Chapitre 57: Chapter 57 - Familial Ties
Shortly after his mother sat down across from him, Jin leaned on his palm and asked, "What was that about?"
Avoiding her son's inquiring gaze, she replied, "Nothing. Just a dark history I'd rather forget."
Grinning, Jin said, "Interesting. What is it? I'm sure it'd be an entertaining story."
"Let's just say I was a little hot-blooded when I was younger and leave it at that."
"Were you a delinquent or something?" Jin asked, raising a brow.
"Uh… something like that. Just forget about it and let's talk about something else."
'I really would've never guessed since her given name is Ai… That's such a gentle name that it feels weird to imagine her as a delinquent.'
"You never talk about yourself at home, so hearing about something that makes my 'oh-so-elegant' mother sound like a former delinquent makes me rather curious," Jin probed with a thin smile while nodding at the waiter who nervously brought over glasses of water before scurrying away.
Sighing, his mother rested her chin on her palm much like he just did and said, "I suppose it doesn't matter now, but that isn't too far off the mark, I guess."
"Huh. Would've never guessed."
"People change, y'know? Like you, Jin. You're smiling a whole lot more than you used to. Did something else good happen while you were doing that community service or whatever it was?"
Raising a brow, Jin smirked and answered, "Really? Hm… Yeah, I guess something did happen. Met some fun people and made some new friends."
"You finally made some more friends, huh… Want to tell me about it?" Jin's mother asked with genuine interest while stirring her ice water with a straw.
"Maybe if you tell me about your delinquent history first," Jin retorted, chuckling a little.
"Ugh. That's not fair, son. A lady needs to maintain some respect from her children, y'know?"
"...Honestly, mom, I think I'd respect you more if you told me about it."
The woman sighed reluctantly. Lucky for her, the waiter returned to take their orders with a cold sweat coating his forehead. Even his glasses looked more foggy. Both Jin and his mother ordered food, and his mother also requested Sake, which made Jin narrow his eyes.
"Didn't I get my low alcohol tolerance from you?" Jin cautiously asked.
"A little is fine…" The woman waved casually in response. Then, she snickered and asked, "Are you referring to when you accidentally drank your father's beer a few years ago? I'm so glad I got that on video."
"...I'm referring to when you almost burned the house down the last three times we had family visit."
"That never happened," She instantly denied. "Oh, speaking of family, your third cousin will be coming to stay with us for a while. Some things happened, and she needs somebody to stay with until everything blows over."
"What a quick change of subject… So, which cousin? Your side or dad's side?"
"My side."
"That's unusual. I always got the sense that you didn't like interacting with your side of the family much."
"Well, that isn't exactly right…" Jin's mother quietly said, averting her eyes and sipping her water in silence after that.
"Got something to do with your delinquent days?" Jin joked. However, his mother's silence made him narrow his eyes. "Was it really that?"
"Ehm… not exactly? How do I put this…?" She trailed off for a bit as though deep in thought, but then shook her head and said, "This is a conversation to be held in private. You can ask later if you really want to know."
"Got it."
"So, tell me about your new friends. What are they like?"
In answer, Jin smiled without realizing it and explained, "Well, first I met this guy who used to be a criminal but is now trying to right the wrongs he committed in the past by doing good deeds. He's an interesting guy with some interesting friends."
Jin's mother frowned at first, but then smiled and nodded.
"There's also a weird girl who really likes manga, but she's a bit stubborn. If she weren't an honor student, she'd probably be a delinquent."
"Is she cute?"
"Uh… I guess? I'm not interested in her like that, so don't bother."
"Oh… too bad."
"There's also this group of friends I met who are a bunch of weirdos. One guy's kinda stupid, but he's the kind of guy you'd want to have your back when you're in trouble. There's also a guy a bit like me."
"A boring guy who doesn't want to find a wife and give his mother grandchildren?"
"...That's a bit of a low blow, mom."
"Sorry. Who else?"
"A funny guy who's a bit of a coward, a guy who's overly obsessed with women but also an amazing cook, and another weird girl. Also met some guys who seemed a bit shady at first but are actually pretty cool people."
"You've met a lot of people, huh?"
"Yeah. Most of them are fun people."
"That's good. I'm glad you seem a bit happier. I was honestly worried all these years about your antisocial behavior."
"Hmm… Yeah, I guess I was a little antisocial since I didn't get along well with people my age."
At this time, the waiter brought their food. While eating, they talked a little more about random subjects. At his mother's probing, Jin talked about his new interactions with his new friends without revealing too many details. In return, his mother talked about how well her Tea House was doing or how his father recently got a promotion at his company. All in all, it was a very ordinary conversation between a mother and son despite the anxious stares from the cafe staff.
Eventually, Jin's mother got too drunk to continue the conversation despite barely finishing half a bottle of Sake. Sporting a wry smile, Jin thanked the cafe employees, paid the bill, and carried his mother out to her car. She giggled and hiccuped the whole way there and even tried to drive. Obviously, Jin didn't allow that and drove her home before coming back to pick up his dad's spare car. Overall, he considered the event as a nice change of pace from his back-to-back Chat Group missions.
