Chapter 221: Card Games and Midnight Raids

Mob Yandere

Staring at the cards in her hand, Yukine thought. While thinking, she turned her gaze toward her brother, who was also staring at his hand. She didn't think the trading company's Karuta

¹ was a mere imitation. Rather, it was likely the opposite. However... her brother was knowledgeable, yet there were truly times when she couldn't help but tilt her head, wondering just how he had acquired such knowledge. Would he tell her someday? Or was it something from so long ago that he had already forgotten it...?

"Yes! I'm out! ♪"

"Eh!?"

Cards were plucked away in a flash. It was a notification from the decadent princess. It was a declaration of victory as she slammed the matching numbered cards onto the floor.

Old Maid

². A game where you discard matching pairs. It was one of the simplest games played with Nanban Karuta. The princess's declaration of finishing meant that the only ones remaining were in a head-to-head duel.

...Meaning, it was a showdown with her brother. Incidentally, Iruka had finished first. From wherever he had brought them, he was currently spectating with an air of superiority while crunching on rice crackers.

"Brother..."

Her brother had two cards. She had one. That was the situation. Yukine hesitated. Which one should she draw?

(No. What matters is which one is the Old Maid...!)

After playing this Karuta several times—or perhaps being forced to play—had the decadent princess, acting as the dealer, grown bored? She had declared that for this round of Old Maid, the loser would be given a punishment. Yukine didn't know what kind of punishment had been prepared, but in any case, she couldn't let such a thing be imposed on her brother. It would have been better if the princess herself had lost... but now, there was no other way but to sacrifice herself.

She was willing. If she couldn't even take her brother's place in something like this, what else could she do?

"So, Brother, which one is the Old Maid?"

"I don't know what you mean by 'so'... but if I told you that, wouldn't the fun of the game be lost?" her brother replied.

Her brother's retort. His expression didn't crumble. He was keeping a poker face. She couldn't tell at all which of the two cards thrust before her was the Old Maid. That was why she had tried begging him, but she was coldly refused. Even though she was saying she would draw the Old Maid herself...

"Muu... Iruka?"

"I'm not tellin' ya, zo. That'd be boring as hell. Or what, are you tryin' to make me lose money?" Iruka said.

Iruka's remark as she munched on her snacks. She had even gone so far as to place a bet with the princess. She had bet on the brother losing. She was a traitorous, heartless person.

"Mumumu..."

"Yukine, could you take it soon? My hand is honestly getting tired," her brother asked.

"I-I'm sorry!! Ah..."

Reflexively, at her brother's urging, Yukine took a card. And then she froze in daze. They were perfectly matching numbers. Even the proverbs on them corresponded. She was out.

"I-I'm sorry..."

"There's no reason to apologize for winning a game, right? It's not like this was a fixed match. Hahaha, this is just the thrill of competition," her brother said with a laugh.

Her brother accepted her pale-faced apology with a laugh. Indeed, it might have been mere self-satisfaction. However... the act of making her brother draw the Old Maid was something detestable to Yukine. She hated the idea of everyone making her brother the sole sacrifice. Even if it was nothing more than a game...

"You're a hopeless one. Honestly, when you were little, you used to sulk if you lost. Look, you'd say 'one more time, one more time'..."

"B-Brother... please stop talking about when I was a child..." Yukine muttered.

To her brother bringing up pathetic memories from the past, the sister could only turn red. She thought it was unfair of him to use topics from the past against her.

"Sorry, sorry. ...So, the punishment?"

"Soyu koto! ♪" Shinobu said.

Princess Shinobu had approached her brother's side before anyone noticed. Her brother smiled without any tension. Yukine shrank back in anxiety. Iruka rested her chin on her hand, looking on with a sidelong glance while calculating her gains. The three of them watched in their own ways to see what would be imposed. And then...

"Ei! ♪"

"Uoh!?"

"Fueh!?"

