15 Reira Kamiki's Accusation

After Domon's wake service, things returned to normal, Akira returned to his daily routine of training and helping Mako out at the shrine.

Samuro, Mako's grandfather, guided them through the many matters of the shrine and the two of them carefully took note of every detail.

Shinzo too returned to his usual mysterious matters. In name, he was the person in charge of the shrine, but in reality, he barely appeared at the shrine except for attending to important matters.

As things returned to normal, it was natural that Shinzo wasn't around and only Samuro knew his whereabouts and he was told to keep it a secret from Akira.

Thankfully for Akira's one-of-a-kind personality, he didn't ask, but it didn't mean he didn't care. He would always be there to send his grandfather off or welcome him back, he had no idea where or what his grandfather went or did, it didn't matter to him anyway.

What mattered was that he knew his grandfather was powerful and despite without arms, he was more than capable to protect himself, therefore unnecessary worries was absent from his mind.

Few days had passed since Domon's passing, and it was a rather peaceful period for Tenjou Shrine.

However, some say 'false peace can never last', or 'it is the calm before the storm'.

The peaceful days ended soon enough when two police officers paid a visit to Tenjou Shrine.

The two officers arrived in front of the shrine in a standard-issued car.

The black car wasn't painted in the looks of the usual patrol car because the two officers who came down were an inspector and his assistant.

They were in deep blue suits rather than uniform, the one who came down from the passenger seat looked stern, somewhat grumpy and experienced; the other one who came down from the driver seat looked like some freshman who was on his first day on the job.

Inspector Kurata Keisuke, 48 years old and has been in the force for over 20 years. His short black coupled with gray hair was combed back neatly and gelled. Despite him in his 40s, his physique was still in his prime and had no signs of aging, other than the rigid and tempered look on his face, plus a little bit of wrinkles around the eyes, he could pose as a man in his 30s.

Officer Kamakura Kouta, the inspector's rookie partner, 25 years old. Kamakura has been in the force for over a year now and his career has not been kind to him. His youthful face reeked of naivety and inexperience, yet lively and hopeful enough for a police officer. Despite the looks, his had quite the physique, even under the layer of shirt and suit, one could easily tell he was fit and vigorous.

After the two officers closed the door to their car, they looked up at the torii, a traditional Japanese gate usually found at the entrances of shrines, and glanced over the name at the middle.

"Let's go, Kamakura." said Kurata in a husky voice.

"Yes, sir!" Kamakura took lead and walked into the shrine.

It wasn't the first time Kurata visited the shrine, officially or privately, but it was the first time for Kamakura.

As he stepped through the main entrance, he sized up everything like a curious child who had arrived at a playground.

Kurata walked up to his partner then placed his hand over his shoulder, Kamakura immediately felt embarrassed by his lack of manners. He looked at his partner apologetically then slightly nodded and then put on his less playful face.

Both of them were looking for someone to inform the shrine of their arrival and saw Akira sending off a pair of old couple.

As Akira sent the old couple off with a smile and wave, the two officers walked up to him and Kamakura asked, "Excuse me, we are from the police department and are here to see Mr. Akira Amaki. May I know is he around?"

Kamakura and Kurata took their badge out from their coat and revealed it to Akira.

Akira saw the badge and heard his name being mentioned, his face went blank then tilted his head slightly to the right and said, "Uh… I am Akira, how can I help you?"

Akira stood there awkwardly with several quick blinks followed by a confused smile.

The two officers exchanged a quick look before Kamakura said, "We have something to ask you about a murder."

Murder?

Akira's confusion grew heavier.

********

Inside the multipurpose hall, a little tea table was brought in and two cups of tea were on it.

Akira was sitting opposite the two officers while looking a little troubled and confused.

The young officer Kamakura sized up Akira with a curious yet determined gaze. Beside him, officer Kurata picked up the cup of tea and took a sip then released a heavy breath.

"This is some tea you have there." he said.

Akira smiled bitterly and nodded.

Right after that, the door slid open and Mako brought her grandfather in.

Akira and the two officers stood up.

"Officer Kurata, it's been a while since we met!" said Samuro with a bow.

Kurata and Kamakura bowed back and Kurata said, "It really has been a while. Thank you for always looking after us, Mr. Samuro. This is my new partner, Kamakura Kouta, he just got into the department a while ago and this is his first outing, please look after him."

"I am Kamakura Kouta, a newbie police officer in the Supernatural Investigation n' Research Independent Department." Kamakura immediately introduced himself and bowed down further.

"What a lively young man. Don't worry, Kamakura-kun, you are in good hands of Officer Kurata here." Samuro smiled as he replied, "Let's have a seat before we continue."

Akira kept quiet throughout the entire conversation and smiled awkwardly, he then moved along stiffly like a child knowing that he was in trouble.

