「 You"re talking objectively about Megu-chan and Yukino-chi 」Nei tells Mana.
「 What you"re saying is that you don"t mind Yukino-chi lurking around but Manchan, you"re suffering from your own ident.i.ty 」
Nei points out. Mana"s startled.
「 Yeah, well, can"t do anything about it. People reach a peace of mind by accepting how others recognize them 」
「 What do you mean, Ychan? 」
I don"t get it.
「 You see, I usually act as the character “Natou Nei” Rei-chan already knows the details of Cesario Viola"s case, so you know about my true name, Najima Yasuko, right? 」
Natou Nei"s the name she used to escape Viola"s tracking.
By reading how it"s understood and removing the “子(Ko)” kanji from her name, she becomes a different person when reading in English.
Kyouko-san, a j.a.panese descent Brazillian wasn"t able to read the “Yasuko,” so she started calling her Nei.
However, when Nei entered high school, one of s.h.i.+rasaka Sousuke"s lackeys attacked her.
Margo-san had beaten up the teacher, and Nei burned down the place.
That"s when Nei started acting like someone else, as “Natou Nei.”
「 The real me has a slightly different personality than the current Nei-chan 」
Natou Nei"s bright, cheerful, easygoing, but she has a strong mind that never forgives the enemy.
But, Najima Yasuko is shy and mature.
She transformed herself into a strong girl to bounce off the painful reality.
「 But, I didn"t become Nei-chan from my own strength. The people around, especially the students who don"t know anything about my past believes that I"m Natou Nei, right? That"s why I feel at ease being Nei-chan inside the school 」
After saying that, Nei thinks.
「 Oh, I guess not. That"s not it. I believe in everyone that believes in me. 1 In short, it"s a problem of my recognition of myself. Everyone thinks that I am Nei-chan. Therefore I become Natou Nei, no hesitations 」
Nei said.
「 Sorry, I still don"t get it 」
「 Yeah, well Yo-chan will stay as Yo-chan wherever you go. That"s what"s impressive about Yo-chan 」
「 I can understand that 」
Rei-chan said.
「 I"m also showing up on television as “Fujimiya Reika” after all 」
She"s acting like the battle hero, fighting international criminals like Kyouko-san and Anya.
「 However, I need to be cautious not to break the images the other people see on me, just like with the tennis club members earlier 」
Rei-chan who usually is childlike acts like a beautiful and cool crossdresser in front of others.
「 Well, in my case, once I come home, I can take off my clothes and stand in front of Yo-chan, I can return to my original self, that"s why I can act as Nei outside 」
Nei said.
Oh, now that she mentions it, Nei and Rei-chan,
They"re the two women who don"t like to have s.e.x with other women joining in.
Well, they do it sometimes, but,
When we"re alone, Nei flirts with me as “Kei-chan vs. Onee-chan,” then have s.e.x
Rei-chan wants me, her “Onii-chama” to spoil her.
I think that rich and deep s.e.x creates a balance between the personality they act outside and their original one.
「 I see. Mana doesn"t have an outside to act for right now 」
I look at Mana.
Mana doesn"t come out of the mansion most of the time.
We still haven"t decided on which school to enroll Mana.
Therefore, Mana only has a life inside the mansion.
「 That"s not it, Yo-chan. Mana also has an outside 」
Huh?
「 It"s her past, her time as s.h.i.+rasaka Maikchan 」
Nei shows Mana a kind smile.
「 Manchan now is no longer s.h.i.+rasaka Maikchan, right? Manchan has found her way of living as herself for the past four months. I mean, she can"t go back as s.h.i.+rasaka Maika. No, she"s not allowed to 」
Mana has a.s.sisted in her father"s execution.
「 But, what if one of Manchan"s, wait, wrong, I mean, s.h.i.+rasaka Maikchan"s acquaintance shows up, what will happen? What if s.h.i.+rasaka Maikchan"s relative, a childhood friend, a friend from school met her somewhere on the road? 」
Nei"s deliberately not mentioning Mana"s mother and her grandfather"s name.
It would hurt Mana to mention the names of her family that abandoned Maika.
