Tokyo Detective Chronicles

But as time passed, Dr. Hoshino stared at the screen for a while, and his brows gradually furrowed.

Then, her expression slowly changed.

From initial mild professionalism, to doubt, and then... an indescribable anger.

She looked up at Hoshizaki, then at Fushimi, her gaze sharpening: "Are you... joking?"

"What?" Fushimi asked.

She is not pregnant.

Dr. Hoshino's voice turned cold: "There are no signs of pregnancy whatsoever. What are you doing at the hospital?"

This was only natural, Fushimi quietly observed Dr. Hoshino's expression.

The air in the consultation room began to circulate.

As soon as she uttered those words, the oppressive and stagnant atmosphere in the consultation room suddenly dissipated.

The light returned to normal brightness in the spiritual vision, and the four dark figures holding implements, along with the objects in their hands, vanished silently into the air as if they had never existed, leaving no trace.

The room was once again spotless, without a trace of its former self.

"..."

Fushimi looked around... Was there a barrier? Or had someone tampered with this room?

still is……

After pondering it over, he finally put the folding knife away, having already made up his mind.

Hoshizaki had already taken the opportunity to sit up, frantically wiping the cold coupling gel off her lower abdomen with a tissue and pulling down her clothes.

The shame that had been on his face was no longer visible.

She looked at Fushimi with a flustered expression. Clearly, she had also noticed the dark figure that had appeared beside her, but because Fushimi was there, she hadn't reacted.

"Shion, go change your clothes first."

Fushimi calmly spoke to Hoshizaki.

"Okay."

After she left, Fushimi looked at Dr. Hoshino and slowly said, "We just wanted to confirm. Since she's not pregnant, that's great."

"Very good?"

Dr. Hoshino stood up, the hem of his white coat swaying with his movement: "What do you think a hospital is? You think you can just come here and make jokes like this? Do you know how much medical resources this is wasting?"

It was utterly baseless anger...

Her tone grew increasingly agitated, and her cheeks flushed slightly with anger.

Fushimi simply watched her quietly.

Looking into her eyes, at the slightly bulging veins on her neck, at her clenched fists, her nails almost digging into her palms.

What caused such a dramatic change in her personality in such a short period of time?

Until Hoshizaki came out of the inner room.

"I'm sorry," Fushimi said, "we'll leave now."

He pulled up Hoshizaki, who was still in a daze, and turned to walk out of the consultation room.

"Wait!" Dr. Hoshino called from behind.

But Fushimi did not stop or pay attention.

He led Hoshizaki through the dimly lit corridor, down the stairs, and out of the hospital.

The afternoon sun was blinding, and Fushimi squinted. Faced with the almost obvious anomaly, he had some ideas in mind, but he still needed to verify them.

"I...Iori..."

Only when she stood in the sunlight did Hoshizaki finally feel a little better. She gasped for breath and asked softly, "What's wrong? That doctor…?"

"There's something wrong with her." Fushimi released her hand and turned to look at the hospital building.

The curtains on a third-floor window swayed slightly.

Fushimi knew that the doctor named Hoshino was standing there, looking down at them. He was too far away to see her expression, but Fushimi could feel her gaze.

"Let's go back first."

Fushimi withdrew his gaze and didn't explain anything further to Hoshizaki: "That's enough for today."

"But……"

Hoshizaki opened his mouth as if to say something, but seeing Fushimi's expression, he ultimately kept quiet.

……

After dropping Hoshizaki off at the nearest train station, Fushimi took out three white talismans he had prepared in advance from his pocket, deftly folding them with his fingertips into a small, sturdy triangular amulet.

"this."

He placed the amulet into Hoshizaki's palm; it felt slightly warm to the touch.

"Keep it close to your body and never let it out of your sight."

His tone was unusually serious: "If you sense anything is wrong, or if anything inexplicable happens, contact me immediately, don't hesitate."

Hoshizaki clutched the amulet, looking up at him. "Iori, aren't you leaving?"

"I still have a few things to confirm."

Fushimi looked in the direction of the hospital: "Go back and get some rest. You've had a hard day."

Hoshizaki opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, such as "Is it dangerous?" or "I'll go with you," but in the end he just nodded, clutched the amulet tightly in his hand, and turned to walk into the station gate.

After taking a few steps, she turned back, waved her fist at Fushimi, and tried to make a fierce expression on her face.

Fushimi watched her disappear into the crowd on the platform before slowly exhaling and taking out his phone.

The screen's dim light illuminated his face. He pulled up his contacts, his gaze landing on the name "Hayakawa Chiho".

Hayakawa Chiho's mother was coincidentally a doctor.

The Hayakawa family happens to live in Katsushika Ward.

As if by coincidence, Hayakawa Chiho had the unique fragrance of Azuki Tsubaki on her body.

Professor Takeda's Anpakutsubaki tea also coincidentally came from a doctor at the Katsushika Ward Third General Hospital...

Judging from the previous conversation with Yuko Takeda, it is undoubtedly referring to the female doctor with the surname Hoshino and a fickle personality.

The disinfectant smell on her was probably to mask An Baichun's scent.

This can no longer be explained by coincidence.

The clues were completely connected, making it impossible not to be suspicious.

Even though there are still a few questions that have not been reasonably explained.

Hayakawa Chiho's mother... Dr. Hoshino... Are they the same person? Why are their surnames different? Did she change her surname? Or was it a deliberate alias?

What role does the tea made from Anbaichun play?

What is the connection between this and the white leech monster?

And most importantly, and also the problem that gives Fushimi the biggest headache.

If he hadn't seen the image of that hospital during the swastika candle ceremony and discovered today that it was completely different from the actual District Third General Hospital... he would never have thought of this.

They wouldn't doubt it in that direction either.

This hospital may very well hold a door to the mortal world...

All his previous ideas were based on the assumption that "the anomaly occurred in the present world".

The boundary between the eternal world and the present world is not simply a matter of whether ordinary people can see it.

Instead, it is a completely isolated world, with two separate worlds, an outer and an inner one, completely separated by a veil. Under normal circumstances, neither monsters nor spirit mediums can freely enter or leave it.

It can only be entered and exited through a very limited number of 'doors', and most of the time it is a one-way passage.

The spirits and monsters that Fushimi usually sees are all lingering in the mortal world, which is why they cause trouble for humans.

Hundred Ghosts at Night.

This refers to the terrifying moment when the portal between the mortal world and the present world is completely opened, and the two worlds briefly merge.

At that time, the torrent of the mortal world will breach the banks of the present world, bringing unprecedented calamity.

Even after the incident subsides, a large number of demons and monsters will remain in the human world until they are exorcised by the Special Affairs Bureau and folk spiritualists.

One of the oldest and most essential duties of the shrines, large and small, within Yingzhou is to guard or seal these gates.

But there are exceptions...

Some places where death accumulates, despair pervades, and negative energy is enough to erode reality.

It will also create new entrances to the eternal world—unrecorded "doors".

A chill slowly crept up Fushimi's spine.

The dilapidated hospital shrouded in gray mist that was shown to him at the end of the swastika candle ceremony... is very likely not even in reality.

It is the reflection of Katsushika Ward Third General Hospital in the present day.

Fushimi stood there, deep in thought for a long time.

Finally, he dialed Hayakawa Chiho's number...