“Yes. And again when we started working together.” Superintendent Yoshida frowned. “Why are you asking me this?”
Shinji took a deep breath. “Chief Inspector Hayashi can see myreiryoku. I don’t know how, but he can. He even witnessed me using the touch of death to call the ghosts, so now he knows about the existence of ghosts too.”
The superintendent’s eyes widened and it took him a few seconds to pull himself together. “Shinji, that’s bad! Hayashi was with you when you called the ghosts?”
“He was nearby.”
Shit. He hadn’t come up with some excuse as to how Teruo had been nearby on a Sunday afternoon when he wasn’t even supposed to know about Shinji’s whereabouts. And he couldn’t tell the superintendent that Teruo had seen the message on his phone either since the message had been sent in the middle of the night. It would’ve outed Teruo to the superintendent and Teruo was adamant about keeping his personal affairs private.
“We happened to meet,” Shinji said, feeling horrible for lying to Superintendent Yoshida. “And it seems he was already suspicious of me since he’d seen myreiryoku, so he followed me. He felt the touch of death’s full force despite me adding a protective barrier over it.”
“And is he’s still sane?”
“Yes. A bit shaken, understandably, but all right. How can he be, sir? He’s a non-supernatural, tested twice.”
Superintendent contemplated. “I’m not sure…”
“And it’s not just that. He has this peculiar ability to heal me.” Shinji skipped the healing Teruo had done on Sunday and focused on the one that happened earlier. “Today, we went to the forensic medical center. That place is crawling with ghosts. Their aura reached for me, tugging at my energy, messing with my head. When we left, the chief accidentally touched my elbow. Myreiryokuhealed.”
“That’s… I’ve never heard of a non-supernatural being able to do that. Wait, ghosts attacked you?”
Shinji folded his arms a chill running through him as he remembered the ghosts’ touch. Even if he was used to the spirits’ cold aura, bearing with so many at once without defending himself still affected him. “I already messaged the Onmyoryo. Something’s not right at that medical center. I sensed another supernatural, besides the ghosts, but the energy wasn’t clear enough.”
“We have no supernaturals there, though. We’ve been working on hiring a few, but it’s still in progress.”
If there weren’t any supernaturals around, then who did thatreiryokubelong to? A rogue? Or had it been Teruo’s allegedly-inexistent spiritual energy?
“Please do a background check on the employees,” Shinji said. “I don’t have that sort of clearance at the Onmyoryo. It could be my mind playing tricks—”
“But it could also be something else, yes.”
Shinji paused, chewing the inside of his cheek. “Sir, what if Chief Inspector Hayashi is a supernatural too? What if the tests were wrong?”
“If he were, I’d have known. While thereiryokumight not be immediately obvious—despite being present from birth—Hayashi would’ve seen the spirits. All supernaturals see them no matter if they’re trained in any of the spiritual arts or not.”
“But what if he’s repressing himself?” That sounded like something Teruo would do.
“He would die. One can choose not to use the spiritual energy. Not become anything, remain untrained. There are many inactive supernaturals all over the world, just living their lives without using their powers. But thereiryokuis still present and an expert supernatural would be able to easily see or sense it.”
“What if it’s sealed? Like we seal thereiryoku?”
The superintendent stared at the floor, pondering. “You said he healed you. That’s not possible with a sealedreiryoku, if he even has one.”
“Am I in danger because he healed me?”
“Healing is only good. However, I’ll look into it. I’ve never heard of such a thing and I find it bizarre. Unless he’s hurting you, I’d say don’t worry for now, but try to keep your distance whenever you are or have actively used yourreiryoku.”
Shinji turned sideways on the sofa. “Do you think I could accidentally kill him by draining his vitality?”
“Not with a little healing. That’s safe. But don’t let him anywhere nearby whenever you call ghosts or when you open the gate to send the spirits over. Especially when you open the gate.”
“May I tell him about these issues, sir? He should know.”
The Superintendent looked at Shinji, then back at the floor, the heel of his foot tapping lightly. “I was tempted to say no, but he already knows enough. Normally, these types of peculiar situations need to be reported to the Onmyoryo, but…”
“But?”
“It’s something I heavily disagree with even if it’s against the rules set by the Onmyoryo. Involving a person like Hayashi—not a supernatural, but not quite non-supernatural either—means giving the Onmyoryo free rein to poke and prod him for answers. He’ll be studied, his entire life put on display to see where this peculiarity came from. I’ve seen it happen and it’s not pleasant.”