Chapter 41:

The Origin of Kagura Shinji

The Pride of A Banchou


I’d always thought that my mother’s greatest misfortune was being born into the Kagura Family. In that twisted family, boys were prized above everything else. Girls were simply used as tools to continue the family line or add a precious talent into the family. My mother was used as the latter.

My father, Kurami Junichi, was a world-class genius hacker. Back in the old days, he even led a dream team of hackers from all over the world. Nicknamed as JUN, no one could discover his real identity nor origin. No one aside from the Kagura Family, I suppose. Using their vast connections in both the underworld and upper world, they managed to discover his personal information.

The Kagura Family used that information to destroy his team, his career, and his pride as the world’s greatest hacker. As my father was drowning in despair, the Kagura Family extended a helping hand, pretending to be his benefactor while hiding the fact that they were the ones who drove him to ruin. The only condition they asked was for him to marry a daughter of the Kagura Family and pass down his skills to their child.

Junichi agreed, and so he married my mother, Kanako. For a while, they were the very picture of happiness. Kanako loved Junichi with all her heart and Junichi also adored her very much. However, no truth could remain hidden forever from the genius hacker.

When my mother was pregnant with me, he finally discovered the real perpetrator behind his downfall. Junichi nearly went crazy with rage, knowing that he had walked right into their trap and he even felt grateful for that. He tried to divorce my mother and leave the family, but of course the family head wouldn’t let him. Without any real way to punish Kagura Kazami himself, Junichi turned all of his anger to my mother.

Kanako endured all of the beatings and verbal abuses silently. My gentle mother felt guilty for the deception that she took no part in, so she accepted all of his rage as if she was the sinner. Junichi’s mental state stabilized somewhat from repeatedly venting his anger at my mother, however the tranquility instantly fell apart the moment I was born.

Later I heard that once I first opened my dark red eyes, the unmistakable proof of my accursed lineage, Junichi flew into a frenzied rampage. If it weren’t for Tetsu and Shin’s interference, he would’ve choked the still-baby me to death. After that incident, my father was never the same person. He hated the mere sight of me, for my red eyes constantly reminded him of his greatest mistake. My father would lock himself inside his room for days, leaving my mother to raise me all by herself.

I once asked my mother about it, when I was old enough to understand the world around me.

“Okaa-san, why does Otou-san hate me?” I asked innocently.

My mother’s face twisted for an instant upon my question. Before I could examine her expression more closely, she pulled me into her embrace.

“No, he doesn’t hate you.” My mother assured me. “It’s just…I made a mistake and got him angry, so I’m still trying to earn his forgiveness. Your father simply chose to stay in his room until we make up. I’m sorry if that makes you feel lonely, Shinji.”

“Then, doesn’t it make you lonely too?” My voice came out muffled as I was still buried in her chest.

I felt my mother’s body stiffen, then her answer followed, “Okaa-san is fine, because I have you with me, Shinji. Mine and your father’s beloved child.”

My mother hugged me tighter, as if she could fill the emptiness in her with me. However, I noticed that, no matter how many times I asked about Junichi, my mother would always reply that my father didn’t hate me.

But she never told me that he loved me either.

And so, I stopped asking about him.

*****

When I turned seven, I started my training as a member of the Kagura Family. It was common for branch families’ children to be sent to the main house when they turned seven, to be trained in the family’s specialties. Particularly talented children would later be separated and trained differently, to groom them into the next generation of family executives.

Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on how you saw it—I had no such particular talent in Kagura Family’s business. My physical ability was way below average, and I had no special talent. Still, my tutors cut me some slack in consideration of my father’s ability with hacking. They changed my training regimen and forced Junichi to teach me his ability.

They’d sit me in the same room as Junichi and put a high-spec computer in front of me. Then they’d leave us alone, in respect to Junichi’s request to let no one else present when he taught me. But in truth, he never taught me anything.

