Idiots Only Event

~Kin ~

Having finished investigating the crime scene, Ritsu stepped around the bodies and made his way back to Kamuro. He felt sickened. This wasn't something he was supposed to be involved in. He was unused to everything from the sight to the smell, but he tried not to let it get to him. Sure, he was supposed to be a division two detective, dealing with gangster-related and white-collar crimes, but since things had started heating up between the gangs in Spice City (and that's not mentioning recent budget cuts…), it seemed the Spice City Police considered their divisions interchangeable.

"To think. This is the fifth crime scene today," someone tutted behind him. "What do you make of it, Kageyama-kun?" Kamuro asked. Ritsu hesitated for a moment and looked back at the crime scene. There were three gang members from different gangs lying dead in an alleyway, killed by the same gun. Ritsu frowned. Although this was clearly a gang-related crime, he still felt that murder should be investigated by division one and not division two.

"It looks like a warning," he finally replied, after some consideration.

"Care to elaborate?" Kamuro pressed.

Ritsu sighed deeply and reluctantly began to explain. "Look at the way they're dressed. The three-piece suits, the expensive shoes… They're part of the upper echelons of their respective gangs. These aren't nobodies. No one but an idiot would attack them, let alone rob them. But none of them are robbed, their wallets and watches are still here, among other valuables… So, this isn't a robbery gone wrong. Besides, this daredare shows no sign of struggle, which means he was lured here by someone he didn't consider a threat.

Let's assume he was also the first to die. After witnessing the murder, this one tried to attack their killer with a knife but was killed for his efforts. The last one tried to run, but naturally, he couldn't outrun a bullet. It all happened quickly and… Well. It was efficient. No torture, no slow or painful deaths. Their bodies also entered rigor mortis a while ago, long before we were notified. The culprit had plenty of time to get rid of the bodies, but didn't… That implies the bodies were left here deliberately. To send a message."

Kamuro hummed neutrally.

"Usually, our gangs have a calling card, to let other gangs know who was behind a murder," he softly pointed out. Ritsu put his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

"Quick and efficient happens to be how the Vinegar Gang works. Unlike others, they consider their crimes a means to an end. They don't take pleasure in it. That aside, in the past few weeks they've become more active in Spice City. A lot more. They're growing. I wouldn't be surprised if this murder serves as a warning to other gangs. Or a challenge…"

Kamuro looked pensive for a moment, but then slowly nodded.

"Most would say you're reading too much into this, that you don't have enough evidence to support that theory yet… But we've both been paying attention to the Vinegar Gang for a while now, haven't we? And you've always been pretty sharp." He gave Ritsu an approving look. "I agree with your assessment, but one question does remain."

"Oh really? And what would that be?" Ritsu asked.

Kamuro took out a cigarette and lit it. After taking a deep drag, he finally said "Think about it. Five separate murder scenes, all by them. What the hell has made the Vinegar Gang become so active in a backwater town like Spice City? What do they gain from exercising power here? They're usually in Tokyo or Osaka or some other major big city. Why start things up here?"

Ritsu looked at the crime scene again with some passiveness, then looked out of the alleyway, to where the public was milling around, busy with their day-to-day lives. His eyes for a moment landed on a civilian that was staring right at them, right at him… But then the civilian suddenly lost interest and walked away. Really, Ritsu probably wouldn't have even noticed him, hadn't he stood out so much. Dressed so smartly, with that striking blond hair…

Ritsu looked back at Kamuro.

"Well, that's a good question, but it's not the one I'm asking."

"What's your question then?" Kamuro asked, tilting his head slightly. Ritsu looked sullenly at the three bodies.

"How can we prevent this from escalating into a gang war?" he asked. Kamuro frowned.

"That, Kageyama-kun… I think that is an answer we're all looking for." He took another drag. "Let's just hope not too much blood is spilt over this, eh?" he asked, as he flicked the cigarette onto the ground and gingerly stomped it out. Ritsu sighed.

"Yeah. Let's hope," he softly agreed.

That same morning, Shigeo woke up, to find a teen ghost in his living room. Dimple was grinning.

"It's a lovely day, isn't it? Partner...?" Dimple asked, waving hello. If Shigeo could, he would have twitched with barely restrained anger. As it was though, he barely registered annoyance when he saw the teen ghost in front of him. In another time, he would have gotten rid of this irritation, by grabbing the ghost and whacking it repeatedly against the floor (possibly under pretence of checking if he was dreaming or not), but now he was an adult and just too old for that kind of malicious behaviour.

"Who are you?" he asked instead, pretending not to recognise the ghost. Dimple looked suitably offended.

"Are you kidding me?!" he demanded. "It's me, Dimple! The cult leader from yesterday?! We had a life-altering fight to the death that blew everyone's mind!" he snapped. Shigeo lifted up a hand.

"So you didn't completely disappear. Oh well," he muttered. Dimple flinched.

"Ah! Wait, what are you doing?"

"You can't call it a life-altering fight to the death, if one of us survived," Shigeo answered. "So I'm correcting the imbalance."

"Stop, stop! Please! Technically I'm already dead, so it's not a wrong statement!"

Shigeo withdrew the hand. The ghost had a point. A pedantic point, but a point nonetheless.

"Listen, listen, I know we started on the wrong foot, but listen! Everyone's got a dream and so do I! While others just want to be rich and famous, I want something even better, something greater! I want to be a god!"

