Description

Spontaneous Human Combustion Takao is invited to meet Professor Muneharu Murota, who asks her to investigate a curse he fears has been placed on him. He explains that he has been studying the life of the infamous Onmyōji Enzo Ashiya, who is said to have cursed ten people to death. Recently, Murota and his team finally tracked down the location of Enzo's tomb and managed to unearth his corpse. However, shortly after, Murota began to contract coughing fits that antibiotics cannot seem to treat. Meanwhile, his partner Professor Ikari has also fallen gravely ill, leading him to conclude that they have been cursed by Enzo's spirit. Intrigued, Takao leads an expedition to Enzo's tomb and performs some tests on Enzo's corpse. She quickly discovers that the tomb's damp environment has become a breeding ground for fungal spores, and deduces that both Murota and Ikari were infected with Cryptococcus spores. Ikari developed meningitis due to taking immunosuppressants for an existing medical conditions, while Murota's respiratory system was already weakened by excessive smoking and developed fungal pneumonia. With Ikari delirious and refusing treatment, Takao enlists Sumida's aid in authorizing Ikari's involuntary hospitalization. Afterwards, both Murota and Ikari are hospitalized, Murota recovering but Ikari still in poor condition. Takao begins to study Enzo herself, and realizes that everybody who was cursed by Enzo died by fire. Meanwhile, Murota's assistant professor Aoi Kuromoto suddenly dies from an apparent spontaneous human combustion in her home.