Chapter 779. Flashback
Even if Agnes likes or hates Megu-chan, she’ll stay in the house anyway. She’ll continue to nag. Nothing will change 」
Agnes said.
「 I just leave alone those who I don’t think I’ll get along with 」
To think that this 12-year-old half-foreign girl who was confined in a bas.e.m.e.nt until four months said that.
Megu’s speechless.
「 Ahahahahaha 」
Yukino laughed loudly.
「 Seriously, you’re so hopeless Megumi 」
She gives Megu a teasing look.
「 But, I think so too. Megumi won’t change 」
I…
「 I thought of the same with you back then. I thought Yukino won’t change no matter what 」
When I saw Yukino sneaking to the kitchen in the middle of the night and ate rice directly from the ladle,
I felt disappointment in Yukino.
「 But, Yukino changed. You no longer think of only yourself. You look at people and feel them now 」
Yukino.
「 Well, a lot happened 」
She sighed and looked at Megu.
「 Megumi, want to go on TV wearing a micro bikini? People would look at you with pity and scorn. Well, I know you can’t. You’re not as cute as me 」
「 I know that I’m not cute. Not cuter than Yukino, Nei-oneesan, or even Agnes. I…! 」
Megu’s angry.
Yukino looked at me.
「 In the end, you’re too considerate of Megumi that she became like this 」
I…
「 If this woman keeps on grumbling, just tell her to shut up 」
Yukino said.
「 Aren’t you above Megumi? You can control Yuzuki and the Kouzuki ladies. Maika’s right, you’re the King of this mansion. Everyone would follow what you say. That includes me, I’ll serve you. That’s because I want to be with you. I will follow the rules to live in here. Even I know that women who can’t follow the rules are left behind 」
Then, she looked at Mana, noticing something.
「 Oh, I see. That’s why Maika has that role 」
Mana’s role?
「 It’s to send me a message that even if I join in this family, I can’t create a new faction with the Shirasaka daughters. Yuzuki doesn’t want me to do any monkey business and continue yielding to them, right? 」
Yukino is Mana’s sister.
Yukino’s trying to pull Yoshiko-san and Megu to create her own faction.
Mana’s taking distance with her sisters to show that she won’t join in that group.
「 That perception is slightly off 」
Mana said.
「 Yukino-oneechan, you just came here, so you don’t understand. Misuzu-oneechan and Ruri-oneechan are both Kouzuki ladies, but they’re not in the same anchor. They’re not opposing each other, but they’re not in the same group either 」
Misuzu and Ruriko both have a strong ego.
They want to follow their will.
Both of them have Jii-chan’s blood in them.
The two share opinion with other people but if there’s an opposition, they don’t yield.
「 Sure, Minaho-oneechan has a big group. It includes the people who were here from the start. Minaho-oneechan, Katsuko-oneechan, Margo-oneechan, Nagisa-oneechan, and Nei-oneechan. But, Misuzu’s group only has her and Michi-chan. Shou-neechan and Rei-chan are both va.s.sals of Kouzuki house, and so they’re close to Misuzu-oneechan, but they won’t listen to whatever Misuzu-oneechan tells them 」
Shou-neechan’s a member of Kouzuki SS.
Their employer’s Jii-chan.
They’re not Misuzu’s va.s.sals.
「 And Ruri-oneechan and I are in the neutral group if you ask me. We’re closest to Katsuko-oneechan. But that doesn’t mean that we’re Minaho-oneechan’s followers 」
Ruriko and Mana’s teacher in housework is Katsuko-nee.
They get along a lot.
But entering Katsuko-nee’s affiliate, Minaho-neesan’s group, is a different story.
「 Edie-oneechan’s in neutral faction too. Margo-oneechan and Michi-oneechan are close friends of hers, but Edie-oneechan prefers to move on her own 」
「 Then, Agnes and Luna are in “wanting to have s.e.x with Papa all the time faction!” 」
Agnes, look.
「 And soon enough, Mao-chan’s joining in! 」
No, Mao-chan’s still young.
「 Ah, Yomi wants to join that “want to have s.e.x faction” too! 」
Hey, Yomi.
「 Then join in! 」
Agnes smiled at Yomi.
「 Which group should I join? 」
Even Tsukiko.
「 I see. If we have these many women here, I guess you’ll have that many factions too 」
Yukino said, amazed.
「 Then, Maika, what faction does Megumi belong to? 」
Mana.