"Of course you do," Shigeo responded in a flat tone. Dimple didn't seem to hear him.

"I want to be someone everyone worships! That's why I started that cult! But then you came and destroyed it... But! That taught me something very important! If I want to gain command over people's hearts, I need strong psychic powers... Like yours... So if you and I team up, we could both become gods! We'd be unstoppable! What do you say?" he offered. Shigeo's expression darkened.

"Any other last words?" he asked, ready to erase Dimple from existence.

"Hey- hey, hey! I thought I asked you to stop! Please! I don't want to leave yet; there's so much I want to do! Please... I promise I won't do anything bad anymore!" Dimple begged, bursting into tears, and for a moment, Shigeo saw Reigen instead of Dimple. Please don't call the police! I swear, I wasn't trying to do anything wrong! I thought this place was abandoned!

Who would have thought a powerful cult leader would have anything in common with his student...? Then again, they were both crafty teens. Both had also gotten involved in his life, against his will.

"You promise?" Shigeo questioned, lowering his hand again. Dimple nodded quickly. Shigeo let out a small breath and withdrew the hand entirely. For now, Dimple could stay. He was just a kid and didn't know better, that couldn't be held against him. Dimple was grinning with relief.

"You won't regret-"

"Go away. I'm not interested in becoming a god."

Dimple's smile vanished.

"But I've got nowhere else to go!" the teen ghost argued. "And I want to stay with you. I feel safe around you, Shige-chan."

"Shige-chan? You realise I'm an adult," Shigeo flatly stated, ever so slightly annoyed.

"Perhaps. But I'm way older than you! Shige-chan," Dimple responded. "I mean, I've definitely been around for over thirty years, so-" Shigeo turned to him fully.

"Ghosts don't age like humans. You are still a teenager. So call me Shige-chan again and I will exorcise you."

Dimple hesitated.

"Right, right, ok. I guess I can just stick to calling you Shigeo."

Shigeo would have preferred being addressed as Kageyama-san, but something told him that much like how Reigen wouldn't stop referring to him as Mob-shishou, Dimple would never stop calling him Shigeo. He supposed it was something he could get used to. He'd gotten used to Reigen, after all.

26%

"Fine. You can stay with me. But don't do anything weird. My day is already long enough without you freaking people out. Got it?" he asked. Another man would have sounded stern. Shigeo was not that man. Dimple nodded.

"Crystal," the teen ghost replied, grinning.

Teru stood near the windows of his large living room, staring at Spice City's high-rise horizon. Despite not being a tourist-attracting landmark city like Tokyo or Osaka, it was not a poor city. Oh, on the surface it didn't stand out, just the same old drabness one could find in any city… But its appearance was a lie. Spice City was powerful in a way that no one suspected. The skyscrapers were evidence of that. But Spice City was also full of idiots. They wouldn't recognise power if it was walking right in front of them.

He swirled his drink, then took a long, slow sip. He couldn't believe it. Him. Widowed at twenty-eight. He swirled his drink again. His teeth were ground together. It was careless of him, really. He had grown bored of her, had stopped being careful.

Stupid woman should have been able to take care of herself. To think, he had given her the Hanazawa name and she had dragged it through the dirt like that.

No. That wasn't what happened.

She had been strong. Brave. Valiant. Beautiful. But then Hanazawa Teruki had come along and had decided he wanted her, irrelevant of her own will.

It had been fun. A puzzle. It had taken time, but he figured her all out, cracked her open like the stubborn oyster that she was and broke her down until she was willing to submit, all her bravado and wilfulness finally gone. But in her subservience, she became useless, dull and strongly lacking in personality. Which was probably why he had grown bored of her.

Now he was widowed. At twenty-eight. Being single again was not a bad thing as such. No more sleeping around in secret. He could do what he liked again, go back to dating and partying. He had regained his playboy lifestyle.

But he was widowed at twenty-eight. That was a pity story. A pity story the protagonist of this story did not need or want. He was the charming upbeat hero to this world's doom and gloom. Tragedy didn't become him. But he couldn't pretend she had never existed either.

He turned to face the living room. His eyes focused on the playpen near the sofas. No, he couldn't pretend she had never existed. There was too much evidence.

This was rather annoying. Being a widower aged Teru too much. He needed his youthfulness back. That sense of power. Not this tired crap about mourning and families. Not the pity from his underlings and colleagues.

He was Hanazawa Teruki, he was not meant to be pitied.

He finished his drink. Those idiots, murdering his wife… Not only were they trying to make this personal, but they had now greatly inconvenienced him. His plans for CLAW were being set back… And it was for this inconvenience that all the gangs of Spice City would pay. It was time he cleaned up this shithole anyway.

Ritsu flipped through the files, double-checking his work. It checked out again. He had it. He had figured it out.

Or at least, he had figured something out. The deaths, the attacks, they weren't random. At every site of attack, a card of some shape and colour was found with seemingly meaningless scribble written on it. But it wasn't nonsense. It was a time. A place. A date. The deaths weren't just warnings, as he had suspected. They were a challenge. Anyone seeking revenge for their lost members would know where to go.

How could the police have missed this? If a thug with the average intelligence of a five-year-old could figure it out, how could Spice City's finest detectives not? Was he still missing something? Clearly, but that was a concern for another day.

