Chapter 182: Not a Place for Chatting

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The storage room was filled with miscellaneous items, as well as cleaning supplies, buckets, rags, vacuum cleaners, brooms, and in the corner, there was a crib and a stroller that Minamoto Kiyomoto had used as a child.

“Mother, did Kiyomoto use this when he was a child?” Himegami Izayoi was the first to walk towards the stroller.

“Yes,” Ayako’s smile was filled with nostalgia.

Himegami Izayoi pushed it with great interest, testing the feel, and then, as if she had discovered a new continent, she turned her head and said to Minamoto Kiyomoto:
“Kiyomoto, it can still be used!”

“It’s probably well-preserved.”

If his mother wasn’t here, Minamoto Kiyomoto would probably have brought up the topic of procreation.

“When Koyako has a child in the future, will she keep it by her side, or let me take it?” Ayako asked with a smile.

“A child… it’s still early…” Himegami Izayoi was embarrassed and put the stroller back in its original place.

Ayako saw her cute reaction and teased her again, “Do you want a boy or a girl?”

Himegami Izayoi, with a red face and unable to help but purse her lips and smile, turned her gaze to Minamoto Kiyomoto.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked back at her.

—What are you doing?
—You answer.

—Why me?!

—Stop talking nonsense, hurry up!
“Whatever we can have, cough, it’s not something we can decide,” Minamoto Kiyomoto was a little embarrassed to talk about this topic before he was even married.

“That’s true,” Ayako agreed, and even talked about her own personal experience. “Before I had Kiyomoto, I always wanted a daughter. To fulfill my wish, I even dressed Kiyomoto up as a girl when he was a child.”

“Mom, you don’t have to say that,” Minamoto Kiyomoto protested.

“Fortunately, Kiyomoto was cute and looked cute in a dress,” Ayako held her face in her hands, a look of satisfaction and reminiscence—this was deliberately teasing her son.

“I saw the photo last time. It was really cute!” Himegami Izayoi followed with a laugh.

“No matter how cute, he’s still a boy. It would have been great if I had given birth to a cute daughter like you, Koyako.”

“It’s okay. I’m mother’s daughter now.”

“Koyako is so good.”

“No, I’m just average.”

In this atmosphere of ‘I don’t know if it’s a greeting between women or a heart-to-heart talk between mother and daughter,’ a cold and plain voice, like a finger piercing a colorful bubble, inserted itself:
“If you want to chat, isn’t it better to go to the living room?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto gave Kamibayashi Miko a thumbs-up in his heart.

How should I put it… as expected of the Divine Medium, she’s really not afraid of death and dares to face everything directly.

Ayako smiled.

Himegami Izayoi, on the other hand, looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto with a smile. Minamoto Kiyomoto put down the thumbs-up in his heart.

“Then let’s start assigning tasks,” Ayako said in a good mood.

“Wait a minute,” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the three shrine maidens. “Do you know how to clean?”

“Do you think we were born as shrine maidens?” Himegami Izayoi said with a hint of pride. “Everyone starts as a miscellaneous shrine maiden. After a year, if you perform well, you will be assigned a specific job, ringing bells, kagura, divine dance, or brewing wine. Only then can you become a real shrine maiden.”

“I was born as a shrine maiden and am only responsible for training,” Kamibayashi Miko said.

“I’m a kagura shrine maiden,” Rikka picked up the vacuum cleaner on her own, studied it for a while, found the switch, and then started playing with it, turning it on and off.

“Then you’re in charge of taking down the curtains,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said to Kamibayashi Miko. “It’s very simple. Take them down, throw them into the washing machine, and after they’re washed, hang them on the clothesline on the terrace.”

“I don’t know how to use a washing machine,” Kamibayashi Miko added.

“…You’re in charge of taking them down and hanging them up. I’ll take care of the washing machine.”

Kamibayashi Miko nodded.

Ayako had been watching the two of them. After they finished, she said to Himegami Izayoi, “Koyako, please wipe the glass.”

“When I was a miscellaneous shrine maiden at Ise Shrine, I was in charge of wiping the mirrors,” Himegami Izayoi began to fold the sleeves of her kimono, revealing her snow-white, slender wrists. Her posture and expression were very professional.

Wiping mirrors?
Didn’t she say that no one is born a shrine maiden?
“Rikka, you…” Ayako sized up the Hokkaido Miko who was playing with the vacuum cleaner. “Please clean up?”

“Hmm,” Rikka nodded. “Can I sleep with Kiyomoto after I finish cleaning?”

“No,” Ayako’s smile was gentle and distant.

