At the Usuba House (薄刃家にて, Usuba-ke nite?) is the twenty-seventh chapter of the My Happy Marriage manga adaptation.
Summary[]
Miyo is shocked to meet her family members as she had never heard anything about her mother's family before or considered that she had relatives of her own. Kiyoka confronts Arata over setting everything up, such as running into Miyo and giving Sumi's school records to his informant, so that he can draw the two of them here. Arata confirms his words and makes a jab at him for not putting the pieces together sooner and resulting in Miyo's health to be very poor.
Kiyoka knows that the Usubas are after Miyo's gift. Miyo is confused as she always believed that she was Giftless, but Arata reveals that she does in fact possess a powerful Gift. Yoshirou asks Kiyoka to hand her over to them, which Kiyoka decisively refuses. Yoshirou explains that Miyo has the power of Dream-Sight, which allows her to manipulate the dreams of others and control them. If she mastered this power, she would even be able to see the past, present, and future in dreams. This power is why the Usubas are forced to live in secrecy as they potentially pose a threat to the imperial family's Divine Revelation. Yoshirou guesses that Miyo's Gift didn't manifest until now because Sumi sealed it soon after she was born. The mothers of children with Dream-Sight always possess the power of telepathy. When Tsuruki Trading was on the edge of bankruptcy, the previous head of the Saimori family heard about this somehow and offered financial assistance in exchange for Sumi marrying into his family. Yoshirou objected, but Sumi decided to take the offer to save her family. Knowing that a child with Dream-Sight would be exploited, Sumi sealed away Miyo's power to protect her.
Upon hearing that, Miyo has mixed feelings as it was her perceived lack of a Gift that caused her to be ostracized and abused by her family. The seal is implied to be the cherry tree in the Saimori estate's courtyard. Its power waned over time because of Sumi's death, and now that Miyo had physically removed herself from its presence, its power waned, causing her Gift to no longer be suppressed.
Kiyoka is angry on Miyo's behalf at the Usubas for not saving her from the Saimoris despite knowing her circumstances because they thought she was Giftless, and then wanting her back now that her Gift has manifested. He declares that he will be the one to protect her. Arata questions his confidence, pointing out that Miyo was kidnapped while she was with him and that she suffers from nightmares that he can do nothing about. He then turns to Miyo and asks how she's feeling at the Usuba estate. Miyo feels at ease, much to her surprise, and she learns that there is a special barrier cast over the manor that stops her nightmares from causing her pain. Arata explains that her nightmares are caused by her lack of control over her Gift in her subconscious and states that it would be best for her to stay here, where there are people who understand her Gift. He also adds that the Usubas normally never hand over their own Gifted blood to another family. When Kiyoka protests, Arata asks Miyo for her opinion.
Miyo is conflicted as she wants to stay with Kiyoka but also doesn't want to burden him with her Gift. Blaming everything on herself and not wanting to break Kiyoka's trust or heart any further, she states that she can't decide, causing Kiyoka to looked stunned. With their discussion going nowhere, Arata proposes that they duel, and Miyo will go to the winner. Kiyoka agrees, to Miyo's surprise. The two men head to the courtyard without Kiyoka saying a single word to Miyo.
The two men draw their weapons: Kiyoka takes out a short sword, and Arata takes out a gun. Miyo feels guilty, knowing that this was all happening because she couldn't decide what to do with herself and wondering if this was how Hazuki felt during her marriage. Arata tells Kiyoka that he will also be using his Gift in the duel, and creates illusions of himself that can also attack. Kiyoka easily sees through them all and dispels them. Arata creates even more illusions, but they are all destroyed by Kiyoka's lightning in one hit. Kiyoka is unimpressed by the Usuba Gift, but then Arata creates an illusion of Miyo and asks him what would happen to Miyo if he brings her home. Kiyoka hesitates, and Arata uses that opportunity to shoot him in the arm and make him drop his sword. Arata declares his victory, stating that the Usubas' Gifts were meant to keep other Gift-users from losing control and thus Kiyoka couldn't win against him.
Miyo runs towards Kiyoka when she sees Arata aiming his gun at his head, but before she can reach him, he disappears, leaving only his hair tie behind. Meanwhile, Kiyoka finds himself ejected from the Usuba estate.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Miyo Saimori
- Yoshirou Usuba
- Kiyoka Kudou
- Arata Usuba
- Kaya Saimori (flashback)
- Kanoko Saimori (flashback)
- Takaihito (mentioned)
- Emperor (mentioned)
- Sumi Saimori (mentioned)
- Shinichi Saimori (mentioned)
- Hazuki Kudou (flashback)
Chapter Notes[]
- The manga cuts out the details of Miyo's extended family.
- Unlike the novel, Kiyoka doesn't specifically point out the convenience of the new information about Sumi that his private investigator received after reaching a dead end when they learned that Sumi supposedly died of natural causes during the Usubas' crisis.
- Miyo's frustration over not understanding what is going on and not being consulted about anything during the conversation at the Usuba house is not depicted as in the novel. Instead, it takes place during the later duel, in which Miyo blames her indecisiveness for the men's actions and if this was how Hazuki felt when her husband announced their divorce.
- In the novel, Kiyoka asking Yoshirou about the late manifestation of Miyo's abilities happens after the latter's declaration that the blood of the Usuba Gift must not be passed onto another clan, instead of before.
- The mention of Sumi's earlier engagement to a distant relative is omitted in the manga.
- The manga makes it more explicit that the seal on Miyo's powers is Sumi's cherry tree.
- The manga cuts out Yoshirou's reasoning for why the Usubas didn't rescue Miyo from the Saimoris.
- Miyo's response to Arata asking who she wants to go with is slightly different in the manga, in which she says she can't decide. In the novel, she tells Arata that she will yield to whatever Kiyoka says and that she doesn't care either way.
- Arata doesn't talk about the barrier around the Usuba house until later in the novel.
- In the novel, Yoshirou is the one who states that both Gifts and weapons are allowed in the duel.
- Kiyoka is shot in the arm and forced to let go of his sword at the end of the duel in the manga. In the novel, Kiyoka was shot at the beginning, and then his sword was shot out of his hand at the hilt.
- Yoshirou assuring Miyo that what she sees is only an illusion is original to the manga.
- Arata doesn't talk when he disguises himself as Miyo in the novel.
- Arata telling Kiyoka that his unit will only get busier from here is not adapted in the manga.
- Kiyoka's hair tie being left behind after he is ejected from the estate is original to the manga.
Trivia[]
- The English title of this chapter is The Usuba Household on Manga UP!
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| Volume 1 | |
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| Volume 2 | |
| Volume 3 | |
| Volume 4 | |
| Volume 5 |
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| Non-tankōbon | |