Chapter 8
2013
Maeda Hanako cast sly glasses at her captive audience, lingering on Satoru and then her mother. Then she leans forward, and her crowd of riveted spectators mirrors her movements.
"If you thought what happened to Higashibōjō Raizo was bad, Higashibōjō Gin's widow, three children," She holds up three fingers and emphasizes the number with exaggerated pronunciation. "Their spouses and grandchildren died from carbon monoxide poisoning!"
Cue scandalized gasps.
"What's stranger," She slowly reveals, "is that none of the children under ten were impacted, but they were all in the same house." She shoots another glance at Satoru, "I can't put my finger on it, but something feels off."
"Of course, there's something wrong! They're cursed!"
"Oh no, not the children! They must be devastated!"
"Who is taking in the children!"
Oh no, who could have ever forseen that coming? She derides internally and helps herself to a healthy dose of cream and sugar.
"It's what they deserve; they had it coming," Gojo Yukina proclaims and defiantly stares Maeda Hanako down, daring her to contradict her.
Her mother tuts as she turns her tea into sludge. In response, she dumps the remaining sugar into the cup and stirs enthusiastically, scaping the metal against porcelain. The noise elicits more than a few winces, but she chuckles when Megumi glowers, and Tsumiki huffs and shakes her head in displeasure. If Megumi is a crotchety old man in a child's body, then Tsumiki is the prissy ojou.
Satoru brings her cup to her mouth and slurps loudly.
"How can you say that?" Maeda Hanako cries out, outraged, "They're still family!"
"Your family," Yukina-oba-san sniffs, "The Higashibōjō haven't married into the Gojo family for two generations, and if we consider their treasonous actions for the last half century, I don't see that changing in the future."
"Two bad apples doesn't mean the entire bushel is rotten," Maeda Hanako argues.
It does. She showed them mercy, and they were not satisfied with their lot. They missed the halcyon days, when the health they extorted and hoarded gave them unmitigated luxuries.
These events are a weekly occurrence, a place for the busybodies, gossip mongers, sycophants, the artful and wily gather and engage in a show of one-upmanship.
More often than not it's their children that they prop up and put on display. Come one, come all, and gawk. They compliment their little peacocks, brag loudly, subtly and blatantly insult each other, and size each other up.
It's usually the omegas and female betas in attendance. Alphas seldom cross this threshold, but the duality of Satoru's genders gives her leeway. She, a Kiyooka cousin, and a Himatsu are the three female alphas interspersed within this crowd. A guardian and two mothers, biological and adopted.
However, this particular gathering is gearing up to be highly entertaining.
"Isn't that right, Einosuke?"
Satoru's mother does not acknowledge the sudden address. He allows Tsumiki to pour him more tea and smiles approvingly at her elegant gestures, complimenting the girl and her nanny. He sips his tea, nibbles on a biscuit, and then responds.
"I thought the same way as you, Hanako-san. Gin's widow was my cousin, and I can only imagine how devasting it is to lose your mate and husband. Then I remembered how Gin beggared the Gojo clan, made us the laughingstock behind closed doors, ruined our political stances and relationships, gambled and solicited prostitution, invested in multiple failed business ventures, evaded taxes, and extorted the Kiyooka, Maeda, Hisamatsu, and Higashibōjō. And I realized," He finishes, "blood ties do not trump betrayal."
Satoru grins and bites into her cake.
Maeda Hanako colors, stands from the table, and quits the room.
The least she could do is take her snot-nosed children with her.