Chapter 219: Distinguished One
"Went through all the trouble to get here, and this is all there is?" Hayasaka Ai muttered under her breath.
That damn old man, just hurry up and die already!
"…Eh, don't say that, Hayasaka. Father knows my grades have dropped recently, so that's still something, I guess." Shinomiya Kaguya consoled herself.
In truth, she hadn't actually met her father — Shinomiya Gan'an, the current head of the Shinomiya family. The one who met her was only his secretary.
Even though she had expected it, Kaguya still felt a little disappointed.
"If it's just about grades, Kaguya-sama has actually improved." Hayasaka Ai said irritably.
Moreover, Hayasaka suspected that the one who called Kaguya here this time wasn't the family head, but rather Shinomiya Oko — the Shinomiya family's eldest son, a man with immense power within the clan, and the Hayasaka family was also under his control.
Hayasaka Ai herself had been sent by Shinomiya Oko to monitor Kaguya.
"It's fine now." Kaguya's voice dropped.
She had actually been really looking forward to seeing the fireworks.
But tomorrow morning there was a party to attend, so if she only returned in the afternoon, it would already be too late.
Kaguya: ( • ᴖ • ｡)
"Sorry, Hayasaka, I made it so you can't go to the fireworks festival with Sakurai-san."
"…It's not like the fireworks festival is held only once. Didn't Chika-chan also say we'll just wait until Kaguya-sama comes back before deciding?" Hayasaka Ai consoled her. "Everyone is very kind."
With her comfort, Kaguya's mood improved quite a bit.
She looked at Hayasaka Ai's face and teased, "But Hayasaka, you still have that completely unhappy expression~"
Kaguya: (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)
"I really wanted to go to the fireworks festival with Sakura-chan. I heard the fireworks at Meiji Jingu Gaien are beautiful, I've been looking forward to it for days!" Hayasaka Ai sprawled on the tatami floor of the Japanese-style room, completely without the air of a maid.
This was a small courtyard of the main residence, near the outer wall, with only a few guards at the gate.
"Now it's all ruined!"
Hayasaka: ᕙ( ᗒᗣᗕ )ᕗ
Ai-chan covered her face with her hands and rolled on the ground a few times.
Kaguya, watching her drop the façade and act like this in front of her, couldn't help but smile faintly.
"What if Sakurai-san found out we couldn't go to the fireworks festival and came to Kyoto to find you?"
Hearing that, Hayasaka Ai sat up from the floor and said seriously, "Kaguya-sama, I think dreams should have limits."
Hayasaka: ( ｡ •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡) !!
"You really don't understand romance, Hayasaka." Even as she said it, Kaguya didn't think Sakurai Saki would come looking for Hayasaka Ai.
It was too far, and besides, she had only told him at noon today.
There was no way he could make it in time, no matter how you thought about it.
"At least I understand romance a little better than Kaguya-sama."
Hayasaka Ai said, unconvinced.
"Let's hear it then? Suppose the situation is Sakurai-san coming to take you out to the fireworks festival." Shinomiya Kaguya sought a topic.
It was far too boring here, with hardly any entertainment.
Would she really have to strum the guitar herself just to pass the time?
"When I'm watching the fireworks on the horizon, thinking of him, and then suddenly he climbs over the wall and appears in front of me."
"Uh, climbing over the wall isn't exactly romantic anymore, is it?" Kaguya teased.
"But around the Shinomiya residence, there are guards everywhere. There's no way to enter openly."
Romance still had to be realistic, didn't it? It's not like Sakurai-chan could just appear out of thin air.
"So what happens after he climbs over the wall?"
"Then he princess-carries me and runs out to the nearby street, and we hop into a taxi."
♡〜(∩˃ω˂∩)〜♡
Given the current circumstances, that was the only kind of scene Hayasaka Ai could imagine.
"No way, Hayasaka, in that situation I'd just feel embarrassed."
"...Let's not imagine random things anymore." She sighed.
