NOVEL NEXT Chapter 82
“Looks great on you, Kayanoh.”
“Thank you….”
Hikari’s words contained no lies.
With the help she received, Izumi looked like a living painting in her kimono.
Her face slightly flushed with embarrassment as she glanced around, making Hikari feel a teasing emotion well up inside her.
‘Was this how Yoru felt?’
Recalling the girl who always played pranks on her, Hikari gently smiled.
“So, it’s about time we head out.”
“Yep….”
With her small stature and shiny light brown hair, not to mention those mystical blue eyes, Izumi had quite the effect the first time Hikari laid eyes on her.
And on top of that, her chest was unexpectedly ample for someone so small.
It wasn’t that Hikari was jealous, but there was no doubt that Izumi’s bust was larger than hers when she was in first year of middle school.
If it weren’t for the multiple layers of the kimono, it would have been obvious to everyone just how much Izumi was packing.
Gulp “Her chest is big and feels sexy, yeah, she’s pretty.”
‘I’m sure I mentioned that during the group collaboration for the second generation…’
From Hikari’s perspective, having met Ayaka, it wasn’t difficult to understand what Izumi was getting at.
But Izumi’s endowments were quite noteworthy.
In fact, considering their height difference, Izumi’s chest might even seem relatively bigger.
Anyway, Izumi’s appearance perfectly suited the kimono Hikari had chosen, making it incredibly alluring—so much so that Hikari wanted to immortalize the sight in a watercolor painting.
She’d probably think of this scene every time “Yamato Nadeshiko” was mentioned for a while.
“Hey, um, how long until we get to the shrine…?”
“We should get there in about ten minutes.”
For such a girl to be called the Queen of Yeo-sang in the community.
Hikari thought the world of broadcasting was still hard to grasp…
“By the way, um, Senpai. I was wondering…”
“Yes?”
“Isn’t it true that you don’t wear, um, underwear with a kimono…?”
“…That was an old custom from long ago.”
“So it’s not revealing clothing then? That’s boring…”
Izumi whispered just low enough for Hikari, standing right next to her, to hear.
And upon hearing that, Hikari quickly revised her previous thoughts.
This girl definitely fit the title of Queen of Yeo-sang.
★
“Kayanoh.”
“Yes…?”
“It goes without saying, but calling me Kurokami Senpai outside is forbidden.”
“Oh, I know.”
When Akabane had come during the Cultural Festival, she’d called her Akasaki too.
Although she had mistakenly called her Akabane at the end.
“Then how should I address you?”
“Just, um, call me Senpai…?”
As long as I don’t use her VTuber name, that should suffice.
But upon hearing my answer, Kurokami Senpai shook her head and formed an X with her arms.
“Sister.”
“…Huh?”
“Call me Shiro-onee.”
“Uh, um…”
“How old are you, Kayanoh?”
“I’m, um, sixteen.”
“I’m nineteen. I’ve graduated from high school. So it would make sense for you to call me sister, right?”
“Well… um, yes, I understand….”
“…”
“Shiro-onee?”
“Okay, then let’s get going.”
Kurokami Senpai nodded gently with a kind smile after hearing my response.
Even though being told to call her by name made me a bit uneasy, I quickly dismissed the thought.
Kurokami Senpai was looking at me with half-open eyes.
If I had refused just now, I would’ve surely been done for…
It was a moment where my forty years of accumulated intuition shone brightly.
“Here we are.”
“Yeah….”
As Kurokami Senpai had said, ten minutes was indeed enough time to reach the shrine.
After walking until the fence ended, we just had to climb a stone staircase, and there it was.
“Um, what about Komachi and Utagawa…?”
“Um, I received a message earlier that they’d arrived.”
The good thing was, despite it being the first shrine visit of the year, there weren’t many people at the shrine.
Of course, it wasn’t completely empty, but it was sufficient to easily spot the duo.
“Ah, found them! Kayanoh! Shirazaki! Over here!”
The first to spot us was Koga.
Dressed in a dark blue kimono, she waved when she saw us, prompting me and Kurokami Senpai to approach her.
But, didn’t they say Utsumi was coming along as well?
Why was Koga all alone…?
“Kaa~ Yaa~ No~!”
“Eep…!”
Suddenly, a massive shock hit me from behind, sending chills down my spine and nearly knocking me over.
“Long time no see! I missed you!”
“Hik…! Uh, um, Utsumi… no, Utagawa, please stop…!”
“No way! Onee-chan is sad! Kayanoh didn’t play with me, so I don’t want to lose this chance!”
“Yikes!”
Almost like five whole minutes passed with Utsumi clinging onto me and touching me in various places before Koga finally punched her to get her to let go.
“I’m sorry….”
…But I wonder if everyone realized that it was actually Utsumi who was in danger, not me.
Utsumi’s enormous chest nearly awakened the instincts of a man within me…
Yare yare daze…
“Do you know how embarrassing it was with everyone staring at us?”
