Chapter 149: A Snowy Night on the Snowfield

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After the fire fan left, Rikka inexplicably said, “The end.”

“What’s the end?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked, puzzled. The three of them looked at her.

The Hokkaido Miko sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and began to train.

It started to snow outside the window.

The three of them looked at each other, all laughed, and also found a place to sit down and enter meditation.

Black light, golden light, flames, and snowflakes burned quietly.

Among the four, the one with the worst talent was at least in the top six in Japan. At this time, they were training together. The divine energy outside the house, like a waterfall falling from the sky, roared and poured into the house.

Affected by the divine energy, the snow fell heavier and heavier, and at the same time, the wind started to blow, whistling.

In the blink of an eye, the snowfield, which had been like a fairyland just now, was hit by a terrifying blizzard. As the sky gradually darkened, it became gloomy and terrifying, as if a monster was lurking there.

The colorful little house sat quietly under the canopy-like giant tree.

Gradually, Minamoto Kiyomoto seemed to leave his body, rush out of the roof, and come to the night sky.

The stars in the sky were twinkling, the majestic snow mountain greeted him, and the snowflakes danced around him, each one welcoming him.

In the middle of it, he seemed to hear someone wake up. He didn’t open his eyes. His heart was as still as water, and he even forgot himself.

The first to wake up was Rikka. She trained according to her mood. When she was tired, she would stop. When she was bored to the point of daydreaming, she would start.

Following closely behind were Kamibayashi Miko and Himegami Izayoi. The two of them were following Rikka.

Without the three of them, the momentum of the divine energy waterfall gradually weakened, but it could still stir up a strong wind on the plain.

“What are you going to do next?” Kamibayashi Miko asked Rikka.

“Prepare dinner,” Rikka stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

She took a few steps, stopped there, and looked back at the two of them, “I’m not going to cook for you. Cook for yourselves.”

“I can’t cook,” Kamibayashi Miko said.

Himegami Izayoi glanced at the fire fan kneeling on the side. The fire fan stood up and walked to Rikka’s side.

“Cook for yourself,” Himegami Izayoi said to Kamibayashi Miko with a smile.

Kamibayashi Miko raised her hand, placed it on the calm-faced Minamoto Kiyomoto’s shoulder, and shook him awake.

Minamoto Kiyomoto slowly opened his eyes. His pupils were as black and bright as the night. After a second, they became slightly lighter and darker.

“What’s wrong?” he asked Kamibayashi Miko.

“Go cook,” Kamibayashi Miko said.

“…” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her without speaking, blinking a couple of times.

“Cook for yourself. I can’t,” after saying this, Kamibayashi Miko raised her chin and gestured towards the kitchen, meaning: Hurry up and go.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Minamoto Kiyomoto supported himself on his knees and stood up.

“Forget it,” Himegami Izayoi said with an irritated and stern face. “Fire fan, let’s cook together.”

“Yes.”

“Koyako is still the one who cares about me,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a laugh. “I also have to thank Miss Fire Fan for making the bed and helping with the cooking.”

The fire fan smiled, bowed her head, and didn’t say anything.

Because there was no table, the bowls, plates, and everything were placed on a tray, and the tray was placed directly on the floor.

“It’s too simple,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said, eating the king crab, which tasted sweet. “At least put a table.”

The three of them ignored him. In fact, he himself didn’t care at all.

“Have you considered it?” Kamibayashi Miko asked Rikka.

“Not yet,” Rikka picked up a piece of grilled meat and a little rice with her chopsticks, and put it in her mouth in a “holding” way, very elegantly.

Watching her eat didn’t arouse any appetite. It gave off a bland and tasteless feeling.

“What kind of meat is this?” Himegami Izayoi also picked up a piece of grilled meat.

“Ezo sika deer,” the fire fan replied. “It’s a specialty of Hokkaido.”

“Hokkaido used to be called Ezochi,” Minamoto Kiyomoto showed off his useless knowledge.

The wind and snow outside the window had subsided, leaving only a few snowflakes leisurely floating down from the night sky.

“Where’s the bath? Or do you not take baths?” As soon as they finished eating, Himegami Izayoi, who loved to take baths, asked Rikka.

“There’s a hot spring.”

Rikka led the four of them, treading on the thick snow, to the open-air hot spring.