After Mako closed the door, she too joined the group and the meeting started as soon as everyone was seated.

"I'm sorry that Shinzo isn't here to meet you today, I'll tell him to visit the director at the station sometimes, other than official favors that is. He currently has some matters to attend to and is away from the shrine. Hope you won't mind." Samura said once everyone was seated.

"It doesn't matter today, we are here for Akira-kun, we need to ask him something about a murder that we are currently working on." answered Kurata.

"I did not MURDER anyone!!" Akira shook his hands nervously and his bitter smile got heavier.

Mako immediately glared at him for the misbehaviour, Akira caught the glare and calmed himself down.

"We didn't say you murdered someone. We are here on behalf of Reira Kamiki, she is currently detained in the station and she told us to come to you for answers. So may I ask do you know this girl?" Kurata took a picture out of his pocket then placed it on the tea table and slightly pushed it to Akira.

"Reira Kamiki? Reira-neesan?! Eh?! Why is she here? Why is she detained? What happened?!"

A barrage of questions came out from Akira when he got a better look at the picture.

He picked up the picture in shock then looked at the officers, hoping for an answer; Mako was also shocked by she remained quiet and well-manners.

The picture was a portrait shot of a female, mid 20s, had black hair with red highlights. Her facial features were delicate but had a sense of power, her eyes were sharp despite the picture was obviously taken from a mug shot.

"Let me explain!" Kamakura replied quickly and energetically, "Approximately 12 hours earlier, Reira Kamiki is found by our colleagues of First Crime Division at the scene of murder. The murder victim is this lady here, Nanase Nishino."

Kamakura took another picture and slid it to Akira

The lady in the picture wore glasses and had semi-long hair, probably in her mid 20s too and she seemed to be wearing a nurse uniform.

"Nanase Nishino, 25 years old, a nurse in the local hospital. She was found dead yesterday evening in a residential alleyway and the cause of death was excessive bleeding from multiple cut wounds. Reira Kamiki was found unconscious beside the victim, stained with blood and was holding a sheathed katana. Well, it's shallow to treat her as the killer that way but when she woke up in front of our colleagues, she resisted fiercely, she knocked out 2 of the officers in the First Crime Division and even tried to run for it. Our colleagues said she nearly ran away as even their finest officer could not catch up with her speed, but after barely a chase, she collapsed and fell unconscious."

Akira and Mako was completely captivated by what Kamakura said while Samuro remained calm.

"But if that's really what just happened, both officers won't pay us a visit right? We would have received a call from the station and tell us about what happened to Reira-neesan instead. Besides that, Officer Kamakura mentioned that both of you are from Supernatural Investigation n' Research Independent Department? Something feels off." Mako moved forward and voiced her opinion.

The two officers were rather surprised by Mako's opinion, Akira even looked at her with a strong praising gaze then looked at the officers with strong nods.

"Yea, yea, yea! Why?!" Akira asked.

Kurata was impressed by Mako's sharpness, he smiled with slight admiration and said, "That's correct. The case came to our department after the autopsy report came early in the morning today. The autopsy report stated that the victim has been dead for at least 48 hours and judging from the amount of blood measured at the scene, it was too less for a normal human being to bleed to death. Our colleagues couldn't find any traces of blood in a 5 kilometer area either."

"That was the first strange point and the second one was this girl, Reira Kamiki. She had a katana with her when our colleagues found her and it was confiscated when she was brought it, however the katana couldn't be unsheathed, no matter how hard our colleagues tried. They even weighed the katana and found out it was ridiculously light, like it has no blade and only the sheath."Reira Kamiki

"So after all that, both for us are called in to have a talk with this Reira Kamiki, but we got nothing at all after she threw a tantrum and gave me a major headache, all she did say is your name, Akira Amaki. She told us to find you for answers."

All eyes were on Akira after what Kurata revealed.

"Why are you guys looking at me, I don't know anything! I haven't seen Reira-neesan in ages! She's been traveling around the country and now suddenly appearing in our district with problems! It's so her!" Akira grumbled.

"Officers, I don't think you will get any answers from this stupid here, can we request to have a meeting with Reira-neesan? We might be able to find out what happened." Mako said eagerly.

Kurata and Kamakura exchanged a gaze before Kurata said, "Let's get moving then."

********

The black car drove straight towards the police station after it departed from the shrine.

Kamakura was in the driver's seat and his partner beside him, Akira and Mako were at the back.

Before they departed, Samuro assigned this little investigation task to the both of them. Their objective was to find out whether or not that supernatural forces were involved and if yes, eliminate with force.

Samuro purposely kept quiet during the meeting was because he wanted to let Akira and Mako handle situations themselves and learn how to be independent, he was giving them chances to groom themselves up for the future.

