「 Edie, could you explain it to me now? 」I said.
I don"t think that Nei and everyone is seriously trying to kick out Megu.
I"m sure that this is just the means to an end.
Torturing her with logic, cornering her mentally, and negotiating to move forward.
That"s Minaho-neesan"s process.
「 The j.a.panese people really love to beg formally, don"t they? 」
Edie says without caring about my question.
「 And so when the other side apologizes, it"s done, you ignore the rest. If you apologize, you lose. If the other party apologized, you win. Then, it"s game over. That"s how it feels like 」
「 Oh? I don"t think that"s exclusive in j.a.pan. I think there"s a lot of countries who value honor a lot 」
Kansenpai said.
「 The j.a.panese interpretation of honor is different compared to Asia. In j.a.pan, there"s this interesting belief that if you apologized in words, then it must end there. It"s different in other parts of Asia. Apologizing means admitting that one made a mistake, and so the other party would burn them. The apology would continue forever or for as long as they desire compensation. The apology is a start line on yielding to the other side, not the goal. And it"s nothing like the “GAME OVER / NO SIDE,” j.a.pan"s thought process 」
「 I get that, but what does it have to do with this case? 」
I don"t get it.
「 I don"t think that the j.a.panese thought is perfect either. What I mean by that is that even if one apologized, and the other party accepted it, and yet, inside, the person has no intention of apologizing, and the other side has no plan of receiving it either 」
Oh, I get that now.
I had that experience with Mana.
When we just met Mana, she kept on promising that she"ll be our ally, but,
Inside her mind, she kept thinking about how to escape from us.
「 You can"t trust words 」
Edie said and looked at Megu.
I see.
Last night, Megu looked like Minaho-neesan convinced her, but,
Inside, she"s not.
「 And that"s why words are futile. Just like with the Yakuza from earlier 」
Edie said.
「 Yakuza? What"s that about? 」
Kansenpai asks out of curiosity.
「 U-Uhm, our family had some issues with the Yakuza 」
Luna tries to explain it with a perplexed face, but,
「 Then, Kouzuki SS got in between and dealt with the Yakuza from Kansai. Then, the head of Kouzuki house negotiated with the bosses of the Yakuza there, gave them a hard blow and eventually made them yield 」
Edie follows up what Luna said.
「 Nii-san and Edie-san were in the same place as them 」
「 The head of Kouzuki house? You mean? 」
「 Yeah, Misuzu"s grandpa 」
Kansenpai asks. Edie replies.
「 While at it, Reika was in there 」
「 Fujimiya Reika?! That"s amazing n.o.bu, to think that you"d show up there 」
Kansenpai looks at me with sparkling eyes.
Err.
She"s misunderstanding something.
「 All I did was stand in there. Edie and Michi are amazing ones. These two knocked out at least 20 Yakuza guys each 」
In Michi"s case, that includes her mother.
No, I don"t need to tell them that.
「 And for now, the Yakuza in that place all surrendered to Kouzuki house. They have their heads bowing down. Or so they say. It"s Kouzuki house"s win no matter how you look at it 」
Edie said.
「 But that"s far from the truth. Yakuza speaks apologies, but inside their head, they think “G.o.ddammit!” Everyone knows that they"re not sincere with what they say. And so, that wasn"t even a deal. It"s just a start of a new war 」
Margo-san talked about it earlier.
Things aren"t done yet there.
「 That"s obvious. Knowing the Yakuza"s att.i.tude, they don"t apologize at all. It"s not just in words. Not even in appearance. It"s natural. If their true intentions are discovered, they would be crushed 」
Apologizing only for the appearance is meaningless.
「 The Yakuza thinks with the common sense of j.a.pan, and so they think that Kouzuki Ojii-san is okay with their apology. Maybe, they"re riding the bullet train by now filled with the thought that they have the leeway. They"d consult their allies on how to take revenge on Kouzuki house 」
Edie laughs.
「 But, Kouzuki SS has their countermeasures for that already. Kouzuki SS would definitely send a detached force to the Yakuza coming back to their stronghold 」
Jii-chan beats them to the punch.
「 The Yakuza won"t expect Kouzuki SS to move so fast. They think that Kouzuki is naive of the people around him. That"s how they see him. That is why they"ll suspect everything 」
The leaders of Yakuza must erase Oodori and Satake as they promised Jii-chan that they will. They agreed to take down the organization of the two.
Therefore, nothing will happen until they arrive in Osaka.
They won"t suspect Kouzuki house, which was the one that made the deal, but they"ll doubt the remnants of Oodori and Satake"s organization first.
Then, Kouzuki SS will use that chance to start their next strategy.
