CHAPTER 11
Shinji
Shinji woke up under the shrill music of his phone’s alarm.
He slapped his palm on the screen, struggling to shut it down.
Yesterday, after sending the ghosts in his jurisdiction to the other side and ending up unable to replenish his reiryoku, he’d returned home and locked himself up in the guest room.
He’d been so tired, he didn’t even eat, only left Teruo an apologetic message and went to sleep.
His stomach grumbled with hunger and despite the fatigue, he still had to go to work, so he forced himself out of bed and down the stairs. The delicious aroma of breakfast wafted into the house, and Shinji went straight toward the kitchen.
Teruo faced the stove, filling up a plate with small fried sausages.
He was, of course, already dressed in a crisp white shirt and dark green slacks, both covered with an apron.
He looked so good, so handsome, elegant, but homey at the same time.
A pang of guilt and frustration took a hold of Shinji because he wanted to sneak up behind Teruo, wrap him into a hug, feel his warmth, and kiss him crazy.
Instead, Shinji sat down quietly at the far end of the table. “Morning.”
“Morning.” Teruo glanced at him with a faraway look at made Shinji feel even guiltier, then set the sausages down on the place. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah…” Although he’d practically slept for about twelve hours straight, he didn’t feel rested. And he’d gotten so used to sleeping with Teruo by his side that sleeping alone had started to become depressing.
Teruo filled another plate with fried rice balls, then added, “Wanna tell me what happened yesterday? You didn’t say much in your messages.”
“It was a shit show.” Shinji summarized everything that went down. Teruo’s brows rose into his hairline while Shinji spoke, then he nearly dropped the bowls of soup when he heard that Commissioner Horiuchi led the extractors.
Silence fell over them as Teruo slid Shinji’s portion of breakfast toward him. “Be honest… do you think Horiuchi has something to do with our victims?” Teruo asked.
“I don’t know her personally, so I can’t say for sure.
She could or it could just be a coincidence.
The good thing is that I have the list of extractors and I can comb through it.
” As soon as food was in front of him, Shinji wasted no time in shoving a rice ball into his mouth and then sipping soup at the same time.
Teruo stared at him, his mouth twitching. He probably wanted to say ‘don’t gobble, you’ll choke!’, but didn’t want to sound overbearing. Shinji secretly liked it when Teruo nagged. He did it because he cared and very few people in Shinji’s life cared this much.
“It’s delicious.” Shinji pointed toward the food. “I might choke, but it’ll be worth it.”
A huge smile beamed on Teruo’s face. “I’m glad it’s good. Let me know if you’d like second servings. It’ll help get your energy back faster.”
Shinji wanted to say that replenishing his reiryoku had nothing to do with food, but he wasn’t sure if Teruo was talking about his spiritual energy or his general well-being, so he just nodded.
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Teruo continued their earlier train of conversation. “Shouldn’t we speak to her? She has now become a person of interest since she’s the extractors’ captain.”
“Well, yes and no,” Shinji said. “Technically, you shouldn’t even know about that.”
Teruo sucked in a breath. “But I do know about it and I’m sure Horiuchi is very much aware of it. She and the organization need to mobilize to find this extractor before more people end up dead.”
“I think they are searching,” Shinji said after swallowing a mouthful of rice.
“But they’re simply not bothering to keep me in the loop about it.
I doubt they give a shit about updating a part-time Shinigami, you know?
Even if I’m one of the detectives on the case.
They barely gave me info on past cases when the investigation concerned me directly. ”
“It is concerning us directly this time too, Shinji. It’s an active investigation.”
Shinji raised his shoulders in a defeated shrug. “Those words mean nothing to the Onmyōryō.”
“Then what was the point of hiring an Onmyōji as the TMPD’s Commissioner? What’s their fucking agenda here? Control and that’s it? They suck at maintaining control too, you know?”
“Do they?” Shinji eyed him. “Aren’t they keeping us both on a short leash right now? We’re practically chasing our own tails.”
Teruo let out a growling sigh. “Who’s the director?”
“The what?”
“The director of the Onmyōryō. The boss. I think you need to go to this person and speak with them to find out what the hell is going on.”
“Ah, you’re referring to the Onmyō no Kami,” Shinji said. “Unfortunately, I cannot speak with this person.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t know who they are or where they are or how to find them.”