Akira suggested that both of them armed themselves up just to be safe but Mako reminded him that they were just going to have a talk with Reira, not going into battle with Yoma. Besides, they were going to a police station, going in armed with his Bladestaff or her tonfas—even in good intentions—might attract some negative outcome.

It was actually a problem for exorcists to armed themselves up in public, especially during the day, yet starting an assignment unarmed felt a little weird for Akira since he used to move around with his Bladestaff at night.

He persisted for a while before Samuro promised that he would tell him a way make the Bladestaff a little more inconspicuous when they returned from the station.

The four of them arrived at the police station after a 15 minute drive.

Akira and Mako were told by Kamakura to wait in the parlour while he and Kurata settled the papers for the meeting.

It was called a parlour but it was actually a table with stools inside the department's office, which was as small as a single bed room since there were only two officers were working.

The limited space did not bother Akira and Mako though, after Kamakura led them to their seats and went off to continue the paperwork, Akira and Mako discussed about the matter.

"It's been almost 6 years since we met Reira and now she suddenly dropped by with a blast. It's so fitting of her explosive personality." Akira said then shrugged.

"I did not expect her to return like this either, who knows what she's been up to after we completed our training with master." said Mako with a pout.

"I bet she still gets into trouble with her straightforwardness, otherwise we wouldn't be here." Akira laid his hands open.

Reira Kamiki, the senpai of Akira and Reira back when they trained under their master for a year. She had an explosive and feisty yet caring personality, her bold moves and dress code always got her in trouble but she took good care of Akira and Reira when they were together.

She was brave and would offer a helping hand to anyone, especially those who faced Yoma trouble.

Hachu!

Reira sneezed hard all of a sudden.

Sitting inside a small meeting room. Reira rubbed her nose and said, "Hey officer, can you turn down the air-con? It's cold in here! Don't try to freeze me to death, I'm innocent! If I get sick, I'll sue you!"

Kurata who brought Reira into the little meeting room looked at her in disdain, "Miss, we only have a working fan here, there's no air-con connected to this room! If you get a cold because of wearing such skimpy outfit, I won't be responsible either."

Reira looked down at her busty body, she was wearing a white crop top with a pair of short jeans plus a pair of black long boots that extend to her knees; she also had a large captain's coat around her shoulders, waving as she moved around.

Reira squinted her eyes at the veteran officer, "I'm at the peak of summer fashion, you old-fashioned man! What do you know about girl's fashion!!"

Sparks went off in the middle of the air as they stared down at each other fiercely.

"You little disrespectful…"

"Kurata-san!"

Right before Kurata stepped up and grabbed Reira by the coat, Kamakura came in and stopped him.

Though Reira seized the opportunity and further pour gas on the fire.

"You are lucky your little partner is here to hold you back, otherwise I'd beat the hell out of you if you ever so lay a finger on me!" said Reira angrily.

"You!!!"

"Kurata-san! They are here!"

Kamakura had to grab his partner with both hands locked around the shoulder.

"Reira-neesan!"

Akira's voice came from behind Kamakura, followed by his and Mako's entrance.

"Akira! Mako-chan!"

Reira jumped up from her chair, her outer coat and her chest waved and bounce as she ran over to hug the both of them.

"It's been soooooo long since we see each other! I miss you two so much!" said Reira as tears of joy wet her eyes.

"It's been a while, Reira-neesan, never thought we'd see you under these circumstances though." said Mako.

"Yeah! It's getting a little hard to breath, Reira-neesan, you are still as powerful as before!" said Akira with a bitter smile as he was being squeezed.

"I know right!" said Reira as she released the two of them, "Hear me out, this whole thing is a misunderstanding! I was framed by those dirty bastards! You must help me!!" She immediately put on her pleading face.

"Who knows, if the First Division found more evidence to prove your crimes, they would probably prosecute you for murder." Kurata said in disdain.

"What did you say, old man!" Reira immediately turned around and glared at the officer.

"Come on, both of you, cut it off!" Kamakura stepped in and stopped both of them from arguing again. He then turned to Akira and Mako, "You two only have around 10 minutes to talk, that's all we can get you before the First Division demands their detainee back. Make it count."

"Thank you very much Officer Kamakura." said Mako with a slight bow.

"Just doing my job." said Kamakura as he pulled his grumpy partner out of the room.

After the door closed, Akira, Mako and Reira were left alone.

"Reira-neesan, there's no outsider here anymore, you can tell us what happened." said Mako.

"Eh? As straight as always Mako-chan, I really wanted to catch up with you guys first before I give myself a headache." Reira grumbled and acted like a spoiled child.

"Reira-neesan, we can catch up all you want after we solve this mystery. Besides, we are dispatched here as an assignment, Uncle Samuro suspects that Yoma might be involved." said Akira with a smile.

