Tomodachi no Imouto ga Ore ni Dake Uzai

Bordering the mountain’s surface was an old-fashioned and tall standing inn. Lined up with the other one-story houses next to each other in the village, it cast a dim shadow as the sun started to sink, giving the village a dim creepiness. This worn-out building, looking like it was clinging to the wall, had a strong drift of wind going in and weeds growing everywhere. The outward appearance really only seemed useful and inviting if one wanted to shoot a horror movie.

The reason we came to the only inn in the entire village was so that Iroha and Ozu could check in first. It would be weird to have these two tag along while I’m meeting the head of the Kageishi Family as Sumire’s fiancé. So we decided to get a room first, and then move. Looking up at that two-floor building, Iroha let out an astonished “Ohoo~”.

“This sure is worn down, huh?”

“You sure don’t hold back.”

I unintentionally shot back at her overly direct way of stating things. Well, I wholeheartedly agree with that.

“The exposure to the sun is the worst, and its condition looks horrible. If some police inspector were to stay over for the night, there’d definitely be some murder happening.”

“Don’t say such scary stuff, Ozu. That just happens in manga.”

With all the light novel and manga plots you get involved in, then it might actually happen, so stop talking about it. Well, I think the genre would be too different for your protagonist syndrome to take action, but… It should be fine…right?

“It’s the youngest loli building in the entire village. Only nine years old!”

“That’s the scariest thing yet! How did things end up like that after only nine years?!”

Is it because some careless maintenance of the building, or was it artificially created to fit the overall atmosphere of the building? I have no idea. Either way, there are lots of things to complain about here, but the check-in comes first.

“Ho ho ho. So many young guests today. To think you’d visit a place this deep into the mountains.”

Entering from the tile-roofing gate, a proprietress of advanced age greeted us, wearing Japanese clothes. Because her back was curved as she leaned forward, she probably looked smaller than she actually was, barely reaching my waist. Her face had an ashen, pale color, and I’d believe her immediately if she said she just stepped out of her grave. The more I look at her, the scarier and more uncomfortable things get.

“How many rooms would you like to reserve? We do have rooms enough for a group like yours, but you are two men, and two women, so would that still be fine?”

“Ahh, in that case, let’s—”

“Wait, Aki.”

As I was about to answer the older lady, Sumire suddenly tapped me on the back.

“Since we’re going to visit the Kageishi main family in a bit, they know that I’m coming home, so they probably already have a bedroom prepared, so I might just stay over there. It’d be a waste of money anyway, so go rent one room. okay?”

“Seriously? But what about boys and girls sleeping in the same room?”

“I’m totally fine with it~” Iroha said, as she poked her head between me and Sumire. “You say boys, but it’s just the incompetent Senpai and Onii-chan, right? I don’t feel uncomfortable at all with this. Rather, leaving you two boys alone would be more dangerous!”

“With two boys in the same room like that…something should definitely happen…! Iroha-chan, you’re a genius! Let’s split up the rooms after all! I’ll supply whatever money is necessary.”

“Shut it already, you rotten teacher.”

I pushed away Sumire’s face as she drew nearer, her eyes sparkling. Following that, I threw Iroha a harsh glare.

“Splitting up boy’s and girl’s rooms is the rational choice. If I had to sleep in the same room as you, I probably wouldn’t get a wink of sleep.”

“My, oh my? Senpai, are you really so conscious of me as a girl? Well, I guess that makes sense~ You are an adolescent boy~ Sleeping in the same room with a girl as cute and sexy as me, I’m sure that you’d be about to burst as soon as morning arrives!”

Poking me in the side, Iroha flashed a shit-eating grin.

“Of course not, idiot. You’d just annoy me all night long!”

“Ehhh, I wouldn’t do anything like that~ You’re so cruel for having prejudices about me~ I wouldn’t make Senpai suffer that much, and Onii-chan is with us, so I have to hold back either way~”

“I don’t believe you for a split second. Also, since when did you hold back on being annoying in front of Ozu?”

“Ahhh, so stingy! If you’re that adamant, then let’s just make a bet!”

“A bet?”

“If I do anything annoying or teasing that hinders Senpai from sleeping, it’s my loss. In that case, I will apologize to you, and give you a prize as a present.”

“A prize?”

When I voiced my doubts, the corners of Iroha’s went up to form a smirk. She lifted up her own well-endowed chest up as she put her hands beneath them, leaning forward at a 45° angle.

