#just in case someone might have missed it

[solavellan--hell]

Something about Veilguard Solavellan that has been occupying my brain recently is the Inquisitor telling Rook that Solas may have purposefully left breadcrumbs for her to follow and stop him.

In case you have not seen it (it requires picking the emotional dialogue option), here is the full dialogue:

(Obviously spoilers for that interaction)

Inquisitor: He let me fall in love with him and then told me we couldn’t. Then, he told me not to follow while leaving me just enough clues to find him.

Rook: Hold on. You think he wanted you to stop him?

Inquisitor: His name is Solas. It means “Pride”. Perhaps he couldn’t change his mind himself, and hoped that someone else could help him. Or maybe I’m the prideful one, imagining his broken heart so that I never have to face my folly.

I actually really like this as a concept. But I feel like it was not actually implemented and it is a missed opportunity.

Yes, the main evidence for this would be Solas appearing as a wolf in Lavellan’s dreams. But that is not really a clue. I think it would have been so much more impactful to see mentions of Solas leaving actual clues for Lavellan to follow during the years she was after him, referencing their relationship or knowledge of each other, so that only she would pick them up. Telling her, once again, that his feelings would never change. Asking her, “if you really think there is another way, if you think I am worth your redemption, please come find me.”

Solas might seem so single-minded in trying to tear down the veil in Veilguard, that his internal conflict can be extremely easy to miss until the ending. That is because he fully operates within the persona of the Dread Wolf. He knows he cannot afford to show weakness this time around. But we know that his duty fueled by regret and responsibility conflicts his own wants by the end of Inquisition.

We know this from the non-romanced high approval redemption ending in Trespasser. In response to “You do not need to destroy this world. I will prove it to you” he says, “I would treasure the chance to be wrong again, my friend”. And he genuinely means it.

So, do I think it is possible he wanted Lavellan to find him and at least try to change his mind? Perhaps. Maybe his letter to her was a replacement of what he planned to say to her before the first ritual attempt. Maybe he wrote it just before the ritual, because he realized she would not be coming for him.

It’s a fun idea to explore, but they could have expanded on it better if they wanted it to be solid. Maybe they left it purposefully vague for players to decide whether they wanted it to be a thing or not, but still. A few more debatable points of potential evidence would have been nice, so that if you wanted it to be a thing you would have something to base it on.

[crimsonstonetranslations]

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo volume 11 - file 02

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo novel translation

Volume 11 - Worth of a Spirit ( prologue | file 01 )

file 02 - regret

-

1 -

“To think we’d end up finding a corpse...” Haruka muttered as she gazed at the warehouse, now standing out in the darkness illuminated by the red lights of police cars. “Right,” Standing next to her, Makoto nodded, her expression appearing deep in thought.

When they had entered, the atmosphere had been quiet with no signs of activity, but it had completely changed now. Yellow tapes stating ‘DO NOT CROSS’ were plastered around the warehouse, and police personnel walked about the place. Curious onlookers began to gather round, and some even seemed to be from the press.

It felt like she had set foot where she shouldn’t have. “How could there be a corpse in that box?” Mentioning that, the sight Haruka had seen back in the warehouse flashed into her mind.

The corpse they had just discovered had rotted and had been in the process of mummification. It seemed to have been abandoned for a fairly long time. The question now, just whose body was it? And how could it end up at such a place?

Not to mention the absence of a head from decapitation. Why would it have to be decapitated? Furthermore, where was the missing head?

The mystery grows deeper the further she wondered. “I have no idea at all. But… I feel that something bad’s about to happen.”

Makoto’s words echoed in her head. Haruka didn’t want to think about terrible things, yet she too could sense the anxiousness Makoto felt.

A baseless and ambiguous thought. Yet, Haruka felt something far unlike before was going to happen. “Until when are you planning to space out there?” asked Yakumo in an unenergetic tone as he walked closer.

The man didn’t appear to be shaken. Such was the difference of someone who was experienced with various cases. “I’m not spacing out. I just thought things are turning into a bigger problem…” said Haruka.

“Right,” said Yakumo, staring at the box-shaped building swarmed by police presence. “I think it’s better for us to leave the rest to the police now.”

Since a corpse had been discovered, the police would be treating this case as the abandonment of a corpse. In that case, that would be the end of their role. “How carefree of you,” said Yakumo, throwing a mocking look at Haruka.

“I’m not really being carefree.” “Seems carefree however I see it.”

“How did it even come to that?” As the case had developed into that of an abandonment of a corpse, they were no longer in any position to interfere.

“The spiritual case isn’t resolved yet—” said Makoto, answering Haruka’s question in place of Yakumo. “Ah!” Haruka blurted unknowingly. Couldn’t be helped that Yakumo had mockingly labelled her carefree. Their original goal hadn’t been to find a corpse.

Their purpose of coming here was to resolve the spiritual case Makoto had accepted from a woman. They had just happened to find a corpse in the process. That wasn't all. The matter concerning the ghost of a woman seen by Yakumo hadn’t met any progress, either.

Putting it another way, they still had two spiritual cases in their hands. Since the sex of the found corpse hadn’t been identified, there wasn’t much to say about it, but the body might have something to do with one of the two spiritual cases.

With that, there were still things they needed to do. At this point, Haruka began to wonder about one thing. “Yakumo-kun, did you see any ghosts back there?”

“I’m curious about that too,” added Makoto. Upon the intense stares he received, Yakumo gazed at the sky as if deep in thought before shaking his head.

“No. There wasn’t any back there.” “Is that so…”

Haruka thought if Yakumo had seen a ghost, they might be able to find a hint to solve the case from there, but she turned out to be mistaken. Makoto appeared slightly disappointed as well.

“Well, I’ve known from the start that there were no ghosts in that place,” said Yakumo. He didn’t seem to be making things up.

“How did you know?” “According to Makoto-san’s story, your client has been followed by a ghost since opening that box there, right?” reminded Yakumo, and Makoto’s face changed in realisation.

Haruka was the same. If the ghost had been following the woman who sought help, that meant the ghost had already left from that place.

“But if that’s the case, isn’t it better to meet that woman first?” Haruka popped the question, and Yakumo smiled. “That’s one way to do it, but the warehouse in question just happens to be close to my place.”

“That’s true.” Shorter distance aside, perhaps Yakumo had wanted to investigate the scene before meeting the woman who had seen the ghost.

“Well, the night’s getting late. While waiting for official autopsy results from the police, why don’t we meet up with Makoto-san’s client tomorrow to hear the story directly from her?” Yakumo suggested. Makoto nodded. “Alright.”

Haruka agreed as well. Surely there would be things they could gather by hearing that woman’s story in detail. “In that case, let’s head back,” said Yakumo, walking away.

Haruka was about to walk following him when she saw someone running over with incredible speed. She recognised that comical way of running whilst flailing one’s hands and legs.

“Ishii-san,” Haruka called, right as Ishii tripped over something. Said man fell—

Ishii seemed to have fallen with his face hitting against the ground. It appeared rather painful. Is he alright?

While thinking that, Ishii stood back up and continued running over in panic. It was almost like Ishii couldn’t see Haruka’s presence; he ran past her until he was in front of Makoto.

“Ma-Makoto-san! A-a-are you alright? I heard you were there when the corpse was found, so I...” Out of breath on top of panicking, he was incapable of continuing his sentence.

Regardless, the reason why Ishii was in such a panic was conveyed bright and clear. He must have been worried about Makoto.

“Compared to me, you look worse. Your nose is bleeding,” said Makoto as she placed a handkerchief over Ishii’s nose. “No, I’m fine. Rather, Makoto-san...”

“Hold on, don’t move. The blood…” Makoto had told Haruka earlier that she and Ishii had seen no progress, yet seeing their interaction at this moment, they were already painting the picture of an affectionate couple.

Makes me envious. Haruka thought as her sight was naturally drawn to Yakumo. Haruka assumed Yakumo would be wearing a sour look, yet to her surprise, he smiled warmly at the sight of Ishii and Makoto.

Though, he seemed to have noticed Haruka’s stare, so the man suddenly withdrew his smile. “What are you looking at?” Yakumo asked curtly.

“Nothing,” replied Haruka before poking his side. His startled figure, scrunched like a shrimp as he jumped away, looked somewhat adorable.

“You…” “What are you two up to flirting like that?” A voice interrupted Yakumo’s sentence. It was Gotou.

He was walking in their direction whilst using crutches. “Gotou-san. You’ve been discharged from the hospital?”

“Yeah. That was nothing but a scratch,” Gotou laughed in embarrassment. He had been unconscious and in critical condition. Nothing one could call a scratch at all. Even now, said ex-police detective was still wearing a cast.

Still, it was typical of Gotou to be acting tough like that. ”Gotou-san is here too? This is giving me a bad feeling,” Yakumo said, mixed with a sigh.

- 2

- The Movie Research Circle clubroom that was Yakumo’s hideout now became cramped.

In this room that was only four and a half tatami wide, starting from Gotou, then Ishii, Yakumo, Haruka, and Makoto, five people gathered there, so it was to be expected. Or perhaps he felt even more stuffy because of his crutch and cast.

Gotou’s decision to send Eishin and Miyagawa to handle matters elsewhere seemed to be the right one. “Good grief… to think this much trouble has accumulated…” Yakumo said in displeasure, propping his chin on one hand.

Normally Gotou would’ve thought of him as being narrow-hearted, but this time around, he could understand Yakumo’s response. After Gotou and Ishii had bumped into each other, upon questioning, Ishii had said he had seen a ghost at the abandoned house.

Gotou himself was in the middle of investigating a spiritual case requested by Eishin and he had just thought that they were struggling to resolve it on their own. Following a discussion, they had decided to consult Yakumo together and had made their way to Meisei University.

And yet— There had been a commotion upon their arrival at Meisei University. Inquiring about the situation from one of the officers acquainted with them, Gotou and Ishii had come to learn that a body had been discovered.

On top of that, after learning that the people who had discovered said body had happened to be Yakumo, Haruka, and Makoto, they had rushed to the scene. Having met with everyone, they had gathered in the Movie Research Circle clubroom to sort the situation, leading to the current predicament.

As it turned out, Yakumo’s discovery of the body had all started because of the spiritual case brought by Makoto. Not only that, Yakumo himself had seen a ghost in this room and had been looking into that matter as well.

Amidst that situation, Gotou and Ishii had come to consult spiritual cases of their own. Altogether, they had simultaneously gathered four spiritual cases in total. This seemed to be a new record.

It was understandable for Yakumo to be upset. Even so, while they have brought the cases themselves, considering how the cases have piled up from many people, Yakumo might as well be attracting trouble himself. Whichever it was—

“Everything has happened, so it can't be helped,” Gotou said firmly. Yakumo sighed deeply, making a blatant display out of it. “That’s just self-justification.”

“I know.” “If you’re still saying that even though you’re aware, you’re either an idiot or a bear incapable of comprehending language.”

“Who’s a bear?” “Don’t you know? In that case, I’ll tell you. The bear is you—Gotou-san.” said Yakumo, pointing at Gotou like a detective pointing to a culprit.

What an irritating bastard. Gotou had thought the previous case had straightened the slightly bent personality of the man before him, but he appeared to be gravely mistaken.

“Shut the blabbering already! Anyway, help us out!” pressed Gotou. Yakumo shook his head in disbelief.

“How many times do I have to say it for you to understand? When asking for someone’s help, what should you say?” said Yakumo, offering his ear in Gotou’s direction. Gotou was desperate to grab said man’s collar and send him flying, yet he was forced to hold himself back.

“I beg of you. Please lend us a hand.” Gotou bowed as he swallowed the feeling of humiliation. Yakumo clapped his hand lightly and said, “Good job.”

Gotou was infuriated by the man’s attitude, yet he felt something was missing. Normally after being scolded to no end by Yakumo, said man would still say, ‘I refuse’. For some reason, he was fairly amiable today. Perhaps Yakumo’s eccentric behaviour had been improved somewhat after all. Either way, he must take action while Yakumo was still willing to offer his assistance.

“Alright! Let’s get down to business!” Gotou shouted excitedly and was about to stand up, yet he had completely forgotten that his leg was still in a cast. As a result, he lost his balance and slid right off the chair.

Yakumo burst into laughter. Haruka and Makoto said in unison, “Are you alright?” yet it was obvious that they were holding back their giggles.

Ishii was the only one who extended his hand, asking him, “Are you hurt?” with a concerned look. At this point, Ishii’s behaviour only ended up irritating Gotou.

“I’m fine. Don’t say something so pathetic,” Gotou stood up whilst hitting Ishii’s head when the latter tried to help him stand. “Wh-why me…?” Ishii whined in surprise, but Gotou ignored him.

Now seated on his chair once more, Gotou said, “Anyway, let’s go!” Yakumo held his head and sighed as if displeased with something.

“It’s fine to be fired up and all, but where do we start? There’s only one of me.” “Well…”

A troublesome predicament. There were four spiritual cases in total that needed resolving.

It would be impossible to handle all of them at the same time. Even if they had to prioritise, how should they even order them? Gotou aside, the rest appeared to be at a loss as to where they should begin the conversation, sharing the same troubled look on their faces.

A long silence ensued before Yakumo sighed. “I have a suggestion so that we can solve the cases efficiently—” Yakumo briefly paused his sentence.

After waiting for everyone’s attention to turn to him, he continued, “Why don’t we help each other out using our individual expertise, regardless of whose case it is for? I’ll be the one sorting out the priority and splitting up the tasks.” I see.

All the cases were treated as everyone’s problem, with Yakumo as the one in charge. “Not a bad idea,” said Gotou.

“Of course. I don’t mind,” added Makoto right away. Ishii nodded as well. “I’ll cooperate too.”

“Alright then. In that case, let’s go with this approach.” Hearing Yakumo’s words, Gotou stroked his chest in relief.

“Anyway, the day’s getting overly late, and I’d like some time to sort my thoughts as well. Let’s call it a day and get things started tomorrow,” said Yakumo. Staring up onto the ceiling, Yakumo’s figure looked unusually exhausted.

- 3

- After leaving the Movie Research Circle clubroom that was Yakumo’s quarters, Ishii was sending Gotou and Makoto off with his car.

He had sent Gotou off first, and then Makoto next, solely because of location proximity and definitely not because he wanted some time alone with her. To whom was he making these excuses anyway?

Thinking that made him grow restless. “If the situation’s that serious, you could’ve discussed it with me…” said Ishii to deceive his feelings as he glanced at Makoto, sitting in the front passenger seat.

The same as ever, Makoto wore a gentle expression. Ishii had gone to Meisei University to consult a spiritual case to Yakumo. Yet at his arrival there, the news of a body being discovered had caught him by surprise.

Furthermore, upon learning that it had been found by Makoto and the others, his mind instantly blanked out. Anxiousness had then slowly crept at his heart.

Even though he hadn’t known the exact situation, his head had been filled by horrible thoughts, sending him into panic. Ishii was deeply relieved that nothing had happened.

“I never would have guessed we’d find a corpse. In the beginning, since it was a spiritual case, I simply thought it was Yakumo-kun’s expertise.” Makoto’s explanation made perfect sense.

Since it had begun as a spiritual case, it was logical that she'd discuss it with Yakumo. However—

For some reason, Ishii felt a little lonely. No, it was quite different from loneliness. An uncomfortable feeling piled within his heart. “I-is that so...”

“If I knew things would turn out like this, I suppose I should've relied on you from the start,” Makoto let out a childlike laugh. A laughter that sounded so sweet, it made Ishii smile as well. At the same time, he came to realise the true form of the uncomfortable feeling inside of him.

Ishii wanted to be relied on. He wanted him to be the first person Makoto could think of to discuss with in the face of trouble.

In the end, it was nothing but wishful thinking. Even if Makoto were to consult with him, Ishii unfortunately couldn’t do anything. Not because he couldn’t see ghosts the way Yakumo could, but because Ishii wasn’t a man worthy of being relied on.

Even if he were to be depended on, he was a cowardly man. In helping out, he wouldn’t be able to give sound advice and would merely get confused. Well aware of the fact, he felt dejected. “Sorry,” Ishii said without realising.

“Why are you apologising?” Makoto frowned in confusion.

“If only I was more dependable, I’d be able to help you out a little…” said Ishii, stopping his car at a red light. His heart withered at how pathetic he was.

“Why are you saying that?” Makoto stared intently at Ishii. Her eyes hinted at a profound sadness Ishii had never seen before.

“Because I feel like I’m pathetic,” said Ishii, facing forward as he couldn’t bear receiving Makoto’s stare. “You’re not pathetic.”

Makoto was a kind person. That was why she said those words of consolation. And yet, that only made Ishii feel even more pathetic. “I’m a sorry excuse of a man. Always failing, no self confidence, and easily swayed.”

“Is that so? To me, that seemed like gentleness.” “I’m not gentle. I’m just weak.”

“I think someone who can admit their weakness is actually a tough person.” “That’s not true. I...”

Ishii couldn’t follow up his sentence well. Ishii admired Gotou. He wanted to become tough like him. Someone who could jump into things at any moment without steering away from their principles. Such an ideal was Ishii’s goal.

And yet— His strength would refuse to come out in critical situations. Although his mind understood, his heart couldn’t keep up. As a result, he became an embarrassment of a human being, far from his ideals.

He hated himself for always running away. “Ishii-san, do you hate yourself?” asked Makoto.

Ishii didn’t have the courage to confirm what expression Makoto had while asking that question. Hence, he dropped his gaze and as he stared at his hands on the steering wheel, he replied meekly, “Yes. I hate myself.”

From the moment he was born, Ishii had never liked himself even once. He felt like he had always been living in denial of his own existence. He tried his best whilst thinking he’d change someday, but all of that effort seemed to be in vain.

Makoto placed her hand over Ishii’s, still grasping the steering wheel. Her hand was soft and warm. Startled, Ishii turned to Makoto in reflex.

Makoto smiled. Her eyes narrowed, and she gave a warm smile so tender and affectionate. “For me, I do like—”

Makoto’s words, spoken quietly, almost felt like they echoed within the car’s cramped interior. That word like just now—just what could it mean?

The more he thought about it, the beating of Ishii’s heart grew even harder. His breathing struggled and his mouth gasped in search of oxygen. “U-um...”

When Ishii firmed his resolve to ask, his car was being honked at loudly. Apparently the traffic light had turned green.

Ishii hurriedly stepped on the gas to start the car. For some reason, Makoto laughed out loud at the sight of him.

- 4

- “Somehow things had gotten serious,” Haruka spoke as she digested the fact.

Since it was getting late, the investigation would begin the next day, hence Gotou and the rest had gone home. Not just the matter Yakumo was faced with and the case Makoto had brought, Gotou and Ishii too had brought cases of their own.

A single case in itself would be tough, let alone four at the same time; it was obviously overwhelming. “Well, it’s always like this,” Yakumo said lazily as he supported his chin with one hand.

What he said was true, they always ended up getting tangled in troubles complicated and strange. Even so, Haruka felt that Yakumo’s expression appeared slightly different from usual. In this situation, Yakumo normally would’ve made a face like the world was about to end, but oddly enough, right now his expression looked somewhat content.

Come to think of it, Yakumo’s own case hadn’t been someone’s request, but something he had gotten involved out of his own volition. Looking back thus far, it was like the impossible happened. Indeed, the previous case seemed to have brought a drastic transformation on Yakumo’s psyche.

Yakumo had always had a side to him that hated himself. It was the reason he had often taken actions that would put his life in danger. Hence, it was by no means an ordinary feat for Yakumo to have accepted his own existence.

Not to mention the existence of the man with two red eyes, Yakumo’s father. Accepting himself meant accepting said man’s presence, too. Right now, Yakumo chose to walk forward.

If Yakumo had really changed, it might be good for Haruka to summon her courage and voice out what was within her heart. Thinking that far made her face heat up.

She tried not to think about it, but the events that had unfolded in the previous case would resurface in her mind from time to time. The events in which Haruka had spontaneously confessed her innermost feelings to Yakumo. A part of her wanted to savour their current relationship, yet on the other hand she felt like her time was running out as graduation drew closer.

No, it wasn’t merely because of graduation. In this life, no one could predict what might happen. For all she knew, she could get into an accident after this and lose her life as a result.

In fact, through various cases she had faced so far, Haruka had seen countless people who had abruptly lost their lives without having a chance to convey their feelings. Keep this up and her life might just be over without ever knowing how Yakumo felt.

Since it was just the two of them right now, perhaps she could ask for his answer in regards to back then. “What’s on your mind?” Yakumo’s sudden question brought Haruka back to her senses.

“Eh?” “It’s unusual for you to make a troubled expression. What are you thinking about?”

“O-obviously about the cases,” Haruka blurted in panic. Crap.

That should’ve been the appropriate timing to ask for Yakumo’s answer. She should’ve just replied in earnest that she was thinking about that time, yet why had she evaded the topic instead?

Surely it had been out of fear. Even though Haruka thought she’d regret not finding out Yakumo’s reply, she too feared that it would destroy their relationship.

Perhaps she should have confessed to Yakumo much earlier. Their distance had gotten far too close to tear apart now. Yakumo had become far too significant of a presence within Haruka.

So this was what it meant to have missed the timing— “What do you think?”

“About what?” “About what—the cases. Aren’t you thinking about it?”

Right. Haruka had said she was thinking about the cases, so it was natural for the conversation to flow in that direction.

That might be so, yet since her mind was mulling over something else in reality, there wasn’t anything she could say. Though upon hearing the stories of Gotou and the rest, there was one thing she became curious about.

“We still don’t know anything about them, but… could it be that these cases are related?” That was what bugged Haruka’s mind.

Each of the cases took place in different locations. Yet since they had all occurred at the same time, she couldn’t help but suspect they had some connection with one another. “For the time being, I don’t think there’s a connection between them. Still…” Yakumo crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling.

“What is it?” “There's something bothering me.”

“So what is it then?” His almost dramatic, roundabout way of speaking made Haruka curious about what was to follow.

Haruka fell silent, awaiting Yakumo’s subsequent words, yet in the end Yakumo shook his head without saying a word. Almost like he had forcefully gotten rid of his thoughts. “Let’s end this conversation.”

“Why?” “It’s best not to make unnecessary assumptions right now.”

Yakumo’s tone was as if he was giving himself a reminder. At this point, Yakumo wouldn’t voice out his thoughts however you urged him to.

“Well, let’s think about it after the investigation begins tomorrow,” Yakumo put a stop to the conversation. Though dissatisfied, as Yakumo had told, they would surely discover a number of things when the investigation began.

“In that case, I’ll be going home,” Haruka stretched out her body as she stood up. Even though she had merely intended to make a brief visit to Yakumo, she had gotten herself involved in cases yet again. Not that she was disappointed about it.

It might be inappropriate of her to put it this way, but she enjoyed investigating cases with Yakumo. Besides, perhaps this case might just be the last. “Is it alright?” said Yakumo as Haruka was about to leave the room.

“What is?” “I mean… it’s getting late...”

His words seemed uncertain, unlike the usual Yakumo. Not to mention he was turning his face away. What’s up with that?

“It’ll be fine,” Haruka replied. “Is that so,” Yakumo gave a short reply before closing his mouth.

He seemed like he had something to say, but they’ll be meeting again tomorrow after all. Haruka gave a parting greeting, “Then, I’ll see you—” before leaving the room. Her body trembled slightly from the cold wind. Closing the door to Yakumo’s room, she began to walk.

Haruka left the campus grounds and walked all the way to the bus stop. After checking the bus schedule, it turned out she needed to wait around twenty minutes before the next bus arrived. Like this, it might be faster to go home on foot.

As she slowly walked, the image of Yakumo’s face from earlier flashed into Haruka’s mind. Thinking back on it now, the man seemed to appear flustered.

Could it be that Yakumo had wanted to accompany Haruka home earlier? No way Yakumo-kun would do that, Haruka immediately denied.

Not once had Yakumo ever had the intention to accompany Haruka home. There was no way he would say something like that out of the blue. But—

Haruka could feel that Yakumo had changed since the last case. If the man had really wanted to accompany her home, Haruka would happily accept. Though it was the mere act of sending her home, it would surely become an unforgettable memory to her.

Furthermore, it would be her chance to ask about the feelings within Yakumo’s heart she had always wanted to know. Still, it’d be odd for her to go back now.

Besides, if it turned out that Haruka had misunderstood, she’d be showered with colourful mockery, “Are you sleeptalking?” and the like. As Haruka laughed bitterly inside, someone called out to her. “Um...”

She reflexively halted her steps and turned around. Someone stood right behind her. The person’s face wasn't clearly visible as it was dark, but they seemed to be someone Haruka didn’t recognise.

“Ozawa Haruka-san, right?” said the person, pronounced loud and clear. Haruka immediately went into a state of alert.

How did this person know her name? She couldn’t find an answer to that question.

