Preparation for the Ceremony

When the last bell rang, I didn’t waste any time to leap from my seat. I submitted my History assignment with lightning speed before running out from school. As my feet traced the path toward Takamine Academy, my hand was busy making a phone call to Hiiro. After several failed attempts, I changed my call target to Ouji.

“How weird…” I muttered as Ouji also failed to answer my call.

Both of them weren’t exactly glued to their phones all the time, but at least they would usually answer my call.

“Did they block my number?” I felt a bit depressed when I considered the possibility.

With no other choice, I opted to call Shinji.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Shinji-san. This is Ryuu. I’m sorry for calling out of the blue.”

“Ryuu! It’s a pleasant surprise for you to call me. What’s the matter?”

“I…I know I’ve decided to not get involved with the Kagura Family anymore. But in the end, I just can’t leave Sakuya-san to fight alone. So I have an idea. If we can’t take Sakuya-san away from the Kagura Family, then we’ll help her to change the whole family.” I spoke with conviction.

Shinji fell silent on the phone, perhaps he was still processing my words.

“I know it sounds crazy, but I think it’s the best solution I can come up now. And so, I’m asking for your help, Shinji-san. Please help me meet with Sakuya-san one more time. Even if she doesn’t want my help, I’ve long decided to be her strength. If she selfishly pushes me away, then I’ll selfishly lend her my strength, whether she asks for it nor not.”

At those words, a small laughter burst from the other side of the call.

“Really, to think that you’d say the exact same thing as them…Sakuya-chan has obtained some good pawns.”

“Huh? What do you mean, Shinji-san?” Somehow, a chill ran down my spine at his ambiguous words.

“No, sorry, I’m just talking to myself. Alright, I’ll help you out, Ryuu. As a matter of fact, I have great news for you. Kagura Family plans on holding a big ceremony for all of their family members, including the branch families. Kazami intends on announcing Sakuya-chan’s succession in that ceremony, to publicly shackle her to the family.” Shinji explained.

“That man…” I gritted my teeth. Just how much did that man intend on making Sakuya suffer?!

“The ceremony is in two weeks. I’ll pull some strings to get you inside, so you can do whatever you need to do there.”

“Great, thanks a lot, Shinji-san! Oh, uh, aren’t you curious about what I’m going to do there?” I realized belatedly that I hadn’t told him about what exactly I was planning on doing.

“No, I believe in you. I’m sure it’ll be a great spectacle, so I’m looking forward to it. Then, I’ll contact you later once I get the details. See you later, Ryuu.”

Just as Shinji ended our talk, I arrived at Takamine Academy’s front gate. The students who were on their way home threw curious glances at me. They especially showed interest in my well-made uniform, which basically showed off my status as a student from an elite school.

“Oh? Ryuu, is that you?”

A familiar voice rang among the students.

“Wow, it’s really him!”

A similarly familiar voice followed after the first one.

“Abe! Narumi! It’s been a while!” I beamed as I greeted the inseparable duo.

“What are you doing here, Ryuu? Did you change your mind?” Narumi stared at me with sparkling eyes.

“Idiot, stop pressuring him!” Abe elbowed his partner. “Are you looking for someone here, Ryuu?” He turned to me.

“Yeah, actually, I want to talk to everyone. It’s about Sakuya-san.” I told them. “But before that, I need to speak with Ouji-senpai and Hiiro first.”

Upon hearing that, both of them exchanged confused glances.

“W-What is it? What happened to the two of them?” I asked warily.

“Uh…Ryuu, haven’t you heard?” Narumi eyed me gingerly.

“Heard what, exactly? Just spit it out already.” I was getting frustrated with their roundabout way.

“Ouji and Hiiro have left school to join the Kagura Family.”

All of a sudden, Kazu appeared behind the duo.

“Kazu-senpai…wait, what?!” My eyes widened at the unexpected news.

“It happened a month ago. Even Touma has heard of it.” Kazu frowned. “Did they not tell you?”

The revelation was so shocking that I staggered back a few steps.

“A month ago…which means, it must be right after I refused to get involved any further. They must’ve decided that there’s nothing else they can do but to stay by her side. It was fortunate that we arrived at the same conclusion, but…damn it, why do I always have the worst timing?!”

I felt like hitting myself for my blunder.

“Wait, then why did Shinji-san not say anything earlier? Based on his words, he must’ve known that crucial news. Could it be that he think those two had told me themselves, and he didn’t know that I pulled out of Sakuya’s matter? But then he wouldn’t say that it’s a surprise for me to contact him. Something doesn’t quite add up here…” I frowned.

