What truly happened with his late superior officer in Hiroshima was a well-guarded secret. The Onmyoryo marked it as classified so only a handful of people knew about it—all of them supernaturals. He was under no circumstances allowed to talk about it outside the circle of witnesses and certainly not with a non-supernatural. But the incident haunted him day and night, not giving him any peace. If Haruna were alive, she wouldn’t have wanted him to suffer like this. She was a kind person. She would’ve been on his side.
“I want to tell you about the death of Sakai Haruna, the chief I worked alongside at Chugoku Shikoku Regional Police,” Shinji started. “Part of what I said was true. She did die during a stakeout. It’s just that some details have been changed.”
“Because ghosts were involved,” Teruo said.
Shinji nodded. “I can’t tell you everything, but I can explain some of it.”
“It’s okay. Share as much or as little as you want. I learned my lesson.” Teruo gave a sheepish smile.
“Haruna and I were working a case of a gang of rogues who were fighting it out on the streets with theirreiryoku,which isn’t allowed.”
“Huh.” Teruo pursed his lips. “So you can use the wind like that.”
“Yup. They had gatherings in various hideouts and we’d been tracking them for months with no success. Then we received an anonymous tip about a warehouse, so we went there. This is more or less the ‘official’ story about the incident—it’s what appears on police reports.” Shinji stared down at the pieces of green onion floating in the soup, struggling to gather his thoughts. “We got there and called backup. Haruna insisted on going inside on her own. I disagreed.”
“Was she the type to rush in before backup arrived?”
“No. Haruna was quite hot-headed, but never took such risks. She kept saying she had a bad feeling and she needed to check it out fast. I wanted to go with her, but she refused and ordered me to stay back. I couldn’t ignore a direct order, so I did.”
A chilled shiver went down Shinji’s spine as the image returned to his mind. He briefly closed his eyes to calm himself and exhaled a shaky breath. Teruo’s fingers ran over his knuckles and Shinji looked up at him and swallowed hard.
“Haruna went inside,” he continued. “I heard her scream and rushed over. Before I reached the warehouse, she emerged looking disheveled, her hair torn, her face ashen. She lashed at me. Tried to kill me.”
“What the hell? Why?”
Shinji gripped Teruo’s hand. “She was possessed.”
Teruo’s mouth dropped open. “What the fuck? Possession exists?”
“It’s very rare as it’s difficult to possess a human, but it can happen from time to time. If the ghost is pulled out fast, both the human and the spirit can be saved.” Shinji shook his head. “But it wasn’t just any ghost. It was something I’d never seen in my life. I had to fight her and I tried to hold her down until help arrived. The backup team was supposed to take her to a safe place in order to remove the ghost.”
“That didn’t happen, did it?” Teruo asked, carefully.
“No. I heard the backup team coming behind me, then a gunshot echoed right at my ear. I was deafened momentarily and when I gathered my bearings I realized she’d been shot. Then, the ghost suddenly came out of her, ripping her chest open.”
Teruo drew a breath, staring at him in horror.
“That doesn’t happen with spirits, ever,” Shinji explained, his voice hoarse. “She died in my arms. The people at my… uh… other job decided this sort of information couldn’t see the light of day, so all involved were sworn to secrecy. The case was passed to someone else and they found the rogues. They labeled Haruna’s death as an ‘unfortunate accident’—” Shinji air-quoted, gritting his teeth. “—and closed the case.”
“Fucking hell. Just like that?”
“Yup. Exactly like that.” Since Haruna’s spirit didn’t remember who possessed her, the Onmyoryo had no leads and marked the case as unresolved. “I couldn’t take the pain, the guilt and the burden of this secret,” Shinji continued, “so I left Hiroshima. I had initially planned to leave the next year, but with Haruna’s death, nothing kept me there anymore.”
With a long sigh Shinji returned to finishing his curry before it got cold. He’d lost some of his appetite, but Teruo had made this for him, so he ate. It was cathartic to share this yet he couldn’t raise his gaze to meet Teruo’s. If he did, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop the tears and he hated showing so much weakness. He was already a wreck just from remembering his last moments with Haruna as he opened up the gate to the other side for her. She had smile at him, but Shinji couldn’t smile back. He cried the entire time even as she reassured him that everything would be okay.
“What happened to you is horrible,” Teruo said. “I wish there was something I could do to help.”
“Don’t worry. It’s in the past now.” After that day, all his tears had dried up.
“But…” Teruo hesitated before continuing. “When you arrived on Monday, HR told Megumi that you know the killer. Who is the one who shot her?”
Shinji’s stomach tied in knots. “Not a ‘killer’ per se, though I consider him one. The person who shot her wasn’t an officer, but someone from my other job, who was supposed to help.” Blood boiled in his veins at the memory. “And yes, I know him a bit too well for my liking.”
“Too well?” Teruo frowned.
“My boyfriend killed Haruna.”
CHAPTER 24