"Ahhh!"
This wasn't how the script was supposed to go!
"Let go! Shuuji-kun, stop biting—ow, ow, ow! Tatsuhiko! Don't come over! Stay back!"
Asou Akiya yelped in pain, hopping on one foot. Yet he didn't dare shake off Tsushima Shuuji, who was clinging to his hand with his teeth.
Tsushima Shuuji was about the same age as Nakahara Chuuya, but years of confinement inside the Tsushima estate and a complete lack of physical activity had left him even smaller and frailer. He was shorter than Chuuya.
His eyes were bloodshot. His jaws stretched wide, and it wasn't just his front teeth anymore—even his sharp baby canines had sunk into Akiya's flesh, as though he intended to bite the entire hand clean off.
The ferocity in his expression was nothing like the quiet, subdued child he had appeared to be before.
Seven years of hatred, repaid in a single bite!
Shibusawa Tatsuhiko hesitated and stopped in his tracks, staring at the suddenly "attacked" Asou Akiya.
Akiya-sensei... was this part of your plan too?
—No! Absolutely not! Don't make things up!
Asou Akiya, who had never failed when it came to winning over cats, was devastated to discover that he'd finally met one that didn't respond to his usual approach at all.
The only silver lining was that Tsushima Shuuji hadn't run away. Instead, he'd chosen the most violent way possible to confront him. Anyone who didn't know the situation would probably assume that Akiya, an adult, had bullied this child.
Wait, bullied?
When have I ever bullied Tsushima Shuuji?!
I'm innocent!
Could this be one of the messes Shibusawa Tatsuhiko caused?
Enduring the pain, Asou Akiya stopped Tatsuhiko from interfering—but he couldn't stop Randou, who came rushing over in alarm.
"Akiya! Throw him off! Your hand's injured! Do you need a rabies shot—?"
The wild little cat's aggressiveness left Randou utterly stunned.
Akiya actually got bitten?
Instinctively, he was about to activate his ability to separate the two when Asou Akiya called out, "Randou! I'm fine!"
Randou point his phone at Akiya. On the video, Asou Akiya's slightly contorted expression was captured in perfect clarity as the recording documented, from beginning to end, his spectacular failure to win over the cat.
How was this "fine"?
The camera dipped lower, revealing the kimono-clad boy who bore a thirty to forty percent resemblance to Akiya.
Randou noticed something.
"Akiya, I think he hates you."
Asou Akiya looked on the verge of tears. Blood trickled from his right hand beneath Tsushima Shuuji's teeth. With his free arm, he pulled the struggling boy into an embrace, feeling him fight with all his strength.
"Do you hate me?"
He had only met Tsushima Shuuji once seven years ago.
After that, he had never visited the Tsushima family again. Even when he sent Ranpo and Chuuya to Aomori two years earlier to investigate Arahabaki, the two children had never crossed paths with Shuuji.
Then the problem had to stem from that very first meeting.
Had everything begun on the day he took Shuuji out to play?
Leaving home.
Fury.
A slap.
A touch-activated nullification ability... and the Tsushima family's discovery...
By nature, Tsushima Shuuji wasn't someone who hated others easily. He would sooner turn that hatred inward, or direct it at a world rotting from within. Hidden beneath all his cynicism was a tenderness that almost no one ever noticed—a softness buried so deeply that even when he cried, he would never shed tears in front of anyone.
With anyone else, Asou Akiya couldn't be certain.
But when it came to Tsushima Shuuji, he was certain of one thing: He had done something wrong.
Something serious enough for Shuuji to hate him.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
"Shuuji-kun, was it me? Was I the one who caused all of this?!"
In the span of only a few seconds, the Port Mafia Analyst pieced together the entire chain of events.
His composure shattered.
A colossal black pot had just fallen squarely onto his head.
Tsushima Shuuji said nothing.
He simply glared at him with eyes filled with fury and resentment.
Those tawny irises had regained their light.
But it was the light of flames.
Asou Akiya's words weren't understood by Shibusawa Tatsuhiko alone—Randou understood them as well. His displeasure at Tsushima Shuuji's behavior gave way to astonishment.
