Takeshi pulled up to a tall office building in his blue sedan. He stepped out of it and headed inside. He looked at the secretary, a woman with black glasses and her hair in a bun. She twinkled her fingers at him.
Takeshi walked up to her, a small smile on his face. "Hi Ms. Togashi."
"Kurihara, it's been so long since I've last seen you. You been doing okay?"
"I'm doing great. Is the Chief available? It's really important."
Ms. Togashi checked her watch. "Yes, his schedule is clear for today. He's in his office. Go ahead, you know where it is."
Takeshi bowed. "Thank you." He walked to the elevator and went up.
—
A man sat at his desk, going through some papers. He wore a blue suit, had grey hair, and a scar on his left eye.
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in." he said in a deep voice.
Takeshi walked in. "Mr. Shiba, it's me."
He looked up. "Detective. What a surprise. How's the wife?"
"My… wife? But sir—"
"I know, I know. Just a little dark humor for ya ear. What do you need?"
"I'm investigating. There's something that's been bugging me."
Shiba took a cigar out of a wrapper and stuck it between his teeth. "Does it have anything to do with Murakami Kouta?"
"You… knew?"
"Of course I know kid. He's all anyone ever talks about these days. Especially with that stunt he pulled on the General, rest his soul."
"It's about the assassination of Murakami Ryuji. There's no information about him anywhere. Even the TPD has little info on him in the case files. What's that about?"
Shiba blew out a smoke cloud. "You're poking your nose in places it shouldn't be kid."
"But there's pieces missing to that case!"
"What's missing? A family gets killed by some psycho murderer, the kid comes home after school to see his dear family dead, then goes bonkers and cries ghost. What's there to piece together?"
Takeshi slammed his hands down on the Chief's table. "It's wasn't just some psycho murderer! This was planned! There really was a spirit in the Murakami's house that night! Kouta wasn't lying!"
"And where's your proof to back up that claim?"
"Because we know now that spirits exist! We know that they can kill humans! But Kouta is the one who killed the spirit in his house! Don't you find that strange?"
"No! I don't find it strange. What does it matter if the killer was a ghost or a human?"
Takeshi lowered his tone. "Because if the killer was a spirit, then there was a second person in the house at the time of the murder."
"Huh?! And how do you figure that?!"
"Because Murakami Ryuji was an esper himself."
Shiba frowned. Then he chuckled and blew out a cloud of smoke.
"You know something, don't you?! That entire case was swept under the rug, and all information on the Murakami Family was deleted!"
"I forbid you from looking into this matter any further. If you do, I'll have you fired, you hear me?"
"With all due respect sir. I've already resigned from the Department."
Shiba's eyes widened.
Takeshi pulled out his police badge. "I'm sure you know what that means. You don't have the authority to take my badge." His eyes narrowed. "Chief Shiba. Have you been tampering with evidence?"
"Your balls must have grown twice their size. The nerve you have to interrogate me. You don't know what you're getting into."
"That doesn't matter in the name of justice. I have to know what happened that night, and why!"
"Because…?"
"I plan on killing Murakami Kouta and putting an end to the Underground."
"You're out of your goddamn mind."
A knock came at the door.
"Come in!" Shiba said firmly.
Kenzo walked in with a gentle smile on his face. "Is this a bad time?"
"No… I was just talking to this dumbass detective."
Takeshi stood up and looked back. "Aragaki… Kenzo!"
Kenzo nodded to him. "Good afternoon."
Takeshi looked between the two of them. "What the…?"
Kenzo walked in front of him and stood close to the desk. "So, is everything ready?"
"Yeah."
"What's ready?" Takeshi asked.
Kenzo looked at him out of one eye. "The Rebellion. It's a weapon that will wipe out the Underground in minutes."
Takeshi was astounded. "I didn't hear anything about a weapon…?"
Shiba sighed. "It was SUPPOSED to be classified information. But ROOT and the scientists of the TPD have been developing this weapon over the last two years, thanks to the funding by Mr. Kenzo here."
"Hey, won't thousands of citizens be killed by something like that?!"
"What does it matter?" Kenzo said proudly. "Destroying the Underground will save many more lives in the long run."
Takeshi pinched his nose. "That's it. I'm out of here." He turned to the door, only to see three men in black suits guarding it.
"Where did they come from?"
Shiba stood up. "You see, Detective. There's two vital pieces of information that I don't need leaving this office. The Murakami Family, and the Rebellion."
Kenzo smiled. "The Murakami Family, hm? Why so curious?"
Takeshi turned around. "We weren't given the whole story. Why was Murakami Ryuji such an important person?"
"Ryuji, huh… That doesn't matter anymore. He's dead."
Takeshi pulled out a pistol and aimed it at the back of Kenzo's head. He kept his left hand in his coat pocket. "Answer my question."
Shiba pulled out a revolver. "Put the gun down!!"
Takeshi looked at him. "You and I both know that you can't kill me faster than I can kill you."
"I'd like to see you try. The moment I see your hand move from Kenzo's head, I'll blast you."
"Fine."
POW!!
Shiba clutched at his stomach. "Son of a—"
There was a hole in Takeshi's pocket. "I keep more than one pistol on me by the way." He flipped the second gun out and pointed it to the men behind him, who now had their pistols aiming at him.
"You're an interesting one, Detective." Kenzo said.
Shiba grit his teeth. "Damn kid…!" He aimed his pistol.
POW!!
Takeshi quickly shot his hand.
"AHHHH!!!" Shiba roared. He dropped his gun.
Takeshi pointed his gun back at Kenzo. "Your turn. You want to talk?"
"Not particularly."
"Fine by me."
POW!!
Kenzo dropped to the floor.
POW!! POW!! POW!! POW!!
The three men immediately started firing. Takeshi jumped, tucked, and rolled to the wall. He fired off three shots. Two of the men dropped dead.
Takeshi then rolled again to the Chief's desk. Shiba glared at him. "I'll make sure you pay for this…!"
Takeshi pointed his gun at Shiba's head. "Not until I finish what I've started." He peeked his head out from under the desk and shot the last bodyguard in his head.
Takeshi stood up. He took a deep breath and headed for the door.
"Not so fast."
Takeshi froze in his tracks. Kenzo was standing once again. "Don't worry, I won't kill you. However, information isn't free. You've heard a lot."
Takeshi turned around. "That's not my fault—"
FWOOSH!!
"Kogeki Kobura." Kenzo's left arm flickered behind him, and caused a slash that went from Takeshi's stomach to his left eye.
"Now leave." he said.
Takeshi swung the door open and made a run for it.
Shiba got himself up and sat in his chair. "Why'd you let him live?!"
"He's a good kid at heart. One of these days that curiosity will lead to his death."