I Was Reincarnated in a Modern Day Onmyoji Family

Chapter 58 – Oni Extermination 6

When Momi-san left his seat with his phone in hand, the person he called was apparently my mother.

I guess he told her in advance, “Your husband got injured, but don’t worry about it”.

“I’m going to go take a nap.”

Mother seemed to want to have an important talk with dad, so the 4-year-old who can read the atmosphere retreated to the bedroom.

It would be hard for her to talk in front of the kids, and they say that even dogs don’t like to eat when a couple fights.

Yuya was sleeping peacefully in his bedroom.

He is mumbling happily, unaware of the big problem that is developing in our house.
I wonder if he is dreaming of eating snacks.

With such an adorable child, divorce would never be the end result.

“I don’t think so… Mother’s family has money.”

But even so, I couldn’t help but be concerned.

I decided to sneak into the living room.(T/N – Bad idea)

In case of an emergency, I will play the role of an innocent child, embodying the notion that children are a bond between husband and wife.
I have no idea how to stop a quarrel between husband and wife.

I really have no idea how to stop them from fighting.

As I approach the living room, I hear a faint voice coming from behind the sliding door.

“~~and.
~~ ……”

Hmmm, it seems my father is speaking, but I can’t make out what he’s saying.

I put my ear gently to the sliding door, but the voice remains muffled.

I can’t understand what’s going on inside.
I wonder if there is any way I can hear what he is saying.

Oh, that reminds me, I haven’t experimented with this.

I extended a tentacle from my ear and held the tip close to the sliding door.
Then, once I release the heavy element covering the surface, I can …….

“~~~–I subdued the Oni, received treatment, and returned.”

Oh, now I can hear clearly.

I thought that tentacles working as sensitive sensory organs could do something similar to the string telephone, an idea I briefly considered trying …… some time ago and then forgot about.

I didn’t think it would be a one-shot success.
The possibilities of the tentacles are expanding endlessly.

It seems that my father has just finished recounting the day’s events around the time I started eavesdropping.

Silence descended on the living room while mom was swallowing the information.

“Coming of Age Ceremony? Extermination of Oni? …… something I’ve never heard of before today.”……

“…… because you didn’t ask me …….”

Hey …… Hey Dad, I’ve been single all my life and even I can tell that’s a line you shouldn’t say.

How bad of a talker are you, after all the time I’ve spent reevaluating you?

See, even through my tentacles I can feel that mother is about to cry!

“That’s ……!”

Call it a weakness due to love, but mother didn’t let the tears fall because of dad.

If she shed tears and expressed her emotions, she would have been too upset to speak.

Mother knows my father’s character very well.

After she managed to suppress her emotional state of mind and regulated her breathing, she began to speak in a calm voice.

“You do not usually try to bring up the subject of Onmyoji, and since it is related to your work, I thought that you would not want to talk about it, so I have not dared to ask until now.
I thought that if I, a layman, interrupted you, it would only get in the way of your work.”

Is that why my mother was as unfamiliar with the Onmyoji affairs as I was, even though she watched the Onmyoji channel with great interest?

She wanted to hear more about the Onmyoji world from my dad, but she didn’t dare to ask him.

As a result, my father came to be seriously injured in a place that was beyond my mother’s control.

Momi-san must have called her and told her what was going on, and she must have been worried like crazy.

“Why didn’t you consult me about what was going to happen today?”

“I wasn’t hiding it.
I just didn’t …… have the time to… and didn’t feel comfortable in telling you.”

“So, you have done something so dangerous? With Hijiri?”

Perhaps out of concern for me, mother’s voice became sharper.

I didn’t mind because Momi-san was there, but surely there was a danger of getting hurt?

“Uncontracted Shikigami only target the Summoner.
There was no danger to Hijiri.
Unless something terrible happened, it was unlikely for us to die.”

“So, there was a possibility of dying if something went wrong.”

You know, my dad, he said that getting hit was part of the plan.
If he had been hit badly enough, he would have died from that alone.

“Was it only your left arm that was injured?”

“No, I had some broken ribs and lungs, and other internal organs were also injured.
I had them all healed, so everything is fine.”

What? What the hell was that!

You were injured that badly just because you couldn’t see it!

If it weren’t for the amulet of the Tonobe family, you would really die!

Wait, …… Now that I think about it, the recent change in his teaching policy of Onmyojutsu may have been an act of preparing for a worst-case scenario.
…… In case he is no longer around, he does not want the Onmyojutsu of the Kyobe family to cease to exist.

