The path from the inn to the shrine was clearly marked, and Byakuya could see the shrine's red gates not too far off along it. The gentle breeze blew from that direction, and carried the scent of incense along with it.

Abe-san was dead. Or presumed dead enough for a funeral to be held...

The whole thing was troubling. An assignment unsanctioned by him leads his assistant to his untimely demise. He had no answers, only questions and a dead assistant.

His jaw set as he walked with his hands folded behind his back, walking quickly towards the smell of incense… the local shrine.

Not only was Abe-san's death tragic- but the ramifications were likely to be far worse down the line.

Fukawa hurried after him, her braid swinging side to side as she stumbled after him, but she stayed quiet for the moment, perhaps as pensive as he was.

As they neared the little shrine Togami could hear a low, muttered, chanting prayer.

He tilted his head, listening to it as he approached.

Delicately pushing up his glasses, he whispered to Fukawa. "It appears it's still ongoing. Good."

"S-sorry if this is a stupid question, sir," Fukawa mumbled, as she followed him. "Do you think he really is... d-dead? It seems so sudden..."

"It's not foolish." He shook his head -maybe he is. Maybe he isn't… there's a chance there's some other game at play here. It does seem so sudden… but that, I suppose, is sometimes the nature of death."

"The n-nature of death..." She nodded, wringing her hands.. "I suppose so..."

They passed below and through the gate's red arch, and beyond saw a figure in a white and red priest's garb praying in front of a coffin and altar. On the altar was a mourning photo that Togami recognized. A blown up replica of Abe-san's company ID photo.

The only photo they would have had on hand, Byakuya thought grimly.

Taking a breath, and drawing himself up with a confident air, he approached the coffin to give his respects.

The priest didn't acknowledge him- nor did they acknowledge Fukawa, who also came forward to pay her respects- until after the end of the prayer. Then they turned to regard Togami. The priest had a long cascade of pale hair, loosely tied back, and a fine, inscrutable-featured face with large, dark eyes. They could have been twenty, or forty, or even older. It was impossible to tell.

"Come to pay your respects to the dead, young man?"

"Yes. And to ask some questions, if you don't mind." Togami turned to face the photograph. "This man was my personal assistant."

"Is that so?" The priest looked him over, seeming to size him up with those dark, searching eyes.. "Then you have my condolences."

Togami met the priest's gaze with a raise of his eyebrow behind his thin framed glasses.

"They're appreciated. Mostly I'm just left wondering what happened. It wasn't that long ago that he was alive and well in our central office."

"I had heard that he came from some great corporation," they nodded. "This man met his fate three nights ago."

"Met his fate?" Fukawa murmured, her nose wrinkling at the suggestion.

Met his fate indeed. Togami closed his eyes briefly, with a small intake of breath before he continued.

"Do you have any idea what happened to Abe-san? You say met his fate, yes, but as his employer I'm hoping for… specifics."

"He was found in the street the morning after the storm. His throat had been cut."

"M-murder..." Fukawa's eyes widened, and she wrung her hands nervously.

Togami's gaze darkened, staying trained on the priest. "Is that so? Someone slit his throat, then."

He tightened his tie and glanced at the casket. "If it wasn't a mere accident. No heart attack, no stroke or fatal fall. But murder-then the Togami family has no choice but to investigate the matter."

The priest looked up at him curiously, tilting their chin toward him. "Investigate... that may put you on a dire path indeed. But perhaps one that you can't avoid in any case."

Finally turning back to the priest, a small, severe frown darkened Togami's handsome face, and he crossed his arms. "I'm going to ask you to elaborate on that. I hope you aren't threatening me."

"L-listen, you'd better not be threatening my b-boss!" Fukawa agreed, pointing.

The priest only laughed. "A threat? What reason does someone like me have to threaten you, Togami-san? No... it is a warning."

"What reason indeed?" Togami mused, pushing his glasses up to stare the priest in the eyes again. "Fine then. What exactly are you warning me of? Investigating the wrongful death of my employee?"

"Abe-san's death... investigating it may call to you the same powers which ended his life," the priest warned. "Powers- dark powers- dwell in this town."

"Th-that sounds like a lot of n-nonsense!" Fukawa snapped.

"Dark powers." Togami scoffed in agreement with his assistant. "I don't believe in fairy tales. Whatever 'dark power' killed Abe-san was wholly mundane...and I intend to find them and make them answer for their crime."

"Is that so?" the priest asked softly. They smiled and nodded, making a strange gesture at him. "Then may fate guide your footsteps, and may you save all of us from certain doom."

Fukawa stared incredulously.

"..." Togami starred as well, resting his long fingers against his chin with a low "hmmm."

He shook his head. "How ...dire," he drawled, undeterred. "Well. Regardless of fate, I intend to cut through to the truth of the matter. Care to elaborate on this...'certain doom' of yours?"

The priest glanced off, and following their gaze Togami saw a tall, tiered building rising from the trees in the distance at the edge of the lake.

"Legend says that Mashinnomura dwells on the ground of a portal to hell itself..."

Togami stared at the building with an incredulous raise of his eyebrow. "...a portal to hell, you say. I don't think this area is zoned for that."