It was steaming, and white mist swirled around. Just looking at it made one feel warm, and they couldn’t wait to go in and soak.

“Is this the only one?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked.

Rikka blew casually, and a cold air rolled over the water surface. An ice wall climbed up from the bottom of the pool, dividing the hot spring pool into two parts, one-quarter and three-quarters.

“That’s too business-like!” Minamoto Kiyomoto couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’ll be on this side. You go over there,” saying this, the Hokkaido Miko walked towards the one-quarter side.

“Wait!” Himegami Izayoi’s hand clasped her slender shoulder. “Kiyomoto can wash with me, but not with Miko.”

“Susu is an adult, a qualified boy. He can’t wash with me.”

“Miss Kamibayashi, is the sentence ‘a man can’t wash with a woman’ that convoluted?”

“Watch your attitude,” Kamibayashi Miko’s expression changed to that of a “strict mother” this time.

“You should be the one to watch your attitude. I’m talking about you!”

Kamibayashi Miko laughed. She was about to say something when Rikka suddenly untied the sash of her shrine maiden’s attire. Her special, snow-patterned white skirt fell to the snow.

“Hey!”

“Hey, you head! Close your eyes!”

Himegami Izayoi, who had cursed, blocked Minamoto Kiyomoto’s face with her fan.

Not only that, but between the fan and his face, Kamibayashi Miko’s hand had already covered his eyes.

“Damn it! Sooner or later, I’ll get a demon body that can see through things!” Minamoto Kiyomoto pretended to be angry.

He was in a great mood. Kamibayashi Miko’s hand was a little cold, and it felt very comfortable on his face.

“What did you say? (How dare you.)” the two shrine maidens said at the same time.

“…I was joking. You can’t tell?”

“Joking?” Himegami Izayoi said. “Then I’ll make a joke too. I’ll gouge out your eyes, and then—”

“You’re so noisy. Are you going to wash or not?” Rikka had already taken off her clothes—Minamoto Kiyomoto could tell.

“You go down first,” Himegami Izayoi commanded.

“Come back, this way!” she heard her shout again. It seemed Rikka was still planning to go to the one-quarter side.

Minamoto Kiyomoto found Rikka extremely amusing. And under the ice-colored divine power, those slender and smooth legs… he didn’t see any more. Kamibayashi Miko was too fast.

After Rikka walked into the misty hot spring, Kamibayashi Miko let go, but Himegami Izayoi was still not at ease. She took him to the other side of the ice block before allowing him to move his gaze from the fan.

Minamoto Kiyomoto retracted his divine power, took off his clothes, and stepped into the hot spring.

A heat that pierced through his muscles quickly wrapped around his body, making him unable to help but let out a sigh of relief.

Today, he had run from Tokyo to Aomori, then taken a boat from Aomori to Hokkaido, then rushed from Hakodate to Sapporo, and finally flew from Sapporo to here. These didn’t bring much fatigue to his body, but he felt a sense of exhaustion in his heart.

And the psychological pressure of the “Coral Demon Moth” also gradually dissipated under the soaking of the hot spring.

The four of them all retracted their divine power. There were no lights around. Darkness enveloped the plain. Only the snow surface reflected a faint light, and the sky was full of stars.

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s eyes turned scarlet. He saw the faint, blurry flesh-colored figures on the other side of the ice block.

He tilted his head, unable to see clearly;

His eyes became redder, still unable to see clearly—if he used any more force, he would shoot red light and melt the ice block.

The red light in his eyes faded, and circles of red-gold halos appeared, still unable to see clearly.

“That guy is definitely trying his best to peek right now. His eyes are probably red.”

“Koyako, don’t think I’m not here and you can just slander me!” Minamoto Kiyomoto stared at the flesh-colored figure that was speaking, the halos in his eyes turning like a combination lock, but he just couldn’t open it.

“What are you doing with your eyes?” Even in the hot spring, Kamibayashi Miko’s voice was as clear and cold as a stream.

“Looking at the stars, what else can I—hiss!” Minamoto Kiyomoto pressed his right hand to the back of his head, a sharp pain as if a hair had been pulled out.

“Hahaha!” The woman’s laughter on the other side, mixed with the splashing of water, was even more alluring than a bubbling hot pot in winter.

