Chapter 57: An Ordinary Life, 【five Person Council】
In fact, the current time was neither late at night nor early morning.
It was noon twelve o’clock—
At noon twelve o’clock, Shizuma Mafuyu’s home was still pitch black and messy.
Empty beer bottles and cans were scattered everywhere, black and white OL outfits and ties were haphazardly draped over the edges of the sofa and coffee table.
On the tatami mat-covered living room floor, Nanjo Emi, startled awake by the gripping phone alarm, rubbed her eyes with her hand, flipped the phone face down, and moved the fleshy big white leg from atop her head.
She sat up and saw Shizuma Mafuyu, disheveled and sprawled in a “big” shape while sleeping, occupying nearly half of the small living room.
“This Shizuma… she usually seems so quiet, but her sleeping posture is this wild and unrestrained?”
Yawning, Nanjo Emi pulled the purple camisole strap that had slipped down her arm back onto her shoulder, then heard indistinct mumbling from not far away.
“Junior Officer Nanjo… no more, I really can’t drink anymore.”
Followed by—
“Open another can! You’re collapsing already, Sister Nanjo, your tolerance isn’t that great either!”
Nanjo Emi burst out laughing with a puff.
She still remembered the comical sight of Shizuma Mafuyu slurring those words while staggering around last night.
Dreaming has this advantage: it can easily reverse past failures, turning you into a constant winner even without talent, effort, or background.
Nanjo Emi brought the phone screen close to her eyes and stared at the date and numbers on it: “The appointment is today…”
“Little Ru, go wake Shizuma up, then bring her to the bathroom for a bath. I’ll come after I finish this cigarette.”
As soon as the words fell, the Water Ghost who had been guarding the doorway all night floated over slowly, but it made Nanjo Emi’s nose twitch, and she asked in a rising tone,
“Little Ru, did you sneak a drink?”
The Water Ghost immediately turned her head away, her cheeks flushing under her jet-black long hair as she waved her hands: “N-no… no I didn’t.”
Seeing this, Nanjo Emi pursed her lips: “Damn, like superior, like subordinate. I remember not long ago you would float far away at the smell of alcohol.”
She pulled open the curtains and window, squinting at the sunlight streaming in from outside.
Lighting a wake-up cigarette, Nanjo Emi hummed enjoyably and asked again: “You didn’t smoke, right?”
The Water Ghost shook her head like a rattle: “No no no, that’s too pungent, smells awful!”
“So you’re admitting to sneaking a drink?” Nanjo Emi smiled. “You used the same excuse before when you sneaked snacks and saw me drinking.”
The Water Ghost didn’t listen, just kept shaking Shizuma Mafuyu awake.
“Mmm? Uh…!”
Shizuma Mafuyu had just opened her eyes when the Water Ghost’s large hovering face scared her half to death.
In an instant, the world stopped spinning, and the hangover symptoms suddenly vanished.
“It’s Miss Water Ghost.” Even though Shizuma Mafuyu wasn’t dizzy anymore, her stomach still churned, but she still suggested, “Miss Water Ghost, if you could tie your hair up properly, you’d definitely be a great beauty…”
Before she finished speaking, Shizuma Mafuyu hurriedly got up and rushed to the restroom.
In no time, weak vomiting sounds came from inside.
The noise made Nanjo Emi nostalgic; she remembered the first time she got this drunk was probably almost fifteen years ago.
Back then, just entering society and not knowing how to refuse, she’d drink when urged, drink when the mood cooled, and still drink when happy…
If not for her exceptional talent, she would’ve drunk herself a perforated stomach long ago.
Soon, Shizuma Mafuyu’s weak voice sounded behind her again: “Junior Officer Nanjo, do we have work today?”
“Yeah, we do.” Nanjo Emi exhaled smoke. “But wash up first; you can’t meet people smelling like booze.”
“Oh! Got it, Junior Officer Nanjo!”
Shizuma Mafuyu responded loudly at once, standing straight.
Immediately after, her voice softened, and she stammered: “Um… Younger Subordinate Lord, I didn’t do anything embarrassing after getting drunk last night, did I? I can’t remember myself. Is this called blacking out?”
Embarrassing?
Nanjo Emi didn’t think so at all.
Closing her eyes, last night’s memories clearly surfaced—
“Alright! You picked truth about the ‘future’; you can’t back out now, Mafuyu!”
“—I already, already said it! I want my sister to settle down in Tokyo, you idiot who can’t understand human speech!”
“Your sister’s life doesn’t count as your future! Are you her sister or her mom?! Damn it, tell the truth!”
Shizuma Mafuyu fell silent, gulping beer while quietly staring at the monotonous night sky where not even a single star was visible.
