The time after a storm is very quiet.
As soon as he and Shiroshi got back to the house, Seiji passed out and slept like a log. When he woke up, life had returned to normal. That is to say, he, Beniko, and Shiroshi were all there together.
It was midnight. Outside, it sounded as if it was still raining. When Seiji sat up in bed—which took some doing—Shiroshi was sitting in a chair by his bedside, reading.
“You’re awake.” He smiled.
Seiji had seen this before. Right now, the fact that he was getting to see it again made him happier than anything.
“Um, welcome ho— Dwachoo!”
“My, my.” Smiling wryly, Shiroshi picked up a thermos from the bedside table. “Here you are. Really, it seems as if all it takes to put humans at death’s door is a moment’s inattention.” Speaking as if he felt the words keenly, Shiroshi filled a mug with the contents of the thermos and offered it to Seiji. This was nothing new, but he was talking like a grade school kid who’d forgotten to water the morning glories.
Shooting him a look from under half-lowered eyelids, Seiji drank his hot ginger-water with honey. Soon, as if the liquid had reminded it, his stomach started clamoring that it was empty, so they asked Beniko for some of the rice porridge she’d made for the following day’s breakfast.
The grime that had built up over the past three days had apparently bothered Beniko, so she planned to stay up all night to do a deep housecleaning. She couldn’t have been more herself if she’d tried.
Between this and that, Seiji practically worshipped Beniko when she appeared with the tray. He’d scooped up a spoonful of porridge topped with steamed chicken and chopped leek and was chewing, when… “Huh?! So that guy survived?”
“Yes, I called an ambulance. I believe he’ll live.”
They were talking about the young man who’d been chased into the pit at the construction site by sunekosuri. Seiji had just assumed he’d died, but Shiroshi had actually saved him.
Seiji thought that was a good thing, although he wasn’t positive he’d still be able to see it that way later.
“Does that mean you heard me and Odoro talking through those bugged cigarettes?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“You must have been pretty close, then. Actually, where were you?” In spite of himself, Seiji sounded resentful. Really, though, after Shiroshi had gone three full days without making contact, he thought he could probably punch him once and still be owed a significant amount in damages.
“Heh-heh-heh. Right beside you, Seiji.”
Hm? Where would that have been?
“Here, in this house. I assumed Beniko’s identity three days ago.”
Wha—? Oh come on, no way, that’s ridiculous!
“Since we have the opportunity, I’ll explain from the beginning. By custom, those who inherit the blood of Sanmoto Gorouzaemon are given a name associated with a color. My own name indicates a pure white, unsullied state. My older brother Hibana’s name includes the character for ‘scarlet.’ And there is one that includes ‘crimson’—Beniko’s.”
Seiji made an involuntary, startled noise.
Come to think of it, that was true. Seiji’s own name had “blue” in it, and he was just their freeloader, so he’d never given it much thought.
“Huh? Then Beniko is really your—” He’d meant to say sister, but Shiroshi shook his head.
“No, Beniko was originally a goldfish. However, my father gave her his blood and transformed her into a yokai.”
Apparently, she could now assume both human and goldfish forms. Who’d have believed she was actually an ex-goldfish?
“Now then, proof trumps argument. First, take a look at this photograph.”
Shiroshi held out what looked like a perfectly normal photo of the two of them. Shiroshi was sitting with a large book lying open near his hand, while Beniko stood beside him, holding a tray.
…They both look pretty much the way they do now.
“All right, now use this fountain pen to black out my eyes.”
“Um, like this? …Wha—? Aaaaaah!”
Now there were two Benikos.
No, that wasn’t it. The moment he’d colored in the whites of Shiroshi’s eyes, the boy had become Beniko.
Those black eyes of hers made such a strong impression that Seiji had never noticed, but their facial features were practically identical. It wasn’t just a vague family resemblance. They could have been twins.
“C-come to think of it, didn’t you say you were about the same height?”
Shiroshi had said their heights were the same if Beniko took off her high-heeled boots. In other words, they were identical there, too.
“You see, Beniko was intentionally made that way. As a matter of fact, she had an older twin brother. His name was Shion, and he was my body double. You remember the goldfish in the bay window in the hall, don’t you? That was Shion.”
He did. That goldfish bowl had been there ever since Seiji first came to the house, and the goldfish in it had looked a lot like Beniko. So that had been her big brother?
“As a rule, he stayed here. Because of that incident in Nagasaki, however, I had Shion accompany us on our recent excursion.”
“Huh? How?”
“I carried him in a small glass jar in my Shingen bag. I kept both Shion and a small bottle of strong acid for self-defense with me at all times.”
That’s right. Seiji remembered seeing two bottles in the bottom of the Shingen bag in the train on the way to the inn. He’d assumed Shiroshi had bought something to drink, but…
“B-but the goldfish bowl looked the same as always when we left. From what you’re saying, shouldn’t it have been emp—?”
