16 The Fresh Adventure

The night was bustling with lights and cheers despite the scene of a murder was near by, the horrifying act did not tone down the cheerful environment at the commercial district.

Yellow police line surrounded the scene of the murder, which was at an alleyway that connected the resisdential district and the commercial district; there was an uniformed officer on guard duty in front.

The scene was actually almost cleaned up, all that was left was some follow up and the scene could be released, but the case was far from being solved.

The residential district was rather quiet though. It was late at night and people had started to go to bed, there were still street lamps lit up but it did not light up the silent atmosphere.

The distance between each lit street lamp was covered in shadow and it formed an interesting scene of black and white stripes along the street.

A lady in a body of formal suit and pants was shuttling along the light and shadow and as she walked into the light, her face slowly came into sight.

It was Mako, in disguise as an office lady!

She was here because of the plan Akira devised earlier. At first, she was reluctant to accept Akira's idea but she couldn't come up with anything else, plus time was not on their side.

Akira assured her that he would be on standby and would jump in to support should anything happen. Besides, there were two more police officers with them on this special mission, ultimately, Mako gave in to the suggestion and agreed to be bait.

She paused under the streetlamp and squinted her eyes helplessly.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this… Akira, you better be on standby, or else…" she said.

'I'm already in position, watching you from high up! Don't worry, we have extra help this time and I'm sure you will be fine.'

Akira's voice came through her earpiece. She sighed and continued to walk.

The street was rather eerie even with the streetlamps on since there wasn't a soul on this residential area street in the middle of the night.

It was quiet other than clicks from Mako's heels, even the summer night breeze whistled sounded like a concert in her ears.

When she was halfway down the street, the streetlamps started to flicker.

The flickers started slow and grew faster, eventually turning into a lightshow of sorts.

Mako was extremely cautious standing under the flickering light.

The streetlamps flickered to a certain limit before the lights went dark.

Mako immediately pulled out her tonfas and entered a battle-ready stance.

Suddenly, the lights came back on.

Mako looked left and right vigilantly, looking for her possible foe.

Then, she saw a girl standing under the next streetlamp in front of her.

The girl was wearing a white dress, had long hair over her shoulders and was holding a pair of scissors in her hand.

"So you are the one behind all this?" said Mako as she pointed at the girl.

The girl was a little bit surprised due to the slight shudder from her body. Her face, however, was too dark to see because she slightly tilted her head downwards.

"Let's quickly get this over with." Mako said in a stern tone as she twirled both her tonfas into a circle. Orange spiritual energy enveloped her weapon and she was ready to end this once and for all so that she could get rid of the bad feeling in her heart.

She leapt out at the girl like a leopard hunting its prey, launching one of her tonfas straight at her head.

The girl shuddered but it didn't slow her down, she raised her scissors in the nick of time and blocked the tonfa.

Wham!

A heavy clunk sounded followed by a ring of energy bursting in all directions.

Both of their hair fluttered in the wind, and it allowed Mako to get a glimpse of the girl's face.

The girl looked normal, somewhat delicate, but her eyes were red as blood and there were no pupils in it.

Mako furrowed brows were locked tight. She followed up with an attack with her other tonfa, going after the opening on the left side of the girl's head.

The girl cocked her head backward to a ridiculous angle. Going along with the motion, she lifted her legs up, attempting to kick Mako away.

Mako quickly disengaged as the girl tumbled backwards into a defensive stance.

"Not too shabby, but not enough." said Mako as she readjust her position before leaping out again.

She was quicker than before. A barrage of tonfa blows were launched at the eerie girl.

The eerie girl was able to block a few hits with her scissors but after several more, her defenses started to fail her.

Hit after hit, the tonfa landed on her body, inflicting pain but the girl didn't utter a word except for some painful grunts.

Ignoring the grunts, Mako continued with her attacks, she wanted to end this quick so that the ill feeling in her could probably go away.

Makoe easily got the upper hand against the eerie girl, but quite the opposite, the ill feeling got denser.

As Mako easily forced the girl into a corner, she was ready to launch her final blow at the Yoma, ending this once and for all.

"True Blossom Hundred Art - Dyna—"

Right before her charged up explosive tonfa could be launch, she saw a grin on the girl's face. The ill feeling in her heart was raised to its peak.

A sudden cold struck her back, causing her goosebumps.

