Chapter 193: One Sister, One Sister

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Itomi Sayaka entered the wooden door of the inn and saw the mountain of gifts piled up in the lobby.

Even the space behind the counter where the cashier stood was full.

Through the gaps between the gift boxes, Itomi Yuki saw the price list on the wall and a painting with a haiku written on it.

She could vaguely make out the words “…the posture of the silk tree flower is sorrowful…”

“The Ise Miko’s dowry?” Itomi Sayaka pointed at the gifts and asked.

“I haven’t proposed yet, so where would the dowry come from? It’s from others, congratulating me on becoming the Honshu Shinto Lord,” Minamoto Kiyomoto closed the wooden door of the inn and replied.

“What’s in them?” Itomi Yuki said, curious about the gifts of the practitioners.

“I don’t know. If you’re interested, you can open them and see. Take whatever you like,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said nonchalantly.

Kamibayashi Miko made a sound—a slightly heavier nasal sound that only Minamoto Kiyomoto could hear.

“Is it okay, Miss Kamibayashi?” he asked for permission.

“Why are you asking me?” Kamibayashi Miko asked back with a strange look…

“Ahem,” Minamoto Kiyomoto seemed to be choked by dust and said to the Itomi sisters, “Take whatever you want.”

Itomi Yuki had already lost interest in these gifts.

Itomi Sayaka laughed at her sister for being too young. How could she be dissatisfied with such a small setback? How could she overcome difficulties?

This was not just a road full of thorns, but also a dark den where beasts roamed.

“Let me see!” Itomi Sayaka rolled up her sleeves and began to search with great interest.

“Sister!” Itomi Yuki felt too ashamed.

“What’s this? Sunglasses? No,” Itomi Sayaka shook open the instruction manual with one hand. “‘Gathering sunlight’, from the Onmyoryo. Boring.”

“Suitengu’s mother and child dog? This is for dad. Let him put it in the hospital. The pregnant women who come to give birth in the future will be safe!”

“Six small swords? Hmm—, ‘flying swords made of meteorites, with the divine soldier spell, the power is doubled’, this is good, for Chika!”

“Tengu mask, no divine power needed for flying.”

“Tanuki pills, one pill can turn you into a tanuki for twenty-four hours.”

“Shikigami deer antler, nourishes essence and blood, tonifies the kidney and strengthens…” Before she finished reading the instruction manual, Itomi Sayaka turned her head and asked Minamoto Kiyomoto, “Do you want it?”

“I am ambitious, furious, and endless,” without Ayako, Minamoto Kiyomoto was free.

Itomi Yuki turned her face slightly, blushing.

Kamibayashi Miko glanced at him.

“I didn’t say anything dirty,” Minamoto Kiyomoto put on an innocent look.

“Then it’s for my dad,” Itomi Sayaka tucked the shikigami deer antler under her arm.

“White snake powder, suppresses aging, for my mom.”

“Katsushika Hokusai’s beauty painting, speeds up the practice of the charm spell, for Yuka.”

“Dancing jade, sealed with ten dancing shikigami, requires very little divine power, hmm—, I’ll take it back for my sister to play with.”

Itomi Yuki wanted to refuse, but she was curious about the shikigami, so she acquiesced.

After a battle, Itomi Sayaka took nine boxes, two large and seven small.

“Can I really take them?” she confirmed with Minamoto Kiyomoto again.

“Of course,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a laugh.

Kamibayashi Miko’s reaction just now was not because she cared about these things, but because Minamoto Kiyomoto was going to give his things to others without her permission.

She had to control everything—without Ayako, she was also free.

“Yuki, come, help your sister carry some.”

“Sister, you’re really…”

Although she complained, Itomi Yuki still reached out and took some of the burden for her sister. Not only were there hers, but also for her parents.

Just like when parents go to a shrine to pray for their children and buy a protective charm, and when children go out, especially to a scenic spot, they will also think of buying gifts for their parents.

Although the things in her hands were not bought, her parents would definitely be happy to receive them.

To make her parents happy, Itomi Yuki endured this shame.

“By the way, Kiyomoto-kun,” Itomi Sayaka said as if she had just remembered, “this is not a betrothal gift, at most it’s our breakup fee. If you want to marry us sisters, you need at least two floors of gifts.”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Itomi Yuki couldn’t stand her sister.

