“Please explain in detail what you saw.”
“I’m telling you! It was terrifying! Suddenly, three people were just lying on the road… By the way, are they dead?”
“…”
The young police officer stood outside the police tape, holding his pocketbook—a small notebook used for taking notes—and meticulously asked about the situation, trying hard to extract some important information from the exaggerated and theatrical onlookers in front of him.
The older police officer stood behind him, saying somewhat helplessly, “Shuhei, you don’t need to take this so seriously.”
The incident that occurred this evening was not a small one.
However, his long career and certain suspicious details told the veteran officer that this fell into the category of cases he shouldn’t meddle in.
He didn’t want his new partner meddling in it, either.
Because doing so would bring nothing but trouble, with absolutely no benefit.
“Senior, if I don’t take it seriously, how are we going to catch the suspect?”
The young officer named Shuhei replied without looking back, then continued questioning the crowd in front of him.
The veteran officer opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
But in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Better not crush the young man’s motivation, the veteran officer thought to himself.
But just as the veteran officer had this thought…
…a noisy commotion broke out at the other end of the police tape.
Two middle-aged men in trench coats lifted the police tape and walked straight into the crime scene, completely ignoring the warnings of the officers standing guard on the perimeter.
“Sir, please don’t cause trouble for us. Unauthorized personnel…”
“Don’t get in our way.”
One of the thin middle-aged men flipped open his trench coat, pulled a bi-fold police notebook from his pocket, and flipped it open in front of the pursuing officer, displaying his badge and ID.
The pursuing officer got a clear look at the rank on the ID, froze for a moment, and then saluted.
The thin middle-aged man waved him off.
On the other side, the young officer Shuhei also noticed the situation.
He put away his notebook and prepared to go check it out.
But the veteran officer grabbed him.
“Senior?”
“Don’t pay attention to them. Investigate if you want, but listen to me on this one.”
The veteran officer shook his head firmly.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side.
The two middle-aged men who had suddenly intruded upon the crime scene finished inspecting the area.
They regrouped.
“Interesting.” One of the middle-aged men—thin, wearing thick black-rimmed glasses, and looking more like a teacher than a cop—lit a cigarette, revealing an intrigued expression.
“They’re priests from the Taira clan. A three-on-two fight, but they lost. That’s not the main point, though. A loss is a loss; after all, this isn’t Kyoto.”
The other thin middle-aged man, whose ID bore the name Fujiki Makoto, waved his hand to dispel the drifting smoke.
He frowned and said, “What’s more concerning is those three priests. They appeared directly in front of the public without the ‘Stasis’ determining a victor or initiating a rewind. This means the ‘Stasis’ lost its effect.”
The middle-aged man with the thick black-rimmed glasses pinched his cigarette between his index and middle fingers and pressed his thumb against his temple.
“Even the Emperor has to take a shit. It’s perfectly normal for a ‘Stasis’ to lose its effect.”
Hearing his partner’s words, Fujiki Makoto’s mouth twitched.
“Miwa Kei, don’t forget you’re wearing a cherry blossom crest on your chest.”
Miwa Kei bit down on his cigarette and retorted, “What? Are civil servants not allowed to say that he takes a shit?”
Fujiki Makoto said expressionlessly, “You can, but I’m talking about work right now.”
“Then I’m just lightening the mood.” Miwa Kei tossed his half-smoked cigarette onto the ground and crushed it out with the sole of his shoe.
“Besides, it’s useless for us to make blind guesses here. The best approach is to ask the people involved. You’ve already figured out who the other two priests are, right?”
Fujiki Makoto fell silent for a moment, casting his gaze in the direction of Natsume Mio’s house.
“Kagemasa Shrine. The main enshrined deity is a Gokenin. Aside from the head priest, there is only one other priest, and she’s a high school student. The one at the scene was exactly that priest… Furthermore, there was only one priest.”
“Oh, that is quite strange. A high school student, tsk tsk… Who was the other person? Some Stray Dog who scoffs at the saying, ‘The so-called Chosen must either serve the gods or serve the government’?”