Awful premonition immediately came over her. An emotion, similar to that of fear, crept up from her feet. “You’re wrong,” Haruka said firmly and immediately ran for it.

Galloping footsteps chased right behind her. Unfortunately for her, Haruka wasn’t particularly great at running. It was only a matter of time before the other party would catch up. Mid running, Haruka shoved a hand into her bag to find her phone.

She wanted to call and ask for help. By poor luck, right as she managed to take her phone out of her bag and was about to make a call, her arm was caught.

“Let go,” Haruka tried to shake off that hand, yet she couldn’t as her opponent’s strength was too great.

Her phone slid right off her hand. The eyes of her pursuer glinted amidst the darkness.

- 5

- Yakumo stared at the low ceiling and exhaled a long sigh—

His chest had been rumbling with unease since earlier. At this moment, his heart was mostly filled with an indescribable sense of anxiety. A vague anxiousness that something terrible was about to happen. As Haruka had been leaving, he had actually wanted to say, “Let me accompany you back.”

All because that woman’s—the fugitive murderer Nanase Miyuki’s—words from the previous case came to his mind. I’ll be taking away the person most important to you next.

Even without saying, it was clear who she had been referring to. There was no mistaking that Nanase Miyuki was after Haruka. The various spiritual cases that happened today—

Surely it had to be no coincidence that this many cases had occurred one after another. Perhaps this had been the work of an orchestrator. On top of that, there had been a reported sighting of a man who seemed to be Unkai in the basement. It was likely that this array of cases had been part of their plan.

He hadn't dared to put it into words when speaking to Haruka earlier, but Yakumo had been thinking of that possibility. He should’ve explained the situation and accompanied Haruka all the way to her place.

Yet somehow, when he had the intention to say it, a sense of embarrassment emerged. Yakumo was baffled by feelings he’d never experienced before. He couldn’t understand why he could be in such a wavering state.

No, that’s not it— The truth was he knew.

Although he thought he’d accepted his own existence, things couldn’t change as easily as flipping a switch. In the end, he’d only managed to utter something vague.

And now, he was enveloped by the feeling of anxiety. If he were this worried, he should’ve immediately chased after her earlier. That should’ve been the way to go, yet somehow his body hadn’t been able to move.

Ever since the last case, he’d become increasingly aware about Haruka’s presence. Surely it had to be because a part of him understood well what her existence meant to him.

In reality, he’d known the fact since way back. He merely hadn’t acknowledged it. To be more precise, it was something beyond his consideration since he’d been denying his own existence. Yakumo sighed a few times before he took his phone out of his pocket.

Even if he wasn’t going as far as chasing her, he could give Haruka a call to confirm that she’d arrived home safe. Though if he were to make such a call, just what sort of reaction Haruka would make?

The thought bothered him. He couldn’t help but grow restless over suddenly doing something he’d never done before.

Still, he’d be all the more restless if he had to wait until tomorrow in a situation such as this. While he wrestled over various thoughts in his mind, his phone rang all out of a sudden. On the screen displayed the word ‘restricted’.

“Yes,” Yakumo picked up the call despite his suspicion. Suppressed laughter could be heard from the other side of the call. The voice of a woman he recognised.

His body shivered and it was almost like all his blood had been drained out. <It’s been a while.>

Treading carefully to not make his wavering heart noticeable, Yakumo spoke the name of the woman on the opposite end of the call.  “Nanase Miyuki...”

<Correct. You sure know well,> said Nanase Miyuki, her voice rang of mockery. That woman was always like this. A condescending, almost tyrannical, and arrogant way of talking.

“What business do you have?” asked Yakumo, trying to sound as calm as possible. Nanase Miyuki wasn’t one to call him for no reason. Well aware of the fact, his anxiety grew larger.

<My warning from back then—do you remember?> Nanase Miyuki’s delighted voice was like the equivalent of a death sentence for Yakumo.

He felt a sense of furiousness enough to drive him to madness, but Yakumo held it back with all his might. Losing his composure here would be like handing over victory to his opponent. “What did you do—to her?” asked Yakumo.

Nanase Miyuki laughed once more. <I didn’t do anything, though.> She put an emphasis on the word I.

“Do you think you can deceive me?” <I’m not deceiving you. Really. I, didn’t do anything. If something happened to her, it’d be someone else’s doing.>

“What are you trying to say?” <Surely you understand. I’m merely acting out of kindness to let you know that she’s in danger—>

“DON’T JOKE WITH ME!” He’d begun yelling without even realising. The anger he’d been suppressing had far exceeded its limits and eventually exploded. 

<I’m not joking. If you want to save her, you should hurry up and solve the mystery.> “Mystery?”

<That’s right. This is a game. Will you be able to solve the mystery and save her? Or will her life come to an end first—> “Why are you doing something like this…?”

<I want you to know as well. The pain, sadness, and despair of losing someone important to you… Once you do, you’ll be able to understand my feelings.> “I have no intention to understand your feelings.”

<Just how long will you be able to keep up that tough facade? I’m curious, just what will you sacrifice for the sake of your loved ones—> said Miyuki who then hung up. “Damn it!” Yakumo cursed as he rushed out of his room.

Would he still make it if he were to run now? The thought crossed his mind. Nanase Miyuki wasn’t a woman who’d call to warn him out of goodwill. As she’d contacted Yakumo, it could only mean that it was already too late.

Yakumo understood the fact in his head, yet he couldn’t just sit still. Perhaps—

Yakumo ran whilst hanging onto the possibility. Exiting the campus grounds, he stopped as he cast his eyes all over his surroundings as he reached the bus stop. Yet there were no signs of Haruka.

Had she not taken the bus and walked home instead? Yakumo began running along one road that extended from the university.

Regret surfaced from the bottom of his heart, tormenting him. Why hadn’t he accompanied Haruka back? Yakumo continued to run as if escaping from that regret.

Moments passed before he reflexively halted his footsteps as he spotted a dropped phone on the side of the road. He recognised its phone strap.

There was no mistaking that it belonged to Haruka— Having confirmed it, Yakumo felt a sense of hopelessness like he’d been shoved down the depths of hell.

“Damn it...” he cursed in frustration when he felt the eyes of someone on him. As if drawn to its direction, Yakumo turned to find a man standing in the darkness.

The man wore a black suit and his long black hair was swept back. And—

His eyes shone bright red like burning flames. Said man was Yakumo’s biological father, Unkai.

A man who had lost his physical body and only his spirit remained in existence. And yet it only fueled his obsession to live and wander in search of a body he could use as a vessel for his spirit. As someone who was related to him by blood, Unkai had been relentlessly chasing after Yakumo, in hopes of making Yakumo a replacement for his body.

Still, Unkai should’ve understood himself. The body that had been lost would never come back, and he wouldn’t be able to live long by using someone else as a vessel.

Especially after what he’d gone through in the previous case, Unkai’s heart had undoubtedly begun to waver. Unkai’s presence before Yakumo’s eyes at this moment, partially blending into the surroundings, was proof of the fact. The pressure he once held was nowhere to be found.

The man seemed to be having difficulty maintaining his existence as a spirit in this world. “Where did you take her?” asked Yakumo.

Unkai narrowed his eyes slightly and the muscles around his mouth softened. He laughed?

It was different from the cold smile he’d displayed countless times before. Yakumo sensed there was another meaning behind that laugh. “Will you be able to stop her? That woman—” Unkai whispered.

A line he’d typically use as means of provocation, yet Yakumo didn’t feel any such intention this time. There was something else— “You...” Yakumo spoke before swallowing the rest of his words.

Unkai’s presence that had once been there now disappeared.  Yakumo could only stand there, frozen still in bewilderment.

- 6

- “Ishii! What’s the meaning of this?”

The moment he stepped into his former office, the Unsolved Cases Special Investigations Division, Gotou immediately made demands upon finding Ishii sitting on his desk. With a confused look, Ishii merely moved his mouth repeatedly with no words coming out of it.

“I’m asking you what’s the meaning of this! Speak up right now!” Gotou yelled, grabbing Ishii by the collar and shaking him. With his head bobbing back and forth, Ishii merely gave a vague reply, “Um, that...”

“I told you to say it, so say it!” yelled Gotou once more, but someone grabbed his arm. It was Miyagawa. “Calm down a little. Like this, even if he wanted to answer, he won’t be able to.” Being scolded by Miyagawa, Gotou was able to ease his nerves a little.

Certainly, he’d been overly panicked. Gotou released Ishii, and let himself fall on a nearby chair. Only now he came to feel the pain on his leg, though he didn’t have the time to worry about it.

“Is it true that Haruka-chan was abducted?” asked Gotou again whilst glaring at Ishii. When he’d received a call from Ishii, he honestly hadn’t believed it. He couldn’t understand why things had suddenly turned this way.

However— Nanase Miyuki’s words soon crossed his mind.

During the previous case, Nanase Miyuki had signalled that Haruka would be her next target. Gotou didn’t want to think about it, yet it would make sense for her to be the one behind Haruka’s abduction. Gotou, who had gone home and was about to crash out for the day, had immediately barged out of the house and took a taxi all the way here.

“According to what I heard from Yakumo-shi, it appears to be true,” Ishii said as he adjusted his crooked glasses and dishevelled white shirt. His voice was almost like a whisper, yet hearing it once more from Ishii’s mouth shook Gotou to his core, his brain felt like a trembling mess.

“Yakumo didn’t see the scene?” “Seems so. Apparently he received a call from Nanase Miyuki, and the conversation implied that Haruka had been abducted.”

“A call?” “Yes. Yakumo-shi immediately went to run after Haruka, but she was already nowhere to be found, and only her phone was left dropped on the roadside—”

Goodness. Uncontrollable rage emerged from within Gotou.

Yet no amount of yelling would solve any problem. He needed to get himself together and immediately prioritise finding Haruka as soon as possible. “The police are conducting a search, right?” said Gotou.

Ishii’s expression grew complicated. “Of course we are searching. But… there isn’t much of a lead...” Ishii’s voice quickly died, the end of his sentence wasn’t audible.

“What’s with you, getting all pessimistic? Whatever it takes, we have to find her,” Gotou grasped at Ishii’s collar yet again. Haruka’s life was on the line. Now wasn’t the time to sit still from the mere lack of any leads.

“I-I know. But...” “No such thing as buts! I said to find her!”

“She won’t get found by making a ruckus here,” Entering the room with the sound of the door opening was Yakumo. 

“Where have you been at a time like this?” Gotou said harshly. With a sour look, Yakumo deeply sighed. “I’ve just explained the situation to the police officer in charge so that the search operation can begin.”

“I see,” Yakumo’s explanation made Gotou understand, yet at the same time, he felt it was strange for Yakumo to be so composed despite the whole situation. Pointing that out to Yakumo, the man’s eyes became sharp.

He shot a gaze that carried with them such intensity of emotions, one Gotou had never seen from him before. The pressure was so overwhelming it left Gotou at a loss for words. “You’re trying to say that I’m fine?” Yakumo muttered.

Gotou’s chest grew heavy. “Sorry.” He needed to apologise here.

There was no mistaking that Yakumo was the one whose heart was the most affected by this whole ordeal. Not Gotou nor Ishii. The fact that Yakumo could speak calmly like this had to come from his firm determination to find Haruka by any means necessary.

“Um… Is Haruka-chan safe?” asked Ishii, his voice almost fading away. Haruka’s safety was their utmost concern. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t find the answer to that question in this place.

In this situation, they were forced to assume the worst case scenario. “I think she’s probably safe,” said Yakumo.

His tone didn’t sound like he was uttering baseless, wishful thinking. Instead, he seemed certain of the fact. “How do you know?” asked Gotou.

Yakumo ran a hand over his dishevelled hair. “She—Nanase Miyuki said so.” “Said what?”

“She said that this is a game. Whether I’ll be able to solve the mystery first, or she’ll be the one who dies first—” Yakumo sounded fed up as he spoke, biting down on his lip. Gotou felt the same way. To think that woman would orchestrate a game that treated others’ lives like playthings; how blatantly sadistic.

“What game. That bastard of a woman.” “I feel the same. But now that things have come to this, we have no choice but to win that game,” emphasised Yakumo.

Yakumo seemed to have steeled his resolve. Or perhaps to be more accurate, they didn’t have any other choice. Still, one thing bothered him.

“Is Haruka-chan really fine? There’s no guarantee Nanase Miyuki will play fair.” Gotou didn’t want to think about it, yet it was possible that Haruka was already dead.

This was a game that would certainly be won by Nanase Miyuki. “I think it should be fine.”

“How can you be certain?” “It’s part of her personality. Despite everything, she adheres to her own rules. Besides that, her pride and desire to be the centre of attention are high.”

From Yakumo’s words, Gotou came to understand. The woman’s high sense of pride was all too familiar to them. Furthermore, one could say her sense of rivalry towards Yakumo far exceeded reasonable bounds.

Hence, it was likely for that Nanase Miyuki to want to win against Yakumo following the rules of a fair game, all for the sake of getting swept away by a feeling of superiority. “But, how do we plan on finding Haruka-chan?” Ishii sounded discouraged yet again.

“We have no choice but to search everywhere,” said Gotou as he stood up. While time consuming, it was the only remaining effective method, considering the lack of clues.

“Gotou-san’s an idiot as always,” said Yakumo whilst landing a ridiculing look. “What did you say?”

“It’d be impossible to find her by searching blindly all over the place.” “I guess so...”

“Also, it will be more efficient to entrust the police with the exhaustive search, who have the manpower to do so.” Yakumo was right. However—

“In that case, what do we do?” “Nanase Miyuki said her life would be lost if I didn’t solve the mystery.”

“What mystery?” “She never mentioned it explicitly. But for now, the spiritual cases happening around us are all we know of.”

I see. The spiritual phenomena which Yakumo, Gotou, Ishii, and Makoto had encountered hadn’t been mere coincidence, and instead had some connection to Haruka’s abduction.

Unlike Gotou who could only panic, apparently Yakumo had judged the situation whilst remaining cool-headed. That led him to conclude their next course of action. What a remarkable guy, Gotou was briefly impressed.

Though he was acting calmly, Yakumo’s face had a terrible complexion. His expression appeared stiff as well. He had to be holding onto his sanity for dear life out of a strong desire to rescue Haruka.

Just what might happen if Yakumo were to lose Haruka? Gotou shook his head to chase away the awful thought. Now wasn’t the time to think of unnecessary thoughts. The only thing needed doing now was to solve the mystery to find Haruka.

“Then, what should we do now?” asked Gotou. Yakumo’s brows furrowed slightly. “You’re planning to help out with that leg?”

It was typical of Yakumo to not be honest even though he wanted the assistance. “I told you this is just a scratch.”

“It might get worse, you know.” “For the sake of saving Haruka-chan, I don’t mind sacrificing a leg or two,” Gotou spoke as he patted his cast, and Yakumo exploded in laughter.

“Thank you,” said Yakumo, although his voice was closer to a whisper. For some time now, the man had grown to be more sincere. Either way, it was good. Now wasn’t the time to be stubborn. They have to find Haruka no matter what.

“I’d like to ask for Ishii-san’s assistance as well, is that alright?” Before Yakumo could finish his sentence, Ishii had already puffed out his chest, exclaiming, “Of course!”

- 7

- Leaving the police quarters together, Ishii and Miyagawa walked towards the hospital—

Their objective was to inquire about the autopsy results of the body that had been discovered at the university warehouse, per Yakumo’s instructions. Never would he have dreamed that things would take such a turn. He struggled to breathe and his chest felt like it was being crushed at the mere thought that something might happen to Haruka.

His attraction and feelings towards Haruka as a woman have reduced now. Still, Haruka remained an important person to him. He had lost count of how many times he’d been saved by Haruka’s presence.

If not for Haruka’s kindness, Ishii might have lost confidence a long time ago and would have withdrawn from the police force. Therefore, now was his turn to help. He needed to save Haruka no matter what.

Yakumo had said that solving the mystery behind the spiritual cases would be the key to saving Haruka, but to be honest, Ishii didn’t understand why that would be so. Be as it might, they undoubtedly had no other way to look for Haruka.

He had no choice but to proceed onwards following the path Yakumo had pointed. It was late into the night. The hospital front entrance had been closed, so they headed towards the side entrance. After showing their police badges to the security guard, they went inside.

Ishii wasn’t great with hospitals at nighttime. The combination of green emergency lights illuminating the dark further intensified the eeriness.

They descended the stairs down to the basement and walked to the end of the long corridor. Nodding to each other with Miyagawa, who stood next to him, Ishii knocked at the door. “It’s not locked,” The raspy voice of an old man called from within.

“Excuse us,” greeted Ishii as he opened the door hesitantly. “Oh. So it’s you two.”

Hata Hideyoshi, sitting on his chair as he wrote on some documents, slowly lifted his face. Said man was an ageing forensic doctor with bulging eyes. His appearance could be likened to that of a demon. Furthermore, he was a perverse man who unabashedly admitted to his work being a hobby.

“Sorry for coming over this late,” said Ishii, apologising. Hata let out an eerie chuckle. “Better than coming in the morning. I’m a night owl after all.”

“A disgusting fraud of a doctor, as usual,” Miyagawa added. “I wondered who it was, but it turned out to be an Umibozu[1]. I heard you got demoted?” Hata said mockingly, followed by another terrifying laugh.

“Shut up! What a demonic old man.” “On the topic of demons, umibozu is one, too.”

“What did you say?” “Miyagawa-san, please calm down,” Ishii hurriedly tried pacifying Miyagawa.

They wouldn’t win a verbal fight against Hata. Besides, Miyagawa shouldn’t have taken the words of an eccentric like Hata too seriously. Most importantly, it was an utterly unproductive discussion, with all the mention of demonic old man and umibozu.

Though clicking his tongue in dissatisfaction, Miyagawa decided that solving the case took priority and shut his mouth. As the situation grew calmer, Ishii brought up the main topic. “Actually, there is something we’d like to ask.”

“Aah. About the corpse that was discovered at the university, right?” said Hata, reading their minds. Ishii couldn’t hide his surprise. “How did you know we were going to ask that?”

“Nothing much really. From the timing, it had to be about that corpse. Furthermore, wasn’t the discovery made by that young man with a red eye?” It made sense to Ishii after that explanation.

Judging based on the circumstances, the answer would come forth naturally. It would speed up the conversation since Hata had understood that much. “So, how was the autopsy results?”

“How impatient. I couldn’t have known that easily. Besides, the corpse is fairly aged and rotting. The fact that it’s a male corpse is pretty much all I’ve found.” “I-I see...”

Certainly, that was true. Said corpse had only been discovered merely hours ago. One wouldn’t have to struggle so much if it could be identified in such a short period of time.

“I don’t know much yet, but there are a few things that caught my attention,” said Hata, scratching his nape. “R-really!?”

“Don’t yell.” “S-sorry.”

Hata exhaled in disbelief before continuing, “As I said earlier, the corpse has long since rotted, so I could no longer identify the cause of death.” As he listened to Hata’s explanation, Ishii felt something was amiss.

“Um… I heard that the head was decapitated. Was that not the cause of death?” “Don’t be hasty. It could have been decapitated after death.”

“R-right,” What Hata said was correct. Ishii seemed to have rushed into conclusions.

There may not be obvious external injuries to the body, but in place of its head was a stump. The head could’ve been fatally hit by blunt force before it had been decapitated. “The cause of death may be unknown, but the area of the neck where it was cut off was quite neat.”

“Neat?” “Yes. Human necks can’t easily be cut off. There are bones underneath. If an amateur forcefully tried to cut through, it would make for a sloppy cut. Yet this corpse’s neck was severed cleanly.”

“I see,” Miyagawa, who was frowning earlier, nodded as if he suspected something. “Did you get something?” Ishii asked with enthusiasm.

“You’ll understand if you think about it calmly. The corpse’s neck was thoroughly cut. What do you think that means?” Miyagawa’s explanation made Ishii come to a realisation. Had the head been sliced with the intent to kill, the wound would have been messy. In other words, it had been cut off after death.

That left them with the question of why someone had gone through the trouble of cutting off the head after the person had died. Even so, Ishii could more or less arrive at the answer.

“Was the head taken away to hide the corpse’s identity?” Though expressing it as a question, Ishii said it quite confidently. However, Hata immediately refuted his opinion.

“That way of thinking might work if this incident was from decades ago, but scientific investigation is much more developed now. One wouldn’t be able to obscure a victim’s identity just by removing the corpse’s head.” Hata’s explanation made Ishii realise yet again that he wasn’t thinking with enough composure.

Even with the head taken away, starting with DNA testing, there were various ways to identify a body. If the culprit truly intended for the corpse’s identity to be hidden, the corpse itself had to be destroyed. But if such were the case, Ishii became confused.

“Why would they only take the head away?” With a smile full of meaning, Hata responded to the question Ishii had muttered.

This response—could it be that Hata had already known the reason? “I myself don’t know why only the head was taken. Still—don’t you two have an idea, just which woman has been faithfully carrying around a human head?” Hata spoke as he stared at Ishii with his bulging eyes.

Ishii didn’t know which peculiar individual would be walking around with a human head in their possession. Besides, what would be the benefit of walking around carrying such an object—no, that wasn’t it. He was mistaken.

He knew of one person. A woman going around carrying a human head—

“Nanase Miyuki,” Ishii said the name in horror, to which Hata gave a satisfied nod. -

8 -

Gotou looked up at the grandiose house— Overgrown trees obscured the moonrays, until this building alone appeared to be swallowed by darkness.

“Does this place really have a connection to all this?” Gotou couldn’t help being doubtful.

Ishii and Miyagawa had come here from constant reports about ghost sightings seen within the vicinity of this house. Ishii too had stated that he’d seen a ghost here. Despite that, Gotou still felt this was a matter unrelated to Haruka’s abduction.

“We came here to confirm that,” Yakumo replied as he messed up his dishevelled locks. “Do we have time for that? While we’re in the middle of this, Haruka-chan—”

“I know that!” Yakumo exclaimed as he glared at Gotou with a sharp look. Witnessing those eyes, Gotou was once again met with the realisation that Yakumo had to be the most restless compared to anyone else.

“Right now it’s necessary to correctly tell apart what’s related and what’s not. If we were to decide that something’s unrelated right away without confirming it, we might be unable to see the truth.” Gotou could clearly tell that Yakumo was forcefully suppressing his emotions.

He was right. They would miss the truth if they were to make careless decisions. If that were to happen, Haruka would really be beyond saving.

Though pressed by time, circumstances left them no room for mistakes. “I’m sorry.” Gotou apologised sincerely.

Yakumo made a sour look. “Please don’t do things unbefitting of yourself.” “What do you mean?”

“Anyway, let’s go,” Ignoring Gotou’s demand for an answer, Yakumo stepped into the grounds of the house. His strides may be confident, yet his back seemed weak and vulnerable.

Yakumo might not put it into words, but the worst case scenario must have crossed his mind. With every reminder, he was surely tormented by despair. Nevertheless, he continued to motivate himself out of the desire to rescue Haruka. He must have gone through that over and over again.

Without a doubt, the burden within Yakumo’s heart was unimaginable. It’s alright. Surely, we’ll be able to save Haruka-chan. Gotou mumbled in his heart as he watched over Yakumo’s back. Those words weren’t directed at just Yakumo, but at himself as well.

He wouldn’t be able to press forward without believing so. Everything will be over if he were to lose all hope. Still using crutches, Gotou went after Yakumo.

Already standing before the front door of the house, Yakumo slowly turned the doorknob. With a push from Yakumo, the door finally opened, its rusty hinges rubbing against each other with a high-pitched squeak.

The interior of the house was dark. Pitch-black void as if blotted over with black ink gaped open before them. There was an eeriness to its appearance, almost bridging to another dimension. Yakumo turned on a penlight and entered the house relying on said source of light.

Gotou too stepped inside after him. The first room they went into seemed to be a living room.

A sofa and a table still remained. Though covered in dust, Gotou could tell that these items were rather expensive. “They said a woman used to live in this place?” asked Yakumo after he’d walked all the way until he was in front of the fireplace on the living room wall.

“Yeah.” That was the information Ishii had provided.

“It appears we might need to look into that again more closely,” said Yakumo as he picked up a picture frame set atop the fireplace. “What do you mean?”

“This—” Yakumo handed over said picture frame so Gotou could see it as well.

Framed within was a photograph of four people. Among them was an old woman that appeared to be the head of the household. Standing on either side of her was a middle-aged man and woman.

And there was one more person. A young girl of around middle school age stood with a bashful smile. One had no way to tell when this photo had been taken, but from the background behind them, it might have been taken at this living room.

This photo could’ve been shot when the family who had lived separately had come home for a New Year's visit. But as Yakumo had said, they might need to investigate the familial connections once more. Yakumo returned the picture frame to its original placement, stepping outside the living room before opening the door to the room across from it.

Unlike the previous room, the room they stepped into this time was a Japanese-style room about eight tatami in size. The room might have been unused when the owner had used to live here; not a single object was left inside.

