Tsugiko Jabami (蛇喰 次子) is a maternal aunt of Souko Jabami and Yumeko Jabami who took care of them after their parents' demise. She is also the former head of the Jabami household.
Appearance[]
Tsugiko is an adult woman with dark eyes and wavy black hair that she mostly pulls up into an elegant bun. Her most distinct features are two moles under her left eye. She is mainly seen wearing a kimono.
When she was younger, she had her hair loosened and was wearing a light sweater with a black skirt.
Personality[]
Tsugiko is a woman who deeply cares about her family members, specifically including her elder sister (Yumeko and Souko's mother). However, she also had a bloodthirsty and aggressive side to her, especially when gambling against her own niece for the title of clan head.
Tsugiko aimed to try to stop her elder sister from taking part in such risky gambles. Even went so far as to set up her sister with marked cards so that she may end up getting banned from gambling altogether. However, this backfired when her sister ended up being killed. It is unknown if the leaders of the gambling den killed her sister or if she died by other unknown causes. Still, it is implied that Tsugiko is the main culprit who led to her death.
Later, it would be revealed that Tsugiko, in fact, deeply cared for her elder sister and disapproved of her gambling addiction as shown in brief flashbacks where Tsugiko worried for her deeply due to her participation in dangerous gambles and shady gambling dens, so much so that Tsugiko eventually attempted to put a stop to it by traumatizing her sister enough to stop gambling all together. As shown, she purposefully snuck in rigged cards into her sister's purse as she was going out to gamble, hoping that her sister would be caught using them and be punished enough to be banned from the den or traumatize her to stop gambling. This, however, had the unintended outcome of leading to her sister's disappearance and the orphaning of her two nieces. As seen, Tsugiko is wracked by guilt due to the outcome of her actions and attempted to make amends by raising her nieces properly and discouraging them from gambling and leading down the same path as her sister.
As for her nieces, Tsugiko also cares deeply for Souko and Yumeko, seeing them as the last members of their family, despite doubting and underestimating their gambling abilities. Ever since their mother died, Tsugiko had been acting as their mother and as head of the Jabami clan. Despite pressuring and essentially traumatizing Souko to the point where she vomited and passed out from the stress, Tsugiko did it out of good intentions, to "strike down the Jabami curse". Tsugiko was shown to love both Yumeko and Souko deeply, and it was clearly demonstrated that all her actions were to protect them. However, when it became apparent that Yumeko was addicted to gambling from birth, Tsugiko fell into despair and began bleeding from her eyes and nose, like her elder niece, from the mental anguish and stress.
Profile[]
Souko tells her family that she has made a new friend at school: Kabura Tsuibami. Tsugiko wonders about the Tsuibami name. She asks Souko to mind her manners with her.
Tsugiko praises Souko's talent for gambling. She believes she should never have let her niece attend Hyakkaou Academy. Souko is shocked. Tsugiko recounts their family's history. Their family's business is gambling. They open dens and are their bookmakers. That is the only surefire way to win at gambling: to be the house. Tsugiko explains that in rare cases, there is a deviant child in the bloodline. It's always a clever, good-natured, and pretty girl who's willing to expose herself to danger. Yumeko and Souko's mother was like that. One day, the mother and father suddenly disappeared. Their auntie believes that in reality, somebody rubbed them out. The Jabami clan has no idea who the criminal or criminals are to this day. Souko panics, as she remembers being told her parents died in a car accident. Tsugiko believed that now was the right time to say to her, as she began gambling in earnest. She gives Yumeko and Souko mementos from their mother. They are rings that were their parents' engagement rings. Their mother gave these mementos to Tsugiko weeks before she vanished and instructed her to give one to each of them. She did that because she had a premonition. Tsugiko doesn't want the daughters to follow in their mother's footsteps. She asks them not to get lost in the morass of gambling. Souko remains sure that their mother wasn't a gambling addict.
One day, after a visit to the main manor, Kabura goes to the Jabami house with Souko, her friend. Kabura praises Tsugiko's cooking skills. While alone with Souko, Tsugiko asks her how things were at the main manor. Souko answers that everyone seemed very busy. Tsugiko tells Souko that once she reaches a certain age, she'll take her place as leader of the Jabami family. She believes it was a good idea for Souko to make her face known. Tsugiko explains that the Jabamis don't have the social position to frequent that manor, so she should treat Kabura as well as she can. Every time Souko tries to go there by herself, she's forced out. Souko believes that the Jabamis are being ostracized from the family and that it might be because her mother was a gambling addict. Ririka whispers something to her about her aunt.
