Aoi ran over, worried about Hana after seeing her get hit. “Master, are you okay?!”
Azuha was similarly concerned and fluttered to Hana. “Master.”
That was when Tsubaki appeared out of nowhere. “My darling,” she cooed, embracing Aoi from behind.
“Gwahhhh! Where the hell did you come from?” Aoi cried.
“I’m hurt. Wherever my darling is, that’s where I am!”
“Don’t be!”
The tension was blown clean away with Tsubaki’s appearance.
Hana watched Aoi and Tsubaki with an air of resignation. They were still making a ruckus when Miyabi came to join them from the room at the factory entrance. She looked worriedly at Hana, who was slumped against the wall, unable to move.
Miyabi went to Hana’s side. “Are you all right, Master?!”
“I’m fine. I’m fine.” She put on a tough face so as not to worry Miyabi further, but her back hurt so badly she was finding it hard to stand up. “If Tsubaki is here, the barrier must have been broken.”
“It appears so,” Miyabi said. “Lord Ichinomiya and your elder brother came inside together earlier.”
“Then I guess I should go. Sorry, Miyabi, but can you lend me your shoulder?”
“Didn’t you say a second ago you’re fine? Are your injuries so severe that you can’t walk without support?”
“Ah-ha-ha…” Hana laughed to avoid the question.
Miyabi exploded. “This is no laughing matter! Please rest here.”
“I’m sorry, really,” she said, “but I have to go. There are my parents to deal with, too.”
Miyabi, who always prioritized Hana, seemed displeased, but Hana knew that the shikigami would do as she said.
Miyabi glared at Aoi, who was being grossly lovey-dovey with Tsubaki, and smacked the other shikigami with her squeaky hammer. With her masterful control, she hit him on the head, and Aoi finally turned his attention their way.
“Aoi, save the flirting for later and come carry our Master.”
“I’m not flirting! …Hold on, are you okay, Master?!”
“She’s not. That’s why I’m asking you for help,” Miyabi snapped. “I don’t want her pushing herself, so hurry up and get over here.”
“R-right.”
“Aww, boo. I’m so jelly! I want my darling to sweep me up in his arms.” Tsubaki watched Hana with envy in her eyes, biting on her thumbnail in frustration. Of course, she couldn’t go as far as to tell him to put down an injured person, lest she wanted to be treated to a death glare from Miyabi.
Hana was carried by Aoi back to the room where her parents were. The two were sitting on the ground, their faces pale. Looming above them were Saku and Yanagi, who were glowering at them frostily.
Intimidated by the two men, her parents were finally silent, lucky to be alive.
“Saku,” Hana called.
The group turned her way.
Saku’s eyes widened seeing her in Aoi’s arms. “What happened?”
“Just got bruised a little in a scrap with a shade,” she said flippantly. “More importantly, why didn’t you pick up? You’re late.”
“Ah, sorry about that.” He averted his gaze guiltily. “Did you take down the shade that was here?”
“Yeah. Why was something so disgusting left sitting under a seal? Wait!” She turned to her father. “Suzu! Where is she, shitty old man?!”
She struggled in Aoi’s arms. He did his best not to drop her.
“Calm down,” Saku said in an attempt to soothe Hana, who looked like she was about to leap at her father’s throat. “Your friend is safe. She’s under our protection.”
“Good.” Her face finally went slack with relief.
Saku took up a stance in front of her parents again and glared down at them.
Her parents couldn’t muster the energy to stand, pinned as they were by his stern gaze. Those were the eyes of the Ichinomiya clan lord, not Saku. He had never subjected Hana to this side of him.
“You have caused a lot of trouble this time.”
“Lord Ichinomiya… W-we just…,” Hana’s father stuttered.
“I don’t need your excuses. You kidnapped the daughter of a Sankourou branch family. Do you understand what a grave matter this is? One misstep, and you could have ignited a dispute between our clans.”
“It was all for Hazuki’s sake.”
“Shut up.”
Her father went white at the sharp rebuke and closed his mouth.
It was refreshing to see him scolded by Saku, who was young enough to be his son.
Her parents had always had an endless supply of abuse for her, but they were as well-behaved as a trained pup with Saku. If only they had been obedient from the beginning.
“I lowered my head to the Sankourou family myself to ask for forgiveness. I, your lord, had to prostrate myself because of you. I won’t let you plead ignorance as to how big of a disgrace that is for the clan.”
“We…ah…” Her father had broken out in a cold sweat.
Her mother couldn’t say anything, either. She was staring hard at the ground.
