Murder Anniversary and the Reverse Memorial

by Mizuki Mizushiro

  Fuyou smiled. “Oh, my.” Withdrawing her arm, she covered her mouth. “Of course it was only a joke, Eiri. My goodness.”

  “……Mother.”

  “A joke? Jeez…”

  “—Mr. Busujima?”

  Eiri turned her angry glare from Fuyou toward the obviously disappointed Busujima, who proceeded to wave his hands madly.

  “No, no, I was joking, too! Of course I was! Ha-ha-ha…no matter what kind of impression I may give, I am a teacher, after all. No matter how beautiful she may be, committing adultery with your mother would—”

  “It would not be adultery.”

  “Huh?”

  “You see, my husband has already left this world.”

  “……?!”

  For a moment, Eiri’s shoulders shook.

  Busujima made a panicked face.

  “Your father has…passed on? So then, in other words—”

  “Yes,” Fuyou answered. “Six years ago, in the middle of a job. He was thirty-two when he died.” She continued with downcast eyes. “When you make your livelihood as an assassin, danger is inherent in the job. Generally, one’s lifespan in this industry is short… He died at thirty-two, but, still, that means he got to live. But because my husband was an assassin of unparalleled skill, fate did not smile upon him… His eldest daughter, Eiri, was ten years old at the time, while Ryou and Ran were only three.”

  “”

  Not knowing how they should respond, Kyousuke and the others could only hang their heads.

  The twins also made sad faces.

  A gloomy silence descended upon the group.

  The sound of Fuyou clapping her hands swept away the dismal atmosphere. “My apologies. I’ve caused our guests to concern themselves with private matters… Please do not worry about my husband. The children and I have already worked through our feelings. It happened six years ago, after all. Isn’t that right, Eiri?”

  “…………”

  Eiri answered Fuyou with silence. Biting her lip so hard it turned white, she hung her head.

  Seated next to her, Kyousuke grew concerned. “…Eiri?”

  “My, my.” Fuyou smiled bitterly. “Eiri was something of a daddy’s girl, you see…” She narrowed her sanguine eyes. “However, I think your father would be sad to see you making such a face. Obon starts today: the time when departed ancestors return to this side. Come, Eiri. Why don’t we greet your father with smiling faces?”

  The maid in the Noh mask carried dishes out one after another. Stewed vegetables, stir-fry, deep-fried food, seasoned side dishes, vinegary side dishes, soup, pickles…served on red lacquerware dishes, the food was abundant in variety and amount. Before they knew it, the long, low table was completely covered.

  “Wow! Incredible… What a treat this is.”

  “Even the food is high class. It looks delicious!”

  “What is this, torture? I’m the only one who can’t eat here!!”

  “…What if you eat in the storehouse?”

  “Eh?! No way, I don’t want to eat alone. A meal is not about what you’re eating—what matters is who you’re eating with! So I’m not annoyed…not…a-annoyed.”

  “Now, now. Wipe your tears.”

  “I can’t! The mask is in the waaaaaayyy!”

  Renko continued making a noisy fuss as she plopped down on one of the cushions.

  Seated in order from left to right were Busujima, Kyousuke, Renko, then Ayaka.

  And Eiri was—

  “……Tch.”

  —Sitting across from Busujima, to the left of Kagura.

  Kagura had clicked her tongue loud enough for Eiri to hear, but Eiri acted completely unconcerned.

  Previously, Kyousuke and the others, after burying the corpses of Busujima’s pets in graves dug for them behind the mansion, had relaxed comfortably in the guest rooms until dinner. They’d spent the time watching television, which they didn’t have at the academy; chatting idly; and discussing their plans for the coming days.

  No one had made any reference to the father who passed away six years earlier. Eiri herself showed no sign of her usual brooding as they retired to their rooms.

  “…Fwah.”

  Now, too, with half-lidded eyes, she yawned placidly.

  “I’m hungry. Aren’t you, Ryou?”

  “I want to eat soon. Don’t you, Ran?”

  The twins had taken their place to Kagura’s right, and the two of them lightheartedly chattered together.

  Fuyou, who had appeared last, sat at the head of the table—where she could look out over all of them. “Thank you for your patience, everyone. I’ve already dismissed the branch families, so assembled here are all members of House Akabane present in this home. Well, then, shall we eat?”