Teruo gaped at him, brows furrowing. “You don’t know who you’re working for?”
“I work for the Onmyōryō organization as a whole and I’m in the service of the supernatural community, not one person. The leader is irrelevant to me.”
“But still, they’re the head of the bureau, aren’t they? Shouldn’t the supernatural community know who they are to get their help if needed.”
Shinji placed the chopsticks in the holder and drank a few gulps of tea.
“The identity of the leader has always been kept a secret for security purposes because if the Onmyōryō castle ever falls, the Onmyō no Kami and the team of Onmyōji are responsible for fixing things. There are rumors, of course, but no one knows who this person is besides a few select people.”
“What do the rumors say?” Teruo asked.
Shinji added in a low voice, “That the Onmyō no Kami might be a ghost.”
Teruo drew back. “Oh wow. That’s unexpected.” He processed the info for a second before adding, “Funny how the ghost leader is staying here, all nice and dandy, while you’re sending ghosts to the land of the dead that you claim to be a shitty place.”
Shinji swallowed a knot in his throat. Teruo always managed to hit the nail on the head about all the controversial issues of the Onmyōryō that Shinji had been pretending not to see to protect his sanity and his job.
“I’m not too happy about the situation either, but it’s the natural order of things.
” Shinji picked up the chopsticks again, ruminating over what had been a point of contention within himself for years.
“This world isn’t good for spirits. Don’t imagine it’s easy to stick around in the world of the living watching your loved ones go on without you and be unable to communicate—or worse, kill them if you stay around them for too long.
You saw what happened to Megumi. Not everybody can tolerate a spirit hovering over them for long. ”
“And the ghosts the Onmyōryō hires?”
“Under strict control,” Shinji said. “What Keiko did was an oversight on my part and it’ll never happen again. I need to do my duty. It may not be nice, and some of you may not agree with it, but it is what it is.”
Teruo’s face was scrunched in that way that said he didn’t like he answer, but didn’t want to have an argument that would go in circles either. He returned his attention to the bowl of soup.
Shinji finished eating first and wiped his mouth. “Thank you for the meal. It will be a few more hours until my reiryoku will be fully replenished, so I’ll go ahead and speak with Morimoto’s son on my own.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with?” Teruo asked. “I can wait in the car.”
“It’s better this way.”
Teruo pressed his lips in a thin line, then nodded. “Okay. Be safe.” His gaze lingered on Shinji, and his concern was evident even as he tried to keep his tone casual.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got Keiko and Mr. Tamura with me. Worst case scenario, he’ll drive the killer mad with financial advice.”
Teruo’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Will text you the details. It’s hilarious. Gotta get ready. Leave the dishes in the sink, I’ll wash them when I get back.”
“You know I’m not gonna do that, right? I’ll be obsessing over them the entire day.”
Shinji rolled his eyes and chuckled. “True. I’m… I’m so sorry. I’ll make up for it, I swear.” He took a step toward the kitchen door, then turned with a mischievous smirk. “Tonight, when I’m healed, you better be ready. I’m gonna ravage you.”
Teruo’s lips curved into a grin, his earlier frown slipping away. “Hm, promises, promises.”
“I will. You’ll see.” He called as he headed out of the kitchen and up the stairs to get dressed.
~ * ~
Shinji got ready in record time and ran to the car.
It was early morning, so he could still catch the son before he went to classes, but he would be cutting it short.
Keiko and Tamura were already inside, with Tamura making small talk about real estate investment in this neighborhood while Keiko slumped with her arms folded.
When Shinji settled behind the wheel, she gave him a glare.
“Took your sweet time,” Keiko grumbled.
“Actually, I was faster than usual today.”
“Then time must be passing very slowly for me.” She side-eyed Tamura. “Very slowly, indeed.”
Shinji bit his lower lip so he wouldn’t laugh and put the address for Morimoto Hiroyuki’s apartment in the dashboard GPS; about twenty minutes, maybe more with morning traffic and he slid the car into the road.
A lot rode on this conversation with the son, and if he knew nothing, Shinji would have to try his luck with the other victims’ families, which he already knew how it would go.
When it came to extractions, everybody kept their mouths shut.
But an illegally done one? They’d bury their heads in the sand.
Shinji sighed and shook his head.