Chapter 40: Inside the Love Hotel

Yuka had always believed that spring was the best time to fall in love.

After enduring the long winter, as soon as spring arrived, there was always an inexplicable happiness, and from time to time, she would fantasize about walking hand in hand with her lover on the street.

But she found that she was wrong. It turned out that late spring or early summer—whatever you wanted to call it—was the best season for love.

After a whole spring, her body had completely recovered. As if pushed by the spring breeze, her steps were lighter than ever, and at the same time, the desires of summer emerged in her heart.

Both her body and mind were in the perfect period for love.

Although she had a boyfriend.

It didn’t matter. He just treated her as a wallet anyway.

Yuka packed her things, walked out of the fuzoku shop, and saw the man waiting for her.

In every girl’s seventeenth year, she would create a flashy but perfect prince. The man before her was the real-life embodiment of that ideal image.

Especially when he looked at you and whispered in your ear, it was as if all the happiness in the world was concentrated on you.

He was the son of God, and everyone—at least women—should dote on him and must serve him.

“I thought you weren’t coming,” he smiled and turned back, standing in place and looking at her.

Yuka subconsciously straightened her bangs, walked to his side, and said in a low voice, “I’m sorry, I kept you waiting.”

“No,” Yuka lowered her head and couldn’t see his expression, only his smiling voice. “While I was waiting for you, I was desperate for a while, and then excited for a while. This is also a kind of happiness.”

Yuka didn’t know what to say, so she just lowered her head and straightened her bangs again.

“Shall we go?” he said.

“Yes.”

The two of them walked towards the iconic sign of Kabukicho. Yuka was thinking about her underwear.

It was the ultra-thin lace underwear from the Neverland series, with beautiful hollowed-out flowers and plants.

When a little of the neckline was exposed, and only the shoulder straps could be seen, it had a feeling of being both pure and erotic.

Very good!

“By the way~” Yuka suddenly remembered. “I still don’t know your name?”

At this time, a gust of wind blew. Perhaps because it was daytime, the wind did not have the smell of spices from the barbecue shop on the left. It was particularly pure and full of life.

He said, “I’ve read a book that says the cool summer wind is called ‘seiran.’ You can just call me Seiran.”

It was a pseudonym. Yuka couldn’t help but be disappointed. She could only comfort herself with the thought that ‘since I’m using a pseudonym, he’s also using a pseudonym’.

“Do you want to get something to eat?” Seiran asked.

His voice was very gentle, and he wasn’t in a hurry to take her to a love hotel. Yuka immediately forgot about the pseudonym, and her heart became sweet.

“I don’t need to. Does Seiran want to? I can accompany you,” Yuka naturally used her most gentle voice.

“Do you think I need to?” Seiran’s voice suddenly changed. It was not gentle at all, but had a strong aggressiveness.

Yuka raised her head and met his灼灼 gaze.

Her gaze was like a fish caught in a net, rushing left and right, but unable to escape.

When Yuka came back to her senses, her body was on fire, her face was red, her heart was beating fast, and her whole body was weak.

“Shall we go?” Seiran asked tentatively.

“…Yes!” she replied with certainty.

Leaving Kabukicho Ichiban-gai, on both sides were the usual commodity stores.

As Yuka walked, she browsed the shop windows, feeling as if she were on a date, not doing that kind of thing.

The new green street trees swayed slightly in the wind. Yuka felt that it was like her own heart.

The sunlight was also better than ever, like sparkling glass sand, gently sprinkling on the feet of the two of them.

“This hat suits you very well,” Seiran suddenly said.

He wasn’t just thinking about that one thing—this thought appeared in Yuka’s mind before she had time to think about it.

Could it be that he was also walking this road with the mood of a date, just like her?
Yuka’s heart was pounding. She first looked at Seiran, then followed his gaze to the window on her side.

In the window, which was as clean as if it had just been wiped, was a white beret. It was beautiful, but for the season, it was already a bit outdated.

“A beret? That’s too exaggerated,” Yuka said with a charming laugh. “Only idols wear them~”

“Is that so?” Seiran showed an embarrassed expression. “I just think that Miss Yuka would look very beautiful in it.”