“Master Kiyo—” Himegami Izayoi called out coquettishly. “Next time, when it’s just the three of us, I and Miko will wear swimsuits and soak in the hot spring with you!”

“My mother said that one must be true to one’s word!” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied.

“Okay—” another burst of cheerful laughter.

After being warned, Minamoto Kiyomoto stopped messing around and soaked quietly in the hot spring alone, looking up at the night sky.

The other side was also silent, as quiet as being in a deserted and beautiful ruin.

Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his hand and punched the sky. Just the strength of his flesh created a strong wind and lifted the powder snow.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you cold!” Himegami Izayoi’s surprised voice came from the other side.

“Sorry,” Minamoto Kiyomoto retracted his arm into the warm pool water. “Looking at the sky, I always want to compete with it, and I can’t help but give it a punch.”

“Give it a punch? It’s good enough that it doesn’t give you a look.”

“Let it come!” Minamoto Kiyomoto laughed jokingly.

“Master Kiyo, do you know what kind of look Miko has right now?”

“Tell me.”

“A mother seeing her brave and mischievous child, a little blaming, and a little proud.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto let out a long, helpless sigh and sank his head into the hot spring.

“She’s lying to you,” Kamibayashi Miko’s voice, through the water, was blurry and indistinct.

After finishing their bath, the four of them returned to the wooden house under the giant tree. There was only one bedroom.

“Where do I sleep?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked.

“There’s only one room. Besides the corner, where else can you sleep?” Himegami Izayoi asked him back.

What Minamoto Kiyomoto actually wanted to say was—should he sleep in the living room alone and leave the bedroom to the three shrine maiden sisters.

But he instantly threw this idea to the back of his mind, pretending he hadn’t considered it, and instead went along with Himegami Izayoi’s words.

“I don’t like walls. I can’t sleep with walls. Can I sleep in the middle?” Not only could he play dumb, but he could even push his luck.

“What do you say?”

“Absolutely,” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s expression was calm, as if he were nodding in affirmation of a bill. “I’ll sleep in the corner. If one of you sleeps next to me, I might make a move. If I sleep in the middle, I won’t.”

After saying this, he even asked the three of them:

“Don’t you think what I said makes a lot of sense?”

Kamibayashi Miko laughed, then said in a calm voice, “Let’s sleep.”

The four of them lay down. Minamoto Kiyomoto got his wish and slept between Kamibayashi Miko and Himegami Izayoi.

Himegami Izayoi was against the wall, and Kamibayashi Miko was between Minamoto Kiyomoto and Rikka.

A deserted, strange, and grand silence.

Suddenly, in the night and silence, Minamoto Kiyomoto’s laughter was heard.

“What are you laughing at?” Kamibayashi Miko asked softly.

“I feel like I’m living my future life in advance. Will this be too happy? Have I used up my luck? I won’t die at the hands of the Coral Demon Moth, will I?”

“Are there only the four of us? No one else?” Rikka asked.

Minamoto Kiyomoto fell silent.

Himegami Izayoi and Kamibayashi Miko laughed out loud.

The room had the excitement of high school students on a camping trip.

“You’re not answering me?” It seemed Rikka was not going to let Minamoto Kiyomoto go.

“I’m very sad. I feel hopeless about life,” Minamoto Kiyomoto had never thought he would say this in his life.

In the spring of the year he was five months away from turning eighteen, on the night bus from the Seto Inland Sea to Tokyo, the person sitting next to him had been snoring all the time, and he had never said such a thing.

“Hopeless? You?” Himegami Izayoi said with amusement.

“Yeah. Miss Kamibayashi is not willing to give up her responsibility as the Divine Medium for me. Koyako, you still have a lot of little secrets you haven’t told me. Isn’t this life hopeless enough?”

Himegami Izayoi turned to her side, looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto, and said in the gentle voice of a kindergarten teacher lulling a child to sleep:

“I can tell you. Not only can I tell you, but I can also marry you. The question is—are you ready to know?”

“Before you feel sad and hopeless, reflect on yourself. You’re pursuing two people at the same time. Have you thought about others?” on the other side, came Kamibayashi Miko’s lecture.

“I’m sorry. Let’s get along well in the future, the three of us.”

