Shinji Matou at Your Service

Two girls with pink hair, the twin maids of the Tohno family, needed no introduction. Shinji knew who they were—the two orphans of the Fujou clan from one of the four great Exorcist families. The older sister, Kohaku, gave a cheerful and lively impression, while the younger sister, Hisui, was expressionless and doll-like.

Anyone familiar with Tsukihime knows that the Tohno family is a pit of despair. The source of all evil, Tohno Makihisa, constantly dug pits, leaving a huge mess for the next generation. This eventually led to none of the next generation of the Tohno family being mentally or physically healthy, each with a dark history. Among them, the most tragic were the sisters Kohaku and Hisui.

Originally, both sisters were cheerful and lively good girls. However, Kohaku's mental state began to deteriorate when she was repeatedly violated from the age of eight to serve as a tool for maintaining mental stability. Her mind gradually broke down. Even after being rescued by Akiha, she still embarked on a path of revenge to destroy the Tohno family. She started to mimic her sister, which means her cheerful and lively demeanor was entirely an act for the sake of revenge.

On the other hand, Hisui, having learned part of the truth, saw her beautiful world completely collapse. To avoid further harm, she chose to close herself off, turning herself into a doll, unconsciously becoming the image of her sister from the past.

This pair of twins evokes pity and cannot be left alone—if ignored, the Tohno family would be consumed by the flames of revenge, and no one would know how many would survive.

This is no joke. In Tsukihime, out of five routes and nine official endings, the true story is revealed only in the two routes focusing on the sisters, with three endings. In one ending, Kohaku commits suicide. In another, Kohaku is saved by Shiki after a suicide attempt but loses her memory and leaves the Tohno family. Only one ending truly resolves their trauma.

As for the other three routes and six endings, Kohaku's revenge plan is still in motion. In both endings of Akiha's route, Shiki dies, leaving Akiha alone. If Kohaku doesn't let go, Akiha too will soon die. The other two routes barely touch on the Tohno family conflicts, but Kohaku's plan still succeeds, with Shiki dying and Akiha as the next target. Perhaps in the end, only Shiki will survive.

Of course, no matter how tragic the Tohno family is, it has nothing to do with Shinji. But since he had a decent relationship with Shiki and felt a pang of sympathy, he decided he might need Shiki's help in the future—like dealing with the twelve labors and thirteen lives of Heracles.

Shinji wondered how Touko had handled things. If necessary, he would use mental interference to make Kohaku stop, squinting his eyes as he made up his mind. Times had changed. Shinji was no longer powerless; he now could do something.

Just then, a hand lightly brushed through his hair.

Looking up, he saw it was Touko.

"Sis?"

"Stop overthinking and eat. I need to talk to you after lunch."

Detecting the underlying meaning in Touko's words, Shinji nodded subtly, temporarily putting aside his plans.

Knowing Akiha's temperament, Shinji unusually adhered to the rule of "no talking while eating or sleeping," silently eating except for occasional greetings.

What needed explaining had already been explained to Akiha in the morning, and he had promised to offer compensation for any rudeness before leaving. The Tohno family, after all, were the rulers of the Tokyo area, strong in both power and influence. Although Shinji was not afraid, he had to consider the Matou family and avoid unnecessary conflicts if possible.

Akiha did not say much, patiently waiting for Shinji to take action, displaying the dignity of the Tohno family's successor.

No, not just a successor, but the current head, because—

"What? You said Tohno Makihisa is dead?"

After lunch, in Touko's small cabin, Shinji heard a shocking piece of news, second only to the early death of Tohno SHIKI. But by now, no matter how shocking the news, Shinji could quickly accept it, recognizing that this world line was a unique product where anything could happen without external intervention.

If Tohno SHIKIi could die early, why not Tohno Makihisa? This also explained why only Akiha responded to the commotion last night; she had driven out all the clan members after becoming the head.

Of course, the reason still needed clarification.

"What happened? It couldn't have been related to you, right?"

"That's right."

"Huh?"

Shinji had only asked casually, not expecting Touko to admit it.

"When did it happen?"

"Shortly after you were taken away by the Second Magician."

"And you're still staying at the Tohno house? How could you... no, I need to take you away immediately. It's too dangerous here. Even if you can reincarnate, you shouldn't gamble with your life."

Seeing Shinji so worried about her, Touko's lips curled up slightly, and she waved her hand.

"Calm down, don't get excited. Makihisa's death is related to me, but I didn't kill him. He committed suicide."

"Suicide? Why?"

"Because he figured things out. He didn't want to pass the hatred he caused onto the next generation, so he killed himself, in front of Kohaku."

Touko then recounted what she had done at the Tohno house.

She entered the Tohno family under the guise of a doctor, naturally having frequent contact with Makihisa. Initially, she only helped treat Makihisa's physical ailments, alleviating his condition. But she soon discovered that Makihisa's weakness was not just physical; there was also poison involved—a special chronic poison.

With Touko's skills, it wasn't difficult to trace the source of the poison. It didn't take long for her to identify a suspect. Connecting this with some information Shinji had revealed, she understood the reason.

Thus, while discreetly detoxifying Makihisa, she secretly observed Kohaku and took the time to search for Tohno SHIKI's whereabouts—since SHIKI was already dead, naturally, there was no result, which is why it took a year.

After some time of observation, Touko confirmed that Kohaku wasn't entirely consumed by hatred. She also struggled, especially when facing the sister she protected despite self-torture and Akiha, who had saved her from the pit of despair.

With this confirmation, Touko finally began to take action. She didn't go into much detail about her specific methods, only mentioning that she gained the trust of Makihisa and Akiha, becoming Akiha's tutor and receiving Hisui's service.

With the opportunity to interact with them, she began various subtle influences. On one hand, she encouraged Akiha and Hisui to help dissolve Kohaku's malice. On the other hand, she increased her time chatting with Makihisa, gradually closing the distance between them, and waiting for the right moment.

A year passed this way, and Touko's awaited moment finally arrived. She confessed her purpose (a revised version) to Makihisa and divulged part of Kohaku's revenge plan. Lastly, she told Makihisa that he didn't have much time left and asked him what he planned to do.

Makihisa fell into turmoil.