Volume 8 Chapter 2

VOLUME 8 – THE VANISHED SPIRIT file 02: escape ()

–

1

–

– Where is this?

Haruka stood up on the wooden floor in her bare feet.

There were candleholders in the four corners of the room. The small flames of the candles flickered.

It appeared to be a temple.

– Why am I here?

As if to answer Haruka’s question, a dark shadow walked in front of Haruka. It was somebody Haruka knew well.

‘Yakumo-kun, where did you go? I was worried.’

Yakumo didn’t reply.

The muscles in his face were flaccid and his eyes weren’t focussed. His fingers occasionally twitched.

He looked a bit strange.

‘Hey. Yakumo-kun.’

Haruka called out once more. Then, Yakumo suddenly started laughing aloud.

He clutched his stomach as he convulsed with laughter.

‘What’s so funny?’ Haruka said at last, though she was confused.

Yakumo suddenly stopped.

‘What’s so funny, you say?’

Still smiling, Yakumo held up a knife in front of Haruka’s eyes.

The knife, coldly glinting, was dyed red. Blood dripped from its tip.

‘Yakumo-kun… right?’

‘That’s right. I’ve finally realised my true nature.’

‘True nature?’

Haruka stepped back.

Yakumo took a step closer as if to chase her.

‘That’s right. Killing people… is fun.’

‘You’re lying.’

‘Want to test me?’

Yakumo licked his lips.

Before Haruka noticed, his two eyes were dyed a deep red.

–

‘Stop!’

Haruka sat straight up.

She opened her eyes not in a temple but her own room. It looked like she’d fallen asleep on the table.

– That was a dream.

‘Thank goodness.’

Haruka heaved a sigh of relief and looked at the clock.

It was just past four in the morning. This wasn’t the time to sleep. She rubbed her eyes and looked back at her computer monitor when she felt somebody’s presence.

– Somebody’s here.

When Haruka turned around, she saw somebody sitting against the wall.

‘Aah!’

Haruka leapt up.

The person sitting there with his head hung slowly lifted his head.

‘Yakumo-kun!’ exclaimed Haruka, her eyes wide.

There was no doubt about it. It was Yakumo.

His skin was so pale and his lips so dry and purple that it made her doubt he was alive.

His white shirt was covered in dirt and the left leg of his jeans was stained with blood.

‘Why are you here…’ said Yakumo in a hoarse voice.

‘Why…’

That was what Haruka wanted to ask.

But this wasn’t the time for that. Anyway, she had to bring Yakumo to a hospital to fix his horrible condiition.

‘I ran here from the limestone cavern…’

‘Tell me later. Anyway, I’ll call an ambulance.’

Haruka took the mobile on the table in her hand.

‘Then I went to the lake… Red flowers bloomed…’

Yakumo was talking deliriously.

‘Lake?’

‘I see… I’m… already dead…’

‘Don’t say something so stupid!’

‘It’s fine… I got to see you… in the end…’

As he spoke, Yakumo’s shadow became gradually fainter and finally disappeared, as if he had melted into the room.

‘Yakumo-kun? Hey, where are you?’

Haruka called out frantically, but Yakumo made no reply –

–

2

–

– So noisy.

Gotou woke up to the ringing of his mobile phone.

He’d gone round looking for Yakumo, but he couldn’t find him. He hadn’t thought it’d be so easy, but he still felt tired and disappointed.

He had planned on taking a break by sitting in the car’s driver seat, but then he had fallen asleep.

In the passenger’s seat, Eishin was sleeping while snoring loudly.

Unlike Gotou, who had searched for Yakumo frantically, Eishin had returned to the car soon after and fallen asleep after saying, ‘There’s no way we’ll find him when it’s this dark.’

Gotou looked at his wristwatch. It was just past four in the morning.

– Who’s calling at this time?

‘Gotou speaking.’

Gotou answered the phone while rubbing his eyes.

He heard Haruka’s hysterical voice on the other end of the phone.

The way she was so agitated wasn’t normal.

‘What about Yakumo?’

That was a welcome suggestion.

He had to explain the situation to Haruka as well, and it would be better to have more heads to think about it.

‘That sounds good.’

‘Thank you.’