“In your dreams!” Himegami Izayoi scolded with a laugh and hit Minamoto Kiyomoto.

After that, she didn’t take her hand back.

She was completing her little actions step by step, like sneaking snacks in class—glancing at the blackboard, tearing open the package; agreeing with the teacher a couple of times, squeezing out a mouthful; while the teacher was looking elsewhere, lowering her head to eat.

“You’re still not answering me,” Rikka’s voice popped up.

“Miss Rikka,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said, kneading Himegami Izayoi’s hand, “us like this, does it count as me sleeping with you for a night?”

“You come over here.”

“Not only do you want to sleep, but you want to do it in front of the two of us?” Himegami Izayoi pinched Minamoto Kiyomoto’s hand.

“You can join in too. I don’t mind.”

“Stop, stop!” Minamoto Kiyomoto quickly called a timeout. “Sleeping is impossible!”

“Let’s sleep. We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” Kamibayashi Miko said.

The room fell silent. There was not a single sound. Everything seemed to have fallen asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, Himegami Izayoi suddenly brought her lips to Minamoto Kiyomoto’s ear and asked softly, “Are you cold?”

“So cold! How can it not be cold at minus forty-one degrees!”

The two of them laughed at the same time.

Himegami Izayoi quietly left her blanket. Minamoto Kiyomoto quietly opened his.

The two of them hugged each other tightly.

Compared to the warmth at this moment, it had really been as cold as if it were about to freeze just now.

Himegami Izayoi wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

After a long and lingering kiss, just as Minamoto Kiyomoto was about to make his next move, Himegami Izayoi held his hand.

“Don’t mess around. What if you wake them up?” she said in a murmur.

“No, they’re all asleep,” just in case, Minamoto Kiyomoto turned his head to look.

In the night, Kamibayashi Miko was looking at him coldly.

“What’s… wrong?” Himegami Izayoi felt strange and raised her voice slightly, from a murmur to a whisper, her tone soft—Kamibayashi Miko heard it.

Kamibayashi Miko raised her hand and poked Minamoto Kiyomoto’s side—Himegami Izayoi instantly fell silent.

“Aren’t you sleeping?” the Hokkaido Miko’s voice popped up again.

Himegami Izayoi didn’t say a word and very quickly drilled back into her own blanket, even covering her head.

“Ahem!” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s voice of clearing his emotions.

“What does kissing feel like?” Rikka asked.

“You’ve been awake all this time?” Having collected his emotions, Minamoto Kiyomoto asked curiously.

“Mhm.”

“Thinking about whether to help us or not?”

“You don’t seem to be willing to answer my questions,” after a pause, Rikka added, “the previous questions too.”

“Asking questions is your freedom, and answering them is also my freedom. It’s like writing a love letter. No one can control whether you write it or not, but whether the person accepts it is also not controlled by anyone.”

“If there’s no benefit, I won’t help you.”

“…You ask.”

“What does kissing feel like?”

“How should I put it… I can’t really explain it.”

“You kiss her and you’ll know,” Himegami Izayoi poked her head out of the blanket.

“What nonsense are you talking about,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said. “Do you really want me to do this kind of thing with another woman?”

Himegami Izayoi snorted coldly, “You haven’t kissed Miko?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto understood. She wasn’t asking him to kiss Rikka, but was being sarcastic.

“Just now, you two were hugging each other, and in front of me,” Kamibayashi Miko reminded.

“Who told you not to sleep? Are you blaming us? You’re not thinking of secretly doing something with Kiyomoto while I’m asleep, are you?”

“Koyako, Miss Kamibayashi, in my heart, you…”

“You don’t seem to be paying much attention to me,” Rikka interrupted Minamoto Kiyomoto’s vow and sweet words.

A suppressed laugh was heard.

“Don’t laugh. Is this the attitude of someone asking for help!” Minamoto Kiyomoto hit Himegami Izayoi’s butt through the blanket.

“Where are you hitting? Are you sick? It wasn’t me who laughed!”

“Hmm?”

“Sorry,” Kamibayashi Miko seemed to be in some pain from holding back her laughter.

Minamoto Kiyomoto reached out and pretended to scold her by holding her hand.

Kamibayashi Miko took it away.

He reached out again and gently held it.

The snowy night finally fell silent.