Each to Their Own Paths

When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying in a hospital room.

“Oh! He finally woke up!” Hiiro’s voice came from my left side.

I tried to sit up, but my body felt as heavy as lead. Fortunately, two pairs of strong arms helped me up.

“Here, have some water.”

A glass of water was offered from my right side. I took it in a daze and drank it carelessly, nearly choking myself in the process.

“Geez, take it easy, will you?” Hiiro’s hand patted my back. “You’ve been unconscious for five days, so you shouldn’t force yourself too much.”

At those words, I sprayed out the water that nearly choked me.

“What?!” I croaked between my coughs.

“Hiiro. Don’t scare him like that.” Ouji chided the younger delinquent as he patiently cleaned up my mess. “He nearly died, so you should be more careful with your words.”

Thud!

“D-Died?!” I was so shocked that the glass slipped out of my grip and hit the blanket before sliding down toward the floor.

“Senpai! You’re no better than me!” Hiiro protested as he expertly caught my glass before it fell to the floor.

It took me a couple minutes and a new glass of water before I calmed down enough to digest all of that shocking information.

Apparently, I was brought to the nearest hospital after falling unconscious. Hiiro and Ouji were also sent to the same place to be treated for their injuries. It was all done under the family head—Kazami’s order.

As I heard the full story from them, I kept thinking of how the situation could’ve played out differently.

If only I was more aware of my surroundings, I wouldn’t get slashed by Kazami. Or if I were stronger, Sakuya wouldn’t be forced to obey her father for my sake. And if we decided to infiltrate the house at another day, we might succeed.

But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t see any endings other than being caught and crushed by Kagura Kazami.

Did that mean all of our efforts were for nothing? Or were we making things even worse?

“Ryuu? Are you okay?”

Ouji’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“…it’s my fault.” Before I realized it, I had let my true thought slipped out. In doing that, it was as if a dam had broken. I was flooded with tremendous guilt, so much that it nearly drove me crazy. I shut my eyes tightly and hunched my shoulders, wanting to curl into a ball and just disappear altogether.

“No, we can’t possibly predict that her father will come home four days earlier—” Hiiro tried to soothe me, but I shook my head fiercely.

“We’re not helping Sakuya-san at all! We’re just making things worse for her!” I buried my face into my hands and let the bitterness seep into my voice. “Because of us, Sakuya-san lost even the ability to defy her father!” I snapped at him.

A small part of my mind wanted Ouji and Hiiro to deny my words. But they fell silent, unable to offer any rebuttal.

“…let’s just stop.” I dropped my hands and looked at the two delinquents. “We can’t save Sakuya-san. We’ve tried, and look where it brought us. Instead of making things even worse…we should stop.”

Ouji straightened up in alarm at my words and stared at me in disbelief. “So you want us to just abandon Kagura-san?”

“Can you take her out of the main house without Kazami-san’s knowledge?” I fired back at him. “And even if you succeed, Kazami-san won’t let us off. He’ll kill each and every Sakurasaki student as a warning. He won’t hesitate to kill our families as well if he needs to.”

Ouji clammed up after hearing that. Even he couldn’t gamble with the lives of innocent students who knew nothing about this mess.

“So that’s it? We’re giving up? It’s not like you, Ryuu.” Hiiro said, trying to provoke me. "There must be a way to save Sakuya-chan. If we put our heads together, surely..."

“You can say whatever you want.” I lowered my gaze and said in final tone. “But I won’t try to meddle anymore. I'm going back to my life as an ordinary student.” After all, I don’t want to see Sakuya cry because of me ever again.

*****

I closed the hospital room’s door behind me before quietly letting out a sigh. Ouji, who was next to me, also did the same thing. Even though we’ve tried talking Ryuu out of it, he adamantly refused to get involved with the Kagura Family any further.

Neither I nor Ouji knew what exactly Sakuya-chan had told him back then, since they were whispering with each other like lovers—and I was dying of jealousy back then—but I guessed that Sakuya-chan told him to forget about her. It was very much like her to cut off other people in order to protect them. And Ryuu must’ve been crushed by immense guilt, for he played a hand in cornering Sakuya-chan into obeying Kazami.

I let out a forlorn sigh again at the messy situation.

“How is it?” A slender man approached us from the hallway. His dark red eyes gleamed with worry behind its glasses. “Is Ryuu alright? Did he say anything?” Shinji asked.

“He’s fine, but…” Ouji shot an uneasy glance at me.

“…he refused to get involved anymore.” I finished his sentence.

Shinji grimaced. “It must’ve hit him harder than we thought…maybe I should talk to him too…”

He reached toward the door, but I stopped him.

“It’s useless, Shinji-san.” I shook my head. “Despite how he looks, Ryuu can be as stubborn as Sakuya-chan. If he decided on something, he wouldn’t change his mind. We’ll think of something else, but we shouldn’t bother Ryuu anymore. He’s decided to be a normal high school student again after all.”

