Volume 3 Chapter 1

VOLUME 3 – THE LIGHT BEYOND THE DARKNESS file 01: disappearance ()

–

1

–

Hijikata Makoto stopped the taxi in front of a multi-tenant building to see a small illuminated sign that read .

Makoto paid and quickly descended the stairs to the basement.

It was already almost an hour past the appointed time. Her work always dragged on at times like this. Irritated, Makoto pushed open the heavy wooden door and entered the bar.

There were four table seats and a counter that could seat five. Using indirect lighting with blue as its premise, jazz played throughout the bar.

Though the place wasn’t large, it had a good atmosphere.

Makoto looked around and soon found Asami, whom she had arranged to meet. She was smoking a slim cigarette at the table by the entrance.

‘Sorry I’m late…’

Makoto clapped Asami on the shoulder.

‘You’re too late.’

Asami pouted with her puffy lips.

It had been a while since they last met. Makoto felt that Asami had changed quite a lot. During university, Asami hadn’t smoked, and she had had a stronger healthy impression. It might have been because of the makeup, but now it looked like there were shadows somewhere.

However, one thing that didn’t change was her beauty.

‘I’m really sorry.’

Makoto put her hands together as she asked for forgiveness.

‘It’s OK. It’d be a different matter if it was because of a man, but you had work, right?’

‘Yup. Well.’

‘It was your goal, right? Working at a newspaper agency.’

Makoto somehow managed to smile back, but she couldn’t actually smile honestly. It’d be difficult to say that even though she was employed at a news agency, it had been because her father was the chief of police rather than because of her own aptitude.

‘Anyway, it’s really been a while. When’d we last see each other?’

Makoto changed the topic.

‘Hm – university?’

Now that Asami said it, Makoto felt that was right. After graduating, Asami had returned to her home in Nagano and they hadn’t met directly like this since, though they had sent emails and New Year’s cards.

That would mean she hadn’t seen Asami in three years.

‘So the last time was at the graduation ceremony.’

‘I didn’t go to the ceremony, so…’

Asami’s expression went a bit stiff. Makoto tried tracing back in her memory.

That was right. If she remembered correctly, Asami had taken a one-month break around graduation because her health had worsened, and then graduation had come. Makoto had asked something she shouldn’t have.

‘That’s right. Sorry.’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Asami said nonchalantly. She put out the cigarette she had been smoking in the ashtray.

‘So when’d you come here?’

‘Last month. I transferred for work.’

‘So that’s how it was. Then we’ll be able to meet up for drinks again.’

‘I won’t let you get away.’

Asami just smiled. The old Asami would have laughed aloud. People could change a lot in three years.

‘Anyway, sit down.’

Asami urged Makoto to sit, but there were two men she didn’t know in the opposite seats.

The first was in his early thirties and had a casual feel to him, wearing a beige jacket with jeans. The other was a young man in his early twenties with a hip-hop artist’s fashion sense. They were a somewhat unbalanced pair.

‘Good evening.’

The man in the jacket bowed his head politely. The young man in hip-hop fashion also nodded, following the older man.

Makoto sat next to Asami and touched her elbow to ask for an explanation.

‘Ah, that’s right.’

Asami started introducing everyone.

The man in the jacket was called Shinichi. He worked at an event planning company. The other younger man was Yuuya. He was Shinichi’s pal and was in his third year of university. It seemed that he did part-time at Shinichi’s event planning company.

Makoto also greeted the two of them simply.

‘We got to know each other while waiting for you, Makoto. You don’t mind if the two of them join us, right?’

‘Not at all,’ Makoto replied, though she was puzzled.

During university, Asami hadn’t been the type to drink with men she didn’t know who called out to her at a bar.

Since she wasn’t a naive middle school student, it probably wasn’t anything to worry about.

‘What would you like to order?’

The long-haired bartender, who had been waiting for their conversation to halt, brought a menu and came to take their order, wearing a black apron.

The bartender was expressionless and calm.

Makoto looked at the menu, but in the end, she just ordered gin, like she always did.

At the time, Makoto couldn’t even imagine what was going to happen afterwards –

–

2

–

Gotou reclined on the car seat and tied his necktie while holding a cigarette in his mouth.