「 She’s in none. Nowhere 」
Megu’s startled.
「 To be precise, Megu-oneechan thinks that she’s the boss of the faction where Edie-chan, Agnes, and I belong. Therefore, she always pushes us aside and continues to nag us 」
「 Megu-chan’s always so noisy 」
Oh, I see it now.
Megu thinks that she has to lead the faction opposing the Kouzuki house faction.
「 Wait, Mana. I’m not like that 」
「 Oh shut up 」
Mana spanks Megu’s a.s.s with the rot.
「 Kyaaan! 」
Megu screams.
「 Don’t start grumbling like you’re important when you’re showing everyone your a.n.u.s! 」
Err.
Megu’s tied up to the machine and is sticking out her a.s.s.
Yeah, that looks pathetic.
「 Oh yeah, I get it. In short, Megumi doesn’t understand the power balance in this house, and so she’s an idiot among idiots 」
Yukino nods to herself. Then, she looked at me.
「 Why are you keeping this abysmal idiot with you? I’ll be honest, I think you should abandon women like Megumi. Throw her in the burnable bin. Looking after her, is nothing but a pain in the a.s.s, don’t you think? You’ve got a lot more beautiful and better personality girls than her. Isn’t Megumi unnecessary already? 」
「 Yukino, that’s cruel! 」
Megu’s on the verge of tears.
「 But, you understand it too, don’t you, Megumi? Do you have any redeeming features? Anything you have that surpa.s.ses all the other girls here? 」
Yukino corners Megu.
「 Your face is out of the question. Brains? No win. What else is left? How about your speed in running? 」
「 She just lost to Edie 」
Right, Megu lost to Anya and Edie when they competed in the grounds.
「 Then there’s nothing? You’re worth nothing 」
Then.
「 Yukino-chan, that’s where you’re wrong 」
Agnes rebuts.
「 Agnes isn’t smart, nor I’m not as beautiful as the big sisters. But, Papa said that he’ll stay with me forever! 」
Yukino looked at Agnes’ face in surprise.
「 I think you should know that you’re quite cute. If we start selling photo alb.u.ms right now, I’m sure that Nei and Agnes-chan’s alb.u.m would sell like hotcakes. It’s frustrating to think that way though 」
「 Mana’s alb.u.m would sell too 」
I said.
「 Mana has become more beautiful compared to four months ago 」
Mana reconstructs her body intending to become a supermodel. All her efforts since four months ago are showing now.
Yukino looked at Mana’s body.
「 Yeah, I thought so too. You’ve changed, Maika. You’ve become mature 」
「 T-Thanks, Yukino-oneechan 」
Mana replied bashfully.
「 Also, Yukino, I think if we sell your photo alb.u.m, it would be famous 」
「 W-W-W-W-What do you mean by that now?! 」
Yukino glared at me.
「 Aren’t you a celebrity now? You show up on TV all the time after all 」
「 Oh, what, it’s that? 」
「 I think you’ve become more beautiful than before 」
「 Ugh, shut up! Don’t say that here now!!! 」
Yukino’s blushing.
No, I’m serious though.
Yukino now isn’t impregnable, and she’s become cuter and more beautiful than before.
「 Yeah. Yukino-chan’s become more beautiful! 」
Agnes nods.
「 Now that you mention it, you’ve also become cuter compared to when I saw you in May 」
Yukino and Agnes never had contact since Golden Week.
Back then, Agnes was an expressionless and silent girl.
Now, she’s bright, and she loves speaking.
「 Yes, I’m having s.e.x with Papa every day after all 」
Agnes smiled and replied.
「 And so, Luna, you’ll start doing it every day too! 」
「 O-Okay 」
「 Yomi wants to do the same, I want to become beautiful 」
「 Papa, can Yomi-chan join? 」
Err.
「 Well, when we have time, yes 」
「 If only I could have near half the amount Agnes does it 」
Megu complains whisperingly.
「 What now Megumi? You’re blaming the lack of s.e.x for not becoming more beautiful? 」
Yukino jokes.
「 I’m not saying that, but I feel like I had it less! 」
「 No, that’s not true, I give everyone equal time 」
「 But, you were doing it with Edie in school without me knowing, weren’t you? Also, you didn’t tell me anything about that senior from tennis club! 」
Oh, she’s angry.
Angry from the conversation earlier.