The following morning, he made coffee for the woman since she had a bit of a hangover despite how little alcohol she consumed. While preparing a simple breakfast, he curiously asked, "What was it that you didn't want to say at the restaurant last night about your hot-blooded youth?"
"Ugh… Do you need to ask while my head is throbbing, Jin?"
"Why not?"
"Fine. Your grandfather was a high-ranking member in the Yakuza when he was young. Does that answer your question?"
"...Sure. Is that why Haruki and I never met him?" Jin thoughtfully asked.
"Yeah."
"What's with the family shrine in the backyard, then? That's from your side, right?"
"That? What about that damn thing?" She grumbled.
"That sword and altar don't seem like something from a Yakuza family."
"...I'll tell you about it when you have kids. I'd rather not think about that right now."
"You make it sound really ominous."
Sighing, the woman scratched her messy hair and grumbled, "I agree. I wouldn't have built that shrine, but both my father and grandfather were adamant about it. The sword and altar have been in the family for a long time. We're not supposed to tell family members about it until they have kids, but I just don't care anymore."
Brow wrinkling, Jin fell into thought. Due to the annoyance in his mother's tone, he asked, "You've already said this much, so what haven't you told me?"
"...Do you believe in the supernatural?"
Jin raised a brow. Her question hinted that his family had some connection to the supernatural aspects of this world without him knowing it. Then, after pondering for a moment, he chuckled.
"You don't, huh?" His mother flatly responded as though unsurprised.
Jin shook his and said, "It's just funny you ask that."
His mother's frown deepened, and she asked, "What does that mean?"
Without saying anything, Jin dropped some fried eggs onto a plate and floated it over to the counter where his mother was seated using a box-shaped barrier. Her eyes widened, and she jumped up from her seat.
Amidst her stunned silence, Jin said, "I initially planned to not say anything to you about it, but I figure this is a good way to answer your question."
"...Impossible."
Raising a brow, Jin noticed something strange and inquired, "Why would that be impossible?"
"...Come with me."
Jin blinked, but then carried his plate of fried eggs while following his mother to the backyard. He casually ate the eggs while thinking about this odd situation.
Unsurprisingly, Jin followed his mother to the small pavilion-shaped shrine at the furthest corner of their abnormally wide backyard. Before entering the shrine, his mother halted at the door and looked back at him with a pensive expression.
"Before I tell you anything, just know that I never liked keeping secrets from you. It's just all very strange and complicated. Honestly, I even thought it might be fabricated until I saw what you just did."
"It's fine. I'm definitely curious, though," Jin calmly replied.
"Okay, then… Uhm, come inside."
Following his mother inside the small shrine, Jin's eyes immediately landed on the sword resting on the wall straight ahead of him. It was completely black aside from the silver crossguard. When he saw it and played with it as a child, it only seemed like a normal katana to him, but now, with his supernatural senses unlocked, he instantly noticed an ominous Reishi around the blade. However, the reishi remained sealed within this space. Not a single particle escaped outside.
'Hey, are you able to hear me right now?' Jin mentally asked, a serious expression on his face.
'Yes,' His Zanpakuto spirit replied. 'And since I know what you want to ask, the answer is no. It is not a Zanpakuto, though it is similarly spiritual in nature.'
While Jin spoke with his Zanpakuto spirit, his mother opened a hidden compartment in the wall that Jin had never noticed before. From within, she pulled out a yellowed scroll. It looked ancient, yet at the same time, it looked like a recently made replica of an old scroll.
Face pensive, Jin's mother handed the scroll over to him and said, "You can read it, but don't tell your father or Haruki what it says. You'll understand when you're done."
Greatly interested in this newfound family mystery, Jin read what was written on the scroll. At first, he struggled due to old-fashioned manner of speech, but after a while, he caught onto it. It was similar to an English-speaking person catching on to Old English after reading it for a while. However, the more he read, the more his eyes widened.
|This message shall henceforth be handed down among all branch family members. Amidst these trying times of change and unrest, it is at the behest of the Patriarch that all branch family members cease all spiritual activities to seek peaceful residence in the World of the living.|
|For the purpose of maintaining the perpetual safety and longevity of the branch family members, the blade, Seishin Setsudan, has been created under the joint efforts of all the major clan heads. Whenever a child is born from the branch family line, the sword must be used to sever the child's connection to the spiritual world.|
Below that paragraph, a diagram showing specific spots to stab a newborn child was drawn in drastic detail. Frowning, he continued reading. The following paragraphs gave a very general description of the spiritual elements of the world and how to avoid it. Other than that, subsequent records of the family leading from thousands of years earlier to current times were listed all the way up to his and Haruki's names. In the final paragraph, Jin widened his eyes again.
|Should a branch family member somehow regain Reiryoku, they are to be thusly killed as soon as possible to prevent the end of the bloodline by Hollow attack.|
|Signed and ordered by Patriarch Shihouin Chika|
"Holy fuck…" Jin swore uncharacteristically.
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(A/N: Spent a little extra time on this one. It might be a bit divisive... maybe? Considering it wasn't part of my plans until I came back from my hiatus, it lacked as much foreshadowing as other things. Well, I hope you all enjoyed it regardless.)
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone