The Power of Words

“Where the hell is she?!”

Ryouma called her only for it to ring a few times and be rejected. He tried again, and again, and again until finally a message sounded that the phone had been turned off.

He circled the main roads around the train station a couple of times before fanning out into the nearby shopping arcade. He’d been stepping into every single restaurant, cafe, and bar he saw in his desperate search for Midoriko.

What was going on with her? Did she follow that pig bastard to a hotel, or did he drag her there against her will? Was she safe or was she in danger?

Ryouma leaned against a wall and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep himself from spiraling. He needed to remain calm. His magic would be harder to control if he let his emotions get the better of him.

He took a deep breath and pictured the different expressions of Midoriko in his mind’s eye. Which one was she making right at that moment? Was she smiling? Laughing? Pouting, glaring, or crying? All of them were good. All of them healing.

PING–!

Ryouma yanked his phone out of his pocket to check the message that had just come in. There was a very, very short list of people who might be messaging him on that phone.

His entire body tensed up as he read the message. It was only a photo and an address without context, but it was enough for him to work with. She was asking him for help.

Ryouma punched the address into his phone—it was a nearly thirty-minute walk away from the area. Was she intentionally drawn away from him? It was entirely likely.

Wait for me a little longer, Midoriko…I’ll be there soon!

He rushed down an alley for a spot where he could discreetly slip through a door, and popped out onto a street near the address she’d sent. When he saw the building, Ryouma charged straight in.

“Hello and welcome!” called out a female employee. “Just one today?”

“Tell me where this woman went,” Ryouma commanded, a picture of Midoriko displayed on his phone.

“She…went…upstairs…” the employee choked out, surprised by her own involuntary answer.

Ryouma pushed past the server and made a beeline for the stairs in the rear.

“W-wait! There’s a private party up there, sir!”

He quickly assessed his surroundings as men sitting around the restaurant got up from their tables. Four of them to his right, three from behind, and one from the counter. Too many to deal with in a non-destructive way. The last thing he wanted was the police to show up.

Ryouma uttered a single command, ‘sleep,’ and everyone in the restaurant, including the server, dropped in place like marionettes with their strings cut. Without knowing how many of them were sorcerers, he didn’t have much time to act before they started waking up.

He pulled a sukajan jacket off one of the fallen yakuza and stole the man’s appearance. The jacket was a little small on him, but he figured it shouldn’t be too noticeable as long as he diverted their attention elsewhere. If Midoriko was being held by yakuza, infiltrating and spiriting her away would be the least dangerous course of action.

As he ascended the stairs, he saw Midoriko’s shoes sitting right outside a room at the top. Ryouma took a deep breath, then cleared his throat.

“Boss!” he shouted, flinging the door open. He shoved his right arm inside the jacket, clutching at his left side as if it were injured. “There’s trouble downstairs!”

“Ry–” Midoriko started to call his name, then caught herself. She clamped her mouth shut and bit her lip.

Quick on the uptake as always. She’d slipped up a little, but it was understandable from her position—and what a position that was.

Ryouma’s eyes flitted around the room, taking in the scene. Seven men lined up around the room. Two men knelt next to Midoriko, whose hands and feet were bound. And finally, one man in the center that Ryouma recognized—the leader of the Shishiba-gumi.

“What’s the situation?” Shishiba asked, as calm and emotionless as ever.

“A s-sorcerer burst in and started attacking us, sir!” He leaned on the doorway, feigning pain.

Shishiba silently waved his hand, and two men from along the wall rushed out of the room past Ryouma. He’d been hoping for more, but that was at least two less to deal with. They wouldn’t be gone for long, though.

Ryouma crept into the room, keeping his eyes on Midoriko. All he had to do was grab her and run. He met her pleading eyes and fought back a smile that tugged at his lips. Oh my love, how do you always get yourself into these situations?

Shishiba clapped his hands in applause, drawing Ryouma’s attention away from Midoriko. The smile on his face made Ryouma’s blood run cold.

“Very clever trick, Mr. Nishikawa,” he said with languid amusement. “However, the man you’re impersonating is much smaller than you.”

“Tch…” Ryouma straightened up, no longer needing to pretend.

Behind him, the two men Shishiba sent down moments before clammored up the stairs. “Boss! They’re all asleep! That one’s a fake!”

“Fall!” shouted Ryouma. The two men tumbled backward down the stairs, and he slammed the door shut. The command also affected the men in the room as they all toppled over before they could spring into action.

When he made a move toward Midoriko, Shishiba raised his hand, then pressed down on the air. Ryouma buckled to his knees. Shishiba pressed his hand lower as he climbed back onto his feet.

“Guh!” The pressure, like being crushed under a boulder, forced Ryouma down to the floor.

“No! Stop! Please!” Midoriko cried out as Ryouma wheezed and gasped for air.

“Get my daughter out of here,” ordered Shishiba, furthering the pressure on Ryouma’s body. “I’ll take care of him.”

The men who’d been knocked over by Ryouma’s command climbed back onto their feet. Midoriko thrashed her body in protest as one of the men who’d helped bind her hands and feet hoisted her over his shoulder. She’d been futilely trying to pull her hands free from the cords since they’d tied them.

If only she could break free and help Ryouma somehow. She didn’t know how he’d managed to find her, but Midoriko didn’t want it to end like this.

