Liability (4)

"How do I lace bullets with mercury?" Arahabaki muttered as he typed the question into Google on the spare laptop while waiting for Daija in Kuro's office. Damn newfangled technology. 

I looked up from my iMac. That was a weird question. 

"That's not possible. Only works in Hollywood movies. Why are you looking that up?"

"Funny you have to be the second person to mention Hollywood," Arahabaki smirked. "I went to consult that foreign god. He told me what that creature is - a werewolf. Best method is to shoot it if we don't want any attention."

"Uh huh, who are the shooter then?"

Arahabaki pointed at me. "You…"

A knock on the door.

"Or him," Arahabaki said as Daija opened the door to walk in. He gave Arahabaki a stiff nod.

"What? Me?" Daija pointed to himself.

"He is suggesting that you or I shoot the foreign yōkai, that werewolf thing. With mercury loaded bullets," I answered as Arahabaki rubbed his chin. 

"Mercury? Even I have never tried that before. Theoretically hollow points can be filled. Then it depends on which type of mercury. Even with using lead, liquid mercury will amalgamate with the lead in the bullet. A plausible one is mercury fulminate, but it ignites at 150 celsius degrees with explosive results. So it is a gamble whether you can fire the gun and deliver the bullet without it exploding in your face and the surroundings. Not that it will hurt you but it is an eye catcher for attention."

Nothing like attempting to re-enact the Great Kanto fire in a concrete jungle of a metropolis. Might as well hang a big public advertisement about our assassination business.

Everything we worked so hard for will be blown. Retreating into Kakuriyo, for a few decades until the whole problem is forgotten, is not a tempting prospect.

"You are really into the human science. Whatever before it amal-WUTever it is," Arahabaki smirked. 

"You mentioned it as the best method. There will be other methods - what are they?" I interrupted before he came up with a smart ass response that offended Arahabaki. 

Much to my dismay, Daija jumped in and asked, "Why not just charm the guy into ingesting liquid mercury?"

Arahabaki shook his head and said, "it has to enter his heart or the brain, not through the stomach based on my meagre knowledge of human physiology. As for other methods - decapitation or tearing the heart out, then burning the body." 

"Decapitation is easier, and can be executed in a quiet place away from the crowds." That's my view. 

"If those old fussy ones in my shrine whiff a scent of blood on me, they will gang on me and throw me out for a 100 days. I need a place to do my own, you know, godly stuff."

Understandable. Blood is a ritual defilement. I never understand how that could be a defilement when the gods, not just Arahabaki, could kill.

Even if it is a bloodless death, death itself is also another defilement. That's why the Japanese avoid entering the shrines during the mourning period of their immediate family member. 

Even if Arahabaki didn't care, they could gang on him. Only the gods know their own stuffy bureaucratic rules, which will be a lot from a quick guess at his frustration.

Considering his temper, I am surprised that he has not exploded from the restrictions.

Many of the Yamato gods, like most of their people, are stuck to traditions.

Even if you ask a human Japanese about why they refuse to improve an inefficient method, the usual answers are 'tradition' and 'we have always done it this way for generations'. 

None of them knows why. Everybody just follows because a senior or elder said so. Anyone who did not conform are ostracised. 

I checked the results of Arahabaki's kills on my computer while he was distracted. What was the end like for his targets?

The screen popped up with the list of results. Nothing out of sorts. Still the regular bloodless deaths based on the death certificate.

Hage has an entire network of tanuki yōkai working as guards, or some inconspicuous role, in the hospitals, police, municipal offices and even the National Research Institute of Police. 

Most businesses, including ours, supported them to act as spies. If all fails, there are the kitsune and mujina involved but they charge a hefty price for information. 

The reluctance of the Japanese to do autopsies on their loved ones helped. Especially if the death resulted from a medical cause like the usual heart attack or a massive stroke.

With the harsh working conditions of most Japanese workers, coupled with unhealthy habits like smoking, death by those causes, did not raise an eyebrow. 'Death by overwork', karoshi, is so common that no one batted an eyelid.

"How do we set the body on fire without any attention? Every part has to burn," Arahabaki asked. 

"We can get rid of the bodies. I can contact the Nopperabo team."

"Ah, you got those shapeshifters and where do you propose to burn the bodies with this age of cctv and satellites?"

