The Past's Nightmare

"father, rihan dear, sweetheart, and kazuma-kun, what i'm telling you is what i'm experienced at the time while i'm still wandering around the world. maybe it is so surreal that you find it must be fantasy but this is a real experience and there were some news that record this incident"

"huh? what do you mean by that, otome? are you saying that this incident and the past incident that you involved is connected to each other?"

"i have some doubt about my theory but yes. after all, our clan is never using our ability for some idiotic reason like this, right father?"

"of course. after all, i or rihan need some preparation to use our ability to make mist to cover our hyakki hyakko from human eyes so that they never know about our existence, not to trap some people within it"

"yes, that's right. but still, it can't cover the entire town, right father?"

"of course"

"then kazuma-kun, you must be visited the female that almost became the missing person, right?"

"yeah, madam"

"then did you ask about the size of the mist that covering eehhh, what town is it again?"

"aahhh, i forget to write about that. it is gamamori where he is from, madam"

"tsk, so gamamori huh"

"eh gamamori? mama, just what the hell is gamamori?"

"you don't need to know as you are going to know about that soon enough, ryouma. so just shut up"

"eh, grandfather. you can't say that about this as this i-"

"ryouma, i know what you are going to say but this is no longer your business any longer"

"what do you mean by that, oyaji? do you imply that i no longer needed?"

"to put it bluntly yes, you are no longer needed"

"oyaji, do you think that you ha-"

"well, i'm not done speaking fool. what i'm saying was that you are made a good job as you made a good discovery about this incident that now this is my turn to take the charge to solve this case with our- no, with my hyakki hyakko"

"then, let me help you oyaji!!!"

"then let me ask you this question, ryouma. do you have the resolve to make a tough decision regardless of circumstance around this case?"

"of course, i ca-"

"even you must sacrifice otome to reach your end goal?"

"eh? w-w-wh-what are you talking about, oyaji!? why would i need to sacrifice mama just to reach my goal!!!!????"

"well, then you are- *THUD* itee!!! old man!!! what the hell are you thinking when you hit me with your staff!!!??"

"don't tease him too much, rihan. you know that they are never the correct answer to your question"

"oi old man, you are the one that gives me the same question when i wanted to help you. don't be sarcastic with your word"

"of course i give you that question because of the order of law at that time was still in chaos when tokugawa shogunate was still in the growing period and now, this is a peaceful era that we don't need to caution about some of our enemies. you understand right, rihan?"

"and yet my idiot son was attacked by some fucking people that wanted to harm my son, old man. you wanted to deny that i am being cautious about my surroundings when that happened recently?"

"that's true. but your word is not appropriate for this time, rihan"

"Yeah, you are right. *look away* i'm sorry, father"

"rihan dear"

"i'm sorry, otome. for using you like that as to stop our son for being reckless"

"please don't be like that, dear. i know that you are being cautious as our sweetheart almost died from that assault. if you didn't order your men to search for our sweetheart attacker, then i'm going to hunt that useless meat that dares to attack my sweetheart that still roaming around on this land. fufufufufufufu"

*gloom*

"Alright enough of your catering, you lovebirds. ryouma, rihan wanted to test your resolve to carry the burden of this whole clan as he ask such a question toward you"

"ojii-chan, i'm ready to carry the such burden as i-"

"no, you are not. even though you have learned what our clan is teaching to you and you are making a business that can make some gold that we always wanted. but, there is a difference between your understanding with your work that didn't need to go outside of this town and outside work's law that still foreign to you, ryouma"

"huh? ojii-chan, what the hell are you talking about? of course, i was going out to other cities on my own!!"

"no, you are not. we allow you to go out because I and rihan were always with you when we were taking you with us to some party and someplace that we deem was good enough for your studies. and the reason that you can go out without notice to that traitor's place is that i was given the ok sign to the gatekeeper to let you out and this town's police and make kurotabo tail you so you didn't do anything stupid. well, the result of that was you almost die because of our long peace period that made my decision became dull"

"father, why you didn't ask my opinion?"

"Because you are too overprotective toward ryouma, otome. as this is hi-"

*crack* *crack*

"Father, i know that i am an overprotective mother for my sweetheart. but it is because he is my child that rihan-sama and I wish for all of these hundred years of our life. we yearn for it that i can't bear it when i can't bear the children for this clan. and now you say that this time you allowed ryouma's antics that result in his injury that almost in his death. father, if by some big chance that ryouma was died at that time then i'm going to raze this shrine to ashes as i can't control my emotion"

"MAMA!!!"

"OTOME!! YOU CAN'T SAY THAT TO OY-"

"RIHAN AND RYOUMA, SHUT UP!!! otome, i know about my mistake such as i'm sorry about this otome"

then ojii-chan is doing seiza toward mama. all of us are surprised by ojii-chan's action including mama because we never thought of him, the prideful man that never bows even to our emperor is bowing toward mama. then he begins to speak with his head still on the floor.

