Chapter 142: From the National Diet Building to Hakusan Shrine, and then to Akihabara

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Minamoto Kiyomoto walked out of the “Ogosho’s” office.

It was as if he had returned to the human world from an unattainable mountain peak. Although faint, he could already vaguely hear the sounds of people talking and walking.

He looked back at the office that symbolized the highest power in Kanto. Inside, even with his hearing, he couldn’t hear the slightest sound from outside.

Power, which everyone pursues, a thing that seems to have a hundred benefits and no harm, also has its restraints.

It’s just that people easily submit to power and wealth, and are willing to be driven by them.

Minamoto Kiyomoto walked down the red-carpeted corridor, contemplating as he walked towards the shrine maidens.

He didn’t hate the “Ogosho.”

A person living, more or less, always has some obsession, from buying a toy to treating the world as a toy.

On both sides of the corridor hung portraits of successive “Ogosho.” What would these people’s obsessions be?

To annex Kansai and Hokkaido and completely unify Japan?
To eliminate every single yokai that appeared in Kanto?
As for Kamibayashi Miko’s father, was his obsession really, as he said, to protect Kanto, even at the cost of sacrificing his own daughter?
Regardless, since the “Ogosho” didn’t care about Kamibayashi Miko, he would care about her.

Before he died, no one could harm her.

Minamoto Kiyomoto walked down the long corridor of the National Diet Building. The further he got from the “Ogosho’s” office, the closer he got to Kamibayashi Miko and Himegami Izayoi.

Pushing open the door, the two of them were sitting on the sofa. Himegami Izayoi was leaning against Kamibayashi Miko, playing with the latter’s hair with a smile on her face.

Kamibayashi Miko looked impatient and disgusted, constantly reaching out to take back her hair.

“What are you doing?” Minamoto Kiyomoto walked in.

“Is it over?” Himegami Izayoi laughed happily. “I’m showing your Miss Kamibayashi how the two of us are when we’re alone.”

“…”

The real crisis was internal!

Himegami Izayoi glanced at Minamoto Kiyomoto and smiled knowingly, “It seems it didn’t go well.”

Kamibayashi Miko took back a strand of her long hair from Himegami Izayoi’s hand, her gaze also on Minamoto Kiyomoto.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the two of them in the eyes and said, “Let’s go. We’ll talk as we walk.”

The three of them left the National Diet Building and, under the afternoon sun, walked towards Hakusan Shrine.

“What conditions did he propose?” Kamibayashi Miko asked faintly.

“To eliminate the ‘Coral Demon Moth’,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied.

“‘Coral Demon Moth’? He really dares to ask,” Himegami Izayoi sneered. “You didn’t foolishly agree, did you?”

“Although I’m confident, I’m not a fool. Even the two of you are no match. How could I agree?” Minamoto Kiyomoto paused. “But he said he would let Miss Kamibayashi help me.”

He turned his gaze to Kamibayashi Miko and said to her:

“I know that whether I agree or not, as soon as you know the ‘Coral Demon Moth’ has appeared, you will definitely go.”

Kamibayashi Miko didn’t speak, looking at the road under her feet, walking with her head down.

“He doesn’t even spare his own daughter?” Himegami Izayoi mocked.

“I said the same thing,” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the straight and wide Metropolitan Expressway in front of him. “His exact words were, ‘It is precisely because she is my daughter that I am letting her go. When necessary, I will also personally go to the field. Which of the practitioners who died in battle was not someone’s daughter or son, someone’s father or mother?'”

“Do you believe what he said?” Himegami Izayoi asked.

“Whether I believe it or not is not important. What’s important is that Miss Kamibayashi will definitely go, so I must go too.”

Kamibayashi Miko’s gaze finally left the road under her feet and looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“You fool,” Himegami Izayoi cursed. “That’s no joke. A lot of people will really die. The previous generation’s Divine Medium died at the hands of the ‘Coral Demon Moth’.”

“That’s not important either,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a laugh.

“You have to go and die with your Miss Kamibayashi?”

“What if we survive? Don’t jinx me like that.”

Himegami Izayoi stopped, and Minamoto Kiyomoto and Kamibayashi Miko also stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked strangely.

“What’s wrong?” Himegami Izayoi repeated coldly. “Is she the only one in your heart? Have you never thought about me? What do you take me for? The flowers you planted on the mountain? To satisfy your collecting癖?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her.

Kamibayashi Miko looked at the two of them.

The passersby noticed the three of them.

Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t feel sad at all. Instead, he was very happy.

As he had said before, when Himegami Izayoi was acting, he was captivated; when she wasn’t acting, he was also obsessed.

He reached out and, through her black hoodie, wrapped his arms around her slender and soft body.

Himegami Izayoi struggled a couple of times, trying to push him away.

He didn’t let go.

“I admit I treat you like a flower. In my heart, Miss Kamibayashi is a white magnolia, and you are a rose, sometimes red, sometimes white, sometimes black, and occasionally blue, pink, and light yellow.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto held her, his hand on her back, and said in her ear.

“But if you say I have a collecting癖, I don’t admit it,” his voice had a hint of a laugh. “I’m not formalin. What would I do with a person’s body?”

