Chapter 20: The Anti-Aging Curse

From Hakusan Shrine to the Hongo campus of the University of Tokyo, it only takes 10 minutes by train.

Neither of them managed to get a seat, but the carriage was not crowded at this time. They leaned against the doors on the left and right.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was reading “Human Anatomy,” while Kamibayashi Miko was reading a French novel. She was a student in the Department of Language and Culture in the Faculty of Letters.

When the train was running on the ground, the early spring sunlight would pass through the glass of the train doors and caress their handsome or beautiful cheeks.

When they arrived at the school, the two of them walked along the ginkgo avenue, turned right through the Faculty of Law and Letters Building 2, and separated in front of the Faculty of Letters Building 3. The Faculty of Medicine was further east.

In front of the laboratory, Minamoto Kiyomoto put on a white coat and disinfected his hands.

“Minamoto,” Professor Takamine, who was in charge of cell biology and anatomy, walked over.

“Professor,” Minamoto Kiyomoto greeted while disinfecting his hands.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” Professor Takamine suddenly asked.

“No, why do you ask?”

“A university classmate of mine,” although Professor Takamine was not very obvious, he lowered his voice, “he has a daughter who graduated two years ago.”

“Graduated two years ago? 26 years old?”

The undergraduate program in the Faculty of Medicine was six years.

Minamoto Kiyomoto did not directly say that he did not want a girlfriend now, but only revealed the meaning of “an older sister type is not good.”

“She is a little older than you, but she’s only older than you by… how old are you this year?”

“Twenty, she’s six years older than me.”

“She’s only six years older. Her family has a private hospital in Chiba Prefecture. They just opened a rehabilitation department not long ago, and it’s thriving. He begged me to find a doctor for his daughter to take over the hospital in the future.”

Professor Takamine, with a full head of white hair, showed the expression of an izakaya uncle.

“Doesn’t his family have a son?”

“No, two daughters,” Professor Takamine made a peace sign.

“Can’t he just find a doctor in the hospital? I’m only a third-year student. It’s not certain whether I can become a doctor in the future.”

“I’m telling you, you will definitely become a great doctor, and—” Professor Takamine emphasized, “you will become the hospital director.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto couldn’t help but laugh, amused by this short, witty professor.

“Want to meet her?” Professor Takamine took the opportunity to say. “With this relationship, you can achieve more than half of your life’s dreams after graduation, and have the time and money to pursue higher medicine.”

“Will she even like me?”

“My old classmate also recommended many doctors to his daughter, but she found them all too ugly and too old. After I found out, I immediately recommended you, told them your grades, and then showed them your photo. The other party immediately agreed to meet.”

“Professor Takamine, actually I…”

“I’ll let you do the local dissection today.”

“Professor, I really…”

“The hospital recently mentioned the scholarship, 50,000 yen a month. I don’t know if you’re short of money.”

“…”

“Just meet her, just meet her!” Professor Takamine held up his index finger.

“Alright.”

Professor Takamine’s expression relaxed, and he said, “This old classmate’s daughter has been wandering around Tokyo since she graduated. Her father couldn’t stand it anymore and urged her to get married quickly.”

“Professor, don’t have too high hopes for this blind date.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto was not repulsed by such a girl, but he himself was chaste—at least so far—so he hoped his other half would also be chaste.

“Wandering around doesn’t mean doing bad things. It’s just a meeting. If it doesn’t work out, you can’t force it, right? The girl is very cute,” Professor Takamine pulled out a photo from inside his white coat.

Minamoto Kiyomoto took it and looked. The woman in the photo was holding a glass of whiskey and looking at the camera helplessly.

She had delicate short hair, snow-white skin, and the fingers holding the glass were also very slender. She was a woman who was still youthful but had a slightly older sister-like temperament.

She was very beautiful, only a little less so than Kamibayashi Miko and Himemiya Izayoi.

What kind of doctor couldn’t a person like this find? What too old, too ugly, was probably just an excuse not to get married.

However, Minamoto Kiyomoto was also happy that the other party was such a person.

“Behind, behind,” Professor Takamine was disinfecting his hands and gestured to Minamoto Kiyomoto with his chin.

He turned it over and saw a phone number, as well as Line and Instagram accounts.

“Remember to contact her proactively. Her name is Itomi Sayaka.”

“Got it.”

Professor Takamine entered the laboratory first. Minamoto Kiyomoto put away the photo and disinfected his hands a second time.

“What did the professor want with you just now?” At this time, Asana and Inaba walked over, arm in arm.

“He wants me to do the dissection later.”

“Eh?” Asana said in surprise. “As expected of Minamoto-kun, you’re highly regarded by the professor. It’s only just the beginning of the semester.”

“But, Minamoto-kun,” Inaba on the side said with a smile, “no matter how many times I see you, you’re still too handsome in a white coat. If you do the dissection, everyone won’t be afraid and will treat this class as a uniform show.”

