「 The big bosses from Kansai Yakuza, Oodori, and Satake, wasn’t it? These people will be coming to Tokyo to make a deal 」
Nei said.
「 They should be expecting the arbitration ritual 」
The dispute between the bosses of Yakuza groups by them having sex with the Takakura shrine maiden.
That’s the arbitration ritual.
During that, the Tsuki Miko power would be able to read the minds of the bosses.
「 But, I don’t plan on giving the Takakura sisters to the Yakuza 」
I’ve already made my resolve.
「 If Tsukiko and the girls demonstrate their Miko power with the Yakuza present… 」
Once they give an order using the Yomi Miko power…
For example, telling them to never come to Takakura shrine again.
Then, the shrine and the maidens would be released from the curse of the Yakuzas.
「 But do you think that’ll go well? 」
Nei?
「 It will, no matter what method’s used 」
Seeing my resolve, Nei;
「 I already get how Yo-chan feels. But that’s not what I meant. I’m asking you what’s the common ground with Kouzuki-ojiichan 」
What does Jii-chan expect?
「 I mean, he sent Kudou-san as a messenger in form but he’s actually here to snoop around, right? 」
Nei said. Kudou-papa;
「 Well, that’s how it is 」
He smiled wryly and admitted it.
「 So what is it? Do you think that you’ll be able to manage somehow? It’s currently 10:30 」
…I
「 I think I can 」
Luna and Yomiko are already amplifying their Miko power.
Edie and Michi are supporting them.
Ruriko and Misuzu look at things objectively.
The problem is…
The last one, Tsukiko.
「 You look like you’re not that confident though 」
Kudou-papa laughs.
「 Well, Tsukiko-san does feel like she’s still hiding something 」
Nei sees through my thoughts and said.
「 Therefore, she asked to be alone with Yo-chan 」
Away from her sisters, without Misuzu or Nei, or everyone else.
We’ll be confronting each other.
I don’t mind that, but.
I can’t control Qi.
Without Michi and Edie, there are not enough people to support Tsukiko with Qi.
That said, I want Luna and Yomiko to continue training until the last minute.
Though I can’t have them surround Tsukiko.
「 Yeah, I got the gist of it. I’ll tell Kouzuki-jiisan about it 」
Kudou-papa seems to have judged the contents of the report from my expression.
It can’t be helped.
I can’t make a response yet since I haven’t ascertained the situation.
「 Well, don’t worry about it. The case this time was him making a request on you guys. No matter what happens to Takakura house, it won’t influence Kuromori house 」
In short, Tsukiko, Yomiko, and Luna.
It’s possible that they can’t be free from the Yakuza.
「 No. That would be troubling 」
…I
「 Those girls already belong to Kuromori house 」
They’re my women.
「 I’ll protect them. No matter what. Tell Jii-chan that 」
Kudou-papa;
「 I see. Got it 」
He looked into my eyes and said.
「 By the way, change of topic 」
Ah.
Is it about Kudou Haruka?
Does he know that Michi’s sister is in here now?
「 Earlier I’ve been reading a weekly magazine in the bathroom before coming here 」
Magazine?
「 Did you know? Joe Hanekawa, the AV actor, is retiring 」
AV actor what?
「 When talking about Joe Hanekawa, it’s that dude from the adult videos. You don’t know him? He’s appeared in over 10k videos. It’s said that he had sex with at least 8k actresses 」
No, I don’t know much about AV though.
「 Oh hey what now? Do young boys not watch adult videos? Are you for real? He’s been fucking an actress on the Reino pool in various position then he suddenly threw her into the pool 」
Reino pool? What pool?
「 The hell? You really don’t know? It’s the pool on the former house of Ishizaka-san 」1
Nope, I don’t.
「 Well, scratch that. Let’s go to Joe Hanekawa’s retirement interview on that magazine 」
Kudou-papa continues to talk.
「 Well, in the establishment, Joe Hanekawa is supposed to understand women’s psychology well. He’s good at sex but is also caring for his partners. That’s why the AV actresses he had sex with once ask for him to be her partner again. Then, he’s been an AV actor for about 30 years, but 」
An AV actor for 30 years, that’s impressive.
「 That’s why in the interview, he was asked about his secret on being popular with girls, and this was his answer, “I think that a lot of men misunderstands women” “They think that women have to be like this or like that, but recently, women are different. All the girls around me are quite ****” and he continues to talk 」
O-Okay.
「 See? That’s funny, isn’t it? 」
Huh?
Kudou-papa, what part of that was comedic?
「 Joe Hanekawa’s got a 30-year career, I get that. It’s also true that he’s perfectly considerate of the girls at the set. But you see, 」
Kudou-papa grinned
「 Joe Hanekawa’s partners are also AV actresses. They’re not ordinary girls. No, currently, we’re in a world where ordinary college girls or OL appear on AV. But still, most of the girls in the world don’t show off their sex videos for money 」
Well, true.
「 Though they say that the young ones are now quite lustful, most of the people aren’t like that. They have sex with their beloved. Prostitutes and AV actresses aren’t representative of modern women 」
Kudou-papa said.
