Some Shinto priestesses and priests were, indeed, Shinigami and could take care of spirits. But this was a matter of jurisdiction which could only be solved through the Onmyoryo. The list of things he couldn’t share with Teruo just kept getting longer and longer.
“Then what?” Teruo said. “If they made you sick, what’s to say they won’t make others sick too? The barfing boy for example. What if that’s why he’s sick?”
“His name is Taniguchi,” Shinji corrected, then mused over this. Teruo might’ve actually been right about it. But, Taniguchi was sick no matter where he found himself at. It seemed related to seeing bloody crime scenes rather than a spirit-induced sickness. “I don’t think so. He probably just hates seeing corpses.”
“Chose the wrong career,” Teruo said.
“Agreed, but that’s not our problem. I already alerted someone who can take care of the situation.”
Eyeing him suspiciously, Teruo let out a groan, but drove without further questioning. So far, so good. Teruo was on his way to accepting things as they were without pestering Shinji for more details.
Next on the list was a discussion with the superintendent. The man’s experience in the field could prove useful in shedding some light on matters—especially on Teruo’s strange ability to sensereiryoku.
As soon as they reached the TMPD, Teruo went to get a late afternoon coffee and Shinji slipped out of the office to see Superintendent Yoshida.
First Division’s superintendent and Shinji had known each other for nine years. They’d met when Shinji joined the Onmyoryo as a part-timer and the superintendent had visited Hiroshima as a spokesperson at an introductory conference for newbie members.
Back then, he was in his late forties, dressed in a dark blue kimono and a goldenreiryokutrailing after him. He gave a presentation on all things supernatural and answered each and every question with patience and a smile on his face. Shinji had been in the first row, bright-eyed and eager to learn about this new world after living isolated for most of his younger days. The superintendent noticed his enthusiasm and approached him afterwards inviting Shinji to dine with him and his wife.
Raised by his widowed father, a violent and strict man who never understood Shinji’s supernatural gifts or his lack of interest in women, Shinji clung to the superintendent as his ideal of a father figure after the death of his own. Since the superintendent often participated in such conferences Shinji had kept in touch with him over the years and once in a while the superintendent would help Shinji train his spiritual energy.
When Superintendent Yoshida heard of Shinji’s decision to leave Hiroshima, he’d begged him to come to Tokyo. In those dark moments after Haruna’s death, Shinji was ready to kick everybody out of his life, but the superintendent never gave up. Shinji was beyond grateful the superintendent had snapped some sense into him. Now when he thought about it, he wasn’t sure how he would’ve coped at Tohoku Regional Police on his own.
Shinji knocked on the door and entered. “Good afternoon, sir.” He bowed and smiled.
“Shinji!” The superintendent rose and met him halfway, patting his shoulders. “How are you? You look a bit tired. Is Hayashi giving you trouble?” He invited Shinji to sit on the leather sofa and brought two glasses of water.
“Well, things have been good.” Shinji took a sip of water. “Until today when I messed up.”
The superintendent sat beside him, a concerned look on his face. “What happened?”
“Last week when I spoke with Yamato’s ghost, he gave me his home address and wrote it on piece of paper hidden in my notepad. I meant to make the discovery of the address natural, so Te—” Shinji stopped and cleared his throat. “So Chief Inspector Hayashi wouldn’t be suspicious. But he found out I had the address this entire time and… well…” Shinji explained their argument in the car, but skipped the part about them meeting in private.
Leaning forward, the superintendent clasped his palms. “You were in quite a tough spot. Yamato didn’t appear in any databases?”
“No, and then we had a second victim. And then a third.”
“Yes, Ishida.” The superintendent let out a long sigh. “Tragic. For all three.”
Shinji nodded. “In the end we got Yamato’s information from our medical examiner, Suzuki, but the chief was angry when he found out I’ve had it this entire time. Don’t scold him, please,” Shinji added, “it was entirely my fault.”
“I won’t.” Superintendent Yoshida smiled. “Hayashi is a bit rough around the edges, but he’s a good person, deep inside—somewhere underneath all that tobacco smoke.”
Shinji chuckled then his face turned serious. “He’s scared of you, sir. Thinks I’m your protégée.”
“Well, you are.”
“The threat you made, that you’ll demote him if I leave? I feel it looming over us.”
Teruo had been reluctant about him from the very beginning, but after they started seeing each other in private Teruo didn’t seem worried anymore. Now that their intimate encounters ended, Shinji feared this would just pile up over all the other things.
“I wasn’t planning to demote him,” the superintendent said, “but I had been hopeful he and Ishida would click well and work together. Hayashi has been frequently changing partners ever since he was promoted. He has to understand there’s no such thing as a perfect coworker. He needs to try and harness his partners’ strengths to make up for their weaknesses. It’s what I did with him when Hayashi was a rookie officer.” The superintendent shook his head. “But Hayashi has no patience.”
“Speaking of the chief’s rookie years,” Shinji said. “You told me he was tested for supernatural powers?”
“Did the test myself at the welcoming ceremony.”
“The one with the wave ofreiryokuspread around the room and picking apart every person’s energy signature?”