After a long time, the just-twenty-year-old girl hugged her knees tightly and covered her face:
“—Sister Nanjo, I don’t want to die worthless like trash alongside those cultists and Senior Hasegawa, then get stuffed in a little box and buried in a cheap public cemetery.”
“I want… to live properly.”
She trembled,
“Even if it’s a peaceful life you can see the end of at a glance, I want to live it well with my sister.”
Amid the long sobbing, Nanjo Emi quietly finished the draft beer in her hand, then curved her lips pleasantly,
“Then please let me help you, Mafuyu.”
Nanjo Emi said to the girl word by word: “Because we’re the same kind of people.”
……
“—Alright! Let’s take a bath first.”
Crushing out the cigarette, Nanjo Emi pulled Shizuma Mafuyu into the bathroom and twisted on the faucet, as if she were the master of the house.
She snapped her fingers.
“Little Ru, same old routine, but include Shizuma this time.”
The Water Ghost skillfully unhooked their bras with the ends of her hair, making Shizuma Mafuyu yelp.
The Water Ghost paused, looking puzzled at the girl, whose face instantly turned beet red as she bowed her head and mumbled sorry.
Nanjo Emi leaned against the bathtub edge, pondering the upcoming matters.
Shizuma Mafuyu sat very embarrassed on the stool; from childhood to now, she’d never bathed with anyone outside her family.
The Water Ghost was extra diligent this time, controlling the water flow to scrub them both, seemingly hoping to divert attention to it.
“Junior Officer Nanjo, can I ask what the work is later?” Shizuma Mafuyu broke the silence; after the Friendship Club’s destruction, Kondo Yuya had given them a full week off.
“Relax, just meeting the superior.” Nanjo Emi stretched lazily, showing off curves that made the girl envious. “Mention the Friendship Club and Ai Bieli to them.”
Huh?
Shizuma Mafuyu was puzzled; she clearly remembered that yesterday Junior Officer Nanjo had told that Shangshan Jun she wasn’t getting involved.
She continued: “Great Officer Kondo?”
Nanjo Emi shook her head: “The【Five Person Council】.”
Shizuma Mafuyu froze, realizing Junior Officer Nanjo’s words didn’t match her heart.
The Five Person Council, full name “Tokyo Special Affairs Office Five Person Supreme Conference,” consists of Onmyo Assistant, Onmyo Doctor, Astronomy Doctor, Calendar Doctor, Calendar Doctor.
Though their ranks differed slightly in the historical Onmyo-ryo, in the restructured Special Affairs Office, all four hold equal importance.
—This is the Tokyo Special Affairs Office’s highest authority and most powerful violence institution.
Nanjo Emi doing this was like jumping three or four levels to report up; one misstep and she could lose her position.
So Shizuma Mafuyu hesitated: “Junior Officer Nanjo, are you confident?”
But Nanjo Emi looked at her with a strange expression and spread her hands,
“Of course not!”
Don’t sound so righteous if you’re not confident!
Now, Shizuma Mafuyu couldn’t help worrying about her own job.
Though returning to normal life at such a critical moment was nice, if they really got fired, all her previous efforts would be wasted—such a loss just thinking about it.
“—Shizuma, you have reasons not to let Arakawa Ward be destroyed and countless normal people die miserably, right.”
Shizuma Mafuyu came back to her senses and nodded: “Of course.”
After their parents passed, she and her sister had worked hard to live in Arakawa Ward; even if life wasn’t always great and there were no memorable places or memories.
But at least, it was where they grew up.
That was enough.
At some point, Hiyori Bo had hovered over them, drying their hair and bodies.
Nanjo Emi took the clothes rolled over by the black hair and dressed unhurriedly.
Buttoning up, tightening the tie.
Soon, the sloppy woman vanished, replaced by the ever-calm and cool Junior Officer Nanjo.
Then Shizuma Mafuyu saw her superior lower her head, reach out, and ask softly:
“Want to come along, Shizuma?”
Shizuma Mafuyu understood this was the last chance to back out.
If she nodded yes, the hard-won internship might be lost today; if she refused, she could keep striving for her sister’s future.
This should have been a very difficult choice, just like when she agonizingly chose part-time work and part-time study so her sister could attend high school.
But this time, Shizuma Mafuyu inexplicably skipped weighing it and gripped the hand in front of her without thinking, pleading: “Please take me with you, Lord Nanjo.”
So Nanjo Emi smiled happily,
“Sure.”
The superior bent down, solemnly and carefully tying the tie for her personally.
Then, lightly patted her shoulder,
“Then let’s go.”
—Sorry, Manatsu.
Shizuma Mafuyu gently closed her eyes.
In her heart, she whispered: “Please let sister be selfish just this once.”
Monday update moved up to 00:01; everyone remember to check it out then.
Also, brothers, hold onto those monthly votes for now, stuff me full on Monday—I wanna rush the leaderboard orz
