At nine p.m. the chief called it a day and Shinji bolted out of the office before Hayashi could start asking more questions. Hayashi had offered him a ride home, but Shinji declined, with the excuse that he needed to take a detour—which was technically true. He got into a taxi and went straight to Yoyogi Park where the jogger’s ghost was.
Upon arriving at the park, Shinji hurried to the crime scene. The air was damp from the rain and Shinji took a long breath to clear his tired mind. Early in the morning he’d taken the Shinkansen bullet train to the capital and spent his first day on the job talking to a ghost, making his new superior officer suspicious, and now chasing said ghost at night. It was Monday. With an unidentified victim, that strange wire, and the evidence potentially destroyed by weather, this case was bound to keep him and the chief busy for the rest of the week. It could take even longer if the autopsy and the other forensic reports turned up nothing substantial and the ghost didn’t remember more details about the circumstances of his death.
Shinji checked his phone. He had called his other job, but was put on hold each time. Left messages too and got no answer back. Of course, he had no priority since he was a part-timer not a full-timer.
The Onmyoryo—The Bureau of Divination—was the largest organization in Japan that handled supernatural-related matters under utmost secrecy. It had members working everywhere from convenience stores to the police and even the government. The Onmyoryo kept a strict watch on everything supernatural and Shinji had been working at the Bureau for the past nine years.
Now that he moved from Hiroshima to Tokyo, he was due to get his jurisdiction moved here as well. He hoped to have it done quickly otherwise he was going to have issues dealing with ghosts.
Finally reaching the crime scene, Shinji came to a halt.
Fuck.
The uniformed officers Hayashi had left to keep an eye on the perimeter were still there. Lights on top of the tent lit up the crime scene. He couldn’t go that way. They’d report back to Hayashi and Shinji was too exhausted to make up a plausible excuse for his hawk-eyed superior officer who seemed to notice his every move.
Grunting in frustration, Shinji turned around and walked along the grove toward the other end, opposite the crime scene. He entered the grove from there, his feet sloshing through the wet ground.
With all the noise he made in the deep silence of the night, he couldn’t risk getting too close and being heard by the officers, so he stopped behind a tree. From there, he panned the area, searching for the jogger’s ghost. Shinji spotted him pacing right next to the tent, arms folded, the ghostly mist swirling about with his movement.
Since he couldn’t call out to the jogger, Shinji brought forth hisreiryoku—the supernaturals’ spiritual energy—to draw the ghost’s attention. Hisreiryokuwas white, just as some spirits were, emanating from his body in thin streams. He stretched out a hand and guided thereiryokutoward the ghost.
The jogger’s spirit noticed thereiryokuand followed it into the grove. He spotted Shinji and drifted closer.
“I can fly!” the jogger exclaimed with no preamble.
Shinji chuckled. “It’s a ghost thing,” he explained. “You’ll get used to it.”
Most ghosts were surprised when they discovered they could fly and pass through objects. It was worse when they discovered they could inflict pain on the living with their energy.
“Thank you for coming back for me.” His excitement disappeared, replaced by sadness. “It’s tough to walk around with no one to talk to. None of those officers can see me.”
“I’m sorry,” Shinji said.
Even if any of the officers could see the ghost, they would probably not engage in conversation.
“Let’s go to my apartment,” Shinji said. “Unfortunately, there’ll be no one to talk to besides me. But it’s important that you remain there until you remember more details about the criminal or until you decide you want to cross over.”
“Cross over? Is there an afterlife?”
“Yes. The world of spirits. If you’re ready I can help you get there.”
“What’s it like?”
“I don’t know, but there are other spirits there to talk to.” He lied about not knowing. He did know, bits and pieces. Never been there, but others had and taught him about it. It was better not to tell ghosts what awaited them in that place otherwise they’d refuse to leave this world.
“I’m not sure I want to cross over yet.”
“No worries.” Shinji smiled. “Just let me know when you’re ready.”
If spirits were prepared to find peace and move on to the afterlife, Shinji’s job was to open the gate toward Sanzu River, which guided them to the world of spirits. Well, he needed to get his jurisdiction assigned first and then could officially start his job.
“I’ll call a taxi. All you have to do is follow me.”
The ghost walked beside Shinji as he returned to the main street and climbed into a taxi. Even after doing this for so long, moving spirits from one place to another was still awkward. Shinji couldn’t give them instructions out loud. That would’ve made him look like a madman.
Fortunately, the ghost settled next to him and remained quiet. The first hurdle was over. Some spirits refused to leave their place of death and there had been many times when he had to run from the police headquarters to the ghosts and back to HQ, then to his home, then to any other places during investigations. It got exhausting fast.
Keeping spirits at home wasn’t easy either. Back in Hiroshima, his apartment was constantly filled with a white freezing mist and his heating bills went through the roof in winter though he eventually acclimated to the cold. But the icy presence of the ghosts made summers more bearable.