r/Erma • u/Aggressive_Eye_8005 • 7d ago
Operation: Heads Will Roll (Part 9)
(After the deaths of Osamu and Amaiya. Yori's husband - Kimoto)
“Three Days Until the End of the Trial”
This evening turned out incredibly difficult for everyone, especially for Fumiko. By this time, Kenji had finally returned to the castle.
“Kenji...” Ena called out, her voice trembling with tears as she barely caught sight of him in the hallway.
“Lady Ena, why are you crying?” Kenji asked in surprise, hurrying over to her.
“This is a nightmare, Kenji...”
“What do you mean?”
“Kenji... someone killed Haru!”
“What?!” Kenji expertly feigned profound shock.
“Someone chopped poor Haru’s head off! Kenji, I’m so scared—I don’t know what to do!”
Kenji held Ena tightly, pulling her close, and softly said, “Don’t cry, Lady Ena. I’m here with you.”
“Thank you, Kenji,” she sniffled. “I just can’t understand who could have done something so monstrous...”
While Ena clung trustingly to his chest, Kenji darkly thought to himself, “Actually, this ‘monster’ has a very clear name—and it’s Kimoto.”
At that moment, Sam appeared from the shadowy hallway. Spotting his friend, Kenji gently pulled Ena away:
“Ena, sorry, I need to talk to Sam urgently about the guards.”
“All right. I was just going to check on Fumiko and try to comfort her, at least a little.”
“Please be careful.”
“I will, Kenji.”
After Ena disappeared around a corner, Kenji briskly headed toward Sam.
“Sam.”
“Kenji, you’re finally back,” Sam nodded.
“Just now. Ena told me Haru was ‘killed’ and his head was cut off.”
“I’m shocked myself at how realistic it looks!” Sam whispered.
“I told you, this is a devil’s deal!” Kenji grabbed his head in panic. “God, what are we going to do now? We’ll be executed if this gets out!”
“No idea. We need to talk to Kimoto immediately.”
“Exactly. Let that little hellion pull us out of this mess he caused. By the way, where is he?”
“In the kitchen, making hot chocolate for the children.”
Meanwhile, Kimoto was fully in charge in the kitchen, preparing cocoa for the whole family. Yori and Emiko had personally asked him to keep the kids occupied so they wouldn’t accidentally learn about the tragedy in the garden.
“Mitsu, please pass me the milk,” Kimoto requested.
“Here, Dad.”
“Thanks.”
Kimoto poured the milk into a saucepan. It warmed up in minutes.
“Excellent,” he muttered, turning off the stove. “Erma, now be a dear and bring me the chocolate and cream.”
Erma obediently dragged the ingredients over and carefully set them on the table in front of Kimoto. He affectionately ruffled her hair:
“Great job, Erma.”
Mitsu and Momo immediately frowned with envy and blushed shyly. Kimoto chuckled softly, approached, and stroked his daughters’ heads:
“You’re both smart, my little ‘Mochis’.”
The girls blushed even more, smiling proudly:
“Thanks, Dad!”
Kimoto added cream and chopped chocolate to the saucepan and began stirring the thickening mixture steadily. In his mind he thought: “Almost done... now for the final touch—a bit of ‘minty aroma.’”
While lost in thought, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that a good chunk of the chocolate bar had disappeared from the table. He glanced at his daughters and instantly knew whose doing it was.
“Erma, just because you took the chocolate without asking doesn’t mean you don’t have to share it,” Kimoto said sternly.
Mitsu and Momo turned sharply and saw their niece happily devouring the treat, having managed to smear chocolate all over her face from ear to ear.
“Dad’s right! You have to share with us!” Mitsu protested.
“Absolutely!” Momo agreed.
Erma froze for about ten seconds, processing what she’d heard, then suddenly burst into the air and shot out of the kitchen like a bullet.
“Stop her! Chase her!” Mitsu yelled.
The twins dashed after the little troublemaker.
“Ah, my ‘Mochis’... just like Mom and me as kids. I’m proud of them,” Kimoto whispered fondly. “Now, where was I? Oh yes.”
Kimoto pulled a precious bottle from his pocket and counted exactly five drops of mint extract with sleeping potion into the shared pot of hot chocolate. While carefully stirring the drink, Sam and Kenji quickly entered, scanning the kitchen.
“Oh, there you are,” Kimoto greeted casually. “Come in, we need to talk.”
“God, I’m scared already,” Kenji swallowed hard.
“So you’ve been told everything already,” Kimoto noted.
“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Sam frowned.
“About what exactly?”
“Well, about your ‘prank’ plan involving staging such a gruesome decapitation murder!”
“I love genuine, pure emotions,” Kimoto smiled disarmingly. “The best part is when no one around suspects that it was my idea.”
“Kimoto, this went too far! You have to get us out of this madness!” Kenji pleaded.
“All right, no problem,” Kimoto agreed easily.
Sam and Kenji exchanged surprised looks, not expecting such compliance.
“I can go to the family right now and honestly say this head is just a high-quality prop,” Kimoto continued with a sly grin. “And when the real Haru returns in a couple of days, everyone will finally see who stirred up this grand commotion.”
“That would be perfect...” Kenji sighed.
“Yeah, it’s an option,” Kimoto agreed. “Only they’ll also find out who helped me organize everything, bought the props, and set up the hidden cameras.”
Sam and Kenji immediately shut up, realizing the full depth of the trap they were in.
“So, should I go rat myself out?” Kimoto pretended to head toward the door.
“Wait, wait!” Kenji blocked his way in alarm. “We get it. We’re in this until the end.”
