Are you there?

Do I need to be here?

Iori mourned his dream of normality and freedom as he swung listlessly over Yushi’s shoulder. He can’t believe that the one time someone—well, a group of people—thought that he could see and speak to ghosts, he would have to interrogate one.

As soon as this is over, I am leaving! He pouted against the shoulder he was forcefully resting on.

“Here we are,” Yushi gleefully said as he put the pouting boy back upright. “How was the weather up there?”

“Haha,” Iori sneered. “That's very funny! I am the perfect height to hit you where it hurts. Do you want the Huang line to end with you?!”

Yushi smirked back at him in response, not even baited to respond. However, his golden eyes twinkled in amusement. He could see both Ren and Wei Ling try their best to hold in their laughter while the other sighed and rubbed their foreheads.

Iori’s attention was then brought back to the seemingly normal door of one of this police department's many interrogation rooms. The only difference between this door and the rest is the red talisman pasted in the centre of the door.

“A talisman?” The brown-haired boy mumbled out. “Very well written. And strong, it should prevent whatever is inside this door from escaping.”

“You know about talismans?” Yushi’s surprise tone caused a bitter smile to appear on Iori’s lips.

“Unfortunately” he replied but did not explain any further.

“Iori,” Chief Maiko gently tried to get his attention, “I know we asked you for help but, will you be okay?”

Said boy started chewing nervously on his lip as his eyes darted to stare at the door in front of him. Honestly, he probably could put up a fuss and make them let him go. Legally speaking, they cannot keep him here without a warrant.

But…

“If you do go in there,” A deep voice cut through his thoughts, as a large hand rests on his back “I will make sure the ghost will not be able to touch you.” Yushi’s golden eyes stared deeply at Iori’s to show him how serious he was.

“And,” Rei added on with a gentle understanding smile, “We will be in the next room, behind the partition window. You won’t be talking to her alone.”

Responding with a shaky nod, Iori steeled his shoulders and turned the handle down.

Let’s get this over with, he thought as both he and Yushi entered the room.

The room in itself was nothing special. Within the dim lights, Iori was able to see a single table with two chairs facing each other. To a normal person, those two chairs are unoccupied. But for the two men that had just entered the room, one of those chairs was occupied. A familiar figure sits there.

Iori warily watched the spirit as he slowly walked towards the table. He remembered how her matted hair looked and the feeling of her cold hands wrapped around his throat. He also remembered how it felt to be stared at with those empty eye sockets but he still dryly swallowed as caught a glimpse of the spirit’s face.

“Uhm,” Iori nervously hummed out as he gingerly took the seat that Yushi pulled out for him, “hello?”

No response from the spirit. Not even a twitch.

“Can you hear me?” The brunette boy once again called out as he waved a hand in front of the spirit’s face. Once again, no response.

Iori’s puzzled expression was a sign that the spirit’s reaction was not normal to the rest of the team that was watching behind the partition window. While the rest of the team was not gifted in seeing spirits, Yuuji spent many years designing and creating the tech needed to help cover that gap. The teams have had to use his gadgets in many cases before. If he didn’t create these tools, they would only need to trust Yushi’s eyes.

Yuuji adjusted the screen and audio within the room, while the rest of the team kept a close eye on what was happening.

“I don’t trust him,” Ren voiced out as he crossed his arms with a frown on his face.

“You don’t trust anyone,” Rei chimed in amusedly, “Besides, he definitely can see spirit. And the lack of response from our guest seems to confuse him. This means he did hear her speak to him beforehand.”

“I trust him,” Yuuji deadpans as he dials up the audio within the room and adjusts the infrared camera. He was so focused on ensuring that the devices worked, that he missed his team’s surprise.

“That’s a shock,” Wei Ling hummed as she settled on the chair next to Yuuji, “Why? You don’t usually trust people. That’s what Rei or I usually do.”

“His aura,” glancing at her out of the corner of his eye to make sure she doesn’t touch anything, “besides white being a very rare colour for someone his age, his aura doesn’t change colour. Instead, it changes intensity. For example, at the moment his aura is very dim because he is confused.”

“Is that normal?” Chief Maiko asked.

Yuuji paused and stared at her. “I have never seen an aura that stays one colour,” was his final comment before they watched Iori stand up inside the interrogation room to walk around the room. He looked like he was looking for something.

Back in the room, Iori walked around the edges of the room to understand why the spirit was not responding to him. It seemed like someone had pushed the pause button and she was just “staring” dazedly at the table. Looking at the other alive occupant within the room, Iori watched as Yushi rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed across his chest.

“Is there another talisman in this room?” the smaller of the two asked as he scanned the room a second time. “Spirits are not usually this … quiet.” This spirit was not this quiet earlier at the accident site.