Ishii hung up and looked at the mountain of files that Youko had left behind. It was possible that something that connected Seidou and Matsumoto Hiroshi was in there.

Ishii rolled up his shirt sleeves and picked up a file.

–

10

–

– Still not done?

Gotou glared at the examination room door with his two hands in fists.

It had been more than two hours since.

He was irritated at himself for only being able to wait. At times like this, he longed for the cigarettes that he had stopped smoking.

‘Damn it!’

Just as Gotou spat that out, the door opened.

Eishin came out. His forehead was drenched with sweat. He looked like he had lost weight.

‘How is he?’

Gotou stood up immediately and approached Eishin.

Eishin let out a long breath and then his expression relaxed.

‘Seems he’ll be fine if he gets some rest.’

’T-that so?’

All the force in Gotou’s body left him – it felt like he’d fall right to the floor.

Gotou was surprised himself that Yakumo’s existence had had such an impact on him.

‘So what do you plan to do now?’

Eishin looked at the glass door at the entrance, like he had sensed something.

Gotou looked as well.

He saw two uniformed officers approaching the examination room.

The nurse had probably informed the police after seeing the news. This was bad.

‘Take Yakumo out of here,’ Gotou said forcefully.

‘Are you serious?’

Eishin’s brow was furrowed.

Like Gotou had the time to tell jokes now.

‘I’ll stop the officers. You take Yakumo then,’ said Gotou, glaring at Eishin.

For a while, Eishin just looked back at Gotou silently, but he finally shook his head in resignation.

‘My, my. To think that I would become a partner in crime…’

‘You were the start of this. You should be prepared.’

‘Got it.’

Eishin smiled wryly and headed to the examination room.

‘Now, time to go.’

Gotou walked over with wide strides to the officers that had come in and showed them his police ID.

‘I’m Gotou of the Setamachi precinct.’

‘Thank you for your hard work.’

The uniformed officer immediately replied with a salute.

‘Did something happen?’

‘Yes. There was a report that the escaped suspect Saitou Yakumo was here…’

– So that really was it.

Gotou clicked his tongue looked at the examination room.

With bad timing, Eishin came out, carrying Yakumo.

One of the uniformed officers noticed and tried to approach Eishin, but Gotou grabbed the officer’s arm to stop him.

‘Wait!’

‘No, but…’

‘It was decided that Saitou Yakumo will be turned over to the Setamachi precinct.’

– Please. Believe me.

Gotou looked at the officer whose arm he was holding with that thought in his head.

‘I will confirm that.’

After the other officer said that, he took his wireless in his hand.

– No good, eh?

Gotou turned around and kneed the officer with the wireless between the legs.

‘Agh!’

The officer put his two hands to his crotch and screeched.

‘Don’t think badly of me.’

Gotou kicked the man’s defenceless chin.

The officer fell down backwards and stopped moving, loving consciousness.

‘W-what are you doing?’

The other officer seemed in shock as he put his hand to the gun holster at his waist.

– As if I’d let you do that!

Gotou grabbed the officer’s arm as he tried to take out his gun and then rammed his head into his nose.

‘Aaahhh!’

The officer staggered backwards while gripping his nose.

Gotou took a big step forward to approach the officer and performed a lariat with his outstretched right arm.

The officer fell backwards and stopped moving.

– I’ve done it now.

Though it was to save Yakumo, he was interfering with a public servant in the execution of his duties by aiding a fugitive. And he’d been violent on top of that. It wasn’t something a police officer should do.

He wouldn’t be able to be a police officer again with this.

Gotou had thought he would be disappointed, but strangely, his chest felt light. He had been bound by the organisation called the police up until now and had undergone many hardships, but now he was free.

‘Shouldn’t have done that,’ Eishin said, poking fun.

As usual, this guy had no sense of nervousness.

‘Anyway, let’s hurry.’

Right after saying that, Gotou ran.

There was no time to be sentimental. Once the officers regained consciousness, help would probably come right away.

They had to get as far away as they could before that happened.

Gotou got in the car’s driver seat and turned on the engine.

He waited until Eishin put Yakumo in the back and sat himself in the passenger seat before starting the car.

‘There was a movie like this before. The one with a pair escaping after committing a train robbery,’ said Eishin, smiling like he was enjoying this.