Ritsu's eyes narrowed. Unfortunately, he was having difficulties with the last few cards. Specifically, their absence. Presumably, they had gotten lost, blown away by the wind or who knew what else. Either way, they had been absent at the scene of the crime, meaning Kageyama Ritsu had gaps in his theory. He didn't have enough evidence to support it and without proof, all this work was merely circumstantial conspiracies. Even with Ritsu's track record taken into account, there was no way anyone would be able to do anything with what he had figured out.

Which was greatly unfortunate, as the date of the challenge was today. The gangs were meeting up in the evening, somewhere with black in the name, and they were going to have an all-out war. And there was nothing Ritsu could do about it. He might be able to convince the higher ups to post more policemen tonight, but he could forget any hopes of an ambush. By the time Ritsu even had a chance at getting a proper team together, it would already be over.

Damn it… he thought to himself. He loved his job. He really did. But he didn't sign up to work for a police force that was in shambles, that was so dysfunctional that different divisions were forced together, irrelevant of training or compatibility and detectives were signed to any case, as if homicide detectives and fraud detectives were interchangeable.

In short, he hadn't signed up, so that he could once again find himself helpless to a greater power. If he'd known this was what the job would amount to seven years later, he wouldn't have bothered. He had enough of that in his private life already.

Ritsu closed his eyes, hands covering his face. He needed to calm down. He was a junior detective. He not only had a team of other detectives to work with (although these days, he rarely knew who they were, as it felt like detectives were assigned new cases and teams every day), he also had a partner, a senior. At least this burden, Ritsu didn't have to carry alone.

He needed to find Kamuro. He left his desk and walked over to Kamuro's office, only to find his desk… empty. Odd.

"Oi, Mouri-san. Have you seen Kamuro-keibu?" he called to the only visible police officer present. She shrugged.

"Not since he left for lunch. Why?"

Ritsu opened his mouth to answer, then shut it again. Of course. Kamuro would be on lunchbreak right now. Wait. Lunch? What time was it? He looked at the clock. It was well past twelve now, coming up to one in the afternoon. Ritsu was late to his lunch with Shigeo. The detective swore under his breath.

"Ok, if anyone asks for me, tell them I'm out for lunch too," he told Mouri, as he turned back to his desk for his coat.

"Sure, whatever you say, Kageyama-san," she replied dismissively, returning to her paperwork. Ritsu took out his phone as he left the police department, half-jogging towards the agreed restaurant. How could he forget? Lunch with Shigeo, that was important, crucial. Shigeo mustn't experience stress, how could Ritsu be so irresponsible and forget lunch? What if Shigeo was worrying about him? What if Shigeo thought Ritsu had died on the job? Ritsu should have never become a policeman, it was a source of great stress to families and Ritsu knew exactly what became of stress in Shigeo…

His phone showed no new messages. This didn't do anything to comfort Ritsu. Shigeo wasn't much of a texter; he rarely, if ever, responded, never mind sending texts. Hopefully, nothing had happened so far and Shigeo was just sitting in the restaurant, waiting patiently. Still…

~ I'll be there soon. Lost track of time at work. Sorry. ~

A few minutes later, just as Ritsu was willing to break into a sprint, he felt his phone buzz in his coat pocket.

~ I see. ~

He almost fell face first into the pavement. Shigeo was still waiting for him. Nothing had happened. The fact that Shigeo had responded did mean that his older brother had panicked, since he rarely ever responded, but nothing had happened. Everything was fine.

Ritsu stood still, hands on his knees, staring at the pavement, breathing heavily. Everything was fine. He had stressed over nothing. Crisis averted. No one was going to get hurt, no one would die. He was dimly aware of people milling around him, but he felt like his senses had just shut down. Everything was numb, distant. He wiped his face, felt the sweat slip off with ease. Then he stood back up straight and continued walking, as if nothing had happened.

Crisis averted; crisis averted… he thought to himself. He continued to twitch every now and then. The stress of everything, the break-up, his work, his brother, it was becoming a little too much for him. Hold it together until you talk to Kamuro, he'll know what to do and everything will be fine, everything is fine, you've got this…

A brisk walk later, Ritsu finally arrived at the agreed upon restaurant. It was fairly out of the way for Ritsu, but it was perhaps a minute's walk from Shigeo's workplace. Which was Ritsu's preference. If it made life easier for Shigeo, it was good.

He took a seat opposite Shigeo, who was startled by his little brother's sudden appearance.

"Oh, Ritsu. Hello," he greeted.

"Hey, Shige. I'm sorry I'm so late. I… I really didn't mean to be."

"It's ok," Shigeo answered, returning his attention to the menu. Ritsu opened his menu but observed his brother carefully. As he'd suspected, it wasn't ok to Shigeo. Subtle differences gave it away. His eyes kept darting between options, unable to focus on any particular category, his hands held the menu just that little bit too tightly, he was unusually tight-lipped.

"I'll make it up to you anyway. I can pay, if you like?" Ritsu suggested. Shigeo looked up from his menu.

"No, it's ok. You're here now. So it's ok."

That had eased things. Shigeo didn't offer a smile, but the subtle markers for irritation were gone and a tension in his shoulders had faded too. Ritsu allowed himself to smile, a sense of ease similarly falling upon him.

"Sure thing, niisan. I guess everything is ok now."

"Any plans for this afternoon?" Ritsu continued asking, expecting the answer to be along the lines of 'no'. Shigeo looked pensive.