  Following Fuyou’s example, Kyousuke and the others pressed their hands together. “Thank you for the food!” they shouted in unison, before taking up their red lacquered chopsticks.

  Six o’clock. In the guest room of the Akabane main house, nine people began a harmonious meal together.

  Eiri turned to Fuyou, who was pouring local sake into a small cup for Busujima. “…Mother. Are big brother and Muramasa not here?”

  “Yes, both of them are out on assignment. If everything goes as planned, Basara will return midmorning tomorrow, I believe? Muramasa is in another country, so he will probably be away for the whole of Obon.”

  “I see… They seem busy as always.”

  Of course, the “assignments” that Fuyou had mentioned were assassinations. Eiri, the only one in her family who was unable to kill people, wore a complicated expression.

  “And you seem to be idle as always,” Kagura ridiculed.

  Fuyou continued in an unexpected direction. “To tell the truth, Kagura was also supposed to be on assignment until late tonight, but…she finished early, perhaps because she wanted to see her sister as soon as possible. The poor girl tossed and turned and barely slept, even after returning home in the early hours, you know!”

  “—Bah?!” Kagura spit out a piece of fried tofu. “Lady Fuyou?! Please do not speak in such a misleading way! I only finished my assignment early simply because the conditions were surprisingly favorable, and I was only restless and unable to sleep because I was so eager to attack her the moment that we met! Th-there’s no way I wanted to see—”

  “You have tofu on your lips, Kagura.”

  “Don’t touch me!”

  Kagura angrily smacked the damp towel out of Eiri’s hand. Roughly dabbing at her own mouth, she leaned far away from Eiri. Flushed and scowling, she wiped the tabletop.

  Pouring sake into her own cup, Fuyou smiled. “My, my…” Her gaze shifted to the other side of the table, where Kyousuke and the others sat. “How is our cooking, everyone? I hope that it suits your palates.”

  “Yes, it’s really delicious!” Ayaka answered, wearing a satisfied smile, her cheeks stuffed with stewed kabocha squash.

  Kyousuke also nodded, moving a piece of tomato aspic toward his mouth. “It’s good!”

  Everything on the table seemed too good to be home cooking; they must have employed a professional chef. After the garbage food served at Purgatorium Remedial, this meal tasted especially delicious.

  “My, the sake and the food are both delicious, aren’t they?” remarked Busujima earnestly, savoring horse-meat sashimi along with his locally brewed sake. “These dishes, they were prepared by…”

  “Yes. Though there was quite a lot to make this evening, so I also asked Kagura to help.”

  “Eh?!”

  Kyousuke, Renko, and Ayaka all simultaneously looked at Kagura.

  “……What?”

  “Well, I mean, that’s—” Kyousuke stammered.

  “Unexpected,” Ayaka said. “You can really make decent food.”

  “Hmm, I wonder…?” Renko mused. “Maybe we just haven’t gotten to the dishes she made yet. It’s possible that some disgusting failures slipped in among all this delicious cooking—”

&
nbsp; “No, it’s not. When cooking, you just have to follow a set process, right? I don’t understand how someone could fail at it. No one’s that stupid.”

  Kyousuke and the others pointed wordlessly at Kagura’s neighbor.

  “…Wh-what?” Eiri, who was chewing on a piece of tempura, frowned.

  “Don’t tell me…” Kagura stopped eating. “You can’t cook?”

  “”

  Eiri sat stiffly, averting her gaze. “Maybe I can, maybe I can’t…,” she eventually answered. “So what?”

  Kagura’s chopsticks dropped from her hand.

  “Big sister…? You must be joking. You can’t cook, you can’t study, you can’t even kill. I mean, really, what can you do?”

  “…I can breathe and stuff.”

  “Breathing?! Even bugs can do that! Just how incompetent can one person be?! It would make our ancestors laugh to see the eldest daughter of House Akabane in such a state. You’re the disgrace of the living family. We’d be better off if you just stopped breathing and died…or if you like, I can stop your breath for you?”

  “Impossible. Even when you had the element of surprise, you couldn’t stop it, right?”

