“He’s not—”
Before Taniguchi finished, another gunshot snapped through the air.
CHAPTER 29
Teruo
Teruo’s bullet hit Taniguchi’s forearm, and he howled in agony.
Shinji stumbled sideways, then quickly pulled himself together and tackled Taniguchi to the ground. Gripping Taniguchi’s arms, Shinji handcuffed him fast, hands shaking. The white tendrils of Shinji’s energy sprung forth from his body and wrapped around Taniguchi’s limbs and waist to restrain him.
Teruo holstered his gun and took a moment to catch his breath and regain his focus. He’d felt the ghosts on him when they attacked. Felt his vitality being sucked out of his body. This idea of something invisible killing him froze the blood in his veins.
If he’d been alone here… If Shinji hadn’t stopped them… What would’ve happened? A shiver ran down his spine and Teruo shook his head, trying to push away these thoughts.
He hesitated a moment before approaching Shinji and kneeling by his side. “You okay?”
“No…” Shinji wheezed. Sweat dripped down his temples as he hunched over Taniguchi, holding him down.
“Let me take over—”
Just then, the backup team arrived, and the officers filled the room. They wore blue tactical uniforms, but they were definitely not police. They had no protective gear, no helmets, and no guns. Teruo realized they didn’t need them. Ghosts were immaterial and so was thereiryoku. Common weapons wouldn’t work on something supernatural.
Two officers took over from Shinji and they exchanged a knowing glance. Shinji pulled back his energy and the officers dragged Taniguchi to his feet. He didn’t struggle or make any comments. It seemed he was finally out of spiritual juice.
“Take him back to the TMPD, I need to interrogate him,” Teruo told the officers, not caring if he was even allowed to give them orders. “And roll two ambulances. We have an injured person here and there should be an M.E. lying unconscious somewhere, so go look for him.”
An officer turned to Shinji and gave him a silent inquisitive look. Shinji nodded and after the officer left, he crawled to the back of the room and sat against the wall, closing his eyes. His chest puffed up and down as he took quick breaths.
Teruo crouched next to him and brushed his fingertips over Shinji’s hand. Cold. Not as much as he’d been after his ritual at Ishida’s apartment, but still concerning. Teruo sensed a zap through his body and knew Shinji was probably draining him of energy again.
Shinji opened his eyes and pulled his hand away, his gaze darting to the officers. Teruo understood and rested his elbows on his knees. He wanted to wrap Shinji in his arms, hold him tight, kiss him and warm him up. There were too many people around, though.
“My ears are still ringing,” Shinji complained, chuckling.
“I’m sorry… I had to.”
“I know. You tricked him. Distracted him, so he’d move from behind me.”
“Yeah.” Teruo nodded. “I realized Taniguchi never intended to kill anyone besides his former classmates. Not you, not Suzuki or Kojima. He just wanted to scare you out of the way.”
One officer approached them. “The ambulances arrived and we found the M.E. in one of the restrooms. The EMTs have taken both him and Miss Kojima to the hospital.”
“Thank you,” Teruo said. “Assign a new medical examiner to check for DNA under Miura Eisuke’s nails. I’m hoping Taniguchi didn’t have time to destroy all evidence. And get someone to examine Taniguchi as well. There should be scratch marks on his body matching Miura’s fingers.”
“Yes, sir,” the officer said then turned to Shinji. “Do you require assistance?”
“I’m okay, thank you,” Shinji said. “Exhausted, not injured.”
“Understood. We’re finished here,” the officer continued. “There are no more issues. Taniguchi is on his way to the TMPD.” He bowed and left, the rest of the team following him.
Shinji stood slowly, holding onto a nearby table for support and exhaled a long breath. “They took the ghosts too,” he whispered.
“Ah, I see. It does feel slightly warmer.”
“They’ve already sent instructions for me.” Shinji pointed to his phone. “But they couldn’t say anything out loud in front of you.”
“Yeah, I figured.”