The Clock Keepers' Court (
Summary[]
The cover page of this chapter features Akane in his Clock Keeper form with half of a clock face above his head, contrasted by a completely black background. He's readjusting his right glove with a serious expression on his face. The flavor text reads: "The Time Guardian that controls the Present."
The chapter opens with Teru and Akane arriving in the Clock Keeper's Boundary. Teru observes the boundary for the first time.
Tapping his chin in thought, Teru explains to Akane what he thinks their best course of action would be. While Teru finds the Clock Keepers dangerous and hates the idea of working with them, he admits that stopping the group trying to destroy their yorishiro would benefit both of them, since the group also caused harm to the student body during the School Festival; working together would just speed up the process. However, Teru warns Akane that this will be the first and last time that he allies himself with the Clock Keepers, which Akane is fine with.
With that settled, Akane asks Teru where Hanako is, and Teru tells him that he snuck away while he wasn't looking. An illustration of Hanako slipping out of Teru's beads with a wispy tail while the two's backs are turned is shown.
Suddenly, as Teru and Akane are running across a bridge, they are interrupted by a single Owl Guardian that cries it has a message. The mechanical bird lands on Akane's arm, and we see it carries a messenger bag, which we later find has a baby owl in it. Akane asks the owl what's going on, and tries to tell the owl he's headed there now, only for the owl to interrupt Akane by saying he has a message for the lowest-ranked member of the Clock Keepers. The message goes as follows: as the one who governs the Present, Akane must fulfill his duty. This vague directive shocks and upsets Akane, who after much silence reluctantly agrees to do it. Teru anticlimactically interrupts by grabbing the owl's wing, which causes much distress to the owl, and asks Akane if this owl is one of the Clock Keepers' familiars. Akane confirms, and explains that winged messengers are convenient since there are three of them. As the owl flies off into the distance, Akane tells Teru they should follow it.
Some time later, as the two are following the owl guardian through the boundary, Akane tells Teru that he needs to correct something about a discussion they had earlier. Akane is behind Teru. He says he learned that the true threat to the student body of Kamome Academy is neither the supernaturals nor the culprit behind the incident at the school festival. As he's saying this, he takes out a gavel identical to the one Mirai uses, complete with the head having an insignia that says "guilty" on it. He then proceeds to perform a sneak attack on Teru, pulling his arm and hitting him in the back with the gavel. As Teru looks on surprised, Akane tells him that the danger is himself and the Clock Keepers.
Meanwhile, the still de-aged Nene is trapped in a birdcage, her hands locked in large, blocky handcuffs. She's in a room filled with several birdcages, where numerous Owl Guardians are seen screeching and flying around. She remarks on how she passed out before waking up here, and observes that the birdcage is suspended over a dark abyss below. Next to her in the cage, she spots Tsukasa, who appears to be sleeping. His hands are also locked in blocky cuffs, though he has a ball and chain around his ankle while Nene does not. She sidles close to him and tentatively calls his name, but he doesn't respond. She then proceeds to lie on her back and twist herself into what she dubs the "captive princess" pose, crossing her ankles and staring upward with big, shiny eyes. Tsukasa sees this and asks Nene what she's doing, and she gets up, surprised that he's awake.
Slowly rising from the floor, Tsukasa leans back against the bars of their cage and remarks with disappointment that he was captured by Mirai. He tells Nene that Mirai's "guilty" stamp seems to have the ability to bend someone to the will of whoever put it on them. Nene then attempts to break the blocky cuffs by smashing hers against Tsukasa's, similar to an otter using a rock to break open the shell of its prey, but she eventually gives up and says she can't break them. Tsukasa, looking dejected, tells her that he probably can't break them, either, since he's somehow lost his strength. He also can't make the Kokujoudai, currently floating outside their cage, do anything right now. Nene surmises that they're both trapped here together, then, and Tsukasa agrees. This causes Nene to cry and call out Hanako's name, to which Tsukasa tells her that Amane is still stuck after being frozen in time and probably isn't coming.
Angered, Nene tells him that he should call for him by harnessing his "twin power," a concept that Tsukasa doesn't understand. Tsukasa then walks over to Nene, who's standing by the bars of the cage. Leaning over her, he tells her that even if he did, Amane wouldn't come, since he never has before. Nene stares up at him, a tear in her eye, as Tsukasa explains to her that she needs to try her best to escape using her own abilities. Nene asks him how, and Tsukasa notes that the cage looks old and that brute force could work. Nene takes to this idea, and begins to try and bend open the bars of the cage with her arms and legs, exclaiming that she's going to see Hanako again. Surprisingly, it works, and the cage starts creaking before the bottom of it begins to fall out. While this frightens Nene, it motivates Tsukasa, who begins pushing at the bars of the cage with his feet to encourage the bolts to loosen. Eventually the bolts loosen so much that the two are forced to dangle from the edge of the bottom of the cage, causing Nene to panic while Tsukasa looks on happy and unbothered.
As she screams that they're going to fall, Tsukasa asks her if she thinks Amane is going to come, causing her to cry out for Hanako. She tries to encourage Tsukasa to do this, too, but he remains adamant that it wouldn't work. Nene yells at him to just try before her hands slip from the cage. Tsukasa grabs her, sacrificing his own grip on the cage, and both of them begin to plummet to the abyss below. As they fall, Tsukasa stares upward for a moment before whispering something unintelligible.
