Chapter Text
The train moved along through the mountains at a fast clip. Due to the hermetically sealed doors and windows, none of the fresh clean air flowed through the train, just the steady pulse of artificial heating. At least the view was lovely, if not the sterile smell.
Being a limited express there were only a few stops. Still, Reigen was impatient to reach their destination. Mountain Town was a little tourist trap in the Japanese Alps. Charming as hell, it was scenic, romantic and all the major attractions closed at five. If they were to get any initial exploring done, they had to make it by early afternoon. That was the first issue.
The second was that Reigen had never done well on long trips. He got bored easily and without an outlet he just succumbed to numbness. It didn’t help that neither of his companions seemed inclined to chat.
Serizawa was engrossed in a novel and Mob (the young man would always be Mob to Reigen, never Shigeo) was on his laptop, a look of mild panic on his face. The newly minted college student sat across the aisle from them and, even though doing so was rude, Reigen couldn’t resist getting a comment in.
“I thought you said your classes didn’t have anything assigned.”
Mob turned his attention to his former mentor, his fingers still on the keyboard. “It’s just a short essay. No big deal.”
Eight years had passed since a boy frightened of his own abilities showed up on a tired conman’s doorstep. Reigen know his pupil too well to be fooled. “You could get off at the next station and turn around,” he said. Mob could always get a ticket adjustment on the backend.
“NO!” Mob protested a little too loudly. A few people glanced in their direction and Serizawa even looked up from his book. “I want to come,” Mob said, quietly but firmly.
It was Mob’s first semester away; winter break wouldn’t be for another month. Reigen couldn’t understand why an eighteen-year-old free from his parents for the first time would want to hang out with two guys in their thirties. Whatever, Reigen wasn’t paying the kid’s tuition. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see Mob, far from it, the little ESPer would always be one of the most important people in his life, but Reigen couldn’t help but be suspicious.
Mob went back to his laptop and Reigen’s other companion made his presence known. A broad hand landed high up on Reigen’s thigh and gave a gentle squeeze. The blonde’s breath hitched and he looked around. The seats were too tall for anyone to notice and Mob too focused on his homework.
Reigen glared at Serizawa only to see the man reading his book with a blank expression on his face like he wasn’t copping a feel in public. The hand squeezed one more time then withdrew.
The blonde’s eye darted to the screen at the front of the train car. They only had a few more stops, thankfully. The third reason Reigen wanted to get to town was to sort out the room situation. They had been hired by a man who owned a ryokan and the client had generously offered one of the unoccupied rooms for the length of their stay. Last year, Reigen would have been comfortable with Mob sharing a room with himself and Serizawa but since this new development in his relationship status--
Yeah, the adult ESPer had been really looking forward to a place with futons they could push together verses the single beds at either of their apartments. When Reigen had told Serizawa about the job and the ryokan room perk he had been really excited. Excited enough to share his ideas about yukatas, specifically seeing Reigen in a yukata and then peeling him out of one. Having another occupant in the room put a damper on those plans.
God, maybe the client would have another room available. Or he could convince Mob to stay somewhere else, or the ground could open up, swallow everyone whole and then Reigen would never have to deal with anything ever again.
The Mountain Town train station was rather adorable, definitely less crowded or convoluted than Seasoning’s. No chance getting lost on a platform here. To exit, they had to climb up to the second story, carrying their luggage with them. The second story not only housed the usual konbini but replicas of the town’s famous floats. Not exact replicas, more like carvings detailing the mechanical inner workings of these cultural marvels. Every spring and fall, the Mountain Town Float Festival attracted hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over Japan. Centuries old, they were the backbone of Mountain Town’s economy and artistic cache.
They were why Spirits and Such had been hired.
An older balding man in his sixties wearing a light blue polo shirt greeted them. “Are you the exorcists?” he asked.
Reigen waved his hands around dramatically. “Spirits and Such at your service. I take it you’re Hayashi-san?”
Hayashi gave a short bow. “Yes, thank you for coming. Follow me please, we can get you settled in.”
The man ushered them back downstairs (in another direction) and led them to an old minivan. They all piled in, luggage and all, then were on their way. It was only a few minute drive, Hayashi chatting at them the entire way. “Because we’re giving you the room for free, we can’t offer dinner but there’s plenty of restaurants around.”
“What’s the local specialty?” Serizawa asked, leaning forward in his seat.
“The Hida beef, hands down,” Hayashi answered, pleased to be asked. “I’ll make some recommendations when we get to the inn.”
They passed over a beautiful red wooden bridge, through Mountain Town’s historic district, then rambled toward a magnificent hill. The inn itself was nestled part way up the hill, other homes and hotels dotted the landscape, all eager to take advantage of the view the elevated height afforded.
Smaller than most, Hayashi’s ryokan, Okanoue, was delightful in its simplistic presentation. Women in traditional clothes greeted them then absconded with their shoes and luggage. All they could do was follow Hayashi as they were led to the room.
And what a room it was, traditional tatami mats covered the floors, the toilet and bathtub were off the little entranceway, separated from the main space by sliding shoji screens. There was another set of screens that, when opened, revealed a mini seating area with a window overlooking the town. Reigen sighed, too bad all three of them were staying here. There would be little privacy with this setup.
