Their father had derided her constantly for being good-for-nothing. Looking back, she couldn’t remember seeing him work as a practitioner.
The same could be said for Yanagi, but he was known to be a Lapis practitioner, so she didn’t need to see it to believe it.
“Do you know what our father’s shikigami is?” Yanagi asked.
“Huh. I don’t think I’ve seen it,” Hana said.
“Me neither,” Hazuki agreed.
His expression bitter, Yanagi revealed, “It’s a dragonfly. His shikigami is an insect.”
“…Are you kidding me?!” Hana snapped without thinking.
Her voice was loud and angry, and no wonder. She had been constantly derided after she had summoned Azuha, a butterfly.
Hazuki was stunned into silence.
“That bastard. Who is he to call me worthless when his shikigami is a bug, too?!”
“Exactly,” Yanagi said.
“I can’t believe it…,” she muttered.
She was so amazed that she was at a loss for words. Their father had pitted her against Hazuki and had oppressed her mercilessly, and yet he, too, was a washout.
“Normally, wouldn’t you think he’d treat me with more kindness?”
They were comrades in arms, both having insect shikigami. He should have empathized with her.
“His shikigami is the root of his inferiority complex,” Yanagi said. “He saw his own weakness reflected in Hana, and he couldn’t bear it.”
How impossibly selfish…
For such a petty reason, he had hurt Hana so deeply.
“That’s why, when he saw the way our grandfather doted on me, he felt I was trying to snatch the Ichise inheritance away from him. He has treated me harshly since long ago, even more so than he does you, Hana.”
“No way…”
She was surprised to hear it, having never witnessed their father behave cruelly toward Yanagi herself.
That said, she couldn’t recall seeing the two of them having a pleasant chat, either.
Part of the reason was that Yanagi was usually away from the house for work, so it was rare to see him and their father together in the first place.
“Well, there’s no point in comparing or asking which of us is more pitiful,” Yanagi said.
“…Right.”
Hana and Yanagi were in agreement on that front. She didn’t know anything about how he had been treated, so she couldn’t compare them anyway.
“Our grandfather wanted me to succeed the family line, but he passed away before it could happen. He wrote it in his will, but it was impossible for a minor to inherit, and our father became the head of the family instead. Nevertheless, that wasn’t enough to erase his feeling of inferiority.”
“Did something else happen?” Hazuki asked nervously.
To be honest, Hana had already heard enough, but she, too, was curious.
“The shikigami you two summoned were another trigger. One, an insect shikigami like his own and the other, a human shikigami even I hadn’t managed to create. Your shikigami further fueled his inferiority complex. On the one hand, Hana’s insect shikigami was like a blow to his bruised ego, and on the other, through Hazuki’s human shikigami, he had his first taste of superiority. Keeping Hazuki, who has more talent than me, by his side was his way of restraining me.”
“Ugh… How pathetic.”
Hana felt disgusted that she and Hazuki had been used for such a worthless purpose, and she heaved a deep sigh.
“The reason why our father is obsessed with the family name is because he wants recognition from his peers that he is superior to me. His feelings toward our grandfather whose approval he never received have completely warped…”
Yanagi paused, his expression dark.
An unpleasant hush filled the room.
Hana’s voice cut through the tension. “…Hazuki and I are nothing but convenient tools to him.”
Their father had rejuvenated himself by abusing Hana. He had gratified his desires by treating Hazuki favorably.
She didn’t know what Saku had wanted them to talk about, but what she had realized through their conversation was that their father was a piece of garbage through and through.
Of all the shitty parents she knew, he was the king.
“So? What’s your point? What do you expect us to do after hearing this story?” Hana asked Yanagi, pinning him with a direct gaze.
“I want you to think about what happiness means to you,” he answered.
“That’s no business of yours. It’s not like you care what happens to us. I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve talked. It’s all the same to you if we live or die, right?”
“That’s…right.”
She had only stated the facts, but Yanagi looked upset. If she couldn’t figure out the reason behind his gloomy expression, then…
Saku had been staying quiet, but he cut in and said, “I don’t know about you two, but Yanagi cares a lot for you.”
“What…?” Hana said.
Saku stood and dug through the inner pocket of Yanagi’s suit jacket.
“W-wait, Lord Ichinomiya!” Yanagi protested, flustered.
