"Morning."
"Morning, Ichikawa~"
Students gathered from all directions to Homimi High School, exchanging casual greetings.
Although it was a third-rate public high school where most students were just drifting through, not everyone was terrible. Most simply went with the flow. Only a small portion took pleasure in bullying others.
An even smaller number studied hard, trying to change their fate. Ironically, these were the ones targeted by the bullies. "Everyone's giving up, so why are you trying so hard?!"
Souta Kiryuu had once been among those bullied, but things had changed.
As he stepped into the classroom, all eyes turned to him before quickly shifting away like nothing had happened.
Except for one:
"Souta, are you okay?"
Class president Nao stood up and walked over. Her eyes scanned Souta carefully from head to toe. After confirming there were no visible injuries, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks for your concern~ What could happen to me?"
Souta shrugged and walked to his seat.
"Good to hear."
She patted her impressively full chest and glanced toward an empty seat.
Yamamoto.
Given what she knew about that guy, it was surprising he hadn't caused trouble for Souta.
"Be careful on your way home today."
If possible, Nao would love to walk to and from school with Souta. But she didn't get along with Souta's sister, and she wasn't keen on heading home early either.
"Got it," Souta nodded at her concern.
As the teacher entered, another leisurely day of high school life began.
Ayase Town, District 3.
"Hehehe, just as I expected."
Inside a restaurant with a cuisine sign out front, a woman dressed like a biker gang member crouched on the floor.
This was Iori Ichika, Deputy Section Chief of the Violent Crimes Division, Section 4.
She opened her palm above a bloodied corpse.
"These scratch marks could only be made by human fingers."
The corpse on the floor was a burly man holding a handgun, his scarred face frozen in horror. Four claw marks had been gouged across his chest, deep as if from some terrifying beast.
"The claw wounds span the whole chest and are about six centimeters deep. Muscle and bone were ripped clean through."
"Tsk, what a vicious beast."
Click, click, click.
A few forensic officers were photographing scratches on walls and seats. The deeper they looked, the more unsettled they became.
"Chief Iori, even beasts don't have claws this long."
Seeing the deep gouges in the walls, their hearts pounded wildly.
"Just do your jobs," Ichika snapped, already confident in her theory. "Don't think about it, don't ask, and don't talk. It's for your own good. Understood?"
"Understood!"
She stepped outside the restaurant. Police tape now cordoned off the area. Lighting a cigarette, she took a long drag.
That surveillance footage wasn't fake. The supernatural actually exists.
How thrilling.
Her radio crackled.
"Ichika, report to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department."
Chiyoda Ward.
Kasumigaseki, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
If Tokyo was the heart of the country, then Chiyoda Ward was the heart of that heart.
Kasumigaseki, in front of the Imperial Palace, was the central government zone. Ministries like Foreign Affairs, Finance, Justice, and Public Safety were all located here. Throw a brick and you'd hit someone powerful—even a mere driver here could be someone people elsewhere would curry favor with.
Places like the Tokyo Police HQ were rarely accessed by outsiders. Today, the atmosphere was especially tense.
The parking lot was lined with black sedans, silent but clearly announcing the status of their occupants. Even the reception desk staff could feel the weight in the air.
Inside the police department's conference room sat a group of high-ranking officials.
The Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, Tokyo Police Commissioner Takemasa, Director-General of the Public Security Bureau... and most notably, the Chief Cabinet Secretary—who, in emergencies, could act as the Prime Minister.
"Whew."
Dressed in a women's business suit, Iori Ichika tugged at the tight collar. As the chief of Section 4 of the Anti-Violence Division, she held the lowest position in the room.
Had she not just come back from the Ayase crime scene, she wouldn't have been allowed in at all.
"Ahem."
As her superior, Commissioner Takemasa, coughed and fixed his stern gaze on her, Ichika reluctantly stepped forward to present her findings.
"Please look at this footage retrieved from the interior surveillance of the Fanged Building."
She inserted a disposable USB into an air-gapped device. Once removed, it would be physically destroyed.
In this room, no device had external network access. Phones were disabled.
On the projection screen, a silent video played.
"Last night, a massacre occurred at the Fanged Gang's headquarters."
The footage had been edited and enhanced. In the lobby, a figure suddenly appeared—a priest? An onmyouji?
Wearing a traditional robe, gender indiscernible, a towering black hat on their head, prayer beads around their waist, and wooden clogs on their feet. Without the hat, they might only stand around 1.4 meters. A white cloth with a bold black "Three" character covered their face.
Cosplay?
This figure, like someone out of history, immediately drew attention from several gang members.
They surrounded the stranger, clearly preparing to eject them.
But with a flick of the figure's hand, dark shapes flew from their sleeves—female-looking phantoms with long, messy hair, tattered clothes, and emaciated limbs!
The ghosts stretched out withered arms. Anyone they touched instantly froze. In the silent video, gang members wore expressions of pure terror.
Then, the figure pulled out a stone.
The frozen gangsters convulsed, eyes wide in unimaginable horror.
Finally—wispy souls drifted from their bodies into the stone.
They collapsed like puppets with their strings cut.
The phantom women spread out. Anyone they touched froze with eyes full of terror. The figure strolled through the chaos, leisurely collecting souls.
Some fought back, but bullets passed through the ghosts. Knives and bats could slice them, but the phantoms regenerated from the cut, splitting into two!
No attacks worked. Members were possessed one by one and collapsed after their souls were extracted.
The footage was long. From appearance to reaching the boss' office on the eighth floor, it took an hour.
Normally, none of the high officials would spend time on such footage.
But today, all eyes were glued to the screen.
At last, the mysterious figure entered the office, killed the boss and three members, had a brief exchange with a kneeling youth, touched his forehead—and vanished, along with the phantom women.
After the video, Ichika projected crime scene photos.
Unlike the grainy footage, these high-resolution images captured every detail of the terrified gangsters' faces.
"Total of 53 confirmed dead. All were members of the Fanged Gang in Adachi Ward."
Ichika discreetly watched the officials' reactions.
Apart from her superior and those who had visited the scene, the rest wore expressions of disbelief, confusion, even absurdity. People who normally kept their composure now looked visibly shaken.
"Commissioner Takemasa," the Chief Cabinet Secretary finally spoke after a long pause. "Are you certain this really happened? Not some... CG animation?"
He alone had the standing to ask that question, representing the Prime Minister himself.
"It really happened, Minister Suzuki."
The police commissioner bowed slightly.
"The 53 corpses have been taken to nearby facilities. The scene remains intact. There is also one survivor whom we are actively tracking."
"Then... may I assume this is..."
The Cabinet Secretary struggled for words.
Finally, the government spokesperson, the public face of the administration, asked in a difficult tone:
"A supernatural event?"
Someone of his rank had seen all sorts of crises, but this video defied belief.
Spirits?
This wasn't some April Fool's prank, was it?
"Yes," Commissioner Takemasa said solemnly. "As unbelievable as it sounds, after repeated verification, we have confirmed this was indeed a supernatural incident."
His voice was firm, but to the others, it sounded like a fantasy.
Many looked around, wondering if they were hallucinating.
For a long moment, silence filled the room.