Rikka turned her head to look at Minamoto Kiyomoto and said to him, “Your mother is as stingy as you.”

The storage room was indeed not suitable for chatting.

“Kiyomoto, you’re in charge of cleaning the bathroom. The toilet is also yours,” Ayako said.

“Okay.”

“Koyako, let’s go. I’ll take you to Kiyomoto’s room first.”

After Ayako and Himegami Izayoi left, the Hokkaido Miko also went to the entrance with the vacuum cleaner, planning to start from there.

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

“You were really amazing just now,” he said with admiration.

Kamibayashi Miko glanced at him, “Will you… break off relations with me because my mother hates me?”

“No one can separate us.”

“Then what am I afraid of?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto closed the door of the storage room, turned around, and before he could say or do anything, he was hit by Kamibayashi Miko’s hand knife.

---

“A dizzying and tempting smell~”

“Piercing deep into my nasal cavity~”

“Awakening my instincts~”

“Whose turn is it today~”

Minamoto Kiyomoto hummed a song, wiped the corners of the bathroom clean, and then began to wipe the toilet.

Tamahime pinched her nose, as disgusted as she could be.

“You can be so happy even when cleaning the toilet,” Kamibayashi Miko, holding a laundry basket with curtains, walked into the bathroom.

“It’s the New Year,” Minamoto Kiyomoto stood up with a smile.

The two of them put the curtains into the washing machine one by one.

“It is said that there is a tradition of the company president personally cleaning the company’s toilets,” he continued.

“Where?”

“In Japan, where else? But I’ve only heard about it.”

After putting in the curtains, he put the laundry detergent in the leftmost compartment of the detergent dispenser and set the timer.

“Alright,” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s tone was relaxed. “Now we just have to wait for it to finish.”

Kamibayashi Miko nodded, sized up the drum washing machine, and said, “It’s simpler than I thought. I thought it would be very complicated.”

“It’s simple if you say it’s simple. If you want to be complicated, the washing time, the number of rinses, the spin speed, air washing or sterilization, and also according to the material of the clothes, different laundry detergents and washing methods, and after washing, the way to clean the washing machine…”

“You continue to wipe the toilet,” Kamibayashi Miko interrupted.

“Then I’ll teach you how to use the washing machine after I finish wiping. With your memory and hands-on ability, this…”

“We’ll talk about it next time.”

“People who say that usually don’t have a next time.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto squatted down and continued to wipe the toilet seat.

“The dignified Honshu Shinto Lord is actually wiping the toilet,” he lamented with self-pity.

Kamibayashi Miko was guarding the washing machine on the side. After Minamoto Kiyomoto finished wiping the toilet seat, he began to wipe the toilet lid.

Listening to the sound of the washing machine turning, and smelling the fragrance of Kamibayashi Miko’s magnolia-like fragrance in the dew, Minamoto Kiyomoto had a warm feeling of a newly married couple cleaning together.

“What can I do in this world~
“What can I do~”

“I only wish that your dark eyes~”

“Will not overflow with tears~”

He couldn’t help but start singing again.

After wiping the toilet and starting to clean the hair in the drain, Kamibayashi Miko, who could speak again, asked:
“‘What can I do, I only wish that your dark eyes, will not overflow with tears,’ who is this song for?”

“My most, most, most favorite Miko,” Minamoto Kiyomoto placed his hand on his chest.

“The title of the song?”

“‘Monster’.”

“…For me?”

“It means, I’ll become a monster to protect you.”

Then, Minamoto Kiyomoto stood up and struck a pose that was enough to conquer all the girls:

“I’ll bet my life on it, and I won’t let you shed a single tear. This is my final transformation, the Coral Demon Moth!”

“That’s fine. It’s too ugly,” Kamibayashi Miko was not moved at all and showed a look of disdain.

‘Mother Tamahime, Miko is calling you ugly!’ Minamoto Kiyomoto tattled.

---

By the time everything was cleaned up, a morning had passed.

“It’s hard to go to work, and it’s not easy to be a housewife,” Minamoto Kiyomoto sighed and walked into the living room with Kamibayashi Miko.

“Hey, Kiyomoto-nii.”

The seaside girl sitting in the kotatsu, watching the blond princess play “Fortnite,” was Minamoto Kiyomoto’s childhood friend, Uehara Moe.

“Moe? When did you come?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked.

Uehara Moe stretched out her right hand, palm up, as if waiting for the princess to give her her hand.

She said in a rough voice, “I’ll bet my life on it, and I won’t let you shed a single tear. This is my final transformation, the Coral Demon Moth!”