"OYAJI!!! JUST WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!!!???"

"FATHER!!! PLEASE RAISE YOUR HEAD!!!"

"NO! this is my form of apology toward you that made this incident happen just because i let that idiot son of mine hide that hideous book at our training hut and to let ryouma go out of his own without the good protection that should be sufficient on his own"

"wha--!!?? what the hell are you talking about, ojii-chan!!?? i need the protection of my own? are you kidding me!!?? i already stronger that i don't need someone to watch over me other than you two and yet you are saying tha-"

"then, who the hell that came back almost die that made all of our clan became frenzy enough to hunt the attacker and made his mother released her sakki to intimidate his grandfather?"

"but, that was-"

"it is, ryouma. you let your guard down just because you are strong. now tell me, the one that struck you, it is woman, right?"

"eh!!! why do you know that, oyaji?"

"*sigh* to think that you are doing exactly what me and oyaji teach you to the bone without a shred of doubt and!!! i know that you know about the intention of the women that attack you, right ryouma?"

"yes, bu-"

"then, don't let her attack you like that!!! good grief this muscle brain son of mine"

"say the one that almost being killed by the woman too"

"uhm, honey? let's not talk about that right now or you know that we must talk about that in ryoum-"

"well ryouma sweetheart, you shouldn't let your guard down even it is a girl"

"....."

"ugh, i understand, mama and oyaji"

"*sigh* well i know that you understand your mistake and i think that you are going to embroiled in this mess regardless of our intention"

"what? father what are y-"

"AAAHHH!!!! oyaji!! you don't mean?"

"of course, rihan. aichi is hihi's turf for his family. for whatever reason, i assumed that ryouma is going to entangle this incident regardless of our intention so this is alright for him to know about the incident that you know about otome. of course, i'm going to ask hihi to assign his protection and he needs to do this for his future as the next of our clan's commander "

"*sigh* alright father. i think that the men of this clan are curse with something like this"

"*sigh* i wonder about that"

"no comment"

"eh!? curse!!! am i curse, mama!!??"

"uhm, of course not, sweetheart!!! you are perfectly fine without a doubt!!! i just say that to your father and grandfather that they are very naughty about their youth"

""OI!""

"uhm, nurahiyon-sama and rihan-sama, can you do this familial love somewhere else? somehow i eat dog food when i see you all acting like this"

"then marry already"

""*nod* mhm *nod* mhm""

"GODDAMNMITTTT!!!!!! i know about that even you didn't say that to me. if it's easy to marry then i am already married!!! fucking hell to riaju!!!"

"oi, your word kazuma-san"

"fu fu fu fu, so-sorry about that. but, at least can you tell us the story that you are going to tell otome-sama?"

"ahahaha, sorry about that kazuma-kun. then father, can i tell my story that has similarities to my experience with this incident?"

"yeah, go on with that otome"

"then, do you know about the incident that happens around the end of the 19th century in England, kazuma-kun?"

"ehhh, please wait a minute. i am going to think about that"

"you, sweetheart?"

"ehm sorry mama. i never learn about that as i always prioritize yamato history in the 19th century because of how important the incident toward our land that it became flourished just like this"

"ah-ahaha, that's right. *sigh* but you should read another country's history when you have time, sweetheart"

"even those western foreigners that i don't have an interest in, mama?"

"yep. after all, it is not a bad idea to amass knowledge when you are still young sweetheart, so promise me to read it, alright?"

"alright, i will try"

"go-"

"AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!"

when mama starts to speak, kazuma-san is shouting so hard that all of us are surprised. with a scowl on his face, oyaji begins to ask kazuma-san that for some reason has a pale face.

"just what the hell this time, kazuma-kun? suddenly you begin to shout for no reason and you just see some bad nightmare with that face white as paper. what the hell?"

"ah-ah-ahhhh, it can't be happening!!! otome-sama, if what you wanted to talk about is what i thought then this is impossible!!! thi-"

"oh, i dare kazuma-kun. after all, this incident that we must resolve and what i talking about is linked to one another"

"But, that is impossible. after all, this is the 21st century for god sake!!! how the hell the killer from the past can be linked to this incident that we-"

"Alright calm down, kazuma-kun. otome, what the hell are you talking about this time?"

"huuu, are you playing dumb or really didn't know about this, honey? after all those thieving cats that wanted to wreck our household to piece from what i saw know the story that i am going to talk about"

"honey, please don't talk about that, and please don't badmouth them after all they are good girls that love me. after all, how am i supposed to do with their love when i almost became mincemeat after you know?"

"typical story"

"*sigh* oyaji, please explain that situation toward-"

"other than you made a fatal mistake that embarrass me?"

