Jinya paid another visit to Ichikawa, and his gift for Nanao this time was a boxwood comb. Boxwood was a popular craftwork material that was used for stamps, furniture, decorations, and the like, but it was best known as a material for combs. Boxwood combs had been a popular gift for women since olden days and were even the subject of many love poems. Gifting a boxwood comb was even considered a discreet way of expressing love.
Of course, Jinya held no romantic feelings for Nanao whatsoever. But she was a lady of the night, so he assumed she would appreciate this gift that promised ephemeral affection.
“My, my, I’m flattered,” she said, her cheeks slightly flushed. “You’ve chosen a gift that suits my interests and my line of work.”
“Anything to please you.”
“Oh, I’m pleased, don’t you worry. Now, for your reward…” With her face still flushed, she bashfully continued. “Let’s see… Ah, I know. Why don’t I tell you about us daughters of Magatsume? That’s what you originally wanted to know, right?”
He nodded, which made her smile. Her voice was more cheerful than before, perhaps thanks to the boxwood comb gift.
“We daughters were originally faceless spirits, created from the discarded parts of our mother’s heart. By taking in an aspect of a person, we gain individuality. I myself ate the sex worker known as Nanao to become who I am. However, I am not a copy of Nanao, but a mixture of her and the fragment of my mother’s discarded heart. The only exception to all this is Himawari-neesan.”
Jinya had always suspected Himawari was different from her sisters, and now he had firm proof he was right.
“Himawari-neesan is the eldest of us daughters. She was formed from the first thing our mother discarded from her heart: the love she once held for her brother. She didn’t need to take in an aspect of a person to form individuality; the emotions from which she was formed were already strong enough. That’s why she alone is special. Oh, of course, she’s also special because of her final duty, no doubt.”
Her final duty? That tidbit immediately caught Jinya’s interest, but Nanao moved along before he could get a word in. He had a feeling she was toying with him.
“Now, to explain why she created us,” she said.
“The ‘why’ is obvious, isn’t it? She needed pawns to do her dirty work.”
“Ahh, I had a feeling you thought that. But no, we weren’t created because she needed us as pawns. It’s the very opposite. We were created because we were in her way.” A heartbroken look filled Nanao’s eyes. She’d mentioned she was abandoned by her mother and was through with her, but she clearly wasn’t fully over her. “My mother loved you, her brother. That’s why she had to create Himawari-neesan first. She couldn’t stand against you with her love for you still in her heart.”
The daughters of Magatsume weren’t made to oppose Jinya; they were a mere byproduct of what she had to discard to oppose him. That was why Himawari looked so young even though she was the eldest of the daughters—she was born from Magatsume’s most precious and most impeding emotion.
“Of course, the same goes for the rest of us sisters. Our mother single-mindedly discarded the parts of her heart that got in her way, forming us. We all bear flower names and abilities that share that name, to represent what we were formed from.”
“How so?”
“Through the language of flowers. Himawari, or sunflower, means ‘I only have eyes for you.’ That’s why her ability lets her remotely observe a set target. She was formed from our mother’s wish to watch you at all times, so she could go to you wherever you were. Perhaps that matches what you know of Himawari-neesan?”
Jinya recalled how Himawari acted. She had warmed up to him abnormally quickly the first time they met, as though she already knew him. Now, understanding why, he gritted his teeth. An emotion he couldn’t identify welled up inside him.
“Jishibari means ‘to restrain.’ Her ability allowed her to restrict movement and abilities with chains. She was created from a desire to bind you, to keep you by her side, unable to leave, even if it meant chaining you down… Ha ha. She has some rather kinky tastes, that mother of mine.”
Jinya recalled Jishibari, the demon he met back in Edo times who had taken Nagumo Kazusa’s image. She had mentioned being unwanted by Magatsume and never once referred to her as her mother because of it. Jinya had pitied her.
“Azumagiku means ‘brief respite.’ The ability to erase memory was formed from a wish to make you forget her…or perhaps the troubled history you two share. I’m not sure. At any rate, I’m sure there were many things she both wanted to forget and wanted to make you forget. My sister Azumagiku was the manifestation of a faint wish to return to the way things were with you, but she wasted any chance of that on a rather silly scheme.”
As an aside, Nanao mentioned that Magatsume had personally adjusted Azumagiku to make her look more like the woman whose aspect she absorbed. Jinya already knew that, of course. Azumagiku had essentially been her.
“Furutsubaki means ‘I will always love you,’ which sounds nice on the surface, but she had the rather twisted ability to control others. But then again, I suppose that’s a form of affection too. When you love someone, sometimes you want to control everything they do. It’s improper, but such is the nature of a woman’s heart.”
Jinya recalled that pitiful daughter of Magatsume, captured and manipulated by Nagumo Eizen. She had taken Saegusa Sahiro’s image and left a rather poor impression on Jinya, but her ability Furutsubaki had allowed him to save Ryuuna. For that, he was thankful to her.
“All of us sisters come from something our mother felt toward you. Even after she discarded us from her heart, she keeps us dear. Most of us, at least. You see, my flower name represents a desire my mother didn’t want to acknowledge. That’s why I wasn’t made one of her pawns and got discarded in the truest sense, eventually ending up here.”
“…And your flower name is?”
“You’ll know in time, when all is finished and I’ve given you my ability as payment. Just. As. Promised.” She brought the topic to a close and giggled, enjoying the face Jinya was making.
He had known the daughters of Magatsume were discarded parts of her own heart, but he hadn’t stopped to seriously think about what that meant. This newfound knowledge changed how he saw the daughters he had faced so far. His chest tightened with the realization that he had mercilessly devoured every single one of them he encountered, Himawari aside. He even knew why Magatsume had hurt herself so much now. An unplaceable emotion welled up inside him together with his hatred.
“Thank goodness. I was worried you wouldn’t be affected by all this,” Nanao said.
Magatsume was currently left broken because she had cut away the parts of herself that cared for him. Put another way, the feelings Suzune had held toward him were so deeply rooted in her heart that cutting them away had damaged her essential self.
“I’m relieved you are the man you are. Do you understand now? My mother truly loved you. Even after you both became demons, her feelings for you were so strong that she had to do away with them in order to stand against you. But no matter how much she cut away, more and more of her feelings for you appeared. You are, in the truest sense, everything to her.” Nanao sincerely hoped he would never forget that. Even if the day came when he killed her mother, she prayed he would at least never doubt the sincerity of her feelings.
Jinya was speechless. He saw the love his sister and her daughters held for him, but his hatred was still there.
“Let’s call it a day, shall we?” Nanao said. “Next time we’ll talk about my mother’s ability and her ultimate goal. If you bring me a worthy gift first, that is. I’m looking forward to your next visit.”
Unable to calm the emotions inside him, he could only manage a nod in reply.