grab him the butterfly pinning supplies, listening out for another sound. 

There it came again, the same thump and then a scratching noise from above, so soft you had to listen intently to hear it. 

In your concentration listening for the sound you failed to hear the footsteps that approached from behind.

"Petal! You're back!" 

You jumped out of your skin at the voice, swivelling on your heel around to the origin, your poor heart recovering from its scare.

You looked round to see Kim Taehyung clearing the space between you with a skip in his step and a bright grin on his face. His blonde locks were in a messy do this time, almost looking like he had just got out of bed but somehow it was still a good look on him. He wore a blue denim jacket and black ripped skinny jeans that showed of the perfect shapes of his legs. You also caught the shine of the couple of rings on the fingers of his large hands. The man seemed more dressed up than usual.

You'd completely forgotten about the intensity of Taehyung's eyes, the way they made you feel like he saw every part of you, inside and out. The two dark orbs seemed to lure you in, into something deep with such need and want. You hadn't noticed you had been in a daze until his voice finally snapped you out of it. 

"Petal? Everything alright?"

You had probably seemed so empty headed to him just then, staring blankly at him like that for god knows how long.  

Composing yourself, your lips parted to give him an answer, only to be rendered silent again as a hand entered your line of sight and hovered over your cheekbone, only feeling a feather of a touch from it. You shivered. Taehyung's skin was still cold to the touch. 

What was wrong with you all of a sudden? First, most probably misinterpreting the look in his eyes and now being stunned by the hand he held on your cheek. 

You flinched away, taking a single step back needing that bit of space to clear your head.

Clearing your throat you finally replied to him. "Y-yeah. I've been back for a few days now. What have you been up too? Has Mr. Bang given you your own cases yet?" 

Your eyes caught sight of a candy bar peaking out of his jacket pocket, the same brand that Hoseok was eating at the asylum...Well it was a popular snack, so you weren't really sure why you were taking it into account.

"Nah, he says one case isn't enough to break me in to it yet. I've just been doing some shifts at the morgue."

An idea popped into your head, although it wasn't a fantastic one considering the last time you had gone on a case with Taehyung. You were somewhat reluctant to invite him along on this one after what happened the last time...But as both Yugyeom and Jackson were away on other cases you were thinking that you didn't really have a choice. 

"Seeing as I need a partner for this new case, how'd you like to join me? As long as there's no funny business this time," you said with an accusing look. 

Taehyung glanced up at the hatch and back to you. "Weren't you just in the middle of something?" he asked.

You shook your head, making a mental note to deal with whatever the noise had been later. 

Taehyung beamed at you catching you off guard slightly. 

"Then I'd love too," he said. "And I promise, no funny business this time."

We'll have to see about that. You thought. I'll be keeping my eye on you.

You took Taehyung back to your office and showed him the letter, explaining the situation to him as he read. You also went on to explain your theories about how it may be an aka manto, or the aka manto.

Taehyung knew the story of Aka manto, the urban legend being quite a popular one. It was one that was generally used to scare kids or teenagers.

"Because there are multiple bathrooms in the school we'll be using these to locate it," you began to explain, rummaging through your drawers and taking out two devices, presenting them to the male. He looked at them in curiosity, picking one up and examining it.  

"A frequency meter?" 

You nodded your head. 

"That one is. This one is an EMF meter," you said picking up the second one and flicking it on, the device emitting a strange high pitched whirring noise. You switched it off after it went quiet. "Have you heard of the whole theory with 0.0MHz and ghosts?" 

"I little..." he answered scratching his cheek. 

"Putting it simply, 0.0MHz tells us that there's a ghost nearby or something of the sort. This one here does the same thing, only it tells you when there's a disturbance in the electromagnetic field, again meaning that the disturbance is paranormal and shouldn't be there." 

"Cool. But, surely it'll be pretty easy to find this thing anyway?"

You furrowed your brows. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it'll be in the bathroom where it killed that child, won't it?" He enquired. You shook your head.

"Not necessarily. The aka manto doesn't always linger in one place. If we're really unlucky it might not even be at the school anymore."

"We better get going then," Taehyung settled, moving over to your office door. He seemed eager to begin, however there was one last thing to do before the two of you left, and it involved dressing yourselves up.

"Taehyung?" 

"Hmhm?" He turned his attention to you, eyes lit up in excitement. 

"How good are you at acting?"

Dressed in formal suit wear, you and Taehyung arrived at the elementary school in Taehyung's red Volvo. You would both be posing as two members of the NIS (A/N: National Intelligence Service - roughly the equivalent to the FBI) , you having done this many times before with Yugyeom and Jackson knew how to play it off without anyone being suspicious. That and the fake ID's you had looked very real, allowing you to enter places you normally wouldn't be able to. 

