Chapter Text
Teru stood at the school gate, peering up and down the street. A car went past and kicked up a whirl of dried leaves. The colors danced around, fluttering up onto the sidewalk, and Teru was amused when one of them caught itself on his shoelace.
“Bye, Teru!”
Teru waved at Inukawa with his cell phone still in his hand, flashing him a grin. “See you!”
“Have fun with whatever the heck you’re doing with your dad! Tell us about it tomorrow!” Inukawa called, backing away down the sidewalk. He gave Teru a salute and spun, chasing after Saruta.
“Okay!”
Teru laughed. His friends disappeared around the corner and Teru leaned back against the stone wall surrounding the school. He flipped his phone open again and reread the message that had come in just after lunch.
Reigen
Big case today!! 💰💰💰💰 Fancy!
I’ll pick you up. Have to be there by 5
Teru had no clue what was up but Reigen was excited and the feeling was contagious. He fidgeted with the collar of his uniform, itching to go already. Ugh. One more year of dumb high collars and then he and Shigeo could pick a high school that had jackets instead of gakurans.
Another car came up the road and Teru hurried to the edge of the sidewalk when he recognized it. Reigen pulled up to the curb and Teru didn’t waste a second. He swung himself into the front seat and slammed the door shut, shoving his backpack down between his feet.
“How was your day?” Reigen drawled.
“Who cares! Big fancy case? What’s going on?” Teru buckled up, looking to his dad expectantly.
Reigen let out a giddy sound and flipped his hand out, flourishing an envelope in front of Teru’s face.
“Take a look for yourself, kiddo.”
Teru grabbed it and turned it over. Holy crap, this was high-quality paper. Elegant scripting swirled over the front of the envelope. Handwritten. Not printed.
“Is there a seal on this? Who sent you mail? An emperor?”
Reigen snorted and Teru looked closer.
“Asagiri Holdings? Isn’t that... That's one of the biggest companies in Japan, right?” Teru pulled out the letter inside, skimming over the contents. “This is just an invitation. Or it’s a request? I don’t understand. What’s the job?”
Reigen shrugged, slowing the car for a light.
“Who the hell knows? But it’s gotta be huge. I almost thought it was fake for a minute, I mean who does that? But I went online to check that the return address was really the CEO and found a forum that had at least a dozen local psychics with the same question. We’re not the only one whose presence has been requested.”
Teru puzzled over that, unbuttoning his uniform. He switched it out for the sweater he had in his bag, humming in relief at the softer material.
“Is it even a job? If there’s a lot of other psychics going, what if it’s like a preliminary interview or a test or something?”
“Well, if they’re evaluating psychics there’s probably a reason for it. We’ll have to show them what Team Spirits and Such can do.”
Teru chuckled, settling back against the seat and shielding his face from the sun glinting off the windshield.
“We’re not even half the team, Reigen.”
“Okay, well. We’re the original team,” Reigen said with an obnoxious wink.
Teru leveled him with a look.
Reigen ignored him until he couldn’t.
“Serizawa was intimidated by the extravagant envelope, and Mob scolds me when I try to get him to ditch club, and Tome lacks the uh… The uh. The… elegance that this might require.” Reigen winced.
Teru burst out laughing, whacking his elbow on the car door.
“Oh, we’re elegant now? Wow, that’s news to me.”
Reigen shoved at him, sputtering. “Shut your mouth, you’re a good actor and you know it. Can you imagine Mob getting offered some fancy drink while he waits? He’d get all sweaty and ask if they had milk. And Tome would just chug it and ask for three more. I’m being strategic!”
“I’m telling her you said that.”
“Do. Not.”
They pulled into a parking lot and Teru looked around, confused.
“Why are we home? I thought we had to go right there?”
Reigen hopped out of the car. Teru followed, dragging his backpack along with him. He bent and picked the hitchhiking leaf off his shoe, tossing it away.
“Didn’t you read? They’re reimbursing a standard taxi trip from Seasoning and back. We’re taking the train,” Reigen said with a wicked smirk. “Go throw your school stuff upstairs and put on something nicer. Hurry up, it’s almost four.”
“I don’t really have dress clothes, Reigen.”
Reigen made a face. “Fine. A sweater with three colors or less and pants that aren’t jeans. We’ll have to get you something nice for events like this sometime. Go. Scoot.”
Teru zipped up the stairs and changed as quickly as he could. Okay, he had maybe one or two plainer sweaters. Khakis. Not sneakers. That was going to have to be enough. He flew back down the steps and met Reigen in front of the building, holding his arms out for judgment.
“Ooh. Going somewhere nice, Teru-chan?”
Teru and Reigen looked up to see Ekubo hovering over them, wiggling his eyebrows.
“We are,” Reigen said, waving for Teru to head out.
“Great. I need a change in pace. Someplace classy would be an improvement,” Ekubo grumbled, floating down to Teru’s level. “I don’t know how much more abuse I can take. Shigeo told me to bug off because I was stressing out his precious baby brother.”
“I told you not to be at their house before the school festival. Ritsu’s busy.”
Ekubo bobbed into Teru’s line of sight, arms waving around in agitation.
“The festival isn’t until November. That kid needs to learn to relax. He’s asking for an ulcer! And it’s not like I was heckling him or anything. I asked how it was going and he slapped me across the room!”
Teru smothered a laugh, but Reigen didn’t bother with that courtesy.
“If you’re coming with us you’re going to have to be useful. We’re working. You want to do some spying for us? We’ve got competition,” Reigen said, checking his watch and speeding up.
Teru lengthened his strides to match. They could see the station now, but they were still cutting it close.
“What am I, your errand boy? You don’t pay me, asshole. I don’t have to do shit for you.”
“If Teru exorcises a spirit he can leave a little left over for you. How’s that? As a treat,” Reigen offered, waving a hand through the air.
“You know sometimes I wish you still couldn’t see me…” Ekubo gave Reigen a look of disgust.
He didn’t leave though. Ekubo perched on Teru’s head and rode with them the whole way out into the countryside, only making a few rude comments about the surrounding passengers. He seemed content just to be with them, listening to Teru and Reigen spitball what the situation was.
Ekubo only spoke up when they crested the stairs.
