It's some time in the aftermath of World War II. Yakushiji Masamoto resolves to create a security company that would dominate the Japanese market and even the world. His companion, Isurugi Ruriko, does not subscribe to his ambition as it seems she, too, has plans of her own. She calls him "uncle" and she appears disappointed that he would not help her put her plans into fruition.
le past
Back to the present, the same Isurugi Ruriko reminisce about that moment in the past as she thinks that her uncle had been right: the company that he built became the predecessor of JACES, one of the largest security companies in the global market. But she still holds a grudge against her uncle and all the Yakushijis.
Yukiko visits her favorite cafe in the Shiba district. Her reserved window seat affords an unobstructed view of the building where the mysterious "Queen of Shiba" holds court. While there, she gets into conversation with the owner of the cafe about an upcoming war-test in their area.
Meanwhile, Ruriko discovers Monami-chan gone from her room. She does not, however, seem too alarmed by the prospect.
A few kilometers away, Monami-chan, now fully grown, walks under the rain and hails a taxi.
"you want to talk to my slave, you go through me first"
Yukiko pays a call to Izumida, asking him to meet her so she can tell him more about her secret investigation. Unfortunately, Ryouko arrives just then and snatches her phone away, pre-ending the call unceremoniously. She has apparently heard rumors about Yukiko's secret investigation and graciously offers her a ride to Izumida's apartment. At first, Yukiko refuses to take her offer but when Ryouko threatens to torture the 'innocent' Izumida for the information later, she reluctantly gives in.
Inside her company car, driven by Nonagase, Ryouko presses Yukiko for the results of her secret investigation. But instead of answering her, Yukiko wants to know what Ryouko knows. For some reason, Ryouko accommodates her request. So Yukiko shows her a photo of Ruriko. Ryouko, of course, already knows who the person is and she teases Yukiko about not knowing the name of the person she is investigating. Yukiko is quite flustered.
Meanwhile, Izumida receives a most unexpected color -- Monami-chan! He is naturally shocked to see her all grown up. She collapses into his chest, faint, forcing him to carry her inside his room. Since her clothes are all wet, he finds that he has to change her out of them, too.
exchanging notes
Back inside Ryouko's car, she is telling Yukiko the story of her grandfather, Masamoto, and also about Ruriko's ambition and grudge against her family. While her grandfather went on to develop his company into the global corporation, JACES, Ruriko remained in the shadows, secretly building up the NPP.
Ryouko then shows her a photo of Yakushiji Masamoto and Isurugi Ruriko together. What Yukiko notices is that Ruriko looks exactly the same in the photo as she does now in the present.
In his apartment, Izumida just finished putting Monami-chan to bed when he remembers that Yukiko is coming over. He tries to call her when someone snatches his phone away. It's Monami-chan, fully awake and happy to see him. She pulls him to her and tries to give him a kiss. Izumida tries to resist but in doing so, he ends up on top of her on the bed. Again, he tries to pull her away but Monami-chan is persistent.
They are in this situation when the doorbell rings and Ryouko, unable to wait, kicks the door open. Izumida is caught. Yukiko immediately looks away, all embarrassed for him.
two sides of the same coin
Izumida makes a vain attempt to explain but Ryouko just stares at him. Finally, Yukiko turns and sees for the first time that Izumida's companion is the spitting image of her greatest rival. Ryouko doesn't seem surprised. Adjusting her glasses, Yukiko adds insult to injury by observing that the girl with Izumida is actually younger. Ryouko tells her not to say unnecessary things.
awkward
Ryouko greets Monami-chan and then inspects her, her manner not too pleasant. After some length, she finally says that her breasts are bigger. Monami-chan tells her not to say unnecessary things.
In a corner of the room, Yukiko asks Izumida who the girl is. Izumida tells her that it's better if Ryouko explains.
pinky swear?
Back to the two hellfires, Ryouko orders Monami-chan to return to her place. Monami-chan refuses, saying that she wants to stay with Izumida. Ryouko then poses the question to Izumida but caught between the two, the tool can't answer. Ryouko then decides to let both Monami-chan and Izumida live with her. Monami-chan still hesitates as she points out that Ryouko will try to get her out of the country. This prompts Ryouko to promise that she will try no such thing again. To convince her, she even resorts to a pinky swear.
And so begins Izumida's life with two Ryoukos around him. One wants to serve him breakfast in bed while the other likes to make snide comments about it and bait him at every turn. Monami-chan's little girl crush has grown into complete infatuation but the dense Izumida, of course, does not notice, just as he does not notice Ryouko's attention. Fortunately (or should I say unfortunately?), someone else notices the love triangle possibly developing between the three.
the traitor shows his face
Nonagase befriends Monami-chan and tells her about Ryouko's feelings for Izumida. This alarms Monami-chan somewhat as she wonders if Izumida reciprocates the feeling. Nonagase tells her that Izumida is completely unaware of it but predicts that it probably won't be long now before he starts to notice.
