In a dark alley, where blood still stained the walls and the foul stench lingered, three figures were looking around.
"Do you know what you're doing?"
Hisagi was observing the crime scene as he put on a pair of gloves to avoid contaminating it, while his shoes were covered with a thin but sturdy plastic covering.
"I've been investigating this case for some time now. I just need to clarify a few details to get the full picture." Hisagi's eyes suddenly gleamed, and under his vision, everything changed into a completely different world where spiritual energy was as clear as the sky.
Looking at the spot where a person had died, there was their weakened spirit, staring at him intently, trying to whisper something.
"If you show me the way now, I promise to kill them all and bring back your loved one, who is now in the hands of those things." Hisagi's words were heard only by the spirit.
At a certain moment, the spirit stopped moving, and slowly its resentment grew exponentially, turning into a being that felt nothing but hatred.
Once Hisagi had achieved this, he walked to a corner and reached in, pulling out a watch that had belonged to the man who had been murdered in this place.
With this object, now cursed, he was sure he could control the curse that was now in motion.
From Isshiki's perspective, Hisagi's movements were strange, but when he saw him pull out a bloodied and broken watch, he was shocked. How did the forensics team miss that?
"Can you hand me that piece of evidence?" Isshiki doubted whether this would change things, but every item belonging to the victim had to be collected and returned to their family.
"No, I'll return it when I'm done." Hisagi subtly shook his head.
"What? Sorry to tell you this, but I'm the detective here. You can't exert authority in an isolated case." Isshiki bravely moved to take the watch from Hisagi, when Hisagi suddenly began to murmur something.
"They're not far."
"What?"
"Judging by the victims, they're not far." Hisagi's eyes scanned the walls, and then he understood something.
Isshiki looked at Hisagi and asked, "Do you know something we don't?"
"Have you seen that movie where the cannibals took women to have offspring?" Hisagi's question puzzled everyone, wondering what he was really trying to say.
"I'm not sure what you're getting at."
"Rotten chili." Toge didn't understand Hisagi's point either. He still didn't know what they were hunting, and from what he could see, it wasn't a cursed spirit, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions.
"The women are being kidnapped to be impregnated. The care with which they handle them in every video from the surveillance cameras shows that these figures have no perverse intentions; they just protect the women and exterminate the men."
"How did you come to such a deep conclusion?"
"Because I'm seeing those kidnappers as animals," Hisagi briefly responded as he removed his gloves and walked toward the exit, following the trail of the cursed spirit.
Isshiki, for his part, was frozen. Animals? Who, in the first place, treats people like animals?
"Wait a minute; you can't just leave like that."
"I'll send you the location where I'll leave the kidnapped women when I find them. You've done a great job so far, Detective Isshiki." These were Hisagi's last words before he disappeared into the crowd that had gathered to watch.
"Why does everyone disappear?" Isshiki asked, annoyed. He hadn't gotten anything but bad experiences.
…
In a different location, Hisagi let go of Toge, who was just recovering from the rapid movement they had made.
"Fried egg…"
Hisagi glanced at Toge apologetically and said, "Sorry, I'll warn you next time we move at this speed."
Toge didn't make much of it but was deeply impressed by the speed Hisagi had just demonstrated. They had literally moved from one district to another in less than a second.
That speed was terrifying.
"Wet seaweed?"
Hisagi nodded slightly and said, "It might be some kind of Youkai, but we need to carefully check where the victims are, and that will take us many hours of hard work."
"Fried chicken." Toge agreed. He was motivated now.