『 And so, what did you do? 』
Jii-chan’s voice echoes in the hall.
「 I used chairman Satake to kill my sister and her husband 」
Takakura Kiyomi confesses.
「 I controlled Satake’s mind and gave him the plan to kill the couple and take over the Takakura shrine 」
『 In short, the events that occurred are as you planned? 』
「 That is correct 」
Do the sisters hear this confession?
Their aunt was the one who killed their parents though the Yakuza.
She used her Takakura shrine maiden power.
I want to see the three.
However, I can’t even look up and away from the monitor.
「 H-Hey! Wait a second!!! 」
Then, Satake,
「 T-That’s a lie!!! I-I’m not under that woman’s control!!!! 」
He screams.
「 I did it for my own!!! I made that decision and did it!!! I KNOW THAT I DID IT FOR MYSELF!!! 」
「 I made it so that you won’t notice it. I’m sorry 」
Kiyomi-san bows her head to Satake.
『 And you used your power to Oodori-kun as well, haven’t you? 』
Jii-chan asks further.
「 Yes. My husband is a member of Yakuza, and since he has been in charge of monitoring the Takakura shrine for a long time, he’s acquainted with Oodori-sama. I used my husband to meet with both Oodori-sama and Satake-sama 」
「 Ugugugu!!! I don’t remember that. Ignoring the past encounters, I’ve never met you for the past few years! Kiyomi!!!! 」
Oodori’s also confused.
「 No, we just met a few days ago. It was the same day I ordered Satake-sama to kill my sister and her husband. Oodori-sama has forgotten about it because I sealed it off 」
Kiyomi-san said.
「 It was Oodori-sama who told me about Kouzuki-sama 」
Kiyomi-san heard about Jii-chan from Oodori?
「 You mentioned that only Kouzuki-sama has so much power that not even all of Kansai Yakuza joined together can fight him. And that’s why I decided to depend on Kouzuki-sama 」
Oh, I.
I noticed something we overlooked.
How did Tsukiko and the girls escape from the hijacked Takakura shrine safely?
And, why did they seek Jii-chan’s help?
The sisters couldn’t possibly know how to contact Jii-chan.
That means.
「 That is why I thank you for accepting my selfish request for this occasion 」
Takakura Kiyomi bows her head to Jii-chan.
『 I don’t mind. It was in my plans to reorganize the world of Yakuza either way eventually. Other than that, did you… 』
「 Yes. I erased the thought that “Kouzuki-sama is a fearsome man and you must never fight him” from their thoughts 」
『 Then, is it as you promised, you only took away their memories about me? 』
「 Yes, Kouzuki-sama. What’s left is to convince the two that they have to make the Takakura shrine and the sisters their own 」
And that’s why Oodori and Satake sent their men to Tokyo without fearing Kouzuki family.
Sending dozens of subordinates to chase after Tsukiko.
『 Forgetting your fear of me, you sent your men to Tokyo without hesitation. You ignored whatever the circ.u.mstances here. That’s how you were 』
Jii-chan tells Oodori and Satake.
『 Although, even if you were under her control, the decision for your death penalty can’t be overturned. You acted lacking in thoughtfulness, and so give it up 』
「 But, I! 」
「 I-I!!!! 」
The two seem to be dissatisfied with what Jii-chan said.
『 It can’t be helped. Kiyomi-kun, could you remind them of who I am? 』
「 Yes 」
Kiyomi-san first goes to Ooodir.
「 W-What?! 」
「 Oodori-sama, I’m very sorry 」
She approaches Oodori and touches his cheek with her finger.
At that moment.
「 Aaaaaaa!!!! 」
Oodori screams.
「 W-What have I done!!!!!!!!!!! 」
He collapses and trembles down.
Meanwhile, Kiyomi-san approaches Satake.
「 Satake-sama as well, I’m very sorry 」
She pokes Satake’s nose.
「 Uwawawawa. T-That’s right; you were that woman from last time!!!! 」
Satake also starts trembling.
「 Huh, Why?! Why did I start this reckless war?! There’s not a single chance of winning in this one!!!! 」
This is Kiyomi-san’s power.
『 I’d like to confirm it one last time, have you used your power on me two days ago when I was in Kyoto? 』
Jii-chan said.
I knew it.
It was Kiyomi-san who entrusted Tsukiko and the two to Jii-chan and Minaho-neesan.
「 No. I didn’t use my power on Kouzuki-sama. Nor I used it to read your mind 」
Kiyomi-san replied.
『 Do you think I would trust that? My close aides and I have been monitoring you since our conversation with you, no, since discovering about the power of the Takakura shrine maiden. And I’ve made strict orders to restrain me in case I move or speak out of my character 』
Jii-chan said.