In the passenger seat, Ishii was carelessly chomping down a hamburger. Thanks to that, the car was filled with the smell of burger.

Gotou was going to complain, but he changed his mind. Conversing with Ishii was as tiring as conversing with Yakumo.

Asami sounded like she was at her wit’s end. There was no way Makoto could leave her alone.

‘I get it. I’ll finish work as quickly as I can and come over.’

‘Don’t go back to your room ’til then, OK? Stay somewhere else.’

After Makoto said that, she hung up.

There’s someone who thinks I’m looking under the weather, so I’ll watch my timing and leave as soon as possible.

–

7

–

Haruka followed Yakumo and went up the stairs to the apartment courtyard.

It was a fifteen-minute walk from the station. The apartment had been forcibly built, cutting away at the high ground. The steep steps were what remained.

Because of the dizzying sunlight, going up the steps was rather tiring.

‘Hey, walk a bit more slowly.’

Haruka wiped the sweat off her forehead and complained to Yakumo.

‘Are you a turtle?’

‘The rabbit loses to the turtle in the end.’

‘No matter how I try, I can’t think that you’ll catch up to me.’

‘That’s why I asked you to walk a bit more slowly.’

‘Why are you following me anyway? I don’t remember telling you to come with me.’

Yakumo didn’t slow his pace or turn around.

It was true that Yakumo hadn’t asked her to come, but Haruka couldn’t remember him saying not to either. Haruka had interpreted that the way she wanted to and followed.

When she climbed to the top of the stairs, there was a park right in front of her.

A lawn spread out, surrounded by benches. A few toddlers were running around while letting out shrieks of delight. Behind the park, five seven-storey apartments were lined up diagonally.

Yakumo stood at the entrance of the first apartment and looked up at the roof.

It was an unusually serious gaze.

Haruka stood beside Yakumo and looked up at the roof as well.

All she could see was a brilliant blue sky and cumulonimbi rising up into the sky like columns of smoke. However, it was different for Yakumo.

He had a red left eye that could see the spirits of the dead. He loathed his unique ability and usually hid that eye with a black contact lens.

That ability had caused much of Yakumo’s contrary personality.

His own mother tried to kill him and the people around him found his eye altogether uncomfortable, so he ended up closing off his heart.

That eye filled with so many sad memories was lonely but warm.

‘Hey, can you see anything?’

Yakumo didn’t reply.

Well, she hadn’t been expecting a reply in the first place.

‘There is a woman with long hair.’

Suddenly, she heard a voice.

It hadn’t been Yakumo’s. As proof, Yakumo also looked surprised. Haruka turned around to where the voice had come from and saw one man standing there.

He wore a black suit and white shirt inappropriate for this season. He had no tie and he had long flowing hair.

He had firm shoulders and dark skin like a surfer. His finely chiselled features were unlike that of a Japanese person’s.

Though their appearances were different, he had the same atmosphere as Yakumo. Haruka felt that even if she didn’t know the reason.

‘And you are?’

Yakumo narrowed his eyes, like he was evaluating the man.

‘Sorry for interrupting all of a sudden. My name is Kamiyama. I’m an exorcist.’

Kamiyama made a smile and proffered Yakumo a business card.

– This person is an exorcist.

He had a very different impression from what Haruka thought exorcists looked like.

Exorcism was Yakumo’s most hated type of industry.

Yakumo, who could actually see the spirits of the dead, defined them as clusters of people’s emotions. That was why he thought it was an uncivilised method – to him, exorcising spirits with the power of chanting was idiotic and the same as giving someone a beating.

‘You think I’m suspicious. Well, that’s not unexpected.’

Kamiyama smiled bitterly at Yakumo who didn’t move to take the business card.

He had a low voice and a soothing way of speaking.

‘I can’t do anything if you doubt me, but I can see them. The spirits of the dead.’

‘Eh?’

Haruka spoke in surprise without thinking.

Kamiyama just said that he could see the spirits of the dead. If that was true, that would mean he had the same ability as Yakumo.

But anybody could say that. On the contrary, if there were exorcists who couldn’t see the spirits of the dead, they wouldn’t be able to make money even in a bogus business.

How did Yakumo see it? Haruka turned to look at him.

