Everyone's sitting in the same living room while Ringo went back to her spot at the back of the estate. Shinobu came back as she finished checking at the two.
"How are they?" Gyomei asked.
"They're fine. Seems like Ringo-san managed to control her own and didn't break any of their bones. Though...." Shinobu answered looking down.
"Though?" Kanae asked.
"We can't deny that a little more force or impact and Iguro-san's jaw would've been broken and so is the upper part of Shinazugawa-san's back bone." Shinobu continued.
They all sweatdropped at this. But Yuichiro remained stoic and Kanae just smiled.
"Well, me and Kanae-san warned them so it's their fault." Yuichiro said looking at Shinobu straight in the eye.
'I wonder who's next if they wouldn't stop.'
Shinjuro thought as he sighed.
"Is there something wrong, father?" Senjuro asked looking worried.
"Nothing." Shinjuro answered.
[At the back of the estate....]
Fuji's smiling and her eyes sparkling after watching the fight. Feeling so proud towards Ringo.
"Ringo-chaaan! I'm so happy how you took those two down without breaking a sweat! You're really our Master's student!" Fuji praised as she held Ringo's hands.
"They won't shut the hell up and would still challenge me. I just gave them what they're asking for." Ringo replied as she close her eyes and sigh.
"We should wait for those two to wake up first before we start a discussion. Let everyone of them hear it." Kai said.
"Unfortunately, not completely everyone. I mean, that young Shinazugawa's not here." Ringo replied.
"I see, then that's alright. I'm sure they'll inform him about it later on." Fuji said waving her right hand in front of her.
As the sun slowly sets, the sky slowly turned into an orange, red, and yellow color. Obanai and Sanemi who were kept in the same room slowly woke up.
Obanai's eyes started twitching as he slowly open it and was greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling. He slowly sat up with a groan as he felt his body in pain.
'What happened?'
He asked himself in his mind.
He then felt a stinging pain in his jaw as he slowly touch it, only then did he realize what happened.
'Right. I fell unconscious after her attack.'
He then looked around and was surprised to see Sanemi also slowly sitting up from his futon.
"Wait! You too?!" Obanai exclaimed as he can't even believe that even Sanemi got taken down.
"Am I going to end up here if she didn't took me down too, huh?" Sanemi replied as he open his mouth and heard some cracking sound in his jaw.
"Dammit!"
The both of them then stood up and made their way to the living room where all the Pillars have gathered. Though they struggled to walk, they still reached the room after a while since they refused the kakushis' offer to help.
"Hello! Glad you two are awake!" Kanae greeted.
"What's there to be happy about?" Sanemi asked as he sat down the tatami mat beside Gyomei with a frown.
Obanai then sat down just next to him too. Seconds later, Ringo showed up with both Fuji and Kai.
"Glad you two didn't took until night time to wake up." Ringo said as she and the other two sat in front of them.
"Now that I've cooled down you all can start asking whatever the hell you want to know." Ringo added crossing her arms.
"We won't waste any time then. First, we wanted to know how nee-san survived. Did Oyakata-sama spare her?" Shinobu asked having a serious look instead of her usual smile.
"Oyakata? Of course not. Master did. You see, the Ubuyashikis only heard about her by the time she regained her memories as a human. At first, before she completely fell asleep, when she transformed into a demon. Kanae tried to kill Master, of course because of demon instincts, but she managed to stop her without the need of killing her. So for short, your sister's lucky." Ringo explained, her expression remained stoic.
"Kagaya has nothing to do with saving Kanae."
Everyone's surprised after hearing her explanation. All except for Kanae, Yuichiro, Fuji, and Kai. They were almost speechless.
"If she saved nee-san.... then why didn't she tell me?" Shinobu asked once again.
"It's because it was my request, Shinobu-chan." Kanae answered.
"She asked me if she should tell you, but after a bit of thinking I told her not to. We agreed to keep my existence a secret. She also agreed since she understands that not everyone of you would be able to accept it instantly."
"Mine's the same." Yuichiro said.
"I heard from Kazumi-sama that Muichiro lost his memories because of trauma, so I asked her a favor. To help Muichiro regain even just a bit of his memories before I show myself up or it'll be too awkward to show myself to my brother who can't remember me. To show myself to my brother who thinks of me as nothing but a mere stranger."
"Sorry.... I..." Muichiro muttered out having a sad expression.
"Don't apologize idiot." Yuichiro replied.
"How did she knew about me and my sister? Kazumi.... was it because of Aiko-nee?" Shinobu asked clenching her fists.
"Of course. She found out each and everyone of you through Aiko. I must say, Aiko's a talkative one, she kept on telling stories after stories about you guys to Master. Even about the Ubuyashikis and how the slayers work." Ringo answered.
"See? Aiko-san gave her knowledge about us but she killed her." Sanemi pointed out.
"Shut up bastard or you'll never feel your legs ever again." Ringo threatened.
He would be lying if he says her threat didn't affect him after what she did to him and Obanai during the afternoon. He shut up and looked the other way sweating coldly.
'Heh! Seems like someone got scared.'
Yuichiro thought looking at Sanemi with a smug face.
"Back then, when we were all still in the lower ranks, she went missing in one of her missions. So how did she met Kazumi?" Giyu asked.
"According from the information I got from Master, Aiko didn't exactly went missing. She just used her self as bait to investigate about a certain hideout. Unfortunately, she got caught and locked up. Luckily, she wasn't chained nor physically totured at all." Ringo answered.
"Torture?" Tengen repeated frowning.
"Yes. That hideout was owned by no other than Hibiki. The one who you guys also met at the Yamamoto Village. But not only that, he's also the father of the triplets." Ringo answered looking at him in the eye.
This made everyone tense up. Knowing that the enemy they just met back then was the father of the triplets, also means, the one who made Aiko suffer.
"If Kazumi knew, then why didn't she help Mayonaka-san get out? Why didn't she help her escape?" Gyomei asked looking a bit angered.
"Are you really that stupid Monk Pillar? How is a child supposed to help an adult from escaping such place?" Ringo answered massaging her temples in frustration.
"Can anger really make someone so stupid?"
》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》
Alright! Seems like we're nearing the exciting part everyone! But before our next chapter, here's another MV for Kazu-chaaaaaan!!!
Piggy🐷: Since Kanae's three years older than Shinobu, yes, she's 21 now. And yes, she's older than Kyojuro.
Author🕵️♂️: Huh?! Oh.... yeah you're right. Anyway, I'm thinking to make a book two of this one. It'll be either a prequel or a sequel😅😅😅 THINKING, so please don't expect much since I'm still not that sure yet, sorry.