「 They will all still think of me as Maiksan as expected 」
Mana shows a sad smile.
「 And if I meet those people, I have to pretend as Maiksan. I just can"t say “You"re mistaking me for someone else. I"m Yos.h.i.+da Mana. I"m not s.h.i.+rasaka Maiksan” 」
Yeah.
That"s Mana"s ident.i.ty problem.
Ni and Rei-chan is able to act out with a different personality outside because that"s what the people think of them, but,
In Mana"s case, if she goes outside, a lot of people would think of her as s.h.i.+rasaka Maika, the one she left in the past.
「 That"s why I"m afraid. If I met an old acquaintance of Maiksan, maybe, I might turn back to her, perhaps, I won"t be able to turn back. What would I do if I can"t go back to being Yos.h.i.+da Mana? 」
That"s why Mana"s afraid of coming out of the mansion.
In the first place, Yos.h.i.+da Mana"s a personality is created during the holidays in May, when I forcibly took away s.h.i.+rasaka Maika"s virginity, killed her father socially, had her mother and Grandfather abandon her, and ultimately, Minaho-neesan gave her the choice of dying or becoming my s.e.x slave. She made it up in a hurry to overcome her suffering.
If she goes out, the personality of s.h.i.+rasaka Maika, the one she"s accustomed for 14 years might come back.
Especially when she meets acquaintances from that era.
「 Yukino-san already knows that I"m no longer Maiksan 」
Is that why she"s opening up to Yukino?
But, at the same time, that also declares that they"re no longer sisters.
「 Therefore, Manchan needs to go to school as soon as possible. Then, make a lot of friends who"ll believe that Manchan is Manchan. When you do, that fear will disappear 」
Nei said and smiled.
「 But, I don"t know if I"d meet someone somewhere 」
That"s right, this world is narrow.
Furthermore, if we try to put in Mana to a school with high security, she"s more likely to meet someone who knows s.h.i.+rasaka house through their connections.
That said, we cannot have her enter a public middle school.
The information about s.h.i.+rasaka Sousuke still remains on the internet.
While at it, information and photos about Mana as well.
If they notice that Mana is s.h.i.+rasaka Maika, the students in public schools will surely make a fuss about it.
Like in twitter or other social media.
「 Therefore, I need to work hard to improve my const.i.tution 」
Mana?
「 I need to become a hundred times more beautiful than Maiksan, I won"t be able to go outside for the rest of my life unless my appearance changes 」
It"s been four months since Mana took the program to become a supermodel.
Katsuko-nee said that her const.i.tution should improve a lot.
Mana wants to break through and grow to become more beautiful as soon as possible.
「 There"s also the option of going to an American school for a year or two 」
Nei said.
「 I don"t want that. I"m afraid of being away from Onii-chan 」
Mana clings to me
Mana knows.
She"s supposed to die in the original plan.
I begged Minaho-neesan and cried. That"s why Mana"s allowed to live.
Although, as a s.e.x slave.
If she gets away from me, she might get killed, that fear remains in the bottom of her mind.
It"s a trauma.
The last moments of s.h.i.+rasaka Sousuke were too gruesome.
「 I know, Mana 」
I hug Mana.
「 Yeah. Stay by my side. I"ll do something, I"m sure I"ll manage 」
All I could do is tell Mana that.
「 I see. She"s gotten used to us, but her trauma on Minaho-oneechan hasn"t disappeared yet 」
Nei a.n.a.lyzes.
「 Can"t be helped, She"s still calling Manchan with “-san” after all 」
Right.
Minaho-neesan hasn"t established an equal friendly relations.h.i.+p with all of my women.
She still calls Mana, Misuzu, and Ruriko with “-san” in their names. Edie too.
We need to reform that part too.
「 Minaho-neesan"s a complicated person after all 」
She still has some reserve when it comes to Kouzuki house and s.h.i.+rasaka Sousuke"s daughters.
There"s still a mountain of problems.
「 So complex isn"t it 」
Nei?
「 Complex also has “complicated” among its definitions 」
Yeah, we need to do something about that too.
◇ ◇ ◇
Knock. Knock.
We knock on the princ.i.p.al"s office door.
