Kouzuki SS lent us an 8-seater minivan.
The color is metallic green.
Well, it’s a car that needs to drive around the town without standing out anyway.
With the six of us, even if we pick up Megu from the school, we still have enough s.p.a.ce.
「 You guys can take a nap. You haven’t slept that well since yesterday, haven’t you? 」
Margo-san says while tightening the driver’s seatbelt.
「 Kou-sama, you can sit in between Yomiko and Luna in the last row 」
Tsukiko said, but I don’t feel like sitting in between two girls right now.
「 Sit together with the two, I’m going in the pa.s.senger seat 」
「 You can touch us and take our clothes off. Sensei~ 」
Yomiko puffs her chest and emphasizes her prided loli big t.i.ts.
「 Luna, I just had s.e.x inside the car earlier today! It was fun! You know how the car spring shakes us up? We were parked in the garage back then, but from what I heard from Misuzu-oneesama, it seems to be fun when the car’s running around! 」
Err.
「 Yomiko-oneesama that looks fun but let’s leave that for next time. It seems that this car can get you nauseated 」
Luna seems to be reading my mind.
As expected, I don’t think my stamina could keep up if I have s.e.x in here.
Besides, I need to have a serious talk with Megu later.
If I pick Megu up while having the scent of s.e.x coming from me, she will get angry again. It would be troublesome to talk her out.
「 We can take it easy tonight when we get back home 」
I said.
「 That’s right. Kou-sama is already tired for all he’s done for us, let’s give him some break time 」
Tsukiko who can read my mind, tells her sisters.
Luna and Tsukiko has awakened their “Yomi power,” which is to read people’s minds, but,
Yomiko’s Tsuki power has only started to develop, and so it’s still a bit dull.
Kiyomi-san pa.s.sed away, and they have loosened up as there’s no need to use the power they’ve acc.u.mulated inside.
「 Then, we will sit down on the back. Kou-sama, you can take it easy in the middle row 」
I’ll take that offer.
「 And I will be watching the surroundings so I’ll be sitting here 」
Edie sits on the pa.s.senger seat.
In case of an attack, Margo-san in the driver’s seat will prioritize driving us to a safe location.
Edie will jump out of the pa.s.senger seat and stop the raiders.
「 Thanks, Edie 」
「 Leave it to me! 」
Edie smiled.
「 Then, let’s go 」
Margo-san starts the engine.
Our car starts driving from the underground parking lot.
◇ ◇ ◇
Fortunately, there’s no ambush nor tailing that happened after getting out of the hotel.
Even if the Yakuza’s dissatisfied with the result of the deal, they won’t be ready to attack or track us right away.
We’ve been confronting both Satake and Oodori’s group for the past few days, but their organization’s dismantled now.
The old big-shots of the Kansai Yakuza will have to deal with Oodori and Satake first, that’s what they told Jii-chan.
As for the subordinates of the two men, the other Yakuza would be contending to get them.
Even if they try to fight back, there would be a reorganization of the Yakuza world soon.
「 Fufufu, looks like the sisters fell asleep first 」
Margo-san said while looking at the rearview mirror as the car drives through the city in the dusk.
Looking back at the rear seats, the sisters wearing shrine maiden clothing are all asleep.
Yomiko, Tsukiko, and Luna are cuddling each other in sleep.
「 Well, they’re tired. They lost their virginity last night, had s.e.x multiple times, and this morning, they trained their “power” They must be awfully strained 」
Yeah, the three did their best.
Even if Rei-chan was on their side, it must’ve been painful for them to hear the rage of the Yakuza and Kiyomi-san’s confession while standing next to Jii-chan.
「 But I’m glad 」
「 Yeah. I’m glad that they’re safe from the Yakuza now 」
They’re able to escape from the fate of the Takakura shrine maidens.
「 That’s not all, Darling 」
Edie?
「 The best thing is that these sisters are getting along now 」
「 Huh? 」
「 Do you not remember? Tsukiko ad the two weren’t on good terms when we first met them 」
Oh right.
For some reason, Yomiko, the second daughter, is the one being pushy.
Tsukiko was reserved.
And Luna was secluding herself.