“If you say so…” Shinji dropped his hand. “Nevertheless, I’m really surprised when you told me that Kazami caught you red-handed. He’s not supposed to come back until yesterday, and yet he came home at such an unfortunate timing.”

“Yeah, everything went off-track the moment we ran into Tetsu.” I sighed. “If it weren’t for Ouji-senpai, we might get stopped there without even meeting Sakuya-chan.” I glanced at the taciturn upperclassman.

“He’s absurdly strong.” Ouji commented flatly, but his eyes were twinkling like he found a new toy. “I went at him with everything I got, yet he was still holding back when he defeated me. If I met him before Kagura-san, I would’ve become his disciple in a heartbeat.”

“Whoa there, let’s not forget that he’s our enemy.” I reined him in. “Putting that aside, the way our infiltration failed makes me think that someone leaked our information in the first place. There’s no other logical explanation I could think of.” As I spoke, I stealthily studied Shinji’s expression.

At this point, he was the only suspect. There was no way Ryuu or Ouji-senpai would leak our plan, since we’d only doom ourselves to death.

However, Shinji’s expression didn’t waver at all when he said, “I didn’t tell anyone about our plan. There’s no merit in revealing that we’re about to kidnap Kagura Family’s precious heiress, right?”

“…that’s true, but…” I frowned. If it wasn’t Shinji, then who…?

“It’s probably Shin’s doing.” Shinji interrupted me.

“Who?” I racked my brain, trying to remember that person’s face. “Ah, you mean the guy that threatened Sakuya-chan with us as hostages?”

Shinji nodded. “He’s a tremendously talented strategist. I bet Shin got a call from the main house about our first attempt to break in, then he saw through our plan and asked Kazami to go back earlier than planned. He really is like the devil himself.” Shinji sighed.

I reflexively shuddered. For him to foresee our second attempt from a mere phone call and perfectly counter it, wasn’t that literally a cheat-like ability?

“So, what should we do now?” Ouji interjected into the conversation.

“Nothing.” Shinji shook his head. “The security is crazily strict within the Kagura Family right now, so it’s nearly impossible to do anything. You guys should take this opportunity to get some rest, at least until they start lowering their guard.”

“We’ll do so. Thank you for your concern, Shinji-san.” I smiled and waved as Shinji left the hallway.

My smile disappeared the moment Shinji was no longer in sight.

“Hiiro, do you trust Shinji?” Ouji suddenly asked.

“Hmm? Why? Do you doubt him, Senpai?” I turned toward my partner.

Ouji frowned, turning his usual scowling face a notch scarier. “He seems sincere in wanting to help Kagura-san…and yet, I feel a bit uneasy around him. It’s as if there’s something about him I can’t quite put my finger on.” He sounded frustrated for being so vague.

I grinned and nodded. “Your wild instinct is always vague, but on point. I have to agree with you on this. I also think that Shinji isn’t that simple of a guy. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to survive all this time. But since we don’t know what he’s really thinking of, it’s better to keep our vigilance.”

After saying that, I turned to leave the hospital.

“Then, I have something to do, so I’ll go ahead now. Take care of—”

“Hold it.”

Before I could take even two steps away, Ouji had yanked on my collar.

“Ow! Mind your brute strength, Senpai! You’re choking me!” I flailed in protest, trying to escape his death grip.

“You’re going to Kagura-san’s place, aren’t you?”

Ouji’s sentence made me freeze.

“Shinji said it himself. That the level of security is at its highest right now. There’s no way you don’t know that, so there’s only one thing you’re going to do.”

Ouji let go of my collar, then grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him. He narrowed his eyes as he spoke of his deduction.

“You’re going to stay by her side, right?”

For a moment, I was rendered speechless. It took me a few moments to regain my senses. And once I did, I let out a huge sigh.

“How come you’re so sharp when it comes to important things?” I muttered resentfully. I still remembered Ouji getting the highest score in the remedial test, even though I had aimed to snatch his spot as Sakuya-chan’s number two man.

“Don’t try to change the subject.” Ouji sternly scolded me.

“I’m not. You got it right—I’ll stay by Sakuya-chan’s side, no matter what I must do.” I raised my hands in surrender. “I am her loyal dog after all.”

“There’s no going back, you realize?”

Ouji sounded uncharacteristically stubborn, to the point of being suspicious.

“Senpai, why do you sound like you’re trying to convince yourself…” Then it hit me. “Oh wait, could it be that you too?” I stared at him in disbelief.

Ouji averted his face in a rare moment of fluster. That simple action spoke volumes of what he had decided to do.

“Well then, shall we go?” I grinned and raised my fist.

Still refusing to answer, Ouji merely bumped his fist with mine.

*****

“…you guys recovered faster than I thought.” Tetsu said in exasperation.

