Chapter 26: Visiting

On a sunny Sunday evening at the end of April.

“To see an angel every day, besides heaven, this is the only place.” Minamoto Kiyomoto walked through the Japanese-style room and onto the corridor.

On the corridor, Kamibayashi Miko, wearing a miko outfit and with her hair tied in a bun, sat under the wind chime.

“Such sweet words, Young Master Kiyoshi,” beside Kamibayashi Miko, Himemiya Izayoi, wearing a yukata, leaned against a pillar, fanning herself and looking at Minamoto Kiyomoto with a smile.

“You’re here. I was just about to look for you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a smile.

“Looking for me? You have to pass by my place to get here. Why didn’t you come in?” Himemiya Izayoi tilted her head and asked with a smile.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the sky, “I came down with the wind.”

“Oh, with the wind,” Himemiya Izayoi nodded, a smile always on her face, her fan swaying and gently tapping her chest.

“This fan is really beautiful,” Minamoto Kiyomoto changed the subject. “But isn’t it cold?”

“Miko is an angel, but when it comes to me, it’s just that the fan is beautiful?”

“…” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at Kamibayashi Miko. Kamibayashi Miko was arranging the flowers by her side, practicing flower arrangement.

“Sigh,” Himemiya Izayoi sighed.

She closed her folding fan, one rib at a time, and said, “A fan is not for cooling down. Just as a weapon gives one courage, a fan can make one pay attention to their words and actions and cultivate an elegant temperament.”

“Big sister Izayoi still knows a lot. One can tell you come from a scholarly family,” Minamoto Kiyomoto sat down behind the two miko.

“Not as good as your Miss Kamibayashi.”

Before Minamoto Kiyomoto could speak, Himemiya Izayoi stared at him with a smile in her eyes and said, “After all, someone would rather come here with the wind than go to my place, which is just a wall away.”

“Climbing over the wall, wouldn’t that make me a pervert? Big sister, you know a lot. Tell me about the Genjo Biwa. I can also help you look for it,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a smile.

“Pah!” Himemiya Izayoi said amusedly, “Are you trying to help me? Change the subject.”

“Of course I want to help you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s tone and expression were very sincere.

“You little liar,” Himemiya Izayoi tapped her slender shoulder with her folded fan, her posture elegant and leisurely, with a moving charm.

She said in a melodious voice:

“The Genjo Biwa is a secret treasure of the successive Lords of Kyoto, passed down from the Tang Dynasty. As for its appearance, the ‘Hukin Kyokuroku Ge’ has a record: ‘Purple sandalwood straight shell, the belly of the qin is made of three parts salt ground’.”

“Is there anything special about it?” Minamoto Kiyomoto was originally changing the subject, but now he was really interested.

“This is also recorded.”

“Still in the ‘Hukin Kyokuroku Ge’?”

“Stupid,” Himemiya Izayoi tapped Minamoto Kiyomoto’s head with her folding fan. “The ‘Konjaku Monogatarishu,’ Volume 24, says, ‘This Genjo is like a living being. If a person with poor skills plays it, it will be angry and not make a sound; if it is covered with dust and has not been played for a long time, it will also be angry and not make a sound. Once, there was a fire, and people could not take it out in time, but the Genjo actually came out of the courtyard by itself.’ There are too many legends, I can’t remember them all.”

“It sounds extraordinary,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“It’s about the same as your ‘Polaris’.”

“A clothes-drying pole is that powerful?” Minamoto Kiyomoto was taken aback.

“Without the corresponding curse, of course it’s not powerful,” Himemiya Izayoi said.

“Miss Kamibayashi?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at Kamibayashi Miko, who was trimming the flower branches.

“Do you think if I had it, I wouldn’t give it to you?” Kamibayashi Miko cut off the root of a flower with a “click.”

“That’s true,” Minamoto Kiyomoto nodded.

Himemiya Izayoi smiled and continued, “All powerful weapons are the same. Even the number one flute in the world, ‘Ha-ni,’ requires the musical score ‘Suzaku-raku’.”

“The number one flute in the world?” Minamoto Kiyomoto was ignorant of these things and was very interested.

It was really great to have Himemiya Izayoi move in.

He decided that when he was tired of cultivating in the future, he would climb over the wall to find her and ask about these secret and interesting stories.

“The name ‘Ha-ni’ is like ‘Polaris.’ It was given to it by a later owner. Its original name was ‘Suzaku’.”

