Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon - Volume 1 - Chapter 27

Chapte 27 - Each with their own agenda

Saimori Shinichi held his head in his hands.

The situation was getting more and more chaotic and there didn't seem to be anyone with an ounce of normal judgement left. Everyone seemed to have lost their minds over the possibility of becoming a bride of the Kudou family, and by extension, Kudou Kiyoka, or the allure of the Usuba family blood flowing through Miyo's veins.

Saimori Shinichi himself did not want to make an enemy out of the Kudou family... but there was no way he could lower his head to Miyo. Being caught between two choices he could not do anything about, he became impatient and had long lost the ability to consider things calmly.

"There's no need for you to be this distraught, all will be fine as long as we can get Miyo to say she wants to give up the position of Kudou's fiance."

The head of the Tatsuishi family seated in front of him was completely unperturbed.

I will take Miyo back. It was not long ago when this man came to see him with such a remark. He had already grabbed hold of Miyo's whereabouts and forcefully brought her to this mansion.

While it was true that Saimori Shinichi thought that something had to be done as well, he was also reluctant to take such a heavy-handed approach.

Tatsuishi Minoru who incited Kaya to kidnap Miyo for the sake of obtaining the blood of the Usuba family.

Kaya was jealous that her half-sister, whom she had always looked down on, was about to reverse their standing and wanted to replace her.

Kanoko was angry that after her life was ruined by that woman, her daughter was doing the same, and was taking out her hatred on her.

Everyone, including Saimori Shinichi, was all brilliantly concerned with themselves.

However, other than this, there was no longer any way out of this. Only by pretending that the engagement with the Kudou family never happened, could everything go back to square one. By doing so, not only could he appease Kiyoka, he could also erase that abominable dilemma.

Once he got that convenient idea in his head, there was no other choice but to go along with Tatsuishi Minoru's ridiculous plan.

—Just don't think too deeply into how stupid it was.

"Just get Miyo to sign her name. If Kudou Kiyoka says anything, I'll just use it as a shield— what, you aren't even formally engaged-and that should be enough."

"That's... legal, I suppose."

If the person herself signed a written document stating that there's no engagement, it would signify that there was little intention for a political manoeuvre from the beginning and confirm that no marriage was arranged between the two parties.

As a result, Miyo who they wanted to get rid of would come back, but Tatsuishi Minoru seemed to plan on taking her in, and this was far better than worsening the relationship with the Kudou family.

However, he couldn't help but feel like he was making a huge mistake.

At that moment, no one except Kaya had considered the possibility of Miyo and Kiyoka having mutual affection for each other.

★ ★ ★

He had sworn that he would protect Miyo.

And for that reason, he made the conscious decision to be Kaya's fiance and the next head of the Saimori family.

But in the end, what was it like in reality?

Kouji bit his lip to the point it drew blood.

Kaya was acting strangely, saying things like her wanting to switch positions with her half- sister. And when he shot down her impractical idea, she decided that she would go to the Tatsuishi residence to speak with Kouji's father.

Her actions were too suspicious, so he followed her and he chanced upon the absurd conversation between Kaya and his father.

"So, if Onee-sama says so..."

"Yeah, then it would be her choice and Kudou will have to follow her wishes. Since it's Miyo, she'll give in the moment she hears what you say."

"That's right! Okaa-sama will definitely help me. You'll bring Onee-sama to me won't you, Oji-sama?"

"Of course."

If that's the case, everything would surely go as planned. Kaya exclaimed while clapping her hands together gleefully.

"This is nonsense! Just what are you thinking about, Kaya, Tou-san!?"

When Kouji hurriedly rushed into the room and interrupted them, he found himself greeted by their piercing, cold eyes.

"What? Haven't I already told you just now? I'm going to ruin Onee-sama's marriage prospects and take her place. Just as you've said just now, Kouji-san, I need Chichi-sama's permission to do so but that doesn't seem viable, so I came to consult Oji-sama for an alternative solution."

"No way..."

He looked at his father in disbelief.

"ln order to obtain Miyo... it can't be helped."

"Don't interfere with the matters of other families-wasn't that what you've always said to me...!"

In the past, his father stopped him many times whenever he attempted to help Miyo. He would tell Kouji not to poke his nose into the matters of other families.

Were his father's current actions not in contradiction to that?

Seeing Kouji bring that up, Tatsuishi Minoru sighed.

"I couldn't let the Saimoris realise Miyo's value by carelessly defending her at that time. What if they decided not to let her go, it would become troublesome."

"...Huh?"

What was that?

"lt was a lot more convenient for Miyo to be isolated so that the Saimoris would not realise her value and hide her away."

In other words, he continued to sit on the sidelines, deliberately not reaching out to lend a helping hand to Miyo for this so-called reason.

When Kouji realised what exactly his father had done, all the anger he had in him shot through the roof and he lost it. All the blood rushed up to his head and he was starting to see red.

—It was unforgivable.

Because... no way...

There was no way his father never knew just how much pain and suffering Miyo went through, to the point where she couldn't even smile. For him to just leave it be like it was nothing, that's not even something a human would do.

And to think he spent all this time listening to this monstersi. Kouji was mad at himself as well and he could feel his blood boiling.

Then, the window in the room cracked open with a snap.

He had lost control of his emotions.

The flames of fury in Kouji overflowed and began to interfere with the real world in the form of his powers going berserk.

"...Unforgivable!"

"Kouji, it's useless. Stop it."

"I don't want to listen to you anymore!"

The furniture placed in the room such as the tables, chairs, and shelves all startled to rattle.