His expression hadn’t changed – he was just looking at Kamiyama silently.

‘She killed herself…’ said Kamiyama, looking up at the apartment.

Yakumo neither affirmed nor denied it. Kamiyama continued without delay.

‘A woman in her early twenties. She jumped from there at the limit of her despair.’

Kamiyama pointed at one of the corners of the apartment’s roof.

Yakumo’s mouth moved slowly. Haruka didn’t know what he was saying.

‘She has a violent hatred. A strong hatred that can’t even be healed by death… A deep darkness.’

Kamiyama closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before turning his gaze to Yakumo again.

‘You can see them too, can’t you? The same things as me.’

Yakumo’s eyes turned sharp, but his lips were still pressed thinly together.

– Is this exorcist telling the truth?

Haruka restrained the impulse to ask.

‘Don’t you think sometimes that being able to see is a cruelty?’

Though Yakumo didn’t reply to Kamiyama’s question, he narrowed his eyes, looking displeased.

However, to Haruka, those eyes looked like they were saying something, and Kamiyama continued talking like he had taken Yakumo’s silence as a response.

‘You learn about things you don’t need to know about. The spirits of the dead are people’s passions unbound by morals. Looking at them directly is too painful. My heart breaks every time I see them.’

Yakumo’s gaze met Kamiyama’s, and a wave of tension spread.

Haruka forgot to breathe as she stared at the two of them.

After a silence, Kamiyama smiled bitterly and said, ‘Sorry for suddenly bringing up such an odd topic.’

Haruka was finally able to let out the breath she had been holding.

‘No, not at all.’

Yakumo ran his fingers through his hair.

‘I feel like I’ll meet you again.’

Kamiyama left those parting words and walked at an easy pace away from the apartment.

Haruka realised why she felt like Kamiyama and Yakumo had a similar atmosphere when she saw his retreating back. His back felt like it was burdened with a heavy, sorrowful shadow.

When they could no longer see Kamiyama, Yakumo’s eyes returned to their usual sleepy look and he let out a big yawn.

‘Hey, Yakumo-kun. About what that man said…’

For a moment, Yakumo’s expression changed at Haruka’s question.

Though she didn’t know what emotions he had hidden away, it was a complicated expression she had never seen before.

‘Putting aside whether he is a real exorcist or not, there is a spirit of a dead woman here, as he said.’

Does that mean that exorcist is the real thing –

Come to think of it, Yakumo had said this before. ‘My ability to see the spirits of the dead is just part of my disposition.’ If that was the case, it wouldn’t be strange if other people had the same disposition.

‘Yakumo-kun…’

Yakumo ignored Haruka and started to make a call on his mobile.

–

8

–

When Ishii returned from the meeting room to the Unsolved Cases Special Investigations Room, Gotou was snoring loudly as he reclined on the chair.

It looked like his quarrel with Ideuchi earlier hadn’t really struck home.

– I was silly for worrying.

Ishii let out a huge sigh.

Gotou and Ishii were the only ones posted at the Unsolved Cases Special Investigations Room, which used to be a storehouse. Since nobody would see them, nobody would blame them if they took naps.

That said, Ishii didn’t know what to think about dozing right in the open at noon, but he didn’t have the courage to wake Gotou up.

In this situation, all Ishii could do was devote himself to whittling time away.

What he had been doing lately was reading the dossiers for unsolved cases that occurred in the past and reasoning out who the perpetrators were on his own.

Since he couldn’t report them to anybody, it was only self-satisfaction, but it was fairly interesting, since it felt like he had become a famous detective such as Sherlock Holmes.

Then, a mobile phone started ringing.

Gotou got up and answered the phone without even checking who it was, still half-asleep.

‘Who’s this?’

Did Detective Gotou talk like that to everyone? Ishii thought that he should act a bit more polite since he was an adult.

However, there was no way he could have said that aloud.

‘Eh? When did I become your gofer?’

The person Detective Gotou was talking to on the phone had to have plenty of guts to try to use him as a gofer.

Perhaps –

‘You want me to lend… That really is all you can be counted on for… I got it.’

While Gotou complained, he started taking notes for some reason.

‘Shut up. I don’t need your concern.’

