Back in the Mizuhashi household, it wasn't true that the head of the family—Mizuhashi Hideoki—left the five children in the house all by themselves. The truth was, he was staying in the family room—located outside the mansion separate from it—the entire time after watching the news.
He was sure his cousin Nanami watched it, as well. It wouldn't take him a second to know that both of them had concluded one thing upon realizing the truth behind that horrific incident. The cause of the earthquake wasn't something natural. The damage alone proved it.
At that moment, though, it worried him to no end. Hideoki had to do what was right. It was his wife's last wish to him before she died, after all.
~"Hideoki, you don't have to worry about me. Just concentrate on what we had vowed to protect. I made everything ready for those kids. All you have to do is raise them to become the warriors that they're destined to be. When the right time comes, they'll know the truth about their duties. I'll do my best to guide them in the right direction. Please... protect them for me... Protect our son... and the others. I'm begging you, Hideoki..."~
It was his wife's pleading words that he last heard from her before she left him and their son Eichirou. But it was those words that propelled him to do what she had asked him to. Those words became the premonition of a duty he had to fulfill not just for his wife, but also for the people who still believed that they couldn't stop those children's destiny.
Two years after Mariko's death, Hideoki learned that his wife had predicted a "disastrous enemy that will engulf the fate of the world in an inferno" as she had put it. That "disastrous enemy" was the hotel fire where he rescued Shuichi, Isae, and the Hoshiyama siblings...
xxxxxx
[Flashback]
Hideoki couldn't see through the situation. But he couldn't afford to fail now. Before leaving Tsukikage Town, he made sure first that Eichirou would be safe from whatever harm. Nanami assured him of that. So he and his cousin-in-law Kinmura Eisuke headed towards the place mentioned in Mariko's premonition—the Prince Palace Hotel in Yokohama.
It was a total disaster. It was already too late as the majority of the building was engulfed in fire. The firefighters couldn't contain the fire even with all the nearby rescue forces helping with the operation.
But it wasn't the fire that Hideoki and Eisuke were worried about.
"Hideoki, can't we do something? At this rate...!"
"They're still safe, I think. Their parents couldn't afford to let them die in this place," Hideoki assured Eisuke as he faced him. "Is there any way we could enter?"
Eisuke closed his eyes and tried his best to feel the surroundings using the wind. It was something that Eisuke inherited from his predecessor, the same way Hideoki inherited a portion of his ancestor's ability who was once the Vessel of Heavenly Water Spirit Guardian's Power 350 years ago.
"The back entrance is the only one that wasn't guarded by the firefighters. But if we open it, the fire would spread even faster and block the other paths. If we have to enter through there, we need to do it fast," Eisuke suggested with a serious expression.
It didn't take long before Hideoki decided on that. "We'll give it a go."
Eisuke nodded upon seeing Hideoki completely serious about his decision. With that, the two of them entered the blazing building through the back entrance even before the firefighters could stop them.
Despite the increasing temperature inside the building, Hideoki and Eisuke did their best to search for possible survivors, hoping that some of them would be the kids that Mariko had asked them to protect. The two split directions when they reached the 15th floor—the location where the children's parents could have possibly stayed since Prince Palace Hotel was celebrating one of its function halls by the next day. Those parents were invited as special guests for that celebration.
Hideoki heard a girl's cry followed by a boy's continuous shout calling for someone's attention to help them.
"Help us! We're over here!"
It alerted Hideoki and tried to follow the voice. "Where are you? Continue shouting!"
"We're over here, Ojisan! We're over here!" the boy replied as loud as he could.
The process went on until Hideoki had finally found them. He knew those two kids. They were the children of his friends—Fuumiya Misae and Hiwara Shuichi.
"Where are your parents? Why aren't you with them?"
Misae only cried harder and Shuichi's fist clenched. At that point, Hideoki knew the probable reason for the fire started.
"They died protecting both of you... Am I right?"
Both kids nodded. But despite crying, Hideoki could see that the kids were trying their best to appear strong.
"Let's get you out of here," was all Hideoki said before he carried Misae and Shuichi away from that spot.
But before he could even find an area where there was less fire, he saw Eisuke carrying two more kids that were also familiar to him. A boy and a girl, and he knew they were siblings—Hoshiyama Itsuki and Erika.
