Chapter 194: New Year

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The six of them chatted in the living room, ate fruit, and then ate the exquisite snacks they had bought before.

It was almost noon when Shirako, Uehara Moe, and Noi came back.

They were carrying large and small bags, and it was unclear what was inside.

The Itomi sisters glanced at the three of them, their gazes fixed on Noi.

Long golden hair, a slender waist, a proud chest, a gorgeous dress, elegant and classical, with a fairytale beauty that transcended the secular world.

The two of them had never seen her before, but they could feel the aura of a shikigami on her.

“Kiyomoto-nii,” Uehara Moe threw her shopping bag at the entrance of the living room and walked over. “Just now when we were shopping, someone hit on Noi-nee!”

“What happened?” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s smile disappeared.

“It was an ordinary person. I beat him up with a flurry of punches,” Shirako punched the air.

Uehara Moe, unable to contain her excitement, said with admiration, “Shirako is so amazing! Those three hooligans were no match for her! It was just like a Hong Kong movie, so cool!”

“What’s so great about that, humph,” Shirako put her hands behind her back and puffed out her non-existent chest. “From 1970 to 1980, I joined a female junior high school biker gang. I fought from Tokyo to Chiba, then rode a motorcycle, waving a flag, along the coastline, all the way to Miyagi Prefecture.

“Then I crossed the county road, went over the mountains, and rushed down the hillside, defeating all the biker gangs in Iwate Prefecture and establishing an unshakable kingly status.

“After taking down Iwate Prefecture, covered in blood, I got tired of the biker gang life, returned to Tokyo, and handed over the position of leader to a cadre.”

At this point, she sighed…

“I still remember her name, Mina, a third-year student at Keika Girls’ Junior High School. She always wore a pleated skirt that reached her ankles and fought desperately. If she’s still alive, she should be, hmm—how old is she? Anyway, she’s an old woman now.”

Everyone in the living room looked at her.

Uehara Moe, at the fastest speed she could walk, quickly walked to the sofa and then sat down beside Minamoto Kiyomoto like a robot.

“Kiyomoto-nii,” she said, like an undercover agent exchanging information at a banquet in a movie, “Shirako, is she a chuunibyou?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto glanced at Shirako, who was reminiscing about the past, and also used the posture of an undercover agent exchanging information at a banquet, whispering in Uehara Moe’s ear:
“She’s in her first year of high school.”

Uehara Moe, as if she had heard a major piece of intelligence, frowned slightly and nodded seriously.

“What are you two whispering about?” Shirako was very sensitive to other people’s gazes, I don’t know if it was because of her experience as a biker gang member, or because she was short.

There are even biker gangs among practitioners? I’ve learned something new.

“Asking about studying!” Uehara Moe replied energetically.

“Studying?” Shirako stared at the two of them suspiciously.

“The bubble economy era,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a straight face.

The two of them had teamed up and told countless lies since they were young.

“What bubble?” Shirako was still not at ease, suspecting that they were talking bad about her.

“A kind of economic phenomenon that appeared in the late 1980s and early 1990s,” as expected of a candidate, Uehara Moe’s knowledge reserve was quite rich.

“How come I don’t know about any bubble during that time?”

“I’m going back first! My mom is calling me for dinner!” As expected of a member of the skateboard club, Uehara Moe slipped away quickly.

After she left, Noi also took various foods from the refrigerator, and one of them returned to the bedroom, her mind only on the game she had just bought.

Shirako looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“The people sitting in the living room now don’t know that the poor boy who served them fruit will be the ruler of the world in the future,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“Don’t be so narcissistic!” Himegami Izayoi said with a laugh while reading a book.

“Ruler of the world?” Itomi Sayaka said curiously.

Minamoto Kiyomoto opened his mouth to say something, but when the words reached his lips, he remembered that his mother was still beside him.

To not let her worry, he said in a joking tone, “Isn’t that what the prophecy said? How did it go?”

He looked at Kamibayashi Miko.

“Minamoto Kiyomoto, slaughters the nations, swallows the mountains and rivers, his might spreads across the four seas, and unifies the world,” Kamibayashi Miko said with a slight smile, holding a slice of orange elegantly.

“Right!” Minamoto Kiyomoto slapped his leg. “That’s it!”

“Nonsense,” Ayako scolded. “You believe whatever others say about you? When you go back to Tokyo tomorrow, there will be plenty of flattery, adulation, and praise waiting for you.”

“What flattery, adulation, and praise? I don’t listen to any of it. I only listen to mom,” Minamoto Kiyomoto was an obedient and good son.

Ayako was both amused and helpless.

“Going back tomorrow?” Itomi Sayaka caught a piece of information.

“Hmm,” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s heart was filled with reluctance to part with his mother, but he didn’t show it on his face. “According to the regulations, the Shinto Lord actually doesn’t have a New Year’s holiday. But I’m just starting out, and it takes time to transfer personnel and arrange the Tokyo Daijingu that was given to me.”

“You’re going to live in the Tokyo Daijingu?” Itomi Yuki asked curiously.