“You’re a doctor,” Himegami Izayoi said in a low, sulky voice in his arms.

Minamoto Kiyomoto couldn’t help but laugh.

Himegami Izayoi punched his chest.

“I remembered something from before. I wonder if you still remember,” he said. “When I guessed Yagyu Michiko’s identity, I was afraid you would have to go back after completing the mission, so I didn’t tell you. As a result, you were angry for half a month without saying anything, and I was also angry for half a month.”

“That was your fault for hiding it from me.”

“I was afraid you would go back.”

“That’s still hiding it from me.”

“It’s proof that I love you.”

“You already loved me then?”

“I had a good impression of you the first time we met at Gotoku-ji.”

“You—”

“How long are you two going to hug?” Kamibayashi Miko’s voice, squeezed between the two of them, was as cold and clear as the melted water from a snow mountain.

Himegami Izayoi quickly pushed Minamoto Kiyomoto away.

She tidied her clothes and put her hands in her hoodie pockets. Unfortunately, it was a hoodie without pockets.

Her small, fair hands fumbled for a couple of times, and finally realizing the problem, she crossed them in front of her chest instead.

On her delicate and charming face, she put on a leisurely expression as if nothing had happened.

“Koyako—” Minamoto Kiyomoto began.

“What is it?”

“You’re blushing,” Kamibayashi Miko said.

“No, I’m not.”

“You are,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“No, I’m not.”

“Touch your face yourself,” Minamoto Kiyomoto laughed.

“No,” Himegami Izayoi insisted on not touching her face.

Her face was clearly so red, yet her expression was so calm and composed. It was truly amazing.

“Self-deception,” Kamibayashi Miko said.

“I’m deceiving myself?” Himegami Izayoi, with her arms crossed, sneered mockingly, her temperament naturally switching to one of ridicule.

She said to Kamibayashi Miko:
“You won’t let him leave your side before you die; as a guide, you must know everything about him and not allow him to hide anything from you; after every mission, you have to be intimate as a reward for surviving… who is the one deceiving themselves?”

Kamibayashi Miko’s face, as white and crystal clear as a white magnolia, began to blush. It was hard to tell if it was from anger or shyness.

And Himegami Izayoi, whose face was no longer so red, continued with the arrogant attitude of a bad woman:
“If you really want to compete with me, just give up your identity as the Divine Medium. Don’t say you showed me mercy when you lose to me.”

“…” Kamibayashi Miko’s gaze shifted to Minamoto Kiyomoto. “I’m not the Divine Medium. Who will protect him? He likes to be competitive so much.”

“You think my strength is inferior to yours?” A cold smile appeared on Himegami Izayoi’s lips.

“Protecting him from being hurt by you is also one of my responsibilities. You like him, you’re with him, it’s not all because of love. What is your real purpose?”

It was hard to imagine that they had just been playing with each other’s hair.

“He didn’t tell you?” Himegami Izayoi deliberately leaned forward in surprise, then leaned back and laughed happily. “It seems this is a secret between him and me.”

Kamibayashi Miko was angry.

“Well… how should I put this…” Minamoto Kiyomoto became sensitive to the surrounding gazes and began to feel uneasy. “By the way, let’s go back quickly. Noi and Shirako are still waiting for us!”

Kamibayashi Miko stared at Minamoto Kiyomoto for two seconds, like an angry cat raising its front paw, staring at the thing that was provoking it.

But in the end, this beautiful, noble, pure white cat still retracted its claws and let him go.

After the Metropolitan Expressway was the moat.

Walking along the moat, they came to the “Chidorigafuchi Park,” where Minamoto Kiyomoto had his first battle.

On a cool and pleasant autumn day, the cherry blossom path by the moat was full of people strolling.

“The Ogosho only let you and Miko go?” As if nothing had happened, Himegami Izayoi continued to discuss the matter of the ‘Coral Demon Moth’.

“No,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said. “The people who should be arranged will also be arranged.”

“Kansai and Hokkaido will probably also send some people,” Himegami Izayoi pondered. “But don’t count on Hokkaido. The Taiko won’t send experts to their deaths. That half-dead old man won’t sacrifice his own people to help Kanto.”

“Don’t count on Hokkaido. You mean, we can count on Kansai?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked her with a smile.

“You fool,” Himegami Izayoi rolled her eyes at him irritably, then laughed. “The Lord of Kyoto strongly recommended you to become the ‘Honshu Shinto Lord’. She will naturally help you without reservation.”

The two looked at each other.

In the unspoken words, a subtle love flowed between them.

“This might be one of the Ogosho’s purposes,” Kamibayashi Miko suddenly said.

The two of them turned to look at her at the same time.

“As long as I go, Kiyomoto will have to go. If Kiyomoto goes, Kyoto won’t stand by and do nothing,” she said.

“Let him be,” before the atmosphere could become gloomy, Minamoto Kiyomoto said cheerfully, “No one cares about you. I’ll care about you.”

Kamibayashi Miko looked up and stared at him.

“You—” she began, then hesitated.

