Chapter 93: Tomie Reappears
Shibuya Building.
At sixty-two stories tall, it was the highest building in Shibuya Ward, a landmark that had stood like a glass blade against the skyline since the day it was completed. For years, it had been one of Shibuya's proudest symbols.
International corporations had once occupied its floors. Financial firms, technology companies, luxury brand offices, overseas investment groups, and consulting giants had all rented space here. For countless elite university graduates, landing a position in this building had been a dream worthy of bragging about at family gatherings.
But recently, the residents of Shibuya Ward noticed something strange.
The companies inside Shibuya Building were moving out.
Not slowly, either.
One after another, their signboards were taken down, their employees transferred, their office floors cleared. In their place, a new name appeared across the building.
[Myriad Laws Supernatural Department]
Curious residents quickly began asking around.
It did not take long before a vague official explanation circulated through the ward.
The Shibuya Ward branch of the Onmyo Agency and the local government's supernatural response forces had been merged and reorganized into the [Myriad Laws Supernatural Department] to better handle the increasingly frequent supernatural incidents.
As for the Director and core personnel, their identities remained confidential.
To most ordinary residents, that was enough.
In fact, many supported it wholeheartedly.
After the Wedding Dress Tree Incident, the Mount Fuji eruption, and the terrifying mobilization around Sitinge Mansion, the people of Shibuya Ward had long since abandoned the luxury of complaining about supernatural bureaucracy. If a new department could make them safer, then good. If that department wanted the tallest building in the ward, then by all means, take the whole thing.
A fancy office building meant nothing if everyone inside the ward turned into monster food.
The various Supernatural Affairs Offices scattered across Shibuya, however, were not nearly as calm.
They were confused.
More than that, they were uneasy.
The Onmyo Laws and the government had suddenly merged their local supernatural forces and created a new department. The scale alone was alarming. Even more importantly, the name [Myriad Laws Supernatural Department] was impossible for them not to associate with one person.
White Fox Gin Tsumugi.
The rare genius who had just been granted the title of one of the [Twelve Divine Generals] by the Onmyo Bureau.
After all, Gin Tsumugi's Onmyodo Framework was called Myriad Laws.
The connection was too obvious to ignore.
At that very moment, on the sixty-second floor of Shibuya Building, inside the Director's office of the Myriad Laws Supernatural Department, the person at the heart of those rumors was drowning in paperwork.
The office covered nearly three hundred square meters.
It was absurdly luxurious.
The carpet beneath his feet was woven from precious wool, thick enough to swallow footsteps. Famous paintings hung along the walls. There was a private lounge, a personal restroom, a direct elevator, and even a sealed training chamber built behind hidden panels. The windows stretched almost from floor to ceiling, offering an unobstructed view of Shibuya Ward.
It was the sort of office that belonged to chairmen, ministers, or villains who said things like "everything is proceeding according to plan."
Unfortunately, Gin had no time to enjoy any of it.
"The shelved supernatural cases previously submitted to the Onmyo Agency now need to be reviewed and reassigned under the Myriad Laws Supernatural Department…"
"The department's funding can no longer rely entirely on the old branch system. We'll need an independent budget structure…"
"The major Supernatural Affairs Offices in Shibuya Ward need to be contacted. Kotoko and the others should handle that first, then we can start planned coordination and integration…"
"And this…"
Sitting behind the large desk near the window, Gin Tsumugi worked through documents one file at a time.
Paperwork rose in stacks around him like small hills.
And these were only the documents requiring his immediate approval.
More would arrive soon.
This was unavoidable.
The Myriad Laws Supernatural Department had been built by merging the old White Fox Office, the Shibuya branch of the Onmyo Bureau, and the local government's supernatural response division. The core leadership, administrative system, middle management, field teams, logistics, funding channels, intelligence archives, and emergency protocols all had to be rebuilt or revised.
Calling it troublesome would have been too polite.
It was more like trying to rebuild a shrine while the god inside kept asking for receipts.
Ding.
The private elevator inside the office chimed.
Gin did not look up immediately.
