Chapter 184: Curiosity, Friendship, and Goodwill

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“…Kiyomoto-nii is so old, yet he’s still like a child,” Uehara Moe said, referring to the “I will never let you shed a single tear” she had overheard.

Himegami Izayoi was curious about this. She asked Minamoto Kiyomoto, “Are you talking to the toilet? You won’t let the toilet shed a single tear?”

“If the toilet doesn’t flush, it will be very troublesome, right?” Uehara Moe was still teasing her Kiyomoto-nii, completely unaware of the murderous intent hidden in Himegami Izayoi.

Minamoto Kiyomoto thanked his childhood friend and seized the opportunity to change the subject, “The bathroom is very clean. Actually, it doesn’t need to be cleaned.”

“I cleaned it yesterday,” Ayako said.

“Then why did you ask me to clean it again today?”

“Guests are coming to the house. Of course, we have to clean.”

“How often do you usually clean?” Shirako was in charge of the shrine’s housework and was very interested in these things…

Ayako thought for a moment and said, “The floor is swept once a day, the windows are wiped once a week, and the quilts are also aired once a week. There is no fixed time for the bathroom. Except for the bathroom being cleaned after use, the others are cleaned once a week.”

“What kind of cleaner do you use to wipe the glass?” Shirako asked again.

“I use…”

The two of them actually started to communicate about housework, and the others couldn’t get a word in for a while.

After chatting for an afternoon, when the blond princess’s game console ran out of battery, they started to have dinner.

After dinner, Uehara Moe went back, and everyone took turns taking a bath.

During this time, Minamoto Kiyomoto was called to the meditation room by Ayako. When he followed, he took four oranges with him.

Ayako asked him to talk about the matter of Yomijima Island, concerned about when he would die and how he would die.

“Didn’t I say it all in the letter?” Although he said so, Minamoto Kiyomoto still honestly and carefully recounted the situation at that time.

After he finished, he ate an orange and said with a smile, “Mom, if I really become the ruler of the world in the future, do you plan to continue to stay on Shodoshima Island, or go to the imperial palace with me?”

“If you want me to help you take care of the children, I’ll go with you. If you don’t want me to, I’ll stay here,” Ayako said in the tone of an old woman.

“I don’t know what will happen with the children yet. And it doesn’t matter who takes care of them. I want you to live with me.”

“Are you trying to make your mom happy? So that I’ll be nicer to Miko?” Ayako looked at her son.

“What are you talking about? This is my heartfelt truth!” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a hint of coquetry.

“You’re still a little filial,” Ayako laughed. “It’s not that I hate Miko, I just can’t bring myself to like her.”

“I understand, I understand.”

“Does she have an opinion of me?” Ayako asked again.

“No,” Minamoto Kiyomoto immediately denied. “But she did ask me if I would break up with her because you hate her. I said no, and she said, ‘Then what am I afraid of?'”

Ayako smiled silently, a little provoked and angry, but also a little satisfied.

“It’s good that she likes you,” she said. “But I still like Izayoi more. Although she’s a little scheming, she’s cuter. When I’m with her, I feel younger. Most importantly, she’s good to you. Didn’t you always say in your letters that she helps you?”

‘Don’t listen to your mom. Love needs love, not gratitude. Gratitude is not love, it’s kidnapping, it’s a shackle!’

“Hmm, I know,” Minamoto Kiyomoto removed the pith from the orange, put it in the lantern-like orange peel, and only ate the crystal-clear pulp.

Ayako glanced at the orange peel and said, “You have to eat this too. It’s good for your body.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto nodded and no longer picked out the pith, eating the white part together.

‘Minamoto Kiyomoto! What are you doing? Have you forgotten me now that you have your real mom? I don’t want to eat the white part!’

‘Can’t you just use the memory from just now?’ Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

‘No, no! The taste of the first one and the taste of the eleventh one after eating ten are different!’

‘Then look at the previous ones. I eat oranges every New Year.’

