บท 21: A Modicum of Comfort
"What the hell happened here?"
May 2nd, dawn.
Chief Hikawa Ryoma's face was grim as he crouched to check for a pulse on last night's detainee, before straightening back up when he found none.
"I wish I could tell you, sir," said the man to his right. "The cause of death looks unknown at this point."
"One moment we were standing guard right outside the door," added the officer to Ryoma's left. "Next thing we knew, the guys were waking us up."
The longtime lawman frowned as he considered the words of his subordinates: Ichijou Takuma and Narutaki Kyoji, both of whom were members of his personal staff. When Ryoma first met them 12 years ago, the two were orphaned street urchins who'd been caught stealing leftovers from a local restaurant that were about to be thrown in the trash. As was the case with Riku, the chief offered to assume legal guardianship over them after their teachers at the Rakuen Youth Rehabilitation Center commented positively on their promising academic performance.
And as was the case with Riku, both Takuma and Kyoji then went on to enroll at the RCPD Academy after having graduated high school, before going on to be accepted onto the force on their first attempt at the exam.
"We'd need an autopsy to be absolutely sure," Kyoji went on. "But as far as we could tell, there aren't any wounds or bruises on him that'd suggest he was harmed or hurt in any way."
To be fair, thought Ryoma, it was entirely possible that Todaka Tetsuya had suffered a heart attack or something similar while being detained. In that case, the same soundproof walls intended to prevent eavesdroppers from listening in would likely have prevented his guards from hearing any calls for help coming from inside the interrogation room.
'Of course, that's for the autopsy to prove or disprove.'
On the other hand, Ryoma recalled Shugo's earlier warning about the dangerous new foe who had just made himself known, and who they were highly likely to come into conflict with soon. Assuming their new enemy could do everything Shugo himself could do, that meant he was capable of inducing horrifying and debilitating hallucinations and nightmares with little more than words and a stare, and that conventional weapons were unlikely to inflict any lasting damage to him in turn. More importantly, while the young man and his spectral partner at least restrained themselves from preying on the innocent, it was entirely possible that their adversary saw no need to adhere to the same code.
"You don't think this is Furukawa's doing, do you, sir?" wondered Takuma to Ryoma's left. "As far as motives go, revenge on the guy who just tried to murder him would be pretty high up there."
"He's right, chief," Kyoji said in agreement. "Revenge is that kid's whole deal, after all. If he runs around town at night avenging the weak in the name of righteous justice, it wouldn't be far-fetched for him to avenge himself."
The police chief thought about it for a few seconds. As Takuma just pointed out, it wasn't too difficult to imagine Shugo wanting payback for Todaka's attempt on his life. Likewise, Kyoji had correctly observed that vengeance was indeed Shugo's and his partner's entire MO, and that it was entirely understandable – if not quite understandable – if he were to have the urge to avenge himself on the criminal who'd just tried to kill him. And when they considered just how much remained unknown about the teen's supernatural abilities, it likely wouldn't have been hard for him to take his fear- and hallucination-based powers to their logical conclusion by inducing a fatal heart attack and, ultimately, quite literally frightening his chosen prey to death.
But then…
"Not exactly impossible, but rather improbable," Ryoma finally replied to the speculation after having thought it over for a few moments. "Riku was driving Shugo home when this happened, and he lives too far away to have snuck back in here to do this. All the same, we'd have to check the CCTV footage to be certain."
At which point the police chief and his two subordinates proceeded to the security room in the basement to do exactly that.
"Pull up the feed from 2-3 AM."
Takuma obeyed. The first half hour of the footage showed nothing out of the ordinary, prompting Ryoma to skip ahead 15 minutes, and then…
'There you are.'
All three of them watched as a shadowy figure came into view and approached Takuma and Kyoji, both of whom stood guard at either side of the door to the interrogation room. The enigma appeared to exchange words with the two policemen who then inexplicably slumped over and fell asleep in seconds. From there, the stranger picked Kyoji's pocket for the key to the interrogation room which he then used to unlock the door and go inside.
