The front door of Yoko’s house flung open, letting in a tidal wave of sunshine and birdsong. Osamu’s three gorgeous children stepped inside, followed by Yoko and Tsukiakari. The first child was Kiyoko, Yoko’s daughter, who inherited her mother’s ocean-blue eyes and long, autumn-red hair.
She kicked off her little, red shoes by the door and handed her denim vest to her mother to put away for her. Kiyoko’s bright smile illuminated the entire household as she rushed to her seat in the kitchen, eager to fill her belly.
“Kiyoko, stop running off like that!” Yoko nagged as she hung her daughter’s vest in the coat closet.
“Everyday…” Yuuto sighed, his wavy, raven hair draped over one of his hazel eyes.
“Sorry honey, but can you make sure she’s not making a mess in there?” Tsukiakari requested.
“I’ll do it if you give me my Playstation back.” Yuuto responded, earning an irritated snarl from Tsukiakari. “Okay, never mind. It’s cool. I’ll do it.”
“Better luck next time, buddy.” Tsukiakari snickered.
Lastly, a little girl with curly, black hair and scarlet eyes tugged on the hem Tsukiakari’s white shirt, prompting her to kneel on one knee. “Yes, babe?”
“Are we having risotto for dinner, mom?” The girl asked with a tone as soft as a blanket.
Tsukiakari smiled. “I don’t know! Let’s join everyone in the kitchen and see what Mama ‘Nami is cooking up.”
Yoko stroked the girl’s head. “I think we’ve spoiled Chiya rotten already. She just expects risotto for dinner now.”
Chiya, Tsukiakari’s daughter, was as gentle as a dandelion. Soft-spoken and well-mannered, she never rushed into things like Kiyoko, nor did she like pushing people’s buttons like Yuuto. It was almost hard to believe that she was the daughter of a legendary war goddess.
Chiya kicked off her sandals and followed after her siblings to the kitchen as Tsukiakari shut the front door. Yoko and Tsukiakari entered the kitchen as well, lured in by the aroma of beer-soaked chili. Izanami stood at the stove, stirring a tall pot with her raven hair tied into a pony tail and a red apron fastened over her black sweatshirt and black shorts.
“Welcome home, everyone!” Izanami sang. “You’re right on time! The chili is almost done. Amatsuki, can you get the bowls ready?”
“Sure thing.” Amatsuki said with a nod. “So, how was your day today?”
“It was pretty rough.” Yuuto sighed. “We had to exorcise three apartment buildings today. The ghosts of some of the tenants just didn’t wanna leave.”
“I can’t believe they have you guys dealing with ghosts already. Aren’t you kinda young for that?” Amatsuki questioned.
“Yeah, but since we passed our Mastery Exams, HQ has been giving us some high-category missions.” Yuuto explained.
“They said we’re the most impressive exorcists they’ve ever seen!” Kiyoko chimed. “I bet when we’re adults, they’ll pay us tons of money too!”
“Hey, is Dad home?” Chiya asked.
“Oh…” Izanami sighed. “No, I think he’s meeting with Taeko right now.”
“Another secret meeting…” Yoko muttered.
Chiya gazed at the open moving boxes littering the kitchen. Some of the boxes were already sealed with tape and labeled, while others were still waiting to be packed.
“Oh, by the way…” Amatsuki began, whispering the rest of the sentence into Izanami’s ear.
“What?” Izanami recoiled. “Why would he…”
“Do you guys have homework today?” Tsukiakari asked.
Kiyoko shook her head. “No homework once you pass the Mastery Exam. We just get tougher missions.”
“Okay. You guys just be careful on your missions. Look out for each other, all right?” Tsukiakari said.
“Yes, Mom!” Chiya sang, a bright smile on her face as Tsukiakari patted her head.
“Mom, are you gonna need any help packing tonight?” Yuuto asked.
Izanami smiled. “Thank you, Yuuto, but that’s okay. You guys just get some rest after you eat, okay?”
“Okay! I call first dibs on the Playstation!” Kiyoko sang.
“He got it taken away, remember?” Chiya said.
