The university hospital,
"Section Chief Teng Seishi."
"That's me. What is it?"
The mature-looking policewoman sitting on a bench outside the operating room looked up, confused, at the black-suited government official standing before her.
"I'm with the Public Security Bureau."
The man showed her his credentials, first establishing his identity.
"We need to ask you some questions about the 'incident' earlier. Please come with me."
Public Security. Although the island nation's Public Security Bureau fell under the Security Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Department, it was different in nature from ordinary police. Its main responsibility was handling cases that threatened the state system, such as cults, espionage, and terrorist attacks. It also had extensive law-enforcement powers, including the right to arrest and conduct compulsory searches.
"I can, but Mai's surgery..."
"Please don't worry. We'll notify you as soon as there's any news about Kawai Mai's surgery."
Since the man had said as much, Teng Seishi steeled herself and followed the Public Security Bureau member out of the hospital.
Her young junior, Patrol Officer Kawai Mai, had been struck in the head by flying debris from a building and was currently being treated in the operating room.
After getting into the Public Security Bureau's car, they drove along streets that had been cleared of most traffic by the restrictions. Teng Seishi was still dazed. Partly because her colleague was seriously injured and unconscious, and partly because of—
Monsters!
Or, to use the words her superior, Inspector Otaki, had let slip—
Supernatural beings!
Things from movies and anime. They actually existed?
The island nation might be famous for its tokusatsu shows and monster anime, but encountering such an "unscientific" being in real life was still enough to challenge anyone's worldview.
"Here?"
After being brought to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department headquarters by Public Security Bureau members,
Teng Seishi underwent a series of complicated checks before being led to a meeting room in the building.
When the mature policewoman saw the man beckoning to her, she instinctively straightened her back, stood at attention, and saluted.
"Director Takeya!"
"No need to be so formal. Come over here."
As her superior's superior's superior's superior, the middle-aged man who commanded nearly fifty thousand police officers had no imposing air about him. He casually motioned for Teng Seishi to come forward.
"Please give everyone a detailed account of what happened to you today."
"Yes, sir!"
As she recalled the events in her mind, Teng Seishi gave a clear account of what had happened that day.
At the same time, her gaze swept over the people behind the director:
A female biker gang leader in a leather jacket, her arms crossed.
And several old men dressed as priests, wearing white立烏帽子 and white hunting robes, and holding wooden tablets; as well as an old monk in a ceremonial robe, his prayer beads in hand and his expression solemn.
The sight made Teng Seishi even more certain.
The authorities really did know about monsters—or rather, the supernatural!
Alongside Teng Seishi's account, the footage from the body camera she wore was also playing on a large projector nearby.
"What do you think, Masters?"
After Teng Seishi finished speaking,
Director Takeya turned and asked the priests and monks behind him.
These people were the leading figures in Tokyo's "folk religion circles." Some were chief priests of Meiji Shrine, some were chief priests of Yushima Tenmangu, and some were head priests of Senso-ji. In response to the Metropolitan Police Department director's question, they all looked inscrutable and unruffled.
But inside, these Shinto and Buddhist bigwigs were cursing up a storm.
What did they think?
They thought they were standing there!
To be honest, not one of them believed that "gods and Buddhas" existed.
In their understanding, gods and Buddhas were more like "philosophical concepts," "ways of cultivation," or "attitudes toward life," rather than beings who actually existed.
In fact, that was the "scientific" view of gods and Buddhas. The beings they worshipped—whether the Emperor, famous ministers, or Buddhas and bodhisattvas—were merely pioneers who had come before them on life's road. Practitioners studied their ideas and used them to guide the world. In a sense, they were no different from the "philosophers" in textbooks.
But that very day, their worldviews had shattered into pieces!
The police had come to fetch them and ask them to discuss "matters of state," to offer guidance on "supernatural incidents."
If they hadn't cultivated their composure, the priests and head monks would already have cursed them to their faces.
They'd spent their whole lives in religious practice without seeing so much as half a ghost!
And now they were being asked to take part in some supernatural incident.
What era was this? Had everyone forgotten about science?
But after they arrived—
There really was a monster?!
"In my view, this strange fish is in truth an 'Earthquake Catfish.'"
Seeing that everyone else was silent, the chief priest of Yushima Tenmangu spoke first, pointing at the Black Fish on the projector screen.
