The Kojima Family Haunting (1)

Henry Kirishiki-Williams had seen a lot of disturbing thing in his time as an investigator, but he found that the vilest beings in the universe reveled in their torment of children.

Clad in a white uniform to complement his albino hair, Henry stood fleetingly in the middle of the Kojima’s living room. On the couch opposite him were two adults and a ten-year-old boy. Behind him stood exorcist Mari Tanaka, arms crossed and staring expectantly at the gathered family. Sitting on a chair in front of the boy was Karen Ikeda, a cat yokai with a full ensemble of feline ears and two tails.

It was late afternoon in the suburbs of Chiyoda City. At a time when most people would be wrapping up their work and heading towards the stations, their work had only just begun.

“Lessee here.”

He thumbed through the stack of papers he was holding, hastily examining each file in order.

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Subject: Haru Kojima, 10M
DOB: 15/7/2020
Parents:
Daisuke Kojima, 36M
Ritsuko Kojima, 35F
Address: XXZZ, Chiyoda City, Tokyo

Subject reported night terrors, hallucinations, and regular sightings of a tall entity in bedroom. Preliminary investigations and proxy divinations confirmed the presence of an Infestation in household. Identity of Anomaly unknown. Investigators, proceed with caution.

====

Karen turned to glare at him, but he merely smirked as if to say, ‘Of course I read the case. I’m just getting up to speed.’

Among the many supernatural threats an investigator could face, the greatest and most dangerous were Cursed Spirits. Curses, referred to formally as Anomalies, were mindless and dangerous entities pulled straight out of a creepypasta or horror novel. They came in many forms and wielded powers and abilities beyond the ken of lowly exorcists and yokai.

How troublesome indeed, he scratched his cheek.

A Cursed Spirit’s favorite food were humans, be it the tender meat attached to the bones, or the sumptuous life force stored in the soul. Unfortunately, human children were the most delectable morsel to their warped palates.

“He’s too scared to tell us anything,” Karen frowned. The black-haired cat yokai motioned towards the panic-stricken boy. “Permission to use my Horror, captain?”

“Sure. Go ahead,” Henry nodded to his cat-eared partner. She caught his gaze and turned towards the task at hand.

If exorcists had esoteric arts and blessings, yokai had the equivalent in Horrors. Horrors were the bread and butter of a yokai’s mystical repertoire. By accessing the origin of the world’s Fear, they could perform incredible feats and influence the world directly. Incidentally, Karen’s horrors were geared towards the altruistic sort- she excelled particularly in healing and removing malicious curses.

“It’s okay, dear,” she whispered calming sentiments as her kind eyes rested on the scared child. Behind the shining orbs of blue and green, a supernatural aura of calm extended its influence over the room. “Everything is going to be alright. We won’t hurt you. You can trust us.”

Henry admired Karen’s handiwork. He had seen it many times before, but she always looked impeccably cute and professional when performing her little tricks, especially in her bureau-issued uniform.

Haru Kojima shifted uncomfortably on the living room couch. His face was pale and sullen, and his eyes were sunken from lack of sleep. There was a palpable sense of fear and unease radiating from his small frame. He glanced furtively at his parents who were seated on both of his sides before returning towards Karen’s hypnotic gaze. Immediately he felt the fear drain out of him, replaced by a clarity and peace that he hadn’t felt in days.

“Please tell us everything you know,” Karen smiled.

“Go on, son. Tell them what you told us.” The parents prodded him to speak, and he reluctantly opened mouth.

"I... I can't sleep,” he averted his gaze. “I haven't been able to sleep since that day," he looks down to the ground. "Ever since that man followed me home."

"Whenever I do, I have dreams... Dreams where something is chasing me. And no matter what I do it keeps finding me." He covered his eyes, shaking as he recalled the memories.

Henry narrowed his eyes in thought. Whatever's riled up this poor boy seemed to be causing him a great deal of mental and emotional anguish. There was also the fact that all of this started after he met something, and that something followed him home. That alone greatly narrowed down the list of suspects in his mind.

This is… problematic.

"We've seen things move," the mother added. "Doors slamming shut, things suddenly flying off the kitchen counter. My husband said he saw a tall shadow figure in the hallway. I’ve never really believed in ghosts, but now... I’m not so sure myself."

If this was your run-of-the-mill ghost, this case would be shut and closed.

“Hey rookie,” Henry leaned towards the one other person in the room, the junior exorcist named Mari who had been observing silently until now. “What type of Anomaly do you think we’re dealing with?”

Mari stared at him quizzically. She crossed her arms in thought, sifting through the list of anomalies she had been briefed on.

“First thing that comes to mind, come on,” Henry bumped her on the shoulder. “Didn’t they teach you this in exorcist school?”

“A Ghoul?” Mari answered. “Or maybe a Shade?”

“Ten points,” Henry smiled as Mari’s face lit up.

“Out of one hundred.”

Mari’s smile disappeared.

“Ghouls are notoriously idiotic,” he explained. “They aren’t smart enough to terrorize someone over the long term, and they suck at hiding. If it was a Ghoul, the preliminary team would have found it by now.”

Ghouls were the most common type of Cursed Spirit, resembling humanoids with warped often twisted features. Most Ghouls were typically harmless, but some were known to take great interest in people, following them home or stalking them for weeks on end.

“Shades are a good guess. They can disappear from sight and mimic a classic haunting. Only, we’d be seeing temperature fluctuations all over the place if that were the case.”

Shades, on the other hand, were humanoid shadow-like entities often seen from the corner of one’s eyes as moving shapes or shadow figures. They were a nasty sort and tended to suffocate their victims by wrapping themselves around their heads and sapping the heat from their bodies.

“I see, well, thank you for the wisdom, captain,” Mari sighed. “So, what do you think it is then?”

“Based on what kid told us-“

THUD

There was a loud thud from the adjacent corridor.

Haru yelped in surprise, dispelling Karen’s hypnotic gaze. Everyone looked towards the hallway where the sound came from. Henry glanced just in time to see a flash of movement retreat behind the plaster wall.

“It’s him, it’s him!” Haru began crying. He grasped firmly onto his mother’s arm, refusing to let go. “It’s the man. Please don’t let him take me! Please!”

“Mari, you’re with me,” Henry ordered. “Karen, you stay here protect the family.”

“Yes, captain.”

“That works for me.”