Minamoto Kiyomoto also began to regret it.

The four of them went up to the second floor.

Itomi Sayaka looked at the corridor, which was also full, and then at the few gift boxes in her hand.

Minamoto Kiyomoto saw her thoughts and said, “Let’s choose again next time.”

“You said it.”

“I said it.”

They went up to the third floor.

It was also full.

“I’ve changed my mind. Two people, two floors, but we’re sisters, and there are special ways to play, so add another floor, three…”

“Sayaka!” Itomi Yuki was not just shy, but angry.

‘You,’ Tamahime, who was always spying on Minamoto Kiyomoto’s thoughts, sighed with doting and helplessness—and also a little like she was teasing.

‘It’s not like I can control it.’

‘Don’t think about these lewd things while talking to me.’

The sisters had many ways to play, and it was indeed worth a floor.

Amidst Tamahime’s scolding, the four of them came to the fourth floor.

It was also full.

Itomi Sayaka opened her red-lipsticked lips, preparing to say something. “Sister!” the two words had already been thrown out from Itomi Yuki’s crystal-clear, lip-balmed lips.

“Yuki, I’m here. You miss your sister so much.”

Itomi Yuki knew that she had been tricked by her sister again.

“These two sisters are very interesting,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said to Kamibayashi Miko, who was beside him, with a smile.

“You like them?” Kamibayashi Miko tilted her head and asked him with a smile.

“I was thinking, in the future, our children might also bicker with each other like this.”

“Who knows what you’re thinking.”

“Your dead mother can testify for me.”

‘I can testify that this little bastard has thought of dozens of ways to play with the sisters!’

‘Don’t talk nonsense! That was just now. I’m talking about now!’

Finally arriving at the fifth floor, they took off their shoes and walked a few steps in. What they saw was a spacious and bright living room.

The living room was roughly divided into three areas: the kotatsu area, the sofa area, and the dining table area.

Himegami Izayoi was sitting on the rocking chair by the floor-to-ceiling window in the sofa area.

On the small table beside the rocking chair, the freshly brewed tea was still steaming. The book she was reading was “The Great Encyclopedia of Pregnancy and Childbirth,” and the cover was a young mother with a big belly.

“Izayoi, Happy New Year!” Itomi Sayaka took the initiative to greet her.

“Happy New Year!” Itomi Yuki also followed with a sentence and bowed slightly.

Himegami Izayoi’s gaze shifted from “The Great Encyclopedia of Pregnancy and Childbirth.” She said “Happy New Year,” took a sip of her tea, and returned to the world of the book.

“Is she pregnant? I thought it was you,” Itomi Sayaka said to Kamibayashi Miko quietly.

She knew that Kamibayashi Miko didn’t like to talk and might ignore her, so she didn’t wait for Kamibayashi Miko’s reply and continued:

“Because I can see that Kiyomoto loves you more.”

“Kiyomoto loves Miko more?” the Hokkaido Miko held a plate of fruit, eating while walking out of the kitchen.

“Kiyomoto loves Miko more?” Himegami Izayoi put down her book.

“What ‘Kiyomoto loves Miko more’?” Ayako came out of the kitchen. She couldn’t allow Minamoto Kiyomoto to say he loved another woman more when Koyako was pregnant—soon to be.

She was not wearing a kimono today, but a white sweater, slim-fit jeans, and a cute apron. In her hand, she held the knife she had just used to cut fruit.

“What ‘what Kiyomoto loves Miko more’?” Minamoto Kiyomoto was stunned.

“I guessed wrong?” Itomi Sayaka was confused. “So you love Izayoi more.”

“…”

Himegami Izayoi picked up her tea cup and looked at this side with a smile.

Kamibayashi Miko laughed amusingly. She said to Ayako, “Auntie, this is Itomi Sayaka, and her sister Itomi Yuki. They are Kiyomoto’s friends.”

“Hello, Auntie. I’m Sayaka. I visited you in July. Happy New Year!” Being introduced to an elder, Itomi Sayaka had to give up the battle she had just won.

“Hello, Auntie. I’m Yuki. Happy New Year!” Itomi Yuki was a little shy for some reason, her eyes darting around.