"So it was Akiya who led to his ability being discovered?"
Asou Akiya could only smile bitterly. "After I took him home... his father probably beat him."
What a feudal household, what a feudal father!
"I'm sorry."
No matter how small a part his actions had played in the whole affair, Tsushima Shuuji had suffered because of it for seven years. He had lost both his dignity and his freedom. No amount of money could ever make up for a childhood like that.
One careless mistake and Dazai could have been destroyed by his own family.
"Shuuji-kun... if you keep biting me, your teeth are going to hurt too. Force works both ways."
Asou Akiya did his best to soften his expression, though pain lingered in his eyes. He gently stroked the boy's soft brown hair, coaxing him in a patient voice.
"Your saliva's starting to drip, you know. Did your permanent teeth come in recently? They look much straighter than when you were little. Or are there still a few baby teeth that haven't fallen out yet?"
Tsushima Shuuji didn't budge.
He had already bitten deeply enough to draw blood. The metallic taste of iron spread through his mouth.
At the same time, a dull ache began creeping through his jaw. Saliva pooled uncontrollably, and the pointed canine—third tooth from the left on his upper jaw—throbbed with alarming pain.
Even so, he refused to let go.
Because if he did it would mean defeat, and It would mean the regret that had gnawed at his heart for seven long years had all been for nothing!
[I hate you!]
[I hate you!]
[You're living such a good life, and even though you knew I had an ability, you never told me!]
[You forgot all about me long ago. Coming to see me now is nothing but hypocrisy. You only remembered because of my ability—you never cared about what I'd been through!]
[This happened to me because I met you! If it weren't for you, my father would never have touched me! That man never hugged me! He never would have discovered my ability!]
The heart of the Tsushima family's sixth son—the youngest of them all—was on the verge of shattering.
Perhaps life would have been easier if he had been stupid.
But Tsushima Shuuji was far too intelligent. He couldn't deceive himself, couldn't shut out what he saw and heard. Every piece of information he gathered led him to the same conclusion—
The people who claimed to love him were the ones hurting him.
Love? The very thought made him sick.
"Shuuji-kun..."
Asou Akiya talked and talked, but nothing reached him. Sorrow and indignation filled his eyes.
Shuuji sneered inwardly.
Asou Akiya continued, "Are you waiting for me to get angry? I'm afraid you've got it wrong. Even if you bite my hand clean off, it won't do you any good. I'll find a way to grow it back."
The sheer confidence of the declaration stunned everyone present.
Only in a world with supernatural abilities could someone say something like that with a straight face.
Randou eyed his lover's hand suspiciously.
It can... grow back... even if it's cut off?
No longer content with simply stroking Shuuji's hair, Asou Akiya scooped him up with one arm.
"Come on."
"I'll take you back to the Tsushima estate."
"—!!!"
For a fleeting instant, the light vanished from Tsushima Shuuji's eyes.
The twilight behind them.
The man's embrace.
It was so painfully similar to the day, seven years ago, when he had been taken home.
And what had awaited him after that had been nothing short of a nightmare.
Asou Akiya felt Shuuji's teeth finally release him and hurriedly pulled his wounded hand back.
Taking a closer look, he suddenly laughed.
A small, pointed tooth had been left embedded in the bite mark.
Tsushima Shuuji's face changed dramatically.
By reflex, he ran his tongue over his upper gums—
And found an empty space where one tooth had been.
My tooth fell out?!
Of all times, why now?!
"This is wonderful—you even gave me a souvenir. I'll treasure it."
Asou Akiya reacted with lightning speed, tossing the pointed tooth to Randou. The two of them worked in perfect sync. Using Illuminations, Randou barely managed to catch the bloodstained tooth before it hit the ground, then tucked it away inside his subspace.
Tsushima Shuuji could only watch as his tooth vanished before his eyes.
There wasn't even a chance to snatch it back.
So this is what an ability user can do? That's completely unfair.
"Give... my... tooth... back..."
"No."
A mischievous grin spread across Asou Akiya's face. He didn't even bother wiping away the blood and saliva on the back of his hand. He started to reach toward Shuuji's cheek, then stopped himself.