Meanwhile, Kabura is alone with Tsugiko. She knows that Tsugiko knows who she is. Kabura forces Tsugiko to stop cooking. She's here because she wants to ask her a question and warns Tsugiko not to lie to her. Kabura asks her if she wants to be the head of the Jabami family. That would mean all the money belongs to her. She reminds her that her niece Souko is in the way of that. Tsugiko slaps her, angry. She tells Kabura that she won’t betray her niece. Kabura furiously reminds Tsugiko that she didn’t want any lies from her. Tsugiko had given Souko a wedding ring. Kabura asks her what she did with the engagement ring. That engagement ring is called the Snake-Eye Stone. It’s the Jabami family treasure. This ring is priceless. If Souko becomes the Jabami family head, the Snake-Eye stone will belong to her. Kabura believes that it would bother Tsugiko. Tsugiko panics and asks Kabura what she wants.
A few days later, Souko is invited to the manor. She accepts money from Kabura and promises to give it back. Yumeko and Tsugiko are also here. Kirari tells them that they’ll play a game to determine who will be the head of the Jabami family. Souko is reluctant to gamble for this. She nervously asks her auntie, Tsugiko, if she’s the one who killed her parents. Tsugiko, in response, asks Souko what she would do if that were true. She presses Souko to accept the gamble against her. Kirari summarizes the situation for Souko. Tsugiko had sent her a petition to change the head of the Jabamy family. Tsugiko was just an acting head for many years. Souko then received the family head position while being underage. It happened despite her gambling skills not being tested during the selection process.
Kirari concluded that in this case, Souko’s gambling skills must be tested, and her opponent must be Tsugiko. A game will determine who becomes the head of the Jabami family. If Tsugiko loses, she’ll be banished from the Momobami family tree. If Souko loses, Tsugiko will adopt Yumeko as her daughter. In the scenario of Tsugiko winning, Yumeko would become her daughter, which would make Yumeko the Jabami family head when Tsugiko loses the role. Souko tries to run back home with Yumeko. Kirari forbids her from doing that. Tsugiko tells Souko that she must play against her. That is Souko’s only remaining path to survival. Yumeko lets her sister know that she has realized that they might get separated from each other. Souko responds that she’ll never let that happen.
Each player will put two dice in a cup and roll them. The person who rolls the lower number wins. The best roll is the Snake Eyes, composed of two 1’s. The worst is called Boxcars and comprises two 6’s. Bets will be made before each round. Running out of money to bet with results in losing. Tsugiko warns her niece that she’s now her enemy and won’t worry for her anymore. Tsugiko has 7 million yen. Kabura believes that she stole stuff from home that belonged to Souko. Souko shows the sole 1 million yen she possesses. Tsugiko doesn’t know where it comes from. Souko bets all her money. Kabura figures out that Souko will go all-in every round. One loss will take her out, but if she wins thrice, that will bring her above Tsugiko. Tsugiko matches the bet. She rolls three and two. Souko is thrilled and rolls Snake Eyes.
Both players go all in again. Tsugiko rolls three and four. Resolved to keep Yumeko safe, Souko rolls Snake Eyes. Next, Tsugiko roll two 2's. Souko gets another Snake Eyes. Since she's lost the game, Tsugiko has to reveal who murdered her sister and brother-in-law. Tsugiko becomes anxious. Before answering, she asks if Souko will banish her. Souko responds that she'd never do that since they're family and cries. Tsugiko believes that her niece is too kind to be a Jabami. She reminds Souko that she used to show her this trick a lot to manipulate the rolls when she was a kid. She believes Souko lost the focus to perform the trick again as she's convinced she won. In reality, Souko hasn't won. Tsugiko reveals that she had hidden 8,184,000,000 yen in cash. This is within the rules. Souko is shocked and concludes that Tsugiko sold the Snake-Eye Stone to receive all this cash. Tsugiko didn't know that Souko knew about the stone. Souko can't believe Tsugiko found all this money so quickly, even if she sold the Snake-Eye Stone. She anxiously turns to Kirari. Kirari implies that she bought it. She explains that it’s a lot more fun this way. Kirari tells Souko not to worry, as she'll have Tsugiko buy the stone right back if she wins the game. Tsugiko tells Souko there is nothing to worry about because all she needs to do is roll ten Snake Eyes in a row to win. Souko knows that a single mistake will cost her the game and Yumeko.
Souko, anxious, asks her aunt why she's going this far. Tsugiko responds that it's because of her naivety. She adds that it's the reason Souko is going to lose. Tsugiko reminds her opponent that she's a Jabami too and rolls a Snake Eye. She acknowledges that Souko would roll it more often than her if she was fully focused. Despite her stress, Souko lands a Snake Eye, too. In the next round, Tsugiko rolls a six and a one, for seven. Souko messes up for the first time by rolling two threes, for six. She still wins this round as she rolled the lower score. They keep going, and Souko hits a win streak. She's two rounds away from taking the lead. Tsugiko admits that she looked down upon her. She's certain that she'll end her niece's seven-round winning streak. Kabura realizes that Souko is at her mental limit. Tsugiko finally tells Souko upfront that she killed her parents. She then declares that she’ll beat Souko in order to rule the Jabami family. Tsugiko rolls a Snake Eye, leaving her opponent with no option but to do the same roll. She presses Souko to make her next roll. Souko faints.