"Oh… Well, I suppose not. Just work as usual. Ah, this evening, Reigen-kun and I will be going to Black Vinegar Middle School," Shigeo softly told him. "There's a client there that has been asking Reigen-kun persistently for a week, so we're going to… Uh… Ritsu?"

Ritsu looked up. Then down. Ah. He had dropped his chopsticks. Right into his food. And he hadn't even noticed.

"It's fine, it's… You're going where?" Ritsu asked, as he cleaned up the mess he had made.

"Black Vinegar Middle School. It's that… expensive private school in town. I think our school played against them once… Or something. The name is familiar anyway."

"Oh. This evening?"

"Yes. We would go earlier, but it would be inconvenient for both myself and Reigen-kun. I have a shift, he has homework…"

"You… Brother, you can't," Ritsu stuttered out. Tonight was the big gang war. The thought of his brother getting caught in the crossfire… Sure, Spice City was a big place, but his brother had a habit of being where he shouldn't be. The school had black in it. As crazy as it would be for a gang war to occur at a middle school of all places… He couldn't take that chance (oh, Ritsu had just known that little brat was nothing but trouble).

"Why?"

"It's… It's not safe. Tonight. I can't… I can't tell you; it involves a case I'm working on…" Ritsu briefly paused, wondering how true that statement actually was… But the less Shigeo knew about anything, the less stress he would experience, so keeping him out of the loop was not bad… "Just trust me and cancel your plans for tonight. Stay at home. And do not go to that middle school. Just… stay home. For me?"

Shigeo took a moment to think. Seeing his brother so bewildered didn't exactly make him happy. It must be very serious for his brother to be so insistent too. Ah, but Reigen would be upset if they cancelled, since the teen would be skipping on another paycheck. Well, safety was more important than money, so it should be fine. Reigen was mature for his age anyway, he should be able to accept that.

Shigeo slowly nodded.

"Ok. We won't go."

Ritsu smiled, relieved.

"Thanks niisan. Knowing that already helps me worry less."

"Then I'm glad. I hope nothing bad is going to happen?"

"Oh, don't worry. We've got it handled. I'm just being cautious," Ritsu lied. Keeping him out of the loop is not wrong, it's not wrong, it's fine, it's fine, this is for the best, everything will be ok…

"Shigeo, your brother is kind of a cactus, isn't he?" Dimple asked. Shigeo didn't respond, taking out his phone instead. Displeased by this action, Dimple pushed further, now doing his best to catch Shigeo's attention, flying right in his face.

"I mean, he's definitely spiky like one! And don't you think he's kinda shady? Super nervous, like he has something to hide. There's something not right about that guy."

"There's nothing wrong with Ritsu," Shigeo finally answered, his voice monotone and soft.

"Oh yeah? So why are you getting defensive?"

Shigeo chose not to reply.

"Seems to me, your little life isn't as perfect as you think it is," Dimple continued to push. "Oh, you act like everything is fine, but I think it wouldn't take much for your entire life to come undone. You need to take control of your life, Shigeo… Use your psychic powers and correct all this imbalance in your world and…"

"I need to call Reigen. Please be quiet," Shigeo interrupted. Dimple was initially stunned into silence. Then his face darkened and he flew out of sight. Shigeo looked like such a pushover, but the guy sure knew how to be stubborn when he wanted to be.

Irrelevant of what Kageyama said, Dimple just knew he was right. Sure, he hadn't seen every aspect of Shigeo's life yet, having only spent a day with the man, but he could tell that Kageyama's dull life depended on a surprisingly complex masquerade that looked about ready to collapse under its own weight.

And there was something off about Ritsu. Dimple was under the impression it had a lot to do with Shigeo. Ritsu was nervous, stressed, maybe even anxious. Sure, he put on a good façade around Shigeo, but it didn't take much to lie to that guy. Shigeo was gullible and trusting towards those he cared about. Always believed they acted with the best intentions and would never do anything intentionally cruel to him.

Dimple had seen right through Ritsu though. He didn't know what wasn't right about the guy, but Dimple knew it was something. Ritsu's actions weren't pure of heart and Dimple doubted the guy's motivations were good either. For now, the teen ghost would stick with the older Kageyama brother though, since Shigeo actually had useful powers.

However, should the opportunity present itself, Dimple would also keep an eye on Ritsu. Something told him that Ritsu could potentially be of more use than Shigeo himself. It was certainly a good thought.

Reigen was in a foul mood. He was doing exactly what he was absolutely not supposed to do. He had accepted that request from a student at a far away, upscale private middle school. Despite knowing it was likely just a trap set up by Shoudou Kirin. On top of that, he was going without his shishou, who had tried to cancel their plans last minute. Like that was going to happen. Reigen had only received one request for over a week straight! There was no other work and he needed the work. And on the off chance it was for real... Ah, he didn't need help from his shishou anyway, no matter the situation.

As he approached Black Vinegar Middle School, he couldn't help but feel a little wary. Something about this place was off. Not in a haunting sense, but... In a foreboding way? Like... something bad was going to happen? He did notice some suspicious adults hanging around, but... Probably nothing, right?

He walked up to the school entrance, where his client was already waiting for him.

"Hello? Are you Kenji Mitsuura?" Reigen asked.