Again, Taehyung had brought with him a camera strapped around his neck off to the side resting by his hip, albeit this time it was a more modern DSLR model. 

Taehyung parked up in the visitor's parking space and cut the engine. The two of you stepped out and made your way into reception, ready to flash your badges at the receptionist to be let through. 

Taehyung in a suit was something you hadn't been expecting and as he walked next to you, you couldn't help but take him in with your eyes trailing up and down his figure. His blonde bangs had been parted swept to the sides showing much of his forehead making him look older and more mature. 

Damn this man cleaned up nicely in a suit and you hated how attractive he looked right now. What made you hate it more was the fact that you were sure he knew how good he looked by the way he held a smug look on his face. You were pretty sure he knew you had been stealing glances.

As you reached the entrance to the reception Taehyung, pulled opened the door and stood to the side, holding it open for you. 

"Ladies first," he bowed mockingly. You brushed past, mumbling something about him being a cocky shit, him closing the door behind you sniggering to himself as he followed. 

Haunted schools had always bothered you, your only comfort being that this school was a supposedly normal school that wasn't abandoned, or falling down in any way. 

A regular elementary school with regular students. 

You approached the front desk toward the woman who had her head down at some papers in front of her. 

"Excuse me, miss." Her head raised at your greeting and she regarded the two of you behind a pair of thin rimmed circular glasses. 

"How can I help you both?" 

"We're here to see Miss Lee. Is she here today?" You asked. The woman placed down her pen and clasped her hands together giving you an apprehensive look. 

"On what business? I hope you're aware that I can't just let you into the school to wander about on your own."

Taking in a breath you reached into your inside pocket of your suit jacket and took out the shiny badge clad in a leather case and held it up to her, Taehyung doing the same. The receptionist was fairly taken aback.

"You're not here for that incident...are you?" By the way the blood had drained from her face you could only assume that she knew about the death of the student. 

"We're not obliged to release that information, miss." Taehyung spoke in a monotonous voice, his face set in a serious expression. Of course you hadn't been worried about Taehyung messing up the act, he only needed to put on one of his many masks after all. "And if you want to keep your job, I'd suggest keeping this to yourself." 

"O-of course. Go on through. Her class is on the third floor, room 3B," she stammered, still struck by the fact that two members from the N.I.S had turned up at the school.

"Thank you," he said, turning and walking in the direction of the stairs, you having to quicken your pace to catch up to him with his long strides.

It was currently lunch-break for the students, some of them lingering in the hallways by the lockers watching you and Taehyung pass by in awe and wariness. 

You reached Miss Lee's class room and had been invited in upon your arrival. The teacher was of a small build, almost shorter than yourself, with dark hair cut in to a pixie style. She closed the door behind you and shut the blinds on the windows that looked out onto the hallway filled with students for some privacy. 

At first Miss Lee had been confused as to why she was being visited by the N.I.S but you quickly revealed that you and Taehyung were with the P.I.A and had responded to her call. 

"You don't know how relieved I am that you're here," she began, pulling on her cardigan sleeve nervously. "My mother was a palm reader and had a strong belief in things like ghosts and spirits and contacting the dead, so naturally I came to believe in it too from a young age." 

You listened to her carefully, watching Taehyung in the corner of your eye as he went to leisurely lean his back against one of the desks, folding his arms over his chest and crossing an ankle over the other. His face was stoic. 

"As I said in my letter, I'm more than sure that this was not committed by a living human being. I -I can't provide you with any proof and I know it'll be difficult to believe me when I say it's just what my gut is telling me," she said earnestly. "The children have been gossiping too. The school has kept the whole situation quiet but students will always make their own stories and theories." 

"You want to put ourselves in danger because of a feeling your gut is giving you? And of stories that the children are making up?" Taehyung remarked with a hard stare. For some reason unbeknownst to you, Taehyung seemed to have an unfriendly attitude towards Miss Lee. In fact, earlier as well, with the receptionist his acting had seemed more genuine than anything.

"Taehyung," you spoke causing the male's expression to soften as he met your unimpressed look, cold attitude dissipating. He cocked his head to the side making a few strands of hair fall into his eyes, watching you like a puppy. "These things are delicate matters. You can't tell me you've gone through life ignoring hunches and gut feelings have you? It's difficult to get proof due to the culprits being able to disappear into thin air. So yes, we will be investigating this on Miss Lee's hunch."

Taehyung remained silent, a small pout pulling on his mouth. Honestly one moment he's acting his age and then the next he was like a child. 

"You don't know how grateful I am that you came. Really," she said, her voice wobbling ever so slightly. "Please be careful."