Well, this wasn’t supposed to be a vacation anyway. Reigen waited patiently as Hayashi explained the room and set their luggage near the miniature closet. “And here’s the kettle—” Hayashi pointed to the electric kettle that was literally on the floor and plugged into the wall.
Okay, it was time to take charge of the situation.
“When you called you said there was an issue with the one of the floats?” Reigen asked.
Hayashi’s cheerful façade vanished, replaced with a bone deep weariness. “Let me make some tea and I’ll explain.” The Spirits and Such crew sat around the little table where, come night, their futons would be laid out and waited for Hayashi.
“The festival is a long-standing tradition, for four-hundred years Mountain Town has held it. Over the centuries, floats have been constructed, repaired, restored or eventually destroyed. Each neighborhood in Mountain Town sponsors a float and keeps it maintained. It’s a source of great pride,” Hayashi explained.
And great anxiety, Reigen guessed from the slump of Hayashi’s shoulders. “A lot of money is spent on these floats, I imagine.”
Hayashi paused pouring the tea. “Yes,” he admitted. “It’s not just the money that makes them valuable—”
“Of course not,” Reigen reassured him.
“But if they were to be destroyed,” Hayashi couldn’t even finish the thought. His hands shook too badly to finish pouring Mob’s tea. The young man took the pot from him gently. “There was an incident at last month’s autumn festival,” Hayashi said. “One of the floats crashed into another.”
“That doesn’t sound that unusual,” Mob said.
“These floats weigh thousands of kilograms and have to be pushed by teams of eighty men in rotation to keep them moving,” Hayashi explained. “They don’t exactly move at great speed.”
Now the rest of the team was interested. “Did you see any kind of aura or did the temperature feel different?” Serizawa asked.
Hayashi thought back on it. “It was a little colder during the crash.”
The answer didn’t sit right with Reigen. It could have been an honest remembrance or Serizawa could have inadvertently brought Hayashi to a false memory. Asking leading questions was a technique Reigen used on customers without spiritual problems to get them to a conclusion that would benefit both parties. Namely, make Reigen some cash while ultimately solving their real dilemmas.
He tried not to do it when actual supernatural problems were addressed and Serizawa just wasn’t good enough at the technique to do it anyway. Reigen needed to steer this back to useful information. “Were the floats damaged?” Reigen asked.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Hayashi answered. “The blood did come out but it took quite a bit of doing.”
Mob went pale. “Blood?”
“Yes, unfortunately some festival volunteers were crushed between the two floats.” Judging by Mob’s harsh intact of breath, the poor kid was probably imagining it. Reigen wished he could say he wasn’t doing the same thing. “Most were just injured,” Hayashi said. There was a tremble to the man’s voice, one that betrayed a far more serious crime.
Now Reigen understood this wasn’t just a minor nuisance. “How many died?”
The old man sighed; his eyes wet. “Three, including my brother.”
This was going to be a bad one, Reigen could already see the ESPers by his side tensing. “I’m sorry for your loss,” he told Hayashi. Whatever the cause of the crash was, Reigen was determined to find it. He knew that the others would back him up. This sort of tragedy didn’t need to happen again.
“Thank you.” Hayashi wiped at his eyes. He was a simple man with a simple vocation, these sorts of things weren’t supposed to touch his life.
“Do you know where we should start investigating?” Serizawa asked, voice gentle.
“The floats have all been put away for the season,” Hayashi started to explain.
“Isn’t there a museum?” Mob interrupted. Apparently, he hadn’t just been doing homework on the train.
“Yes,” Hayashi said, “but that only houses a few floats at a time for year-round viewing. The two involved in the incident are back in their housings.”
“Housings?” Reigen asked.
“All around town, in each neighborhood that sponsors a float are giant housings,” Hayashi said, his hands gesturing to a great size. “They all have a set of giant white doors to mark the entrance.”
Reigen took to his feet. “We should probably get started.” It was already past three o’clock and in a town where the streets rolled up at five, it didn’t leave much time.
“There is one last thing.” Hayashi’s hands wrung together in anxiety. “You are not the only psychics to come to Mountain Town.”
The blonde tilted his head. “Eh?”
“The mayor has called in another group of psychics from the Psychic Sun Union,” Hayashi explained.
Shit. Shit. Shit. “Oh great,” Reigen muttered under his breath.
“I called you though because of what you did for my Aunt,” Hayashi said. Reigen racked his brain, they had so many clients he wasn’t sure what the man was talking about. “She had a terrible rat infestation she blamed on spirits,” the old man explained further.
Two years ago, it had been a total con job. Serizawa and Reigen had to put on a show to satisfy the old woman’s delusions and called an exterminator on the side. They had made a tidy sum and helped an elderly woman with her terror. Judging from the fervent look in Hayashi’s eyes, he knew exactly what Spirits and Such had done.
“No one else could reach her,” Hayashi said, “but you did. You got her the help she needed when she wouldn’t listen to reason.” The old man bowed, his head touching the tatami. “I can never thank you enough for saving her. She would have died in that filth if it wasn’t for you.” He sat back on his heels, eyes blazing. “I know that you did whatever it took to help her and I know that you will do the same for this town. We are in your care.”
Reigen still remembered a time when such words would have just fed into his ego, empty and cold. Now, they just filled him with resolve. “Consider Spirits and Such on the case,” he said. “Let’s go,” he ordered and the others fell into step. They had a float festival to save.