With a light tone, the princess clung to him. At the unexpected act, both the one being embraced and Yukine let out startled voices. But the punishment was just beginning.

"Kiss! ♪"

"It...!?"

"Brother!!? W-w-w-wha-wha-wha!!?" Yukine screamed.

Shifting the clothes, shifting the bandages, the princess bit into his neck. At the sudden act, her brother let out a groan of slight pain. Yukine was completely frantic. What did she do? No, what is she doing!!?

"W-w-w-what on earth are you doing!!?"

"Puwaah. What? It's just a love bite..."

Princess Shinobu responded to the blushing and flustered Yukine as she pulled her lips away from his neck, trailing a silver thread of saliva. She must have been wearing lipstick. Red from the rouge had transferred to the bite mark, which was congested and showing teeth marks.

"Awawawawa, B-Brother! Are you okay!!?"

Suppressing her feelings that felt like they were about to boil over—and failing to suppress them—she rushed to her brother's side. She pressed a hand-towel against the bite mark. She wiped away the saliva and wiped off the rouge.

"Haha, well... I'm not bleeding much. You don't have to panic that much..."

"I'm panicking!!?"

She looked at the hand-towel. A faint, truly faint stain of red. The very slight smell of blood. It was a wound that probably hurt less than a paper cut on a finger. For her, it was enough to make her faint.

"Brother... Brother... Big Bro..."

"Yukine..." her brother said softly.

While pressing his neck firmly with the hand-towel, she muttered as if ruminating over and over. She clung to him while muttering, calling for her brother like a crying child. At that unusual state, the one being worried about had to stop laughing. He embraced the girl clinging to him in return. He rubbed her back and stroked her head. He soothed her as if coaxing a baby...

"...I feel like I'm the bad guy here?" Princess Shinobu grumbled.

Shinobu muttered as she watched the scene as if they had entered a world of just the two of them. She glanced at the half-yokai Ezo. Iruka didn't answer. She simply focused on her money calculations. While humming leisurely and boldly, her five senses were secretly not neglecting their vigilance. The wolf did not trust the princess.

...There was no way she could trust her. In a situation where some 'thing' claiming to be that man was acting out friendship and family love, there was no way she could truly let her guard down. If the fake moved in the next instant, she would likely be throwing the coins in her hand. At any time, Iruka was ready to handle a surprise attack.

(Ah, I'm ready. I am. But still...)

She caught a glimpse of her friend. She looked at that 'thing' claiming to be that man as it soothed her friend. And she couldn't hide the way her facial muscles twitched uncontrollably.

The voice, the breath, the body odor, or even the traces of that man that flickered in his casual wording and behavior. They were similar. They were disgustingly similar. If she hadn't known the circumstances beforehand, it was to the point where she wouldn't have been able to doubt it at all.

(It's not like... he's the real deal with amnesia, is it?)

After that explosion, did he truly go missing, lose his memory, and get rescued? Even such a doubt surfaced. The factor within herself denied it, which denied such a hypothesis... but then, had her own memories been manipulated without her noticing? Such endless doubts floated up.

"...What are you peering at, ssu?"

Iruka asked the profligate princess who was looking this way through the hole of a coin she was inspecting for authenticity. She cast a suspicious glance at her.

"You wouldn't play with me, so I tried to get your attention! ♪"

"Are you saying you came to hit on me?"

"Soyu koto."

Then the princess glanced at the two and signaled with her hand for the brother to leave the room. The man nodded. He bowed to Iruka. Iruka became hesitant at that gaze. It was because her beastly intuition read the emotions contained therein. There was no ill will, only gratitude toward a friend... it was hard to deal with.

"Shall we talk over there for a bit?"

"...Tch," Iruka clicked her tongue.

Rejecting the princess's proposal was something the wolf, in her position, could not do...

* * *

And time flowed. Past noon, past evening, the sun set along with the cawing of crows. The peasant girl from the Northern Region looked up at the sky turning dim.

...Inside the steaming hot water.

