Asi Hell

Capítulo 96

"Shut up! Kyogoku, you're just an outsider with nothing to do with this. Those who are just watching the show shouldn't try to get a word in edgewise!"

"Idiot, you should go and take care of Miss Yoko."

"Get out of the way!"

Under Kiba's powerful grip, Kyogoku-do was pushed away and crashed into the measuring device.

"Since the law can't punish you, take this!"

Kiba punched Mimasaka, knocking off his glasses.

"That was just a preview; this is extra food!"

Mimasaka was sent flying and crashed into the platform as she fell.

The box on the table wobbled, and the hemostats and scalpels that were originally neatly arranged scattered on the floor.

"Stop hitting him!"

Yoko entangled herself behind Kiba.

"Please, Mr. Kiba, he is..."

Kiba grabbed Mimasaka by the collar and pulled him up.

"There's no need to say it, Miss Yoko, please don't tell."

Kyogoku-do regained control, and Aoki and Toriguchi joined the chaos. Masuoka stood there blankly.

Fukumoto, for some reason, guarded the exit, while I moved even closer to the box.

"Let go, your daughter is..."

"Garlic is..."

"Don't say that, Miss Yoko!"

"Jia Cai Zi is Dad's child."

Kiba's previously high spirits vanished abruptly.

Kyogoku grabbed Kiba's shoulder and made him face him.

"There are many things in this world that don't need to be asked! If we can prevent her from having to speak, then soon—"

"Originally, the evil spirits surrounding this person would have been driven away soon..."

Mimasaka shook his head, stood up, and swayed as he sat down in a chair.

“Kanako is—my daughter with Yoko. But that doesn’t mean anything. Chuzenji, I’m a doctor. Whether they are parents or brothers, I treat them all the same when they are lying in a hospital bed.”

"Your argument is not wrong, but you have gone too far."

The roar of life. A deafening boom.

Feeling exhausted. Kiba took deep breaths, his shoulders heaving.

"Mimazaka, you bastard! You violated your own daughter! What kind of doctor are you?! What kind of scientist are you?! I will never forgive you. Just because you couldn't cure your wife's illness, you..."

Kiba said, panting.

"Miss Yoko, you weren't kicked out, but rather—you ran away from home on your own?"

Masuoka no longer adopts the demeanor of a lawyer.

"Did you personally dismantle Kanako, who was both your own daughter and granddaughter, while she was still alive?"

Aoki pressed his chest and glared at Mimasaka.

I slowly walked around to the back of Mimasaka, where the box was right next to me.

I really want to see—Kubo in the box.

"Mimazaka, I will definitely kill you, you bastard."

Kiba's hand rested on the folded pistol.

"stop."

Kyogoku-do said.

"Gentlemen—Mr. Chuzenji, Mr. Kiba, please don't—blame my father."

After Yangzi finished speaking, she stood up quietly.

"It's not my father's fault, it's all my fault."

"Yangzi, stop talking."

“It’s okay. I seduced my father. I fell in love with him, and I wanted to take him away from my mother. It all started with my evil thoughts.”

Yoko staggered toward Mimasaka like a scene under steam.

“I hate my mother. I hate her, she gets uglier every day, I hate her so much. Even my father, who is usually so proud, intelligent, and great, is just a slave in front of her. My mother has an incurable disease, it's not my father's fault, but she scolds and belittles him for not being able to cure her, and he can only endure it. I can't stand it, and many times I've thought my mother should just die. My father gave up his reputation and status, dedicating his whole life to my mother. But his feelings haven't reached her heart at all. I pity my father, I feel so sorry for him. So, so—that's why I think a mother like that doesn't deserve to be with my father, so—”

Standing behind Mimasaka, I looked directly at Yoko as she approached.

It was like a scene from a movie; there was no emotional impact, just a feeling of beauty.

Yoko continued her monologue.

"That's why I wanted to comfort my father. I love him deeply, and I also look exactly like my beautiful mother from the past."

"Shut up, Yoko, I don't want to hear your sentimentality—"

“I left home not because I was kicked out, but because my father left voluntarily. He saw through this rotten life and left to devote himself to research. Yes, my father loved my mother. Even after she contracted that disease and became so ugly, my father still loved her deeply. That's why he tried everything to develop a cure as soon as possible. I was so resentful. I hated my mother and wanted to bully her and torture her to death. Anyway, as long as I didn't take care of her, that woman would die soon, and killing her would be easy. I had an absolute advantage over her in terms of position; I could kill her anytime I wanted, but in the end, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Every day, I whispered words of resentment in her ear. Back then, I had plenty of youth, while she had nothing.”

Yoko walked past Mimasaka.

That was the first time I felt fear.

This is not a space I can invade.

I became frightened; this place was not to be opened.

The Hidden Box.

but,

“My mother knew where my father lived, but she refused to tell me no matter what. I felt sad that my father only told my mother where he lived, and I was jealous of the lingering bond between the couple, which had broken down so badly.”

Yoko swayed slowly.

The box's slight vibrations turned into large swaying as she shook it.

