[Warning 15+]
Part Five
―Even If, I Can't Treat You with That Same Energy Anymore
Chapter 202
Prayin' to the Gods
―Even If, I Can't Treat You with That Same Energy Anymore
Chapter 202
Prayin' to the Gods
When they met up, Himeko was groanin' with a troubled look on her face, "Ugh..."
Hayato and the others exchanged glances, and Saki spoke to Himeko with concern.
"What's wrong, Hime-chan?"
"Saki-chan, look at these..."
"Katanuki? A horse, a cosmos flower, the Skytree... ...Wow, these turned out so good!"
"Yeah, that's why it feels like a waste to eat them..."
"A-Ahaha... ...Hime-chan..."
"Ema-san's are even crazier, y'know?"
"""!?"""
When Himeko pointed toward both Iori and Ema, everyone's eyes widened, gaspin' in shock.
In Iori's hand was Himeji Castle.
In Ema's hand was the Eiffel Tower.
Custom-sized pieces as large as a notebook, both were insanely detailed and crafted with precision, oozin' master-craftsmanship like genuine works of art. Oh, no wonder—anyone would hesitate to eat somethin' like that, not just Himeko.
Both Iori and Ema, blushin' slightly, bumped fists as if praisin' each other's incredible work.
"Honestly, when both Iori-kun and Isami-san were workin' on theirs, other people stopped in their tracks to watch. It was quite a show."
"Kazuki, even I wanna see how they managed to pull that off. Speakin' of which, didn't you try katanuki yourself, Kazuki?"
"Ahaha, I did, but I guess I just don't have the talent for it. I completely ruined every single one."
"Oh..."
Kazuki lightly threw his hands up as if admittin' defeat.
Hayato, who had just suffered a total disaster at the super ball game himself, let out a dry laugh.
Meanwhile, the western sky was painted completely in madder red.
Before long, the sun would be swallowed up by the night.
Not much time left until the fireworks.
Eventually, the bustlin' food stalls thinned out, and the main shrine hall came into view.
A crowd had gathered at the Shrine Office, with several shrine maidens attendin' to the visitors.
Seein' this, Ema mumbled softly with a voice tinged with a bit of envy.
"They only hire temp shrine maidens for part-time gigs on Festival days like this, and it's so popular that the competition is crazy high~"
"Oh, the girls in my class were buzzin' about how they could wear an actual shrine maiden outfit that wasn't just cosplay."
"It's not just girls, though. What boy doesn't like shrine maidens? Right, Hayato?"
"...Don't toss that question over to me."
Havin' the topic tossed his way by Iori, Hayato turned his eyes toward Saki with a troubled look.
Drawin' everyone's attention, Saki flashed an indescribable, vague smile.
"Right, Hayato's totally used to seein' a real shrine maiden, huh?"
"Saki-san used to walk around the countryside in her shrine maiden outfit, so it was basically her trademark."
"A-Ahaha... ...well, um, changin' clothes was kind of a pain."
"Gnnn, you blessed b*stard!"
Iori looked strangely salty. Everyone burst into a chorus of "Ahaha" laughter.
Amidst all this, Himeko furrowed her brows and spoke thoughtfully.
"Though seein' someone other than Saki-chan wearin' a shrine maiden outfit feels kinda weird."
"Yeah, for real."
"It seems so thrivin' here that they even have to hire temp part-timers... ...If our shrine was this profitable, the repair costs... ...the roof leaks..."
"S-Saki-chan!? Hey, Saki-chan!"
Saki suddenly rested her hand on her chin, mutterin' to herself. Himeko, in a rare move, actually called her out.
Haruki, who was chucklin' at the sight, suddenly noticed somethin'.
The people who finished their business at the Shrine Office weren't headin' to the main hall to pray, but were all collectively walkin' toward the exact same spot.
"Hm? What's that...?"
Hayato caught Haruki's murmur. Looks like Haruki didn't know about the jinx.
After hesitatin' for a moment, Hayato figured it was famous enough anyway and spoke up.
"Those are ema."
"Ema? You mean those wooden plaques where you write wishes?"
"Yeah. Word is, if matchin' wishes overlap, you get extra good luck from it."
"Huh, look at you knowin' stuff, Hayato."
"'Look at you' my *ss. I mean, I only found out about it recently myself, though."
Just then, Kazuki chimed in with a smile, lookin' toward both Iori and Ema.
"It's especially famous for bein' effective at matchmakin', y'know. By overlappin' the same feelin's, they say."
"Matchmak...?" "Kazuki!?" "Ghk!?" "Matchmakin'!?"
Not just Haruki, but both Himeko and Saki reacted to Kazuki's words as well. A somewhat tense atmosphere washed over them.
And as if confirmin' it, both Iori and Ema blushed bright red and bashfully looked away, causin' Himeko to squeal, "Eek~!" only to be chided by Saki, "Y-You're gonna get kicked by a horse!"
"Matchmakin'! Man, I kinda admire that... ...Speakin' of which, why is there a rabbit on that ema? Do you know, Saki-chan?"
"Fue!? U-Um, I wonder why..."
"If I remember right, rabbits mean prosperity for descendants because they have lots of babies, and since they hop, it means takin' a leap forward. Hmm, maybe because the deities enshrined at this shrine are Susanoo-no-Mikoto, his wife Kushinadahime, her parents, and their child Oonamuchi-no-Mikoto, all enshrined together as a family?"
"Whoa, Haru-chan, you sure know your stuff."
"Haruki-san, that's amazin'..."
Haruki was praised (for once) by both Himeko and Saki. But right after, Haruki gave a lame reason—"Because I got super into games and manga and researched a ton of mythology!"—elicitin' a round of dry laughs.
"Oh, well, anyway! Let's go offer some ema."
"Does that mean we can write on them too?"
When Iori urged them on, Himeko furrowed her brows and asked.
Then Kazuki chimed in as if addin' a clarification.
"There's no rule sayin' you gotta be a couple. Look, that group of girls over there is probably prayin' to find a good match, right? It doesn't even have to be about matchmakin'—you can just write whatever wish you want."
"Oh, gotcha. Come to think of it, Kazuki-san, you did say earlier that you were fine stayin' away from that stuff for a while!"
"Yeah, exactly."
As Kazuki shrugged in agreement, the tension in the air relaxed.
Followin' the crowd, they bought their ema at the Shrine Office, each holdin' an ema in one hand while grabbin' a pen provided on the table.
"..."
The pen Hayato held felt unnaturally heavy.
Hayato'd been thinkin' about the ema the entire time.
Hearin' that it was famous for matchmakin' had set his mind wanderin', but Hayato couldn't picture himself datin' anyone at all—it just didn't click.
When it came to girls around Hayato he actually talked to, there were Haruki and Saki, plus Minamo. Oh, and Himeko.
Holding the ema in one hand, Hayato scowled with deep wrinkles between his brows and shook his head.
Then a parent and child caught the edge of his sight, makin' a quiet "Oh" slip from his lips.
A wish.
Somethin' Hayato wanted to ask of the Gods.
The one thing restin' at the very bottom of Hayato's heart, weighin' heavily on his mind right now.
(...Guess it's gotta be this after all.)
It kind of felt like Hayato was just kickin' some other problem down the road.
And yet, if Hayato had to choose a wish, this was the only one that truly mattered.
'May Mom leave the hospital safe and sound.'
Author's Notes:
Meow~.