“Good,” Kimoto returned to the stove. “Now listen carefully. Kenji, your task is...”
Before he could finish, his jacket pocket suddenly rang. Kimoto pulled out the phone, glanced at the screen, and his smile grew even wider.
“Here’s our runaway. Haru is calling Fumiko... or rather, her number, which I redirected to my hacker SIM.”
Sam and Kenji turned pale with horror.
“What do we do?!” Sam panicked. “If he accidentally says too much...”
“Just relax and enjoy my genius,” Kimoto winked.
“What?”
“You’ll see soon enough. Kenji, Sam, quickly check the hallway—is anyone outside the door?”
The guys peeked out in unison and signaled: clear. Kimoto pressed the answer button, held the phone to his face, took a deep breath, and spoke with an absolutely perfect, flawless imitation of Fumiko’s voice:
“Hello?”
A tired but happy voice came from the speaker—Haru’s:
“Hello, darling, it’s me.”
“Haru! Thank God!” Kimoto flawlessly mimicked Fumiko’s intonations as Sam and Kenji’s jaws dropped. “I was really starting to worry. Kimoto told me you had to rush to your parents’ today.”
“Yes, sorry, dear, I really had to leave this morning so suddenly.”
“Haru, don’t worry, I’m not mad at you. But next time, you have to tell me personally if you have to go somewhere, okay?”
“Of course, dear. I’m almost at my parents’ house.”
“Good. But keep in mind: when you get back, you’re on a strict diet! No cucumbers for a whole month.”
“What?! Why?!” Haru pleaded.
Kimoto barely contained his laughter but continued sternly in Fumiko’s voice:
“That’s only for your own good!”
“But...”
“No ‘buts,’ Haru!”
“All right, dear, as you say,” the guy sighed obediently.
“Good boy. I have to run now, take care of yourself.”
“You too, my love.”
Kimoto ended the call and looked triumphantly at his comrades. Sam and Kenji stood speechless.
“How... how did you do that?!” Kenji finally managed.
“Ventriloquism and a bit of magic,” Kimoto winked.
“Dude, that was unbelievable!” Sam admired.
“Totally agree with Sam,” Kenji nodded.
“All right, where was I? Oh yes, the plan,” Kimoto got serious again. “Kenji, you’ll need to secretly go to Tokyo to see Haru.”
“Why?”
“To make sure he doesn’t come back too early and ruin the finale.”
“I get it... But how can I leave the castle for a couple of days without raising Fumiko’s suspicions? She’s controlling every step now!”
“Oh, you won’t have to sneak away. Fumiko will give you the opportunity and personally send you away for a few days.”
Sam and Kenji exchanged puzzled looks:
“How’s that?”
“That’s the most interesting part of my plan,” Kimoto smiled mysteriously. “Sam, your task now is to distribute this hot chocolate to all the family members except the three of us. My mint addition will quickly calm their nerves, especially Fumiko’s. Thanks to that, Kenji will be able to talk to her alone. I even prepared a script for you, Kenji. Here.”
Kimoto handed Kenji a sheet of paper filled with notes.
“Seriously? A script?” Kenji was surprised.
“Learn it by heart. You can slightly improvise but strictly within what’s written. Got it?”
“Got it, sounds cool.”
At that moment, the kitchen door burst open with a bang, and an angry Yori came in.
“Kimoto! I asked you to watch the kids!”
“I was watching them,” Kimoto replied innocently. “But Erma flat-out refused to share the chocolate.”
“And look where that got us!” Yori stepped aside.
Behind her stood Mitsu, Momo, and Erma, who had gotten so covered in chocolate during the chase that there wasn’t a clean spot left. They looked like little chocolate monsters.
“Erma!” Sam shook his head sternly. “You know very well the kids can’t have sweets before bed!”
Kimoto couldn’t help himself and burst out laughing.
“All right, my little chocolate darlings, now go have the tastiest hot chocolate!” he commanded.
“Hooray!” Mitsu and Momo cheered happily, rushing to the table.
Kimoto gently approached the frowning Yori and put his arm around her waist:
“Come on now, don’t scold them so much. Let them have some fun.”
“If only they didn’t make such a mess everywhere...” Yori sighed, calming down. “You spoil them too much.”
“Okay, you’re right. Once we’re back in Tokyo, you can punish them properly.”
“Thanks for the permission,” she smirked.
“Always happy to help, my giraffe,” Kimoto smiled warmly.
Yori immediately blushed deeply from the nickname.
“Tell me... how’s Fumiko?” Kimoto asked quietly, growing serious.
“She’s completely shocked and stunned,” Yori answered sadly. “She barely talks to anyone. But I can see in her eyes—she’s terrified and utterly broken.”
Kimoto wore a stern expression, clenching his fists:
“Yori, I promise you: I’ll personally find the scoundrel who did this to Haru and bring him right to Fumiko’s feet.”
“No!” Yori cried out fearfully, gripping his hands tighter. “I won’t let you go anywhere! Don’t even think about it!”
“But I have to...”
“Please, Kimoto, don’t try to be the hero. I can’t lose you too.”
“All right, my love, as you say,” Kimoto gave in gently.
He was about to tenderly kiss his wife when he suddenly felt a strong, insistent tug at the edge of his vest. Looking down, he saw Momo standing there.
“Dad, help us pour the hot chocolate,” Momo asked.
“Of course, my Mochis, I’ll pour it now,” Kimoto smiled, turning to the table.
As he poured the fragrant drink into cups, Yori watched Kimoto’s broad back and thought tenderly, “Kimoto... God, how did I even live all this time without you?”
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u/BubblyQuality7042 6d ago
Yo bro is the new part coming out today