"What am I doing..." Yukine muttered.

As she washed away her sweat in the warmth, she muttered. There was a splash, and the surface of the water rippled. Because it was close to a promising Spiritual Vein

³, there was no need to boil water; the gushing hot water could be used directly as a bathtub. Moreover, it was carefully mixed to become a scented bath. A refreshing fragrance rose up with the steam.

Boundlessly luxurious, if she thought of her cold home village, this would be an immense extravagance. A paradise that warmed to the core... yet even so, her worries did not clear.

"How pathetic..."

It was a monologue that spat out her emotions. She had cried so much over just a little bleeding. She had overreacted to her brother's wound. Even though she wasn't the one hurt, she was the one who ended up being comforted. Just like when she was little. It was a pathetic sight. She had ruined the occasion.

Crying, wailing, and sobbing. She was comforted and soothed, and it was quite a while before they could finally reset. Princess Shinobu, who had returned with Iruka and some snacks, had dismissed their apologies with an indifferent air. However, the rudeness didn't disappear, and the fact that they owed her didn't change.

In the first place, it's his fault for giving her a love bite... she felt that way, but social standing was absolute. The reality that her brother was being supported hadn't changed either. Most of all, her brother had been made to think she was still unreliable. It was shameful. She wanted to show her brother that she was reliable, but this had the opposite effect. She didn't think her brother would accept a proposal from such an unreliable sister.

"Truly... miserable."

She thought she had grown up. She had pride that she was no longer a child. But this was just conceit. It was embarrassing. She looked at her own body. Was it only her body that had grown uselessly large? You fool... Yukine berated herself.

"Haa..."

"Happiness escapes when you sigh, you know? ♪"

"Happiness is... Kyaa!?"

A response. It was her several-th scream of the day. She was dazed by Iruka, who had entered the room without even a cloth wrapped around her, grandly exposing her entire body.

"I-Iruka!? Don't just barge in suddenly!?"

"Don't get mad. It's just you and me, right?" Iruka said.

"Even between close friends, there should be manners!"

"I washed my body before coming in, okay?"

"That's obvious!"

It was fine to bathe together. A naked relationship was nothing new by now. But even so, she had her own monologues. She wanted her to stop the surprise attacks.

"You're so prickly. Relax a bit more, will ya? It's a high-class bath, after all," Iruka said.

"Mu..."

At the point, Yukine took another look at the interior of the bathroom. It was indeed quite a bath. It was for high-class guests. At least, it wasn't something a maid or laborer

⁴ could enter. Especially not Iruka, who was treated as a servant. The intention was unknown, but they were clearly being treated with hospitality. It was a level of politeness that even felt suspicious.

...Though she felt like it might just be the whim of that profligate princess.

"From what I see... you're feeling competitive toward that Princess-san, aren't you?"

"...She's a princess with no good rumors. My family is being looked after by someone like that, you know? ...Doesn't that make you worry?"

"But reacting excessively and spinning your wheels is different, isn't it? Besides, the big bro is an adult too. It's fine to get along, but sticking your nose into everything is like making light of him, zo," Iruka said.

"That's..."

Yukine couldn't argue with Iruka's opinion as she doused herself with water, lathered up soap, and scrubbed off dirt, so she sank into the water. She curled up and submerged up to her mouth. She dropped her gaze to the cloudy surface of the water and felt dejected...

"Even the big bro himself was worried, ya know? He said you're trying to act tough but still have a childish side. He said he's worried if you can stand on your own,"

"Brother said that? ...Iruka, you talked about that with Brother?"

"While you were sleeping, yeah."

"I see..."

She likely wasn't hiding it, but she didn't feel good about her brother and Iruka talking in a place she didn't know. She even felt something like jealousy. It seemed wretched to her. She was wretched. Jealous and clingy...

"Unfair..."

"Still such a brother's girl, huh?"

"Not really, we're family, so isn't that just how it is?"

"How it is, huh?"