“Since it’s the number one in the world, it must have its powerful points. Big sister, tell me about it,” Minamoto Kiyomoto moved closer.

Himemiya Izayoi glanced at him.

“The city of Kyoto was built according to the principles of yin-yang and the five elements. In the north, there is Mount Funaoka, the Black Tortoise; in the east, there is the Kamo River, the Azure Dragon; in the south, there is the Ogura Pond, the Vermilion Bird; and in the west, the Sanyo and San’in roads are used as the White Tiger. The ‘Suzaku’ flute can control the earth spirit of the Ogura Pond—the Vermilion Bird. Do you think it’s powerful?”

“Where is this flute now?”

“Back then, the Lord of Kyoto bestowed it upon Minamoto no Hiromasa. It’s in the home of the Minamoto clan in Kyoto,” Himemiya Izayoi smiled meaningfully.

“Minamoto no Hiromasa?”

“One of the Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry of the Middle Ages, known as the ‘Immortal of Music’.”

“Does it have anything to do with me?” Minamoto Kiyomoto noticed the meaningful tone in her voice.

“Didn’t your mother tell you?” Himemiya Izayoi tilted her head with a smile, her eyes innocent and enchanting as she looked at him.

“My mother runs an inn. How would she tell me about these things?”

“Who knows,” she stretched and yawned. “You’d better be more promising for me. Don’t be like Minamoto no Hiromasa, who left behind the title of one of the Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry of the Middle Ages and was nothing.”

“Big sister, compared to a Kosen-level, who is more powerful?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her curiously.

“I’m as powerful as your Miss Kamibayashi. You can ask her who is more powerful between her and a Kosen.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s gaze turned to Kamibayashi Miko, “Miss Kamibayashi?”

“Are you here to chat?” Miss Kamibayashi looked at him, the pressure coming at him.

“…I’ve made progress with the water curse recently. Please take a look for me,” Minamoto Kiyomoto jumped up from the corridor and flew onto the pond in the courtyard.

“Surging waves, protect my body!”

With a “boom,” the water in the pond was sucked up into the sky, forming a huge umbrella surface.

A thin layer of golden light swelled on Kamibayashi Miko’s body, and streams of golden divine power lightning, like small snakes, swam towards Minamoto Kiyomoto.

The small snake lightning hit the umbrella surface, causing ripples.

The small snakes were very agile and constantly changed their attack direction.

“Hah!” Minamoto Kiyomoto held the “umbrella surface” with his right hand, moving the umbrella surface to block the lightning from all directions.

“I’m coming too!” Amidst Himemiya Izayoi’s bell-like laughter, countless flame petals fell like a cherry blossom blizzard.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The petals landed on the “umbrella surface,” making a sound like an exploding grenade.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was suspended in mid-air, fully concentrated.

Alternating between his left and right hands, the “umbrella surface” was like a shield, and also like a mirror, blocking the golden thunder snakes and the flame petals.

From six o’clock to twelve o’clock at night at the shrine, 60,000 yen was gone.

This was still a small amount of money. If he were to learn curses, Itomi Sayaka’s one million yen would be the starting price.

Minamoto Kiyomoto deeply realized how heavy property tax and inheritance tax were. The most, most, most heavy thing was that this property and inheritance were not his.

The next day, he went to class as usual.

After the lunch break, just as Minamoto Kiyomoto was about to go to class, he saw a group of high school students in Western-style uniforms on the lawn of the Yasuda Auditorium.

The wind of May 1st blew gently, making the female high school students’ skirts sway lightly.

“Wow, that person is so handsome!” a female high school student let out a suppressed scream.

“Is he from this school? I want to apply to this school!”

“I completely understand your feelings, but this is the University of Tokyo, a world we can’t imagine.”

“Alright! With a handsome guy as my motivation, I’m going to study hard from today!”

“…I don’t know what to say to you, but it’s a good thing.”

A heart-stirring fragrance wafted in the wind.

“Yuki, isn’t that your sister’s boyfriend?” Hajima, with brown hair, pulled Itomi Yuki’s sleeve.

Itomi Yuki was flipping through the medical faculty handbook of Juntendo University, which she had just gotten from her visit to Juntendo University.

Hearing Hajima’s voice, she looked up. That person was tall and handsome. It was her future brother-in-law, who was on probation.

Minamoto Kiyomoto also saw her and gave her a gentle smile.

“Yuki,” he walked over. The female high school students couldn’t help but cover their mouths and excitedly hit the people next to them.

“Big brother,” Itomi Yuki replied softly.

