[Warning 15+]
Translator's Notes:
This is a special chapter exclusive to the Web Novel version and doesn't appear in the Light Novel, so I highly recommend giving this one a read!
Part One
~She Only Acts Like Her Old Self When She's with Me... Wait, Hold Up!~Chapter 39What the Heck Is Going On~?!
Nights in Tsukinose, where streetlights are practically non-existent, are incredibly pitch-black.
With zero entertainment to speak of, the locals kill their lights early, making the darkness feel even heavier.
The full moon, climbing up into the southern night sky while leading a whole army of stars, shines like it's the master of this world, lighting up the mountain village.
"―, ―"
At a shrine tucked halfway up the mountain, in the worship hall right before the main sanctuary where the sacred object is kept, a lone girl was dancing.
The girl was stunning, and honestly, had this total mystical vibe going on.
Even though the girl still looked a bit young, her sharp features combined with her unusually pale skin and flaxen hair—looking way different from your typical Japanese girl—really played up her mysterious, almost fragile beauty.
The girl was decked out in shrine maiden robes—a white kosode and red hakama—with a thin white silk chihaya draped over her. In her hands, she held a sakaki branch and a bell. Every time she moved, her long hair tied in twin tails would dance through the air in a fluid motion.
That flawless, beautiful dance was totally fit for the Deities, and you could tell just how much heart and soul the girl'd poured into her training.
Praying to the Deities.
Seriously, you could tell by the dead-serious look on the girl's face that she was dancing with every ounce of prayer and hope for the Deities she serves.
'―Please, let Hime-chan's Mom get better.'
That was the heartfelt wish of this shrine maiden girl―Murao Saki.
(They moved away 'cause Hime-chan's Mom had to be hospitalized, but their house and stuff are still right there, so once she's better, they'll totally come back to Tsukinose, right…?)
If Saki's bestie Himeko's family came back, that meant her big bro―Hayato, would be coming back too.
Just thinking about that made Saki's pour even more heat into the dance she was offering to the Deities.
Saki was born as the daughter of a shrine that's been passed down for over a thousand years in Tsukinose.
Because of those deep-rooted bloodline traditions, Saki was destined to be a shrine maiden whether she liked it or not. From the time she was a tiny kid—barely old enough to remember—she had that dance drilled into her head.
Until Saki started elementary school, she was basically kept indoors. It was so intense it was more like hardcore training than anything else, and her Grandma and Parents were brutally strict about it.
In their daily lives, they showered Saki with love, but when it came to the dance training, they showed zero mercy and turned into completely different people.
Even though her usually sweet Grandma and Parents kept saying it was all for the Deities, Saki couldn't find any meaning in dancing for something she couldn't even see. To Saki, dancing was nothing but a total pain.
That all changed when Saki was seven, during her debut as a shrine maiden.
'Whoa, awesome! She's not just pretty, she's totally bad*ss!'
It was a boy standing right in the front row of the Festival grounds.
With the boy's eyes sparkling, he threw those words right at Saki.
For Saki, who'd only ever been given cold stares and harsh words, she didn't even get what the boy meant at first. But the second it clicked, this feeling she'd never felt before just surged through her entire body.
Saki's face felt so hot she thought it might burst into flames, and her heart started pounding so hard she felt like it was gonna leap right out of her mouth. She remembers just bolting out of there because she had no clue what to do with herself.
But one thing was for sure—ever since then, that boy―her bestie's big bro, Hayato, became someone Saki just couldn't stop thinking about.
~~~~♪
Suddenly, the smartphone sitting by the pillar of the worship hall buzzed with a notification.
Saki stopped her dance right then and there, and with a quickness you'd never expect from her usual clumsy self, she checked the message.
'We're coming back for the Summer Festival! Big Bro says he's really looking forward to seeing the Kagura Dance this year, too.'
"―!"
Hayato was coming back for summer break―just knowing that made Saki's face flush like crazy, and she felt so hyped she was practically walking on air. She was so stoked that she actually swapped her sakaki branch for her smartphone and performed a makeshift dance of gratitude on the spot.
(Man, I'm so simple~)
That's what Saki was thinking, but she completely froze when she saw the next photo Himeko sent her.
'Big Bro got bitten by some weird bug. It's scary how you can't let your guard down even in the cityー.'
In reality, it was just a mischievous mark left by Haruki.
Himeko thought it was just some funky bug bite, but from Saki's POV, no matter how she looked at it, that was a hickey through and through.
(Wait, wh-what?! What the heck is going on~?!)
In the middle of that shrine hall deep at night, Saki's wordless scream echoed through the air.
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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