Better than none. The team of them are specialist shape shifters who could smuggle a corpse out of Tokyo. The Nopperabo could switch faces or even to a faceless one. 

Besides, people disappear all the time in Japan and the police are too inundated with missing cases to care. Most policemen assume that the person is fleeing from a human, like an abusive spouse, creditors or the yakuza. 

"You don't need to worry. Mount Asama is near to us," Daija answered.

Mount Asama is the most active volcano on the island of Honshu. Nestled in between Gunma and Nagano prefecture, this volcano brought both blessing and curses on the local population. Daija remembered the famines which followed each eruption, including the major ones in 1108 and 1783. 

The ash was so thick that crops and rice paddies were abandoned. The rice plants died from the pressure and chemicals released from ash with water. 

Worse were the tephra, or volcanic rocks, that spewed at high velocity from the crater. The tephra bombarded the local population like the bombs he had seen on World War II. 

If they didn't die of suffocation from the ash, or getting hit by a tephra, starvation awaited the victims of the volcano. Famine and disease spread as the sick, the youngest and oldest of the humans, fell prey to the awaiting shinigami, who were standing by to collect their souls for Death. The animals perished in vast amounts too.

"True, his corpse will be on fire before it goes near the lava lake. I guess decapitation may be the only way. Kuro did say that he came with a few others," Arahabaki paused to think for a while and then added, "the kodama told me that there are five of them, werewolf thingies wandering in the city. From the internet, werewolves come in packs."

Another perk of being a god - the minor yōkai will offer him information without threats. Kissing a god's ass is a penchant of a kodama. For us, we just threaten to poison their tree - that is, if we can find their hiding spot. 

"I will send in the tracking team. For now, we leave it as it is until the tracking team reports," I toyed with my iPhone. "We will have to assemble a team for this."

"Kouki can also practice tracking under my supervision," Daija added.

The door flung open. Kyoko had a wild eyed look on her face. 

"Bad news."

"What is it?"

"Isuki came back injured. Target is dead. But he said something is following him."

Isuki is our amanojaku. Like his yōkai species, his special talent was inducing humans to commit acts against human morality. With an adorable face of innocence and a short height, he resembled a young child. His case assignment was that girl who was hanging out with the werewolf.

Very bad news.

"Did he enter the building?"

"No…"

My iPhone started ringing, cutting her off as Daija and Arahabaki watched. One look at the screen - it is Yako's number. 

"Hi," I answered. 

"We have your Amanojaku in our establishment. You better come down and get him with your car. There are a few foreign yōkai after him. He is your liability, not mine," Yako said over the phone. 

"Yes, they are werewolves," I replied as I raise my hand to stop Kyoko from rambling. 

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTT THE FUCK? DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH TROUBLE THOSE FOREIGN WOLVES ARE? IT IS EXTREMELY HARD TO KILL THEM."

Yeah. No need to tell me that. Guess it saves me the trouble of looking for the pack when they are inviting themselves to Yako's door.

I placed the iPhone down. Yako was shouting so loudly that there was no need for the speaker function. 

"TONIGHT IS THE FULL FUCKING MOON. ONCE THE SUNSET THEY TAKE FULL FORM AND GET YOUR AMANOJAKU OUT BEFORE 5PM. I DON'T WANT THOSE CUNTS MESSING AROUND MY AREA. HE IS YOUR LIABILITY, NOT MINE."

I picked it up again. "Don't worry, I will come by now."

"No Kakuriyo use. I need him to leave physically where they can spot him. You better bring a few of your yōkai around. There's about six. Or else they will think that I am in cahoots with you," Yako snarled, as I could hear the growl over the phone. 

"Arahabaki will come with us."

Arahabaki frowned and got up. But I didn't care. 

"ARAHABAKI…. THAT GOD… ARE YOU FOR REAL?"

A hand reached out. Before I could react, Arahabaki had my iPhone in his hand. 

"For real, Yako… remember me? Now I want you to be a good kitsune boy and wait til I come," Arahabaki spoke in a very low perilous tone with an evil grin. 

Then he returned the iPhone to me. I could hear a whimper from Yako's side.

Note to self, do not bring Arahabaki into phone conversations the next time, or any other time.