It was past Midnight and Shishiba Tsuneo sat alone in the living room of his quiet, empty penthouse. In one hand, he had a cup of the top-shelf sake he'd served with dinner, in the other, he held an old Polaroid photo he'd taken with Mikoto early in their relationship. Other than Midoriko, it was the only proof that their relationship had ever existed.
As he took a sip of the sake he'd been nursing, he heard the click of a door open and close from behind him across the room. There was no need to even turn around and look—he knew who it was.
"I expected you to come back, but I hadn't expected it to be so soon."
"I wanted to settle this before it interfered with my life any further," Midoriko stated, sitting down on a sofa opposite him. Enishi Ryouma seated himself next to her, on the arm of the sofa.
"Hmph! You two make quite the couple," he said, dripping with sarcasm. Here she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, while her mismatched partner wore a well-tailored three-piece suit. They were from different worlds, yet somehow stuck to each other. "Tell me, exactly what kind of life do you lead with that man by your side?"
Midoriko let out a wistful sigh, smiling slightly. "A surprisingly normal one where we enjoy meals and raise a child together, growing closer every day."
"No matter how you want to frame it, there's nothing about any of us that is normal," he retorted, his expression darkening. "People like us can't lead normal lives."
"But we can try," she said calmly, without missing a beat.
"Can that child try?" Shishiba scoffed, leaning forward in his chair. "Perhaps under my tutelage, she might be able to learn how to control her power. But honestly, what can you offer her?"
"Freedom." Midoriko sat up straight with her hands folded neatly in her lap, unflinching. She could no longer be moved by his provocations. "She's just a normal little girl now, no longer shackled by that curse."
Shishiba let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "You expect me to believe that you somehow managed to neutralize the powers she was born with into oblivion?"
"Honestly, I find it hard to believe myself. But right now, I have no more reason to lie to you," she said, looking him directly in the eyes.
Shishiba looked at the sake cup in his hand, swirling the tiny bit of liquid left before downing it. He found it hard to doubt her, but maybe if he kept prodding, she might get caught up in a lie.
"How did you do it?"
"A method that I don't think someone like you could ever comprehend in a million years…" She wore a scathing smile as she raised her chin, looking down her nose at him. "We loved her unconditionally."
Shishiba shot out of his seat and chucked the empty sake cup at the floor, shattering it. He was getting so tired of this impudent child.
"Sit down," commanded Ryouma. Shishiba dropped back into the chair like he'd been pushed down. The second command came in rapid succession. "Stay still."
This was why he didn't drink. It was so easy to lose control of your emotions, to let your guard down around others. Had he been sober, he might not have poured all his focus into Midoriko's words and anticipated Enishi's attack.
"You seem to be faring a lot better than last time I saw you," said Shishiba, taking note of the 'improvement.'
They'd both cleaned up, but that man somehow looked completely different in the span of two hours. When he was on the verge of death, it was easy to resist, fight, and break his spells. But now, even mustering up all his willpower, he couldn't fight back as the command to stay still echoed in his mind.
"Would you believe our dear Midoriko also saved me from a terrible curse tonight?" He looked at his right hand as if he were admiring a fresh manicure. "You see, she's an expert on that stuff!"
"Ha!" It was ridiculous, but when faced with living proof in front of him, Shishiba couldn't deny it. They were probably telling the truth about the girl, too. "Say… Is that back-stabbing bastard, Kuroiwa, with you two?"
"He's at our safehouse for the time being," answered Midoriko.
It figures. Sorcerers were hard to keep in your employ as a gang leader, and neutralizers were even harder. Shishiba sighed. "Well, tell him I'll forgive him if he comes to work for me."
"I'll pass along the message."
Ryouma spotted something on the floor. "Hm? What's this…?" He picked up the photo-side-down Polaroid that Shishiba had been holding onto when they sat down. As he flipped it over, his face lit up. "Oho!"
Shishiba couldn't move, but felt his heart race and muscles tense up all the same. He realized he'd dropped it at some point between standing up and sitting back down. He could only choke out a weak protest. "D-don't…" It was all he had left of her. If that man took even that away from him…
"Midoriko, look!" he said cheerfully, handing her the photo. "Is that him? How old do you think this photo is?"
Midoriko's breath caught in her throat as she looked over the picture. She instantly recognized the much younger version of her mother, even with her hair lightened to a fashionable honey-brown. Standing next to her, with his arm around her shoulder, was Shishiba Tsuneo. His thick glasses seemed at odds with the delinquent-like appearance of his younger self.
She looked up at her father. He was frozen in place on the armchair, but his eyes were full of pain and dread.
"Why do you have this?" she croaked.
"A memento…" he muttered.
"A memento of what?!" Midoriko jumped up from her seat, shaking the photo in her father's face. "Do you keep a photo of my mother so you can remember whose life you ruined?!"
"It's a memento from when we were happy!"
