Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 260, Answering Questions for Master Erena

The exclusive curse of Vajra Yaksha Myōō – the Smoking Demon (the one who suffocates).

Miyahara Tetsu, a comedian, agrees to become Ju-on under Uesugi Muneyuki's command, and based on his transformation, Miyahara Tetsu quickly gains his exclusive ability—smoke manipulation.

As a deceased cursed being, Miyahara Tetsu gained the ability to control smoke and haze. With the help of Uesugi Muneyuki's charisma, he can freely release three types of smoke and haze: white smoke provides strong protection and concealment, black smoke emits corrosive and suffocating effects, and green smoke provides important healing effects.

However, Miyahara Tetsuya inherited his asthma problem. The Smoker can turn into smoke and move freely through the gaps, but every once in a while, he must use the emergency inhaler "Shake Shake" to take a breath to restore his energy. During this process, he cannot exhale smoke or turn into smoke. Moreover, the Smoker is more vulnerable during the Shake Shake and the breath.

Therefore, Miyahara Tetsu is not a combat-type Ju-on, but if his smoke trails are combined with Uesugi Muneyuki's close combat and Hironaka Mariko's tracking, it might create a fantastic synergy.

Meanwhile, Uesugi Muneyuki also came out of Fuji TV's "Rakuya," leaving behind only the unnamed female announcer, No. 1, lying there half-conscious and barely alive. According to Hironaka Mariko, No. 1's name is Ebihara Yuka, a late-night announcer, but it doesn't really matter what her name is; it's just a matter of mutual consent.

"We can't possibly offer you, Uesugi, a very high appearance fee. It's one thing if it happens occasionally, but normally a top-tier artist gets 3 to 5 for a prime-time recording. The 20 we're offering you this time doesn't mean we'll pay you 20 every time." Hironaka Mariko said with a mischievous smile, "Kimura only got 20 for his last prime-time appearance!"

"So you're going to treat me to a female news anchor?" Uesugi Muneyuki retorted. "You Fuji TV guys are really..."

"Well, that's just how Kameyama is. After all, this station isn't some kind of demon." Hironaka Mariko said in a twisted way, "Ah, I'm so envious of Ebihara, getting to sleep with a handsome nobleman and being injected with Kenshin's Echigo dragon genes! Compared to Kameyama and Nakai, those middle-aged greasy jerks, the young, strong, and fragrant Uesugi is much better! With your strength, be careful some female announcers might fall for you!"

"Is he in love with me or is he in love with me?" Uesugi Muneyuki couldn't help but complain again.

He does have a strong need after each psychic session, and Fuji TV is willing to provide it, so he doesn't need to be a gentleman anymore. However, the so-called Fuji TV female anchors that he had been boasting about before seem to be of only so-so quality, far inferior to Master Erina, except that their pronunciation is more standard.

"I'll trouble you to look after Miyahara." Uesugi Muneyuki continued, "The investigation into the Yoshimoto case was a bit clumsy, and I don't want it to be noticed by other beings in the underworld."

"I understand." Mariko Hironaka nodded, while the former Fuji TV news anchor looked disgusted: "He's so ugly. Just looking at his face makes me lose my appetite. Luckily, I don't have to eat now, otherwise, hanging out with this guy would mean I'd have to eat 50g less rice every day."

Why 50g?

【Because rice prices are very high lately.】 Mariko Hironaka stuck out her 30-centimeter-long tongue and slipped away.

When Uesugi Muneyuki reappeared, it was already past 3 PM. Upon seeing him, Ikeda Erena, the tall, beautiful woman with huge breasts who had been searching for him and almost thought he had disappeared in the Odaiba building like Hironaka Mariko, finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly grabbed him: "Uesugi! Where have you been? Your phone is with the production team, but you're nowhere to be found. I've been looking for you everywhere! If the production team hadn't told me that they had something to discuss with you at the station, I would have called the police."

"Erina-sensei," Uesugi Muneyuki said earnestly to the tall, beautiful woman, "you're still the best!"

"Huh?!" Erena's eyes widened, completely failing to understand what Uesugi Muneyuki meant.

Uesugi Muneyuki thought to himself that wildflowers are not as fragrant as cultivated flowers.

Looking at Uesugi Muneyuki's expression, Erena felt something was off, but upon closer inspection, it didn't seem wrong. So she said, "Your Mikoto-nee has arrived. They'll handle the rest. I need to go back to the Metropolitan Police Department to write a report. Do you want to come back with me, or..."

“I’ll go back to the Metropolitan Police Department with you.” Uesugi Muneyuki nodded, said goodbye to Mikoto, and indicated that he would leave the rest to her. Ishihara Mikoto rolled her eyes at him.

As expected of Zong Xue, how come she can encounter a case even while recording a TV show?
You've only been here for two months, but you've already handled more cases than I have in several years in Tokyo!
In the Fujidai underground parking garage, Uesugi Muneyuki, unusually, sat in the passenger seat, at Erina's request.

The tall, beautiful woman had a lot on her mind about what happened today.

“Uesugi, um…” Erena couldn’t hold back any longer: “Don’t you find it strange? Why are you so sure that the phone that’s ringing is the victim’s? Why didn’t the murderer bring two phones? Or carry both his own and the victim’s phones with him? He could have brought two, or he could have brought his own alarm clock and gone out to use the victim’s phone to make a call.”