The Kansai Yakuza will be forestalled.
「 Do you get it? If the Yakuza didn"t just show it through words, but also show good faith as well, this wouldn"t happen 」
「 Good faith, what is that? 」
Luna asks.
「 It means that if one risks their life in it, the other has to reply with their life as well 」
Edie said.
「 The Kouzuki side brought in Takakura Kiyomi there to purposely let the Yakuza understand what"s going on. If that"s the case, then the Yakuza should"ve dealt with Oodori and Satake in front of Kouzuki house 」
Kouzuki house brought in Kiyomi-san, the mastermind of the whole event.
She confessed about everything that she did.
And she committed suicide in front of the Yakuza.
Then.
The Kansai Yakuza;
They should"ve killed Oodori and Satake while Jii-chan"s watching.
「 If there would be a quarrel between the Yakuza, it would be that one. But, the Yakuza underestimated Kouzuki house because they"re an organization on the surface. They should"ve disposed of the two on the spot right after Kouzuki Ojii-san said that he"s letting them take care of it. Despite all that, the Yakuza put off the disposal of Oodori and Satake, they think that it would be convenient for the reorganization of the Yakuza world in Kansai. They"ll appeal to the subordinates saying “I will take care of your boss” 」
They didn"t kill Oodori and Satake to keep the balance of lives as Kouzuki house stressed Kiyomi-san"s death, but instead.
They prioritized getting the upper hand in the Kansai Yakuza world and took Oodori and Satake out of the hotel alive.
They incurred Jii-chan"s wrath.
They didn"t sincerely apologize, yield, and accept the deal given to them.
And so, Kouzuki SS will take the initiative and attack them.
「 Words are not enough. You see the thought of others through actions 」
Edie said.
「 Megumi"s like that. Don"t listen to her. She says what you want to hear after all 」
Megu;
「 I-I always think of Yos.h.i.+-kun first 」
「 And look at that example 」
Edie sighed.
Then.
「 Let"s undress for a bit. Megumi, you, and me 」
She tells Kansenpai.
「 U-Undress? Uhm 」
Kansenpai looks at me bashfully.
「 Could it be that we"re doing it here? 」
Edie.
「 That depends. But before that, I want you to show off your body to Megumi 」
Kansenpai showing off her body?
「 A person"s body shows their thought. Once she sees your body, she"ll understand why Nei and the girls thought that you"re necessary for Darling 」
What? Can you tell that from looking at Kansenpai"s naked body?
「 Oh, got it. I"ll take mine off first then. Then, explain it while looking at my body 」
Edie stands up and starts to take off her clothes.
「 Err, what? What explain? 」
Kansenpai, Megu, Luna, and Mana are all surprised.
Edie took off her clothes right away, and now she"s only wearing underwear.
「 So, what do you think after looking at my body? 」
She asks Kansenpai first.
「 Hmm, it"s trained. I guess? 」
Kansenpai replied.
「 Is that all? 」
「 Well, I think your proportions are great. It doesn"t feel like your meat is rugged at all. It feels supple and elastic 」
Edie.
「 I"ve learned a.s.sa.s.sination techniques in America. My skills also require me to not look like an a.s.sa.s.sin. If people are alert, then I can"t do my job 」
I get that.
「 My setting is that I"m an overseas student from America. Students have sports with them, so I don"t look suspicious. Therefore, my body is trained, but it doesn"t go overboard. I keep in moderation. I mustn"t exceed the appearance of a student that"s doing some sort of sports. That"s my body 」
I see.
「 Darling, did you notice that Michi"s wearing a slightly larger uniform? Michi is Misuzu"s bodyguard. But, she can"t stand out as the bodyguard at a glance, and so, in Michi"s case, she attends in the same school as Misuzu. It"s better to show her as Misuzu"s close junior in school. Therefore, that girl tries to wear slightly larger school uniform to hide her body line, and make herself look smaller 」
Is that so?
「 If it"s Reika or Shou, then it"s another story. The two of them are professional bodyguards from Kouzuki SS> They need to show themselves their job through their body or n.o.body will know. Showing off that they"re professional bodyguards wards off the bad guys. Especially Reika, her body is trained well 」
That is why Rei-chan looks good when crossdressing.
「 However, the services offered by Kouzuki SS" is for wealthy families. They also show up on public locations. Therefore, having a tempered body isn"t enough. They need to be elegant as well, and Haruka doesn"t understand that 」
Edie said.
「 Haruka"s unlike us. Her body is trained to be an athlete, and so it shows. She can"t enter the security trade with that kind of body. I mean, she can"t join in as long as she doesn"t notice that. There are multiple ways to train one"s body after all 」
Train one"s body.
