boyutpedia Chapter 101 Childhood Sweethearts
Chapter 101 Childhood Sweethearts
Kazusa couldn't understand what she had done wrong that would make Ayato, who was always so gentle with her, say such a thing, but she didn't dare to ask, or rather, she couldn't bring herself to ask.
Because after Ayato Kamisato finished speaking, her tears started falling uncontrollably, and she was sobbing so hard that she couldn't utter a single complete sentence.
Kazuki stubbornly stood in front of Ayato Kamisato, hoping he would come over to comfort her and wipe away her tears as before, but in reality, Ayato Kamisato simply looked away and beckoned to the Kujo family servant standing in the distance.
"Please take your young lady home," he said.
The servant couldn't hear their conversation from where he was standing, and assumed that He Que was just throwing a tantrum, so he quickly picked her up and patted her back to comfort her.
She bid farewell to Ayato Kamisato, saying that perhaps the young lady was homesick.
Neither of the parties involved exposed her wildly inaccurate conjecture.
Ayato Kamisato felt it was unnecessary to say anything, while Suzume was still processing what Ayato Kamisato had just done, her mind completely focused on Ayato Kamisato's heartless behavior.
She belatedly realized that Ayato Kamisato was serious, and for a moment she even forgot to resist, just staring blankly at him as the servant carried her away from the Kamisato house.
Even after returning home, her tears still wouldn't stop. When she bumped into Kujo Kamaji, who happened to be returning home at the same time, she snuggled into his arms, feeling wronged.
She clung tightly, refusing to let go, howling loudly, completely deaf to what anyone was saying. It wasn't until she cried herself to exhaustion and fainted that Kujo Kamaji managed to pull her off him.
When Heque finally woke up, everyone in the house, from her father and siblings to every servant, knew that she had cried so hard after returning from the house of the gods that the sky seemed to collapse.
They were so embarrassed that they tried desperately to block the door, but they couldn't stop their gossipy older brother and sister.
As one of the parties involved, the second brother, Kujo Kamaji, was pushed forward by his eldest brother, Kujo Masahito, and his eldest sister, Kujo Sara, to take the lead. He managed to withstand the resentful gazes of Suzume as she pressed him for details about what had happened at the Kamisato family.
He Que pouted, looking like she was about to cry again.
Kujo Kamaji immediately popped a candy into her mouth.
With a sweet candy in her mouth, Kazusagi reluctantly decided to tell them what Ayato Kamisato had said.
The child spoke without focusing on the main point, and it took the three of them a while to finally understand what she meant.
Kujo Sara sighed and rubbed her forehead: "Didn't I tell you back then that you shouldn't go looking for Kamisato-sama during this time? He probably doesn't have time to deal with you, which is why he told you to stay home."
The eldest, Kujo Masahito, had a feeling that things might not be so simple, but looking into Suzume's clear eyes, he couldn't say anything. He could only nod in agreement with Sara's words: "Yes, young master Kamisato has a lot of things to do these days. It's better if you don't bother him."
He argued firmly, "I'm very well-behaved! I never bother him!"
The three siblings shook their heads in unison, clearly not believing it. They had all been bothered by He Que before, so they knew exactly how annoying she was.
He Que was so angry he wanted to hit them.
Satisfied with having learned all the gossip, the three quickly said goodbye, while He Que hummed and scurried into his small bed, pondering what to do next.
Of course, it was impossible for her to stay at home obediently. Putting aside the fact that she couldn't bear to part with Ayato, Suzume herself really couldn't stay idle and didn't like staying in the strict Kujo family at all.
However, Suzume really didn't dare to bother Ayato Kamisato anymore.
She rolled around in bed, wrapped in her blanket, in a state of agonizing indecision. Finally, she came up with a compromise: she would change her original destination to Narukami Taisha Shrine. This way, she could not only ask the head of the Kamisato family for a protective amulet, but also test the waters when she passed by Kamisato Yashiki.
Having made up her mind, He Que quieted down and lay on the bed, her round cheeks puffing up with soft flesh from the arm underneath.
She stared blankly into space with her eyes wide open.
If only the head of the Kamisato family could recover from his illness sooner, then Ayato wouldn't have to work so hard, and he wouldn't be so sad every day. Of course, it would be even better if he were willing to continue playing with me then...
*
Before Kujo Takayuki could revoke her right to go out at will, Suzume and she decided to act immediately. The next day, they sneaked to Narukami Taisha Shrine, and following the shrine maiden's instructions, they wrote down their wishes for the health of the head of the Shinto family on the ema (votive plaque) and asked for a protective charm.
The shrine's magistrate is closely involved in the daily affairs of Narukami Taisha Shrine, and the shrine's dwelling is therefore located at the foot of Mount Kagemaki. On the way back, Suzume hung the amulet and a small note explaining its origin on the doorknob.
She sighed softly, ignoring the magistrates guarding the gates on both sides and the swarm of servants protecting her behind her. She felt that the world without Ayato was truly empty and extremely lonely.
So her original plan of going every three days was turned into going every day, especially after she found out that the amulets had been accepted, she got even more excited and brought one back almost every time she went to Narukami Shrine.
The priestesses went from being respectful at the beginning to being silent, and eventually stopped leading the way altogether, leaving her to handle the routine herself.
He didn't mind, and as usual, he went to buy an ema (votive plaque) and wrote and drew on it as he walked toward the wooden shelf.
"Wow, these characters are so beautiful!"