「 Yet, Hanekawa talks about the current women based on the AV actresses around him. Isn’t that just stupid? AV actresses are special cases, and they can’t be representative of modern Japanese women. An ordinary woman won’t just accept money and have sex with a man she just met in front of the camera as the office instructs her to do so 」
Furthermore, it would be filmed and sold and watched by unknown people.
Ordinary women won’t do that.
「 If a woman who can get naked in front of the camera and the staff without problem is the “current women” then women in the current age are a problem. It made me think that Joe Hanekawa believes that way. He knows the psychology of women appearing in AV, but he seems to think that he understands all the women in the world 」
I see.
「 Well, back when I was in high school, there were guys who were trying to pick up(Nanpa) on girls of the same class 」
Shipwreck? (Nanpa but in Kanji)
A sailor even when just a high school student?
Also, they wreck the ships, what?
Can they just come back to the port safely?
「 No, back in my age, there were quite a lot of magazines for the young guys featuring tips on how to pick up girls 」
Tips? Really?
「 And then, the magazine says “aim for women that shows a chance” It means that women with strangely colored clothing, cheap shoes, and have a dull impression have a high chance to fall for guys who call out to them 」
Huh? Really? Can you find women in the sea like that?
「 Then, those pick-up bastards who practiced what’s written in the magazine had a reasonable harvest. They say “don’t give up on calling out on girls just because only one paid attention over a hundred people” and so they practiced at a small unpopulated front of the station. They call out from little girls to old ladies 」
Station? Wait, what about the ship?
「 And you see, after successfully picking up a girl, he was so proud that he told the other guys in class. “Women are just like-” and something like that. Thinking about it, that was so stupid. Women who only gets caught by guys who try to pick them up are just easy women. No, there were also many other pick-up guys who do something else, but in the end, they only play around with the same kind of woman, a woman filled with opportunity. But there are more varieties of women in this world. There is some earnest, others are fashionable. There are also much more vulgar women compared to those easy to pick-up. If you think you know all about women just because you know one kind, that would be the end of you 」
Kudou-papa said.
「 Here’s my advice for you 」
For me?
「 There’s a lot of cute girls around you, but, they’re all a bit unique. They’re not ordinary women. Therefore, you can’t say that you understand women just because you have all these women around you 」
That’s.
「 Yes. You’re right 」
My women aren’t ordinary.
The girls who live together with me aren’t ordinary.
Therefore, Megu, who longs for an ordinary high school life suffers from it.
「 But, that’s a standard talk. People try to judge the people in the world coming from the viewpoint of where they live. They think they understand. And since they believe they know, they speak with a condensing attitude. If they see someone having a flaw, they’ll start throwing insults 」
Yeah.
「 Kouzuki-jiisan’s a diligent man, in a sense. He knows that he’s ignorant of the world 」
Jii-chan’s ignorant of the world?
「 That’s obvious. He’s born as the successor of a wealthy family, went to a prestigious school, Graduated from a university in Kyoto. And after graduating, he became the head of Kouzuki group. He always is in a higher place than other people. He can’t possibly understand the thoughts and feelings of the masses. He’s never bought a train ticket for himself after all 」
Indeed, I can’t imagine Jii-chan going on a ticket vending machine alone.
That kind of work is done by her secretary.
I mean, he travels in a car with a driver and bodyguard.
「 That’s why he wants stray dogs like me to keep. Someone like me isn’t suited to become an employee of Kouzuki SS. He’s got a lot of dogs in chains as his employees. However, his viewpoint doesn’t change as he doesn’t move anywhere. For a company like Kouzuki SS, especially with their employees, their perspective is similar. Therefore, for someone in the lower ground, opinions of stray dogs like me can be used as a source to make decisions 」
「 That’s because he knows that he knows nothing 」
Nei said.
「 “I know that I don’t know” is the understanding you must reach. Socrates said that and Plato wrote it down 」
Who?
「 Once you know that you don’t know everything, you’d listen to other people’s opinion, and you won’t be running wild with your selfish speculations
「 An idiot who knows that he is one is much better than a simple idiot 」
I said. Nei smiles.
「 Well, that’s how it is. It’s okay Yo-chan, you know it well. I mean, Yo-chan’s most significant advantage is that you know that you’re ignorant of the world 」
So I’m okay.
Well, I’m aware that I’m an idiot, yes.
「 Well, you can’t just “somehow” understand, and “somehow” manage to do things. You have to be active, like Kouzuki-jiisan 」
Kudou-papa said.
「 If not, you’ll make decisions only from your viewpoint, and there won’t be recklessness from it, but there’s no harm from listening from the opinion of other people and make decisions after. Although, it’s also possible that everyone’s just a yes-man and they have similar viewpoints. 」
I see.
I have to listen to the opinions of people from different perspectives.
Jii-chan not only listen to the opinion of Kouzuki SS employees,
He’s also asking for Kudou-papa’s view as he’s outside the company.
One has to understand who’s in that position, what’s their perspective, and what opinion they have.
In short.
For the Takakura sister’s case.
I have to ask not just myself but also Misuzu and the girls.
And I should listen from the opinion from other perspectives as well.