Under normal circumstances, anyone who came to see him needed to make an appointment or announce themselves first. The only people allowed to take the direct elevator straight to the Director's office were the three Deputy Directors of the Myriad Laws Supernatural Department.
Iwanaga Kotoko.
Ibe Tomoya.
Kohara Daisuke.
As expected, when the elevator doors opened, Iwanaga Kotoko stepped out holding a thick stack of documents.
More paperwork.
Gin's hand paused almost imperceptibly.
A lesser man might have wept.
"Director, I'll put these here for now."
Kotoko placed the stack on one of the few remaining empty spaces on his desk.
Ever since they moved into Shibuya Building, she had changed how she addressed him. Back at the White Fox Office, she had often called him "Office Head." Now, within the Myriad Laws Supernatural Department, "Director" was more appropriate.
It also avoided unnecessary confusion among staff.
"Thanks, Kotoko."
Gin did not lift his head. He continued correcting the document in front of him with a ballpoint pen, moving with the numb precision of a man who had become one with bureaucracy.
He was not the only one suffering.
Kotoko, Kohara Daisuke, and Ibe Tomoya had all been buried under work these past few days. The difference was that Gin had the highest approval authority, which meant anything complicated, dangerous, politically delicate, financially ugly, or impossible to categorize eventually landed on his desk.
In other words, everything.
"Director, I have something to report."
"Go ahead."
Only then did Gin stop writing and look at her.
Kotoko stood with her cane in hand, her posture neat and composed.
"As per your instructions, the initial formation of the Spiritual Armament Division and the Onmyoji Unit has basically been completed."
"So quickly?"
Gin raised an eyebrow.
He had expected the reorganization to take at least a month. He had even prepared himself for delays, friction, complaints, and several rounds of internal corrections.
Three days was far beyond his expectations.
"This is mainly thanks to Deputy Directors Kohara Daisuke and Ibe Tomoya. They spent the past few days stabilizing their subordinates and smoothing over the transfer of authority. Also, when Old Man Amami returned from Shibuya Ward, he quietly took away most of the troublemakers from the old government side and the Onmyo Agency branch."
Kotoko smiled slightly.
"So the reorganization went much smoother than expected."
"…The old man really did me a huge favor."
Gin leaned back in his chair.
The Spiritual Armament Division and the Onmyoji Unit were the main combat forces of the Myriad Laws Supernatural Department. Without control over them, his title as Director would have been nothing more than decoration.
A puppet sitting on the top floor with an expensive carpet and no real authority.
Now that the reorganization had succeeded, it meant he had at least gained initial control over Shibuya Ward's Onmyodo power.
Kotoko opened the top file in her hands.
"The Spiritual Armament Division and the Onmyoji Unit have been reorganized into four major sections: the Supernatural Countermeasures Section, the Information Intelligence Section, the Magic Investigation Section, and the Administrative Internal Affairs Division."
She continued in a clear voice.
"Several departments from the former government side and the Onmyo Agency branch have also been integrated into this structure."
Gin nodded for her to continue.
"The Supernatural Countermeasures Section consists of twelve squads, six hundred personnel in total. Most are apprentice Onmyoji or spiritually armed field agents. There are fewer Professional Level Onmyoji than expected. Their primary responsibility is handling supernatural incidents and spiritual disasters in the field."
Kotoko glanced at him.
"Many captain positions are still vacant, so for now, you will personally oversee the section, Director."
Gin was not surprised.
Among the four sections, the Supernatural Countermeasures Section was clearly the most important armed force. It had inherited the largest share of the old Onmyoji Unit and Spiritual Armament personnel.
Before suitable officers were found, it was safest for him to command it directly.
There were not many people he trusted enough to hand it to.
Aside from Kotoko, none.
"The Information Intelligence Section will handle investigation, surveillance, intelligence gathering, spiritual monitoring, and preliminary supernatural case analysis. It is temporarily under Deputy Director Kohara Daisuke."
"The Magic Investigation Section will handle Onmyo Art crimes, forbidden techniques, illegal rituals, and internal disciplinary matters. Functionally, it resembles the Onmyo Agency Magic Investigation Department. It is temporarily led by Deputy Director Ibe Tomoya."