“Damn, this bastard really needs that whole house just for him?”
Teru blinked, stunned at the mansion that sat atop the hill. He’d seen pictures of huge homes before but seeing one in person was an entirely different matter. Nicer clothes or no, he suddenly felt very underdressed.
“Holy shit,” Reigen muttered, and it sounded almost reverent. When Teru looked up at him he swore there were little yen signs dancing in his eyes.
There was a steady stream of taxis coming up the driveway from the back side of the hill. Each one paused only for a moment in front of massive front doors, someone getting out and hurrying inside.
Reigen clapped Teru on the back, skipping ahead with a wild grin.
“Come on, kiddo! Fashionably late is only good if you can make a cool entrance.”
Teru darted after him, their shoes clapping on the pavement and ringing through the courtyard. They slipped between two cabs and up the stairs, Ekubo on their heels. Reigen came to a stop and gave Teru a once over, straightening his tie.
“How am I looking? Good? Good. Your hair is everywhere. No, leave it. You’re roguishly windswept. Almost as handsome as me.” Reigen patted Teru’s cheek and puffed up, his eyes still sparkling. “Alright, Ekubo. Shut yourself off or whatever. Can’t have anyone inside exorcising you for the fun of it.”
Ekubo flipped him off and blinked out of sight.
The doors swung in at Reigen’s touch. Inside was a vast room with multiple doorways branching off of it. Teru’s brow furrowed. It was astonishingly empty. Almost. There was one woman standing in the middle of the foyer with a clipboard.
She looked up when they entered, a polite smile gracing her features. Crisp skirt. Not a hair out of place.
“Invitation?”
Reigen patted down his pockets, and with a little “Aha!”, he handed over their letter.
Teru stood beside him and did him best to look fancy and disinterested, hands clasped behind his back. He could practically hear Ekubo rolling his eyes.
“Ah, here we are. Spirits and Such. Reigen Arataka… and guest?” The woman gestured to Teru with her pen, raising an eyebrow at Reigen.
“My student. He’s a wonderfully capable up-and-coming psychic.”
Teru nodded, but the attendant wasn’t looking. She flipped through the stack of papers on her clipboard and handed it and the pen to Reigen.
“Everyone who enters needs to sign.”
Reigen took the clipboard, his eyes flicking over the form at the speed of light. His mouth opened, but no words came out. Only an impressed whistle.
“Reigen?” Teru inched closer, trying to catch a peek at the paper.
“Nondisclosure agreement. Nice. I mean-” Reigen caught himself. “Perfectly understandable for someone of Mr. Asagiri’s status to require. Of course, of course.”
Reigen signed. Teru reached for the pen and got his hand flicked.
“Uh-uh. You’re a minor. No legal forms for you. Right?” Reigen checked with the assistant.
She took the clipboard back, peering over their shoulders when the door opened behind them and announced the arrival of another psychic. It threw a slice of light over the back wall and highlighted the high ceiling.
“Yes. This should be fine. If you take the door on the far left you’ll find a set of stairs. Take them down and through the next set of doors. Mr. Asagiri will be with you shortly.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you,” Teru echoed.
Teru waited until they were out of earshot to speak up again.
“Nondisclosure agreement? What’s that all about?”
Reigen was almost vibrating. “Something big is up. Maybe there’s a spirit haunting the company’s R&D department or their bank vault or, I don’t know, something else that’s got sensitive material in it. Whatever we see, we’re not allowed to share. They can’t make you sign, but it’s implied that you’ll do your best not to let anything slip, alright?”
“Yeah.”
Cool. Very cool. Teru’s stomach fluttered with excitement.
His enthusiasm waned as they began to descend the stairs. The foyer had seemed dim and Teru had assumed it was just his eyes needing to adjust. It was awfully bright out. But the longer they went on, the less likely that seemed to be the case. It wasn’t that his eyes weren’t adjusting. The stairwell was hardly lit. It went on for longer than Teru felt was reasonable, the bottom barely visible.
This was weird.
“How deep are we going?” he asked as if Reigen would somehow have the answer.
“Not sure. What the heck, are we going to the basement? Or maybe it cuts right through the mansion and we’re going to end up on the other side of the hill? I bet the view over there is priceless. This might just be the fastest way. But hell, they can afford more electricity than this.”
They continued on their way and Teru’s fingers curled into the cuffs of his sweater.
Not the other side of the hill, he thought uncomfortably when a chill wafted around his ankles. Basement. Cellar. Something. He picked at a pill on the inside of his sleeve, refusing to indulge the growing urge to twist the fabric.
The doors were heavy at the bottom, huge and solid wood. Reigen let out a loud whoosh of breath when he heaved them open. Eager to get out of the stairway, Teru surged forward.
And he stopped.
Whatever they’d been guessing on the way over here, this was something else entirely. The sprawling room was teeming with people. The notion of being underdressed promptly flew out the window. Of which there were none, Teru noted. No windows. No other doors. A basement. The other psychics were a mixed bag of strange, stranger, and stunningly bizarre. They mingled and chatted as if this were the world’s oddest cocktail party, and yet Teru saw no drinks. No snacks or fancy tables with fancier tablecloths.
Just tall pillars and lights on the walls that did little to chase away the shadows descending upon them from the ceiling.
“Uh… Okay. Interesting crowd. Almost feel bad about making you change,” Reigen said. He gestured out at the mob. “This is way more people than I was expecting. There were only a dozen on the forum, but there must be over fifty people here. What the hell could someone need this many psychics for?”
Teru didn’t know and he didn’t particularly like it.
“Maybe… Maybe it’s something really absurd, like that lady last week.” Teru tried not to let his thoughts go in a bad direction. This wasn’t a kidnapping scheme. There were no kids here, just him. This wasn’t some Claw stragglers convention. “Maybe it’s someone else who thinks that we can get rid of all spirits instead of just all urban legends.”
Reigen snorted at that, knocking his arm into Teru’s. Teru stuck close even after the contact was lost.
“Yeah, that was a pretty unreasonable ask. Psychics aren’t miracle workers. I can’t exactly stop people from spreading rumors and making more urban legends, but speaking of… Isn’t that the guy that yelled at us?”
Teru looked to where Reigen was pointing, and sure enough, there was a familiar face making his way toward them. He greeted them with a short wave.
