August 30, 2026. 11:20 AM. Shinagawa Ward. A certain location.
“Still, an antique shop for women… It’s hard for me to just walk in.”
I was researching the antique shop where Asagiri worked, “Princess Maker,” on my smartphone. It was an antique shop that collected old masterpieces from Europe.
“A room to make you a princess.” That seemed to be their catchphrase.
“With this, even I feel like taking a peek. Rather, it would definitely be hard for a man to enter…”
In fact, Kamikura was not enthusiastic about it.
“In all likelihood… there’s no doubt Asagiri knows something important. What happened there? I think she might be aware of it.”
“I think so too. Supernatural power. If that isn’t behind this, it can no longer be explained… But just how great that power is… I still can’t imagine it realistically…”
“Himemiya…”
“What is it?”
“…Are you really sure about this?”
“About what?”
“When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. If you step any further into this… there will be no turning back.”
Kamikura said that quietly with a cold gaze.
I know that without being told. It is already eroding the middle finger of my right hand. Being told again made fear gradually spread through my heart… I felt like I was going to break out in a strange cold sweat.
“I never had… any intention of turning back from the start. I’ll go ask around. I want you to stand by nearby, Kamikura.”
Spitting those words out, I got out of the car. It was there after about a five-minute walk. It had a somewhat old-looking exterior, but that only added to its antique feel.
And then, I opened the entrance door. A stylish ding-a-ling sound rang out.
(!?)
It was then. For an instant, my surroundings went pitch black. And I felt someone’s cold gaze piercing right through me…
What is this chill…? As if caught in a powerful sleep paralysis, my body froze and refused to move…
The depths of my heart… felt as if they were being stared intently at by someone… Suddenly, a terrible fear assaulted my entire body.
“Excuse me, are you okay?! Please pull yourself together!”
When I came to, I had collapsed to my knees right inside the entrance door… A shop clerk was looking at me with concern, placing a hand on my shoulder and calling out to me.
“Are you alright…? If you’re feeling unwell, please rest in the back.”
A woman wearing a loose pink tunic and tight dark navy skinny jeans. Over that, she wore the shop’s apron. Her hair was dyed a somewhat long, natural brown. She wore pearl-pink glasses.
There was no mistake. It was Asagiri.
“I’m sorry… I suddenly felt dizzy…”
Letting Asagiri support my body, I was guided to a sofa in the back of the shop.
“It might be heatstroke. Please lie down here. I’ll go prepare a cold drink.”
The intense chill and fear that ran through my body… What on earth was that just now…?
I had never experienced such an intense, sleep paralysis-like sensation in my entire life…
When I was young, I did feel ghost-like presences on more than a few occasions. I had experienced poltergeist noises and heard voices that shouldn’t have been there. But ever since I was left in the care of my grandmother in Japan, encountering such spiritual phenomena had become almost non-existent. Since then, although I sometimes had bad premonitions, I had never been caught up in any spiritual phenomena…
The ring fitted on the middle finger of my right hand… Looking closely, the red-black jewel seemed to be shining brighter than it did at first…
What is going to happen to me… from now on…?
To begin with, is this reality? Am I having a far too long dream? Perhaps I am having a lucid dream…
Various thoughts crossed my mind… but this seemed to be an unmistakable reality…
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here is some cold lemonade. Please take your time and rest.”
“…Thank you very much.”
The cold lemonade was accompanied by some light tea snacks. The eyes of Asagiri, hidden deep behind her elegant pearl-pink glasses, were incredibly beautiful.
“It’s delicious… It was hot outside, so it really soaks into my body.”
“…I’m glad. Occasionally, there are customers who say they aren’t fond of it…”
Her voice was a bit soft, but it was a beautiful, crystal-clear voice. Perhaps because of her position as a clerk, she was dressed somewhat plainly, but if she dressed up, she would be quite a beauty.
She was slender, but she had curves in the right places, and her small bottom looked incredibly good in denim. She gave off a somewhat reserved aura; I wondered if she was normally a quiet woman. She looked like the type who would suit reading a book in the corner of a library.
“Excuse me… is it your first time at this shop? We have everything from lovely antiques to accessories. Please feel free to ask me anything.”
Asagiri smiled warmly. She was a wonderful woman with a uniquely gentle atmosphere.
However… assuming Asagiri knew what happened on that building’s rooftop, it was highly possible that Asagiri herself was an AW. The chill from earlier could very well have been some sort of power of hers.
“…Is there something worrying you?”
Asagiri peered into my face with concern. She was a very gentle-looking woman. I didn’t want to think a woman like this was an AW.
