Who among the Shinomiya family, besides Gan'an Shinomiya, was truly capable of shouldering the responsibility of the conglomerate?
The answer was no one.
Gan'an's three sons were all incredibly foolish. In fact, one could easily predict that the once-great Shinomiya "empire" would crumble and collapse in an instant after Gan'an's death. Frankly speaking, a conglomerate of this immense size was unlikely to collapse so quickly under normal circumstances. But these three fools were more than capable of doing it.
Therefore, knowing his sons' true character well, Gan'an wasn't overly concerned about who would traditionally take over the Shinomiya family in the future. Kaguya Shinomiya would be fine too. Because he knew Ai Hayasaka would eventually drag Kaguya into her own safety net, securing the family's survival through her connection to the Divine.
However, Gan'an had spoken frankly, entirely without considering the fragile egos of his foolish sons.
Oko Shinomiya and Seiryu Shinomiya were completely dumbfounded. They were already being kicked out? Why?
Un'yo Shinomiya sighed silently. He was much more clear-headed than his two brothers and could read the writing on the wall. Why? All because of that one arrogant sentence Oko had just uttered to the God's favored maid…
"Wait, wait! Father! I… I… I…"
Before Oko and Seiryu could say another word in their defense, Gan'an's elite guards had already stepped forward, grabbed them by the arms, and ruthlessly dragged them away from the dining table.
Un'yo, being the sensible one who had kept his mouth shut, didn't receive this harsh "treatment." He was permitted to stay and finish his meal in silence.
Thus, Ai Hayasaka accepted the master contract with a sincere, radiant smile. That sincere smile even infected Gan'an, whose aged face was almost splitting with laughter as he raised his sake cup to offer his congratulations. It was settled. His Shinomiya family was completely secured through this alliance…
Hiss… Un'yo immediately continued to lower his head and feign death over his plate.
He didn't even dare to feel a sense of shared sorrow for his brothers. He wouldn't argue anymore. He had argued and competed with his two "good brothers" for so long for the heir position, only for both of them to be instantly defeated and exiled by a single sentence.
This naturally made them seem very pathetic, but the political situation was vastly stronger than they were, and by a significant margin. It was just that his two idiot brothers couldn't see it, still arrogantly believing Ai Hayasaka was the same old servant who depended on the Shinomiya family for her food.
'Of course… Ai is still a maid now,' Un'yo thought, trembling. 'But the master she serves is a literal God in the eyes of ordinary people. How cruel... my two brothers are probably doomed...'
If their father was feeling hard-hearted, Oko and Seiryu would probably be sunk into Tokyo Bay by midnight. If their father was feeling soft-hearted, they would merely be confined to a remote estate for the rest of their natural lives.
Un'yo forced a pale smile, raised his glass with trembling hands, and respectfully congratulated the new true power in the room.
"Thank you so much for your magnanimity," Ai replied gracefully, tucking the contract away. "I will do my utmost to assist Kaguya from now on..."
Suginami Ward: The Minazuki Estate
Well, his own adorable little maid had actually put on a "Dragon King's Return" act outside.
Seiran didn't mind Ai using his name and influence to secretly intimidate the Shinomiya family. She was his woman now; if she were still as overly cautious and submissive to mortals as before, what would be the point of having someone as his woman? Even if she had to be cautious, it should only be towards him.
He comfortably embraced Mrs. Yukinoshita's soft, delicate body on the tatami mat. The smooth feel of the silk kimono told Seiran that this was a strictly no panties situation. It had to be Mrs. Yukinoshita… She really understood a man's thoughts perfectly.
He pulled her closer, holding her on his lap. She knew exactly how to playfully nuzzle him, even blushing perfectly and calling out in a soft voice, "Oh, Master, oh my."
'She really understands…' Seiran sighed again in satisfaction.
He never hid his desires, as long as he had a comfortable place to release them. But desires couldn't completely interfere with his grand duties. Subtly, his next set of arrangements began to gather momentum in the shadows.
Chiba Prefecture: The Hikigaya Residence
Meanwhile… a listless, dead-fish-eyed teenage boy lived a life of utter despair at home.
