Chapter 93: Afterglow (Double Monthly Ticket Period)

On September 3rd, in the morning.

Minamoto Kiyomoto and Kamibayashi Miko sat cross-legged under the wind chime on the veranda, doing their morning practice. The sky was dark, and the sun had not yet risen.

“Have you already started?” Before he was seen, Himemiya Izayoi’s smiling voice came from behind, like a happy bird in the forest.

“The early bird gets the worm,” Minamoto Kiyomoto opened his eyes and glanced at her.

She was wearing black jeans today, which bound her slender waist and tightened her alluring peach-like buttocks, outlining the slenderness of her legs.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her, thinking about how he had held such a body in his arms last night, and his heart began to heat up again.

A man who was about to turn twenty in six days.

Himemiya Izayoi walked over, first glanced at Minamoto Kiyomoto, then sat down on the other side of Kamibayashi Miko with a grin.

“Miko, help me smell this,” she stretched her slender fingers towards Kamibayashi Miko.

Kamibayashi Miko glanced at her fingers and looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“I don’t know if I touched some bug yesterday, but my hand still has a strange smell today.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto: “…”

“A bug?” Kamibayashi Miko said, and subconsciously leaned closer.

Seeing Kamibayashi Miko’s nose getting closer, his heart pounded. Just as he was thinking about whether to stop her, Himemiya Izayoi suddenly took her hand away.

“Forget it,” she placed her fingers on the tip of her nose and said with a smile, “it’s not something that smells good. You’d better not smell it.”

Kamibayashi Miko was a little impatient, but she never took such small things to heart.

Across from her, Himemiya Izayoi sniffed her fingers as if she smelled something bad, while looking at Minamoto Kiyomoto with a grin.

“Some bugs do leave a strange smell on your hands when you touch them. Be careful next time and don’t touch things randomly,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“That bug is very strange, so I couldn’t help it. It’s about… this long,” Himemiya Izayoi made a virtual grip with her hand and moved it up and down for a distance. “It’s also very hard all over. What kind of bug is it?”

“…When I have time, I’ll help you ask someone from the Faculty of Agriculture.”

“Then I’ll have to trouble you, Young Master Kiyoshi,” Himemiya Izayoi said with a chuckle.

“You’re welcome,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

While the two were talking, Kamibayashi Miko had already closed her eyes.

Although she trampled on privacy rights and didn’t care about them like a bug, she had no interest in watching Minamoto Kiyomoto take a bath and sleep.

The sun jumped out from the horizon. Minamoto Kiyomoto and Himemiya Izayoi also ended their chat.

According to the curse from the Xiangye crown, they absorbed the brilliance of the sun. A wisp of purple divine breath swam in the black, golden, and flame-colored divine power, and slowly dissolved.

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s divine power had clearly grown a bit.

◇

Starting from this semester, Himemiya Izayoi officially transferred to the University of Tokyo.

“You were at Kyoto University before?”

It was another French literature class that started at 4:30, when students wanted to eat and go home. Minamoto Kiyomoto and Himemiya Izayoi were chatting with a notebook.

“I’ve never been to school,” Himemiya Izayoi replied.

“No wonder you were so curious about everything when you came to Tokyo. You pretended to be a college student, even deliberately wore glasses, and held a book in your arms.”

“Are you saying I’m inexperienced?”

“If you’re ugly, you’re inexperienced. For someone like you, Koyoko, you’re pure and cute, understand?”

“Koyoko? You’ve become more intimate. Is it because I touched a bug?”

“Don’t mention the bug!” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied in a larger font.

Himemiya Izayoi took the notebook and couldn’t help but laugh.

She secretly glanced at the teacher who was ‘lecturing on the symbol of the birth of French literature—”The Song of Saint Eulalia”—in a hypnotic tone,’ then, as if asking a question, moved the notebook in front of Kamibayashi Miko.

She used a newly bought Montblanc ballpoint pen to draw a circle around the name ‘Koyoko’.

Kamibayashi Miko was staring at the banana tree outside the window. It looked like it was full of green surfboards, and also like a house, with a graceful posture.

It was said that it was the banana tree that Natsume Soseki had once admired, and it was just right for daydreaming.

Himemiya Izayoi gently patted her arm.

Kamibayashi Miko’s posture of supporting her chin with her hand did not change. She glanced at the notebook, then at Minamoto Kiyomoto.

She raised the hand that was not supporting her chin.

The lecturer stopped. The students who were daydreaming below immediately became energetic and pretended to be listening attentively.

The lecturer gestured to Kamibayashi Miko, meaning: please speak.

Kamibayashi Miko handed over the notebook.

“Student Minamoto Kiyomoto,” the lecturer looked at the notes twice, then gestured to Minamoto Kiyomoto, meaning: stand up for me.

Minamoto Kiyomoto stood up.

“What are your thoughts on ‘The Song of Saint Eulalia’?” the lecturer asked.

“None,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied honestly.

“What French literature do you like?”