Fukawa snorted with amusement, and immediately clapped her hand to her mouth.

"Go. Start your quest then. I must pray for this man's soul."The priest gave them a cool look and waved their hand. Without another word, they turned and bowed their head in front of the casket's shrine again, and began to chant.

Togami turned briefly to stand before the casket, and murmured a promise to it, and to the man inside, rather than a prayer.

"Whoever took your life, and for whatever purpose...you can rest assured that I will find the answer. Rest well, Abe-san."

With that, he turned sharply away, his attention focused on the present. "Fukawa-san. We need to find the inspector."

His assistant snapped to attention, lowering her hands from her face, and clasping them in front of her. "Yes, sir! L-let's see... if the phones aren't working, our b-best bet might be to look for an official building..."

"...likely near the center of town, yes." He nodded as he began walking back towards the town center with his arms crossed before him.

Fukawa followed along just behind him, trailing him like a faithful dog as they walked back along the path they'd come down. The day was warm, but the sun was clouded over, and a cool breeze whispered through the trees. Now and then as they walked they could hear the chirps of birds, or insects out in the woods.

Togami adjusted his cuffs as he walked, a little warm in his customary neat suit. Usually he wore it in air conditioned board rooms, not out in the country on mid-summer days.

He glanced over at Fukawa with a thin smirk as they got far enough from the priest. "A portal to hell. Certain Doom. Dark Forces. That man sure had a lot of dire portents, didn't he?"

"I-it sounds like the plot of a cheap light novel," she groused.

"It certainly did. A ghost story to scare children." He looked up at the grey sky briefly, before he returned his attention to the road. "Hopefully the inspector is a little less cryptic."

"He'd pretty much h-have to be," Fukawa murmured. "At least, I can't imagine someone more cryptic..."

Togami shook his head. "A man dies and they go on about a portal to hell. Madness."

He tapped his elbow thoughtfully.

"...In light of all this, Fukawa-san, I'm afraid your assignment is going to have to be extended." He glanced at her "given that my personal assistant is dead, and we're left trying to find out _why_, I could use your assistance. Consider it a promotion . Once we get back to the central office, I'll ensure you're compensated."

Fukawa perked to attention, and nodded eagerly. "O-oh, of course, Togami-sama, I''m happy to a-assist you for as long as you need! That's what I'm here for..."

Togami glanced at her curiously. He'd expected her to perhaps be irritated, but on the contrary, she seemed thrilled. "Dutiful of you, Fukawa-san. Your excitement is certainly noted."

She flushed brightly as he looked at her, and looked away at the ground- just in time to barely stop herself from tripping on a rock. "W-whoa!"

Togami reached out and grabbed her shoulder with a soft 'tch' that almost sounded amused.

Keeping her from falling over, he kept walking alongside her.

"Dutiful, Excited...and it seems a tad clumsy. This is the second time you've nearly fallen on your face, Fukawa-san."

"S-sorry, Togami-sama!" she said, still brilliantly flushed. She leaned into him for just a moment with a small sigh before straightening up. "I-t's no excuse, but I'm used to walking on tile or carpet, not gravel!"

Togami pat her shoulder once as she straightened up before crossing his arms again.

"You can be forgiven for that. Admittedly, I'm very much the same...though I have taken a few walks in the Togami Family Gardens."

He shook his head. "Just try not to fall anywhere where you're likely to get hurt."

She wrung her hands in front of herself and nodded again, stuttering and tripping over her words again as she promised, "I-I'll be doing my best, sir!"

The two of them arrived back at the front of the inn. They could get back in the car, or simply keep walking down the main road. It certainly wasn't long. But there was always the possibility Fukawa might trip again.

That was a risk he was willing to take...for now.

"I expect you to." He said with a nod of his head. "Come along, it's not _that_ much further hopefully. Though, if we get to the end of the road and we need to go much further, we should double back for the car."

"Y-yes sir," she nodded. "Though, I'm not sure how much more t-to the town there even is..."

As they walked down the streets, a few people headed about their business, but they mostly had the place to themselves. And it turned out they didn't need to search for long at all, they soon came upon a small office building that Togami had initially only seen one sign for. It appeared that the doctor and the police office shared a single building.

"...this is a small town, isn't it?" He mused. "They don't even have a dedicated police station or doctor's office. Hmm. Well, if we're going to get answers, Fukawa-san, this is where."

The little building looked like it was from the 80s or so, a mishmash of style with a box-like, western appearance, but a more traditional japanese ridged roof and outcropping. There were two doors, one labled for the doctor and one for the police.

"Probably can't expect m-much from a rinky dink place like this in terms of law enforcement," Fukawa grumbled.

"Which is why we're taking the investigation into our own hands." Togami agreed, as he adjusted his cuffs. "We have the authority."

He walked towards the door, and pushed it open.

A little bell over the door jingled as they entered the very small office. It looked more like a dentist's office or something than a police precinct. There was an ugly brown carpet, and a couch one one side of the room. A very plain desk with an old computer on it, and a door leading to some other part of the office.