“Yo!”
“Hey, Shinrin Marou, was it? Fancy meeting you here!” Reigen threw the man a cheesy grin and Teru schooled his face so he wouldn’t wince or laugh or something else vaguely impolite.
“It’s Shinra Banshomaru!”
“Ah, yes. Shinra! A pleasure to see you again.”
“Nice to see you.” Teru said it like it was an apology.
Shinra dragged a hand down his face and looked like he regretted coming over already.
“I suppose you’re just like that, aren’t you?” he mumbled, toying with the oversized prayer beads around his neck. He let them go. “Well! I did want to say sorry for the other day. I came off pretty harsh. The Rising Sun Association head has been tough on territory lines lately and I haven’t been seeing as much business. You know how it is.”
“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. I’ve never heard of any Sun Psychics. What’s the point of being in a group if it loses you money? You should freelance. Like me,” Reigen said, twirling a hand around before pointing a thumb at himself.
He struck a pose and Shinra stared.
“What? Does no one in Cuticle City freelance?”
Teru tuned the adults out when it became clear that Shinra wasn’t going to be able to clue them in to what was happening. He’d received the same cryptic summons that they had. Teru stuck close to his dad and peered around, hunting for hints. There was nothing. Just the one set of doors they’d come through. It was impossible to sense anything unusual through the haze of mingling auras in the room.
“Ekubo?” Teru whispered.
A barely audible hum sounded by his ear, accompanied by a slight chill.
“This is weird, right?”
“If by ‘this’, you mean the getups these lunatics are wearing, then yeah.”
Teru side-eyed the cold spot, less than amused.
“Yeesh, you taking lessons from Ritsu, Teru-chan? Lighten up.” Ekubo paused, and Teru got the feeling he was doing something important. He tried to be patient. “I can’t sense any other spirits here, if that’s what you’re asking. Not sure what Mr. Money Coming Out His Ass wants with this collection of nutjobs. Especially that one. What the fuck is his problem?”
It wasn’t hard to pick out who Ekubo meant by that. Towards the center of the crowd was a strange clearing, one very short, very ugly old man in the middle of the hollow. He gazed in their direction like some kind of plucked owl, with huge eyes and sagging jowls.
Whispers rippled out around him in waves.
A swell of defensiveness rose in Teru’s chest and he squinted. Was he staring at Reigen, or…
“Shinra!”
Apparently not.
Both Shinra and Reigen jumped, the wrinkly psychic’s voice booming throughout the space.
“And just who is this that you’re-“
“The client is here!”
“It’s Mr. Asagiri! Look sharp!”
The crowd straightened at the appearance of a mustached man and his two bodyguards. Even the wrinkly psychic turned to face the front, visibly irritated at having been interrupted.
Their client cleared his throat.
“Good evening to all of you. I cannot thank you enough for coming.” Mr. Asagiri spread his arms wide and Teru had to push to his toes to see him through the crowd. “I have summoned only those that are rumored to be the best of the best of the region’s psychics.”
Reigen made a face and Teru pressed his lips together, ignoring Ekubo’s snort.
Mr. Asagiri’s forehead was glistening with nervous sweat, and it made the uncomfortable knot in Teru’s chest unravel slightly. Their client was here. It was who they expected it to be and he appeared genuine enough. Maybe this was an honest job after all. Teru still thought it was strange that he’d asked so many to come, but some people were overly cautious.
“I know you all signed a nondisclosure agreement when you arrived, but I implore you again. Do not speak a word of this outside this room.”
There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd and Mr. Asagiri nodded, pulling a small device from his pocket. He pushed a button and the wall behind him lit up, an unsteady film being projected across its surface. A home movie?
“My daughter, Minori. She’s fourteen. This is her birthday video from a few months ago. She’s not… There was nothing wrong with her then, but now…”
Teru frowned, watching the girl in the video as she pointed and laughed at one of the bodyguards. As she dropped an expensive-looking cake onto the floor with a disinterested scowl. As she swiped a pile of presents off a table. She looked like a nightmare, but she was a kid. Whatever was happening, she wasn’t any older than he was. Teru bit his lip. What happened to her? Was she missing?
Reigen’s hand rubbed lightly between his shoulder blades, a reassurance for them both.
“A few weeks ago Minori began to change. It was slow at first. I wasn’t sure- But there’s no mistaking it now. It’s not her. There is a demon inside my daughter, and I ask you to rid her of it!”
Silence rang through the room.
A possession case? Teru had never seen a legitimate possession. Not like this. Ekubo didn’t count. They’d never had a client who needed more than a sprinkle of salt and a flashy massage from Reigen to satisfy their worries. Right? Teru glanced up at his dad, the question dying in his throat.
Reigen’s eyes were fixed on the images dancing over the walls, the light of it casting odd shadows over his face. He didn’t look down to Teru.
“I don’t care about the size of the reward if one of you is able to get that thing out of her. I’ve done everything I can imagine and nothing has worked. I’m begging you. Please help her!”
The video shut off and plunged them back into the dark. With a dull grinding sound, the wall behind Mr. Asagiri began to lift. A slice of near blinding light spilled out over them from beyond and Teru blinked hard against it.
His heartbeat sped up under his ribs. What the hell? He squinted into the glare and his stomach dropped to his toes when he understood what was on the other side of the thick glass.
Reigen’s hand froze on his back, a sharp intake of breath sounding between his lips.
Yeah, what the actual fuck.
Minori was being restrained. Was shackled to a bed in the middle of a brightly lit room filled with oversized stuffed bears.
“I know it looks extreme, but she was unmanageable! Please understand. I only want to help her!” Mr. Asagiri said in his defense when the entire room looked to him, disturbed.
Teru swallowed. He wanted to look at Mr. Asagiri. Wanted to see with his own eyes if he was lying, but he couldn’t look away from a dark patch on the ceiling. Was that what he thought it was?
“Is that blood?” someone asked in dismay.
Out of the corner of his eye, Teru could see Mr. Asagiri waving his hands frantically.
“I didn’t think that it was the work of spirits at first! I thought she was simply struggling with puberty. I brought in all manner of counselors and psychologists to help her but she… She hurt them badly.”
