Chapter 25: Found
By the time Gin Tsumugi returned to the White Fox Office, dawn was already breaking.
The sky outside was only beginning to lighten, and the city still carried the dim, fragile stillness that existed between night and morning. When Gin stepped into the office on the second floor, he found Iwanaga Kotoko sitting with a tired expression, suppressing a yawn as she organized a pile of materials in front of her. Beside her, Kasugano Sora and Ogiso Setsuna were helping under her direction, one sorting documents, the other arranging notes into order.
The moment they noticed him, all three stopped.
"Director, you're back."
Kotoko set down the file in her hand and looked up first.
Gin's gaze swept across the room.
"Did anything unusual happen last night?"
Setsuna shook her head immediately.
"Nothing happened on my side." She hesitated, then added, "And... I didn't have that nightmare last night either."
Compared to yesterday, she looked far more energized. There was still tension in her expression, but the exhaustion and dread that had clung to her seemed to have eased. A full night of uninterrupted rest had clearly done her good.
Gin nodded.
"As expected. The barriers and seals around the White Fox Office blocked its influence."
Kotoko leaned back slightly and asked, "Did you find anything useful during your investigation last night?"
"I found clues."
Gin did not waste time. He briefly recounted everything that had happened in the abandoned park area of Houjou University Attached High School. His meeting with Touma Kazusa. The ghost servants in bridal gowns. The ancient hairpin. The strange condition of the park itself. The more they listened, the more serious the atmosphere in the office became.
When he finished, Kotoko narrowed her eyes.
"Touma Kazusa really has nerve."
She did not know whether to call the girl brave or reckless. Unlike Setsuna, whom she did not know very well, Kotoko was much more familiar with Kazusa. The two had been classmates before, just as Gin and Setsuna had been.
At the mention of her name, Setsuna lowered her gaze.
"Kazusa..."
The way she said it carried a trace of complexity, but she did not elaborate.
Gin noticed, but let it pass for now.
"And your side?" he asked Kotoko.
Kotoko tapped the files in front of her.
"Most of the materials have been sorted out. There are quite a few suspicious points, but one person stands out more than anyone else." Her expression sharpened. "Kuda Mai. She is almost certainly an indispensable piece of this entire incident."
Gin's eyes settled on her.
"What did you find?"
Without answering immediately, Kotoko pulled out a photograph and handed it to him.
"This was carved into the wall of the room Kuda Mai rented."
Gin took it and focused on the image.
The photograph showed a cramped, dimly lit room in appalling condition. Garbage was piled everywhere. Instant food containers and takeout leftovers had been left to rot on the floor long enough to attract flies and maggots. The entire place radiated neglect and decay.
But the filth was not the most disturbing part.
At the center of the photo, the wall had been carved into with a knife.
The grooves had later been soaked in blood.
The words were jagged, violent, and filled with naked malice.
Die. You all deserve to die. I curse you. Be eaten by that Wedding Dress Tree. Eaten. Eaten. Go die.
Below those lines was a list of names.
Ayafuji Kyoko.
Tsukamatsu Ryoko.
Kamazuka Akiko.
And more beneath them.
Kotoko spoke quietly.
"The most horrifying part is this. The girls who first committed suicide by hanging themselves on the wishing tree match this list exactly. The names. The order. Everything."
That made the air in the office grow colder.
Kotoko continued, "I also investigated Kuda Mai's background at Houjou University Attached High School. She was extremely unpopular. Vain, opportunistic, always borrowing money and never repaying it, always taking advantage of people whenever she could. Most of her classmates disliked her. Many even deliberately distanced themselves from her."
She crossed her arms.
"And every name on that wall belonged to someone who had interacted with her before. Some of them were even people who used to be close to her before they gradually drifted away after seeing her true character."
Gin said nothing.
Kotoko's voice lowered.
"She used the wishing tree to kill those friends who 'betrayed' her." Her eyes flicked toward the blood covered photograph. "And in the end, she was devoured by it too."
Piece by piece, the outline of the incident was becoming clearer in Gin's mind.
At least on the surface, the structure now made sense.
A student named Kuda Mai buried something connected to the wishing tree.
The tree awakened.
Those she hated were targeted first.
Then something went wrong, and the situation evolved beyond her control.
Logical.
But not complete.
There were still too many things hidden beneath that logic.
The Heian era hairpin he had recovered.
The term Wedding Dress Tree.
And the biggest question of all.
Who had told Kuda Mai any of this in the first place?
Gin did not believe that an ordinary high school girl could stumble into orchestrating a supernatural incident of this scale on her own, no matter how twisted her emotions had become. And beyond that, the most urgent problem remained unresolved.
Where exactly was the Wedding Dress Tree now?
Without locating it, the incident would never truly end, no matter how well they understood its background.
"Any other clues?" Gin asked.
Kotoko shook her head.
"For the moment, this is the only useful one. The other victims didn't leave behind anything worthwhile."
Gin frowned lightly.
Just as he was about to say something, his phone vibrated.
He glanced at the screen.
Dairenji Suzuka.
He answered at once.
"White Fox. The records you wanted from Houjou University Attached High School. I've already sent them to your email."
Gin's eyes sharpened.
"Thanks, Suzuka."
"Just remember to keep your side of the deal."
"I know."
The call ended after a few more brief words.
Gin went straight to the desk and opened his laptop. Kotoko, Sora, and Setsuna all moved closer almost instinctively, gathering around to read as he opened the file Suzuka had sent.
The internal report was not long.
[Wishing Tree Incident Files]
[July 1: Houjou University Attached High School reported a suspected supernatural incident to the Onmyo Agency. Initial investigation determined it to be a false alarm. Object identified as an ancient wishing tree.]
[July 11: Supernatural incident at Houjou University Attached High School officially breaks out.]
[July 12: Although the previous investigation found nothing abnormal, the wishing tree now appears to have awakened suddenly. Circumstances are highly unusual. Recommendation made to squad leader that the tree be uprooted and sealed.]
[July 13: Sealing of the wishing tree completed smoothly. However, many suspicious points remain and require further investigation.]
[July 19: The sealed wishing tree has disappeared. A National Level Onmyoji has been dispatched to investigate.]
[July 20: Incident on Honshu Island. This case is temporarily archived.]
That was all.
They finished reading it in silence.
Kotoko was the first to speak.
"That Wedding Dress Tree must possess extremely strong concealment ability. Otherwise, the Onmyo Agency couldn't have missed it during the first investigation. And the hidden marks on Setsuna and the others support that."
Gin closed the file.
"Maybe. But it may not be simple concealment."
Kotoko looked at him.
"The Onmyo Agency report might actually be telling the truth. It may really have only just awakened at that stage." Gin tapped the desk lightly. "And the thing that caused that awakening was probably the hairpin Kuda Mai buried in the park."
The room went quiet again.
That explanation fit.
At least more neatly than anything else so far.
Gin leaned back slightly.
"The broad outline is already visible now. As for the deeper secrets behind it, we can set those aside for the moment. What matters now is forcing it out."
Setsuna looked at him immediately.
"How?"
Gin answered without hesitation.
"I need the three of you to act as bait."
Setsuna stiffened.
Before fear could settle in properly, Gin continued.
"Don't worry. Everything is already prepared."
He looked at the three of them in turn.
Then, very calmly, he added,
"And I already know where it is."
.....
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