Father, is in the hospital.
The doctor said he would wake up today.
Miyajima Tsubaki thought as she kneaded rice balls in the kitchen.
Her father's injuries were not too severe, which was a blessing in disguise.
But Tsubaki was still not very happy; her originally peaceful life had been shattered by Miyajima Sosaku's appearance... Originally, when facing Miyajima Sosaku, her father had supported the family. But now he was in the hospital...
Miyajima Tsubaki had been a good child who strictly followed family rules since she was young.
She almost never argued with anyone.
After Miyajima was born, she devoted herself entirely to her family and daughter. From then on, let alone "arguments," the number of times she communicated with "outsiders" became extremely rare... She didn't know how she, like this, could resist Miyajima Sosaku.
No, it wasn't just Miyajima Sosaku, even more dangerous was...
That guy named Snake Mound George.
He had sent her a text message before.
A simple "Have you found Kiichiro-san?" Miyajima Tsubaki didn't reply.
But Tsubaki knew that he had her contact information... Just this one thing was enough to make her uneasy.
Even though she had only met him once, Tsubaki could feel that Snake Mound was an extremely dangerous person.
If she were to confront him...
Tsubaki clenched her fists.
She probably wouldn't have any chance of winning.
In fact, Tsubaki, who had never learned Kendo, would not be a match for her daughter Miyajima, neither in physical ability nor in combat skills...
But Tsubaki could never push her daughter forward.
Father is not here.
It was time for her to shelter this family from the wind and rain.
But how should she do this?
Miyajima Tsubaki hadn't come up with a suitable method; the only thing she could probably do was to deal with problems as they arose... take it one step at a time...
Tsubaki's face and brows were filled with worry.
Making her originally beautiful face look quite bitter.
Besides Miyajima and her father's faces flashing through her mind, a young man frequently appeared in between them...
"If anything goes wrong, you can call me, you have my number" ← He had said this to her.
And his attitude was quite sincere when he said it... Although his expression was calm at the time, Miyajima Tsubaki could still feel the sincerity in his words.
If she entrusted it to him...
If she told him...
Miyajima Tsubaki began to waver.
But would doing so drag him into Miyajima's predicament as well, or even worse, transfer the danger to him?
Thinking of this, Miyajima Tsubaki couldn't help but get goosebumps.
Even the shape of the rice ball in her hand was distorted.
No, this won't do.
That would be too selfish.
Miyajima Tsubaki flattened the rice ball in her hand again, wanting to reshape it...
She suddenly seemed to remember something and looked up at the clock on the wall.
Because her heart was too conflicted, she hadn't had time to pay attention to the time...
Normally, Miyajima should have been back by now.
She looked at the sky outside again; it was already gradually darkening... The weather today was originally not good, and now it was even harder to see the distant scenery.
It was hazy, as if a terrifying beast was hidden within it.
Miyajima Tsubaki stared into the distance, and after a while, she shook her head, trying to drive away the anxious emotions in her mind.
No, it won't happen.
She told herself.
Miyajima won't be in trouble; she must have been delayed by something... like a committee meeting or something similar.
Thinking this.
Miyajima Tsubaki pulled out her phone from her apron pocket, planning to call her daughter to ask.
After unlocking the screen, the first thing that popped up was the chat interface.
"With Hayato."
": How are you today?"
A very brief greeting, but Miyajima Tsubaki didn't reply.
It seemed that ever since she had met the young man as "Sawamura Airiri" and said goodbye, Miyajima Tsubaki had not exchanged any more text messages with Hayato.
Miyajima Tsubaki bit her lip, suppressing the urge to reply "Not good"... She exited the chat, and just as she was about to call her daughter.
She received a newly sent text message.
"Your daughter is in my hands. If you don't want anything to happen to her, come to the entrance of the abandoned cinema in Shikenjaya in an hour. If you don't come, your daughter will suffer for you..."
Miyajima Tsubaki's heart first tightened, then she deceived herself that it was just some scam spam.
She looked at the sender's number again.
She was immediately terrified.
She instantly ran out of the kitchen, her face pale.
Rushing towards the door.
Miyajima... How could Miyajima...
She forgot to change out of her indoor slippers until she rushed into the yard and felt uncomfortable on her feet.
Miyajima Tsubaki immediately calculated the distance from her home to Shikenjaya.
An hour by subway was more than enough.
She took two deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down. Being too panicked would only lead to more problems... At least for now, she should change her shoes first.
She returned home, and while changing her shoes, she dialed the number that had sent the text message.
Twice in a row.
Neither call went through.
"...Damn it!" Miyajima Tsubaki stomped her foot hard, the heel of her leather shoe hitting the floor with a "thud."
But apart from that, it was useless.
"I can only... go to Shikenjaya first."
Miyajima Tsubaki muttered to herself. She placed her hand over her chest, seemingly wanting to suppress her violently beating heart. But what she saw was her trembling fingertips... Miyajima Tsubaki quickly shook her hand and tried to leave again.