“Happy New Year!” Ayako showed a gentle and cheerful smile.

“Auntie, you’re still so young. Every time I see you, I still think you’re Kiyomoto’s sister!”

“I’m old!” Ayako’s smile became more natural.

“Not at all. Look at your skin, it’s so firm! And this waist, oh my god, isn’t it thinner than mine!”

Itomi Sayaka casually stuffed the things in her hand to her weak sister and went to hug Minamoto Kiyomoto’s mother’s waist with both hands.

“Haha, it tickles. Stop it!”

Counting the greeting, it was only three sentences, and the two of them were already as harmonious as sisters.

Is this the social skill of a hospital’s young lady?
“Why did you still bring gifts? It’s so much trouble!” Ayako looked at the things Itomi Yuki was holding and said with a laugh.

“This… how should I say this,” the sister stammered, muttered, and even coughed into her hand.

Itomi Yuki buried her face in the gifts in her hands, so ashamed.

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s expression was complicated. He didn’t know whether to laugh or not.

The white-haired仙藻Miko ate the fruit on the plate and entered a learning state. She was learning from Itomi Sayaka.

“Rikka,” Himegami Izayoi suddenly said.

“Hmm,” Rikka looked over.

The attention of the others was also drawn over.

“If I’m not mistaken,” Himegami Izayoi put down her tea cup and tapped her fingers on the armrest of the rocking chair, “the fruit you’re eating should be my fruit.”

The Hokkaido Miko looked down at the plate in her hand. It was a variety of washed and cut fruits, a small amount, but a rich variety.

It was for her new baby.

“Hmm,” Rikka picked up a blueberry and put it in her mouth.

“Then you’re still eating?” Himegami Izayoi asked.

“It’s delicious,” the Hokkaido Miko took another strawberry that had been peeled in half.

“Rikka wants to eat, so let her eat. Koyako, I’ll prepare another one for you!” Ayako said with a smile to comfort her.

“Mom, you sit down and rest. I’ll go,” Minamoto Kiyomoto stopped his mother, and regardless of her objection, directly took off her apron and put it on himself.

Kamibayashi Miko reached out and tied the strings behind him.

“How is it? Do I look the part?” Minamoto Kiyomoto showed off the apron-wearing Minamoto Kiyomoto to them.

“Like an eel squeezing into a snail shell,” Itomi Yuki gave a pertinent evaluation.

“…”

A burst of laughter came from the living room. Minamoto Kiyomoto, wearing a small apron, did indeed look like an eel that had barely squeezed into a snail shell.

“Humph,” Minamoto Kiyomoto snatched the fruit knife from his mother’s hand, beat them all up in his heart, and then went to the kitchen proudly.

“By the way, prepare a little more. We also want to eat,” Ayako ordered.

“I know!”

Shirako was not in the kitchen.

She, as well as Noi, had gone out to play with Uehara Moe, who had come to pay a New Year’s visit in the morning.

Uehara Moe had red envelope money. With an air of wanting to buy the whole of Tokyo, she took a ferry to Shikoku Island to contribute to the economy of Kagawa Prefecture.

By the way, Shirako had more money on her than Minamoto Kiyomoto, and so did Noi.

Minamoto Kiyomoto washed his hands and began to handle the fruits, filling five plates.

“The fruits are here,” he held two in one hand and one on his head.

“Serve them in two batches,” Kamibayashi Miko said.

“Why not just use divine power at home?” At the same time, Himegami Izayoi said with a smile.

Minamoto Kiyomoto ignored them.

“Here, this is yours,” he placed the four plates in his hand in the middle of Ayako, Kamibayashi Miko, Rikka, and the Itomi sisters.

Then he walked to the rocking chair where Himegami Izayoi was, and took down the fruit plate like taking off a laurel crown.

“Koyako, this is yours,” he said.

“Yours?” Himegami Izayoi was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.

She used the opened “Great Encyclopedia of Pregnancy and Childbirth” to cover her delicate nose and bright lips, leaving only a pair of eyes that were smiling into crescents.

The bright sunlight, the blue Seto Inland Sea, the floor-to-ceiling window that had just been cleaned a few days ago, and the laughing Himegami Izayoi.

