Chapter 318: The Vanished Fujino Terumi (Patreon)

The café's brass bell was still trembling faintly in the air. Kana's gaze followed that tall figure through the glass door until the noon sunlight swallowed him whole, and only then did she slowly pull her eyes back.

"Hey…"

A teasing whisper sounded beside her ear.

Her friend Mizuki leaned in and nudged her waist with an elbow, her eyes curved into two crescent moons.

"Back with us? He's long gone, you know."

"I-I wasn't…"

Kana's cheeks flushed red. She turned her head away and pretended to tidy the napkins and phone scattered across the table.

"Still saying no? You were staring at that super handsome gentleman for ages! He was so reliable when he saved people, and so cool, right? Gentle and powerful, a hero straight out of the legends! A hero rescues the maiden, love at first sight… pretty romantic, huh?"

The girl dragged out the end of every sentence, her tone full of mischief.

Kana said awkwardly, her face red, "N-No such thing! Stop making things up, Mizuki! I just admire him, that's all."

"Admiration and liking are only one step apart, you know. Ah, why didn't I think to ask for his contact info? What a waste…"

Mizuki sighed. She still hadn't figured out what had actually happened, but the part where a hero saved the girl, she had seen very clearly. It had looked just like something out of a fantasy.

"I can't!" Kana shook her head and said earnestly, "That gentleman obviously had something important to do. He even said he had urgent business. How could I just walk up and disturb his plans? Besides… he feels a little out of reach."

Her gaze fell on the café door.

The brass bell hung there quietly. Sunlight slanted in through the glass and lit up her face, which still held a trace of red.

"A person that gentle and strong is like a distant star."

He had burst into view like a savior, destroyed the monster with a few easy movements, and left gracefully without asking for any thanks. He was just like… Ultraman.

Kana clasped her hands to her chest, recalling the figure that had stepped forward, and a look of longing rose on her face.

"A star, huh…"

Mizuki propped her chin on her hand, tilted her head to study Kana's expression, and let out a soft sigh.

No wonder, really. That man's presence had been overwhelming. He hadn't done anything while standing there, yet he made people feel safe and trusting for no reason they could name, as if he could hold up the sky even if it came crashing down.

She stirred the ice in her glass, long since melted, and the teasing in her voice faded, giving way to sincere emotion.

"That feeling… how do I put it? You can't sum it up as just a racing heart. It's the feeling you get when you look at a towering, magnificent mountain range or a vast, boundless sea."

Kana nodded softly, cupping her cheeks in her hands, her eyes still carrying a lingering flush.

Then something seemed to come back to her, and she knit her brows slightly.

A moment ago, the ghost woman in the kimono, standing motionless, had closed in on her.

But the instant she saw Amamiya Rin standing in front of Kana, a flash of surprise and shock had plainly appeared on that lifeless, terrifying face.

It was as if she had run into an old acquaintance, someone dead who should never have appeared in this place.

Why would she make an expression like that?

A faint doubt stirred in Kana's mind.

But the doubt lingered for only a few seconds before she pushed it down.

Never mind. If it was a curse, it couldn't have been anything good. It had been wiped out so easily, which meant it wasn't anything serious.

It couldn't be that the curse had once killed that hero, could it?

She shook her head lightly.

Anyway, it had already been taken care of. There was no need to gild the lily and cause the hero trouble. When she made her report, she would just skip over that point.

After parting ways with Kirisaki Suimei and the two girls, Amamiya Rin drove alone to the apartment where Fujino Terumi lived.

The elevator took him straight to the right floor. Amamiya Rin walked up to the familiar door and knocked lightly.

"Knock, knock, knock."

The crisp sound echoed down the silent corridor. No one answered.

He paused briefly, then knocked again. The apartment remained dead silent.

Amamiya Rin frowned slightly, took out his phone and dialed Fujino Terumi's number.

The long beeps echoed over and over in the receiver. Once… twice… three times… and still no one picked up.

The call stayed in the ringing state from start to finish without anyone answering, then switched automatically to the cold, hollow tone of an unanswered call.

Amamiya Rin put his phone away, and the look in his eyes sank completely.

Something was wrong! There was definitely trouble!