“My hands are also very nimble. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied.”

“Pervert,” the two girls laughed and hit him.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was not only nimble with his hands, but his professional knowledge was also very solid.

“Can you tell the cause of death?” Professor Takamine asked, standing by the side.

Before them was the corpse of a young woman.

There was subcutaneous bleeding on the left waist, severe soft tissue contusions and bruises on the middle and lower part of the left thigh, and an open wound on the calf.

Minamoto Kiyomoto checked the backs of both hands and found a large amount of subcutaneous bleeding.

“It should be a car accident,” he said.

“Can you see any details of her life before death?” Professor Takamine asked again.

Minamoto Kiyomoto checked again, shook his head, and said:

“I only know that there are no calluses on her palms, so she probably wasn’t a manual laborer before she died. Her teeth are neat, and there is no dental calculus, so she had the habit of brushing her teeth frequently.”

This class only dissected the abdominal organs. The next class would dissect the thoracic organs.

Before the class ended, Professor Takamine praised Minamoto Kiyomoto for a long time because his hand was very steady when he cut open the stomach, and he also used the scalpel very well.

“Everyone should also work hard. Starting from the next class, everyone will be divided into groups of four, with one cadaver per group. At the end of the semester, you will have to submit a report, detailing the deceased’s state before death, the specific cause of death, and what diseases they had before death.”

After cleaning the classroom and disinfecting, although it was lunchtime, no one had much of an appetite.

A group of people surrounded Minamoto Kiyomoto and asked him about the difference in feel and psychological difference between dissecting a human body and dissecting a frog, a mouse, and a rabbit before.

“There’s no difference,” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s tone was very calm.

This was not the first time he had pierced a human body with a knife, and he had even ended a life with his own hands.

But whether it was this time or last time, the ultimate goal was to save people.

“Wow, Minamoto-kun’s eyes are so cool,” Inaba said, half in admiration, half in jest.

“Is this called stern?” Asana sized up the snow-white, calm-faced Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“He’ll definitely become a star doctor in the future!” This was the unanimous opinion of the two.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was thinking that if this dissection class had been earlier, he might not have felt psychologically uncomfortable when he killed someone last time.

But it was precisely because of the last mission that he was able to hold the scalpel steady this time and be calm during his first dissection.

There were connections everywhere in life. Even the rules of getting on and off a train could reflect the philosophy of life.

Minamoto Kiyomoto spent half an hour going back to Hakusan Shrine, took a bath in the stream, and then went to immunology class in the afternoon.

In the eyes of everyone, he was still a diligent and motivated good student.

After dinner, he ran to the Faculty of Letters for a special French literature class from 6:45 to 8:30.

In the hazy night and lights, Kamibayashi Miko sat in the front row by the window, and Himemiya Izayoi was right next to her.

Minamoto Kiyomoto could only sit next to Himemiya Izayoi.

Today’s lecture was on Balzac and his novel “The Lily of the Valley.”

The lecturer talked at length about heartbreak, deep thought, pessimism and despair, and unforgettable sorrow.

Minamoto Kiyomoto took out his notebook and wrote on it:

“Izayoi, do you know about the ‘anti-aging curse’?”

He poked Himemiya Izayoi’s slender wrist with his pen. Only then did she retract her gaze from the blackboard and look at him in confusion.

Minamoto Kiyomoto knew that she had long noticed him writing a small note, but she was just pretending not to see it.

She took the notebook, glanced at it, and wrote on it as if she were reviewing a document:

“I know.”

“Actually, I have an idea. This curse is self-restraining, but people are never satisfied and want to become more beautiful and better. So can it be changed so that someone else casts the curse on you? A woman will never hope that another woman will become more beautiful, right?”

“No.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the two big “no’s” and replied with a “?”.

The lecturer was again saying in French with tears in his eyes:
“A genius suffocated in tears, a misunderstood soul, the unknown sanctity of Clarissa Harlowe, an abandoned child, an innocent exile…”

Minamoto Kiyomoto, who happened to hear this sentence, had to admit—the French were indeed pretentious.

“There is also righteousness between women.”

“Righteousness? I’m talking to you about the anti-aging curse!”

“I’m also talking to you about the curse. Not to mention whether it’s possible for someone else to cast the ‘anti-aging curse,’ even if it is, there is also righteousness between women.”

“What exactly is ‘righteousness between women’?”

“You fall in love with a geisha and are about to commit suicide with her. I write a letter to her, telling her that without you, my child and I will be very miserable. Out of righteousness between women, the geisha lies to you that she doesn’t like you anymore and breaks up with you.”

“…Then find a woman without righteousness. Whether it’s a man or a woman, there are definitely more people without righteousness than with righteousness.”

“Oh, right.”

“Are you playing with me?”

