For several days in a row, Miwako Sato appeared at the gates of Sobu High School. Leaning against her police car, her sharp gaze, like a hawk's, was fixed firmly on that one figure in the stream of students leaving school—Kanjuro.
Kanjuro, this being bound to an eighteen-year-old body by an eternal curse, not only didn't avoid her but actively walked toward her. With that gentle smile on his face that seemed capable of melting ice and snow, he calmly approached Sato.
"Officer Sato, is this about the case again? You really are... persistent." Kanjuro's tone carried a hint of lazy teasing.
Miwako Sato took a deep breath, suppressing the inexplicable flutter in her heart caused by his proximity, and immediately threw out the most crucial and unsettling discovery from her days of investigation: "Kanjuro, stop pretending! I checked! Yui Yuigahama, Miura Yumiko, Ebina Hina, and that Tsurumi Rumi! All of them, starting from their birth records, have a blank or 'unknown' entry in the father column! This absolutely cannot be a coincidence! Who exactly are you? Why are so many fatherless girls gathered specifically around you?!"
She stared intently into Kanjuro's eyes, trying to find a flaw in those deep pupils.
However, Kanjuro's reaction completely exceeded her expectations.
After a brief silence, Kanjuro first let out a low chuckle, which quickly grew louder, finally turning into an almost uncontrollable burst of maniacal and mocking laughter! He laughed so hard his shoulders trembled, as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.
"Haha... Hahaha... As expected of Officer Sato, your investigation truly is... thorough!" Kanjuro managed to stop laughing, wiping away the tears of mirth with the back of his hand, but his gaze instantly became cold and dangerous. He leaned close to Sato, his voice extremely low and imbued with a spine-chilling magnetism: "You know... far too much."
Intimidated by his presence, Miwako Sato subconsciously took half a step back, then forced herself to remain calm and demanded sternly, "Who exactly are you?!"
Kanjuro tilted his head, flashing a smile that was almost innocent yet incredibly wicked and charming: "Do you want to know?"
"Yes!" Sato replied without hesitation.
"Very well." Kanjuro's smile grew brighter, yet also more terrifying. "Then I'll tell you—the missing insects at the elementary school camp, and those previous... well, disobedient trash, I cleaned them all up. I am the killer."
He spread his hands, adopting a defenseless posture, his tone as light as if discussing the weather:
"Now, you can send people to arrest me, Officer Sato."
Miwako Sato felt like she had been struck by lightning. She froze on the spot, her mind blank. She had envisioned countless scenarios where Kanjuro would argue, deny, or even threaten her, but she never expected him to admit it so directly, so brazenly?!
"You... you admitted it?!" She practically hissed the words through clenched teeth.
"Of course, I am always honest." Kanjuro elegantly adjusted the collar of his school uniform. "Well then, I await your 'arrest warrant,' Officer Sato. I hope... you won't make me wait too long." Having said that, he turned away from the pale-faced Miwako Sato and strolled leisurely into the still-bustling street, as if he had just completed the most ordinary daily conversation.
Miwako Sato stood rooted to the spot, her chest heaving violently, only snapping back to reality after several seconds. Her hands and feet were practically freezing as she rushed back to the police car, started the engine, and drove like a maniac toward the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. She had to apply for an arrest warrant immediately! Whether Kanjuro was insane or relying on something else, he had confessed!
After leaving Sato's sight, Kanjuro did not go home but went straight to a secluded lounge near the school's faculty office. A curvaceous woman wearing a business suit that couldn't hide her alluring charm was waiting there—Morimoto Leona, the daughter of the Morimoto Family, and also one of Kanjuro's "women." She used her family's influence to hold a nominal position at the school, making it convenient to spend time with him.
"Darling, looks like you've found a new 'prey'?" Morimoto Leona smiled lightly as she approached Kanjuro, her slender fingers tracing his chest, her tone playful. "That female officer is quite attractive, but her eyes are too stubborn. She doesn't look like she'll obediently listen."
Kanjuro allowed her to lean in, a cold arc curving his lips: "An annoying insect who keeps investigating me, making things bothersome. I just told her directly that I am the killer."
Hearing this, Morimoto Leona was not surprised; instead, she laughed heartily: "How wicked of you~ But that's what makes it fun. Do you need me to help 'handle' the internal noise at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department? After all, our Morimoto Family still holds some weight in this island nation." Her tone carried absolute confidence and arrogance, as if the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department were merely her backyard.
"This is exactly when I need your help." Kanjuro reached out and wrapped his arm around Morimoto Leona's slender yet strong waist, pulling her into his embrace. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, his voice like the devil's murmur, "Doesn't Officer Sato really want to know why my 'daughters' all lack fathers in their records?"