Yuka stared at him for a while. When he became embarrassed, she suddenly laughed sweetly.

“Next time,” she leaned close to Seiran’s ear and said in a dry voice, “how about I dress up as an idol?”

Yuka couldn’t hear her own voice. Amidst the pounding of her heart, she knew that she was stepping into a dangerous abyss.

She would do it with Seiran a second time, a third time. She had completely fallen in love with him.

She wanted to leave the hand massage shop, she wanted to leave Shintoism, she wanted to break up with her boyfriend, she wanted to be with Seiran peacefully, find a decent job, and live as an ordinary person.

If a yokai came, then the two of them would die together.

It would be best to die in happiness, in the night after they had finished, with the two of them naked and holding each other.

Yuka saw Seiran’s shoulder tremble, as if he had been burned by fire.

She couldn’t help but laugh. This reaction was too ‘first time’.

She liked him so much!
“Let’s go!” Yuka held Seiran’s arm, rested her head on Seiran’s shoulder, and her face was full of smiles.

The two of them came to the Kanda River and entered the love hotel street in Yushima.

Yuka chose a Japanese-style building that was full of nostalgic charm. Inside, there were the wide kimonos worn by women in the ancient service industry, and there was also an open-air bath.

But she was not in the mood to play with these things now.

She was already very wet. She just wanted to immediately clamp Seiran’s waist with her legs and then scream out loud.

Entering the room, Seiran turned to close the door. Yuka stood behind him, her arms open, her eyes hazy, ready to hug his waist.

Just as her hands were open, her body suddenly couldn’t move.

“Too slow,” a voice came from behind. The voice was as clean and cold as floating ice by a stream in spring.

Even the flustered Yuka was comforted by this voice for a moment.

“Then you don’t have to pull my hair,” Seiran turned around, his face showing a calm and helpless smile.

Yuka’s eyes widened, and she looked at him in a daze.

On that handsome face, the shyness, passion, and sweetness from just now were gone, leaving only a spirited look.

As his eyes looked around, they were full of a confidence that was so strong it was about to overflow.

Just from these eyes, one could see the difference between him and others—this person’s life, from the moment he was born, had been on the rise. He had never failed. Only in this way could he have such confidence.

As if noticing her gaze, Seiran finally moved his gaze from behind her to her.

“I’m sorry, Miss Yuka,” he smiled and waved his hand. A black divine power turned into a roll of tape and gently placed her on the bed.

The bed in the love hotel was big and soft, but Yuka felt as if she had been thrown into an ice cave.

“How was my acting?” she heard Seiran ask that woman.

“Are you planning to make a fake show real?”

“Do you not know what the eyes of someone who truly likes someone look like, Miss Kamibayashi, the number one beauty in the world?”

Kamibayashi?

Yuka moved her eyeballs and finally, from the corner of her eye, she saw what that woman looked like.

Long hair as dark as the night, a slender and graceful body, and a beautiful and otherworldly temperament, as if she were a fairy who had descended from heaven.

It really was the Divine Miko!
Her mind went blank. She knew she was finished.

In despair, she caught a glimpse of that man. The way he looked at that woman was indeed different from the way he looked at her.

From his eyes, Yuka understood the difference between ‘looking’ and ‘only looking’.

The two of them walked to the bed, stood together in a very compatible way, and looked down at her from above.

For some reason, the fear of death in Yuka’s heart suddenly disappeared, and in its place was anger and hatred for Seiran.

Although she couldn’t move, her body was trembling. She had to kill him, kill him at all costs!

“What’s your name? What’s your code name in the ninth group?” Kamibayashi Miko undid a part of the curse, allowing Yuka to speak.

Yuka seemed to not see Kamibayashi Miko, not hear what she was saying. Her eyes were fixed on Minamoto Kiyomoto, and she cursed:

“I’m going to kill you, I’m definitely going to kill you! You heartless man! Scum! Scumbag! Bastard! Beast! I… I liked you so much… despicable and shameless…”

Her heart was full of anger, and she wished she could tear Minamoto Kiyomoto to pieces, but tears flowed from her eyes. Was it regret? Sadness? Or despair?
Tears blurred her eyes, and Yuka’s vision was blurry. She could no longer see her own emotions.