They'd think about the fireworks again after returning to Tokyo.
⭒°.⋆ ✴︎° ⋆˙⟡⋆✴︎˚｡⋆⋆✴︎˚｡⋆
————
The next night.
Sakurai Saki glanced toward the horizon.
The fireworks festival near Higashiyama would begin in an hour.
"What? You want to borrow my car?" Ibuki Yuki pushed up her glasses and handed him the car keys in her hand.
"It's not like I won't return it to you." Sakurai Saki replied irritably.
Although she liked wearing kimono, behind that was a sports car enthusiast who went street racing whenever she had free time.
"Go on then, but come back early." Ibuki Yuki had only said half when she pulled a document from the loose collar of her kimono.
"What's this?"
"A special driver's license for special personnel. Aren't you still underage? Don't get caught, I don't want to have to bail you out of jail."
"Thanks, Ibuki-nee." Sakurai Saki gave his thanks and left the wagashi shop.
...
Back at the shop.
Stepping into a tearoom.
Ibuki Yuki sat down at the tea table.
"He's gone?"
"Umu, he looked really impatient. That's how people are, after all, when they're drowning in love." Ibuki Yuki said with a smile.
"Just two years ago when he first came here, he looked like he wanted to kill anyone he saw, and now he's all lively like this."
Jinguji Tamaki picked up an daifuku made yesterday, took a bite, and slightly furrowed her delicate brows.
"Is it that bad?"
"Umu, tofu skin is clearly delicious, two delicious things combined, yet somehow it turned out bad." Jinguji Tamaki pouted, speaking in puzzlement.
Ibuki Yuki pushed up her glasses and said irritably, "In some areas, you really surprise me with how little you know, my algae lady."
"I am Jinguji Tamaki, I don't know any 'algae lady.'"
(Note: Previously I translated FGO, and 'algae lady' often referred to Tamamo no Mae; copying & pasting the Chinese into Google always brought up Tamamo, though I'm not sure what 'algae' is referring to, and 'Distinguished One' seems to refer to Sakurai's mother instead of Shinobu as I thought...)
"Are you planning to keep playing your act with that kid?" Ibuki Yuki ignored her little performance.
"I have a promised after all." Jinguji-san finished the daifuku.
Then she lifted the tea cup and took a sip.
'Still really bad.'
"Isn't it just a transaction? Don't tell me you actually want to be his mother?" Ibuki Yuki said.
"Transaction? This is my precious son. For him, I can do anything. Besides, for the plan in the coming months, without his deterrence, I wouldn't dare make a move." Jinguji Tamaki retorted.
At first it was indeed a transaction, but after meeting Sakurai Saki, she changed her mind. His state back then was truly heartbreaking — indifferent to everything, not like a human at all, but more like a machine.
"Many gods have already left this world. Stealing Inari-sama's divine power would be as easy as flipping your hand for you." Ibuki Yuki said in puzzlement.
Jinguji Tamaki pointed toward the ceiling.
Those who act, Heaven is watching.
"That's right, up there is also a god from another world."
A few years ago, another Heaven and Demon Realm suddenly appeared in the sky. Ibuki Yuki guessed it was the Young Master's doing. Just what kind of ability could pull an entire Heaven from another world here?
The ability to grant wishes?
"That's why my precious son is so important. As long as he's here, that one won't dare make a move."
"What if Young Master doesn't agree to your plan?"
"Then I'll just have to cancel it." Jinguji Tamaki sighed.
For a moment, Ibuki Yuki couldn't see through her, even after following her for hundreds of years.
Planning for so long, how could she just say cancel and cancel?
————
On the other side.
Sakurai Saki looked at the traffic jam ahead.
'If only I had Word Spirit right now, even if it's that trash ability, mumbling "no traffic jam" a few hundred times would probably work.'
After all, Heaven and the Demon World of Gabriel and Vignette had been summoned by Word Spirit before.
…Even though it wasn't all that useful.