"These two sections combined have around five hundred personnel."
Kotoko turned another page.
"The remaining Administrative Internal Affairs Division is currently under me. It handles resource allocation, personnel deployment, budget approval, internal coordination, mission review, and logistical authorization. Any deployment of major combat forces or specialized equipment will require approval from the Administrative Internal Affairs Division."
"The basic framework of the Myriad Laws Supernatural Department has been assembled. The rest can only be refined slowly."
Gin listened quietly.
The structure was very clear.
The Supernatural Countermeasures Section held the sword.
The Administrative Internal Affairs Division held the hand that decided when the sword could be drawn.
By placing those two in the hands of himself and Kotoko, the department's true initiative remained firmly under their control.
That matched his expectations.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Kotoko accepted the praise calmly, though the faint curve at the corner of her mouth betrayed that she was pleased.
Then Gin asked, "Did Kohara Daisuke and Ibe Tomoya have any complaints?"
After all, during the reorganization, the ones who had lost the most direct authority were the two former heads.
They had gone from being independent leaders of their respective systems to Deputy Directors under Gin. On paper, the four sections were equal, but anyone with eyes could see that the Administrative Internal Affairs Division and Supernatural Countermeasures Section had greater practical weight.
"Not at all," Kotoko said. "They cooperated very actively. It didn't seem fake."
"That's good."
Gin nodded.
If either Kohara Daisuke or Ibe Tomoya had resisted, hidden resentment, or attempted to preserve private authority, Gin would not have kept them in the department, no matter how useful they had been during the transition.
Keeping a thorn in the command structure was not magnanimity.
It was stupidity wearing a nice hat.
Fortunately, it seemed those two understood the situation better than he had expected. They were not the sort to smile on the surface while building a second office under the table.
Gin trusted Kotoko's judgment when it came to people.
Then he glanced at the documents again and let out a sigh.
"We're short on people."
Kotoko gave him a look that said, Obviously.
"Very short."
Whether it was captain positions in the Supernatural Countermeasures Section, senior investigators in the Information Intelligence Section, case officers in the Crime Investigation Section, or administrative specialists who understood Onmyodo logistics, the vacancies were everywhere.
The Myriad Laws Supernatural Department had inherited a great deal of manpower, but the number of responsibilities had expanded even faster.
That was why Gin, Kotoko, and the others were still personally shouldering temporary leadership over several sections.
"The best recruitment channel right now is still the Onmyo Academy," Kotoko said.
"The Onmyo Academy…"
Her words reminded Gin of something.
He had once promised Tsuchimikado Natsume that he would visit the Onmyo Academy for recruitment.
Back then, it had been for the White Fox Office.
Now, the White Fox Office had become the Myriad Laws Supernatural Department.
Strictly speaking, the recruitment pitch had upgraded from "join my small office and risk your life" to "join my new department and still risk your life, but with a better building."
Progress.
"Before the Onmyodo forces in other regions are inherited and reorganized, we can still use the Onmyo Agency name and the title of [Twelve Divine Generals] to recruit a large number of fresh graduates and promising students from the Onmyo Academy," Kotoko said.
Gin agreed with her assessment.
The Onmyo Agency, the Onmyo Alliance, and the Onmyo Academy were the three orthodox lineages of modern Onmyodo, all descended from the ancient Onmyoryo in one way or another.
Their glory was fading, but they would not exit the stage so quickly.
At least until a new Onmyodo order fully formed, those three institutions would remain major powers.
Even weakened giants still cast long shadows.
"Contact the Onmyo Academy first," Gin said. "Let them know we intend to recruit. If I have time, I'll go personally."
"Understood, Director."
Kotoko nodded.
Then she did not leave.
Gin noticed.
"What else?"
"While organizing the supernatural incident archives today, I found one case that has not been fully resolved."
"An unresolved supernatural incident?"
Gin's expression shifted slightly.
The current Myriad Laws Supernatural Department was not like the old White Fox Office.
Back then, one unresolved incident was worth special attention.