Mako forcefully held back her attack and quickly tilted her head backwards.

What she saw was another face of a girl, this time with white hair and pitch black eyes without any pupils as well.

That was the last image that she saw before everything went dark.

The other thing that went dark was the street.

The whole street went dark for a second before the lights came back on. There was no one left on the street, no girl, no Mako, as if nothing had happened before.

Right after the lights came back on, Akira, Kurata and Kamakura came dashing to the spot where Mako was last seen.

The two officers nervously pointed their guns at the surroundings as what they saw from afar frightened them.

Akira, on the other hand, scanned around, he found nothing, not even any traces of a fight.

"Well, that was unexpected." Hands under his chin, Akira pondered at the situation with an annoyed look.

"W-What was that, Akira-san?! Is that… a ghost?!" Kamakura stuttered nervously.

"Uhh… not exactly, but you are not entirely wrong." Akira looked at Kamakura with a smile. "Lower your guns, there's nothing left here for you to shoot, even if there is, your bullets cannot harm those Yoma."

The two officers exchanged a confused gaze, eventually holstering their guns.

"Yoma, you say?" Kurata asked.

"Yes, it's what we call those things. They are something far more powerful than normal souls, but fret not, I am here." Akira pointed at himself proudly, attempting to assure the two officers that things were under control.

"What should we do now? Where's Mako-san?" Kamakura asked, seeking advice in a situation that he never encountered before.

Akira took out his smart phone and turned on the GPS tracker.

"We can track Mako with the GPS in her earpiece." Shaking the phone, Akira smiled at the two baffled officers.

"A GPS? I thought the supernatural ways requires the supernatural means? Technology?" Kamakura asked with a confused look.

"Supernatural or not, if we can't keep up with the society, the society will disqualified us, especially us exorcist… Now then, let us see where Mako had gone to...Eh?"

Akira moved the map on the screen around, trying to find the red dot that was Mako but he noticed the red dot was static and it was beside him.

He quickly scanned the surroundings and found out Mako's earpiece had dropped behind.

The two officers scowled at Akira as he picked it up, Kamakura said, "Is this part of the plan?"

"Seems like technology has failed you." Kurata added.

Akira awkwardly kept the earpiece in his pocket, "Ahem, changes sometimes outrun the plan. Fret not, I still have a contingency plan!"

Snap! Akira snapped his fingers and Rai, one of the two fox shikigami that Mako captured earlier, jumped out from thin air.

The two officers were surprised at first before they curiously sized up the yellowish fox with electrical sparks around it.

"This is?" Kamakura pointed at Rai.

"A shikigami, Mako's one to be precise. She has a pair of these and she left one with me just in case. It should be able to track its counterpart, but why do I sense some disdain from its eyes."

Akira looked at Rai and its disdainful look.

It seemed like Rai still had some sore feelings for Akira, despite the fact that its memories were renewed after forming a contract with Mako.

"So this little fox can lead us to the culprits that abducted Mako-san?" Kurata asked.

"Yes, if it's willing to move right now." Akira said with a bitter smile.

Rai seemed to understand Akira. Another quick disdainful glance later, it started to sniff around then vigilantly looked towards a certain direction.

"Let's go officers, the case is still on-going!"

The three, Akira, Kurata and Kamakura, then followed Rai as it hopped away.

Several blocks and turns into alleyway later, the trio and shikigami arrived in front of a residential house.

The two-storey house looked dark, not just because of the time, but the worn down state. The house was located at a rather secluded corner in the neighbourhood. Not a single soul was on the street in front of it and even the only streetlight was rather dimmed.

"How typical, a haunted house." Akira, hands at his waist and his Bladestaff at his back, said as he wiped away the dust on the address plate, "The Hara family?"

"Hara family? What does that name sound so familiar…" Kurata said with a slight squint of eyes as he searched his memories, "The Hara family torture case!"

Kurata bump his palm as the memories came afloat.

"Hara family case? Is that something I should know?" Akira turned around to the veteran officer.

"You don't pay attention to the news, do you?" Kurata asked.

"I pay attention to the news, but not this kind." Akira shrugged.

"Kamakura."

"Yes, sir."

Kamakura then nodded and explained, "The Hara family case happened only last month. Two teenage daughters and a father were found dead in the house. The daughters had signs of being tortured and the father died with a stab in the head with a scissors."

