Chapter 114: Kamibayashi Miko’s Feelings

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On the last day of September, at 7:50 in the morning at Hakusan Shrine.

Minamoto Kiyomoto, Kamibayashi Miko, and Himegami Izayoi emerged together from the great banyan tree.

A stray cat that called the shrine home, waddling by with a sway of its hips, glanced at them before walking away uninterested.

“Time for class again,” Himegami Izayoi sighed.

“We’ve only been for two days,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

Amidst the cawing of the shrine’s crows, they started walking toward the station.

“Let’s take tomorrow off!” Himegami Izayoi said as if she had just remembered. “It’s October anyway, so it makes no difference whether we join the subjugation at the beginning of the month or at the end.”

“I’m fine with it,” Kamibayashi Miko said, then looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto.

Normally, his opinion wouldn’t matter, but after what happened last night, she felt it was necessary to show him a tiny bit of respect.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was silent, lost in thought.

“If you have an opinion, just say it,” she said.

“What opinion could he possibly have,” Himegami Izayoi said bluntly.

Kamibayashi Miko kept her eyes on Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“Cholecystitis, a tour around Honshu, learning to draw manga… I’m trying to think of what excuse to use this time,” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked up and asked the two of them. “What reasons did you two use?”

“A family member is sick,” Kamibayashi Miko said. “My father has always been in poor health.”

“Why didn’t I think of that?! If you have a relative who gets sick from time to time and needs care, you don’t have to go through all the trouble of finding excuses,” Minamoto Kiyomoto had a sudden realization.

“The Ogosho is in poor health?” Himegami Izayoi asked Kamibayashi Miko.

“The Lord of Kyoto never shows her face. Does she have some kind of unspeakable illness?” Kamibayashi Miko asked Himegami Izayoi.

“Her Majesty is fine, perfectly healthy,” Himegami Izayoi said with a smile.

“The Ogosho is in great health too. Not long ago in Kyoto, he was even pressuring me to get closer to Minamoto Kiyomoto,” Kamibayashi Miko also smiled.

“The Ogosho is a smart man!” Minamoto Kiyomoto affirmed.

Himegami Izayoi smiled and looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“I’ve seen the Lord of Kyoto. The most beautiful woman in the world,” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked up at the clear autumn sky, savoring the memory.

Under the canopy-like Yaebenishidarezakura cherry tree, Himegami Izayoi in her court dress was indeed breathtakingly beautiful.

“More beautiful than me?” Kamibayashi Miko asked with a slight smile.

“More beautiful than her, right, Master Kiyo~” Himegami Izayoi also chimed in with a smile.

“…How about we take the afternoon off? Let’s go to Akihabara together. I heard there’s a new VR experience center there. My treat,” Minamoto Kiyomoto invited them excitedly, like a playful teenager.

“You’ve changed,” Kamibayashi Miko said coldly. “You used to add the preface ‘personal aesthetics aside’ when you said someone was as beautiful as me. Now you don’t.”

“You care that much about what I think?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her with a grin.

Kamibayashi Miko turned her face away indifferently, which only deepened the smile on Minamoto Kiyomoto’s face.

Himegami Izayoi looked at him and suddenly laughed.

“Master Kiyo, look!”

She pointed at a crow rummaging through the trash by the roadside. Because of the protective net, the crow couldn’t get a single bite, even though the trash was right in front of it. It was all in vain.

“What’s so interesting about a crow?” Minamoto Kiyomoto was puzzled.

“That fool is being played with and is still smiling over there.”

“Smiling?” Minamoto Kiyomoto studied the crow. “You can tell if a bird is smiling?”

“Haha~” Himegami Izayoi laughed happily, and Kamibayashi Miko laughed too.

“Hm? Is there something I don’t know?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked back and forth between them with a smile.

“It’s our sec-ret. We’re not telling you,” Himegami Izayoi leaned against Kamibayashi Miko.

“A shrine maiden’s secret, huh? It’s making me curious. Tell me.”

“Call me ‘big sister’.”

