A/N: Hey guys! Hope you are all having a great day/night! I felt really excited typing up this chapter, so I am eager to know your thoughts on this one. Some of you have been sending me requests on including some of the characters from the Toji No Miko game. I can't guarantee that there'll be a lot of scenes with them in it, but I will include them. Happy reading!
Chapter 13:
In the Onryō Shrine honden, Hiyori wearily dragged herself up the three flights of stairs to her own room, taking great care to not step too heavily on the rotten floorboards. The side of her chest still hurt like crazy, due to Kanami striking her with Chidori, but nothing compared to the pain she felt in her heart. As she made her way up, Hiyori couldn't help touching her lips. She could still feel the warmth of Kanami's lips on hers.
Every part of Hiyori wished she had told Kanami that she loved her too and let her know the truth. The truth about her insecurities. The truth about why she was with Tagitsuhime. The truth about why she wasn't the same anymore. In her mind, Hiyori concluded that perhaps it would be for the best if she never saw Kanami again. She was no longer the Hiyori that Kanami knew and remembered.
Just when Hiyori reached the last few steps, she paused. In her room, she could hear Tagitsuhime's voice, but to her confusion, it sounded soft and almost giggly. Hiyori strained her ears, listening hard.
"Once upon a time, there was a lonely aradama princess. And she had a beautiful child through a rather...let's say, lowly human. They were a very happy family, but-"
Hiyori, who was done with listening, threw up the bamboo screen that enclosed her room. With steam coming out of her ears, she shot daggers at Tagitsuhime, once she saw her with Kagari in her arms.
"Hiyori darling!" Tagitsuhime exclaimed, before turning to the baby in her arms. "Look, my little hatchling, Mummy's mate is here for story-time too!"
"Story-time's over," Hiyori said, snatching back Kagari.
"Is that the way you treat family?" Tagitsuhime huffed, with a pouting face.
Hiyori stepped close to the aradama princess. Her thin chest heaved up and down as she spoke in a fierce voice.
"You are not my family," she said, before reaching into her uniform and pulling out the container of Noro she just purloined. "There. That's what you really want, isn't it?"
With a toss of her head, Hiyori walked out of the room with Kagari in her arms. Tagitsuhime stared after her with indignant eyes, before turning to the shoji screen wall. It used to have a beautiful design of a crow on it, but the vibrant black and blue colors had mostly faded away. A voice came from behind the screen.
"Lover's quarrel?"
The screen slid open and the lithe form of Konoka stepped out. She clutched the okatana at her side, while giving Tagitsuhime a superior glance.
"Not exactly," Tagitsuhime sniffed, spitefully. "Juujou Hiyori does not love me the same way she loves her little lovebird, Etou Kanami."
A part of Tagitsuhime felt a little envious towards the Minoseki Toji. Just what did the little brat have that she didn't? What made Hiyori so attracted to her? Judging by the encounters she had with Kanami and from what she heard of the girl, Tagitsuhime just saw her as an overly excited girl who only liked showing off her skill with an okatana and nothing else.
Konoka rolled her eyes and replied, with much dignity, "Exactly."
She took out her double-edged okatana and looked at it admiringly. It was a fatal blade, cruelly shaped, and when it gleamed in the light, it looked as though it was made of glass.
Konoka delicately traced the lines of her weapon as she continued, "And the best way to get rid of an obstacle is to destroy it."
Tagitsuhime raised an eyebrow, her interest caught. With a grin that showed her gleaming fangs, she spoke in a slow cruel voice.
"I'm listening..."
"We both know that you can't get rid of Etou Kanami yourself. Juujou Hiyori would only hate you even more," Konoka said, absentmindly. "However, get another to do the deed and the little crow might just lose control."
Tagitsuhime drew near to the ambassador, and said, "Oh? Do tell..."
Konoka stepped out of the black vehicle and breathed in the air. The familiar smell of the dense masses of shrubbery and rice fields all around her filled her nostrils. She turned to the driver in the car.
"I won't be long," she said, shortly.
"Please take your time, Hiiragi-san," he replied.
