The Too-Young Prime Minister and the Broken Family
The mayonnaise Tsukasa and the others had made was a big hit at dinner that evening. The villagers were something of a given, as they’d never tasted such a condiment before, but even Team Earth was excited, getting their first taste of home in a month.
Mayonnaise would no doubt go on to become a vital part of Elm Village’s palate.
It had been an exciting day all around for Elm, but every day comes to an end. However, even though she knew she had to be up early in the morning to prepare breakfast, Lyrule couldn’t sleep. She lay under her blankets, unable to drift off. Her mind refused to stop turning. What preoccupied her thoughts more than anything was what Tsukasa had said so nonchalantly earlier that day.
“My mother abandoned me. She had her reasons. After all, I did something horrible to her. Something unforgivable—and it wounded her deeply.”
Tsukasa had hurt his mother. Enough to sever the bond between parent and child. Lyrule had only known the boy for a month, but that was more than enough to recognize his kindness and devotion to justice. The day’s turmoil had only served to further illustrate that.
That was why Lyrule just couldn’t believe it. How could Tsukasa have wounded his mother so badly she’d go and abandon him?
…What happened?
That question was keeping her up. Suddenly, she heard something. Someone was walking on the gravel outside. Wondering who it could be at that late hour, Lyrule peered out her latticed window.
“Tsukasa…”
The prime minister of Japan cut through the slumbering village and made his way to the crash site. Then he walked all the way up to the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley. Below, he could see the remnants of the airplane. Ringo had stripped it for parts, and the wreckage was growing more bleached by the day.
The young man looked up and was greeted by a blanket of stars. Even without streetlights, the world was awash in gentle light. It was thanks to that light that he’d made it to his destination without tripping or getting lost.
Tsukasa sat down and gazed up at the foreign sky. After a little while, he heard footsteps coming up behind him. He turned to see a familiar long-eared girl.
“…Hello, Lyrule.”
“Nights are cold up here in the mountains. You’re dressed so lightly, I was afraid you’d catch a cold.” Lyrule handed him the blanket she’d brought.
“Oh, you didn’t have to do that. Thank you.”
“What were you doing up here, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I was looking at the stars. You can’t see them nearly this clearly back in my country.”
It had rained the previous day, so the starry sky was especially resplendent. Its glimmer was what had called him there. However, Tsukasa could tell at a glance that wasn’t the reason Lyrule had come all this way.
“Judging from appearances, I doubt you just came here to bring me a blanket… Did you have something you needed to talk to me about?”
“H-how can you tell?”
“I’m pretty good at reading people’s faces.”
Her expression was ever-so-slightly languid, and although her blond hair shone as radiantly as gold dust in the moonlight, she also had a bit of bedhead. She’d probably been lying down but hadn’t been able to sleep. Given that she’d come here, specifically, Tsukasa inferred it had something to do with him. Hence the question.
“If there’s something on your mind, feel free to say it. I can’t think of many things I’d need to hide from you.”
Seeing how badly she’d been found out, Lyrule went ahead and cut to the chase.
“…I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say I ‘needed’ to, but…it’s about today.”
“Today? You mean the incident with the soldiers?”
“No, no. Before that. It’s… It’s about how you said your mother abandoned you after you did something horrible to her.”
“Ah, that.”
“Tsukasa…I can tell you’re a really good person. From the very moment you woke up in this world, your first concern was the people who were with you, and even today, you worked so hard to make a condiment for the kids and saved Winona. I… I just can’t see you as someone who would hurt his own mother. I don’t believe it… So I’ve just been wondering what exactly could have happened. But…I’m—I’m sorry. I really don’t mean to pry…”
“Oh, no, no. It’s my fault for being careless and letting something so ominous-sounding slip,” Tsukasa answered as Lyrule averted her eyes in apology. Telling her not to worry about it would have been pointless.
And besides, Lyrule’s…
Tsukasa and the others had heard from Mayor Ulgar that Lyrule…was an orphan Ulgar had found. She’d been abandoned in the forest before she was even old enough to walk. It was the reason she was the only one in the village without animal ears or a tail—she had no relatives in the village.
Tsukasa reasoned that, because of the way she’d grown up, the subject of his mother must have struck a nerve. This wasn’t just idle curiosity. Knowing that…it would have been inhumane to insist the matter was private and brush her off. Besides, he was the one who’d rashly invoked the topic in the first place.
Taking all that into account, the young man decided to tell her what he’d done to his mother before arriving in this world…how he’d betrayed her.
“I was telling the truth when I said I hurt my mother deeply and that she abandoned me. But she had her reasons. After all, I took the most important person in her life from her.”
“You…took…them?”
“That’s right… I killed my own father, you see.”
Tsukasa Mikogami was born to Mitsuhide Mikogami, Japan’s vice minister of finance, and to the third-generation Prime Minister Genpachirou Fuyou’s daughter, Shizuka.
Soon after Tsukasa was born, Mitsuhide took over as prime minister on Genpachirou’s recommendation. Between his powerful father and his loving mother, young Tsukasa never wanted for anything.
—However, those happy days didn’t last long.