“Do you feel anything?” Reigen asked, his voice low. His hand migrated to Teru’s shoulder and Teru snuck closer.
He shook his head. “I don’t, but it’s hard to pick out anything specific with so many psychics so close. Reigen, if she was violent enough to do what he said, how were they able to tie her down?”
Reigen grimaced.
“I don’t know, buddy. Ekubo got any insights for us?”
“No.”
Minori shuffled around on the bed, and Teru wanted to back away when she turned and looked right out at them. Possessed or not, it was unnerving. It made the back of his neck prickle. He couldn’t sense anything, but instead of comforting him, it made him even more wary.
Mr. Asagiri addressed the group when a swell of uncomfortable mutterings broke out. “I assure you she cannot see or hear us. Please, someone bring my daughter back to me.”
One of the psychics spoke up, coming forward. “I see stuff like this all the time, I’ll do it.”
“Why do you get to go first? I’ve exorcised plenty of spirits!”
“Now just wait here a moment!”
The crowd stumbled toward the client as one, all clamoring for his attention. Reigen and Teru stayed where they were. Someone clipped Reigen’s arm and jostled them, but Reigen paid it no notice. He looked like he was thinking hard.
“Now, now- There has to be some way to determine an order,” Mr. Asagiri cried over the noise. “I know! How about Rock, Paper, Scissors?”
The frenzied mob stilled and Teru didn’t blame them.
Was this guy serious?
Reigen grinned widely at that though. He let out a short laugh and patted Teru’s shoulder.
“You good with me going first?” he asked.
Teru wrung his hands, looking away from the bloodstain and meeting his dad’s eye. Reigen knew what he was doing. Teru was right here if something went wrong.
“Yeah, just- I don’t like this.” Didn’t like that Reigen was going to be in there without him. If Minori was actually possessed and attacked him Teru could break through the glass, but would he be fast enough?
“I’ll be careful. Promise.” He shot Teru a beaming grin and spun, calling out. “I’m going to throw scissors!”
Teru watched in awe as Reigen single-handedly destroyed sixty-four psychics in a battle of mental manipulation. His own ranking of seventeenth didn’t matter, because all too soon Reigen was striding forward. Teru hurried after him, reluctantly stopping at the front of the room and allowing Reigen to continue on his own.
The door clicked shut and Teru’s heart caught in his throat. Every one of his muscles was tense as Reigen gingerly settled himself at Minori’s bedside. As they started to talk.
This was fine. She was smiling. She was fine…
“My daddy’s been acting weird lately…”
“Don’t listen to what my father tells you…”
She wasn’t fine.
Teru took a half step closer at the slip. His hands clenched into fists, ready to step in, but nothing happened. Reigen didn’t stop talking and Minori continued her act.
Teru’s breath came faster while the rest of the room seemed to relax. What was wrong with them? Were they actually letting that thing trick them? The cold spot that was Ekubo shifted closer, humming with energy. This wasn’t good. Reigen needed to get out of there. Come on. Come on, Reigen… Leave.
Teru leaned in when the thing wearing Minori’s skin held up the heavy shackles, watery eyes pleading.
“Why is this happening to me? Can you take these off? Please, Mr. Psychic, they hurt…”
And that was the final nail in the coffin.
“I’ll talk to your father about it,” Reigen said. The smile he gifted her was all Teru needed to see.
His dad stood from the bed and walked away, but Teru’s eyes stayed trained on Minori. Watched her like a hawk in case the spirit decided to make a move when Reigen’s back was turned.
It didn’t. Reigen came out from the side door a moment later.
Teru paid no mind to the skeptical muttering around him. Ignored the accusations starting to fly in Mr. Asagiri’s direction. Reigen looked perfectly calm, but he came straight to Teru and let Teru lean into him for a moment. He could hear Reigen’s heart beating fast beneath his suit.
“I’m sure she’s perfectly normal,” a man with face paint said as he slipped past them. “I’ll prove it to you.”
He went in and a second hush fell over the room.
“Reigen?” Teru asked, unsure of what their next move was.
“Mm, that one might be all yours, kiddo. Granted that the next fifteen psychics can’t exorcise her.”
Teru grimaced around at the others. “I don’t think any of them have a clue she’s possessed. But I’ve never exorcised a spirit that’s actively possessing someone. What if I hurt her?”
“Probably won’t, Teru-chan. Not unless you’re trying to.” Ekubo’s voice was loud in his ear, closer than Teru had expected. He turned and Ekubo was inches from his face. “Not that different exorcising a spirit in or out of a body. So long as you’re not aiming to knock her head off, you should be fine.”
“Why’re you visible?” Teru hissed, eyes darting around to the multitude of psychics surrounding them.
“Eh, no one gives a shit about me right now. They’re all pissed at Mr. I Only Hit My Kid Sometimes over there.”
It was true. The throngs had gathered around Mr. Asagiri, a mess of angry auras buzzing in the air.
“Oi, is this seriously how you treat your clients? Get a grip,” Reigen spoke up. “Anyone who believed a word that thing said should leave. It’s only going to make a fool out of you. That’s a nasty spirit in there.”
The mass of psychics pivoted.
“You just want the reward money for yourself!”
“Let someone else give it a shot!”
“She didn’t hurt you, Reigen. What basis do you have for thinking she’s possessed?” Shinra asked, arms crossed.
“Were you listening at all? It didn’t feel like I was talking to a child. I would know. I have one the same age.” Reigen put his hands on his hips, sighing. “She was inconsistent with how she addressed her father. Called me a psychic when she should have had no way of hearing our conversation-“
Teru’s skin crawled.
He yanked Reigen behind him just in time for the wall to explode outward. Shards of glass ricocheted off his feverishly formed shield and shot across the room. Followed by a body. Screams of surprise rang out around them. Echoed off the walls. Shouts of concern. Of pain.
Teru couldn’t look to see if the others were okay. He couldn’t. Not when Minori was rising from the bed, chains clinking. There was laughter spilling from her lips, but it was deep.
Deranged.
“Holy shit, didn’t waste any time, did it?” Reigen muttered.
“How’s that for a surprise? Found out by the only psychic in the room without any actual powers…” The creature wearing Minori’s face leered down at them.
At Reigen.