“Big Sister Izayoi, please tell me.”

“Are you calling me old?”

“Huh?” Then, with a sudden dawning realization, Minamoto Kiyomoto let out a long “Haaa~~.” “I get it. You two are toying with this innocent young boy again.”

“Innocent young boy? You’re always hugging and kissing people, and your hands are all over the place…”

“Ahem! I said I’d buy cold medicine yesterday, how did I forget.”

“You were in a hurry to see your sister in Chiba,” Kamibayashi Miko said faintly.

“Cough, cough, cough, I feel so sick, cough!”

The weariness of attending classes vanished without them noticing. The three of them teased each other, chatted and laughed, traded veiled barbs, and contentedly made their way to school.

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At noon, Minamoto Kiyomoto once again sought out his student life advisor.

The advisor, whose hair was a bit thin, was filling a mug containing ginkgo leaf tea with hot water from the water dispenser.

“Minamoto-kun? You again?”

“Sensei, I’d like to take a leave of absence.”

“What else would you come to me for besides taking leave? It’s not like I have a cute girl like Kamibayashi Miko here,” the advisor said, carrying his full mug back to his desk.

The story had already spread: the most handsome guy in the medical faculty was skipping his own classes to attend French literature lectures in pursuit of the most beautiful girl in the literature faculty, Kamibayashi Miko—or, as some said, Himegami Izayoi.

It wasn’t just known on their Hongo campus; even students at the Komaba campus had heard about it.

Actually, there was one ridiculously wrong detail in this piece of gossip:

Minamoto Kiyomoto wasn’t just the most handsome guy in the medical faculty, but the most handsome in all of Todai, and in all of Tokyo.

“Go on, what’s the reason this time?” the advisor blew on the surface of his tea.

“Sensei, I won’t lie to you anymore. Actually, cough cough, I’m not feeling well, cough, and I want to go back to Shodoshima to recuperate for a month.”

“What’s wrong?” The advisor paused, his hand frozen on its way to take a sip of tea, and looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto in surprise.

What followed was Minamoto Kiyomoto’s area of expertise. It was a free-for-all of jargon that a layman couldn’t possibly understand, like a bird soaring in the high heavens or a fish leaping in the vast sea.

“That sounds pretty serious,” the advisor took a sip of tea. “But, I heard that Kamibayashi Miko from the literature faculty, and some girl named Izayoi, also took a leave of absence. For a month, too.”

“Cough cough cough! Cough cough!”

The student life advisor: “…”

He put down his mug, picked up a black gel pen, and wrote down Minamoto Kiyomoto’s faculty, year, name, and reason for leave.

“Thank you, Sensei,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“Will you be okay with your studies?” the advisor asked.

“If I don’t get first place in all my final exams, then next year, no matter what illness I have, you don’t have to approve my leave.”

“Next year?” The advisor shook his head. “Go on, go on.”

“Thank you, Sensei,” Minamoto Kiyomoto bowed again.

At 1:36 PM, the three of them boarded a Toei bus from the “Todai Nogakubu-mae” stop, heading for “Akihabara Station.”

The sky was clear and bright, and the bus was filled with light.

Outside the window, sunlight streamed through the gaps between buildings like a brilliant gemstone, trailing countless slender bands of light that flickered across the roofs of the cars lined up on the road.

In a spot untouched by the sun, Himegami Izayoi finished recounting how her report had earned the professor’s admiration, then asked Minamoto Kiyomoto:
“What reason did you use to take leave?”

“I’m sick.”

“You didn’t say your mother was sick?”

“I couldn’t bring myself to say it. Even though I believe in science, I still feel it’s best not to say such things if you can avoid it.”

Just then, Kamibayashi Miko, who was bathed in sunlight, said, “When I said sick, I meant a problem with the head.”

“Isn’t that even more serious?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked, puzzled.

“If it weren’t serious, would he make his own daughter a Divine Medium, and then have that daughter, for the sake of profit, get close to a man?” Her voice was flat, without any inflection.

Minamoto Kiyomoto stared at her for a long time.