Yuuto winced at the memory. “Don’t remind me…”
Yoko got up from her seat, walking to the bathroom in the master bedroom. She shut the door and released an exhausted sigh. Closing her eyes, she slumped to the floor and pulled her phone out from the pocket of her jeans. She called Taeko and held the phone to her ear, but she was quickly sent to voice mail. Against her better judgement, Yoko decided she would leave a message.
“Taeko…I don’t know what you’re doing, but you haven’t returned any of my calls in the past four weeks. You tell me my mother is alive, but you don’t tell me where she is. You keep meeting with Osamu, but he never tells me what you two are speaking about. I don’t even know if you’ll listen to this message, but I…I’m drowning, Taeko.
"Please, just give me some answers. Osamu hasn’t been the same since you two started having these meetings. Though, I’m sure you know that already. Please, if you have some sort of plan, tell us what it is so we can all work together. Stop leaving us in the dark like this.
Stolen novel; please report.
“And since you’re the one who nearly killed my mother, I think I deserve to know where she is. I don’t know what you and Osamu are planning, but all these secrets…I just want them to stop. We’re leaving here in a few days. I don’t want to leave with bad blood between us, so…call me back. Please. Bye.”
Yoko ended the voice message, hugging her legs to her chest. She and the other girls were all trying so hard to keep a jovial mood around the kids, but that was impossible for Yoko. She had spilled her heart to the gods, only to be rejected.
Her entire family was in danger, and her husband, Heaven’s target, wasn’t talking to her about any of it. For all she knew, packing and running away was futile. With Heaven as their enemy, no place on earth was safe for Osamu or his family.
Yoko was fighting impossible odds, and the love of her life had no intention of being there for her. That alone was beyond heartbreaking. Fearing for her life and the lives of her family, Yoko could do nothing but weep alone in that bathroom, her husband nowhere to be found.
Osamu and Taeko had yet another meeting at the abandoned bowling alley. These meetings were so secretive that not even Shinju was invited to them. Everything discussed within the walls of the dilapidated bowling alley stayed between Osamu and Taeko.
“That’s how we end this, Taeko. That’s the plan I’ve come up with.” Osamu said, his eyes cold and stern. “I’ve thought long and hard about it. I’ve already made my peace.”
Taeko took a seat next to Osamu, a heartbroken glimmer in her emerald-green eyes. “There has to be another way. We’ve almost got this whole thing figured out, but for it to just end like that, that’s not something I can accept.”
“You’ll have to.” Osamu said.
Osamu stood from his seat and stepped forward, away from the multi-colored light splashing in through the row of stained glass, each step taking him further into the darker corners of the bowling alley.
“When I first met you, I honestly thought you were kind of…evil.” Osamu said. “You used me to finish things with Satori. You did it with such unrelenting skill and finesse that I couldn’t help but think of you as a manipulator. And perhaps that’s exactly what you are on the surface. I don’t think there’s a single one of us you haven’t lied to yet, in one way or another.
“But when I learned who you really were, all of it made sense. I couldn’t think ill of you for doing what you did. In fact, I thought you were a hero. I still think that. Gekko told me that you wrote her a letter, and one thing that stuck out to me was that you said you lived with love in your heart, that everything you did back in the Warring Sates era and in the present was all out of love. At first, I couldn’t understand it. It sounded like the words of a broken, delusional veteran. But now…I finally get it.”
Taeko bowed her head, wiping tears from her eyes. “Do you?”
Osamu turned around to face her. “Yeah. You founded the Senkumo clan because you loved your family. The pain of losing your mother and father, the fear of losing your sister…all of it influenced your decision to found your own nation and structure it as a stratocracy, so that it could be ruled by soldiers like your dad. Gekko said you did heinous things after Ebina’s death, but you did so because you didn’t want to lose anyone else from your clan.
“Trying to get Gekko out of the clan, stealing from the Senkumo to protect your daughter, even coming here to the present so you could continue to protect Gekko, Izanami, and Inari. Everything you did was out of love for someone dear to you. This is no different. Right now, we’re in the exact same situation you were in when the Ashikaga shogunate came after your family. Back then, you were a child that couldn’t do anything to protect the people you cared about. But now? Now you’re a capable woman who’s suffered enough misery to know how to fight back. That’s why we’re doing this…waging the Third Great Holy War.