Suddenly, Hanako appears, asking "What is it?" with an unamused expression on his face. He's wearing his tsueshiro cape. He then proceeds to grab Nene and Tsukasa, one under each arm, and lands on a birdcage. An owl screeches and flies at him, and he tells them to "hold on tight" before pushing against the wall to send the birdcage swinging in the other direction. The owl follows, and as the momentum of the cage swings them back the other way, Hanako uses his knife to slice the bird in half.
They all make it to safety, and Hanako crosses his arms and looks on in disappointment at the two of them at they sit across from him on the floor; Nene has somehow managed to free herself of her handcuffs. Clearly upset, he tells them he has a lot of things he wants to say to them, but can't resist being distracted by the elephant in the room: Nene's smolness. He lifts her into the air, and she flaps her arms happily before smiling and hugging Hanako. She enthusiastically and unashamedly expresses her great big love for him, shocking Hanako into silence as he is overwhelmed by feelings of love and affection for the tiny Nene. Tsukasa, in the background, congratulates them.
Tsukasa addresses Hanako from behind and begins to make his way over to him, who remains quiet and doesn't immediately respond. He remarks with some surprise that Hanako was able to move after being frozen earlier, and that Hanako saved not only Nene, but him, too. Hanako, back still turned to Tsukasa, informs Tsukasa that saving him was secondary to saving Nene. Tsukasa silently stares at Hanako for a while, making Hanako uncomfortable and urging him to ask what his problem is. Tsukasa bluntly asks him if he's mad at him, to which Hanako, visibly disgruntled, denies. Amused by this response, Tsukasa asks him why he's so mad, causing Hanako to double down and assert he isn't mad. Tsukasa takes a second to think before arriving at his joyous conclusion: that Hanako is mad because Tsukasa kissed Nene. Hanako, clearly pissed, neither confirms or denies this as Nene informs Tsukasa that she hates him.
As Tsukasa badgers Hanako, asking him if he's going to kiss Nene, Mirai appears and finds out that Tsukasa and Nene have escaped their cage. She asks Hanako if he helped them escape and, not waiting for an answer, deems him as guilty as they are before proceeding to whip out her hammer and start attacking them. She tries to smash them all with one big swing of her hammer, but Tsukasa dodges with a back handspring while Hanako bounces back, Nene still in his arms. Mirai chases Hanako, trying to hit him with her hammer, while Hanako runs away, barely managing to escape her attacks. Realizing he can't fight like this, he calls to Tsukasa and chucks Nene at him, and Tsukasa catches her. Unfortunately, as Hanako is doing this, Mirai manages to catch up to him and, with her hammer in gavel mode, marks Hanako on his stomach with the same "guilty" stamp she gave Tsukasa earlier.
Victorious, Mirai smirks at him and tells him to behave, before apologizing to Tsukasa and Nene for the wait. She tells them that since Akane has arrived in the boundary, "it" will be starting any minute now...
The scene returns to Akane and Teru, where we get a view of Teru reaching for his sword seconds after Akane stamped him on the back. Akane dips his head and solemnly apologizes to Teru, and starts to try and explain himself, but Teru, expression darkened, unsheathes his sword and immediately starts attacking him. Akane exclaims with shock and tries to tell him to wait as he dodges his attacks, but Teru is relentless and won't give him a chance to explain. Eventually, Akane skids backward from the force of his hammer and Teru's sword colliding, and takes the opportunity to smack his gavel against the ground and order restraints onto Teru. Teru's arms lock behind him and become shackled by the same cuffs used on Nene and Tsukasa. Teru loses his grip on his sword and it clatters to the floor. Falling to his knees, he finds that he's been sapped of his strength and won't be able to break free of his cuffs.
Defeated, Teru asks Akane what's the meaning of all this, and Akane answers by telling him that the Clock Keepers are going to hold a trial that will determine the person who is responsible for the disturbance in the school. Teru mockingly asks if they really need to do this now, and Akane, back turned, cryptically responds that "now" is actually the perfect time for it. He explains to Teru that this isn't his choice, and that he has to ally himself with the Clock Keepers this time. Then Akane tells Teru this:
| “ | Minamoto Teru, Student Council President. I, the lowest-ranking member of the Clock Keepers, summon you to our court of law. Court is now in session! | ” |
— Aoi Akane, exercising his power as the Guardian of the Present and the lowest-ranking member of the Clock Keepers, to demand Minamoto Teru stand trial in their courtroom and causing the terrain to shift itself into their court of law.
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After he says this, the entire boundary rumbles as it is reformed into a massive courtroom. In the front of the court lies three thrones, each positioned behind a shared judge's bench, where the three Clock Keepers sit. Numerous pillars are rising out of the ground below, some carrying balance scales. A bowl on one of the scales contains Hanako, Nene, Tsukasa and Teru, who all look shocked to be there.
Characters in order of appearance[]
Trivia[]
- This is Kako's first appearance in the manga series since Chapter 61, not including flashbacks or imagination images.