Chapter Nine: The Sealed Truth

9-1

Today is New Year's Eve, The three of us were forced by Powerpuff Girls to help with the big cleaning at Miyako's house. We, the three brothers, were tidying up the warehouse and gathering unwanted items to burn.

Just as we were about to finish cleaning, Kagami found something interesting—a black wooden box with a talisman paper stuck on top.

He called out to me and Shigeru, "Come over here."

"What's inside this?" I asked.

Shigeru nonchalantly replied, "Let's open it and see."

Hearing this, Kagami tried to open the box with all his might, but the lid didn't budge an inch!

"Why is it so heavy!?" Kagami frowned, gasping for breath.

I took a step closer, looking at the talisman paper dismissively and said, "It's written messily, looks ugly!" With that, I reached out and tore off the talisman paper.

"Don't tear it carelessly!" Shigeru said nervously, but it was already too late.

As soon as I tore off the paper, the lid of the box popped open on its own, revealing only a scroll inside.

...I had expected some priceless treasure, and my excitement plummeted.

But then Kagami's words reignited my curiosity, "If it's a work of calligraphy or painting from the Edo or even Sengoku period by a famous person, it could be worth ten million yen."

We walked out of the warehouse and took the scroll out of the box. There was also a yellowed note underneath: "Absolutely do not open the scroll!"

I seemed to hear the scroll whispering to me, "Open me! Hurry, open me!"

The more something is forbidden, the more people want to try it. This conclusion was proven long ago with Pandora's Box in Greek mythology.

I untied the red string binding the scroll. The yellowed paper was filled with strange symbols, with a large "封" character written in the center with a brush. ...I was speechless again. This was just trash!

I asked, uninterested, "What is this?"

Kagami examined it, "It looks like a sealing jutsu"

Shigeru suddenly exclaimed, "Yuzuhiko, Kagami, throw the scroll away quickly!"

Thinking my eyes were playing tricks on me, I saw the symbols disappearing one by one, including the ink mark of the "封" character which was gradually fading away.

Kagami immediately grabbed the scroll from my hands and threw it into the fire pit we were using to burn things.

Just as the scroll flew into the flames, a massive black light shot out from it and soared into the sky...

The entire process took less than five seconds. We stood there like puppets with cut strings, watching as the flames consumed the scroll entirely.

In the distance, we suddenly heard Momoko's voice, "Dinner's ready!"

We ate dinner with heavy hearts. Kiyoko asked with concern, "What's wrong? Is the food not good?"

Miyako also inquired, "You all don't look well. Is something wrong?"

"N-No, not at all!" I quickly changed the subject. It was best not to let them know what had just happened.

Back home, after finishing our meager portion of soba noodles and waiting for the New Year's Eve bells, my stomach started growling again.

Kagami took out the electric stove and grill pan from the cupboard, while I got the hot pot ingredients, raw meat slices, and vegetables. Shigeru went to get the charcoal for grilling and the dipping sauces.

We exchanged knowing smiles. These were the spoils of our victory at the beginning of the month when I hit a farewell home run. That day, we went to a hot pot and BBQ buffet in Ginza and had a feast.

But when it was time to pay, we realized the place charged exorbitantly, almost a third of our monthly living expenses!

So, I made a decision on the spot. We used our electronic watches' storage function to stash away meat slices, hot pot ingredients, and more.

We even "conveniently" took the electric stove and grill pan home. These supplies were enough to last us a month. Not taking some back would have felt like a disservice to ourselves, given the owner's merciless pricing.

We just took what we deserved, fair and square.

Just remember to crack a window when using charcoal for grilling, to avoid seeing tomorrow's headlines: "Three High School Students Die in BBQ Accident in Tokyo Luxury Apartment." Future tenants might even hear ghost stories about "Three high school students who died while grilling, now lingering as vengeful ghosts."

As we finished our feast, it was time for the countdown: "Five, four, three, two, one, Happy New Year!"

"Chime~" The New Year's Eve bell rang in the distance. A new year was about to begin.

"International Science Institute"

We were devouring the New Year's feast, stuffing ourselves with fish rolls, sweet chestnut dumplings, fish roe, sashimi... anything we saw, we ate!

After eating our fill, we joined the girls, who were dressed in kimonos, and headed to Meiji Shrine to pray for blessings.

On the way, we came across a small fortune-telling suggested, "Let's draw omikuji( fortune slip)."

