Prologue: Insurance Claim


    Raechal, Zayu National Hospital


    <hr>


    “Everyone thinks working a corporate job is great! The free health insurance, the cushy offices, all of that makes the money almost seem worth it. But nobody talks about the cons, you know? The constant hookups, the overtime, the politics? I hate it! I didn’t become an engineer to be holed up in an office all day. I wanna be out in the field. I wanna work with people, not deal with corporate shenanigans,” my interviewee – the patient – ranted, almost pulling her IV off its hook. My lip almost twitched. Her disdain for corporate life was truly adorable.


    “I see. Ms. Honda, can you please describe the sequence of events before the incident?”


    “So last night I was out with my team,” now there was a slight tremor in Honda’s voice. “This guy, Ta- Tanaka was trying to get me drunk. At some point he tried to get handsy with me. I’d be lying if I said I don’t usually enjoy the attention, but not like this. Never like this. It’s just been so long since the divor-”


    “Can we please get back on track?” I asked, trying to keep as neutral an expression I could muster. Showing any form of emotion in interviews has never gotten me the results I’ve wanted. Honda wasn’t making eye contact with me. Her hands twisted atop the thin, almost see-through hospital blankets. Cheap. The result of trying to please shareholders over treating their patients with the respect they deserve.


    The hospital room was as bog standard as they came. You had the typical accoutrements, the bed, bedside table, an IV, an infusion pump, and pretty much nothing else. The room reeked of sterilisation, practically rolling off the beige walls and white tiles. Nothing special, budget and paid for by Honda’s company health insurance.


    The silence was, once again, dragging too long.


    “Ms. Honda?”


    “I’m sorry, last night was a bit hazy, what I remember is a bit… unclear,” Honda paused and scanned the room, from me leaning with forced nonchalance against the wall, to the small table by the window where my ‘partner’ (technically my superior) was seated. Daiki was wearing an all black outfit. Black suit jacket, black dress shirt, black pants, black socks, black shoes, even his watch was black. A total edgelord. “Why is mister tall and handsome here?” Honda asked me. Despite her quip, I could tell she was nervous with Daiki’s presence.


    “He insisted on helping me with this case,” I deadpanned. Daiki heard the unsaid but has done absolutely nothing thus far, loud and clear. His eyebrow quirked.


    Lazily, he got up and made his way towards us with that smug expression that never ended well for me. He dragged the cheap plastic chair he had been sitting on with him. Honda watched him in wide-eyed silence, broken only by the click of his shoes and the low plastic squeal from the chair.


    “Now then, could you tell us what happened last night?” Daiki said as he slowly placed his left hand over Honda''s shaky ones. She looked at him and immediately turned pink. Nervousness successfully banished.


    Personally, I didn’t see Daiki’s appeal. Then again, men in general were unappealing.


    “Oh. Yes. Um. I slapped Tanaka and made my exit. I just wanted to get home. I took a route that I wasn’t exactly familiar with. I cut through a few dingy back alleys.”


    “Back alleys are never a good idea” I said, ensuring Daiki wouldn’t make any comments before me. Letting him steer the interview was the last thing I wanted.


    Honda seemed to remember my existence and withdrew her hand from Daiki’s grasp as if she had grazed a hot skillet.


    “What happened?” Daiki asked. “I’ve read the case file, it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.”Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    “You won’t believe me even if I told you. Let’s call it assault and leave it at that,” a bead of sweat ran down the side of Honda’s face. Her nostrils flared up and her complexion started to grow pale.


    “Wow. A chameleon,” I thought. I shot Daiki a dirty look, hoping that he’d back off, but seeing as how he slid him onto my case, this was inevitable.


    “Assault,” Daiki’s voice oozed scepticism. “Seems to me that YOU put yourself in this situation. YOU rejected Takana’s advances and instead of dealing with the issue like an adult, YOU ran.” He looked over to me, smirked at whatever he saw on my face (horrified anger, probably), and then looked back at Honda. “Is it safe to say that this is an open and shut case? You are at fault here and therefore should be held accountable.”