Midoriko bit her lip and looked over the photo once more. They were standing under a cherry blossom tree in bloom, both with genuine, carefree smiles. She wasn't sure if she'd ever seen her mother smile like that while she was still alive.
Sure, her mother smiled often, but it always hid the deep melancholy that shackled her. The fact that he'd been the one to rob her of that bright smile and burden her mother with the guilt that consumed her was unforgivable.
As Midoriko shook with rage, Ryouma placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. His touch grounded her—as long as he was with her, she could face anything.
"I did all of this for her…" Shishiba muttered, his eyes downcast. "Clawing my way up to this position. The hotel. All of it."
"Yet she still ran away from you." Ryouma took the photo and pointed at the smiling Mikoto. "A woman this happy, being given the world by her lover… Are you sure she wanted any of that?"
"What…?" Shishiba's eyes widened. How was that even a question? He'd offered Mikoto wealth and power…
Ryouma rubbed his chin. "Hm… How do I put this…?" He handed the photo back to Midoriko and, as if remembering something humorous, smirked. "I once offered a woman the world, but she rejected it in favor of forging her own path."
Shishiba wanted to cover his ears and shake his head—to violently reject that man's statements—but was stuck, immobilized in that chair.
"Ahh… Honestly, it was endearing," Ryouma said, placing a hand over his heart. "It made me realize that her happiness could be my happiness, too."
It was obvious who he was referring to with that story, and as they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Mikoto wanted to be a nurse because she wanted to be helpful to people—it was what brought her and Tsuneo together in the first place. But the closer they got, the more Tsuneo wanted to monopolize her, and it blinded him to what she really wanted.
"I only ever asked you to live a peaceful life with me!"
Perhaps, Shishiba Tsuneo never understood what constituted "peaceful" to begin with. His adoptive father tried to teach him peace, and Mikoto tried to show him peace. But to someone struggling to constantly suppress the fire raging within, was it ever possible?
"When did I lose sight of everything?" he muttered to himself. He couldn't even remember why he wanted Midoriko anymore.
Was it because he was always stuck looking over his shoulder as the leader of a powerful gang and wanted protection from other sorcerers? Was it because even though they were estranged, she was still his daughter? Or was it because she was just the last scrap of Mikoto he could think to cling to?
"I'm sure you learned about her death when you looked into me, but do you know how my mother died?" Midoriko asked quietly.
Shishiba couldn't move to shake his head, so he had to force out an answer that deepened his shame. "No… I don't."
"An accidental overdose of medication is what the coroner's report said," she explained, tears welling up as the memory was dragged to the surface. "She was sick with a heart condition that was slowly killing her anyway, but she truly believed until her dying breath that she was cursed because of you."
"Oh… Because of what I did to her…" He'd been so absorbed in his own wants and desires that he'd divorced himself from the reality of it all. Now she was beating him over the head with the truth.
"I used to think it was my fault she died, but then I met you. So whose fault was it really?" Her words were like poison, and she was forcing him to drink every last drop.
Shishiba couldn't bring himself to respond. But he couldn't look away, nor could he remove himself and continue avoiding the truth either. He could only sit there quietly with his shame.
Midoriko clenched her fists, mustering up the courage to ask a question she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to. "Tell me the truth… Did you place a curse on her?"
"No…"
"Then do you think someone in her family might have?"
"Midoriko," Ryouma cut in, speaking softly. He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You already know that a neutralizer can't be targeted by a malicious spell."
"B-But what if…!" She was desperate to cling to something, and curses were what she knew best. "What if she managed to curse herself?!"
The truth was, Midoriko would never be sure whether her mother was truly cursed or propelled by the belief that she was. It had been so long that she couldn't remember any discernible traits like the way Ryouma's or Itoko's curses carried distinct smells.
"Mikoto—your mother—had poor stamina when I knew her," Shishiba explained with an uncharacteristic gentleness. "It doesn't surprise me to learn she had a heart condition." He let out a defeated sigh. "I'm sure the stress of what I put her through made her sick."
Another perspective that only reinforced the facts Midoriko already knew.
Her mother's death would remain unchanging, and she would have to accept things as they were. Deep down in her heart, she knew she'd never be free of the guilt she carried from her mother's passing, but now she could at least push some of that burden off on someone else.
Midoriko held the photo of her parents close to her heart, trying to hold back tears that were threatening to spill out at any moment. She absolutely did not want to cry in front of the man, who, beyond their blood connection, was still a stranger to her.
"Ryouma," she said, letting out a shaky breath. "I've made my decision."
"Oh?" Ryouma cocked his head to the side, smiling devilishly. "And how have you decided to punish this man?"
Midoriko looked at her father's smiling, youthful face in the photo once more before looking at the older, semi-broken man in front of her. Maybe Ryouma was rubbing off on her, but something made her want to break him completely. She wished to sever their loose connection.
"I want to alter his memories. Can you do that?"