"You must be Reigen-kun! Hello! Yes, that's me!" the teen boy immediately replied. "Gosh wizz, a real esper, are you? I'm really glad you could come!" he enthusiastically greeted. Reigen remained relatively stoic.

"So, what's the problem here?" he asked. Kenji immediately ceased babbling and looked apprehensive. His eyes darted back and forth.

"It's… It's a ghost problem," he whispered, conspiratorially. Reigen resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"I see," he said instead. "What kind of ghost? A school rumour?"

Kenji nodded. "There's a ghost haunting the Home EC room. The lights flicker. Food disappears. There are black smears above the stove."

"I'll see what I can do. Please lead the way."

Kenji grinned excitedly and began walking into the school.

"So, you're a real psychic?"

"Yep. Sure," Reigen dismissively answered.

"Were you born with those powers? Can you show them to me?"

"I wasn't born with them and I will show them to you, when I exorcise the spirit," Reigen replied, manner-of-factly. He eyed Kenji suspiciously. "You're interested in psychics?" he asked.

"Well, I mean, I wouldn't say interested. I just think they're neat. I guess, if you want me to be honest…" Kenji began explaining and then launched into telling Reigen his entire life story. At that point, Reigen decided it was highly unlikely that Kenji had anything to do with Shoudou Kirin. He was a bit of a loser and had a weird obsession with psychics. A harmless obsession maybe, but an obsession that drove people away, nonetheless. Not someone a popular guy like Shoudou Kirin would want around.

Thankfully, they arrived in the Home EC classroom soon enough and Reigen was able to hush him, before Kenji could launch into the oh-so-interesting fifteenth haunting he had encountered when he was just eight years old.

"I sense something here, but I need to take a closer look to be sure," he told Kenji. Now no longer chatty, the boy cowered by the door, nodding slightly in response, a gesture barely visible, now that he had started to shake in fear. Perhaps this room was haunted… But the more Reigen looked, the less he believed it.

Food disappearing? Could be a hungry student. Or a hungry teacher. Either way, it was definitely a human. Looking inside the cupboards, fridge and storage room, it was fairly obvious. Why would a mouse only eat the sweet foods? So. A human. That was easy to solve. Tell Kenji to get his class to put an obscene amount of hot spice, like mustard, horseradish, chilli or wasabi in their foods for a week or two. That should "exorcise" that spirit. Reigen moved on.

The black smears appeared to be fairly ordinary, if unusually stubborn stains. A combination of repeated poor cooking and lacking cleaning had led to it growing recently, but that was nothing some good cleaning fluid couldn't fix. He could probably get it off that evening.

Time for the lights. Without warning, Reigen clambered onto the kitchen top, taking a closer look at the LEDs. Kenji let out a gasp.

"You can't stand up there with your shoes! We prepare food on that!"

Reigen ignored him, focused on the light. It flickered.

"It's here," he spoke lowly.

"It is? What is?! Where is it?" Kenji shrieked.

"Don't worry, Kenji-kun, I have it under control," Reigen reassured him. His eyes narrowed. There was no way of telling what was causing the faulty lighting, not without examining the bulb. He could hardly do that with Kenji in the room though, he would be suspicious. No, Reigen would have to buy himself time to investigate it, but how much…?

"An hour," Reigen concluded. "I will need an hour to banish this foul creature. It won't be safe for you here, once I awaken it. Please wait outside this room Kenji-kun. I will have vanquished this evil in no time."

"Ah, really? You're amazing, Reigen-kun! I will wait outside, please be careful!"

"I will be," Reigen promised, shooing Kenji out of the room. Finally. He looked at the lights again. Time to get to work then.

It turned out the lights had a loose wire. After reconnecting it properly, it worked just fine. Reigen made quick work of the black smears above the stove, then took the time to throw some salt around, as well as light a few scented candles (he had run out of the official stuff a while ago). He needed the place to look like it could have been a psychic battlefield. Once satisfied that he had done a good job, he beckoned Kenji into the room.

"All done, you can come in now, Kenji-kun."

"Woah, what… What have you done? This place looks like a warzone!"

"Well, it was a pretty tough spirit," Reigen replied. "Unfortunately, I wasn't able to completely cast it out."

"What?!"

"Don't worry. It's in a weakened state now. So weak, that even a non-psychic such as yourself (no offence) can actually deal with it."

"I don't understand…"

"You see, it is a food spirit. That's why the food disappears, why there are black smears. The, uh, lights flickering is just a generic ghost thing, most of them do that. But, I've weakened it. Now, to be completely rid of it, you must leave all your foods laced with spicy things like chillies, wasabi, mustard, as an offering. You see, spicy food has a cleansing effect on spirits. Once it has consumed enough, it will become a pure spirit and leave of its own accord. Maybe, it will also bless the inhabitants with good luck, so maybe this haunting is more beneficial for you than you thought."

"Really?!"

"Really. But you must make these offerings for an entire week. No, for an entire two weeks. And then once a month, at random, for a year. Then, you will be free of the spirit that plagues your school."

"So awesome! Thanks, Reigen-kun! You know so much!"

"It's nothing. I am the psychic of the 21st century you know, so if I couldn't do it, well, I would be embarrassing myself."

"I certainly feel like this place is much better now. Much safer. Say, though… I never got to see any of your psychic abilities," Kenji pointed out. Reigen twitched for a moment.

"And?"

"You promised I would get to see them."