"...You should go home, Kaya."

"Oji-sama."

"l'll pay a visit to your house once I clear things up here."

"Understood. Just leave the matter with Onee-sama to me, alright?"

Kaya took a glance at Kouji before leaving the room quietly, as if she had lost interest.

The moment the door closed, all the objects in the room started going against gravity and floating in the air.

"I won't let you hurt Miyo any more...!"

Along with Kouji's shout, the objects in the air started flying towards Tatsuishi Minoru with tremendous speed.

Psychokinesis. The basic ability to move objects without direct contact or the use of tools. With the power Koji originally possessed, it was barely enough to make a single chair float, but now it was clearly more than that. If this lands on target, a human body would easily be crushed and blown away.

However, Tatsuishi Minoru just stood there without even the slightest change in expression.

"I'm surprised you had this much power... though I suppose, the magnitude and quality of different abilities can be somewhat influenced by emotions."

Then, Tatsuishi Minoru lightly raised a hand and everything that was a hair's breadth away from hitting him stopped in its tracks and slowly landed on the ground.

"Why!? Move... Move!"

"You fool. Did you think you could win when you aren't even properly trained as an ability user?"

Kouji's ability which blew through the room like a massive storm had already quieted down and there was no reaction or sign of anything.

The anger within him still hadn't subsided but he was no longer able to produce power beyond his original abilities as he did earlier.

"Damn it... Why? Why!"

Why was he so weak? He acted all high and mighty, saying that he would protect Miyo, but when it actually came to it, he was powerless. He was basically just like a naive child.

As frustrating as it was, there was nothing he could do as tears of frustration rolled down his cheeks.

After that, Kouji was knocked down, restrained through the use of a technique, and confined in his room by his father.

Miyo must've probably been captured by his father's men and sent to the Saimori residence by now.

He couldn't do anything, despite knowing that she was in danger, he was unable to stop his father alone.

From the beginning, it was his fault for sitting on the fence in the first place.

Was it kindness? Wrong. He was indecisive, timid, and cowardly. He didn't do anything until he was met with this helpless situation; he didn't make a choice.

"I really am... such an idiot."

He should have chosen sooner. If he truly wanted to protect Miyo, he should have put in a reasonable effort to do that rather than just saying it.

It's too late to regret it now. There was no way for an untrained ability user like Kouji to get to the Samori mansion, and even if he could, history would only repeat itself.

"Have you given up?"

Suddenly, he caught a voice he hadn't heard in a while and Kouji raised his head.

"Nii-san..."

Before he knew it, his brother, Tatsuishi Kazushi, was standing right beside him.

"What are you doing here?"

"What you ask? Well, I guess it's time for me to decide."

Ever since his brother graduated from school, that man neither got a regular job nor helped out in the family business. He just spent his time idly, playing around. Dressed flamboyantly while toying with the fan in his hand-opening and closing it-he was the perfect portrait of a playboy.

Kouji chided him inwardly for not coming home and pretending to be ignorant of the ongoings all this while.

"You're probably just here fora laugh anyway... Go back."

"Oh, don't say that, under certain circumstances, releasing a foolish younger brother who miserably got himself confined isn't exactly a bad thing, is it?"

Kouji wanted to rebut him-who's the stupid brother, you're the stupid one-but he couldn't deny that he was foolish so he kept his mouth shut.

"Hmm, by the way, what will you do after I release you, my foolish brother?"

"I'm going to save Miyo"

"I think you'll lose again."

"Even so, I won't give up."

Since he didn't have the actual skills to help Miyo, it was without a doubt just for his own self-satisfaction. However, it was still different from just giving up without even trying.

"...Oh, my stupid little brother, you really are dumb, so inflexible."

"Shut up."

"What's the point of getting that self-satisfaction when you know you can't help, only to give up in the end. Isn't that the same as not doing anything."

That was a very good point his elder brother posed; he had no words to say.

"..Then what do I do?"

However vexing it was, Kouji couldn't answer so he lowered his head and asked softly.

His brother's laughter from behind the fan was sounded so terribly piercing to his ears.

"Don't try to solve everything by yourself. If you can't win on your own, you'll just have to bring someone that can, no?"

"..."

"Do you regret it? However, this is the result of your own negligence. Up till this point, you've been all talk and no action; you didn't make a choice. This is what happens when you half-heartedly get involved in other's problem when you don't have the strength to do anything."

When Kazushi slammed the fan shut against his palm, the restraints on Kouji immediately came undone. Kouji couldn't help but widen his eyes as he looked around, searching for traces of a technique being used.

"That technique-where is it?"

As the eldest son, as an ability user, his talent shouldn't have surpassed their father. And yet, he easily undid their father's technique without even touching Kouji.

"If you have the time to worry about such trivial things, don't you think you should go quickly?"

"Ah... Nii-san..."

Kouji didn't thank his brother. He felt that part of the reason things turned out this way was because of his brother's lack of action as the next head of the family, Kouji turned on his heel and ran off immediately with his back to his brother.

An ability user strong enough to save Miyo-only one such person came to mind.

Time was running out. Kouji rushed straight down to the base of the Anti-supernatural Unit.

"Well then, I wonder if we can get Kudou on our side? Anyways, Tou-san isn't good anymore, and if I had to choose, my foolish brother is the only choice."

If he kidnapped the daughter of another family, it would surely be the end of them. It'd only be a fool's errand to try and support his father only to fall to ruin in the end; that's too dumb.

It was worthwhile to stay neutral for so long, only choosing a safer path in times of crisis like this.

Then, Kazushi burst out laughing to himself.