“You get the right to fondle these~”

“…?!”

Goddess of Fertility. Mother Goddess that prays for a rich melon harvest in Turkey. The relative that proclaims to have Gs. Ancient and modern times, Orient and East, several compositions (hot) emerged from my memories into the backs of my eyelid (hooooooooooot), and that artistic (hot hot hot hot hot hot) scenery (tiiiiiiiiiiiiiits) ahhhhh idle thoughts are disrupting my train of thought! Shit! Don’t just get any riské ideas!! Trying to calm my heart down by ridding myself of these thoughts (tits!), I averted my gaze, and avoided any more thinking about it. However, Iroha seemed to have taken this as a sign of defeat, as she let out a ‘mufu’ laugh.

“Aha~ So you really are conscious of me~ Really, Senpai is so cuuuute!”

“I-I’m not. I don’t have any interest in those lumps of fat.”

“Ehhh, really~? Suspicious~!”

“Of course not.”

A blatant lie. Honestly, my mind is going crazy. I mean, who wouldn’t have any ulterior motives or expectations, faced with that? I’m just a boy, so if anyone told me that I could touch their breasts without any repercussions, I’d agree in a heartbeat.

However, things change if it’s Iroha we’re talking about. Even if I agreed with her plan, and ended up winning the bet, she’d just say something like…

“I was lying this whole time! Senpai bit on so easily, really! A true virgin!”

Or the like, and she’d use this material to tease me for half a month without rest.

“How about you give up already, Aki? With our current problem, we can’t really afford two rooms anyway.”

As Iroha and I were glaring at each other, Ozu spoke up.

“As soon as it was decided that we would stay here, our planned schedule was thrown out the window, you know? And we still need to pay for the hotel. It’s not logical to raise our costs any further.”

“Ugh… I can’t say anything to that.”

We were planning to contact the hotel we had originally reserved and trying to negotiate. Most likely, we’ll be asked to pay a fee for cancelling the order, on top of paying for the new time slot, meaning that it’ll cost quite a lot.

“And, how many rooms will it be?” The proprietress urged us to finally come up with an answer.

There was only one choice to make now.

“One room…please…” I answered, forcing the words out of the back of my throat after losing the battle of brains.

As despair enwrapped me, I looked over at Iroha, while I was about to break out in tears of blood. What greeted me was her annoying grin, and she tapped me on the shoulder as if to cheer me up.

“Let’s make this an interesting night okay, Se-n-pa-i~”

Shit. Oh how I want to rent a room just for myself, you…! Either way, the check-in (more or less) safely succeeded. At the same time, Sumire called out to me, her voice filled with tension.

“Now, let’s leave the luggage to Iroha-chan and Ozuma-kun. We have to go now.”

“…Ahh, I see.”

It was time for the real thing now. The main dish this time around. The most important event in Murasaki Shikibu-sensei’s life, and her work, the one thing I cannot mess up.

“Onwards, to the head office of the Kageishi Family—To where grandfather awaits!”

*

“That reminds me, will that inn be okay?”

Walking down a raised footpath between rice fields, I asked Sumire, who was walking next to me.

“You said that most people living here are your relatives, right? Isn’t there a chance that they might spill the beans to your grandfather?”

“It’ll be fine. This inn is the only institution in this village not owned by the Kageishi Family.”

“In this tiny village?”

“Exactly because it’s in this tiny village. It was bought and managed to revitalize the market. People working there are dispatched government officials, who aren’t from the village itself.”

“I really don’t think you’d get more tourists by managing an inn like this…”

“Sometimes mangaka come here, right before getting axed, or while they’re trying to make it in time for a deadline. Since there’s nothing around to enjoy, they can focus purely on their work.”

“Ohhh, now that’s interesting to hear. Murasaki Shikibu-sensei.” 𝐟𝙧ℯ𝑒𝒘𝐞𝒃𝗻𝒐ѵ𝘦𝑙.com

“W-What’s with those eyes! Are you going to lock me up in a place like this if I can’t make the deadline?!”

“This is your hometown, so how would that work…? Anyway, you say that it’s safe…but, you really don’t meet anyone here…”

“Well yeah. They’re all either working in the fields behind the houses, hunting in the mountains, or playing online games at home.”

“That last part feels awkwardly advanced compared to the first two.”

In this place of Japan where no civilization should reach, the internet is going strong, huh? As I raised one eyebrow in suspicion, I heard the voices of children in the distance. It was a group of three girls, and they were drawing something into the ground with a tree branch, singing along a mysterious tune.

