When Fairytale Became Reality

Ryuji sat alone in a gray room without any windows. Two chairs and a small coffee table, both made of sturdy gray plastic.

This wasn’t the police station.

He was in Chiyoda.

Shinyocho, Public Safety Bureau.

He asked, and they kept silent.

Sayuri-san.

Yukiharu-san

Yukihana-ikka.

Man in dark gray jinbei

Yuki-onna like person who saved them.

The metal door clicked and opened. Towering man with rough beard with dominant scar on his left forehead squeezed through the door. The suitcase in his hand made it look like a purse.

“Egawa, Shinyocho Special Affairs Division.” He stated and sat across from him. The plastic chair bent under his weight.

He opened the suitcase and glanced at Ryuji, then slipped on a pair of glasses.

“Tell me what you saw. Minato-kun.”

- - -

He told him everything - the kidnap, the showdown, except his hunch that the yuki-onna who saved him and Sayuri-san was actually Yukiharu-san.

The Agent tapped his pen against the clipboard and sparsely took notes as if he already knew most of them, not if more.

Ryuji already had suspicion that the government knew what was going to happen at the festival. The heavy police presence and the speed they responded to the scene was incredibly fast.

“Miato-kun,” the agent placed the clipboard and the pen on his lap and leaned forward. His bulky frame took up the entire table. “How did you fight a yakuza lieutenant toe to toe?”

“I didn’t… I used my omamori…”

The agent cut in. “Are you aware of the danger of using that “omamori”?”

Ryuji kept his silence. He wanted to hear from the agent.

“What you have is a hyaku-bakki called Suiryu-no-Oroko, Water Dragon’s Scale. It once belonged to a Yakuza clan named Suiryu-kai.” His glasses caught the light.

“Four months ago, the clan’s leadership were murdered, all encased in ice, and the scale went missing.” He tapped the table with his index finger. The plastic table creaked under pressure. “Now, it is in your hands. Where did you get it?”

Ryuji swallowed.

Somehow, this was no longer about the fireworks. It was about Ryuji and the scale.

“It came in the mail.” He answered honestly. “I thought it was a gift.”

“…in a mail?” he let out an incredulous sigh and leaned back to his chair. “You are lucky to be alive.”

“I’ve read about Tsugumogami before. I thought…”

“What do you know about Tsugumogami?”

“They are over hundred-year-old objects been in great a care or abandonment and gained a spirit. It requires a purification ritual, mostly to release its spirit from the object. So it does not gain resentment or proper disposal.”

Egawa scratched his gruffly chin.

“Based on the name Hyaku-bakki, what do you infer?”

“It sounds like bakki that is over hundred years old?”

“Correct.” He said it flatly. “Unlike omamori or bakki, Hyaku-bakki are charms that survived for over hundred years and now its spirit has ascended into a new level that is not easily controlled by a mortal. Instead of the wielder choosing whether it can bind it or not, it chooses its wielder. If you try to force the binding, you can either get possessed or killed.”

Cold sweat beaded on Ryuji’s forehead, realizing what he had could have killed him.

“Shinyo high was created to train wielders and categorize unregistered bakki.”

Ryuji blinked.

Egawa took out a cigarette, asked for Ryuji’s permission to smoke. He answered with two hands gestures to go ahead.

“Appreciated.” He lit one and puffed away from Ryuji. “Minato-kun, what did you learn about the 1973 oil crisis?”

He noticed the smoke had herbal scent on it like incense. The smoke was thick like cream and lingered in the room like dense fog.

The sudden change of topic caught him off guard. It was actually in the final’s exam.

“OAPEC created an oil trade embargo against Japan in retaliation to supporting Israel. It resulted in a sudden spike in oil price.”

“Then?” he puffed.

“The government created a Raiden Company with Ryujin’s blessings to stabilize the grid and almost eliminate oil dependency in electricity. They consolidated all the private electric companies under its name in the following years."

“Are you aware of its consequences?” The agent shifted in his chair.

“Um…” Ryuji had to think. He wasn’t expecting to be brought all the way to be tested in history.

“They used kami to stabilize the economy?”

“Close.” Egawa adjusted and took out a portable ashtray from his pocket to collect the ash. “The government announced its use of kami and constituted laws to protect kami blessing use as a national asset.”

Ryuji tilted his head.

“Japan announced to the world that kami existed and their powers were enough to survive and thrive in the oil shock. It forced the rest of the world to reveal their own kami - or whatever they called them - into the light.” He leaned forward.

“In short, fairytale became reality.” He tapped the ash into the pocket tray.

He’d grown up believing that was normal.

“You might take those for granted because you were born after that period. It changed the world.” He drew another cigarette.

“During the postwar reconstruction, many relics from across Japan were catalogued and quietly transported overseas before anyone understood their spiritual value.”

He lit a second one. The room was stacked high with dense smog.

“The government restructured its former programs and created Shinyocho. Then it rapidly deployed new systems for protection and classification of spiritual assets.”

“You are now a national asset.” He pointed at Ryuji.

Ryuji coughed.

“May I stand?” He asked, the agent nodded.

The whole thing was crazy.

National asset. The smoke and the idea made his head spin.

This must be a mistake.

The scale is tiny.

Imagination is the limitation, janitor’s wisdom echoed in his ears.

Then what about Yukiharu-san’s ice at the fireworks… was that a national asset too?

How many more of these are at school?

His brain flooded with riddles.

Ryuji leaned against the plastic chair; its legs screeched against the floor.

The agent sat in silence across the table until Ryuji eased back in.

“Are you calm now?” He asked.

Ryuji nodded.

“Good. Here’s what’s going to happen.” The agent switched gears as if he was delivering a sentence.

“You will be held here for a week for some reports and assessment. Then you will be sent to Chiba to your family. You are not allowed to communicate with anyone related to the fireworks festival. Your parents are already informed and during your stay an agent will be assigned to watch over you from the shadows.”

The fog slowly lifted.

“You are to take great care of the hyaku-bakki in the meantime. Maintain it but do not bind it until the second semester starts.” His hand hovered to the open suitcase.

“One more thing.”

The agent's voice stayed leveled.

“You will not speak about the fireworks incident. Not to classmates. Not to teachers. Not to anyone.”

He took out a thin folder from the suitcase and handed it to Ryuji.

“The official report will state that some civilian survivors were transported to the hospital for recovery. That survivor is you. If anyone asks, that is the only story you give.”

He sorted the files and things back into the suitcase without wasting a movement.

“Your statement will imply the gang members did not survive. That is sufficient for the public.”

He doesn’t blink.

“Do not deviate from the file.”

It took a moment for Ryuji to process what he just heard.

Yukiharu-san traded those men’s lives for his and Sayuri-san’s.

He prayed Yukiharu-san was okay.