Teru put a hand to Reigen’s chest and pressed him back, heart pounding in his ears. The aura roiling around Minori was overwhelming. Sickening. Blood red and venomous, it tasted like spite. Like Koyama or Shimazaki, but somehow a hundred times worse. It was inhuman.
Ekubo squeaked, curling into the crook of Teru’s neck. Teru could feel him shaking and that did nothing to calm the shivers that threatened to creep up his own spine.
“Minori!” Mr. Asagiri tripped forward, washed pale in the light streaming out over the crowd. “Please, let my daughter go! Somebody do something! Somebody help her!”
No one answered.
“Teru…”
Teru shook his head. He knew that Minori was a kid. That Mr. Asagiri’s heartfelt begging was probably hard for Reigen to hear. That when Teru had been in danger Reigen had done everything he could to save him. To bring him home. If Minori was still in there, she was probably terrified.
But…
But that spirit inside Minori still had Reigen in its sights, and protecting his dad came first.
Minori’s cheeks curled in a predatory smile. Her arms raised and the cuffs around her wrists snapped off with two resounding cracks. Teru froze. Pinned by that gaze. Any sudden movement could trigger the first attack.
“Call it off. Call off the exorcism, Reigen. We need to get out of here while we still can. There’s nothing any of you can do here!” Ekubo was frantic, tiny hands tugging at the collar of Teru’s sweater.
“Possessing this girl worked even better than I expected. So many psychics just lining up for punishment. You think you can get rid of me? I can’t wait to see you all fail,” the spirit taunted.
One psychic launched to his feet at that, waving a heavily decorated fan in the possessed girl’s direction.
“I’ve defeated spirits more powerful than you!”
“Oh? Show me, then.” Minori stepped out from the frame of shattered glass and landed before them. Her shadow cut a slice through the crowd. Too long. Too dark. “Give me your best shot.”
The psychic charged.
There was a sickening crunch and the man was on the floor clutching at his face.
Teru watched another run forward. A third. They never touched her. They were writhing. This was bad. Bad and getting worse. Teru needed to get Reigen out of here. He lowered his hand as slowly as he dared, fingers trembling. Ran it down Reigen’s sleeve until he found his dad’s wrist.
Minori wasn’t looking at them anymore, too focused on the growing circle of psychics at her feet.
Teru gripped tight, counted to three, and made a break for it. He tugged Reigen along, pushing through the mob toward the back of the room. Reigen tried to dig his heels in and Teru pivoted, ducking them into the shadow of a pillar.
“What’s up with you two?” Reigen asked in a rush, concern dripping from the words. “You’re not usually so skittish. Teru, you’ve exorcized some gnarly spirits before, what’s the matter?”
A screech rent the air in two behind them and Teru twitched, hands sweating. He looked to Reigen and wondered where to even start.
This was one of those times where Reigen not being a psychic was really problematic. How much of that thing’s aura could he feel? Just the cold it emanated? A general malicious energy? Could he not see how wrong it was?
“Reigen, I’ve never seen anything like that. I don’t- I don’t want you here with it. It was looking at you. You called it out. You can’t- You’re not going to be able to talk this one down.” He stared into Reigen’s eyes and willed him to understand the gravity of the situation. “Reigen, I want to leave.”
There was shock on Reigen’s face. A round-eyed, blinking surprise at the request. A leftover option from when he was much smaller that had never been taken off the table.
One Teru had never asked for.
“Teru-chan’s right. We should sneak out if we can,” Ekubo said, peeking out from behind the pillar. More glass flew by and he dipped back. “No one can win against that monster. Not even me when I was at my strongest.”
Reigen frowned. “You know it?”
“You might too. I know I’ve heard you mention him before. Remember Mogami Keiji?”
The name sounded familiar. Wasn’t that… Wasn’t that some old famous guy that Reigen had watched on TV when he was a kid?
“Mogami? What are you talking about?” Reigen asked, his hands zipping around. One landed in his hair and raked it back.
Ekubo shuddered, hovering closer to them and lowering his voice. Teru almost couldn’t hear him over the sounds of chaos reigning beyond the pillar.
“Forty years ago, at least! TV star and psychic, Mogami Keiji. But that’s not all he was. Us spirits knew all about him. He was sidelining as an exorcist for hire, but that bastard would take any job. Even if he was ordered to exorcise humans, if you get what I mean. Fucked his head up real bad.”
Teru’s stomach turned cold. His hands curled into the belly of his sweater.
“How the heck did you know about that? Did you meet him?” Reigen looked disturbed.
“He came to exorcise me. Someone must have been pissed about my latest, uh, peaceful religious group gatherings. Ordered Mogami to take me out. I lost my entire squad to him that night. He almost got me too. The guy had completely lost it! Tried to eat me! Said he wanted to become the most powerful evil spirit in the world and show everyone what a real grudge looked like. I mean, I don’t really get it, but he figured out how to absorb spirit molecules and everything.”
“And that’s him?” Reigen asked, his words hardly more than a breath.
“In the flesh. It looks like he freaking did it.”
The most powerful evil spirit on the planet.
They definitely needed to leave. This was beyond Teru. He was strong, but he wasn’t Shigeo.
“But the Asagiris…” A bead of sweat rolled down Reigen’s temple. “She’s just a kid.”
His eyes darted to Teru and he swore. Reigen looked away and rubbed a hand over his face, and Teru knew there was a war raging in his dad’s head. A battle between leaving a child in danger and putting his own child in danger.
Maybe that was a curse that came with being an adult. Or a dad. In Teru’s head, it was Reigen or Minori, and it was an easy choice.
“Reigen,” Teru pressed, stepping closer. “Come on.”
Reigen glanced back at Teru and caved. He didn’t look happy about it, but Reigen took Teru’s hand and started for the door.
Except so did everyone else. The stampede of remaining psychics fought amongst themselves, each claiming the right to leave first.
The doors didn’t open.
“Why are they stuck?!”
“We can’t get out!”
There was a faint red glow along the doorframe and Teru was sure his heart stopped beating for a moment. Reigen’s hand clenched around his. They… They were trapped? Would Teru be able to blow a hole in the wall, or did Mogami have them sealed in from all sides? Teru watched them claw at the door with dread curling in his chest. Soft footsteps tapped across the floor. A slow, sadistic approach.