“I don’t have a specific type of literature. I like ‘The Little Prince’.”

“‘The Little Prince’,” the lecturer nodded and said in French, “Is there a favorite sentence in it? Share it with everyone.”

“A sentence the fox said to the little prince—’Language is the source of misunderstanding’,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said in French.

The lecturer glanced at the chat history on the notebook, especially the circled ‘Koyoko,’ then looked at Kamibayashi Miko and Himemiya Izayoi, and laughed with a French flair.

“I like smart students,” he returned the notebook to Minamoto Kiyomoto and let him sit down.

Himemiya Izayoi snatched the notebook and wrote two sentences vertically on a whole page—Young Master Kiyoshi (first vertical row), Koyoko, I hate you (second vertical row)!
Minamoto Kiyomoto felt that she was taming him, using her interesting personality and alluring body.

However, besides being a tamed fox, he was also the little prince. He had paid too much for his rose and spent so much time that he could no longer leave her, Miss Kamibayashi Miko.

After finally getting through class, Minamoto Kiyomoto and the two miko took the Chiyoda Line to Gotokuji Temple.

Gotokuji Temple was no longer open to the public after 4:30. For the three of them, this was naturally not a problem.

The temple was still the world of the maneki-neko, and their figures could be seen everywhere.

“Thank you very much, Lord King of Tsukushi,” the abbot, with his hands covered in age spots, bowed to Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“Thank you, Lord King of Tsukushi~” the little novice monk followed and bowed. Her monk’s robe was empty, and her face was pale and haggard. Because she had taken the divine spring, her eyes were very bright.

“What about that warrior? I remember, his name is Sawairi?” Minamoto Kiyomoto remembered him, who had taken out all his money to leave for the little novice monk to treat her illness.

Unfortunately, that money was still not enough to buy the divine spring.

“He’s already dead,” the abbot was used to life and death, and his tone was calm, but with a hint of regret.

The little novice monk was very sad. She had barely spoken to Sawairi, but she knew that he had spent a lot of money to treat her illness.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was silent for a moment, then asked, “Konohanasakuya-hime?”

The abbot shook his head and said softly, “It’s the yokai of Lake Shikotsu.”

“That Lake Shikotsu in Hokkaido?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked again.

“Yes,” the abbot nodded. “Since August, a yokai has appeared in Lake Shikotsu. Lord Sawairi, as a supporter from Kanto, went to Hokkaido and has not returned since.”

“Actually, it’s unknown whether he’s alive or dead,” Kamibayashi Miko was browsing the maneki-neko on the wooden shelf. “The situation there is very complicated. It’s not an ordinary yokai.”

“Is it resolved?”

“No, I’m about to go,” Kamibayashi Miko replied.

“I’ll go with you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“You think you can stay?” Kamibayashi Miko didn’t even look at him, so only the maneki-neko knew what kind of expression she had when Minamoto Kiyomoto made his statement without hesitation.

“Since Young Master Kiyoshi is going, I can only go,” Himemiya Izayoi said with a smile.

“With the three of us together, what can’t we do!” Minamoto Kiyomoto was full of heroic spirit.

“It’s very dangerous there. Please be careful,” the abbot bowed again.

“May the maneki-neko bless you,” the little novice monk bowed along with the abbot with a crisp voice.

Minamoto Kiyomoto finally glanced at the little novice monk and left Gotokuji Temple with Kamibayashi Miko and Himemiya Izayoi.

“The yokai of Lake Shikotsu, is there anything special about it?” Walking in the residential area on the way to the station, Minamoto Kiyomoto asked Kamibayashi Miko.

If it were an ordinary yokai, it would have been eliminated as soon as it was born.

It was hard to imagine a yokai several thousand meters long rampaging through Japan for a month. It was unknown how many towns would be destroyed and how many people would die.

“There’s no specific news. Everyone who went in died,” Kamibayashi Miko said.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was stunned, “Then you still plan to go?”

“It’s precisely because of this that I plan to go.”

“Compared to this complicated yokai, wouldn’t eliminating more village-level and county-level yokai save more people?” Minamoto Kiyomoto persuaded.

Kamibayashi Miko stopped, and Minamoto Kiyomoto also stopped.

Himemiya Izayoi was a few steps ahead, her hands behind her back, watching the two of them as if watching a show.

“I understand what you’re saying,” Kamibayashi Miko stared at Minamoto Kiyomoto’s eyes. “But what’s the difference between avoiding danger and staying at Hakusan Shrine to cultivate until my cultivation is high enough before coming out?”

She said again:
“You’re afraid, which is beyond my expectation.”

“Perhaps, it’s because I have a happiness I want to pursue, so I want to live,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied.

Kamibayashi Miko looked at him for a while.

“A Divine Miko really can’t have happiness,” leaving this sentence, she walked forward.

Minamoto Kiyomoto stared at her back in a daze.

The residential area of Gotokuji Temple at night, there was no one, and even the moonlight could not shine in.

“What do we do?” Himemiya Izayoi walked to his side.

