Next Target, 200PS!
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"Hmm~"
Unlike her bitter, exhausted state from the past few weeks, Haruno Yukinoshita actually hummed a cheerful little tune as she walked. She was in a fantastic mood.
All the built-up tension in her chest had vanished completely. She finally understood why some people got so hooked on this kind of thing. It felt amazing. Why hadn't she met this man sooner?
'Sorry, Yukino. You can't handle a man like this. Leave him to your big sister.' With that thought, Haruno drove back to her family home.
"Haruno?" A sudden voice froze Haruno right in her tracks.
She couldn't help it—it was a fear ingrained deep in her soul.
"M-Mother?" She turned and saw her mother—the current head of the Yukinoshita family, Fumino Yukinoshita—sitting dead center in the living room. Her father sat quietly off to the side.
(Note: Haruno's mother doesn't have an official name. I searched through the entire anime and novel, but found nothing. For now, we'll call her Fumino.)
While Japan certainly had its fair share of traditional patriarchs, Haruno's father had married into the Yukinoshita family. Fumino called all the shots. The so-called man of the house was basically just a decoration.
"..." Fumino didn't say a word. She just gave Haruno a calculating once-over. It was rare to see her daughter in such a good mood.
Fumino had obviously noticed her humming as she walked in. Even though she maintained a strict, cold facade most of the time, she still cared about her daughter.
She didn't ask why Haruno was so happy. Instead, she frowned. "Why aren't you at the office right now?"
"Ahem, things were slow, so I headed back early," Haruno replied.
"Things were slow?"
As the family head, Fumino knew exactly how swamped the company was right now. Haruno wasn't the only one drowning in work; Fumino was too. They barely got any time to breathe. Yet here Haruno was, claiming there was nothing to do.
"It's the truth!" After a second of thought, Haruno decided against mentioning Jujutsu Sorcerers. She chose her words carefully. "That plot of land in Tokyo is clear now. We just need to wait a bit, and we can resume construction."
"What?" Fumino's eyes lit up. She stared at her daughter in surprise. "It's clear? Are you sure about this?"
Fumino had been losing sleep over that land for ages, pulling countless strings just to secure it. But every time they tried to resume work, another worker would suffer a bizarre accident. Fumino had even hired priests from local shrines, proving she suspected something supernatural was at play. Unfortunately, none of it worked.
And now Haruno was standing here telling her the problem was solved.
"It's the truth. I guarantee it," Haruno insisted.
"What makes you so sure?"
"..." There was that domineering tone again.
Haruno was momentarily at a loss for words. After all, she didn't exactly have hard evidence to back up her claim. She couldn't just tell her mother the gritty details of what she witnessed last night.
"I just know. Stop asking, Mother. You'll see for yourself once construction restarts!" Left with no other option, Haruno stubbornly held her mother's gaze.
The problem was solved. That was all that mattered. As for the rest, it was obvious Haruno had zero intention of explaining.
"..." It had been a long time since her daughter dared to speak to her with such defiance.
Haruno was clearly hiding a secret, but what could it possibly be? She couldn't figure it out. Still, Fumino chose to trust her daughter.
"In that case, I'll find the right time to resume construction," Fumino declared.
For her, that plot of land was the future of the Yukinoshita family. She wasn't going to give up if there was even a sliver of hope.
Haruno let out a quiet breath of relief. Her mother wasn't going to interrogate her further.
"Oh, right!" Haruno suddenly remembered something. "Mother, about that..."
"What is it?" Fumino frowned, annoyed by her daughter's sudden hesitation.
"Well..." Thinking back to what she learned last night, Haruno decided to just say it. "When construction resumes, let's stop overworking the crew. Can't we just stick to regular hours with no forced overtime, like before?"
"What?" Fumino had expected something serious. She never anticipated a request like this.
"Out of the question," Fumino rejected the idea without a second thought.
Haruno didn't understand. "Why??"
She didn't think scaling back hours would be a huge deal. She definitely didn't expect an instant refusal.
Fumino replied with cold logic. "Do you realize what that land represents for this family? The faster we finish that project, the sooner the Yukinoshita family establishes a real foothold in Tokyo."
"Besides, I force them to work overtime, yes, but I have never skimped on their overtime pay or benefits."
Fumino wasn't some cartoonishly evil capitalist. She didn't expect people to work for free. The labor was intense, but she always paid top dollar.
"It's not about the money!" Haruno struggled to find the right words. "Mother, the only reason the site turned out like that is because you pushed them too hard. Can't we just go back to normal?"
"Haruno, I thought you had finally matured!" Annoyed by her daughter's persistence, Fumino raised her voice.
"..." The tension in the living room spiked instantly.
Watching this unfold, Mr. Yukinoshita offered a nervous, placating smile, trying to defuse the situation. "Fumino, don't get angry, Haruno just..."
"Hmm?" Fumino didn't argue. She just shot him a single, withering glare.
Sure enough, that was all it took for Mr. Yukinoshita to shut his mouth and sink back into his seat. The practiced routine made it clear this was a common occurrence.
Haruno wasn't surprised in the slightest. Her mother was the absolute ruler of this household. Sometimes, her father's status was even lower than hers and Yukino's.
"I think the one who hasn't grown up is you, Mother. You're the one who doesn't understand a thing."
"What did you just say?" Fumino clearly didn't expect her daughter to snap back with that kind of tone.
"Haruno!" Mr. Yukinoshita warned her softly, terrified she was going to push Fumino over the edge.
"I'm not wrong!" Haruno stubbornly held her ground. She had been terrified of her mother since she was a little girl, but today, a strange surge of courage pushed her to keep talking.
"You don't even know the real reason why those accidents happened in the first place! You don't understand anything! I'm doing this for the sake of the family!"
Haruno knew the truth. Based on Kai's explanation, as long as the workers' resentment and exhaustion persisted, another Cursed Spirit was bound to spawn. If her mother kept pushing them to the brink, the Yukinoshita family was going to pay the price.
"..." Fumino frowned deeply, but didn't say a word. She just studied Haruno intently.
'Does she know something I don't?'
Fumino was used to ruling with an iron fist, and her harsh words often spilled out by default. But she wasn't an idiot. Seeing Haruno stand her ground like this, she realized something deeper was going on.
"You can't tell me?" Fumino asked.
"..."
'She saw right through me.' It made sense. Her mother was brilliant. There was no way she wouldn't notice. Haruno quietly lowered her gaze.
"I just can't tell you right now!" She needed to ask Kai if exposing the existence of Cursed Spirits was allowed. What if it put her mother in danger? They might bicker constantly, but Haruno actually cared deeply about her mother's safety.
"I understand." After studying Haruno for another long moment, Fumino withdrew her gaze. "I will make the adjustments," she said coolly.
The project might take a little longer to finish, but the construction site wasn't going anywhere. As long as they weren't forced into a dead stop like they were right now, finishing a month early or a month late didn't really matter.
"Wait..." Haruno looked up in genuine surprise.
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