Volume 2 Chapter 1 (1/2)
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Even though it wasair was cool When you lived in an old japanese-style house, the outside tee effect on the inside teiant thatch roof house that's only advantages were its size and age In one room of that house, I held the replacement for the smartphone that had been destroyed in the previous incident
It had just arrived fro delivery
I lived in an Intellectual Village that created an extrerapes were 30,000 yen a bunch and the water flowing through a nearby river was 300 yen a liter But to obtain the proper feeling of the rural, the area had few stores For that reason, quite a few different services were handled via online shopping The delivery co on various additional services such as having their trucks function as super an additional purchase when their package was delivered
At any rate…
It seemed my smartphone had not been repairable, so they had taken the data out of it, added it to a new phone, and sent me that It was a different model, so the smartphone's body seemed a bit thinner than the old one
But getting a newer version wasn't a bad thing
My index finger operated all the basic apps to ital camera to take a picture of my own face
Just as it made an unnecessary shutter sound effect, I heard a whisper fro black hair, red yukata, and an incredibly glamorous body) who had entered my room at some point
”Catching a gli than I thought it would be”
”Don't be silly It's just that the cas seem off”
I really was being super kind to so thoroughly explain as going on to that glaave any fortune to her household and instead lazed around talking about pointless crap
”Look, there's solea of my blond hair as the standard and now my skin color is way off”
”Maybe you're a special exception, shi+nobu”
”Maybe Okay, Zashi+ki Warashi+, give me an aard smile”
I casually pointed the smartphone at the indoor Youkai and pressed the shutter button on the screen using er
”See? It took the red of your yukata as the standard Your skin looks really rough”
”Maybe I can manually adjust the values inthe ca environulator will automatically detect the ideal values? But I already did-…ow! What is it, Zashi+ki Warashi+? Why are you kicking me in the shi+n? …Ow, that hurts!”
I ignored the Zashi+ki Warashi+ who had fallen silent for some reason and left my room
Hmm… Maybe that room was a bad environment
With that thought, I walked down the long passageway and took rando room and on the porch, but I didn't see any difference It kept taking the places with the brightest light or color as the standard which caused the rest of the photo to look terrible
”Hmm…”
I aie yard lying beyond it
I had a feeling the large yard would be a more difficult environment to handle than indoors, but whatever
The yard was large enough to actually play tennis in, but it had a lot of harsh ups and downs, arden stones and stone lanterns, and trees too thick for me to completely reach around There wasn't ardener would groan every time he saw the place, but I had no idea what value there was in it
About half the yard was covered by tall tree branches and the sunlight poured down through the gaps in the leaves For that reason, it had an incredibly harsh contrast between light and shadow Plus, the as shaking the branches,it all move around a lot I seriously doubted the cas so messed up
And then I found so in the middle of the yard
It was a round plastic kiddie pool
As I already said, while it waswith briskly cool wind Getting in a pool at this tioose bumps, but there were exceptions
This exception was a Yuki Onna with slightly bluish hair and the general appearance of a 13 year old
She had previously been a coe, a criminal tool that used the power of a Youkai, but as you can see, she was completely carefree now
That Yuki Onna usually wore a whitish ki a school swimsuit today for some reason
…Why?
For one thing, I was the only student in the house, so you would never find a swimsuit for a female student here no matter how hard you looked
As the Yuki Onna sat within the chilly plastic pool, her eyes vaguely wandered through the sky
”…Sigh An open air bath is nice every once in a while”
Apparently, she viewed it as a bath despite the teht about the bathtub we usually soaked in My grandfather insisted on keeping the teht be why she insisted she would never get in after him
I put on the beach sandals sitting on the porch and headed out into the yard
I figured it would fail again, but I still casually pointed the camera's lens at the Yuki Onna and took a photo
Oh? It actually took a nice picture this time?
H on???
”And an open air bath of course co toms Eh heh heh heh heh heh heh…”
”Oh, is that so? Well, it's alet to the altar room”
In my household, the custo room and the Youkai to eat in the altar room This was si could be set up, but once the an ould often move around and meet up This ether
These days, the Zashi+ki Warashi+ and others tended to co roo I ht have taken my dishes to join the Zashi+ki Warashi+ in the altar room
Anyway, the Yuki Onna spoke while blankly staring up from the plastic pool
”Oh, right There are soerator You can have one for dessert if you like…”
”? Did you buy them at the sweets shop?”