Leaving the classroom, you and your partner were suddenly intercepted by a small group of young boys with a barrage of questions being thrown at you. They must have been really intrigued by the two people walking around in dark suits.

"Who are you?"

"Are you guys the secret service!?" 

"Are you two dating?"

Taehyung glanced over to you, a mischievous glint in his eye. The said male bent down to one of the boys to be on his level as he spoke to him. 

"She's my mentor. But I'm always open to date her if she would like."

Your head snapped over to Taehyung in embarrassment, your cheeks dusted with a light blush accompanied by a glare on your features. 

"Ewww," one of the boys whined in disdain.

"Well I think that's a score, she's really pretty," another mused innocently. 

"I think so too," Taehyung agreed with a cheeky grin.

"Stop playing around," you huffed turning away from them, "we have a job to do."

"Yes, ma'am." Taehyung saluted mockingly causing you to scoff. 

"Right, I'm thinking that we split up, check each bathroom on the school grounds for any paranormal activity, you obviously checking the boys and I will check the girls. Text me if you find anything," you said while walking down the hallway to where one of the bathrooms were located. You handed Taehyung the frequency meter while you kept of the EMF meter. 

Taehyung nodded as he continued to focus on fiddling with the meter. You paused, deciding that you would test him quickly.

"What frequency will you be looking for again?" 

Taehyung's lips twitched up and his eyes shone in amusement as they flickered back up at you. "0.0MHz. Am I right?"

You rolled your eyes, slightly annoyed that he got it right.

"Can I trust to leave you to your own devices?" You questioned pointedly. You resisted the shiver that threatened to run down your spine as Taehyung's smile became a toothy smirk and at the sudden sultry tone of his voice.

"I don't know Petal. Do you feel like putting your trust in the devil?" 

Your breath came out short for a second as you stared at him with wide eyes.

His grin was wicked.

Seokjin had wanted to read his newspaper in the patient's lounge room where there was more light. That and getting out of his room made him feel better. He expected that considering there was a new patient at the facility making it three of them in total, there was a chance he wouldn't be alone in the lounge. However what Jin wasn't expecting was Jungkook to be standing outside his bedroom door.

"Jungkook-ah? What are you doing here?"

Jungkook shrugged his shoulders, his oversized white t-shirt shifting at the movement and he glanced around. "Just wandering around, I guess." As his gaze collided back with Jin's, they became sharp. Jin didn't relent however. 

"Where did you go with (Y/n) the other day?"

"Excuse me?" Jin faltered being thrown off by Jungkook's sudden interception of him. 

"The other day. You left the facility with (Y/n). Why?" Jungkook drilled, face stern.

Jin began walking, sparing the younger man a weird look, side stepping him and making his way to the living area. Jungkook followed close behind. "Why do you want to know?"

Upon reaching the living room Seokjin noticed one of the couches already occupied by a body, which he made an educated guess to be Jung Hoseok; the new patient. The male seemed to be asleep, an arm supporting behind his head and the other dangling off the side.

"Because I want to know what you were doing alone with her," Jungkook insisted.

Jin could only assume as to where Jungkook's standoffish behaviour was coming from, and with knowing this the elder felt that he had the upper hand. Little Jungkookie was feeling left out that he hadn't been invited. That, or he was feeling envious of Seokjin. 

"Do you not think that you're being a little childish, Jungkook-ah?" Jin enquired seemingly out of the blue. 

A dark expression came over Jungkook's features, one that held a calm glare. A smug smile spread across Jin's lips and a look flashed through his eyes, knowing that he was successfully getting under Jungkook's skin. "Are you annoyed with me?"

"No, why would I be?" he replied trying to play it off coolly.

Jung Hoseok keeping quiet on the sofa, lids closed feigning sleep, listening to the conversation passively. For the countless time today, the sleep deprived male had tried to get some sleep, yet nothing had seemed to work, as per usual. This conversation that had entered the living room in where he was lying that had involuntarily started to listen to, was rather interesting.

"Oh really? One would think that you're jealous of me," Jin provoked in a low drawling tone. Jungkook's eyes flashed with agitation. He wanted to know why you put up with someone so far up their own ass.  

Where had this situation escalated from anyway?

Jin continued. "You're not worthy enough for her at the end of the day. Why would (Y/n) need to give anyone attention other than myself?" 

Hoseok's left eye cracked open slightly.

Jin only watched in mild amusement at Junkook's fists clenched by his sides, and the barely visible vein that strained on the younger's neck.

Jungkook wanted to break something.

Quick disclaimer: 'Aka Manto' is a real Japanese urban legend that is NOT my own work, as well as few other ghosts/yokai that may make an appearance in this story :)  Also I hope I've not thrown too much information at you this chapter. If you have any questions please let me know! -Rikki

UNEDITED 

August. 27. 2020