“Here for a visit?”

“Yes, a university visit.”

“Planning to apply to my school?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked.

“No,” Itomi Yuki replied. “My first choice is Juntendo University. My father, and… my sister, both graduated from there.”

“Medical faculty?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have time? If so, I can take you to see our school’s medical faculty. When you went to Juntendo University, you probably didn’t get to see the inside, right?”

Itomi Yuki rested her snow-white chin on her hand and pondered for a moment.

She had been to her family’s hospital, but she had never been to a university’s medical faculty.

She looked up and asked, “Is that okay?”

“It depends on whether your supervising teacher is okay with it. I have no problem,” Minamoto Kiyomoto smiled.

“Big brother, please wait a moment.”

Itomi Yuki found a man and a woman dressed as teachers and explained the situation to them. The two teachers looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto a few times, nodded, and seemed to agree.

“Sorry to trouble you, big brother,” Itomi Yuki said when she returned.

“It’s nothing.”

Itomi Yuki then said to Hajima, “Hajima-san, are you going?”

“I’m not going,” Hajima waved her hands repeatedly. “I’ll just follow everyone and look at the scenery on campus.”

Itomi Yuki sighed, “Hajima-san, we’re here for a university visit, not to…”

“I know, I know!” Hajima pushed Itomi Yuki’s slender back. “Yuki, you should go quickly. Don’t keep your big brother waiting.”

Only then did Itomi Yuki let go of educating Hajima.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the two of them and was reminded of himself and Kamibayashi Miko. Itomi Yuki’s temperament was also a bit like Kamibayashi Miko’s.

To be more specific, one was otherworldly, like a fairy, and the other was as cold as snow.

But in Minamoto Kiyomoto’s eyes, Itomi Yuki’s coldness was a bit childish.

The two of them walked through the marble corridor of the Faculty of Law and Letters, passed by the Faculty of Letters Building 3, and arrived at the Faculty of Medicine.

“This is Building 2,” Minamoto Kiyomoto took her for a tour.

“By the way,” in the middle, he said, “do you want to try on a white coat?”

Itomi Yuki tilted her head, her watery almond eyes looking at him with confusion.

“I heard that among junior high school students, some choose their high school based on how good the uniform looks. You’re going to the medical faculty, and although it’s not to wear a white coat, it’s not a bad idea to try it on. Do you want to?”

“Is it troublesome?” Itomi Yuki asked.

“Not at all. There are some here,” Minamoto Kiyomoto walked into a classroom where many white coats were placed.

“What’s your size?” he asked Itomi Yuki.

Itomi Yuki saw that all the clothes had names written on them. Some were names, some were initials written with a ballpoint pen, and some had cartoon characters drawn on them.

“My brother’s is fine,” she said.

“It’s definitely too big,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a smile.

He had originally wanted to use Asana’s or Inaba’s, but since she said so, he handed her his own.

Itomi Yuki put it on. It was indeed too big. The hem of the coat almost dragged on the ground.

She rolled up the long sleeves, looking like a beautiful girl doctor from an anime.

“It looks very good. It’s a blessing for patients to have such a cute doctor like you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto praised.

“…Thank you, but I hope they will be happy because of my medical skills.”

Itomi Yuki raised her arm and smelled a scent of spring, the same as Minamoto Kiyomoto’s.

It seems it hasn’t been washed.

Although it was a bit dirty, it couldn’t be seen from the outside, so it was barely tolerable.

“Let’s continue,” Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t know he was being disliked.

He had never thought, and would never think, that a girl would dislike him. This confidence could be described as blind without any problem.

Leaving Building 2, the two of them came to a Gothic red brick building.

“This is the comprehensive central building of the medical faculty.”

As soon as they entered, Minamoto Kiyomoto was caught.

“Hey,” a professor who was rushing to class, “Minamoto Kiyomoto, what time is it? Still wandering around here?”

“Professor, I’m on leave today,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“On leave? What’s wrong?”

“I’m sick.”

“Tell me the symptoms.”

“I’ve had epigastric pain on an empty stomach in my upper right abdomen since spring, and sudden back pain at night, which disappears during the day. My diet is very irregular. I occasionally overeat, and sometimes I have a bad taste in my mouth.”

“What do you think the disease is?” the professor asked.

“Duodenal ulcer or cholecystitis.”

“Cholecystitis.”

“Oh, oh.”

“Have you done it?”

“Ultrasound and gastroscopy? I’ve done them,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“Did you do it when you skipped class last time?”