Gotou left a sharp parting remark and hung up.

‘What was it?’ Ishii asked, leaning forward in curiosity.

‘Work,’ said Gotou, and he handed a memo with an address written on it to Ishii.

‘What is this?’

‘There’s an apartment at the address here – look up whether there are incidents in the past near there where somebody died.’

‘Where somebody died?’

‘Murder, accident, suicide. Anything’s fine as long as they’re dead.’

It was an awfully vague instruction.

‘Is that all?’

‘If somebody did die, look into them more so you know their personal history.’

‘What case is this for?’

‘It’s not a case,’ Gotou said bluntly.

– It isn’t a case?

‘It isn’t?’

‘It’s a request from that brat.’

– By that brat, perhaps he meant…

‘From Saitou Yakumo-shi?’

‘Yeah. There’s a ghost at that apartment.’

So it was that demon-like man.

The terrible experience from a few months ago came back to Ishii’s heart, and a chill ran from the crown of his head to his toes.

He didn’t want to feel that way again.

‘I unconditionally disagree to this.’

‘Stop whinging and go look into it.’

Gotou’s fist fell down on Ishii’s head.

* * *

‘So, did you find out anything?’ Haruka asked Yakumo, who had ended his phone call.

Yakumo looked at Haruka like she was making a fool of him.

‘You haven’t progressed at all, as usual.’

‘What?’

‘All I know now is that there is a woman’s ghost at this apartment. There wouldn’t be a conclusion to this so suddenly.’

‘Didn’t that exorcist earlier say it was a suicide?’

‘You believe him?’

Yakumo’s expression turned stiff.

Haruka, who couldn’t see the spirits of the dead, had no way of judging whether Kamiyama’s words were true or not.

‘I don’t know.’

‘I don’t know either.’

‘Then…’

‘That’s why we can’t let ourselves be caught by any preconceptions before we know whether what he said was true or not.’

Yakumo’s lips went into a thin line after he spoke.

There was the sound of a mosquito buzzing far away in the silence. The light reflected from the asphalt was scorching and felt like it could burn skin.

Yakumo’s argument was sound. But –

‘What are you going to do now?’

‘Go back. After that, I wait for the results of the investigation.’

After Yakumo said that, he started walking away briskly.

Haruka hurriedly followed after him.

As she thought, Yakumo was a bit strange after meeting that exorcist earlier.

She wouldn’t be able to say specifically what it was if asked, but she couldn’t feel strong determination from his eyes.

– He’s perplexed.

Just after they descended the stairs in front of the apartment, Yakumo suddenly stopped.

‘When do you think a person would take their own life?’ asked Yakumo, turning around.

His eyes were narrowed. Is it because of the sunlight or –

Haruka had no answer for such an abrupt question. Despite that, she racked her mind to find one.

‘Maybe to run away…’

Haruka said the words that came to her.

‘To run.’

‘I think that everyone has their own reasons, but maybe they were using death to try to escape, or rather, be released from pain or sadness that they couldn’t bear.

Unusual for Yakumo, he listened to Haruka’s words patiently.

Haruka thought that his eyes looked they carried a strange sorrow, but it was probably just a misunderstanding.

‘Dying won’t bring release.’

That was all Yakumo said. Haruka thought he was right.

If the dead had souls, those emotions would still remain in this world even if they died.

If they chose death as a way to escape, it was a big mistake. Whether they chose to live or die, people couldn’t run from their own heart.

Still, the number of people who chose to take their own lives was endless. It was a sad truth.

A humid wind blew.

‘Let’s run. It’s going to rain.’

Yakumo suddenly broke into a run. Haruka hurriedly started running too. Immediately after she did, rain started pouring down loudly. –

9

–

When Makoto finished work, she hurriedly headed towards the place where she had arranged to meet with Asami.

Though it was a family restaurant about a five-minute walk from the station, she ended up going by taxi because of the rain that was coming down in buckets.

After Makoto entered the restaurant, she found Asami at a seat by the window.

She was looking around like she couldn’t calm down and was afraid of something.

‘Sorry, I wanted to come earlier,’ said Makoto, sitting in the seat opposite Asami. The moment Asami looked at Makoto’s face, she shook her head vehemently.

