{Komiwa}

‘Sup, people? It’s yo ex-hitman girl, Komi, here. Things were a liiiitle heavy with the reveals and drama last night, but let me try to sum up what happened.

Mailigon revealed her identity as a Dragon and her motivations of being in Padimon to everyone, that is my party, Nao-chin, and Mama, in the Black Cat Pub. To prevent an overbearing daddy and siscon brother Dragon pair possibly destroying Padimon, we’ve offered to lend Mailigon our help to find her dear friend, Umeiyon, who may be the only one that can stop said pair. That is, after I finish my business with my target that Mama gave me intel to.

Speaking of Mama, she’s also revealed to Nao-chin that same night that she was Jin-chi’s great grandmother, Madashi Kotori. Yes, you read that right, great grandmother, and she’s currently looking in her early to mid twenties. It seems when she finished her life on Earth, the Immortals gave her a bonus to change her body’s age to her choosing before getting transferred to Raiza. Makes sense, because you won’t last long in the new world as an old hag, even if you are a D-Human. And of course, Madashi—now going as the ‘Mama who runs the Black Cat Pub’—decided to change her body back to her prime, yet somehow still kept her white hair for personal reasons. I was still surprised this was the same old hag that led the Kurokichi Clan as its 8th chairman back on Earth, the same one who arranged for me to be Jin-chi’s mistress/bodyguard.

Huh? Did I forget to mention about Mama being the 8th chairman of a long-standing yakuza clan? Well, it seems like Mama isn’t really into the yakuza business in Raiza, but she still lends a hand to other members of the clan like me when they get transferred here. She sometimes uses a private networking system she set up with other former yakuza members to gather information, like how she found my Champion target, and I’m sure she’ll do the same thing to find Umeiyon’s whereabouts. Nao-chin’s a bit of a strange case since she’s not officially part of the clan, but she still managed to become a D-Human by making a pact with Jin-chi’s mother, Misaki, through personal reasons of her own.

Wanting to know what those reasons are is why I invited Nao-chi to a cafe where the two of us can talk. I would have asked last night, but Nao-chi was so out of it after learning Mama’s origins that she wasn’t in a good condition to talk then. Incidentally, the rest of my party and Mailigon are currently going around Alluga finding info about Umeiyon’s whereabouts. I was going to do the last bit of preparation for the assault on my target after this.

“Feeling any better from last night, Nao-chi?” I asked.

“Well … as good as I can get, I guess,” Nao-chi said before sighing, “Seriously, though? Ma-chi’s great grandmother? That would mean she’s Kan-chi’s grandmother, right? Aaaaaaugh, it’s gonna be so awkward working under the same building with her from now on.”

‘Kan-chi’? Is that how she addresses Jin-chi’s mom, even after the pact? She’s got more guts than I gave her credit for.

Nao-chi sighed again after venting her complaints, then supported her head on her hand while she lazily stirred her tea, “So, you want to talk about how I relate to Ma-chi, right?”

I nodded, “Yes. After Hyo-chin and I moved away as kids, you played a significant part in what kinds of girls Jin-chi fancies through a good chunk of his life. At least, that’s what my sources told me as I tried to learn how to get close to him while I studied overseas. What I find strange is that Jin-chi never mentioned anything about you, or at the least having an ‘aneki’, to me or Hyo-chin throughout our time together in high school.”

“Whaaaaat? Ma-chi never talked about me? Can’t believe he’d be so cold … then again, I wasn’t putting in any effort staying connected with him before my death, either,” Nao-chi said before deflating with guilt.

“That’s why I’d like to know how you and Jin-chi met, why you made the pact with his mother, and why he hasn’t mentioned you to us before,” I said, furrowing my brow, “As one of his closest friends and future mistress, I need to know all I can about him.”

“This feels more like an interrogation, and I’m still mixed about Ma-chi having a ‘mistress’, but … well, knowing how abnormal his life is, and how well he got along with my friends, maybe this shouldn’t be too far off field?” she asked before sighing, “You better tell me how you and him met in exchange. We’re pretty much allies working for the same goal, right?”

“... Yeah, you’re right. I can do that much, at least,” I said.

Nao-chin then reminisced about his first meeting with Jin-chi. The circumstances behind it, what led him to call her ‘Aneki’, how she met Mikan later, and how the three of them started spending time together from that point. I admit it’s a bit worrying to hear a young boy hanging out with high school gals under normal circumstances, but perhaps it’s because it’s Jin-chi that Nao-chi and her high school friends got along better with him than I thought.

