Chapter 46: How to Love

On June 2nd, Minamoto Kiyomoto’s sense of frustration was gone.

Conquering Kamibayashi Miko would be boring if it were too easy.

Today was a rare sunny day in the rainy season. He sat in the school cafeteria, holding a book.

“It’s better to have no books than to believe everything in them!” As he read, he suddenly slammed the book on the table, picked up his orange juice, and took a big gulp through the straw.

“What’s wrong?” Himemiya Izayoi asked with amusement.

“This book says, ‘It’s not enough for a girl to be cherished. You have to give her a little sting from time to time.’ It’s obviously bullshit. No wonder Aristotle said, ‘I love my teacher, but I love the truth more’.”

“Don’t use profanity,” Kamibayashi Miko was right beside him.

Her phone was on the table, playing Debussy’s symphonic poem “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun,” based on the poem of the same name.

On a hot summer day, a faun embraces a forest nymph in his dream. When the faun lazily awakens, he recalls the scene in his dream and gradually falls back into a dream.

The music was hazy, ethereal, and mysterious.

This was an assignment for French literature class.

“You don’t believe the book, but you believe what Mencius and Aristotle said?” Himemiya Izayoi picked up Minamoto Kiyomoto’s book and flipped through two pages.

“Only when I believe in Mencius and Aristotle are their words credible. In the final analysis, I only believe in myself.”

“Aren’t you a Christian who reads the Bible? Why are you reading a romance novel?” Himemiya Izayoi looked at the male protagonist’s pretentious monologue in the book.

“A person’s cells are constantly renewing. What you know is always the past me. Not reading it yesterday doesn’t mean I won’t read it today.”

“Do you like to read?” Himemiya Izayoi put down the book.

The content of the book made her feel uncomfortable all over. It was too indecisive.

“You don’t know? I thought it was a well-known fact.”

“I thought you only thought about women all day.”

“I also think about women,” Minamoto Kiyomoto was very honest.

“What books have you read? Tell me,” Himemiya Izayoi had a testing attitude.

Minamoto Kiyomoto put down his juice and replied:

“I’ve read China’s ‘The Analects of Confucius’ and also flipped through the ‘Bible.’ I can recite ‘The Planting Techniques of Fruits and Vegetables’ backwards. I can also tell the stories of ‘Aesop’s Fables’ to my children one by one in the future.”

“Can you also treat children’s illnesses?”

“I don’t plan to go into pediatrics. I can’t handle children.”

“Then where do you plan to go?”

“Anywhere is fine, except for pediatrics.”

The two of them asked and answered. Kamibayashi Miko only listened to the music on the side and did not participate in the topic.

The three of them were quiet for a while. During this time, there was only the warm French horn and woodwind sound of “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun,” as well as the gurgling sound of the harp.

“Tomorrow is your mother-in-law’s birthday. What gift are you planning to give?” Compared to the famous impressionist music, Himemiya Izayoi’s smiling voice was more pleasant, even if it was teasing.

“I’m going to make money,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied.

“You’re not giving one?”

“I’m not giving one,” after resolutely saying this, Minamoto Kiyomoto changed his mind three seconds later. “I’ll give one.”

“My mother taught me since I was young to be polite,” he explained.

“Mother taught… hahaha!”

It was unknown what was so funny, but Himemiya Izayoi laughed happily for a while before letting out a satisfied breath.

She picked up her drink and was about to take a sip, but before her lips touched the straw, she laughed again.

“Did your mother say anything later?” Kamibayashi Miko suddenly asked.

She felt very guilty about ‘leading Minamoto Kiyomoto into the world of cultivation’ and was also full of apologies to Minamoto Kiyomoto’s mother.

“She just told me to go back to Shikoku for the holidays. Nothing else.”

Kamibayashi Miko nodded and said, “I’ll go with you.”

After a pause, she added, “I’m going to apologize.”

“What about Izayoi? Are you going?” Minamoto Kiyomoto invited.

“Is there anything fun?” Himemiya Izayoi, tired of laughing, asked while panting slightly.

“There’s nothing fun, but the accommodation is free, three meals are free, and you can see the sea as much as you want.”

“Hmm—not very attractive, but forget it, since you’re there,” Himemiya Izayoi smiled slightly, creating an intimate atmosphere.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was about to speak when a voice came from a distance.

“Brother Kiyomoto!”

Turning his gaze, he saw Minamoto Kiyomi, Minamoto Kiyone, and Fujiwara Shino.

Minamoto Kiyomi’s clothes were in a cute style, which was very suitable for her sweet and petite body;
Minamoto Kiyone wore a shirt and jeans, in a handsome style, which should attract many girls.

Fujiwara Shino also wore a white shirt, but it was in a more courtly and graceful style.