「 Haruka"s doing Karate. Furthermore, she"s joining in tournaments, and so her body"s trained for that 」
「 Trained for what? 」
Mana asked.
「 A high school Karate contest is just a tournament. You"ll fight matches multiple times in a day, and so you need stamina. One trains their body for the sport 」
I see.
「 In a nutsh.e.l.l, a boxing athlete and a pro wrestling athlete have different body builds, right? Boxer doesn"t fight every day. They compete at least once every few months. Therefore, all they need to do is to make sure that their physical condition is perfect on the day of the match. However, their body must last 12 rounds.
On the other hand, pro wrestlers have a game almost every day. Therefore, they need a bulky body that can resist damage. But wrestlers only have one round per day. Furthermore, their duration is much shorter than boxing. If they say that the match is 60 minutes, then it will be only 60 minutes. Therefore, there"s no need for them to have that much stamina 」
Therefore, the boxing and wrestler athlete has that much difference in physique. Even though both are in combat sports.
「 Wrestlers and mixed martial artists are different too. In the end, one has to train their body depending on the rules they have to follow. They make their most appropriate shape 」
Edie said.
「 Margo"s currently a bouncer, and she"s reshaping herself to become a mixed martial artist. As for me, I"ll stay in the a.s.sa.s.sination arts 」
Margo-san"s seriously going to become a mixed martial artist.
「 I"ll go with Margo and fight in the ring, but I don"t intend on becoming a martial artist. I have to protect Darling and the family, and so I don"t want myself to look like a martial artist from hindsight. I want to keep this body of mine 」
Edie right now.
She looks nothing but an American exchange student who does sports.
「 I mean, I don"t think Darling would like it if my body turns beefy, right? 」
Well, that"s
「 Reika and Michi always talk about always eyeing for the rubber-like texture than having a steel-like muscle. There"s no meaning in training one"s body if Darling doesn"t like it 」
Oh, I get it.
That"s what Edie meant earlier with “You can see one"s thoughts through their body.”
「 I see. Edie"s considering a lot of things, that"s why your body is like this 」
「 That"s obvious. It"s not just me. Everyone"s doing their best to have their ideal body for Darling 」
Edie said.
Then.
「 Hey Mana, take yours off too 」
「 Huh? 」
Mana"s surprised.
「 You should show off at this opportunity 」
Edie smiles.
「 Oh, okay 」
Mana stands up and takes off her clothes.
「 Somehow, this is embarra.s.sing 」
The 14-year-old beauty blushes.
「 Should I look away? 」
I asked.
「 No, I"m taking my clothes off to show it to Onii-chan 」
Then, Mana is now wearing nothing but bra and panty.
「 What do you think, Onii-chan? 」
Err.
「 Mana, you"ve grown taller. Also, 」
「 What? 」
「 Your chest seems to be bigger than before. No, your body has become s.e.xier, I think 」
「 Really? 」
Mana smiles happily.
「 He"s right. Your body looks s.e.xier than I imagined. I mean, I don"t say it in a lewd way. I think that your body is beautiful 」
Kansenpai said.
「 Ehehe. Err, Mana"s remodeling her body right now. There"s a meal and exercise program so I could grow taller and s.e.xier, and I"m putting it to practice 」
「 That exists?! 」
Kansenpai"s curious.
「 It exists. Actually, Mana"s the first experiment model or something like that. Since the program started four months ago, it finally shows the change recently. Ah, that also includes having lots of s.e.x with Onii-chan. I hear that women need a constant pump of s.e.m.e.n inside of them to become even more beautiful. Also, drinking s.e.m.e.n 」
「 I-I see 」
Kansenpai flinched slightly.
「 But, that"s nice. I want to enter that program too 」
Luna said.
「 I want to have a body that pleases Nii-san too 」
「 Katsuko-oneechan makes the meal program, and Margo-oneechan is in charge of the exercise, if you ask them, they"ll create one for you. I hear that they tailor the plan for each person to match the style 」
「 Thanks, I"ll ask them 」
Luna"s also going for the program it seems.
「 So, you see it with her body, right? Mana"s putting all her effort for the past four months 」
Edie looks at me, smiling.
「 Yeah, I can see it. Not with words but with her body. Mana, you"re really working hard. Well done 」
「 Then, hug me and pat my head 」
「 Sure, come over 」
I hug Mana and give her a head pat.
「 Ah, Darling, me too! 」
Edie also comes in front of me.
「 You know, I also keep my body for Darling 」
「 I know, I know 」
I hug Edie"s body, as well.
「 Uhm, do I have to undress to get n.o.bu"s hug? 」
Kansenpai shows a sense of rivalry.