Before Seiji finished his question, a possibility occurred to him.
When he’d gotten back to the house, the goldfish had somehow changed from male to female. In other words…
“Yes, that was Beniko. I had her return to her fish form and take Shion’s place in the goldfish bowl.”
That night, the one who’d been at Shiroshi’s side had been Shion, not Beniko.
After Seiji went down the mountain alone, when Shiroshi had stayed behind in the deserted temple with the false Mayuka, Ibara’s plot had put him in mortal danger.
Shiroshi had bought time by using the acid on Kazutora, his pursuer. At that point, he’d switched places with Shion, who’d taken a human form identical to his.
Then, as his substitute, Shion had…
“He died,” said Beniko. “That was my brother’s duty.”
“…I’ve caused your family suffering,” said Shiroshi.
“No, it’s an honor.” Beniko set a hand on Shiroshi’s shoulder, as if to console him, and he gently covered it with his own. With their shared history, even that small gesture was enough.
However…
“To be honest, my brother spent most of his life as a fish, so he still had the emotions of a fish and the intelligence of a fish… Really, he was just a fish.”
That’s not very appropriate! Seiji, teary-eyed, came pretty close to yelling as much, but he figured Beniko had spoken out of consideration for Shiroshi. Her master was kind, and she wanted him to worry as little as possible.
“Then I changed into some of Beniko’s clothes, put in black color contacts, and rejoined you, Seiji.”
So the Beniko who’d darted out of the flames had actually been Shiroshi.
“B-but then, why were you crying…?”
He was thinking of the single tear that had trickled from those black, black eyes.
“Master Shiroshi is dead.”
That tear was what had made him believe in Shiroshi’s death, and yet…
“Ah. Embarrassingly, the contacts didn’t agree with me.”
“…Excuse me, Beniko? Can I hit him, just once?”
“You may do as you please.”
Seiji’s eyes were steadier than they’d ever been, but just as he accepted the tray from Beniko…
“Oh, that’s the Enma Ministry.” Clearing his throat in a way that sounded patently forced, Shiroshi grabbed his smartphone and hustled out into the hall to take the exquisitely timed call. Dammit, he’s really quick at running.
Before long, he came back. “Well, if the results of the Enma Ministry’s private inquiry are to be believed, it’s now certain that the mastermind was Shinno Akugorou. They say it’s likely that he took advantage of the killings during the battle over the succession to make it appear as if Ibara, his actual heir, had died, and install his younger brother Odoro in his place. Then Ibara began working covertly, doing Akugorou’s bidding. It’s even possible that having the thirteen brothers kill each other was a distraction intended to set the stage for this situation.”
“…That’s completely horrible.”
In other words, it was very likely that Odoro and his brothers had been ordered to kill each other simply to lay the foundation for this conspiracy.
Could a father really do something like that to his own children?
In addition, Odoro had apparently known nothing of his father’s scheme. He’d simply grieved the death of his twin and attempted to shoulder the weight of his twelve brothers’ lives while carrying out his duties as heir.
It was just too brutal.
And then…
Beniko’s head abruptly came up and swiveled to one side. “Excuse me. It seems we have a guest.”
“My, at this hour?”
“I believe it’s one of your father’s messengers,” she said, and she went out to meet them.
“Um, now that you mention it, did your father say anything about this…?” Seiji trailed off midsentence. From Shiroshi’s profile, he seemed to be deep in thought.
“I really can’t believe that was Ibara’s only objective,” he murmured quietly. The words felt like the first drop from a rain cloud. “I’ve been thinking, all this time—wondering if he truly is like me. It’s possible that the one he resembles isn’t me, but…”
They heard footsteps. It took Seiji a full fifteen seconds to realize they belonged to Beniko. After all, they were flustered. Impossibly so for Beniko, who was always calm and collected.
On top of that…
“Master Shiroshi.”
…when Beniko flung open the door, her face was obviously pale.
“Your father—Demon King Sanmoto Gorouzaemon has passed away. In addition, it appears that Evil God Shinno Akugorou perished at some point last night.”
In that moment, a whisper seemed to rise in Seiji’s mind.
The voice was Ibara Rindou’s.
“I had some business outside that I wanted to take care of today.”
Come to think of it, after Seiji and Odoro had departed for Suzu’s house and Ibara had left his hiding place at the Rindou Detective Agency…where had he gone, and what had he done?
“…Oh, I see. I finally understand,” Shiroshi murmured. He’d gone as pale as a corpse as well. His voice was trembling slightly, as if he’d just looked into the depths of Hell.
At last, Seiji thought he knew what Ibara really meant when he answered Shiroshi’s question about his true intentions.
Patricide.