Gotou knew that movie too, but he didn’t want to compare themselves to it if he could.

‘Do you know how that movie ended?’

‘No, how did it?’

Eishin cocked his head.

– Really, what a laidback old man.

‘In the end, they were surrounded by the army and shot full of holes.’

–

11

–

– What’s this?

Ishii was looking through the files when he spotted the circumstances of a certain case and his hands stopped without thinking.

It was about a girl’s disappearance ten years ago.

Masuoka Minami, who lived in Nishitama City, was seventeen years old at the time. She went missing on the way home from school. Minami had still not been found.

From her friends’ testimony, Minami had seemed very depressed two or three days prior to the incident.

As well, on the day of her disappearance, she was spotted talking the train at the station in the direction of Shinjuku.

Her father had failed at work and lost his job and her mother was working part-time to support their family. Though she had wanted to go to university, but she was forced to give up.

It appeared that Minami had expressed her dissatisfaction with her family to her friends. The police had conjectured that she ran away from home because she hated her family.

After just looking at this much, it was a case that could happen often.

However, there was a reason Ishii had focussed on this case.

First was the name.

Furthermore, the person who had last seen Minami. That person was the victim of the case this time, Seidou.

There were other things that caught his interest. Matsumoto Hiroshi, the corpse that was found this morning, was the same age as Minami.

Was this just a coincidence – no, it was too much for that.

Ishii felt agitated.

Calling Minami’s family for information would be one method.

‘Where’s Gotou!?’

The door slammed open. Miyagawa ran in with a terribly angry expression.

His face was completely red – it looked like he could explode at any moment.

‘No, I…’

Ishii stood up reflexively, back pencil-straight.

‘Where’s Gotou?’

Miyagawa brought his face so close to Ishii’s that their noses were almost touching.

His eyes were bloodshot. Ishii felt like Miyagawa might bite into his neck at any moment.

‘No… I…’

‘I told you to back off already. What idiotic…’

Miyagawa covered his face with both hands and sat down right there.

Ishii had no idea what had happened, but when he saw Miyagawa’s unusual reaction, the feeling that something unbelievable was happening grew stronger.

‘What on earth…’

When Ishii asked that, Miyagawa stood up there with a reproachful expression and clicked his tongue.

‘There’s nothing else to say. This is the end…’

As if to interrupt Miyagawa’s explanation, the door opened.

Youko came in. Her expression was as wild as Miyagawa’s.

‘You’ve done it now!’

‘Yes?’

‘Did you know?’

Youko said that hysterically as she approached Ishii.

– What on earth is it?

Ishii’s head felt like it would split in his confusion.

‘What about?’

‘Your partner acted violently against two uniformed officers and escaped with Saitou Yakumo.’

‘Eh?’

It was so unexpected that for a while, Ishii couldn’t understand the meaning of the words.

– It can’t be.

‘Do you understand what this means? Aiding a fugitive and interfering with a public servant in the execution of his duties. And violence, on top of that.’

‘You’re lying. Detective Gotou wouldn’t do that.’

Ishii looked at Miyagawa for help.

‘It’s true. He really did something stupid…’

Miyagawa spat that out.

‘That’s…’

Ishii stood there, unable to believe it.

– I see.

Now, Ishii finally understood. Gotou had already found Yakumo when they talked on the phone. He had been planning on escaping with Yakumo from the very beginning.

That was why he didn’t tell Ishii about finding Yakumo – so as to not cause trouble for Ishii.

– Think about what you should do on your own!

Ishii understood the true meaning of Gotou’s words.

A bitter taste spread through his mouth.

‘Even though… I wanted to go with Detective Gotou…’ murmured Ishii.

‘What did you say?’

Miyagawa pressed him for an answer, but Ishii didn’t feel like replying.

– He left me behind.

That feeling quickly spread through Ishii’s chest, becoming so heavy it was hard to bear.

Ishii respected Gotou from the bottom of his heart.

Gotou had everything that Ishii didn’t. Ishii wanted to become like him. He wished for that. That was why he had recklessly chased after that back.

And yet –

‘I need to go.’

Ishii’s mouth moved naturally.

‘Go? You…’

‘I have to go too.’

Ishii took the file he had started reading and started