Shizuka Hattori didn't answer. It was as if all her strength had been sucked out instantly. She stumbled back half a step, barely staying upright by leaning against the corridor wall. The tea tray tilted, tea spilled out, wetting the hem of her expensive kimono, but she was completely oblivious.
(Kanjuro...)
(Has this name... finally... appeared again?)
(It's been eighteen years... I thought it was just a bizarre dream, an... erroneous yet unforgettable encounter...)
Her thoughts were instantly pulled back to eighteen years ago, to that university club filled with an occult atmosphere—the Occult Research Society. That dark Basement, the flickering candlelight, the layers of silhouettes, and that youth at the center of the storm—Kanjuro, handsome beyond mortal limits, with eyes as deep as a demon god's.
She, Shizuka Hattori, was also a member back then. She was not Heiji Hattori's biological mother; this was a secret even Heiji himself didn't know. She was Hattori Heizo's cousin and had grown up in the Hattori family since childhood due to family relations. On that chaotic and long night eighteen years ago, she was likewise not spared, drawn into that unspeakable dark ritual led by Kanjuro.
After that night, she fled in panic, trying to return to a normal life. However, she discovered something abnormal about her body—she was pregnant.
The father of the child was, without a doubt, Kanjuro.
This realization plunged her into immense panic and struggle. She harbored a complex emotion toward that mysterious youth—a mix of fear and infatuation that even she couldn't understand. She loved him deeply; that love was like a brand seared into her soul. Even knowing he didn't belong to the mortal world, even knowing that night might have just been an absurd dream, she couldn't help herself. It was precisely because of this distorted yet real deep love that she couldn't accept marrying anyone else or letting another man touch her.
Ultimately, she made a painful decision. She did not give birth to that child.
At that very time, her cousin Hattori Heizo encountered some trouble—he had a fleeting affair with a courtesan and fathered a boy, who was Heiji. However, that woman had a unique identity and was unwilling to be tied down; after leaving the child behind, she disappeared. The Hattori family needed a mistress to care for the child and maintain the family's dignity.
Hattori Shizuka seized this opportunity. In the capacity of a stepmother, she married her cousin Hattori Heizo (mostly in name only) and took on the responsibility of raising Heiji. In this way, she not only solved the issue of her own future but could also pour all that unspeakable, displaced love and longing for Kanjuro onto raising this child who had a subtle connection to him (both being products of Kanjuro's "sowing" period). She twistedly transferred her love for Kanjuro onto Heiji.
For eighteen years, she had cautiously guarded this secret, burying those memories of the Old School Building and Kanjuro deep within, believing that time would completely weather them away.
Until this moment, when she heard that name—Kanjuro—a name where nightmare and obsession coexisted, once again from her son's mouth.
He was back. Moreover, he had appeared beside her son Heiji, whom she treated as her own, and Heiji's beloved girl, Kazuha!
"Mom? Mom! What's wrong? Why do you look so pale?" Heiji Hattori finally noticed something was wrong with his mother and hurried forward to support her.
Hattori Shizuka snapped back to her senses. Looking at her son's anxious face, a storm raged in her heart. She struggled to calm her surging emotions and forced a very strained smile:
"It's... it's nothing... just a sudden dizzy spell." She avoided her son's searching gaze, her voice still carrying an imperceptible tremor. "You just said... Kazuha and that Kanjuro... they..."
She didn't dare ask further, fearing she would hear the answer that terrified her.
Heiji Hattori simply assumed his mother was unwell and had been upset by his words. He said sullenly, "Anyway, that's how it is! Mom, don't worry about it! I'll handle my own business!" After saying that, he ran his hand through his hair irritably, turned, and rushed back to his room, slamming the door with a loud bang.
In the empty corridor, only Hattori Shizuka remained. She slumped weakly onto the floor, her expensive kimono spreading out around her, heedless of her poise. She covered her face with her hands, her shoulders trembling slightly.
(Kanjuro... what exactly do you want to do now that you're back?)
(Heiji... Kazuha...)
(Could it be... that you won't even let my child go?)
Immense fear and a fated sense of despair wrapped tightly around her. The past she thought she had hidden so well, the nightmare she thought had ended long ago, had never truly left; it was returning in an even more ferocious manner. Ginshiro Toyama's funeral ended in solemnity and sorrow. Before the black mourning clothes were even changed out of, new undercurrents were already surging.
Kazuha was physically and mentally exhausted, yet a strange sense of dependence and stability coexisted with her grief. During last night's wake, in her extreme vulnerability, she had fallen into a deep sleep in Kanjuro's arms. That helplessness she felt after her father's passing, as if the world were collapsing, seemed to have found a solid fulcrum to entrust everything to. Even though this fulcrum itself was one of the culprits who had pushed her into such a state. Overnight, the relationship between the two had crossed the final boundary, becoming "intimately close," at least in terms of emotional dependence.