As the man carried her across the room, Midoriko remembered how Ryouma used some sort of magic to sever the zipties around her wrists back in England. He once told her that the way magic worked for him was by exerting his will. Maybe that could work for her, too.

Break, break, break, break, break, break, BREAK!

She tugged her wrists and ankles once more, then felt the cords snap and fall. With her arms free, Midoriko whacked the man upside the head with her fist.

He dropped her to the floor. She tried to scurry away, but a different man grabbed her by the ankle. Midoriko spun around onto her back and kicked him hard in the groin with her other foot.

When he let her go, she started crawling toward Ryouma again. Maybe if I just touch him, it’ll break the spell…

But then two more men were on her, pinning her down by the wrists and ankles. Ryouma’s face was turning a deep shade of crimson. His breath was coming out in shallow gasps.

Midoriko clenched her teeth. What else could she do in this situation? She wasn’t him! She couldn’t just make people bend to her command…

But hadn’t her father just said she should be able to make any spell break at will?

“Release!”

Ryouma let out a long gasp and coughed as air could finally fill his lungs once more. Several men charged toward him while he started to push himself up from the floor. Ryouma whipped his hand like he was yanking an invisible cord. Food and dishes flew from the table into Shishiba’s men.

Midoriko’s father looked at her in dismay after she’d forcibly broken his spell. She shot him a satisfied smirk.

“Sleep!” commanded Ryouma as loud as he could in his croaking voice.

Midoriko rolled out of the way as the men holding her down loosened their grips and flopped over. All the men in the room dropped to the floor in magical slumber except Shishiba, who’d covered his ears in anticipation of Ryouma’s command.

Ryouma and Midoriko scrambled across the floor into each other’s arms.

“How did you find me?!” she cried, squeezing him tightly. Tears started falling down her cheeks in a torrent. “I was so afraid I’d never see you again!”

“It’s alright, I’m here. I rushed over as soon as I got your message,” he muttered, still slightly breathless. Ryouma stroked her hair and planted soft kisses on her temples.

“Message…?”

Suddenly, Ryouma flew backward away from Midoriko. His body slid across the floor and into the opposite wall.

“I would appreciate it if you kept your filthy hands off my daughter,” Shishiba said coldly, adjusting his glasses.

“Daughter? Since when have you had any children?” Ryouma scoffed, getting to his feet.

“I could ask you the same thing, Mr. Nishikawa. I hear you treat that Inukai girl like your own,” he replied, looking between Ryouma and Midoriko. “And you’ve roped my daughter into your little game of house as well. Does that make me a grandfather?”

Ryouma’s expression darkened, and his fingers twitched.

Midoriko remembered what her father demonstrated with the fire and felt a pit in her stomach. This was getting bad. They had to get out of here before things escalated. She rushed to Ryouma’s side, putting herself between him and her father.

“Come on, let’s go! While we still have an opening!” Midoriko urged. She tugged Ryouma’s sleeve.

“Are you really going to choose him over your own father?” Shishiba looked at Midoriko with scorn as she and Ryouma moved slowly toward the door.

“Because he actually cares about me!” she snapped. “You are nothing more than a sperm donor to me!”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk…” Shishiba shook his head and chuckled. “Midoriko, you’re special, but not for the reasons you think.”

“Shut up!” she screamed. Midoriko understood what he was doing, but she wasn’t immune to it. The way he needled into her insecurities was practiced and precise. Had he broken her mother down this way as well?

Ryouma knocked on the door and slid it open behind himself, keeping his eyes on Shishiba. The man seemed eerily calm about being bested. Maybe the digs he was hurling at Midoriko were a last-ditch attempt at pulling one over on them.

“Neutralizers wouldn’t be so precious if others couldn’t use them for their own gain! You might think you’re in love, but even that man is using you!”

“Don’t listen to him, Midoriko,” Ryouma said, pulling Midoriko close.

As they backed through the door, Shishiba called out to her once more.

“Midoriko, don’t forget what I offered you before! Think about what’s more important to you!”

The door slammed shut before Shishiba could continue his verbal assault any further, but he briefly caught Midoriko’s expression shift at those last words. The seeds of doubt were planted, and that was enough for him.

He looked around the room, shaking his head and tutting. His subordinates were all slumped over, fast asleep. There were many rumors about Nishikawa’s unique powers, but it was his first time seeing them in action.

“Heh…Amazing…” he muttered, nudging one of them with his foot.

The door to the room slid open as the man he’d sent out earlier to ready a car returned, out of breath. “Boss! There’s trouble–”

The subordinate cut himself off as he saw the state of things in the room. Shishiba put his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

“Wh-what happened…?” asked the subordinate, crouching down to check someone’s pulse.

“It would seem that Nishikawa sank his claws into my daughter and isn’t going to let go without a fight,” he said, frowning. “Have you heard from that Kuroiwa kid?”

“Yes, sir. He’s with the child in Nagoya right now.”

“Good. At least one thing went right.” Shishiba smiled. There was no way his daughter wouldn’t go after her. He saw the way she reacted when he used the girl as a bargaining chip.

Shishiba kicked one of the sleeping men closest to him hard in the side. The man groaned and rolled over, still fast asleep. He clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

“Now, help me wake up these useless bastards.”