“I’m getting bored. Are you really all this weak? If this is the extent of the power you have, you’re better off pretending to be normal than to be telling the world you can be of use as a psychic.”
The psychics cowered against the wall, feeble defenses and chants rising up against Mogami. They did nothing.
“Don’t come any closer!”
Shinra threw himself to the front, his prayer beads flying through the air and winding themselves around Minori’s body. For a second they seemed to work. Seemed to immobilize him.
And then they didn’t.
Beads were flung in all directions when Mogami broke through, and Teru let go of Reigen’s hand. Reigen was highest priority. He was, but that didn’t mean Teru wanted to watch someone he sort of knew get murdered right in front of him.
Vibrant yellow surrounded Shinra just in time. Wrenched him out of the way of the fingers that had been going for his face.
Teru’s heart jackhammered under his ribs as Mogami turned to face him.
“Oh? Someone feeling heroic? Why bother saving this miserable excuse for a psychic? What’s he done for you?”
Shinra looked between them, sweat stains all around his collar and pits.
Teru didn’t answer. There was no point. He didn’t care what Mogami wanted. It only mattered that they were trapped in this basement with a demon. Trapped meant there was no avoiding this.
Trapped meant fighting his way out of here. He didn’t want to, but what choice did he have? Would he only have one chance at this?
Mogami started toward him and Teru struck.
The energy swelled for one long moment, and then it burst and Teru lost sight of what happened. There was smoke like a bomb had gone off. Cries of shock from all around. Reigen called his name but Teru didn’t answer, eyes wide and hunting for a sign of success or failure.
What answered him was a cackle.
Minori stood in the center of a scorch mark, cracked tile spread out around her feet like lightning bolts. There was a light in her eyes that wasn’t there before, but it wasn’t her soul returning to her body.
“Now that’s more like it. Care to take another shot, kid? You seem more fun than the rest.”
Teru hesitated one second too long. He didn’t even see what hit him. A fist? A foot? It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he coated himself in a thin layer of his aura so that he didn’t end up sliced to ribbons from the shattered glass he skidded through.
“Teru-chan!”
Teru scrambled his feet. His stomach cramped and he was short of breath, but he was okay.
He was okay until he saw that Reigen was striding towards Mogami. Reigen opened his mouth and Teru blanched.
“Reigen, don’t-“
“Hey! You don’t need to be beating up kids, you asshole. If I’m right, then you’re Mogami Keiji, and the Mogami I saw on TV never-“
The rest of Reigen’s words never made it out. Only a strangled croak. Mogami flew at him and pinned Reigen against the pillar.
Had him-
Had him by the throat-
“Oh? You know me? How interesting…”
Reigen choked, hands tugging at Minori's wrist.
Teru slammed into Minori and sent them both tumbling to the floor. He didn’t feel the impact. Didn’t feel Mogami thrashing against him. There was no fear now.
Only anger.
Teru avoided an elbow towards his face and rolled to his feet, four air whips blazing into existence at the tips of his fingers.
“Stay away from him!”
The whips came from all sides. Wrapped tight around Minori’s arms and legs and pulsed with energy.
Teru readied another swell. It wasn’t going to be enough and he knew it. Mogami was still smiling like this whole thing was nothing more than amusement to him. Teru’s fury boiled higher in his chest. Smothered any part of him that was still begging to turn around and hide.
The second attempt at exorcising Mogami was as fruitless as the first. It left Teru breathless and knocked chips of plaster from the ceiling, and yet Mogami remained.
“Why are you protecting that fraud?” Mogami ripped through Teru’s air whips like they were nothing. “That man’s even worse than the rest of them. They allow themselves to be used because it’s the only thing society tells them they can do. But him? He has the freedom to do anything he wants and he’s willingly choosing to play the part of a puppet. What kind of a disgusting life is that?”
“Why don’t you shut up?” Teru snapped.
“Did he bring you here? Why? To exorcise me? As a bodyguard?”
Teru positioned himself between Mogami and his dad, mind racing. What was he supposed to do?
“Teru! Shinra, let go of me!”
What could he do against the most powerful spirit on earth?
Teru wound up like he was going to launch a powerful attack and Mogami braced himself, nothing short of delighted. Teru pivoted at the last possible moment.
The blast of energy smashed into the far wall, cracks appearing in a flare of activated red. A hellish network of spiderwebs. Mogami was sealing them in.
Mogami hummed, looking at the damage.
“You know, as much as this girl has been perfect for what I needed her for, you’re making me a little nostalgic. Spirit energy feels different than psychic energy. I think I miss it.”
“I don’t give a shit what you think,” Teru rasped.
Mogami rocked with laughter, tilting his head back to stare at Teru. Minori’s hair fell into his eyes, wide and lit with a disturbing glee.
“Yeah. Change in plans, I think. This will be even better.”
Minori’s body dropped.
Teru had a tenth of a second to register what was about to happen. It wasn’t enough time. No time for a shield, only enough time for a dagger of terror to slice between his ribs-
No!
Mogami’s spirit pounded into him and Teru staggered, a strangled gasp ripping itself from his chest. There was no air. There was no breathing, he was drowning. Drowning, suffocating, the entire world was that heinous aura. It ripped at him, tore him open without mercy.
Teru was choking, unable to fight back against the tidal wave of hatred burning through his veins. Scalding itself into his bones. It was too much. Too much, he couldn’t push it away-
Everything stopped and Teru was left shuddering. Wheezing for breath that took its sweet time in coming. It was so quiet in the wake of the flood that his ears were ringing.
Teru opened his eyes to a world of black.
Reigen couldn’t move. He’d forgotten how.
Ekubo swore, but Reigen didn’t hear it. All he could hear was the horrible sound that had punched its way out of his child. It played on repeat in his head as Teru tripped back with a jolt. As he wavered in place, slowly getting his feet back underneath him.
Minori lay crumpled on the tile. Motionless. Reigen swallowed. His hands were shaking.
“Teru…?”
Teru’s back was heaving but he steadied, slowly straightening in a way that felt so absurdly wrong that Reigen’s stomach rolled.
“Teru?”
Teru’s head snapped to the side in an answer.