Yushima Tenmangu was in Bunkyo Ward, near Todai. It enshrined Sugawara no Michizane, a minister famous for his learning in history. Whenever the "Yushima White Plum" trees bloomed in the shrine grounds, many students hoping to pass their exams, along with people who came to admire the flowers, would visit.
It was said that touching the shrine's bronze ox would grant you a blessing of "literary talent." The bronze ox, polished smooth and glossy, bore the marks of countless university students.
As the chief priest of a shrine that enshrined the "god of learning," he was naturally well-read and knowledgeable.
"According to ancient legend, Shikoku rests upon a giant catfish. When the catfish is unhappy and moves its tail, an earthquake follows."
"Before the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Tokyo in 1855, Shinozaki noticed unusually large numbers of catfish while fishing, and predicted the quake. Before the 8.3-magnitude earthquake that struck Tokyo in 1923, there was also an abnormal migration of catfish in large schools."
Having quoted ancient and modern sources alike, the chief priest grew increasingly confident in his conclusion.
"Look, everyone. This monster, this supernatural being, has a flat body, a wide mouth, long whiskers, and rounded fins. It is unmistakably a catfish."
"I see,"
Director Takeya said thoughtfully.
The legend that catfish could predict earthquakes was quite popular in the island nation. Combined with the supernatural being's demonstrated abilities, it seemed to support the chief priest of Yushima Tenmangu's judgment.
"Amitabha. In this humble monk's view, this Flame Skeleton is the work of a 'Karma Fire.'"
After softly reciting the Buddha's name, the head priest of Senso-ji joined the discussion.
"A Karma Fire is a ghost fire formed when someone who stole lamp oil from a temple in life is punished by the Buddha after death."
"According to the on-site investigation, this monster arose from a natural gas leak. That matches the nature of a Karma Fire."
In old folk tales about strange creatures, the Karma Fire was born from stolen lamp oil.
Now it had become a monster that absorbed natural gas.
Did that make sense? Of course it did!
The Masters' explanations prompted Director Takeya to nod slightly.
They really were experts, with a few tricks up their sleeves. So—
"Do any of you know how to exorcise them?"
Well...
At that question, the priests and eminent monks all fell silent.
If they truly had powers that transcended the ordinary, why would they have obediently come to the Metropolitan Police Department just because they'd been summoned?
In the end, they were no more than "ordinary people." They might have known a few influential "benefactors" in their daily lives, but when it came time to show some real ability, they could only sit there helplessly.
"I spoke out of turn,"
Director Takeya said, reading the experts' expressions and realizing they had no supernatural powers.
"Mr. Takeya,"
When no one else had anything to say, the chief priest of Meiji Shrine spoke slowly.
"In this 'Arakawa Ward Machiya Incident,' aside from the 'Earthquake Catfish' and the 'Karma Fire' that caused the destruction, there is also this—"
The old priest raised his hand and pointed at the figure on the screen, surrounded by flowing water.
"Is she one of your Metropolitan Police Department officers?"
"No,"
Director Takeya shook his head. If the Metropolitan Police Department really had supernatural powers at its disposal, there would have been no need to gather these "experts" and hope one of them had "real skills."
"Then why not try recruiting this 'Rain Woman'?"
The old priest offered his suggestion.
"She carries an umbrella and controls water. That makes her a 'Rain Woman.'"
"Unlike the Earthquake Catfish and the Karma Fire, the Rain Woman can be communicated with. The female officer's command made her pause for a moment."
Of course, she had ignored the threat of firearms and left anyway. But that still showed that communication with her was possible.
Besides, she hadn't killed anyone on the spot. Whether that was because the Rain Woman didn't kill women or for some other reason,
it was enough for the Metropolitan Police Department to try making contact.
"I'd like to, but..."
"Do any of you have a way to locate or track her?"
Faced with this question, the Masters could only shake their heads.
The Metropolitan Police Department had so many cameras, yet they were asking them? What an impossible task!
"That's exactly the most troublesome part,"
Director Takeya said, spreading his hands in frustration.
"Every time she appears, she's accompanied by thick fog. The police have trouble tracking her movements."
As it happened, the police did have a "supernatural being" in their possession: the Shiba Inu left behind by Tanimura Wataru.
It was fed well every day and put through various high-intensity exercises under the trainer's direction.
Its strength, speed, and reflexes kept improving steadily, as if the concept of a "bottleneck" didn't apply to it.
