Tokyo Exorcism Diary

Tokyo Haneda International Airport.

Inside a sleek black Rolls-Royce, Hoshino Gen leaned against the car window, his gaze calm as he watched the massive terminal buildings in the distance.

After following all the way here, he more or less understood where that little sister of his was heading. She hadn’t taken the agency’s car, so it was unlikely she was going on a business trip. And with a suitcase that size, it didn’t look like a casual vacation either. After all, when they’d gone to Switzerland together not long ago, Hoshino Rin had only brought a mini carry-on. But this time… it looked more like she was moving.

Back to the UK?

Hoshino Gen rested his chin on his palm, watching the yellow taxi that had been tailed all the way here pull up near the airport entrance. Slowly, he closed his eyes.

Well, maybe that’s for the best. If she leaves, the house might finally return to the way it used to be—peaceful.

He opened his eyes again, just about to instruct the driver to head back, when his phone suddenly rang in his pocket. His mouth, halfway open, closed again. He pulled out the phone and glanced at the caller ID.

[Mother]

He answered. Tillina’s voice immediately came through the speaker:

“Gen, where are you right now?”

“……”

Hoshino Gen was silent for a moment. Instead of answering, he countered with a question. 

“What’s wrong?”

“I just got a call from Rin. She said she’s going back to the UK. Do you know what’s going on? When I asked her, she just kept crying… What happened?”

Tillina’s voice was thick with confusion—and a trace of barely concealed anxiety.

“I’m… outside Haneda Airport. I can see Rin just got out of the taxi and is walking into the terminal,” Hoshino Gen replied flatly, his eyes downcast, voice devoid of emotion.

“You’re with Rin? That’s great!”
Tillina let out a visible sigh of relief, but quickly added, “So what on earth—never mind. In any case, could you go to London with her? I could tell from her voice earlier that she’s really not doing well. I don’t feel safe letting her travel so far alone, not in that state.”

Hoshino Gen hadn’t answered yet when Tiillina continued, “I just checked—Rin’s booked a flight to London that leaves in half an hour. I’ll buy you a ticket on the same flight. I’m counting on you to look after your sister.”

“……”

“…Alright.”

…

Amid the boarding announcements, Hoshino Rin found her seat in business class. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to sit in first—it was just that she’d bought her ticket too late. First class had already sold out.o

She shook her head at the flight attendant offering her a drink, fastened her seatbelt, then lowered the tray table and leaned forward onto it, listlessly staring out the window.

The business class seats were arranged two per row. Rin had taken the aisle-side seat, but the seat by the window next to her was still empty.

Outside, the sky had already darkened. Harsh lights flared along the runway, but other than that, there wasn’t much to see.

She pouted faintly, wiped at the corners of her eyes as more tears threatened to spill out, then turned her head away and resumed her dazed posture on the tray table.

In the row ahead, a gentle-looking woman in her thirties appeared with a girl of six or seven. A mother and daughter—clearly seated apart due to a last-minute booking—were trying to ask a young man by the window if he’d switch seats so they could sit together.

Unfortunately, the young man barely glanced at them before shaking his head and returning to whatever he was doing on his phone.

The woman looked visibly anxious but had no choice. She helped her daughter into her seat, fastening the seatbelt while softly telling her not to wander around and to call the flight attendants if she needed anything. It was clear she wasn’t comfortable leaving her young daughter alone.

Rin didn’t pay the situation much attention. Normally, she might’ve lent a hand, but today, she felt so miserable she didn’t even want to speak.

Across the aisle and a few rows ahead, someone was playing a game on their laptop. Rin stared blankly at the screen, which was too far away to make out clearly.

Then, the woman who had just seated her daughter must have noticed Rin. Perhaps thinking such a beautiful girl couldn’t be bad, she gently tapped Rin’s arm and, in a soft voice, asked if she could keep an eye on her daughter for a bit.

It was a small request, made out of maternal worry—and Rin, kind by nature, couldn’t bring herself to refuse. She nodded silently.

Relieved, the woman turned to find her own seat—coincidentally, the very spot where that young man with the laptop had been playing earlier. Her seat was the window-side one.

Perhaps realizing he’d be disturbing someone if he continued, the young man closed his laptop and set it on the tray to charge.

With nothing more to look at, Rin adjusted her seat back and leaned into it, closing her eyes. She figured she might as well sleep.

Everyone knows crying drains your energy. Maybe it was because she’d cried for so long today, but the moment Rin closed her eyes, sleepiness hit her like a wave.

And right now, she was eager to surrender to it—to stop her mind from looping endlessly with images of a certain awful older brother. So, not long after, she drifted off into a deep sleep.

…

Bzzzz…

When Hoshino Rin woke up, the steady drone of the engines filled her ears. It was the dead of night, and most passengers were still asleep. Aside from the hum of the plane, the cabin was nearly silent.

Instinctively, Rin turned to glance out the window. Ten thousand meters above ground, the moonlight bathed the thick clouds below. The sky was deep and clear, spangled with stars—like a dream.

As she stared at the ethereal nightscape, Rin suddenly sniffled.

Was it just her imagination?

She thought she smelled something… burnt?

Apparently not just her. One of the flight attendants walking through the cabin quietly whispered to another, “Do you smell something… burning?”

Rin glanced around—and her eyes were quickly drawn to something.

The laptop.
The one still plugged in and charging. She’d been staring at it before she fell asleep, so she hadn’t forgotten.

And now, a corner of that laptop looked… swollen.

The moment that thought crossed her mind—

BOOM.

A violent explosion erupted from the laptop’s direction, shockwaves blasting outward.

BOOM——!!!