“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”
“Let’s get you settled with your jurisdiction first.” She tapped some more, then repositioned the monitor for Shinji to see the map. “Since you’re part-time, you’ll receive a small area as jurisdiction and along with it the right to link ghosts from any other jurisdictions in case of emergencies—namely if the Shinigami appointed is unavailable or if the ghosts pertain to your investigations as a police officer. There are eleven available areas. Pick one, please.”
None of them were next to his apartment, but one was in Musashino Municipality right next to Suginami where Teruo lived. “This one.” He pointed to the neighborhood around Seikei University, in Musashino, then caught himself. He’d just chosen the place closest to Teruo with no hesitation. His hand hovered awkwardly in the air, thinking if he should choose a different area. He swallowed the knot in his throat and placed his hand on his knee, trying not to think of the implication of his decision.
“Very well,” the woman said. “Give me your ID, please.”
Shinji passed it to her and she used herreiryokuto modify Shinji’s old jurisdiction from Hiroshima to the new one from Tokyo, then gave it back. He was officially a Tokyo Shinigami now. His thoughts somehow returned to Teruo and what reaction he’d have if he knew. Shinji caught himself and frowned. Why did he keep thinking about Teruo?
“Now the unsealing,” the official said and Shinji was glad for the interruption. “Follow me.” She guided him to a door leading to a second room.
Shinji stepped inside and the woman closed the door behind him. The room was empty and the walls were covered entirely in a layer of goldenreiryoku, bathing them both in its yellow light. It undulated lazily like the surface of a lake reflecting light on a summer afternoon.
The woman stopped in front of Shinji, placed two fingers above his chest, on the left and closed her eyes focusing.Reiryoku’s core was always in the heart and the seals were placed around it. The woman’s energy pierced through his skin and into his heart, leaving behind it a burning sensation. Then the locks of the seal opened one by one and his fullreiryokuflooded back in his body like ice-cold water.
Taking a deep breath, Shinji steeled himself not to gasp. His senses intensified for a moment. The sound of blood pumping into his veins echoed in his ears, the smell of sweat on his skin filled his nostrils, his fingers and toes tingled. The tip of his tongue slid across his lips, feeling Teruo’s taste on them from the reluctant kiss he gave Shinji when they parted.
Overwhelming grief drowned his mind. The grief of the thousands of souls he sent to the afterlife. Haruna, his late superior officer whose death he couldn’t stop. His father, the man he hadn’t thought about in a decade. All the others who’d left the living behind.
The whitereiryokupoured out of his body in thin tendrils, swaying and swirling, hitting the golden barrier, wanting to stretch out after being locked for two weeks. It covered the room like a ghostly mist, dropping the temperature in an instant. Puffs of freezing air escaped the administrative official and Shinji realized she was shaking from the cold. Retreating her hand, she took a step back, looking pale, her throat bobbing as she swallowed.
“It’s done,” she said, her voice throaty.
“Thank you.” Shinji bowed and hurried to pull back hisreiryoku.
Many fellow supernaturals were wary of Shinigami. Standing too close to the fully-poweredreiryokumade them feel like their bodies’ vitality was being absorbed. Like they were dying.
The woman nodded and Shinji followed her out of the room.
“One more thing,” he said and showed her the taxi receipt. “Where can I get this defrayed?”
After the official pointed him to another office, in a whole other wing, and he settled his expenses, Shinji headed out into the yard. He gave the fake sky one last glance, and returned through thekaramongate out into the streets of Higashikurume.
His next stop was Ishida Hideaki’s apartment where he planned to call all three ghosts.
CHAPTER 17
Teruo
Teruo had been antsy all morning, not sure what to say or how to act.
Yesterday afternoon, he’d heard Shinji speak to someone on the fire escape. It had only been the two of them out there, so who had he spoken to? Teruo almost convinced himself Shinji was on the phone the entire time. Then he asked about the killer and Teruo didn’t know what to think anymore.
From the words and the questions it seemed as if Shinji was talking to… Ishida.
But that was silly, wasn’t it?
Ishida had been murdered. Suzuki confirmed it and took his body to the morgue, so Shinji couldn’t have possibly been speaking with a dead man.
Unless that was what it had all been about. Shinji chatting into thin air in Yoyogi Park. Him disappearing in the middle of a crime investigation. The way he stared at their wall in the office. And that damned white wind, swirling around him. Did that wind help him speak to ghosts?
Absolute bullshit. Ghosts didn’t exist. Super powers didn’t exist either. Something else was going on here and Teruo needed to find out what.
The message on Shinji’s phone worried him. Last night, the light of the phone woke him and he accidentally saw the text. A guy named Goro made him an appointment for something and told Shinji to go to the crime scenes.
What the fuck was that all about? Had Shinji shared information about the case with someone else? Another officer? They couldn’t investigate on their own without reporting to Teruo. Maybe Shinji had gotten used to doing whatever he wanted in Hiroshima, but the uniformed officers here knew better than to mess with Teruo’s crime scenes.
With a heavy heart, Teruo wrote down the taxi’s license plate, climbed into his car and followed Shinji. His mind reeled with the possibility that Shinji might’ve been involved in the crimes. What if he was? Teruo’s mouth dried up at the thought. No, it wasn’t possible. The way Shinji spoke on the fire escape pointed to the opposite—that he wanted to help Ishida.