004. Traces Left by Falling Flowers

An Li-Tou wiped the mud from the soles of his leather shoes on the doormat before turning the handle and stepping into the office with calm composure.

Seeing his colleagues buried in paperwork sent over from the Intelligence Bureau, he acted as if nothing were amiss. He found his name on the attendance sheet and, with a thick-skinned lack of hesitation, picked up a ballpoint pen to check off his arrival.

He pulled out his office chair and sat down. Thanks to a month of breaking in by this corporate drone, the rubber and sponge had naturally molded to the shape of his back and hips.

At the desk to his left, Ryotaro Todo was battling his aging work computer.

The monitor was stuck in a loop of the "Windows 7 RTM" loading animation. Like an old ox on its last legs dragging a cart up a highway, the machine seemed to burn through the last of its vitality with every inch of progress, threatening to collapse into digital dust at any moment.

Perhaps the seasoned office worker’s rhythmic pounding resonated with the geriatric machine, for the black screen suddenly flickered and was replaced by the default wallpaper of green hills and a blue sky.

Witnessing such a nostalgic configuration in an era dominated by Windows 11 and 40-series graphics cards was enough to bring a man to tears.

A notification window from the antivirus software popped up in the bottom right corner:
[Boot time: 8 minutes and 46 seconds. You have outperformed 1% of users nationwide!]

Ryotaro Todo skillfully dragged his mouse to close the pop-up and the flickering advertisements in the corner... these meaningless, junk-ware promotions actually brought in a significant amount of annual revenue for the department.

Yet, even after the grueling effort of finally getting the machine to boot, the true test lay ahead.

Next, Mr. Todo would use this ancient rig—which lacked a dedicated graphics card and dropped frames even while running simple chess games—to open a browser and navigate the complex, UI-heavy web pages required for his daily tasks.

The cursor moved as if suffering from a progressive disease, each response delayed enough to drive a man mad. Occasionally, clicking an option would trigger an animation that sent the entire system into a stuttering freeze.

Ryotaro Todo kept a stoic face; this was his accustomed work routine.

Ten years ago, in response to an environmental policy issued by the central government, the Metropolitan Police Department had ruthlessly slashed the office budget to the bone.

To set an example for the public, they not only required officers to commute by bicycle but also mandated that all equipment, which should have been replaced annually, remain in service until it was utterly beyond repair.

Thinking of Police Superintendent Kirishima—a man over seventy—leading by example, opting for a bike ride from Adachi Ward to headquarters every morning at six instead of taking a luxury car... even though the department was full of grievances, with such a role model, everyone had to suffer in silence.

Only the agents within the "S.T.F." knew that while the old man was over seventy, he hailed from a lineage of Shinto priests, mastered numerous secret incantations for exorcising evil spirits, and had even traveled to Maoshan in China during his youth to study Taoist arts and martial arts for half a lifetime. He could subdue a fully armed counter-terrorism squad with his bare hands. It was said that even the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police had to bow when meeting him in private.

But it is worth noting that... members of the "S.T.F." all possessed traits that far exceeded those of ordinary people—or, in layman's terms, "superpowers."

However, unlike the spontaneous or passive awakenings seen in manga, novels, or films, the application of this supernatural power was built upon "intelligence."

Through "intelligence"—that is, utilizing the research findings of the S.T.F. over its century of existence regarding countless myths and legends—they attempted to establish contact with those cognitive entities, seeking power or commanding them to fight through a system of trade.

For instance, the team leader next to An Li-Tou, Ryotaro Todo, who had worked diligently in this position for over a decade, kept a *yamawaro* nourished with rice balls every day.

...

Ryotaro Todo noticed An Li-Tou’s movements.
This guy was late, just as he thought.

Ryotaro Todo had worked in this office for far too long; he was intimately familiar with everything here and could instinctively sense even the smallest change in the positioning of a desk or chair.

He retracted his gaze without a word, choosing not to lecture him with the air of a senior.

Regarding this young man, who had been promoted from the Kyushu branch to the central office last month and granted an exceptional transfer into the S.T.F. First Action Group, his deepest impression was actually...