「 Minaho’s the same. Therefore, we try not to make contact with you guys as much as possible for the past few days. And Katsuko-san, Nagisa-san and I have been monitoring Minaho as we didn’t come to Kyoto 」
Margo-san tells me.
『 Goodness, the thought that someone might be controlling your mind is bad for the heart. I don’t want this experience ever again 』
「 I’m very sorry 」
『 No, I still don’t trust you. How can you prove that you didn’t try to pry with our minds during our meeting in Kyoto? 』
Kiyomi-san;
「 Well, I have a reason why I can’t use my power on Kouzuki-sama 」
『 What is that reason? 』
「 I plan on committing suicide after this 」
Suicide?
「 However, my sister and her husband entrusted Tsukiko-san to me. I also have my daughter. I feel sorry for the children, but I would like to entrust them to Kouzuki-sama 」
『 Then, why can’t you give me that order? 』
Kiyomi-san shakes her head.
「 No, it’s unknown whether the shrine maiden’s order to someone using her power would persist even in death. My husband couldn’t find it out in his research 」
If the shrine maiden dies,
Then the order given to someone may disappear.
「 If after my death, Kouzuki-sama, you noticed that I controlled you, then you might mistreat my daughter and nieces. I’d like to avoid that development if possible 」
Kiyomi-san said.
『 Umu. I can understand that. However, because of the events you have caused, I indeed was able to start working on my long worry about reorganizing the Kansai Yakuza. However, the costs I had to pay for you all was enormous. In addition to that, you’re trying to push over your daughter and her cousins to me to look for after your death. Don’t you think this is unfair? Do you plan on dying without even paying off the costs to me yet? 』
Jii-chan asks. Kiyomi-san.
「 My death is my compensation 」
『 What do you mean? 』
「 If I die, then the only shrine maiden who has this fearsome power will be gone from this world. There won’t be anyone like me that will bother you again 」
Kiyomi-san speaks gently.
「 As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t teach Tsukiko-san, Yomiko-san, and Luna-san the correct training to become a shrine maiden. Therefore, they’ll never be able to carry the Miko power of the Takakura shrine. I taught them lies 」
No, that’s.
Kiyomi-san, she doesn’t know about Tsukiko’s growth from yesterday.
Tsukiko and the girls start to awaken their power.
「 My daughter stopped her training, and so she’ll never become a shrine maiden. And my husband who has deciphered the ancient doc.u.ments in the Takakura shrine is no longer in this world 」
That’s right,
She mentioned that she killed her husband.
「 I have incinerated all of my husband’s handwritten data, and all of the ancient doc.u.ments in the shrine during the past few days 」
Oh.
Oh, so the reason why Kiyomi-san replaced Tsukiko and entered the Takakura shrine,
She wants to dispose of all the doc.u.ments remaining in the shrine.
「 And if I die, there won’t be anyone who can obtain the power of Takakura shrine maidens in this world. This fearsome power will be gone forever. Therefore, Kouzuki-sama! 」
Kiyomi-san appeals to Jii-chan.
「 Please take care of the girls after I take out my life 」
Jii-chan.
『 Is keeping them alive sufficient? 』
He asks in a calm voice.
『 I may turn your daughter to a prost.i.tute 』
Kiyomi-san.
「 As long as they are alive, that is good enough 」
Are you sure?
「 I believe that the fate of becoming a prost.i.tute is much better than becoming a shrine maiden 」
『 Do you find the idea of the Takakura shrine maiden that unbearable? 』
「 Yes. It’s h.e.l.l to live as a shrine maiden 」
『 However, you’re not a shrine maiden, are you? It was your late sister who became the shrine maiden. 』
「 T-That’s because I read my sister’s heart 」
Kiyomi-san said.
「 The children must never inherit this. The shrine maidens have to end with me 」
『 Then, must you die no matter what? 』
Jii-chan said.
「 Yes. There’s no path left for me but death 」
I see Kiyomi-san’s eyes looking like it’s possessed by something.
『 I see, then bring “that” to her 』
Jii-chan orders and the guard wearing a helmet brings in a wagon.
The wagon has a wine bottle with no label and a gla.s.s.
『 Do you not mind the Socrates method? 』
「 Yes, I killed my husband with this method as well 」
The guard pours the wine to the gla.s.s.
『 Do you have any last will you want to say? 』
Jii-chan said. Kiyomi-san.
She looks up at Tsukiko and the girls in the VIP room.