“I’ll work there, but I’ll still sleep at Hakusan Shrine.”

At this point, Minamoto Kiyomoto remembered something. He asked Himegami Izayoi, who was reading “The Great Encyclopedia of Pregnancy and Childbirth”:
“Koyako, after you go back, you should move to the shrine. It’s convenient to take care of you.”

“I’m not that delicate,” after she finished, Himegami Izayoi laughed. “But it’s good. It’s time to live together.”

“Have you asked for my permission?” the master of Hakusan Shrine, Kamibayashi Miko, asked the two of them.

“Don’t speak!” Himegami Izayoi reached out and stopped Minamoto Kiyomoto, who was about to speak. “I’ll deal with her.”

“You’ll deal with her?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her with confusion.

Himegami Izayoi took “The Great Encyclopedia of Pregnancy and Childbirth,” got up from the rocking chair, and walked to Kamibayashi Miko’s side.

Kamibayashi Miko was sitting on a single sofa. She squeezed in and sat down—with their slender figures, the single sofa even had some spare space.

“Sister, let’s look at it together, okay?” Himegami Izayoi spread open “The Great Encyclopedia of Pregnancy and Childbirth” and said to Kamibayashi Miko.

“Cough, cough, cough!”

Everyone looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto. Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his hand and signaled that he was fine, “I choked on an apple.”

Himegami Izayoi looked at him with amusement.

She withdrew her gaze and said to Kamibayashi Miko, who was still looking at Minamoto Kiyomoto, in a low voice, “Miko-nee, let’s look together?”

Kamibayashi Miko glanced at her and said nothing.

Himegami Izayoi flipped the book to the very beginning and pointed at the words on it, “Look, these are the things you need to pay attention to before pregnancy.”

Kamibayashi Miko subconsciously looked at the book.

“Preparing for pregnancy,” “best age for childbirth,” “best time for conception,” “best position for conception”… these words flew towards her eyes like bees.

She subconsciously looked away.

“What are you shy about!” Himegami Izayoi pulled her impatiently. “This is not for you, it’s for your child, for the next generation of divine mediums.”

“I’m still early,” Kamibayashi Miko pushed the book away and spoke to her in a retreating tone for the first time.

“What’s early? Let me see!” Himegami Izayoi handed over the book and spoke to her in a pressing tone for the first time.

“Lady Miko, look!” At some point, the former biker gang leader, Shirako, squatted on one side of the sofa, like a small dog standing on its hind legs, looking at Kamibayashi Miko with anticipation.

“No.”

“You can look!”

The three of them were fighting over “The Great Encyclopedia of Pregnancy and Childbirth.” On the other side, Itomi Sayaka and Minamoto Kiyomoto were talking about this year’s plan.

The duties of a Shinto Lord were, first, to dispatch practitioners to subjugate yokai;
Second, to resolve disputes between practitioners;

Third, to take the lead and deal with yokai or incidents that ordinary practitioners could not solve, such as Shikotsu Lake and the Shinto sect.

The right to reform that Minamoto Kiyomoto wanted was actually not in the hands of the Shinto Lord.

But humans always like to expand their power, wishing they could use the power of a teacup to catch the rain in the sky.

What’s more, the war between humans and yokai made the Shinto Lord similar to a general on an ancient battlefield, sometimes even having legislative and judicial power.

But there were also generals who followed orders and miscellaneous generals who followed orders. This all depended on how much talent Minamoto Kiyomoto could show and how many people would listen to him.

“Do you have any plans?” Itomi Sayaka asked.

“Let’s subjugate a few yokai first,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said. “It’s definitely not okay to not do anything practical, even if I have a county-level demon body.”

Itomi Sayaka nodded, “I’ll help you.”

“Thank you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto smiled slightly.

“Is there anything I can do?” Itomi Yuki asked hesitantly.

“You?” Itomi Sayaka glanced at her sister with disdain. “Study hard and train hard.”

Itomi Yuki subconsciously wanted to refute, but she couldn’t find a reason, so she could only look at Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“Study hard and make progress every day,” Minamoto Kiyomoto reminded with a smile.

Itomi Yuki was stunned for a moment and then sighed, “I know.”

Itomi Sayaka glanced at her sister and then said to Minamoto Kiyomoto, “By the way, what about Yuka and the others? They’re still locked up in Taiso-ji. When are you going to interrogate them and let them out?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto sized her up.

“Why are you looking at me, sister?” Itomi Sayaka covered her chest with both hands, looking like she was resisting but also tempting.

“I said, you came to pay me a New Year’s visit, took my things, ate my fruit, inquired about my intelligence, and even gave me a mission?”

If it were someone else—for example, Himegami Izayoi, who was forcing the Divine Medium to look at how to prepare for pregnancy—who said this, Itomi Sayaka would be vigilant and think: Am I dissatisfied with him? Have I asked for too much?

But she understood Minamoto Kiyomoto. He didn’t care about power. Saying this was more of a tease.

So she pushed her luck and said, “I’m not only going to take your things, eat your fruit, inquire about your intelligence, and give you a mission, but I’m also going to sleep at your house.”