“…”

Minamoto Kiyomoto had heard footsteps at that time, but all his thoughts were on Kamibayashi Miko. He subconsciously thought it was someone from the family passing by.

“Kiyomoto-nii, what’s the Coral Demon Moth? Is it a new Kamen Rider recently?” Uehara Moe asked curiously.

“A knight in a novel, cough.”

This time, Kamibayashi Miko was finally amused by the word ‘transformation’ and smiled a cute little mischievous smile.

Soon, the others also finished their work, and everyone squeezed into the kotatsu.

Ayako and her daughter Himegami Izayoi sat together at the head of the table.

Uehara Moe and Noi sat together on the left side. Uehara Moe was next to Ayako;

Opposite Uehara Moe was Minamoto Kiyomoto, and next to Minamoto Kiyomoto was Kamibayashi Miko;
At the bottom were the Hokkaido Miko and Shirako, and also Little Butterfly, who was eating who knows how many oranges with relish—Uehara Moe couldn’t see.

“Kiyomoto-nii, what does a Shinto Lord do? So many people sent you gifts, a whole four floors!” Uehara Moe held an orange in her hand and asked with amazement.

“Coordinates shrines and stuff, I guess. The Shinto priests are all corrupt,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said in a speculative tone.

Ayako took an orange and gave it to Himegami Izayoi. Himegami Izayoi gave it to Minamoto Kiyomoto.

Uehara Moe let out a “oh—” of teasing. At her age, she liked to tease about relationships between men and women.

“Kiyomoto-nii, is she your girlfriend?” in front of so many people, she struck a pose of whispering.

“Hmm—I guess so,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said while peeling an orange.

“I guess so?” Uehara Moe had a look of confusion.

Under the kotatsu, Himegami Izayoi’s hand was already on Minamoto Kiyomoto’s leg.

“I haven’t officially confessed yet,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“I see,” Uehara Moe nodded.

That delicate and slender hand gently kneaded the flesh on Minamoto Kiyomoto’s leg, probably a massage.

Minamoto Kiyomoto returned the peeled orange to Himegami Izayoi.

Himegami Izayoi withdrew the hand that was kneading his leg, subconsciously took it, and was about to put a slice into her mouth when she suddenly remembered that Ayako was still beside her.

“You eat it,” she gave it back to Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“Mom,” Minamoto Kiyomoto pointed at Himegami Izayoi and said to Ayako, “she’s pretending. She’s not like this.”

Himegami Izayoi hit him hard, her face full of嗔怪and shyness.

“I know what kind of person Koyako is, don’t I, Koyako?” Ayako asked Himegami Izayoi with a smile.

“That’s right. I’m mother’s daughter. What do you, an outsider, know?” Himegami Izayoi leaned on Ayako’s shoulder with a sense of grievance.

The two of them were both in kimonos.

Ayako’s疋田绞缬kimono, with an emerald buckle on the belt, was dignified and elegant;
Himegami Izayoi was wearing a purple silk kimono with gold thread, beautiful and noble. A faint fragrance emanated from the cuffs of her kimono.

They really looked like mother and daughter.

“Do you want some?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked Kamibayashi Miko, handing her the orange in his hand.

Kamibayashi Miko took one from the table herself.

Uehara Moe looked back and forth between them, and once again, secretly, but openly, asked, “Kiyomoto-nii, is she?”

“She’s also my girlfriend. I confessed, but she hasn’t officially agreed yet,” Minamoto Kiyomoto introduced.

“Two? Two!” Uehara Moe was shocked. “Kiyomoto-nii, you’ve just entered the upper class, and you’re already going to marry two wives?”

“It has nothing to do with whether I’ve entered the upper class or not. We are…”

“Three, me too,” the Hokkaido Miko ate an orange and cut off Minamoto Kiyomoto’s words. “He hasn’t confessed yet, and I haven’t agreed either.”

“…”

Uehara Moe did not stare at the Hokkaido Miko, but looked at the blond princess and the blond loli.

“Kiyomoto-nii, are they also?”

“No,” Minamoto Kiyomoto gave a definite negative answer.

“Kiyomoto, an orange,” the blond princess didn’t even raise her eyes, but because she had turned on the gyroscope, the game console was moving up and down.

Minamoto Kiyomoto put down the one in his hand, peeled another one, and handed it to her.

“Ah,” the blond princess opened her mouth.

Minamoto Kiyomoto stuffed the whole thing into her mouth.

Uehara Moe: “…”

“This, how should I put it,” Minamoto Kiyomoto picked up his orange, ate it, and continued, “Her family had an accident at sea. I have a little bit of responsibility, so, hmm, you understand?”