“No,” when Minamoto Kiyomoto read this, Himemiya Izayoi showed him a mischievous smile and even winked her right eye.

“Wherever I go, I am met with cold eyes, closed hearts, and blocked ears,” the lecturer said with a pained expression, as if it were his own personal experience.

“Ask Miss Kamibayashi. If my proposal is feasible, we can talk about it after class.”

“I said you were having an affair with a geisha, and you didn’t even deny it.”

“…I’ve never seen a geisha in my life.”

“When you have the chance to go to Kyoto, I’ll take you to see one. I’ll find you the most beautiful one.”

“Thank you, but let’s talk about the ‘anti-aging curse’ first.”

“Oh, right.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto held the notebook, not knowing how to reply.

You know, but you won’t give it to Kamibayashi Miko? This witch.

He wrote in his notebook:

“Miss Kamibayashi, please look at the chat history.”

Himemiya Izayoi took the notebook, glanced at it, and while quietly pushing the notebook to Kamibayashi Miko, who was staring out the window in a daze, she reached out to pinch Minamoto Kiyomoto’s leg.

Minamoto Kiyomoto bent his body to dodge, but she also bent over and reached out her hand.

Kamibayashi Miko, who was distracted in class, after getting the notebook, first glanced at the two who were bent over, then looked at it from top to bottom.

After looking at it for about twenty seconds, she picked up her pen and began to write.

“But don’t be discouraged!” the lecturer continued in French. “A heart is open to you, an ear listens to you, a look answers you. The unfortunate years can be wiped away in a day.”

“These are all ties that bind our hearts together.”

Kamibayashi Miko finished writing her reply, looked at the teacher with both eyes, and pushed the notebook from under her right wrist to Himemiya Izayoi with her left hand.

After Himemiya Izayoi finished reading the notebook, she stared at the teacher with both eyes, repeated Kamibayashi Miko’s action, and pushed the notebook to Minamoto Kiyomoto.

Minamoto Kiyomoto hadn’t started reading yet.

“Let’s have a student talk about their views on the ‘heart’,” the lecturer’s gaze fell on Minamoto Kiyomoto, whom he had noticed for a long time. “This student.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto pursed his lips. He heard Himemiya Izayoi’s stifled laughter beside him.

“The heart,” he started his brain, choosing his words carefully, “is everything about a person besides their body.”

“Not bad,” although Minamoto Kiyomoto was fidgeting in class, the lecturer still praised him. “The heart, the life of life! We…”

Minamoto Kiyomoto kept his head still, his gaze lowered.

“1. The proposal for the ‘anti-aging curse’ can be tried; 2. The righteousness between women: from the Joruri play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, which I just learned this morning.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto no longer passed notes and listened to the lecture seriously, treating it as the last relaxation before his evening cultivation.

It was not very interesting.

After a whole class, he only remembered one sentence:

“My eyes were captivated by two full and snow-white shoulders. I really wanted to roll around on those shoulders.”

He couldn’t understand why “two,” “full,” and “snow-white” were used to describe “shoulders.”

Did Balzac like shoulders?—Perhaps this was the biggest gain from this class.

After class at 8:30, the three of them discussed the improvement of the ‘anti-aging curse’ on the European-style marble corridor of the Faculty of Letters.

“Miss Kamibayashi, first tell me about the curse you used to treat me last time. It was cast on someone else.”

“Ten million yen.”

“…Are you serious?”

“I’m kidding,” Kamibayashi Miko said. “That’s the ‘Young Thunder’ of the Eight Divine Thunders. It can’t be passed on casually. When you’re proficient with ‘Great Thunder,’ I’ll teach you for free.”

“I have the ‘Fire Thunder’ of the Eight Divine Thunders here. Want to exchange?” Himemiya Izayoi said with a smile.

Kamibayashi Miko glanced at her, “No need. I can tell you a curse that can be cast on others, similar to the ‘anti-aging curse’.”

She spoke, and Minamoto Kiyomoto wrote it down.

After that, Himemiya Izayoi also mentioned one, and Minamoto Kiyomoto also recorded it in his notebook.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was responsible for recording everyone’s every thought. Himemiya Izayoi said whatever came to her mind.

Kamibayashi Miko usually spoke very little and would only say something after careful consideration.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was the top student in all of Japan. He was a smart person, and his ideas were wild and imaginative. Although he was a beginner, the ideas he proposed were very referential.

The other two, one was a Divine Miko, and the other was the miko of the number one shrine in the world. The two of them together might not be the strongest combination, but their knowledge of curses was definitely in the top three.

On the campus where the night wind blew, in the lights, the three of them sometimes frowned, sometimes smiled, sometimes shook their heads frequently, sometimes argued, sometimes were silent together, and sometimes listened to one of them talk at length.