The sudden unfamiliar voice startled Que, who was about to trip over her own feet and fall flat on her face. Luckily, before she could fall flat on her face, the person behind her reacted quickly and grabbed her by the back of her collar, pulling her back.
The beautiful fox lady smiled, amusedly watching the human dumpling in her hand thrashing about: "Aren't you going to thank me, little guy?"
He Que, her face puffed out, was put back on the ground by her. She secretly complained that if her sister hadn't suddenly spoken to her from behind, she wouldn't be in such a sorry state now.
However, she only dared to think these thoughts in her heart, because the person standing in front of her was Yae no Miko, the chief priest of Narukami Taisha Shrine, who was second only to Inazuma.
She stood up obediently and bowed: "Good morning, Lord Chief."
Yae no Miko smiled warmly at her and the ema (votive plaque) in her hand, and asked, "Do you know why I came to find you?"
"I don't know," He Que honestly shook his head.
Yae no Miko then led her to the wooden frame where the ema (votive plaques) were hung, and shook her head with feigned distress: "Look, little one. This frame is full of ema you hung up. Recently, many people have told the shrine maidens that they don't know where to hang their ema, and some have even taken it upon themselves to hang them on the sacred cherry tree—alas, that's really going too far. Now, in order to clean up these misplaced ema, the shrine maidens' rest time has to be postponed again."
He Que immediately felt guilty, put his hands behind his back, and carefully hid the ema he had just drawn.
Yae no Miko simply smiled and beckoned, and the purple fox spirit swiftly circled behind Kazusa and snatched away her ema (votive plaque).
"Huh!?"
Kazusa hurriedly tried to snatch it back, but Yae no Miko pressed her head down: "Alright, I've seen your wish. It's good that you came to the shrine to pray for the safety of the head of the Shinto family. But you should know that saying the same wish too many times will only annoy the gods. Don't do something bad with good intentions."
"Lord Miyaji..." she said, feeling extremely embarrassed.
Yae no Miko hung up the ema for her: "I'll indulge you this last time, little one, but remember to collect the ema that were hung in the wrong place for the shrine maidens later."
He Que nodded obediently.
By the time they finished cleaning, it was almost noon, and the sparrow's stomach was rumbling as it began to miss the wagashi (Japanese sweets) at home.
She bid farewell to Yae no Miko and descended the mountain surrounded by her servants.
As she passed by the Shinto House, she subconsciously stopped, but when she reached the door and touched herself, she suddenly realized that she had forgotten to ask for amulets today.
She squatted outside, frustrated and torn, wondering whether it was more important to go have lunch first or to hurry back and ask for another one.
Before she could get an answer, the door behind her suddenly opened, and He Que, who had been using the door as a backrest, fell backward to the ground, tears streaming down her face from the pain.
But when she saw who opened the door, she forced back her tears and quickly got up to greet them: "Madam—"
The person who came was none other than the matriarch of the Shinri family, Shinriwadai.
She took young Ayaka's hand and gently stepped forward to wipe away the tears from her eyes: "Good girl, did you hurt yourself?"
He Que hadn't really wanted to cry, but for some reason, after hearing her say those words, her nose felt stuffy, and her voice became a little slurred: "It doesn't hurt, Madam."
Suddenly remembering something, she took a step back in shame: "I'm sorry, Madam, I forgot to bring my amulet this time..."
Kaori Kanazawa chuckled and gently pinched the tip of her nose. "Don't worry about it. You've given me plenty of amulets already. I'm very grateful for your concern about my husband. Come in and sit down. You probably haven't had lunch yet, have you?"
He Que then remembered what she had been struggling with before, and her stomach rumbled in response, giving her no chance to refuse.
But she was still a little hesitant and couldn't help but sneak a peek at Ayato Kamisato behind Kayo Kamisato.
Ayato Kamisato has not yet made a statement.
Kazusa Kanzaki saw this scene and guessed what was going on. She bent down and put Ayaka Kanzaki, who was particularly excited because she hadn't seen Suzume in a long time, into Suzume's arms.
"Huh?"
Kazuyo patted the dazed-looking Kazuja soothingly and said softly, "Ayaka seems to miss you a lot, Kazuja. Could you take her over there to play for a while?"
He nodded blankly and led Linghua to play on the other side.
After dismissing Kazuki, who was not in a position to hear what was to come, Kazuki sighed to Ayato Kamisato: "I know what you're worried about, but Ayato, I don't believe you can't see that Kazuki doesn't understand these things."
Ayato Kamisato was well aware of this, but he could not tolerate anything that threatened the Kamisato family.
He turned his head away and refused to speak.
Kazuyo Kamisato thought for a moment and decided to try to persuade him in a way that he might prefer.
"To put it another way, connections are also a form of resource. If you truly want to uphold the glory of the Kamisato family, Kazusuke, as the only daughter of the Kujo family, might be able to help you."
Ayato Kamisato suddenly looked up, staring blankly at his mother.
Kayo Kamisato doesn't actually like judging a person by their family background, but in this situation, in this extreme situation...
She remained silent for a long time, then finally exhaled a breath of stale air and added her last words—
"She likes you a lot, doesn't she?"
(End of this chapter)
The author says: I belatedly realized that I reached 100 chapters the day before yesterday, and I felt I should commemorate it, so I'm holding a giveaway event (●'▽'●).
感谢在2024-06-05 02:50:51~2024-06-07 01:22:02期间为我投出霸王票或灌溉营养液的小天使哦~
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Please don't scam me! 1 bottle;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!