”…I am a Yuki Onna I can make any fruit into sherbet I can even do it with human flesh”
”Huess I'll take one Thanks”
With that, I was about to leave, but for some reason the Yuki Onna twitched within the plastic pool and brought her small hands to her reddened cheeks
”…F-flattering ina!!”
”I don't need that!!”
As I frantically tried to hold her in check, I heard another voice coe trees What looked like a white cat was standing on one of the branches covering the sky overhead But it had two tails It was a Youkai known as a Nekomata
”Honestly, what are you doing so early in the ? You're louder than the cicadas”
”What's wrong, Nekoet down?”
”Are youout of the branch
To ht shoulder and then juround
I aimed my smartphone's lens at her and took a photo The quality was better than the Zashi+ki Warashi+'s but worse than the Yuki Onna's It see out, but I had no idea what factors the quality was based on
The Nekoently waved her two tails
”The old woman said she could not sleep because the cicadas were too loud I do not know if abnornetic field or what, but those fools are singing even in the et rid of some of them”
”Hmm I was so fast asleep I didn't notice at-…Waahhh!!!??? There's a huge pile of dead cicadas in the corner of the yard!”
The pile was about as large as a caranny's sake, but it would be best if et a shovel and bury them after breakfast
The Nekoood deed because she proudly headed for the main entrance of the house
”You had better not cause any trouble for the old lady either,” she said ”No matter how inept you are, surely you can at least do so under the sun”
”Actually, grandpa and granny believe their health will deteriorate if they aren't out working up a sweat every day If you do the cleaning or weeding for theet mad at you”
”…Oh? Well, I suppose those two do look stronger than a weakling like you”
It was true I knew I could never stand up to grandfather in a fistfight The Zashi+ki Warashi+ seerandfather would clearly be the rand anyone, but she could easily carry around the laundry basket at her age If she got serious, she could probably draw out quite a bit of strength
”Hey, wait, wait, Nekoo in When you come in from outside, you're supposed to wipe your paws off with a cloth, re our house as your home base? It's not the same as with the Yuki Onna who uses the cold room we use for tsukemono”
”That's just a needless annoyance In our world, this is normal”
”I thought you didn't want to cause any trouble for ranny?”
The Nekomata fell silent
Hht have found a way to control her
I picked up the obedient white feline Youkai and wiped her paws off with a cloth lying on top of the shoe shelf in the entrance
And then the dripping wet Yuki Onna approached me from behind
”…Wipe et into every last unspeakable nook and cranny Heh heh heh heh heh”
”This cloth is too sive it up”
After the family and Youkai ate breakfast, I headed out to bury the pile of cicada corpses the Neko an arbitrary hole in the yard and used the tip of the shovel to push the grotesque piece of art into the hole while trying not to look at it
I had expected it to just be a slight bit of exercise, but digging the hole was surprisingly exhausting
For that reason, I ended up taking too long
And that meant…
”shi+nobu, didn't you say you have school today?”
”Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!! You purposefully waited until after it was too late to tell me, didn't you!?”
Otherwise she would never be grinning like that!!
I frantically dashed froh the japanese-style living rooht for
”shi+nobu, shi+nobu,” calledroom I noisily ran in that direction
My granny was holding out so box-shaped wrapped in a cloth
”Here is your bento And didn't you say you were using the pool today?”
”crap, that's right! Mom, where's my swimsuit!?”
I grabbed a s the shortest path to the front door, but then I headed back to the living roootten my indoor shoes
Honestly! Howto lose here!?
With the preparations for my adventure finally complete, I put on my leather shoes and headed out the front door
And there I found a Zashi+ki Warashi+ wearing a red yukata
”…What are you doing here?”
”Taking a short walk How about we head together for a bit?” With a triuh, the indoor Youkai needlessly puffed out her already huge chest ”Walking with a beauty like me is sure to improve your social status”
Ohh?
