The Clock Keepers' Court (Part 3) (
Summary[]
Part 1: The Aftermath of the Trial[]
The chapter begins right before the ending of the previous chapter, with Tsukasa Yugi victorious over a dead Kako, and holding one of his gears in his hand.
As an injured Mirai watches from the side, and Hanako, Nene Yashiro and Teru Minamoto look over what had just happened from one of the scales, Tsukasa muses over Aoi Akane possibly having the Yorishiro after not finding it in Kako's "heart" and leaving him for dead. Akane prepares to defend himself, and tells Tsukasa that he has dared to rebel against the Clock Keepers in their court of law, calling it a serious offense. Tsukasa, rather amused by his threats, leaves the scene but not before tossing a gear from Kako's body and then throwing it off.
Or it seemed that Tsukasa had left, because as soon as he disappeared, he reappears behind Akane and attempts to strike him. Akane was shocked by his sudden appearance, but was able to fight back with his hammer, only for Tsukasa to strike his hip, causing him to bleed. Akane tries to hit Tsukasa again, but he dodges it. He jumps back, grabs some gears from Kako's body, and then uses it as projectiles, throwing it at Akane. Akane manages to parry all the gears thrown at him, but gets an uppercut from Tsukasa, which he shurgs from. Seeing how disrespectful Tsukasa was in using Kako's gears as projectiles, he gets angry and tells Tsukasa not to throw "Jii-San"'s parts at him while wiping the blood off his chin, and tries to kick him. But it was to no avail as Tsukasa dodges the kick, and then grabs his leg, spinning him like he's on a lasso. After spinning him for a while, he throws him off a great distance. He ends up hitting the podium of the stand.
Having him pinned down, Tsukasa goes in for the kill, but Akane does another kick, which he dodges, but cancelling his attack in the process. As Tsukasa stares at him with a deathly gaze, Akane angrily thinks to himself that none of his attacks are getting to him. However, as Mirai is getting up and recovering from the attack Tsukasa dealt to her earlier, and him being too focused on attacking Akane, he deems it as his chance. Akane gets up, and uses his hammer to stop Tsukasa's Kokujoudai Tsueshiro from restraining Mirai, and he tells her to run away from the scene. Sadly, Tsukasa pins him down for the second them after this, and as he slumps down defeated, Tsukasa grabs his head, and then asks him if gears are also inside him, intending to break open his chest like he did Kako. However, before he can open up his chest, Mirai runs in between Akane and Tsukasa's hand, getting hit in the back in the process. Akane watches as Mirai sacrificed her life to save Akane, and gets broken up into gears in the process.
As Mirai's parts crumble down, Tsukasa notes that there is a key inside Mirai's body that actually contains the Clock Keeper's Yorishiro. He takes the key with the Yorishiro, and the first part ends.
Part 2: Confronting the Third Mystery[]
Meanwhile at the time-frozen and plant-like supernatural infested Kamome Gakuen, a man's singing can he heard as he walks around the school's hallways, which are filled with both attacking plant-like supernaturals and panicking humans. Among the frozen humans include Nagisa Kunishige holding Tiara Minamoto in his arm, and protecting her from the plant-like supernaturals, and a concerned Yokoo Shun who is either protecting or comforting a kid as the chaos unfolded.
The man is revealed to be Natsuhiko Hyuuga, whose blood was the catalyst for the events now taking place. As he walks around, he sees a time-stopped Sousuke Mitsuba, or rather, the fake supernatural Mitsuba. He does some handwaves and calls, but it was just a comedic gesture, as he knows he's frozen solid in time. Then he opens a piece of paper that contained some of the petals that Mei Shijima had made for the Broadcasting Club's operation. As he pours them down on Mitsuba, he calls it a gift from "My Lady".
The petals' effects was that it removed Mitsuba from the School's frozen time, and thus he was brought back to his senses. Upon returing to normalcy, he remarks that he could move again. Natsuhiko greets him good morning, and upon seeing him, Mitsuba jumps on him like a dog, and happily says that Natsuhiko had come to rescue him from the plant-like supernaturals. He began to talk in length about the various events that had happened, and even told showed him Mitsuba's Mother, who was lying unconscious beside him.
However, before he could continue talking, Natsuhiko shuts him up, and tells him that he's not here to talk about the events that have unfolded. Instead, he asks Mitsuba if he was able to make a Yorishiro (Despite there already being a Yorishiro for No.3). This question shocks him, and he asks Natsuhiko what he was talking about. Natsuhiko seemed annoyed by his answer, and after answering in the affirmative, he gets up, takes his razor, and slices his palm like he did when he destroyed the Big Clock. Mitsuba looks at him with horror and fear, and as his blood drips to the ground, Natsuhiko explains that a Yorishiro sets apart the Seven Mysteries from the rest of the supernaturals, because in his own words, "it makes them a proxy to the gods". Then as he comes closer to Mitsuba, he tells him that without a Yorishiro, Mitsuba couldn't become a full-blown mystery, and Natsuhiko apparently reminds him of it.