“When I found out I was pregnant, I was really happy and wanted to have the baby no matter what. So Shibata’s proposal was a no-brainer for me. Elopement—half of it was genuine. I never really cared about my mother. Even though it failed and I got caught, I had the money, and the subsequent aid was just a bonus. I’m not very smart, but even though I’m not stupid, I’m not completely without desires.”

Masuoka took off his glasses and wiped his sweat.

Knowledge and manners are of no use in this box.

“Kanako is a good girl. Amamiya helped me take care of my mother very much—but in the end, I still left her to die. Amamiya told me that my mother sent several letters to my father after she was hospitalized. Because of her limited hand mobility, she asked a nurse to write them for her. I was very unhappy to hear about this. But I have Kanako, and I don't think I've lost to my mother. Anyway, if I just leave her alone, that woman will die sooner or later—”

It was the letter from Kyogoku-do requesting a divorce.

"Therefore, I only went to the hospital twice after she was admitted. I didn't feel sad when she died. For more than ten years, I kept all of this hidden in the box of my heart, closed the lid, and shut my eyes and ears, only then could I finally feel a little happy. Perhaps it was all thanks to Amamiya's help. Mr. Chuzenji was right just now, he was a very happy person. With his help, I finally felt like I was living like a human being. Before that, I felt like a ghost, no, something even more inexplicable, terrifying yet vague."

The demon. That's the demon.

The demons within me also began to stir.

“Susaki had been coming and going from my house since I was a child. I was surprised when I first saw him at the studio. He told me that he knew I had a child and that he knew who the father was, and asked me for some money. I was slow to realize it at the time. I was surprised, but I didn’t immediately think about the impact this would have if it were made public, nor did I realize that he was blackmailing me. Later, Susaki kept coming to the studio several times. But when he said he was blackmailing me, the amount he asked for wasn’t much. When he asked me for sex, I refused, and he quickly gave up. But after refusing too many money blackmail attempts, he said he would let Kanako know, so I immediately disappeared.”

Mimasaka's back remained completely still.

Yoko was facing me, her back to Mimasaka. Her eyes were unfocused, her pupils revealing the entrance to an unfathomable hell. A butterfly that had just emerged from its molt was now wandering through a labyrinth, searching for an exit.

"—The months I spent in this home with Kanako and Amamiya were the most human I've ever lived. So when Mr. Masuoka came to discuss the inheritance—I was really troubled and wished he could go home soon. The reason I didn't tell him honestly that Kanako wasn't Hiroya's child was simple: Mr. Amamiya was there. Although he'd be finishing his duties in a year, he had said he wanted to live with us after his mission was over, and I shared that hope. So, I didn't want him to know the truth—that Kanako was an incestuous child born to my biological father. Amamiya stayed with us because he believed Kanako was Mr. Hiroya's child, and now I can't bring myself to say it, nor do I want to ruin our future by telling the truth. But I also can't let Kanako inherit the estate. I don't want Kanako to be Hiroya Shibata's child. I want that child to always be the first and last person I've ever loved—the child of Koshiro Mimasaka."

"So, Kanako—is your daughter, and also Mimasaka's daughter—that is, your biological sister. You've told many lies, yet you've always cried out for the truth—"

Kyogoku-do said.

"So—you didn't choose the stage name Kinuko out of reverence for your mother. Ms. Yoko—it's because you want to replace your mother, to replace Mimasaka Kinuko, isn't it? You want to become Mimasaka Koshiro's wife Kinuko—that's why you chose this name."

"Yes. Minami comes from the shrine where her father was born in Mimasaka."

"It's the Mitsuha-no-Ma Shrine in Tokushima (note)."

Note: Mitsuhano is the Manyo-gana name of the goddess Okazo (a phonetic system borrowed from Chinese characters before the invention of kana), and it is pronounced the same way.

"You really know everything."

Yoko smiled with her bright red lips.

"After Kanako passed away, I finally understood my mother Kinuko's feelings. I am—the worst daughter in the world. Just thinking about what my mother was feeling when she died makes me so painful that I almost faint. Mr. Kiba—the day he came to my house, I wrote an apology letter to my mother. It was the same with the threatening letter. Mr. Kiba always appears at times like these, when I am at my saddest."

I visited the timber yard.

His expression was hidden behind the measuring instruments and the liver and kidneys made of machinery, making it impossible to see clearly.

“I put the photo of my father that I had long separated back next to the original photo of my mother that we took together—I apologized to my mother in the Buddhist shrine. I apologized for countless hours, cried until my tears ran dry, and finally—I made a decision.”

"What decision?"

It was the sound of the wood yard.

"I still—love Mimasaka Koshiro. Suppressed emotions overflowed almost frantically, and amidst the harsh reality, that feeling returned to my heart once more!"

Yoko finally turned around and looked at Mimasaka.

Kiba stands opposite Mimasaka.

Mimasaka and Yoko are face to face.

Now everyone is watching the two of them.

Now, now—

I reached for the box.

There is in the box

"What do you want to do!"

Mimasaka noticed.

"Stop! Gate!"