Pushing aside a pile of papers and a book on coaching, Shinji found Yamato’s laptop. He sat on the desk chair and turned it on.
“Doubt you’ll be able to guess the password,” Teruo said. “Unless you summon a spirit to help.”
Shinji was getting a tad tired of Teruo’s ghost jokes.Two can play at this game.
“Don’t worry, I will. Just bring me candles and a bottle of a virgin’s blood.”
Teruo’s eyes widened in shock. He seemed to genuinely waver between snorting in amusement and being afraid that a ghost might appear. His gaze roamed over the room probably searching for any hint of paranormal activity before returning to Shinji.
“Is that how you summon them?” His voice was cautiously low.
“Yes. And I order the blood from the internet.”
Teruo blew air through his nose. “I honestly can’t tell if you’re joking or not.”
Shinji gave him a sweet smile, turning his attention back to the laptop. It had no password and the desktop with Yamato’s folders appeared.
Teruo leaned forward to see better, resting one hand on the back of the chair and the other on the desk. The amber scent of his cologne drifted toward Shinji. He drew it in, a new wave of regret washing over him at the way he ruined everything. If he hadn’t, tonight he’d have been at Teruo’s place, enjoying the warmth of his body and the taste of his skin. And they would’ve gotten lost in each other forgetting the harshness of the real world for a few hours.
That wasn’t going to happen and Shinji forced himself to push those thoughts aside, then started browsing through Yamato’s folders and files. There wasn’t much of interest besides pictures of him as a football player, some more files on coaching and a few folders full of football games, movies and TV shows.
Switching to Yamato’s browsing history, Shinji scrolled until something caught his attention.
Yamato had been looking up spiritual mediums.
“What the fuck?” Teruo exclaimed. “Please don’t tell me I’ll find you among these people.”
“Rest assured, I’m not a spiritual medium. And I certainly don’t offer my services on sketchy websites.”
Shinji continued checking the links. Based on the websites accessed, Yamato had been trying to communicate with spirits. Nothing from Yamato’s behavior when Shinji spoke with him had suggested he’d been interested in such a thing. Then again, Yamato disappeared before he even remembered everything.
“A woman from a funeral home visited him,” Teruo said, “and now this. So, someone he cared about died and he, what? Wanted to talk to them? Can you actually do that?”
Shinji opened his mouth, contemplating what answer to give. Technically, there was a way, but it worked only in places where the veil between this world and the other was thin. Here in the city? No chances to properly communicate with the other side unless one went through the Onmyoryo whose headquarters were tucked inside a spiritual bubble between worlds.
Many spiritual mediums and psychics were phonies. Not only could they not summon ghosts, but some were non-supernaturals or had no idea the supernatural world existed. Shinji wondered if the rogue Shinigami who had snatched Ishida’s ghost might’ve been among the spiritual mediums Yamato searched for. And if one of the names coincided with one of the classmates, then that would point right to their killer. Or totally off base if the Shinigami had nothing to do with the crime.
“I can see the little wheels turning inside your head,” Teruo said. “Care to share?”
“These spiritual mediums need to be searched one by one,” Shinji said. “I’d like to be the one to do this. The forensic team won’t know what to look for.”
A moment of tension passed between them and Shinji hoped Teruo wouldn’t ask him to elaborate.
“Very well,” Teruo said after a long exhale. “We’ll take the laptop with us.” He closed it and placed it in its bag along with the cable. “Let’s go. I want to pass by the medical center and speak to Suzuki.”
Shinji suddenly grabbed his arm, then caught himself and loosened his grip, but didn’t let go completely. “I haven’t properly apologized for what I’ve done. I’m sorry.” His gaze met Teruo’s dark piercing one and his stomach did a somersault. “I broke your trust. I hope I can earn it back.”
“You will if you keep me in the loop.”
“I have a few conditions, too though,” Shinji said earning a raised brow from Teruo. “Don’t read my messages and don’t follow me around again.”
“It wasn’t my intention to snoop. I woke up when you were reading it and saw it. I meant to ignore it, but when I saw ‘crime scenes’ I just…” He paused, his wrist shifting in Shinji’s hand, but he didn’t pull away. “I followed, fearing the worst. I wanted to leave when you got to the storage building. I thought, this is stupid, let’s just get the fuck out of here. And then you disappeared, so I…” He groaned skimming a palm over his face.
Shinji nodded, his thumb circling Teruo’s wrist and he saw Teruo’s throat bobbing up and down as he swallowed. “Yeah, it looked suspicious as fuck, didn’t it?” Shinji said. “I guess I would’ve done the same if I were you.”
Another awkward silence fell before Teruo spoke, “Did the Regional Police know? About your ghost thing.”
Shinji held his breath, debating whether it was safe to tell Teruo about it. “Many of them, yes,” he finally said, “including my late superior officer.”