If only she wasn’t holding “The Great Encyclopedia of Pregnancy and Childbirth.”
It doesn’t matter if it’s “The Great Encyclopedia of Pregnancy and Childbirth.” It still has an enchanting charm.

Minamoto Kiyomoto took off his apron, sat down on the sofa next to his mother, and Ayako handed him an apple with a toothpick stuck in it.

Minamoto Kiyomoto took it, ate it, and said, “Mom, Yuki is my sworn sister. You can treat her as your daughter.”

Itomi Yuki was stunned. At this time, she had no time to think about whether she could be a wife if she was a sister.

She was thinking—should she call her mom?

“A sister? Okay!” Ayako smiled from the bottom of her heart. “I’ve always wanted a daughter. When Kiyomoto was little, I dressed him in a skirt and dressed him up as…”

“Ayako-san, my mother, how many times are you going to say this!” Minamoto Kiyomoto threw the toothpick on the table with hatred, the force of which was probably the same as pinching a mosquito without killing it.

“That’s true. He’s going to be a father. We can’t mention wearing a skirt anymore,” Ayako agreed very much.

Minamoto Kiyomoto picked up another piece of apple, chewed it, and stared at his mother, straight.

Ayako ignored him and said to Yuki, “Yuki, you can call me mom or mother from now on.”

Itomi Yuki hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice, “…Mother.”

This sentence was like a stone thrown into the water. The smile on Ayako’s face was like the ripples stirred up by the stone, slowly spreading.

“Then am I also Ayako-mama’s daughter?” Itomi Sayaka looked surprised.

“Sure!” Ayako was not picky at all, not at all like her clean-living son who only married two.

“Mother~” Itomi Sayaka immediately called out.

“Good girl! Here, red envelopes for you!” Ayako didn’t know where she got two Japanese white “red envelopes.”

“Thank you, mother (mom),” the Itomi sisters took them, one smiling and the other shy.

‘Kasen, one,’ Himegami Izayoi ate the fruit and enjoyed the scene of a loving mother and filial daughter, sneering in her heart.

Itomi Yuki might be simple, but her sister, half of the reason was gratitude to Minamoto Kiyomoto, and a small part was for his strength. The rest was true feelings.
A person who has been in the Shinto sect for so many years, even if not deliberately, will subconsciously befriend the strong.
This is not wrong. She also tried to play the role of a good daughter-in-law with Ayako, but this did not prevent her from looking down on others who did so.
As for Ayako, she might really want a beautiful daughter for Itomi Yuki, but for Itomi Sayaka, she was interested in her Kasen’s strength.
The above is the speculation of the Lord of Kyoto. She is a firm supporter of conspiracy theories.

“I’m so happy to have two beautiful daughters at once this year!” I don’t know if Ayako, who said this, still remembered her first daughter, Minamoto Kiyomoto’s little water sister—the Suitengu Miko.

“Yes, her eyes are sparkling, and her cheeks are rosy,” Himegami Izayoi praised with a gentle expression she had never had before.

Minamoto Kiyomoto did not take a stand, just silently ate the fruit.

“Right?” But, Himegami Izayoi did not let him go. She asked him with a smile.

In this harmonious atmosphere like the descent of a goddess, Minamoto Kiyomoto became alert.

“Is that so?” he seemed to have just come back to his senses from eating.

“You didn’t see it?” Himegami Izayoi turned her head to look at him.

Kamibayashi Miko’s beautiful face, as clear as a fairy, also turned to this side.

“It’s rude to stare at others,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a laugh. “I only stare at people I can stare at.”

This was unfair to the Itomi sisters, and even very rude, but women wanted neither fairness nor politeness. They wanted your unreasonable support like a hydraulic press.

Himegami Izayoi and Kamibayashi Miko looked at each other and both found it a little amusing—this was the tolerance that came after their sense of security was guaranteed.

If Minamoto Kiyomoto also praised the Itomi sisters, the two of them would also laugh, but it would be the laugh of a hydraulic press slowly crushing someone.

In short, if you don’t support her like a hydraulic press, she will deal with you like a hydraulic press—this was the Honshu Shinto Lord’s insight into women on the first day of the new year.