All wrong, this was all wrong. Teru’s face was never meant to look like that. Reigen didn’t even know how it was possible for Mogami to put such an expression on him, a twisted, too-wide smile and wicked pain lust glimmering in his eyes. He looked to Reigen with a manic grin, shadows making Teru’s blue eyes dark and murky.
And then Mogami laughed.
Reigen flinched at the sound, deep and grating and so not Teru that he wanted to scream.
“Now this is familiar,” Mogami said with Teru’s mouth, looking down at his hands and flexing them. “This kid’s brimming with psychic power. I never had this level of telekinesis, I’ll admit. Feels good. He could be doing anything he wants…” Mogami looked back up to Reigen with loathing painted all over Teru’s face. “And you’re using him.”
Reigen was pinned in place, disbelief making him numb. This couldn’t be happening. There was no way this was happening. It couldn’t be real. This was a nightmare. Teru was…
Teru was gone.
There was no hint of his kid in the body in front of him.
“We can’t let it possess anyone else!”
“Overwhelm him with numbers!”
Dozens of psychics suddenly raced past Reigen. They brandished their fists, their beads and staffs and powers. Pointed them at Mogami.
At Teru.
No, no, no, it wasn’t Teru. But it was. It was his body and it would be no good if they got Mogami out of him only for him to be hurt. Reigen couldn’t stand to see Teru hurt again.
“Stop,” he cried out, but the words were weak. Shaky with shock and strain.
They didn’t stop, and Reigen could only watch in horror while Mogami used Teru’s body to send the psychics sprawling. Crashing to the ground howling in pain. Blood splattered over Teru’s sweater and Reigen couldn’t feel his feet.
“Oh shit…” Ekubo was backing away.
Mogami sent someone flying into a pillar. Up into the air and down hard. Bowled one psychic through a group of others with a demonic screech of amusement. He smashed someone’s face into the floor and launched himself towards his next target, Teru’s hand curved like claws and reaching straight for the eyes.
He didn’t make it.
Mogami froze a few inches away from the terrified would-be victim, a blue-green glow humming in the air around him.
“Hm? Someone else has some decent telekinesis? How cute. You think that’s going to do anything?”
There was a cheer around the room and a small, bug-eyed man stomped his way forward, a hand outstretched and surrounded by the same aqua.
Jodo. Shinra had said his name was Jodo. The Psychic Sun leader person.
“I think it’s time you begone, foul creature,” Jodo announced, lifting both hands high.
“Do you?” Mogami crowed, eyes wild. “There’s more power in this kid’s pinky than you have in your whole body. Every one of you is pathetic! You couldn’t get me out of that girl, but I’d love to see you try to rip me out of this kid.”
Jodo raised his saggy chin.
“I have you trapped though, don’t I? You can’t move without hurting that boy. No spirit would risk endangering their vessel.”
Reigen felt faint at the way Mogami stretched Teru’s grin further.
“Oh really? I can feel this kid all the way down to his bones. Every healed fracture. He’s bounced back from everything so far. The beauty of youth. If you think I won’t push him past his limits, you’re a fool.”
There was a resounding snap and one of Teru’s fingers was crooked. Reigen’s vision went white.
“See? I can move.”
Reigen moved too, and then he was tackling Mogami to the ground, his own arms pinning Teru’s tight to his sides.
“Stop it! Get out of him! For god’s sake, don’t hurt him. Either of you!” Reigen’s voice was shrill, edging towards hysteria. His head was full of images he didn’t want. Finger braces and bruising skin, blood on Teru’s lip and stiches in the back of his hand. No more of that. He couldn’t handle that.
Teru felt familiar in his arms and Reigen’s heart felt like it would be crushed when Mogami was the one looking up at him.
And then it wasn’t.
Mogami twitched and let out a feral hiss, the haunting expression slipping for just a moment. Reigen swore the whole world stopped turning for that infinitesimally long second.
There was a flicker of lighter blue. A flicker of a desperate, furious terror, and then it was gone. Replaced with a look so incensed that Reigen regretted getting so close.
Mogami twisted violently against him, one of his arms getting free and pulling back-
Reigen’s heart stuttered. Oh fuck.
Reigen blinked and the room rotated around him. Reigen blinked, and the ceiling was below him and spinning fast. He blinked and he was dizzy, his feet slamming to the floor long before his head caught up to them. The sound of it was dull. Muted and distorted like he was far underwater. Someone was shouting. His ears couldn’t catch the words.
And then he was moving. Fists up and feet dancing, Reigen couldn’t understand what had happened. His vision was blurry. He wanted to get off this ride-
“You got a death wish, you idiot? Huh? What the hell do you think you’re going to do? Hug the evil out of him? You almost got impaled, asshole!”
Ekubo.
Ekubo was screaming at him. It was so loud. So close, it was like he was…
Reigen’s vision sorted itself out just in time to watch himself dodge a vicious punch.
Oh god, Ekubo was possessing him.
It was like riding backseat in his own head. He could still see and hear everything, still feel each step that they took, but it was out of his control. His senses were dampened. Muffled.
Mogami came at them relentlessly, Teru’s fists bathed in a brown-orange that made Reigen queasy even with his stomach feeling so far away. It was a disgusting mix of auras. Mogami’s demonic red poisoning Teru’s sunshine yellow.
Teru.
Teru was in there.
Ekubo knocked Mogami back and Reigen recoiled.
“Don’t hurt him, Ekubo! Teru’s there! I saw him!” Reigen wasn’t sure if he was talking or thinking, but the words reverberated around him either way.
Ekubo’s voice echoed back at him. “Yeah, I saw that, but I’m kind of busy trying to keep Mogami from murdering the shit out of you! Don’t you think it’d be better for Teru-chan to come back and have you not dismembered?”
“He was there… He was fighting…” Reigen anxiously tracked Mogami’s every move. It was difficult with Ekubo spinning him around so often. This wasn’t Kung Fu. Wasn’t any kind of martial art Reigen recognized. Some kind of flippy circus acrobatics Reigen had never seen before.
“The fact that he can do that much is freaking impressive. Teru-chan really isn’t a pushover,” Ekubo muttered. “Damn, look at that kid go.”
