Chapter Text
By all accounts, it was (and should have remained) a boring, peaceful Wednesday. Terano was wading through legal documents that she didn’t even pretend to care about any more. Something about getting Kirari to pay her taxes. Yumi was slumped on the sofa, tapping quietly on her phone and occasionally popping up to show off a photo of a cat in an undignified position. Sometimes, if she was feeling adventurous, it would be a frog in a tiny hat. Terano would give them a small smile of appreciation and pray Yumi wouldn’t bring home another unfortunate animal. So far, they’d played host to two injured birds, a mean stray cat with three legs and one eye who insisted on remaining glued to Terano’s lap and an excitable Whippet that may have been Yumi in a past life. But for now, all was well. Until the doorbell rang.
Yumi was off like a shot to welcome the visitor and give them all the animal photos they could possibly need. She seemed a little crestfallen when they explained they were here for Terano. That was worrying. No one visited Terano unless they were in deep shit and needed a favour. She made a quick list in her head. Maybe the police were onto Miroslava? Miyo and Miri had another wrongful death lawsuit? Rin needed to “borrow” a couple million yen? Kirari and her fucking taxes again? Whatever it was, it was bad. The situation became even more dire when Yumi led Sayaka Igarashi into her office, who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else on earth. Yumi was a little disheartened that Sayaka had rejected her cat memes, but was hopeful for the future. She bounced back downstairs to get tea and snacks, leaving the two women to awkwardly stare at each other and internally speculate about the other’s motives.
As the silence became uncomfortable, Terano broke it.
“You can sit down, if you like.”
“Thank you.” Sayaka perched uncomfortably on the sofa before Terano’s desk. She twisted her hands together on her lap and stared determinedly at the floor. She was desperately trying to say something she couldn’t articulate.
“What’s the purpose of this visit? Is something wrong?” Terano prompted.
“… I’ve been researching clan traditions.”
“Oh? And what have you found?”
This was interesting. Hopefully she’d skimmed over the lawsuits.
“In clans such as this, you would usually ask for the head of the family's blessing regarding marriage…”
“That’s right.”
Oh god, where was this headed?
“However if the matter was regarding the head of the family, you would go to the family's legal mediator. For the Momobami clan, that would be you, right?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure I follow…”
“I want to marry Kirari Momobami.”
Terano choked on her tea.
Sayaka finally met her eye. “I’d prefer to do so with her family's blessing, but nothing you can say will stop me.”
As she caught her breath, Terano weighed her options. An angry, bitter side of her wanted to see Kirari in despair, but Sayaka didn’t deserve it. It wasn't her fault she was head over heels in love with a hedonistic gambling addict. Another tired, hopeful part of her was very attracted to the idea of Kirari being off her hands forever, under the watchful eye of a sensible wife. Kirari would no longer be her problem. Sure, she’d still be the head of the family, but at least she’d have a moral compass by her side. Terano couldn’t say she trusted Sayaka, but at least she had a vague idea of what she was doing. Kirari would be in safe hands, out of the way with a sliver of a conscience. The momentary joy of seeing Kirari suffer couldn’t possibly compare to a lifetime of never seeing her again.
“You have my blessing on the strict condition that you reign her in. I’m not asking you to control her, but please don’t encourage her.”
Sayaka seemed surprised. She thought she’d have to fight harder than that. She knew there would be fine print, but she didn’t expect so few strings attached. She was a little suspicious but she was far too pleased with the deal to dig any further.
“Oh… Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Please do your best to knock some sense into her.” She reached across her desk as Sayaka rose and shook her hand. Still a little shell-shocked by the unusual turn of events, Sayaka bowed slightly, backing out of the room. She was in a hurry to get away before Terano changed her mind.
“And please, for the love of God, make your fiancée pay her taxes.”
Sayaka nodded, murmuring something along the lines of “I’m working on it.”
Almost as soon as she closed the office door behind her, Yumi came barrelling into the room.
“Oh, is Sayaka leaving?”
She didn’t even stop to see Yumi’s animal pictures.
“Yes, we came to an agreement.”
“Oh good! By the way, Mary Saotome is outside for some reason? Did Sayaka invite her?”
“What?!”