As they entered, the man behind the desk looked up. He was wearing a wrinkled suit with the top button open, and had his shoulder length hair tied back in a pony tail. It looked like he'd been sleeping at his desk.

Togami gave him a small nod of acknowledgement as he approached the desk, and gestured towards the man with his hand.

"Good morning. I trust you had a good nap."

The man gave him a grumpy look and crossed his arms. "You from the utilities bureau?"

Fukawa lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes. "Don't you dare assume that Togami-sama is with such a petty organization. You should have more respect!"

"Tch." Togami rested his hand on his chin as he looked down at the other man. "I'm Byakuya Togami. I trust you've heard the name?"

"Togami... Togami..." he scratched his head thoughtfully and grappled for a pack of cigarettes. "Sorry, doesn't ring a bell. Must be some big shot Tokyo company, right?"

"Indeed," Byakuya said dryly. "You're close, at the very least. The Togami family's likely the richest and most influential family in Japan."

"You must be living under a r-rock not to know tha.,"

"Lady, have you seen this town?" he snorted. "Nice to meet you, Togami-san. What can I do ya for?"

"This town would be the rock, Fukawa-san." Togami said with a muted chuckle, before he shook his head, returning his attention to the man. "I don't know if you slept through it, my friend, but there's been a murder."

"You don't say." Cigarette in one hand, he leafed through some papers on his desk. "Taro Abe, yeah? Investigations are proceeding."

Togami crossed his arms. "Taro Abe was my assistant. My employee. And I'd like to hear everything you have on the case so far. Being an employee of the Togami Corporation, he's my responsibility."

"Not sure how cops work out in Tokyo, but I was always trained not to share case details, ya know?" He grabbed a lighter from somewhere within the pile of papers and lit up his cigarette, the smoke streaming off of it as he put it in his mouth.

"With just anyone, no. Of course not." Togami fished in his pocket for a small leather card holder, which he turned to face the man and opened.

"But I've worked with detective agencies in the past. You may have heard of my, hm, pseudonym. A stage name of sorts as I couldn't use my real name. But here's the license. Official, stamped, and up to date."

The man took the card and looked it over, holding it up to the light. "Huh..." he looked between the license and the man. "Looks real enough. Alright Polasky-san. I'm Inspector Ichiro Akagi,, by the by."

"We couldn't care l-less about your name," Fukawa snapped. If she'd seen the ID, or wondered about the name the inspector called Byakuya by, she didn't ask. "Togami-sama asked you for the case details!"

Togami held out his hand for the licence. "The pleasure's mine, Inspector." he said , despite his assistant's ire. "I'd like all the details you have on the Abe case, and your thoughts on them."

"Sure thing. Got the report right here. Not much to go on though. Pretty sure it was an attack by a desperate vagrant."

Akagi returned the license to to him and shrugged. Togami quickly put it back in his pocket before Fukawa had a second chance to get a good look.

The inspector then picked up a pair of papers from the desk and handed them to Togami.

"A v-vagrant? That's your theory?" Fukawa sniffed.

Byakuya picked up the papers and looked them over. "A vagrant. While it's possible, I feel that's unlikely."

"Unlikely huh?" Akagi shrugged. "You can think that, but you're a stranger here. Nobody in this town is gonna cut a man's throat in the dead of night."

"Hmph. Th-that's what everyone thinks about their n-neighbors." F

"Nobody is a bold statement." Togami agreed, watching the inspector with lidded eyes as the man smoked behind the desk. "By that same metric, people say 'nobody would kill their parents'. or 'nobody would kill a friend in a desperate situation'. As kind as your neighbors may be, with the proper motivation... No. There's a chance this was a vagrant-but there's just as much chance that it was the girl next door."

"If you say so, Polansky-san," Akagi shrugged, blowing a stream of smoke from his lips. "You're free to investigate as you like, but if you hassle my townsfolk we're gonna have a problem."

"I'm not looking to hassle anyone. Simply to find the truth of the matter. After all, he died on business for my family." He paused before he asked "was there an autopsy?"

"Doctor Uchikawa looked him over," Akagi said. "It's there on that paper, but you can ask him yourself if you want."

"Ah. And is the body still-present? I saw the casket but I'd like to examine his remains myself if I can."

Akagi shrugged again, seemingly unconcerned. "You'd have to ask the doctor about that."

"Mm hmm." Togami tapped his finger against his elbow as he stared down at the inspector with crossed arms "And I assume they're in this building?"

The inspector leaned over and tapped the wall to the side of his desk. "Yeah, we share a wall."

"Call over the good doctor." Togami nodded.

It wasn't a question

But Akagi chuckled. "Good one, Polansky-san. Listen, if Uchikawa's got the body it's in his office. Why don't you go pay him a visit?"

"Hm." Togami smiled, very thinly at the man as he took the case notes off the table and tucked them under his arm. "I'll be seeing you around. thank you for the help, Inspector."

"No problem, Polansky-san. Happy hunting."

Togami nodded sharply once in acknowledgement, and stepped out into the street once more with a soft 'tch'. He motioned for Fukawa to follow him, and heard her stamp her foot, and sniff derisively at the inspector as she turned away.