“Now that we’re here, not only do I understand you better, but I realize…I used to be the same as you. Satori was the same as you too. You’re willing to do anything, sacrifice mind and body for the people you love. I envy you, Taeko. I’ve tried to tell myself that what I’m about to do is out of love for Yoko, Gekko, Izanami, or my kids. But the more I say it, the more ridiculous it sounds. I made this plan knowing full well that some of them won’t even survive it. Does that sound like a man driven by love?”
Taeko shook her head, understanding now what had driven Osamu to such a dark frame of mind, what had shifted his entire personality and worldview. He was still there at the airport during the final days of the Inari Standoff, lying next to Inari’s lifeless body. Every heartbeat in his chest reminded him of Inari and the incredible loss he suffered at the hands of Heaven.
“What we’re about to do…what the world is about to witness…it could only be done by the two of us. A man who fought Heaven and lived to tell the tale. A woman who cheated death and bested the river of time.” Osamu said. “We’ll both have to sacrifice a piece of ourselves to accomplish this. I know this isn’t the outcome you wanted, but it’s the outcome that’s necessary. If we’re going to found our own nation and wage a war this massive, my part of the plan will be needed.”
“I understand where you’re coming from, Osamu.” Taeko said. “But what you’re proposing…are some of the most heinous crimes a human being can commit. It’ll tear your soul apart. Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
“It’s not about what we want. We have to be willing to do what’s necessary. This isn’t your first war, Taeko. You already know this.”
Osamu extended his hand. “We’re going to see this through until the very end. It’s a promise.”
“…Yeah. It’s a promise.” Taeko said, walking towards Osamu and meeting him halfway between the rainbow of light and the veil of shadow beyond its reach. The two shook hands, gazing into each other’s eyes.
“Is everything ready?” Osamu asked.
“Yeah. Heaven will move on your execution soon. Shinju and I will be ready to back you up.”
“Good. I told the girls to stop packing. Let’s hope that lures them out. Wales and Yakutsk are ready as well?”
Taeko nodded. “We’re all set.”
“Then it’s time to spring the trap. Tomorrow, 7:30 A.M.. Wait outside like we planned.”
“Understood. Good luck to you, Osamu.”
“You too, Taeko.”
Their plan finalized, Osamu stepped outside the bowling alley, the sun’s fading rays of light painting the sky red. Osamu stopped in his tracks when he saw the Shoku Twins standing on the sidewalk. He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he approached them.
No one said a word for those few moments. Osamu simply knelt and opened his arms, letting Omagatoki throw herself into them. Osamu stroked her head and wiped a tear from her pale cheeks, then turned his gaze towards Akatsuki.
“We’re ready, Osamu.” Akatsuki said. “Sis and I have decided that a world without you isn’t worth protecting. We’ll do whatever we need to to keep you safe.”
“We’ll do it.” Omagatoki affirmed. “Sis and I can teleport and attack both targets quickly.”
“That’ll buy us all the time we need. Thank you, girls. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“About…about what we showed you before…” Akatsuki began, her brows sinking in displeasure. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I can’t imagine what terrible pain you went through.”
Osamu shook his head. “You girls went above and beyond just to show me the future. It’s not your fault that I saw what I saw. All we can do now is fight. There’s no price too high to pay. Not anymore.”
“It’s all going down tomorrow, right?” Omagatoki asked. “Sis and I will get ready. The next time you see us, we’re going to look pretty different.”
“Different?” Osamu repeated, confused.
“Undoing Izanami’s seal on us will alter our appearance.” Akatsuki explained. “If you recall, she did something similar to Gekko when she was attending school. The seal reverts the age of the victim in order to restrain their powers.”
Osamu smiled. “Oh, so it’s the same seal, huh? Well then, I look forward to seeing what you two look like all grown up.”
Akatsuki nodded, her smile wilting into a frown. She stepped forward on the tips of her toes and kissed Osamu’s cheek.
“No matter what happens next…” Akatsuki began, her eyes glistening with tears. “Sis and I will always be on your side.”
Osamu smiled, hugging the twins close to him. “I needed to hear that. Thank you, girls…”
That was it, their final day of normalcy. By tomorrow, everyone’s lives would be completely upended, and the world drawn into the maw of the Third Great Holy War.