“What?! You, Yu, are actually living with a girl?! And for seven days?!”
Inside the room, after listening to Nakano Yu’s story, Shirayuki was shocked and speechless, her already large eyes widening even more incredibly.
Kaede, who was sitting next to her drinking red tea, also trembled slightly with the teacup in her hand. Her gaze fell on Nakano Yu, and though she didn’t say anything, her mind was already in chaos.
“Calm down, Shirayuki. If you keep making a fuss, the innkeeper will come looking for you.”
Having already guessed how the two would react, Nakano Yu seemed very calm. He picked up a piece of May’s potato chips and put it in his mouth, saying.
Because he was quite bored in the room—the TV in the room was quite old, nowhere near as good as the smart TV at home, and Miura Yumiko had gone to soak in the hot spring—he went to Shirayuki’s room on the same floor out of boredom.
“How can I stay calm?! Yu, you’re going to live with a girl we don’t even know for a week! What if that girl has ill intentions and, under the cover of darkness, does something to you...”
Shirayuki simply couldn’t calm down. She stood up and waved her hand, saying it with a serious expression, as if she was truly concerned for Nakano Yu.
As Shirayuki spoke, Kaede’s hand trembled even more violently. The wooden teacup in the girl’s hand creaked as she gripped it.
While Shirayuki was excitedly spreading fear, Nakano Yu silently walked behind her, raised his hand, and struck her with a hand chop.
“Bang!”
“Seriously, she’s a classmate. For you to say things like this, Shirayuki, and you’re overthinking it. How could I possibly be forced into a relationship?”
Nakano Yu said with a sigh. Shirayuki’s personality was very straightforward and she studied diligently. Her grades weren’t very good, but her brain really kicked into gear when thinking about strange things.
Nakano Yu didn’t think Miura Yumiko would force him into a relationship like Shirayuki had said. It was unrealistic. Miura Yumiko just seemed strong on the surface, but in reality…after crying like that in the rain that night, it didn’t need to be said.
“Ugh! Yu, you really should be careful. You’re a soft and squishy boy!”
Though it didn’t hurt, Shirayuki still acted like a goofball, hugging her head after Nakano Yu’s hand chop.
“If you keep joking, Shirayuki, I’ll make stir-fried green peppers for you when we get home.”
He returned to the small table and sat down, taking a sip of tea and saying calmly.
Hearing this, Shirayuki immediately sat down beside Nakano Yu and stopped talking about it. She just continued to steal glances at Nakano Yu every now and then.
“Kaede, are you okay? Your tea…”
Not paying attention to Shirayuki, Nakano Yu looked at Kaede. He wanted to find something to talk about, but he suddenly realized that Kaede’s hand was shaking violently, and the tea in her cup had even spilled.
“No, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it, Nakano-kun. Haha, haha…”
She shook her head, showing a stiff smile. After speaking, she put the cup, which was now almost empty, on the table and took out a handkerchief to wipe it.
“You don’t seem fine at all.”
He looked at the teacup. Nakano Yu’s expression was complex. The tea wasn’t hot, so he wasn’t worried about that. He just didn’t know about Kaede’s current state. He wondered if there were any aftereffects from the “Monkey Dream.”
It shouldn’t…be possible.
He had used the “Youth” card to protect Kaede and let her escape the dream world. He should have eliminated the negative impact of the “Monkey Dream” on her body, right?
“No, don’t mind me. On the contrary, Nakano-kun, are you going to ask the teacher to switch rooms?”
Kaede shook her head, clearly having calmed down. She picked up the teapot and refilled her teacup, asking.
“Teacher Hirazuka said the inn doesn’t have any other empty rooms, so I’ll have to stay with Yumiko for a while.”
Nakano Yu felt that there was no need to hide it, so he answered directly.
“Clank~”
“Yumiko, huh? It’s Yumiko. Miura-san, right? She’s actually even…”
Kaede’s hand tightly gripped the handle of the teapot, her knuckles even turning white. Her tone of voice was strangely sarcastic. It was obvious that she was the one destined to marry Nakano Yu. Though things hadn’t been settled with Nakano Maruo, it was a done deal!
