Chapter 110: Shikigami Noi

On September 28th, the second day of returning to Tokyo.

The mountain was shrouded in clouds and mist. Sirius was still hanging in the sky. Kamibayashi Miko got up and came to the veranda to do her morning practice.

Under the wind chime, Minamoto Kiyomoto was already sitting cross-legged.

“You’re early today,” her voice was calm, neither shy nor cold, as if nothing had happened.

“I didn’t sleep all night,” Minamoto Kiyomoto had already closed his eyes.

Kamibayashi Miko paused for a moment, and after a few seconds, she said, “Move.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto suddenly sighed and lay back.

He pillowed his hands behind his head, looked up at Kamibayashi Miko, and a comfortable smile appeared on his face.

His expression made it seem as if the two of them had done more than just kiss last night, but had had more intimate skin contact.

Kamibayashi Miko pointed at the veranda pillar. Minamoto Kiyomoto rolled over, got up, and leaned against the veranda pillar, returning the position under the wind chime to its original owner.

Kamibayashi Miko sat down. Unlike the rest of the veranda, it was not cold here at all, and there was still body heat.

She remembered the feeling of her body being as if it were anesthetized last night.

Minamoto Kiyomoto leaned against the veranda pillar, his legs bent, and said with a smile, “Since I was a child, I have always had a dream—to marry my first love.”

“I’m not your first love,” Kamibayashi Miko opened her thoughts and sat cross-legged.

Her long, smooth hair fell behind her, as deep and charming as the night sky.

“Then let me be more specific. I want to marry the girl I kissed for the first time.”

“We don’t count. You can go and marry Izayoi,” Kamibayashi Miko slowly closed her eyes.

Before entering meditation, she heard Minamoto Kiyomoto patting his knees and humming a song, looking content and happy.

‘This person is good in every way, but his arrogance is annoying.’ Even she couldn’t help but think.

When Sirius was drowned out by the morning light, Himemiya Izayoi also came.

She glanced at Kamibayashi Miko, then turned to Minamoto Kiyomoto, who was leaning against the veranda pillar, and walked behind him, her hands on his shoulders.

Minamoto Kiyomoto opened his eyes and looked at her with confusion.

Himemiya Izayoi pinched his cheek and opened his mouth.

One was standing, one was sitting, and the sitting person’s mouth was open. Minamoto Kiyomoto remembered her dripping saliva.

“It’s time to return it to me,” Himemiya Izayoi said, and a drop of red light flew out of Minamoto Kiyomoto’s mouth and was held in her mouth.

“You want back a drop of saliva you gave to someone else? You’re so stingy,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a smile.

Himemiya Izayoi snorted with a light laugh, let go of his mouth, and sat down beside him.

“Sister, what’s that?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked curiously.

Himemiya Izayoi turned her face, her charming face with a playful smile.

She said with a grin, “Saliva.”

“A drop of saliva is so powerful?” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a look of feigned surprise. “Then a few mouthfuls of your saliva, wouldn’t it be able to eliminate a great yokai?”

“I’ll give you a few mouthfuls of saliva first and eliminate you, this little yokai,” Himemiya Izayoi’s finger pointed at Minamoto Kiyomoto’s forehead.

Minamoto Kiyomoto held her smooth hand, “I’m a yokai, you’re a demon.”

“You’re the demon.”

“Alright,” he smiled. “You can treat me as a fox demon. Let me charm you and go back to Shodoshima to see my mother.”

Himemiya Izayoi laughed and said, “Alright.”

“You agreed so readily? A trap? A snare? Sister, don’t lie to a pure young man like me.”

“You’re pure?”

“Of course!”

“A pure young man would hold someone’s hand like this?” Himemiya Izayoi looked at her right hand.

“It’s the end of September, it’s late autumn. I’m afraid you’re cold,” Minamoto Kiyomoto held her hand with both of his. It was smooth and slippery, and he couldn’t get enough of it.