「 Now, they’re getting along 」
Edie said I looked back at the sleeping sisters.
Yeah. No matter how you look at it, they are sisters who wear a beautiful dress and get along together.
I can feel that the sisters accepted each other.
「 That’s Darling’s power. That’s amazing, isn’t it? 」
「 I 」
「 You definitely did something, as long as you’re moving forward 」
Edie said.
「 Now then, Yoshin.o.bu-kun. How about we start a different conversation? 」
Margo-san says from the driver’s seat.
「 Sure, what is it? 」
I wonder what it could be?
「 Have you seen the “Seven Samurai” movie? Not the “Seven in the wilderness” or the “Seven in the universe,” the original one from Kurosawa 」
「 Nope 」
I replied.
「 Well, it’s a movie you can’t give an opinion on unless you watched it. It was broadcasted on television in j.a.pan only once. Furthermore, it was heavily edited, and there were too many commercials in between 」
Margo-san said.
「 Either way, here’s the story. It was during the old days of wartime in j.a.pan, a village was attacked by field warriors. I don’t know much about field warriors, but they seem to be samurai who don’t have masters anymore and became something like thieves. Either way, the bad guys attack the village multiple times to take their food, and the villagers can’t do anything as they are poor. Then, after some discussion, they hired a samurai to defeat the field warrior 」
Farmers hired a samurai?
「 Well, it’s in the war period, and so there is a lot of samurai who are like ronin as they have no master. And that’s the kind of people the farmers hire. But, since the village is raided by the field warriors, they have no reward to offer. The best that they could promise is a meal 」
O-Okay.
「 And so, they had no choice but to look for a samurai with a strong sense of justice who wants to help out the villagers. And, well, they’ve brought back seven samurai to the village, and the story is about them fighting the field warriors 」
I see.
「 That kind of story doesn’t exist in the history books though 」
Edie said.
「 Huh, what do you mean? 」
「 Before the establishment of the hierarchy of samurai, or even before the monopoly of warriors, there was no difference between a warrior and a farmer. That’s how j.a.pan saw it especially during the war era 」
「 Those who were farmers become soldiers in a war halfway through the warring states. There are no permanent soldiers in the war as the war continues after all 」
Margo-san said.
「 There are weapons in the farmer’s village, and most farmers have been in battles too. They can’t let the field warriors just take them out one-sidedly, and there’s also a network with the neighboring villages, and so they take down the band of thieves together. And that’s why there are large scale uprising, see? The Kaga uprising was done by people who have been ruled by the country for nearly a hundred years 」
「 Nei talked about n.o.bunaga’s ambition of unifying the country 」
Seriously?
「 In the first place, if field warriors do exist, the lord there would send their soldiers to crush them down. Even in a war-like era, it would be tedious to have a field warrior group in your area. They don’t help to plow the land and yet they come to rob the crops 」
That’s true.
However, why am I receiving j.a.pan history lessons from two Americans?
「 That’s the biggest problem, a field warrior attacking the village, and the samurai hired by the village are basically the same guys. They have no master to serve, and so they don’t have a place to return to. They don’t have their land to defend, relying only on their skills, they roam the country looking suspicious. It just happened that the field warriors attacked a village, and the seven samurai who were wandering around the highway saw it 」
「 But, the seven samurai are righteous a kind-hearted people, and the field warriors were the bad guys. They were cla.s.sified distinctly 」
「 Do you understand what that means? 」
Margo-san asks me.
「 No, I don’t get it. I couldn’t possibly know 」
「 What it means that it’s a historical play based on the events in the past, but the characters were written in modern style 」
Modern style.
「 The film “Seven Samurai” was filmed in 1955. It’s still during the post-war turmoil, and they say that j.a.pan’s economy is getting better after the war, but that wasn’t the case. It was in 1965 where the economic depression happened 」
「 Just after the Korean war ended 」
「 With the end emergency demands during the war, you’ll reach recession. Following that, the favorable economy called “the economic boom of the mid50’s happened,” and a recession right after that 」
「 It goes up and down, and j.a.pan recovers little by little 」
I see.
I mean. Why do I not know this even though I’m j.a.panese?
