『……Kyouko・Dothnomechey？』Viola"s voice comes from the dead Rosalind"s phone.
「I"m called『Kyouko Messer』in Brazil」
『Why is someone from Brazil hindering me…!』
「I wonder…there might be a connection…your sister"s remains will be left in front of the rental villa in Malibu beach. You"ll see it immediately so I"ll let you take care of it…!」
『Kei…What about Kei?』
「It is as your sister said…he"s dead…!」
『Did you kill Rosalind and Kei?!』
…No good
Before Kyouko-san was able to answer『yeah, that"s right』
I took the phone.
「…No, it"s me! Yasuko!」
I can"t let these people be troubled by Kei-chan and I…
Cesario Viola"s target of hate…
I have to take it…!
「I killed them! If he"s going to be your toy then I"d rather have him dead!」
I screamed.
『…Then…you killed Rosalind and Kei?』
「…That"s right!」
…I
I"d like to die…
The feelings of wanting to die…
I shouted those to Viola.
『…s.h.i.+t, I"ll kill you. Yasuko…I"ll never forgive you…!』
Viola"s voice from the other side of the phone is low.
『I"ll let men g.a.n.g.b.a.n.g you a thousand time, I"ll leave you half-dead…No matter where you hide, I"ll definitely find you…remember that…!』
Kyouko-san then stole the phone from me.
「…It"s been a long talk. It seems that we"re going to be killing each other the next time we meet」
『Killing each other? Don"t joke…I"ll only slaughter you all one-sidedly. I"ll exterminate every ally Yasuko has. Cesario Violsama is declaring that…!』
「Is that so?…I"ll expect that then」
『You don"t get it at all…just how much I love Rosalind and Kei…!』
「You"re the one who don"t get it…Just how much the world hate you…」
『W-Whaat!』
「Do your best on chasing us. I"ll wait in Brazil…Bye Adeus. Cesario！！」1
『…W-Wait!』
Kyouko-san ended the call.
「I can"t go back in Brazil for a while then…!」
In the end…Kyouko-san shouldered everything…
「Well fine…My friends in brazil won"t be scared off by an American criminal…」
Saying that…she smiled at me.
Then, she turned to Maru-chan…
「Margo…take out the men who we took out then this woman"s remains outside. Drag them to the other side of the parking lot…!」
「…Roger!」
Margo-san runs out.
「Mina…how"s your negotiation with Joan Slim?」
「No problem…they"ll be waiting for us offsh.o.r.e」
「…Okay. By the way…why did you shoot Rosalind?」
Sensei answered without changing her expression
「If that continues…she"ll tell information about us」
「I don"t mind…that"s good if he goes all out」
Kyouko-san criticized Sensei"s behavior.
「…Well, it can"t be helped. We can"t do anything this late」
Next…her eyes turned to s.h.i.+rasaka Sousuke.
s.h.i.+rasaka has been at his wits" end after the gunfire.
He"s trembling…
He leaked out from his pants…
「You smelly man over there! You"re unrelated to this case…okay?」
「I-I get it, Kyouko!」
「…How many knows your that you have contact with Rosalind?」
「T-Those guys who you took down and the manager of the back casino only」
「You…there"s no way you exposed our real names to them did you?」
「Even I am a member of an advertising Agency. I"m not an idiot to not know that it"s dangerous if our real names were exposed…」
Kyouko-san snorted.
「No, you"re a abysmal idiot. I think there"s four or five that knows our true colors」
「W-What are you saying!」
「Well, you"ll know after watching for a while…Cesario Viola might come to j.a.pan just to kill you…」
「Hey, don"t threaten me…Kyouko!」
s.h.i.+rasaka Sousuke looks up at Kyouko-san while trembling…
「Well fine…I"ll be erasing your footprint in this area. Don"t go back to the hotel, go to Las Vegas」
「…I-I have my suitcase in the hotel and my souvenirs to my daughters too…!」
「…Give it all up. I"ll have it stolen and bring it all to Las Vegas. You do have your pa.s.sport, money, and phone with you, right?」
「…I do」
「…What about your laptop?」
「That"s on the rental car outside」
「Then, no problem… I"ll have an acquaintance of mine collect your luggage in the hotel. Take a domestic flight to Las Vegas…through Vancouver then return to j.a.pan. If you stay in Los Angeles, then expect that you"re dead」
「…G-Got it, I"ll do as you say」
s.h.i.+rasaka Sousuke stood up
「Also…don"t ever try to make a move on this girl…okay?」
Kyouko-san points at me.