「 And why are you so arrogant about it?! He’s the King, and you’re only one of the many women serving that King!? Why are you shouting at him like you’re a wife from h.e.l.l?! 」
「 Because I! 」
「 You too. Why are you letting Megumi go this far? You know, you should just throw her off, just tell her “Shut up idiot!” or “I’m going to beat you up if you don’t stay silent” 」
Yukino throws her anger at me.
「 Seriously, try to deal with your women! Papa did that right at least. If he gets annoyed even for just a bit, he’ll tell Mama, “Shut up, woman!” or “Don’t drag me to your stupidity!” Then he’d kick her. Right, Maika? Papa and Mama were like that 」
Yukino’s parents?
「 Well, yeah. That was plain horrible. No matter how you look at it, Mama wasn’t at fault, yet she gets all the shouts and kicks. But he never beats her with his hand. Mama works as a food critic, after all. Thus, that nagging man kicks on her instead 」
Shirasaka Sousuke’s wife.
「 Besides, Mama never shuts up. “Don’t make things convenient for you, liar!” or “I’ll tell father about this! You sc.u.m!” and she’ll use anything nearby to throw at Papa 」
「 That was a disaster in Hawaii 」
「 Oh, of all things, they started fighting while eating in the restaurant at night. That was embarra.s.sing 」
Yukino and Mana’s parents shout at each other and fight.
And it was frequent.
「 But, isn’t that what married couples do? They came from different houses, after all. Once you stay together for long, the gas would acc.u.mulate. Shouting at each other and raging is a necessity to vent out 」
Yukino said.
「 That’s wrong 」
Megu?
「 Married couples care for each other and cooperate. I’ve never seen my foster parents fight 」
「 That’s because they do it when Megumi’s not watching. They should also be yelling and hurting each other 」
「 They’re different from Yukino’s house! If they were fighting, it would surely reach my room! 」
Now that she mentioned it.
Megu’s moans upstairs leaked to the whole first floor back then.
「 Foster father was kind to Mother, He never yelled at her. They get along as a married couple, caring for each other 」
Yeah, Megu’s foster parents were docile and kind people.
「 I see, their image of what’s a family differs 」
Tsukiko said.
「 Each one has a model family they grew up with, and so there’s a misalignment of ideas like this 」
Misalignment.
「 Yukino-san always calls Kou-sama an idiot because of her father’s influence. In her household, their father and mother curse each other frequently when they converse 」
Tsukiko speaks to Yukino.
「 I think so too. Yukino-oneechan has that high-affinity with Onii-chan. She thinks that he’s the closest to her, and so she finds it easy to say “idiot” and call him as such 」
「 But, that is a problem, it’s only her speech for now, but sooner or later, she might behave violently on Kou-sama 」
Yukino? Hit me?
Well, I think that’s possible.
She’d kick me off without batting an eye.
「 Kou-sama never retorts no matter how much Yukino-san curses him. It’ll escalate little by little, and Yukino-san may raise it to the level where she beats him up 」
Tsukiko said.
「 And that’s why I’m telling him to retort! If he gets p.i.s.sed off, he can punish people too. I’m telling him that he’s free to do whatever he wants. Either way, I know that he likes me, and I love him back. And so, I don’t mind if we yell at each other! Venting out your emotions is healthy, isn’t it? 」
Yukino said, smiling, but.
「 That’s just strange. Couples cursing each other, what? 」
Megu refutes.
「 Married couples look after each other. It’s a kind of relationship. Calm, harmonious, and no fights! 」
「 That’s only your ideal image of what a married couple should look like 」
Tsukiko said.
「 No. It’s not ideal, it’s proper. That’s what’s normal 」
Megu a.s.serts.
「 Normal, is it? 」
「 That’s right. Yukino’s house is an odd one, see? Her mother and father weren’t ordinary people 」
The father’s a head of a first-cla.s.s advertising agency and is a member of the Shirasaka clan, a distinguished house. A man who lived as he pleased.
The mother is a daughter of a big-shot in the advertising industry and is a food critic.
Yeah, you can’t call Shirasaka house an ordinary one, but,
「 Our Yamamine house was poor, but it was an average house. I lived in an ordinary house 」
Ordinary.
「 I see. I finally see it. In short, that’s Megumi-san’s definition of family and married couple 」
Tsukiko asks.
「 That’s right 」
「 I guess that’s why Megumi-san keeps on pushing her “ordinary” to Kou-sama, and it resulted to this
That’s.