“Eh~ You guys are already calling each other by your first names, huh? Your relationship is progressing really fast, huh? Crunch.”
After listening to Nakano Yu’s words, Shirayuki said in surprise, but she didn’t forget to put potato chips in her mouth. She planned to eat more while May hadn’t reacted, because Shirayuki had been craving these snacks for a while now. May wouldn’t let her eat them, and she always felt that the ones she bought herself were slightly off-flavor.
“I don’t care much about surnames and first names, Shirayuki. You guys know that. If you’re willing, Kaede, just call me Yu from now on. It always feels weird to be called Nakano-kun.”
Nakano Yu pouted and said, looking at Kaede. Previously, Kaede didn’t know the five sisters, so calling him Nakano-kun was fine. But now that she knew the five sisters, calling him Nakano-kun would be confusing.
Also, now that he knew Kaede’s feelings for him, it was not a good idea to be overly distant. He liked this girl quite a bit.
“Eh?! Okay, okay! Then…Yu can also call me by my name, call me, call me Kaede…”
Kaede, who was in the middle of a brainstorming session, constantly speculating about the relationship between Nakano Yu and Miura Yumiko, her face immediately returned to its normal state after hearing this, she even became a little shy, her speech stuttering.
“Uh huh, Kaede, want some potato chips?”
“…Yes.”
“Open your mouth.”
“No, don’t feed me! I’ll…crunch.”
…
“Hey! I said, this mountain is so big, where on earth are we supposed to find the Maiwakamaru Shrine?!”
On the long stone steps on the other side of Meru Garden, the group of Nurarihyon Rikuo was climbing the mountain in a state of boredom. Seeing that they had been climbing for almost an hour but still hadn’t found the so-called Maiwakamaru Shrine, Makura no Zashiki asked Kiyotsugu Seijitsu, who was leading the way, in a bored tone.
“Well, this…I’m not really sure.”
Hearing the question, Kiyotsugu Seijitsu, who was excitedly leading the way, scratched his head in embarrassment. This was also the first time he had come to Meru Garden, and he wasn’t very familiar with it.
“Huh? Kiyotsugu, are you even paying attention to what you’re saying?!”
Hearing this, Makura no Zashiki was speechless, but it was too late to do anything about it now.
“Well, well~ We’ll find it if we just follow the mountain path.”
Kiyotsugu Seijitsu waved his hand, chuckling and saying so. He turned around to continue leading the way, but found that the onmyouji girl, Hanakawa Yuzuru, was gazing out at the forest, not knowing what she was looking at.
Kiyotsugu Seijitsu looked out at the forest out of curiosity, but he saw that the light and shadow in the forest were dappled, and he could vaguely see a small stone shrine in the distance.
“There, it seems like there’s a small shrine dedicated to Jizo Bodhisattva, but it’s too far away, I can’t see very clearly.”
Hanakawa Yuzuru squinted her eyes and said.
As soon as the girl spoke, everyone looked over, but the next second, Nurarihyon Rikuo’s mumbled voice came.
“Maiwakamaru…”
“Eh?”
Hearing this, Hanakawa Yuzuru turned to look at Nurarihyon Rikuo, confusion in her eyes.
Her physique was far stronger than that of ordinary people, and even she couldn’t see what was written on it. But why…
“On the stone shrine, it says Maiwakamaru.”
Nurarihyon Rikuo withdrew his gaze, his words extremely firm.
Just as he finished speaking, Nurarihyon Rikuo realized that everyone around him was looking at him with strange expressions. Of course, that didn’t include the admiring gaze of Yukijoro.
It was at this time that Nurarihyon Rikuo also reacted. Why could he see what was written on it from that distance?
“Rustle~”
When the scene fell silent, suddenly, there was a rustling sound coming from the forest, diverting everyone’s attention. They saw the bushes in the forest shaking, as if a monstrous yokai was about to leap out from it the next second!
“Haha~ I never thought you’d actually find this place. Oh my, you guys are truly worthy of being called the Kiyotsugu Strange Detective Agency!”
…