“I’m not sure.” Fujiki Makoto hesitated slightly.
“There are definitely traces of another person’s presence, but rather than a Stray Dog, it seems more like… an ordinary person.”
“An ordinary person carrying an AK? Even though you sounded quite dismissive just now, three priests—no matter how incompetent—could easily coordinate to beat up a professional boxer like Inoue Naoya. At the very least, they wouldn’t let their opponent walk away unscathed… Don’t look at me like that. I know there are no signs of firearms being used. I’m just lightening the mood.”
Miwa Kei raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
Fujiki Makoto continued to stare at him.
Until.
The wail of an ambulance siren echoed from the direction of Kagemasa Shrine, less than a kilometer away from the crime scene.
Only then did Fujiki Makoto retract his gaze.
“It seems the other party didn’t walk away unscathed either.”
Fujiki Makoto pondered for a moment.
“Let’s go pay them a visit.”
…
Have your kidneys ever burned?
Or, to put it another way.
Have your internal organs ever burned?
I believe most people haven’t had them burn, nor have they had the chance to experience such a sensation.
Although Kitahara Minakaze knew of the concept of “internal heat” from his past life, and was aware of the various types like heart fire, lung fire, stomach fire, liver fire, and kidney fire, the symptoms of such flare-ups were at most red and swollen eyes, mouth ulcers, or toothaches.
The absolute worst-case scenario was fainting.
He had truly never heard of anyone whose internal organs literally caught fire from “internal heat”…
because that wasn’t fucking internal heat anymore, that was charcoal-grilled kidneys.
But Kitahara Minakaze, after transmigrating, got to experience what it truly meant to be on fire inside.
His internal organs had burned.
Even though the sensation only lasted for a brief moment.
Minakaze knew very well that it wasn’t an illusion.
The pain was terrifying.
Although Minakaze’s capabilities were limited and he couldn’t personally empathize with the pain of a girl’s menstrual cramps or childbirth.
Common sense told him.
This had to be more painful than menstrual cramps and childbirth.
Because he had passed out almost instantly.
He considered himself a fairly tough person.
For the pain to make him pass out before he could even form a coherent thought—it was truly horrifying.
Anyway, when Minakaze woke up again.
He truly felt as if a lifetime had passed.
I never want to experience that feeling again.
And also.
I’m still alive.
I hit the jackpot.
These two thoughts were his very first impressions upon waking up.
“Brother?”
A soft call rang out, pulling Minakaze out of his lingering fear.
Staring wide-eyed at the ceiling and marveling at his good fortune, Minakaze slowly turned his head to look to the side.
Natsume Mio was sitting by the bed, her hands folded together as she gave his right hand a firm squeeze.
“Where is this?” Minakaze asked instinctively.
Mio lowered her eyes and whispered, “The hospital.”
“The hospital, huh… Wait! My kidneys.”
Minakaze shot up in shock like a dying man springing from his deathbed.
He abruptly sat up, lifting his right hand—which was still tightly held by Mio—and tried to reach under the covers.
But in the end.
He didn’t succeed.
Because in the nick of time, Mio forcefully grabbed the crook of his arm.
She half-stood up, her face flushed red as she looked at Minakaze, and whispered, “How embarrassing, Brother.”
Minakaze glanced at her, only then realizing that he was in a multi-patient ward.
And at this moment, following his loud shout of “My kidneys,” all the other patients in the ward were staring at him in shock.
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I’m just checking my physical condition, it’s not like I’m doing anything else.”
Minakaze froze for a moment, but then still tried to check his kidneys.
“They’re fine, I promise they’re fine! Brother!” Mio clung desperately to his arm.
“Who wakes up from an injury and immediately checks their kidneys… Just lie down properly!”
She pulled Minakaze’s arm out from under the covers, practically pressing her entire body against him.
Relying purely on her body weight, she forced Minakaze to lie back down, then took hold of his right hand once more.
Minakaze: “…”
Tsk.