‘No! The previous ones had white parts! And they’re not fresh!’

‘You’re already dead. What do you need freshness for?’ Minamoto Kiyomoto said amusedly.

‘No, no, just no! Why are you so willful, you child!’

*’.’

Tamahime was making a fuss in his heart. Ayako asked again, “What are your plans after the New Year?”

“I haven’t sorted out the specific plan yet. In short, I’ll be a good Shinto Lord first,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied.

“Being a good Shinto Lord is not as simple as rushing to the front and fighting on the battlefield,” Ayako looked at him and said. This was the main purpose of her chat this time.

Minamoto Kiyomoto laughed and comforted his mother, “Don’t worry. I’m concentrating on digesting the Coral Demon Moth now. I won’t be as reckless as this year. And…”

He ate a slice of orange, enjoyed the sweet juice, and said, “Whether it’s for the practitioner world, or for you and Koyako, my life is the most important.”

“Hmm,” Ayako nodded. “Besides yokai, you also have to be careful of people. The more people who send gifts, the more people who want to harm you. The four floors of gifts mean there are four floors of people who want to pull you down.”

“I know,” Minamoto Kiyomoto finished the last orange and rubbed his somewhat sticky fingers.

“The Ichijo family and the Minamoto clan can be close, but you can’t give them your heart. These big families only care about benefits. Izayoi, Miko, and Rikka, the three of them are fine.”

“It sounds like you’re asking me to use them,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a laugh.

“Aren’t they using you? You silly boy!” Ayako scolded. “People use each other. Even we, mother and son, are no exception.”

“Oh?” Minamoto Kiyomoto became interested. “What do you want? I’ll get it for you.”

“I want you to be safe. I want to experience being a mother from you. I want my family to be happy.”

“How is that using?” Minamoto Kiyomoto laughed in spite of himself.

“Then it’s not. Since that’s the case, you don’t have to feel like you’re using them or feel burdened when you ask the three of them for help.”

“Yes, yes, I know. I won’t be polite, and I won’t be embarrassed.”

Speaking of this, Ayako sighed and took a sip of her tea.

“If I could,” she said, “I wouldn’t want you to have these messy thoughts. I just want you to live a happy and simple life. But you’ve entered that world, and these are necessary.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at his mother and felt her worry and concern for him.

“Mom, I’m very happy now,” he said with a smile.

Ayako nodded.

After a moment of silence, the meditation room was so quiet that even the sound of the waves could not be heard. It was quiet and peaceful.

“I heard about you from Izayoi,” Ayako said.

“What did she say?”

Ayako glanced at her son, “She said you insisted on marrying both of them at the same time.”

“What can I do? I like both of them. I hate to be indecisive and wander between the two of them. That’s just a coward. What’s more, if I’m not sure who I’ll be with, and I still say sweet words to both of them, that’s not only cowardly, but also cunning and irresponsible.”

“You’ve grown up and have your own ideas. Mom is too lazy to care about these things, but you have to remember—”

Ayako stared at her son’s black, gem-like eyes:
“Like is like, dislike is dislike. Don’t deceive others’ feelings.”

“Hmm, I understand.”

“Then what’s with Rikka and the Itomi sisters?”

“…It seems Izayoi said a lot.”

After the mother-son talk, Minamoto Kiyomoto walked out of the meditation room and ran into Himegami Izayoi, who was holding her clothes and preparing to take a bath.

“Koyako, you stop right there. How dare you complain about me!” he reached out to hug her.

“Ah!” Himegami Izayoi exclaimed, then laughed and fled to the bathroom.

“Open the door!”

“No! I’m taking a bath!”

“What bath? Come and chat.”

“No, I’ve been chatting all afternoon. I’m tired.”

“You have to chat even if you don’t want to!” Minamoto Kiyomoto said. “How dare you complain to my mom!”

“It was mother who asked me,” Himegami Izayoi said in an innocent tone.