He desperately tried to hold Saku off, but Saku called out, “Tsubaki,” and bade her to pin Yanagi’s arms behind him.
Saku ignored Yanagi’s glare, snatched the other man’s notebook from the jacket pocket, and flipped through its pages.
“You should know when to give up,” he said to Yanagi. “If you don’t express the important things in words, no one’s going to get it!” He took out something sandwiched in between the pages and handed it to Hana. “Look.”
It was a photo. Pictured were Hana and Hazuki when they were little. Yanagi was with them as well.
“What…?” Hana muttered.
“Yanagi always keeps this picture of you three on him. He wouldn’t carry around a photo of people he cared nothing about or treasure it as he does. He cherishes you as his younger sisters in his own way.”
The sudden revelation was hard to believe.
Hazuki looked at Yanagi doubtfully. Her eyes seemed to say, We’re talking about Yanagi, right?
“Then why did you act so coldly all this time?” Hana asked. “You didn’t try to help me or Hazuki. If you had at least tried to mediate, Hazuki wouldn’t have nearly been forced into marrying against her will.”
She wasn’t angry so much as resentful.
Frankly, she couldn’t care less about herself. She had already cut off all ties with their parents, and Saku had come to her rescue.
But Hazuki hadn’t had such assistance.
Left behind in the Ichise house, maybe she wouldn’t have had to suffer had Yanagi been her ally.
“I thought that my interference would make things worse…,” Yanagi said.
“Why worse?”
“Like I said earlier, Father’s inferiority complex causes him to see me as a rival. Hypothetically, let’s say I tried to arbitrate. He’s a man who doesn’t listen to a word anyone says. My intercession would only anger him more. Who do you think would end up bearing the brunt of his anger? Undoubtedly, he would lash out at the two of you. The more I cherish something, the more he’ll try to trample over it. All I could do was feign indifference and stay away from you.”
Yanagi was hunched over as he spoke. Hana had never seen him like this. She looked over at Hazuki, who was making a complicated expression. She thought she must surely look the same way, and she didn’t know how to respond.
That showed how remote of an existence Yanagi was to her.
Even knowing that there had been a reason for his apathy, Hana found it hard to accept it the way she had with Hazuki. Her confusion showed on her face. She looked like a child who had lost her way.
Hazuki grabbed Hana’s hand. Judging from the steely look in her eyes, it appeared that she had made up her mind.
“Thank you for sharing that. I didn’t know you felt that way about me and Hana. I’m genuinely happy. There is a part of me that has always looked up to you as a Lapis practitioner.”
Yanagi looked at Hazuki as if he couldn’t believe his ears. “Hazuki…”
“But that was a lot of information, and both Hana and I need time to process it. Please give us a while to organize our thoughts.”
Seeing Hazuki’s reaction, Hana thought that her sister was much more put together than herself, twins though they may be. She may be a mess inside, but Hazuki had given Yanagi a proper response.
“Lord Ichinomiya, do we have your consent as well?” Hazuki asked.
“Yes,” Saku said. “You really are more levelheaded than Hana.” He turned to Yanagi. “Don’t you feel better now that you got that off your chest?”
“Against my will, but yes,” Yanagi said. Then he faced Hana and Hazuki with a bitter expression. “Hazuki, did you hear that those two contacted Hana today?”
“Yes.”
“I doubt they’ll give up after one try. I have heard rumors that they are surreptitiously starting to act. Be careful just in case,” he warned the two of them. “Don’t be alone.”
Hana clicked her tongue reflexively.
“I knew I should have had Miyabi knock them upside the head with her squeaky hammer.”
If they want to come, then come, she thought and vowed to herself that when the time came, she would beat them up without a second thought.
“Saku, I’m counting on you for the cleanup,” Hana said.
“Hey, what are you planning?!” he snapped back. “But anyway…if they’ll do us the favor of firing the first shot, it’ll be a golden opportunity.”
A sinister smile rose to Saku’s face. Hana felt a chill run down her spine.
“Yanagi,” Saku said, “if those two slip up, we can use their blunder as an excuse to have them surrender their position. You’ll succeed the Ichise family in their stead. That will tie up everything neatly.”
“Will it go that smoothly?” Yanagi asked.
“Making sure things go according to plan is the fun part.”
Saku’s wicked expression made Hana feel a twinge of sympathy for her parents.
However, they were only getting what they had asked for.