Now, the department handled a huge number of cases every day. Some came from the government-backed supernatural forums, including well-known platforms like the Non-Scientific Supernatural Forum and the Red Moon Tree Supernatural Forum. Others were shelved incidents reported by Supernatural Affairs Offices or old branch archives left behind by the Onmyo Agency.
There were too many to count.
If Kotoko specifically brought this up, then the incident was not ordinary.
"It's about Tomie."
The name made the air in the office change.
Kotoko's expression turned serious.
"She has appeared again. Traces of her have been found in Shibuya Ward, Minato Ward, and Shinjuku Ward."
Gin narrowed his eyes.
Tomie.
He had not heard that name in some time.
The monster that had escaped from him back then.
No.
In Gin's view, even calling her a monster felt too generous.
Tomie was an abomination.
Capricious, vain, arrogant, and malicious to the bone. She was desire given human skin. Her existence stirred madness in men, twisting affection into obsession, obsession into possession, and possession into murder.
Every man she seduced would eventually kill her.
Dismember her.
But that was not the end.
That was the beginning.
Every limb, every drop of blood, every piece of flesh could grow into another Tomie. Her cells multiplied endlessly, like a planarian taken from a biologist's nightmare and handed a pretty face. When threatened or frightened, she could split. When destroyed, she could return.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The reason she had escaped Gin last time was partly because Yamashiro Hayato, that dead fool from the Onmyo Agency, had acted on his own and disrupted the situation.
But Tomie's regenerative and splitting ability had also been troublesome to the extreme.
"Maintain continuous surveillance," Gin said after a brief silence. "At the same time, notify the Onmyo Agency branches in the surrounding wards."
The Myriad Laws Supernatural Department currently controlled Shibuya Ward's Onmyodo forces, not the whole of Tokyo.
Tomie had already appeared in Minato and Shinjuku. If Gin acted across ward boundaries without notice, it could easily cause unnecessary friction with other branches.
And Tomie was not the sort of thing one could ignore.
If she spread unchecked, the danger she posed would be no less terrifying than the Weird Wood Spirit Incident.
"Yes, Director."
Kotoko understood his meaning immediately.
The current Tomie was scattered across Tokyo. No one knew how many clones were hiding in the shadows.
But Tomies were not cooperative creatures.
Every clone possessed self-awareness. Every clone believed herself to be the real Tomie. Their vanity and jealousy made coexistence impossible.
Eventually, they would gather.
Then they would begin killing each other.
That would be the best opportunity to seal them completely.
Gin tapped his finger lightly against the desk.
"Continue monitoring. Do not act rashly unless civilians are in immediate danger. Once signs of the Tomies gathering appear, inform me immediately."
"I'll arrange it."
Kotoko closed the file.
Gin picked up another document, then paused.
"Also, I need to go to Minato Ward the day after tomorrow. I'll leave the department's affairs to you for now."
"To complete Shinomiya Kaguya's commission?"
It sounded like a question, but Kotoko was already certain.
After all, the timing was about right.
"Yes."
Gin nodded.
The mark left on Shinomiya Kaguya by Shuten-dōji was nearing the appointed time. Whether the one who came would be Shuten-dōji himself or one of his Great Yokai-level subordinates would soon be revealed.
He was about to say more when his gaze suddenly shifted toward the window.
His brows drew together slightly.
Kotoko noticed immediately.
"Director? What's wrong?"
Gin stared at the glass wall overlooking Shibuya.
Beyond the window, the city stretched beneath the afternoon light, busy, restless, and apparently ordinary.
For a brief moment, he had felt it.
A faint gaze.
Like someone watching from far away.
But when he extended his Spirit Insight Power, there was nothing.
No aura.
No curse.
No shikigami.
No trace.
After a moment, Gin shook his head.
"It's nothing."
Kotoko looked at him for a few seconds, clearly not fully convinced, but she did not press further.
Gin returned his eyes to the documents on his desk.
Outside the window, high above Shibuya, the glass reflected his silver hair and calm blue eyes.
Somewhere beyond that reflection, something unseen watched in silence.
.....
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