「 And so, returning to the topic, a year after the “Seven Samurai” was made, the first G.o.dzilla was created, at least you know what’s the metaphor of G.o.dzilla, don’t you? 」
「 What’s a metaphor? 」
Sorry, I’m an idiot.
「 It means a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, especially something abstract 」1
Now I don’t get it even further.
「 Metaphor doesn’t show direct comparison but instead reminds you of the meaning behind similarities. You know how G.o.dzilla fires of radioactive breath, right? 」
「 Oh, is that saying that it’s an atomic bomb? 」
Hearing that comparison, I now get it.
「 Yes. It was during the time when there were repeated atomic bomb experiments on the pacific island. G.o.dzilla is the metaphor of nuclear bombs. And as for the other one 」
Margo-san said.
「 It’s also a metaphor of the bombing of Tokyo 」
The bombing of Tokyo?
「 G.o.dzilla first landed in Tokyo, destroyed the city of Ginza along with Harumi, either way, it overlaps with the area burned out during the Tokyo bombing. Furthermore, G.o.dzilla’s a.s.sault stopped right in front of the current JR track. The bombing didn’t affect from that point onwards. The Sanshin building wasn’t existing until a few years ago 」
I see.
「 Although it’s been almost ten years after the war, no, it’s precisely because it was at that time. The memories of the flame during the bombing of Tokyo was still vivid. The bomber dropping the bombs from high alt.i.tude, and G.o.dzilla’s flames destroying the city makes an overlapping image 」
I see.
「 The “Seven Samurai” is the same. It’s about the Samurai who don’t have a master and now loitering the highways, it’s a metaphor for the j.a.panese father who came back exhausted after losing the war 」
And that’s why even if it was a historical drama, the characters feel modern.
「 The self-governing ability of j.a.pan is still incomplete, and the common people felt that they couldn’t rely on the government or the police, they don’t ask the lords to take measure against the field warriors, but the villagers themselves hire the samurai. Furthermore, for the fathers who lost the war and returned home, fighting for the villagers is a new way to gain an ident.i.ty. “I will offer myself for the sake of the revival of our country” is what they imagine themselves looking like 」
Ident.i.ty.
「 That means, from their current point of view, the seven samurai and the field warriors have both lost their masters, and they are dangerous to the public. They’re unemployed, have weapons, and have a good combat ability. However, when the “seven warriors” were first released, the field warriors were metaphoric as nothing but evil among the commoners. Therefore, they think that it’s okay for the samurai of justice to kill them. They didn’t think “that field warrior might have parents or children, maybe, his side has a compelling reason to attack the village.” Their metaphor is the evil after all 」
「 Right. The farmers of the real warring states period had the power to defend themselves, but the commoners of the era when ‘Seven Samurai’ was created felt that there’s no one who protects them. Therefore, they don’t question the idea of the samurai protecting them. They didn’t even think of getting weapons and fighting against the field warriors before relying on the samurai or other people」
「 Now that you mentioned it. Why? 」
I asked Margo-san.
「 Let me tell you this again, field warriors nor samurai exist in the history of j.a.pan 」
「 In short, they’re only a metaphorical image 」
That’s.
「 The field warrior has become a metaphor for those who harm the ordinary folks, and the samurai is a metaphor for those who came back from the war and came to revive devastated j.a.pan. It’s purely a metaphorical image, and so it can’t be beaten unless it’s another metaphorical image 」
O-Okay.
「 In this case, the villagers are nothing but ordinary people who feel uneasy about society and the government, but the image is too real, and so the image of pure evil from the field warriors stands strong 」
I-I see.
「 Therefore, the ‘seven samurai’ film was widely accepted by the audience at that time. Naturally, it’s also interesting to watch it now, but if you watch it with the mindset of the modern person, you’ll feel the contradiction 」
「 The samurai fight and give up their lives for the people of the village even if there are no rewards, the reason being that they carry their ideals and aspirations of people of that day. They’re humans, but they were set as something ALPHA, different from ordinary humans. That’s the hero nature 」
「 Therefore, if you watch it now, you’d feel contradiction about the behavior of the characters and the story development. The senses of the people making and watching it are different 」
Edie said.
「 We’ve gone through a lot of detours but let’s go with the reason why I talked about this. You see, I’ve always thought about the Yakuza 」
Margo-san.