However…
I found that hard to believe
For the most part, the people I kneere already aware that lamorous In elementary school, I had been constantly flooded with class to see her However, that Zashi+ki Warashi+ was either very cruel or very shy Even though she would suddenly cliht, she would always disappear somewhere as soon as someone from outside the family came to see her
I highly doubted that indoor Youkai actually wanted to be the center of attention
And so she had to have some other reason
”Hey, Zashi+ki Warashi+ Where are you going? The school's the other way”
She jumped in shock
”The only thing in that direction is the tiny post offi-…wait No! Don't tellmy PO box and COD!!”
”Y-youat all to do with today being the long-awaited release date of the new model of electric stickboard that I already paid for with your account instead of using COD!!” shouted the Zashi+ki Warashi+ before running off full speed in an arbitrary direction like she was heading into the sunset along a river bed
And if I was notthat was even worse than I had feared
”Wait, you thieving Youkai!! damn you!! And I don't have tiht on the brink of being late!!”
I thought about calling the post office to have my PO box frozen, but she had said it was already paid for and that would have been done over the internet And all in n a contract for a cell phone, she liked to use that ot back from school, I needed to make sure she paid me back in cash from her allowance before she could weasel her way out of it
And as I was thinking about that, I was running along the path to school with fields on either side The pathas lined with small solar panels that turned toward the sun like sunflowers
As I ran, soed out from the side
It was neither a high school girl with a piece of bread in heron an electric scooter
It was a large paper umbrella of the old traditional sort
The ue eye and tongue could be seen on its surface
The handle was touching the ground and it ran along like so on one foot This Youkai was the type cohost house
”…A Tsukuami?”
”Boy, I have developed past that territory and gained the proper name of Umbrella Obake”
As the Urim as my father's
”What are you doing?” I asked ”Heading to school?”
”My master has a tendency to leave ht be rain this evening!!” shouted the Youkai while widening its already unnecessarily large eye
But…
”I thought the forecast said a 20 chance of rain this evening?”
”Twenty is plenty!! Think for a second that a box containing 100 scorpions was just placed before you and you were told 80 of those scorpions are not venomous Would you wish to stick your hand in that box!?”
”…I get it, I get it You're overprotective And the naana”
Plus, I did not think that exa 20 If there was even a single scorpion in the box, you had a 100 of being stung
”I have also heard a shi+chinin Misaki has been spotted around this area recently My master needs me to be a bit extra cautious”
”…A shi+chinin Misaki?”
That was one of the deadly types of Youkai that killed people simply as a characteristic of the species
I was pretty sure the shi+chinin Misaki was a Youkai constantlyvictims Whenever a new victim was created, the oldest victim would be released to rest in peace There were various theories regarding what kanji should be used for the ”Misaki” part
But if it was made up of seven people ere all victims, where did the true essence of the Youkai lie? Was the Youkai the invisible framework in which the victims were contained?
”But I thought the shi+chinin Misaki was an ocean Youkai”
”Do not ask me I only knohat I have been told”
”…Hm”
When I thought about it, I realized the trouble with the sca the Yuki Onna had started when I spotted that winter Youkai in the summer
A Youkai appearing where it should not be ht have been evidence of human intervention I decided to be a bit more cautious than usual
”Hey, why are you being so quiet? Do you have some idea what could be behind it, boy?”
”No, no,” I said to avoid the issue ”I was just thinking how convenient an uet it would be”
”Heh I may not look it, but I have been alive for about 150 years I a like your everyday plastic umbrella”
”But I don't think just strapping a GPS to everything would be enough to stop yourself fro”
”Those damn modern conveniences…!!”
The Uritted its teeth (Did it even have teeth in that co e reached a crossroads betater-filled paddies
”Oh, my master is this way”
”Oh, so he is an elementary school kid”
”Farewell, boy Try to only run into girls with bread in their mouths thrice a day!!”
”I've never even seen a bread girl Are you sure that isn't a type of Youkai?”
After parting ith the Umbrella Obake at the crossroads, I ran full speed for the only high school in the Intellectual Village
The school only had about 300 students total and the school building itself was fairly small
However, the Intellectual Village was intentionally designed to appear to be in decline Given the nuh school students lived in the village
”Hey, shi+nobu Run! Keep running! You've still got a ways to go to reach homeroom”
My classmate Tarou called out to me from the dirt schoolyard He was a healthy school club boy whose casual clothes were always quite plain, but his naiven name alone was spelled with 7 kanji Even our japanese teacher was confused how seven characters resulted in the reading of ”Tarou”
”Tarou, were you doingthat every day during summer break?”