Himemiya Izayoi tilted her head slightly and looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto’s back, “Miko, did you hear that?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto saw a golden light and quickly let go.

When he slowly, slowly looked at Kamibayashi Miko, he found that she was closing her eyes and had not woken up at all.

“You’re still saying you’re not a demon!” Minamoto Kiyomoto reached out to tickle Himemiya Izayoi.

“Haha, it tickles. I was wrong, I was wrong. Brother, stop it. I’m sorry!” Himemiya Izayoi laughed and dodged backwards.

Minamoto Kiyomoto suddenly stopped his hand. He looked at Himemiya Izayoi and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“How would I know?” Himemiya Izayoi, while panting, played with the ends of her hair and replied with a smile.

The golden divine power, no, to be precise, it was more like the spiritual energy used by a shikigami, flickered in the world.

Minamoto Kiyomoto immediately stood up and walked towards the source of the spiritual energy—his room.

Pushing the door open, there were books on both sides. In front was a window, and under the window was a desk.

On the desk, besides a few books that Minamoto Kiyomoto had recently read, the “Xiangye Crown” was tilted, and the remains of the Hakone fire dragon were casually thrown on it.

The golden gem that had also been thrown on it was suspended in the air, constantly absorbing the divine breath and transforming it into golden spiritual power.

Waves of spiritual energy, visible to the naked eye, hit the walls of the room.

“Why is the room so messy? You didn’t even clean it up,” Himemiya Izayoi poked her head out from beside him and looked around curiously, as if she were seeing it for the first time.

“Is this the time to care about this?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her, then at Kamibayashi Miko, who had followed him. “What’s going on?”

“It’s a shikigami,” Kamibayashi Miko explained.

“A shikigami?”

“Yes,” Kamibayashi Miko’s clear eyes were a little surprised. “Although all things in the world can give birth to shikigami, this is the first time I’ve heard of the remains of a yokai.”

“Will my remains disappear after the shikigami is born?” Minamoto Kiyomoto was more concerned about this.

If he could, he would also like to prepare a few more yokai remains, but whether it was the Hakone fire dragon or the red-gold evil dragon of Lake Shikotsu, he had almost died.

Even he couldn’t guarantee that he would succeed next time.

“Will it disappear? We’ll know if we watch,” Himemiya Izayoi said.

After about fifteen minutes, the golden gem finally stopped absorbing the divine breath and began to release a large amount of spiritual power.

The spiritual energy was like meridians and blood vessels, forming a human shape in the air.

When all the dust settled, the newly born shikigami slowly landed on the ground. Her golden hair stuck to her body, as gorgeous as a formal dress.

Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his hands and assumed a posture of admitting his mistake.

“You saw it,” he said to the two miko. “I didn’t do anything. I burned her to death with my own hands.”

The golden-haired girl with her eyes closed in front of him looked exactly like Noi, and she was not wearing any clothes.

“Lady Miko, what happened?” Shirako, still in her pajamas, walked over with her hair down.

Minamoto Kiyomoto glanced at her, then at Noi in the room. He felt that the two of them were like sisters—both had golden hair and delicate features that were not human-like.

Shirako’s current appearance was rarely seen. Usually, when he saw her, she had already tied her hair into a bun that ‘increased her height and made her look mature,’ and she was also wearing a military cap.

“Nothing,” Kamibayashi Miko said. “There’s a new shikigami.”

“A shikigami?” Shirako was immediately curious.

Himemiya Izayoi had shikigami, but she usually didn’t go out, not to mention that sometimes she didn’t even come out of the painting.

After the three of them went out, the whole of Hakusan was just her, Shirako, and the little butterfly.

She squeezed in from the feet of the few people, sized up the new shikigami, and seeing the golden hair, she immediately felt a sense of closeness.

“Still standing there? Go and make a contract,” Himemiya Izayoi looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto with a grin.

“No!” Minamoto Kiyomoto took two steps back. “I’m not falling for it! Don’t try to harm me. You two go!”