Reigen waved him off.

"Look, I thought you would be able to, but the spirit was too dangerous for you to be around. And my powers aren't for showing off, you know. Unless I need to use them, I won't. It's what my shishou taught me. Using it for trivial things contributes to a lazy character. You don't want me to be lazy do you?"

"Well, no, of course not… Ah, but you have a shishou… Can I meet your shishou then?"

"Why are you so eager to see psychic powers anyway?" Reigen asked, immediately regretting it as the words left his mouth. Like he wasn't already revealing Mob's existence…

"Well, you see, when I was young, just two years old…" Kenji began to recount, in a story shockingly similar to the one he had launched into earlier.

"Please make it short," Reigen interrupted, doubting he could stand another seemingly eternal monologue. Looking only a little put out, Kenji finally said "I want to have psychic powers too. By studying you and other psychics, I might be able to learn the secret of its power and get some myself."

"Get some…?" Reigen muttered under his breath.

"You see," Kenji continued, rather dramatically, "I want to be someone. Mum and Dad have pretty much made sure I will never have any needs like money or whatever. But what they don't realise is… Well. They've made me just… I'm wealthy, but I'm nothing special."

He turned away from Reigen, now facing the window.

"I'm too young to do dumb grown-up things, like investing in society or science, but what I can do? Make myself special now. And I can achieve that goal by becoming an esper, like…" The word 'you' died on his tongue.

"Kenji-kun? What is it?" Reigen asked, now approaching the window too. His eyes widened at what he saw."

"Crap! What's with all these adults in the playground?!" Reigen asked, leaning closer to the window. Kenji didn't reply, just staring in horror. "Is this normal? Or is this some kind of weird teacher conference? An adults-only festival?" Reigen hurriedly questioned. It seemed to snap Kenji out of his stupor. He shook his head.

"I've never seen any of these guys in my life!" he exclaimed. "Only students and teachers are allowed on the school premises and parents need special permission… so… s-so these must be…"

"Don't say it."

"Criminals!"

"This is stupid," Reigen muttered under his breath. "They do look like bad guys though…" He eyed one hoodlum wielding a knife. "Pretty dangerous for sure. We might be stuck here until they leave… That's not good…"

"What if they come in here?!"

"I don't think they will. Trespassing and break-ins are different things. These guys look like they're just itching for a fight…" It comforted Kenji a little, but Reigen could feel his own nerves start to fray. "Even if we're safe in here, we can't stay here all night. Our parents will worry…" Reigen clicked his tongue. "This is really no good… Ok. I'm gonna call my secret weapon."

"Secret… weapon?"

"Yup. Once he's here, we'll be out safe in no time."

"B-but my parents can't know about this…! They hate it when I waste my pocket money…"

"Look, my parents can't know about my dangerous job, so they mustn't find out either. But trust me, this guy might be an adult, but he's not gonna bust our chops. He's a good guy like that," Reigen calmly dismissed, sending Mob a quick text.

"That doesn't sound possible. No adult is that nice!"

"Don't have to believe me, just gotta trust me," Reigen replied, clicking his phone shut and stuffing it in his bag. "It will be a while until he shows up… so… Hm… I'm kinda hungry. Wanna raid this place for food?"

"That's against school rules!"

"Exactly."

Kenji stared, alarmed. Then he permitted himself a grin. Or at least, an attempt at a grin; he was too sheepish to really look menacing or even roguish for that matter.

"Let's," he agreed. Reigen grinned. So, new task then. Reigen just had to keep Kenji distracted until Mob showed up. How hard could that be?

Teruki took a few steps onto the playground. Black Vinegar Middle School. Ah, how it brought back memories. This was where he had formed his first gang and had exercised his power beyond his abilities. He had been so innocent and reckless back then. If he had been more careful, maybe CLAW would have never forced him out of this city. True, it had taken quite a few years for them to even notice him, but Teru sometimes couldn't help but wonder "what if?". Not that the timing had been off. Their finding him had led to Teruki leaving Spice City to study at a university elsewhere. He had struck gold in Tokyo, later affording to travel around the world, before settling down in Osaka for a while.

Still, those two cities, the world at large, it all had no real meaning to him. Spice City did. As did the Black Vinegar Middle School. It remained the only school he had ever attended, where he had completed at least one part of his full education. He had switched primary school twice and high school three times. Black Vinegar Middle School was special to him.

This was his starting point, where he had risen to power as a child. Now he was here to rise to power as an adult. No back-up from lackies this time. He wasn't interested in a gang war, too much collateral would occur. No, he was here to have the criminal underground of Spice City at his every whim without too much bloodshed. Here, he would receive the power to control the city and hopefully, maybe…

Maybe it will be enough…

Of course it would be enough. He was the protagonist of this world, the chosen hero. Everything he did was more than enough.

He stood in the shadows, observing the people gathering on the playground. All wondering where the mysterious leader of the Vinegar gang was hiding. There was a palpable tension in the air. Just a few more moments. Then Teru would make his entrance.

He could just about see every gang leader present, plus their gang of elite mooks. Good, but when would be the best time to… He could see an argument brewing. Yelling. They were accusing each other of being involved with the Vinegar gang. All because they couldn't see any Vinegar gang members. How simple-minded these idiots were. Now knives were being drawn. Barbaric simpletons.

Time to intervene, before anyone drew first blood. That was a privilege for Hanazawa Teruki only and no one else. He strode out of the shadows.

