I Never Got to Know My Cousin / Haitei Raoyue

Kageyama Sora hurriedly looked back at the screen, but when he caught sight of Haramura Nodoka's flushed ear, his heart skipped a beat. Sunlight fell just right on the girl's pink hair, gilding it with a golden sheen. She was unbelievably beautiful.

Meanwhile, on the screen, Saki Miyanaga had indeed discarded an unexpected tile. Although she avoided dealing into Ikeda Kana's hand, she'd made her own hand much harder to complete.

Yuki Kataoka chewed on a potato chip, not even noticing the crumbs falling onto her uniform skirt. "She's playing just like Club President: falling behind first, then turning things around."

Her big eyes were wide, and her fingers unconsciously tapped out a nervous rhythm against her knee.

Hisa Takei, the one being talked about, smiled. "Saki Miyanaga isn't deliberately making her hand hard to complete like I do. She just chose a tile that would let her call a kong."

Time seemed to stretch.

Ikeda Kana's cat ears shot straight up. Her pupils widened in shock, and her mouth fell open, but no sound came out. The tile Saki Miyanaga held between her fingertips was the very one she'd been waiting so desperately to win on!

Even more unbelievably, Saki Miyanaga didn't hesitate to declare a kong with it. The crisp clack of the tiles rang through the speakers, startlingly clear in the silent waiting room.

And then...

She reached for a tile with a smooth, natural motion. As her wrist turned, a glimpse of her fair skin showed beneath her sleeve, gleaming delicately in the light.

"Flower on the Tile."

The four words were spoken lightly, yet they exploded like thunder throughout every corner of the arena.

The spectators' collective gasp nearly lifted the roof. Even the referee, accustomed to big moments, couldn't help but tighten his grip on his scorebook.

Ikeda Kana wasn't just shocked that Saki Miyanaga had used the tile she'd been waiting to win on to call a kong. It wasn't just that Saki had won despite how bad her hand was. It was that... she'd pulled off another Flower on the Tile!

Just then, Haramura Nodoka turned to Kageyama Sora. "Saki Miyanaga is dazzling, isn't she...?"

"Yeah." Kageyama Sora's expression was earnest. "Just like you, Nodoka."

[Consecutive Flowers on the Tile—how unbelievable is that?!] The male commentator's voice was already cracking. He waved his arms excitedly, nearly knocking over the equipment beside him.

The match wouldn't end just because everyone was shocked. It went on.

At that moment, the captain from Tsuruga Academy unexpectedly broke up her hand and declared riichi, leaving everyone puzzled.

The next second, her goal became perfectly clear.

Because... the instant Saki Miyanaga called a kong, while Ikeda Kana was on the verge of a breakdown—

The Tsuruga Academy captain, who had just broken up her hand, declared Robbing the Kong—a winning hand.

Her purpose in breaking up her hand was obvious. Although doing so lowered the value of her winning hand, it prevented Saki Miyanaga from pulling off a third Flower on the Tile.

[Robbing the Kong! A winning hand even rarer than Flower on the Tile has appeared! It's only East 2 Round, and one unbelievable thing after another is happening!]

The male commentator sounded electrified. Compared to the matches before it, this one was clearly packed with excitement.

Even Haramura Nodoka, in the Kiyosumi High School waiting room, looked uncharacteristically tense. "How...?"

Yuki Kataoka promptly summed it up. "She's totally being targeted! Is Saki's Flower on the Tile going to be shut down just like that? That Tsuruga Academy girl's no pushover!"

Hisa Takei set down her teacup. Its base tapped softly against the table, and her expression was more grave than ever. "It's only been two rounds, and she's already found a way to counter Saki Miyanaga!?"

The lights cast shifting shadows across her face. For the first time, real concern appeared in the eyes that were usually smiling.

Kageyama Sora, by contrast, was calm. "It won't end like this... This is only the beginning..."

In the third round, Saki Miyanaga noticed that the Tsuruga Academy captain seemed to be discarding tiles in a way that would let her rob Saki's concealed kong. Unsure whether the other player was waiting on a hand, Saki chose to give up.

That decision led to East 3 Round ending in a draw.

Although no one won, Saki Miyanaga breathed a sigh of relief, grateful she'd been cautious.

Just then, Amae Koromo, who'd been quiet and still until now, spoke in a voice that was almost dangerously cold. "This is utterly boring... I heard Kiyosumi's anchor was a handful, and I got excited about facing her. This is nowhere near enough. What a disappointment..."

The air in the arena seemed to tighten in an invisible grip. In the dead silence, Amae Koromo suddenly curled her lips, her languid tone edged with a bone-chilling coldness. "Utterly boring..."

She tilted her head. Her oversized red rabbit-ear hair ornaments swayed with her golden hair, the ends brushing her shoulders.