Speaking of shirts, it seemed that boys only had one style, but girls’ shirts were rich and colorful, with lace, ruffles, cutouts, and so on.

Minamoto Kiyomoto even suspected that the variety of girls’ shirts alone was more than all the styles of boys’ clothes.

“The beauty trap has arrived,” Himemiya Izayoi said with a playful laugh.

“Two cousins or second cousins, and someone else’s fiancée. What kind of beauty trap is this?” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with disapproval.

“As long as you can get married, how is it not a beauty trap?” Himemiya Izayoi looked at him with a smile.

Only then did Minamoto Kiyomoto remember that in Japan, cousins and second cousins could get married.

While the two were talking, the three of them had already approached.

“Good day, Lady Divine Miko, Lady Himemiya,” Minamoto Kiyomi greeted obediently. The other two also bowed in their own styles.

Unfortunately, the two miko ignored them, which was very impolite.

“What are you doing at school?” Minamoto Kiyomoto, who had been taught by his mother to be polite since he was young, asked.

“We’re here to apologize,” Minamoto Kiyomi said sweetly. “Brother Kiyomoto, I’m sorry for the trouble I caused you before.”

“I was wrong the other day. I’m sorry,” Minamoto Kiyone also said.

“It’s best if we can get along peacefully,” Minamoto Kiyomoto nodded and said, his attitude neither perfunctory nor enthusiastic.

The three of them seemed to have come specifically to apologize. After apologizing, they left, but they didn’t leave the school. Instead, they started to look around.

“Did they just come to apologize by the way?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked the two miko.

“That Fujiwara Shino, the way she looks at you is not right. You little lecher, you have to be careful not to be deceived,” Himemiya Izayoi said.

“That’s not for you to say, you witch who deceives me all day!”

“Witch?” Himemiya Izayoi was stunned for a moment, then sneered, “It seems necessary to twist your head off, brush it carefully ten times with a brush, and then pickle it in a stinky ditch.”

“…Then why brush it?”

“You don’t have to brush it,” Himemiya Izayoi turned her head, her smiling eyes staring at Minamoto Kiyomoto’s forehead.

“If I die, you can have my head,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said. “Now help me think, what should I buy as a birthday gift for a woman in her forties or fifties?”

“What’s there to think about? After you go back, just take the vase from my entrance hall.”

“A rich and sexy big sister is really great.”

“What did you say?” Himemiya Izayoi was a little surprised and asked with amusement.

“A rich and sexy big sister is really great,” Minamoto Kiyomoto drank all the orange juice in one gulp. “But I’m a fan of Miss Kamibayashi. I won’t compromise on this point.”

“A fan?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto told her about Arimura Kasumi again.

The sunlight shone on the zelkova tree, and the shade fell on the dining table, outlining a beautiful pattern.

It was almost time for class. The three of them walked out of the restaurant. On the lawn in front of the Kishida Lecture Hall, the cheerleading squad was practicing outdoors, taking advantage of the rare sunny day.

Fujiwara Shino and the other three were there, staring at the girls’ bouncing chests.

The summer wind blew through the apricot trees and also through their skirts.

The girls coming and going were wearing summer clothes, with their chests held high, walking around the campus. They all looked very beautiful.

After dinner, Minamoto Kiyomoto did not climb the wall, but strolled into Himemiya Izayoi’s mansion.

“Lord Minamoto,” Fire Fan bowed.

“Good evening, Miss Fire Fan,” Minamoto Kiyomoto returned the bow. “I’m here to get the bottle.”

“The bottle?” Fire Fan’s bright face showed a well-mannered confusion.

“Didn’t Izayoi tell you? You can ask her.”

“Please wait a moment, Lord Minamoto,” Fire Fan closed her eyes, and after a while, she opened them and said, “I’ll wrap it up for you. The master wants you to go in for a moment.”

“Thank you.”

Under Fire Fan’s respectful escort, Minamoto Kiyomoto walked into the main house in the middle.

Himemiya Izayoi had just finished her hot spring bath and was changing clothes behind a screen.

Minamoto Kiyomoto admired the two dancing white cranes on the screen, listened to the sound of clothes sliding against skin, and couldn’t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.

“Being too excited is not good for your body,” from behind the screen, Himemiya Izayoi’s smiling voice came.

“I put too much salt in my dinner today. I’m a little thirsty.”

“Then shall I pour you a glass of water?” From behind the screen, a beautifully curved, snow-white calf extended, slender and smooth.

“…What are you doing?”

“Don’t you read ‘The Analects of Confucius’? Don’t you know that women are made of water?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the screen. Only today did he realize that cranes were so white and their legs were so long.

“It’s not mentioned in ‘The Analects of Confucius’,” he replied.

“Didn’t you say in Hakone that if you can’t achieve one method, you can’t become a Buddha? Are you going to drink it or not? I’m tired.”

“Drink it or not!” He restrained the urge to hold it with his hands.

“Useless!” Himemiya Izayoi said with a laugh and a curse.

“If you hadn’t reminded me during the day, I would have really fallen for your beauty trap.”

“Do I need a beauty trap to deal with you?” The white foot touched the ground, and the beauty who had just come out of the bath walked out.

She was wearing a black yukata with a wisteria flower print, a pure black wide belt around her waist, and her long hair was tied up, revealing her slender, white neck.

The ‘y’-shaped collar of the yukata was slightly open, as if it were too hot.

The style, which seemed to be visible but not, also made Minamoto Kiyomoto’s heart heat up.

“The clothes are very beautiful,” he praised. “What did you want to see me for?”

“Can’t I see you if there’s nothing?” Himemiya Izayoi floated to the couch and lay down lazily.

Fuyuarashi knelt on one side, gently fanning her. Haruarashi was trimming her fingernails.

Minamoto Kiyomoto quietly admired the scene, which was like something out of an ancient drama. He had the urge to rush up, hold her hands, and bite her neck wildly.

“Be careful when you go to Chiba tomorrow,” Himemiya Izayoi said lazily.

“Be careful of what?”

“Your girlfriend.”

“Itomi Sayaka?”

“Could it be me?”

“…I should learn how to say sweet words from you.”

“I don’t know how to say sweet words, but I can draw inferences from one instance, how to make others loyal to me, how to let someone know that I hate them, and how to make them commit suicide obediently, without waiting for me to do it.”

“The skills from a sea of blood are indeed amazing,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with admiration.

“What’s wrong with Itomi Sayaka?” he asked again.

“When you broke through to ‘seeing God,’ her eyes flickered,” before Minamoto Kiyomoto could speak, Himemiya Izayoi continued in a lazy voice, “whether she saw something, or it was just because of the bright light, you can judge for yourself.”

Fire Fan walked in with a wrapped porcelain.

Minamoto Kiyomoto thanked her and returned to his small house.

He did not immediately start cultivating, but was thinking about things, or to be precise, about women.

Not Itomi Sayaka, but Himemiya Izayoi.

Kamibayashi Miko did not remind him to pay attention to Itomi Sayaka, which meant that she did not notice anything unusual about her, but Himemiya Izayoi did.

Also, the matter of killing a Kosen in one move at Lake Ashi.

Mysterious, yet seemingly without hostility. She said she just wanted to break the barrier between people and become the master of Japan. Was that true?
He had asked his mother, and she didn’t know Himemiya Izayoi either, but the surname ‘Himemiya’ was indeed the surname of the miko of Ise Shrine for generations.

After thinking for a long time, Minamoto Kiyomoto decided to believe her.

“Beauty trap,” his sigh lingered in the small mountain hut where the night was spreading.

The next day, in the lush green mountains, a rain finer than a needle and softer than silk was falling.

After a day of classes, he rejected the invitation of Asana and the others to go drinking and went to Chiba with Itomi Sayaka.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was cautious, for fear that a cultivator would suddenly appear from above or on the ground.

Kamibayashi Miko had said in advance that she would be watching from here.

“Why do you look so gloomy? Did I cause you trouble last time?” Itomi Sayaka asked from the driver’s seat.

“A man’s business, a woman should stay out of it.”

Itomi Sayaka let out an interested “ho—”.

“I’m sorry,” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s voice was a little calmer than before. “I’m not blaming you. You’re not wrong. I was just trying to say a witty remark, but my tone wasn’t very good.”

Itomi Sayaka’s peripheral vision stared at him for a while, then she suddenly said, “You’re not a gentle person.”

“Indeed, few people say I’m gentle. Everyone says I’m a ‘handsome kid,’ a ‘smart guy’.”

“That’s a good witty remark.”

“Thank you, it’s a regular performance.”

“The reason you’re not gentle is because you’re only gentle to specific people, for example, that ‘Miss Kamibayashi.’ But I think that’s true gentleness… I’m starting to like you a little.”

“Thank you. I’m not interested in rich and sexy big sisters.”

“You like pure female university students?” Itomi Sayaka asked.

“I like pure female university students,” Minamoto Kiyomoto nodded.

Itomi’s mother’s birthday party was more of a party to expand her network than a dinner party.

Several waiters in white shirts elegantly held silver trays full of glasses. There was also a piano and violin performance on site.

The two of them were late.

After giving their birthday wishes, Itomi Sayaka, as the future successor, inevitably had to greet various people.

Minamoto Kiyomoto hid on the side, gently holding the slender stem of a champagne glass, watching everyone exchange business cards to pass the time.

“Big brother.”

Turning his head, he saw Itomi Yuki in a black dress.

That black dress made her look even fairer.

Beside Itomi Yuki were her classmates from the same club. He had seen them last time. The girl was Hatori, in a pink dress; the boy was Takashi, in a white suit.

Compared to the elegant and calm second young lady of the Itomi family, the two of them were obviously not used to the current occasion.

“How have you been recently?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked with a smile. He felt very close to this girl, whose temperament was similar to Kamibayashi Miko’s.

“I’m fine,” Itomi Yuki nodded. “Isn’t big brother with big sister?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at Itomi Sayaka, who was drinking and talking, and said, “I’m the type who buries my head in medical research. I can’t handle it.”

“What has big sister been doing recently?” Itomi Yuki asked again.

“You like your big sister that much,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a smile.

“Eh?!” The two high school students beside her were very surprised.

Itomi Yuki’s snow-white face gradually turned red, “Big brother, if you joke again, I’ll get angry.”

“You want to know your sister’s information so you can replace her?”

“That’s right.”

“That makes it difficult for me,” Minamoto Kiyomoto took a sip of champagne. “If Sayaka is replaced by you, won’t my future position as hospital director be gone?”

“I can hire you, big brother.”

“Hiring, how can that be as good as being the president myself?” A slight smile appeared on Minamoto Kiyomoto’s lips.

In the distance, many wives and young ladies were looking over. Even standing among the upper class of Chiba Prefecture, Minamoto Kiyomoto was still dazzling, a figure that seemed unattainable.

“But it’s not without a solution,” Minamoto Kiyomoto put down his champagne and took a plate of fruit from the table.

“What solution?” Itomi Yuki tilted her head slightly and looked at him with her clear eyes.

“Compared to your sister, I like you more. You be the director, and I…”

“Big brother,” Itomi Yuki’s voice became cold. “Cheating is an unforgivable thing.”

“My meaning—”

“What are you talking about?” The fragrance of Eau de Cologne Impériale came from behind. Minamoto Kiyomoto’s arm touched something soft—Itomi Sayaka was holding him from behind.

“We were talking about medical matters,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“Medicine,” Itomi Sayaka’s tone revealed obvious disbelief.

She secretly pinched Minamoto Kiyomoto and said with a smile to Itomi Yuki’s classmates, “I’m sorry for inviting you without permission, but I’m very happy that you could come.”

“Th-thank you,” the two of them replied hastily.

Facing a rich and sexy big sister, it was obvious that not everyone could be as nonchalant as Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“By the way, what are your names?”

Itomi Yuki’s expression quickly turned cold.

“Hatori, Takashi,” Minamoto Kiyomoto introduced, and as he spoke, he smiled slightly at Itomi Yuki, conveying his goodwill.

But the young girl obviously misunderstood, averted her gaze, and her face became even colder.

“Ah, right, right, I’m sorry. My memory is not very good,” Itomi Sayaka’s voice was obviously intentional.

But there was no malice, or rather, she didn’t take the two high school students seriously at all. She was just teasing her cute little sister.

“Sister, the place you should be is not here, right?” Itomi Yuki said in a cold voice.

“You see,” Itomi Sayaka said to Minamoto Kiyomoto, “I said my memory is not good. I was just going to come over and say hello, but I forgot again.”

“I’ll remember what you forgot,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“Kiyomoto-kun, you’re so good. I like you so much,” Itomi Sayaka looked up, like an innocent child.

“Alright, you should go back,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said softly, as if coaxing a baby.

Itomi Sayaka gracefully flicked her short hair, her lips close to his ear, and whispered:

“Little brother, if you dare to say any more nonsense to my sister, I’ll strangle you.”

When she intimately moved her face away, Minamoto Kiyomoto lowered his head and said in her ear, “I’m already numb from being pinched, big sister.”

“Who’s your big sister? I hate it. Don’t call me that in front of the children,” Itomi Sayaka said coquettishly. “I’m leaving. Call me if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

Itomi Sayaka smiled at Itomi Yuki and the others again, and finally gave Minamoto Kiyomoto a “smitten” look before returning to the world of adults.

“I feel that Yuki-chan’s sister is very scary,” Hatori, in a pink dress, seemed to be a straightforward person.

“I agree,” Minamoto Kiyomoto was holding a fruit plate. Otherwise, he would have clinked glasses with this high school girl.

“Is it appropriate for you to speak ill of your girlfriend behind her back, big brother?” Itomi Yuki criticized coldly.

“This is a sign of intimacy. You’re still young, you don’t understand,” Minamoto Kiyomoto ate a piece of cantaloupe.

The early-ripening cantaloupe was also very sweet.

(End of Chapter)