The six of us each drew a fortune, and we were all shocked by the results! We all drew " Daikyo(the worst luck) "!

Each omikuji contained the same ominous message: "This calamity is unavoidable and may lead to an untimely death. But if you overcome it, you and your beloved will achieve lifelong happiness."

...Why have we been encountering strange things recently?!

Miyako, trembling, said, "It's Daikyo..."

Momoko exclaimed, "Oh my God..."

Kaoru hurriedly tried to comfort them, "It's just superstition! Don't take it seriously!"

Shigeru, however, poured cold water on her efforts, "But the fact that all six of us drew the same omikuji is too much of a coincidence."

"And I've heard that the omikuji at Meiji Shrine are very accurate..." Kagami added, unhelpfully.

I couldn't be bothered to tie the bad fortunes to the tree, so I grabbed everyone's omikujis and threw them into the nearby trash can along with mine, "It's more satisfying to get rid of these things! After all, the future is something we create ourselves."

Hearing my words, everyone gradually realized that their fate shouldn't be determined by a small omikuji, and their moods began to improve.

On the way back,Momoko suddenly had an idea, "Oh, right, let's go visit the Great Edo ChakiChaki Girls to wish them a Happy New Year!"

Miyako and Kaoru immediately agreed, "Sure!"

"What is the Great Edo ChakiChaki Girls? A new idol group?" I asked, curious.

Kaoru replied, "Oh, you guys don't know!"

Miyako added, "They're our friends~"

"Then you should come with us,"Momoko said with a playful smile.

We were led by the Powerpuff Girls to three large, peculiar machines. Professor Utonium called them "Time Machines" of the Machinima Girl series. Experiencing something straight out of a sci-fi novel, we found ourselves transported to the Edo period.

9-2

(Edo Institute of Dutch Studies)

Three kimono-clad girls, about our age, greeted the Powerpuff Girls. The brunette with a butterfly ribbon was the first to speak, "Long time no see!"

Blossom responded cheerfully, and then a light blonde and a gray-blue-haired girl also exchanged greetings with Bubbles and Buttercup. The six of them interacted like long-lost friends, while we three brothers felt out of place.

The kimono girls finally noticed us and introduced themselves, prompting us to give a brief introduction in return.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang as the sliding paper door was kicked open. Three boys, around our age and with hair colors similar to the kimono girls, walked in. They were dressed in deep red, deep blue, and deep green kimonos and wore straw sandals, swaggering in confidently.

"Kirisuke, why did you break the door again?!" Momo pointed at a carefree-looking brunette boy with a red headband, scolding him.

Kirisuke answered nonchalantly, "Because the door wouldn't open."

Omiya and Okou also reprimanded the two boys behind Kirisuke, "Shisui, Kimimaro, why didn't you stop him?"

The light blonde boy named Shisui responded innocently, "Sorry!"

Kimimaro said, "You were all having such a lively conversation. We've been waiting outside for a long time."

Suddenly, Momo said, "Oh right, I mentioned last time that I would take you all to eat honey red beans!"

Upon hearing this, Blossom's eyes sparked with excitement, while Kirisuke was shocked: "Hey! Momo, do you want to starve your own husband?!"

"Husband!?" This time, it was our turn to be shocked, and the kimono-clad girl blushed.

Momo answered us, "We were already engaged when we were fourteen... We just got married recently. It's not just me and Kirisuke, but Omiya and Shisui, as well as Kimimaro and Okou too."

Momo pouted and made a face at Kirisuke: "Now I'm pregnant! As a pregnant woman, of course I need to supplement my nutrition!"

Kirisuke looked helpless: "Since when is honey red beans considered a nutritious food?!"

Blossom looked astonished, almost dropping her jaw: "P-pregnant?! Momo... you...?!"

Momo smiled and replied, "Not just me, Omiya and Okou are also carrying Shisui's and Kimimaro's babies."

It was then that we noticed the slight bulges in the bellies of Momo, Omiya, and Okou. Omiya gently stroked her belly, beaming with happiness: "The doctor said that we might all give birth on the same day."

Buttercup's eyes widened and she stammered, "How old are you all this year...?!"

Okou calmly replied, "We are all 17 this year. What's the matter?"

Butch explained to us, "Women in Edo usually marry very young. They typically get engaged at thirteen or fourteen, and the suitable age for marriage is around seventeen or eighteen. It's just a difference in the historical and cultural background."

