Kaguya did not know how to describe the feelings she was experiencing at this moment.
Nervous? Excited? Sad? Thrilled? Anticipatory?
It seemed that, to one degree or another, all of them were present.
Family.
For children from ordinary families, family meant people they could trust and rely on—partners who would walk forward together and face hardships side by side. Family were elders who taught one how to grow, companions who supported one another, and juniors whom one guided step by step as they matured.
But for Kaguya, the word "family" only ever filled her with intense revulsion.
Control. Oppression. The trampling of human dignity. Wanton violations of the boundaries of law and morality—everything driven purely by naked self-interest.
This large family brought Kaguya nothing but a darkness that made her feel sick; it never once made her happy, not for a single day.
In Kaguya's generation, there were a total of four children. Ordered by age, they were Shinomiya Oko, Shinomiya Seiryū, Shinomiya Un'yō, and Shinomiya Kaguya. As the eldest son, Shinomiya Oko had already taken charge of part of the Shinomiya family's business and was essentially regarded as Shinomiya Gan'an's successor. The second brother, Shinomiya Seiryū, was a man with no real abilities—a fool who only knew how to lust after women. No matter what he did, he always took his cues from his eldest brother, Shinomiya Oko, amounting to nothing more than a pure hanger-on.
By contrast, Shinomiya Un'yō, although also a despicable person, at least possessed a bare minimum of conscience. As a child born of a later wife, within the conservative and traditional Shinomiya family he essentially had no power base to speak of. As a result, he developed a diplomatic style centered on intimidation and terror. Even so, because he himself was not valued, he still had very few opportunities to dirty his hands, to the point that, when viewed as a whole, this person could actually be counted as a good man.
As the youngest daughter, Shinomiya Kaguya was born from a hostess her father, Shinomiya Gan'an, had found outside. The melodramatic details of that story can be set aside for now and simply treated as Akasaka's authorial madness. In short, she was even more disregarded; many members of the Shinomiya family did not even acknowledge her existence. During this time, it was her third brother, Shinomiya Un'yō, who took over raising her and taught Kaguya how to survive within the Shinomiya family's dark and cruel environment.
In a certain sense, it can be said that the pathological side of Kaguya as a person all originated from her brother, Un'yō.
But from another perspective, if it had not been for this third brother's guidance, Kaguya would only have become someone far worse and far more rotten than she is now—perhaps someone beyond all hope of redemption.
If the melodramatic affairs of this wealthy family were to be laid out in further detail, they could probably drag on for quite a long time. Takumi, however, truly had no interest in paying attention to such matters. He had no time to concern himself with other people's family drama. Rather than getting tangled up in such boring issues, it was better to jot down and memorize the various rules and intelligence from Campus Horror Story—that way, if he were unlucky enough to be thrown into it one day, he would at least be prepared. In fact, Takumi had already planned to look for Kogawa Shu and Nanami in a couple of days to thoroughly investigate the Red Moon-level instances and the top-difficulty Dark Night-level instances currently known within the player community, making complete preparations to deal with whatever situations might arise.
Therefore, for Takumi, the only reason left for him to continue paying attention to the Shinomiya family was Kaguya herself.
This teammate who had shared life and death with him inside the instance—her hesitation, her inner conflict, her wavering—was the sole reason he was standing here now.
"Have you really decided to go with me?"
Takumi raised his head and glanced at the sky, which had already dimmed, then turned to look at Kaguya beside him.
"Mm, I've already decided…"
Kaguya nodded lightly. Although she had been trying to maintain a calm exterior, Takumi could still see that trace of uncertainty in the girl's eyes.
"In your current state, there's no longer any need for you to remain constrained by these people. But you have to understand that realizing the shackles on you no longer exist is something that takes time and effort to truly come to terms with. You don't need to force yourself to break free all at once. After all, you still have us—you have me, Maki, and Chika. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Think it through carefully and decide whether you truly have this resolve."
Knowing that Kaguya had actually come here by forcing herself, Takumi thought for a moment and still decided to offer some advice. If the girl lost her nerve after going upstairs, it might leave a deep psychological shadow later on, so it was better to think things through more carefully.
He could already sense the changes happening within Kaguya.
The ice-cold girl he had first encountered at the Shirakawa Apartments had already changed to a considerable degree. Under the terrifying rules-based game of Horror Story, Kaguya had gradually begun to learn to consider the interests of Takumi, Maki, and Chika, no longer acting entirely with herself at the center. That ruthless side of her had also begun to soften, at least to some extent.
If she continued to change, perhaps she would never become the carefree, love-struck girl from the original work, but at the very least she would no longer be as obstinate and uncooperative as that initial "Ice Kaguya." That, in itself, was a very good thing.