But you shouldn’t trust people based on appearances. During my FBI days, there were many times when people I thought trustworthy were secretly communicating with the enemy. In fact, it was par for the course to be more suspicious of people who seemed affable.
“Lately, I’ve been having bad dreams… My love life isn’t going well either… I feel like I’ve been possessed by something bad. Do you have anything like an accessory to ward off evil?”
Having a flash of inspiration, I said that to Asagiri. I didn’t intend to tell a lie. I didn’t remember what dream I had this morning, either, and I had woken up feeling terrible.
I don’t harbor romantic feelings for Kamikura… or so I intend. The relationship between Kamikura and me isn’t just your run-of-the-mill romantic affection. Kamikura is my precious childhood friend, but also a person I admire, whose back I’m chasing after. His straightforward sense of justice, and those sometimes sorrowful eyes that seem to be searching for something…
The fact that I was able to spend my student days peacefully was also thanks to Kamikura.
“If you’re looking for an accessory to ward off evil, how about this ring? It’s a ring that uses a high-quality Uruguayan amethyst.”
Asagiri brought over a silver ring set with a beautiful amethyst from the shop’s accessory shelf. It looked to be about 10 carats. Its shine was beautiful, and as an accessory, it wasn’t bad at all.
“…I’m sorry. Could you put the ring on me? My head is still a bit fuzzy…”
“Certainly.”
I held out my right hand. For just a moment, Asagiri made an expression as if she was thinking about something, then with a calm motion, she took my right hand and put the ring on me. Her beautiful hands and their warmth felt pleasant.
A beautiful amethyst ring fitted on my ring finger. That fact cemented my suspicions.
“–As I thought, you can see this ring on my right hand.”
I stood up from the sofa. Hearing those words, a wave of agitation ran across Asagiri’s face, just as I expected.
“Miss…”
“An evil-warding ring. Normally, it’s supposed to be worn on the middle finger, isn’t it? And yet, you put it on my ring finger. That means—you could see the red-black ring fitted on the middle finger of my right hand. Am I wrong?”
The ring finger of the right hand is for rings meant to wish for emotional stability or the fulfillment of romance. It’s strange to put an amulet ring on the ring finger. The reason Asagiri showed an expression as if thinking for a moment was probably because she was hesitating about which finger to choose.
“I apologize for deceiving you. I am Asami Himemiya, a Special Agent belonging to the US special investigative agency, UCIA. I have been granted the authority to arrest and special detainment privileges by the Japanese government. Please understand that depending on your answers to my questions, you may be legally detained.”
Asagiri was looking at me with a disturbed expression. Taking out my smartphone, I thrust it toward her.
“Mayu Asagiri-san. Please answer honestly. What were you thinking about, and where were you looking, amidst that bustling crowd?”
It was the security camera video data Chris had obtained.
“Umm… At that time, I think my head was fuzzy… As for where I was looking…”
She seemed to be desperately searching for an excuse, but that only made her words falter even more.
There was no mistake. Asagiri knew what happened at that place. And there was a high probability she was directly involved. It all came down to a split second. If the opponent was an AW, there was no telling what kind of abilities she might possess.
“If your head was fuzzy and you were spacing out, your face would be looking slightly downward, wouldn’t it? You came to a complete stop and raised your face as if looking at the rooftop of a building somewhere. For about 8 seconds. It’s far too unnatural to stop and stare like that in the middle of such a crowd.”
Asagiri fell silent. Her disturbed expression grew stronger. The timing was now or never!
I swiftly pulled out a compact tactical stun gun from my inner pocket, quickly slipped around behind Asagiri, and pressed it hard against the back of her neck.
For a moment, I heard Asagiri’s scream. I skillfully caught her as she collapsed toward the floor.
“Asagiri-san… I’m sorry.”
I laid the unconscious Asagiri down on the sofa. At that moment, Kamikura entered the shop.
“Kamikura, I’m taking Asagiri into custody and bringing her to Ground Base. The probability of her being an AW is high.”
“Understood. Good job, Himemiya. By the way, what happened to your mic? I couldn’t hear anything halfway through.”
“Sorry. It seems the switch broke at some point…”
My situation was supposed to be transmitted to Kamikura via the ultra-compact mic attached to my clothes. But my intuition to cut the mic was correct. If he had heard our exchange, he would have found out about my ring. Kamikura quickly took out handcuffs and fastened them to both of Asagiri’s wrists. Then, he put a blindfold-type eye mask on her.
“–This is Himemiya. We have secured Asagiri, who is suspected to be an AW. We are transporting her to Ground Base. Please prepare restraints and an interrogation room.”
I contacted headquarters. Kamikura and I loaded Asagiri into the trunk of the car and headed straight for Ground Base.