“Uh…Ryuu? Are you perhaps in shock? Sorry, should I phrase it better next time?” Kazu waved his hand in front of me with an apologetic look on his face.

“N-No, it’s fine…thank you for telling me, Senpai.” I snapped back to my senses and hurriedly reassured him. “Then, are you guys still in contact with the two of them?”

“Yeah, until a week ago.” Kazu shrugged. “Then Hiiro said something about boot camp and that he’s not going to be in contact for a week. Maybe he’ll come around tomorrow or the day after. Putting that aside…” Kazu changed the topic. “You said you have something to tell us? Why don’t we go inside so everyone can hear it?”

I nodded and followed Kazu inside. Narumi and Abe flanked me as they chattered about their school life in Takamine. The classes weren’t that different from Sakurasaki, and since they were Kagura Sakuya’s former subordinates, no one dared to mess with them. Takamine’s Banchou, Shindo Kyoya, took them under his wing, but he understood that their loyalty would never be his.

Overall, nothing about their lives really changed—except for the big, gaping hole of Sakuya’s absence. Kazu was barely holding them together right now, but if this went on, some of them might choose to go down the same path as Hiiro and Ouji. They were that devoted to Sakuya.

“Here we are.” Kazu stopped in front of a classroom that they conveniently repurposed into their base—just like their old base back at Sakurasaki. “You’re lucky that we’re gathering here today. Come on in.” He opened the door for me.

“Excuse me…” I gingerly stepped in, daunted by the unfamiliar classroom.

But the moment I saw familiar faces inside, I felt like I was back in the days of being a student of Sakurasaki. All of the tension left my body and my lips automatically formed a smile.

“Hey, everyone. I hope you haven’t forgotten about me?” I greeted them teasingly.

“R-RYUU!!!”

All of them leapt to their feet and rushed toward me. In an instant, I was drowned in an unwanted group hug. It was unpleasant, I’m telling you, to get mobbed by a bunch of delinquents.

“Okay, okay, let’s not choke Ryuu to death when he’s finally decided to pop in.” Kazu reined them back.

At his words, the delinquents obediently stepped back. Among them, I spotted Touma with his differently-colored uniform. He shot me a nervous smile when our eyes met.

“What happened, Ryuu? Why did you decide to come over today?” Takashi voiced everyone’s question.

I took a deep breath for a moment before lowering my head to everyone. They all reacted with surprise at my unexpected action.

“I’m sorry.” I apologized sincerely. “I’m really sorry for betraying your trust. Maybe some of you have heard from Hiiro and Ouji-senpai, but I’ll tell you everything.”

I raised my head and began telling them about our failed second attempt. I repeatedly apologized for disregarding their trust in me to save Sakuya and chose to give up on her. When I thought about it carefully, it must’ve been unbearable for these guys as well.

All they wanted was to save Sakuya, but they were told that they weren’t allowed to help. So they put their trust and hope on my, Ouji’s, and Hiiro’s shoulder. But then we failed, and I gave up on any further attempts, while Ouji and Hiiro went over to the enemy camp. I wouldn’t be surprised if they held a grudge toward me, so their warm welcome was unexpected.

“Ryuu, we don’t blame you.” Kazu spoke up. “We’ve heard about what happened from Ouji and Hiiro as well. We knew that taking further action will just harm everyone else. We knew, but…” He bit his lips.

“Those bastards!” Takashi cursed. “If only we can burn the whole house down and take Kagura-san away!”

“Actually, that’s what I plan on speaking with you guys.” I interjected.

“You have a way to burn the Kagura Family down?” Takashi’s face instantly lit up.

“Uh…no. There will be no burning down involved.” I instantly shot it down. “But I did find a way for us to help Sakuya-san.”

Everyone’s face brightened up at my words.

“Listen closely, okay? Two weeks from now…”

*****

“Two weeks from now, we will hold a grand ceremony.” Shin announced to everyone in the main house. “It will be a large event to introduce Ojou-sama’s succession to the whole family, so the security must be flawless. As per Kazami-sama’s order, I will be in charge of the event’s security. Any of you who are found to be slacking off or attempting anything foolish…”

His gray, steel-like cold eyes swept toward me and Hiiro.

“…will be promptly disposed of.”

“Yes, sir!” Everyone straightened their back in an instant.

“I will assign and brief you on your respective duties later. Make sure to give your best effort so you won’t shame the Kagura Family's name. That’s all. You’re dismissed for today.” Shin, having considered their exhaustion after the brutal boot camp, dismissed the yakuzas.