"That old man is still as sharp as ever I see." said Reira as she leaned back with crossed arms "He is right, this is really a Yoma problem. I was traveling down from Hokkaido on foot a few days ago."

"Eh? On foot?"

Akira and Mako were shocked by Reira's traveling methods. The approximate distance between Hokkaido and Tokyo is around 1,200 km yet Reira claimed that she travelled all the way down here by foot.

"What? It's not that hard if you are as quick as me hehe. Besides... I'm scared to take a flight." Reira chuckled proudly before embarrassment smeared all over her face.

"Don't feel embarrassed, everyone is afraid of something, Reira-neesan!" Akira said energetically and tried to ease her embarrassment.

"You are right Akira! Haha, you are really understands me well!" Reira widened her eyes at Akira in delight.

"Ahem! Can we get back to the matter at hand?" Mako cleared her throat and pulled the two back.

"Oh, right! Okay, after I arrived here in Tokyo, I was starving. You know, it was late and I have yet to book a hotel, I was going to stop by your place but on the way, as I walked through an alleyway, I sensed the presence of a Yoma, so I went chasing."

"And when I reached the source, I saw a figure of a girl holding a scissors with a body on the ground. I immediately went up and fought that girl. She's nothing though, I would have easily won her but just before I can get the upper hand at the girl, I suddenly felt extremely sleepy! I tried to fight the sleepiness and the girl at the same time but the sleepiness grew stronger and stronger. My head got so heavy that it felt like the sky had fallen onto me!"

"I kinda fell asleep during the fight and then went I woke up, I saw the body beside me, probably dead for a while, and many police officers at the scene. They tried to capture me and I fought back, and… I collapsed again because I remember I haven't eaten anything…"

At the end, Reira's voice turned soft because of the embarrassment.

"Hahaha, it really sounds like what you would do, Reira-neesan. Always bold and brazen, you do know you knocked out two police officers right?" said Akira with a laugh.

"I know, but I didn't kill anyone and they tried to capture me just because I have my katana with me! What a bunch of idiots!" Reira grumbled.

"So Reira-neesan, you said you encountered a Yoma in the form of a girl and was holding a scissor right?" Mako asked.

"Yes, she must have played some tricks on me to make me fall asleep! Otherwise I would have cut her into pieces!" Reira clenched her fist. "Please Akira, Mako-chan, help me! I don't want to eat the lousy food in jail, pretty please~" Reira put her hands together in front of her face.

"Don't worry, Reira-neesan, we promised to get you out of here, but in the meantime, you may have to stick around for a day or two." Akira tilted his head with a faint smile.

"Tsk, I guess I have to stick around. I'm depending on you guys! Now go, go free your dear big sister!"

Reira shooed both of them out and urged them to be quick on freeing her.

Akira and Mako left after a smile and a bow.

Later that day, after Reira was returned to the First Crime Division, Akira and Mako had decided to head to the scene of the crime for investigation but before that, they had to go back to the shrine to prepare themselves properly.

Right before they head back, Kurata held them back for some quick questions and they too told Kurata about what happened and promised to provide a solution to this case.

However…

"We are coming with you!" Kurata said to Akira.

"We are? But shouldn't we leave the professionals at work?" Kamakura said in confusion.

"Yeah, it's better for you to stay behind and wait for our call." Akira said.

"This is not a request, this is an order! As part of the police force, it is my responsibility to get to the bottom of any murder that is handed to my department. I said we are going." Kurata's sense of duty and persistence rendered Akira speechless.

In the end, after a quick exchange of gaze with Mako, Akira said, "But if you come along with us, there is a high chance that you might run into a... ghost! Are you sure about that?"

A wide smile hung over Akira's face, he looked excited and happy but that smile in Kurata and Kamakura's eyes somehow looked weird.

An uneasy feeling started to plague their hearts subtly.

Ghost?

Despite their department name had 'supernatural' in it, it didn't mean they had the qualifications to deal with the supernatural stuff. As a matter of fact, this Supernatural Investigation n' Research Independent Department was formed less than 2 months ago, under the orders of the director of the station.

Although Kurata had multiple encounters during many investigations while he served in other divisions in the past, he did not truly participated in the supernatural activities though, that was why Akira's grandfather was asked to help.

As for Kamakura, his career had not been treating him well. He was transferred here out of some lame reasons, even though he was briefed before that this particular department was unlike others, this would probably be his first encounter.

Commonly known as the 4K Duo by other divisions as a joke, the two partners exchanged a gaze before they replied Akira with a determined gaze.

"We are sure!" Kurata and Kamakura said in one voice.

The smile on Akira grew wider, it almost touched the both ends of his ears.

"Well then, let's get you two prepared!"