Regarding her mother, Tojo Aoi's impression was not very deep.
People are always clear about a certain point in their memory, yet vague about the entire segment.
This is normal behavior.
For example, some people never remember who they spent a pleasant night with, whether that girl had long or short hair, or if she had double or single eyelids.
They can't even remember what she was wearing.
But the man who wakes up can definitely remember whether the other party gave him a good experience and whether she was a desert or the Atlantic Ocean.
This is a focused memory.
Of course, he might also remember it completely wrong.
For example, is it possible the other party was also a gentleman?
Tojo Aoi's focused memory... to be honest, her impression of her mother was indeed blurred.
The only clear thing was that scene.
The image of her mother, who had no front teeth, grinning at her.
It sounds funny, and in fact... it was very funny.
Her father was a cold person to begin with, so her mother's personality naturally became more and more submissive. Many times, when she could have taken a step forward, she preferred to retreat in resignation.
Then, there were those chaotic voices.
Her father was 'fortunate' enough to hear the whispers long before the Mystery Recovery.
He recorded and experimented with fanatical zeal—you couldn't say he had gone mad, because a madman could never calmly handle various company matters, thereby skillfully hiding those experiments beneath the giant iceberg that was the Tojo Group.
This was Tojo Aoi's consistent view of Chaos. It won't make you go mad, but it will entice you to go mad.
People always have obsessions.
Tojo Aoi didn't know what her father's obsession was, but it certainly wasn't her, nor her mother.
Later, the blood kin sacrifice.
Her mother firmly opposed her father putting her on the sacrificial altar. During the argument, she used a hammer to knock out all her teeth, smashed an eyeball, and used a dagger to cut off her nose.
Finally, she used a sharp, small blade to slit the artery in her neck. The blood sprayed a long way.
—Just like the old mansion she lived in back then; not only were there many servants, but the fountain in the garden that ran almost year-round was also very much to a young girl's liking.
—Of course, ever since Tojo Aoi saw a real throat-slitting, she never went to the garden to see that fountain again. A few years later, she moved out.
'Shunsuke, look, I'm already dying.'
'For the [Abused Blood Kin], use me, okay?'
'Promise me, let Aoi go!'
'She's still so small!'
Her crazed father, with bloodshot eyes, dragged her mother onto the sacrificial altar. That long trail of blood started right in front of her toes and went all the way to the end of her vision.
In the following years, her father would occasionally show a slight look of guilt, but it would vanish in an instant.
But Tojo Aoi didn't care about any of that.
And then, there was... Sen Getsusa.
That crazy yet incredibly charismatic woman.
For some reason, every time she thought of her former lover, Tojo Aoi felt a sense of hunger and an unsatisfiable longing.
She hadn't told anyone: if she were to talk frankly with any man who had even a little bit of romantic experience, the girl could easily resolve her confusion and find the answer.
—The so-called 'hunger,' 'unsatisfiable longing,' and all those literary embellishments could be summed up in a single word or phrase.
Thirsty.
Mhm.
In short, Usami Reiko... can you give me the answer behind the mist?
Poison Apple smiled like a deluxe marionette... Sen Getsusa, with her bare thighs, was greeting the morning, stretching lazily toward the sunlight. Yuno Gasai, who had woken up even earlier, had finished making breakfast and was setting the plates on the dining table one by one.
School had started, and the two girls' routines gradually returned to normal. Yuno Gasai, who had been away for a few days, returned with a look of dissatisfaction, pinching Sen Getsusa's waist and feeling her arms.
Her gaze was strange.
"How did Tsukisa eat while I was away?"
Sen Getsusa pulled out a chair barefoot and sat down while drinking milk. "I made it myself, of course. What else? Yuno, don't forget that I'm quite the cooking expert myself, even if I can't compare to you."
Yuno Gasai spread out a slice of bread, methodically applied butter, and gently placed it on the plate in front of Sen Getsusa. Seeing that the restless girl had managed to get milk all over her mouth, she pulled out two tissues and handed them over.
Only after everything was settled did Yuno Gasai respond.
"Is that so...? Did Ms. Hiratsuka not come by?"
Who?
Hiratsuka Shizuka?
Sen Getsusa was puzzled. "Why do you ask?"
Yuno Gasai's pale pink eyes stared at the bowl in her hand; the surface of the soup reflected her own cold face.
She looked up, replaced her expression with a smiling one, and spoke softly. "No reason, just asking. I wouldn't want Ms. Hiratsuka to keep bothering my Tsukisa. Heh, I thought she might visit often."
"How could she?" Sen Getsusa chewed her bread. "Actually, after getting to know her, Ms. Hiratsuka is quite nice. Oh, I'll have to start calling her Teacher soon."
"Nice, huh..." Yuno Gasai repeated.
"Mhm, her grandmother—didn't I tell you about her? If it were Yuno, you'd think they're quite pitiful, wouldn't you?"
Huh?
No, I don't think so at all.
Sen Getsusa continued without reservation, "Occasionally I go to visit her grandmother. It's fun; I take her to catch butterflies and sing to her."
The girl paused. "She reminds me of Aria."
Yuno Gasai was smart enough not to comment further, because mentioning Aria and the orphanage was already forbidden territory for Sen Getsusa.
—This person who was so important to her had grown increasingly indifferent in her gaze lately. Although she acted silly and happy, the way she looked at strangers always had a sense of being beyond joy or sorrow, looking down from above.
Yuno Gasai wasn't sure if this was a common trait among Ritualists or if Sen Getsusa was hiding other secrets. However, as long as Aria and the orphanage were mentioned, that warm girl would return... So, Yuno Gasai never touched her forbidden zones, even if this girl was just as warm toward her.
Sigh... it was just that she was like this toward others too, which made Yuno Gasai a bit angry.
That blonde tsundere dog, the poor part-time voice actress, and that mentally challenged Child from the Izumi family.
Every time she saw Sen Getsusa speak softly to them—
She wanted to sew Sen Getsusa's lips shut with a needle, or... or kill them.
If no one was by Sen Getsusa's side, she could only focus on her. Hee.
The foolishly smiling girl was met with Sen Getsusa's puzzled question.
"What's wrong? Yuno?"
Hmm?
Yuno Gasai looked up and found that Sen Getsusa had already finished eating. While wiping her mouth, she was also concerned about the dazed Yuno.
"What are you smiling about? Did something good happen so early?"
Yuno Gasai raised her spoon and licked it with the tip of her tongue. "No, it hasn't happened yet."
"I'll clean up first." Sen Getsusa stood up and padded into the bathroom, her voice rising and falling. "Then I'll make a wish for little Yuno, hoping that the good thing in her wish happens soon!"
In the bathroom, Sen Getsusa was combing her hair in front of the mirror.
"Oh, right. Yuno, how has Kendo been lately?"
"I don't plan on continuing it."
"Ha! I knew it!" The girl's voice carried through the sound of running water, mumbling, "It's so hard. I want to see if Yuno's hands have calluses!"
Yuno Gasai sat on the chair and raised her hands, palms facing her, turning them over to look.
Her tender red palms showed no signs of holding a sword.
Rightly so, as she was about to leave the ranks of Mortals.
"Of course not, because I've been slacking off during training..." Yuno Gasai said in a sweet voice. "To give Ms. Sen Getsusa back a tender Yuno, I very consciously slacked off!"
"How tender is that?"
Yuno Gasai didn't respond. Her eyes were hazy as she stroked her own face with both hands.
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