And when the intruder left, he stepped over the sleeping policemen as he casually departed, though not before taking a second or two to take a brief look back at his handiwork, and to gaze at the security camera. Though his face was concealed behind a surgical face mask, the three lawmen nevertheless exhaled a sigh of relief when they saw that the stranger's unnatural blue eyes were decidedly not Shugo's emerald green.
"Guess it's not Furukawa after all," Takuma commented. "But in that case, why would he give himself away?"
"Maybe he's sending us a message," Ryoma said quietly so only his two subordinates could hear, in a tone that only narrowly concealed his perturbation. "If I were to guess, I'd say this is him bragging about how he managed to worm his way in here to get to his target, and about how he could've killed either of you too, if he really wanted to."
The chief paused for a moment, before letting out a contemptuous snort as he continued.
"Alright, then. Let's have the feed from inside."
Kyoji obeyed. Though the security cameras didn't come with audio recording capabilities, all three lawmen nevertheless saw the stranger speak a few words as he laid hands on Todaka Tetsuya's shoulders, before leaning over the detainee as he seized up and fell backwards to the floor and then finally turning around and leaving the dying man to stare lifelessly and sightlessly at ceiling with eyes that had glazed over.
And as Ryoma turned around after having killed the app and shut down the computer, he was greeted by the disturbed looks on his subordinates' faces.
"What now, boss?" Kyoji asked, not bothering to disguise the disturbed look on his face. "How are we supposed to deal with that?"
Ryoma considered it for a moment as he thought back to what both Shugo and Riku had told him, before extracting his smartphone from his breast pocket so he could dial the latter.
"Hello, Riku?"
"Morning, chief," came his aide's voice on the other end. "Did something happen?"
Ryoma filled him in as requested.
"…I see. What do you need me to do?"
"There's something I need you to take care of before you come in…"
------
Later that day, just before noon at the Furukawa residence…
"I understand, chief," Shugo said as he ended the call and laid back down in his bed.
"You are troubled," the spirit spoke to him. "Perhaps verbalizing your worries and burdens with me would help put you at ease."
"Maybe," the teen replied while idly scrolling through one of the social media apps he'd installed on his smartphone. "Did you ever intend to tell me about our weakness to silver bullets?"
Shugo paused a moment so she could reply.
And when her answer didn't come right away, he couldn't hold back from pressing her further.
"While we're on the subject, I don't suppose you'd care to tell me what else I should watch out for?" Shugo didn't bother to hide his resentment and frustration, not that he could even if he wanted to. "Considering I'm the one getting slashed, stabbed, and shot out there, you'd think I've earned the right to know."
"…Your words ring true, child," she finally conceded, taking the teen aback as he registered the sincerity of her tone.
"I apologize for not having been more forthcoming. Silver bullets were what killed my previous contractor, centuries ago. As the one responsible never knew of our pact, he could not have known or understood exactly how and why he finally managed to slay what he and his clan had then come to fear as an unstoppable force of nature. And though it pains and shames me do so, I must admit I had simply hoped we would never encounter them again."
"…I see. I'm sorry to hear that," Shugo managed to murmur.
While he didn't know exactly what kind of response he expected from her, the last thing he anticipated was that unprecedented show of vulnerability and – dare he say it – humanity on the part of his spectral partner just now.
"If you're willing to talk about it, can I ask how he died?"
"To understand that, you must first understand the intricacies of our contract," the spirit explained. "As I am now, I am deathless. I already died as a human, after all, and one does not simply kill that which is already dead. And I will continue to wander in this world should you fail to deliver what is required of you, unless and until the day comes that I no longer need to exact vengeance or harvest the fear, terror, and torment of the wicked."
"Okay, sure," Shugo nodded in understanding, "but what does that have to do with me?"
"From the night our bond was forged, my soul and yours have coexisted in one body. I cannot be killed, nor can I be truly harmed; therefore, the same must also apply to you for as long as I reside in you. Short of depriving your body of your head – and with it, your will that drives it and gives it life – no enemy of yours can attack you with conventional means and expect to succeed in killing you."