Kabura praises both players for their game. She figures out that Tsugiko did all of this for Souko’s sake. Tsugiko holds Souko and apologizes for killing her parents. She wanted her sister to stop doing dangerous gambles and be happy. Tsugiko went as far as giving her sister marked cards so she would get kicked out of a gambling den. She believed she was helping her. However, she and her husband never came back from that gambling den. Tsugiko thinks she’s thus responsible for their death. Kirari explains that Tsugiko began psychological warfare with her niece and won. She thus sees this as a win for Tsugiko. This match ends. Tsugiko is glad as she thinks she’s become the head of the family. Kirari explains that there is another bearer of the Jabami name remaining. Tsugiko is shocked and looks at Yumeko. Yumeko asks them to let her gamble.
Kirari forces her to go up against Yumeko, the only other Jabami remaining. Tsugiko can't believe that the game still isn't over. She wonders if Kirari knew this was coming. An even bigger problem for her is Yumeko smiling despite knowing that her aunt is responsible for her mother's death and seeing her sister collapsing. Tsugiko attempts to avoid the match and explains that Yumeko isn't aware of the stakes. Yumeko says it's unfair for Tsugiko and Souko to always go against each other, but not her. She presses Tsugiko to accept the match. Tsugiko gets worried. Tsugiko decides to play and wants to win to strike down the Jabami curse. She hadn't realized how much the Jabami blood runs within Yumeko. She's certain that Yumeko will improve and surpass her by a mile, perhaps even surpass Souko. So Tsugiko has to take her down now. Yumeko starts the game where Souko left off, so it's her turn to roll. Tsugiko's Snake Eye is still valid. Kabura is shocked as she realizes this is Yumeko's first time playing. She thinks Yumeko has no chance of winning. Yumeko then rolls a Snake Eye.
Tsugiko didn’t know that Yumeko had the ability to control dice rolls, despite being her mother figure. Yumeko then rolls another snake eye. Tsugiko is in denial and accuses her niece of cheating. She examines the die and finds grains of rice stuck to the 6’s. Tsugiko tells Kirari that Yumeko used these somehow to rig her rolls and demands the game be forfeited. Yumeko refutes the cheating accusation. Kirari admits that since Tsugiko has touched the die, there's no way to know if the rice was already there or if Tsugiko placed it, so the game can continue. Yumeko says it’s getting fun now. She explains that the previous match between Tsugiko and Souko was boring because there wasn’t any risk for Tsugiko. Tsugiko is getting anxious over her next roll. She loses focus. Tsugiko rolls a 1 and a 3, so Yumeko wins the round. The players’ money becomes equal. Yumeko then defeats her. Yumeko asks Kirari to hand her the Snake-Eye Stone. Kabura walks up to her and reveals that she was, in reality, the one who lent Tsugiko the 8 billion yen. Yumeko asks Kabura to give her the Snake-Eye Stone in exchange for the cash. Kabura requests the money plus a 10% interest rate. Since Yumeko doesn't have an extra 800 million yen, Kabura suggests she bet the Snake-Eye Stone on a dice game, while Yumeko bets herself. Tsugiko begs Yumeko to decline the offer. She doesn't want the Snake-Eye Stone anymore; she just wants Yumeko's safety. Tsugiko has a breakdown as Yumeko accepts the game. Yumeko loses, and Kabura adopts her.
Long after the game, Souko continues to gamble. She eats alongside Tsugiko.
List of Gambles[]
| Opponents | Gambles |
|
Etymology[]
- The name Tsugiko means "next" (次) (tsugi) and "child" (子) (ko).
- Tsugiko's surname Jabami means "snake devouring" (蛇喰)
- After her disastrous gamble against her elder niece, Tsugiko was shown to have continued living as Souko’s guardian.
- After Souko’s hospitalization, Yumeko admitted to have visited her for the first time in years during her latest visit to her unresponsive sister. Although the exact details are unknown, Yumeko has stated that their aunt has gotten thinner, hinting to her physical and mental state.
[]
| Momobami Clan | |
|---|---|
| Main Branch | Kirari Momobami • Ririka Momobami |
| Jabami Branch | Yumeko Jabami • Souko Jabami • Tsugiko Jabami |
| Other branches | Terano Totobami • Yumi Totobami • Miyo Inbami • Miri Yobami • Miroslava Honebami • Erimi Mushibami • Sumika Warakubami • Rin Obami • Ibara Obami • Nozomi Komabami • Kabura Tsuibami |