Chapter 105

3. The ●●● God

A phone rang out from the back of the café. A female staff member picked up the receiver and raised her voice.

"Is Mr. Katagishi here?"

We stiffened. The woman looked around the café and said,

"It's a call from Mr. Miwasaki."

Katagishi finally relaxed his expression.

"I told him I'd be here. I'm going to take it."

He took the lead. The smell of burning grew stronger. As if surrounded by ghosts that had burned to death, the scent of scorched hair and flesh seeped out, mixed with the smoke.

After what felt like an eternity, Katagishi returned.

"Seems like they figured out the last place Fukagawa disappeared. Can you go?"

I nodded firmly.

When we stepped outside, the rain had stopped. Though the air was damp, only around me did it feel so dry that my cheeks stung.

A white van slid in and stopped in front of us. Miwasaki was in the driver's seat, and Rokuhara was in the passenger seat. Katagishi groaned.

"Not the face I wanted to see on my day off."

The passenger window rolled down, and Rokuhara slightly moved his eyebrows.

"Would you be happy to see me at work then?"

"You heard that...?"

Urged along, we got into the car. It started moving the moment we fastened our seatbelts.

Droplets on the window peeled away, and it felt like watching the outside world through a waterfall.

Katagishi and I talked about what we discussed at the café and the documents we saw. The two in front listened quietly and then sighed at the same time.

"I get the part about the Territorial Divine Offenses in Tokyo. I've felt the same unease here that I did when I saw a god back home."

"As for Kirima... he doesn't seem like the type to do something like that. Not that I'm doubting Miyaki."

"I want to believe there's some reason too. If possible, I'd like to meet and talk."

Rokuhara interjected calmly.

"Even if you talk, there's no guarantee you'll hear the truth. It's better not to make contact now. Katagishi, you be careful too."

"Why am I being dragged into this?"

"Don't you have thoughts about the people who were spirited away?"

Katagishi leaned his elbow on the car window and looked away.

If there really was a god who could erase humans, then Misaki's disappearance—his wife—might be connected too. Just when he had finally come to terms with it, I brought it all back up again.

If I got him involved, they might never get the chance to meet again. That was the one thing I absolutely couldn't let happen.

The wipers swept away the droplets on the windshield like wiping away tears. I stared straight ahead.

"Where are we headed now?"

"To the underground bunker of the Army Headquarters in Ichigaya."

"The air-raid shelter built during World War II in preparation for a mainland battle?"

"Yeah. You've heard how the Cold War almost escalated into World War III twenty years ago, right? Off the record, they secretly connected the Imperial Palace to the bunker just in case."

"Are we allowed to enter without permission?"

"Normally, no. But apparently Sumida and Fukagawa found a hidden passage."

Miwasaki turned the steering wheel and veered onto a side road. The buildings on either side gave way to deep green trees, and a silence filled the space as if the city's noise had been absorbed.

After driving for a while, a continuous sand-colored wall appeared. Fallen stone lanterns lined the roadside at regular intervals. Rokuhara glanced out the window.

"To hide the bunker, they disguised it as a Japanese garden and placed lanterns over the air vents. They say this is also where the decision to accept the Potsdam Declaration was made."

"So they buried a new spark at the site of the war's end."

Katagishi spat the words out.

The car stopped in front of a round hole in the sand-colored wall.

"Here we are. Someone stay behind to keep watch."

Katagishi said as he unfastened his seatbelt.

"Rokuhara, you stay."

"Why?"

"If something happens to both of us, what about Misaki?"

Rokuhara slightly furrowed his brows and lowered his gaze instead of nodding.

When we got out of the car, a hot wind hit us. The area was windless. From the round hole in the wall, air like that from a high-temperature furnace leaked out.

To show Katagishi, who looked at me anxiously, that I was okay, I stepped in first.

In the dark underground tunnel, the sound of dripping water and our footsteps echoed.

Katagishi turned on a penlight, cutting a circle of light into the darkness, revealing grimy gray walls. On the floor were small holes, possibly remnants of toilets.

The light swayed with our steps, illuminating rusted railings and unlit emergency lights.

Though the place should be humid, my tongue had been dry and my skin tingling for a while now. When I tried to speak, I choked as if ashes had clogged my throat.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, it's dusty in here..."

I laughed it off. More than dust, it smelled like ashes from a crematorium. It was as if freshly burned white soot was scattered around.

Written in black letters on the wall was "No Smoking." Miwasaki muttered,

"Right after the war, this place was under GHQ occupation. That's why there's English writing all over."

"I heard Japan didn't get it back until much later."

"Apparently they suddenly returned it seven years after regaining sovereignty. I wonder what changed their minds."

The round light revealed the word "Danger" on the wall. The smell of soot grew stronger. We walked on, scanning our surroundings. Katagishi pointed at the wall.

"That is..."

The light revealed countless English words. Caution, No Entry, Unknown Entity. Among the ominous words, one stood out in large red marker—"FIRE".

Distracted by the wall, I tripped on something. My toe had hit something softer than the floor. A dry crack, like breaking a dead branch, echoed.

"What is it?"

"No, something was at my feet..."

The penlight shone directly downward. What I had just kicked was clearly visible. My scream didn't come out, crushed by my parched throat.

Katagishi and Miwasaki rushed over and let out muffled voices.

Three black lumps leaned against the wall. Though shriveled and dried like charcoal, they still retained human form. The one I stepped on was missing its legs from the knees down, with the broken limbs lying nearby. Three burned corpses.

"No way..."

The light wavered with Katagishi's shock. The details of the two corpses side by side became visible. One still had three earrings deformed by heat. The other had a cameo from a melted bolo tie stuck to its chest.

"Sumida, Fukagawa..."

One question surfaced in my confused mind. Who was the third?

Before I could answer, a blinding light shone from behind. At the same time, a tremendous wave of heat surged.

Our escape route was blocked by a massive wall of roaring flames.

Miwasaki shouted sharply.

"Run!"

We all took off at once. The heat pressed against our backs. The air, thick with the smell of charred flesh and greasy smoke, choked our lungs.

A black cloud of soot rose up. The flames we passed through had burned Sumida and the others' bodies again.

Anger and sorrow blurred from lack of oxygen. I suppressed everything and just kept running.

The reflected flames lit the way ahead. A sturdy iron door stood before us.

I smelled my hair singeing. The Kindling God was right behind us.

"I'll open it."

Katagishi pushed the door. A slight gap opened just as the flames flickered before us.

The moment I felt the searing heat, I was shoved hard from behind.

Just as I realized Miwasaki had pushed me, I saw flames engulf him from behind.

"Miwasaki!"

Just before the door closed, Katagishi grabbed Miwasaki's arm as he was consumed by fire. The blinding flames were blocked by the steel door, and complete darkness enveloped us.