Asami covered her face with her hands and mumbled, ‘I was really scared… I can’t go home anymore…’

Makoto understood Asami’s fear well.

Though her situation had been different, she had been possessed by a ghost a few months ago. A soul that wasn’t hers had eaten away at her.

She would probably never forget the terror she felt then.

‘It’s OK, it’s OK.’

Makoto moved to the seat beside Asami and hugged her shoulders tightly, which made Asami burst into tears.

Makoto stroked Asami’s head and patiently waited for her to stop crying.

After a while, Asami calmed down a bit and started talking in spurts about what had been happening around her.

‘I always felt somebody’s presence.’

‘Presence?’

‘Mm… I’d hear footsteps behind me when I sat on the sofa, and when I took a shower, somebody would touch my hair…’

Makoto took Asami’s hand as she listened to her story.

‘But I told myself I was just misunderstanding things. When I slept, I felt like I heard somebody’s voice and looked out the window…’

After saying this much, Asami lost her breath.

Makoto could feel Asami’s nervousness and fear. She didn’t want to hear any more. While thinking that, she urged Asami to continue, asking, ‘Then?’

‘She was there.’

‘Who was?’

‘That woman. The one who had been at the toilet in the bar last night…’

After Asami said that, she closed her eyes tightly.

Makoto also remembered the blood-covered woman who had been reflected in the lavatory mirror and felt a chill down her spine.

‘I live on the ninth floor of my apartment, but that woman was standing outside my window, smiling…’

Asami held her chest as her erratic breathing shook her shoulders.

‘It’s OK. Calm down and take deep breaths.’

Makoto rubbed Asami’s back and took calm, deep breaths as an example.

After a while, Asami regained her composure and lifted her face to begin talking again.

‘I was so scared I consulted an exorcist.’

‘An exorcist?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Are they someone you can trust?’

Normal people couldn’t see ghosts. Consequently, it’d be considerably difficult to judge whether that exorcist was the real thing or a fake.

While there were people who were saved, it was also true that it was a breeding ground for fraud.

‘Since it’s just a name I’ve heard from a friend… Makoto, I want you to meet him with me.’

‘When you say you want me to meet him with you, do you mean you’re meeting him now?’

Asami nodded, her gaze holding Makoto.

‘Excuse me. Would you be Inoue Asami-san…’

While Makoto was hesitating on her decision, somebody suddenly called out to them.

When she looked over, there was a man in a black suit standing by their table. He had chiselled features, his long hair was swept back, and he looked composed.

Asami replied, ‘That would be me.’

‘My name is Kamiyama. I received your phone call.’

The man gave his name and bowed his head.

This man is the exorcist Asami made her request to –

In front of Kamiyama, Asami talked about the spiritual phenomena she experienced again, but Asami’s agitation was more pronounced than it has been earlier, and there were many parts that were incoherent.

In the end, Makoto had to give an additional explanation including the event that occurred at the bar last night.

After Makoto finished talking, a smile appeared on Kamiyama’s face, and he said, ‘I see. I have understood most of the story.’

Asami ducked her head and her gaze wandered anxiously. She couldn’t make calm decisions right now. Makoto would have to judge whether this exorcist was the real thing or not – that was how Makoto felt.

‘Deducing from this story, I believe this may be a wandering spirit.’

‘A wandering spirit?’ Makoto asked.

She had heard the term before, but she didn’t know what it actually meant.

‘There are a variety of types of spirits with different characteristics. Many have been recognised by exorcists, but they have been split into residual spirits and wandering spirits.’

‘Residual spirits and wandering spirits…’

She had heard of both of them, but she didn’t know what the difference was.

‘Yes. Residual spirits, as suggested by the name, are spirits that are bound after death to a specific place or thing.’

‘Bound?’

‘Yes. It might be easy to understand if I said they were captured by emotions. Hatred, sadness, anger – they are kept in this world by these negative emotions.’

‘Lingering emotions…’

‘That’s right. They are often the ones who committed suicide or were killed. It is said that residual ghosts can escape that binding by possessing a living person.’

Did that mean last time Makoto had been possessed by a residual spirit –

‘The other type, the wandering spirit, is also exactly what it sounds like. They are spirits that cannot rest in peace, so they wander. There are many cases where they do not know they are dead or want somebody to know they are there.

