Chapter 55: The Sky After the Battle

Hanyu Chika stood there in a daze, looking at Minamoto Kiyomoto with confusion.

“If you were the one who died, would you want your brother to risk his life to avenge you, or to live a good life?” He rubbed his fingers, and the bloodstains spread between them.

After saying this, he suddenly laughed.

“Don’t think too much,” he said again. “Although I don’t think it’s necessary for Miss Kamibayashi to ‘unite all the forces that can be united,’ I remember everything she says. You can just assume that she doesn’t allow me to kill you.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto waved his sleeve and turned, transforming into a black light and landing on the back of Amitabha Buddha, proudly showing off to Himemiya Izayoi.

The setting sun had completely sunk into the Pacific Ocean, and the sky showed a deep blue unique to the time before it got dark.

Seeing that the battle was over, Minamoto Nagatoku and the others moved aside, and the people from the ninth group immediately rushed to Hanyu Chika’s side.

“Sister Ayame, are you okay?”

“Are you hurt?”

Hanyu Chika just shook her head and landed on the ground without a word.

Her feelings were complicated. She was unwilling to be unable to kill Minamoto Kiyomoto, pained by her brother’s death, angry at her own weakness, and confused by what Minamoto Kiyomoto had said.

At this time, the wind and clouds on the vast ocean suddenly changed. A fierce tide rolled in, and the divine power spewed out like a golden snake dancing wildly.

The sky, which had been gradually darkening, suddenly brightened, and half of the night sky was filled with golden lightning.

Below the lightning, the calm Pacific Ocean, the entire sea surface was like it was boiling, and waves tens of meters high were raised, covering the sky and the earth, like a snow mountain collapsing, the Milky Way flooding, one wave higher than the last.

Everyone quickly looked over and became nervous again.

“Compared to the battle I just had, this is simply the might of heaven and earth,” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked into the distance and said with a sigh.

Himemiya Izayoi tilted her head, looked at him with a smile, and said, “How long have you been cultivating? You already want to be more powerful than us?”

“I want to be worthy of you sooner.”

“Worthy of us? And after you’re worthy?” She blinked her eyes, looking at Minamoto Kiyomoto with an almost teasing gaze.

“After I’m worthy… I want to see what you look like when you wake up in the morning.”

“Little pervert,” Himemiya Izayoi said with a laugh and a curse. Then she brought her pretty face to his neck and said with a breathy voice, “You don’t have to wait until then. If you kneel and beg me, I’ll allow you to kiss my leg.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto smelled a floral fragrance.

He remembered the few times he had gone to Himemiya Izayoi’s mansion and seen her lying on the tatami, her snow-white, straight, and slender legs sticking out from her yukata.

“Really?” he asked subconsciously.

Himemiya Izayoi let out a happy laugh, and Minamoto Kiyomoto also laughed along, explaining, “I was just asking. I didn’t say I was asking you.”

The two of them were talking and laughing, but they didn’t notice that Fujiwara Shino, Yuka, and the girl with the rabbit mask were looking over.

The sound of the water was getting louder and louder, roaring endlessly. The monstrous waves were like the Milky Way hanging in the sky, ready to rush down at any moment and submerge the entire Kamakura.

Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t know what this scene would look like in the eyes of ordinary people.

The next moment, an inconspicuous water wave suddenly separated from the huge wave and rushed towards them like lightning.

A fierce wind suddenly rose, and sand and stones flew. The green pines in the temple swayed, and the hydrangeas rose and fell.

“You’re cheating! You’re the one who lost…” Minamoto Kiyomi cursed, but the strong wind forced the rest of her words back down her throat.

Himemiya Izayoi raised her hand and slapped out.

At the same time, the expressionless Yanagi Michiko suddenly swept the strings.

Fujiwara Shino and the others, who were about to make a move, felt the blood in their bodies rush to their heads with the sound of the pipa, and their entire heads felt like they were about to explode.

Not to mention continuing to attack, they couldn’t even muster the strength to stabilize their bodies for a moment.

“Boom!” Itomi Sayaka and Himemiya Izayoi exchanged a palm strike, and the air wave uprooted the pine trees in the temple.

Itomi Sayaka used the force of being knocked back, wrapped the people from the ninth group in her divine power, and plunged into the Pacific Ocean.