「 You see, the Yakuza in the movies are really low, they used to help people a lot in the past though 」
「 I don’t know about that though 」
As expected, Edie doesn’t know much about Yakuza movies.
「 No you see, for the traditional Yakuza movies; Though they don’t have masters, just like in the ‘seven samurai’ movie, there’s those with the same sense of justice as the samurai and evil of the field warriors. That means, there’s good and bad Yakuza 」
Margo-san said.
「 The good Yakuza always suffers in the hands of the bad Yakuza. They endure it, all the time and in the climax, they’re unable to put up with it anymore, and so the good Yakuza attacks the house of the bad Yakuza. Then, they cut down all of the bad Yakuza. The only difference of Yakuza movies from ordinary dramas is that they kill the bad Yakuza, and that ends up coming back at the good Yakuza, the main character. Their allies die, or they die, or they get caught by the police and end up in jail, or they have to leave the city and their loved ones. That kind of tragic end is the pattern of the traditional Yakuza movies.
I see.
「 Why does the good Yakuza have to endure the hara.s.sment from the bad Yakuza? That’s because the good Yakuza is the virtue as a Yakuza, or so they say. Sentiments to their allies, loyalty to their boss, the law to protect the organization, they’re tied up to all of that. Therefore, they hold back until the last minute. And when the bad Yakuza finally tramples on the roots of their virtue, that’s when they snap and bite back. If it reaches the point where it can never be forgiven, then it’s very j.a.panese to fight even if they throw away their life. If it’s from the other race, then they would snap right away 」
Margo-san said.
「 In other words, it’s not possible in the actual Yakuza in j.a.pan, but if you sublime it to a beautiful thing called “Ideal Yakuza image,” That’s why there’s a lot of movies with Yakuza as the main character 」
Yakuza was the ideal figure.
「 But in the end, that sounds fake, doesn’t it? Ideal Yakuza? That doesn’t exist. For the actual Yakuza, betrayal, subordinates overthrowing the superiors, and so on are ordinary. Instead, it would be more interesting to draw a realistic figure of Yakuza filled with such vitality, a series of actual yakuza was made in the ’70s. It’s a series of movie modeled on the reality of the Yakuza world and the real Yakuza 」
The real one, not the ideal.
「 Naturally, even if they say that it’s real, it’s not a doc.u.mentary, and so they will still have direction. Instead of saying that it’s the real Yakuza, you call it a realistic one, it’s a story where the people would believe that “Yakuza’s like this” The first and the greatest success is the t.i.tle “the battle without justice” 「 They’re telling the viewers that the Yakuza’s world has no traditional virtue 」
There’s no virtue.
「 But you know, if it’s the real guys, they’d get angry too fast. There are not many exciting events that could become a movie in real life. Then, after it got popular, Yakuza movies changed again 」
「 What’s the change? 」
I asked.
「 The characters follow the Yakuza’s virtue, and they also do all kinds of lawless acts realistically 」
Realistically.
「 It means that they are compa.s.sionate to people in the same organization. But unreasonable towards the enemy. On the one hand, there’s a strong and reliable boss or senior, but on the other side, “What the h.e.l.l?! If you think using Yakuza’s common sense! That’s wrong!!” and so their atrocities aren’t legally acceptable. It’s a story of dual personality and the double standard for people 」
Margo-san said.
「 That kind of various aspects is realistic and very human-like. At first, that is. But as a result of that, the popularity of Yakuza movies has fallen in popularity because of that kind of stories 」
「 Is that so? 」
「 Well no, instead of reducing the number of works that goes to the cinema, most of it goes to the V-cinema, but now that’s taken down 」
「 Is it not interesting? 」
「 Well, it makes you think if a person talking kindly, and suddenly snapping out on someone, and then sympathizing again, is something cool. As expected, just like the old Yakuza movies, it gives the main character emotional attachment. The main character’s way of thinking and att.i.tude has no blur 」
Oh, they don’t understand why the emotions are changing.
「 Therefore, Yakuza movies aren’t that good nowadays 」
「 I see 」
Edie nods.