"Needless to say, silver bullets aren't exactly conventional."
"Correct," she confirmed in an approving tone Shugo didn't quite expect from her. "Silver disrupts the harmonious coexistence between my soul and yours. It may not necessarily kill you depending on where you are struck; however, know that it will hinder me from mending your wounds until that silver is removed from your body. And even then, the traces that remain will continue to debilitate you for several hours after."
"I take one of those, I get brought back down to normal until the silver comes out," Shugo summarized as he fought down the clenching feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Even when it does, I'll still be just a frail and squishy human for a while until it leaves my system entirely."
"Essentially. And should you sustain sufficiently severe damage or injuries in such a condition…"
"…I'm screwed," Shugo finished with a shudder.
It was a sobering thought, to say the least. While it gave him a modicum of comfort to know that taking a silver bullet wouldn't be instantly fatal, Shugo didn't dare consider what could happen if the evildoers and miscreants he'd been opposing were to learn of that obscure but critical weakness. Not only was it foolish to hope that their enemy wouldn't find another patsy to sic on him, there was every chance that that adversary of theirs would eventually decide to just cut out the middleman in favour of getting personally involved in the teen's demise. And though Shugo had reason to believe he could handle regular thugs and criminals, he couldn't say the same about an enemy that was centuries more experienced than he was.
"You are anxious, yet your anxiety is understandable," his spectral partner spoke again after a minute or two. "All the same, it would be remiss of you to overlook your own hand in your current predicament."
Shugo grimaced at the blunt assessment. 'Can't say she doesn't have a point.'
"I trust you now understand why I warned you," she went on. "Up until now, you were content to rely far too much on the powers bestowed on you, which is why the prospect of facing a foe with the same power and centuries' more battle experience now daunts and intimidates you. You got drunk on the power I gave you, hence the rude awakening you tasted last night."
"Yeah, that was too close for comfort," Shugo conceded. "I'll have to be more careful from now on, huh?"
"Indeed," the spirit lectured him in a stern tone that was not only surprisingly similar to that of more than a few of the teachers Shugo had had over the years, but also conveyed how his concession failed to mollify her. "You are neither immortal nor unkillable, however much the opposite may have appeared to be true until now. And you can be sure that those of our enemies who learn of your weakness will use it against you without a moment's mercy."
Shugo's insides froze solid, just as his stomach clenched in on itself at the stinging rebuke from his spectral partner. She did warn him just a few days ago about his recklessness out in the field, but at the time, he wrote that off as her idea of motherly nagging more than anything else. He had no way of knowing that she was speaking from experience after having lost her previous partner to an enemy who'd somehow learned of – and exploited – their critical weakness. And by the deathless one's own admission, she herself wasn't expecting them to encounter an enemy who not only knew of that one weakness, but also possessed the exact same powers and centuries' more experience using them.
'Can I even defeat someone like that!?'
It was at that exact moment of doubt that the spirit made her presence known yet again.
"You can, because you have no other choice. Not if you wish to survive."
Shugo responded with a nervous, humourless laugh of mingled resignation and apprehension-
"And you will, because I am with you."
-Which wound up trailing off both at the spirit's subsequent reassurance and at the way she said it. 'Wait, what?'
"Your hesitation and trepidation are not unwarranted," she reaffirmed. "I can hardly blame you for being unsure at how to overcome the foes that await us. A fine line exists between courage and foolhardiness, and the hesitation and fear you now feel proves you have not lost sight of that line nor have you crossed it. Feel that fear, but do not let it hinder you from facing the foes ahead and doing what you must."
The teen's stomach unclenched ever so slightly at the encouragement.
"You will defeat him, because I am with you," she repeated, presumably for emphasis. "Take heart that not once will you ever have to face those enemies alone."
And as it did, Shugo noticed something about the manner in which she said those words that served to hearten him even further.
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