Home? This home was soon to be gone…
Hachiman Hikigaya. A quick-witted, cynical young man with almost no friends. He used to have a fairly happy, ordinary family, with slightly irresponsible but loving parents and a cute younger sister. Perhaps his youth was unremarkable, and if nothing unexpected had happened, he might have wasted his entire high school career in a comfortable daze.
But he had still believed in the peace and happiness of his family.
That is, until a man named Fumimaro Ayanokouji set his malicious sights on the Hikigaya family.
However, Hachiman was not one to sit idly by while his family was destroyed. This man was clearly determined to crush them, so Hachiman secretly began to investigate him.
Fumimaro Ayanokouji was once a trusted confidant of the powerful politician Atsuomi Ayanokouji before the latter's massive downfall. After digging deeper, Hachiman learned that Fumimaro had been the starting point for Atsuomi's planted moles in the Metropolitan Police Department, attempting to completely control the department from the inside out.
Afterward, Atsuomi fell from power for classified reasons, and his confidants and subordinates were ruthlessly purged by the Fujiwara family. For some reason, Fumimaro wasn't completely purged or imprisoned; instead, he retained the lowly position of Police Sergeant (Patrol Chief).
What is a Police Sergeant? Let's put it this way: Wataru Takagi, the lowly, overworked police officer always running errands for Inspector Megure, is an Assistant Inspector—one rank higher than a Sergeant. Below the Sergeant are the basic patrol officers, the lowest-ranking beat cops on the street.
Fumimaro was once a high-ranking Police Inspector; this current assignment was a humiliating demotion of three full ranks, and because he was transferred back to Tokyo in disgrace, he wasn't well-received anywhere in the precinct.
Did a disgraced cop like that have the power to crush a fairly well-off, civilian family?
Yes. And he could do it with terrifying ease. After all, he was still a police officer, and a former Inspector with lingering underworld connections. To ruin an ordinary family was incredibly easy for him.
As for why Fumimaro harbored such intense malice towards the Hikigaya family…
Hachiman sighed heavily, burying his face in his hands. The reason was frustratingly simple. His sweet younger sister, Komachi Hikigaya, happened to pass by an alleyway and saw Fumimaro angrily kicking a stray kitten that was blocking his path. Given Komachi's strong, righteous personality, a verbal conflict with this bitter man was inevitable.
That's how the grudge arose. No sane person would blame Komachi for defending an animal, but a twisted man like Fumimaro would.
Tokyo: A Run-Down Apartment
In a cramped, dimly lit apartment, Fumimaro Ayanokouji's face was terrifyingly gloomy.
He had been driven nearly mad by this ongoing ordeal. Atsuomi Ayanokouji's downfall had directly led to him becoming a homeless, beaten dog. That was politically understandable. The victor is king; the loser is the villain. Atsuomi lost the power struggle, and Fumimaro naturally had to bear the consequences of having benefited from the man's political resources for so long.
The problem was his shattered ego.
He understood taking pressure and bullying from his political higher-ups. But a few lowly commoners dared to yell at him and trample on his pride over a stray cat?
A twisted, ugly expression suddenly appeared on his face.
"You think you're worthy?!" he hissed at the wall.
He knew that the dead-eyed Hikigaya brat was actively investigating him. Therefore, Fumimaro's sneer grew even more sinister.
'Investigate, investigate all you want…' Fumimaro thought. 'If he finds something he shouldn't know, that brat will finally understand what true despair is. If he doesn't find anything? No problem, I'll just give his family a fatal push anyway.'
He just needed to vent his overwhelming anger on someone weaker than him; wasn't that enough of a reason? Why were they being so stubbornly resilient?!
Ever since the Yin-Yang Bureau's major supernatural incident at Mount Shinzan, Fumimaro had lost the courage to bare his teeth at the higher-ups in the Metropolitan Police Department. He had even desperately called the Great Onmyoji—Kyomei Hashimoto—to remind him that there was still some distant familial connection between them, which was the only reason he had managed to escape the Fujiwara family's lethal purge in the first place.
Wait.
He was indeed at an extreme low point in his life right now. But the magical, familial connection to Hashimoto remained; he still had a chance to rise again if he played his cards right in this new, supernatural world.
"Sorry, brat," Fumimaro muttered, loading his service weapon. "Only when your family is completely wiped out will I feel like I'm not being bullied anymore…."
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Give me powerstones.
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