She just said the curses casually, but ‘I liked you so much’ made Minamoto Kiyomoto stunned for a moment.

“Miss Yuka, I did deceive you, but even if I didn’t, it would just be a transaction of money and body,” he said subconsciously.

Yuka was sobbing and couldn’t speak at all.

“It seems that Mr. Minamoto, who claims to be the number one expert on women’s hearts in the world, doesn’t know what the eyes of someone who truly likes someone look like,” Kamibayashi Miko said with a mocking smile.

“Of course I know. Not to mention from childhood to adulthood, just today, in the study room before I came, the way Asana and Inaba looked at me was very subtle,” after refuting subconsciously, Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at Yuka again.

Although he was confused, killing was one thing, and a woman crying was another.

He said helplessly, “Don’t cry.”

When he said this, Yuka cried even louder, as if she wanted to vent all the fear and anxiety in her heart.

“What should we do now?” Unable to persuade her, Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at Kamibayashi Miko.

Kamibayashi Miko frowned slightly. She had never dealt with a crying woman either.

“I should have killed that Ken… whatever his name is, and taken that ‘Lie-Swallowing Cat’.”

“Hey, hey, you were the one who persuaded me not to kill, weren’t you, my Lady Divine Miko?”

The Lady Divine Miko looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto sideways. Minamoto Kiyomoto closed his mouth and looked straight ahead.

After using the “shut up curse” on Minamoto Kiyomoto, Kamibayashi Miko’s gaze turned to the sobbing Yuka.

“The purpose of the ninth group is to protect their families from yokai and to evade the obligation of the ‘battle.’ You have already been exposed. If you don’t want your family to be implicated by you, answer my questions honestly.”

Yuka took a deep breath, stopped her tears, and glared at the two of them.

“I have no family,” she said. “I grew up in a children’s home.”

“How did you get into the ninth group without a family?” Kamibayashi Miko asked.

“I didn’t have the money to go to university. I went to Kabukicho to earn tuition before the start of my first year,” Yuka sobbed and continued, “The group leader took pity on me and let me join Shintoism. I get money every month, but in order not to be exposed and to cover up the source of the large amount of money, I chose to continue staying in Kabukicho.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

Kamibayashi Miko glanced at him from the corner of her eye and continued to ask Yuka:
“Shintoism is usually loose, and each group only manages its own. Only when they encounter an official extermination will they work together. Have you ever participated in an anti-extermination battle? Have you killed any official personnel?”

“Of course I have!” Yuka glared at Minamoto Kiyomoto with her bloodshot eyes again.

Kamibayashi Miko looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto again. Minamoto Kiyomoto was silent.

The other groups of Shintoism were unclear, but the ninth group seemed to have done nothing wrong, just wanting to protect their families.

But the officials, in order to protect the people of this world, and also for the sake of fairness, could only make all cultivators participate in the ‘battle’.

This was like a sheep that only ate grass being preyed on by a lion. It was cruel, but no one could say that the lion was wrong.

The only exception was Kamibayashi Miko. She did not participate in the battle in order to cultivate, so that one day in the future, she could reduce casualties.

But she chose to protect the people of the present and gave the responsibility, or rather the benefit, of saving the future to the next generation of Divine Miko.

“I have no family. You can’t threaten me!” Yuka’s tearful eyes were bloodshot, and she stared at Minamoto Kiyomoto. “If you want to get information from me, then make this scumbag kneel before me!”

“…”

The silence lasted for a while, with only Yuka’s panting.

“This is difficult,” Minamoto Kiyomoto sighed and suddenly noticed that Kamibayashi Miko was looking at him.

“You’re not planning to make me kneel, are you?” he looked back at her suspiciously.

Of course, Kamibayashi Miko was not asking him to kneel, but she had some other emotions about him ‘making a woman fall in love with him in just a short while’.

“I can only kill her,” she said to herself.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Minamoto Kiyomoto quickly tried to stop her.

Before Kamibayashi Miko could speak, Yuka cursed:

“I don’t want your hypocritical sympathy! Kill me! You heartless man, scum, I will curse you even if I die!”