Her gaze turned to Ayako, who was smiling and watching them chat.

“Mom, Yuki and I will sleep here tonight. Is it okay if we go to Tokyo with Kiyomoto-nii tomorrow?”

“Of course it’s okay. Treat this as your own home,” Ayako said with a smile.

“Mom,” Minamoto Kiyomoto whispered in her ear, “there’s no space.”

It was a whisper, but he didn’t hide it from the two sisters, because it was meant for them.

“How can there be no space in an inn?” Itomi Sayaka corrected Minamoto Kiyomoto’s thinking. “Isn’t it fine to just clean up a room downstairs?”

“The downstairs is full,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said again.

“Then you sleep on the sofa and give your room to your sister and sister-in-law,” Ayako ordered.

“The sofa?” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s mouth was open, like a three-year-old brother who wanted to hug his mother but his mother hugged his two-year-old sister.

“Let Kiyomoto sleep with Miko or Izayoi, isn’t that fine?” Itomi Sayaka pretended to be puzzled.

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s heart pounded, not with anticipation, but with danger.

On the single sofa, Kamibayashi Miko and Himegami Izayoi looked over.

“Sleep, sleep, sleep with Lady Miko! Right now… ooh~!” The shouting Shirako was hit on the head by Kamibayashi Miko.

Minamoto Kiyomoto glared at Itomi Sayaka, that person.

“Hmm?” Itomi Sayaka pretended to be stupid with him.

He looked at his mother again.

Ayako found it very amusing. She ate the exquisite little snacks, her exquisite and fair face making her look like a sister who was teasing her brother.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was like a yellow leaf about to fall in autumn. A slight breeze would make him tremble.

He suddenly had an idea.

“Why don’t the three of us just do it together?” he spread his hands, looking like it was no trouble at all.

“Okay,” the Hokkaido Miko, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said. “I’ll be last. I’ll see how you do it.”

“…”

Minamoto Kiyomoto was blown away by this cold wind from Hokkaido.

“The three of them he’s talking about,” Himegami Izayoi said, gently to the Hokkaido Miko, “are me, Miko, and himself, three people.”

“Then when is my turn?” the Hokkaido Miko asked, eating a blueberry.

She was not complaining, nor was she jealous. She really felt that there would be a day when she would sleep with Minamoto Kiyomoto, and now she was just confirming the date.

Itomi Yuki moved her gaze and murmured, “One, two, three, four, five.”

“What are you counting?” her sister, who was sitting beside her, turned her head and asked.

“Nothing,” Itomi Yuki turned her face away.

Itomi Sayaka smiled and sized up her sister.

Her sister felt that her sister was so annoying.

“Let’s do it this way,” Ayako’s face was serious, but her eyes were also smiling. “Kiyomoto, Koyako, and Miko sleep together. Sayaka, Yuki, you sleep in Koyako and Miko’s original rooms.”

“Mom!” Minamoto Kiyomoto called out.

“What’s wrong?” Ayako looked at her son. “You’re not willing?”

“You’re definitely my real mom! I love you!”

Ayako raised her hand and slapped her son—on the face, and then gently pushed him away.

“Nonsense!” she was both angry and amused.

After scolding her outspoken son, Ayako looked at Himegami Izayoi and Kamibayashi Miko.

“Koyako, Miko? Are you willing?” she asked with a gentle smile.

“I promise I won’t do anything!” Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his hand and swore. “We’ve slept together before. The RV on Mount Hakuba, the snowfield in Hokkaido, it’s nothing!”

He looked at the two of them with anticipation.

Everyone knew that things were not as simple as he said.

Planes, trains, ferries, and even buses, so many men and women slept together. This was nothing.

But the upcoming sleeping together, even if they did nothing, the meaning was completely different.

“What should we do?” Himegami Izayoi bit her lip and asked Kamibayashi Miko with a shy smile.

“Sleep, Lady Miko!” Miko was not in a hurry, but Shirako was. “If you’re afraid he’ll bully you, I’ll guard the door!”

“Hey, that’s not okay,” Minamoto Kiyomoto was more anxious than Shirako.

Ayako patted his leg and warned him with her eyes—whatever you want to do in the bedroom, do it. But in the living room, be pure for me.

Kamibayashi Miko pursed her lips, thought for a while, and finally made up her mind.

“You promise Ayako-san that you won’t do anything,” she said to Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“What auntie? Call me mom!” Ayako was extremely happy.

Kamibayashi Miko’s face turned red. She pretended to lower her head and look at the book. It said: “Does ‘standing upside down’ after sex make it easier to get pregnant?”.

She quickly flipped to the next page.

“Abstinence may not improve sperm quality”

She flipped to the next page again.

“~~ has nothing to do with the gender of the fetus”

What kind of book is this?!

Ayako looked at the shy Kamibayashi Miko, and a motherly feeling suddenly welled up in her heart. She thought Miko was cute and wanted to treat her as a daughter-in-law.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was speechless. He was afraid that if he spoke now, his voice would be very sharp.