Young as he was, Tsukasa’s wisdom and powers of perception made him realize that their happiness had been built on the foundation of his father’s misdeeds—misdeeds that ran so deep, they made Tsukasa wish for nothing more than to turn a blind eye.
Mitsuhide had done a staggering amount of embezzling and had accepted countless bribes, committing numerous violations of the Public Offices Election Act. To top it all off, he’d even had a number of political opponents, industrial detractors, and journalists who’d uncovered his improprieties assassinated.
Yet, despite all this, Tsukasa’s father was utterly beyond reproach.
Mitsuhide had spent a long time as the vice minister of finance, and because of the mountains of dirt he’d gathered on the police, the business world, and the mass media, nobody could lay a finger on him for fear of retribution. Mitsuhide Mikogami ruled over Japan as an untouchable emperor of politics and business alike. However…that situation gave rise to a tragedy.
It happened in October, the year Tsukasa entered middle school.
A domestic airliner had crashed, killing the passengers and crew. It was no mere accident, though. One of the passengers on that plane had been Mitsuhide’s old secretary, and the unscrupulous man had pulled some strings to get rid of his former aide under the guise of an act of terrorism.
In that moment, the rift between Tsukasa and his father became irreparable.
Tsukasa, who’d wanted to be an important politician like his father ever since he was a kid…could no longer tolerate his father’s misdeeds.
So he went after him.
With the help of two childhood friends—Masato Sanada, who’d already made a name for himself in the business world, and Shinobu Sarutobi, who’d sold sufficient scoops to newspapers and magazines to establish herself as a skilled journalist—Tsukasa exposed all of his father’s and his father’s accomplices’ wrongdoings. The ruling party was eradicated, and Tsukasa’s father was ousted from politics.
Afterward, at his trial for inciting homicide and instigating foreign aggression, Mitsuhide was given the death penalty. Seeing Tsukasa’s willingness to fight evil, even though it took the form of his own father, inspired joy in people and instilled them with trust for him, but…his mother never forgave him.
Tsukasa could still clearly recall the pain when she’d slapped him with her emaciated hands, withered by anxiety—
“You killed your own father for ‘the people’? For complete strangers? You’re insane!”
—and the words she’d spat at him like a curse.
“…From then on, she never met me again. I haven’t heard from her, either.”
“That’s horrible…”
“I don’t particularly resent her for it. It just goes to show how strongly she loved my father. He had to face judgment for his crimes, of course, but not her. It’s no sin to love someone. And she has every right to hate and resent me. I can’t deny her that.”
“…Can’t the two of you make up?”
“I doubt it… If I regretted my actions, that would be one thing, but…I don’t regret driving my father to his death even a little. After all, the things he did were unforgivable.
“People have all kinds of desires. Desire for money. Desire for success. Desire for fame… They’re important because they motivate people to change the world. Without desire, there can be no progress.
“However, I believe that in democracies, politicians need to set aside their selfishness. I believe that because they’re given the ‘power’ to so easily change the lives of others. If someone like that acts selfishly and wields that power for their own benefit, it only drags the nation down.
“‘Politicians are people, too. Abandoning selfishness is impossible.’
“Some people make excuses like that, but that’s unacceptable.
“When other people entrust you with ‘power’ greater than that of a single man, you have to stop being a man altogether. —In short, politicians have to become saints.”
Tsukasa believed they at least had to try. Otherwise, countless people would be destroyed under the weight of their influence.
“History bears that out. It’s not a job you can take with selfish intentions.” Upon reaching that point in his impassioned speech, Tsukasa realized he’d said more than necessary.
“Forgive me. Seeing those soldiers abuse their power this afternoon must have put me on edge. I got more heated there than I needed to. I’m sorry for making you listen to such a boring rant… Let’s head back. You were right, it really is cold up here.”
As he apologized, Tsukasa stood and turned to face Lyrule, who was standing behind him. Then…his eyes widened in surprise.
“…Why are you crying?”
Tears were rolling down Lyrule’s cheeks as she sobbed.
“Hic… I’m so sorry… But when I thought about how you must feel… It made me…so sad…” She wiped and wiped, but the tears just kept coming.
Making assumptions about people’s emotions like that was nothing but egotistic sentimentalism. She knew that, but despite it all, Lyrule couldn’t make the tears stop.
After all, she could tell.
She could tell just how happy he must have been when he cooked with his mother. In fact…Tsukasa probably even loved his immoral father, too. Yet he’d destroyed all that. His kindness and strength prevented any alternative. When she thought about that and about how it must have made him feel, her heart ached as if it might break.
“Bwaaaah…!” She couldn’t contain the sorrow welling up inside her.
Seeing the girl in such a state…Tsukasa placed a hand on her shoulder.
“…Tsukasa?”
“You have a good heart, Lyrule,” he said, pulling her into a soft embrace as he voiced his appreciation. “Thank you for shedding tears for me… I feel a little better now.”
In truth, Lyrule’s thoughtfulness had warmed his heart. He continued gently holding her close until she’d settled down.
Those warm feelings…
Directed at him alone…
Those warm tears…
Shed for him alone…
They filled him with a sort of serenity.
For a number of the days that followed in Elm Village, they put mayonnaise on everything—bread, vegetables, even in stew. It became something of a problem for the Seven Prodigies, but that’s another story altogether.
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