Fujino Terumi was cautious by nature. Even when she was out working or shopping to unwind, she would never go this long without replying to messages or answering calls.

Especially since she was already tainted by a curse, she was always extremely careful about her own safety. She couldn't have lost contact for no reason.

Amamiya Rin pulled the spare key out of his pocket, the one Fujino Terumi had given him earlier.

He slid the key into the lock, turned it, and went inside.

The place was very tidy.

The shoes in the entryway were lined up neatly. The living room curtains were drawn halfway open, and sunlight came through the floor-to-ceiling window and fell across the coffee table.

On the table sat a cup of tea that had gone completely cold, the tea bag still steeping in it, a thin film floating on the surface. The sofa cushions were arranged properly, the TV was off, and there were no unwashed dishes in the kitchen sink.

The whole apartment was far too quiet. There was no breathing and no footsteps, and even the faint hum of appliances that usually lingered in the background had vanished completely.

His gaze swept the room, but he found no clue at all.

Clearly, Fujino Terumi had gone out normally and been struck down somewhere outside.

Amamiya Rin tapped his forehead lightly, feeling a bit helpless.

(She ran off to get herself killed. Who can she blame for that?)

A cold laugh came from the [Tomie Network]. It wasn't quite gloating, but it carried a good deal of anger and displeasure.

(Exactly. She knew she'd been marked by the Head Balloon, and she still went running around. Who does she think she is? Does she have nine lives?)

(We warned you ages ago not to waste so much time on her. She's just an ordinary idol. If she dies, she dies. What's there to care about?)

(Day in, day out, you're busy saving this one and that one, and for what? They don't even treat their own lives as important.)

(Rin, you spoil them too much. All that protecting and helping, and she couldn't even be bothered to stay in. She just ran out and handed over her head.)

(That's ordinary people for you. They never learn.)

(Come to think of it, that Mamiya Yuka is the same. A reporter who won't write her articles properly and insists on investigating paranormal incidents. And now she's missing. And you're going to go save her too, Rin? When will you learn to let go?)

(Everyone has their own fate. They throw themselves at danger, and you can stop one of them, but can you stop all of them?)

The Tomies' resentful voices echoed in Amamiya Rin's mind. They were furious.

Amamiya Rin ran around from morning to night, saving this person and that one, and even dragged the Tomies along with him.

And the result? They had found the cursed item to counter the Head Balloon, but Fujino Terumi had vanished. How could the Tomies not be livid?

Amamiya Rin listened to the voices churning in his head and smiled helplessly.

(She isn't a social outcast, after all.)

Amamiya Rin's thought rang calmly through the [Tomie Network].

(She's a rising idol with work, a social circle, an agency and fans. She can't have kept herself locked in her room forever. If she really hadn't shown up in public for three days straight, her manager would have called the police long ago… Wait!)

Amamiya Rin's gaze sharpened.

Social outcast… vanishing…

He remembered what Kirisaki Suimei had said, and the analysis he had seen in the Ultra Guard's archive.

The social curse [Vanishing]: according to the professionals' analysis, social outcasts fell within the scope of [Vanishing].

So what about Fujino Terumi, who could never go outside because the Head Balloon was watching her so closely? Was she a social outcast?

Clearly, Fujino Terumi also fit the target profile of this curse.

(If she goes out, the Head Balloon wrings her neck. If she stays home, she risks vanishing… Living in this world is hard for humans.)

Sharing Amamiya Rin's thoughts, the Tomies let out a sigh they would never have uttered before.

Amamiya Rin thought for a moment.

In a few short seconds, he settled on a plan.

(First, access the city police record and resident tracking system. Pull Fujino Terumi's movement records and surveillance trails for the past forty-eight hours, and see whether she was harmed after going out or vanished at home.)

Amamiya Rin submitted the request to the [Tomie Network]. With Mara Tomie's official authority, doing this was not difficult.

(You're being naive, dear. You know surveillance in this country isn't widespread.)

It might not be widespread, but if you really wanted to investigate, you could still dig up traces.

As he spoke, Amamiya Rin thought it over and felt he might be overestimating the police a little.

(But… relying on the police isn't safe either.)