"Well… isn't this quite the collection of criminals we have here…" he purred. With his voice slightly amplified and laced with a psychic persuasiveness, everyone heard him. "The name is Teru. I'm also known as the Esper. But to you? I'm the leader of the Vinegar gang. Welcome to my city."

There was a stunned silence for several moments, before some loser from one of the loser gangs exclaimed "Your city?! Vinegar gang's the newest gang in town! It's you newbie bozos showing up that's messin' everything up!"

"Au contraire, my dear fellow. The Vinegar gang predates all of you. We've just been in the shadows for the past ten… maybe fifteen? Years or so. You are all trespassing on my territory. I've tolerated your presence long enough, it's time for a clean-up and assertion of my power… But I will accept your immediate surrender and territory as an apology. Let bygones be bygones and all that."

"You bastard! You big, dumb, fucking bastard! You're an arrogant, little midget! I'll fucking kill you, you fucking shrimp!" Midget? Shrimp? Hanazawa wasn't as tall as some people, but he was well above average height.

"Hey… Where's the rest of your crew? Or were you stupid enough to come alone…?" another sneered.

"I've come alone," he calmly replied, only to be interrupted by hoards of laughter. He ignored it, speaking slightly louder "And I believe you're all here seeking revenge for your fallen… colleagues, was it?" The laughter died instantly, with most of them glowering at him. Let them remember who had caused them pain and misery. "However, I have something better to offer you than even the sweetest revenge."

Some gang member standing further away yelled from the distance "Oh yeah? I think you're just a small man with big words!"

Where the hell were all these insults for his height coming from? Why were they all convinced he was short? Maybe it had something to do with his frame? He wasn't all bulky and ugly like all the ruffians on the playground. Maybe that had something to do with it.

"It's very simple. Anyone who can land a hit on me gets my territory and my people. Conversely, if I knock you unconscious or, unfortunate as it would be, kill you, I get your territory and people. Your leaders will also be humiliated in a way to be chosen at a different time. Of course, the humiliation is nothing to do with today. The humiliation will be for whichever of you buffoons was stupid enough to kill my wife."

After a moment of quiet, there was some murmuring in response. Most of it about the idea of becoming the new leader of the Vinegar gang. He could hear weapons being drawn, butterfly knives swung open, guns clicking… Teruki allowed himself to grin.

"No, wait, it's a trap!" some gang member yelled. Teru glimpsed at the man for perhaps a moment (the face seemed familiar, something with Oniga…), but ignored him when he saw that no one on the playground was taking note of perhaps the only gangster with more than one brain cell. Teruki prepared himself as he watched several thugs launch at him, manic grins on their faces, practically drooling with greed. Pathetic. But this could be fun. It would be dull to take them all out at once and Teruki had a lot of anger and frustration to cut loose.

He dodged the first few with ease, ducking and bending when required, but mostly using minimal movements. This served to anger them further. He was against ten and if he didn't start taking them out, more would follow. The next idiot to get near him, Teru dashed forwards and slammed a fist into his opponent's guts. He used a small percentage of his powers, to prevent his fist from getting hurt, but otherwise, it was a completely ordinary punch. The man hunched together and fell to the ground, winded. Weak.

Teru moved onto the next target, staying within the realm of human ability. They were falling like dominoes, one after the other. A kick to the shins, a punch to the throat, all clean, morally good moves, nothing dirty here. That was beneath Teruki.

He believed he had taken out seventy or so gang members, when some wiseass decided to use a gun. Teruki made the bullet miss. And the next that followed… He permitted himself to superhumanly miss the bullets, either by changing their paths or by moving out of the way. The air was becoming thick with fear. They were getting beyond scared. Good.

"R-retreat!" someone yelled. Like he would let them.

"We had an agreement, gentlemen," Teruki informed them. "No one said anything about being allowed to leave."

Shrieks of horror followed, as they scrambled to get away. It occurred to none of them to surrender. Which was fine by Teru. He wasn't in a charitable mood anyway.

"Jump him! He can't take out all of us at once!"

Idiots. Five of them did try to throw themselves on top of him in a dogpile, but he practically walked through them, leaving them to smash against each other.

Three were next, this time trying to grab his arms, while a fourth prepared to punch him in his face. How tasteless. Teruki waited, then slammed his head against his opponent's hand, allowing more psychic energy to cause real damage. Bones snapped and there was almost inhuman screaming. He then shoved the three far from him and they fell on their backs, winded from the strength Teru used to throw them off. Then something happened that Teruki hadn't been expecting.

The thug with more than one braincell.

"Tch…" Teruki had been forced to put his forcefield up. Everyone on the playground was forced to freeze. One bullet had slammed against Teruki's forcefield. It was stuck there, in the wall of psychic energy. Teruki allowed himself one very short second of horror. If he had detected that bullet just a fraction of a second later… The story of this world would have had a tragic end.

The moment passed. Annoyed, he looked at the miniscule criminal that had dared try to murder the only man that mattered on this planet. He strode towards him.

"You," he growled. "you made this so much more personal than everyone else on this playground combined!"

He could see the man swallow nervously. The other gangsters were shuddering, afraid, but also relieved that Hanazawa's anger wasn't focused on them.