  “Why you… B-bring it on! Right here, right now, I’ll slice you—”

  “Come, Kagura! We do not draw our blades while seated for a meal!”

  “……Yes. Deepest apologies, Lady Fuyou.”

  Kagura made a bitter face and took her seat. Eiri, who had been moments from a fight, sat sipping her soup without the slightest change in expression. It was an exchange between two eccentric sisters.

  Kyousuke was feeling chilly despite the humidity, when Renko pulled at his sleeve.

  “Hey, hey, Kyousuke. Want me to feed you?”

  “…Feed me? No thanks, I can eat by myself.”

  “Come on. It’ll be nice, won’t it, Kyousukeeeeee? For our relationship?”

  “Shut up. You be quiet and drink your jelly pack.”

  “Okay, open wiiide…”

  “I said no thanks!! Plus, that’s not food, it’s jelly!”

  “Yeah. It’s an indirect kiss, see? Oh yeah.”

  “You use a straw, so it’s not even an indirect kiss.”

  “Well, then, how about a direct kiss? Smooooooch…”

  “The gas mask is in the way! Don’t get near me—it’s scary!”

  “”

  Rust-red upturned eyes pierced Kyousuke and Renko as they made their racket. It was not only Eiri’s eyes, however. Kagura also glared at them.

  “U-um…what is it?”

  “Aren’t you my big sister’s boyfriend?”

  “Eh?!”

  “Ehhh?!”

  “—Buh?!”

  While Kyousuke and Renko looked startled, Eiri spit out her soup.

  “…Huh?” Kagura seemed confused. “I thought for sure you had that kind of relationship. That you were a reckless jerk who would flirt with another girl while dating my sister…but it seems I was mistaken. You’re dating that gas mask girl, aren’t you?”

  “Yep, that’s right. Kksshh.”

  “No way! I’m not dating anyone!”

  “…Is that true, big sister?”

  When Kagura turned to face her neighbor, Eiri was in the process of cleaning her mess on the tabletop with her towel. Red all the way to her ears, she spoke in a shrill voice. “Of course it is!! Wh-wwwwh-who would go out with this useless asshole…? No way. Don’t say stupid things, Kagura! Are you dumb?!”

  “S-sorry…” Unexpectedly, Kagura apologized obediently. “Surely there’s no way that you would end up liking a worthless guy like this, judging from his looks. Even if you are my big sister, that would just be too much.”

  “…Sigh. That’s right. There are some things you can say and some you shouldn’t, Kagura!”

  “Yes…I’m really sorry.”

  “Do you guys really hate me that much?”

  In Kagura’s venomous words, just too much had to mean… Kyousuke’s feelings were seriously wounded by this roundabout insult.

  “Apologize.”

  —Whoosh!

  A dark crimson shape passed by them in a blur.

  “……?!”

  Kagura tilted her head almost instantly. A long, thin weapon swooped through the air where her eyeball had been just a moment before. The sound of a small splash came from the pond in the courtyard adjacent to the veranda.

  Kagura looked in the direction from which the shape had come flying. “Wha—?”

  Ayaka, sitting up on her knees with her right arm extended, was staring at Kagura with lightless eyes. The red lacquered chopsticks were gone from her hand. “I demand that you apologize to my big brother. Will you die, or will you apologize?”

  Ayaka threw the chopsticks right at Kagura’s eyeball! A cold sweat broke out on Kyousuke’s forehead. “H-hey…Ayaka, calm—”

  —Whizz!

  A white flash passed before Kyousuke’s eyes as he bent forward. Cutting through the air, the thing sliced off several millimeters of Ayaka’s pigtail before lodging in the sliding screen. It was an iron-ribbed fan tipped with blades.

  Kagura slowly stood up and scrutinized her opponent with bloodthirsty eyes.

  “…If that was an attack intended to kill me, then of course you are also prepared to die, right? Once an Akabane turns their deadly gaze upon you, they’ll make you regret ever being born.”

  “Same to you. For the sin of mocking my brother, fall into hell and stay there for all eternity.”

  “Ayaka! What the hell are you doing all of a sudden?! Stop it!”

  Rushing madly around the table, Kyousuke subdued his sister.