「 Tsukiko-san, Yomiko-san, Luna-san. I’m sorry. I was a bad aunt. I apologize for your mother and father. Please forget about becoming a shrine maiden. Please get along with my Koyomi. Please. Also, please tell her. I love her. Mama loves her from the bottom of her heart 」
Then, Kiyomi-san takes the gla.s.s.
This is a poisoned drink.
Definitely.
Is that okay?
Just like that?
Am I just going to watch someone die here?
Is this really okay?
「 Yoshin.o.bu-kun, there’s no other way 」
Margo-san tells me
Nei and Michi hug me from both sides.
「 We cannot do anything about this conclusion 」
I look at the monitor.
Kiyomi-san raises the poisoned wine gla.s.s.
「 Well then, excuse me, everyone. Farewell!!! 」
She drinks it all in one gulp.
Then.
「 Ugugugugu!!! 」
The beauty in j.a.panese clothes collapses on the floor, groaning.
「 This will end without her suffering as the poison acts immediately 」
Margo-san’s right.
Kiyomi-san turns quiet right away.
She looks like she’s at peace.
『 Autopsy 』
Shou-neechan orders.
The guards were wearing helmet checks Kiyomi-san’s pulse.
「 No pulse. Heart stopped beating. Breathing stopped. She’s dead 」
「 I’ve confirmed it as well 」
「 She’s dead, without a doubt 」
Each of the members conducted their investigations and reported.
『 Bring in the stretcher 』
Men carrying stretcher comes from the south side.
The guards bring in Kiyomi-san’s body to the stretcher.
Then, she’s covered with a white cloth.
『 Michi-chan, Edie? What do you think? 』
Shou-neechan asks Michi and Edie.
「 I can’t sense her Qi 」
「 She’s dead for sure 」
The two replied.
『 Thanks 』
Shou-neechan sighed.
Then.
「 Kakka, it’s all done 」
She tells Jii-chan.
『 Good work, everyone. Those watching in the monitors can look up now. She’s no longer letting out her strange power 』
「 It’s okay now, Yo-chan 」
Nei said.
I looked up from the small monitor and above.
Oh.
The shutter in Jii-chan’s VIP room is rising.
Jii-chan’s showing a relieved face.
Tsukiko and the two are crying.
The three of them are hugging each other.
『 That was an insentient yet effeminate woman 』
Jii-chan evaluates the late Kiyomi-san.
『 She’s looking to reverse from the conclusion to reason. And she desperately thinks that the real cause was the reason she made post-event 』
What does that mean?
『 We have doubted that she might’ve controlled her mind. Just like how she controlled Oodori-kun and Satake-kun. However 』
Jii-chan’s eyes look at Kiyomi-san on the stretcher.
『 In the end, she didn’t notice that she was also under someone’s control 』
Kiyomi-san?
You’re saying that someone was controlling Kiyomi-san?
But, if we look at the people who have the Yomi Miko power,
Apart from Kiyomi-san, it’s Tsukiko and the girls.
『 The Miko power’s effect continues even if the user dies. She was the proof of that 』
Does it persist after death?
Tsukiko and the girls are still alive.
I can see them crying right now.
Then that means.
『 Takakura Kiyomi was under control of the sister she had killed 』
It’s Tsukiko’s mother?
『 The late shrine maiden was having psychological problems and living as the shrine maiden has gnawed her heart. She wished to die together with her husband as soon as possible 』
Those were the thoughts of Tsukiko’s late mother, the former shrine maiden.
『 Takakura Kiyomi has received the wave of her sister’s dark emotions and has a.s.similated with it. Then, she has fulfilled the revenge against the Kansai Yakuza that was swirling in her sister’s heart 』
The thoughts of the elder sister took over.
『 Takakura Kiyomi thinks that she is a much stronger shrine maiden than her sister. She believed that her husband decoded the ancient doc.u.ments, and that made her stronger. However 』
Jii-chan said.
『 There’s no proof that the younger sister was stronger. Shrine maidens are shrine maidens. Maybe, the elder sister became the shrine maiden because she had enough power in her 」
One can’t become a shrine maiden unless they have enough power.
Then, as they’re recognized as the shrine maiden, their power should grow.
『 In the first place, “power” isn’t something that can be a.s.sessed that easily. An F1 Racing car is powerful in terms of horsepower and speed. However, only one person can enter the race car. It can’t continue running for several days without failing. On the other hand, a commercial truck isn’t fast, but it can carry a lot. It also has the stamina to continue running for days without maintenance. The superiority of “power” changes according to the circ.u.mstances 』
Then that means.
『 Takakura Kiyomi believes that she carries stronger power than her sister when her sister starts breaking down from illness. She didn’t notice that her sister was controlling her because of that wrong impression 』
Jii-chan’s voice echoes.