"I will kill you. Slowly. Painfully. Humiliatingly. You won't be able to tell if you're dying of pain or embarrassment, you pathetic excuse for a human being," he snarled. To his further anger, the thug's eyes, wide just moments ago, now narrowed and hardened.

"Do your worst. I only regret not shooting sooner, you monster."

This only served to make Teruki angrier. Exercising more power, he focused it on squeeeeezing the man's neck. The man began choking. Teruki lifted him off the ground, slowly approaching him.

"You gangsters like knives, don't you…? It's understandable. You can carry one, without ever raising suspicion, if you have the right type. Police can't arrest you for having one on your person. It's a common household item." He paused, allowing himself to grin. This man wasn't showing a hint of fear now. Teruki hated that. "You know, the Chinese aren't so bad. Sure, they're cheap and rip-off everything Japanese, but… They have some interesting and useful ideas of their own. Ever heard of Lingchi? No? It's also known as the death by a thousand cuts…" he purred. He willed the knife out of every idiot that was wielding one. He was several feet away from the man. Which was fine. He didn't want any blood on his suit. It was very expensive.

"Now, I don't have time for a thousand cuts. But it seems we can do the reverse. One cut, by a thousand knives. How does that sound?"

There was sweat beading on the man's forehead. He was willing himself not to show fear, but his eyes gave him away.

"Listen up, my loyal henchmen. You work for me now," Teruki called out, turning to the others gathered in the playground. "And just remember, what I'm about to do to this sorry excuse for a man… Well, I could easily do it to all of you. Right now. While you're frozen and helpless. I want you to remember that. Remember his screams!"

Teruki turned on his heal and threw the knives at his enemy. The knives would not kill the man. No. Teruki had also promised a humiliating death, after all. Death by a thousand knives was hardly humiliating, just painful. No, the cuts for now would be shallow. Humiliating would come soon enough…

The knives froze, an inch away from the man. Teruki didn't even notice at first, until he realised he wasn't hearing screams of agony. He blinked a few times. What…? He tried to force the knives down on the man, to at least pierce the skin, but they remained an inch away. Then they started moving away, forming a ring around the man.

A metallic whining thundered across the playground, as the knives suddenly bent out of shape, the edges dulling and becoming useless as the knives curled into themselves, never to cut or slice again. One by one, they fell to the ground, making soft clangs, like out of tune windchimes.

Apart from the falling knives, the world had suddenly gone silent. All Teruki could do was stare in confusion. An anger was gradually building.

"What?!" he exclaimed. "Who did- what?!"

"I'm sorry, that was me," another man suddenly spoke. Teruki was gaping at him. This new man… Teruki hadn't even seen him before hand, he just blended in with the background, he was so unnoticeable… Had he been there the whole time? Who the hell was he? Who did he think he was?!

"Who…"

"Are you all right, Onigawara-san?" Shigeo asked, leaning over to the man who had almost died by a thousand knives. Onigawara stared at the offered hand for a moment, then took it gratefully.

"Uh… y-yeah… Thanks," he stuttered. "Th-thanks Kageyama-san," he then added, so quietly that no one else heard it.

Shigeo nodded, then returned his attention to Teruki. "You shouldn't be using your powers like that," Shigeo told him. Teruki stared and then stared some more. Then it clicked. This boring, average, invisible guy was a psychic too. A natural…? Must be, to be able to hold off Teruki's attack… A powerful psychic, to take the knives away from him too…

Teruki grinned and his eyes hardened.

"A rival, at last…" he murmured. "You would stand against me?!" he called out.

"Not really," Shigeo replied. He then fidgeted. "Why are you attacking these people anyway? You should all go home. It's not safe out here tonight. I've heard something bad is going to happen."

Is this guy for real…?

"You know what? I don't care. I have plenty of questions I want to ask you. But first… we need to establish something…" Teruki began, eyes now becoming fierce.

Away from them, away from the battlefield, Reigen and Kenji were hiding behind a counter, with some cup noodles they had managed to find (presumably an emergency stash, in case a student cooked so poorly, they couldn't eat their prepared meal). The two were nervous.

"I don't hear anything. Do you think it's over?" Kenji asked. Reigen hummed.

"No. It was too sudden…" the teen psychic hesitantly admitted. Reigen furrowed his eyebrows. What else should he say? Kenji had barely eaten a thing since that fight had started. He needed to ease the atmosphere a little, help the guy relax. He didn't want to end up being sued for trauma. "… You know, it's ok. I know a detective who could kick their asses back to… I dunno, France and back. This is nothing."

"You can't be serious. You get to be a psychic, have a shishou, have a cool grown-up that's cool with helping us out without telling our parents and you know a detective?!"

"What can I say? I'm excellent at networking."

"Man… All I've got are my parent's house-cleaners, maids, servants, butlers…" Kenji muttered, pouting. Reigen prided himself in not twitching at that. Stupid, stupidly rich people…

"Well… Ha. He's a bit… I dunno, spiky, but you know what? He's told me a thing or two about his cases. He's had waaaaay worse ones than what's taking place outside."

"Really? Tell me!"

"Oh, fine, if you insist. See, several years back, when he was still a rookie cop…" Reigen began to explain, sparing a look at the ceiling, unable to glimpse out the window. He didn't know what was going on outside, but he sure hoped Mob-shishou would come soon. Things seemed to be getting pretty intense outside…

Oh. Two years, huh? Oops. Sorry about that. The muse comes and goes.