Mogami darted towards them and stumbled. Recovered and almost kicked Reigen in the stomach. He raised Teru’s hand and missed Reigen’s head by a millimeter, his arm jerking at the last possible moment. Ekubo grabbed his wrist and redirected him, nearly pinning him against the wall.
Mogami growled and yanked away, only able to do so because Ekubo didn’t want to dislocate Teru’s arm.
A whirl of muddy orange suddenly streaked highlighter yellow, and Mogami backed off, enraged.
“This kid’s pretty stubborn, I’ll give him that,” Mogami said with a glower. He shook Teru’s head like he was shaking away a persistent fly. “You should hear him. He’s got a hell of a mouth. I’d be impressed with the rage he’s got going on, but he’s starting to get in the way. Too bad I’m going to have to put him in his place, I wanted him to watch you die by his own hands."
Ekubo edged them forward, his own anxiety at that statement strengthening Reigen’s own.
“Hey, hey, let’s not do anything drastic,” Ekubo said, hands up.
“I’ll be back for you in a minute. Don’t run off now.”
Teru’s eyes rolled up into his head.
Teru’s throat hurt.
It burned from the forced possession, yes. But more than that, from the constant stream of screaming he’d done since Mogami opened his eyes and Teru was able to distantly see the room beyond. Heart pounding out of control, Teru spun. Everything had gone black again. What-
What was happening?
“You have a lot of potential. There’s so much anger in you, and for some reason you’re resisting me…”
Behind him.
Teru jerked away, eyes wide. The voice was slightly different, but there was no denying that it was Mogami standing there. He regarded Teru with vague interest, head tipped to the side.
“You get the hell out of me,” Teru snarled.
“What I don’t understand is why you’re letting yourself be used. You know that man is a liar, and yet you’re willingly helping him. Protecting him. Do you actually think he cares about you? You don’t seem the type to be so naïve.”
Teru wasn’t listening. He surged toward Mogami and struck out, energy rippling through the darkness.
It didn’t make contact, the yellow going right through Mogami as if he weren’t there. Teru lashed out again. Harder. Frustration seared through him when Mogami continued on, unphased.
“This world is cruel, and you know it. I can see you.”
A hand clamped around his wrist and Teru’s heart skipped a beat. He was moving before he even registered that Mogami wasn’t in front of him anymore.
He whirled instinctively, arm pulling in tight. With a scream of defiance, Teru caught Mogami in the jaw with a high kick blazing with energy.
Mogami went down and Teru didn’t falter. Hand up and heart hammering, Teru blasted the spirit with everything he had. The light from it made stars dance in his vision. Teru blinked against them, not letting his guard down for a second.
There was nothing there. Not even a smear of blood. Just black.
Did he…?
Was he gone?
“You have no problem using your powers to defend yourself. To hurt. So what’s holding you back from taking revenge on everyone who’s caused you so much pain?”
Teru backed away. His mouth was dry. Mogami was on his left, talking away like nothing had happened. There wasn’t a scratch on him.
“What do you want?”
“It’s simple. I want to stop other psychics from making the mistakes I did. Some of them are beyond help, of course. Too stubborn and set in their ways. But you’re young. There’s always room for change if you can catch the opportunity early enough.”
It felt futile, but Teru lashed out again. Air whips. Telekinetic blasts. Flames.
Everything phased right through Mogami while he blathered on about the world viewing psychics as a danger. Regular people only feeling comforted once they found a way to point a psychic’s powers away from themselves. To use them like knives. Tools to use and hurt others with.
Garbage words that Teru paid no attention to.
How could he get out of here? Was he in his own head? If Mogami was here talking to him could someone else take this chance to exorcise him? Why wasn’t anyone doing it? Was Mogami too powerful? Could none of them do anything?
No matter how much he struggled, Teru couldn’t get a grip. Not on Mogami or the feeling of his own body. All of it dangled just out of his reach.
But Mogami was still talking.
Teru…
Teru knew how to talk.
“You’re not making any sense. You keep saying that I’m being used, but the only one here using anyone is you! You’re the one using me to hurt my dad!”
Mogami’s eyebrows rose.
“Your dad… And yet you call him by his name? Not your real father then. Where are your parents?” Mogami stepped closer, his face darkening. “Did they leave? Die? Was you being a psychic too much for them? It was for my own mother. Grew sick from what I did every day. No one could help her. I did everything I could for her. Killed for her, and somehow I was a curse. She died and she blamed me. Haunted me. I let the world use me and gained nothing.”
Teru couldn’t care less about Mogami’s tragic backstory.
“Is that what he has over you? Took you in and made you feel indebted to him? You don’t owe that liar anything, Hanazawa Teruki. You’re a tool to him. A knife he can point at his so-called clients and use to fill his wallet.”
Mogami’s words were pointed, but Teru brushed them off. Like hell he was going to let Mogami goad him. He let Mogami talk and let his own aura bleed out through the space. It crept through the dark, hunting for an edge, a crack, a weak spot. Something he could use to get the hell out of here.
“Do you think he would keep you around if you didn’t have these powers? You should hate him. I think I’ll show him what happens when you use psychics for your own gain. And I think I’ll show you what you really mean to him…”
There.
Teru dug into the crevice and readied himself. He was only going to have one shot. His heart fluttered under his ribs in anticipation, face schooled like he was scared of Mogami’s words. Like he wasn’t preparing to rip this mental world wide open and take himself back.
Mogami took one step toward him and Teru wrenched-
A flare of the brightest yellow and then it died. Teru gagged, Mogami’s fist buried in his stomach.
“Don’t be a nuisance. I was talking.”
Teru scrambled to counterattack but there was no response. No answer when he tried to push at Mogami with his aura. Nothing was there. Nothing-
No powers.
Mogami’s eyes glinted with promised pain. Teru wheezed, scrabbling at the hands trapping him. Kicked out and aimed for the knee. Mogami sidestepped, dragging him closer by the sweater. He loomed over Teru and smiled.
“You’ll thank me when it’s over.”
The words stole over Teru with a power he’d never imagined. His entire body locked up, and when Mogami let go Teru could do nothing to stop himself from tipping backward. All he could see was the dark. A faint shine off his own raised hands as if they were made of porcelain.
He was falling-
Teru hit the ground and shattered.