After saying that, he puts his bleeding palm onto Mitsuba's face, and once he pulls it out, Mitsuba spits it out and asks what he was doing. But before too long, he suddenly feels something wrong in him, and then he starts to cough up blood. Natsuhiko's blood that can destroy supernaturals is having its effect on him, and as he coughs and coughs profusely, Natsuhiko remarks that a school mystery with a Yorishiro would be able to dilute the effects of his blood curse, but because Mitsuba wasn't able to become one, he is now dying from the blood.
As Mitsuba slowly starts to die off, Natsuhiko mocks him by saying the following:
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Aww, a School Mystery with a Yorishiro would've been able to dilute the effects of my curse somewhat but...oh well. It's not like you didn't have the time. Were you really unable to choose even one thing important enough to you to be your Yorishiro? Stupid little Mitsuba-Chan. Always asking for the Moon...you want to become human? That could have waited until after you became a proper supernatural, don't you think? Well, I suppose that is what made you so cute, Mitsuba-Chan. And it's also why you're dying to me now!
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” |
— Hyuuga Natsuhiko mocking the fake Mitsuba Sousuke for being unable to choose someone or something to become a Yorishiro as he coughs up blood and slowly dies.
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After this, the second part ends.
Part 3: The Gathering of the Yorishiros And A Brother's Brotherly Feelings[]
The scene shifts back to the Clock Keeper's boundary, as we see Tsukasa Yugi holding the Clock Keeper's Yorishiro, and looking deeply at it. While looking, he counts the School Mysteries whose Yorishiro were destroyed:
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And since the Third, Mitsuba, doesn't seem to have created a Yorishiro yet... That means the only ones left are Now, all of the Yorishiro will finally disappear!
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— Yugi Tsukasa counting the School Mysteries whose Yorishiro are destroyed, those that are left, and then revealing his true goal in gathering the Yorishiros to everyone present.
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Both Hanako and Yashiro Nene are shocked by his comment, while Minamoto Teru looks on in silence. He is actually thinking to himself that if Tsukasa continues on with his plan, the Clock Keeper's Yorishiro will be destroyed. He further analyzed that if any more Yorishiro are destroyed, it would not be good for both the region, and Yashiro's lifespan. He figures that while he couldn't get out of his bindings no matter how much power he draws, he also notices that the Clock Keepers were moving slower than usual, perhaps due to Natsuhiko's blood pouring on their Big Clock. He further notes that the School Mysteries are supernaturals on another level, and that though they are currently defeated, they can turn their situation around and use their powers to stop Tsukasa. He then asks a question to himself: Why are they not using their power to the fullest? Are their powers conditional, or do they simply not care if their Yorishiro is destroyed.
Then Tsukasa looks up, points to Yashiro, and reminds her about their deal: if he won, Yashiro would have to destroy the Yorishiro. With the Clock Keepers' yorishiro in hand, he begins to he approach the baby Yashiro, who looks terrified, and asks her if she would honor their promise. But before he can reach her, Hanako lunges from the scale and hooks his knife through Tsukasa's sleeve before pushing them both to the floor. Straddled atop his brother, Hanako shoves the knife into the floor and pins Tsukasa there. Tsukasa attempts to reach for the knife with his free hand, put Hanako stops him by pinning his wrist with his own restrained ones. Tsukasa asks Amane why he's interfering, and Hanako, face hidden, tells Tsukasa to stop what he's doing. Confused, Tsukasa asks why, and reminds Hanako that he wanted this as much as he does, since if all of the Yorishiro are destroyed, God will grant Hanako's wish.
Hanako affirms that Tsukasa is right, and that God can grant his wish, but explains that he doesn't want that to happen if it means Tsukasa will disappear. He says that he already lost him once, and if Tsukasa is destroyed, Hanako won't be able to see him again or save him.
But Tsukasa, unfazed by his brother's words, merely asks:
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So? |
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Upon hearing this, we get a clear view Hanako's face for the first time since he pinned Tsukasa to the floor. He's surprised and hurt by how little Tsukasa seems to think his older brother cares about him, and as his face twists with frustration, he tells Tsukasa that he hates him. Then the Chapter ends.
Characters in order of appearance[]
- Yugi Tsukasa
- Kako
- Mirai
- Hanako
- Yashiro Nene
- Minamoto Teru
- Aoi Akane
- Hyuuga Natsuhiko
- Nagisa Kunishige (Cameo)
- Minamoto Tiara (Cameo)
- Yokoo Shun (Cameo)
- Mitsuba Sousuke
- Nanamine Sakura (Indirectly Mentioned)
- Sousuke's Mother (Cameo)
- Yako (Image)
- Tsuchigomori (Image)
- Shijima Mei (Image)
- Shinigami-Sama (Image)
Trivia[]
- The Clock Keeper's Yorishiro was revealed to be hidden inside of Mirai's body in this chapter, thanks to her sacrificing her life to save Akane's own.
- It was revealed in this chapter that Mitsuba, as the new No.3, never created his own Yorishiro, implying that the original Yorishiro of the original No. 3 seen in the Hell of Mirrors is now gone.
- This also implies that in order to become a School Mystery, one must have a Yorishiro, and since Mitsuba didn't have one, he was only an "unofficial" School Mystery to begin with.