Judges

“Emotional manipulation can be a side effect of possession. Sometimes the ghost takes over. But…”

Naoya frowned. “But what?”

“I’m not sure you want to know. Come on. We need to talk to the Judges.”

Aki held out a hand and gifted Naoya a soft smile. Naoya took it to stand up, not so secretly happy that Aki didn’t seem to be mad at his sudden outburst of affection.

“I do want to know, though.”

“Alright. Strong emotions like love or hate can only bleed through like this, if the individual is already feeling them to some degree.”

Naoya nodded. “I understand. I’m sorry.”

Aki shook his head. “No need to be sorry. It’s not your fault. And I won’t be mad if it happens again, I promise.”

“Mhm.”

Naoya followed Aki out of the room and back to the elevator. This far underground, there was no way to tell the time of day. The elevator went down even further this time. Naoya stared at the back of Aki’s head. As everything else, the man was still a mystery to him. But he felt like a genuinely good person, even if his female form was quite rough. What had Kazu said? They were selected that way? If they really were ghosts, that made some sort of sense.

Naoya could only imagine a few reasons to linger as a soul, most of all unfinished business. And that could be helping people left behind or… well, hurting them. Looking at the work this organisation did, keeping the ones on a revenge mission wouldn’t be all that conductive.

“Why did your ghost remain close to the living world?” Naoya asked.

Aki looked over his shoulder. “I’m not sure. But I think I just wasn’t ready to go yet. You haven’t done much by the age of sixteen either, right?”

“And your sister?”

Aki looked away again. Naoya saw his shoulders tense.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t ask these things.”

“No, it’s… it’s fine. It seems she was ready to go. I looked for her, I think. Maybe. The memories as a ghost are hazy at best. Ruri thinks I wear her face in the Deadrealm because I miss her.”

Naoya reached out and embraced Aki from behind, leaned his forehead against Aki’s back.

“I’ll do anything to help you see your mother again. I promise.”

“Thank you,” Aki replied just as the elevator doors opened.

The space behind them wasn’t a room at all. It was an endless plane, white and shimmering. The blinding brightness of the floor stood in stark contrast to the dark sky stretching out above them. Naoya turned around to see the elevator doors close and disappear to leave them stand alone in this vast nothingness. No, not completely alone. Ruri was also there. Naoya greeted her, uncomfortably shifting when she took in his new scratches.

“Still alive, I see. And without an eyepatch?” Ruri asked.

“We’ve come to an accord,” Naoya said.

“I see. Surprising, but not impossible. So, you must know we’re all souls with such a strong desire to stay alive, that we possessed the living. But possession is a strong crime, even done out of desperation. After being exorcised, there was a choice: Go to a place that’s not unlike hell, or help to protect this world for a time, with the promise of reincarnation,” Ruri said, confirming what Aki had explained. “The Judge who gave that choice is choosing to speak to you, even though you are still living."

The implication was clear: Don’t misbehave in front of this Judge between life and death.

“I will try my best,” he said.

The floor under their feet rippled in circles like drops in water. A few meters in front of the group, one by one, three child-like figures rose from the shimmering surface. Their skin was white and hairless, with pointed ears and no face. They wore white, long-sleeved kimonos… and Naoya realised with a start that they were bound right over left. They hovered above the ground, like sharks waiting to strike.

“Sekiguchi Naoya.”

A voice rang out from everywhere at once. The overwhelming presence of it, made Naoya’s knees weak and he dropped to the floor.

“Present,” he said meekly.

“We have learned of the situation and need to make a judgement. Step into the light.”

A circle appeared on the ground, glowing in an ominous red. Naoya looked to Aki, who nodded at him, and he walked forward with shaky steps. It didn’t feel any different to stand in the light, but the glow it casted on the three Judges was… unnerving.

“I see you’ve already fulfilled part of the bargain I am about to propose on your own. Hinako has to cooperate to let Naoya perform the tasks to free her soul, and they have already formed an agreement.”

Ruri raised her eyebrows as she looked at Naoya, who shrugged.

“I thought… she’s Aki’s mother after all. I ought to talk to her, since I know she must not want to harm him or his friend in error.”

Ruri laughed. “I see. Well, then, I take it the next part of the bargain will be easy to agree to.”

“Naoya Sekiguchi has to agree to perform deeds in service of the organisation, which will count towards the redemption of Hinako, who is currently possessing him. If he doesn’t agree, Hinako will be exorcised on the spot.”

A sudden stinging pain in Naoya’s eye made him fall to his knees. Aki surged forward, but Ruri held him back and shook her head.

“But I cannot perform the feats that they do. They are… I’m not capable of this magic. I saw them fly and—”

“Everyone can use the tools and perform these feats of… you could call it magic or supernatural powers,” Ruri explained. “Using the natural energy of this world to perform magic. This is what these talismans are for.”

Naoya looked at the paper that Ruri handed to him.

“But living people should not come into the Deadrealm, since ghosts are drawn to them. We are ghosts ourselves and disguise ourselves even further,” she continued and tapped the cat mask on her arm.

“But if everyone in the living world knew about this… wouldn’t they be able to help?” Naoya asked.

“We tried that. It ended in disaster,” the Judges answered as one. “We will make a special exception for Naoya, since he is willing to help.”

“We have human informants, though,” Ruri said. “They’re monitoring surges in pictures of certain locations on social media, or telling us about large aggregations of tourists for events and other happenings.”

“Uh. Okay? How does that help?”

Ruri looked at Aki. “You haven’t explained yet?”

“I didn’t know he’d join us in the field until some hours ago.”

“Explain what?” Naoya asked.

“Do it on site. It’ll be easier. For now, we have reached an agreement. I thank the Judge for their lenient decision.”

Naoya bowed when Ruri and Aki did. The Judges wordlessly sunk into the floor and the space immediately became darker. Naoya slowly rose to his feet.

“Get some rest. We will start sending you out with the incident team from tomorrow on.”

“Tomorrow?” Naoya blurted out. “I… I…”

“Willing participation counts towards the goal, even if you’re not on the frontlines,” Aki explained. “We’ll take it easy.”