The office area of the magazine was filled with neatly arranged desks. Near the corridor, a woman in her mid-twenties sat behind a computer, her gaze unfocused as she stared blankly at the screen. Her red, tear-filled eyes and sorrowful expression made her distress unmistakable.
Colleagues occasionally cast sympathetic glances in her direction.
Geto Suguru emerged from the editor-in-chief's office, striding briskly through the corridor until he reached the tea room. As he turned his head, he spotted the same woman who had been crying.
This was the second time since joining the magazine that Geto Suguru had seen Akimichi Hatsusakura break down. The first had been on his first day—she had sat at her desk, crying quietly while staring at the screen.
If not for the exhaustion etched across her face, Akimichi Hatsusakura would have easily stood out as a beauty. With a thoughtful expression, Suguru approached her. "Miss Akimichi, if there's anything I can do to help, let me know."
Akimichi Hatsusakura lifted her head, her face streaked with tears. "Sorry, I'm fine," she murmured.
Suguru glanced at her computer screen. It displayed the backend data of the magazine's literary website, but her vacant stare made it clear that her mind was elsewhere.
Sensing her reluctance to talk, Suguru was about to leave when Hoshikawa Tianna, the colleague responsible for the files, stopped him.
"Mr. Geto, you don't know yet?" she asked quietly.
"Know what?" he replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Miss Akimichi's boyfriend is missing," Hoshikawa Tianna said in a hushed tone, her gaze flicking toward the tearful woman.
Suguru's eyes narrowed slightly. "Missing?"
"Yes," Tianna confirmed, sighing. "The police came by a while ago. I heard her boyfriend, Kuroba Yuto, took 500,000 yen from his company and vanished. They were very close—we all thought they'd get married this year."
"When did this happen?" Suguru's curiosity deepened despite not knowing Akimichi Hatsusakura well.
"About three months ago," Tianna replied, her voice quiet. Then, after glancing around cautiously, she lowered her tone further. "By the way... do you believe dreams can reveal the truth?"
"Dreams?" Suguru echoed, puzzled. "Why ask that?"
"Miss Akimichi has had the same dream for days," Tianna explained. "She says she sees Kuroba Yuto's bloodied body, crying out in pain."
Suguru frowned. Dreams were just fragments of the subconscious, after all. "Dreams are just dreams," he said. "They aren't real."
"I thought so too," Tianna admitted. "But she also claims to hear Yuto trying to speak to her, though the words are unclear."
Suguru considered this. "If his face was covered in blood, how can she be sure it's him?"
"She said the man in her dream wore the same clothes Yuto wore the day he disappeared," Tianna explained.
At that moment, Akimichi Hatsusakura herself quietly approached them. "Mr. Geto," she said softly, "I also saw the street sign in my dream."
"A street sign?" Suguru repeated.
"Yes. It was Takeshita Street. In the dream, Yuto was at an abandoned construction site there," she said firmly.
"Did the police search that area?" Suguru asked.
"Yes," Hatsusakura replied. "Yuto disappeared near that very site."
Suguru nodded thoughtfully before returning to his desk. Despite himself, his interest in the case grew. Later that evening, after finishing work, he decided to investigate the construction site.
Tokyo's night lights illuminated the bustling streets as Suguru followed his curiosity to Takeshita Street. The abandoned construction site stood desolate. Scattered construction materials, rusted scaffolding, and overgrown weeds painted a picture of decay.
A sudden cold breeze brushed against him, sending a shiver down his spine. As he stepped forward, a metallic clatter echoed from within.
Is someone else here?
Just as he turned to investigate, the sound of approaching footsteps behind him caught his attention. Slow and deliberate, they belonged to someone who clearly didn't mind being heard.
"Wow, you're pretty bold coming here alone," a familiar, cocky voice called out.
Suguru spun around to see a tall man with striking white hair and a bandage wrapped over his eyes. Despite the blindfold, the man's confident smirk and relaxed posture suggested he missed nothing.
"Gojo," Suguru said flatly. "What are you doing here?"
"Is that any way to greet an old friend?" Gojo Satoru grinned, unfazed. "I could ask you the same thing."
Suguru exhaled slowly, already feeling a headache coming on. "I'm investigating a missing person. You?"
"Cursed spirit activity," Gojo replied nonchalantly. "Figured you could use some help."
Before Suguru could respond, a loud crash from the second floor made him tense. A boy with spiky black hair landed beside them, brushing dust off his coat.
"Megumi, I told you to train your physical skills," Gojo chided, ruffling the boy's hair.
The boy, Fushiguro Megumi, swatted his hand away with a glare.
From the shadows, an eerie figure emerged. The creature was a grotesque amalgamation of tentacles and twisted limbs, its many bloodshot eyes glaring maliciously at Suguru.
"That's a cursed spirit," Gojo said, his voice light but serious. "So, what do you say? Offer us a place to stay while we clean this up?"
Suguru sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine. But only for two weeks. And in return, you help me find Kuroba Yuto."
Gojo grinned wider. "Deal!" With a snap of his fingers, he conjured a glowing sphere of energy. The cursed spirit howled as the energy engulfed it, reducing the monster to nothing.
As the light faded, Suguru let out a slow breath, realizing his life had just taken a bizarre and dangerous turn—again.