Chapter 12 Who Killed Who? (Part 2)

“What? I killed Boss Takeuchi?”
Kibana Naomi suspected his ears were deceiving him.

“Exactly,” Seiko nodded, “Did you kill Uncle Takeuchi?”
‘It wasn’t that I misheard after all?!’
Kibana Naomi was momentarily so infuriated he laughed: “How could I be the murderer of Boss Takeuchi? If I harmed Boss Takeuchi, then why would I be here now to avenge him?”

“Don’t get agitated,” Seiko’s voice remained calm, “You can think about how strong your own suspicion is.”

“What suspicion could I possibly have?” Kibana Naomi retorted angrily.

“I’ve heard it said that, without evidence, by looking at the biggest beneficiary, one can often guess who the murderer is,” Seiko said, “And do you know who the biggest beneficiary of my father’s and Uncle Takeuchi’s deaths is this time?”

“Who?” Kibana Naomi asked blankly.

“It’s the Takada-gumi!”

“How is that possible? What does this have to do with the Takada-gumi?”

“After my father and Uncle Takeuchi died, the Takada-gumi immediately began to aggressively move into Urawa. The drug business that originally belonged to the Takeuchi-gumi has now entirely gone to the Takada-gumi, and the Takada-gumi is still constantly seizing the territories that originally belonged to the Takeuchi-gumi.”
In reality, it had been used by Yamagami Nobuo for a transaction with the Takada-gumi, but Seiko directly put all the blame on the Takada-gumi without any psychological burden.

“Is this true?” Kibana Naomi’s eyes widened.

“Of course it’s true,” Seiko said with certainty, “You can go to any nightclub now and ask; you won’t find any Yamagami-gumi people among the drug peddlers. It’s almost entirely monopolized by the Takada-gumi.”

“This…” Kibana Naomi was speechless for a moment.
This was something easily verifiable, so he felt Seiko shouldn’t be lying to him.
But why? Why was the biggest beneficiary of the internal strife within the Yamagami-gumi actually the Takada-gumi?
Could it be… that the real mastermind behind all this was the Takada-gumi?

“Why do former members of the Takeuchi-gumi feel like life is getting harder? It’s because all their means of livelihood have been snatched away by the Takada-gumi,” Seiko continued, speaking “truths” that were five parts real, “And you, Kibana Naomi, you actually went and cooperated with someone from the Takada-gumi to assassinate Grandfather. This makes me have to question your motives…”

“I, I didn’t cooperate with anyone from the Takada-gumi…” Kibana Naomi became a little anxious.

“Then where did your gun come from?” Seiko interrupted Kibana Naomi, “This is a Soviet shotgun, isn’t it? Such a gun isn’t easy to find in the countryside of Nagano Prefecture, is it? And it’s not cheap, is it? Did someone from the Takada-gumi specifically get it for you?”

“No,” Kibana Naomi quickly shook his head, “It’s just that my friend happened to have one, and I asked him for it.”

“He just happened to have one? And you just happened to see it? And it just happened to be a short-barreled shotgun suitable for carrying in a handbag? So many coincidences? Do you believe that?”

“…”
‘I had believed it…’
Kibana Naomi had known that Takada-gumi friend for many years.
That friend was indeed capable and well-connected, so getting a shotgun wouldn’t be difficult for him.
But with Seiko putting it that way, Kibana Naomi began to doubt.
‘Yes? Were all these things really ‘coincidences’?’

“You forced Grandfather to disband the Takeuchi-gumi, Grandfather let you off, and now you’ve specifically returned to assassinate Grandfather. Kibana Naomi, what were you thinking?”

“When did I force the disbandment of the Takeuchi-gumi?”

“If you had stayed in the Takeuchi-gumi before, what would you have done?”

“Of course, I would have led everyone to avenge Big Brother Takeuchi…”

“See? If you had stayed, you would definitely have found ways to create unrest within the gang. Therefore, Grandfather had no choice but to make you leave the Yamagami-gumi.”

“I just wanted to avenge Boss Takeuchi, is that wrong?”

“If you merely wanted to avenge Uncle Takeuchi, then of course it’s not wrong. But you just returned from Nagano Prefecture and, without any evidence, decided that Grandfather was the murderer of Uncle Takeuchi. Your objective has shifted from avenging Uncle Takeuchi to assassinating Grandfather. This is a very serious problem. Kibana Naomi, I’m very curious, why would you betray the Yamagami-gumi? What benefits did the Takada-gumi give you?”

“I did not betray the Yamagami-gumi!”

“Then why did you conclude that Grandfather killed Uncle Takeuchi? Who told you?”

“It was…”
Kibana Naomi wanted to say that his Takada-gumi friend had analyzed it for him.
At the time, that friend’s analysis had been very convincing, discussing the necessity of Yamagami Nobuo eliminating Takeuchi Toshio from the perspectives of power, interest, and psychology.
Thus, Kibana Naomi, in a fit of emotion, returned to seek revenge on Yamagami Nobuo.
But now, thinking back, that friend had indeed spoken without proof, without any evidence.
And the other party was from the Takada-gumi…
‘Am I truly a spy for the Takada-gumi?’
Kibana Naomi even began to suspect himself.

“After my father was murdered, my grandfather once suspected that someone intentionally leaked his whereabouts. When Uncle Takeuchi was assassinated, the killer acted silently on our own territory. There is no doubt that there was an internal spy within the Yamagami-gumi! Their purpose was to create unrest within the Yamagami-gumi to benefit an outside enemy.”
Seiko stared into Kibana Naomi’s eyes, continuing.
“Grandfather is already so old, suppressing the grief of losing two sons, to stabilize the situation of the Yamagami-gumi. Now, a spy has returned, attempting to disrupt the hard-won stability of the Yamagami-gumi.”