"Eisuke!"
To Hideoki's surprise, Eisuke let Itsuki and Erika go and beckoned them to head in his direction.
"Don't let them die, Hideoki! Don't let them suffer the tragic fate of our friends!"
Those were the last words Eisuke had spoken. Despite the hesitation, Hideoki felt, he knew that Eisuke would end up dying to protect Mariko's wishes for these four kids.
That was the last time Hideoki and the children that were in his care had ever seen Eisuke... alive...
xxxxxx
And to think all of those events happened in that predicted hotel fire 10 years ago...
While watching Hideoki as his eyes were closed, Nanami couldn't help feeling worried. Ever since her husband died in that fire, she knew that the danger they were all bound to face was about to come. Just as Hideoki did everything he could to protect Mariko's wishes, Nanami was also the same. She would do all that she could to help Hideoki protect Mariko and Eisuke's final wishes for those five kids.
But she never realized that the moment they all had feared to arrive would come this soon.
"Hideoki."
The said person opened his eyes and faced Nanami with an unusually solemn look on his face.
"Is this the right time for them to know the truth?" Nanami queried worriedly.
Hideoki didn't say anything as he looked at the chest box that Nanami brought with her upon going to the dojo. A sigh from him followed.
"There was never a right or wrong time to do what was needed. But all we can do is open a path for them to take. The rest of the journey is up to them whether they accept it or not."
Nanami's hands on her lap clenched into a fist as she looked at the chest box as well. 'So it's still up to them, huh?'
= = = = = =
"Ah!" Eichirou exclaimed with a gleeful and satisfied smile on his face as he leaned on the backrest of the chair and rubbed his tummy. "I'm full! Dad makes the most delicious meals ever!"
Itsuki rolled his eyes and started helping Isae clean the table. "Everything's delicious for you, Eichirou-san, whether it was Hideoki-san's cooking or just plain street food."
"Why do you have to be mean to me all the time, Itsu-chan?"
Itsuki twitched at the sound of Eichirou's nickname to him. "As far as I know, being honest is completely different from being mean."
"Well, you're acting mean," Eichirou retorted.
"Seriously, you're going to start this again? Put it on hold for now and continue that tomorrow—" Misae said but Erika soon cut it off.
"—and do it outside the house, please?"
"Do it AFTER we visit our parents' graves. Give us a break from your arguments, okay?" Shuichi added as he started helping, as well.
Eichirou was about to say something when they heard the bell clank coming from the back door. He frowned.
"Wait a minute... I thought Dad was out."
They all exchanged glances with each other.
"Did anyone check the family room?" Shuichi asked.
The rest shook their heads.
"I didn't even think Hideoki-san would stay there, especially on this particular day," Erika answered.
"Is it me or does everything that has happened today keep on getting weirder and weirder?" Itsuki added. "The earthquake, the five of us arriving at the same time, Hideoki-san going missing..."
"Maybe it was just a coincidence," Misae speculated but her voice proved otherwise. "Besides, what could happen on this particular day to us and even to Hideoki-san?"
That is until Erika decided to do something. "I'll go check whoever entered through the back door." She left the table mop to Itsuki and proceeded to the back door.
But even before Erika could fully leave the kitchen, she stopped in her tracks and frowned at the sight of the person who had come from the back door. "Nanami-san, don't scare us like that."
Nanami smiled at the girl's words but Erika noticed that they didn't reach the woman's eyes.
'Weird. Her smile isn't like this whenever she comes here and greets us. Did something happen?'
"Auntie!" Eichirou exclaimed and frowned soon after. "What made you come here?"
Instead of answering Eichirou's question, Nanami looked around and saw that the five kids were already done eating their dinner. "I see you're done eating." She faced the five kids. "Hideoki wants all of you to go to the family room."
After that, Nanami left them all frowning in confusion. Things sure had gotten a lot weirder than ever.
The five of them looked at each other to get answers... perhaps. But what could they possibly be? They were all clueless about all this.
"Let's just hope we're not in trouble or hell in this house will surely break loose if we made Hideoki-san angry," Itsuki said, breaking the silence.
The rest just nodded. If there was one thing they never wanted to face, it was Hideoki's wrath when mad. In trouble or not, it was for the best that they face the head of the Mizuhashi household.