The soft shadow of Kamibayashi Miko, sitting by the window, swayed on her chair.

“He doesn’t love you. I will,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said, taking her left hand, which rested on her skirt. It was very slender.

“For how long?”

“For a lifetime, of course.”

“On September 30th, on a Toei bus to Akihabara, Minamoto Kiyomoto said he would love me for a lifetime—I’ve noted it down,” Kamibayashi Miko said with a gentle smile.

“A lie that’s too fake, and a truth that’s too sharp… something half-true and half-false works best,” Himegami Izayoi said to Kamibayashi Miko with a smile. “You’re pretty good.”

“He’s just a man… how long are you going to hold my hand?” Kamibayashi Miko’s smile vanished, and her gaze toward Minamoto Kiyomoto turned extremely cold.

“Who told you to play with my feelings,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said, savoring the feel of Kamibayashi Miko’s hand.

Though they joked, a strange feeling stirred in their hearts, like two people who liked each other but had never spoken before, now sharing an umbrella after an accident.

They didn’t speak, but a warmth that words couldn’t convey passed between their hearts.

“I’m still here, and still alive, Mas-ter Ki-yo,” Himegami Izayoi raised her hand and pinched Minamoto Kiyomoto’s waist.

“Ow…” Minamoto Kiyomoto, as if in pain, squeezed Kamibayashi Miko’s hand tightly, the sensation indescribably wonderful.

Kamibayashi Miko’s right hand, which had been propping up her chin, shot out and delivered a karate chop to Minamoto Kiyomoto’s side.

“Hiss—”

Minamoto Kiyomoto let go of Kamibayashi Miko, clutching the two hands they had placed on him.

The bus turned at an intersection, and for a moment, sunlight flooded in, bathing the three of them in a brilliant glow, making the world sparkle.

The sunlight was fleeting. The next moment, the tall buildings of Akihabara appeared, and the three were plunged into shadow again.

“Hmph~” Himegami Izayoi pulled her hand back.

Kamibayashi Miko also brushed Minamoto Kiyomoto’s hand away.

“We’re here, we’re here, let’s get off,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said cheerfully with a smile.

Just as they got off the bus, they saw a Panzer IV Ausf. D, flying a “Girls und Panzer” flag, rumbling past them.

Minamoto Kiyomoto quickly took out his phone, snapped a picture with the tank in the background, and sent it to his mother on Shodoshima.

“After we’re done with Akihabara, let’s go to Odaiba, shall we? I heard that when Tokyo is in crisis, the eighteen-meter Unicorn Gundam there will light up its eyes and stand up to protect Tokyo.”

At that moment, both Kamibayashi Miko and Himegami Izayoi were looking at him with icy glares.

Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t care.

He had already figured it out. Even he might die in one of these bizarre subjugations.

While he was alive, he should enjoy himself as much as possible, stop putting on airs or being shy, and do what he wanted to do.

He could still take pictures and send them to his mother.

What Ayako wanted to see most was his ordinary, everyday life in all its variety.

“Oh, maids!”

He hadn’t taken two steps before Himegami Izayoi grabbed him by the ear and dragged him away.

It seemed that no matter how much he wanted to enjoy life, maids were still off-limits.

The equipment in the VR experience center was indeed impressive.

Many people swayed left and right, falling over on their own. Others got scared and started randomly shooting at their own teammates with their “guns,” screaming while crouched on the ground.

The three of them went skiing, killed zombies, went fishing, and even shouted “Star Burst Stream” in “Sword Art Online.”

For the two shrine maidens, these games, whether thrilling or slightly fantastical, were merely novel.

Then came the boxing game…

“Miko, let’s kill him first!” Himegami Izayoi called out.

“Okay!” Kamibayashi Miko, also immersed in the game, agreed with a laugh.

“You think you can?” Minamoto Kiyomoto snorted.

Left hook, right hook, high kick, low kick.

“Give me a chance to hit back, if you dare!” Minamoto Kiyomoto was furious, wishing he could unleash his already superhuman physical abilities in the real world.