Her eyes, usually clear as blue gemstones, had darkened. A crimson light seemed to swirl within them. "I heard Kiyosumi's anchor was a handful, and I was excited about it for quite a while. But what did I get?"

She narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze locking onto the camera like a precisely aimed arrow. "This isn't nearly enough. Honestly... I'm so disappointed."

The instant she finished speaking, an overwhelming aura burst from the girl who'd been sitting quietly at the table.

It spread as if it were tangible, crushing everything in its path. The players at the neighboring tables unconsciously held their breath.

"Cousin..." Her gaze seemed to pierce the screen and reach someone far away. All traces of childish innocence had vanished from her voice, leaving only mocking amusement. "That person you thought so highly of... she's nothing special after all."

In the audience on the other side of the screen, Kageyama Sora's fingers paused.

He wore a neatly pressed white shirt. Beneath his dark hair, his ink-black eyes were filled with astonishment.

Kageyama Sora's gentle features took on a complicated look. He had indeed told Amae Koromo about Saki Miyanaga and Haramura Nodoka, saying Saki's ability was much like Koromo's and Nodoka's calculating skills were top-notch. Perhaps they could become opponents who'd interest her.

He remembered Amae Koromo curled up on the sofa then, hugging a cushion and swinging her legs as she said with a cheerful smile, "That sounds exciting!"

Her soft voice had been as sweet as cotton candy.

But the girl on the screen now—where was the obedient, well-behaved girl he knew?

An inky darkness seemed to swirl around her, thick and impenetrable. She looked like a Demon King from an ancient legend, every glance carrying the cold indifference of someone in complete control.

Kageyama Sora swallowed. For the first time, he felt that the cousin he'd thought he'd already won over concealed an abyss he'd never touched.

On the livestream, Saki Miyanaga froze at the unexpected callout. A faint blush rose across her cheeks beneath her short brown hair, and she instinctively gripped her skirt. She knew Koromo wasn't talking about her, but for some reason, that chill seemed to stab straight through her, as if she'd been doused in ice water.

Just then, Amae Koromo curled her lips. Her voice was as dangerous as a snake hissing. "It's about time to open... the Gate of Hell."

The moment the words fell, the pressure around her surged, sweeping across the arena like a tsunami.

Saki Miyanaga felt her heart skip a beat. She instinctively held down her fluttering skirt, her knees trembling slightly. An absurd thought popped into her head: If only I could go to the bathroom right now.

"Amae Koromo," said a trembling voice. Ikeda Kana of Kazekoshi Girls' High School clenched her fists, sweat beading at her temples. "Are you confident you'll win this year too?"

Amae Koromo slowly turned her gaze to Ikeda Kana.

Her red-lit eyes blinked, as if she were leafing through a blank book. Clearly, she had no memory of the catlike girl in front of her.

But she shrugged without a care, her rabbit-ear braids swaying. "Did you play against Koromo last year? But... forget last year's Koromo. I wasn't even in form back then."

"Meow!?" Ikeda Kana yelped, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Her round eyes widened.

The terror of being crushed by Koromo the year before surged back in an instant, and she couldn't help drawing in a catlike gasp.

"Last year, I stood on humanity's side, just like all of you." Amae Koromo suddenly winked playfully at her. Shallow dimples appeared in her pale cheeks, making her look like a child who'd successfully pulled off a prank.

Ikeda Kana's back was instantly drenched in cold sweat. A drop slid down her chin and landed on the table with a soft tap.

Her voice shook as she asked through gritted teeth, "N-no, if you're not human... what are you?"

"Why don't you come and find out for yourself?" Amae Koromo smiled innocently, but the crimson in her eyes grew more intense. The darkness around her seemed to come alive, twisting into terrifying shapes behind her.

Kageyama Sora watched the familiar yet unfamiliar figure on the screen, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table.

He remembered the girl who'd cuddled up to him and acted cute not long ago. Back then, her eyes had sparkled like stars as she clung to him and wheedled.

Now, her offhand words concealed a power that could drag someone into an abyss.

He suddenly felt he'd never really understood his cousin—not any more than he understood the loneliness that occasionally flashed in her eyes, so out of place for her age.

The match continued.

But everyone's hands had turned bizarre.

The captain from Tsuruga Academy looked down at her tiles, her expression subtly grave. Since she'd gone on tenpai, her hand hadn't progressed at all. Almost every tile she drew was useless.

The others were in the same situation.

Only Ikeda Kana, who'd played against Amae Koromo before, knew this was the monster Amae Koromo at work.

"It's begun..." Kageyama Sora murmured. He remembered what it had been like playing against Amae Koromo the first time they met.

It had been just like this. His hand had started on tenpai, but no matter what, he couldn't draw a winning tile.

At first, he'd thought it was a coincidence. Only later had he realized that Amae Koromo was controlling the game, with every tile waiting for her moment to claim Under the Sea.

