The next day.
"Akiyoshi Yuu-san, please come with me."
"Okay."
The homeroom teacher personally came to call for him, which made Akiyoshi Yuu, who was preparing to eat his bento, pause. However, he already had a guess in his heart.
"Akiyoshi-san, don't be nervous."
"Whatever they ask, just answer."
When the teacher pushed open the door of the small conference room,
as expected, two female police officers in uniform were sitting inside.
One was a short-haired female officer, who looked like she had just graduated, with a scholarly air still on her face and a hint of apprehension in her eyes. The other was a more capable, mature female officer, with a calm and composed demeanor. It was clear that she was the leader of the two.
?
Appropriately showing a 'surprised' expression, Akiyoshi Yuu froze at the door until the mature female officer stood up with a smile and gestured with her hand.
"Akiyoshi Yuu-san?"
"Please come and sit."
"Ah... okay... okay."
Like a normal student suddenly encountering the police, Akiyoshi Yuu sat down cautiously in front of the two police officers, subconsciously glancing at the homeroom teacher.
"Madoka-sensei, please rest assured, we will not make things difficult for this student."
"Could you give us some space?"
The two female officers could tell at a glance that the homeroom teacher was very concerned about this student.
This was not surprising. The student before them, named 'Akiyoshi Yuu', was handsome, his school uniform was neat, and he exuded the aura of a 'good student'. Plus, they had learned beforehand that his grades were also excellent... any normal teacher would like this kind of student.
Especially in a public school full of delinquents like this.
"Alright."
The police had spoken, so the homeroom teacher had no choice but to nod, leave the small conference room, and close the door.
"Well then, let's begin."
The two female officers took out a recording pen, as well as a pen and paper.
"Akiyoshi Yuu-san, do you know Yamamoto Nogi?"
As expected.
"Ah, Yamamoto-san?"
"Yes, I know him."
Akiyoshi Yuu first paused, then nodded, and then spoke hesitantly.
"But Yamamoto-san hasn't come to school for three days..."
"We are investigating this very matter."
The mature female officer interrupted Akiyoshi Yuu's words, firmly taking control of the conversation.
"Akiyoshi-san, when was the last time you saw Yamamoto-san?"
"It was... in the men's restroom on the third floor."
"It's like this, due to family reasons, I have recently become the target of bullying by some classmates..."
There was nothing to hide about these things. Akiyoshi Yuu slowly recounted his previous experiences, his tone calm, without any resentment or anger, just a hint of helplessness.
What's there to argue with a dead person?
The problem Yamamoto had left behind was somewhat troublesome.
"...and so, I pushed them away, ran out of the restroom, and happened to run into the class president... that is, Iai Nao-san."
After briefly describing the events of that day, Akiyoshi Yuu asked again hesitantly:
"Yamamoto-san, did something happen to him?"
This kind of reaction was very normal. To have the police come to the door, it was definitely not a simple matter.
You should know that the police stations in the island nation handle over thirty thousand 'missing person' cases every year, and eighty percent of them turn up on their own within a week.
The rest... are found much later in Aokigahara, Tojinbo, on the train tracks, etc., or fall into the hands of the yakuza and disappear without a trace. It had only been three days. With the speed at which the island nation's police open cases, they shouldn't have investigated so quickly.
The two female officers exchanged glances but did not answer Akiyoshi Yuu's question.
"Akiyoshi-san, thank you for your cooperation."
The mature female officer stood up and extended her right hand.
"Ah, you're too kind."
Shaking hands with her also marked the end of this conversation.
...
Yamamoto was just a nobody. The problem should be those three from society.
Standing in the hallway, watching the two police officers leave below, Akiyoshi Yuu touched his chin.
Those three from society were peripheral members of the 'Zanshi-gumi', which was why the police were investigating so actively. In fact, it was precisely because of them that Akiyoshi Yuu had decided to make an example of the 'Zanshi-gumi'.
It seems the police have too much manpower.
Lowering his eyes, Akiyoshi Yuu walked towards the classroom. At the same time, two crows on the roof silently spread their wings and flew out.
"Senpai."
"Why are we investigating this delinquent who's only been missing for three days?"
In the departing police car, the young female officer couldn't help but ask.
Her name was Kawai Mai, and she had just joined the Adachi Ward police station this year, belonging to the lowest rank of 'patrolman'.
Missing... was perfectly normal in the island nation!
Especially for a delinquent like the target 'Yamamoto'. It was perfectly normal for him to go to a friend's house and play for ten days to half a month without contacting his parents.
"It's different."
The mature female officer driving shook her head slightly.