She was slightly irritated by Iruka's skeptical tone. Was it really that strange? Isn't that what affection is? It's not something that should be criticized by others. Isn't this an internal matter... she thought that, and then again felt doubts like whether she was indeed obsessed.

"I haven't... been able to give anything back to Brother. Nothing. Nothing..."

Even between close friends, there should be manners. To be close means to be family. If that's the case for a friend, it's even more so for blood family. Yukine had nothing but debts to her brother. An imbalanced amount of debt. Repaying that was a matter of settling the score. It was her duty and thanks to her most important family...

"The parting with Brother was sudden. I thought we'd be together forever and ever. Suddenly... I can't say the same thing won't happen again, right?"

"...True enough," Iruka replied.

Iruka responded to the feelings Yukine bared as if she felt something. She thought that was strange, but... that question was overshadowed in the next instant, and then swept away along with a splash of water.

"I-Iruka!?"

"Ah—the water's great!!"

"The water's not great! Hya!?"

"Great chest!"

"Is that sarcasm!!?"

The quiet bath of the estate

⁵ was instantly like a commoner's public bath due to the rowdiness. Water splashed up relentlessly. Screams rose. Giggles too. Some of the servants walking near the bathroom could be forgiven for having lewd delusions.

"Iruka, honestly... mgyu!"

And then, the peasant girl was submerged face-first into the rich bounty. She was hugged tightly, very tightly.

"Iruka...?"

"You're warm. Yukine is..."

"..."

An embrace that seemed to cherish, feel, and love... Yukine could not reject it. It was because she once again sensed that her friend, like her brother, was an existence that could disappear at any time.

"..."

So that she wouldn't fail a second time, she could only hug her friend back so tightly that they couldn't escape...

"Phew... Ah?"

"Ah, you're out? That was long, wasn't it? ♪"

It was a longer bath than originally intended. She endured the slight dizziness and finished changing. Just as she came out of the dressing room to cool down, she ran into Miyataka's young lady, who had clearly just finished a bath as well, likely in the master's bath.

"! ...The water was good. Thank you very much," Yukine said.

A moment's agitation. She straightened herself and gave her thanks. Then her gaze caught the full sight of the princess, whether she liked it or not.

A flushed body and damp, glossy hair. Her yukata was, as usual, disheveled. The cleavage of her chest could be seen. It was the same when they first met, but she likely flattens them with a sarashi normally. When she wore thin clothes without tightening anything, she seemed to have more than expected. At least more than herself.

...Not that size contributes anything to daily life, so she didn't care. It wasn't bravado. It wasn't a lie. There was no way it was just acting tough.

"Did the fatigue go away? It should be a scented bath good for health... Ugh! I'm tired..."

"Yes. It was a very good scent," Yukine replied.

While answering, Yukine harbored doubts about Princess Shinobu's behavior as she cracked her joints as if her shoulders were stiff. It was a listless attitude as if she had been doing heavy labor. It seemed inappropriate for someone who had just finished a bath.

"Ah. Spirit Talismans

⁶ get wet right away in the bathroom. So that means I have to do manual labor with these slender arms, you see?"

"Yes...?" Yukine asked.

What is she saying? What does she want to say?

"Look. You shouldn't scrub old wounds because they'll sting, right? You have to stroke them gently with your bare hands, don't you?"

"Um... what?"

"Carefully doing the places that get stuffy. Carrying her and putting her in the hot water."

"Eh? Eh...?"

Wait. Wait. Wait. Hold on a minute. Could it be, no way, that...!?

"When she's out, carefully wiping her and letting the moisture absorb. Applying ointment and wrapping bandages..."

And then the woman in front of her wore her most greasy smile of the day. She leaned forward and looked into Yukine's face.

"Thanks for the treat! ♪"

To provoke, to tease, to play around, truth unknown, unconnected to the previous conversation, the woman whispered warmly and lied through her teeth.

She was a truly, truly unpleasant woman.

* * *

"Wake up."