"Idiot!" Uesugi Muneyuki rolled his eyes. "First of all, carrying both your own and the deceased's cell phones on your person would easily give you away, right?"

"Mmm," Erina couldn't help but say, "If he can't bring two phones, he can bring his own! What makes you think the phone on him belongs to the deceased?"

"...First of all, Ms. Erena, we need to reach a consensus that this was a crime of passion. Miyano did not prepare in advance, otherwise he could have prepared two cell phones. If that's the case, then it will be really difficult for us to investigate. Do you agree with this?" Uesugi Muneyuki said first.

"Mmm!" Erena nodded vigorously.

"Secondly, since there was no prior preparation and it's not appropriate to carry both phones on one's person at the same time, which phone would the murderer instinctively put on his person when faced with two phones?" Uesugi Muneyuki held up two fingers: "One, his own work phone, which he can guarantee will not have any problems and can be handed over to the production team with peace of mind; two, the victim's phone, which he doesn't know what's on it, whether it will be discovered, or whether other calls will come in by chance?"

"So, to maintain their self-control, everyone would choose to carry the problematic phone with them and leave the safe phone outside, understand?" "Oh oh oh oh oh!" Now that she understood, Erina had a blank, cute expression on her face, as if she understood.

“Similarly, the same applies to emergency inhalers. Miyano could, of course, stay in the room and wait for Miyahara to die, and then stuff the emergency inhaler back into his clothes, instead of carrying it with him.” Uesugi Muneyuki nodded with a smile: “But this is a crime of passion. A crime of passion means that Miyano cannot stay in the lounge indefinitely, because there are people coming and going outside and someone could come and say hello at any time, which is very dangerous. So his instinct is to leave immediately, away from the scene and away from the body. Naturally, he does not want to see his partner’s death process, as it would make him feel guilty.”

"Oh, is that so?" Erena had learned something new. The tall beauty looked at Uesugi Muneyuki, who was explaining things to her earnestly, and felt very satisfied.

Uesugi's Little Classroom is just for me!

"Please, Ms. Erena, not every murderer is as vicious and mentally formidable as the Chiba and Yokohama cases," Uesugi Muneyuki retorted. "Yoshimoto Kogyo trains comedians, not professional killers. Miyano doesn't have that ability or those qualities."

"Hmm, I see!" Erena had completely accepted it; whatever Uesugi said was right.

After thinking for a moment, she had one last question: "Also, I wanted to say that, Uesugi, wasn't your attitude today a little...too harsh?"

“It has to be a bit stiff.” Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head with a wry smile.

The Yoshimoto entertainer case is very special because Miyahara truly died from an asthma attack. If he hadn't been able to communicate with spirits and make a soul contract, anyone who investigated would have concluded that he died from an accident.

The police arrived; the person had died unexpectedly from an illness, and an autopsy was not even necessary.

The family had doubts and requested an administrative autopsy, which revealed that the death was accidental.

If both parties disagree and request further investigation by the police, after investigating interpersonal relationships, listening to the testimony of his partner, and considering his past medical history, the final investigation result will still be that he died of an accidental illness.

In other words, in most cases, the investigation will stop at the first level. If the family requests it, the investigation will stop at the second level. If there is really a problem, the final outcome will still be that the case is closed as an accidental death after the investigation finds out about interpersonal relationships and the testimony of the partner.

You don't really think that Japanese police (or even police in other countries) will investigate every incident thoroughly and defend truth and justice to the death, do you?
Come on, most police officers are civil servants. It's just a job. If there's a reason or excuse to close the case, everyone will choose to close it smoothly. Besides, Miyamoto died of asthma, and the evidence is irrefutable.

It's just a job, why risk your life for it?
It would be more like a major meritorious service if it were a drug dealer, a high-ranking official, or a big capitalist.

If it were Kameyama who died today, we would definitely have to investigate him thoroughly.

Moreover, every accidental death needs to be investigated, and there aren't enough people to handle it. Otherwise, we'll be accused of tax thieves.

"Sigh~ I feel like even though I'm in the headquarters now, the police aren't what I thought they were." Erena finally understood, and lowered her head with resentment, ready to start the conversation: "I feel like even the First Investigation Division is quite perfunctory about some things."

“After all, we are civil servants.” Uesugi Muneyuki laughed. “It’s alright, Erina-sensei. Although we may not be able to uphold justice for every wronged soul, as long as we see it, we will never allow it to be handled carelessly or closed in a muddled manner!”

"Isn't this the reason our Special Missions Unit exists?"

"Mmm!!!" Erena instantly recharged. She slammed on the brakes and suddenly kissed Uesugi Muneyuki on the cheek: "I'll support you!"

"Really?"

"Really!" Erena said earnestly.

"Then... what did you promise me last time?" Uesugi Muneyuki asked with a hint of teasing and a sense of anticipation.

"Ah? No, no, no~ Absolutely not!" The tall beauty instinctively covered her buttocks, her face flushed with embarrassment.

"Erina-sensei~ Look how much I've explained it to you, just this once, please grant my request~" Uesugi Muneyuki coaxed patiently.

"Well…………"

(End of this chapter)