Momi-san was present, so the possibility of his death was extremely low, but my father had reasons for not dismissing that possibility.

“Such a serious injury …….”

“So, you don’t have to worry about it.
Everything except my left arm has already healed.”

No, that’s not the point.

My dad was in pain enduring such a wrecked body while we were traveling around in the car.
……

He didn’t cough up blood in plain sight, so I didn’t realize how badly he was hurt.

Mother quietly took a deep breath and held back her tears.

In order to persuade my father, she tried her best to speak calmly.

“Momi-san told me once before.
He told me that ever since your parents passed away, you, as the head of the Kyobe family, have made all of your decisions alone.
Even before you reached adulthood, you lived your life alone, relying on no one.”

I know my dad lost his parents abruptly as a result of a battle with a Yōkai: …….

I also took care of my parents in my previous life, and I’ll never forget how much I missed them.
Though I was able to say goodbye to them peacefully, I can’t imagine what it must have been like for my father, who was left all alone in this world at such a young age.

Come to think of it, there are no known relatives to the Kyobe family.
Even if there were, someone unrelated to the Onmyoji world would not be able to serve as a guardian.

I don’t know what the arrangements were, but it seems that my father has been living on his own since my grandparents passed away.

That must have been …… difficult.

In my previous life, I started living on my own after getting a job, but there were many challenges in becoming independent.
I had to find my way around my new life, work for the first time, report to the municipal office, pay taxes, and the list goes on and on.

It was only then that I realized how difficult it is for a person to just live.

Even so, in my case, I could rely on my parents when I returned to my hometown, and they provided me with a source of support deep down in my heart.

My father was forced to stand on his own as soon as he lost such emotional support.

As the next head of the Kyobe family, he was forced to complete his Coming-of-Age ceremony shortly after…….

“I can only imagine how hard it must have been for you.
It must have been such an arduous path that it helped shape you into the person you are today.”

Oh, so mother thinks Dad has personality problems, too.

Well, if he didn’t have problems, things like today wouldn’t happen.(T/N – Wow, this guy is ruthless)

“But from now on, please make sure you discuss stuff like this with me.
We are a family, so don’t…..make a decision by yourself!”

Mother’s argument was summed up in her last words.

Her rational and specific request was easy to understand and could be firmly accepted even by my father, who was not accustomed to dealing with women.

Still, there was no way that my father’s long-accumulated philosophy would allow him to accept these conflicting claims without resistance.

“But …… my job is always dangerous…….”

“You have no choice but to do your job.
I am prepared for it.
Every time you go to work, I pray to God that you will be safe.
But please don’t do anything dangerous outside of work that could cause you serious injuries.
If you had suddenly disappeared today, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life that I was so carefree and unaware of what was going on…….
You understand better than I do the suffering of those who are left behind.”

“…… I do…”

It was easily debunked.

My dad, who lost both of his parents so suddenly, cannot deny the words of my mom.

His mother was a good mother and had taken care of his father, and sadly, everyone present could understand how she felt.

“Promise me that you will never do something like this again.
From now on, no matter how trivial the matter may seem, you will properly discuss it with your family.”

“Okay, …… okay, I will.”

Tears rolled down mother’s cheeks.
The tears she had been holding back must have started to fall silently.

Dad, as expected, was panicking.

Isn’t it amazing what tentacles are capable of doing, being able to understand what’s going on in a living room through a sliding door with such ease?

It’s not comparable to a string telephone, but I can tell what’s going on over there with such precision that it seems to pick up all the spatial information.
…… It’s as if the information has been sent directly to my brain rather than being heard by my ears.

“Gush…… and I see that you have made another big purchase.
At this time of year when money is needed for Yuya’s entrance to preschool,…… without even discussing it with me.
From now on, I will manage the family finances.
Sounds good.”

“Ah …… I get it ……, so please don’t cry.”

Mother was more formidable than I thought she was.

She pushed through her next request with the force of having succeeded in her main request.

She is usually all smiles, so her tears must have had a huge effect.

I don’t know if my father is really okay with that, but I’m more worried about leaving the family finances in the hands of a man who eats up our savings frequently.

I could hear my father hugging my mother behind the sliding door.

From the sound of things, there seems to be no worry about a potential crisis in the Kyobe family.

I’m going to stop this unbecoming eavesdropping now and go back to the bedroom.

If I stay here any longer, I will be exposed to my parents’ lovemaking.