An Li-Tou was excellent at making coffee.

It was said that this was a skill he had honed specifically to cater to his superiors' tastes during his internship at the Kyushu branch.

Yesterday, Todo had finally found the chance to taste a cup, and he could indeed feel the research and time this new colleague had poured into the craft.

Ryotaro Todo looked at An Li-Tou again, who seemed driven by guilt as he focused intently on battling his ancient computer, and couldn't help but frown.

Is it his imagination? Tou-kun... seems to have become more cheerful than before?

...

The previous owner of the seat under An Li-Tou was "Hiiragi Oushin," the most famous genius *onmyoji* in the Kanto region and the former manager of the "Yotsuki" S.T.F. liaison office in Oushin-cho.

Hiiragi Oushin was the heir to the Hiiragi family and had become the leader of the First Action Group at just twenty years old. Following a standard career path, she would have naturally become the next "Grand Commander" of the S.T.F. after Superintendent Kirishima retired.

The "Hiiragi family" referred to a lineage of *onmyoji* famous in the Edo area for centuries, possessing innate spirit eyes, extraordinary beauty, and superb spiritual power.

But this unnatural talent came at a price. According to records, every heir to the Hiiragi family encountered misfortune as they approached middle age.

According to the confession of the second head of the Hiiragi family, their first few ancestors had intermarried with *yokai*, granting their descendants that ethereal beauty. Yet, this taboo act invited a curse from the heavens, condemning every subsequent generation to be consumed by inescapable doom...

Perhaps that alone wouldn't be considered much of a "punishment."

But consider this: they were born as anomalous beings—part human, part urban legend—unable to conceive children with normal humans and unable to marry into other *yokai* lineages...

In the well-preserved historical documents of the S.T.F., one could find that every other generation of the Hiiragi heirs experienced a leap in beauty and talent due to the concentration of different *yokai* bloodlines, but this was always accompanied by an earlier and more intense arrival of misfortune.

This resulted in the lifespans of the Hiiragi descendants becoming shorter and shorter, until one day, in a sudden and unannounced moment, the bloodline that had defied the taboo would simply cease to exist.

Ryotaro Todo recalled the super-sister-complex girl who used to sit beside him, constantly pulling out her phone to chat via video with her younger sister, chattering away before the mic.

They were always plain, boring, and repetitive ramblings that one might find annoying: "Did O-chan skip class again today?" "Did O-chan meet any boys she likes at school?" "Big sister has to work overtime tonight, so you must eat well," "Even if you're by yourself, O-chan, make sure to get home safely"...

It was the kind of heavy, overbearing concern that most people would find unbearable.

But the girl on the other end of the line, named "Hiiragi O-o," would always respond with endless patience.

Those words spoken in the past became threads that not even time could sever, wrapping around a wish like a silkworm cocoon, making one believe that, truly, one day she would break out and transform into a butterfly.

But thinking back now, everything had long since changed.

Ryotaro Todo could never forget that night at the end of winter, when a battered Superintendent Kirishima pushed open the frosted doors.

His dull, lifeless eyes seemed to be covered in frost, filled with such grief and sorrow that he appeared to have aged several years in an instant.

"Todo, the First Group has confirmed the repelling of the 'Yuki-onna,' correct?"

"Reporting, Superintendent! The First Group has successfully repelled the 'Yuki-onna'!"

"From now on, you are the leader of the First Group. Go home and get some rest. Tomorrow, come with me to go through the promotion process."

"Miss Hiiragi, she..."

"The Hiiragi family's misfortune has come."

"She was only twenty-one..."

"Yes. She was supposed to lead the charge for this year's 'Maple Leaf Hunt' after autumn," the Superintendent said in a low voice. "But the Hiiragi estate has already been submerged in the deepest part of the 'Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.' Fortunately, the ones invading here are just stragglers drawn by the scent of containment objects and their own kind; their strength is nothing exceptional."

"Since it's winter, why did the 'Night Parade' happen early?!" Ryotaro Todo felt a surge of resentment as he remembered the group of *yokai* that had raided headquarters.