  “Kagura! Put your blades away! What would you do if you seriously took an amateur opponent?!”

  Jumping in front of Kagura, Eiri frantically tried to pacify her.

  As Ayaka’s and Kagura’s eyes met, angry sparks flew between them.

  “I don’t like this girl. Shall I cut her impertinent throat to pieces?”

  “Tee-hee. We’re hitting it off, aren’t we? Ayaka also dislikes you. So prepare to die!”

  “This is a fun dinner, huh, Ryou?! Open wiiide.”

  “It’s always fun when you’re around, Ran. Open wiiide.”

  Completely ignoring the words and weapons flying over the dining table, the twins brought food to each other’s mouths.

  Busujima turned to Fuyou, who was pouring more sake. “…Is it all right to let them go on like that?”

  “It’s fine. The matter should settle itself without intervention. More importantly, sir, I rarely get to speak to someone in the same profession, so there’s a great deal I’d like to discuss.”

  “S-sure…”

  “Hey, hey. Could I get some of that sake?”

  “Of course not! You’re a minor, aren’t you?”

  “He’s right. Drinking sake is strictly forbidden! But… Oh, this is just perfect. I want to ask so many things about you. To hear your story, as someone created to be a pure killing machine… Won’t you let us hear it, as accompaniment to our sake, Miss Murder Maid?”

  “Stop! That is also not allowed! Miss Hikawa is a top proprietary secret. It’s not like we can readily provide you with information regarding—”

  “You…can’t?” Fuyou reached out and took Busujima’s hand.

  “Whoa! Th-that’s right! W-well, maybe if it was just a little bit…”

  “…You’re leering again. What a slob.” Renko shook her head in disgust at Busujima, who appeared flustered by Fuyou’s advances.

  Meanwhile, Kyousuke and Eiri continued the arbitration between their little sisters.

  “Sorry, my little sister was wrong! I’ll scold her later, so would you please forgive us?”

  “No way, that girl was the one in the wrong. There’s no need for you to apologize, big brother!”

  “…Sure. And I’m sorry that my younger sister acted poorly. I didn’t help the situation, either—”

  “Why are you apologizing, bi
g sister?! If you concede here, the Akabane name will die out!”

  Kagura and Ayaka continued glaring at each other across the low table. They had only just met, but they were fighting like cats and dogs. Their immediate bloodlust had died down, but their anger did not yet show any signs of subsiding.

  By the time they somehow got the two of them to calm down, quite a while later, the food was nearly cold.

  “Kksshh. That was a fun dinner, wasn’t it, Kyousuke?”

  “…Yeah.”

  The rowdy evening meal was over, and it was now past eight PM. Renko had started talking to Kyousuke, who was watching a variety show on TV.

  Eiri and Ayaka had gone to the bath, and Busujima was in the restroom, leaving Kyousuke and Renko alone in the guest room, where the low table had been moved out of the way to make room for the laid out futons. Already, the two had taken their turn at the bath, so they were in sleepwear, not their regular clothes. The white yukata robes, dyed with dark blue designs, gave the impression they were staying at a fancy inn.

  The presence of the sinister-looking gas mask was spoiling the mood, though.

  “Kksshh…I wanted to get in the bath with everyone else. At dinner, too, I just had to watch without eating anything, and even my room is separate from yours. The way they’re treating me is so cruel, don’t you think? Hey, don’t you think it’s cruel?”

  “…Yeah.”

  “It is, isn’t it? It’s cruel! I mean, it’s sweltering in this mask! I can’t take it off no matter how much I sweat, and it’s stuffy, and it’s in the way, and it’s irritating, aaaaaargh, come on!” Growing frustrated, Renko began tugging at the mask.

  “Hhhnnn!” She rolled around on top of a futon, pulling with both hands. The straps, however, were locked in place: There was no way she could take it off. Her yukata, on the other hand, quickly came loose.

  Renko sprawled out on the futon, her exposed chest heaving up and down. “Kksshh…kksshh…ugh. Like I thought, the mask isn’t going anywhere…so maybe I can get them to let me sleep here? Being shut away in a storehouse is lonely, no matter what the reason. And if I’m wearing the mask, there shouldn’t be a problem with me sleeping in here with you guys, right?”