"Ngyu!? Fue!? Fue!!?"

Deep sleep was disturbed by the impact of someone tapping her cheek. Dazed, frantic, and confused, she woke up. Hotoya Tamaki opened her eyes.

In front of her was the figure of a giant woman with a sullen face sitting astride her and still tapping her.

"Wake up. Wake up," Inugoku Ikumi said.

"No, I'm already awake."

"You're not getting up."

"That's 'cause you're sitting on me! You big thing!!"

The one who kicked the giant woman, Inugoku Ikumi's butt, to get her off Tamaki was a woman who, in contrast, was small, cheeky, and had wavy long hair.

Putting her hands on her waist, she looked down as if rebuking. People's Exorcism Guard

⁷ First Division, Kamichiya Misao.

"Hey, hurry up and get ready," Misao ordered.

"E-E-E-Eh...!!?"

Tamaki was bewildered by the command given with a light kick. And then she realized late. Why were these two in this room allotted to her? No, why were they both in their outdoor... no, work clothes?

"Could it be..."

"By the time I count to thirty, get changed, okay?"

And then the two of them slammed open the shoji paper door. The moonlight illuminating the dark sky was vivid. It was the dead of night. Despite being the dead of night, the estate was noisy. Exorcism soldiers armed and wearing haori were coming and going. It was with a threatening look as if they were about to go on a raid somewhere.

"An emergency report from a spy. They said to crack down on them ahead of schedule. Come on, let's go," Misao said.

That meant a hell where much blood would flow was about to begin in Shimogyo.

A battle to save many lives was about to begin...

---

Summary:

The group plays a game of Old Maid where the brother loses and receives a 'punishment' bite from Princess Shinobu, causing Yukine to panic. Later, Yukine and Iruka share a bath where Iruka warns her about her over-dependence on her brother. Princess Shinobu teases Yukine by implying she has been intimately caring for the brother's body. The chapter ends with the Exorcism Guard mobilizing for a midnight raid in Shimogyo.

---

Character Insight:

Yukine's character is defined by a desperate, almost pathological need to be her brother's protector as a way to settle a 'debt' for past failures. Her insecurity is heightened by Shinobu's provocations, leading to a visible struggle between her desire to be perceived as an adult and her regression into childhood patterns when stressed. Iruka serves as a grounding force, identifying that her 'devotion' might actually be a form of disrespect toward her brother's autonomy.

---

Behind the Scene:

The use of Nanban Karuta (Western-style cards) emphasizes the 'Japanese-style Fantasy' setting's unique blend of traditional aesthetics and imported 'foreign' elements. Shinobu's behavior is consistent with the 'Dangerous Woman' archetype of the game's setting, using physical intimacy and psychological warfare to destabilize Yukine.

---

T/L:

¹↩ Japanese playing cards, originally derived from Portuguese decks.

²↩ Specifically 'Baba-nuki', a popular card game in Japan identical to the Western Old Maid.

³↩ Reimyaku; locations where spiritual energy flows strongly, often associated with natural hot springs in fantasy settings.

⁴↩ 'Hiyatoi'; daily laborers or low-status workers.

⁵↩ 'Yashiki'; a large, prestigious Japanese-style mansion or estate.

⁶↩ 'Ofuda'; paper charms used for protection or spiritual stabilization, likely used here to manage the brother's condition.

⁷↩ 'Minpei'; a civilian-led militia or exorcism unit tasked with protecting the populace from supernatural threats.

Notes:

• Shino - A maid who twists around Master's left arm, biting and licking his fingers in affection. Her devoted service feels maddeningly abnormal to Master.

• Tamaki - Formerly the male protagonist and now transformed into a woman.

• Inugoku Ikumi - A very large woman and member of the People’s Exorcism Guard.

• Rei - Female. A character who is part of the group with Hana and Shino. Her appearance and personality are not extensively described, but she is involved in the 'medical treatment' scene, showing irritation and engaging in tense conversations.