But tragically, even in the real world, he was no match for the two of them.

After leaving the VR center, they played gachapon, and finally bought a huge amount of manga, various game consoles, and games.

Considering they couldn’t connect to the internet, they bought all the games on discs and cartridges.

There was another benefit: they could sell the games they didn’t like at a second-hand store to recoup some funds.

Finally.

“Miss Kamibayashi, this one,” said Minamoto Kiyomoto, who was now out of money, pointing at a Gundam model in a glass case priced at 11,880 yen.

“Can this thing really kill time?” Kamibayashi Miko questioned.

“I want it for myself, to put on my desk.”

Kamibayashi Miko turned to leave, and Minamoto Kiyomoto quickly grabbed her.

“This can inspire me to create new spells! Really! Trust me!”

Kamibayashi Miko looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto’s sincere eyes, sighed helplessly, and bought him the same model, but smaller and cheaper, for only 5,400 yen.

“Since it’s the same, it should be able to inspire you too, right?” she said.

“…I guess so,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said, not entirely satisfied.

Meanwhile, Himegami Izayoi bought a super expensive kimono doll, saying that since Minamoto Kiyomoto had taken a vase for Itomi’s mother’s birthday, the entrance cabinet had been empty, and this would be a perfect fit.

Carrying large and small bags, the three of them found a maid cafe and experienced the magic that makes omurice taste better.

“Do you like maids?” Kamibayashi Miko asked Minamoto Kiyomoto while sipping her juice.

“I like shrine maidens,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied.

“Little Sister Mizu Miko?” Himegami Izayoi asked with a smile.

“I only have two big sisters, one is Big Sister Izayoi, and the other is Big Sister Miko.”

“What about your Big Sister Sayaka?” Kamibayashi Miko asked with a smile.

“She’s Itomi Yuki’s big sister.”

“You’re Itomi Yuki’s big brother,” Himegami Izayoi added.

“Itadakimasu,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said, putting his hands together before the heart-drawn omurice.

Back at the shrine, Shiroko, Noi, and Little Butterfly were in the living room, enjoying the pleasure of unwrapping one gift after another.

Once they were mostly done, the three of them excitedly went straight to their rooms to play.

“Hey,” Minamoto Kiyomoto shouted, “that Gundam is mine!”

No one paid him any attention.

The shikigami were gone, and Himegami Izayoi also returned to her mansion to prepare for her trip back to Kyoto the next day.

Only Minamoto Kiyomoto and Kamibayashi Miko were left in the living room.

In the quiet night, even the wind chimes on the veranda and the green plums in the courtyard seemed to be asleep.

“Are you planning to tell Shiroko you’re leaving tomorrow?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked.

“Mhm,” Kamibayashi Miko nodded, her eyes slowly lowering.

Minamoto Kiyomoto could see her reluctance.

After a moment of silence, Kamibayashi Miko looked up, saw his pensive expression, and asked:
“What are you thinking about?”

“I was thinking,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said, “if it weren’t for me, how sad it must be for you to go out alone each time, fulfilling a duty you might not return from alive. For both you and for Shiroko, waiting at home.”

He was thinking about more than that. He was also thinking about what Kamibayashi Miko had said on the bus earlier, about her father.

In Kamibayashi Miko’s heart, did she not care about these things, or was she filled with sorrow?

To gain the power and status of a Divine Medium, she had lost far too much.

“Without you, I wouldn’t have so many emotions,” Kamibayashi Miko said softly in the quiet night.

“Is that the truth, a lie, or still half-true and half-false?” Minamoto Kiyomoto stared at her face.

“…”

A complete truth, on the other hand, was something she couldn’t admit so easily.

“It’s okay to be weak,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said gently, “because I am truly here. You got stuck with me in the library back then, and I will continue to accompany you from now on.”

“Did you think you could escape?” Kamibayashi Miko glanced at him. “Until I die, you will stay by my side, and you’re not allowed to go anywhere.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto smiled.

“As you command, Divine Medium of all, my Miss Miko.”

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