“I am not a spy!” Kibana Naomi roared, but his tone clearly lacked much conviction.

“Then have you leaked any information about the Yamagami-gumi to the Takada-gumi?” Seiko asked.

“I…”
When Kibana Naomi drank and boasted with his friend, he would, of course, often talk about stories within the gang.
Before, he only thought it was casual chitchat.
Now, looking back, calling it leaking information might not be wrong.

“Have you leaked the whereabouts of my father and Uncle Takeuchi to the Takada-gumi?” Seiko asked again.

“I…”
Kibana Naomi was still speechless.

“When the Takada-gumi was encroaching on the Yamagami-gumi’s territory and business, why did you return with a Takada-gumi gun?” Seiko pointed at the shotgun on the table.

“…”
Kibana Naomi was now completely unable to speak.

“You pride yourself on loyalty and righteousness; Grandfather mistakenly thought you were an honorable man. But everything you’ve done looks so much like that of a spy. How can you expect others not to suspect you are a spy for the Takada-gumi? Kibana Naomi, are you a spy or not?”

“I am truly not a spy for the Takada-gumi!”

“How do you prove you’re not a spy?”

“I swear to heaven! If I’m a spy, may I die a terrible death!”

“What good is an oath?”

“Then tell me, how should I prove it?”

“You should, of course, avenge Uncle Takeuchi.”

“Wh-what?” Kibana Naomi felt his mind was a complete muddle, “Didn’t you say that Yamagami Nobuo wasn’t the murderer of Boss Takeuchi?”

“Therefore, you should find ample evidence, identify the true culprit, and then avenge Uncle Takeuchi,” Seiko explained, “Uncle Takeuchi, in the afterlife, would surely not want you to foolishly kill his relatives while letting the true murderer go unpunished, would he?”

“Y-yes…” Kibana Naomi nodded blankly, feeling that what Seiko said made a lot of sense.

“And also, my father.”

“Yamagami Akira…”

“Didn’t you claim you never betrayed the Yamagami-gumi? Then wasn’t my father your Kumicho?” Seiko asked again.
Kibana Naomi nodded.

“Then shouldn’t you also avenge my father?”

“Yes.”
Kibana Naomi had to admit it.

“Then I’ll leave it to you,” Seiko bowed her head to Kibana Naomi, solemnly saying, “I hope you can soon avenge the Kumichos of both the Yamagami-gumi and the Takeuchi-gumi. And I also hope that you truly did not betray the Yamagami-gumi, did not betray my father, and did not betray Uncle Takeuchi.”
A heavy sense of responsibility intertwined with humiliation and anger surged in Kibana Naomi’s mind.
He gritted his teeth, squeezing out words from his throat: “I will do it. I will find the true mastermind, capture him, and then kill him.”
At this point, Kibana Naomi no longer had the patience to wait for Yamagami Nobuo.
He felt the urge to leave, his gaze subconsciously sweeping around.
But then, Seiko spoke again: “I hope you truly will do that in the future. However, there’s still one more thing now.”

“What is it?”

“Since you consider yourself to have never betrayed the Yamagami-gumi, then as a member of the Yamagami-gumi, you attempted to assassinate the Kumicho today. This is an act of insubordination. Although you did not succeed, according to the rules of the Yamagami-gumi, you should still be punished, right?”

“…”
Kibana Naomi opened his mouth, unable to speak.

“According to the rules of the Yamagami-gumi, what kind of punishment should be given for offending a superior?” Seiko pressed again.

“Cut, cut off a finger,” Kibana Naomi stammered slightly.
Seiko nodded, reached into Saori’s school bag from a nearby seat, pulled out a utility knife, pushed it towards Kibana Naomi, and made a gesture of invitation: “Please proceed.”

“I…” Kibana Naomi’s lips suddenly trembled.

“Kibana Naomi!” Seiko suddenly raised her voice.

“Hai!” Kibana Naomi instinctively responded loudly.

“Did you betray the Yamagami-gumi!”

“No!”

“Are you still a member of the Yamagami-gumi!”

“Yes!”

“Then why don’t you abide by the Yamagami-gumi’s rules!”

“I…”

“Do it!”

“Hai!”
Kibana Naomi grabbed the knife and brutally stabbed it into his own little finger.

“Ah ah…”
Right there in the hamburger shop booth, using an ordinary utility knife made of metal that high school girls commonly used, Kibana Naomi gnashed his teeth until they almost bled, little by little starting to cut off his own pinky finger.
Seiko watched Kibana Naomi’s actions calmly, her expression not fluctuating in the slightest.
Blood gradually stained the table.
When he finally severed half his pinky, Kibana Naomi was drenched in sweat, almost losing consciousness from the pain, collapsing onto the table and struggling to regain his breath.
Seiko calmly stood up, picked up Kibana Naomi’s shotgun, and walked out of the hamburger shop.

“Here.”
Seiko casually tossed the shotgun to the police chief, Kihara Shinichi, then turned to Saori.
“Come, let’s go home.”

“Oh…” Saori quickly followed.
The police and Yakuza, who had witnessed the entire scene through the glass, involuntarily parted to make a path for Seiko.
A hostage-taker, armed with a gun, had held a high school girl hostage.
After the two talked about something, the armed hostage-taker self-mutilated inside, and the high school girl calmly walked out with the gun.
Even though it happened right before their eyes, it felt utterly surreal.