“You don’t have to go,” she said. “You are a practitioner from Kansai. You don’t need to obey his orders… Live a good life with Izayoi.”

“That’s a good idea,” Himegami Izayoi said with a laugh.

“Alright, since you insist, I’ll listen to you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said to Kamibayashi Miko.

For a moment, Kamibayashi Miko was like a bubble reflecting a rainbow of colors, finally bursting like a beautiful dream.

“You see,” Minamoto Kiyomoto laughed, “don’t blame me for not listening to you. My first principle is not to make you sad. The second is to listen to you.”

“…I’m serious.”

“Koyako,” Minamoto Kiyomoto turned to Himegami Izayoi, “you were right. She’s the one who’s best at deceiving herself!”

However, at this moment, Himegami Izayoi was in no mood to team up with him to tease Kamibayashi Miko.

“What did you say your first principle was?” she sized up her neatly trimmed nails.

“Um, let me explain,” Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his hands, his palms facing her. “That’s my principle for her.”

Himegami Izayoi looked up and glanced at him, “What about your principle for me?”

“I have no principles for you.”

“No principles?”

“It means whatever you say goes. Whatever you want, I’ll give you. I’ll listen to you in everything.”

“Alright then, leave this woman,” Himegami Izayoi pointed at Kamibayashi Miko with a bent finger.

“Well…”

“Didn’t you say you’d listen to me in everything?”

“Actually, having no principles also means not following principles.”

“Minamoto Kiyomoto!”

“Miss Kamibayashi!”

It took an hour to walk from the National Diet Building to Hakusan Shrine. In the midst of the three’s bickering, flirting, and playing, they arrived in the blink of an eye.

When they saw the banyan tree, for some reason, it had turned into Minamoto Kiyomoto chasing Himegami Izayoi.

After Minamoto Kiyomoto changed his clothes, the three of them went out again with Shirako, Noi, and Little Butterfly.

A group of all women except for Minamoto Kiyomoto, going out to play naturally meant buying clothes.

Her Highness Princess Noi had lost interest in dresses. With no one to dress her, she finally found it troublesome.

According to Shirako, when Minamoto Kiyomoto and the others were not at home, Noi only wore a slip dress, and sometimes nothing at all.

After buying clothes, the next stop was the game store.

“From here to here, I’ll take them,” Noi pointed at three rows of shelves.

The store clerk, wearing an employee’s hat and an apron, blinked hard.

“Um, customer—”

“Wrap them up. He’s paying,” the blond princess pointed at Minamoto Kiyomoto as if pointing at a shelf.

“Wrap them up,” Minamoto Kiyomoto sighed.

While the clerk was processing the items, Minamoto Kiyomoto said to Noi, “Do you want to go to my mother’s place? It’s a small island. You can see the sea as soon as you open the window. It’s very similar to where you used to live.”

“No.”

“In a little while, I have to participate in a very dangerous mission. I can’t take care of you.”

“Are you taking care of me now?” Noi turned her head to look at him.

“…Just giving money doesn’t really count as taking care.”

“Don’t die.”

“What?”

Noi didn’t speak, her gaze falling to read the latest game weekly on the checkout counter.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her for a while, then shifted his gaze to outside the store.

The setting sun dyed Akihabara orange, a dusk with a sky full of evening glow.

“Finally bought them!” Minamoto Kiyomoto, carrying six large bags, walked into a McDonald’s.

Noi, following behind him, was already playing.

The two shrine maidens and Shirako had finished ordering and were sitting at a table, eating.

“You bought so much?” Shirako said in surprise.

“Mhm,” Noi replied without looking up. “Su, fries.”

“Fries, fries,” Minamoto Kiyomoto sighed as he handed a fry to her full lips.

Noi, manipulating her character, ate the fry and said, “Ketchup.”

“Why do I feel like we’re not friends, but master and servant? You’re the master, and I’m the servant.”

“No,” Noi said, eating a fry with ketchup. “You’re not a servant. You’re my guardian knight.”

“The country is gone, and you’re still dreaming of being a princess!”

“Su, build me a rose castle. Coke.”

“In a game?” Minamoto Kiyomoto handed her a Coke.

“Did she get some dirt on you?” Himegami Izayoi, playing with a Pikachu—a gift from Shirako’s kids’ meal—asked with a laugh.

“What dirt could I have?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked back.

“Like sleeping with her?” Himegami Izayoi tilted her beautiful neck and twisted off Pikachu’s head. “Once a man and a woman sleep together, their relationship will advance by leaps and bounds. Men are also particularly accommodating to women they can sleep with.”

“I only sleep with you and Miss Kamibayashi.”

Shirako put down the chicken nugget she was enjoying and reached out to strangle Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“Want to sleep? I don’t mind. As long as it doesn’t interfere with my gaming, you can do whatever you want. Chicken nugget,” the blond princess said while playing her game.

“You piglet, you dare to have improper thoughts about Lady Miko? I’ll strangle you!”

“Hands, hands, you just took the chicken nugget directly! Why is there still sauce?! I just changed my clothes! Miss Kamibayashi!”

Kamibayashi Miko was concentrating on eating her sweet pie.