“I cannot face the Sankourou clan without dealing you a punishment appropriate for your role as perpetrators of an incident that could have led to an interclan dispute. You will yield the head of the family position to Yanagi and retire, effective immediately.”
“No!” Her father gasped, his face twisted in misery. He looked as if he had just been handed a death sentence.
Hana watched him with cold eyes.
To be blunt, he had made his bed.
“What? Are you unhappy? Do you think you have the right to complain after what you did? Have you no shame?” Saku yelled.
Raked over the coals by Saku, Hana’s parents shrunk in on themselves, trembling.
“I am not giving you a choice. It is useless to protest. As the lord of the Ichinomiya clan, I hereby declare that Yanagi Ichise is now the head of the Ichise family!” Saku said. “Yanagi, I trust you are okay with that?”
Yanagi kneeled in front of Saku and bowed deeply. “I understand, my lord. I am terribly sorry for the trouble that my blood relations have caused.”
“Send your parents to the countryside at once.”
“As you say. I thank you for your benevolence.”
In other words, he was only making them retire from the public eye. They wouldn’t be punished conspicuously.
They sure were getting off easy considering they had kidnapped someone.
Hana would rather the police step in and lock them in jail, but the Ichinomiyas would end up targeted by the other clans for inadequate management. Saku kowtowing to the Sankourou clan for their pardon would end up all for naught.
In addition, to ensure that Yanagi could smoothly succeed the position of family head, his blood relations couldn’t be marked as criminals. Hana was an Ichise by blood as well, so Saku likely didn’t want to blow up the incident.
At least what had needed to be done was done.
Yanagi led their depressed parents out of the building.
Hana finally let herself relax, believing that it was all over, when all of a sudden, the sound of clapping rang out through the space.
“Wow, all’s well that ends well. Congratulations are in order.”
The interloper was her parents’ coconspirator, Yukizasa. He approached the group, his lips curled in a shady smile.
Hana didn’t hesitate before focusing her energy and chucking it at him. She didn’t hold anything back.
Yukizasa’s cheek spasmed. “Wait a sec.”
“Why should I, you creep?!” She whaled on him, forgetting about the pain in her back.
Flustered, Yukizasa looked at Saku for help. “Yo, Saku! Do something about your woman.”
Saku shrugged tiredly and stayed Hana’s hand. “Calm down, Hana.”
“How do you suggest I do that?! Why are you stopping me? Isn’t he the root of all the evils?!” She hadn’t forgotten that he had been in on her parents’ scheme.
“That was all a cover.”
Hana stopped in her tracks, failing to understand what he was saying. “…Excuse me?”
“I asked for his help to force your parents from their position.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“I’ll explain. You remember when Yanagi warned you that your parents could be cooking up something unpleasant?”
“Yeah…”
“Once in a while, minor irritations grow out of proportion, so I wanted to have control over the chain of events. That was why I had Yukizasa make contact with your parents, pretend to by their ally, and report to me about their plans.”
Hana’s jaw dropped. She slowly turned to face Yukizasa.
He gave her a glowing smile and two thumbs-up. “That’s the gist!”
“What about Suzu?” Hana demanded.
“Your little friend? The one who suggested using her as bait to bring the two of you twins here was me. Saku said he needed a reason to kick out your parents, so I gave him one. Messing with a kid whose family belonged to another clan is plenty of reason, don’t you think?”
“Saku said he prostrated himself to the Sankourou clan…”
“I mean, technically, he did to me. His head dipped a whole inch.”
Hana’s eyes glazed over as he talked.
“I sent one of my people to collect her right away. By this time, she should be home already.”
“What about the shade?”
“Oh, that was a job the Association asked me to do, but I had my hands full with your parents and didn’t have the time to deal with it. The Association asked Saku for a substitute, and he volunteered you.”
Hana gave Saku the stink eye. He avoided her gaze.
“For my part, I wanted to know how strong Saku’s woman is, so it was a win-win situation,” Yukizasa went on to say. “It’s amazing you took down that shade in such a short time. Ah-ha-ha.” He laughed without any trace of ill will.
However, having been wrapped up in another annoying scheme against her will, Hana wasn’t laughing.
“…Aoi, let me down,” she said in a low voice that shook with rage.
Aoi hesitantly did as she bid.
Hana moved in front of Yukizasa, who was still laughing away without a care, and thrust her hand into the air. “Eat this, you damn rich kid!”
Her vicious blow slammed into him. “Gak!” He squatted down in pain.
Hana gazed down her nose at him and snorted.