"ugh!"

"now i have some inclination of where is this story was going to take place. is it great Britain?"

"yes, father"

"now otome, can you tell me what year this story took place?"

"it is 1888 if I'm not mistaken because of the danger that made me see the death door for the first time since my outing outside of japan that made me remember that very vividly"

""WHAT!!!??""

"EH!!?? mama, a-a-are you alright!!??"

"oh yes my sweetheart!!! as the lady of nura clan, i have several ways to break the pinch that i have encountered through my journey!!!"

"h-h-haha-haha, *sigh* sometimes otome, you are really daring with your action that i forget that you and that f-"

"father?"

"nothing, so this is 1888 huh? just one year after that scandal that shook Britain's judicial system became exposed. what a deplorable thing to remember that year"

"well oyaji, you should know that after that incident our country and theirs became true friends that stand shoulder-shoulder to fight crime"

"*sigh* and yet that friendship became a mess with that idiot emperor order to try attacking that fucking new world that our yamato drag up to that mess of fucking war that didn't yield anything other than the shame of our yamato"

"because of that war too, our clan became the sole daimyo that has the same power as the emperor other than tamakagahara. the diplomatic situation of that time became a mess that i need to coordinate with-"

"with those thieving cats?"

"our 'family' alright, honey. the compensation of that war became apparent that almost our economic sector almost collapse. luckily, our clan helps them. that shitty emperor became docile after that and we made a new document for them to sign. at least, our clan became flourish until now without trouble brewing"

"eh? war? bri-ten? family? ah! gina oka-san and the other right oyaji? well, i miss them already!! well, can we call them from e-"no" eh bu-"sweetheart, i say no understand? and don't interrupt us for a while, ok?"u-uhm"

"a-anoo"

"ah! forgive me about that, kazuma-kun. we forget about you after that talk"

"well nevermind about that and that talk that i am going to forget for my sanity and my life"

"well you are clever" "ma ma ma, how clever of you" "*sigh* well, at least you still have your head on your shoulder"

"rihan-sama.... hah, so i presume that incident that happened in 1888 is the same as that happening to this incident, otome-sama? isn't that already in the danger zone that we have in this situation as we can't identify the killer?"

"well in the nutshell, it is true with your context"

"oi oi, otome and kazuma-kun. are you out of your mind? i never heard about the incident that happens in 1888, you know? in the first place, the incident that was still happening was the truth about the professor case that make great Britain must restructure its judicial system. you are saying that there are more important cases than professor"

"Well honey, the professor is the real scandal for Great Britain but it is only the aristocrat that made a fuss about it. after all, they are the ones that were going to lose the authority that made them immune toward the law itself"

"come one, honey. you know that there are some good ones too that didn't participate with that farce of that kangaroo court until the majesty the queen herself was meddling thanks toward our collaborator"

"yeah, you're right, rihan. otome, just what the hell this incident that made kazuma-kun became a corpse?"

"well honey, i think that is the incident that didn't catch your eyes because of one thing for sure. this was happening in the east end to be exact the Whitechapel and the victim of this case is just slut that spread her legs for any penny"

"otome, please don't use that vulgar language. after all-"

"eh? slut? ojii-chan, what is slut?"

"no comment"

"eh? why!!?? then, ka-"sweetheart" u-u-uhm mama"

"otome, what you are saying is something that i can't tolerate. you think those in Great Britain is lazy enough to locate the killer of those poor woman a-"

"it is a fact, honey. and those woman is women"

"wait 's' you mean plural!!?? w-w-what the hell is going on!!?? you mean that the victim is not one but-"five women, honey" five!!?? what the hell is going on!!?? i know that the judicial system at that time is reborn into a better one but to think that they let this incident aside like that!!! j-"

"it's not like that, honey"

"then, what is it, otome? i don't want any riddle and i wanted to know who the hell is this killer"

"*sigh* well, my honey is impatient. well, i can give you the name of this particular killer because of the experience that i have with this killer. its name is jack the ripper"

"'its' do you mean that there is no information about this killer?"

"yes, rihan-sama. history said that the killer was unidentified, not its name, not its age, everything was shrouded in the dark that the scholar in this age still questioning about this killer"

"until now ok? after all, i know about this killer"

"wait, what!!?? but, how!?"

"yeah, otome-sama!!! how the hell do you know about this elusive killer!!??"

"because i almost became the sixth victim of jack the ripper"

"yeah, th- wait, what!!??"

"h-h-h-how in the name of Takamagahara is that can be happening!!?? otome!!! you must explain this treachery at once and you must tell me all of this you little adventure to me after this talk finish!!!"

"o-o-of course, father. please don't direct your tokii toward me"

"hmph!!!"

i don't what happen but this talk is the one that maybe starts my gear of fate.