『 The thought that her sister has become ill and pessimistic is what made it possible to control Takakura Kiyomi. The despair from becoming a Takakura shrine maiden, the idea of wanting to die together with her husband, all of her sister’s dark emotions have become hers 』
That’s right, Kiyomi-san’s last lines were,
Lines from someone who has become the Takakura shrine maiden.
Kiyomi-san wasn’t a shrine maiden, however.
『 Perhaps, her mentally ill sister only wanted her to fulfill the double suicide she wishes for. Or maybe, she wanted to entrust the revenge on the Yakuza who made her suffer and take care of her daughter to someone else. Takakura Yomiko moved according to the will of the ill shrine maiden. She used the Yakuza, killed her sister and the husband, involved the Takakura shrine, developed it into a dispute, and handed over the custody of the children to em. This was all her sister’s will 』
All Kiyomi-san did was follow it.
「 Wait! 」
I shouted.
「 If that’s the case, why does Kiyomi-san have to die?! There would be no reason for it if it were her sister who made her do all this?! 」
The hall quiets down.
『 That’s because there’s no way to rescind it 』
Huh?
『 The former shrine maiden who controlled Takakura Kiyomi is already dead. Who can release the Miko power binding her? There is n.o.body who has the same power as Takakura Kiyomi! 』
T-That’s.
『 Furthermore, Takakura Kiyomi is starting to get insane. Her late sister’s heart and her heart are heading to ruin. She’s rewriting her memory 』
Jii-chan.
『 Takakura Kiyomi’s daughter is already in our care in Kyoto. Despite her statement, it wasn’t her husband who trained the daughter but herself 』
Kiyomi-san trained her daughter?
『 When her sister’s mind took over, the dead shrine maiden feared for her daughter to train to become a shrine maiden, and so the unpleasant emotions has infected Kiyomi. Thus, her memory’s altered. Instead of her, it was the husband who trained their daughter 』
Her sister’s thoughts are taking over.
『 Other than that, we have obtained Takakura Kiyomi’s video, and everything was different from the woman who just died. The way she talked, she thinks, she stands. Takakura Kiyomi herself overlapped with the late shrine maiden, and she has created a different personality. Or so to speak, Kiyomi is in a status where she believes and acts as her sister thinks. However, the shrine maiden that has stimulated Kiyomi is ill. If left alone, it will get worse. Then, what do you think will happen if a woman who curses the world and feels despair holds so much power? It will become a trouble if left alone 』
Jii-chan said.
『 That’s why we pushed to her impulse to commit suicide and let her do it 』
Shou-neechan said.
『 We had this debate for hours. But, there’s no other option. Takakura Kiyomi is beyond saving 』
…I
『 I’m tired. Sakagami-kun, I’ll leave Oodori-kun to Satake-kun to you. Do what I said earlier. Yakuza who knows about the power of the Takakura shrine maiden can no longer exist. It’s no longer permitted. That is my word to the woman who just died 』
The witnessing bosses stand up.
「 Yes, Kakka. We will deal with Oodori and Satake ourselves. We will deal with them as they have violated the code in our world 」
『 In regards to the subordinates, only kill those who are talkative. And keep those who you are sure to keep the secret of the Takakura shrine maiden in this room alive 』
「 Ha! 」
Now that’s mentioned, everyone feels desperate for their lives.
They know that Kouzuki house and Kouzuki SS is much more frightening than the Yakuza.
『 Let’s talk about the reorganization of the Yakuza world later sometime. Also, as for the Takakura shrine, it will be an ordinary shrine from now on. I won’t allow the Yakuza to intervene from now on. It will soon be under Kouzuki house’s control, do you mind? 』
「 Not at all 」
Boss Sakagami promised.
『 Anyone who opposes that arrangement will be against Kouzuki house. That includes those who try to investigate the Takakura shrine maidens and the Miko power 』
Jii-chan said.
Then.
『 Yoshin.o.bu, come over. Take care of the Takakura sisters. It’s impossible for me 』
Jii-chan calls me out.
「 Okay 」
I’m also worried about Tsukiko and the girls as they’re crying.
『 Sakagami, this is Yoshin.o.bu. Remember him. He is Misuzu’s fiance, and he will be the one in charge of the Kouzuki house from behind the scenes 』
Jii-chan introduces me to the bosses.
『 Unlike me, he has the guts to sit in there. He watched over the case and breathed the same air as you without caring about the danger 』
Huh?
「 I see. That’s why he was there all the time 」
「 How courageous 」
「 As expected of Kakka, you’ve chosen a fine man 」
The bosses from Yakuza speak unanimously.