Chapter 57: An Ordinary Life, The Five-Member Council

In reality, the time was neither late at night nor early in the morning.

It was precisely noon—

At twelve o'clock noon, Shizuma Madoka's home was still a pitch-black mess.

Empty beer bottles and cans could be seen everywhere, and a black-and-white office lady suit along with a necktie hung haphazardly over the edges of the sofa and the coffee table.

On the tatami-matted floor of the living room, Nanjou Manami, startled awake by a heart-wrenching cell phone alarm, rubbed her eyes with her hand, flipped the phone over to silence it, and moved away the plump, fair thigh resting across her head.

She sat up and saw Shizuma Madoka, sleeping in a disheveled state with her limbs spread out in a massive "X" shape, occupying almost a quarter of the living room.

"This Shizuma... She usually looks so demure and quiet, yet her sleeping posture is this wild and unrestrained."

Yawning, Nanjou Manami pulled her slipped purple camisole strap back up onto her shoulder, and then she heard some muffled muttering from nearby.

"Nanjou Sub-inspector... No more, I really can't drink anymore."

Followed by—

"Open another can! You're already passing out like this, Nanjou, your alcohol tolerance isn't that impressive after all!"

Nanjou Manami let out a sudden chuckle.

She still remembered the comical sight of Shizuma Madoka wobbling and staggering around in circles while uttering those words last night.

That was the wonderful thing about dreams: they could effortlessly reverse past failures, allowing even someone with neither talent, effort, nor background to become an undefeated commander.

Nanjou Manami brought the phone screen close to her eyes and stared at the date and numbers displayed on it for a moment: "The appointment is today..."

"Little Nuru, go wake Shizuma up, and then bring her to the bathroom for a shower. I'll be there as soon as I finish this cigarette."

As her voice trailed off, the weeping ghost that had stood guard by the doorway all night slowly drifted over. This caused Nanjou Manami's nose to twitch, and she asked with an upward inflection in her tone,

"Little Nuru, did you sneak a drink?"

The weeping ghost immediately turned her head away, her cheeks beneath her long, ink-black hair burning hot as she waved her hands frantically. "N-N-No, I didn't."

At this, Nanjou Manami curled her lips. "Damn, the upper beam is crooked so the lower beams must be warped too. I still remember a long time ago, you used to drift far away just catching a whiff of alcohol."

She yanked open the curtains and the window, squinting against the glaring sunlight streaming in from outside.

Lighting a post-sleep cigarette, Nanjou Manami hummed softly with satisfaction and asked again, "You didn't smoke any, did you?"

The weeping ghost shook her head as fast as a rattle-drum. "No, no, no! This stuff is way too choking, it doesn't smell good at all!"

"So that's admitting you sneaked a drink, then?" Nanjou Manami smiled. "You used to give me the exact same excuse whenever you sneaked snacks and got caught while I was drinking."

The weeping ghost refused to listen, persistently trying to shake Shizuma Madoka awake instead.

"Nnh? Uh...!"

The moment Shizuma Madoka opened her eyes, the weeping ghost's oversized face hovering right in mid-air gave her a tremendous fright.

In an instant, the world stopped spinning, and the lingering symptoms of her hangover magically vanished.

"Oh, it's Miss Weeping Ghost." Even though she wasn't dizzy anymore, Shizuma Madoka still felt her stomach churning like a stormy sea; nevertheless, she offered a suggestion, "Miss Weeping Ghost, if you could tie your hair up properly, you would definitely turn out to be a great beauty..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Shizuma Madoka scrambled up in a hurry and bolted toward the restroom.

Barely two seconds later, the faint sound of her retching echoed from inside.

Hearing those sounds filled Nanjou Manami with a sense of nostalgia. She reckoned that the first time she had ever gotten that drunk must have been nearly fifteen years ago.

Back then, as a newcomer entering society, she didn't know how to refuse; when people urged her to drink, she drank; whenever the atmosphere grew dull, she drank; and after feeling happy, she still drank...

If not for her innate constitution, she would have long since drunk herself into a perforated stomach.

Before long, Shizuma Madoka's feeble voice resounded behind her once more: "Nanjou Sub-inspector, is there work today?"

"Mhm, there is." Nanjou Manami exhaled a puff of smoke. "Though let's get you washed up first. No one can be seen looking like this smelling of booze."

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"Oh! Understood, Nanjou Sub-inspector!"

Shizuma Madoka immediately responded in a loud voice, standing at strict attention.

Following that, her voice lowered again, and she stammered, "Um... My Lord Sub-inspector, I didn't do anything shameful after getting drunk last night, did I? I don't seem to remember anything myself. Is this what they call a blackout?"

Shameful?

Nanjou Manami didn't feel that way at all.

She closed her eyes, and the memories of last night clearly floated into her mind—

"Alright! You chose the truth question about the 'future,' so you can't back out now, Madoka!"

"——Didn't I, didn't I already say it! I'm going to secure a stable life for my younger sister in Tokyo, you idiot of a Nanjou who doesn't understand human speech!"

"What kind of future is your sister's life anyway?! Are you her older sister or her mother?! Damn it, give me an honest answer!"

Shizuma Madoka fell silent. She chugged her beer and stared quietly at the monotonous night sky where not a single star could be seen.