「 The lesson in Margo’s story just now is that even if something doesn’t actually exist, the thought that there’s an idealized shape of the virtue of Yakuza in their world is precious 」
The thought of virtue.
「 That’s what I think. There’s a lot of criminal organizations globally. Even at this moment, a new criminal organization’s found somewhere in the world. That’s inevitable. Some people can’t live without committing crimes 」
Margo-san said.
「 But, organizations that don’t have the same thoughts as the members are destroyed right away. That’s the truth. Betrayals crush them right away. The big criminal organizations are known all over the world, whether they’re the Mafia, Camorra, or Jewish gangs have their law, and their ideology 」
「 Ah, in America, Sicilian immigrants are in mafia, and the others are in different gangs 」
Edie comments.
「 Naturally, the Yakuza in j.a.pan also have their laws and ideals thought out. I think they’ve developed it during the Meiji period. Their code is to respect honor, empathy, and their boss 」
「 And that’s broken? 」
「 I think. The movie is a mirror of the ideas of the times. Movies never cut you off the reality from that era. That’s where the views get their ideas. And instead of reality, they show what kind of thoughts existed at that time 」
For example, the ‘seven samurai.’
「 Even at the age of the traditional Yakuza virtues, in the real world, the Yakuza doesn’t strictly follow that virtue. There’s actually evidence for several disputes. But the fact that the protagonist in that movie follows the virtue in that era, ignoring the reality, shows that people feel that “virtue” is a beautiful thing. If there’s a beautiful image to become a model of the ‘ideal,’ then no matter how messy the reality can be, people can live in that lovely thought. People from the past thought that the Yakuza’s antisocial existence is beautiful. I believe that even the real Yakuza are proud of it, but 」
「 The Yakuza can’t live in that idea, right? 」
Edie said. Margo-san;
「 Yeah. Do they feel proud of themselves now? 」
Proud.
「 If we’re talking about those who move up with power then businesses that exploit its companies are worse than the Yakuza. Instead of being bound by the old tradition of the Yakuza’s world, it’s better to do business that barely breaks the law. There’s no need to become Yakuza at all 」
That’s true.
「 I mean, if you enter the world of Yakuza, you’re not sure if you’d succeed. Will the young and successful Yakuza feel the beauty? If you want a luxury brand suit, ride a foreign car, then it’s faster if you start up a company that exploits it’s employees, right? If you’re in Yakuza, at best, you can convince a hostess to sleep with you, but if you’re a president of a black company, then you can have an idol in your bed 」
「 I see, it’s not a dream then 」
Edie nods.
「 The world of Yakuza in j.a.pan would change in the next two years, maybe. There would still be large organization remaining, but it’ll gradually decline. There’s no other way for them. That’s because the thoughts and dreams of beauty are no longer present in the current world of Yakuza. That is why Kouzuki-san is starting to crack down the Yakuza world.
Jii-chan.
「 The deal that just happened is Kouzuki-san’s declaration of war. From today onwards, Kouzuki SS will be fighting the entire Yakuza world. Kouzuki-san would be dismantling the Yakuza world in a few years, and Kouzuki SS would infuse new ‘virtues’ and take away it’s only organizational power 」
It’s a war from today onwards.
「 And then, once it’s newly reorganized, all of the underground society will be yours 」
Yours? Wait, me?
「 And that’s why you were introduced the big-shots of the Yakuza. Kuromori Kou-kun 」
Margo-san looks at the mirror and smiles.
「 It’s great that you have two family registers. You’re known as Kuromori Kou, Misuzu-san’s fiance, and on paper, the name is Kuromori Keito. That name would be known as the ruler behind Kouzuki SS from now on 」
「 Huh, w-why me? 」
Margo-san.
「 Kouzuki-san is already 82 years old. He’s too old now. And that’s why he wants you to inherit the power to hold the underground society from now on 」
That’s.
「 Actually, your name is already popular 」
My name?
「 Do you not get it? Kuromori Kou is the man who that old man Kouzuki accepted and agreed to hand over his daughter for marriage. And also 」
Margo-san said.
「 The man who has killed the fearsome Cesario Viola 」
My hand recalls the memory of the trigger.
「 Kuromori Kou is already a man of legends in the underground society 」