「 Come in 」
It"s Minaho-neesan"s voice.
We enter the room.
「 Oh, you"re finally here 」
Jii-chan"s here too.
His bodyguards, Ootoku-san and Choumoto-san as well.
Of course, Misuzu, Ruriko, and Michi are present as well.
「 What"s wrong? 」
Minaho-neesan smiles at my puzzled expression.
The princ.i.p.al"s office is feeling strange.
It"s as if the desk and chairs are lined up like a courthouse.
The princ.i.p.al"s desk is the presiding judge"s seat.
However, n.o.body"s sitting there right now.
Minaho-neesan"s sitting on the table on the right side, the lawyer"s side.
Jii-chan"s sitting on the left prosecutor"s seat. Behind him are his two guards.
Misuzu, Ruriko, and Michi are also on the prosecutor"s side.
「 No, nothing 」
I guess they"re sitting to differentiate between Kouzuki house and Kuromori.
Other than that.
I was sure that Jii-chan would go to the secret room below the princ.i.p.al office, not here.
Michi reported that the room below exists so Jii-chan should know.
And yet, they"re not there.
Oh.
Minaho-neesan doesn"t want to show it to Jii-chan.
It shows Jii-chan a line that says “I”m letting you go this far but not any further”
Jii-chan is in a friendly relations.h.i.+p with Kuromori, but we"re not subordinates.
「 Still, you"re quite late 」
Jii-chan laughs.
「 You say that, and yet, you were watching us go here and there, right? 」
Each of the tables has a laptop open.
Naturally, there should be camera feeds on their screen.
「 Well yeah, you"re entertaining to watch after all 」
Jii-chan says it like I"m a monkey in a zoo.
「 There"s no more students left in the school. The teachers and staff have gone home. The people left are only us and Kouzuki SS 」
Minaho-neesan says while still operating her laptop.
Yeah, I didn"t see anyone after coming to the entrance of the school building.
Did the faculty patrol around and had the remaining students leave the school?
Also, the faculty went home.
Right now, Kouzuki SS" bodyguards are located only in key places.
「 I contacted the sports clubs to head home via the west gate. Telling them that the construction vehicles will be coming in by the main gate 」
It"s strange to have construction work by Sat.u.r.day night but, well, the students don"t care.
They"re coming home from school already.
「 Umu, very well, Ootoku, call the standby car 」
「 Yes, Kakka 」
Ootoku-san makes a call.
「 Permission given. Start moving in five minutes 」
「 Hey, why are you still standing, there are so many empty chairs. Sit down 」
Jii-chan asks us to sit.
「 Okay~ Got it! 」
Nei sits down next to Minaho-neesan like it"s natural.
Mana also sits next to Minaho-neesan.
Rei-chan thinks for a moment. Lifts an empty chair and carries it next to the entrance. She sits there.
「 What do you mean by that, Fujimiykun? 」
Jii-chan shows a malicious smile.
「 If we"re to mimic the court then my role has to be the “bailiff,” I thought 」
Bailiff?
「 It"s the official in charge in the courtroom. They call people, open and close the door 」
Nei explains.
Now then.
Now, it"s my problem.
Where should I sit?
If I think about the balance, I should be on Minaho-neesan"s side./
I"m a member of Kuromori.
But, I don"t like this seating arrangement showing Kouzuki house vs. Kuromori.
Should I sit next to Rei-chan as a bailiff?
「 What are you doing? Your seat is over there 」
Jii-chan points to the judge"s seat, I mean, the princ.i.p.al"s desk.
「 Huh? 」
「 You"ll decide what will happen in the end 」
Me?
「 You"ll be the one to judge whether the Takakura lady can be a prost.i.tute or not 」
Why?
Didn"t Jii-chan already decide to make her a prost.i.tute?
「 People have the thing they call apt.i.tude, right? I decided to let the Takakura lady become a prost.i.tute of Kuromori out of political judgment. However, if she doesn"t have the fitness of becoming a prost.i.tute, I can do nothing about it. It"s pointless to sell a woman who can"t sell herself 」
You mean?
「 Could it be, Jii-chan? 」
I asked.