“Alright, alright, it was mother who asked you. You open the door. Let’s take a bath together,” Minamoto Kiyomoto turned into the big bad wolf coaxing Little Red Riding Hood.

“Mother said just now that she won’t let me take a bath with you.”

“Nonsense. My mom has been with me all this time. When did she tell you that?”

“A mother-daughter telepathic connection.”

“Still telepathic? Quick, open the door.”

“No, no, just no.”

The two of them were separated by the bathroom door, like an uncle trying to trick a little girl into opening the door.

“Koyako, you open the door. I just ate an orange. I want to brush my teeth,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a low laugh.

“Alright.”

“Hmm?”

Before Minamoto Kiyomoto could react, the bathroom door suddenly opened. Himegami Izayoi grabbed his collar and pulled him in.

“Hey, wait, I’m playing… mmm!”

Himegami Izayoi covered his mouth with her hand and closed the bathroom door with her foot.

It was indeed Little Red Riding Hood and the big bad wolf, but the one who wanted to eat people was not Minamoto Kiyomoto!

Before Minamoto Kiyomoto could see anything clearly, he heard Himegami Izayoi’s charming and happy laughter, and then his lips were blocked.

After kissing for a while, the two of them separated.

“You really ate an orange,” Himegami Izayoi’s arms were wrapped around Minamoto Kiyomoto’s neck, and she said with a charming laugh.

“Would I lie to you?” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s arms were around her waist, tracing the curve of her back.

“Then alright, sister, I’ll ask you, you were in the bathroom with Miko for so long today. What were you doing?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“I was teaching her how to use the washing machine.”

“It took that long to teach?”

“I haven’t finished teaching her yet.”

“Oh?”

“The rest is my secret that I can’t pass on. I can’t teach her now. I can only teach you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s face was serious.

“The washing machine still has a secret that can’t be passed on?” Himegami Izayoi couldn’t help but laugh.

“Of course. You face me, your hands on it, and I’ll teach you.”

Himegami Izayoi giggled, her eyes hazy. She gently bit Minamoto Kiyomoto’s earlobe, “Is this how you use a washing machine?”

“One hundred percent!”

Minamoto Kiyomoto finished teaching Himegami Izayoi how to use the washing machine and, by the way, taught her how to use the toilet.

Her hand was in Minamoto Kiyomoto’s black hair, holding his head tightly, as if to press it into her chest.

Her eyelashes trembled, and her bright and seductive red lips kept murmuring.

Himegami Izayoi was indeed the Ise Miko, the Lord of Kyoto. She was much more progressive than the idle Kamibayashi Miko, and she learned as soon as she was taught.

“I told you I wasn’t lying. Is this how you use a washing machine?” after a round of teaching, Minamoto Kiyomoto lay in the hot tub, gently stroking Himegami Izayoi’s body in his arms.

“You bad little brother~” Himegami Izayoi hooked his wet head, her face against his neck, and said lazily.

“I’m going to get scolded when I go out,” Minamoto Kiyomoto calmed down, a little scared. He didn’t know how to face Ayako and Kamibayashi Miko’s gazes.

Himegami Izayoi snorted happily and said with a gloating laugh, “Anyway, I’ll just say that you were the one who wanted to take a bath with me and insisted on coming in.”

“Then I can only insist on coming in!”

“Ah! Don’t move around. My body is still sore!”

Her mouth would say what it would say. Amidst a burst of laughter that was either ticklish or seductive, her slender hands, covered in foam, gently slid down.

At the same time, she raised her head, offered her lips, and tossed and turned with Minamoto Kiyomoto in the water.

Her two long and smooth, beautiful legs, like a snake’s tail, kept rubbing against Minamoto Kiyomoto’s body.

I don’t know how long it took, but the washing machine, toilet, and bathtub teaching finally ended.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was wearing an old but comfortable T-shirt. Himegami Izayoi was wrapped in a long bathrobe, a belt tied around her slender waist. Her figure was graceful. After the teaching, she was even more charming and seductive.