Bubbles's eyes sparkled: "Have you already decided on the names for the babies?!"

Boomer glanced at Bubbles, blushing furiously, who knows what he was thinking about.

So the six girls went to eat honey red beans, leaving the six of us men behind.

"Ugh... My salary for this month..." Kirisuke sighed. Seeing him like this, I couldn't help but feel a deep sense of sympathy.

"Hey, don't be so down~," Kimimaro comforted him.

Shisui added, "It's still better than Japan being destroyed at the end of the Bakufu by Him. Now it's the peaceful Meiji era. Besides, he's sealed in the scroll, protected by the box outside, there's no way he can escape!"

Scroll? Box? Sealing? These three terms, seemingly unrelated, reminded me of what happened yesterday.

Butch cautiously asked, "Excuse me... Is that scroll in a black wooden box with a talisman on top?"

Kirisuke was a bit surprised, "Yeah, how did you know?"

Boomer candidly replied, "Because we opened the scroll."

The three of them were utterly shocked and exclaimed in unison, "You opened it!?"

I added, "And the seal of the Great Edo ChakiChaki Girls was also broken hundred years later."

Hearing this, the three of them looked as if they had been struck by lightning.

Kimimaro, with a look of helplessness, said, "His prophecy still came true..."

Shisui looked equally desperate, "There is no future left..."

Kirisuke angrily said to the three of us, "You idiots, you had to go and mess with it! There should have been a note in that box saying not to open it!"

I couldn't help but think sarcastically, "If a note was enough, we wouldn't need the police and the military."

I quickly asked what was going on. Kirisuke, looking serious, said, "Listen carefully, there are actually two of Him."

"Him? Two?" Butch asked.

Kimimaro answered, "He first appeared a long time ago during the Heian period. He was incredibly powerful back then."

Shisui added, "It wasn't until the onmyoji Abe no Seimei personally intervened, sacrificing countless lives, that he was sealed in a jar."

Kirisuke continued, "That brought temporary peace. Then, during the Sengoku period, Nobunaga Oda, ambitious as he was, sought to use His power to conquer the land, waging wars under the guise of justice but actually for slaughter. Later, Mitsuhide Akechi staged the Honnō-ji Incident, and after Nobunaga's death, the jar was forgotten until the end of the Bakufu..."

Boomer interjected, "What happened at the Bakumatsu?"

Shisui explained, "At the end of the Bakufu, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, fearing he would be overthrown by the Meiji government, listened to slanderous advice and broke the jar."

"Sealed for nearly a thousand years, he went on a rampage, destroying, killing, and wreaking havoc. He was like an untamed horse. Kennai Hiraga forcibly split him into two entities using a massive amount of Kennainum He. One of these entities was sealed in a box by the Great Edo ChakiChaki Girls and thrown into the sea, while we sealed the other in a scroll using sealing jutsu."

"After the fall of the Tokugawa Bakufu and the Meiji Restoration, the Emperor ordered the scroll to be placed in a black box blessed by the most powerful masters from all over Japan and entrusted it to the noble Gotokuji family in Tokyo for safekeeping."

Upon hearing this, we were stunned. We had accidentally broken the seal!

"However, he said something strange when we sealed him," Kimimaro said.

I asked, "Something strange?"

Shisui continued, "He said, 'In a hundred years, when daylight perishes and darkness descends, I and my other self will be reborn and merge in the rift of time. Then the world will return to nothingness.'"

We felt like we were in a history class, stunned by the information. At that moment, six girls returned, looking satisfied. Blosssom shouted to us, "It's time to go back!"

I responded affirmatively and was about to head towards the Powerpuff Girls when a strong hand landed on my shoulder. I turned around to see Kirisuke, looking serious and almost commanding, "If you want your era to have a future, don't go back now!" I saw Boomer and Butch in the same situation.

The Powerpuff Girls were growing impatient. I explained that the six of us were having such a great time chatting that we decided to stay a few more days, using a flimsy and mostly fabricated excuse.

Blossom reluctantly, said, "Alright! When you decide to come back, notify us with your watches."

With that, they piloted the time machine back to the present world.

Kirisuke led us outside the research institute. Seeing this, Momo asked, "Where are you going?"

Kirisuke succinctly replied, " Takamagahara."

With that, the three of them took off into the sky, and we quickly followed.