This time, her foot hadn't even stepped out the door.
She seemed to have thought of something.
Without changing her shoes, she walked into the hallway inside the genkan—something that would absolutely not be tolerated normally.
But Miyajima Tsubaki couldn't care less about so many things now.
She walked directly into her room with her leather shoes on.
She picked up the small cherry blossom hairpin placed on her bedside table...
She pursed her lips, pulled back her side hair, and then lightly clipped it with the hairpin.
"I hope... you can bring me good luck."
She whispered.
She didn't know if she was speaking to the hairpin, or to the "things" it symbolized behind it...
She walked to the genkan again.
Miyajima Tsubaki looked at the path she had just walked.
A long, incongruous shoe print was left on the wooden floor.
She gave a bitter smile.
"I'll deal with you all when I get back."
If she could even return safely, that is.
It only took forty minutes.
Miyajima Tsubaki had already arrived at Shikenjaya.
And she easily found the abandoned movie theater there.
Shikenjaya was a rare, rather unprosperous area in Tokyo.
The buildings here were old and messy.
This movie theater was no exception.
Perhaps because it had been abandoned for a long time, there were no pedestrians on this street.
Aside from Miyajima Tsubaki, who had just walked over, there was another figure standing abruptly at the entrance of the movie theater.
He was wearing denim overalls like those on a construction site, but he had a duck-down-colored baseball cap on.
The upper half of his face was hidden in the shadow of the cap, while the lower half was covered by a black mask.
It's this person.
This was Miyajima Tsubaki's first thought upon seeing the person in front of the movie theater.
Both his attire and his demeanor gave off a "kidnapper" vibe, but she still couldn't be sure... If she made a mistake here and the other party noticed something, it would be very troublesome...
Miyajima Tsubaki hesitated whether to go forward and speak.
"…Madam Tsubaki." The person over there pressed down his cap and spoke first.
Miyajima Tsubaki was stunned.
It wasn't because the person in front of her exhibited any strange behavior.
It was because his voice, though extremely low, was still discernible as a woman's voice.
In other words, if recorded in written text, the address for the person in front should change from "he" to "she."
"You know me?" Miyajima Tsubaki asked.
The person did not answer; she merely smiled softly.
"Where's Sakura?" Miyajima Tsubaki couldn't help but ask sharply.
The person still didn't answer.
She just pulled open the back door of the truck and said:
"Please."
Miyajima Tsubaki watched her warily, her feet not only not moving forward but tending to retreat.
But the baseball cap woman just smiled faintly:
"You need to be obedient. If you're not obedient, Miss Sakura will..."
Miyajima Tsubaki's eyes grew cold.
"I want to see Sakura."
The baseball cap woman smiled mysteriously: "You will see her."
"…I want to see her now," Tsubaki said.
"Hey…"
The baseball cap woman's demeanor noticeably lowered. Although her eyes were obscured by the brim of her hat, it was clear from her slightly lowered, sharp chin that this woman was looking at her with upward-slanted eyes. At the same time, her voice became rougher: "Don't be a bitch and play hard to get! Is this a marketplace for you to haggle, you idiot?!...Or do you want to collect your daughter's corpse?!"
After a barrage of rude, tongue-clicking sounds, Miyajima Tsubaki could only bite her lip and obey the baseball cap woman.
As she struggled to climb into the back of the truck, the baseball cap woman also cleanly propped herself up with one hand and entered the compartment.
At close proximity, Miyajima Tsubaki noticed a series of details about the baseball cap woman.
Although she wore shapeless work overalls, her well-endowed figure was still discernible.
Her skin was milky white.
She likely had short hair, dyed a vibrant red.
But before she could observe further.
She was forcibly turned around, her hands bound behind her back, and then her wrists were roughly tied with something.
It was probably hemp rope.
"What are you doing!"
Just as Miyajima Tsubaki was about to shout, the woman took something similar to a belt from behind her… But unlike a belt, it was shorter and had no buckle; instead, it had a spherical object.
"Less nonsense."
The baseball cap woman stuffed this thing into Miyajima Tsubaki's mouth.
Then the belt cinched.
"Mmm, mmm…"
Miyajima Tsubaki wanted to scream in humiliation, but it was useless.
Aside from being able to make faint sounds from her throat, only saliva could flow from her mouth.
"…And this too." The baseball cap woman took out an eye mask and placed it over Miyajima Tsubaki's face.
Instantly, Miyajima Tsubaki could neither speak nor see.
A feeling of panic arose from the depths of her heart.
She wanted to struggle.
Her hands were bound again.
Even her ankles were tied with hemp rope.
She truly couldn't move.
In this situation, she seemed to hear the baseball cap woman say something.
"I haven't even used them myself, and I've given them all to you… Sigh."
After speaking, the baseball cap woman jumped out of the truck, first taking a pack of cigarettes from her jacket pocket, lighting one, and then fumbling for her phone to send a text message.
"Boss, I've caught the woman. What should I do next?"
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