Konoka took a deep breath before facing the house in front of her. She stood in the same place for several seconds before making her way towards the wooden structure. The memories Konoka kept in the darkest areas of her mind resurfaced as she entered. There were so many things she remembered and many of them she wished to forget.
She slid the door shut behind her, murmuring, "I'm home."
The Hiiragi house still looked relatively the same since she last saw it, save for the layer of dust that covered everything. Slowly, almost without thought, Konoka made her way upstairs towards where she knew her former bedroom to be. As she slid open the shoji screen door, she sneered. What Konoka was greeted with was not the same room she used to occupy.
'Does she seriously like no other color but green?' she thought, bitterly.
An olive-colored platform bed was next to the wall with two shoji lamps beside it, one on each side. A desk was right next to the bed with papers strewn all over it. Against another wall was a shelf stuffed with books, most of them being yuri novels. Konoka raised an eyebrow.
She stared at the desk, which had some sort of picture frame on it. She strode up to it with increased indignation, her temper mounting. Konoka's face became quite white with rage when she glared at the framed photo. It was a picture of Hiyori with her five friends, all of them with bright smiles on their faces. It was too much for Konoka.
With a yell, she grabbed the picture before throwing it on the ground, letting it shatter. Just looking at Hiyori's happiness, even in a photo, made Konoka's blood boil. She couldn't believe that the stupid girl looked up to her for comfort, when she was still imprisoned. Well, soon that would change. Soon, Konoka would be the one who'd have everything and be smiling with glee.
As Konoka prepared herself to leave the house, she turned towards the butsudan in the family house dojo to see the picture of the one woman she despised the most. With a frown, Konoka made her way to the butsudan and knelt down.
"You've raised your daughter well, Kaga-nee-chan," Konoka said. "But that will soon go to waste because soon Hiyori-chan will become like me. And eventually she'll forget all her feelings for Etou Kanami and only know what I felt."
She paused, her cheeks bloodless, and snarled, "How it feels to be a monster..."
Konoka leaned towards Kagari's picture and whispered, "And once she does, it won't just be her I'll have conquered...but the whole Hiiragi family."
With a cold smile, she pressed her fingers to her lips before putting them on top of where Kagari's were. Returning to the vehicle, Konoka spoke in a curt voice.
"Take me back to my office," she commanded, as she took out her cellphone.
After punching in a few numbers, Konoka waited before saying, "This is Hiiragi Konoka. Send troops to the Onryō Shrine in the Yamanashi Mountains. Juujou Hiyori is there. Why? Don't question me!"
Then, in a more sinister voice, she added, "And make sure to bring a large supply of water with you."
"I'm bored, Mai-chan..." Kanami whined.
Mai sweatdropped, before answering, "What about your homework?"
Her friend let out another sigh, as she turned to the television screen. Kaoru, Sayaka, and Ellen were crammed in front of it on the small sofa, watching the news. It had been a tiring day for everyone and nobody complained about having a short rest.
"This is probably the only time that old lady allowed me a short, but worthwhile break," Kaoru sighed, happily, before grumbling, "She should have made it at least a week though..."
"Everyone, look!" Sayaka exclaimed, pointing to the television.
All their eyes widened simultaneously when they saw what was on the screen. Huge troops from the Special Ritual Riot Squad, along with police officers and Tojis, were marching into the dark depths of the Yamanashi Mountains.
A reporter's voice announced, "Just a few minutes ago, Juujou Hiyori's location has been discovered by Hiiragi Konoka. The Special Ritual Riot Squad, along with other authority are now making their way to arrest the aradama Toji. Hiiragi Konoka has ordered for most information to remain classified, but says that she will give more updates after the troops make the arrest."
"We can't let them take Hiyori-chan!" Kanami cried. "Come on!"
Without another word, she grabbed Chidori, not stopping even after Kaoru yelled, "Kanami!"
The pink haired loli shook her head, exasperatedly, before saying to everyone, "Let's go! Before she does anything stupid."
A/N: Well, there you go. I wanted to have a chapter that focused primarily on Konoka, just cause. Nothing really that interesting.
Oh yeah, and some of you have been asking what Hiyori's lair looks like. Just imagine a dark three-storied pagoda connected to a smaller building (with glass spikes all around it). Hopefully that description is enough.