Yushi hummed but did not reply and kept his gaze trained on him.

Okay, Iori snarked in his head, thanks for the help. This man is so weird. He seems playful one second and the next his gaze could kill.

Then, unsure if it was due to the dim light, he saw that there was something stuck to the bottom of the chair the woman was sitting on. The leaner male tilted his head curiously and tried to get a better look at what he recognised as a piece of paper. Crouching down, Iori realised that it was similar to the talisman stuck outside the door but in a different colour.

“What does this do?” He hummed out as he stayed in his crouch position behind the chair ut keeping some distance as he was unsure if the spirit would suddenly lash out.

“It suppresses energy,” Yushi calmly answered as his eyes tracked the interesting boy. “In particular, negative energy. Makes feral spirits more…demure.”

“And, if I take it off?” Iori questioned, quirking an eyebrow at the taller male who stayed in a calm slouch on the other side of the room.

“There will be a repeat of what happened this morning,” Yushi rumbled out as his brows furrowed remembering the scene where Iori was being strangled.

The brunette sucked his lower lip in frustration. He knows that he will not be able to get anything if this talisman is stuck onto the chair. The ghost will simply stay seated in silence. But, at the same time, he doesn’t enjoy being strangled.

“I want to take it off,” Iori claimed before walking towards Yushi, “Can you take it off the chair, please.”

Golden eyes stared deeply at him with the same worried expression. He knows that Yushi promised to protect him, and having had first-hand experience with the negative energy of the spirit, it may cause a bit of mayhem if the woman lash out. Nonetheless, this was the only to get her talking.

“Under one condition,” The golden-eyed man hummed out before straightening up to his towering height, “I stick a protective charm on you. This way the spirit won’t be able to get close to you and you won’t be harmed.”

“Deal!” Iori cheekily smiled before and immediately pasted the piece of paper handed to him onto his shirt. He watched warily as Yushi’s long legs stride leisurely towards the seat before he ripped the talisman off the chair.

As if someone had increased the volume within the room, the spirit within the room let out a loud screech that caused Iori to quickly cup his ear close. He winced but kept his eyes on the woman to make sure that it didn’t try to get closer or try to escape through the door.

Yushi ensured that he made his way back carefully towards Iori. The man knows that the spirit will not be able to escape, with the talisman by the door. But, a simple protective charm would also not give Iori 100% protection. He could become a casualty. As double protection, he chanted a mantra to chain the spirit in the chair.

Iori gasped in wonder. With Iori’s sensitive eyes, he could make out transparent chains appearing from the floor, trapping the trashing ghost to stay where she was. He has only seen those from the temple, or trained exorcists, conjure up spiritual chains.

This man, Iori mused as he stared at Yushi, he is a very experienced exorcist. How can someone so young show so much gift in the spiritual arts? He can make some of the monks in training run for their money.

“Why,” A ghastly shriek cut him from his musings, “WHY DID IT NOT WORK! Why can I not find peace!”

The spirit then started to tug on the chain making them rattle disturbingly. Negative energy seeped out of her and caused the air within the interrogation room to thicken with tension. The temperature dropped and he could see condensation starting to collect on the interrogation room glass.

Yushi strains a little at trying to keep his focus on ensuring those chains do not break. Not only is he impacted by the negative energy but he is hyper-aware of the fact that he is not alone in the room. Increasing the strength of his mantra, he also pulled out another suppression talisman just in case the chains broke.

Iori noticed Yushi’s strain. Gulping his fear down, Iori straightened up with clenched fists. If she keeps on tugging on those chains, he thought with despair, both of us will end up in the infirmary-like room again. I need to get her to calm down.

“What did not work?” He shakily asked hoping that it would let her focus on something else.

The spirit stopped screaming. It was eerily silent as her head swivelled in Iori’s direction. The negative energy around her has also calmed, easing the tension that was within the room.

“You can hear me?” She whispered his way as her hand stilled.

Iori nodded, and once again realising that she could not see him with empty eye sockets, voiced his affirmative to the question.

“How?” She whimpered before tears of blood started flowing down her face, “I have screamed and shouted before. No one heard me. No one noticed me. I was forgotten and no one found me. I was left to rot.”

“I get that,” Iori gave a self-deprecating smile, “I get how you feel when no one hears you. No one heard me for years. I was also forgotten. How about you tell me your story? Shall we have a seat?”

Yushi gave the younger man a sharp glance but Iori ignored him.

He gestured at the chair once again, praying that she would listen to him and have a seat. The spirit looked lost for a second like she could not believe what she was hearing. She kept her gaze on him. Judging. Waiting.

“Will you lie to me too?” She asked tentatively while negative energy started to build up once again, “Will you lie to me the way he did?”

“You have my word,” Iori promised and kept his gaze calm.

Slowly, she sat.