Lit-tle bird~ Lit-tle bird~ A little bird salesman~ Came visiting us

Lit-tle bird~ Lit-tle bird~ A chirping child~ Sold to us

The Parents in the East, the Sun in the West~ Afternoon snack~ Bring it to us

The Parents in the East, the Sun in the West~ Afternoon snack~ Bring it to us

“That’s a song I’ve never heard before, is this some traditional tune here?”

“I wonder…I don’t have any strong memories of here when I was younger…Well, my parents live in the city, so they only ever come visit the main family on O-Bon1 or New Year’s. It wouldn’t be weird if there was tradition like that, I wouldn’t know.”

“Is that so… I don’t know why, but that song makes me feel a bit anxious.”

“Anxious?”

“Most songs like these are taught to the children by the parents, while explaining the contents of them. Apparently, some even have darker themes to them.”

“But it’s a song about a little bird. All I can do is imagine cute bird flying around.”

“It only means ‘Little bird’ if it’s written with the right kanji2.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can write it in many different ways. The normal hiragana way, or the little bird, but by using different kanji, it can also refer to the game ‘Catch-the-child3’. So the ‘Catch-the-child salesman’ is basically someone that keeps children as his slave, selling them off, just by changing the reading.”

“That’s a bit far-fetched. I really doubt that this is what they’re singing about.”

“The same is with ‘The Parents in the East, the Sun in the West’, it gives me some weird vibes. There is this one verse of a haiku that goes ‘The Moon in the East, the Sun in the West’, right, but why would you change the heavenly body ‘Moon’ into ‘Parents’? What meaning does that make?”

“I wonder…?”

“What if they killed the parents in order to abduct the children?”

“Eh…?!”

“If you were to change East with ‘Flame Burned out’ and West with ‘Two Deaths’4—”

“S-Stop! Don’t go any further, this is giving me the creeps!”

As I was busy analyzing this children’s song with a deep voice, Sumire begged me to stop with tears in her eyes. Quite frankly, I’ve gotten quite scared myself. Ah, well, no, not scared. Just a bit eerie, yeah. Anyway, let’s not dwell on this any longer.

“………”

The song also stopped before I realized it, and it felt like they were silently watching us now, but it must be my imagination. Don’t mind it, don’t mind it.

“N-Now, let’s leave horror stories at that. Time to head to the Kageishi Family.”

“Y-Yes, you’re right.”

Trying to shake off this gloomy air around us, we picked up the speed. Let’s just quickly finish our business and get out of this village. After walking for a bit, we finally made it to the Kageishi Family’s mansion, a grand and luxurious Japanese mansion. Though it had an old-fashioned look from the outside, with scars on some places, seeming to be traces from a possible renovation. Like shrines or World Heritages sites, using today’s techniques and skills, you could very well develop this into something new and pretty. In this rotten and deserted village, only this one building that oddly shone strong.

Being greeted by a woman who appeared to be a female servant, we were guided inside. Walking along the open corridor, with a pond inhabited by koi fish, and a garden of pebbles to our side, a wide room opened up behind the folding screen we stopped at. The thin scent of the tatami mats reached up to my nose, and on the wall, I spotted black and white portraits which seemed to be the previous heads of the family, looking down on us.

Just seeing all that, I already felt like I was being heavily judged. Sitting down on the cushion that was seemingly prepared for us, I turned towards Sumire.

“This house is pretty amazing alright. Is this some sort of cultural inheritance?” 𝒇𝚛e𝘦wℯ𝑏𝓃𝑜νℯ𝒍.co𝗺

“Hehe, pretty amazing, right?” Sumire let out a confident snort.

Normally, seeing that shit-faced grin normally would get me pissed at her, but just this once, I can’t say anything. After all, it really is amazing.

“Just how did you end up as Shikibu after being born into a family like this…”

“Ah, did you just diss me!?”

“Judging from the gazes of the previous heads, they’re even more serious and strait-laced as I thought. Like I’d be scolded any second. If you were raised in this family, would you have ended up like Club president Midori?”

“What are you saying? I was raised in this family as well. As a diligent and fierce Onee-chan.”

“…Well, maybe on the outside, but you’re a full-fledged shotacon on the inside.”

Quite the difference from the actually diligent Midori, if you ask me.