“Hehe… I just felt like Kayanoh was an incredible breath of fresh air….”
“Thankfully, your outfit wasn’t messed up. Wearing it is quite complicated, so it would have been a hassle if anything got disheveled.”
“Hehe. I know a way to not mess up my outfit while touching people…!”
“That’s not something to brag about.”
We were in a corner of the shrine where hardly anyone was present.
After Utsumi had drawn too much attention, we had sought out a location that was relatively empty.
“Either way, thank you all for coming this far. Let’s have a great year together.”
“Me too, I’m looking forward to this year!”
“I’ll look forward to it as well.”
“I-I’ll also… please take care of me.”
Of course, while I finished New Year greetings through Miscode’s DM, meeting up in person gave off a special feeling.
Well, aside from the fact I was shaking with nerves.
“Now then, shall we head for the offering?”
After everyone wrapped up their New Year greetings, Kurokami Senpai smiled brightly as she spoke.
★
The process of shrine visiting in Japan is actually quite complex.
You have to bow before passing through the torii, purify your hands and mouth at the temizuya, and even the way you walk is predetermined…
To put it simply, it makes you wonder if it’s really necessary to go through all of that.
However, we decided to keep it light and informal for our visit.
Standing before the offering box, we could lightly ring the bell and drop in the five-yen coins we had prepared.
Then, we bow twice, clap twice, and pray with our hands together.
“….”
But what should I really wish for?
Wanting to do a live broadcast is a dream that I have to work for on my own, not something I wish for from a deity.
The only wishes I ever made to gods were something along the lines of, ‘I want to be born a girl to avoid going to the military.’…
But if I can avoid military service just by being Japanese, then why did I bother being born as a girl here? It makes wishing to the gods completely useless.
It’s not like I’m particularly unhappy with my current life.
…Alright.
Then let’s wish for the Izutomo abuse faction to decrease…
This should do, right?
Hoo.
Having made my wish, I bowed again and stepped back.
“Ah, Kayanoh, you’re done?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to drink amazake?”
“Ren. Kayanoh is still a student.”
“Eh, it’s non-alcoholic; it should be fine, Yuyika.”
“Well, then I guess I’ll drink just a little….”
“Here you go!”
Even still, Utsumi probably prepared one for me out of good intentions, so I felt bad completely rejecting it.
Just a little taste should be fine.
“Mm….”
The sweet taste of the rice wine enveloped my tongue, slowly flowing down my throat.
…As expected.
“It’s not good….”
I’d tried it a few times in the past, and the sticky sweetness of amazake was definitely not to my taste.
“…Are you okay, Kayanoh?”
“Yes? Yeah. It’s just that it doesn’t taste good….”
“No, not that.”
“…?”
Utsumi stared intently at me.
Was there something she wanted…?
“Is getting drunk off amazake and acting silly something you can only see in anime?”
“That can’t possibly be real, you silly.”
So that’s why Utsumi gave me the amazake.
I was shocked.
To think I believed something so silly, honestly, how naive of me…
“If you can’t finish it, just give it to me. I’ll throw it away.”
“Ah, here you go, Shiro-onee….”
“…Huh?”
“…Huh?”
Handing over the cup with more than half of the amazake left, I sighed as for some reason Koga and Utsumi were staring at me curiously.
“Uh, um, is there a problem…?”
“Why are you calling her onee?”
“Uh?”
“Why are you calling Shirazaki ‘onee’?”
“Um, she asked me to call her that….”
What was going on? Did I say something wrong?
Sure, even if my mental age is that of a robust 40-year-old man, at least it is true that Kurokami Senpai is older than me, so calling her onee didn’t seem strange.
Why were they looking at me like that…?
“Call me onee too.”
“I want you to call me ‘Ren-onee’!”
“…Eh? Uh, um, well, since Shiro-onee is a senpai….”
I thought it seemed like she didn’t want to be called that in reality, so I ended up using ‘onee’ instead…
“Call me onee.”
“I like being called onee too!”
“Eep….”
In the end, it was decided that when we met in reality, I would have to call both of them onee.
Although my confidence as a man was trying to wither away, I couldn’t hold out against Koga’s intense gaze…
★
[【Chitchat】I just got back from Hatsumode #KainohIzumi#Star’s Flow]
“So today, uh, we went to the shrine….”
-By yourself?
“Eh? No. It was four of us; me, Koga, Utsumi, and Kurokami Senpai….”
-What wish did you make?
“I can’t say it or it won’t come true. Anyway, it’s been ages since I wore a kimono, but I learned that you don’t wear, um, underwear with a kimono….”
-That’s a really outdated rumor.
-Is there still someone who believes that?
-That’s not something a JK would know, lmao.
“I thought a kimono was a, um, sexy outfit… but I’m disappointed….”
-?
-What is this…
-This guy’s thinking is dangerous.