Yakumo might’ve judged that nothing of note was there as he immediately exited and walked straight across the corridor. At the end of this corridor should be the room where Ishii had seen a ghost.

Gotou’s body naturally tensed up at the thought, and his palms began to sweat. He thought he had grown used to these things. Yet perhaps he felt terrible because he had sensed something unusual from the gloomy atmosphere of this house.

Unlike Gotou, Yakumo maintained a nonchalant look on his face and opened the door without hesitation. The room beyond the door was covered in carpet. At the centre of the room was a hospital bed, with medical equipment next to it.

There was also a wheelchair on the other side of the bed. Everything was covered in dust after having been abandoned for a long time.

Yakumo approached the side of the bed and stroked the rails of the bed, as if confirming something. Next, he moved on to the bookshelves on one side of the room walls. Rows of books were neatly arranged there.

Yakumo traced the spines of those books with his fingers, starting from the top. Gotou too began tracing the spines with his eyes. Not a novel or essay in sight, all were fairly difficult technical books.

Crouching, and having traced the spines until the lowermost row of books, Yakumo stood up, scratching his head in frustration. He likely hadn’t found anything of importance. Yakumo was about to head for the window next, when he halted his steps midway as if he found something.

“What is it?” Paying no attention to Gotou, Yakumo crawled on the floor and took out a single book from underneath the bed.

“What book is it?” asked Gotou. Yakumo stood back up and shook his head whilst flipping over the pages. “This isn’t a book.”

“Not a book?" “Yes. I believe this is some kind of schedule notebook.”

Gotou had thought it was an antique book since the cover was made of leather, but after seeing its pages, it indeed contained handwriting. If Gotou were to attempt using a schedule notebook, he’d certainly give up within three days. Yet the person who had used this notebook seemed rather diligent.

This person’s neat penmanship filled the pages of said book. “Does it have something to do with the case?” asked Gotou.

Yakumo’s face was that of extreme displeasure. “I don’t know. We have to read it to know for certain,” he said in an uninterested tone. His reaction couldn’t be helped. Gotou might have overly rushed into things.

Suddenly, Yakumo turned in the direction of the doorway. He seemed to have sensed something. Gotou turned to face the same direction.

Nothing came into Gotou’s field of vision, save for the dark corridors ahead. But Yakumo was different. Yakumo, in possession of his red left eye, should be able to see a different world that Gotou couldn’t. “You are…” muttered Yakumo.

So someone was at the doorway after all. Gotou grew curious, but he shouldn’t act rashly and let this opportunity become a waste. Holding his breath, Gotou watched over the situation.

“Why are you here? Just what are you...” Cutting off his sentence, Yakumo placed his hand on his head, exhaling a long sigh. After a pause, Gotou asked, “Was someone there just now?”

“Yes. She must be the one Ishii-san saw.” “Was the ghost a young girl?”

“Yes.” “Don’t tell me it was the girl from the photo earlier?” Gotou asked, following his thoughts.

Yakumo frowned and gave a faint nod. “It appears we really need to get Ishii-san to investigate this house one more time,” Yakumo narrowed his eyes as he stared in the direction of the doorway.

- 9

- Should the depths of love be measurable, it’ll surely amount to the price one is willing to pay in the name of that love—

Love can only be proven by what one can sacrifice for the sake of acquiring said subject of affection. Be it wealth, or one’s own life. Or perhaps something else entirely—

I’m prepared to offer up my life. And it doesn’t end there. I shall return the life I’ve lived thus far in its entirety, back into nothingness. If anyone were to criticise my actions, I’d like you to ask yourself.

What are you willing to sacrifice for the sake of your loved ones? Anyone who can still bring up societal norms, common sense, morality, and such ideals over this question, can’t be said to have genuine love.

Yakumo lifted his face from the leather-bound book and looked up the narrow ceiling— The lines written in this book were incredibly powerful. Not merely because it had been written with bold pen pressure and stiff letters. Something else seemed to play a part.

It was unclear what the writer of this passage had intended to do. Still, the strength of their emotions were far from normal. Just what is it?

What exactly did the writer sacrifice, and what was acquired in return? Besides, did this notebook have anything to do with the ongoing cases?

Yakumo felt something was amiss as the lines within this book implied within them too deep of a meaning. Yet, perhaps they bore no connection to the case. Nanase Miyuki might have intentionally left them behind as a red herring to throw off Yakumo.

He looked out the window. It was getting brighter out, and soon morning will arrive.

Time felt like it was marching awfully fast. It had to be because Yakumo himself had grown restless. Right now, at this second, she—just what state was Haruka in? The mere contemplation sent his chest into chaos.

Yakumo knew he had to maintain his composure, yet terrible visions kept invading his thoughts in droves, taking over his headspace. In fact, it was happening right now.

The sight of Haruka, lying whilst blood poured out her body, crossed into his mind. Even with desperate efforts to get rid of the image, he felt it grew further the more he tried to push it away.

Yakumo landed a fist against the table. The pain on his hand spread, yet the terrible visual wouldn’t leave his head.

If only I had accompanied her home back then. Since learning about Haruka’s abduction, he’d been blaming himself constantly.

Truth was, even if Yakumo had accompanied Haruka back, Haruka would still get abducted at some point. This case was unlike an accident lacking in intent. Haruka had already been targeted. Even if Yakumo had been with her at the time, that fact would merely change the time of abduction.

Still— Nevertheless, such arguments brought upon a sense of dissatisfaction.

Yakumo held his lowered head. Whatever happens, I have to save Haruka.

For that sake, he needed to regain his composure and solve the mystery. He understood just how important it was to be level-headed at this time. Despite that, his heart refused to calm down. Can the mystery truly be solved by doing all this?

Besides, solving the mystery like this may very well be meaningless. It’s entirely possible that Haruka had already passed, while Yakumo had been trying to fight back without knowing the fact. Then, Miyuki Nanase might be pleased to imagine Yakumo in such a state. It wouldn’t be strange for that woman to take pleasure in doing so.

Oh no. His mind was being drawn into negative thoughts again. Yakumo yanked at his dishevelled head of hair, then gave himself a slap to the cheek to pull himself together.

Let’s rethink everything from the beginning. Everything started when the ghost of a woman had come to visit Yakumo. Followed by the spiritual case brought by Makoto—

When they had gone to investigate the case, they had discovered a headless corpse that had been stored in a box. When he had contacted Ishii to seek confirmation, apparently Hata had thought that the corpse’s identity could be the man who had red eyes and was Yakumo’s father—Unkai.

They had to wait for the DNA test results, but the possibility was fairly significant. Still, if that were the case, why had the corpse been abandoned in an isolated place, not to mention had been put into a box?

Actually, had the corpse really been abandoned? The corpse had been inside an old casket made out of metal, not to mention plastered with countless talismans. There might be a meaning behind that.

The problems didn’t end there. The ghost Ishii had seen. Earlier, Yakumo had gone to the house in question, and there had in fact been a ghost of a girl there.

As she had disappeared immediately, Yakumo had no idea why the girl had been wandering, and why she had passed. He had requested Ishii to look into it, so he would surely know something once the investigation results came out.

Of course, the notebook found at the house couldn’t be ignored either. Considering the passage that was deep in meaning, this notebook should have some ties to the case. Not to mention the spiritual case Gotou and Eishin had been investigating about the ghost of a drenched girl—

At a glance the cases appear to be unrelated, but they have some sort of connection. That had to be the mystery Nanase Miyuki had meant. However—what if he was mistaken?

What if the cases were in fact completely separate? This might just be a trap laid by Nanase Miyuki to confuse Yakumo. If so, that meant he was wasting his time and everything might have been too late.

The image of Haruka in a tragic state flashed in Yakumo’s mind yet again. I have to do something!

His heart grew all the more restless the more he fixated on the thought. Calm down. This was like walking on a tightrope. No other path aside from going forward one step at a time, steadily and carefully. What are you willing to sacrifice for the sake of your loved ones?

A line written in that notebook crossed his thoughts. Just what was he about to sacrifice in exchange for Haruka?

- 10

- Ishii, who had been sleeping with his head on his desk, was awakened by the ringing of his phone—

He felt around for his glasses and picked up the call after putting them on. “Yes. Ishii Yuutarou here.”

<Sorry for contacting you so early. This is Yakumo.> Yakumo’s voice from the other side of the call instantly shot his consciousness awake from its prior half-asleep state.

Ishii turned to the clock next to his desk. It was nearly six o’clock. He seemed to have fallen asleep for about thirty minutes.

On the desk across from him was a snoring Miyagawa, sitting on the chair with his legs outstretched. Yakumo must be calling because he wanted the results of the investigation he had requested for last night.

“About that matter, right?” Ishii replied as he pulled a notebook lying nearby. “Yes.”

“Because of the timing, I couldn’t really ask around…” Yakumo had requested the investigation when it was already late into the night. Ishii had wanted to gather information by asking neighbourhood locals, but since it was late, he could only reexamine documents. Not a task that demanded him to travel about, yet the job had been draining regardless.

<That is fine. Did you find something?> “Yes. I was able to discover a few facts—” Ishii took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes before taking another look at his notebook.

“Regarding that house, as Yakumo-shi said, apparently she used to live with her family.” <I see.>

Before he had gone to investigate that house for the first time with Miyagawa, he had gathered a bit of information and had learned that an old woman named Kawakami Harue had lived alone there, but that had been the most updated information. However, when he had taken a look at the police contact form[2] issued three years ago, Ishii had come to know that Harue had used to live with her family.

“The people who used to live there with her were her own son, Kawakami Kei-shi, and his wife, Ryoko-san. And lastly, her granddaughter Satomi-chan. Four people in total.” <Do you know where that family of hers is as of now?> asked Yakumo.

Even so, his tone sounded like he could already predict the answer. Prior to investigating, Ishii too had had a hunch himself, and it had turned out to be correct.

“Three years ago, the car that Ryoko-san and Satomi-chan rode got into an accident.” <An accident—>

“Yes. A truck driven by someone under the influence had run against traffic and hit their car head on.” <How cruel...>

Though he didn’t utter a word, Ishii felt the same way. Not only had the driver been driving whilst drunk, the truck had gone in the wrong direction; practically no different from a murder. The truck driver might have been prosecuted with the charge of careless driving causing death and was currently held in prison, but the lives that had been lost could never be brought back.

Ishii swallowed his anger before continuing, “Ryoko-san, who was in the driver seat, died on the scene. While Satomi-chan who rode in the front passenger seat was saved at first, but was eventually declared brain dead—” <Brain dead...>

Yakumo’s tone shifted. Perhaps he was reminded of his uncle, Isshin. Isshin too had been declared brain dead after being involved in a case.

Yakumo must have painfully understood what brain death was like. Following a brief pause, Yakumo asked, <How is Satomi-chan now?>

“She’s already passed,” Ishii spoke as pain emerged in his chest. Brain death would render the patient unable to breathe on their own, and whilst uncomfortable to say, their hearts were merely able to continue beating through borrowing the assistance of various medical equipment.

Forget eating, they couldn’t speak, hear, or see either. The brain as their body’s centre of control stopped working, so they couldn’t so much as think. Having learned all this information, Ishii came to understand the identity of the ghost he had seen.

Likely, the ghost had been the granddaughter, Satomi. Though her life had been saved from the accident, she had become brain dead afterwards, and had left this world from the incurable state.

Satomi might have yet to understand that she was already dead. For that reason, she wandered around the house she had been raised in; such had to be the case. At the time, she must have not called out to Ishii with the intention of scaring him.

Ishii felt guilty for having screamed and running away. Still, there wouldn’t be anything he could do even if he had stayed back there. <I see… do you know what became of Satomi-chan’s father now?>

“About that...” Ishii grew hesitant. Normally, the police wouldn’t have known of the aftermath, yet unexpectedly a record had been left behind.

<Did something happen?> “Yes. Actually, three months following the accident, he disappeared.”

<Disappeared?> “Yes, as Harue-san submitted a missing person’s report to the police.”

One couldn't help but say how puzzling the situation was. <Did the police conduct a search?>

“No, about that… according to information from Harue-san, Satomi’s father had left her a message that he will be going away for a while, no need to worry about him.” “Is that so...” muttered Yakumo, seemingly having predicted the gist of that explanation.

The message Kei had left for Harue could be interpreted as his farewell to a relative. In other words, he had disappeared out of his own will. So long as a criminal case wasn’t involved, police wouldn’t conduct a large-scale search over a missing persons case such as this.

Often, there were cases where someone who grew tired of their present life would disappear to escape. Those people often end up becoming homeless. All the more those plagued by hopelessness such as Kei. The police must have had that idea, so the case had ended by merely filing him as a missing person.

<I understand. Sorry for the trouble, but can I take a look at the detailed documents?> In regular circumstances, showing police documents to a civilian university student would’ve been inappropriate.

However, it was too late for that now. They had received countless assistance from Yakumo to resolve cases.

Furthermore, this time Haruka’s life was on the line. “Of course.”

<Thank you.> Considering this was Yakumo, it was unusual for him to immediately express genuine gratitude.

After all, Ishii didn’t feel like he needed to thank him as Yakumo wasn’t the only one who wanted to rescue Haruka. Haruka’s existence was important to Ishii as well. He wished to save her whatever sacrifice it may take.

Ishii was about to end the call when Yakumo called out to stop him. <Actually, I have one more request...>

“What is it? I’ll do anything as long as I’m able to.” After jotting down instructions from Yakumo into his notebook, Ishii finally ended the call.

<So much ruckus this early,> The voice that spoke was Miyagawa. Although he’d been snoring loudly across from Ishii earlier, Ishii’s phone call seemed to have awakened him.

“S-sorry.” “Well, whatever. What are we looking into next?” said Miyagawa, his figure looking dependable as he stood up.

- 11

- Makoto opened the door to the Movie Research Circle with force.

The owner of this room, Yakumo, was sitting in his usual chair. His eyes were a little red from exhaustion and lack of sleep, but he didn’t appear shaken. It made Makoto’s state of panic feel almost laughable.

No, that wasn’t it. Perhaps right now Yakumo was merely pretending to be calm, when in reality unimaginable turmoil stirred within him.

“Is it true that Haruka-chan was abducted?” asked Makoto to start, after exchanging basic greetings. “Yes. Unfortunately,” replied Yakumo.

Strength left Makoto’s body and dizziness came over her. “I see...” she mumbled before sitting on a chair in front of Yakumo. 

She didn’t want to believe it. She wanted someone to tell her it had merely been a lie. Yet she was hit by the realisation that it was all a baseless wish. “Why Haruka-chan…” she said unbearably.

Truth was, her initial impression towards Haruka hadn’t been all too great. She had seemed like a well-natured university student you’d find anywhere, putting up a facade for herself. Thinking about it now, the feeling might have come from Makoto’s jealousy over Haruka’s naivety.

Like an unreasonable hate towards the class honour student, it had to be the manifestation of jealousy towards someone who possessed something they didn’t. Yet after getting to know Haruka, Makoto’s view of her began changing.

Haruka hadn’t been pretending to be a goody two shoes, nor had she been acting innocent. She hadn’t been trying to flatter people either. It had simply been part of her nature.

Something that was brought upon naturally, like a spring water source free from impurities. It was thanks to that existence of hers, that Yakumo’s heart, having constantly hated himself, could be saved.

There was no reason for Haruka to go through something like this. “Simple enough reason. That woman wanted me to experience despair,” Yakumo explained. In his red left eye appeared to reside a powerful light.

“Such a thing…” Makoto bit down hard on her lip. The woman Yakumo had referred to was Nanase Miyuki. Come to think of it, in the previous case she had indeed signalled that Haruka would be her next target.

Nanase Miyuki was the sort of person who could trample over others’ hearts without breaking a sweat. Rather, her sadistic tendencies would in fact make her enjoy doing so. It was likely that she had abducted Haruka, the most important person to Yakumo, for the sake of cornering him.

If only they had paid closer attention to her words, they wouldn’t have left Haruka by herself. Still, regret wouldn’t change the reality they were facing.

Furthermore, the regret Yakumo experienced must be far greater than Makoto’s. The last person who had been with Haruka last night was Yakumo. He had to be blaming himself for leaving Haruka alone. “Whatever happens, we have to find her before it's too late,” said Yakumo, gritting his teeth.

Yakumo must be capable of maintaining his composure thanks to his strong resolve to save Haruka. Yakumo was able to motivate himself, overcoming all the depressing feelings and regret in order to face forward.

However— What would happen to Yakumo if he were to actually lose Haruka?

It wasn’t enough to describe them like lovers. Their existence was like soulmates, bonded together on a deeper level. To Yakumo, losing Haruka must be equivalent to having half of his body ripped away from him.

Should that happen, would Yakumo be able to retain his sanity?  Perhaps that was precisely Nanase Miyuki’s objective.

If that was the case, perhaps Haruka was already—no. She shouldn’t think about that now. “Is there something I can help with?” said Makoto.

Yakumo responded with a small nod. “Actually, I’ve called you as there’s something I needed your help for, Makoto-san.” “Just say the word. I’ll do anything that I can.”

At any rate, they needed to make a move now. “Thank you. Firstly, can I meet with the woman who claimed to have experienced a spiritual phenomenon at the warehouse?”

“Hold on,” Makoto interrupted. “Shouldn’t locating Haruka-chan be our priority?” The spiritual case did concern her, but now wasn’t the time to look into that matter.

“That woman told me she would die if I fail to solve the mystery. By that, I think she meant for me to resolve the spiritual cases before my eyes.” “But why such a thing...”

“She said this is a game.” I see.

It was entirely plausible for Nanase Miyuki to pull something like this. She must have gone through the trouble of setting up this game out of her incredible sense of rivalry towards Yakumo. “Alright. I’ll quickly contact them and arrange a meeting,” Makoto nodded.

If so, they had to solve this case as soon as possible. “Also, I’d like you to look into whether there had been similar phenomena at that location.”

“Leave it to me.” Gathering rumours may not be easy, but by utilising social media well, she should be able to gain some information.

“Thank you,” Yakumo bowed his head deeply. He shouldn’t need to thank her. Even if Yakumo hadn’t asked for help, Makoto would still put her own efforts to find out Haruka’s location.

Yakumo wasn’t the only one who treasured Haruka. “Just like you, Haruka-chan’s important to us as well. Doing all this is a given.”

Yakumo was surprised by Makoto’s words, but eventually smiled bashfully. The door suddenly opened with a bam and Gotou entered the room. “Oh. It’s the newspaper lady,” he said as he took notice of Makoto.

“We just met yesterday, didn’t we?” “You’re helping out too?”

“Of course. I want to save Haruka-chan, whatever it takes.” “Thank you.” Gotou bowed his head deeply.

From his conduct, Gotou also seemed to be doing what he could in the search for Haruka. Even though his injuries hadn’t fully healed, he was surely unable to stand around doing nothing. The same as Makoto, Gotou was desperately putting his efforts not solely because of Yakumo’s request for help.

He wanted to save Haruka and help Yakumo out of his own volition. “Oi, Yakumo. The preparations are done. Let’s hurry up and go,” Gotou, signalling at Yakumo with his hand.

The two seemed to be heading somewhere to investigate. “I’ll contact you once I’ve made an arrangement,” Makoto stood up before leaving the room.

Yakumo followed outside and bowed down as he said, “I’ll leave it to you,” before walking away with Gotou. It’s alright. We’ll find her for sure, Makoto said in her heart as she sent the two off.

Though baseless, she wouldn’t be able to press forward without believing so. -

12 -

Gotou went into the driver seat of the car parked in front of the campus gates. Upon opening the door to the front passenger seat, Yakumo made a doubtful expression. “Gotou-san, what happened to your cast?” he asked.

Yakumo, who was incredibly perceptive in normal circumstances, had only realised that Gotou wasn’t wearing his cast—he must be more exhausted than he appeared. “It was getting in the way, so I took it off,” Gotou said so blatantly.

He had forcefully taken it off the night before. He wouldn’t be able to run wearing a cast and a crutch; let alone drive.

He had thought his wife Atsuko would stop him, but after explaining the situation, she had helped him remove it instead. Likewise, Atsuko must be deeply worried about Haruka. Of course, the same could be said for Nao. Haruka’s existence was already like family to them.

“Will you be able to drive in such a state?” Yakumo threw an unconvinced look. “Because it’s fine, I managed to come all the way here, didn’t I? Cut the small talk and hop on quick,”

It would be a lie to say that it didn’t hurt. Nevertheless, right now they had no time to lose in the slightest. If they always had to call a taxi to get around, they would be wasting their time.  As he had worded out the previous night, Gotou didn’t mind sacrificing a leg or two for the sake of saving Haruka.

Yakumo let out a sigh of disbelief before getting into the front passenger seat. With the closing of the door, Gotou then started the car.

“So, any new information?” he asked Yakumo as he manipulated the steering wheel. “Thanks to Ishii-san, I gained plenty of information about the house we went to last night.”

“Which are?” Gotou demanded the continuation, and Yakumo shared the information he had gotten from Ishii in detail. Gotou’s feelings grew unbearable. Having lost his wife in a traffic accident, and his daughter having been declared brain dead, Kei had to be suffering greatly.

As if without warning, the man had suddenly been pushed into hell’s abyss. At the thought of the same thing happening to Atsuko and Nao, Gotou’s chest felt like it was being crushed and his breathing grew laboured.

And yet, Kei, who had actually gone through it, had to be suffering pain a hundredfold worse. “So the father’s—Kei’s—status became unknown afterwards, huh?” Gotou asked, and Yakumo gave a nodding affirmation.

“Could that man who's in hiding be the perpetrator behind our case?” A thought with no basis. Gotou was merely voicing the question that suddenly came to mind.

“I can’t refute that possibility,” Yakumo responded with a serious expression. “Really?!” Although it was his own line of thinking, he exclaimed in surprise as Yakumo gave his approval over it.

“It’s nothing more than a possibility…” He might be vague and would go about in circles, but unlike Gotou, Yakumo had a basis for every statement, even when expressing possibilities.

“What possibility were you referring to?” “The notebook we found back there.”

“Notebook... ” Indeed, Yakumo had taken out a notebook from under the bed back in that place.

“What was written in it?” “Mostly it was an activity schedule. Related to his work, or what time he was meeting someone; fairly normal entries. But—”

“What?” “The writing stopped after his wife and daughter went into an accident—”

Gotou understood what the man had felt. Working, or doing anything at all for that matter, had to be impossible after the man’s family had had an accident.

But that shouldn’t be everything that was inside said notebook. Something had to be written there that led Yakumo to consider the possibility of Kei being the perpetrator. “And then?” asked Gotou.

Yakumo crossed his arms and closed his eyes shut. As if deep in thought, he stopped moving for a moment. Before long, the man slowly opened his eyes.

“Something strange was written on the last page.” “What is it?”

“Some sort of declaration of resolve.” “What even is that?”

“What are you willing to sacrifice for the sake of your loved ones?” “Ha?” Gotou tilted his head in confusion.

“That was one of the lines written in there.” “What’s that even mean?”

“Probably in a literal sense. I think the phrase ‘loved ones’ here refers to his wife and daughter.” “Then, what’s the sacrifice about?” asked Gotou.

Yakumo shook his head. “I have no clue either.” “No clue...”

Something that was beyond Yakumo’s understanding was all the more puzzling for Gotou. Just why would he leave behind a sentence like that? And why had that man called Kei hidden his whereabouts?

He might not understand, but Gotou sensed a deep darkness extending ahead of that fact. “If it were Gotou-san...” Yakumo glanced slightly at Gotou.

“Ah?” “If it were Gotou-san, what would you sacrifice for your loved ones?”

At the sudden question, Gotou was incapable of giving an immediate reply. To be honest, he had no way of knowing before encountering said predicament.

In the previous case, Gotou had jumped into a road to shield Nao who had been about to get hit by a car. Yet at the time he had lost his reason and hadn’t thought of whether he was going to sacrifice his own life or the like.

Thinking about it calmly, he unexpectedly didn’t arrive at the answer. “I think this Kei person had prepared himself to throw away everything for the people he loved. Hence the reason why he had left that passage behind,” said Yakumo with a sullen voice.

His eyes weren’t present; as if they were drifting off somewhere in the distance. Yakumo seemed like he might go off somewhere beyond reach, should things be left as they were. “What exactly are you trying to say?” Gotou asked, and Yakumo raised his index finger between his forehead and said, “Do you not understand?”

“I’m asking because I don’t.” “The man called Kei has already lost the people he loved. Yet he still wanted to sacrifice something, even though there’s nothing for him to obtain...” said Yakumo.

His voice was like sharp edges poking at Gotou’s heart. Though faint, Gotou slowly came to see what Yakumo had in mind. Along with the reason why he refused to put it into words—

“Either way, Kei-san disappeared three months after the accident.” ��Disappeared?” Gotou raised his voice unknowingly.