Indeed, I feel like I’m in a situation where I’m looking from a fixed perspective.
There might be more significant problems hidden from where I can’t see.
It won’t end well if I face Jii-chan and the Kansai Yakuza like this.
I have to look at the situation from a different perspective.
「 Thank you. I now know what to do 」
I thanked Kudou-papa
「 What do you mean? I was just talking about an AV actor and pick-up guys 」
Kudou-papa’s playing dumb.,
「 Now then, as for Haruka 」
He suddenly cuts to talk about his eldest daughter.
「 Please let her live at least 」
He speaks to me with a serious look in his face.
「 No, look, she’s just fainted, Misuzu and Michi are looking after her 」
I said in a panic.
「 That’s not what I meant, Haruka should know that Kuromori house belongs to the other side, right? 」
Well.
「 When I met her in the theater last May, I think she knew that Kuromori house was a brothel 」
That’s why Haruka was…
She made a fool of the prostitutes, and I had her promise me that when she lost, she’ll become a prostitute at least once.
Then, Michi crushed her, and she went to the hospital.
「 Yeah, Etsuko, you’re an idiot, you talk too much 」
Kudou-papa talks bitterly about his divorced ex-wife.
「 The other party is from the underground society side. Even if she didn’t know the true identity of the other party, it’s natural that she’ll experience some cruelty. But, Haruka knew. She knew and picked a fight. I can’t do anything about that now 」
That’s right, Michi was being discrete about her sister because
Kuromori is a criminal organization.
Since Kudou Haruka made a fool of us, it won’t end well for her.
I may forgive her, but Minaho-neesan might not.
Haruka mocked the prostitutes.
Oh, right.
So that’s why Minaho-neesan accepted Haruka’s visit.
She’s let inside the main gate and is lead to watch Michi, and I was having sex.
Minaho-neesan’s revenge has started, I guess.
「 Haruka’s still young. If she goes through bitter experience, then she might still be able to straighten herself up. That’s why, please, at least spare her life 」
Kudou-papa knows.
He knows how scary Kuromori Minaho is.
『 Worry not. I won’t be taking her life 』
Minaho-neesan’s voice comes from the speaker.
I knew it. She’s listening.
『 I owe you a lot, after all, Kudou-san 』
「 Sorry about that 」
『 However, she will receive her retribution. She’s not reflecting at all it seems 』
Her conversation with Michi earlier shows that.
「 Yeah, I’m really sorry about that. Also, thank you for your consideration 」
Kudou-papa bows his head.
…I
「 Minaho-nesan, is there still anything I don’t know about Takakura house? 」
Minaho-neesan might have information that I don’t know yet.
『 Well, currently, you know everything I know. I mean, thanks to you listening to the Takakura sisters, there’s more I understood. Besides, you’re the one in direct contact with those girls, aren’t you? I think that you’re much more familiar with them than me 』
The voice from the speaker said.
「 Then, our analysis isn’t enough 」
Nei said.
「 Though we have information, we’re only looking at it from one direction, or probably not even looking at it, or maybe, we’re bent on something 」
That’s hugely possible.
We might’ve overlooked something.
「 Minaho-neesan, did you notice anything? 」
I asked directly.
Minaho-neesan’s not stepping on the scene this time.
She’s been watching our situation from the surveillance cameras.
And so, Minaho-neesan’s perspective…
She might see something I didn’t.
『 There’s one thing I’ve been wondering about 』
Minaho-neesan?
「 Really? What is it? Please tell me 」
I asked seeming like I’m grabbing the last straw.
『 Could it be that the Tsuki Miko power and Yomi Miko power are opposite in name and use? 』
Huh?
『 Don’t you think that reading people’s mind is the appropriate name for Yomi power? 』
Yomi = Read(読む).
『 And maybe, Tsuki power is about making people obey as if possessing them 』
Tsuki = possess(憑き)
『 Moon and possession are close in relationship. In English, they call someone possessed by something as a “Lunatic” 』
「 Indeed, it seems strange when you look at their etymology 」
Nei thinks.
「 Though, I thought that Yomi power leads to the land of the dead, but, Tsukuyomi-kami is the God revered by the Takakura shrine, and at the same time, there’s a theory that the God of Moon is also the God of the underworld 」
I don’t know that though.
But she’s right, the name and the power feel opposite.
「 Okay. I’ll ask Tsukiko about it. 」
Luna or Yomiko probably don’t know about it.
Reading a person’s mind is Tsuki Power.
Making people obey is Yomi power. That’s what they believe in.
『 Yes. Try it out. Katsuko and I will be watching your situation as usual 』
Minaho-neesan said.
Even when Tsukiko and I are alone, Minaho-neesan will be watching.
That’s reassuring.
「 Kudou-san, I will be reporting the progress by afternoon 」
I tell Kudou-papa
「 Jii-chan would like to know how to deal with the Yakuza by looking at our approach 」
Jii-chan also needs time to prepare.
「 IT would be too late if you decide close to 3pm 」
Kudou-papa looked at his watch.
「 Let’s see. 1pm would be the deadline 」
1pm.
「 Okay. Then, at 1 o’clock. We’ll be telling you how we will move by then 」
I said.