Minamoto Kiyomoto came back to his senses, feeling a little helpless, but also indifferent.

“What else can we do?” he said.

“I’m asking you, if I were to go to a place I couldn’t return from, would you go with me?”

“What else can we do?” Minamoto Kiyomoto gave the same helpless answer.

Himemiya Izayoi laughed, her hands resting on his shoulders, and her chin on his right shoulder.

She blew into Minamoto Kiyomoto’s ear, “Tonight…”

“I’m going to rest well tonight!” Minamoto Kiyomoto pushed her away and quickly chased after Kamibayashi Miko.

“You’re a young man. Why do you need to rest!” Himemiya Izayoi chased after him.

“To deal with the yokai of Lake Shikotsu!”

“I see. I thought you were too exhausted last night. But you’ve been staring at my legs and butt all day. I don’t need to think to know you’ve recovered—”

“Shh!” He was about to catch up with Kamibayashi Miko.

At the station, the three of them stood on the platform, being watched by the passing people.

Noble temperament, elegant demeanor, is this a noble, an actor, or a god?

“Say it,” Kamibayashi Miko suddenly said.

“Hmm?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her side profile with confusion, but in his heart, he was thinking, did she already know about last night?

“I don’t know, but my intuition is very good, and I’m very smart,” as if reading his mind, Kamibayashi Miko said to the silent Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“…Actually, Izayoi confessed to me,” Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t say the time, the place, or the occasion.

“Hmm~” Himemiya Izayoi nodded from the side.

“I said, no one would dislike a girl like you, but I’m sorry. To others, perhaps Kamibayashi Miko is as beautiful as you, but for me personally, she is more important than everyone else. Even if she ignores me, I’m willing to stay by her side, because I love her.”

“This sentence is fake,” Himemiya Izayoi said.

“Of course it’s not the original words, but the meaning is similar,” Minamoto Kiyomoto added.

“This time, we might really not be able to come back,” Kamibayashi Miko said. “You can stay and be with Izayoi.”

“Nonsense!” Minamoto Kiyomoto interrupted her. “If you’re alone, you might really not be able to come back.”

Kamibayashi Miko looked at him, then glanced at the parallel tracks of the train.

They were two lines that were destined to never intersect, but they would always be by each other’s side.

“If you have any last words, or anything you want to do, hurry up and do it,” she said.

“Then I want to kiss you again,” this was Minamoto Kiyomoto’s dream, which had been hidden for a long time. Even if his brain was removed, he could say it without any mistake.

“I heard,” Kamibayashi Miko’s tone was like discussing art, “that when a person jumps onto the train tracks and is hit by a train, the blood on the ground looks like maple leaves. I don’t know if it’s true or not.”

“My dream is to see the maple leaves, the maple leaves of Hokkaido. They turn red in August. I’ll take a look this time,” Minamoto Kiyomoto changed his last words.

“Who are you going to see the maple leaves with?” Himemiya Izayoi asked.

“Who else? You guys,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied without thinking.

“Miko, did you hear that? His target is the two of us. But don’t worry, I won’t let him succeed. He’s mine alone,” as expected of the “Lord of Kyoto,” Himemiya Izayoi’s words were slightly domineering and also provocative.

Kamibayashi Miko glanced at her and said to her:
“Even I have some dark thoughts.”

“Oh?” Himemiya Izayoi made an interested sound.

“I can’t really have happiness, so I’ll occasionally be nice to Minamoto Kiyomoto, give him some candy, and keep him by my side, so he won’t have happiness either. This way, my heart will be balanced. If we die together, with him to accompany me, I won’t be lonely even after death.”

“Scary,” Minamoto Kiyomoto couldn’t help but say, then asked, “When will you give me the candy?”

Kamibayashi Miko looked at him with a smile and wanted to tell him that she had already given it, but the two of them had already said five sentences, so…
“Izayoi, please tell him for me,” she said to Himemiya Izayoi, “that kissing me in Uji last time was the candy I gave him.”

“You want me to pass on a message? And this kind of message?” Himemiya Izayoi pointed at herself, then at Minamoto Kiyomoto, in disbelief.

“Thank you,” Kamibayashi Miko bowed her head slightly.

Himemiya Izayoi was so angry that she wanted to smash the entire “Gotokuji Station” with one palm. Minamoto Kiyomoto laughed loudly, and his hand “comfortingly” rested on her shoulder.

Himemiya Izayoi angrily pushed his hand away and stomped her foot, pouting, “Big brother, this woman is bullying Koyoko~~”

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s heart jumped, in every sense.

People who didn’t know the inside story, no matter who saw it, would think that the three of them were ordinary college students, enjoying their beautiful youth.

Who would have thought that they were about to do something like jumping onto the train tracks.

Before going to Lake Shikotsu, the real thing Minamoto Kiyomoto wanted to do was to deal with Itomi Yuki, and also, to celebrate his twentieth birthday.

Thank you all for your rewards, subscriptions, monthly tickets, and recommendation tickets.

(End of Chapter)