    “What?” I could see Honda’s pupils dilating. Her nostrils flared, hands shook as she glared at Daiki. “Who the fuck do you people think you are? You just waltz in here and say that you’re here about my case. What are you? Lawyers? Tabloid writers? Insurance investigators?” Her voice quivered. “I should report you to the police!”


    Daiki, ever the calm one, leaned back in his chair, the cheap plastic flexing to support his weight. “Ms. Honda. Trust me. Nobody is ever going to believe you. To everyone but us, you''re just a mid-thirties divorcee claiming assault and harassment by the CEO''s son. Sure, your injuries are enough to open a case, but there''s no evidence of who attacked you. And as for Tanaka, nepotism runs deep. He''ll get away with it. You''ll be lucky to keep your job.”


    He leaned forward, his eyes glinting with a cold, calculating light. “We can''t do much about Tanaka. You''ll have to deal with that. But my partner and I believe there''s more to the assault. Something unnatural happened, and we''re the only ones equipped to handle it.”


    Sensing that this scenario was spiralling too far out of my control, I stepped in. “Ms Honda. What my partner is trying to say is, what happened to you is the kind of inexplicable incident that neither the police nor lawyers can help with.” I took her hand and put on my most sympathetic expression. “I promise you that if you help us, we’ll help you back.”


    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hinami standing at the doorway. Noticing the frown on the doctor’s face, Daiki stood up and gently ushered her outside, moving like a guilty puppy that’s been told off by his owner, leaving me and Honda in blissful solitude.


    “What happened?”


    “I was taking this alleyway, past the Fire Squid Restaurant and onto Hanafuda Lane. The whole street was dark so I turned on my phone’s flashlight and kept going. I think I missed a turn because the road stretched on and on,” Ms. Honda paused to take a big gulp of water. “I saw a vending machine and I was buying myself a can of black coffee when this guy walked up to me. I don’t know where he came from, but he just appeared from down the street.” Her grip on my hand tightened. “The guy looked at me. He had no face. I’m not sure if it was the darkness but I couldn’t see his face. Like this void that wanted to suck me in.”


    “Similar to that urge to jump you get when you look down a cliff?”


    “Something like that. He then spoke to me.”


    “It… Spoke to you?”


    “Yes, but I couldn’t see his mouth… He wasn''t a ghost right? Was I attacked by a ghost? They aren’t real are they? I said some bad things at my father’s funeral, he didn’t come back for revenge did he?” Honda reached for her now nearly empty glass of water, but lost her grip. It shattered against the textured faux-marble tile, making her jump.


    “Ms. Honda, I can assure you that ghosts aren’t real. What did he say?”


    “The guy asked me if I knew the way to the nearest graveyard. I told him to scram, but he hit me square on the face. Even though I was on the ground, I tried to get him with my pepper spray and he just took it. Like he felt no pain. Even when I tried to run, he was unnaturally quick. It’s like he teleported. At some point he grabbed me by my ankle and I hit the ground. That’s all I remember. I woke up here, and you two arrived shortly after.”


    Before I could press the patient for more questions, Hinami was standing at the doorway. She eyed the broken glass all over the floor. “It’s time for you to leave,” she said, her gaze cold, piercing my soul.


    Not wanting to cause a scene, I decided to comply. Standing up, I looked over to Honda who was still holding my hand as tightly as her body would allow. In truth it wasn’t painful at all. She had very weak grip strength.


    “Don’t worry. We’ll get to the bottom of this. Your suffering will not be in vain,” I said as I freed my hand from her grasp.


    Walking outside, I found Daiki leaning against a wall, arms folded and looking into the distance as if he were in deep thought.


    “I told you that I’m not doing Good Keeper, Bad Keeper. I had things under control. You just wanted to be done and not be late for lunch.”


    “Fine, fine. You can come with.”


    “My evening lectures are more important than third wheeling your lunch dates.”


    “What’re you learning today?”


    “Shallow building foundations.”


    “Send me the slides, I’ll give a better explanation that your professors”


    I frowned at Daiki, “Sometimes I forget that you’re an engineer.”


    “And yet I am.”