"The target 'Yamamoto' is involved with the 'Zanshi-gumi', and it is said that behind the 'Zanshi-gumi' is a major case that shook the island nation."
Although she was called 'senpai', the mature female officer 'Fuji Seiko' was only a patrol sergeant and didn't know the inside story at all. Unlike Iori Ichika, a top student who had directly passed the Class I civil servant examination and was parachuted in as a police inspector, she had graduated from high school and worked for five years to become a 'patrol sergeant', which was the normal promotion path for ordinary people.
"Next, we are going to Kouou Academy to understand the situation from that Akiyoshi Yuu's sister."
?!
The crow that had landed on the police car tilted its head, a flash of red light in its eyes.
"Kouou Academy, I'm so envious."
The young female officer Kawai Mai crossed her hands, her face full of longing.
"Students who graduate from there can directly take the national civil servant Class II examination—"
Rumble~~~
???
A violent tremor suddenly came from below. The police car... no, all the vehicles moving on the road lost their direction.
One by one, the cars left twisted, scorched marks on the cement road! The sound of brakes, collisions, horns... alarms blared!
"Ah, senpai! This is—"
"An earthquake?"
Earthquakes were perfectly normal for the island nation and Tokyo.
Tokyo experiences 40 felt earthquakes every year. Magnitude 4 and 5 were not exactly commonplace, but they were definitely not rare.
"Be careful!"
While loudly reminding her junior, the mature female officer slammed the steering wheel and crashed into a fire hydrant on the side of the road.
Bang!!
With a muffled sound, the police car crashed into the fire hydrant.
The deformed fire hydrant stopped the police car, and a trickle of water flowed out.
"Cough, cough."
A few seconds later, the car door was pushed open, and the two female officers, who had unbuckled their seat belts and pushed away the airbags, crawled out of the deformed police car.
"What is the Meteorological Agency doing? They didn't even observe such an obvious earthquake?"
The young female officer's hat was gone. She complained while rubbing her shoulder.
The emergency brake just now almost broke her neck.
"Earthquakes are not that easy to—"
The mature female officer was halfway through her sentence when she froze.
Because:
Rumble!!
With a violent tremor, a building next to them suddenly 'bulged' upwards, and cracks like a spider's web covered the walls.
The next second, this human building crumbled like a biscuit!
"What is... that?!"
Dust and smoke poured down like a waterfall. Amidst the splashing earth and stones, a huge monster emerged from the ruins.
It was a black fish-shaped monster with a huge, flat head. Its open mouth revealed two rows of sharp teeth, and its two long 'whiskers' swung like giant pythons. On its back, it carried a... vermilion torii gate wrapped in a white shimenawa?
"Get out of the way—"
Just as she had recovered from the shock, the mature female officer loudly reminded her junior, but it was already too late.
Pow!
A piece of flying building debris hit the young female officer on the head.
With a splash of blood, the young female officer fell without a sound.
???
"Mai... damn monster!"
Seeing her cute junior fall into a pool of blood,
anger rushed to her brain, and the mature female officer drew the pistol from her waist without a second thought.
What review, what rules, what consequences...
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Go to hell!
The bullets whistled out, all hitting their target.
However, the monster that had drilled out of the ground didn't even 'look' at her.
Its hill-like body fell forward, and with a rumble, it crushed a building like a biscuit, and then:
The fish-shaped monster twisted its body, and as if it were in water, its entire huge body began to 'sink' into the ruins.
"Monster! Monster, mon..."
The sharpest weapon in her hand was useless. The mature female officer's anger was pent up in her chest, and she tremblingly lowered her muzzle.
Was she supposed to draw her baton and fight this mountain-like monster in close combat?
Squelch.
At that moment, a hissing sound came from the ruins.
An invisible gas stirred up the dust and smoke, forming a turbulent trace.
A natural gas pipeline?
Before the mature female officer could react, her vision suddenly brightened.
Boom~~~
A spark suddenly expanded.
The spark ignited the leaking natural gas, and finally turned into a raging... skull?
"Jie jie jie jie jie jie~~"
With a piercing laugh, the huge flame skull stretched its 'body', conjuring a skeleton-like hands and feet.
"This time... what kind of monster is it..."
She subconsciously raised the pistol in her hand again. The扑面而来ing heat wave made the mature female officer's mouth instantly dry, and her hair quickly became dry and scorched. Although her identity as a 'police officer' kept her standing here, but... what could she do?
Bullets were useless against that 'big fish'. Could they be effective against this skull, which was obviously made of 'flame'?
Just as the mature female officer was feeling desperate, a white mist surged over.
This is?
The fog came so abruptly, like a rolling curtain, swallowing the city, roads, and buildings.
Then, a 'figure' walked over.