The two of them walked towards the living room.

“You’re not going to sleep?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at Himegami Izayoi strangely and asked her in a low voice.

With her arrogant nature in the quilt and her shyness as a little girl outside the quilt, she should have gone straight back to sleep and pretended that nothing had happened when the sun rose tomorrow.

“I’m going to let them see!” Himegami Izayoi raised her fair chin.

Walking into the living room, the chatting crowd instantly fell silent and stared at them in unison.

Himegami Izayoi, who had been as proud as a swan just now, immediately hid behind Minamoto Kiyomoto and turned into a shy kitten.

“The… the bathroom is free,” Minamoto Kiyomoto was also a little unable to stand it.

“You didn’t catch a cold, did you?” Ayako asked with a smile.

“I’m in good health.”

“I’m asking Izayoi.”

“Cough.”

“No… no, it’s quite warm,” Himegami Izayoi’s fingers were in her belt, and then she touched her coiled hair.

Kamibayashi Miko was not eating oranges, just drinking tea. She looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto, who was standing there like he was being punished, and asked him, “Do you have anything to say?”

“It was he who insisted on taking a bath with me!” Himegami Izayoi pointed at Minamoto Kiyomoto and answered first.

“I’m asking him,” Kamibayashi Miko’s tone was plain.

“I can refuse anything, except…”

Before Minamoto Kiyomoto could say the word “you,” Kamibayashi Miko supplemented for him, “temptation.”

“I can refuse anything, except temptation—that’s philosophical!” Minamoto Kiyomoto nodded in agreement.

“Then I am—I can refuse any temptation, but I didn’t expect him to be tempted by me!” Himegami Izayoi followed.

“As expected of the Ise Miko, you’re quick-witted!” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“You’re not bad either, as expected of the Shinto Lord!” Himegami Izayoi returned the compliment.

The crowd was still looking at them. Even the blond princess, who was playing a game, took the time to glance at the two of them.

The two of them quieted down.

“Actually, nothing happened,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said. “She knew that I taught Miko how to use the washing machine, so she insisted that I teach her. Then she also taught the usage of the smart toilet and how to heat the water in the bathtub.”

“Hmm, hmm, the smart home appliances nowadays are really hard to use,” Himegami Izayoi had a troubled look.

“Then how do you heat the water in the bathtub?” Shirako asked while eating pistachios.

Himegami Izayoi secretly glanced at her. If it weren’t for Ayako, how could she, the dignified Lord of Kyoto, be bullied by a earth spirit!
“Uh, first press the switch, then press heat,” she said.

“It took that long to learn two buttons?” Noi asked without raising her head.

“You’re even dumber than Little Butterfly!” Little Butterfly was happily eating strawberries.

Besides oranges, the New Year was also the season for eating strawberries.

“…”

“Look, it’s all your fault,” Minamoto Kiyomoto turned his head to look at Himegami Izayoi. “You insisted on learning how to use the washing machine and dragged me into the bathroom!”

“What?! It was obviously you who kept knocking on the door, kneeling and begging me to let you in, and even said, ‘Koyako, you are a red plum in the snow, as exquisite as a Kyoto doll, as splendid as the printed silk on a Yuzen kimono’!”

“I…”

“It’s you! How can you be like this, you man? You dare to do it but not admit it?”

“It’s not him,” Kamibayashi Miko said lightly. “With his common sense, he wouldn’t know if a Kyoto doll is exquisite, let alone a Yuzen kimono or printed silk. He probably hasn’t even heard of them.”

Himegami Izayoi was stunned and froze.

“Mom~, they’re bullying me!” she cried and threw herself at Ayako, hugging her waist.

Ayako smiled and hugged her shoulder.

Minamoto Kiyomoto obediently burrowed into the kotatsu and sat next to Kamibayashi Miko.

“Miko still understands… oof!”

Kamibayashi Miko raised her hand and gave him a hand knife.