Sara and Jun - The Valley of Dead

Chapter 2: The Fog That Built Up

(Narrative: Peni (Sara) Araka)

"Ding Ding Ding Ding Dinnnnnn"

Unlike what I usually do during the summer, as soon as the bell rang, I jumped out of my bed. Today is a special day, I thought.

As I was washing my teeth, I saw a notification on my phone - it was a message from Sukeo:

"In case if you did't see that message, they had changed the location of the meeting to the Provincial Police Headquarters. Also, what I heard, you would also meet with someone who were from the higher command."

That's right, I almost forgot it if he didn't reminds me. But why they want to hold the meeting there? Is this case crime related, rather than a simple supernatural incident, that some arrests needed to be made? Plus, who were those "higher command"?

With these questions, I walked downstairs and saw Jun was waiting for me at the breakfast room.

"Good morning, Araka." Jun was sitting there, with all the breakfast ready on the table.

"Good morning.", I took a bite of the breakfast and continue, "Jun, did you remember that they said that meeting would be held at the Provincial Police Headquarters?"

"Yeah, what's the matter?"

I brought up my assumption I made before: "So it means this must also be a criminal case, right?"

"Yes, I assume. from the evidence we have."

"But should it normally only be handled by SAIR, as we already had rescue and combat groups?"

"Well, it seemed like they are going to make some arrests by

"But what do they mean by 'higher command'? Does that mean someone from the SAIR Headoffice would be here too?"

"Well, that could be the case, since the case could be too big for the local SAIR agency to handle."

It seemed more complicated than I expected, I thought, as it did not sound like a supernatural incident.

After the breakfast, we headed directly to the location. On the way there, Jun told me that someone else we have worked before would also be there. 

At the time we arrived at the location, many of the participants had already set up groups. Most of them were having conversations with each other, while the rest were sorting their notes and preparing their speeches. The internship group was concentrated on the right, and most of them were around our age; while judging from their dark blue suits and blouses, the ones on the left were the full-time agents of the SAIR. From a brief look, I have spotted some familiar figures - they were the ones who worked with us during some special missions.

While we were looking for a place to wait, two men at our age walked toward us. Both of them were wearing the internship uniform - a dark blue waterproof coat written with "SAIR intern" with a black hoodie inside, and dark pants.

"Helloooo, there! Look at who we got here!" The one with dark, long hair and brown eyes first broke the ice. I recognized him - his name was Hitakani Okuri, one of Jun's colleagues. The first time we met him was two years ago, when we were investigating the Takumai incident along with my friends. Later that year, we also worked together to uncover the mystery of the Kuro Valley, which with his support, not only we were safe from the danger, but also gained some popularity among the public.