“You keep saying shotacon this, shotacon that! A long time ago, it was normal to get married at the age of twelve, you know?! The change of times is at fault here, not me!”

“No, this is completely and understandably an out. Also, the person you like, Arashima-kun, is just a five-year old brat.”

“I don’t caaaaaaaaaaaaare! Everything is legal in the world of 2D!” Sumire stuck her tongue out towards me.

Really, I bet there’s never been such a messed up of a teacher in this world before she came along.

“We only see the exterior of his personality, right? As long as I’m in the dark, Arashima-kun is perfect.”

“…Well.”

It was similar to my current situation. Lying about my relationship with Mashiro to my classmates, keeping it secret that Iroha is the voice actress of the [5th Floor Alliance], trying to hide from Oji-san the fact that I’m being close with other girls. As long as you don’t reveal the truth, even this pretense can become reality. I can’t stop this, if I want to stay on the efficient route to bring everyone the happiness they deserve.

However, I do not believe that things can stay like this forever.

“It must be tough keeping up that front in front of your family this whole time. I’d be tired of it by now.”

“Yes, the days are very tough… Acting all proper, puritan even, but licking Arashima-kun all over the screen during my break times. It really is hell.”

“You really are the worst, but I can see where you’re coming from.”

Unable to openly say what you like, trying not to earn the ire of your parents. Impossible. Suppressing your own happiness, losing the freedom to choose your path, and instead being forced to constantly build up stress is just ridiculous.

Is self-control necessary to become a proper adult? Is restraint all there is to it, walking along the rails chosen by life? Hell if I know. One might show results and talent after probing into their interests. Would it be more efficient to silently take their family’s words and follow their path? Surely, it would be more fruitful to choose for yourself.

“…! Shh, Ooboshi-kun, it’s time.”

“…Oh, right.”

Realizing an approaching presence on the other side of the folding screen, we fixed our seating posture. I am here to act as Sumire’s fake fiancé. Act like a reliable man, so the marriage interview goes smoothly. I don’t know what kind of person I’m dealing with, but they’ll certainly be on the level of President Tsukinomori or President Amachi. I have to prepare myself for that. If the person in question is a decent adult being, I should be able to pull through.

The sliding screen opened, and with heavy, dragging steps, the person entered—

“I have made you wait.”

“…?!”

Seeing the appearance of the male who spoke up with that threatening voice, I was left in silence. It was a giant, who might as well have just wrestled a wild bear. A beard symbolizing overwhelming strength. On one eye, a scar he’d probably received from a wild beast, with white breath leaking out of his mouth.

Oh no, he’s not a normal, decent adult.

“This is our first meeting, I assume. My name is Kageishi Kou. I am the current head of the Kageishi Family.”

At best, the chief of a group of bandits. At worst, a giant carrying a fierce god on his back, who had just sat down before me.

“N-Nice to meet you. I am dating Sumire-sen—Sumire-san, Oobishi Akiteru.”

“Hmmm…”

Giving a deep nod, Kou glared at me like I was prey, savoring the sight before ending it all. Because of his overwhelming pressure weighing down on me, my legs were about to start shaking, but I tried to hide and maintain eye contact.

“Have you heard of our family from Sumire, I wonder?”

“Not all too detailed. But after looking around the village, I have learned a great deal of things.”

“Our Kageishi Family is a family of tradition. For years and years, we have brought forth formidable teachers.”

“Yes… And, I have something that piqued my interest about that.”

“Let us hear it.”

“I want to ask about this village. As a family of teachers, the place you reside at should be at a location with many people and schools. Why is it that you’re living deep in the mountains like this?”

Sumire gave me a perplexed stare from the side. She must have sensed some ulterior motive in there. However, what I wanted was to give him this straight question, the whole of it. The identity of the traditions that those from the Kageishi Family try to protect at all costs—If I can manage to dig that up, I can finally start negotiating for Sumire’s true freedom.

“This settlement was actually a large-scaled ninja hamlet.”

“Huh…? Ninja…? Wearing black clothes, serving a daimyo5…”

“Hm. A bit different from what the outside world thinks ninjas are. In today’s world, you would call it ‘Spy’, I assume. I heard they take jobs of assassination and information gathering, stepping into the realm of the enemy.”

“So your family dates back to the Sengoku6 Era…The gravity of your history weighs down, no wonder.”