「 I mean, do you want to see it, n.o.bu? 」
Err.
「 Well, yes 」
Then, Kansenpai smiled happily.
「 Then I"ll show it~! Hmm~~ 」
She takes off her uniform gracefully.
「 Wow, amazing 」
Seeing the blue-laced bra from under the blouse, Luna speaks unconsciously.
「 Hmm~ There you go! 」
Kansenpai throws off her blouse to me like a stripper.
「 And now, the lower half 」
She lowers down the short skirt she has.
「 What do you think? 」
Her panty matches her bra, it"s colored blue.
「 Beautiful 」
Kansenpai"s body is charming.
Her bodyline shows a s.e.xy curve.
She doesn"t have the same breast size as Nei, but still.
Kansenpai"s body is s.e.xier than the average 17-year-old girl.
「 You can understand it now that you see her body like this, right? Darling 」
Edie said.
「 This is why Nei and the girls picked Kana 」
Huh?
Which part of this s.e.xy body?
「 Kana"s in the tennis club, but she"s not taking the activities seriously 」
Edie said.
「 Well, you can understand that once you look at her body 」
That"s.
Yeah, Kansenpai"s body doesn"t look like her body is trained that hard.
「 Isn"t that obvious? That"s just a game for me. I don"t intend on entering tournaments nor aim for ranks. All I want is to have fun in tennis. I don"t know about the other club members, but that"s how it is for me 」
Kansenpai said.
「 That said, if you neglect them, then your body won"t look beautiful 」
Edie points out.
「 Naturally, I do it so my body won"t look dull. I always move my body to make sure that I have my ideal proportion. If it wasn"t for that, then I won"t be entering a sports club. Culture clubs are quite chubby you know 」
Kansenpai doesn"t skip out with the activities all the time.
She observes her body continuously and exercises her body if necessary.
「 Kana tunes herself to have a right balance 」
She doesn"t train too much, nor laze too much.
She keeps it moderate.
「 Therefore, her body is this s.e.xy 」
I had a sudden realization.
「 That"s right. You need moderation. You need to search for the “just right.” If you find the proper balance, then it becomes easier. What"s left is to keep that balance 」
That is Kansenpai"s thought shown through her body.
「 Darling, it"s similar to stringed instruments 」
Edie tells me.
「 If you tense up the string too much, then it won"t make a good sound. That also makes the string easier to break. On the other hand, if it"s too loose, then it won"t make a sound. It needs to have moderate tension. Once it does, it creates loud and clear music. Moderation is essential. 」
Moderation, is it?
「 That"s one of the quotes from buddha"s enlightenment 」
Edie"s words all have the depth to it.
「 Kana"s beauty is what you call balance. Kana never forces herself on something as she tries to keep it. She always has that good feeling. She"s got the composure. She"s always smiling. 」
「 Yes, I hate the idea of “barely” I want to have the surplus on everything. I want to take things easy. A person who keeps on knitting their eyebrows and scream all the time don"t have proper proportions, and their face becomes scary. I hate that kind of people 」
Kansenpai said.
「 Darling, they want you to know about this sense of balance 」
That is why Nei and the girls.
They gave Kansenpai to me.
「 Darling, you"ve been too tense for the past four months. You"re always hard on yourself. That"s not good. Naturally, there are times you need to be like that, but still, 」
Edie says.
「 Even though you"re already familiar to our new life together, you still look like you"re having a hard time. That"s why at first, Minaho made sure that you"re busy, so you won"t think about anything unnecessary 」
Is that so?
Yeah. Thinking about it, for the past four months,
I always had something to do.
I"m doing all my best just to fix them one by one.
I might be able to endure this too-special situation.
I"ve always been reaching my limit after all.
「 But, it"s about time for you to stop being so tense. If not, you might break one of these days 」
Edie patted me in the back and said.
「 It"s about one month since you started this bakery. You need to start loosening your threat to a moderate one starting from here 」
「 And that"s why Kansenpai"s here? 」
「 That"s right. Darling needs Kana"s sense of balance right now 」
Edie smiles at Kansenpai.
「 Oh wait, I"m being praised? 」
「 Yes, you are 」
「 O-Oh. Thanks, I guess 」
Kansenpai thanked for some reason.
「 Well then, now that the three of us have shown our body to Darling. If this were the Judgement of Paris, then it would"ve ended with us three, but 」
Edie looked at Megu.
「 Megumi, start stripping 」
Megu;
「 I-I 」
「 What"s wrong? Do you not want to show your body to Darling? 」
「 T-That"s not it 」
「 Then take your clothes off 」
Edie smiled.
「 Let"s show what Megumi"s thinking through her body 」