The girl, who was originally as beautiful as a flower, was like a mad wolf.

“Why don’t we let her go, Miss Kamibayashi,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said helplessly, scratching the back of his head.

Kamibayashi Miko stared at him without blinking.

“The ninth group didn’t do anything wrong in the first place. They killed official personnel to protect themselves. Yuka is also very pitiful. She had to work in the fuzoku industry to study. Let her go this once.”

The two of them looked at each other for a long time. Kamibayashi Miko turned her head away.

Minamoto Kiyomoto walked to the bed and helped Yuka up.

“Don’t touch me, you scumbag! Beast! Bastard!”

No matter how she cursed, Minamoto Kiyomoto just held her shoulder and waited quietly.

Yuka finally finished cursing. Her emotions seemed to have been overused, and her whole person was in a daze.

“Yuka, I’m sorry,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said softly in her ear. “You’ve killed official cultivators. You can’t join us. You can only go back to Shintoism. I hope you won’t tell anyone about what happened this time. Otherwise, I might be in danger.”

Yuka sneered twice, the meaning self-evident.

“Do as you please,” Minamoto Kiyomoto sighed.

Finally, he held her tear-stained face with both hands, wiped away her tears with his thumb, looked at her hateful eyes, and said softly:

“I’m sorry.”

He let go of her and retreated to Kamibayashi Miko’s side.

Kamibayashi Miko flicked her finger and undid the curse that bound Yuka.

Yuka stared at Minamoto Kiyomoto and saw him move his lips, mouthing, “Go quickly.”

Tears welled up in Yuka’s eyes again.

She really didn’t know how to treat this man who had ‘captured her heart, deceived her, and saved her’ within an hour.

She didn’t dare to use her divine power. She opened the door and quickly fled the hotel.

The room returned to silence. Minamoto Kiyomoto stood by the window. In a short while, he saw Yuka come out.

When she got into the taxi, she looked back and met Minamoto Kiyomoto’s gaze through the glass.

Only when the taxi carrying Yuka was far away did Minamoto Kiyomoto retract his gaze.

He had originally thought that killing yokai was just killing yokai. He didn’t expect that he would have to deal with so many difficult things. His expression was a little gloomy.

“You really feel sorry for her?” Kamibayashi Miko sized him up.

“If someone is about to jump off a building, no matter what, you have to save them first, then solve the reason why they want to jump. Since she has already joined Shintoism, then you can only kill her first to prevent her from continuing to kill official cultivators, then find a way to solve the reason why she joined Shintoism.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her and continued, “If I felt sorry for her, I wouldn’t have ‘patted the back of my head and called Miss Kamibayashi’ to hint at you just now.”

Kamibayashi Miko nodded.

It was her luck to be able to find Minamoto Kiyomoto as a teammate.

Not to mention his outstanding talent, just the fact that he was not indecisive in doing things was already very reassuring.

Just now, when Minamoto Kiyomoto was helping Yuka up, Kamibayashi Miko had controlled the butterfly shikigami on him and had it drill into Yuka’s hair.

“In order to prevent her from telling anyone about this and taking revenge, from today on, besides the campus, you will stay by my side and not go anywhere.”

“Not to mention this, this room is quite expensive. Aren’t the two of us going to sleep together?”

Kamibayashi Miko waved her hand.

Minamoto Kiyomoto subconsciously closed his eyes. Based on his understanding of Kamibayashi Miko, he would most likely be thrown onto the bed—to show his attitude, but not a heavy punishment.

After waiting for a second, his body did not fly up.

Opening his eyes, he saw a golden butterfly flying out of her black hair.

The butterfly danced, sprinkling golden particles like fireworks, which landed in Minamoto Kiyomoto’s hair.

While the butterfly was flying, the two of them kept looking at each other’s eyes.

“Let’s go,” Kamibayashi Miko turned and walked towards the door.

“What a waste of the room fee,” Minamoto Kiyomoto followed her with a pained heart.

Thank you to [Matsumae Ohana] and [Mianmian Meng] for being Silver Patrons.

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

(End of Chapter)