“Exactly. However, when the era changed to Edo7 and the world stopped being at war, the duty of the Kageishi Family as ninja came to an end with it. We were jobless, unsure where to go from then, and the one who saved us was the Shogun-sama from back then. Using the young ones from our family, he offered us positions as teachers at a ‘Temple Elementary School’.”

“I see…So that’s how you got into teaching… Wait, weren’t you saying that last part in a roundabout way, and informally at that8?”

“Ever since, we’ve never abandoned that position, continuing to be eternally grateful for this second chance, all until the present day.”

Giving no pause as to my doubts, the head finished up his explanation. Well, whatever. I got the gist of it, so that should be enough. Basically, this undoubtedly loyal family of ninja had kept up the duty of being teachers ever since they received it from the shogun. I don’t dislike that policy, really. They show no intention of throwing away their past or their traditions. However, I still can’t accept the fact that Sumire is bound by this centuries-old tradition.

—Correction.

This still isn’t a justifiable reason to stop Sumire from drawing more illustrations for the [5th Floor Alliance]. Yeah, that’s more important. It’s not for Sumire. It’s just for me and the [5th Floor Alliance]’s convenience.

“So if I were to marry into your family—Would I have to become a teacher myself?”

“Exactly.”

“I see… Also, you broke into informal speaking just now again, right?”

“—There are no exceptions to this tradition, not even for the men of our daughters. Ooboshi-kun, if you really do plan on being the fiancé of Sumire, you will have to show it to me.”

I gulped. As for Sumire, she was throwing me anxious glances from my side. Even Sumire, who always kept rambling about anything and everything in front of me, had gotten quiet and timid. That just shows how great and difficult to deal with this person is. But that makes it pretty easy for me. I will show Kageishi Kou that I am resolute enough for the both of us, and step up to him.

“…Just what I was hoping for. I will not…pull back from this.”

“Very well. Then, let us hurry and begin with the questioning. Let me say this upfront, but you won’t deceive me with any superficial words, greenhorn—Onwards!” Kageishi Kou’s eyes opened wide.

Feeling the pressure emanating from him, I desperately pushed down my feelings of wanting to run away and glared back at him. Now, come. Ask whatever you want. I will clear all your doubts…!!!

*

And then, around thirty minutes later…

“Ahaha!! LOL! Aren’t you quite the Adonis?!”

He’d taken an extreme liking to me. That threat lingering in his voice had completely vanished, as he was now busy with constantly slapping me on the back. He even started using somewhat strange vocabulary.

“Don’t just sit in the corner like that, Sumire. You’ve found yourself such a respectable man, so why didn’t you report this sooner?”

“This whole time, I’ve been wondering. Is it really fine to fall in love with a student?”

Unable to look that enthusiastic grandfather of hers into the eyes, Sumire averted her gaze as she asked in a hesitant tone. In response, the head let out a hearty laugh.

“What are you saying?! There are no boundaries in the way of love! The shogun from back then didn’t prohibit from starting relationships with our students either! I don’t know if anything like that happened, but it’s not recorded anywhere, so let’s just say it didn’t!”

It’s true that they’re loyal to their orders, but you sure are loose about things you never received any instructions about! I thought that they were a strict and harsh family, but actually, couldn’t this be way easier? Sumire seemed to have felt the relaxed atmosphere, as she let out a relieved sigh.

“So you will accept my relationship with him, I take it? That means that we don’t need the marriage interview any—”

“Naturally! …Or so I’d love to say, but we have a code decreeing that we have to make those at the age of 25 without a boyfriend prepared to marry at any time. Meaning I cannot break that.”

“No way…”

“Before it was only 15, but we updated it to today’s time and thinking.”

Isn’t this code pretty lax, then? Why not just raise it to 30, or 40 even? Well, I doubt they’d just listen to someone like me for that.

“However, I am not a demon myself. I cannot break the code, but I can at least try to support this relationship. Hence—”

Taking a deep breath, Kageishi Kou’s eyes suddenly shot wide open.

“Tomorrow night, we will hold the ‘Ceremony of Marriage’!!!”

“Wha—?!”

“What is this ‘Ceremony of Marriage’?”

Sumire swallowed her words at the sudden expression unbeknownst to me, and I could only tilt my head in confusion.

“I don’t really understand it, but is this some traditional event?”

“Indeed. It’s a ceremony where ‘Couples’ prove their bonds in front of the goddess. Because of today’s laws and restrictions, you might not be able to receive a true wedding on paper, but by swearing your love before the goddess, you will enter the bonds of marriage.”