Himemiya Izayoi’s smile became satisfied.

“Go ahead,” she said generously. “Do I have to worry that you’re afraid a piece of bone is cold and will warm her hand?”

“Of course not,” after saying this, Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at Kamibayashi Miko and asked for her opinion. “Miss Kamibayashi?”

“Do you still remember the contract curse?” Kamibayashi Miko was more indifferent—at least on the surface.

“It’s in the Xiangye Crown,” Minamoto Kiyomoto walked into the room.

“You’re really going,” Himemiya Izayoi’s resentful voice came from behind.

When Minamoto Kiyomoto just stopped and stood there, she immediately laughed mischievously.

“Am I going or not, sisters?” Minamoto Kiyomoto turned his head helplessly.

“Hurry up and go!” If it weren’t for the distance from the kitchen, Shirako at this time would probably have picked up a rolling pin.

Forced by the momentum, Minamoto Kiyomoto closed his eyes as if he had been sprayed with saliva. He turned around and walked towards the shikigami.

Looking at the golden-haired girl in front of him, he guessed whether she was still Noi and whether she had her previous memories.

If she did, her home was destroyed, and she became the shikigami of her enemy. Would it be a torture to let her wake up?

Just like facing a baby who was destined to be paralyzed, Minamoto Kiyomoto hesitated for a short time, whether to let her live, or to end her life without her consent.

“Heaven and earth, gods and spirits…” he began to recite the contract curse.

There was no strong wind, no lightning, and the vast spiritual energy in the room calmed down.

The golden-haired girl’s form completely stabilized. She opened her eyes, which were as light green as lake water, and came to the present world.

She stood by the window, as if she had walked out of a book on the desk, with a fairy-tale beauty that transcended the world.

Looking at her, she was not wearing any clothes, but she had a noble temperament.

“Noi?” Minamoto Kiyomoto confirmed.

The golden-haired girl nodded, looked at the two miko and one shikigami who were staring at her, and then sized up her surroundings.

“Help me get dressed,” she ordered.

“…” Minamoto Kiyomoto said, “You should know about the situation. There’s one more thing I must make clear to you—from today on, you are no longer a princess. Of course, you can think of yourself as a princess, but others won’t. So, get dressed yourself.”

After saying this, Minamoto Kiyomoto turned to look at Kamibayashi Miko—even if Himemiya Izayoi looked easy to talk to, she would definitely not give her clothes to others.

“Shirako, go and get her a set of my clothes,” Kamibayashi Miko instructed, and went back to her morning practice.

“You want someone else to wear Lady Miko’s clothes,” Shirako was unwilling. She looked at Noi and said helplessly, “Wait a minute.”

“You wait here. After you’re dressed… do whatever you want,” Minamoto Kiyomoto walked out of the room and went back to continue his cultivation with Himemiya Izayoi.

Himemiya Izayoi, while walking, put her clenched fist to Minamoto Kiyomoto’s mouth.

“Mr. Minamoto, there is a sweet and charming girl shikigami serving you. How are you feeling now?”

“Nothing special.”

“You’re really good at pretending. I’m sure you’re very excited and looking forward to the night,” Himemiya Izayoi said with a grin.

“I’m not as good as you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

The two of them were talking when Kamibayashi Miko had already closed her eyes.

Although she had trampled on privacy and treated it like an insect, she had no interest in watching Minamoto Kiyomoto take a bath and sleep.

The sun rose 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 obviously grown a lot.

◇

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 their notebooks.

“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 university student, deliberately wore glasses, and held a book in your arms.”

“Are you saying I’ve never seen the world?”

“If you’re ugly, you’ve never seen the world; if you’re like you, Izayoi, you’re pure and cute, understand?”

“Izayoi? You’re getting closer. Is it because I touched an insect?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Himemiya Izayoi patted her arm lightly.

Kamibayashi Miko’s posture of supporting her chin did not change. Her eyes glanced at the notebook, and then at Minamoto Kiyomoto.

