Chapter 57
The Bernese Mountain Dog lay sprawled out in the soft bedding, with its favorite purple mesh tennis ball resting beside its head.
On the other side, a fluffy white-pawed cat curled itself into a croissant shape, occupying the only two pillows.
In this quiet room, aside from the steady breathing of a cat and a dog, there was only the occasional rustling of turning pages and the scratching of a pen tip across paper.
Kisaragi Chiyo was not sleeping, not because her bed had been occupied. She had just stepped out for a moment to borrow the latest month's newspapers from Rika at the front desk.
[The Case of the Missing Female Tourist]
[The Figure in the Non-Existent Snowy Night]
[The Mysteriously Disappeared Young Lady of the Kamiko Family]
..
There were about thirty newspapers in total, six of which reported on the disappearance cases.
In other words, at least six disappearance cases occurred in Gunma in just about a single month.
Kisaragi Chiyo searched the internet for all the reports and news regarding these six disappearance cases one by one. Without exception, the victims of all six disappearances were female, their current status was all missing.
Although the police had found the missing persons' mobile phones, schoolbags, other belongings during their search, which essentially signaled that the chances of survival were slim, they did not dare to reach a definitive conclusion until the bodies were actually found. Consequently, they could only continue to treat the cases as missing persons investigations.
However, the six consecutive disappearance cases have placed immense pressure on the police, since the missing persons were all tourists from outside the area, it was inevitable that the local tourism industry in Gunma would be affected.
Therefore, solving the cases as quickly as possible had become an urgent matter. To this end, the Gunma police were forced to request assistance from the other party.
Aside from what Kisaragi Chiyo discovered herself, a small portion of the above information was sent by that friend of his who had just blocked him the day before yesterday.
You suspect these disappearances are related to yokai?
After sending the message, Kisaragi Chiyo put down her phone and pulled one of the dozens of newspapers from the pile.
He lowered his eyes, his gaze falling upon the report that occupied more than half the page, as well as the eye-catching bold headline, a contemplative expression appearing on his face.
【Anomaly!! A mysterious black shadow that does not exist on snowy nights of the current season! 】
Could it be related to this? A non-existent snowy night and a mysterious dark shadow? Kisaragi Chiyo frowned in thought.
“What are you looking at?” An arm, carrying a slight chill, reached out from behind and rested on his shoulder before slowly pulling him into a tight embrace.
A cool breath, carrying a faint, chilling fragrance, swept over him as Hara Kenji skillfully rested his chin on Kisaragi Chiyo's shoulder.
His long hair was disheveled, he was wearing soft, striped pajamas. Three buttons of his top were carelessly undone, revealing a patch of snowy white chest pressed tightly against a human's back.
"Newspapers?" Hara Kenji rubbed his head against Kisaragi Chiyo's cheek, his eyes half-lidded as he looked not quite fully awake, his voice sounding even more syrupy and sweet than usual.
Dark purple eyes rolled, his gaze fell upon the single sheet that Kisaragi Chiyo had pulled out.
“A mountain villa surrounded by sudden heavy snow, stranded tourists, a mysteriously missing woman,” Hara Kenji let out a light chuckle. “So it's a case involving supernatural circumstances? It certainly seems like the kind of thing you'd be interested in.”
"Are you planning to use this as material for the next installment of your novel?" Hara Kenji raised his hand boredly, using his fingertips to fiddle with the silver earring in the young man's hair.
"Half and half." Kisaragi Chiyo spoke in a calm tone, ignoring the Bernese Mountain Dog that was constantly trying to attract her attention, instead pulled out another newspaper, layering it over the previous one.
"Look at this." Kisaragi Chiyo gently tapped the newspaper with a finger, his black-gloved hand sweeping over a news headline.
“The missing Kamiko heiress,” Hara Kenji read out, word by word. He skimmed through the report quickly and soon realized that the woman missing from the mountain villa besieged by heavy snow in the previous newspaper was none other than this conglomerate heiress named Kamiko Tomomi.
The previous newspaper was not the kind of serious media daily; most of what it published were fabrications and exaggerations, filled with nonsense about aliens, mind control.. demons, God.