Japanese police, well, you know how it is. By now the Ultra Guard should be somewhat better, but the matter they were about to handle might involve a world-ending curse, so they couldn't shift their attention onto this.

"The fortune-teller… the one from last time. Would her tarot reading work on curses?"

Amamiya Rin mused, then said calmly.

The Fortune-Telling Shop.

The afternoon sun squeezed through the gap in the curtains and cut a bright line across the dim room.

The two candles on the counter had burned down to nothing, the wax set into two lopsided white lumps. The skull ornament between them had been pushed into a corner and wore a thin layer of dust.

Behind the low table, the fortune-teller, now fully assimilated by Tomie cells, sat on the sofa with her legs crossed. The hem of her black gauze skirt hung to her ankles, and a few strands of long hair slid off her shoulder onto her arm.

She held a tarot card between her fingers, face outward, toward the young man and woman sitting across from her.

"The Lovers, reversed."

Her voice was lazy and cool, like an icicle hanging from a winter eave, clear and beautiful, yet carrying a chill that made people uneasy.

"The card says there's already a crack between you two. So, who was the first to cheat?"

Fortune-teller Tomie asked, smiling without really smiling, clearly enjoying herself.

The young man's face changed, and the young woman beside him immediately turned to look at him.

"What crack? We've always gotten along great."

The young woman said, a little uneasily.

Fortune-teller Tomie didn't answer. She just set the card back on the table, tapped its face lightly with a fingertip, then tilted her head to look at the young man.

"Sir, where were you on the night of the fifteenth last month?"

The young man's expression froze for a moment, and he stammered.

"The fifteenth? I was working overtime…"

"Overtime?"

The corners of Fortune-teller Tomie's lips slowly curved upward. The smile was like a datura in bloom, beautiful but laced with a malice that made the heart quail.

"But the card says that night you were at a love hotel, with someone who isn't her. Oh, and there are also the chat logs from the day before yesterday. They should still be on your phone, right? The contact saved as 'Client A.'"

"No! Wait! I didn't!"

The young man's face went completely pale. He turned to his girlfriend in a panic.

The young woman shot to her feet. She only had to watch her boyfriend's reaction to know whether the fortune-teller was telling the truth.

If it were false, how could he possibly react like that?

Smack!

Her face flushed red and her eyes filled with tears as she struck her boyfriend across the face with a resounding slap.

"We're through!"

The young man covered his face and tried to explain, but the young woman had already grabbed her bag, turned, and rushed out of the shop.

The room fell silent for two seconds.

The young man slowly lowered his hand. The panic and embarrassment on his face faded quickly, replaced by the numb indifference of someone who has stopped caring what happens next.

He didn't chase after her. He just turned to look at Witch Tomie.

His gaze slid from her face to her neck, then from her neck to her alluring collarbone.

"Um… Miss Fortune-teller."

A greasy smile spread across the young man's face.

"I, uh, for you…"

"Get out!"

Fortune-teller Tomie didn't even lift her eyelids as she cursed at him.

"What did you say?"

The young man was stunned.

"I said, you've provided plenty of entertainment, and now you can get out."

Fortune-teller Tomie raised her chin and looked at him with disgust.

"Clowns like you should at least check a mirror and see what kind of trash you are. Do you think you're qualified to sit here and talk to me? Qualified to look at me with that kind of gaze? I can smell the garbage on you from ten meters away. Now disappear from my sight."

Fortune-teller Tomie showed him no mercy at all. She tore into him until he fled the shop in disgrace.

"How delightful. Hehehehehe."

Fortune-teller Tomie leaned back on the sofa and gave a light hum, gathering the tarot cards from the table, a sharp smile still hanging at the corner of her mouth.

Lovers' quarrels were her way of killing time. So far, she had broken up more than thirty couples.

Then a thought dropped into her consciousness.

(Fortune-teller, I need a favor.)

(Our savior, contacting me alone for the first time, and it's only to ask for help? Not even a 'how was your day?' How heartless.)

Fortune-teller Tomie heaved a sigh with exaggerated hurt, striking an affected pose.

(Treated like a tool by the person closest to me. How could there be anyone in the world as pitiful as me?)