Kageyama Sora had tried using his calculations to change the game then, but against her absolute control, it had all been futile.

Clearly, everyone facing Amae Koromo now was starting to experience the same thing.

Hisa Takei, sitting beside Kageyama Sora, looked at him. "Is this the ability you were talking about? Amae Koromo's?"

"Yeah..." Kageyama Sora nodded. "And she gets stronger as the night goes on. It's even more terrifying under a full moon... and tonight's a full moon."

By the time he finished, the round had reached its final lap.

And at that moment, Amae Koromo declared riichi.

As everyone stared in astonishment, there were only four tiles left in the wall—one for each player.

Under ordinary circumstances, they would have expected the hand to end in a draw.

The light above the table suddenly flickered, stretching Amae Koromo's shadow across the wall.

She lowered her eyelids. Golden hair covered half her face, and her crimson eyes shone brightly in the shadows.

When her fingertips touched the last tile in the wall, it seemed as though the whole arena stopped breathing. Saki Miyanaga gripped her tiles until her knuckles turned white, cold sweat seeping between her fingers. Haramura Nodoka's notepad slid from her lap with a soft thump. Ikeda Kana bit her lower lip so hard she tasted blood.

The small, pale hand hovered over the tile for half a second, as if weighing the whole game.

—As if drawing the moon reflected beneath the sea.

Under the Sea

In the arena, Amae Koromo turned her wrist slightly, and the tile traced a cold arc beneath the lights.

The movement was as slow as a scene in a movie, yet utterly decisive. It was as if she'd drawn not a mahjong tile from the deepest part of the sea, but moonlight imprisoned for a thousand years—cold, pure, and sharp enough to destroy the world.

The instant Amae Koromo slapped the tile onto the table, the table resonated with a deep hum.

She raised her eyes. Her crimson pupils reflected the pattern on the tile, and the curve of her lips held both a childlike delight and the indifference of someone looking down on all living things.

"Under the Sea." The three words slipped from her lips. Her voice wasn't loud, but it was like an ice-coated needle piercing the silence stretched taut across the arena.

This wasn't Under the Sea at all. It was as if she'd dragged everyone into the abyss of a moonlit night she'd created.

Kageyama Sora leaned sharply back in his chair, emotions churning in his chest.

Watching the girl on the screen, half shrouded in darkness, he realized more clearly than ever that he'd never understood her.

Amae Koromo had seemed perfectly calm the last time they played mahjong together, but...

He hadn't expected her to be like this after all.

Not that there was anything wrong with it. But when he thought about Amae Koromo's life, Kageyama Sora couldn't help feeling sorry for her. He'd always thought he'd made his way into her heart, but now it seemed their relationship had only been a crude physical one.

Meanwhile, the match went on.

The numbers on the scoreboard crept forward with each round, but every change felt like a hammer blow to everyone's nerves. The cold lights overhead had somehow grown blindingly bright, making the table look like a sheet of ice. Even the air seemed to have frozen into transparent glass, ready to shatter at the slightest movement.

The spectators' whispers had long since disappeared. Only their uneven breathing mingled with the sound of tiles being shuffled, weaving a taut net that held the entire arena fast.

Everyone was under immense pressure.

Those who didn't know Amae Koromo would realize that something was seriously wrong with her hand.

She'd been waiting for so long, yet only declared riichi in the final lap—as if she were absolutely certain she'd win.

That sense of control made her opponents uneasy.

Amae Koromo had won with Under the Sea the year before, but she hadn't done so at the National Tournament.

After all, last year she'd been the sort of player who worked hard to win big hands and score heavily. Her performance this year made everyone uneasy.

As the game continued, everyone started tenpai, but nobody could win.

Anyone who'd made it this far was no ordinary player.

Ikeda Kana, for example, had once been ruled by fear of Amae Koromo. Under pressure from Kazekoshi Girls' High School, she decided to change everything.

Ikeda Kana suddenly clenched her hand tiles, her knuckles whitening with the force of her grip.

A courage she'd never felt before surged from deep within her.

The memory of being shut out by Amae Koromo flashed through her mind. The cruel words and the memories of being beaten by her coach all turned into scorching flames, burning away her fear.

She took a deep breath and suddenly revealed four identical tiles. Her voice trembled with nerves, yet sounded unusually firm. "I... call a kong!"

The instant she declared the kong, Ikeda Kana felt as if her heart were about to leap out of her throat.

She'd changed the shape of her hand by calling a kong. Not only had she shifted the tile Saki Miyanaga would have won on, she'd also shifted the tile Amae Koromo had planned to use for Under the Sea.

When she saw that the wall really had shifted out of alignment, she couldn't help smiling. Her fingertips trembled with excitement, as if she'd already caught sight of a chance to turn things around.