After a long while, the twenty-year-old girl hugged her knees tightly and buried her face in her hands:

"——Nanjou, I don't want to die like those cultists and Senior Hasegawa, worthless and meaningless, only to be packed into a little box and buried in a cheap public cemetery."

"I want to... live a proper life."

She trembled as she spoke,

"Even if it means living a peaceful routine where I can see the end of it all at a single glance, I still want to live a good life together with my sister."

Amidst the prolonged sobbing, Nanjou Manami quietly finished the can of draft beer in her hand, then curved the corners of her lips in profound amusement,

"Then please, you must let me help you, Madoka."

Nanjou Manami said to the girl, pronouncing each word distinctly: "Because we are the exact same kind of person."

...

"——Alright! Let's take a bath first."

Snuffing out her cigarette butt, Nanjou Manami pulled Shizuma Madoka into the bathroom and twisted the faucet wide open, acting entirely as though she were the owner of this home.

She snapped her fingers.

"Little Nuru, standard procedure, but include Shizuma this time as well."

The weeping ghost deftly used the tip of her hair to unfasten the bra hooks of both women, drawing a startled gasp from Shizuma Madoka.

The weeping ghost paused her movements and looked at the younger girl with a hint of puzzlement, causing the latter's face to flush crimson as she lowered her head and stammered an apology.

Nanjou Manami leaned against the edge of the bathtub, contemplating the matters ahead.

Shizuma Madoka sat on a small plastic stool, feeling intensely embarrassed; from childhood until now, she had never bathed with anyone outside of her family.

The weeping ghost, meanwhile, worked with extra diligence, controlling the water flow to help scrub them both down, seemingly hoping to shift everyone's attention to that task.

"Nanjou Sub-inspector, may I ask what kind of work we're doing today?" Shizuma Madoka broke the silence, as Kondo Toya had given them a full week off following the eradication of the Fraternity Club.

"Relax, we're just going to meet our superiors." Nanjou Manami stretched lazily, revealing curves that filled the younger girl with envy. "We're going to bring up the Fraternity Club and the Separation of Loved Ones affair to them."

Huh?

Shizuma Manami was somewhat perplexed. She remembered clearly: hadn't Sub-inspector Nanjou told that fellow Uesugi yesterday that she was going to drop the matter?

She continued probing: "Is it Senior Inspector Kondo?"

Nanjou Manami shook her head. "It's the [Council of Five]."

Shizuma Manami froze, only then realizing Nanjou Manami's duplicity.

The Council of Five, whose full name was the "Tokyo Special Affairs Bureau Highest Council of Five," was composed of the Assistant Director of Yin-Yang, the Doctor of Yin-Yang, the Doctor of Astronomy, the Doctor of Calendar Tao, and the Doctor of Water Clocks.

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Although the latter four official ranks differed slightly in the historical Onmyou-ryo, their level of importance within the reformed Special Affairs Bureau was completely identical.

——This was the highest authority institution in the entire Tokyo Special Affairs Bureau, as well as its most formidable apparatus of violence.

By acting this way, Nanjou Manami was essentially bypassing three or four levels of command to report upward; a single misstep could cost her her position entirely.

Thus, Shizuma Manami hesitated and asked, "Do you have any certainty of success, Nanjou Sub-inspector?"

To her surprise, Nanjou Manami shot her a strange look and spread her hands.

"Of course not!"

If you have no certainty, stop saying it with such righteous confidence, please!

At this, Shizuma Manami couldn't help but begin worrying about her own job.

While returning to an ordinary life at such a crucial moment sounded nice, if she truly got fired, wouldn't all her previous efforts go down the drain? Just thinking about it felt like a huge loss.

"——Shizuma, you too have reasons why you don't want Arakawa Ward to be destroyed and countless ordinary people to die miserably."

Shizuma Manami snapped out of her thoughts and nodded. "Of course."

Ever since her parents passed away, she and her younger sister had worked hard to build a life together in Arakawa Ward. Even if life wasn't always great, and there weren't many places or memories here worth cherishing...

At the very least, this was the place where they grew up.

That was enough.

Before long, the Hiyori-bo had drifted above the heads of the two women, drying their hair and the water droplets on their skin.

Nanjou Manami accepted the clothing brought over by the black hair and leisurely put them on.

Buttoning up her shirt and tightening her necktie.

In an instant, the frivolous woman vanished, replaced once more by that eternally calm and composed Nanjou Sub-inspector.

Then, Shizuma Manami watched as her superior lowered her head, extended a hand, and asked softly:

"Will you come along, Shizuma?"

Shizuma Manami understood that this was her final chance to back out.

If she nodded and said yes, the intern job she had secured through countless hardships might be lost today; whereas if she refused, she could continue striving for her younger sister's future.

This should have been an extremely difficult choice, much like how she had agonizingly chosen to work part-time while attending high school in the past for her sister's sake.

Yet this time, for reasons unknown, Shizuma Manami abandoned her calculations, grasped the outstretched hand before her without a second thought, and pleaded, "Please, you must take me with you, Lady Nanjou."

And so, Nanjou Manami smiled cheerfully,

"Alright."

Her superior leaned down, solemnly and meticulously tying her necktie for her with her own hands.

Then, she gave her shoulder a light, reassuring pat.

"Then let's go."

——I'm sorry, Manatsu.

Shizuma Manami gently closed her eyes.

She whispered silently in her heart: "Please allow your older sister to be willful just this once."

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