Just then, she received a phone call from Hattori Shizuka. Over the phone, this aunt who had always treated her gently spoke with an concern that was hard to hide and an imperceptible urgency. She invited Kazuha to the Hattori residence as a guest, saying she wanted to comfort her and also talk about her and Heiji.
Kazuha held the phone and looked hesitantly at Kanjuro beside her. Kanjuro was leisurely sipping tea, as if he understood everything.
"Is it Aunt Hattori?" He put down his teacup, his tone gentle. "She's inviting you over?"
"Yes." Kazuha nodded, her eyes reflecting complex emotions. "Auntie has always been very good to me... I... I think I should go and make things clear to her... about me and Heiji, and... us..." Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she didn't continue.
Kanjuro smiled slightly, a smile carrying the composure of someone in total control. "It's only right to make things clear. However..." He changed the subject, his eyes becoming "worried," "Heiji Hattori was so emotional yesterday. I'm worried he or his family might hurt you out of displaced anger. After all, in their eyes, I'stole' you away."
He deliberately created a context where Kazuha was the "victim" and he was the "protector."
Kazuha was immediately led by him. Her slight dissatisfaction with Heiji Hattori's behavior yesterday was stirred up again, while a wave of gratitude and dependence toward Kanjuro surged within her. She shook her head vigorously, looking at Kanjuro with determined eyes:
"They won't! With Brother Kanjuro accompanying me, I'm not afraid! As long as you're by my side, I'm not afraid of anything!"
Her trust was so pure, so blind, completely surrendered to this man who had dragged her into the vortex.
Kanjuro reached out with satisfaction and gently stroked her cheek, his movements intimate and natural. "Good, then I'll go with you. I won't let anyone hurt my Kazuha."
His words were like sweet poison, making Kazuha drown in them completely.
In the afternoon, Kanjuro and Kazuha arrived at the Hattori Mansion together. The old Japanese-style estate exuded majesty and a sense of history, but at this moment in their eyes, it seemed like a dragon's den or a tiger's lair.
Hattori Shizuka had been waiting in the Tea Room for a long time. She wore an elegant Light Purple Kimono, her hair styled meticulously. She struggled to maintain her composure, but her hands, tightly clenched on her knees, were slightly pale, revealing the turmoil within.
When the sliding door was pushed open, she first saw Kazuha, whose face was pale and eyes were filled with sorrow, yet who was struggling to keep her back straight. However, her gaze was instantly and firmly captured by the figure beside Kazuha, unable to look away.
Kanjuro.
It was still that handsome face from her memory, almost unnervingly beautiful. Time had left no mark on him; only those eyes were deeper and colder than eighteen years ago, possessing a power that could see through the human heart. The corners of his mouth held a faint, ambiguous curve as he calmly met her gaze, as if admiring an interesting old object.
Hattori Shizuka's heart felt as if it were being gripped hard by an invisible hand, and breathing suddenly became difficult. It really was him! He really was back! And, just as she feared most, he had become entangled with the younger generation!
"Aunt Shizuka." Kazuha bowed politely in greeting, her voice still carrying a hint of raspiness.
Hattori Shizuka snapped back to her senses, forcibly suppressing her churning thoughts and trying to keep her voice steady. "Kazuha, you're here... Quick, please sit down." Her gaze moved with difficulty from Kanjuro's face to Kazuha, carrying genuine pity. "Child, you've suffered..."
She motioned for the two to sit. After the maid served tea and snacks, she quietly withdrew, leaving only the three of them in the Tea Room. The atmosphere instantly became subtle and tense.
Hattori Shizuka took a deep breath and decided to take the initiative. She looked at Kanjuro, her tone carrying a deliberate distance and questioning. "This must be Mr. Kanjuro, right? I've heard Heiji mention you. I wonder what advice you have for coming here with Kazuha today?"
Kanjuro gracefully picked up his teacup and gently blew on the steam, his movements leisurely and unhurried, as if he were the master of the house.
"I wouldn't dare offer advice." He looked up, his gaze calmly meeting Hattori Shizuka's. That look seemed able to penetrate all her disguises and reach the deepest secrets of her heart. "It's just that Kazuha is in a bad mood. I was worried that if she came alone, she might be affected by some... irrational emotions, so I accompanied her. After all, as her current boyfriend, it is my responsibility to protect her."
The word "boyfriend" was spoken clearly and firmly, hitting Hattori Shizuka's heart like a heavy hammer.
Beside him, hearing Kanjuro admit their relationship so directly, Kazuha's cheeks flushed crimson, and she lowered her head shyly, silently confirming his statement.