“That sure is an interesting tradition you have there. I’d like to hear more about that.”

This wasn’t just pretending in order to gain his affection. Rather, I was truly interested in it. A marginal village that nobody even stumbles upon on accident. If I manage to get some data on how things work and about their rites, I could hand this data over to Makigai Namako, who then could use this for ‘The Night the Black Goat Screamed’. Now, I’ve gotten another reason not to ignore this fake engagement.

“—P-Please wait a moment, Grandfather!”

“What happened, why are you screaming out aloud like that?”

Don’t you say that.

“He—Ooboshi-kun is only sixteen. He is definitely too young. In my opinion, the ‘Ceremony of Marriage’ is too early for him!”

“What are you saying?! There have been people who married at the age of twelve. If you’re ‘lovey-dovey’, then there should be no problem, right?”

“Even I have to say that this is an out!” screamed Sumire, as she hammered her hands on the desk.

Why do I feel like we had a painfully similar conversation just a second ago? It must just be my imagination, right?

“What’s with that scary expression? I’m giving the utmost care to what is best for your future. Or would you rather give up on him and marry someone else?”

“T-That’s…”

Sumire grit her teeth and lowered her fist.

“…That is the only thing I cannot allow to happen.”

“Right. Hence, the ‘Ceremony of Marriage.’ I will have the others from the village prepare,” said Kageishi Kou, who then started giving orders to his subordinates.

After a short word or two, the subordinates gave a wordless nod, apparently having grasped everything… I see, I feel like I’m slowly beginning to grasp what the true identity of the Kageishi Family is about. Neither the head of the family, Kageishi Kou, nor any other people of this village hate Sumire. Rather, you could even say they dearly treasure her. And they all try to make Sumire happy as best as they can.

Just, these ‘traditions’ and ‘codes’ in place make it all impossible.

It’s the same as being stuck within a company while possessing amazing talent. Even though they don’t have any ill intent, no grudges against the people in question, they are being limited, forced to do this by the culture and rules created by those who’ve long passed. Knowing that, you’d even want to support them from the sidelines.

—Really, so much inefficiency.

“Ooboshi-kun. Ooboshi-kun?”

“…Ah, yes. I’m sorry, what is it, Head-sama?” Putting an end to my thoughts, I responded.

Not good, not good, I can’t have my communication suffer because I’m busy thinking.

“I will prepare a room for you, so stay over for the night.”

“Thank you very much… However, although I truly feel bad about it, please let me return for the night.”

“Ohh, why is that?”

“By fulfilling the ‘Ceremony of Marriage’, I will be accepted by the goddess… Taking that the other way around, it means that I haven’t become Sumire-san’s husband yet. Hence, I cannot act as imprudent as to sleep within this house, which isn’t even my own yet. I have a room reserved at the nearby inn, so please let me rest there for today.”

In other words: I’d rather not spend the night in such a crazy household, so let me sleep with my comrades where I can actually relax. Really, I think I did a great job in not angering the other party with my phrasing. Maybe I do have some talent in this. And just as I was hoping, the family head’s eyes sparkled at my words.

“Very well! I’m liking you more and more, Ooboshi-kun! No, let me call you Akiteru-kun!”

“I-It would be an honor.”

“I’m looking forward to the day when you officially become a member of my family! Fuhahaha!!!”

Seems like he’s still in his best mood, so I guess it worked… We did it, Murasaki Shikibu-sensei. Wanting to make eye contact with her, I turned around, but…

“It’s over… The ’Ceremony of Marriage’… I can’t believe it… My life is done for…” Sumire was muttering to herself as if all her assets had been burned away in the nuclear reactor called FX9 and in cryptocurrency.

What is there to despair about with such a ritual? It’s just a verbal promise, so this is even easier than going through a legal ceremony, at least.

Thus, my first face-to-face meeting with Kageishi Kou came to an end.

*

「You sure meet some weird adults, Aki」

「Indeed」

_______________________________________________________________

1 Festival to honor the spirits of one’s ancestors

2 小鳥 = Kotori

3 子捕り = Kotori as well

4 Aki interprets Higashi 「東」(East) as 火が死 (hi ga shi / Flames burned out) and Nishi 「西」(West) as 二死 (ni shi / Two Deaths)

5 Japanese feudal lord

6 Warring states period: 1467-1568

7 1603-1868

8 His formal tone is very hard to replicate in English

9 Forex Brokers in Japan