Nao-chin sighed nostalgically, “I really miss those days when I could just hold him like a stuffed animal for no reason … if he grew any bigger than he did in his junior high school days, though, I guess that much is impossible now.”

“So you still saw him during those times?” I asked.

“Only for a few times during holidays, I was busy with college studies,” she corrected, “We kept well in touch through phone calls, at first, but … I don’t know, I guess it’s because life happened that we didn’t call each other as often, and the few times I came back home for the holidays, Ma-chi acted differently around me. If I had to guess … puberty must have happened, and he got more self-conscious around me. Over time, we contacted each other less and less before we stopped altogether.”

“Just out of curiosity, what were your plans if you hadn’t died off on Earth?” I asked.

“Well, after I finished my education, I’d go back to Ikebukuro to open a restaurant, and … if I happen to run into Ma-chi again by coincidence, if his cooking has gone better than when I graduated high school, I might … take him on as one of my main cooks, and just maybe we could reconnect as brother and sister like old times?” Nao-chi said with uncertainty before sporting a wry smile.

Using my [Mind Reading] skill on Nao-chi with skepticism, she says,

Huh … though it might be the work of Jin-chi’s ‘curse’, I’m thinking it might be a good thing that they stopped contact, even for a little bit.

“Hmm … would you still be willing to do that if Jin-chi came here?” I asked.

“Oh of course! I mean, it sucks that he died over there, but I’ll do everything I can to help make his new life here a little easier!” Nao-chi exclaimed.

Well … her heart seems to be in the right place, at least.

“I think that should be enough of that,” I said, “I’ve yet to hear why you made a pact with Mikan and became a D-Human. You mentioned looking after Jin-chi as his big sister, but what even brought this measure?”

Nao-chi deflated again, “Well … I guess you could say this is also my way of taking responsibility for a mess I pulled Ma-chi into once, which was how I came to learn of his complicated family business.”

~~

{Nao, high school time}

A little after I started hanging out with Ma-chi, I started getting invasive messages from my ex wanting to take me back. I tried blocking him and avoided confronting him, but it got harder to stay away as time went on. Ma-chi seemed to have noticed how on edge I was, but I tried to pretend that everything was fine. Besides, just having him nearby put me at ease, though I didn’t know why that was at the time.

I figured if I toughed it out and evaded my ex a little longer, he’d give up and move on … I was naive. I didn’t consider the lengths that bastard would go just to get me.

One afternoon after school, I got a note in my locker … that my ex and his friends kidnapped Ma-chi, and that I had to come to a designated location alone without telling anyone.

I was in such a panic that I didn’t think rationally. Without even registering the concern of my friends who were nearby, I rushed over to the location as fast as my feet could carry me. I didn’t care that I slipped a bit due to the increasing downpour. The only thing in my mind that pushed me was the hope that my little brother was okay.

When I got to the location, an unsupervised construction site, the situation was worse than I thought. I could still recall the spine-chilling hunger the boys in the area, especially my ex, had in their eyes for my body, drenched from the rain enough that my underwear was seen through my shirt. The cold, damp atmosphere further added the chills in me, but nothing could have made my heart stop more than seeing poor Ma-chi getting black and blue.

“Ane … ki?”

Hearing Ma-chi’s raspy, quiet voice call for me, even from a couple meters away, I couldn’t help but break into tears.

“About time you finally showed up, babe, and you’re killing the wet shirt look. We were starting to get bored playing with your new little boytoy,” my ex, Takora Hansei, said before making the biggest shit-eating grin on his face.

“He’s not … like that,” I muttered in a trembling voice.

“Eh? What’s that? I can’t hear you,” Takora said in a mocking tone.

“I said he’s not like that!” I yelled, “He’s … my little brother!”

That somehow got Takora and the other guys laughing, “What the hell?! Are you serious?! Is that your little play or something?! That’s adorable!”

I had so many words to say to that bastard, so many things I wanted to do, but all I cared about then was to get Ma-chi to the nearest hospital as soon as possible.

“Whatever, just what do you want?” I asked, keeping my voice under control.

