"That Miura… really is incomprehensible."
Walking down the street, Nakano Yu murmured quietly.
When he heard Miura Yumiko's words, Nakano Yu felt that something was off, but since he hadn't had much contact with Miura Yumiko, he still found it hard to believe that she could fall in love with him.
Maybe it was just a fleeting emotional reaction, so Nakano Yu didn't pay it much attention.
As he walked, Nakano Yu suddenly felt a strange gaze, and his eyebrows unconsciously furrowed.
That gaze was very unusual, like a sudden peep. Nakano Yu was very sensitive to such looks.
The gaze lingered on Nakano Yu only for a very short time before quickly disappearing.
"Was that some kind of youkai?"
Nakano Yu murmured, not taking it seriously.
Tokyo, where he was, was youkai territory. On the surface, humans ruled the area, but in the shadows between the tall buildings, various demons and spirits moved.
Nakano Yu no longer bothered with such things.
"Hm, what should I cook tonight?"
Shrugging, Nakano Yu thought to himself and continued straight ahead.
Nakano Yu's intuition was correct; the gaze from earlier had indeed come from a youkai, but it wasn't a youkai from the Nura Group that controlled the Tokyo area. Instead, it came from a neglected place where youkai were thought to have gone extinct — the Shikoku youkai!
"Hey! Phoenix, did that man notice us earlier?"
High in the sky, a red bird wearing a striped kimono, resembling a large rooster, flew through the air, holding in its talons a low, round-headed, short-armed grotesque little man.
The red bird was called Phoenix, a famous youkai in Japan. According to legends, when Phoenix appeared, fire rain would fall from the sky, burning the earth. Of course, those were exaggerated stories; Phoenix really had the ability to control fire, but couldn't cause rain of fire.
The grotesque little man that Phoenix held was called Sleeve God, also a relatively well-known youkai in Japan. His ability was a curse; by tearing the sleeve from someone's clothing, he could curse that person to death.
However, at this moment, Sleeve God looked confused and troubled as he asked Phoenix.
Earlier, he had seen a person beneath him and, out of curiosity, had just glanced. At that moment, Sleeve God had felt as if some enormous, terrifying presence had locked onto him.
He was so scared that his body froze, and he didn't dare move until that person had gone far away, only then feeling relief.
"Huh? We're hundreds of meters in the air right now. How could human eyes, which can't see anything without glasses, notice us?"
Phoenix heard this and immediately spoke with disdain, his tone full of contempt toward humans.
"But… I was really just…"
Sleeve God wanted to say more, but before he could finish, Phoenix interrupted him:
"Stop talking nonsense. We need to hurry and meet Tamazu. As long as we deliver the information we got to Tamazu, the day after tomorrow we'll be able to infiltrate Ukiyoe-chō!"
After saying that, Phoenix didn't wait for Sleeve God's answer. Suddenly, he flapped his wings and flew toward the outskirts of Tokyo.
…
Time passed quickly, and soon it was time to head to Woodland Cottage. In these two days, Nakano Yu hadn't encountered anything special, except that Miura Yumiko had confessed her feelings.
Yes, that's right. At first, he thought Miura Yumiko would take a day off, since her injury was by no means light, but he didn't expect the girl to have such good physical condition. After one night, her injury was mostly healed. Aside from not being able to run or jump, basic movement wasn't a problem for her.
However, Miura Yumiko's confession hadn't been public; instead, she had teased him privately, in a playful tone, so Nakano Yu didn't take it seriously.
As for Miura Yumiko's two classmates, Nakano Yu judged that their relationship was over. After all, those two had smiled and greeted Miura Yumiko, but she hadn't even looked at them.
Moreover, Katsura Kotonoha had also returned to school. It seemed that her mood had recovered well, but when she talked with Nakano Yu, for some reason her face would turn red, and her gaze would always dart to some strange places. He didn't know why.
As for Ichike, her audition seemed to have gone very smoothly. Nakano Yu could notice that she had been in a good mood these days; she even smiled cheerfully while boarding the bus.
Sitting by the window at the back of the bus, Nakano Yu absentmindedly watched the scenery outside.
The buses were arranged by class, so the Five Sisters and Nakano Yu weren't sitting together. Katsura Kotonoha had coincidentally been assigned to sit with another girl, so Nakano Yu felt a bit bored and didn't know who to talk to.
Nakano Yu took out his phone and looked at the map, wanting to see where Sobu High School planned to take them.
The location of Sobu High School's Woodland Cottage changed every year. Besides helping with learning, it was said to promote communication between students and nature.
Of course, all of that was nonsense from the principal of Sobu High School; Nakano Yu didn't think so.
After all, compared to Woodland Cottage, Nakano Yu preferred to stay at home. If Nino hadn't wanted him to go, Nakano Yu would probably still be lying in bed.
"Ah~ Ahead is… Nejireme Mountain?"
He yawned, and when Nakano Yu saw the name of the mountain on the map on his phone, he suddenly jerked.
If he remembered correctly, Nejireme Mountain should be Ushi-oni territory, right?
Hiss~ Looks like this period won't be boring.
Thinking about that, Nakano Yu looked out the bus window again and in the distance saw mountains covered with blooming plum trees!