”No, I was at athe chickens, I still have the et to school but not enough to go back to sleep Those of us who got here early were playing on the schoolyard”
”A job, hm?”
”Unlike those with a house like you, it isn't easy for us boarding students to stay in this Intellectual Village Of course, the acceptance rate is so low, your odds are about as good as winning the lottery if you don't have any connections fro”
That was how the village had an unusually high number of youths for its size
No matter how maintained the environes actively invited in youths to help stabilize that flow
There were soh For exaers because he was so passionate about (if not addicted to) one to an agricultural university into the brewing facility
As I changed into my indoor shoes at the entrance, I spoke with Tarou
”So is the Love King co today?”
”He's out , so probably not today It takes a strange person to beco out with love troubles for only those already in established couples”
And despite acting like a complete know-it-all when it came to other people's love proble with a lover
”So I' before summer break? Anyhere's Akechi?”
”He's the one the Love King is helping”
”…Eh? So he cheated on Nagisa? Is…Is Akechi okay? Nagisa isn't going to murder him, stuff him, and use him as her dakimakura is she?”
”Why do you think he's getting the help of the Love King?”
”I thought the guy was crazy froreatest yanderes He certainly has guts”
I parted ith Tarou as he went off to change out of his personal sportswear that differed from the school PE uniform and into the school uniform
I headed up the stairs on my own and then down the hall towards my classroom That hen lasses and a simple suit She was a timid teacher who almost always held the tablet computer she used to take role in front of her face while speaking with so very passively and tended to avoid probleet selected to live in an Intellectual Village despite being a overnist
”U-um… Jinnai-kun?”
”Yes, what is it?”
”Eeee!! Don't scare me with that blond hair! N-no, Isummer break?”
The ”Kote after every other as the eccentric beauty of our class, Kote of the sort, but she was still stuck in an isolated state as she could not seem to fit in with her family or her class
”Sigh Is Madoka still not co to school?”
”W-well, she did actually come…”
”Then why don't you just ask her how she's doing?”
”I don't need to do that!! I need to respect my students' independence! I cannot intrude that far! It would be such an annoyance!!”
Of course, everyone could tell Madoka stood at a higher position than her family or her class, so it see ostracized
”It looked like Madoka was grinning while watching stock prices as usual She started laughing and clapping her hands together when the price of gold dropped like a rock, so so must have happened on an international level Should I ask her about it?”
”N-no! That's okay! Really, it is!! I will never intrude on ht?”
As my homeroom teacher spoke, she had a look on her face that plainly said ”Don't getI can avoid, you damn brat”
She gestured h the classroo a fe a white short-sleeve sailor uniform
”I just need to know there are no proble from outside”
I peered into the classroo looked the sa while divided into a few different groups while Madoka sat alone at her desk
For so
”At any rate, enjoy your youth however you like as long as it doesn't cause me any problems Specifically, try to destroy this aard at on you, Jinnai-kun See you during homeroom!!”
My hoesture before heading off somewhere
Please…
Stop using me as your Madoka countermeasure
But even if she was eccentric, this was a beautiful girl we're talking about, so I wasn't about to not do it
I would never have gone through with if it wasto do”
After all, I wasn't like my uncle who had wanted to be a police detective and had actually made it into Department 1 of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department
”…Ahem”
I cleared eI opened the classrooht for Madoka's desk where she sat looking bored
”Hey!! Madoka-chan, let's eat our lunches early!”
”First period hasn't even started yet! Isn't that being a little too bold, shi+nobu-kun!? And do I need to tell you why girls use such small bento boxes? It's because we're worried about ill become of us if we eat too much!!”
What was needed to start a conversation with that ”isolated” girl was to find soet sohtly brushi+ng e 1
But…
”Hey, Madoka Why did you freeze in place as soon as I opened my bento box?”