Kamibayashi Miko suddenly took the notebook from Minamoto Kiyomoto’s hand and sat on the low, wide wall of the corridor.

She spread the notebook on her lap and wrote a few sentences on it.

A burst of noise came from the corridor, and a group of people were bantering and playing.

“Come and see,” Kamibayashi Miko said in a low voice.

Minamoto Kiyomoto bent over and leaned towards the notebook.

He smelled the fragrance of Kamibayashi Miko’s black hair, which was fluttering in the night wind, and saw her snow-white, delicate neck under the lights.

“It seems feasible,” he looked at it for a while and whispered.

“Let me see,” hearing the voice, Himemiya Izayoi came back to her senses from her deep thought and leaned over. Another burst of fragrance came.

The three of them put their heads together.

“It really works!” Himemiya Izayoi said excitedly. “It’s a success!”

“The only thing left is the curse method,” Kamibayashi Miko’s face showed a look of contemplation. “No matter how you improve it, you still need someone else’s divine power to enter your own capacity.”

“That’s difficult,” Minamoto Kiyomoto was also thinking. “Someone who doesn’t want you to become more beautiful will not entrust their life to the other person.”

Letting someone else’s divine power enter one’s capacity, which was like a soul, was equivalent to entrusting one’s life and death to the other person.

But the anti-aging curse required the other person to be someone who did not want them to become more beautiful and better, that is, someone who did not like them.

The two were contradictory.

Himemiya Izayoi looked at the frowning and thinking Minamoto Kiyomoto and suddenly said with a smile, “You don’t think that when divine power enters one’s capacity, only one’s life is threatened, do you?”

“Isn’t it?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her.

“When a person injects their divine power into another person’s capacity, if that person is smart enough, they can know everything about the other person. What kind of person they are, what kind of decisions they will make in what kind of situations, all of these can be known.”

“It’s not so bad, it’s not as bad as handing over your phone,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said jokingly, glancing at Kamibayashi Miko.

Kamibayashi Miko’s face was expressionless.

She was a smart person, so she knew the reason why Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t take this to heart—he had enough confidence in himself. Even if others understood him, he didn’t care.

But she couldn’t completely read Minamoto Kiyomoto.

For example, trust. He said he trusted her and didn’t take the matter of divine power entering his capacity to heart. Besides arrogance, was there trust in it?
Or was he deliberately making her think this way, making her think that it didn’t matter if she knew what kind of person he was?

“Aren’t you afraid that others will know you as well as you know yourself?” Himemiya Izayoi asked Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“The premise is that they are beauties like the two of you. Men don’t count. No, everyone else is not allowed.”

“You were just thinking of Kamibayashi Miko, weren’t you?” Himemiya Izayoi slowly moved closer.

“No.”

“Farewell,” Himemiya Izayoi extended her index finger.

The index finger, which lit up with a red light, was like a scorpion’s stinger.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his hands in surrender.

Himemiya Izayoi glanced at him in annoyance, giving him a look that said, ‘Do you dare to do it again?’

“If there were no demonic beasts, and everyone could live happily like this, concentrating on studying curses, how wonderful would that be,” Kamibayashi Miko suddenly said.

“Naive,” Himemiya Izayoi’s eyes, which were warning Minamoto Kiyomoto, glanced at her. “Without demonic beasts, ordinary people would only be more miserable.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto glanced at the two of them and couldn’t help but say with a smile, “Even the two of you can argue. There really can’t be peace in this world. I do have a solution that is not a solution.”

“Let’s hear it,” Himemiya Izayoi lifted her snow-white chin.

“Everyone listens to me,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said. “If I say no arguing, then no arguing. What I say goes.”

“Shall we go to the pond?” Kamibayashi Miko tilted her head.

“…What you say goes.”

After saying this, Minamoto Kiyomoto clapped his hands and said, “Look, peace has appeared. As long as one is strong enough, and the strong person yearns for peace, the world can be at peace.”

“Peace without power is powerlessness, and power without peace is violence. But there is no guarantee that a person with power has peace. It is indeed a solution that is not a solution,” Kamibayashi Miko said.

“Incisive, as expected of someone from the Faculty of Letters. A medical student like me could never say such a thing in my life.”

“What can a medical student say?”

“What’s your name? How old are you? What are your height, weight, and bust measurements? Do you have any chronic diseases? Have you ever had high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, or asthma? What medications do you usually take? Have you had any surgery before? Are you allergic to anything?”

“So long-winded?”

“There are also simple ones.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Lend me a pen. Where’s my pen? Who borrowed my pen?”

“What!” Himemiya Izayoi laughed out loud.

In the hazy lights, Kamibayashi Miko also smiled.

Neither of them proposed to cast the ‘anti-aging curse’ on the other.

Thank you to [Hui Shan Zi Yi] for being a patron.

Thank you all for your rewards, monthly tickets, and recommendation tickets.

(End of Chapter)