What is a dark ritual?

“How could it be a dark ritual?” Iori wondered aloud, sifting through memories of the forbidden spiritual texts he had secretly studied as a child in the temple. “It’s possible, but why would she need such a specific number?”

“There are rituals that demand exact numbers of souls,” Yushi replied, his frown deepening. “Some even require a specific gender. Everyone we’ve recovered so far has been male, which means she’s been gathering pure yang energy.”

“Shouldn’t that have stabilized her?” Iori countered, glancing at Yukiko, who sat quietly with her head bowed, seemingly engulfed in remorse. “The yang energy should balance the yin within her.”

Interesting, the detective thought, observing the younger man with newfound respect. He understands Taoist philosophy—few in Japan grasp it deeply in this day and age.

“When a woman absorbs too much yang energy,” Yushi explained, “it can create a dangerous imbalance—one that manifests physically, emotionally, and psychologically. That could explain her heightened resentment, which drives and spreads her aggression towards everyone around her… including you.”

“Me?” Iori asked, puzzled, pointing to himself. “How did her aggression affect me?”

Yushi ignored Iori’s question, redirecting his attention to Yukiko. “Is there any way you could help us identify him?” he asked gently.

Yukiko hesitated but eventually nodded. “His voice and scent were... unique. I could point him out if I still had my sight, but…”

“Anything you remember will be helpful,” Iori reassured her with a small smile.

"He smelled of smoke," she began, her voice thoughtful. "But not the usual cigarette kind—it was more like incense, prayer incense. It was so overpowering that I couldn’t make out his distinct scent. Living people usually have a unique aroma, but the smoke masked it entirely."

“What do I smell like?” Iori asked curiously, prompting a small smile to play on Yukiko’s lips.

“Like nature,” she murmured. “You smell like fresh soil and warm earth under the sun after rain. I understand now why I was drawn to you. It’s the smell of innocence—a fragrance many spirits find irresistible.”

“Oh? Why?”

“To corrupt.” Her response hung heavily in the air. Iori whispered her answer to Yushi, who looked confused. A heavy silence filled the room, and Yushi’s expression darkened at the spirit's reply, his disapproval evident as he tightened her chains with a surge of spiritual power. Iori had whispered to avoid alarming the rest of the team.

“What else can you tell us about the man who asked you for the ten souls?” Yushi interrupted coldly, cutting in before Iori could respond to Yukiko.

“He sounded older,” she continued, flinching slightly as her chains tightened. “Definitely older than either of you. But his voice was warm. It was... soothing, especially after so many months without anyone to talk to.”

Iori nodded, contemplating whether to end the interrogation for the day; he needed to relay this information to the rest of the team. Rising to his feet, he turned to suggest they let Yukiko rest after the lengthy session. Just then, her hand closed around his.

“One more thing,” she said urgently. “He told me I could meet him at a specific address once I claimed my tenth soul. I have until the upcoming full moon.”

“The upcoming full moon?!” Iori shouted, quickly pulling out his phone to check the date. “That’s at the end of the week, Yukiko! Why did you agree to this?”

Yukiko fidgeted under his gaze, shrinking into herself as the familiar build-up of resentment stirred in response to her anxiety and his frustration.

Stolen story; please report.

“I didn’t have a choice,” she admitted quietly. “He promised that in exchange for the ten souls, he’d find my body and lay it to rest... so I can finally move on.”

Iori watched sadly as the girl seemed to fold in on herself, worn down by the weight of her fate. All she wanted was peace, but being forced to collect ten souls had thrown her energy into turmoil, turning her into a spirit consumed by resentment. He struggled to comprehend how that man could know where her body was when she was untethered to it. Without realizing it, Iori began to massage his temples as the headache behind his eyes started to build. This case had just become very troublesome.

Why did I get involved in this? he wondered grimly, signaling for Yushi to follow him out so he could brief the rest of the team on what Yukiko had revealed.

Back in the observation room, Iori recounted everything that had transpired to the rest of the team. He noted their impassive expressions as he detailed Yukiko’s method of death and her age. Although anger simmered beneath the surface and tension filled the air, the team worked hard to remain composed, aware that the spirit might sense any emotional energy, even through the wall between them. However, a flicker of panic crossed their faces when he mentioned her deadline.

“The next full moon?!” Ren groaned, pacing aggressively around the room. “That’s in a week?”

“I’m searching the database for a missing person’s file on Ayuzama Yukiko,” Rei said, typing furiously on his laptop. “This should give us a head start on locating her body. If we find her body, we’ll uncover the culprit behind this entire scheme.”

“Yushi,” Chief Maiko called out to the man who stood protectively over the freshman she felt guilty for involving in this mess. Iori looked pale, clutching his cup of tea as if hoping to absorb its warmth. Though the method of death was gruesome to most, the brunette boy relayed what he had learned from the spirit, his voice shaky. Despite his lack of investigative training, he tried his best to gather as much information as possible, but Maiko could tell that the case itself wasn’t what worried him. There had to be another reason for his distress.

“What else did the spirit say? Why does Iori look so shaken?”

Yushi glanced at the shorter man from the corner of his eye. Iori seemed lost in thought, staring blankly into his mug and unaware of the chief’s question. Sensing the tension in the room, Yushi straightened up and sighed, knowing that if he withheld information from the chief, he’d be the one in trouble.

“While Yukiko described the man who asked her to collect the souls,” Yushi began hesitantly, “she mentioned something about Iori’s… scent.”

“His scent? What about it?” Chief Maiko asked, her confusion evident.

“She said it was... alluring to spirits.”

“Okay,” she said, placing her hands on her hips. “Did she say why?”

“It’s alluring because they claim his scent makes them want to... corrupt him.”

All movement in the room stopped, and Iori stiffened as all eyes turned to him. He couldn’t help but curl inward, feeling the weight of their scrutiny.

“You don’t have to stay,” a monotone voice called out to him. Yuuji knelt nearby, looking at him earnestly. “It was wrong of us to make you interrogate a spirit without proper training. You can walk away right now, and we won’t stop you.”

Yushi clenched his fists, an inexplicable worry tightening in his chest at the thought of letting the younger man out of his sight. While he knew that distancing himself from the group might be safer for Iori—allowing him to lead a more normal university life—he couldn’t shake the feeling that it would only deepen the danger lurking just out of view.

“It’s okay,” a soft voice jolted the detective from his thoughts. He turned to see the youngest male smiling at Yuuji. Then he watched as the boy’s gaze shifted to the spirit roaming the interrogation room. “I want to help her. I made her a promise.”

The team smiled at the boy’s response, even Yuuji.

“You know how to smile?!” WeiLing exclaimed in disbelief, pointing at the usually stoic man’s face. His expression quickly returned to its typical icy demeanor as he stood up primly and resumed his attention to the monitors, prompting laughter from the others and playful teasing from Ren directed at Yuuji.

With the heavy atmosphere lifted, a sudden beeping captured everyone’s attention. The large screen in the room displayed a notification: a missing person’s file had been found in Koenji, a small city just outside of Tokyo, known for its many thrift shops and vibrant music scene. However, certain areas near the Sunigami Ward could be quite isolated at night, which might explain where Yukiko lost her life.

“Yushi,” Chief Maiko called out, and the men stood at attention. “Take the twins and Iori with you to speak with Koenji’s missing persons team to gather more details about the spirit.”

“Yes, ma’am!” came the cheeky response.

“Uh,” Iori interjected, raising his hand like an eager student with a question. Once he had their attention, he excitedly smiled and pointed back into the interrogation room.

“Can we bring her?”

"Huh!" the shock from the team shook the whole building.