“Yes. But according to the statement made by Harue-san, who reported his disappearance, the police isn’t treating it as a case as Kei-san seemed to have gone into hiding on his own will.” Even if he racked his brains for a reason, Gotou was completely clueless as to why Kei would go into hiding. Still, he couldn’t help but sense a whirl of emotions behind it.

What are you willing to sacrifice for the sake of your loved ones? The question itself ended up feeling like some sort of curse.

- 13

- “He truly was a wonderful doctor—” The nurse sitting before him said so in earnest.

She was Satou, a woman in her mid forties, and her appearance as well as the tone in which she carried herself gave her a friendly impression. Yakumo had asked a favour of two things.

The first was to find out about the Kawakami family’s reputation by asking around the neighbourhood. While the other was to gather information on Kawakami Kei at his workplace. Following a discussion with Miyagawa, they had decided to split ways in the absence of time. Miyagawa would gain information around the Kawakami family residence, while Ishii would pay a visit to the hospital where Kawakami had used to work.

Kawakami had used to practise internal medicine. Ishii promptly contacted his former workplace and met with a nurse named Satou, an acquaintance of Kawakami as well as the one who had been in charge of Kawakami’s daughter who had undergone brain death.

Thinking how he was back in this hospital despite only having visited last night, Ishii was left with a peculiar sense of fate. Eeriness overtook him the night before, yet as it was now morning still, along with the fact that he was now at the cafe next to the hospital entrance, made him feel like he was in a completely different location.

“I see,” Ishii muttered as he jotted things down. “There are two kinds of doctors.”

“Is that so?” “Yes. Doctors who examine patients since it is their duty, and doctors who do so out of the desire to serve and help people.”

“And Doctor Kawakami was the latter?” asked Ishii, and Satou replied, “Obviously,” as he had expected. “Honestly, it was tough for us to work under someone like Doctor Kawakami, as the more enthusiastic he got, our workload would pile up even more.”

“What do you mean by that?” “As he would always go out of his way to do things that weren't required to be done, we would get caught in the middle of it as well.”

“Ah.” That might be true.

Not just for doctors, in any line of profession, the mindset of treating customers as kings would inevitably increase the amount of tasks to complete. “The young nurses would often complain as a result. Not for me though, I liked it. Every hospital needs someone like Doctor Kawakami.”

“That’s true,” Ishii responded as he demanded the continuation. “If only that accident didn’t happen… not only did he lose his wife, his daughter was even left in such a state. It was simply too much.”

Ishii could sense that this was no surface-level feelings, but one that genuinely came from the bottom of her heart. “Was he extremely depressed over the fact?”

“Obviously… Doctor Kawakami was a friendly person who would greet everyone, even nurses like us. But ever since the accident, he became less talkative and worn out.” With no wife or children of his own, Ishii could only picture the agony of losing both at the same time.

His heart cried out at the mere thought. Kawakami, to whom it had actually happened, must have suffered beyond imagination. “I felt bad watching him and have always wanted to call out to him first, but honestly, I didn’t know what to say...” Satou sighed, shaking her head.

That was to be expected. Put in the same position, Ishii himself wouldn’t know what to say towards someone in the depths of despair. “After the accident, were there any unusual changes about him?” asked Ishii.

Satou’s expression grew troubled. “Some time after the accident, he kept staying beside his daughter. He seemed to be calling out for his unconscious daughter to come back. But...” Satou halted her words.

She seemed to hesitate in saying what came next. “What is it?” Ishii urged, and after steeling her resolve and nodding, Satou opened her mouth once more. “After his daughter was declared brain dead, his visits became less frequent.”

“Why so?” Ishii leaned over. Thinking about it, to disappear when his daughter had been declared brain dead felt unnatural.

“Though from a different specialty, he was a doctor himself. So he understood well what brain death meant,” So that was it.

Once declared brain dead, chances of recovery were close to zero. That wasn’t all. Since their brain functions were stopped, patients would be unable to sense the presence of those who came to visit.

Being a doctor, Kawakami understood way more than the average person that there was nothing else that could be done. And yet—

Shouldn’t a parent still wish to see the face of their child? Ishii felt something off about the fact.

“I heard Doctor Kawakami disappeared the day before his daughter passed...” Upon investigation, one day after Kawakami had left a message for his mother and disappeared, his daughter’s condition had taken a worse turn, drawing her last breath.

Ishii couldn’t help but think something was behind that timing. “Apparently so. Perhaps he sensed that his daughter couldn’t hang on any longer—”

“Was his daughter’s condition weakening?” “Yes. She was getting worse. The doctor in charge of her even said it was only a matter of days...”

“......” “The doctor in charge seemed to have delivered the news to Doctor Kawakami himself. But a slight commotion happened at the time.”

“A commotion?” “That’s right. Doctor Kawakami claimed that his daughter had spoken. Thus, he requested them to reexamine whether she was actually brain dead. It was the first time I’ve seen Doctor Kawakami that way. Though his mind understood, his heart seemed to have yet to accept how things are…”

“Is that so,” Ishii said out of sympathy, yet the thoughts in his mind travelled elsewhere. The timing felt unnatural. Even so, Ishii didn’t understand what made him feel that way.

“Did anything else catch your attention?” Ishii later inquired, and Satou’s eyes wandered as if tracing her memories. It wasn’t long before her expression changed, signalling that she had recalled something.

“Is there something?” Ishii asked again. “I’m not sure if I should say this...” Satou spoke hesitantly.

“What is it?” “Actually… after the accident, a woman often came to visit Doctor Kawakami.”

“A woman?” “Yes. A young, beautiful woman in her twenties.”

“Any other defining features?” “Right… I wonder. I’ve never spoken to her, so this is merely my intuition, but she seemed quite tough.”

That woman might have something to do with Kawakami’s disappearance. Depending on the circumstances, they could try making a sketch of her face. “Do you know what her relationship was with Doctor Kawakami?”

“As for that, I don’t know. She wasn’t a patient, nor someone from the pharmaceutical companies...” “Sounds curious.”

Could that woman be Kawakami’s mistress? Though baseless, the idea emerged in his mind anyway. “I’m sure the relationship wasn’t anything like what you have in mind, Mr. Detective,” Satou spoke as if she had read Ishii’s mind.

“Eh?” “Doctor Kawakami loved his family dearly. He wasn’t the type to have an affair behind the scenes.”

“Right...” Satou emphasised the fact quite strongly, leaving Ishii no choice but to respond in affirmation. However, his heart disagreed.

That didn’t mean there were no people capable of building a harmonious family whilst having an affair on the side. The woman who had been having an affair with Kawakami might have just made an appearance after the accident.

“Did Doctor Kawakami ever mention anything about that woman?” Ishii asked. Satou’s face frowned into a difficult expression. “The doctor said before that the woman came to consult him about her relative.”

All the more suspicious. At a time when his wife had just passed and his daughter had been in a brain dead state, he shouldn’t have had the time to discuss other people’s matters.

“Um… do you know of anyone else close to Doctor Kawakami in this hospital?” “As for that, perhaps that strange man in the basement.”

“Pardon?” Ishii couldn’t help but turn bewildered at the mention of something that sounded like the title of a B rated horror film.

“My apologies. I suppose you wouldn’t understand if I said it that way,” Satou corrected herself and said the name of the person in question. -

14 -

After leaving Yakumo’s room, Makoto returned to her desk at the newspaper company. There may not be much time, but it was easier to conduct an investigation from her office.

Firstly, she would use the company social media account to announce a request for information regarding the spiritual phenomena that occurred at the warehouse in front of Meisei University’s archival facility. The number of viewers wouldn’t be comparable to using a personal account. There would surely be lots of shares, so information should quickly accumulate. Next, she composed a message of similar content, sending them out to some of her fellow journalist acquaintances.

Whilst anticipating the success of this information gathering, she contacted Maki, who had come to consult a spiritual phenomenon previously. <Hello?>

Maki picked up the call with a frightened voice. Thankfully the call directly went through. “Actually, I’d like to confirm a few things about the spiritual phenomenon you experienced at the warehouse. For the sake of resolving this case, may I ask for your cooperation?”

<You believed me?> asked Maki. Makoto was no stranger to gathering information on spiritual phenomena, and what was most troubling for people who experienced such incidents was the fact that no one was willing to believe them.

“Of course.” <Thank you—>

Maki’s voice quivered. Rather than from fear, it seemed to be out of delight. “Since it’s hard to convey through a phone call, I’d like for us to meet in person once again and talk about it, would that be possible? I have an acquaintance who’s an expert on spiritual phenomena. I want him to come along as well.”

<Well, that is...> Maki’s tone hinted at a sense of vigilance.

As it turned out, the mention of an expert on spiritual phenomena hadn’t been the correct wording. Maki might be assuming she would be demanded to pay a hefty reward. “Rest assured. He’s still young, but he’s been assisting the police in solving various cases so far. He won’t ask you for payment in return, so there’s no need to worry,” Makoto said so firmly, and Maki then replied, <Alright.>

“Then, without further ado, do you have some free time today?” <I don’t have any plans to go out, so any timing works for me.>

“Understood. After confirming with the other party, I’ll reach out to you again.” Makoto ended the conversation and called Yakumo this time.

<Yes. Saitou speaking.> It sounded like he was still on a car ride, as a faint hum of the engine could be heard.

“This is Makoto. I’ve contacted the woman who experienced the spiritual phenomenon. She’s fine with meeting anytime, so we can regroup once you’re finished on your end.” <Thank you. Once we’ve wrapped things up, I’ll contact you.>

“Got it.” Following the end of her call with Yakumo, Makoto returned to face her laptop.

She was looking up spiritual phenomena at Meisei University on the internet. A few results seemed to match. Information pertaining to the corpse that had been found at the university warehouse last night had spread that rumours surrounding the fact were now abundant. From testimonies stating they had seen a ghost onsite, followed by a variety of other claims: that satanic rituals were once performed there; or that the place had really been the base of a religious cult; or how spirits from wartime wandered in the area.

At this rate, the number of people writing out of jest would increase and she would struggle to find reputable information. How troublesome, Makoto thought, right as she received a private message from an unknown sender on social media.

Since Makoto’s request for information had been shared at random, people would likely send in messages as a joke. Keeping her expectations low, she opened the message. Written there was the following: 

<I’m a Meisei University graduate. During my time as a student there, I’ve been to that warehouse for a test of courage. Nothing in particular happened then, but a few days later, my friend who went along the test of courage with me disappeared. That friend’s whereabouts remained unknown to this day—>

Makoto held her breath upon reading it.

It was her own instincts talking, yet she felt that this message was genuine and decided on replying straight away. There were many things she wanted to ask. However, exchanging messages like this would be time consuming.

‘Can we speak directly? Phone call is fine too’ she typed, including her contact number in the message before sending it. It wasn’t long until there was an incoming call from an unknown number to her phone. Probably the sender of that message earlier.

“Yes. This is Hijikata.” <Hello? I was the one who sent a message just now. My name is Nagaoka Momoka.>

So it was the person who had sent that message after all. “Thank you for calling. I will call you back.”

<It’s fine. Don’t worry about it,> Momoka said so firmly. “Is that so… then I’ll get straight to the point, there are a few things I’d like to ask. When did you go to that location?”

<About three years ago.> “You didn’t see any ghosts or the like at the time?”

<That’s right. But...> “What is it?”

<I didn’t see anything back then, but afterwards, a female friend of mine who went with me, Ikuta Tomoko, claimed that she felt like she was being followed by a ghost.> While she hadn’t experienced any spiritual phenomena there, the subsequent turn of events of being followed by a ghost was similar to Maki’s.

“Did she say that she had seen the ghost?” <She did. Apparently the ghost stood outside the window, staring at her.>

“Was she able to tell the gender of the ghost?” <She said it was a male ghost… I didn’t really believe her at the time. I thought she was just mistaken, but...>

Momoka’s tone grew frail in an instant. “Tomoko-san disappeared afterwards...”

<Yes. It was really out of nowhere. She didn’t show up on campus, and her phone was out of reach...> “Have the police been notified?”

<They have. I’ve even submitted a missing persons report, but there was no development afterwards, and time went on...> “And Tomoko-san’s whereabouts are still unknown until now?”

<Yeah. Her parents have passed away and she entered university with a scholarship program. Even though she was such an earnest person...> What followed in exchange of words were sounds of sobbing.

Whether Tomoko’s disappearance had anything to do with ghosts remained vague, yet at the very least, Momoko seemed to be living her life whilst concealing her regret all the while. Even after thanking her and cutting off the call, Makoto was left with a sense of unease.

Perhaps she needed to verify the truth of the matter. Makoto then contacted Ishii. <Yes. This is Ishii Yuutarou,> Ishii promptly answered with a crystal clear voice.

Despite the direness of the situation, hearing Ishii’s voice instantly softened her once hardened heart. “It’s Makoto.”

<M-Makoto-san! Actually, something terrible came up!> Ishii spoke in a panic. “I know. I’ve heard it from Yakumo-kun. Apparently Haruka disappeared, right?”

<You knew?> “Yes. Things really took a worse turn...”

<Right.> Ishii’s voice rapidly sank.

Makoto had long since known that Ishii had feelings for Haruka. Anyone would be able to tell how much Ishii brightened in front of Haruka. He’d been holding back as of late, probably admitting defeat after seeing how there was no place for him to get in between Yakumo and Haruka.

Surely Ishii was also among those working tirelessly for the sake of rescuing Haruka. “Truth is, I wanted to ask you to investigate something in relation to that.”

<What is it?> “Regarding a woman named Ikuta Tomoko-san.”

<Who is that exactly?> It was understandable for Ishii to question the fact.

After a brief explanation of the situation from Makoto, Ishii promised to look into the matter after his return to the police headquarters following the information gathering he currently was in. “Sorry for the trouble. I’ll leave it to you.”

<Of course. Whatever it takes, we have to find Haruka-chan—> “Yes.”

After hanging up, a small question emerged in Makoto’s mind. If Makoto were to disappear, just how desperate would Ishii go in search of her?

Makoto sighed without realising, having had enough of just how narrow-hearted she could be to question that at a time like this. -

15 -

Gotou parked his car in front of the house they were headed to. Stepping out of the car, the figure of a man he recognised came into view, standing before the entrance. It was Eishin.

“You’re finally here. I got tired of waiting,” Eishin said so openly. It might have been a trait of his to not be satisfied without complaining.

“Shut up,” Gotou clicked his tongue when he arrived in front of Eishin. At the sight of Yakumo following behind Gotou, Eishin’s expression stiffened.

“Things certainly have gotten worse,” he said in a friendly tone unlike how he’d spoken to Gotou moments before. Eishin wasn’t closely acquainted with Haruka, but he was well aware of how much her existence meant to Yakumo.

He had to be thoroughly considering what sort of impact this case might bring. “Right. Anyway, can you quickly take me to the girl who experienced a spiritual phenomenon?” Yakumo said in haste.

“I know. I’ve informed them in advance. Let’s go.” Led by Eishin, they headed inside the house, and ascended the stairs next to the entrance towards the room situated on the second floor.

Though he had managed his way on flat surfaces, Gotou’s leg stung as he climbed the stairs. Regardless, there was no time to complain. As Eishin knocked on the door, a voice could be heard from within, “Come in.”

Everyone nodded to one another, and Eishin slowly opened the door. The state of the room was no different from yesterday, with every crevice covered up that it remained in darkness despite the day not being past noon yet.

Standing in one corner of the room, Sana appeared all the more lethargic compared to the day before. It wasn’t surprising, considering she had trouble sleeping out of fear from ghosts.

“I’ll cut to the chase, could you talk about the spiritual phenomenon you experienced one more time?” Yakumo brought up the subject matter after some basic greetings. Yakumo’s red left eye took Sana a little by surprise, but she soon got rid of the impression and opened her mouth. She spoke of how she had seen a drenched ghost on the Tama riverbank, and the way the ghost had drawn nearer to her house day after day.

Her voice was shaky, and she struggled to find her words from time to time. Gotou felt pity at the mere sight of it. “I see… you mentioned that the ghost gets closer and closer every day. Is that the case even now?” Yakumo asked whilst casting his gaze across the room.

Gotou and the rest couldn’t see a thing. But such wasn’t the case for Yakumo. Reflected in that red left eye of his was a world unlike this one. “Yes.”

“Speaking of, since when have you put up these cardboards over your windows?” “Since about four days ago. I’m too scared...” Sana replied, teary eyed.

“You saw the ghost a week ago, is that right?” asked Yakumo to confirm. Sana nodded with a thin voice, “Yes.”

“You said you saw the ghost come closer through the window, which window was it?” “That one.”

Sana pointed at the largest window in her room. “Can I take a look at it?” Yakumo asked, and although Sana nodded, fear made her cover her face with both hands and face away from the window.

Yakumo opened the curtains and pulled apart the tapes and cardboard that had been obscuring the window. Light from outside filled the room, turning it bright.

“Which road did you see the ghost on?” Yakumo asked as he remained fixated on the view outside the window. “The one right in front of my house.”

“Did you see it during a specific time? Such as throughout the day or nighttime...” Sana shook her head at Yakumo’s question. “Day or night, she was always standing on that road whenever I looked out of this room.”

“Were you looking out from where I’m at right now?” Sana set aside the hands that had been covering her face, and after confirming Yakumo’s position, she nodded over and over.

“Yes...” “I see...” Yakumo replied as he opened the window.

Outside breeze blew in. Gotou took a deep breath. The once gloomy atmosphere took a turn and he became slightly relieved. On the other hand, the girl shrank. After all, she must be scared.

After glancing in Sana’s direction, Yakumo exhaled a heavy sigh and leaned his body over to look down the window. What is he looking at?

Following Yakumo, Gotou poked his head out the window and peered downwards. Over there was—

A girl walking along the road directly in front of the house. Aligning with Sana’s testimony, the girl was wearing a uniform. “Not her,” Yakumo said to ease Gotou, who was in shock.

Gotou turned to find Yakumo covering his left eye using his palm. The girl seemed to be visible still just with his right eye, so she must be a living human being. Yakumo sighed and faced Sana's direction again.

“Please be rest assured. The ghost outside won’t be able to enter this room,” Yakumo gently pacified her. “Eh?”

Sana stared at Yakumo. “That ghost was just lonely.”

“R-really?” “Yeah. So there’s no need for you to worry. If you’re still uneasy, you can pour some salt on all four corners of the room. That way, she won’t be able to get in.”

“......” Sana’s expression was overcome with relief and she fell down to her knees listlessly.

Her fear seemed to have disappeared without a trace. “Then, I’ll excuse myself,” Yakumo bowed and walked towards Eishin, whispering something to him before exiting the room.

Though unsatisfied with the way things were, Gotou chased after Yakumo. “What you told that girl, was that true?” he asked once they went in the car.

“It was a lie,” Yakumo said nonchalantly. “What?”

“We wouldn’t have to struggle if ghosts could be sent away by pouring some salt.” “You… in that case, the ghost might just appear in that room, then?”

“There were no ghosts in that room. Of course, same goes for the road in front of that house—” He had probably said something random to close the case since he couldn’t see any ghosts around.

However— “Maybe it just wasn’t there earlier?”

Yakumo himself had often spoken of how ghosts didn’t always stay in the same location. “Please think about it carefully. She was terrified because the ghost got closer to her house day after day.”

“Yeah.” “How could she have known that?”

“How… well, because she witnessed it from her window.” “She had covered all the windows in her room with cardboard. She shouldn’t have been able to look outside.”

“Ah.” Gotou only just understood.

Thinking back, Yakumo had confirmed when the windows had been taped over with cardboard, and the girl had replied that it had been from four days prior. In other words, she hadn’t been able to look out the window since then, making it impossible for her to have seen the ghost.

“Furthermore, if she merely stood in front of the window, she wouldn’t be able to see the road right in front of her house.” Indeed, that was true.

Without poking one’s head out the window and looking down, the road in front wouldn’t be visible. “So she made up the fact that she saw a ghost?”

“No. I think she might have actually seen one at the riverbank. Though, out of immense fear, she began hallucinating that the ghost was getting closer every day. Well, it’s something like a mental disturbance.” I see.

If they had told the frightened Sana that she was merely hallucinating, she wouldn’t believe them. Thus, Yakumo had consoled her by saying that the ghost wouldn’t come after her anymore and instructed her to handle it by sprinkling salt.

He must have conveyed the fact to Eishin before leaving the room earlier— Having understood things, Gotou’s thoughts were led in a different direction.

“So we came here for nothing…?” It was crushing for them to be wasting time while Haruka’s whereabouts were currently unknown like this.

“At the very least we can eliminate it as an unrelated case. Next, we shall regroup with Makoto-san.” “Right,”

No use in regretting now. As Yakumo had said, they could treat it as having eliminated the case out of the way. Without any further thoughts, Gotou started the car.

- 16

- “So you came again—” Hata sounded fed up at the sight of Ishii’s face visiting him.

Such a reaction couldn’t be helped. He had only been last visited by the aforementioned police detective in the dead hours of the night before. Frankly, Ishii had feared that Hata might have already gone home, so he was glad that they were able to meet like this.

“M-my apologies,” Ishii entered Hata’s office whilst wording his apology. “Too bad, but if this is about the autopsy result, as I mentioned last night, I still don’t know myself,” Hata reminded.

Of course, Ishii was aware of the fact. Even he knew the situation wouldn’t change in a matter of hours. “Actually, I’m here for a separate matter...”

“A separate matter? Well, whatever. Don’t just stand there, why don’t you take a seat?” Ishii bowed repeatedly and sat on the nearest chair.

“You’re not with that Takobozu[3] today?” Hata asked whilst turning his head to look around. The takobozu he had referred to was Miyagawa, of course. Even though Hata had dubbed him umibozu the night before. Ishii was briefly confused by the inconsistent nicknaming.

“Yes. He’s currently gathering information elsewhere.” “So, what is this separate matter you wanted to ask?” Hata asked as he sipped his tea.

“Y-yes. I’d like to ask you about someone...” “Who?”

“Do you know of a Kawakami Kei?” When Ishii spoke of the name, Hata’s bulging eyes flickered. He looked astonished at the sudden mention of it.

Even so, Ishii himself had been surprised upon hearing Hata’s name come up as the name of the strange man in the basement who had been close acquaintances with Kawakami, according to Satou. “Why are you suddenly asking about Kawakami-kun?”

It was no surprise for Hata to question the fact. Ishii then explained how the spiritual phenomenon at Kawakami’s residence might be connected to a string of cases, including the corpse discovery by Yakumo and the others.

“I see—” Hata nodded after hearing the story to finish, lost in feelings. “Kawakami-kun was a truly diligent man...” Hata narrowed his eyes as if reminiscing the past.

“Were the two of you close?” “Since I’m like this, there was lots of prejudice from other doctors. They’d mock me behind my back, calling me a demon and such.”

Whatever it was that Hata found amusing, he giggled an eerie sounding laughter. Ishii felt it was natural for others to not be fond of Hata when he behaved like this, but he didn’t put it into words.

“Kawakami-kun was the only one who didn’t act that way.” “I see...”

“He might be diligent, but Kawakami-kun himself was a peculiar man.” “Peculiar how?”

“When you become a doctor, you’ll bear witness to human mortality until you get sick of it. Even my job is to handle death itself. Anyway, in such an environment, you eventually get used to death.” “It’s possible to get used to such a thing?” Ishii expressed his doubt. He felt like death was an exceptional occurrence no matter what.

“It’s possible. You guys too have seen more deaths than those working in other fields, do you not? And you get used to them before you know it,” “Oh...”

Thinking back, Ishii had screamed and made a fuss when he had seen a corpse for the first time. Yet he could endure it now. He had built up a resistance. In other words, he might have gotten used to it.

“Being used to it is terrifying. Left the way it is, we could just become indifferent to death.” “Right,”

“But Kawakami-kun was different. He often came over to my place whenever his patient passed away.” “Why so?”

“Who knows. It’s just that I often had discussions on the topic of death with Kawakami-kun.” “On the topic of death?”

They hadn’t been taking enjoyment in discussions about movies or music, but had instead discussed death as a conversation subject, something Ishii didn’t view as appropriate. Ishii stated the fact, and Hata shook his head in disbelief.

“What’s not appropriate about it? Humans, no matter who they are, will die eventually. Yet no human can explain what death would actually be like.” “Aren’t doctors capable of explaining that?”

“When it comes to the death of the flesh, sure. But humans have spirits. Even if there’s no way to prove its existence, spirits indeed exist. Since you guys are with Yakumo-kun a lot, you should know that.” “I suppose so—”

Like Hata said, death of the flesh was simple enough. Add spirits into the equation, though, and he was entirely clueless. If the spirit continued to exist despite the physical body ceasing its function, then what was death exactly? He hadn’t been thinking about it too deeply thus far, but being asked like this made him realise the complexity of the subject matter.