Everyone quickly chased after them, but in the vast sea, where was the shadow of the ninth group?

“The leader of the ninth group is good at water-based curses. No wonder she chose the seaside Kamakura as the meeting place,” Minamoto Nagatoku said in a deep voice.

“How despicable!” Minamoto Kiyomi said unwillingly.

“What a pity,” Minamoto Kiyone shook her head and said.

At this time, Kamibayashi Miko, who had calmed the monstrous waves, fell from the sky and landed beside Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“Did you win or lose?” she sized up Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“No—cough, cough!” Minamoto Kiyomoto covered his mouth with his hand and coughed twice. Then he spread his hand, and on it were the bloodstains of Hanyu Chika.

Kamibayashi Miko’s eyes instantly turned cold. Then she noticed Minamoto Kiyomoto’s clean lips and immediately knew that she had been deceived. She glared at him fiercely.

Minamoto Kiyomoto moved his gaze away and did not meet her eyes. He inadvertently glanced at Himemiya Izayoi.

This witch’s expression no longer had the charm of letting him kiss her leg. It had become as clear and pure as an angel’s.

Women are so fickle.

The mission was declared a failure. Minamoto Kiyomoto had Himemiya Izayoi right the 121-ton Amitabha Buddha, and then the group returned to Enoshima.

Inside the inn, the innkeeper and a few guests were gathered together, discussing the earthquake and tsunami just now as if it were an after-dinner chat.

Looking at them, it seemed that even if Enoshima sank, it would sink. It didn’t matter.

◇

The next day’s newspaper had the headline “The Devil Roars Through the Mountains.”

The accompanying picture was of the intact Great Buddha of Kamakura. The text mainly said: the temple was completely destroyed, but only the Great Buddha of Kamakura was intact. It was truly a miracle of the Buddha, and so on.

The temple had not even been repaired yet, but many people had already gone to worship and pray.

“Let’s open the champagne first.”

To celebrate Itomi Sayaka joining the organization, at noon, the four members of “Takamagahara” held a small celebration at a hotel with a view of the “Shonan Coast.”

Four glasses filled with champagne clinked together, making a crisp sound like shattering crystal.

“I heard from Chika about your battle with her yesterday,” Itomi Sayaka said.

“Is there a problem?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked.

“I want to know your real purpose for not killing her.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his glass and sent the champagne down his throat.

The refreshing sweet and sour taste, along with the carbonated bubbles, spread throughout his body, seeming to clean every corner of his body.

“There’s one thing you should be clear about,” he pinched the stem of the glass with his fingers. “That night, what happened in Chiba had nothing to do with whether it was Hanyu Chika’s brother or not. I have no grudge against him. He died. It’s not my fault. It’s the world’s fault.”

Itomi Sayaka lowered her head and fell silent.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at Kamibayashi Miko and Himemiya Izayoi and raised his eyebrows proudly, as if to say: I finally said that line!
Kamibayashi Miko drank her champagne and ignored him.

Himemiya Izayoi’s wine glass was brought over. Minamoto Kiyomoto also extended his. The two of them clinked glasses and looked at each other, as if they had a tacit understanding, and laughed at the same time.

There was an indescribable feeling in his heart.

Kamibayashi Miko put down her wine glass, wiped the rim of the glass where her lips had touched with her fingers, and said faintly, “Tell the truth.”

Itomi Sayaka raised her head, glanced at her with confusion, and then looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto.

Himemiya Izayoi showed a look of schadenfreude, as if she were being called on by the teacher at the same table.

“Three reasons,” student Minamoto began to answer. “One, Miss Kamibayashi said that we must unite all the forces that can be united. Even if it’s an act, we must appear kind and correct.”

Itomi Sayaka sized up Kamibayashi Miko and had a new understanding of the Divine Miko.

“The second reason has been mentioned before,” Minamoto Kiyomoto continued to answer. “Although it’s troublesome to keep Hanyu Chika alive, she is Sayaka’s friend. Killing her is not conducive to unity.”

“As for the trouble,” he glanced at Itomi Sayaka, “I’ve already provoked her before. Sayaka, remember, if she snitches, even if your sister survives, she will have to run around with us.”

Itomi Sayaka returned a cold look.

