Book 3: Chapter 16

“I swear, Hellcat, someone is going to pay for this.” Gakuto said, “This wasn’t just an attack on your son. My daughter was impregnated and blackmailed. No one fucks with my family that way.”

“I’m glad to see there still is a bit of fire in you, Bone Breaker, I was afraid you’d gone soft.”

“Oh, Ma Petite Fleur, for you, I’ll be harder than any man…”

“Ahem…” Gio cleared his throat and then took a step towards me.

I was out of the chair and my restraints now, and we were no longer in the scary warehouse, but an adjacent office that looked a lot less threatening and scary.

“Gio…” I responded flatly.

“Ehhhaa!” Gio suddenly turned and smashed his head on the solid would desk.

“Ah!” I let out a cry as he looked up at me with blood running down his forehead.

“I’m sorry, bro!” Gio said, tears in his eyes. “When it comes to my sister, I don’t think that good. You did nothing wrong and always treated my family right, and I wronged you.”

“Ah… that…”

“More than that… even after my sister did you wrong, you still chose to forgive. I owe you, man. I just can’t believe sis. We’re the Yakuza! We’re the ones who do the coercion! Whose got her scared so bad that she not only didn’t tell us but she also still won’t admit who did it?”

After being stripped down and almost turned into an impromptu cum dumpster while her father did nothing, Gina was still in a bit of shock. She thanked me, pulled her clothing back on, and then was taken out of sight after we asked her a few questions. Unfortunately, she wasn’t very helpful and most of her answers were that she didn’t remember or couldn’t say. I didn’t find that particularly surprising.

I shook my head and patted his shoulder. “Don’t be too hard on your sister. These people I’m dealing with, they… have a way about them. They can mess with your mind, especially when sex is involved. I have no doubt they had the ability to convince your sister, she had to go through with this, and also made it impossible for her to remember who did it.”

“So… you do have an idea of who did this?” Gakuto said, giving off a dangerous aura.

“I’ve only heard rumors,” I explained. “The younger girls who get into your… um… parties…  particularly when they come from my school, a lot of them are being blackmailed. There’s some kind of sex ring taking place at the school. I know the vice-principal is involved, but he’s just a patsy. The principal…”

I shook my head, that was about all I knew. The principal had been at that hotel where I met Eiko. He was even talking about sharing and a goddess. Did he really have some involvement with Netorase?

Gakuto was scratching his chin thoughtfully as I spoke. “How interesting. I did find it odd the ease of young women volunteering for these events lately. The idea that a woman was tricked or made into a slut like that, I might have said something like good-riddance for dumb girls making dumb mistakes. Then it was my own daughter, and it looks like I need to reflect on some of the decisions we’ve been making lately. If we really have a rat providing us coerced goods… well, that’s not good for our image, I think. As I said, we’ll be taking care of this.”

Mother shrugged. “It’s none of my concern. If someone threatens my child, I will destroy them. Otherwise, do whatever you want.”

Gakuto put on a forced smile, and the two finally gave their farewells. I gave a farewell to Gio too and he forced me to promise to get a favor from him in the future.

“Anything, Bro…” Gio said. “I’m a man who pays my debts. Oh, yeah… and if that enemy of yours, if you ever find out who he is for certain, give me a call. Whatever man thought he could fuck with my sister, I want to make him pay.”

Mother’s car was waiting in the parking garage. We really were in a place far from anywhere. I couldn’t even begin to guess how my mother found this place. Of course, it was more horrifying wondering what would have happened to me had she not found this place. There was a very good chance I’d be dead right now. I clenched my fist just thinking about it. Tomorrow, at school, I was going beat the shit out of Mr. Fukumi and get him to confess his source. I’d make sure Netorare fucks with Cuckold too so he can’t block my Dirty Scribe. I would get my answers, and then I would get Kira out of her predicament.

A hand suddenly touched my knee gently, and I looked over to see mom watching me. She had started the car, but she wasn’t driving yet.

“My son, whatever you choose to do, do it with a cool head.”

I blinked and then tried to unclench my body. It appeared like my inner thoughts were a bit too obvious when it came to Mother.

“Ah… that…” I smiled at her. “I was just thinking about the people who need to pay.”

Mother nodded and turned to me. “Vengeance is fine, just make sure it is directed at the right people.”

I blinked. “What do you mean? I think I’m pretty sure who did this.”

Mother shrugged. “The group I was a part of back in the day was all women. We didn’t have the numbers or strength of our male counterparts, but we still managed to carve a nice place for ourselves. This was because we were cunning. Only fools attack their enemies directly. If I had two enemies, and I wanted to strike at them, I’d never hit them head-on. I wouldn’t have the strength. What I’d do instead is try to make them fight each other. If you drive a rival street gang into a war, there is a good chance they’ll destroy each other for you.”