This completely overturned biologists' conventional wisdom. Nobel Prize winners were working day and night to study it, trying to identify the source of the "demonic power" in its body.
"Then I'm afraid we're of no help."
With the experts' discussion at an end, Director Takeya turned to the mature policewoman, Teng Seishi.
"Section Chief Teng, given the unusual nature of this incident and your contributions, the Metropolitan Police Department has decided to promote you to assistant inspector and assign you to the newly established Special Operations Fourth Squad. Do you have any objections?"
"None, Director!"
Teng Seishi, who had been standing quietly in the background, saluted and accepted the order.
In truth, she knew very well that she had no power to refuse!
Everything she had heard and seen in that office had already gone beyond her understanding of the world. She didn't need to be a genius to realize that if she refused, she'd be waiting for a prison cell.
"Director, if I join, will I be able to come into contact with supernatural powers?"
Facing his newly promoted subordinate, who was already eager to get started, Director Takeya pushed up his glasses. A flash of white reflected off the plain lenses.
"You will."
Nakano Ward,
"So this is Nagisa's home?"
Stepping down from a black luxury car, Class Monitor Nao raised a hand to her mouth, but couldn't hide her astonishment.
Before them stood a traditional Japanese manor. Wooden walls steeped in history stretched for dozens of meters in either direction, and an elaborately inscribed plaque bearing the name "Nagisa Garden" hung above the main gate, its surface marked by time.
A traditional manor like this might have been understandable in the countryside.
But this was Tokyo!
Never mind what the interior of this old-fashioned manor was like. The sheer size of the grounds was enough to make anyone's jaw drop.
How many skyscrapers could they build if they flattened it? If people living in capsule apartments saw this, there'd be only one way to describe it: even the toilet was bigger than their entire home!
"Are you a friend of Ichiyo's?"
A gentle voice sounded as an elegant woman emerged from a side entrance.
At first glance, the woman looked to be in her twenties. Her warm, mature air made her seem more like she was in her thirties. In reality, she was already in her forties.
"Welcome. Please make yourselves at home."
The woman bowed gracefully, her manner both elegant and serene.
"This is my mother,"
Nagisa Kazuha said by way of introduction, and Akihi Yu and the others returned the greeting.
"Hello, ma'am," x4
"Don't be so formal. Come on in."
Madam Nagisa smiled and invited them inside, but Akihi Yu noticed that Amame Ei avoided the woman's gaze and seemed reluctant to meet her eyes.
"This is Ichiyo's room. Don't worry about being formal—just make yourselves at home."
After leading everyone through a courtyard filled with flowers, Madam Nagisa brought them to a cluster of buildings.
"Ichiyo, make sure your classmates feel welcome."
"I'll leave you to it."
With that, the woman, whose age showed no trace on her face, turned and walked away.
"Nagisa's mother is so gentle."
Class Monitor Nao pushed up her glasses, a hint of envy in her eyes.
"Hm?"
"Aren't all mothers like that?"
Everyone else present was speechless at the Young Lady's adorably clueless question.
Not at all!
Class Monitor Nao's parents had been giving each other the cold shoulder for more than a decade.
The Akihi couple had been busy with work for years. They'd recently made time to go traveling, but...
As for Amame Ei, who lived alone at the shrine, Akihi Yu noticed her secretly watching Madam Nagisa as she left, her eyes full of envy.
"Please, come in."
He slid open the wooden door, revealing a spacious room filled with sheet music and lined with violins of all shapes and sizes.
"This is where I practice the violin. Is it a little cramped?"
"No, no."
Faced with a Young Lady who seemed to have no common sense, Akihi Yu waved his hand.
"This place is bigger than our whole house."
"Isn't this your bedroom?"
"Oh, I sleep in the room behind the study."
Hearing the Young Lady's matter-of-fact reply, even Class Monitor Nao couldn't help pushing up her glasses again.
The gap between people really was even greater than the gap between people and dogs! Even Ai Nao, who had always excelled both academically and in conduct, couldn't help sighing inwardly.
She had a clear idea of her own prospects. After graduation, she'd consider herself successful if she passed the Class II civil service exam. A lifetime of hard work might only earn her enough to buy an apartment, but if she were with Yu...
She stole a glance at Akihi Yu, only to meet Akiyu Sora's icy gaze.
At the other girl's cold snort, Class Monitor awkwardly turned her face away.
Before you continue