Collision of Heaven and Hell ✅

Chapter Eleven

...my head...

I opened my eyes, but my vision swam. I had to close them because I felt so sick. I rolled over onto my side and pressed a hand to my face.

The smell of burning and visions of blood abruptly swept over my senses. I cried out and sat up, but nearly fell over again. I forced my eyes open and looked at my surroundings. My vision was still hazy, but I realized that I was laying in a massive bed in a large bedroom. I had no idea where I was. "Wha...What—"

"Mai-chan?"

I was startled by the familiar voice and I turned to my left. Momiji Awaosamu was sitting at my bedside, her eyes kinds but her expression full of sadness. She was dressed in a black yukata and her long white hair was loose. She had a hand raised. "Be at ease. It's all right."

I looked down at myself. My red blazer and tie were gone, but I was still dressed in my Shirahime school uniform. "...I'm at your house, Awaosamu-sama?" I whispered.

"Yes, you are," Momiji said. "Nobuto...my son brought you here a few hours ago."

I quickly looked up at her. "He shot my teacher," I said, tears springing to my eyes. "Awaosamu-sama...he killed Inaba-seijin!" My voice rose a little as the hysteria started build.

A look of sorrow crossed Momiji's face. But...But I couldn't help but notice that she didn't look surprised. "I am so sorry, Mai-chan. To shoot a gun at a civilian...that is not how the Awaosamu family has ever conducted business. We thought—Anata and I thought—that sending Nobuto away to finish his studies abroad would change him. And it did...but sadly for the worst."

"He killed Papa." I couldn't stop the tears now and my voice reverberated off the walls. "That bastard killed Papa!"

"Mai-chan, wait." Momiji reached out and cupped my shoulders. "You are mistaken. Your father is alive."

"No, he's not! I heard him! I-I was on the phone with him when he was shot!"

"His vehicle was shot by our enemies while pinned in traffic," Momiji told me. "But he ducked out of the way in time. We received a report that Takasoto-san was checked into the hospital with minor injuries."

I stared at her with a gaping mouth, my breathing unsteady. "Papa...he's alive?"

Momiji nodded. "He's alive, Mai-chan."

I burst into tears again, but because of the relief and the anguish. Papa was alive. He made it out of an ambush alive.

But Inaba-seijin...Nobuto Awaosamu shot her in the chest right in front of me. Sensei...she...

I had never seen anyone be shot in my life. Papa, Mama, and the uncles were very careful to shield me from that aspect of the Yakuza life. It had happened so fast, and the gun blast had been so loud...I had never seen someone die before. Azusa Inaba...the true "Saint" of Shirahime Girl's Academy...the best teacher I had ever had. And she had bravely attacked a Yakuza Oyabun to protect me. And she was dead because of me, and I...I was captured regardless.

She died for nothing.

I pressed my hands over my ears in a futile effort to shut out the awful thoughts, but I couldn't do so. "Mai-chan." Momiji moved closer to me and rubbed my back. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Mai-chan..."

I opened my eyes and more tears spilled out. Momiji had said that "enemies" had ambushed Papa, but I knew that Nobuto had done it. He had said so himself, since Papa had decided to leave the Awaosamu-gumi. But I couldn't form the words; thinking them made me physically ill. I pulled away from Momiji then. "I—I want to go home," I whimpered.