「There"s no way I will…That"s a girl Cesario Viola aims at…!」
s.h.i.+rasaka looks at me with his vulgar eyes.
「Mina and I will be taking this girl. She"ll be raised in『Kuromori』…!」
s.h.i.+rasaka"s shocked…!
「Hey, Kyouko…are you sane?」
Kyouko-san smiled.
「I am…! Next time, in case you try to obstruct any of my actions…I will tell Viola that this child is in『Kuromori』」
「Hey…Kyouko!」
「Who was the representative of『Kuromori』again? Viola"s first target will become Sousuke I guess…!」
Kyouko-san"s voice ridicules s.h.i.+rasaka Sousuke who fell silent.
「Let me tell you…the underground network in j.a.pan is far more detailed than you think. I can just secretly inform Viola your name and portrait…even your surface work, address, and your family…」
「S-Stop that…if you do that…it"ll trouble the surface company of s.h.i.+rasaka Family…!」
Kyouko-san looks at s.h.i.+rasaka with sharp eyes.
「Are you an idiot?…Especially, you"re exceeding that level! The enemy is Cesario Viola. It won"t end with just your wife and two daughters, your brother his family…and every member of your clan…get ready to have all of them get g.a.n.g.b.a.n.ged by Viola"s members and killed…!」
「Hey…spare me from that, Kyouko!」
「Isn"t this all your fault for making a contract with the underground community in Los Angeles without my permission…am I wrong?」
「…I get it. I"ll do as you say」
「Then, do what I say already…!」
「…Yeah」
s.h.i.+rasaka Sousuke stood up and ran.
This was the time Sensei"s moving to take away s.h.i.+rasaka Sousuke"s rule over『Kuromori』completely…
Ever since that day, s.h.i.+rasaka Sousuke"s power over『Kuromori』is lost little by little…
That moment was definitely the turning point…
…but
I didn"t understand it that time…
I can"t do anything but cry, clinging to Kei-chan"s remains…
「…Sadly, we can"t take that child」
Kyouko-san told me…
「However, we"ll burn this child along with this villa so that even the remains won"t be taken by Viola…!」
Kyouko-san…
「I"ll die too. Together with Kei-chan…!」
…I want to die
…I want to die.
…Kei-chan
「Hmm, will that please that dead child there?」
…Kyouko-san?
「You"re still alive aren"t you?! That child gave you that life, didn"t he?! He saved your life, didn"t he?!」
「…That"s right, but」
…I
I just want to die.
I want to die…together with Kei-chan
「…But, I!」
「But, that"s bulls.h.i.+t!」
Kyouko-san slapped my cheek
……！！！
「…Does it hurt?」
「…It hurts」
「Look…you"re alive! You"re alive that"s why it hurts! Don"t kill your heart selfishly!」
Kyouko-san grabbed my hair…
She pulled me to the entrance…
「Nooo, Kei-chan! Kei-chaaan!」
Kei-chan"s corpse is getting away!
I don"t want to part!
…Kei-chan!
「Kei"s here!」
Kyouko-san thrusts out the mirror in front of the door to me.
「Open your eyes…look!」
…Inside the mirror.
Kei-chan was there.
His clothes are bloodstained…
His eyes and mouth were opened wide as he looks at the mirror…
That was me…
Kei-chan"s twin sister.
Our faces look completely alike.
That"s right…we
Ever since we were born…
We"re a twin sibling that looks alike…!!
「As long as you"re alive then Kei"s living too…! Think about that! Therefore, live desperately!…for Kei"s sake!」
…Kei-chan"s sake?
「You"re living two times the amount…for Kei"s share too. You have to be happy two times more!」
Kyouko-san said…!
「Now, let"s get ready to depart. You can"t get on Joan"s s.h.i.+p with that b.l.o.o.d.y clothing!」
I changed my blood-stained clothes…
The clothes I wore when we were taken from Rosalind to the villa…
It"s not my clothes…
It"s the clothes Kei-chan and I wore
「…Look
Kyouko-san handed me a scissor.
「Cut Kei"s hair…I"ll let you take that much
I cut Kei-chan"s hair with my trembling hands.
I wrapped it in a handkerchief and put it on my pocket.
「Leave the scissors in Kei"s chest
Kyouko-san said.