Therefore, when that report about the mysterious black shadow on the snowy night was published, no one connected the two reports at all.
"Was this perspective.. written by one of the tourists trapped in the villa at that time?" Hara Kenji frowned, he read the report on the disappearance once more. Completely different from the one about the snowy night, this section of the disappearance report used rigorous language and provided multiple pieces of evidence from the scene to prove that Kamiko Tomomi's disappearance was a man-made crime.
"How can that non-existent snow be explained?" Since the disappearance was man-made, then the heavy snow that trapped the tourists in the mountain villa couldn't possibly have been faked, could it?
"Take a look at the article on the back." Kisaragi Chiyo reached out and pinched Hara Kenji's restless fingertips as they tried to probe into her collar.
The next report can answer your questions.
Caught red-handed, Hara Kenji had no choice but to temporarily give up his intimate closeness with Kisaragi Chiyo. He loosened his hold on the human in his arms slightly, freeing one hand to flip over the newspaper featuring the report on Kamiko Tomomi's disappearance.
It was an article explaining the so-called heavy snowstorm that had besieged the mountain villa.
The manager of the villa was accused of adding hallucinogenic drugs to the tourists' food and drinks, with the sole purpose of making them feel euphoric, to the point that they would never want to leave their vacation at the villa.
Hara Kenji: ".."
“That is a truly perfect explanation.” Hara Kenji looked down at Kisaragi Chiyo, observing the expression on her face, asked, “But you don't seem to think so.”
That's because.." Kisaragi Chiyo gave a light laugh, pointing at the newspaper featuring the mysterious black shadow, said with a smile, "This report was written by an Exorcist.
Hara Kenji: "?"
If they are Exorcists, why would they be trapped?
Just as evil spirits and yokai have different levels of strength, exorcists naturally do as well.
Kisaragi Chiyo felt her shoulders were becoming excessively heavy. She tried to move her body to break free from Hara Kenji's embrace, but instead, the Evil Spirit, having sensed her intention, held her even tighter. Cold breaths fell one after another onto the exposed skin of her nape, making her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Forget it..
Kisaragi Chiyo felt the furry head nudging against her shoulder; after a second of hesitation, she chose to give up and let the other party pull her completely into its embrace.
The spiritual power that Exorcist carries is only enough to barely see yokai, at most, can deal with a Kappa-level yokai; aside from that, his abilities are no different from those of an ordinary person.
So after coming out, he could only seek help from other, more powerful Exorcists.
"And then that more powerful Exorcist just dumped this task on you?" Hara Kenji asked with a smile.
"Cough.. He isn't that kind of person.. This time, I requested it myself." Kisaragi Chiyo remained silent for a few seconds before defending her friend.
“Oh,” Hara Kenji said, drawing out the sound. He rubbed the tip of his nose against the small patch of skin on the nape of Kisaragi Chiyo's neck, fighting the urge to leave a bite mark there, spoke in a playful tone, “That means there used to be one.”
Kisaragi Chiyo: ".."
It all comes down to an exchange of interests," Kisaragi Chiyo coughed lightly. "Actually, being an Exorcist is quite lucrative.
Oh?" Hara Kenji smiled with his eyes crinkled, his long eyelashes blinking softly, "Then why didn't you become an Exorcist, Chiyo-chan?
I have no interest in that kind of thing." Kisaragi Chiyo shook her head. "I still prefer my current job.
So that's how it is." Hara Kenji extended a finger and poked the soft flesh of her cheek. "So, what do you plan to do now?
Do you need my help?" Hara Kenji said, breaking into a smile as he spoke. He lowered his voice, leaning close to Kisaragi Chiyo's ear, said in a vague, ambiguous tone, "It doesn't take money to command an Evil Spirit; Chiyo-chan only needs to pay a tiny little price.
“A price?” Kisaragi Chiyo raised her eyebrows, glancing sideways at Hara Kenji.
"Hmm.. a reward?" Hara Kenji changed his wording.
"Forget it." Kisaragi Chiyo ignored his sparkling, expectant gaze and reached out to push his head—which was making her arms feel a bit sore—off her shoulder.