Not too far away from where Nonagase and Monami-chan are standing, Izumida and Ryouko are sitting in the gazebo, discussing Ruriko's schemes. Izumida wants to know who Ruriko really is but Ryouko complains about having to tell the story all over again after going through such lengths telling Yukiko about it. The way she says it, she makes it sound like it was a real torturous ordeal, bringing a smile to Izumida's face. Sharp-eyed Ryouko catches it and zeroes in on him, forcing Izumida to back off and change the topic.
During their brainstorming, they realize that Ruriko is somehow connected with the Tsuyukama Party. They theorize that she must have used their experiments with life-prolongation and its unexpected side-effect to make Monami-chan grow up.
At that moment, Ryouko notices her cellphone blinking strangely. She then shows Izumida a note, warning him that someone is listening in on them.
lol, something tells me Ryouko chose this place on purpose and it's not because she wants to avoid eavesdroppers
The next moment, Izumida finds himself in a very narrow closet with Ryouko. She says that it's the only place in her apartment that isn't bugged. Then, she asks for his theory as to who the culprit is. Izumida tells her to just spill it out since they are in a literally tight situation. Ryouko suspects that it's Nonagase since he's the only outsider allowed inside her home.
busted a second time
At that moment, the closet door suddenly opens and Monami-chan asks them what they're doing. Izumida face-palms while Ryouko makes up some story.
top secret
Much later, Nonagase again approaches Monami-chan and offers to listen to her troubles. Monami-chan seems glad. That evening, Ryouko and Izumida go out, leaving Monami-chan by herself. Nonagase takes this opportunity to take Monami-chan out for a ride to meet someone. However, it seems Ryouko is expecting this as she sends out her other subordinates to secretly follow them.
a sight to behold
Nonagase brings Monami-chan to a warehouse where the person she is to meet is waiting. The person, of course, is none other than Ruriko. Ryouko and Izumida arrive later and follow them in. Before they enter the building, Ryouko tells Izumida to wait for her while she goes in alone. Izumida, however, hears a strange noise, prompting him to investigate by himself. He is shocked to find a monstrous-looking creature with only one eye kept behind iron bars. Nonagase then makes his presence known.
Meanwhile, Ruriko and Monami-chan are getting chatty with each other. Ruriko knows that Monami-chan likes Izumida so she makes her an offer she can't refuse: replace Ryouko so she can be with Izumida. But unknown to the two of them, Ryouko is right there, listening in.
Nonagase explains to Izumida how Ruriko made humans out of bones using a combination of the Hagon technique and modern day's cloning technology. Apparently, Ruriko is a descendant of a noble family that knew the Hagon technique. The monster that Izumida saw is one of their failed experiments, its flesh rotting away because the creature had no soul. Ruriko has since perfected the technique and has Monami-chan to show for it. At that moment, a shot rings out and Izumida hurries towards where Ryouko would be.
Inside the warehouse, Ryouko gazes in shock at the mirror image of Ruriko. It turns out the real Ruriko is not even there. Nevertheless, Ryouko empties her gun into Ruriko's image.
"now that I'm unarmed, do whatever you want wit me"
After she runs out of bullets, Ryouko drops the gun and smiling, tells Ruriko to bring it on.
COMMENTS:
I must say, it's quite disturbing to see a more open, less ingratiating version of Ryouko.
This arc is proving to be very entertaining. Ruriko is turning out to be an interesting sort of villain, with her obsessive grudge against the Yakushijis and the ruthless way she pursues this.
Ryouko is just barely ahead of Ruriko. I refuse to believe she is not without a back-up plan when she put the gun down. I think in the next episode the maids will come. In this episode, they are both apparently in Paris, purportedly getting perfume from Ryouko's favorite perfumer. That story sounds ludicrous so the reason they're in Paris must be for something else.
Izumida needs to notice Ryouko's feelings soon because the series is almost coming to an end.
I wonder if they'll kill Monami-chan. Or maybe, she might end up being shipped off to somewhere far away, Ryouko breaking her promise, because having her around would probably be too troublesome. How else can Izumida decide between the sweet Ryouko or the other one that likes to torture him.
Nonagase! Ohmygod, I did not expect that. I mean, I knew there was something off with his fanboyness....but he always seems to stay in the background that you never really notice him. So now he reveals his true face.
I am looking forward to the next episode.
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