If there ever was someone capable of proving it, it must be people like Yakumo who could see ghosts. No, perhaps, Yakumo already knew the answer to it.

Come to think of it, Hata had been curious about the structure of Yakumo’s red left eye since way back. That curiosity might have stemmed from his extraordinary interest towards death. “Our conversation got sidetracked,” Hata mocked himself, scratching at his cheek.

Indeed, their conversation had gone off course into the views surrounding death for quite some time. “Could you tell me what Kawakami-sensei was like in the days leading to his disappearance?” Ishii returned to the main topic at hand. 

It was what he had wanted to ask Hata the most. Perhaps the answer could serve as a clue to the reason behind Kawakami’s disappearance and his whereabouts. “You’ve heard about Kawakami-kun’s wife and daughter, haven’t you?”

“Yes.” “Since that incident, Kawakami-kun’s condition indeed became strange.”

“Strange in what way exactly?” “He began thinking about death more seriously. Especially pertaining to his daughter’s condition.”

“If I’m not mistaken, his daughter was declared brain dead...” “That’s right. Humans in a brain dead state can’t move or speak out of their own will. Without relying on medical equipment, they can’t even so much as breathe.”

“Right.” Ishii understood the fact as such had been the case for Isshin as well.

“But medically, they’re still alive. Even so, can we truly consider a human who can no longer move or even think for themselves as being ‘alive’?” “Well...”

“If spirits do exist, then where are the spirits of people who are brain dead?” “......”

“Because of his daughter’s condition, Kawakami began mulling over such matters more than before.” “And then he disappeared…”

“Pretty much. Though there’s one thing I can’t wrap my mind on,” Hata looked sharply at Ishii. “What is it?”

“One day after Kawakami-kun disappeared off somewhere, his daughter drew her final breath—” “Right.”

“Which meant when Kawakami-kun disappeared, he left behind his daughter in a brain dead state. However I thought about it, this feels off to me.” Hata’s words felt heavy.

The odd feeling that had been bothering Ishii since hearing Satou’s story earlier now led him to a certain deduction. Perhaps Kawakami hadn’t hidden himself and left his daughter in her brain dead condition. Instead, he had punished himself by disappearing as he had been the one who ended his daughter’s life.

The time difference might just be from killing his daughter by administering medication. However, Ishii couldn’t utter that analysis out loud.

- 17

- Right as Makoto arrived at Maki’s apartment building, a car slid to a stop.

Exiting the car were Yakumo and Gotou. How’s the investigation going?

Makoto swallowed the question she wanted to ask. The two looked visibly more distressed compared to when they had met this morning. Even without asking, Makoto could tell that the investigation didn’t go the way they had hoped.

“Let’s hurry up and go,” Gotou wanted to get inside straight away, but Makoto prevented him. “Actually, one testimony caught my attention when I was looking into spiritual phenomena at that location,” Makoto prefaced, followed by a brief explanation of a similar case in the past and how the woman who had claimed to be followed by a ghost after the fact had been reported missing.

“Did something like that really happen?” said Gotou while feeling uncertain. There was no helping his reaction. Makoto herself held a similar doubt.

The reason being the theory Yakumo had mentioned many times. Ghosts were clusters of emotions of those who had passed, bearing no physical influence of their own. Following that theory, it’d be impossible for someone to be dragged away by a ghost as seen in horror movies.

And yet— “The ghost may not be able to do something directly, but if we were to assume that the figure mistaken to be a ghost was actually a human, something like that might just happen.”

That was Makoto’s line of thought. Tomoko, who disappeared, had seen something at the location of the spiritual phenomenon, and someone who had somehow felt the situation was less than ideal had her kidnapped—an entirely plausible scenario.

After all, they had discovered a corpse packed into a box at that warehouse. And now, Maki was experiencing something similar to Tomoko. There might have been something they weren’t supposed to find out at that location.

Haruka might have been kidnapped for the very same reason. “A very intriguing story,” Yakumo placed a hand over his angular chin.

“I thought it needed some supporting evidence, so I asked Ishii-san to confirm whether there had really been a missing persons report filed to the police.” Makoto added. “As expected of Makoto-san. You’re helping me by acting so quickly,” Yakumo nodded.

“But does that old case really have something to do with all this? If it turned out like just now...” “To know that for certain, let us go,” Yakumo interrupted Gotou’s expression of doubt.

Makoto agreed with Yakumo’s perspective. There were various things that concerned them, but firstly they needed to meet with the related parties. “Got it. Let’s go.”

Makoto led them through the apartment building entrance and pressed the buttons for Maki’s apartment number. “Come in,” A voice could then be heard, and the automatic door lock opened.

They went past the automatic door into the elevator, and ascended to the fourth floor where Maki’s apartment unit was located. Upon reaching the door to the apartment unit, Makoto pressed on the intercom.

The door instantly opened, and Maki came out. Makoto briefly introduced Yakumo and Gotou. Since she had mentioned she was coming with experts on spiritual phenomena, Maki readily accepted them.

“Over here—” They were ushered into the apartment.

The unit consisted of a kitchen and a bedroom typical of a one person apartment. The room was filled with feminine looking items carefully placed and arranged. Maki’s personality was well-conveyed through her room.

Yakumo stepped inside and immediately looked around with a sharp glint in his eyes. Makoto tensed at the sight of him. If Maki had in fact been followed by a ghost as she had claimed, Yakumo’s red left eye should be able to see it.

It was of no exaggeration to say that the credibility of Maki’s testimony was currently being measured. “About the spiritual phenomenon you experienced, what was it like exactly?” Yakumo asked without changing his expression.

At the suddenness of it, Maki was left agape, not realising that the question had been directed at her. “I heard you’re being followed by a ghost. Did you see its figure? Or perhaps you didn’t, yet you sense its presence?” Yakumo asked again, now staring at Maki.

“Erm… I did see the ghost. But it had a black, shadow-like appearance...” Maki spoke with a stiff expression. She might have been frightened by Yakumo’s red left eye.

It was perhaps inevitable, as the ghost she had seen at the warehouse also had two red eyes. Understandably, she might have drawn a connection between it and Yakumo’s red left eye. “On what occasions did you see that ghost?”

“On the streets when I’m heading home from class, or when I looked out the window, he was standing across the road below...” Hearing Maki’s explanation, Yakumo slowly walked towards the window.

“Have you ever seen the ghost here indoors?” asked Yakumo. Maki’s gaze drifted as if deep in thought. “No. I don’t think I’ve seen it inside before.”

“In that case, I’d like to confirm what happened at the warehouse.” “Yes.”

“You and your friends opened the box there, didn’t you?” Maki replied to Yakumo’s question with a nod. “We did open it.”

“And you didn’t see the contents at the time?” “Yeah, since it was dark. Besides, that man suddenly appeared in the darkness...” Maki said with a trembling voice, turning her face away from Yakumo.

Indeed, the sight of red eyes was seared into her mind as something terrifying.  “Please tell me in detail about the man you saw there.”

Perhaps in an attempt to soothe Maki, Yakumo spoke in an incredibly gentle tone. “Okay.”

“I heard the eyes of the man who appeared before you were red just like my left eye, are you certain of it?” Maki took one look at Yakumo and turned away before giving an affirmative reply. “Yes.”

“Is the shadow following you the same as the man at the warehouse?” “I think so...”

“Alright. One more thing.” “Yes.”

“Your other friends who went to the warehouse with you saw the man with red eyes too, right?” “That’s right.”

“Is no one else being followed by a ghost?” “I think I’m the only one,” Maki replied faintly.

She was gradually doubting what she had really seen. Such was the impression Makoto had. It was an inevitable outcome, though. At times, memories would fade even more the more it got questioned.

“Your information has been helpful. Thank you,” Yakumo then turned away from Maki. “Um, so, what should I do…?” Maki said in a pleading voice.

“Makoto-san, Gotou-san, one moment?” Yakumo called out looking at them, leaving the room shortly after. Makoto and Gotou exchanged glances and followed Yakumo out of Maki’s apartment.

With the door now closed and their eyes meeting in the halls outside, Yakumo spoke in a low voice, “No ghost is following her, and there was nothing of the sort inside her room either.” “So she was just mistaken?” asked Makoto, who had somewhat guessed it from Yakumo’s reaction back in the room.

“I can’t say that either. Since it’s just a matter of nothing’s there right now.” Certainly, that was true.

It would be too risky to write everything off as a false alarm solely from the fact that the ghost wasn’t present at this point in time. Ghosts didn’t always stick around the same spot. “Still, something’s bothering me a bit,” Yakumo placed his index finger between his forehead.

“What is?” “Suppose she was telling the truth, why was she the only one affected by it when there were others on the scene? Well, it could just be a matter of compatible wavelengths—”

“Right,” “And one more thing. I’m curious whether the person she saw at the warehouse and the shadow following her were indeed the same.”

“You’re saying they’re different?” Gotou interjected. “Just a hunch, but I think that we need to factor in that possibility,” said Yakumo, putting a stop to the discussion.

In other words, nothing seemed certain to them for now. Makoto was aware they shouldn’t panic, yet uneasiness spread throughout her chest. “What should we do after this?” asked Makoto.

Yakumo’s face turned bitter. “Right. Makoto-san, please inform her to observe the situation a little longer. Tell her to reach out immediately if any ghosts appear later on—” “Got it.”

“Then, can I ask one more thing from you?” “Sure.”

“I’d like you to gather a little more information on the past spiritual phenomena at that warehouse.” “Leave it to me,” Makoto responded, yet she felt that instruction from Yakumo was irrelevant.

Perhaps in the face of panic, Yakumo was looking in the wrong direction— -

18 -

After leaving the hospital where Hata worked, Ishii headed directly back to the Unsolved Cases Special Investigations Division room. He planned to look into Makoto’s request.

With a search through the database, Ishii was immediately met with matching results. Three years ago, there had in fact been a missing persons report with the name of Ikuta Tomoko filed to the police. With no further delay, he requested for the documents.

In her fourth year as a student in Meisei University, a friend of hers had submitted the report. Some investigation had been performed. According to it, Tomoko had suddenly disappeared with no warning whatsoever.

There had been no signs of struggle nor damage at the campus dorm where she had lived alone, and the furniture had been left as it is. Since insufficient evidence had been found and there hadn’t been any witnesses, the case had become forgotten with time.

In reality, this happened often. Ishii promptly contacted Makoto on his phone.

<Hello?> “This is Ishii Yuutarou.”

<I know,> Makoto replied, stifling out a laugh. This sort of banter had seemed to become a routine between them.

“About the matter you requested...” <You’ve found something?>

Makoto’s tone raised in an instant. “Yes.” Ishii then shared the result of his investigation with Makoto.

Finished listening to Ishii’s explanation, Makoto mumbled, <So it was true after all—> “Does the missing person case from three years ago have something to do with the current case?” asked Ishii.

Makoto gave a pause as if thinking. <I don’t know for sure. But that case felt similar to the case from a woman name Maki-san who came to consult me this time around.> “I suppose so...”

<Anyway, I’ll let Yakumo-kun know about this fact.> “Ah, about that, let me contact him. There are other things I need to report to him as well.”

<Alright. Please do.> After ending his conversation with Makoto, Ishii was about to make a call to Yakumo right as Miyagawa returned.

He must have been running all over the place. The exhaustion on his face was apparent. Ishii would like to let his superior catch a break, yet he was interested in what information Miyagawa had managed to obtain. “Um...” Ishii began.

“I know,” Miyagawa replied as he crashed on his seat. “I’ve asked a bunch of neighbours around that house and apparently ever since the accident, the family hardly interacted with their neighbours.” “Is that so...”

Instead of cutting off contact deliberately, the more probable reason would be the lack of free time as they had to scramble around following the accident. “After her son’s disappearance, Harue lived by herself there, but she quickly fell ill and became constantly bedridden.”

The hospital bed in the room where Ishii had seen a ghost materialised in his mind. Most likely, Harue had drawn her final breath on that bed.

Thinking about it, Harue had lost so much in so little time. Her daughter in law. Granddaughter. And finally, her son— Ishii’s chest grew tighter, imagining the time she had spent in that lonely hospital bed after a string of constant loss.

“Well, the point is, I didn’t manage to find out anything useful,” Miyagawa laughed mockingly at himself. No, that wasn’t the case. Hearing that information just now, Ishii came up with a way to investigate the Kawakami family.

The hospital bed had belonged to Harue. In that case, there should be a caretaker or someone who would be going in and out of that house prior to her passing. They might be able to learn something from there.

“Weren’t you going to call someone just now?” Miyagawa brought Ishii to his senses, phone still in hand as he had intended to call Yakumo earlier. “Ah yes, excuse me for a bit,” Ishii took his phone out to the hallway and called Yakumo.

<How are things?> Yakumo quickly spoke as soon as he picked up the call. He was acting composed, but the restlessness in his heart slipped through at times.

Ishii himself was actually panicking too. Haruka’s safety was in his mind the entire time. “I managed to learn a number of interesting things—”

Setting aside his awful thoughts, Ishii went straight into telling everything he had heard from the nurse Satou and Hata, as well as what information Miyagawa had gathered. Yakumo showed interest in Hata’s story in particular, inquiring about it in more detail in terms of nuances and such.

The conversation back then had remained fresh in Ishii’s mind, and he tried to describe it as accurately as possible. At the end of it, Ishii hurriedly called out to Yakumo who was about to hang up.

He nearly forgot to share something important. Ishii then told him about the investigation Makoto had requested, that a missing person report for a woman named Ikuta Tomoko had in fact been filed to the police three years ago.

<Is that true?> Yakumo’s response to that information was clearly unlike the rest. He seemed to think that this fact was rather crucial.

“Yes.” <Can I have a look at the documents?>

“Yes. I’ll bring it over.” <Please do. Ah, before that, if there are any photos of that woman, I’d like to have it sent over by email or something.>

“Understood.” Ishii should be able to handle something that simple.

<Little by little, I feel like I’m starting to see the outline of this case,> Yakumo mumbled. “Eh? Really?” Ishii sounded much louder than he had imagined that he took himself by surprise.

Even so, there was no chance he wouldn’t be surprised over this. <Yes. I don’t have any proof yet, but we might be able to find her.>

“Thank goodness,” Ishii stroked his chest in relief. Since those words came from Yakumo, who had resolved many cases until now, he should be able to believe it.

<But we shouldn’t let our guard down. Considering how that woman operates—> Yakumo’s words seemingly echoed in layers within Ishii’s ear canal.

He was right. They shouldn’t lower their guard. There was no mistaking that Nanase Miyuki was somehow involved in this array of cases. Ishii hardly thought that woman would let her tail get caught so easily, either.

The woman’s cold, sadistic smile made its way into Ishii’s thoughts. -

19 -

Gotou turned to see a concrete building in view. The structure itself, with its flat concrete roof illuminated by bluish white moonlight, gave the impression of a box.

The corpse inside a box had been discovered in this location. Right afterwards, Haruka had been abducted. They weren’t mistaken in thinking that the place bore a connection to Haruka’s case. Hence, they decided to investigate the site once again.

Gotou took a glance at Yakumo next to him. His face was as expressionless as ever, but deep inside he must be going through a level of anxiousness he had never experienced before.

To Yakumo, Haruka wasn’t merely a woman he had feelings for. Yakumo had constantly denied his own existence and walked amongst the dark. Towards someone like that, Haruka had been the one to shine a light over and reach out to save him. It was thanks to Haruka that Yakumo could finally accept his own existence.

Should he lose that light, Yakumo would certainly fall into darkness to the point of no return. And that was precisely Nanase Miyuki’s objective.

I definitely won’t let that happen. That strong resolve was born within Gotou. ”Please stop staring at me like that. It’s gross,” cursed Yakumo.

He might be acting normally, but the absence of composure in his words was obvious. Despite that, Gotou didn’t point it out. Yakumo was well aware of the fact, more than anyone else.

“Shut up. Anyway, let’s go.” Gotou began walking in vigour, but Yakumo called to stop him. “Wait a moment.”

He turned around to find Yakumo looking at his phone screen. Peering over, he saw a photo of a woman displayed there. Someone he didn’t recognise.

“Who’s that?” “I asked Ishii-san to send it over.”

“Aah.” Hearing that, it all made sense to Gotou. He had overheard Yakumo’s conversation with Ishii moments ago. It must be the woman who had disappeared after visiting this warehouse three years ago.

“That woman is connected to this case?” “Yes. I’m certain after seeing the photo,” Yakumo said so firmly.

“What’s the connection?” “She’s the one—”

Yakumo’s red left eye had a sharp glint to it. “Of what?”

“The female ghost who came to my place.” “What!?”

Gotou finally understood. They were investigating a total of four spiritual cases this time. One of them being the female ghost who had appeared in Yakumo’s place.

To think that the identity of that ghost was the woman who had disappeared three years ago— It felt as if a piece of the scattered puzzle had finally found its way to its rightful placement.

“In any case, that means we really gotta check inside this warehouse one more time,” Gotou stared at the building right in front of him. Perhaps with the acquisition of new information, the building seemed to emanate an aura far more terrifying than before.

“Anyway, let’s hurry and go,” Gotou was about to make a move, but before he had the chance to, Yakumo stopped him once again. Not with words this time, but by catching his arm. Yakumo was no Ishii, so it couldn’t be that the man got cold feet at the last minute.

“What’s wrong?” Gotou asked, but Yakumo gave no reply. Still, he was staring straight into the building—no, that wasn’t it. Yakumo was looking even further away. 

Towards the densely populated little forest just ahead of the building. “You…” Yakumo mumbled as he began walking. He passed the side of the building, cutting through weeds as he stepped forward.

Where is he going? Gotou chased after Yakumo whilst questioning the fact.

The density of the trees obscured the moonlight that the further in, the darker it became. Roughly thirty metres away from the building, Yakumo halted his steps and crouched to inspect something on the ground.

Is something there? Now caught up to Yakumo, Gotou peeked over from behind his back.

Over there— —was a box.

It appeared to be a gigantic cooler box, old and brownish in colour. Since when was this box placed here? Normally, no one would have gone this far in, so the box must have been sitting here for a long time.

“This was dug up only recently,” Yakumo said as if he had read Gotou’s mind. “How’d you know?”

“Take a look at this,” Yakumo traced the surface of the box with his finger. The dirt covering the box’s surface came off following the trail of Yakumo’s finger. After which, the original colour of the box was revealed to be white underneath.

I see. The box had a brownish appearance from all the dirt stuck to it. In other words, as Yakumo had stated, the box hadn’t always been placed here, but had been dug out recently by someone.

Still, something didn’t make sense to him. “What is this box exactly?” Gotou questioned, and Yakumo exhaled a long sigh, briefly turning his gaze at the sky.

Winds blew, shifting the tree branches back and forth. After giving a brief pause, Yakumo looked at Gotou. The darkness lurking within his eyes was indescribable.

“We’ll know once we open it,” Yakumo said calmly, and slowly opened the box. Its contents were hardly visible in the dark. Gotou switched on the flashlight he brought and shone it over the inside of the box.

Within laid a woman with long hair, curled into a foetal position. Her body had long since rotted. She must have been deceased for quite some time. “What on earth is this...”

“Ikuta Tomoko-san who disappeared three years ago,” said Yakumo, who then closed his eyes quietly. -

Translation Notes [1] Umibozu (海坊主) is a bald, humanoid sea-spirit creature from Japanese folklore.

[2] Police contact form (巡回連絡カード) is a form one fills out with contact information for the police to use in the event of emergencies.

[3] Takobozu (たこ坊主) is a word for someone with a bald or shaved head, perhaps like calling someone ‘baldy’, but I left it untranslated as to not lose reference to the prior Umibozu nickname.

[sqh3e]

what if, chapter one: one and only | wc: 4.1k (proofread but still may be errors sorry) warning: use of the word dummy

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you are on the train heading back to busan, you spent the winter in seoul with friends just cause you had some free time and just ultimately needed a break from busan. you loved the city but sometimes it feels stuffy being there all the time. but the feeling of leaving and returning always puts a familiar smile on your face, you love the nostalgia of returning because when your dad would take you with him on business trips to seoul the feeling of returning home was just a comfort feeling.

you were in seoul for about a month but even returning it felt like you hadn’t been gone that long, you liked that feeling. knowing no matter where you go or how long you stay there busan will always be home. you turn and look out the window getting the view of how beautiful busan is you snap a picture of the view and slide your phone onto your lap. and smile out the window attempting to romanticize your life.

there was still about fifteen to twenty minutes left on the ride until you were officially back, your friend leehan is going to meet you at the train stop. you look around at some of the people on the train some old, some young, some families but this couple in the back of the train in particular caught your attention, occasionally glancing at them looking down at their hands intertwined with each others put a small smile on your face, you were brought back to reality at the sound of your phone dinging but you couldn’t focus on that you were at your train station.

getting out of the seat you walk off the train feeling in your pocket for your phone you pat your pockets and check your bag no phone was in sight, you ask some of the people around “hey! sorry to disturb you but have you seen a blue phone? clear case… with a photo in the back of it sticker on the back, the lock screen is a picture of me and my bunnies.” you explain, causing them to shake their heads “sorry we haven’t, hope you find it though.” they say before walking away.

“of course they hadn’t seen it, we just got off the train.” you mumbled to yourself, before looking around looking for the conductor you walked over to him and started explaining the situation “hey miss slow down, i can hardly understand.” he gave a concerned smile. “please could you just take a few minutes of your time and open the train doors for me? i just want to see if i left my phone there.” you plead, “you young people and your phones,” he sighs “fine.” you smile at him “thank you!”

once the train doors open you look around where you were sitting and in other spots but nothing, “was is my phone…? i’m sure if i dropped it, it would be here…” you mumbled to yourself. you get off the train thanking the conductor before walking off. you walk deep in thought “where could that phone be?” you think to yourself, “y/n!” your friend leehan shouts causing you to look up.

“fuck.” you whispered to yourself, you totally forgot that he was meeting you here “leehan! hi dude.” you shout back walking towards him. “i’ve been calling you for the last twenty minutes,” he said. “yeah i lost my phone just now, i think someone might have stolen it.” you laugh a little, “well uhm… that’s funny?” he says in a confused tone. “well no, but if i don’t laugh i might actually go insane so…” he nodded in response, “do you want to keep looking or just head home?” he asked, you shrugged. “i don’t know what i’m going to do.” you sit down on one of the benches in the station.

“so i assume this is more than just about a phone? hm?” he sits down next to you nudging you. “nope just about a phone!” you reassure him, “let’s get going actually, that ride from seoul to busan made me hungry. my treat.” you smile before grabbing him out of the seat leading him out of the station.

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“i really hate you for not bringing your car…” you say glaring at leehan, “okay i thought this would be more effective-” you cut him off “in what way?” you huff “this is ridiculous.” he laughs. you both continue walking along the sidewalk you bump into him every now again “so you forgot how to walk?” he said, raising an eyebrow, “maybe.” you continue to glare at him. “oh my… i’m incredibly sorry i didn’t drive my car to the train station.” he rolled his eyes, “is that what you want to hear?” you scoffed “what i would like to hear is a car engine.” you and leehan look at each other and laugh.

“just say you missed me, you act like it’s hard.” he chuckled, and you continued walking. “i miss… my phone.” you spoke fake crying, “oh okay y/n” he continued laughing. walking made everything seem like it was so far, well technically it was but the walk only made it longer and you didn’t have your phone. you constantly think about where it could be or where it could’ve gone.

you know it should be on the train but it wasn’t, and how did someone have that much time to grab your phone? this is actually hard for you considering you practically live on your phone, which was a habit you were trying to break so maybe this was just step one into breaking that habit.

“i really think we should be coming upon the cafe soon.” leehan said, “well not shit, i live in busan as well.” you say joking leehan takes off running, “last one there has to pay!” he said get further and further away. against your better judgment you started running after him even though you had no energy.

soon you both arrive at the cafe, some before others… “next time give me a head up dude!” you say trying to catch you breath, he was sitting on the step outside the cafe, “i would’ve won regardless,” he says looking up at you “yeah yeah yeah,” you sigh “just go inside so we can sit down finally.” you said. “well actually i’ve been sitti-” you cut him off “leehan. just go inside.”

he stood up laughing, swiping the dirt off his pants “if you insist.” you roll your eyes and follow behind him. the cafe hasn’t changed much in the last few months. the only thing that’s changed was the winter decorations they had up were no longer there but that was about it, and they removed the holidays menu. you look around in the cafe taking in the view from the windows and just the people around.

