Chapter 199 – The Angry Aunt.

Chapter 199 – The Angry Aunt.

"I just... I don't understand it, Nana..." Shima sat across the kitchen table from a short black-haired woman. The wrinkles on her face gave the impression that she was a good bit older than Shima, and the scowl on her face only served to extenuate other similar features. "How could I do that to my own daughter?!?" She took a sip of her drink, her fourth one, and her flushed face showed that she was partially drunk.

{What kind of monster am I?} (Shima)

"Well, con-grad-u-fucking-lations." Nana started clapping slowly to mock her. "I've been telling you that you were a piece of garbage for twenty years! Good to see you finally figured it out, Shima. But alas, its too fucking late." She rolled her eyes. Nana was the oldest child of Kenji, and was the only one of Shima's siblings to abandon the Tomogawa family. "You tried to kill your own daughter, tormented her daily for going on twenty years, and it took you until NOW to figure out that perhaps... just MAYBE something was fucking wrong with your behavior?!?" She hadn't spoken to Shima in several years, as she cut off all ties with the family, but when her sister called her crying hysterically, she couldn't ignore her.

{Why can't things be simple? First the family is wiped out by Rishia, and now Shima is in my house blubbering like a drunken mess!} (Nana)

"I know... I just don't understand any of it!" Shima yelled. "Why did I do it all?!? Why did I think it was ok?!?" She looked down at her glass. "What the hell was wrong with me?!?"

"Who knows? I suspect it's something in our blood. Our old man was a prick, and Miyabi and Junichiro were just as bad as him!" Nana clicked her tongue. She'd found both the now erased siblings to be distasteful people. "At least now I understand why they were like that, fucking Onmiyoji..." She shook her head. "Not like I'm happy most of our family got killed, but..."

{They fucking deserved it. You push that girl for so long, abuse her, do all those horrible things to her, and then you go and kidnap her friend in order to kill her.} She sighed internally. {What the fuck did they think was going to happen?} She'd been given the rundown on what happened at the family compound, and was exasperated and disgusted.

"Rishia had every reason to hate them, and me." Shima shook her head. " And Taichi won't listen to me. I tried telling him that something was wrong, but I guess whatever had a hold on my mind is still affecting him, because he's the same as always."

"Either that or he's just an asshole." Nana laughed. "I never liked that prick of a husband Dad forced on you."

{Just because he came from money, he always acted so arrogant.} (Nana)

"He's not that bad." Shima gave a dry laugh. "He's a lot to handle at times, but his rough edges are just part of his charm."

"Sure, whatever you say." Nana rolled her eyes, not wanting to get into that conversation. "So what are you going to do now?" She asked. "I hope you don't intend to go crawling to Rishia for forgiveness. I know that girl well enough to tell her that you have no chance in hell of being forgiven, and from what you told me that you did to her over the years, that's understandable." She shook her head. Shima and the family had hidden exactly what they'd done to Akagi from Nana for all these years, and while she knew something was wrong, as well as that her niece was being abused, she had no idea just how bad it was. "Seriously Shima, what kind of mother tries to kill their own child?!?"

"I know!" Shima yelled back. "I don't understand why I did what I did either! It's just that whenever I looked at her, or even heard Rishia speak, all I wanted to do was be rid of her!"

{Her very existence in the house made me angry. That's why I was happy when she went into VR since she left me alone.} (Shima)

"Yeah, and now the child that you treated like dirt has the power to do whatever she wants." Nana sighed. "God only knows what kind of hell she could inflict upon the world if she wanted."

{She has her own country, and killed such powerful people like they were children. I imagine if she wanted us all dead, we'd already be so.} (Nana)

"But I don't want to lose Kana!" Shima exclaimed. "There... there has to be something I can do! I can't lose both my children!"

"Let's be real, Shima. You only had one child, so don't go calling Rishia your daughter now." Nana said. “You never treated her like one a day in her life, so trying to act like her mother is not only disgusting, but completely selfish.”

"I...." Shima didn't know what to say to that comment.

{I know that... I know that, but still! I want my daughters... I don't want to lose either of them... There has to be something I can do...} (Shima)

"The best thing I can say... is to be honest with Kana. Hell, get on your hands and knees and beg the girl not to leave you in the cold." Nana took a sip of her drink. "I can't guarantee that will work, but at the very least, the fact that she wants to speak with you two at all leads me to believe that she doesn't want things to end between you. At least, just yet."

"I... Taichi is never going to repent. Not unless he somehow realizes how fucked things have been like I did." Shima gave a dry laugh.

{And there's no sign of that happening, even with my pleas.} (Shima)

"If it comes down to it, ditch him." Nana said. "In a contest between husband and child, the child comes first, no question."

"..." Shima had no response, since she knew Nana was right.

"Have you decided where you're going to have this 'family meeting'?" Nana asked.

"N-No." Shima shook her head. "We haven't. I figured the house would be easiest."

"No that's a bad idea, you should just have it here." Nana sighed. "That house will only serve to remind those two of everything you did, and I'd like to see my nieces. Lord knows it's been a while, and this place is usually a pretty neutral zone." She'd taken care of Akagi here many times when she was younger, and she always tried to make her time at the house less hectic then being at home.

"Yeah, you're right... thanks, Nans." Shima smiled calling her sister the nickname she used for her since they were kids.

"It's been nearly thirty years since you called me that." Nana rolled her eyes. "But you're welcome, I might be angry with you, but I am happy to see my sister trying to clean up her mistakes. Who knows, if things work out, perhaps we can try to salvage what's left of this family together."

"I-I'd like that..." Shima smiled as she poured another glass.

Spoiler

Nana!

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