Today was still a sunny day. It was unknown whether it was because the sun was shining on her body, but when she heard this, she did not feel as cold in her heart as she did in the abbot’s quarters.

“And the third?” she looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto and asked.

Having taken off his haori and kimono and changed into clean and neat modern clothes, he had transformed from a dignified and handsome young man into a tall and slender, handsome young man.

“I want to see if I can change her,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied. “I hope she will let go of her hatred, change her temperament, stop clinging to the past, turn back from the sea of suffering, and realize the cause of her fate early.”

“Why are you singing opera?” Himemiya Izayoi ate a piece of steak with a knife and fork and said with a grin.

“Do you like Peking opera?” Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his glass.

“I don’t,” Himemiya Izayoi put down her knife and fork and clinked glasses with him. “If you make me listen to Peking opera or watch Kabuki, I’d rather eat bitter melon.”

“What’s wrong with bitter melon!”

“You like it?”

“If you make me eat bitter melon, I’d rather listen to Peking opera and watch Kabuki.”

The two of them clinked glasses again with great tacit understanding.

“You say it nicely, what change her. In fact, it’s just for fun. From a high and mighty perspective, you’re playing with the weak who are not as good as you,” Itomi Sayaka said mockingly.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked over and replied to her:

“In the ‘Konjaku Monogatarishu,’ it is said: ‘There was a man named Hyoe-no-suke Taira no Sadabumi, a lecher. There were few wives and daughters of others, and court ladies, whom he did not touch.’

“Also in the ‘Konjaku Monogatarishu,’ another passage says of him: ‘His character was noble, his appearance handsome, his temperament elegant, and his conversation witty. At that time, no one could compare with him. Not to mention the wives and daughters of others, even the court ladies were all captured by his charm’.”

He took a sip of champagne and concluded, “The saying varies from person to person. You can think whatever you want.”

“No matter what,” Kamibayashi Miko, who was almost transparent under the window’s sunlight, said, “you’ll change in the future. Don’t use your appearance and ambiguous actions to change a person anymore.”

“Okay,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a smile.

“Little dog,” Himemiya Izayoi said with a grin.

“I am Miss Kamibayashi’s dog,” Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his face.

“So shameless. I’m impressed,” Himemiya Izayoi raised her glass.

“Thank you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto also raised his glass with a smile.

The two of them clinked glasses again.

Kamibayashi Miko and Itomi Sayaka looked at the two of them from the opposite side.

Drinking wine, admiring the endless Pacific Ocean, and looking at the roadside trees swaying in the wind below, Minamoto Kiyomoto said:
“Before today, we were just wild grass swaying in the wind. Wherever the wind went, we could only follow. Whichever wind was stronger, we would listen to that wind; after today, we are the wind.

“Overthrow the ‘Lord of Kyoto,’ kill the ‘Ogosho,’ and destroy the ‘Taiko.’ We are the new heaven of Japan. Come, cheers!”

Himemiya Izayoi glanced at Minamoto Kiyomoto with a grin and raised her glass.

“When you go out in the future, don’t say you know me, you chuunibyou,” Itomi Sayaka raised her glass.

“The ‘Ogosho’ is my father,” Kamibayashi Miko suddenly said.

“…Ah?” Not to mention Minamoto Kiyomoto, Itomi Sayaka also looked at her in a daze.

“This… Miss Kamibayashi, I mean, I’m to my father-in-law—”

Before Minamoto Kiyomoto could finish his words, Kamibayashi Miko had already raised her glass.

Outside the clean, large glass window, the leisurely and tranquil Kamakura High School Front station, the Pacific Ocean scenery stretched for thousands of miles.

Itomi Sayaka opened her cigarette case, took out a cigarette, and lit it in her mouth.

“Don’t smoke anymore,” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her and said. “If you have any worries, you can talk to us.”

“…Last puff.”

The wind coming from the window carried away the smoke Itomi Sayaka exhaled.

Kamibayashi Miko tilted her head and looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto, “You like her very much.”

“There’s one thing I must declare in advance,” Minamoto Kiyomoto became serious. “In this world, besides Himemiya Izayoi, all the women in the world combined are not worth a single strand of your hair in my heart.”

Himemiya Izayoi picked up a piece of pastry with her hand, ate it, and then wiped her fingers on Minamoto Kiyomoto’s clothes.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at his clothes and then at her.