“yea i want the usual and i’m sure she’ll want her usual as well.” the older man infront of us said, talking to the worker, “hey i gonna go sit down.” you said to leehan and he nodded in response. you decided to sit down on the couch and look at some of the books they had on the table. you and leehan aren’t in your neighborhood yet but this was a cafe you both would stop by before school and get a bagel or doughnut on the way to school, something about being here brings back that nostalgic feeling, the smell of coffee, in the winter it’s the smell of peppermint but over the cafe always smell like some kind of cherry wood giving it a homey vibe.

soon leehan approaches you “here y/n,” he said getting you attention anytime you came to this cafe you get the same thing no matter the time of day, you always get two croissants the ends dipped in chocolate and a americano, “i don’t know how you drink that nastiness.” leehan said teasing you but also being serious he sits down next to you “it’s actually not that bad! take a sip,” you encouraged him.

he shakes his head “nope! but i will take a piece of this croissant.” he said, biting a piece of it from your hand, flakes of croissant fall onto your lap. he laughs putting his hand under his chin to not make more of a mess and you roll your eyes taking a piece of the croissant with your other hand and eat it.

“did you have fun in seoul?” he asks, taking a sip of his milk, “first of all why do you have milk and cookies? don’t you usually get a cinnamon stick? but yes! i had so much fun in seoul, everyone was asking about you.” you said in between sips of your drink.

“oh okay y/n! the food police… i just wanted to try something new, not new but you know, different.” he responded and you nodded, “don’t ignore what else i said leehan,” you nudged him “you should’ve come.”

“and miss out on all the fun here? pst i don’t think so.” he jokes and you laugh, “you can’t keep avoiding her forever leehan,” you say looking in his direction taking another sip of you americano. “i’m not avoiding her, i’m giving her space like she asked for.” he says in a rather convincing tone, but it more so sounds like he’s trying to convince himself.

“enough about that though, i’m just glad you enjoyed yourself, i’m sure you needed it.” he bites his cookie, “okay these are hard.” he said as he crunched on the cookie and you both made eye contact and laughed.

you both continued to eat your croissant and laugh, “so how are we going to find your phone?” leehan asks “i’m not even sure… it could be anywhere by now, i’ll probably just get a new one.” you add, “was your phone dead or charged?” he asks “should be charged, why…?” you ask, dragging out the y in why. “cause i have find my iphone i have your location we can track it,” he suggests “AND YOU SAY THIS NOW????? DO IT HURRY!!! i might die without my phone for real, i’m already hyperventilating-” you’re cut off by leehan “ok y/n ok!” he laughs, “ouuu… so actually my phone just died…” he says “leehan. dong hyun. stop.” you say glaring at him.

“it probably died while i was calling you 8 times back to back…” he said, sighing, “dong hyun… let’s just go home just- let’s go home.” you continue glaring at him, you both stand up grabbing your cups and cleaning up your trash. leehan throws the cookies he had in the trash and you both look at eachother and laugh, “they didn’t even break when they hit the bottom,” you say laughing.

leaving the cafe the sun was finally out, a few clouds in the sky and you swear you could hear birds chirping, the smell of water and trees filled your nose as you exited the cafe. “busan is so beautiful during the day,” you say while taking in the view around you “y/n you grew up here” leehan said “and? i can’t admire its beauty?” you replied and he laughed.

“don’t you get so much nostalgia when you walk down these streets?” you asked, “reminds me of when we were kids are your big head would run along the road, our parents following closely behind us.” you sigh laughing lightly, “those were good times, then in highschool you ran off with that guy and left me to walk the streets of busan alone…” he adds “you’re so dramatic, we all walked together… you just walked a little slower.” you say and he sighs.

“you ever think about him?” he says and it catches you off guard “all the time dummy, he was my first love so of-” leehan cuts you off “i thought i was your first love???” he says jokingly and you nudge him “don’t flatter yourself, also you need to work on that you constantly cut me off when i talk it’s lowkey annoying.” you said and he shrugged “start getting to the point faster.”

you roll your eyes, you both continue walking down the street waving at some of the residents, who live in the area. the street was fairly quiet and empty with a few people here and there but that was typical for this neighborhood, everyone was either working or just stayed inside. faint sounds of waves crashing into each in the distance the more you walked the closer you got to your destination.

home was so far yet so close, you just wanted to flop down in your bed after the last few weeks you’ve had before you had to resume life back home, you weren’t ready to go home just yet though. “leehan where are you going after this?” you asked, blocking the sun with your eyes “home,” he said “why? what’s up?” “let’s go by your house first then i’ll walk home from there!” you suggested, “huh? why? going to my house makes the walking distance from yours a bit further.” he said, “it makes sense though, we’d have to pass your neighborhood to get to mine.”

“i think you’re just trying to get rid of me,” he said with a smirk on his face “you’re actually annoying so yes!” you said “now let’s take this detour and go to your beloved house.” you both make a right turn, this time you both we’re walking in the direction of the water. the sun reflecting on the water just right, the water glistening, waves crashing into the rocks, the sight was just beautiful.

a light breeze in the air, “why couldn’t you just have driven… ugh!” you said “this is easier since everything is within walking distance, y/n stop complaining.” leehan responded “unfortunately i was born to complain and-” you were cut off “oh ok.” leehan chimed in.

you playfully pushed him, “you should’ve brought your charger and charged your phone at the cafe, now we have to walk all the way to your house to charge your phone.” you said, “i have my charger,” he said pulling it out his pocket “remember you suggested we should leave so we did.” you glare at him.

“kim dong hyun… i’m actually going to kill you!” you say and he takes off running and laughing, you would never admit it but moments like this were your favorite. bickering like siblings, well you two basically are this just showed how close you two truly are not that you need the reassurance. you were gone for a month and both you and leehan were able to pick up right where you left off.

leehan is like your little brother, no leehan is your little brother. since you were kids you and leehan have been conjoined to each other, even when you both got into a relationship you still found and made time for each other. and realistically if any man talked to like leehan did you’d most likely leave them alone, but you know leehan means no harm and plus the back and forth and bickering is mutual.

“ahhh help me!! this crazy lady is chasing me!!” he said continuing the run getting further and further from you. “shut up dummy before people take you seriously!��� you shouted back.

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you both arrive at his house you see his car parked nicely alongside the house and you pinch him “that’s for not driving your car,” you say pinching him again “and that’s for not keeping your phone charged.” “OW!” he shouts “can we just go inside? SAFELY?” he adds “yes! go inside so i can tell your parents how you neglected me the whole walk over here.”

his jaw drops in a dramatic way, “wow y/n…” he said putting his hand against his chest as if you stabbed him in the heart, you roll your eyes at him before brushing past him knocking on the door “y/n, why are you knocking i have a key plus my parents aren’t even here.” he said and you look over notice there were no cars besides his parked along the house

“oh…” you say in a low tone he laughs as he makes his way towards the door unlocking it and you practically push him down to get into the house. for some reason his house smelled like apple cinnamon? you couldn’t quite put your finger on the smell but it wasn’t mrs kim's usual smell but you couldn’t deny it smelled good.

you make your way to their living room plopping onto the couch sighing loudly, you hear leehan close and clock the door in the distance. he grabs your legs and fling them off the couch onto the floor sitting where your legs were. “can you not?” we just walked for like an hour!” you say sighing sitting up, leaning on the arm of the couch.

“it was only 15 mins… 30 mins all together.” he laughed, you mocked his laugh “dude go charge your phone, i’m literally so phone deprived right now… like i’m actually starting to feel colors.” you say shoving him off the couch, “and i hear sound.” he says “well i hope so?” you say laughing “you’re supposed to hear sound dummy, now go charge your phone.”

he rolls his eyes “you know what i meant.” he walks towards the kitchen and you follow him, “everything is still the same” you said “you only left for a MONTH, stop saying that like stuff was supposed to change.” he says plugging his phone into the cabinet outlet, he placed his phone one the table the charging screen showing up on his phone.

“do you keep those “call this number if you find this phone” on your phone?” he asks, “and who would they call? my number?” you respond sarcastically “no dummy you put a trusted adult number, cause obviously you can’t be trusted with your own phone.” be replied and just then his phone powers on and you smile excitedly.

he grabs his phone “don’t get too excited i need to text my parents first and let them know i made it home.” he said but you knew he was doing it to tease you, you watched as he went to message and slowly started typing you getting more and more impatient. “kim dong hyun you type faster than this on a bad day.” he just laughs “okay okay!”

“okay let’s see uhm, well according to the location of your phone it’s still at the train station.” he said, causing you to sigh “of course it is… cause it being anywhere else would’ve been too easy.” you huff and lightly bang your head on the counter and leehan playfully pushes your head down once before you start groaning.

“why can’t things just be so simple, everything is hard!” you complain, “cause if everything was easy life wouldn’t be fun…” he adds and you sigh. “and this is fun?” “well… kinda? it’s like a scavenger hunt for your phone.” he says.

you know he was trying to make light of the situation but sometimes you just wanted someone to agree with you.

“i think i’ll head home now.” you say as you make your way out the kitchen, “wait really? y/n you just got here don’t you wanna rest for a bit?” he asked with a confused expression, “i do but i’m sure my parents are waiting for me.” you replied, which was a lie… your parents hadn’t even known you were back yet. you wanted to surprise them but looks like you were the one in for the surprise.

he squinted his eyes at you before nodding, “okay but at least let me take you home.” he said, “leehan it’s fine i don’t mind walking alone,” you replied he knew was about to fight a loosing battle so he just didn’t say anything and brushed past you heading past the stairs into his room. “y/n!” he shouted from his room and you followed the voice.

“hm?” you say standing in the doorway and his room was still the same, bed still in the same place as when you were kids, same posters and stuff, same lamp, dresser just same everything. he turned around and faced you “take this,” he said, handing you his apple watch “you don’t have your phone but you can use this you know if it’s an emergency or something.” he added and you take the watch, adjusting it to your wrist size.

“alright leehan,” you say smiling “i’m off to hopefully get proper rest!” you say teasing him and he laughs “alright y/n be safe, call me when you get home… no pun intended.” he says, you give him a nodded and you share a hug before leaving his house.

a walk alone was probably just what you, especially after leaving seoul being surrounded by people. now how would you explain to your parents your back a month early from seoul…? “fuck..” you say lowly fidgeting with your hands as you walked, that didn’t even cross your mind. leehan knew you were going to seoul but not for how long so when you told him you were back there was no reason for him to question you.

you parents on the other hand… you sighed “what am i going to do?” you think to yourself, the reason you went to seoul was of course for your friends but also cause you felt like your life in busan was moving too slow but in seoul you felt like you life was moving too fast.

the majority of the walk was just you and your thoughts, you continuously checked the time on the watch only a minute passed. “maybe i should’ve let leehan take me home.” you think to yourself, it was only around two and to think you only just left seoul about two-three hours ago.

you follow the same direction you and leehan had walked earlier, suddenly the watch chimes and you look at it, it’s just a message from leehan mom to him. and it dawned on you that the watch is connected to his phone which kinda makes you uncomfortable considering you can see who calls and texts him.

you were like ninety nine percent sure he wouldn’t of lended it to you if he didn’t trust or just mind you using it. so the thought you had soon dissolved and you continued walking.

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

after what seemed like ages you finally arrived at your place, you don’t see your parents cars so you assume they must be gone you fiddle around in your bag for your key you grab it and put the mey into the keyhole before twisting it and unlocking the door.

you take a deep breath and walk into the house you see your brother on the couch “i knew i smelled something dead…” he says looking in your direction. you roll your eyes walking past him ruffling his hair before dashing upstairs to get some rest.

you start to make your way to your room “oh yeah by the way, some guy came by and dropped this off.” your brother says and you stop on the stairs turning around heading back towards the living room, “dropped what off?? and what guy.” you asked, “ahhh the questions y/n i don’t know look on the table.” you replied and you walked over to the table.

to your shock there was your phone on the table, “what the fuck???” was all you managed to get out. “how-” you were cut off by your brother “he also said not to tell you who he was and that in the upcoming days you’ll find out,” he huffed “i guess he thinks this is a movie but i’ll play along.” he added, “what???? why is my phone HERE and not at the train station???? and when did it get here????” you ramble on and on.

the last thing you had expected was to see your phone laying on the table, you pick it up and a sticky note falls off the back of it you read the note to yourself “just wanted to return your phone to you safely without actually returning it to you.” was what was written, you sighed.

“then he said something like say the one and only…? and you’d know what that meant… freaks.” your brother spoke up, but that sentence just wasn’t ringing a bell… you don’t know why or what but you need the rest of this week was going to get crazy and this was just a taste of it.

masterlist > next

d’s notes: what if is here YAYY! first chapter i’m super excited and i really really really hope you all enjoy this mini series :D hope you all have a great day or night!

taglist: @kamfaye @kukkurookkoo @woonhakiastic @dobbiesvvorld @taylorluvation @molensworld @nujeskz @yuzuksi @beaabz @leralise @bloomnspring @yurisblooming @pumpkg @heeheesang @enzstr @taesanfav @janjoonty @sanataesan ♡

© sqh3e

[a-d-nox]

pac/pap: a love life check-up

take what resonates leave what doesn't - nothing is 100% for you because these aren't personalized so please no angry comments or dms about what i am saying not being a good fit for you or that you "don't claim" just keep scrolling if that is the case. be kind, self reflect, and have fun.

last pac/pap: your 2026 self's advice for 2025

return to the masterlist of pap/pac posts

paid reading options: astrology menu & cartomancy menu

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pile one

you’ve been through a lot in love - that’s past relationships, disappointments, or emotional struggles. you might feel guarded, cautious, or even a little weary when it comes to opening your heart again. however, this card is also a sign of resilience. you haven’t given up on love, but you’re in a phase where you’re protecting yourself and evaluating whether love is worth the risk.

your ideal relationship is one that offers emotional depth, excitement, and multiple possibilities. you seek a dreamy, almost fantastical connection, but it also warns against illusions. your perfect partner is someone who brings clarity to your romantic life, helping you move past confusion or unrealistic expectations. this could mean you desire a love that feels limitless, but one that is also grounded in reality.

take a practical, slow, and steady approach to love. love is about learning, patience, and building a strong foundation. you should focus on personal growth, setting clear intentions, and being open to love as a long-term investment rather than a fleeting romance. whether that means working on self-worth, improving communication, or being intentional about dating, you’re being called to embrace love as something that requires effort, curiosity, and persistence.

pile two

you’re moving away from deception, self-sabotage, or uncertainty in love. this could mean you’ve recently uncovered the truth about a situation, realized unhealthy patterns, or decided to be more honest with yourself about what you want in a relationship. there’s a sense of no longer running away from your emotions or settling for half-truths - now, you’re ready for something real.

your perfect relationship is one that feels complete, fulfilling, and expansive. you want a love that brings a sense of wholeness, growth, and purpose - whether through deep emotional connection, shared life goals, or even travel and new experiences together. you seek a partner who has a mature, well-rounded perspective - someone who has learned from their past and is ready for a meaningful, lasting connection.

you may need to focus on self-care, self-worth, and nurturing yourself before you can fully receive the kind of love you desire. you might be neglecting your own needs - whether that’s emotionally, physically, or spiritually. true love starts from within, and if you’ve been over-giving or feeling disconnected from your feminine energy, it’s time to pour that love back into yourself.

pile three

you’re in a healing phase, recovering from past heartbreak, disappointment, or emotional wounds. while you may not be fully over what hurt you, there’s a sense that you’re starting to move forward. you might be working through lingering pain, but you’re also learning valuable lessons about love, boundaries, and what you truly deserve.

your perfect relationship is one that feels light, supportive, and free of unnecessary burdens. you want a love that brings ease, not stress - one where both partners share responsibilities rather than one person carrying all the weight. this suggests a relationship where you can be yourself without feeling drained, and where emotional labor is shared rather than overwhelming.

you may need to rebuild confidence in your ability to manifest the love you desire. feelings of self-doubt, missed opportunities, or even subconscious limiting beliefs are blocking you from creating the relationship you want. now is the time to recognize your own power - are you unknowingly holding yourself back? are you settling for less than you deserve? trust that you have everything you need to attract the right love, but you need to believe in your own worth and abilities first.

[irishironclad]

Walking As Somebody Else

Some place in Tennessee that had no name nor number to describe it there sat a rusted mobile home that some folk might assume abandoned or housing squatters. It if weren’t for the relatively new truck that was parked next to it. 

It was summer, the small AC unit dripped moisture and rattled in its struggle to warm the space that was too large for it. Vincent kept a clean home, any time there was a mess he felt an unnatural fear that someone would appear to scream at him about it. 

There were no pictures, no personal belongings unpacked, with everything away in luggage or small chests.  The cupboards held one plate, one bowl, one mug, and there was one set of silverware. 

Vincent sat in an old leather chair that he didn’t remember ever buying yet was wrinkled with his shape. He stared at a television he hardly ever bothered to turn on. While nursing a glass of Chattanooga 1816 Reserve paired with one of his cigarillos. Smoothing back his sandy blond hair he sighed and paid attention to his breathing and heart rate - listening for any abnormalities. There was no reason for an incident to happen now, but he worried about it constantly. There was no one he could call if it happened again. 

Today was the day he did it, the day he tainted his hands. He remembered trailing ash into the recruitment office, they didn’t question him none. More meat, another body. Vincent had hoped to die over there in the desert, but the Devil had other plans for him. So when they rotated him out, citing his ‘heart condition’ as why he couldn’t go back - he returned to nothing. 

The recession didn’t touch those who hadn't nothing to lose. Whatever Vincent had inherited from his daddy was left to ashes, and as far as the banks were concerned he died in those flames too. They weren’t too concerned to look, so he only needed to move to the other side of the state and no one thought much of it. 

So one bothered him, except for the lady who kept knocking on his door. See he’d made the mistake of getting involved, he realized soon enough that if he sat around doing nothing for nobody then soon enough he’d find himself eyeing the barrel of a gun. So he’d found himself working as a bounty hunter, as well as getting a P.I license. Helping out the local boys with a case here or there. Was even a sheriff’s deputy for a while. All that fell apart, it didn’t take long for them to get a whiff of who he truly was. No lawman. No protector. The stink of blood remained no matter what title he had. 

The woman at his door didn’t seem to get the message. Sarah-Lynn James had been calling on him a few times now. Vincent sighed and put down his drink, taking a moment to smooth his shirt and look presentable before opening the door. There stood a single mother, worn and tired, with gray streaking her once vibrantly red hair she now stood teary eyed with a freshly made casserole at his doorstep. 

“Mister Valério, I made you-” 

“Mrs James, that's very kind of you but I have to direct you to the sheriff again, I know you’re hurtin’ but I’m a bail bondsman not the police,” Vincent said calmly. 

“I know you’ve found people before who ain’t out on bail,” Mrs James said, her voice quivering, she shoved the casserole into Vincent’s arms and he had no real choice but to take it. It was still warm and smelled like it was chicken. 

“Mrs James those were criminals and known fugitives, missing children ain’t really-” 

“Her name is Jane, she just turned twenty, a tiny thing she never ate right. She’s allergic to shellfish and has a beauty mark on her right cheek,” Mrs James produced a polaroid of her daughter, she looked like a younger version of her mother. With all the life and energy of youth. Vincent’s chest tightened. 

“Ma’am the sheriff’s department…”

“Won’t lift a finger, says she’s an adult, she only just turned eighteen! And she’s never been one to leave like this!” 

He wanted to help, but there were complications. It was outside of his licensing, even if he was a former sheriff’s deputy this was stepping out of the line. Vincent had been careful, folk were out looking for people like him. It had been on the news more and more, and putting himself into harm's way - it only invited exposing himself. And really, what right had he to do good? That wasn’t he. He found bad people, not good ones. It was a different sort of hunt. 

“Mrs James…” he started. He had a hundred reasons he could give, but when he caught her gaze they died in his throat. Mrs James brown eyes were red and puffy and lined but they were the same as her daughters. Vincent saw they had the same laughter and joy in them, or they did. 

“Thank you for the casserole…” Vincent sighed. “Maybe… I’ll come by later, look at her room, see if I can’t find a lead.” 

“That's all I ask, thank you, thank you so much.” 

She left blissfully quickly and Vincent was able to close his door and place the casserole down with a sigh. He could humour her, head over, take a look, and tell her that there’s no way to find her daughter. That would be the smart thing to do. That would keep him safe. Even if the look in that mothers eyes struck at his heart. 

He got away with how things were, deputies turning a blind eye, using a false name. But this was real detective stuff… it would draw attention. Yet, the feeling in his chest wouldn’t go away. If he couldn’t do this then why was he…

Vincent shook his head and stood up. Stuffed into a corner was a footlocker, hidden under stacks of files and old paperwork. Vincent cleared off the mess and opened the footlocker, inside were more notes and some leather bound journals. Layed on top was a chain with dog tags hung from it. Vincent barely nudged them with his finger before he felt a nauseous anger boiling in his throat and he snapped the footlocker closed. He rubbed his eyes and chewed his lip, unsure what to do, yet unable to ignore the nagging need that urged him on. 

What use are you if you don’t? 

He could just keep it quiet and not bother anyone. 

You have sins to repay. 

Vincent clutched his hands into fists. He could almost feel it, the prickling stabbing sensation that he had run from. Would he need to do it again? 

Freaks like you don't deserve to be alive if you don’t do nothin’ for nobody. 

Vincent avoided phones these days, but he had a burner that he kept around just in case. Dialing a familiar number he got an answer with only a few rings.

“Deputy Jones speaking.”

“Hey Jim, it’s Vince.”

“...hey man, you doing alright?” 

“Yeah, could you do me a favour? Wondering if you know-” 

“-Vince… the boss has been wanting to talk to you, something about a case, this one has the feds involved.” 

“...what’re they saying?” Vincent asked carefully. 

“You’re not a suspect but they just wanna talk, I don’t know the details.” 

“Right, well, can you tell me anything about the Jane James case.” 

“Jane James… Vince, did you hear what I said?”

“Yeah, the case?” 

“It isn’t one, she’s an adult and ain’t been gone a day, why’re you asking about this?”

“Thanks Jim,” Vincent said, hanging up immediately. He snapped the phone in half and tossed it in the trash. 

Feds weren't a good sign, but he’d always known they’d sniff him out eventually. Most of the boys had some inkling, but he was useful enough they didn’t care. Some of them even understood, others wished they could have done the same. But they didn’t know for sure, they didn’t know the details. 

How long could he remain in hibernation? Not long, not if the feds were here. Vincent considered the casserole on his table. If he was going to be found out anyhow then what was the harm? That was the cold logic he gave himself, in truth the way Jim had dismissed the case all together. That didn’t sit right. 

He took the time to shower and shave, considering his jawline in the mirror Vincent decided to keep his mustache. He felt it made him look professional; as well as making his face look a tad different. He carefully combed his hair, cleansed his face, moisturized, and applied his favourite cologne; citrus and vanilla bean. He didn’t do all this to impress, it was like a cleansing ritual, attempting to wash off the taint from himself. Apply enough perfume and you couldn’t smell the stink of blood. 

He pulled on his boots and an old denim jacket and left, deciding to take his 1992 Harley Daytona for the short trip. It usually lived concealed under a tarp behind the trailer home, but some part of Vincent figured it may be a while yet before he could ride it again.

Mrs James lived on the outskirts of Nashville in a small little home on a hill apart from the other houses. The grass hadn’t been cut in a long while, and the house desperately needed a coat of paint.  Mrs James welcomed Vincent in with offers of sweet tea and more food which Vincent politely declined. 

Jane’s room was on the second floor, it had a window but a sheer drop below it. The room was no less messy than one would expect from a young woman. Though the drawers and closet had been left ajar from what looked like her quickly packing clothes. 

You picked up a few things tracking people, and Vincent had learned the easiest way for folk to go missing is when they go missing by choice. 

“You say she’s disappeared before?” he asked. 

“Yes,” Mrs James said. “But never this long, and not like this, she's never packed before or stayed out more than a night.”

“Did you let her go out like that?” Vincent asked. As much as he hated to think it, there was always a possibility Jane was running for a reason. 

“I didn’t approve but I knew she was young and… I should have been more strict, I shouldn’t have let her go out, stupid, but I didn’t want to bar her like some animal.” 

The tone was sincere, if Mrs James was the issue she would have blamed her daughter. Vincent carefully stepped around the room, looking for anything out of place. If she didn’t run away, then she may have been running to something. A boyfriend? 

“She never dated,” was mom’s answer. 

Could’ve been a secret boyfriend, maybe, but mom said she never dated not that she wasn’t allowed to date. Hiding a boyfriend usually came after the first boyfriend who mom didn’t like. 

“Friends?”

“Yeah, I mean, a few, sometimes and she’s gone out with them but never any real close friend you know? I worried sometimes about that, you need folk you can rely on.”

Vincent was entirely sure mom wasn’t to blame at this point. Sounded line Jane struggled to really connect with folk, but maybe she wanted to. Maybe that was what this was all about. On the veranda there were pictures of Jane, with friends, never the same ones. Always with her seemingly with a group, never just her and one other friend. Always tacked on, an addition, an afterthought. 

You’re sure you’re talking about Jane? 

No computer in the house, so if there was someone tempting Jane out of her home it was done in person. Vincent found no letters, no notes, not even a diary or day planner. He was beginning to understand why the sheriff’s department didn’t want to touch this. Still something smelt off, twinged the hairs on the back of Vincent's head. 