Her words went through my mind, and I was reminded that there were more people in play. As to how many, or how far wide they were, I couldn’t even guess. I knew in my school there was already Netorare, Netori, Netorase, and Cuckold. Were all the gods in my high school? Well, if they wanted to get their hands on Netori, they kind of needed to be.

“Who would be ballsy enough to start a war using the Yakuza?” I asked.

Mother shook her head. “I don’t know, my son. But whoever it was, they’d be the person to benefit from it the most. Probably the last person that you would expect as well.”

I didn’t know how to respond. Mother’s words made a certain kind of sense. That didn’t mean I still didn’t need to chase after whoever was wronging Kira. Netorase’s champion was still my greatest threat at the moment. This other god who sent Gina my way, they were still sitting in the dark like a spider. I could only respond to the threats I could see.

“Mother…” I finally asked after we drove in silence for a bit. “Who are you?”

“Foolish child, I’m your mother.” Mom said as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Ah… r-right…” I shook my head. “You know that’s not what I mean. What’s with the gangs? Why were you a shrine maiden? Why did you even marry someone like dad?”

“I suppose I can answer those questions, but the answers will cost you something. Are you sure you can pay the price?”

I gulped and then nodded. “Yes, I really want to know.”

With her being somehow protected, I wouldn’t be able to Dirt Scribe her. The only way I could find out more about my mother was to ask her directly.

“Although Japan was annexed by the United States a long time ago, it was in the 70s during the Vietnam War when they really started enacting policies that spread the white idealism movement. It only got worse in eighties and nineties when I grew up. I ended up running away from home and joining some youth groups that tried to fight American Supremacy, and that eventually snowballed to me running a small gang of women. We weren’t drug dealers or anything. We were more about spraying anti-American tags on anything and everything.

“I grew to the head of the group by the time I was your age. I dropped out of high school, and I was on a one-way pass to doing worse things. Even though men like Bone Crusher wanted to tempt me and my women, I managed to keep them from getting into the more illegal rackets. Although… there were other groups that thought we were pushovers because we didn’t sell drugs. One thing led to another, a war broke out, and a lot of my girls were taken into other gangs, often by being raped.

“As for me, I avoided rape and kept my chastity, but I ended up half-dead on the doorstep of a shrine without a memory of how I got there. The shrine head bandaged me up, cleaned me up, and taught me about their god.

“I had performed a one-woman rampage across the gangs. I had used every trick I could to bring them down. I spread a lot of lies and started a lot of battles. I had gotten vengeance for every girl that had been taken from me, and all that was asked in return was that I become a shrine maiden.

“The shrine head was your grandfather, you see. I owed that man a lot. He never touched me or took advantage of me, but he taught me all about his god. He helped me overcome my rage and become a better person. So… to thank him, I cut a deal with the remaining gangs that I would stop going after them, and then I trained as a shrine maiden.”

“What god is it?”

“He said there wasn’t one.”

“What?”

Mother chuckled. “He said the god had left his post a long time ago. The reason he maintained the shrine wasn’t because of the god that was but because of the god that will be.”

“Will be?” I blinked, not really understanding it, “So, you’re a shrine maiden without a god?”

“And without a shrine… it was torn down about the time you were born after your grandpa died from a heart attack.” Mother smiled sadly. “You can imagine why I never talked about it.”

“So, you met dad as a shrine maiden?”

“Mm…” Mother nodded. “He was a major playboy, your father. He hit on all the girls. I was one of three eventual shrine maidens. He slept with the other two frequently.”

“I mean no offense mom, but I think he slept with you too…”

Mother let out a laugh. “I actually found your father repulsive. I’m sure you don’t want to hear it, but I fancied your grandpa much more.”

“Th-then why dad? Why did you sleep with a player?”

“Because…” Her lips quivered for a moment. “I had to…”

“Huh?”

“I won’t get into the specifics, but for a time, we believed your dad was the reincarnation of that shrines god. I believed it was my duty to be with him.”

My eyes widened as the implications reached home. “You thought Dad was going to become a god?”

The car stopped, and I realized we had reached home. Mother turned to me, a serious look on her face.

“I was young, and I believed that if I gave my virginity to your father, I would make him a god. I was young and foolish, and as he grew older, he exuded less and less of the divine traits of the abandoned mantle, and that’s all there is to it.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know what to say, mom. I think dad’s proven he doesn’t have what it takes to even be a decent man, let alone a deity. It might be best if you moved on.”

Mom chuckled. “My son really has been changing. I can see it. There was a time you’d never say things like this so boldly to me.”

“I just…” I lowered my head. “I want you to be happy, okay?”

Mom’s smile widened. “I’m happy. Do you know why?”

Her expression started to turn predatory. I gulped.

“U-um, why?”

“Because… Hakaru… I’ve answered your questions. Now that we’re home, it’s time you pay the cost!”