A dark light flickered in his eyes, a sign that the authority of the [Thousand Faces Garment] was being quietly invoked.
"She will soon... experience it for herself." Inside the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the lights were bright, yet an invisible cold current seemed to sweep through Investigative Division One, where Miwako Sato was.
She practically burst into her superior's office, her chest heaving with excitement and anger, and reported everything—how Kanjuro had personally admitted to his crimes at the school gate, and her suspicions regarding the connection between these "fatherless girls" and Kanjuro. Her words were earnest, her logic clear, and her eyes shone with an unquestionable light in pursuit of the truth.
"Chief Superintendent! Kanjuro has confessed in person! This is a major breakthrough! I request an immediate arrest warrant and a thorough investigation into him! There's likely much more behind this..."
However, her words were cut short by her superior behind the desk, who looked solemn and even carried a trace of imperceptible fatigue and wariness as he raised his hand.
"Officer Sato." The Chief Superintendent's voice was low and carried an unquestionable authority. "Regarding Kanjuro, the Campsite Disappearance Case you're investigating, and the other connections you mentioned... it ends here."
Miwako Sato was stunned, as if she hadn't heard correctly. "...What? Chief Superintendent, what do you mean?"
"It means stop all investigations into Kanjuro and his associates. The higher-ups have already decided to... terminate this case." The Chief Superintendent gently pushed a document that had just arrived, stamped by an even higher level, toward her. "All files are to be sealed, and the public statement will be that the investigation has reached a stalemate and is being temporarily shelved."
"Terminated?! Impossible!" Miwako Sato cried out, her eyes filled with disbelief. "He admitted to being the killer! So many children are missing! How could it just end like this?! Why?!"
She couldn't understand why the scales of justice had completely tilted at this moment.
The Chief Superintendent avoided her burning gaze, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness and firmness. "There is no 'why,' Sato. This is an order. An order from... a very high level. This Kanjuro, his background... is not something we can touch. For the sake of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and for your own sake, drop it."
"Background?" Miwako Sato felt like she had fallen into an ice cellar. "Just because he has a background, those children died for nothing? Is the law just for show?!"
She wanted to argue further, but the Chief Superintendent waved his hand impatiently, signaling for her to leave.
Walking out of the office despondently, Sato leaned against the cold wall, feeling as if all her strength had been drained. Takagi Wataru, who had been following the matter, walked over quickly, his face showing worry and a hint of understanding.
"Officer Sato..." Takagi Wataru lowered his voice. "I just heard... it's direct pressure from the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, perhaps even higher. That Kanjuro... the power behind him is likely greater than we can imagine, enough to easily shake the entire police system."
"Does having power... mean one can be above the law?" Miwako Sato murmured to herself, her nails digging deep into her palms. She thought of Kanjuro's confident smile and the way he had nonchalantly admitted his crimes, and a surge of unprecedented anger and humiliation burned in her heart.
Bureaucratic obstruction and the oppression of power, instead of making her back down, only stirred the most stubborn sense of justice in her bones.
"If official channels won't work..." Miwako Sato suddenly looked up, a look of resolve flashing in her eyes. "Then I'll do it my own way!"
She glanced at the sky outside, which had turned completely dark, and made a dangerous decision in her heart.
Tonight, she would find Kanjuro herself and confront him face-to-face! Even without an arrest warrant, she would dig the truth out of his mouth!
She wanted to know what kind of monster this teenager was, who could make even the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department bow down! Where exactly did the fathers of those girls go!
Meanwhile, in the luxurious and secluded lounge belonging to Morimoto Leona at the school, Kanjuro was leaning lazily on the sofa, as if he had long foreseen all of this.
Morimoto Leona curled up beside him like a docile cat, chuckling softly. "It seems the family has already taken care of things. Those old men at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department are quite sensible."
Kanjuro toyed with a strange symbol in his hand that seemed to be condensed from shadows and was constantly changing shape; it was the preliminary manifestation of the [Thousand Faces Garment]'s authority. A cold, controlling smile played at the corners of his mouth.
"The annoying flies have been swatted away for now. However, given Officer Sato's personality, she probably won't let it go."
He turned his gaze toward the pitch-black night sky outside, as if he could pierce through space to see the female detective racing toward him.
"Doesn't she want to know where the 'fathers' went?"
Kanjuro's voice was low and full of malice.
"Soon, she won't be troubled by that question anymore. Because..."
A ghostly light flashed in his eyes, and the shadow symbol merged into his palm.