Junichi would take over the computer and gruffly told me to just watch him. He never explained a single thing. In retrospect, perhaps it was his way of protecting me. If I showed no talent at all, the family would have no use of me and would throw me out. Maybe Junichi thought that it’d be the best for me.

Sadly, I didn’t understand his intent at the time. I simply thought that I must get better at something to receive his approval. So I intently watched everything that my father did, then I’d secretly study anything that I didn’t understand on my own. With tenacity that bordered on obsession, I managed to learn all of my father’s hacking techniques after four years of training.

One day, before the monthly evaluation of all branch families’ children, I innocently showed my father what I was capable of. I was so proud of myself, thinking that this time he would properly look at me and praise me. I’d never forget the look of horror in his face as he grabbed my shoulders and made me promise to never tell anyone. His nails sunk in my skin, leaving small scars, but I could barely register the pain. The fact that something could scare my indifferent father so much made me even more terrified.

After that, I followed my father’s words and purposely flunked the monthly evaluation. With repeated failures, Kazami and my tutors lost any interest in me, allowing me to live in peace. However, the fragile peace wasn’t enough for my father. He was constantly anxious that my ability would be discovered and he’d be punished for hiding me. The fear drove him to do the unthinkable—he tried to kill me.

Under normal circumstances, his attempt would’ve succeeded. No one bothered to visit our house, and it was far enough to render my screams unheard by anyone. But that day, Kagura Kaoru—Sakuya’s mother—happened to visit my mother. She screamed at the sight of my father trying to choke me to death. Her scream attracted the patrolling guard’s attention, who came running and quickly slashed my father without any question, ending his life in an instant.

I stared in a daze at my father, who was lying in a pool of his own blood. Instead of resentful, he looked almost relieved, as if he was finally released from the prison of hell. I found myself envying the unburdened look on his face.

My mother was completely devastated by my father’s death. She cried for three days straight before deciding to end her life and chase after her husband. She spared no thought for her young son, who was left behind alone in the world.

When I found her body hanging from the ceiling, I simply thought, “Ah, so I was right all along.

My mother never loved me either.

Even though it was a political marriage, my mother loved my father deeply. That was why she took in all of his anger without ever uttering a single objection. She thought that if she accepted everything, my father would come to love her.

What a foolish and innocent woman.

*****

After losing both of my parents in the span of three days, I ran away from the Kagura Family. I had no more reason to stay behind and suffer through their inhumane treatment. None of them shed a tear when my parents died, nor did they know that some insignificant branch family was lost.

When I was planning my escape, I remembered the rumors of another person who managed to escape successfully—the former family heir, Kagura Kazuya. Using my skills, I tracked Kazuya down and contacted him. At first he was quite wary of this being a trap, but after hearing my story, he agreed to help me out.

With Kazuya’s help, I ran away from the family and lived my life quietly simply as Shinji. I was grateful that he took care of me like an older brother. However, I could never forget about the Kagura Family. With a bit of digging around, I figured out the real reason behind my father’s hatred toward the family. The same hate and resentment now simmered within me, waiting for the right time to unleash its venoms. Even though I was living quietly, I never forgot the fact that the Kaguras twisted my family and crushed them without a second thought.

After years of going our separate ways, Kazuya suddenly contacted me again. He introduced me to his younger sister, the heir apparent to the Kagura Family—Kagura Sakuya. He asked me to help his sister when she needed it, the way he helped me escape the family. At those words, I realized that Kazuya wanted to take his sister out from that hell as well. Seeing how much Kazuya doted on his sister made me think of her as precious too. It was a new feeling to me, who never had a younger sibling.

But then, that incident happened.

One night, I was about to go to sleep when my phone suddenly rang. I picked it up and saw Sakuya’s name on the screen.

“Hello? Sakuya-chan, what’s wro—”

Please help me.

Those words, uttered with utmost desperation, instantly alerted me. I leapt to my feet and rushed toward my computers.

“Got it. I’ll take care of everything, so just stay put, Sakuya-chan.” I replied as my fingers furiously tapped the keyboard.

