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Chapter 50: Taking Everything
After leaving Soichiro's room, Yuriko made her way to Saya's bedroom.
It was a lavishly decorated room, distinctly styled for a pampered princess.
"Mother!"
The moment Yuriko entered, Saya immediately rushed over.
Her expression was a complex mix of desperate hope and nervous anxiety.
Ever since her humiliating encounter with Suyan on the motorcycle, and his blunt dissection of her feelings, she was forced to admit the truth to herself: she did have feelings for him.
But the brutal reality was that Suyan couldn't care less about the Takagi family's wealth or influence, and he seemed entirely indifferent to her personally.
She felt completely powerless.
If Suyan walked out of the estate tonight, they would forever exist in entirely different worlds.
She desperately needed to know if he had already left.
Because if he was still here, she still had a tiny sliver of hope.
Yuriko pulled Saya into a gentle hug, a warm smile gracing her lips as she stroked the girl's pink hair. "Pack your bags, Saya. Gather your clothes and essentials. We're leaving."
"Leaving?"
Saya looked completely bewildered. "Leaving to go where?"
Yuriko's smile widened. "We're leaving the Takagi family to go with Suyan. How about that? Are you happy?"
Saya immediately looked away, her tsundere instincts flaring. "I-I'm not happy at all!"
Despite her words, the corners of her mouth twitched upward into an irrepressible smile, betraying her immense relief and joy.
She was so overwhelmed with happiness that she completely failed to notice her 'mother' had specifically said 'we're leaving', not 'you're leaving'.
But then a thought struck her, and she hesitated. "But... what about Father...?"
"You don't need to worry about that. I've already spoken with him," Yuriko explained calmly. "All you need to do is pack your things and get ready to go."
"Really?!"
Saya's eyes lit up with sheer delight.
But catching the distinctly teasing, knowing look on Yuriko's face, she quickly tried to backpedal.
She fidgeted nervously, her face flushing. "Ahem. Mother, I didn't mean it like that."
"Oh, Saya. You can try to fool me, but don't fool yourself. If you keep acting this painfully stubborn and emotionally constipated, you're only going to end up hurting yourself."
Yuriko shook her head, letting out an amused sigh. "But don't worry. I'll help you fix that from now on."
"I... I understand. Thank you, Mother."
Despite her initial embarrassment, hearing Yuriko promise to help her filled Saya with immense confidence.
In Saya's eyes, Yuriko was an absolute, flawless genius.
She was perfect in every conceivable way, capable of handling any crisis with effortless grace.
It felt as though there was no problem in the entire world that Yuriko Takagi couldn't solve.
With a master strategist like her in her corner, how could she possibly lose?
However, as her initial excitement faded and her logical brain rebooted, a question emerged.
Help me?
How exactly is she going to help me?
Saya pondered the question for a moment before deciding it was too complicated and gave up trying to understand.
She broke away from Yuriko's embrace and happily began buzzing around the room, stuffing clothes into a duffel bag.
Perhaps terrified that Suyan would lose his patience and leave without them, she packed incredibly fast, grabbing only the absolute essentials.
She turned to Yuriko, practically vibrating with impatience. "Mother, where is he?"
"Follow me."
Yuriko gave a short reply and led Saya out of the bedroom.
They quickly found Suyan waiting in the courtyard.
Suyan glanced at Saya and raised an eyebrow at Yuriko. "What's going on? Why did you bring her?"
He didn't explicitly mind taking Saya.
Aside from her annoying family background and her generally weak presence in the narrative, she wasn't terrible.
After all, she was a canon heroine. That alone put her aesthetic and potential far above the average person.
He was just genuinely surprised. In the anime, pushing Saya toward the protagonist made sense; that was the power of plot armor.
But now? He was actively stealing Yuriko—the absolute mastermind and pillar of the Takagi family.
And Soichiro was just willingly letting him take his daughter, too?
If that was the case, Suyan had to hand it to the man: that was incredibly generous.
It was definitely a very 'Japanese' resolution to the situation.
"Well? Are you excited? It's a buy-one-get-one-free deal! You hit the jackpot. Plus, we're mother and daughter~" Yuriko winked playfully, teasing him.
"Can you not make jokes like that?"
Suyan rolled his eyes. He turned to Saya, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Takagi, promise me something. Please don't make a habit of adopting random women as your mother."
"W-What do you mean?!"
Saya's head was spinning.
What does he mean, 'why did you bring her'?
Didn't you ask my parents for permission to take me with you?!
And what is this 'buy-one-get-one-free' nonsense Mother is spouting?!
And what is he talking about adopting random women?!
I don't understand anything that's happening right now!
The pink-haired girl turned to Yuriko, her eyes wide with desperate confusion, silently begging for an explanation.
Seeing her daughter's absolute bewilderment, Yuriko walked over, gently patted her head, and patiently recounted the exact same story she had just told Suyan.
Once the story was finished, Yuriko looked at the stunned girl and smiled. "So, Saya, you really shouldn't call me 'Mother' anymore. You should probably call me Au... actually, 'Big Sister' works best."
When Saya was a child, calling her 'Mother' was fine. But now that the truth was out in the open, maintaining the lie was entirely inappropriate.
'Aunt' made her sound far too old, and she was still very much in her prime.
Furthermore...
Yuriko shot a subtle, entirely scandalous glance at Suyan.
Given her future plans, 'Mother' was definitely off the table.
'Big Sister' was the perfect compromise.
Listening to the explanation, Saya went from confused to completely, utterly shattered.
My mother... isn't actually my mother? She's my grandfather's illegitimate daughter?!
And she wants me to call her 'Big Sister'?!
And the worst part... I'm the 'get-one-free' part of the deal?!
Is this what you meant when you said you were going to 'help' me?!
For a moment, she honestly didn't know whether to burst into tears or start laughing hysterically.
Saya frantically clawed at her own hair, feeling her sanity rapidly slipping away.
Suyan patted Saya sympathetically on the shoulder. "See what I mean? This is exactly why you shouldn't just run around calling random people 'Mom'."
If Saya hadn't blindly thrown herself at Yuriko when she was a toddler, the misunderstanding would never have happened.
And if the misunderstanding hadn't happened, they wouldn't be standing here in this incredibly cursed, awkward situation.
So, realistically, this was entirely Saya's fault.
"Alright, since you're both packed, let's get out of here."
Without giving Saya any time to process her shattered reality, Suyan grabbed the Murata-tou he had demanded from the Takagi armory—the very same blade Saeko used later in the anime.
He turned and headed for the motorcycle.
The Murata-tou was his payment for acting as Saya's taxi.
Even though he had brought her home, only to immediately turn around and take her back with him...
He absolutely wasn't giving the sword back.
Technically speaking, taking her there and bringing her back constituted a round trip. The Takagi family actually owed him double.
Wait a minute.
Suyan paused, looking down at the legendary sword in his hand, then back up at Yuriko and Saya.
He thought about the situation for a second, and a realization hit him.
Hold on. Didn't I just take their money, steal their wife, and kidnap their daughter?!
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