“Hmm?” Himemiya Izayoi tilted her head and looked back with a puzzled expression, a meaningful smile still on her lips.

On the other side, Itomi Sayaka suddenly showed a bright smile and said, “Is this how you act as my boyfriend?”

Himemiya Izayoi’s fair, tender fingers were stained with the sauce from the steak, and she wiped it on Minamoto Kiyomoto’s clothes.

“…I bought these clothes from Ginza. This is the first time I’m wearing them today.”

“Oh my, why did I wipe it on you? Let me wipe it for you,” Himemiya Izayoi picked up a napkin and spread the sauce over a larger area.

“That’s enough, that’s enough! Don’t do it!”

“Hmph, you’re still嫌弃ing me. I’m sorry,” Himemiya Izayoi threw the napkin on the seat and apologized without any sincerity.

After eating, the four of them went downstairs and walked slowly along the coastline.

The sun was just right, and the blue sea was sparkling.

The sea breeze was gentle. Many people were surfing on the sea. In the distance, Enoshima and Mount Fuji in Shizuoka could be seen.

Minamoto Kiyomoto passed on the “Mahavairocana Sutra” to Itomi Sayaka.

For her, and for Kamibayashi Miko and Himemiya Izayoi, unlike others who only passed on the scriptures, he also passed on his own cultivation experience.

After listening to about half of it, Itomi Sayaka couldn’t remember anymore and fell into deep thought.

They didn’t cultivate the “Mahavairocana Sutra.” Just like Minamoto Kiyomoto read all kinds of books, they wanted to absorb experience and accumulate wisdom from it.

“The sand is so soft,” Himemiya Izayoi took off her shoes and walked with her skirt lifted.

Kamibayashi Miko also took off her socks and shoes and walked on the beach.

Their snow-white, jade-like feet were as tender as the whites of a boiled egg. People who saw them envied the sand they stepped on—their feet were just that beautiful.

“This is nothing. When we go to my house next month, the beach there is beautiful,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“By the way, should I bring a swimsuit?” As Himemiya Izayoi spoke, she handed her shoes to Minamoto Kiyomoto and said softly, “You can smell it.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto also leaned close to her ear, “…Is there some misunderstanding between us? My capacity can swallow a hundred rivers. How could I do something like smelling your shoes?”

The wind blew, and Himemiya Izayoi’s hair brushed against his face. He subconsciously smelled it.

“Did you smell it?” Himemiya Izayoi jumped away, pointed at him, and asked mischievously.

“I smelled—”

“Just tell me, did you smell it or not!”

Kamibayashi Miko and Itomi Sayaka both stared at Minamoto Kiyomoto.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the shoes in his hand and, meeting the gazes of the two, said, “I didn’t smell it!”

Kamibayashi Miko turned around and said to Itomi Sayaka, “This child has liked to lie since he was young. Please forgive him.”

“As a girlfriend, whether it’s lying or smelling other girls’ shoes, I’m very troubled,” Itomi Sayaka replied.

“Hey!” Minamoto Kiyomoto was not happy. “Smelling shoes is one thing, but what’s with the lying? I read the books of the sages and never lie!”

“Then did you smell it or not?” Himemiya Izayoi’s eyes rolled, and her voice was light and pleasant.

“I didn’t smell it, but I didn’t smell it—”

“Does it smell good?”

“It smells good, but I didn’t smell it…”

“Everyone, look!” Himemiya Izayoi suddenly shouted. “This person smelled my shoes and said they smell good!”

It was almost July, a rare sunny day, and the beach was full of people.

“Izayoi, you witch!”

“Hate, a devil calling someone else a witch. Are you trying to pursue me? At least change your habit of smelling other people’s shoes before you confess!”

“…”

“Don’t embarrass me outside,” Kamibayashi Miko handed over her shoes, with her socks tucked inside.

“What do you mean by this?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her in disbelief. “If you want to smell, you should smell yours?”

“As a girlfriend, this seems to be my duty,” Itomi Sayaka also took off her shoes and handed them to Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“…”

“Mr. Sir, may I ask what your thoughts are now?” Himemiya Izayoi held her fist and interviewed Minamoto Kiyomoto like a microphone.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the three pairs of shoes in his hand.

“…The sky is so blue.”

Summer.

(End of Chapter)