It was just that now Kaguya was forcing herself to change even further, and Takumi could not tell whether that was truly good or bad. As someone cautious by nature, he therefore tried to dissuade her a little.
"…No. If I back down here, it'll be very hard for me to muster up the courage again in the future."
In response, Kaguya simply took a deep breath, and the expression on her face instead grew even more resolute.
The current her was already different from the past.
So there was no reason to keep retreating anymore. It was time to make a change.
"Let's go, Takumi."
The girl said seriously to Takumi at her side.
"Alright."
Seeing that her state of mind had stabilized and her resolve had been set, Takumi said nothing further. He nodded and moved straight ahead, entering the luxurious hotel.
Attendants were already waiting for Takumi's arrival at the hotel entrance. They were not surprised by Kaguya's appearance; they merely sent a few people to politely ask Kaguya to leave, while the rest continued guiding Takumi upstairs.
"Miss Kaguya, this is an engagement arranged by Wakadanna Oko. Please go back."
An attendant spoke to Kaguya in a stiff tone, coldly blocking her path.
"Where I go—since when do you lowly servants get to decide that?"
In the very next moment, as Kaguya's ice-cold voice rang out, the servants could not help but step back, unable to summon the courage to stop her.
Wh–what was going on?!
These servants, who had undergone rigorous training, were utterly horrified.
At this moment, the aura radiating from Kaguya was like the formidable presence tempered through countless life-and-death crises.
But how could a princess who lived in seclusion, raised like a bird in a cage, possibly possess such an aura?
Facing Kaguya, the servants felt a chill seep into both body and mind.
Even so, as servants, they could not retreat here.
"Miss, pardon the offense…"
Thus, in the end, the servants still stepped forward, deciding to temporarily restrain Kaguya.
And then there was no "then." Kaguya walked expressionlessly past the servants lying unconscious on the ground. With strength and speed enhanced to the limits of the human body, knocking these servants flat was even easier for her than beating down ten small roosters that had been raised for two and a half years—at least the latter would run and jump around instead of charging in to get beaten.
Takumi stood inside the elevator, bracing the elevator door with one hand. Only after Kaguya came over did he release it, letting her enter the elevator, then signaled to the attendant inside that they could continue.
"Mr. Takumi, this is somewhat against the rules…"
The attendant looked very troubled.
"What rules do you even have? If you don't want to follow them, then get lost."
Takumi had no intention of wasting words with him and spoke out directly, full of disdain.
The attendant immediately behaved himself, obediently pressing the number on the elevator panel, then standing to the side against the wall.
Soon, the elevator arrived at the floor the two were headed to. As expected, the moment the elevator doors opened, Takumi saw more than ten black-suited enforcers standing in the corridor, already in formation, staring intently at him and Kaguya.
"I suddenly get the feeling that a supernatural horror film set has turned into a martial arts film set."
Takumi complained as he stepped out of the elevator.
"In fact, all of these people are here to stop me. I probably beat up his subordinates, so it bruised my elder brother's pride."
Kaguya, who walked out beside Takumi, followed up in a flat tone.
"Then do you need my help?"
Takumi asked with some interest.
"No need. They're just a bunch of trash. I'm more than enough on my own."
Kaguya's voice was filled with contempt; she did not even bother to properly look at the enforcers standing in front of her.
As expected, one attendant stepped forward to lead Takumi onward, guiding him ahead.
Meanwhile, Kaguya was stopped by the enforcers behind them. Yet in no more than ten seconds, she caught up with Takumi again, her clothes neither dirty nor disheveled.
Pushing open the door to a luxurious private room, Takumi stepped inside and saw a massive screen on one side of the room. On the other side of the screen sat a bald man with a small mustache, who appeared to be brewing tea. Tea utensils were also arranged inside this private room, as though the man intended to enjoy tea with Takumi across the distance through the projector.
However, once Kaguya followed him in, that man had completely lost any interest in drinking tea.
"What exactly do you think you're doing, Kaguya? I don't recall you being such an ill-mannered, discourteous child. Don't tell me you think that just because your fists have gotten stronger, you can act tough in front of me? With the way you're behaving, what kind of man do you think you'll be able to marry in the future? Are you planning to disgrace the Shinomiya family completely?"
The man named Shinomiya Oko set his teacup down on the table and demanded harshly, his emotions volatile.
"…Ambition must match ability. Accordingly, once one has gained the corresponding ability, ambition should also keep pace with the times. Am I wrong, elder brother?"
Upon hearing Oko's cold voice, Kaguya instinctively revealed a hint of hesitation. But she quickly steadied herself, lifted her head, and stared expressionlessly at Oko on the screen, speaking in a cold, measured tone.