Hattori Shizuka's face paled by several more degrees. She clenched her fists tightly, her nails almost digging into her flesh. Looking at Kazuha's expression of complete trust and even happy shyness, and then at Kanjuro's posture of total control, a chill rushed from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.
(He really... he still used those soul-bewitching methods of his!)
(This child Kazuha has been completely enchanted by him!)
"Boyfriend?" Hattori Shizuka's voice carried an imperceptible tremor. She forced herself to maintain her aura, her sharp gaze shooting toward Kanjuro. "Mr. Kanjuro, are you aware of the bond Kazuha and Heiji have from growing up together? Are you aware of what kind of consequences your intervention will cause? Furthermore, I've heard that you seem to have more than just Kazuha as a 'female friend' by your side?"
Her questioning carried the authority of an elder and the protective instinct for a child.
Upon hearing this, Kanjuro laughed softly, a low laugh carrying a hint of mockery.
"Ms. Shizuka," he put down his teacup and leaned forward slightly, his gaze like a scalpel precisely dissecting Hattori Shizuka's forced composure. "Matters of the heart are like drinking water; only the one drinking knows if it's cold or warm. Kazuha has already made her choice. As for the consequences you mentioned..."
Upon hearing this, Kanjuro laughed softly, a low laugh carrying a hint of mockery as if he saw through everything.
"Consequences?" He repeated the word, his gaze like a cold probe piercing into the depths of Hattori Shizuka's eyes as she struggled to stay calm. "The 'consequences' you speak of are nothing I fear. As long as I can be with Kazuha, any so-called 'consequences' are not worth mentioning to me."
His words were forceful and resonant, carrying a kind of certainty that bordered on obsession, as if announcing an indisputable fact. This unmasked, even somewhat overbearing "devotion" was like a fine needle, unexpectedly piercing the softest and most hidden corner of Hattori Shizuka's heart.
(As long as I can be with... then I'm not afraid of anything...)
(He... toward Kazuha, he actually...)
A mix of bitterness and an indescribable envy quietly spread in her heart. Eighteen years ago, had she not also fantasized about such recklessness? But in the end, reality, fear, and cowardice toward the unknown made her choose to flee, to bury it, and even to give up that child who might have carried his bloodline. Now, seeing Kanjuro show this almost tyrannical possessiveness and "at all costs" attitude toward Kazuha, her heart, which had been silent for many years, actually felt bitter ripples.
Just then, Kazuha also summoned her courage and looked up. Though her eyes still held the vulnerability of her recent grief, she looked at Hattori Shizuka with exceptional firmness:
"Aunt Shizuka, thank you for your concern. But, between Heiji and me... it's already over. This is my own decision; it has nothing to do with Heiji, and even less to do with Brother Kanjuro. I hope... we can still be family in the future. You will always be the aunt I respect most. Please... please take care of yourself."
Her words were clear and decisive, completely severing any future possibility with Heiji Hattori and thoroughly blocking any room for Hattori Shizuka to try and salvage the situation.
Hattori Shizuka looked at Kazuha's young and stubborn face and heard her words, which sounded like a final judgment; the last sliver of hope in her heart shattered. She knew this girl; once she set her mind on something, nine bulls couldn't pull her back. Moreover, there was that... deadly venomous snake, Kanjuro, entrenched by her side.
She let out a deep, weary sigh, as if she had aged several years in an instant. Her gaze lingered for a moment on Kanjuro's impassive face, and complex emotions surged through her like a tide—fear, resentment, a trace of lingering old affection, and that damned, inescapable envy.
Finally, as if she had made some sort of decision, she turned to Kazuha and tried to make her voice sound calm:
"Kazuha, I understand... what you mean. Since it is your own choice... I... respect you." She paused, forcing down the sob in her throat, "I am gratified that you can treat me as family. Why don't you go to the Side Hall to rest for a bit and have some hot tea, okay? I have some things... I want to talk to Mr. Kanjuro about privately."
Kazuha looked at Kanjuro with some concern. Kanjuro gave her a reassuring, comforting look and nodded slightly.
"Okay, Auntie." Kazuha nodded obediently and stood up. She whispered "I'll wait for you" to Kanjuro before leaving the Tea Room, looking back every few steps.
The sliding door was gently closed, isolating the inside from the outside.
Only Kanjuro and Hattori Shizuka remained in the Tea Room. The air was filled with the fragrance of aged tea, yet it was also charged with the invisible smoke of a confrontation.
Hattori Shizuka straightened her back, completely shedding her previous mask of a gentle elder. It was replaced by a sharp intensity mixed with fear, anger, and determination. She looked directly at Kanjuro, her voice low but as sharp as a blade:
"Kanjuro! What on earth do you want?! It's been eighteen years! Why did you have to come back?! Why provoke Heiji and Kazuha?! Haven't you harmed me enough?!"
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