Everyone secretly let out a relieved sigh and let the tension left their body.

“Aah…we’re finally back from hell.” Hiiro groaned as he massaged his aching shoulders. “Now I know why the Kagura Family is so fearsome.”

I nodded, too exhausted to reply properly. We’d been in a special boot camp for the whole week, for the purpose of training all family members in combat, infiltration, and everything else that the Kagura Family specialized in. All of the grunts were forced to participate, including Hiiro and me.

The training was so harsh that even me, who loved challenging powerful fighters, was drained of my fighting spirit by the end of it. Tetsu, who led the boot camp, told us that this was the easier version of the Kagura Family’s heir training. Kagura-san and her brother had done this since they could walk, which explained Kagura-san’s monstrous combat prowess.

“Senpai, why don’t we go back to our room and—”

Hiiro’s sentence abruptly stopped.

I raised my head, curious about the sudden stop, when my eyes caught a familiar figure in the distance.

“Ah, it’s that time of the day, huh?” Hiiro chuckled dryly.

“…we haven’t seen her for a week.” I reminded him quietly.

We both stared at Kagura-san, who was passing by at the other side of the training hall. As usual, she was followed by a bunch of maids and Tetsu. She was always accompanied by Tetsu or Shin whenever she moved around. It might seem like Kazami was putting his most trusted retainers to protect his only daughter, but in my eyes, he was using them to monitor Kagura-san’s every movement.

That man was the most cunning person that I ever met. Kazami wouldn’t hesitate to employ every tactic to ensure that his daughter wouldn’t rebel nor retaliate against him. Us being accepted into the family was part of his tactic.

Ever since we came here, we’d run into Kagura-san every couple of days without fail. Once or twice might only be a coincidence, but since it happened so often, I finally understood that Kazami had arranged for this. By constantly reminding Kagura-san that we were ‘hostages’ here, he could crush any rebellious thoughts in her mind.

“…Senpai, we’re doing the right thing here, right?” Hiiro suddenly asked. His eyes were glued to Kagura-san’s figure, but his face was colored with doubts. “I just want to be Sakuya-chan’s strength, but is this truly the right thing to do? She hasn’t really smiled even once since she came back here. I thought our presence could give her some comfort, but what if I’m wrong?” His voice was fraught with distress.

I stared at Hiiro silently. The same question had been bothering me for quite some time now. Did our presence here really help? Or did it worsen the situation, just like what Ryuu said?

“…honestly, I don’t know.” I answered frankly, eliciting a surprised look from Hiiro. “But even if the answer is ‘no’, I don’t intend on letting it stay that way. I’ll prove that we didn’t make the wrong choice, no matter what I have to do.” The determination in my voice surprised even myself.

Hiiro chuckled when he heard my answer. “That’s just so like you, Senpai… but I do agree with you. We’ll have to do our best so we can help Sakuya-chan. And so, let’s start with a refreshing bath—”

Hiiro’s sentence was abruptly cut off again, but this time it was caused by his phone’s ringing.

“Oh?”

His eyes widened when he saw the caller’s name.

“Hello? What’s wrong?”

Hiiro started walking away while talking to the other person.

“Oh, you’ve heard about it? So?”

He kept nodding as he listened closely.

“Who is it?” I couldn’t contain my curiosity and approached him.

“Heh…sounds fun.” Suddenly Hiiro smirked. It was a devilish grin that earned him his nickname, ‘Blonde Devil’.

I stopped and shuddered at the sight. I knew that whenever Hiiro smirked like that, it couldn’t be anything good.

“Two weeks from now, right? Count us in.” Hiiro casually roped me into it before ending the call.

“…aren’t you supposed to ask first before deciding for me?” I asked in exasperation.

“Well, trust me on this one, Senpai.” Hiiro turned to me as he pocketed his phone. His grin only grew wider as he said, “This is the chance we’ve been waiting for.”

He started explaining the whole thing to me.

*****

“Yeah, it’s two weeks from now.” Shinji said to the other person on the phone. “Don’t worry, I’ve made sure that everything is in place. We just need to focus on making sure that no other variable comes up until the big day.”

He fell silent for a moment as he listened to the other person.

“No need to worry about the security. I’ve slipped some of our people inside. Their background is already clear. No one will doubt them, not even the great schemer Shin. And besides…” Shinji wore a malicious grin. “There’ll be a big distraction on that day. Sakuya-chan’s loyal pawns will help us out. We’ll use the chaos to slip in and finish the job.”