"Two daughters eh? Hmmm…" Scratching his chin, Akira pondered upon the topic.

Something felt off in his heart, but he couldn't exactly pinpoint it.

Ruff! All of a sudden, Rai barked alarmingly, it dashed towards the entrance and went through the door.

"I guess it's action now, question later. Come on, this might be your first real haunted house experience." Akira invited the two officers to the door.

Kurata and Kamakura exchanged a troubled gaze and stepped up to the invitation.

A locked door was not a problem for Akira as he rammed the door knob off with his staff.

The trio, with Akira's lead, ventured through the door with cautious steps.

The officers did not pull out their gun this time, because Akira told them guns couldn't damage the supernatural, still they clench their fists tight and tread forward with utmost caution.

Beside the entryway was a flight of stairs leading to the second floor; beside the stairs was a corridor leading to the kitchen and two doors on the left, which was the living room and a storeroom.

There was a master bedroom and two single room on the second floor.

The family with the tragic end was considered a wealthy one for able to afford a two-storey house like this.

Akira turned on the torchlight on his smartphone and shed light over the dark entrance, "It's like stepping into a horror house." He called it a horror house, not just because of the fact that it might be haunted, but also because of the desolate state.

The walls were dirty, a thick layer of dust covered the floor and doors were broken.

"Let's split up. I'll take the second floor, you guys can sweep the first floor." said Akira.

"Split up?" Kamakura asked in a hesitant tone.

"I know what you are thinking. We are stepping into a haunted house, with possible encounter with the supernatural, and, like all movies, splitting up is a bad idea. Am I right?" Akira shone his smartphone torchlight at Kamakura and an annoyed look.

Kamakura moved his hands up to cover his eyes and smiled bitterly.

Kurata, his partner, also stared at him, then he said, "We will take the first floor."

Akira nodded and went straight up the stairs.

Kamakura awkwardly took his smartphone out, turned on the torchlight.

"Don't embarrassed me in front of people." Kurata added before he headed to the kitchen.

"Y-Yes sir." Kamakura stuttered and started to search the living room.

The searched started and ended swiftly because all three of them did not find any clues or traces of Mako.

10 minutes later, the three of them regrouped at the foyer.

"Found anything?" asked Kurata.

"Nothing, not even a single strand of hair." said Akira.

"Me too." Kamakura answered.

"Since we couldn't find any clues here, let's search around the house." Kurata said then headed to the door.

Right after he opened the door, what he saw stunned him.

Behind the door wasn't the road where they came from but it was the exact same foyer that they were standing in, it was like the exit was the entrance to a mirrored foyer.

"Akira-san, is this normal?" asked Kurata.

"It's not, but not unusual. Guess we have more places to search." Akira pointed at the mirrored house, suggesting to further their search there.

Akira took the lead into the mirrored house, followed by Kurata then Kamakura.

"Just like before, I'll search the second floor, you guys take the first." Akira gave a thumbs up to the two officers as he turned around to them.

However, before they started the search, Akira saw a figure behind Kamakura, which was the original house that they came from.

"Watch out!" Akira said loudly, but it was too late.

A pair of white hands tapped Kamakura on his shoulders and dragged him back into the first house, the door in between then slammed shut after Kamakura went out of sight.

"KAMAKURA!" shouted Kurata!

He reached out to the handle swiftly and opened the door, but he saw no traces of his partner even after he stepped back into the first house.

"KAMAKURA! WHERE ARE YOU!" Kurata shouted out of worries. He panicked, his partner was snatched before his eyes and he failed to do anything to stop it.

Sweat rolled down his temples, he started to feel that things were no longer within control.

A hand suddenly tapped on his shoulder, Kurata turned around in a sudden and saw Akira's calm and steady look.

"Don't lose your calm just yet, it's still not the worst."

He then pointed in front, which was the corridor of the first house—a piece of paper was swaying down from the air.

Kurata strode to the piece of paper after it landed on the floor.

He picked it up and checked the piece of paper, what he saw astonished him.

He turned around to Akira and showed him the content.

"Die?"

A kanji character was written in blood, it spelled the meaning of death.

"I don't think so. Now that we are sure that it's in this, or that, house, it's time to take the fight to them." Akira said determinedly.

"Take the fight to them?" Kurata said in confusion.

He didn't know what was about to happen but Akira's strong gaze somehow assured him a little.