”…shi+nobu-kun? Did you get a chilled e the tissue Don't tell me you had it shi+pped in by air”
”Don't be stupid, you daranny made me”
”…I see,” said Madoka in some kind of admiration
The way her eyes were glittering scared ht have lit a fire in her health-obsessed heart
”By the way, shi+nobu-kun”
”What?”
”One of uards said he saw a shi+chinin Misaki Do you know anything about that? He was co about how odd it is for an ocean Youkai like that to be here on land”
…Oh?
I had thought the Uthe sa
”I don't know anything about it, but I did hear the sa”
”H”
”The shi+chinin Misaki is one of the absolute worst of the deadly Youkai Don't you die just byit?”
”It see from an extreme distance is safe, but if you and Youkai detect each other froe, you're done for They terrify the police Thanks to this, e They even tried to deploy a unit around the school ca”
That hen a dull electronic tone came from Madoka's cell phone
She pulled the electronic device frorimaced
”…Oh, dear shi+nobu-kun, excuse me a moment”
”So related to money?”
”There's been an unpredictable change that ram can't handle I have to manually alter it”
As she spoke, Madoka used her thuh school girl She was probably altering soraht and sold stocks
It only took a few dozen seconds to a few minutes
I had no idea how much a period of time like that orth to an investor
With her work done, Madoka tossed her phone on top of her desk
”Insect daht about now and causing all sorts of problems”
”…What was that email?”
”The program I wrote is also used by a ra paraes caused by sudden military conflicts or natural disasters That's why I ordered the fund advisor to sendhappens”
”But what if that major fund betrays you…?”
”I have it set up so any losses that I am not contacted about will be covered by either insurance or compensation Of course, they're so dependent on me they could never survive without ram”
I could see how she would have little interest in acquiring the inconsequential relationshi+ps of a class when she was living in such a dynaears of adult society grabbed one of the oranny had made and tossed it into her mouth with a childish look on her face
”So you get these every day for free?”
”Ahh, now I really want to live with you, shi+nobu-kun…”
I knew she was not the type to care about her surroundings, but I really wished she wouldn't say that kind of suggestive line in the middle of a classroom filled with our classmates!
School that day only lasted until
This was because Madoka had not done her summer homework at all
Normally, I would have simply abandoned her, but she knew my personality a little too well
”shi+nobu-kun, we used the pool today”
”Yeah, that was the main event Without the pool, not even a third of the people here would have shown up on such a hot day I'd still be in my futon”
”Now, shi+nobu-kun If you will look over o your lecture while wearing my still-wet school swimsuit”
And I was enough of an idiot to be drawn in by the school swimsuit
Evening came before I knew it as we sat with a desk in between us in that afterschool classroom I looked over her notes, pointed out errors in her calculations, went over an outline of the designated book for the book report, and pretended to drop hs
I wasn't sure if Madoka had finished her ho came
Plus, it turned out the U turned out to be dead on!! In fact, it was absolutely pouring! Standing outside without an u wet!!
”…Is that why you called hed the Youkai in a red yukata who held two plastic umbrellas at the entrance of the school
I gave a serious reply
”Normally, I would never expect you to coured dad would have straightened things out regarding that order youI assu to do what I said for once”
”Uuh…” groaned the Zashi+ki Warashi+ as her shoulders drooped
She was an insolent and prank-loving sort of glamorous Youkai, but it seemed she was no match for my dad
But…
”Is he really that scary? You know he's named some of the sake he ht? For a leading artisan to name his prized product after you, he must really like you”
”…N-no, it isn't an issue of what he says or does In fact, he is co that only Youkai can detect”
Hmm…
So is it like how a parent's love is hard for a child to understand?
As I had that thought, the Zashi+ki Warashi+ and I held up our u out into the rain, I turned back towards the school building A fes still had people visible in the for the rain to end I didn't see Madoka, but I did see a faave a quick nod
The Zashi+ki Warashi+ and I left the school grounds and walked down the path leading home
”The rain is pretty strong, but I don't hear any thunder”
”I want to see if you actually look like an X-ray i hits you”
”I wouldn't”
But holding up an u those ater-filled paddies did ht worry
The s the path were drooping down lifelessly, but the sside the fields were alreat flows of water roaring along beside the path to and fro rainstor
Of course, they were designed so trash would al them up and cause the water to overflow