She raised the hand that was not supporting her chin.

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

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

Kamibayashi Miko handed him the notebook.

“Student Minamoto Kiyomoto,” the lecturer looked at the note 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?”

“There’s no specific 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 in the notebook, especially the circled ‘Izayoi,’ 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 told him to sit down.

Himemiya Izayoi snatched the notebook and wrote two sentences vertically on a whole page—Young Master Kiyoshi (first vertical row), Izayoi 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 had 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 went to Gotokuji Temple on the Chiyoda Line.

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 bowed to Minamoto Kiyomoto with his hands, which were covered in age spots.

“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 the samurai? I remember, his name was Sawa?” Minamoto Kiyomoto remembered him, who had taken out all his money and left it 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 had seen a lot of life and death, and his tone was very calm, but with a hint of regret.

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

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

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

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

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

“Actually, he’s not dead,” Kamibayashi Miko browsed 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 going,” Kamibayashi Miko replied.

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

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

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

“The maneki-neko will bless you,” the little novice monk followed the abbot and bowed crisply.

Minamoto Kiyomoto finally looked at the little novice monk and went out of Gotokuji Temple with Kamibayashi Miko and Himemiya Izayoi.

“The yokai of Lake Shikotsu, is it special?” on the way to the station in the residential area, 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 that had been rampant in Japan for a month. It would have destroyed countless towns and killed countless people.

“There’s no specific news. The people who went in are all dead,” Kamibayashi Miko said.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was stunned, “Then you’re still going?”

“It’s precisely because of this that I’m going.”

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

Kamibayashi Miko stopped, and Minamoto Kiyomoto also stopped.

Himemiya Izayoi was a few steps ahead, her back to them, looking at them as if she were watching a show.

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

She added:
“I’m surprised you’re scared.”

“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.

In the night of the Gotokuji residential area, 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 and indifferent.

“What else can we do?” he said.

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

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

Himemiya Izayoi laughed, and her hands, folded behind her back, were placed on his right shoulder. She said to his ear, “Tonight…”

“I’m going to rest well tonight!” Minamoto Kiyomoto interrupted her and walked quickly towards 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!”

“In that case, I thought you were too tired last night. But you’ve been staring at my legs and butt all day. You don’t have to think to know that you’ve recovered…”

“Shh!” They were about to catch up with Kamibayashi Miko.

At the station, the three of them stood on the platform, watched by the people coming and going.

A noble temperament, elegant manners, was it a noble, an actor, or a god?

“Say something,” Kamibayashi Miko suddenly said.

“Hmm?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her side profile with confusion, but in his heart, he was thinking that she must have known about last night.

“I don’t know, but my intuition is very good, and I’m very smart,” as if she could read minds, Kamibayashi Miko said to the expressionless Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“…Actually, Izayoi confessed to me,” Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t say when, where, or on what occasion.

“Hmm~” Himemiya Izayoi nodded on the side.

“I said, a girl like you, no one would dislike you. But I’m sorry, for 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 a lie,” Himemiya Izayoi said.

“Of course it can’t be 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. “Without you, I 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 interact, 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 she was discussing art, “that if 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. This time, I’ll just take a look,” Minamoto Kiyomoto changed his last words.

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

“Who else can I go with? 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 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 have happiness myself, so I’ll occasionally be nice to Minamoto Kiyomoto, give him some candy, and keep him by my side, so that he won’t have happiness either. This way, I’ll be psychologically balanced. If we die together, I’ll have him to accompany me, so I won’t be lonely after death.”

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

Kamibayashi Miko looked at him with a smile, wanting 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, “the kiss in Uji last time was the candy I gave him.”

“You’re asking 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 nodded slightly.

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

Himemiya Izayoi angrily waved his hand away, then stomped her foot and pouted, “Brother, this woman is bullying Izayoi~~”

Minamoto Kiyomoto was startled, in every sense of the word.

People who didn’t know the inside story, no matter who saw it, would think that the three of them were ordinary university 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)