"I won't let your family hurt you ever again."
Tsushima Shuuji went rigid.
"You don't believe me? Then believe Tatsuhiko. Tatsuhiko is a member of the Shibusawa family. Your father doesn't have the influence to stand against his family."
After shamelessly borrowing someone else's prestige to make his point, Asou Akiya looked up at Shibusawa Tatsuhiko.
"Tatsuhiko, any objections?"
Tatsuhiko replied flatly, "I'm not especially willing to, but if it's your request, Akiya-sensei..."
Before he could bargain for additional benefits, Akiya cut him off.
"You'll handle it. If I have to pull strings myself, I'll consider your apprenticeship assignment a failure."
Tatsuhiko: "..."
The Tsushima Shuuji pinned against Akiya's chest suddenly began struggling again, trying to shove the man away.
"Let me go! I have nothing to do with you!"
No matter how much they resembled one another, it was nothing more than a coincidence.
Holding him with one arm was becoming difficult. Afraid the boy might fall, Asou Akiya called out anxiously,
"Randou!"
Randou stepped in without hesitation. He took Shuuji into his own arms, deftly caught both of the boy's wrists, locked his joints to keep him from struggling, and held him firmly.
"I don't have a grudge against you. Settle down, or I'll spank you."
Tsushima Shuuji paid him no attention and shouted at the top of his lungs,
"Kidnapping! Help! I've been kidnapped!"
Clutching his injured wrist, Asou Akiya turned to Shibusawa Tatsuhiko.
"Do you have a handkerchief?"
Assuming it was for treating the wound, Tatsuhiko took out a clean white handkerchief.
In one swift motion, Akiya stuffed it into Tsushima Shuuji's mouth, silencing the lips that never seemed to have a kind word to say. As an added bonus, it soaked up the blood filling the boy's mouth.
"Mmph—!" Shuuji's eyes flew wide open.
Asou Akiya smiled gently. "It's been a long time, so I forgot to tell you—I work for the Mafia."
Tsushima Shuuji trembled with rage.
Asou Akiya sighed. "You probably don't know what the Mafia is. We're the kind of truly terrible people who stand on the opposite side of the Japanese police. We don't care about rules or social standing. If someone gets in our way, we'll gun them all down without hesitation—for the sake of our comrades or our reputation."
Little by little, Shuuji stopped trembling.
He had long since given up expecting righteous heroes to save him, but the Mafia...
"Shuuji-kun, You've been kidnapped by me."
If that was how things had turned out...
"Then you don't have to do anything."
What could you possibly do...?
Tsushima Shuuji listened to those words with growing disgust. He clamped both hands over his ears.
Yet every sentence still reached him.
"Leave everything to us. Children should be free to act like children—to get angry, to throw tantrums. You don't have to burden yourself with things that are too complicated. To adults, that's the most lovable way a child can be."
After saying that, Asou Akiya exchanged a glance with Randou.
Randou smiled.
"Don't worry. I can hold onto him. And if he dares bite me, I won't go easy on him."
Randou held Tsushima Shuuji—who looked like a miniature Akiya—in his arms, keeping him securely restrained.
The kidnapping is underway.
…
The Tsushima family estate.
Tsushima Gen'emon stared in stunned silence at Shibusawa Tatsuhiko, his "teacher," and Randou, who was carrying Tsushima Shuuji with a handkerchief stuffed in his mouth. The scene was so bizarre that he couldn't make sense of it.
"Shibusawa-kun, these are your teacher and your teacher's partner?"
"Yes."
At last, Shibusawa Tatsuhiko could openly establish their identities. Without so much as blinking, he answered.
Seated beside him, Asou Akiya smiled pleasantly.
"Tsushima-dono, it's been a long time. Do you remember me?"
He deliberately stretched out his words.
"Remember this rather distinctive face of mine?"
Tsushima Gen'emon's heart lurched.
Seven years ago... there really had been a young man who bore a slight resemblance to Shuuji.
"My surname is Asou. My full name is Asou Akiya." Without giving the man a chance to interrupt, Akiya introduced himself. "Seven years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting your son. He was such an adorable child that I spent some time playing with him. Afterwards, I personally escorted him home safely and even apologized to you. Who could have imagined that, because of me, he would lose his freedom afterward?"