Back in the desert he’d grown this awareness for things, a look here, a movement there, one rock out of place. Helped with keeping the boys from being shot when no one was looking. Helped even more shooting the other boys when they thought you couldn’t see. You never did stop looking for targets in the sand, even when there wasn’t any sand. 

There was a trash bin though, and inside of it Vincent found a few wrappers and random bits of discarded paper. But then there was a ticket, fairly new, punched. On it read ‘Visions - Bar and Dance.’ Vincent thought for a moment and was fairly sure that wasn’t anywhere in Tennessee. 

“Cincinnati,” Mrs James said. “She’s been to that one before that… that was the only time I ever got mad at her for going out… I didn’t want her crossing state lines Oh God did I push her-” 

“Ma’am I've seen cases with runaways before,” Vincent said. “A lot of them parents gave their kids a lot of reasons to run away and it took years before they did, I don’t think this is your fault.”

“I’m just… I just want her back safe.” 

“I’ll… do what I can, ma’am,” it felt odd. To hunt down something lost, something wanted. Then to hunt what no one wanted anymore. 

Mrs James attempted to force money into his hands again, but he wouldn’t take it. Not this time. Not anymore. He left her with a promise. Hell or highwater he’d bring her girl back. 

Vincent returned to his trailer, his breath caught in his throat when he approached the footlocker again. He swallowed and opened it, pushing aside the dog tags and the papers to find a wooden box buried underneath. He retrieved it and quickly sealed the footlocker and its memories back up. 

The box contained a gift. A browning hi-power handgun, the grip was mahogany and the steel blues with silver engravings encroaching up the sides. The word’s “Be Not Afraid” written on the slide. It was polished and clean, never fired. Vincent pressed the cold metal of the slide to his lips. He didn’t need the gun, he knew this, but it allowed him to pretend. 

He retrieved a magazine and loaded the weapon with a click of the slide and the hammer. He stuffed the weapon into his waistband and hid extra magazines inside of his jacket. There wasn’t much else to take, none of it he needed, and none of it he’d be able to keep once he was caught up to. Better to travel light. 

On his way out Vincent gave the trailer a pat on its siding as a goodbye, and he did the same for his bike. As much as he wanted to take it out with him it just wasn’t practical. So he got into his brown 2001 Ford Ranger and set off without so much as a look back at what had been his home for the better part of three years. 

It was a five hour drive to Cincinnati. Vincent drove hard to the Kentucky border, he didn’t know how long before a warrant would be put out for him. But he was sure whatever courtesy he’d gained with the sheriff wouldn’t hold off the feds forever.  

He stopped at a twenty-four hour diner just across the state border, the sun having cast itself into the west with an explosion of orange light. Vincent sat down and ordered coffee along with steak and eggs. No one paid him any mind. The radio softly cut through the din of the various truckers in the diner eating and taking a rest. It cut between country blues and Elvis, and Vincent allowed himself to relax. 

The last song slowly faded away and a voice replaced it. 

“Thank you for listening to 181.6 FM, your voice on the road. I’m Jared Culsinger, and I have here with me Bobby Kinney, he’s the founder of the Preservationist Foundation here to talk about the latest reports of so-called Metahumans appearing across the United States, thanks for being here Bob.” 

Vincent froze, mid sip of his coffee, and resisted the urge to spit it out. He could physically feel the palpations of his heart pulsing through his body like ripples in a lake. 

“No problem Jared, thanks for having me.”

“Now as it stands the federal government as well as any of the states have refused to comment on the existence of these Metas, so what can you say to people at home that’re skeptical?” 

“Well Jared all you have to do is pay attention, multiple medical experts have stated on the record about these cases, we saw just in the news a few weeks ago a young girl burned her way through a concrete wall, these people are out there whether the government wants to admit it or not.” 

“And to the people at home should they be concerned at all?” 

“They should but I don’t want to fearmonger. Metahumans are people, they just have a condition, they’re scared and they often don’t know how to control what's happening to them. It’s in their best interest as well as the public’s that they be identified and given the help they need.” 

Vincent let nothing show on his face or in his actions. He calmly glanced around and it didn’t look like anyone was paying any attention to the radio. He wasn’t even sure what he’d do if he were to be found out; though it was ridiculous enough that anyone could tell what he was. 

“So Bob, how would the folk at home be able to tell one of these Metahumans from someone normal?”

“It can be hard, but a few things to look out for. There’s the obvious like them doing things that a human shouldn’t be able to do, feats of strength, injuries that would kill someone else. But what we’ve found is that they can never hide what they are from friends and family, so we find so many of them homeless or drifting. So I’d say give a close eye to anyone who seems to be wandering into town for no good reason, doesn’t seem to have any connections to anyone else, they give vague details about where they’re from. That sort of thing.” 

Vincent decided to keep on driving through the night. Only stopping once to catch an hour of two or sleep on a back road off the highway. He made it to Cincinnati by early morning. 

The whole place was a mess of office buildings and construction. Vincent never liked cities, but they were good places to disappear into. And harder places to find someone. Whole place smelt of piss, Vincent sneezed. 

He drove around a bit, getting a feeling for the area. It didn’t take long for him to wander downtown and soon the streets were lined with bars and clubs. The neon lights flickered brightly even in the brightening light of the morning. He didn’t see anywhere labeled ‘Visions’. 

Vincent figured that if Jane were here to go clubbing she would have gotten a room nearby so she wouldn’t have to walk far. He began driving in ever larger circles around the block until he found a hotel which matched the seedy tone this part of the city had. 

The receptionist was a lovely middle aged woman who looked Vincent up and down while dragging on a cigarette. Vincent recognized the look, and he wasn’t above using it to his advantage. 

“Hello, darlin’” he said, laying on the accent a tad smoother and thicker than he would naturally. “Hopin’ to stay a night or two.” 

“Absolutely,” she said, batting her eyelashes. “Visiting someone?”

“No one special,” it was a practiced dance, something he’d picked up over the years. “Know any good places to get a drink around here?” 

“Depends what you’re drinking,” she said. “What're your tastes, hon?”  

Men. 

“I like to try new things,” Vincent drawled. “Heard there’s a spot nearby, Visions?”

“Oh that's definitely new, all sorts go there, I’ve been there a few times,” the receptionist leaned on her hand. “Maybe I could take you?”

“Why don’t you sell me where it is, sugar, and I’ll meet you there tonight.” 

“It’s a date,” she said, and she scribbled an address and her number on a scrap of paper. “Still needing that room, hon?” 

“Something tells me I’ll find a place to stay tonight,” Vincent said with a wink, and the receptionist blushed violently. Vincent sauntered out, he memorized the address she had written down and then tossed the paper without even glancing at her number. In fact he hadn’t even looked at her name tag. 

The false face had come easily, the smile practiced, the look in his eyes, the way eh drawed out his vowels. No one taught him this, it was a natural thing. Different face, a different name. Alway walking as somebody else. 

Evening came soon enough, and with the neon signs illuminating the dimming streets Vincent. As he walked the streets he realized he felt elated, a smile growing on his face without his consent. The trail, the hunt, the chase, the searching. He missed these things, it felt right, it felt like him. 

Once he noticed it, instinctually he tried to push the feeling down out of reflex. Scared of what it meant, of why he felt this way. Forcing himself to remember his first hunt, his first kill. Acid scorched Vincent’s throat. By the time he found the club Vincent was frowning again. 

He watched as people lined up outside to get in. It was only half your average club crowd, frat boys and girls dressed in too little for the cold. But the other half was interesting, suits, all older, all were able to skip the main line and enter right away. 

Some of the suits the bouncer just glanced at and let in, but others had to wave cash. That was a way in quickly. Vincent was just about done eyeing his way in when he heard buzzing from his glove compartment. He opened it, pushing away the empty cigarillo packs and unpaid parking tickets to find one of his burner phones buzzing away. 

Vincent raised his eyebrow, he didn’t get scammers or anything. Anyone who called that number knew it and knew who they were callin. So Vincent flipped it open and answered. 

“Mister Valério?” 

“Who’s calling?” 

“Agent Milton, FBI.” 

“Right, and what can I do for you Mister Milton?” 

“Is this Vincent Valério I’m speaking to?” 

“It very well could be but I’m afraid I can’t answer that.” 

“Right, well, Mister Valério I have a few questions for you and I’m wondering if you might come down to the local station.” 

“Well I’m a might busy right now, Agent,” Vincent glanced behind him out of habit. No one was sneaking up on him. 

“I thought as much, when I visited your trailer you weren’t there and your vehicle was gone.”

“Nice of you to stop by.”

“Yes, do you mind telling me where you’ve gone?”

“Off to visit family.”

“Right, according to our records you have no living family.”

“Is that so?” Vincent rummaged around his glove compartment and managed to find a cigarillo. His voice had been calm, but this was a ploy. He had to play this game to buy himself time but he could feel the well of shame in his gut; a cauldron of self disgust that threatened to spew out of his mouth. The taste of tobacco on his lips soothed it slightly. 

“Your father died in 2006 right?”

“I’m sure you know already.” 

“And you enlisted to the US Army Rangers that same year, correct?” 

“You tell me.” 

“It’s not exactly normal behaviour to enlist right after a close family member dies is it?” 

“I wouldn’t know.” 

“And then there’s the manner of his death, coroner didn’t even know what he was looking at, it was like something tore him apart from the inside. He couldn't even put down cause of death.” 

“I didn’t read that case,” Vincent said. He dragged heavily on his cigarillo as the memory came to him. Gurgling and choking, red spikes piercing flesh from within. 

“Listen, Vince, I made this call out of professional courtesy for the work you’ve done and out of respect for you as a veteran but… I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist you come into the station or I’ll have to get a warrant.” 

“If ya could’ve gotten a warrant you would’ve already,” Vincent said. “So ya’ll either can’t or ain’t wantin' to, either way Agent, you and I ain’t gunna chat again.” 

Vincent hung up and snapped the phone in half, tossing it out the window before getting out and approaching the club. He joined the short line of suits who paid to get in. The bouncer raised an eyebrow at him, but accepted the wad of cash Vincent offered him. 

“Only 200$ to get in,” he said. 

“Keep the change.” 

“Much obliged but you sure this is your scene, cowboy?” 

“I’m sure, maybe you can point me to who I’d talked to if I wanted something… different?”

A hint of displeasure showed on the bouncers’ face “Talk to Chase at the bar, he’ll set you up.” 

“Thank ya”

The pounding beat of music vibrated through the neon halls. Doorman was right, it wasn’t his scene at all. Vincent never did like techno much. 

There were three sorts of folks here. The ones with a lot of tattoos and too little clothes. Full of piercings and strange colours all over. Then there were the suits, stiff and coked up; looking for something they could only taste privately. Then there were the staff, all young, too young. Girls and boys both. Vincent felt something settle in his stomach that he didn’t like. 

The dance floor was crowded with people lost in a haze of substance and song, neon beams streamed across them like search lights. Older men pulled young women into private rooms furnished in velvet. Vincent noticed the weight of his gun more and more. 

Vincent skirted around the crowd and towards the bar, he sat down with a sigh. Pinching his nose, he had to focus on Jane. He began to think through how he would search the place, that was until he was distracted by the bartender. 

His messy curly brown hair was pulled back in a short loose tail, his turtle neck hugged his body a little too much. And he smiled sweetly at Vincent, who couldn’t help the grin he got on his face. 

“What can I get you?” he asked. 

“Whatever you’re best at, sugar,” Vincent drawled. The bartender batted his long eyelashes and grinned, reaching down to grab a glass. Vincent swore he was showing himself off. 

“What’s a cowboy like you doing here?” 

“Looking… for something.”

“Oh yeah?” the bartender delicately placed the drink before him, his nails were painted blue. “What would that be?” 

Vincent slowly sipped the drink, tasting sweet whiskey and pomegranate as he looked him over. 

“You first, what’s your name, sugar?” 

“Chase,” he purred. 

“And what’s a pretty little thing like you doing working here?” 

“It’s a job,” he shrugged a graceful shoulder. “Now you got a name, cowboy? Or you too mysterious for that?” 

“V- Cain” 

“Cain,” Chase repeated, tasting the sound of it. “Very mysterious, that your real name?” 

“Does it matter?” 

“Not at all.” 

“Good.”

“Still haven’t told me what you’re looking for, so what is it, cowboy?” 

Vincent paused, weighing his options. For all he knew he’d be arrested on return home, one night couldn’t hurt… he snuffed that thought quickly. It was tempting, but not important, he had work to do. 

“Looking for something different, taste wise,” Vincent said. “I heard they did that sort of thing around here.” 

The playful light dropped from Chase’s eyes and his smile dropped, Vincent hated it. 

“Yeah,” he said, he sounded almost robotic. It was as if he was forced to comply. “This way.” 

Chase brought Vincent past some curtains and down a long hall, the music faded to a distant hum as they entered a large dimly lit room. There Vincent joined a group of suits, all of whom looked strung out. They sat in plush velvet chairs, watching a dim stage in anticipation. Vincent joined them. 

The lights faded into a purple haze and from the curtains came ten women. Girls actually, the oldest couldn’t have been older than twenty, and the youngest was only twelve. Their faces were glazed over, staring off into the middle distance. All were dressed as if they were going to prom; with short skirts dressed full of sequins. The suits perked up, eyeing them and panting like rabid dogs. 

Vincent clenches his fists, he could feel a stabbing pain in his heart. His blood physically reacted to his anger, and threatened to reveal itself. He breathed through his nose, and scanned the lineup. 

It was hard to recognize her immediately with all the makeup they had plastered on her face. But there she was, Jane. The light from her eyes was gone. Vincent scanned the room, there were bouncers at every corner, likely armed. He would need to get Jane alone first. 

Chase came around and handed each man a menu, there displayed was each girl as if she was some premium cut of meat. With her age, her weight, and even her ‘mileage’ and though many of them had a number there Vincent was relieved a little to see Jane’s was zero. The price for each girl was barely that of a new car. 

Vincent’s heart pulsed but he maintained an air of calm; he indicated to Chase that he was interested in Jane. The suits chose their prize, Vincent struggled within to not kill them all here and save the other girls from what would happen next. He reminded himself he was here to do a job. One job. And getting himself killed helped no one. 

The girls were pulled off the stage and pushed into side rooms, the suits eagerly followed them, panting like dogs. Vincent swallowed back the acid in his throat and followed Jane into the room she was placed in. 

She stood waiting for him, staring off into the distance. She shook like a leaf, and blinked back tears. Though she otherwise looked unharmed. As Vincent stood there thinking of what to say she silently began to unclasp her dress. 

“Stop,” Vincent said quickly, Jane jumped in fear. Vincent softened his face and knelt down, speaking as calmly as he could. 

“Your name is Jane,” he said, and she froze. “Your mother is named Sarah-Lynn James, she sent me here, I’m not here to hurt you, I’m here to get you out.” 

“Are you… with the police?” 

“Not exactly, my name’s Vincent, just breathe okay?”

Jane continued to sob softly into her hands. Vincent scanned the room, besides the lush bed and cushions, neon lights, and mirrored ceiling; there wasn;t much. No secondary exit. Vincent began considering how far he could get with Jane in tow before he was stopped; not far. 

He was considering hiding her under his jacket when the neon lights shut off abruptly and they were left in darkness. Vincent heard shuffling outside, footsteps, shouting. He gripped his pistol and pulled it from his waistband. 

Speakers crackled to life, and a soft voice spoke out into the darkness. 

“Step out.”

Vincent felt an immense pressure in his head, like the words physically weight a tone on his mind. His legs nearly moved to obey, like he was meant to do so; yet he caught himself. He blinked in confusion, and in that moment of lost focus he didn’t immediately realize Jane had left his side and walked towards the door. 

He jumped to his feet and shoved himself in front of her as she stepped into the now bright lights of the stage room. Jane bumping into Vincent’s back was enough to knock her out of her trance and she froze again. 

Vincent gripped his pistol with white knuckles but did not raise it, they were surrounded by twelve armed men who pointed pistols and shotguns at them. In the middle of them was a portly balding man who smiled brightly at him. 

“It doesn’t work the best on people like us,” he said, his voice reverberating through Vincent’s skull. His heart beat thumped in his head. 

“You don’t recognize me but I recognize you… Vincent, right?”

Vincent said nothing, he did his best to tune out what he was saying and scanned the room. Only one exit. 

“You look good, been working out? You’re not as skinny as you were but then we were both young.” 

Vincent observed the armed men, they all had that glazed empty-minded look about them. Behind them, just barely, Vincent could swear he saw Chase hovering behind them. 

“I was in the program too, Vince, I’m Basil remember? Cut pretty early because they realized my voice… well everyone hears it… everyone listens you know?” 

Vincent was having trouble not listening but he managed to keep his face blank even though he felt an urge to reply. Like he was obligated to, like he wanted to. 

“No matter what I say, everyone wants to listen and do as I say, except us, except metas, the stronger they are the more they resist,” Basil laughed. “Took some trial and error to figure out, but I realized what this meant. These people, they’re meant to serve me, I’m meant to command you see? That's why I have this voice.” 

Vincent tried to remember how many bullets he had. Thirteen rounds in each mag, one locked and loaded, two more in his pocket. That made thirty-nine rounds. More than enough if he was accurate, but he didn’t know if these thugs were wearing body armour, or if there were more waiting to bust in. 

“I realized these people are like cattle, so I treat them like such, bought and sold, meat for me to do as I will; but you, oh your power is even greater. You were a warrior. I could use a warrior, Vince.” 

Vince spotted Chase again, he was staring at him from behind the thugs. His eyes were wide, and has lost the glazed look that he had before. He stared at Vincent, and at Jane. Vincent looked at him intensely. 

“All your life, Vince, you’ve been a lapdog for the state, for the obsolete! We’re the next step, stronger, faster, smarter, it just takes time; that’s what I’m building here don’t you see? A world where we don’t have to walk as if we’re something we’re not!”

There was a pause, as Basil spread his arms open in expectation. Vincent stared at him unimpressed, and the smile slowly faded on Basil’s face. 

There was a crash and within a moment the whole room was plunged into darkness. Vincent reacted immediately, grabbing Jane and throwing them both to the side. Lunging behind the stage the darkness was cut with bright muzzle flashes as the thugs opened fire. 

Vincent shoved Jane onto the floor and covered her body with his as the bullets ripped around them. When there was a break in the gunfire he quickly popped out of cover and spit out a flurry of ten rounds, unsure if he even hit anything. 

Jane was crying, Vincent’s ears rang with noise. He smelt blood, and swore he felt sand between his fingers and the scent of blood mixed with the stench of burning oil. 

He grit his teeth and popped out of cover to fire three more times, until his pistol clicked empty. This time he definitely heard a body hit the floor; he dove back down to quickly flick out the empty magazine and replace it with a fresh one. 

The door to the room slammed open, light from the bar spilled into the darkness and illuminated a wide strip of the room. Five or six more bouncers rushed in, and Vincient stood and fired accurately as they paused to take stock of the situation. Two shots per man in rapid succession. Vincent threw himself backwards, his back slamming into the floor as bullets ripped through the stage, throwing wood splinters everywhere. 

Vincent felt his last magazine slip from his waistband and clatter to the floor, sliding under the stage and into the dark where he couldn’t see. While controlling his breathing he pulled back the slide on his pistol and saw he only had one round left. Next to useless, he stuck the weapon into his jacket. 

“There’s no way out of this, Vince!” Basil shouted from across the room. 

Vincent felt Jane’s trembling hand holding onto his arm. His heart beat hard in his chest. 

“All your life you’ve been running, the only way out of this is to show me what you are!” 

Vincent placed his hand over Jane’s, his fingers cracked like they were full of ice. 

“Keep your eyes closed and don’t move until I come back,” he said softly. 

Vincent’s heartbeat palpated through his body. Splinters formed under his flesh, spreading like ice. Hardening into crystal. Vincent found a nail on the floor and picked it up, before he got to his feet and slowly stepped out of cover. 

He kept his hands open and arms spread and Basil kept his men steady. The lights flickered back on and Vincent saw he was able to bring down seven of the thugs. 

“I know what you are,” Basil said, grinning triumphantly. 

“Doubt it,” Vincent said, and he took the nail to his wrist and tore open his flesh. 

Crimson blood spurt forth in a wide shower, immediately solidifying into razor sharp fragments which hailed down onto Basil and his thugs. They ducked and stumbled, covering their heads and eyes. 

Vincent flicked his wrist and blood rapidly formed a long spear which snapped off from his open wound, he gripped it and swung it in an arc knocking three of the men down by sweeping their legs. Adjusting his grip he shoved the point into the throat of the man to the far right, his pistol clattered to the ground as he gurgled on his own blood. 

Gunshots rang out, Vincent felt two pinpricks of pain on his back. He dropped the spear and turned, seeing a bouncer staring at him with wide eyes. A spike formed in Vicnent’s hand and he tossed it forcibly so it flew through the air and buried itself in his forehead. 

He whipped around and with the rapid movement of his arms Vicnent unleashed a flurry of spikes into the remaining bouncers between him and Basil. They ducked and stumbled to avoid them, but Vincent’s aim was true, and all of them fell to the ground with a six inch spike buried in their flesh somewhere. 

The room stank of blood and echoed with the sounds of dead and dying men. Basil lay on his back, staring up at Vincent with a mixture of fear and excitement. 

“Don’t you see what you're capable of? Don’t you see what you are?”

Vincent approached, blood dripping from his arm. He grabbed Basil by the throat and hoisted him up. 

“We’re… brothers, you and I,” he croaked. 

Vincent pressed his palm against Basil’s eye. 

“I killed my brother” 

His skull cracked loudly as the crystal shard shot right through his brain. 

Jane kept her eyes shut as Vincent led her out of the club, a trail of blood followed them. Yet just as quickly as it strained the floor the blood began to ripple and flow; pushed by an invisible current as it followed Vincent. Crawling up his leg to squeeze its way into his wound. The crystals shattered apart and melted into liquid which followed the flow. Vincent’s heart pumped painfully, the second he got to his car he popped an aspirin. 

He only told Jane to open her eyes when the club was far out of sight. She refused to listen until they were out of Cincinnati and headed towards the state border. 

Vincent inspected his wrist, only a thin scar remained. It had been so long since he’d done that. It felt… he hated that it felt good, like a pressure was released, a weight off his shoulders. Yet it also came with sickness, his heart hadn’t stopped aching. His head sounded, his blood felt heavy; constantly reminded of what was inside him. 

“Why didn’t ya call the police?” 

“What?” Vincent asked, starting out of his own thoughts. 

“The cops, why didn’t you call ‘em when you found me?” Jane asked. 

“Couldn’t be sure they’d actually help,” Vincent said. “Place has been there for a while, good chance five-oh know ‘bout it, and they’ve done nothin.” 

Jane was silent for a long while, Vincent scanned his mirrors. Looking for anyone tailing him, be it Basil’s goons or the feds. 

“He called you a Meta,” Jane said. Vicnent glanced at her in his rearview mirror, she was staring out the window at the passing farmland. 

“Yep.” 

“I’ve heard talk about them on the radio, folk don’t like ‘em.” 

“Yep.” 

“That… man, he was one.” 

“Yep.” 

“Are you?” 

Vincent considered the road for a moment. 

“I’m just here to get you home.” 

They rode in silence for a long while, until Jane spoke again. 

“I won’t tell no one.” 

Vincent couldn’t help but smile softly to himself. He saw a turnoff that led to a service plaza, little more than a gas station, a truck stop, and a few other amenities. But there was a McDonalds. 

“You hungry, kid?” 

Soon enough Jane was sitting munching on fries and a burger, she even managed a little smile. Vincent smiled back as he sipped a cup of coffee. 

He tried not to think about how Jane would turn out later, how any of this would affect her in life. But maybe, just maybe, a few quiet moments feeling like a little kid again would help. He sure as hell never got that. 

“Can I get a McFlurry?”

“Knock yourself out, kid.” 

They took their time but soon enough they were off again down the highway, Jane slurping down a milkshake and Vincent feeling a little bit better. The drive back to Tennessee was remarkably uneventful, Vincent even found himself not looking around for danger. A sense of peace came over him, the last thing he did as a free man was a wholly good one. 

He pulled into the driveway of the James home, Mrs James opened the door, her eyes welling with tears. Vincent had hardly parked his truck when Jane ran out and sprinted into her mothers arms. They were both wailing and laughing, touching each other's faces. 

Vincent stood off, hands in his pockets. Allowing them their moment, before he quietly stepped back into his truck. 

“Wait! Mister Valério!” Mrs Jones rushed up to the window of the truck, leaning in to kiss Vincent on the cheek. 

“Is there sure there’s no way I can pay you?”

“Like I said, ma’am, the casserole is enough, take care of your daughter now,” Vincent looked over at Jane. “Stay out of trouble, you hear?”