“I understand. What about her?” Uehara Moe looked at the junior high school student-like Shirako.

“You try and see if I’ll give her an orange,” Minamoto Kiyomoto was very confident this time.

“An orange,” Shirako said.

“Humph, humph.”

“Hurry up,” Shirako knocked on the table impatiently.

Minamoto Kiyomoto, for the sake of this person cooking for him every day, took an orange, didn’t peel it, and gave it to her directly.

“I have nothing to do with him,” Shirako didn’t even look at the orange and said to Uehara Moe. “If you want to say, he’s my subordinate.”

“I see,” Uehara Moe nodded, seeing that Shirako was telling the truth.

“That’s great, Kiyomoto-nii,” she said cheerfully. “It seems the rumor that you’re a lolicon is fake.”

“You don’t even think about where that rumor came from,” Minamoto Kiyomoto threw a slice of orange into his mouth.

“A lolicon? Where did it come from?” Himegami Izayoi asked curiously.

“When I was a child, I fought with Kiyomoto-nii. I couldn’t beat him and was pressed against a wall by him. It just so happened that a passing classmate saw it,” Uehara Moe explained.

“You pressed her against a wall?” Kamibayashi Miko looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“We were just playing around. She tricked me into eating an unripe olive, the same one I tricked you into eating. You know how angry it makes you.”

Himegami Izayoi remembered that time, and her mouth began to feel uncomfortable again.

“Later, my mom came,” Minamoto Kiyomoto continued. “She grabbed both of our ears, like holding two chickens ready to be killed, and dragged us home.”

“Kiyomoto was very well-behaved when he was a child. He became naughty when he grew up,” Ayako said with a smile. “Moe, don’t you want an orange?”

“Loo!” Uehara Moe stuck out her tongue and showed Ayako the side. “I ate too much at home. My tongue has a blister, and it hurts to eat.”

“It’s only broken on one side, right? You can eat with the other side,” Ayako was not some proper good aunt.

“I’ll try!” Uehara Moe immediately took an orange.

“Moe, tell us more about Kiyomoto’s childhood,” Himegami Izayoi was very interested in these things.

“Okay. When Kiyomoto-nii was in elementary school, he was followed by a girl from his class. Later, Aunt Ayako even let that girl stay for dinner and let Kiyomoto-nii walk her home.”

“What’s there to say about that? Talk about my studies. Tell them how many times I got first place,” Minamoto Kiyomoto emphasized.

“You were quite happy when you were a child,” Himegami Izayoi said with a smile through gritted teeth. “I wiped mirrors all day when I was a child. You were the first man I ever touched.”

“I didn’t touch her. I don’t even know her,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“By the way, during swimming class in the sixth grade, some girls would deliberately pull Kiyomoto-nii and almost drowned him.”

“Let alone touch, you were the first male of the same age I ever spoke to,” Kamibayashi Miko ate an orange and said faintly, looking at Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“Moe, as a medical student, I’ll give you a professional suggestion. If your mouth hurts, don’t talk.”

“No, I’m going to talk! Unless you give me New Year’s money!”

“Moe, you continue to talk. He has no money and can’t give you New Year’s money. I’ll give it to you later,” Himegami Izayoi said.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was about to speak but stopped. He really had no money.

Everyone was chatting happily, except for Minamoto Kiyomoto.

In Minamoto Kiyomoto’s heart, Tamahime was also speaking.

‘Like a chicken being carried home? There’s such an interesting thing. Let me see… Hmm? Marrying one wife is limiting self-development. You want to marry a mother-in-law who is still a junior high school student…’

‘Hey! Don’t look around!’

‘Isn’t this a lolicon?’

‘Being younger than me is a lolicon? Can’t I wait until she’s eighteen?’

‘I’m sorry, I’m sixteen, not a junior high school student. I haven’t fulfilled your fantasy of a mother-in-law.’

‘Let’s not talk about this topic anymore.’

‘But I can satisfy you a little. Don’t worry, I don’t look out of place in a junior high school uniform. A sailor uniform? A Western-style uniform? Do you want a pleated skirt in blue or black? Do you like short socks or long socks, or pantyhose? What color? Black? White? By the way, do you want to see a swimsuit?’

‘Forget the front. Why is there a swimsuit?’

‘I feel like a lolicon would want to see it.’

‘…I just want to set a bigger goal to motivate myself.’

‘Then a sailor uniform? A sailor uniform girl, what was that? The moon, right, Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon! Moon Prism Power, Make Up!’

Sailor Moon was no longer a sailor uniform girl. She even had a daughter.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was exhausted both physically and mentally.