In just a few minutes, I found out that Kagura Kikuchi, who had been tasked to secretly monitor Sakuya’s movement, inevitably discovered Kazuya and Shiori’s house after they invited Sakuya over. As a result, both of them were dragged away to the main house and lost their lives.

The hatred and resentment toward the Kagura Family that had been sleeping inside me were stirred awake the moment I learned of Kazuya and Shiori’s death.

Again.

It happened again.

Kagura Kazami once again crushed another family’s happiness.

And this time, it was his own son, the person who helped me escape and taught me the happiness of an ordinary life.

Kazami couldn’t possibly do this on his own—there must be a collaborator, someone to lure Kazuya to his certain death.

Kagura Sakuya.

I gritted my teeth as all the pieces fell to its place in my head. Sakuya must’ve purposely gotten closer to Kazuya, all while looking for an opportunity to serve up her doting brother to her father, like a loyal dog. And now, she wanted to pull the same trick on me.

“She will pay.” I growled to myself. “I’ll make her pay for her betrayal.”

Having decided that, I quickly arranged for Sakuya’s escape. I didn’t call on my comrades’ help, in order to keep my forces hidden. I personally went to the main house that I hated so much to pick Sakuya up myself.

*****

It was raining that night.

As I waited for Sakuya to meet me in the designated spot, I imagined all the possibilities. I’d expected for Sakuya to show up with a grieving face, sobbing as she told me her side of the story to make me believe in her. Or she might not bother with any pretenses and just showed up with Kagura Family’s elite guards behind her, ready to capture me.

Whichever it was, I already had plans on my own. If she tried to get closer to me with deception, I would pretend to get deceived and then use her for my own goals. And if she tried to capture me with Kagura Family’s power, I would call upon my comrades to help me.

But when Sakuya actually appeared alone, I was taken aback. All of my suspicions melted away, as if washed by the rain.

For she looked exactly like my mother the day she lost her husband.

“Sakuya-chan, are you okay?” I automatically reached out to her, unable to bear the despair etched in her face.

Sakuya simply shook her head. She didn’t utter a single word, nor shed a single tear. It was as if her whole world had collapsed, and she was barely standing. A mere breeze would knock her out, never to recover.

This girl couldn’t possibly betray her brother.

Even though I knew the truth, I couldn’t let go of my hatred toward Sakuya that easily. I still thought of her as the one who caused Kazuya’s death. So I told myself that I’d still use her to destroy the Kagura Family someday, all while keeping her hidden.

My comrades were elated at the trump card that fell into our lap. They devised many plans on how to best utilize Sakuya. However, I rejected all of them. It was too early to act, or it wouldn’t produce any significant impact. I adamantly insisted on keeping Sakuya safely hidden, despite my own hatred toward her.

Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months.

By the time I realized it, I’d already sheltered Sakuya for nearly a year.

The Kagura Family still hadn’t given up on finding her, and my comrades were pushing for me to make a decision.

And yet, Sakuya herself still hadn’t said a single thing.

She only ate when she was told to, and she only spoke when absolutely necessary. If left alone, she would sit quietly, staring blankly into space. Her crimson eyes had completely dulled, losing its vivid glimmer.

Her time was completely frozen in that night a year ago, when she lost Kazuya.

I couldn’t bear to see Kazuya’s beloved little sister wasting away like that, so I tried giving her a reason to live.

It was the only reason that I knew—revenge.

Fortunately, it seemed to work for Sakuya. Her ruby red eyes slowly regained its glimmer as she pushed herself to reach her new goal. But instead of taking advantage of her, I let Sakuya decide how she wanted to fulfil her revenge.

I quietly watched over her as she set her sights on building her own ideal organization, enrolling into Sakurasaki Academy, and regained liveliness befitting her age.

I deluded myself into thinking that Sakuya could truly escape from the Kagura Family, that I could actually let go of my hatred and resentment toward them.

Until reality crashed in.

Ochroleucous
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