Kamiyama’s explanation was logical and easy to understand, as if Makoto were listening to a class at school.

Moreover, he didn’t say anything to surprise them as a joke or fan their anxiety.

‘They’re wandering…’

‘Yes. It’s likely that the wandering spirit just happened to be in the bar when the two of you saw it. Then, when Asami-san didn’t notice, she brought that wandering spirit home with her.’

‘Will I be OK?’

Asami drew near Kamiyama and gripped his arm tightly.

Kamiyama wasn’t perturbed by it and said kindly, ‘Please calm down. Wandering spirits simply wander, so they will not inflict harm.’

‘Is that true?’

‘Yes. If you are still uneasy, I can go to your room now, Asami-san, and exorcise the spirit.’

‘Please do.’

Asami replied immediately to Kamiyama’s suggestion.

Then, she grasped Makoto’s hand tightly and said, ‘Makoto, you come too.’

Makoto responded with a nod, since there was no way she could have refused.

–

10

–

Why do I have to do this –

Ishii unhappily searched through past data on a laptop.

He had never heard of police investigating at the request of a civilian, let alone a university student.

Saitou Yakumo – to Ishii, he was an unfamiliar puzzle of a living thing.

With Yakumo’s aloof attitude, there was nothing Ishii could get a hold of. He didn’t know how to connect to him. On top of that, there was that red left eye.

His body trembled just from remembering it.

The greatest puzzle for Ishii was why Haruka was together with that demon-like man.

Ishii didn’t know what to think of Yakumo who would order the police around like it was completely natural, but it perplexed Ishii even more that Gotou accepted Yakumo’s request so easily.

That Gotou was reclining on a chair behind him and whistling while plucking out nostril hairs. Furthermore, he was scattering the nostril hairs he plucked onto the floor, which was –

While Ishii was mulling over his thoughts, the data he had been looking for showed up on his monitor.

‘Detective Gotou, I’ve found it.’

Gotou responded to Ishii’s voice and peeked at the monitor from behind him.

‘April, five years ago – a woman’s corpse was found in this apartment’s courtyard.’

Ishii read the information displayed on the monitor.

‘A murder?’

Gotou rubbed at the stubble on his chin.

‘Er… The final report states that it was a suicide.’

‘That’s certain?’

Gotou held a cigarette in his mouth and lit it as he spoke.

‘Though no note was found, it was judged to be a suicide from circumstantial evidence.’

‘Circumstantial evidence?’

Gotou frowned and spat out his cigarette.

‘Yes. Half a year before she committed suicide, she was the victim of an assault.’

‘Assault?’

Gotou’s voice cracked. He was openly discomfited.

Ishii was of the same mental state. Rape was one of the most repugnant crimes. It was not as if the perpetrator had a grudge. They had no distinct reason for why they had to do it.

It was a base and filthy crime that one-sidedly hurt women for their own lust.

‘A victim report was submitted to the police.’

A suicide from psychological shock –

Though Ishii didn’t know what sort of person she was, considering her feelings, she could definitely have been thinking about committing suicide. He had heard of women in the same situation who had actually killed themselves.

‘Do you know her name?’

‘Er… Sawaguchi Rika. She had been twenty- two at the time.’

The moment Ishii said that name, Gotou’s expression stiffened.

‘I can’t believe it was this case…’

Gotou spoke in a quiet voice that was almost inaudible.

‘Excuse me, Detective Gotou…’

‘Print out that info for me,’ Gotou said quickly, interrupting Ishii.

Ishii immediately printed out the documents for the case and handed them to Gotou.

‘Excuse me, Detective Gotou…’

– Do you know this woman?

Ishii wanted to continue with that, but Gotou left the room before he could finish speaking.

Ishii felt something serious from that murmur.

–

11

–

‘Sorry to disturb you.’

Gotou opened the door to Yakumo’s secret hiding place.

A wave of hot air assaulted Gotou’s face. How could anybody stand to stay in this sauna of a room? Yakumo was sitting in the chair in front of him, with sleepy eyes as usual.

‘If you know you’re disturbing me, please head home,’ Yakumo said, not even looking at him.

W