「 Megumi-san wants herself and Kou-sama to become a similar couple to her parents. That’s what’s normal for her 」
「 That’s obvious?! That’s the “normal” 」
Megu said. Mana;
「 It’s not normal either! 」
She said it bluntly.
「 Yamamine-san’s house isn’t as calm and ordinary as Megu-oneechan says it is 」
「 T-That’s not true, Mana! 」
「 No, I know it. Yamamine-ojisan’s always acting reserved with Oba-san. No matter what happens, Oji-san’s always weaker than Oba-san, he’s always bowing on her. Oji-san was a weak man 」
「 That’s not true! You just don’t know it Mana! You only see them once in a while! 」
Yamamine house is a distant relative of Shirasaka house, and so, they only show up on the New Years gathering.
「 Even so, I understand that Oji-san’s weaker in your family 」
「 I said that’s wrong! My foster parents are in good terms! 」
Then.
「 Oba-san is the bride that came from Yamamine house. That’s the reason why 」
Yukino said./
「 Yamamine-ojisan feels sorry for his wife because he’s making her live a life of poverty. If they were just an ordinary poor family, then that’s okay. But she’s a relative of Shirasaka house, a wealthy clan, and yet she’s living a mediocre life 」
Megu’s taken aback.
「 She’s made a bride of a family of misfortune. Naturally, Yamamine-ojisan would bow his head to his wife That’s why he’s always acting reserved 」
「 Yamamine-obasan knows that her husband feels that way, and so she holds back her feelings as well. That’s why Yamamine-san’s house look calm. But only on the surface 」
「 They feel dissatisfaction deep inside, but they don’t show it on their faces. Even if they do, it fixes nothing 」
Mana and Yukino said.
「 You’re saying that my foster parents gave up on their lives? 」
「 I’m not going that far, but they’ve come to a clear decision that they can’t do anything anyway 」
「 Isn’t that great? Megu-oneechan. They’re no longer subcontractors of Shirasaka house, but instead, they work for Kouzuki group now 」
Our actions messed up the Shiraska head house, and so,
Jii-chan is now in control of the newspaper company and TV stations Shirasaka house owns.
Yamamine-san had been forced to work in a company that is a sub-contractor of Shirasaka house’s newspaper company.
Minaho-neesan moved various pieces, so they could be freed from the binds of Shirasaka house and find a new job.
「 Anyway, Megu-oneechan’s “ordinary” is nothing but a fantasy. Because everyone has a different shape for their family 」
Mana said.
「 People unconsciously think that their experience is what’s ordinary 」
She looked at Megu.
「 Therefore, the “ordinary” Megu-oneechan’s pushing to Onii-chan, isn’t “ordinary” at all. It’s an “ideal” It’s the “Ideal” Megu-oneechan imagine for herself 」
「 An “Ideal” I imagine for myself 」
Megu hangs her head.
「 Hey, what about your father and mother? 」
Yukino asks Tsukiko.
「 Our mother has always been ill 」
Tsukiko’s mother is the shrine maiden of the Takakura shrine.
She suffered from a psychological illness.
「 However, Father looked after Mother 」
「 Right 」
「 Yeah 」
Tsukiko said. Yomi and Luna nod in sadness.
「 Yukino, their parents, just died recently 」
I said.
「 Oh, sorry. I… 」
Yukino apologized.
「 Ah, but I also just lost someone last May. Papa, wait, I think you already know what happened 」
Shirasaka Sousuke’s death had been a significant scoop in media.
「 Agnes’ Papa is here! 」
Agnes clings to my legs.
「 Isn’t that right, Papa?! 」
I pat Agnes’ head.
「 Yeah, you’re right 」
「 By the way, what is Papa’s papa like? 」
Huh?
「 What kind of people were Papa’s Papa and Mama? 」
That’s.
「 Kou-sama, I think that you must talk about it 」
Tsukiko said.
「 I believe that it’s necessary to settle Yukino-san and Megumi-san’s problem 」
She looked straight at me and smiled.
「 Why does Kou-sama live that way? The reason comes from the household Kou-sama grew up with 」
But.
「 I know that already 」
Megu said.
「 I’ve heard of it back in May 」
However, Tsukiko;
「 Kou-sama also knows about Megumi-san’s household. But, he didn’t understand the effects it gave to Megumi-san now 」
Right, I…
I thought that the relationship of the Yamamine couple is the standard, and I use it when I build relationships.
「 Please talk about it again, and think of why Kou-sama’s personality is like this 」