Last Mission - Prologue

[rubestie]

Season: Winter

Writer: Akira

Characters: Kohaku, Tsukasa, Madara

<First year of ES’ establishment. Early March. Inside the main Suou family mansion.>

 

Tsukasa: From today onwards, this will be your house.

 

Kohaku: …

 

Tsukasa: Oukawa. It’s not like you to be this distant. Please come inside.

 

Kohaku: …Is this really alright, bon?

 

I’ll end up causin’ ya trouble. 

 

Tsukasa: What are you saying after all this time? Me and you, no, my family and your family are friendly, are we not?

 

If you cause trouble for me, then that is my price to pay, my toil to bear. You could even say it is my duty as the Suou head to accommodate you.

 

Actually, take this as an apology from me for the rudeness of my ancestors who ignored their obligations to your family and even tried to pretend like you didn’t exist. …I’m truly sorry, Oukawa.

 

Kohaku: Don’t lower yer head like that. It doesn’t suit ya, bon.

 

It’s all good. Since the start, y’all were ta main family while we were just ta branch family. Ya were the main body, while we were yer shadow.

 

Ya have the right to order us around as ya please.

 

We weren’t created equal.

 

Tsukasa: …

 

Kohaku: As the era changes, things like common sense and ethics also change, and what used to be the status quo becomes nonsensical.

 

Both the Suou main family and the Oukawa branch family came to feel a sense of incongruity from within that change.

 

‘Cause of that, all that frustration we’d been stockpilin’ up exploded, and we ended up causin’ accidents and hurtin’ one another. 

 

Us Oukawas ended up despisin’ the head family, while y’all Suous felt disgust at the branch family.

 

In reality, we were all just actin’ a lil’ paranoid.

 

Originally, we should’ve supported and loved each other as one family.

 

Tsukasa: …

 

Kohaku: That’s all there is to it. No one’s ta bad guy in this story.

 

If anyone’s a villain, it’s both of our ancestors. There’s no reason why you, bon, ta current head of the family, should hafta apologize on ta behalf of those geezers straight outta some folktale.

 

Yer a lil’ bit too serious, bon. That is one of ta things I like about ya, but if ya don’t learn ta be more flexible sometimes, ya will end up gettin’ used by some villain.

 

Well, if that ever happened, I’d be there to protect ya, though.

 

That’s how I’ll show my gratitude to ya, bon, who picked me up and saved me when my family were treatin’ me like a child who needed ta be put in a cardboard box and hidden away.

 

No. That’s how I’ll fulfill my original duty.

 

Tsukasa: …

 

Kohaku: ? Oi, are ya even listenin’, bon? I was sayin’ some pretty nice things just now, ya know? Even if ya start yelpin’ about wantin’ ta hear it one more time, I won’t be repeatin’ myself, ya hear?

 

Tsukasa: -Alright, now it’s perfected.,

 

Kohaku: Huuh?

 

Tsukasa: Oukawa. Please look, this is the room I have prepared for you.

 

Kohaku: Right… My folks are at odds with the overseas mafia right now, and things still haven’t calmed down. It seems they’ve settled an agreement for now, but lots of details are still real fishy.

 

I can’t afford ta get the people livin’ peacefully at Starmony involved in my idiotic family drama, after all.

 

I’m plannin’ on layin’ low for a while until the tension cools down.

 

I was goin’ ta just walk around and sleep outside, when bon found out and I ended up gettin’ tangled up in yer pretentiousness. And before I knew it, the situation had turned out like this.

 

You’ve always been a lil’ bit too stubborn, bon. Really, once ya decide on somethin’, it’s impossible to get ya to reconsider even an inch.

 

Tsukasa: Stop complaining, and please have a look. I really worked hard to prepare this room for you.

 

Kohaku: Ya didn’t hafta go that far outta yer way to- wait, what ta heck’s this!?

 

Tsukasa: It came out well, didn’t it?

 

Because we spent so much time estranged, I wasn’t sure what your preferences would be like, so I randomly picked out things that seemed well-suited for children!

 

Look here♪ There’s lots of manga and toys! Even monster plushies! How cool isn’t this! Squeal~, just kidding~♪

 

Kohaku: Are ya stupiiiid!? How old do ya think I am, I ain’t bratty enough to be happy about somethin’ like this!?

 

Tsukasa: Fufun♪ This is the perfect kid room I could think of!

 

Kohaku: Will ya listen!? Pushin’ yer ideals onto others like this is a really bad trait of the Suou main family, ya know!?

 

Tsukasa: Kohakun, Kohakun, this here is your very own Deck!

 

I wanted to play cards with you, so I prepared my very favorite Card Game. I’ll be your Guide, so let’s start by learning the Standard version of the Rules-

 

Kohaku: Are ya just protectin’ me as an excuse ta play the children’s games you were never allowed to play before or what!?

 

Don't go profitin’ off someone’s misfortune like this, yer like some idiotic feudal lord who’s obsessed with the West!

 

Madara: --Kohaku-san! We have a code red, please help me out!

 

Kohaku: Huh!? One after the other, what do ya want, yer so annoyin’!

 

Tsukasa: Mikejima-senpai (Silently closes the door behind him). …Do you need anything from my family?

 

Madara: Nope, I don’t have any business with you! But I heard that you were sheltering Kohaku-san at your home right now, you see?

 

Tsukasa: So you have business with Oukawa rather than me. Does that mean this is about Double Face?

 

Madara: N~. The details aren’t quite that clear cut, but you could probably say that? So, could I please borrow Kohaku-san for a little while?

 

Tsukasa: Hm… Actually, I’d like to ask if there’s anything I can assist you with as well? I have invested in Double Face ever since its inception, I’m what you might call the largest shareholder.

 

Strictly speaking, you are not allowed to do Double Face activities without my consent.

 

Madara: Hahaha! And whose rule is that? ES? NewDi? National law?

 

Do you expect us to start caring about such things at this point?

 

Tsukasa: It’s worrisome if you do not care about those things. It seems that Double Face is operating rather far removed from what I envisioned it would back when it was first established.

 

Kohaku: Hey now, don’t go arguin’ about me as if ya were fightin’ fer custody.

 

What’s up, really? My family home is still a mess, and Crazy:B is still active and as energetic as ever-

 

Honestly speakin’, I don’t have ta time to get involved in yer business right now?

 

Madara: I’m sure that’s true, but this problem is connected to you as well.

 

Kohaku: …Wait, Madara-han. What’s that you’ve been carryin’ under yer arm?

 

Madara: Yup. This is my current biggest problem.

 

Kohaku: Uuhm… That looks an awful lot like a live human? A small boy, looks ta be around first-year elementary age?

 

Wh, where did ya kidnap that thing up from? Madara-han, I always thought ya would end up doin’ somethin’ bad, but this-

 

Madara: You’re saying some awfully rude things right now. Just what do you take me for, exactly?

 

Or rather, I wish you wouldn’t act as if this is entirely unrelated to you.

 

-Kohaku-san. This is our child, you know♪

 

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