"Is that so? Then tell me—what abilities do you actually have? Do you have enough subordinates who trust you? Enough assets you can freely dispose of? Or some enterprise or high-ranking officials backing you up? Has your brain been kicked by a donkey? Do you really think that just because you can take down a dozen enforcers barehanded, you can threaten me?!"
Oko's expression grew increasingly irritable. He paid no attention at all to Takumi's presence and directly vented his fury at Kaguya.
He simply could not believe that Kaguya—a caged bird who had spent seventeen years doing nothing but submit—would suddenly rebel against him, and with such childish and foolish means at that.
Born into the traditional and closed-off Shinomiya family, Oko had never regarded Kaguya as anything more than a chess piece. His original plan had been to wait until Kaguya came of age and then marry her off to curry favor with some faction. As for Kaguya's own thoughts, they were not important. Under the Shinomiya family's control, Kaguya had no right to refuse the arrangements made by him, her elder brother.
But now, this fledgling had burst out of her cage and pecked him once.
Even though that peck was neither painful nor threatening in any real sense, to Oko—someone who had always kept everything firmly under his control—this was something he could not tolerate no matter what.
"Yes, I don't have many close confidants who follow me—nor many people I truly trust, nor forces I can make use of. Even now, the number of people I can trust wholeheartedly can be counted on one hand."
Standing where she was, Kaguya gave a soft smile. Yet the look she cast toward Oko was as though she were gazing at an ant.
"So then, what exactly is the source of your confidence, that you think you can stand here and threaten me?"
Oko's brows knitted tightly. From Kaguya's expression, he sensed that something was off.
"It's very simple. The only support I have is one thing—power. Absolute power, power that you cannot resist. Because of this power, you no longer have any way to restrain me. Under this power, you have no means at all to threaten me. And if I wanted to wipe out your lackeys, to kill you, my so-called elder brother, it would be nothing more than a trivial matter—something I could do casually."
After saying this, Kaguya could not even be bothered to spare the enraged man another glance. She simply turned her head toward the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at the brightly lit city beneath the night sky.
"Takumi-kun, can you help me?"
She turned back to look at Takumi, earnestly making her request.
"What do you need me to do?"
Takumi answered casually, already more or less guessing what the girl had in mind.
"My elder brother truly lacks any sense of how to treat a guest. He can't even manage a face-to-face conversation—he deserves to be properly punished. I know where he is right now. Can you take me there?"
Kaguya lowered her head, her tone extremely sincere.
"There's no need to be so polite. We shouldn't be distant enough to stand on ceremony like this. So—do you mind if I use a rather flashy way to travel?"
Takumi reached out and braced Kaguya by the shoulder so she wouldn't bend over completely, then smiled as he spoke.
Then, as Kaguya gave a light nod, Takumi's eyes turned a deep crimson.
In an instant, everyone in the room—except for Takumi and Kaguya—collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by intense fear.
This was Hedda's blessing: a terrifying power that could massively enhance physical capabilities in a very short time, a composite obsession formed from the resentment of countless people killed by the research base, the dreadful force left behind by that accumulated hatred.
He did not even need to actively use it—merely activating the blessing was enough for Takumi to easily strip ordinary people of the courage to fight him.
"It's time to go."
Takumi spoke softly.
Boom!!!
With a deafening blast, Takumi leapt forward. His feet shattered the ground as he launched himself straight out of the window, vaulting dozens of meters into the air in an instant.
That single leap carried him well over a hundred meters. He landed heavily on the rooftop of an office building, and amid a violent tremor, he crushed straight through the surface, dropping into the top floor of the building that had yet to be leased.
"I misjudged this. This blessing is way too strong. I originally thought it just turned me into some kind of steel strongman—now it looks like it straight-up turned me into a baby Hulk."
Takumi was somewhat dumbfounded, having completely failed to anticipate how brutally violent the blessing would be.
"There's no need to worry about it. No one was hurt, so it doesn't matter. At worst, we can have people from the Shinomiya Group come over tomorrow to pay for the damages. The duration of this blessing is limited—we should move faster."
Kaguya, who had both arms wrapped around Takumi's neck as he carried her on his back, was utterly unconcerned. She merely urged him on.
"Don't rush. We've got plenty of time."
Takumi let out a low chuckle. With a light hop, he jumped up from the collapsed opening back onto the rooftop. Then he broke into motion once more, racing across the rooftops at a speed exceeding seventy kilometers per hour.
At the same time, Shinomiya Oko—who was inside a luxury residence on the outskirts of Tokyo—had already realized that something was wrong after witnessing Takumi carry Kaguya and leap out of the window in a way utterly impossible for any normal person, disappearing from sight.
After a moment of silent hesitation, he picked up his phone and dialed a number.
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