Takakura house has a lineage of shrine priests in Takakura shrine in Kyoto for generations.
The Yakuza have faith in them to mediate any disputes between them.
Therefore, a great force is needed to hold down the Takakura house.
Jii-chan said that they should be useful insurance to protect ourselves.
Therefore, I must make the Takakura lady become a prost.i.tute by tomorrow.
And yet, now, suddenly.
Talking about the apt.i.tude of becoming a prost.i.tute.
「 What? If you have questions, then ask 」
…I
「 Could it be that the Takakura lady is a plain woman that she can"t sell herself even after becoming a prost.i.tute? 」
Is she ugly? Or is she fat?
Or maybe, is there a patch on one of her eyes and a long scar across her cheek?
「 No, she"s gorgeous and cute 」
Misuzu replies instead of Jii-cha.
「 Then, could it be? 」
Then there"s only one possibility.
「 Does she stink? 」
Could it be that she has a strange odor from her ring finger or her foot?
「 Pfft. What the h.e.l.l? 」
Nei bursts in laughter.
「 You don"t have to worry about that. If you have problems with it, go take her to a bath and scrub her well 」
Jii-chan"s also laughing.
「 You really are a genius when it comes to calming down the atmosphere 」
「 No, I"m serious! 」
「 I get it, but don"t mind it and take a seat first. We can"t talk at ease if you keep on standing 」
O-Okay.
「 Here, Onii-sama 」
Ruriko comes over and pulls the chair for me.
If you"re going that far, I"ll go and sit.
「 T-Thanks 」
I sit down on the judge"s seat.
「 I"ll prepare tea right now 」
Seriously, Ruriko"s so perceptive,
「 There"s tea ready on that room 」
Minaho-neesan points out to the emergency broadcast room next to the princ.i.p.al"s office.
That"s where I broadcasted how I raped Yukino.
I see. Before we reached here,
Minaho-neesan already brought a set of tea from the lower room.
There"s also hot water in the pot.
「 I"ll help out 」
Mana stands up
Yeah, Kuromori seat and Kouzuki house"s seat.
They handed tea on each table.
「 Now then, before the Takakura lady comes, let me tell you one thing 」
Jii-chan smiles.
「 I was baffled about how you treat the girl from tennis club, someone living on a different culture than yourself 」
No, cultural difference, what?
Both of us are j.a.panese.
We"re not that unattached from each other.
Sure, the way she lives and thinks is entirely different from me, but still,
「 When Edo period ends, and Meiji era starts, j.a.pan"s introduced to science and technology of the Western Civilization without problems but the culture didn"t pa.s.s through the stage 」
Jii-chan said.
「 In short, the j.a.panese and the Westerners have a different culture so there was the thought that it might be difficult for the j.a.panese to understand Western literature 」
I see.
「 Therefore, the Western literature that came in at the beginning of the Meiji era were all rewritten with the story set in j.a.pan. The place is in j.a.pan, the characters are j.a.panese, and so on 」
It changed to a j.a.panese story.
「 For example, the first j.a.panese theater to perform Shakespeare"s “Hamlet” was Kawakami Otojiro"s theater, but for some reason, there was a Meiji n.o.ble that had a dispute with it. In the original; the setting was on the walls of Elsinore castle in medieval age Denmark, Hamlet meets the ghost of his father. However, in Kawakami"s version, the baron, Hamura Tos.h.i.+maru, revised the story so that the character meets the ghost of the father at Aoyama cemetery on his way home from an alumni meeting. By the way, the heroine, Ophelia, is acted by Orie-san
What the h.e.l.l?
Isn"t that now wholly different?
「 In the end, the performance only traced the story development of Hamlet, but the development of the dialogue were all turned to j.a.panese for convenience 」
「 Why did that happen? 」
「 The foreigners thought that since their sense is different, they won"t understand it. Therefore, if they don"t rewrite the adaptation, the j.a.panese people won"t understand 」
Haa, is that how the Meiji era works?
「 Hamlet was still acceptable but, Oth.e.l.lo was turned to Osero. The villain Iago was changed to Iya Gouzou. What kind of Kanji is that? 」
Jii-chan"s angry.