"She might just experience firsthand what it means to... 'lose oneself'."
As the night deepened, a storm quietly gathered beneath the calm surface. What Miwako Sato was rushing toward alone was not just a suspect's residence, but likely a terrifying trap meticulously prepared for her, one that transcended mortal understanding. In the deep of the night, Miwako Sato found the high-end apartment where Kanjuro lived alone, based on the address she had previously investigated. No search warrant, no backup—only a surge of courage and a persistence for the truth drove her. She took a deep breath and pushed open the heavy door, which hadn't been locked.
The scene inside the door instantly struck her vision and cognition, making her blood almost freeze.
The lighting in the living room was suggestive, filled with the aroma of wine and an indescribable, decadent atmosphere.
Kanjuro lay lazily on the spacious sofa, and he was not alone.
In his arms, on the left was the disheveled Morimoto Leona, looking toward the door with a provocative and dazed gaze.
On the right was her sister, Morimoto Reina, also snuggling close in an intimate posture, like a docile pet.
What made Sato's pupils contract even more was the school teacher, Takashiro Hiroko, sitting on the sofa; her usual serious and dignified demeanor was nowhere to be seen, her eyes were hollow, yet a bizarre smile was on her face as she fed a grape into Kanjuro's mouth.
And on the huge TV screen facing the sofa, a news retrospective about the Bizarre Disappearance Case at the Elementary School Camp was playing; the host's somber voice formed a sharp, ironic contrast with the lewd and decadent atmosphere in the room.
What made Sato's scalp tingle the most was that at Kanjuro's feet, the supposedly innocent elementary school student Tsurumi Rumi was crouching there like a domesticated beast, greedily eating a piece of fruit covered in an unknown liquid that Kanjuro had casually handed her, her face bearing a twisted sense of satisfaction completely inconsistent with her age.
"You... you all..." Miwako Sato's throat tightened, and she could barely utter a complete sentence. The scene before her completely overturned her imagination of the boundaries of "evil."
Kanjuro seemed not at all surprised by her intrusion. He gently pushed the Morimoto sisters from his arms and sat up straight, his face still wearing that same controlling, detestable, and gentle smile. He didn't even bother to straighten his slightly open collar as he calmly met Sato's gaze, which was practically spitting fire.
"Officer Sato," his voice carried a hint of lazy raspiness, as if he had been waiting for a long time. "I've been waiting for you. A bit... later than expected."
His gaze swept over Sato's body, which was trembling slightly from shock and anger, filled with unmasked scrutiny and amusement.
"It seems the bureaucrats of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department couldn't stop your heart that pursues 'justice'." He chuckled softly, picked up the remote, and turned off the news about the camp case on the TV. The room was suddenly left with only heavy breathing and suggestive sounds of liquid. "So, how is it? The 'truth' seen with your own eyes is much more vivid than those cold words in your archive room, isn't it?"
Miwako Sato suddenly drew her sidearm from her waist, the muzzle pointing directly at Kanjuro, her voice trembling with extreme rage: "Kanjuro! You demon! What did you do to them?! And Rumi!!"
"What did I do?" Kanjuro seemed to have heard an interesting question. He reached out and gently stroked Tsurumi Rumi's hair, and the girl obediently nuzzled his palm. "I just gave them what they truly needed. Protection, power, and... pleasure." He paused, his gaze falling once more on Sato's hand holding the gun, his eyes suddenly becoming cold and dangerous.
He slowly stood up and took a step toward Sato.
The Morimoto sisters and Teacher Takashiro, as if receiving a command, silently stepped aside, their faces wearing bizarre smiles as if enjoying a play whose ending was already foretold.
"Officer Sato, you've come alone; your courage is commendable." Kanjuro's voice echoed in the silent room like a demon's whisper. "But did you think that with that toy in your hand and your ridiculous beliefs in justice, you could shake me?"
In his eyes, an inhuman ghostly light began to flicker—a sign that the [Eye of Truth] and the [Demon-Breaking Eye] were both being activated, as if he could see through the deepest fears and weaknesses of Sato's soul.
"Since you've walked in here and seen all this... the rules of the game will be set by me."
"Don't you want to know why none of them have 'fathers'?"
"Perhaps you can experience for yourself what it feels like to become one of 'them'..."
Invisible pressure surged toward Miwako Sato like a tide. She felt the hand holding the gun become incredibly heavy, and her breathing became difficult.
The Kanjuro before her was no longer a teenager, but an ancient being that had crawled out of the abyss, possessing terrifying power. She knew that what she had stepped into was not a simple crime scene, but a... demon's den.
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