“Getting right to business, I see,” he said as he approached me, lifting my chin, “Since you pissed me off playing with your ‘little brother’ instead of your boyfriend, you’re going to show him how much of a bitch his ‘aneki’ really is. You become my girl again, and give me and each of my friends here one round. He’ll be so disgusted with you that he’ll never want to see you again, let alone be your brother. You do that for me, and we’ll let the brat go. That shouldn’t be too hard for a dumb bitch like you to follow, don’t you think?”

“... And if I say no?” I asked.

Takora shrugged, “Then I guess we’ll play with your little brother some more. We were just going to make bets on how much more he can take before he loses his voice. But I don’t think that’s what you want for him, is it? So what’s it gonna be?”

I was ashamed that this wasn’t my first ‘gathering’ with other boys. I never mentioned this history to Ma-chi, nor did I ever want him to know about it, but I couldn’t keep up my feminine pride under these circumstances. I thought it would be better that he didn’t associate with me anymore, especially if he gets pulled into more of these dangerous situations just because of him being near me. I didn’t care what happened to me, I just wanted to make sure he lived a safe and happy life.

“... F-Fine, whatever, I’ll do it, just don’t hurt Ma-chi anymore,” I said.

“We’re good to go, guys!” Takora announced to his friends, which elicited loud cheers before they started yelling crude comments, “Let’s start off with a little show! Make sure the ‘little bro’ is awake to see this!”

With his arms held back by one of the boys, Ma-chi was dragged to the front, getting him close enough to see me clearly.

“... Aneki? Why … are you crying?” Ma-chi asked hoarsely.

The fact that he was still concerned for me despite the condition he was in made me more guilty of the situation than before. He really was too good to stick around someone like me.

I tried to swallow that shame and wiped my tears before forcing a smile, not minding the mess of makeup that was likely on my face then, “It’s … going to be alright, Ma-chi. I’m gonna get us out of this and get you to a doctor as soon as possible. Just hang in there for a little bit, okay? And … I’m sorry.”

“Aneki?” Ma-chi asked, more confused than before.

“Quit stalling and get on with the show, Nao! We don’t have all day!” Takora exclaimed.

I swallowed my shame, pride, and fear before I started unbuttoning my school uniform, which got the other boys whistling and throwing cat calls. Poor Ma-chi only got more confused of what was going on as he was watching. I guess he was still pretty oblivious of this sort of thing during that time.

“Your girlfriend is really something else, Takora!”

“Yeah! I got dibs on going after you!” a few of the boys exclaimed in the background.

That seemed to have made Ma-chi realize something before his confusion turned into anger, regaining some of his energy, especially in his voice, as he turned to Takora, “Wait, you’re the ex that cheated on Aneki?! Are you why she’s been looking miserable lately?! You’re making her sad even now, are you?!”

“Ma-chi …” I couldn’t help but pause my stripping seeing how much that kid was getting angry for my sake.

“You better stop what you’re doing to her right now, or you’re gonna—GUHAH?!” Ma-chi exclaimed before one of the other boys landed a kick to his gut.

“MA-CHI!” I couldn’t help but scream and tried to rush over, but a grab to my collar stopped me.

“You stay down, bitch!” Takora yelled before delivering a punch to my stomach, followed by another to my face, the force was enough for me to fall on my back. Two of the other boys came along and quickly pinned my wrists to the floor, making me totally helpless.

Takora then hovered over me, like a beast ready to devour its prey, “Just for that, I’m going to spend some extra time roughing you up. You try anything funny, and your ‘little brother’ gets another beating. Now act like an obedient bitch and take what’s coming to you.”

He didn’t hesitate ripping the rest of my uniform open, baring the rest of my shivering torso, and shoved my bra aside to expose my chest.

I couldn’t bear to watch, nor could I shut my eyes from what’s coming, so I tried looking away to another direction, until my gaze unfortunately met Ma-chi’s, who was staring at the sight in horror. Seeing the poor boy like that was too much, so I tried to assure him how fine I was with a forced smile.

I guess in some way, whatever wrongs I’ve done before now, maybe I’m finally getting what’s coming to me. Whatever, let’s just get this over with and get Ma-chi treated as soon as possible. The sooner I get this done, the better.

It was bleak, but those thoughts drove me to push through that ordeal. As long as Ma-chi came out of it alive, that was all it mattered to me. I was prepared for whatever consequences that awaited me after that.

“GET AWAY FROM HERRRRRRRRRR!”

And it was that distorted, inhuman scream of pure hatred, that I made my first encounter with the ‘demons’ that walked among us on Earth.