“Yes sir,” Jane said with a smile. 

Sirens echoed through the air and Vincent pulled out of their driveway, speeding off as the sirens got louder. He blew past the turn that led to hsi trailer, seeing the distant glow of police lights heading that way. 

He turned back towards the highway. He was sure he wouldn’t get far, and a part of him screamed to give it up. Yet a more base animalistic voice drove him to run, flee, at least try to escape the noose tightening around his neck. 

Vincent turned onto the highway, as he did so, seemingly out of nowhere, three black SUV’s turned onto the highway with him. They matched his speed exactly. Vincent glanced at them through his mirrors, their windows were tinted illegally dark. Feds. 

He pressed onto his gas, the old engine in his truck shuttered. One of the SUV’s pulled ahead of him. Vincent tried to swerve but hsi front locked with the SUV’s rear and pitted him into a spin. Vincent kept himself from rolling over and came to a stop, looking up to see his truck boxed in and surrounded by men with guns and dark shades. 

Game over. 

Vincent placed a cigarillo in his mouth and lit ii, casually stepping out. He half expected to get shot right there and then, but he wasn’t. He frowned. Cops weren;t this quiet, even Feds. He looked around, they all had weapons trained on him, but no shouts, no commands to see his hands, nothing. No logos either…

“Mister Valério,” a woman’s voice said. Vincent turned around, a brown woman in a suit approached him. Her heels clicked against the pavement, the tip of a tattoo poked out from her collarbone. She extended a hand. 

“You can call me Saturn,” she said, her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I have a career opportunity for you.” 

TAGS: Remember when I used to tag people? @west-end-lady @redheadedbrunette @bespectacled-ghost @lowes-core-waifu @talesfromgringolandia @borgesperovago @thelegendofsqam @beakedwhalesyo @a-beautiful-crow @paula-of-christ @tinfoil-catholic @kasrkinguardsman @rose-in-the-snow @supreme-leader-stoat @the-lost-alchemist @holbytlanna @cousin-possum-kc @cheerfullycatholic @cat-a-holic @the-writers-wrench @animeandcatholicism @the-tea-and-book-nook @lions-online-library @lady-larklight

lemme know your thoughts and if you wanna be added to the tag list

[caprisunr]

Buck is Eddie's special friend

—And he's never had one of those before, so the lines between what should be romantic and what should be friendly-intended blur.

Buck is Eddie's special friend who a few months into meeting him praised his parental abilities, though his parents have always criticised him for it —the way he always seems to be dragging Chris down, by his mother's word. And Eddie believes him, because Buck knows a thing or two about parenting styles, and he got the short end of the stick before being born.

Buck is Eddie's special friend, who a few months into meeting him decided to follow Bobby's advice given when Abby was around, and stepped in to help instead of looking from the sidelines. Buck involved Carla into Eddie's life; past merging with future. And Eddie accepted the help though he doesn't usually. Eddie doesn't have any reasons why he should trust Buck, but Buck seems to know a thing or two about life, and they promised to have each other's back's —Buck looks at Eddie with hope that he never had for himself, and Eddie feels it to. There's hope for him after all.

Buck is Eddie's special friend, who he entrust with his child a year into their friendship. Who his child adores. Who he has no reason not to trust because Buck has always had Eddie's best interests.

Buck is Eddie's special friend because 'having a child is like wearing your heart on your sleeve', and : "There's nobody in this world I trust with my son more than you". And Buck is Eddie's special friend because : "Do you know how Christopher misses you? How could you? You're not around."

Buck is Eddie's special friend, because he doesn't see Christopher as an extension of Eddie. And in consequence Buck might as well be Christopher own's special friend, too : "Buck?" "Yeah ?" "You're a great friend"

Buck is Eddie's special friend, who watched as the life escaped from arms reach after giving someone else a second chance. He's the friend that crawled his way to him, who saved his life, who pressed on his wounds. —Not for the first time. And, "Are you hurt?" despite the fact that he was dying.

Buck is Eddie's special friend when he stayed with Christopher after the shooting. When the team didn't feel the same way after the shooting. When he made himself a target because he was the one watching his friend get shot standing there not being able to do anything to stop it.

Buck is Eddie's special friend when the latter made him his son's legal guardian in case something were to happen to him. —And didn't tell him for a year, just 'Because, Evan. (...) You think you're expendable, but you're wrong.'

Buck is Eddie's special friend when he goes out of his way to show Eddie how much of what they do is worth it. When he can set his questionable ways aside, and talk sense into him, because : "That's not how you talk about someone you're in love with." & "Is that enough?" are things just special friends do.

Buck is Eddie's special friend because when Buck died, Eddie forgot he'd been struck by lighting himself and ran up to get Buck off the rope. Because Eddie was asked to drive the ambulance because he was just too close, they were just that kind of special friends. Because : "Do more!"

And Buck is Eddie's, in a way no one was been. Because Buck is there when Christopher flees the first time —seeking for a friend, in a place he knows won't reject him. And is there when Christopher leaves the second time, to a place Eddie feels refejcetd.

Eddie is Buck special friend then, —When Buck runs away from his loft to sough comfort in Eddie's home. When Eddie let's him rest, is patience with him, gives him space to open up.

Eddie is Buck's special friend in the same way if not more than Buck is Eddie's. Because Eddie is ready to drop everything the moment Buck asks. Because that's what you do for special friends.

Because Eddie's speech about him not knowing his sister the way Chim does is reversible to them. Because Maddie knows Evan, but she doesn't know Buck, Eddie's special friend.

Eddie is Buck's special friend, because Eddie wants to go treasure haunting with him —it just so happens that Taylor is there. And he wants to play dress up with him —it just so happens that Tommy is there.

Eddie is Buck's special friend, because he's been wary of every person that's broken Buck's heart.

And Eddie is Buck's special friend when he's the friend called to talk to Buck at the hospital after Maddie is kidnapped by Doug. Because Eddie understands, because there's never been a time as angry as Eddie was where Buck didn't feel understood.

Because "That's all you ever see" translates to that's all he ever thinks about. And how pledged is his mind with images of Buck, how much he needs Buck, how present Buck is in his life. A missing piece that he wants and wants and wants. It's been Buck. BuckandChris.

Eddie, Buck; Eddie and Buck. EDDIEANDBUCK.

They're special friends because "We should bring this party to the couch"

"We?"

—And a smile. So haunting, so endearing. So understanding of what it means to be BuckandEddie.

[isuckatwritingsobenice]

you suck at writing so you use AI? Yeah, that’s a great idea 🙄 its easy to tell

Hii! so, i dont use ai to write! i do write it all myself, which is why whenever i respond to someone’s request i always apologize for taking so long because i do take a lot time to write.

Im also very big on expanding my own vocabulary, i use apps like “Vocabulary- learn words daily”, and read a lot in general to expand it as well.

There have been multiple cases where people are falsely accused of using Ai, and as someone who’s a student, using Ai is an absolute no for me considering it could cause me to lose everything i’ve worked hard for. The cases of getting falsely accused of using Ai are becoming so common to the point where there are petitions you can sign if you’ve been falsely accused by a university or job / workplace.

I don’t appreciate being accused of using Ai, when i strictly do not. It’s a large part of why i take so long to write as i’ve stated before, and a series that proves this is Infernal Shadows, which if you check time stamps i believe the first three chapters are posted very close together because they’re pre written, while the rest of the chapters are post with a good amount of time apart, one because i didn’t believe it would gain a lot of attention, i also only planned to have three parts but didn’t want it to come off as overwhelming, and two because it takes me a long while to put into words what exactly i want the reader to in-vision. You can also see with some parts, i kind of use the same words over and over because of one becoming drained from writing for so long, and two because eventually i do run out of things, or more like descriptive words for scenes with lots of details on characters.

If there are writers out there that use ai, then that is their choice. however on this page, ai is not used to write whatsoever.

This girl on tiktok talks about how she and another creator were accused of using AI, for things like grammarly being used on papers which can trigger an AI scanner.

I myself do use grammarly to write my stories, one because i write on my personal laptop, and two because i do find the extension useful. It points out mistakes i might miss when reading things over, be that out loud or in my head, and can give me feedback on if im being too repetitive or too wordy at times.

This girl also checked her essay on an Ai scanner, and the scanner detected 95% of the essay as Ai when she herself spent three hours writing it.

Another example here, where this girl uses grammarly and again just has good sentence and grammar structure.

Another example here

Another example here

Another example here

Another example here

Another example here

This article also touches on this topic of people being falsely accused of using Ai.

[aevumisles]

As the blue moon reaches its apex...

A new wind flutters through a book, its pages pearlescent and empty. The light seeps in and scrawls across the surface like ink from a quill, for stories have been from the dawn of time, and so they would be told again and once more. Once upon a time, there was an Isle called Arcanus....

WHAT'S HAPPENING?

You have has lived in Arcanus your whole life. Perhaps you have good neighbors, good friends, and a closely-knit family. Or, perhaps your muse is a loner. A na'er do well, who slinks throughout Arcanus at their leisure, wreaking mischief and causing havoc.

Whatever the case, life is perfectly provincial, though never without the classical ups and downs of mundane life.

You never seem to get that internship you've been working hard for this past year. Your family always seems a bit too busy, or you end up missing all of your dates with who you just know is the perfect person.

Sometimes, you can't help but wonder if you're cursed.

THE CURSE.

The Echoes have been cursed to live in a world that never changes, and where time never moves forward. Aercon believe that the Echoes have lived in Arcanus Isle forever. Despite this, everyone can only remember up to one year in the past. Trying to remember past this results in a splitting headache that could Blip an Echo who attempts to remember too soon.

(SEE: "Breaking the Curse" below.)

The Plot:

Each Echo's Aercon Self should center around a key part of who they are. This could be a complete personality change to reflect a strongly held belief, or reversion into who they think they are.

But every good story has a source of conflict! Perhaps your Echo's story is a coming-of-age story! Only, no matter how they might strive to do good, they simply cannot muster the courage to do what they need to do. Or anything they want to do, actually.

Perhaps your muse's story is a romance. They fall in love easily... but they cannot seem to catch a break. If their dates don't bail on them, then they cheat, or perhaps they've fallen in love with someone else!

Whatever the case, your muse's happily ever after is always just out of their reach no matter how hard they try. Their efforts are thwarted at every turn, and it seems that they just cannot escape their horrible luck. Some days - most days, actually - it almost seems as though they aren't allowed to break the status quo, or have any hope of a happy ending at all...

Echoes:

Lose access to all powers and supernatural abilities, afflictions, and otherworldly knowledge and information.

Humanoid creatures may become fully human / mortal for the duration of the Blue Moon.

If a muse is anthropomorphic, they may take on a human form as if they have always been human. Should you choose for them to stay in their normal body, no one (including Aercon!) will bat an eye or consider this abnormal.

MORE IDEAS FOR CURSES:

Your muse is on top of the world. Famous. Beloved. But without their knowledge, they must comply with directives given if someone asks it of them with the word "please".

Your muse is a thief, and quite good at it! Only their adventures are dictated by a great debt they owe to another. (You may use Omerta Nostra and The Vices as you please.)

Unbeknownst to them, your muse is separated from their family member or loved one, and while it is possible to connect to them, their paths always seem to fall apart, and miscommunication runs amok just as soon as your muse begins to feel comfortable with them again.

Your muse is a humble person with a humble job and is overall fairly comfortable in their quaint little life. But every time they are asked to do something outside of their comfort zone, they always choose cowardice over action.

Your muse remembers everything. Thing is: they're the only one who has ever remembered, and no attempts to remind anyone else has ever gone anywhere for a whole year....

WHAT HAPPENS IF MY MUSE HAS JUST JOINED?

Your muse may also be effected by the curse! Aercon Personas believe they have lived in Arcanus their whole lives, even if they can all only remember (very vaguely) the past year, and their immediate circumstances. You're effectively making a character based off of your character! So have fun with it. :)

If you would like to refrain from participation, please see the FAQ below!

BREAKING THE CURSE.

Echoes can break the curse either by remembering their true lives, or through an act of good-will that breaks their curse.

REMEMBERING:

Echoes will experience severe cognizant dissonance upon their first attempt to truly remember. They will be aware that they can't remember anything, but the curse will allow them to accept this, and/or consider their True Self to be a myth, legend, or fairytale.

If the discrepancies continue to be brought up, they will begin to grow overwhelmed, and some may feel as if their whole life and personhood are complete lies. The possibility of a mental break is entirely possible at this point in time.

With further investigation and attempts to remember, the Echo will then experience a splitting migraine. One that could Blip an Echo who attempts to remember too soon.

An Echo with enough knowledge and willpower may be able to brute force their way through the migraine and regain their memories and all unlocked powers. However, this change will not effect other inhabitants of the Isle.

AN ACT OF GOODWILL:

PLEASE NOTE: that this method will require a few instances of pushing past your muse's personal curse. This may be implied, threaded out, or a combination of the two.

Echoes may help their friends with their stories!

If an Echo is pushed to break their own curse, then they will be on the path to remembering their True Self.

The world around the Echoes will do anything and everything it can to disallow the Echoes from making a positive change for themselves.

If an Echo's curse is a struggle with cowardice, then that Echo will feel even more inclined to act cowardly instead of with bravery. If an Echo is ripped apart from a loved one, it will seem as though the entire universe is setting up any and every scenario possible to keep them apart.

It is the act to be brave, or the endurance necessary to reunite that will break the curse, and allow the Echo the willpower to remember.

DO ALL MUSES HAVE TO PARTICIPATE?

It is recommended that you do! However, should your choose not to participate, your may start your threads taking place in-universe before the Blue Moon's arrival (February).

When the Blue Moon is finished, your muse may comment on it as someone who did remember their True Self, and found the situation uncanny, but was otherwise unaffected.

WHAT’S THE PARTICIPATION BONUS?

Aevum Isles awards 500 Emblems for participation in Blue Moon Events. 

HOW LONG DOES ACT I RUN FOR?

Act I of Untold Stories will run until February 8th, 2025. 

All threads started featuring Act I CAN be continued into Act II. 

You do not have to participate in both acts to count towards your activity, but both acts will only count towards a singular event participation.

Act II will be posted on February 8th.

I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION BUT IT’S NOT ON HERE.

Please let us know by asking your question in the Aevum Isles Masterlist’s Ask Box! 

Questions sent elsewhere (such as the Aevum Isles FAQ discord channel) will not be accepted, and instead Staff will ask to transfer your question to the Masterlist at this time.

You can find the Aevum Isles Event FAQ tag (HERE), the Untold Stories specific FAQ tag (HERE), and the general FAQ tag (HERE).

[danrifics]

hi!! i’m so sorry you dont know me but i am trying get a get well soon card signed by dnp for my friend who has to miss their show in glasgow because of being stuck in hospital since december so i’m looking for a m&g ticket to glasgow (either night!!!) or to find someone willing to bring the card in with them to the m&g and have it signed (+ perhaps an encouraging note!) that i can pick up before the show ends! i’m just kinda asking phan blogs i follow so it can reach as far as it can, tysm for reading! anyone with a ticket or willing to do the card thing pls hmu :,-) ❤️

BOOSTING THIS IN CASE ANYONE CAN HELP

@terribleinfluence-tickets (also might be able to help)

[critter-wizard]

ep 43 had me tearing up in a fucking shopping centre ‼️‼️

b+w alt version that I truly couldn't decide if I liked it more . Also I included a lot of thoughts in the tags but they're somewhat incoherent<3

[the---hermit]

oral exam tips

I have at least one other post on exam tips, but they were mainly focused on giving tips on history exams. To me oral exams in academia have been the norm since high school, but I know that in other countries that might no be the case, so I decided to write down a list of advices coming from someone who is quite used to this kind of tests.

If you aren't used to having oral exams, you might need to change your study method, or at least add a few steps. I recently made a post entirely dedicated to my study method, which might be useful for this, but what I suggest is to add a step in which you review things out loud. What I would do is to just sit down with your notes or your materials and pretend to give a lecture on everything. Even better if you have a friend or family member to listen to you, because by having an active listener you will be forced to not skip stuff and have clear explainations, and they might ask you questions or clarifications. Those are always good because that might happen during the exam as well, but also it will help you memorizing those things. I recommend reviewing out loud multiple times. This way you will get more comfortable with the exposition of the topics you will be tested on, and you'll have a chance to find your own "voice".

by finding your own voice I mean finding a good compromise between using your own words to explain things, while still using the correct specific vocabulary of whatever topic you'll be tested on. This is fundamental. You are not there to recite a poem by heart, you are there to show you have understood the topic, that you sat with it and made it yours. You have to show you know how to clearly explain things but also reflect on it, making links with other things, and so on. At the same time there's some academic and specific vocabulary you want to include, because you are not in fact discussing the topic with a friend. So practicing out loud before the exam is good to find a good compromise between these two things.

I kind of mentioned it already, but it is absolutely fundamental to show that you understood the topic and not just memorized it. Whatever you do do not learn things by heart. It's better to be slightly insicure about a specific date, than to repeat your book word by word. And if you practice enough, and are comfortable enough with the informations in general believe me you can work around those things you can't remember perfectly well as you are being tested. Moreover your mark on the exam will be much higher than if you just learn things by heart.

on the very delicate topic of not remembering something specific you have been asked. Don't panic, you can still kind of save it. Whatever happens do not stay silent. There are several things you can do depending on whatever the question is, and I will later tell you a very specific example of something that happened to me. As I said do not panic, surely you will remember about some context on the topic so start by talking about that. As you are giving the context you might start to remember additionals informations, or you might build up enough informations to be able to logically guess whatever you are not remembering correctly. If you are half sure about something go for it, even if it's the wrong info if you contextualise it well enough you'll show you knew about that and it might just be read as a slip of you confusing two things. Now there might be situations in which the question is so direct that you can't do much, it happened to me once during my Greek history exam. I was asked the specific date of an event, and I could not for the love of the gods remember it. You know what I did? I told the professor, I cann't rememebr the exact date, but giving certain informations (that I then explained) I can tell you it was more or less in this half of this century. What I did was admit a fault, but while doing that I showed her that I knew what we were talking about it, I had enough informations on the matter to logically place it on the chronological line and contextualize it, and showed her that I can in fact work with the informations I studied. And at the end of my exam the professor complimented me on those exact things, saying she appreciated seeing me use my brain instead of midlessly memorizing informations I didn't understand.

So whatever happens do not stay silent. Anything is better than that.

Another potentially bad thing that might happen, and believe me it happened to me multiple times, is panicking so bad that you cannot get the words out, or confuse things. You know what happened everytime I found myself in that situation? The professor clearly saw me panicking, and told me to calm down, wait a couple of minutes, get my ideas in order and try again. And I got good grrades despite that in the end. You are under a lot of pressure, because you are giving an exam, and you have to be quick and ready instead of being able to reflect like with a written exam. Professors know that, and they keep it in mind, and they can tell when you are mixing things up because you are nervous, and not because you don't know things. I once had a professor look at me in the eye after i mixed up numbers on two dates twice in a row, and told me I know you know them take two deep breaths and try again. And I did. I have so many personal stories from my previous degree in which professors saw I was nervous and told me that it was okay I just needed to take a minute and breathe, and honestly that was exactly it. It was okay and I really needed to breathe, and then the exam when well.

The best tip I can give on answering questions is to balance the actual answer of the question with additional informations. You want to give context and add more infos to whatever has been asked to you, but you should also try not to lose focus on what was being asked. My personal way of doing this is to structure the answer in three parts: 1. general context that works as an introduction to the actual direct answer 2. the actual answer 3. further additions like more context, comparaisons and links with other topics or informations you had to study. This way you show off you know things, you make sure to show the professor you are not just rambling because you don't know the answer, and finally show you are comfortable enough with the informations to reflect on them and link them to other things. Ideally the professor will stop you while you are speaking, that in my experience is the best possible sign, because they are satisfied with your exposition and want to move onto other things.

So always build up on the answer to the question you have been asked. Never stop at just the information that serves as an aswer. You studied, it's your time to shine and make yourself proud.

Contextualizing your informations is absolutely fundamental no matter what, again because it shows you have a clear idea about what you are talking about. This can mean making a small introduction on the time and place, if you are an historian like me, or maybe give an introduction on the person you are talking about (whether they are an historical figure or a scholar you are talking about). Adding the little informations you weren't asked about is great. You are briefly mentioning an even and know the date? Add it in. Everything is a good addition.

Again I have definitely already mentioned in previous points but showing you are capable of reflect on the topics you are talking about is always a bonus. Make sure that when you are giving personal options or personal reflections you are stating this is your thought, but that is usually appreciated. After a good exposition of a topic you might even get the professor asking you your opinion on certain things. It happened to me multiple times, often I was asked to give an opinion of books I had to study for the exam, and that always prooved as an oportunity to add more informations and as I said show that I could make reflections of my own.

Last thing, that again kind of came out from other points, is that you want to show you are comfortable enough with the topic to be able to jump from one point to the other while reflecting on things or making comparaisons.

I am pretty sure I have forgotten something, but once again if you have specific questions I am happy to help, my inbox is always open. I know people who aren't used to oral exams are very scared of them, but as long as you try to approach it like a normal conversation on the topics you had to study, and you have practiced, things will be fine. To be quite honest with you after years of experience I'd say I very much prefer oral exams to written ones, because you can in a way shape the conversation and bring it to the topics you liked the most, know best. I hope this post was somewhat helpful to someone out there, and good luck if you are about to take an exam!

[nikolas-ghostbusters-fixation]

Something I've been thinking a lot about lately is how everyone thought Egon had gone insane. What Happened that made them think that. They've fought a gigantic Stay Puft Marshmellow Man TWICE (counting the 2009 video game because iirc it's canon? Correct me if I'm wrong), fought an interdimensional god, fought a blood thirsty ruler that killed thousands and was hated by all that was trapped in a painting (and managed to get in to beat him by making THE STATUE OF LIBERTY start walking down the street with slime that reacted purely based on vibes), found an underground abandoned transit system full of the moodslime, had a bathtub try to eat Dana and her baby, fought a giant murderous black widow lady, fought the fisherman ghost who turned an entire hotel floor into the bottom of a ocean, and that's not even mentioning them getting trapped on an island that randomly raised up from underwater that had been abandoned for decades created by Ivor Shandor who worshipped Gozer. So what did he do or say that made everyone else think he'd gone insane?? All I can think is maybe he was acting strange / eratic before, but he's always been like that to some degree.

I don't know. It's something that I've been thinking about. The correct answer is 'it's not that deep and they needed a reason that the others weren't together anymore and weren't aware of Egons death or know what was going on,' but also. What Was He Saying that prompted everyone, including Ray, to think he lost his mind when he'd been right almost every time before that.

I'm genuinely so curious as to what he was up to before this. What was he doing. What insane idea was working on prior to this or was he even working on anything at all??

Also want to clarify this post isn't negative 😭 I really love the newer movies and their lore / the newer storyline / characters, I just like thinking about small stupid things like this. Gives me something to think about / speculate about / figure out an answer to.

[youngblood-valkyrie]

Prepare... for unforseen consequences...

[musical-chick-13]

I will always be thinking about how, at the end of Decision to Leave, the female lead decides to kill herself in a way that will make it harder to find her body--because this way, the male lead, despite his distrust and complicated feelings toward her, will be more likely to continue thinking about her because he won't know what happened. In some sense, she'll remain a mystery; and in doing so, she might be able to keep her place in his thoughts (and, by extension, his heart).

That's just...that's so fucking bleak, man.

[sherlock-is-ace]

One thing about me is that if I see someone reblogging AI images, I will let them know 👌🏻

[p5x-theories]

Hey this guy is a native speaker and you can hear him say the names of the new thieves. Yui, Hina Nishimori, Toshiya Sugai, and Miyu Sahara. Idk if he’s speaking 8n Chinese or Japanese but the names sound clear. https://www.youtube.com/live/6fQz402kUg4?si=RId-nY6Gk7ju9RL2 at 40:43

Oh, haha, I was just about to post a link to his stream of the preview livestream, for anyone else who was curious to see it!

He's speaking Japanese, which means his readings of the names (which are written in Japanese) are probably a more accurate guess than what I'm doing with my dictionary, yeah. The kanji characters that Japanese names are usually written with often have multiple ways they can be read, though, and my understanding is that even if you're a native speaker, the first reading of the name that comes to mind may not always be the correct one, in the same way you could misread a name in English because you've heard it pronounced one way, but the person whose name it is pronounces it another way.

Which isn't to say I think he's wrong necessarily! Just that (at least as I understand it as someone learning Japanese) it's still not 100% confirmation those are their canon names, so I'll hold off on calling anything "confirmed" until I hear the names in-game, just to be safe.

(Though, to be clear, I do consider Yui confirmed, since they write that name in English in some cases as well, haha. The above explanation applies to the three names written in Japanese.)

But thanks for sending this in, all the same!