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"Senior Asher… what do you think our relationship is right now?"
Ebina Nana lifted her small head, her crystal-clear eyes fixed on Asher without blinking.
To be honest, when a cute girl looks up at a guy with that soft, pitiful expression and asks a question like that, any normal man would start overthinking things and feel tempted to say something ambiguous.
Asher was no exception.
But knowing Nana's personality, he forced himself to suppress that impulse.
After a small smile, he answered calmly.
"Of course… we're friends."
Hearing his clear reply, the unease on Ebina Nana's face finally eased. She let out a quiet sigh of relief, then the corners of her lips lifted into a bright, happy smile.
"If we're friends, then…"
"Senior Asher, could you stop calling me 'miss' or things like that in the future?"
"It sounds… kind of distant."
In her heart, Nana had already placed Asher among her very small circle of friends.
If he kept using such formal, distant forms of address, she would honestly feel pretty sad.
Listening to her words, Asher had thought she was about to bring up something serious.
Turns out, it was just that.
He nodded without hesitation.
"Is that so?"
"Alright then. I'll just call you Nana from now on. How does that sound?"
"Ah… um… th-that's… okay…"Hearing him say her name so naturally, Nana froze for a second, her face instantly turning red.
Seeing her unusual reaction, Asher couldn't help feeling confused.
"What's wrong, Nana? Is there something strange about it?"
"N-no… not at all…"
"Then it's settled."
"Mmm… okay…"
Nana lowered her head, her face still burning.
What Asher didn't know was that in this country, forms of address carried very different meanings.
"Sir" or "miss" were polite titles used between people who knew each other but weren't close.
"Kun" was used among friends or peers, with a sense of familiarity.
"San" was the most common honorific, respectful and used for both men and women.
"Chan" was the most intimate, usually for family members, children, or extremely close relationships.
And then there was calling someone directly by their name.
That was something mostly reserved for couples.
Especially for someone like Ebina Nana, a girl from the countryside with a rather conservative personality, this carried a lot of weight.
Asher, completely unaware of these nuances, had no idea that what he thought was an insignificant change in how he addressed her had caused such a huge stir in Nana's heart.
…
About ten minutes later, Asher and Ebina Nana finally arrived at the apartment building.
After a brief goodbye at their doors, they each returned to their own rooms.
As soon as he got back to the living room, Asher flopped down on the sofa to rest.
At the same time, he opened the system interface.
"System, draw a shikigami."
[Ding! Shikigami draw successfully initiated. Drawing in progress…]
[Congratulations, host. You have obtained shikigami: Hotaru-gusa!]
"Huh?"
"Wait, seriously? Grass Dad?!"
Hearing the system's voice in his head, Asher froze, his face full of disbelief.
He couldn't believe his luck. He had actually pulled Hotaru-gusa, an R-rank shikigami that was practically on par with SSRs.
Back in the day, the infamous counter-attack Hotaru-gusa was ridiculously strong, becoming an undefeated legend that loomed over Heian-kyo.
She even spawned countless memes and iconic lines.
Stuff like: "If I poke you once, you might die," or "Too busy dealing damage to save anyone."
Sure, this wasn't a game.
But Hotaru-gusa was a healer-type shikigami, and her healing output was insanely high.
With her around, maybe situations like before—where four out of five shikigami ended up badly injured—would never happen again.
"Open status panel."
[Host: Asher Onmyoji Rank: Beginner Onmyoji Skills: Basic Techniques, Kotodama: Bind, Thunder Emperor's Descent Inventory: Onmyoji Hunting Robe, Spirit Scrolls ×3 Shikigami List: N-Rank: Lantern Ghost, Parasitic Soul (2★), Grave Robber Imp, Broom GodR-Rank: Yamausagi (3★), Hotaru-gusa]
"…."
Looking at the panel, Asher nodded in satisfaction.
For now, the system interface was pretty bare-bones, but it was good enough. At the very least, if he ran into a powerful evil spirit or monster, he wouldn't be helpless.
With that thought, he closed the system.
Just as he noticed it was getting late and planned to take a shower and go to bed—
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone suddenly knocked on his door.
Asher paused.
At this hour, who would be coming to see him?
Though puzzled, he walked over and peered through the peephole.
Standing outside was none other than Ebina Nana, her cute face clearly visible.
Realizing who it was, Asher opened the door.
"Nana? Why are you here?"
The moment he opened the door, the nervous look on Nana's face melted into a smile.
She lifted the bento box she'd been clutching tightly with both hands.
"Um… Senior Asher."
"These are dango I just made."
"Please… don't refuse them."
Earlier, Asher had already eaten dinner.
Nana couldn't prepare a full meal to thank him properly, but making a small snack like dango was something she could do.
So as soon as she got home, she hurried into the kitchen.
After finishing the dango, she came over with a pounding heart, hoping to give them to him.
This was the first time Ebina Nana had ever put so much effort into making something for a boy.
She was incredibly nervous, afraid that Asher might turn her down.
Seeing her anxious expression, Asher naturally understood how she was feeling.
He smiled gently.
"So that's how it is."
"If it's dango you made yourself, Nana, then I'd be rude to refuse."
He took the box from her hands.
Honestly, he'd been wondering what to prepare for lunch tomorrow anyway.
Talk about perfect timing.
Nana's homemade dango instantly solved that problem.
"Thank you, Nana."
"U-um… there's no need to thank me…"
"It's just… a small token of my feelings."
Nana clasped her hands behind her back and smiled shyly.
"Then, Senior Asher, I'll head back now. Make sure you rest early. Good night."
"Yeah. Good night, Nana."
"Okay, Senior Asher."
After saying goodbye, Asher watched Nana return to her apartment before closing the door.
Back in the living room, he placed the box of dango on the table and sat down on the sofa.
Then he summoned his newly acquired shikigami, Hotaru-gusa.
He was extremely curious about this legendary "Grass Dad" who once dominated Heian-kyo.
Now that he finally had her, he definitely wanted a good look.
A soft teal glow flashed, then faded.
Standing before him was a petite, adorable girl wearing a short emerald-green dress, holding a massive dandelion in her hands. Her hair was tied into a single ponytail, her bare feet resting lightly on the floor, her slender right leg wrapped in a white thigh-high stocking. A faint floral scent filled the air around her.
Before Asher could even greet his new shikigami—
Hotaru-gusa's eyes locked onto the box of dango on the table.
"Wow! Tasty stuff!"
She immediately opened the box, stuffed a green dango into her mouth, and started munching away happily.
Asher's eyes went wide.
Noooo—my lunch!
"....."