"Disaster is like that—it arrives in forms humans cannot comprehend. Countless minute details that we were unaware of or never noticed in the past were ignited at this very moment, forming this irreparable accident like an avalanche... If one oversteps the rules set by the Age of Gods, one must bear the corresponding price. This is the lesson from two hundred years ago; we must take it as a warning."

"..."

...

The office windows were open.

The cold air of early spring curled inside, causing the unbound printouts to rustle.

An Li-Tou stretched, slumped listlessly in his office chair.

Today was Monday, and the S.T.F.'s morning routine was to organize combat supplies.

It sounded like something that should be entirely handled by the Logistics Department, right?

But that was not the case. Every S.T.F. agent had a completely different combat style, faced different tasks, and worked with different urban legends or *yokai*. It would be a tall order to expect the Logistics Department, which lacked the necessary training, to handle this.

So, the S.T.F. agents had to spend the entire morning on Mondays going through the classified mission files sent over by the Intelligence Bureau, cross-referencing mission details to organize their own combat supply lists for the coming week, and then submitting them to Logistics.

It was truly a task boring enough to induce sleep.

After all, even after listing every minute detail, most of the day was spent idling around various city blocks on bicycles or in patrol cars.

It wasn't as if cases of *yokai* harming humans happened every single day.

The full name of the First Action Group was the "S.T.F. Special Suppression Combat Group for Yokai Incidents."

Their primary enemies were, of course, cognitive entities like *yokai*.

Urban legends related to the paranormal were the targets assigned to the Second Action Group.

An Li-Tou rested his neck against the chair's cushion, preparing to slack off for a while, when Ryotaro Todo’s concerned voice came from beside him.

"Tou-kun, have you finished your list?"

"Reporting, Team Leader Todo. I don't have any cognitive entities I'm currently collaborating with, so I only need to request some charms for exorcising anomalies and some standard firearms and ammunition."

"How leisurely. Where are you planning to eat for lunch?"

"I don't have a wife to make me a bento like you, Team Leader. I’ll just have to make do with the cafeteria."

"Is that so? At your age, you should hurry up and find a girlfriend. Otherwise, in a few years, you'll be stuck waiting for matchmaking sessions."

"..."

It was lunch time, and the colleagues in the office left one after another, yawning.

Ryotaro Todo opened his drawer, took out his thermal lunch box, and pulled out his phone to start a video call with his wife.

An Li-Tou keenly caught the heavy scent of love in the air. Despite his lingering drowsiness, he stood up lazily and walked crookedly out of the office.

...

The afternoon sunlight slanted through the corridor windows, laying flat on the floor in neat, square patches. Where it touched the base of the walls, it curved upward; the walls were a pale blue, like the sky of early spring, and the sunlight turned into a hazy green there, before shifting into a faint, purplish red in the instant before it vanished.

The empty corridor echoed with the immature, struggling, and contradictory inner monologue of a young boy.

One could tell at a glance that it was Shinji Ikari from *Evangelion*.

An Li-Tou looked in the direction of the sound and saw an old man in a kimono holding a tablet computer, walking while intently watching the flickering images on the screen.

"Good afternoon, Superintendent Kirishima!" He stomped his leather shoes, creating a crisp sound, and stood tall, projecting the high morale of an elite special police officer.

"Oh, it’s Tou-kun from the First Group..." Kirishima pressed the pause button and looked up at the man in the suit. "No need to be so formal. You’ve come at just the right time; I have a mission of the utmost importance to arrange for you."

"Always ready to sacrifice for the citizens!"

"Please rest assured, it is not a particularly dangerous task."

Kirishima held the tablet and deliberately slowed his pace to walk beside An Li-Tou.

An Li-Tou followed suit, not daring to walk side-by-side with Kirishima.

The aged Superintendent felt helpless but spoke to him anyway.

"You must have heard of the prestigious *onmyoji* family... the Hiiragi family, right?"

"An hour ago, an agent from the Intelligence Bureau discovered the whereabouts of the Hiiragi family's youngest daughter, who was supposed to have perished in the 'Night Parade of One Hundred Demons,' in the vicinity of Oushin-cho."