「If I recall, the manners in j.a.pan…you have to leave an edge tool on the remains so he won"t be taken away by the demon」
I put the scissors on Kei-chan"s chest.
That"s the last time I touched Kei-chan.
「Let"s go…!」
I stand up staggering.
「…Kei-chan」
Kei-chan"s death face looks in pain.
Kei-chan…I think his face looks always so painful
「Hey…!」
Kyouko-san held my shoulder and we went out of the room.
Riding the boat…I saw the whole villa well.
I can tell the position of the living room.
That"s where kei-chan is…
I left Kei-chan.
Kyouko-san and Maru-chan…
They scattered gasoline outside the villa.
Then…they set it on fire.
…Burning
…The villa is burning
…Kei-chan"s burning
「Mina, set sail」
Kyouko-san and Maru-chan leapt into the boat…
Then she told Sensei on the driver seat.
…Bubobobobobobo!!!!
The motor starts and the boat leaves the sh.o.r.e…
The burning Villa…
Kei-chan…
They"re going away from me…!
Heading towards the blue sea…
The green woods…
The red flame and black smoke rises…
Ah, I"ve seen this kind of fire before…I thought.
I saw such flames fading away when my father and mother were killed.
My life…the flame burns my family as usual…
…It"s sad.
…It"s miserable.
I thought.
I fainted in the boat…
When I woke up…I was on top of a bed.
I feel that the whole room is shaking.
Therefore…I knew that we"re in a big s.h.i.+p.
「…Awake?」
Kyouko-san was there.
Maru-chan and Sensei too…
Everyone"s smiling at me.
「It"s already safe. This is Joan Slim"s s.h.i.+p…!」
I"m saved?
…I was saved.
「I looked you up in j.a.pan"s database. I wonder how you write your name in Kanji?」
Sensei gave me a pen and paper.
My Kanji name…
I thought that I won"t ever write my name in j.a.panese again
「Okay…done」
I handed the paper with my name『奈島寧子』 written on it.
「Natou Neiko…?!」
Kyouko-san who"s reading it from the side read it as such
「It"s Najima Yasuko…」
I answered…
「Liar…You can"t read Yasuko there. It"s actually Neiko, right?」
Kyouko-san who"s a non-j.a.panese Brazilian…strongly insists that her Kanji reading isn"t wrong.
「Kei"s sister is Nei, right…am I wrong?」
Kei"s sister…Nei
「Right, it"s a good disturbance on Viola"s pursuit…let"s change the Kanji"s reading」
Sensei said.
「Even if the writing is the same, it"ll be a different name when it comes to English… We"ll hide the Najima Yasuko name, and you"ll be Natou Neiko starting today」
「Neiko"s hard to say…Nei should be fine. Let"s make it Nei」
Kyouko-san said
Therefore…I
From that day, I became Natou Nei
That"s right…not Yasuko anymore.
Yasuko disappeared in that flame.
I"m Nei…
I changed my life to Nei.
「There"s some soup. Try to eat even if you force yourself…!」
Kyouko-san brought the plate to me.
…But.
Margo…bring a mirror. Size doesn"t matter」
Kyouko-sam told Maru-chan
「Sure」
Margo-san brought a handgla.s.s from the restroom.
「Look at the mirror…Nei」
In the mirror…there"s a crying child
That"s me…
Nei…she has Kei-chan"s face.
「When this girl is crying, Kei"s gonna feel sad…therefore, eat」
I took the spoon.
I scooped the soup, put it in my mouth…then swallowed.
I feel blood gathering in my stomach…
The soup is becoming my blood and flesh.
「If the girl in the mirror is energetic, Kei would be pleased…live with that thought. Okay, Nei?」
Kyouko-san said.
Therefore, I
I look at the mirror every time something happens.
Happy things, sad things, even hard things…
I look at the face in the mirror…
If I look in the mirror…I can meet Kei-chan.
Kei-chan is living inside me.
Therefore…I"m alive.
I eat meals for Kei-chan"s sake.
I laugh for Kei-chan"s sake.
When I laugh, Kei-chan"s laughing too…
Therefore…I smile as much as possible.
I laugh happily.
It"s for Kei-chan"s sake…
For Kei-chan"s sake…
Kei-chan"s sake…
◇ ◇ ◇
The school in midnight…the monitor room concealed under the princ.i.p.al"s office.
Nei-san"s long story finally finished.
「That was three years ago. You now know why Viola"s aiming at me don"t you?」
The monitor room quiets down.
Mana and Megu were sleeping in the same air mat.