“Yes, yes, I forgot to tell you.”

The professor glanced at Itomi Yuki, who was wearing a white coat next to Minamoto Kiyomoto, and the high school uniform underneath.

“You brat, you lied to me. But forget it. Go and have fun. Remember to take precautions.”

A blush crept up Itomi Yuki’s crystal-clear, white face.

Before she could speak, Minamoto Kiyomoto said, “Okay, okay, professor. You should go to class. It’s already been ten minutes.”

“Yo!” the professor realized and disappeared down the corridor in large strides.

“Is it okay to skip class, big brother?” Itomi Yuki asked Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“It’s nothing. Just memorize the book.”

The two of them walked and talked.

Not only about the medical faculty, Minamoto Kiyomoto also told some anecdotes about the school.

The baseball team had lost seventy consecutive games, and everyone told them to just disband.

During the archery club’s training camp, it was said that an event that changed people’s worldview had occurred.

And the Shorinji Kempo club, when they had an exchange with Waseda’s Shorinji Kempo club, neither side used Shorinji Kempo at all.

“There are many crows in Tokyo, and our school is no exception. This spring, because someone was attacked near the Faculty of Law and Letters building, the school even put up a ‘Beware of Crows’ sign.”

“Attacked by a crow? That person is too unlucky.”

“Yes, I’ve never seen such an unlucky person.”

The two of them came to the medical faculty’s teaching and research building, sat in the Italian restaurant on the 13th floor, and ordered drinks.

Itomi Yuki had already returned the white coat, revealing her neat and pretty high school uniform.

Outside the window was the new landmark of Tokyo, the Skytree. The view was very good.

Itomi Yuki looked out the window for a while, then retracted her gaze and asked, “Big brother, why do you want to be a doctor? Because of the salary?”

“When I was in my third year of high school, I was very satisfied with having 2,000 yen in my pocket,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a smile.

He crossed his legs and continued to answer:
“I chose the medical faculty just because it was the most difficult major to get into. I wanted to see how far I could go on the path of learning, and then I came here.”

Itomi Yuki nodded lightly and asked again, “Big brother, do you think I can surpass my sister?”

“Probably. Your sister doesn’t seem very smart.”

Itomi Yuki’s slender eyebrows raised, and her snow-white face looked very unconvinced, but she didn’t refute.

“Do you like your sister?”

“No, I hate her.”

“I see,” Minamoto Kiyomoto took a sip of coffee, pretending to have been deceived by her.

“Big brother, do you know what my sister does in Tokyo?” Itomi Yuki asked.

“You don’t know?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked back curiously.

Itomi Yuki shook her head, her black hair swaying gently.

“She comes home once a month. The rest of the time, she stays in Tokyo and doesn’t work. Her family doesn’t know what she’s doing, so her father is urging her to get married quickly,” she said.

“I don’t know either. As you can see,” Minamoto Kiyomoto spread his hands leisurely, “I’m either in class or sick from not being in class every day.”

“Don’t you guys usually go on dates?”

“Once a week.”

Itomi Yuki stopped talking, her pink lips sipping coffee in small sips.

Minamoto Kiyomoto sized her up and asked, “You’re going to Juntendo University to surpass your sister?”

“Yes,” Itomi Yuki put down her cup. “My sister has been more outstanding than me since we were young. Although I don’t know why she doesn’t work after graduating from university, I want to surpass her and inherit the family hospital.”

“Then what about me?” Minamoto Kiyomoto pointed at himself.

Itomi Yuki looked at him with confusion.

“When Professor Takamine introduced me to your sister, he said that I would inherit your family’s hospital.”

“Of course, it depends on who is more outstanding,” Itomi Yuki raised an eyebrow.

“Hahaha!” Minamoto Kiyomoto laughed.

Itomi Yuki frowned slightly.

Throughout this journey, Minamoto Kiyomoto had always had a gentle, though not enthusiastic, smile. Now that he was laughing out loud, she vaguely sensed a hint of contempt in his laughter.

This scent was very faint, and even he himself might not have realized it.

“Then I have to work hard too,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a smile.

The feeling of not taking her seriously became even stronger.

“The person who inherits the hospital will definitely be me. Thank you for your trouble today, big brother. I’ll go and meet up with my classmates myself now,” Itomi Yuki stood up, bowed slightly to Minamoto Kiyomoto, and walked towards the elevator.

The fair, beautiful legs revealed from under the pleated skirt were very eye-catching.

(End of Chapter)