His smile gradually turned cold, his black eyes dark and unfathomable.
"Tsushima-dono, that was where you were in the wrong. No matter how concerned you were about your family's safety, how could you keep your own child locked away in that house for so many years?"
"In Japan, abusing children is not permitted."
"For Shuuji-kun's reputation and mental well-being, I won't report your actions to the police. And don't question whether I'd succeed if I did. Society hasn't fallen so far into darkness that justice is impossible."
"So now, the best thing you can do is remain silent, sir."
"I have no desire to hear your barking."
"The people standing behind us are beyond your ability to offend."
"..."
Cold sweat poured down Tsushima Gen'emon's back. The angry words that had nearly escaped his lips died there instead.
He understood the implication.
One was Shibusawa Tatsuhiko, backed by the influential Shibusawa family.
The other was Asou Akiya... and behind him was someone even more powerful.
Or perhaps… the Asou family itself?
Held firmly in Randou's embrace, Tsushima Shuuji sat down and turned his head to look at the twisted expression on his father's face.
It was the first time in his life he had ever witnessed such a thing.
So, is this the power of authority?
From beginning to end, Asou Akiya never once mentioned "special abilities." He had deliberately erased that crucial element, confronting the Tsushima family solely on the grounds that a child he cherished had been harmed.
Asou Akiya held out his hand, revealing the bloody bite marks left by the child.
"Look."
"Shuuji-kun was so happy to see me."
He lied through his teeth without the slightest shame, but Tsushima Gen'emon couldn't dismiss it as a joke. His expression darkened.
After all, his youngest son had bitten a member of the Asou family.
Asou Akiya continued, "What does this prove? It proves that you have utterly failed in your duty as parents. Your education is a failure, and you've completely neglected the child's emotional well-being. That means it's necessary for me to step in and correct your mistakes."
Rather than remain seated across from him, he stood, looking down at the "father" who had chosen such a foolish way to control Tsushima Shuuji.
"I'm taking this child with me."
"Your objections are irrelevant."
Even if he weren't a member of the Asou family, as Natsume Souseki's disciple, Asou Akiya would still have spoken those words.
He was no longer the powerless young man from seven years ago who could do nothing but watch.
"Tatsuhiko."
"Yes. Please leave it to me, Akiya-sensei."
Shibusawa Tatsuhiko smiled as he lightly brushed a hand over his white hair, as though the matter weren't worth worrying about. The contempt and indifference he felt toward the Tsushima family were etched into his very bones.
Under the crushing weight of Akiya's authority, Tsushima Gen'emon could only force out, "You... you can't do this... He's a child of the Tsushima family..."
Turning desperately to the boy he had controlled for years, he called out, "Shuuji, come here. Tell them... tell them I never hurt you."
Out of habit, Tsushima Shuuji started to smile. Then he remembered the missing tooth and pressed his lips together.
"Father... you never hurt me."
Randou watched the father and son in silence.
Asou Akiya stopped in his tracks and looked at Tsushima Shuuji with an amused smile. Things had already reached this point. There was no need for him to keep pretending to be an obedient child.
In the most innocent voice imaginable, Tsushima Shuuji spoke the truth.
Words he had never intended to say...
"You were only... loving me. You loved me with your slaps. It seemed your high blood pressure got better whenever you hit me. If it made Father happy, then it was truly my greatest blessings."
It was over.
Tsushima Gen'emon collapsed onto the floor, unable to believe those words had come from his obedient son.
"Shuuji, I apologized to you! I even bought you toys!"
"Mm."
Lowering his eyes, Tsushima Shuuji murmured so softly it was almost inaudible, "But you probably never knew... I never liked those things. On the other hand, I really like the expression you're wearing right now."
He was still the youngest, most innocent-looking boy in the family, yet his smile carried a faintly neurotic gloom.
"Father, tell me..."
"What exactly am I feeling right now?"
"Shuuji doesn't understand."
No one had ever taught him how a child was supposed to hate a father who had utterly failed as a parent.
Was it truly so wrong to want to be loved?