Perhaps, Yukino too…
Katsuko-nee"s sleeping
Minaho-neesan"s not here…
The one"s awake are Me, Nei-san, Michi, and Margo-san…
「You see…sometimes, I still don"t understand myself!」
Nei-san looks afar and said.
「Am I really happy, sad…my heart"s in a mess, it screams. 『Help me, help me, help me!』」
…Nei-san
「…At those times, I look in the mirror. Kei-chan"s inside the mirror after all. I feel relived. I feel safe…when I feel that I"m about to burst…the face in the mirror smiles. That"s not my face…that"s Kei-chan"s face. I"m healed by the face of Kei-chan inside the mirror! Ahaha, that"s funny isn"t it?!」
…I
I embraced Nei-san"s body…
「…Nei-san」
「What"s wrong? Yo-chan…Sorry My strange story is scarty isn"t it?」
Nei-sann said then pats my head.
「…Sorry, Yo-chan」
Nei-san wants to be an『Onee-san』
Nei-san lost Kei-chan…
The emotion that"s piled up in her heart is swelling, and about to explode.
…This person
She has lost the one she poured her love on.
「…Onee-san」
I told Nei-san
「…I"ll be Nei-san"s brother…I will…!」
「Un…Thanks」
Nei-san embraced me gently
「Yo-chan"s really kind」
But…
Michi speaks in the very dim light.
「I think that doesn"t solve the fundamental problem…」
I"m surprised.
「…It"s impossible to be her twin brother」
I know that
「That person named Kei is already dead…」
Nei-san"s body trembled from Michi"s words.
「Even if it"s not a fundamental solution…Yos.h.i.+dkun"s existence has been a good influence for Nei…」
Margo-san who"s silent all this time spoke up.
「Yos.h.i.+dkun has thepower to heal the problems in women"s heart…!」
Margo-san looks at me.
「Nei"s been stable compared to before…Katsuko-san and Minaho are the same. Even your master, Misuzu-san is the same, am I wrong?」
「Well…true, that might be the case…」
Margo-san smiles
「I think it"s a wonderful power…therefore, I try not to be as close to Yos.h.i.+dkun as possible…!」
…Margo-san?
「I"m in the combat force after all. If I get healed too much, my movements will become dull in case of emergency. Therefore, I try to keep away from him」
…Is that so?
「But…I"m really grateful to you. Before they met you, Minaho and Katsuko-san were in a dangerous situation. Especially Minaho…although I was warning her quite a lot, I think that it"s possible for her to make a mistake on an important situation…!」
Margo-san said.
「She"s stable thanks to Yos.h.i.+dkun…No, since she"s not giving herself to the revenge alone and take consideration of Yos.h.i.+dkun, Megumi-chan and the other children, I think she can accomplish her plans very well. If she goes with her initial momentum…『I misjudged my resolution and drive s.h.i.+rasaka Sousuke』therefore, she"ll fail in the middle of the plan」
…Is that so?
Is my existence a factor why Minaho-neesan and others work well?
Even though I"m just a drag?
Therefore…I"d like to be useful even for a bit.
「I think that it"s good that Yos.h.i.+dkun is making contact with Nei. Even if you can"t see it as a『sibling play』…Nei right now can"t make a contact with a boy except in that form. That"s why I think it"s fine」
「…But, I」
…That"s right, I
「I really want to be Nei-san"s brother. I"d like to help Nei-san…!」
…Nei-san
「…Thank you, Yo-chan. I really thank you…!」
Then…
Margo-san told me.
「That"s not it…Yos.h.i.+dkun」
…Eh?
「Nei wants a『brother』existence therefore you think want to be Nei"s『brother』…」
…That is
「But…you actually love Nei as a『man』 Not as a『brother』…!」
…That might be the case.
I"m a lone child.
I don"t how does a『brother』love his『sister』
…But
「I do like Nei-san. I"ll do anything that Nei-san wants…Nei-san"s important to me…I"m fine whatever I become as long as Nei-san"s happy…!」
「…Yo-chan?!」
Nei-san"s confused.
「That would be troubling」
「…EH?」
「Because…I I can never become happy!」
…Nei-san!?
「If I become happy…then I would be restless inside…and I"ll close myself deep inside…!」
Nei-san…separates from me.
「As long as Kei-chan is inside me…I won"t forgive myself. I"m a woman that will never become happy…!」
Nei-san said…
1. That"s a copy paste