Are you really not going to reconsider?" Hara Kenji recommended himself persistently. "If you don't hire a puppy, do you really intend to go look for one yourself, Chiyo-chan?
“Or is it Onmyodo?” Hara asked, stretching his neck to look at Kisaragi Chiyo, who had stood up and was putting on her coat to head out. He immediately wanted to follow her out the door.
Stop," Kisaragi Chiyo said, lightly pressing her hand against his chest to stop him from following her, "You can't go out like this.
Hara Kenji tilted his head in confusion, looked down at his rich and generous chest, said, "Then should I change my clothes?"
No, Kenji," Kisaragi Chiyo said with a faint smile. "I need to go see someone alone.. I'm sorry, but even if you turned into a puppy, I wouldn't take you with me.
So, stay here and wait for me to return.
Kisaragi Chiyo used her right hand to touch Hara Kenji's face, her warm human palm brushing against the pale cheek of the Evil Spirit before withdrawing without the slightest hint of lingering.
The door slammed shut with a bang, leaving Hara Kenji with nothing but the sound of receding footsteps, which soon faded away.
Hara Kenji fell silent for a moment. He placed his hand on the doorknob, turned it slightly, then let go.
Going to meet someone alone, Hara Kenji pondered that sentence.
Who was Kisaragi Chiyo going to see alone? That so-called Exorcist friend who had sent him those messages?
Why couldn't she bring him along?
Hara Kenji puffed out his cheeks, turned sulkily toward the bedside, then collapsed heavily.
By accident, his head pressed down on the tail of Matsuda Jinmi, who was still fast asleep.
As a result, after being startled awake by his tail being crushed, Matsuda Jinpei stood up and delivered a series of thumping cat-fist strikes to his childhood friend.
“That hurts, Little Jinpei,” Hara Kenji complained, clutching his head where a red mark had formed. “You didn't hold back at all.”
In response to Hara Kenji's accusation, Matsuda Jinmi merely gave him a cold glance, then sat up properly and began to lick her paws with leisure.
After licking itself a few times, Matsuda Jinpei felt something was wrong; he sniffed the air and realized that Kisaragi Chiyo was actually not in the room.
"Where did he go?" Matsuda Jinpei asked, narrowing his eyes.
"He went to see someone else," Hara Kenji replied in a muffled voice, his expression looking quite unhappy, even his smooth, long hair seemed to lack its usual luster.
"Who are you seeing?" Matsuda Jinpei glanced at Hara Kenji, almost guessing at random what exactly was making him so depressed.
Kisaragi won't let you follow her?
Don't you think that's going too far?" Hara Kenji looked at Matsuda Jinpei expressionlessly. "Leaving a dog all alone in a room.. Without any human companionship, the puppy will die of loneliness.
"Even so.. when I think about the fact that you're talking about yourself, it just feels a bit nauseating." Matsuda Jinpei remained completely unmoved.
"Was I wrong in what I said?" Hara waved his tentacles indignantly, looking like an angry sea anemone.
An annoying Evil Spirit is hundreds of times more dangerous than a clingy puppy.
And what about you, Matsuda?" Hara Kenji slowly let out a smile upon hearing this. His dark purple eyes stared unblinkingly at Matsuda. "And what about you, Great Yokai?
"My self-control is much better than yours." Compared to Hara Kenji, who would stay awake in the middle of the night, standing by the bedside and staring blankly at people, Matsuda Jinpei, as a Yokai, could already be considered quite kind and restrained.
"Is that so?" Hara Kenji dragged out the words. Because Kisaragi Chiyo had told him to behave, he was like a well-trained, obedient dog; bored, he could only tie his tentacles into knots and then untie them, just to pass the time until Kisaragi Chiyo returned.
Matsuda Jinpei had already finished licking his paws, so with nothing left to do, he leisurely hopped off the bed.
He said to Hara Kenji, "I'm going out for a bit."
I have a theory," Matsuda Jinpei said. "The person Kisaragi Chiyo is going to see is likely not the so-called Exorcist friend.
He wants to go and cooperate with Amuro Tooru.
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Author's Note: Thank you for your support, my little angels! Mwah!