「 Another one, Cyrano de Bergerac turned to s.h.i.+rano Okuzaburo 」
Hmmm.
「 However, when the Meiji era has ended, and the translated adaptations remained intact, j.a.panese people who thought that the foreigners should portray for the original story and original characters. On the other hand, it was believed to be impossible for the j.a.panese to play as Westerners. The faces are different, language is different, the culture is different. Their sense is different 」
Culture and sense.
「 At first, a man named s.h.i.+mamura Hougetsu is in one of the groups that make the j.a.panese perform as Westerners. He had experience of studying abroad, in England and Germany. Isben, a Norway playwright was famous in Europe back then 」
England, Germany, Norway.
「 He saw it on site. From the j.a.panese, the Westerners are all the same, but in reality, English, Germans, and Norwegians are different people. They speak differently. Their living environment is different, their culture is also different. Their nationality and sense are also different 」
Oh, even in Europe, there"s a difference.
「 For example, an English translates Isben"s work from Norway to English, and then English people perform the act. There would still be a wall that can"t be overcome unless you understand the different cultures. Even the Westerners are trying to understand the culture of other countries. In that case, the j.a.panese should be able to understand the different cultures as well. Thinking that way, s.h.i.+mamura Hougetsu translates the foreign works one after another and let the j.a.panese play as foreigners. Thus, he was able to achieve great success during the early days of the Taisho era. Even in novels. At first, he was rewriting works to take place in j.a.pan, but soon after, he published original works. In the past, you cannot empathize with the protagonist if their names are Tom and James, but soon after, the foreign names of the main characters in the narrative were widely accepted. It went through a process. That is why now the j.a.panese people can enjoy international literature 」
I see.
「 A similar thing was done to McArthur"s policy just after the war. McArthur instructed to show the j.a.panese American movies 」
「 Movies? Why? 」
「 The propaganda back then was that the Americans and English are savage, that the j.a.panese and Americans cannot understand each other. That their senses are different 」
What?
「 However, if you watch a movie, it shows that the Americans also have pa.s.sion, it reached the j.a.panese. If they understand that they have the same senses as the other, parents, childhood, romance, emotions, justice, then the j.a.panese would accept the Americans, he thought 」
I see.
「 Although, McArthur"s policy was unneeded care. The j.a.panese have seen American movies before the war. They already know that the Americans have the same senses, that they can communicate with the j.a.panese. However 」
「 Huh? 」
「 American movies at that time show that America is right, that America will win. In a sense, they might be working to control the j.a.panese. The film shows a longing for a material life in America 」
「 I see 」
「 Now then, that"s all the additional story I have to say. Even though the culture is different, humans have the sense to communicate. Don"t forget that 」
In short, Takakursan is primarily a Western Culture to me a Meiji era person, it means that I don"t know her.
「 Oh, she"s here 」
Jii-chan shows on his laptop.
I also look at the monitor on my desk.
Our high school, the main gate.
It"s almost dark outside.
There"s only dark-orange light in the sky.
Oh, a big car"s coming in.
Perhaps, that"s someone from Kouzuki SS, that person opens the gate.
What"s that?
It"s like a bus with riot police inside, the windows have wire mesh.
「 Could that be? 」
「 Yes, it"s a prisoner transport vehicle. n.o.body would think that she"d ride that car, would you? 」
No, well, I probably won"t, but still.
Ah, the vehicle stopped in front of the school building.
Someone"s coming down from it.
「 Could it be that this is Takakursan? 」
Tall body, long black hair, a girl in sailor uniform comes down.
「 I wonder 」
Jii-chan"s laughing.
「 What do you mean, wait? 」
Another one, a small black haired girl comes down.
No way.
「 That"s not all. 」
Eeeeeh?
Another one?!
A girl looking like someone in elementary school comes down.
「 Wait for a second, Jii-chan. Which one of that is Takakursan? 」
Jii-chan.
「 When did I say that there"s only one? 」
What?
「 The oldest is in second-year high-school, the second is in second-year middle school, and the youngest is in 6th grade elementary 」
N-No way?
「 It"s three. You will rape all three of them 」
Three of them. Tomorrow?