Both Hiiro and I were kneeling on the cold, hard stone floor, completely surrounded by yakuzas. Despite our precarious situation, we were still as relaxed as visiting a friend’s home.

“I’ll take it as a compliment!” Hiiro grinned as he replied nonchalantly. “Putting that aside, can you call Sakuya-chan here?”

In an instant, intense bloodlust surged toward us—toward Hiiro, to be exact. All of the yakuzas were glaring at him, as if they couldn’t wait to shred him apart. Despite that, Hiiro remained nonchalant, like it was just a passing wind. Even I couldn’t help but respect him for his boldness.

“Do you have a death wish?” Tetsu crossed his arm and glared at Hiiro.

“Oh, we’re not here to take Sakuya-chan away, if that’s what you’re concerned about. You can even call Kazami-san here if you want.” Hiiro shrugged.

“Shut your trap, brat!” One of the yakuzas—Yagi, if my memory served me right—exploded. “Who do you think you are?! Summoning the head and Ojou-sama as you like—?!”

“Quiet, Yagi. I’m in charge here.” Tetsu shut down his subordinate with a simple sentence. Then he turned his attention back to us. “If you’re not here to cause trouble, then what do you want?”

Before I could hold myself back, I already lowered my head to Tetsu. “Please make me your disciple!”

“...huh?” Even Tetsu was taken aback by the unexpected request.

“Ah, idio—ahem, what we meant is that we want to join the Kagura Family!” Hiiro quickly covered for me.

But it elicited a bigger “Huh?!” from everyone present.

“Huh? Is it a no?” Hiiro tilted his head in confusion.

“Are you an idiot?! How could we take troublesome brats who tried to kidnap Ojou-sama into our ranks?!” Yagi snapped at us.

“Oh, you can rest assured about that. We’ve given up on taking her out.” Hiiro raised both of his hand. “So we’re going to stay by her side instead.”

“Don’t joke with me—!”

“Are you calling our loyalty a joke?” Hiiro’s playful grin morphed into a death glare in an instant.

Yagi was overwhelmed by his sudden hostility and clammed up.

“I don’t need it.”

A powerful new voice entered the fray. Both Hiiro’s and my face lit up when we heard her voice.

Kagura Sakuya, who was clad in deep blue kimono this time, strode toward us. As always, she was followed by a score of maids. However, there was one person that stood out from the maids. It was Shin, the scheming bastard that thwarted our attempt to save Kagura-san.

“You two should go back and forget about me.” Kagura-san stopped few meters away from us. “There’s no need for you to get swept up in this mess.” She spat out.

She looked like a completely different person from the Kagura-san that I knew. Her ruby eyes usually sparkled with energy and ferocity, but now they were so dull that I couldn’t read her emotions. The way she moved was dripping with elegance and dignity, unlike her usual lively demeanor.

“Kagura-san, you’ve always acted selfishly, haven’t you?” I spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention. “You selfishly decided to become the Banchou and subjugated everyone. Then you selfishly took us as your subordinates, granting us pet names and treating us like your dogs.”

At that point, everyone turned to look at Kagura-san with mixed gazes. She instantly went red from embarrassment.

“N-No, that was…I just…” Kagura-san stuttered, but she couldn’t deny the truth.

“It was selfish, but your selfishness saved us.” I continued speaking, ignoring their reactions. “You gave us hope and a reason for us to keep living. So we’ve decided to become selfish as well. Even if you don’t want it, we’ll stay by your side and be your strength.”

I lowered my head to the ground.

“Please let us stay with you, Kagura-san.” I pleaded earnestly.

Kagura-san fell silent for a moment. Her ruby eyes, which were previously unreadable, now showed glimpses of her true feelings. She desperately wanted someone she could rely in this house full of enemies. But before she voiced that feelings, she closed her eyes shut. The moment she opened it again, her eyes were once again unreadable.

“No.” She rejected my plea firmly. “Go home now. I won’t repeat it—”

“Forgive me for interrupting you, Ojou-sama.” Shin suddenly interjected from behind her. “But you currently don’t have the authority to decide that. The two of them asked to join the Kagura Family, so only the family head can make the decision.”

Kagura-san turned around and glared resentfully at Shin, but the man’s expression didn’t waver. Finally she sighed and yielded.

“…fine. We’ll hear what Otou-sama has to say. If he refuses, you can’t come here anymore, under any circumstances.” Kagura-san directed her glare at us.

I exchanged glances with Hiiro, who grinned and gave me a thumbs-up.

Just as we predicted, the moment Kazami heard about our proposal, he immediately gave the okay. He must’ve wanted his ‘hostages’ to stay close, so he could constantly remind Kagura-san of what was at stake here—or at least that was what Hiiro predicted.

Thus, both Hiiro and me were officially accepted into the Kagura Family.