Having finally convinced the other person, Shinji ended the call. He approached the window of his living room and looked up at the night sky.

“Finally…” He muttered to himself. “…we’ll finally achieve our greatest desire. The destruction of Kagura Family.”

*****

I entered my room and softly closed the sliding door behind. I held my breath and waited until the sound of Tetsu’s and my maids’ footsteps receded before letting out a big sigh. Being followed around and monitored every day was starting to exhaust me. I plodded to the corner of my room and sat down, hugging my knees as I curled into a ball.

The conversation that I just had with my father flashed through my mind again, even though I tried my hardest to forget about it.

“I’m announcing your succession in front of everyone in two weeks.” Kazami told me curtly the moment I stepped into his study.

“I know. You’ve told me before.” I replied just as coldly.

“I’m expecting you to be on your best behavior that day, even more than usual.” Kazami tapped his finger on the desk, subtly showing his impatience.

“Haven’t I been playing the role of your obedient doll well enough?” I retorted.

“That superficial acting won’t be enough to fool everyone.” Kazami snapped at me. “If the branch families noticed that you don’t want to succeed the family, there would be a bloody struggle over the position. You have to be more perfect than anyone else, or you’ll lose your power!”

“Then let them have it!” I clenched my fist. “I never wanted to succeed you in the first place!”

“That’s a breach of our deal.” Kazami’s eyes shone dangerously. “Do you not care for your precious subordinates' lives?”

My anger rose when he mentioned them. “You don’t have to remind me. Isn’t that why you kept letting me run into them nearly every single day? So I won’t forget our deal?” I answered sarcastically.

“Then do better. Uphold your part of the deal.” Kazami spat out. “I’ve let those insignificant bugs live for your sake, so you better not make me regret it.”

I was overcome with the impulse to punch his face at that moment. I had to clench my fist so tight just to rein myself in.

“…I’ll do better. Is that all?” I spoke through my gritted teeth.

“Yeah. You can go now.” He turned his attention back to documents piled on his desk.

I headed toward the study’s door when Kazami called out to me.

“Ah, I almost forgot.”

“Going senile already? Why don’t you just drop dead as well?” I replied bitingly without turning back.

“I’ll announce your engagement too.”

That sentence was like a bombshell to me. I spun around and marched toward Kazami. My hand shot out to grab his collar, but he effortlessly caught my wrist instead.

“What did you say?” I growled at him.

“Your engagement will solidify your position even further.” Kazami said calmly. “I’ve chosen the best partner for you, so there’s no need to worry.”

“I’m not worried about that! How could you decide this without even telling me—?!”

“Didn’t you say it yourself? That you’ll give me your life.”

I flinched when Kazami reminded me. He took advantage of that and pinned me to the desk, uncaring that his violent action scattered the papers everywhere. The arm that he gripped was now twisted painfully behind me.

“Don’t forget your place. You’re just a puppet with no freedom, who can only move as I like.” Kazami warned me in a low, dangerous voice. “I won’t accept any answer other than ‘yes’ from you, even less a rebellious behavior like this.”

He proceeded to twist my arm further, stopping just before he broke the bone. I bit my lips, stubbornly refusing to show him any signs of pain.

“If you try this again, I won’t show you any mercy.”

With that warning, Kazami finally let me go.

“Go back to your room.”

Bang!

I punched my room’s wall to vent my frustration. Anger and humiliation filled my chest every time I recalled that conversation. But then I recalled my own powerlessness and my anger faded, replaced with a sense of helplessness.

“Ryuu…Pochi…Tarou…” I whispered, unable to stop myself from wishing that I had my friends by my side right now.

They’d always supported me, even when I was at my lowest point. Even if it was only a brief moment, they made me forget my cursed bloodline and just be Sakuya, the Banchou of Sakurasaki Academy.

I bit my lips, letting the pain snap me back to my senses. My selfishness had dragged them into this mess, and even put their lives at stake. I would never forgive myself if my actions made them lose their lives.

I let out an empty laugh as I whispered to myself, “Why…?”

Why was I born into this accursed family?

Why must I become someone else’s puppet for the rest of my life?

Why couldn’t I do what I want, and live like a normal person?

There were millions of other ‘why’ questions filling my head, enough to make me regret my own existence.

“Regret…” I lifted my face as an idea hit me. “That’s right…if it’s a mistake, then…” I took out my hidden dagger and stared at my own reflection on its blade. A pair of cold, ruthless scarlet eyes looked back at me. “…I just have to correct it.”