Chapter 68: A True Exorcist Should Go on a Spending Spree
"Tamamo-no-Mae!?"
Not to mention Miko, who had studied many books on strange tales.
Even Yui Yuigahama knew the name Tamamo-no-Mae very well.
This was a Great Yokai known to everyone in Sakura Prefecture!
According to legends, Tamamo-no-Mae was an incarnation of the Nine-Tailed Fox, possessing amazing talent and beauty.
There were many versions of the story, each with differences.
But the most important point was only one.
Tamamo-no-Mae's power was terrifying.
Even ancient armies were just fragile toys in front of her.
If not for the help of multiple Great Onmyoji—that is, spirit mediums—Tamamo-no-Mae wouldn't have been defeated.
The one they just saw was actually this legendary Great Yokai?
This was on a completely different level from ordinary evil spirits and ghosts!
While Miko and Yui were shocked by the name Tamamo-no-Mae, the perceptive Futaba Rio was recalling Tamamo-no-Mae's strange reaction after Yoru wrote his name.
A Great Yokai like Tamamo-no-Mae should have seen a lot.
Just a name could scare her like that?
Was it because Tamamo-no-Mae's strength wasn't as powerful as in the legends and was purely exaggerated by rumors, or was it...
The other "name" Yoru mentioned was very scary?
Rio couldn't come up with an answer, as there were no clues.
Moreover, she wasn't very curious.
Everyone had their own secrets.
Just like in her first week at Sobu High, when she felt out of place under the gazes of her classmates, and the classroom during breaks and lunch became a torture that made her restless, Yoru invited her to join the Super-Quant Club.
It was a bit sad to say.
On that day in the open space where the club was recruiting, within just a few minutes, Rio had spoken more words to Yoru than to all her classmates combined.
Rio actually felt very inferior deep down.
She felt she wasn't pretty enough, her personality wasn't likable, and she had a body she hated herself.
If she hadn't been attracted by the words "Quantum Mechanics" and mustered all her courage to ask about the Super-Quant Club back then.
If she hadn't met Miko and Yoru... what kind of life would she be living now?
Rio didn't care at all about things like "another name."
She only believed in her own judgment of Yoru.
Yui and Miko thought the same.
"Ah, we came back a bit early."
Yoru stood up, stretched lazily, and smiled.
"In that case, why don't we go shopping?"
"Shopping?"
Rio and Yui looked blank.
"Yeah."
Yoru nodded seriously.
"Team building and deepening the bond between members is very important!"
"Really?"
Rio looked skeptical. Just as she was about to say something, she heard Yui say excitedly.
"Okay, okay! Going out to play with friends—this is the high school life I wanted."
Although Miko wasn't as excited, she nodded in agreement.
"Mmhmm... I do need to buy a couple of tracksuits. The old ones are worn out."
Miko wasn't the type of energetic girl who loved sports, so she didn't have many tracksuits.
But she couldn't go exorcising in her school uniform and skirt, right?
Leaving aside the issue of easy wardrobe malfunctions, it was inconvenient to move around. Exorcism was something that couldn't be taken lightly.
After wearing them out, Miko couldn't tell her mother she wanted to buy two new sets.
If her mother asked why the tracksuits wore out so quickly, how could she explain?
Fortunately, Miko had private money.
The 60,000 yen Yoru gave last time was handed over to her by Yui for safekeeping.
So now....
Spend! Spend hard!
Exorcising evil spirits and protecting Kyoto every day—can't I enjoy myself a bit?
Seeing both Miko and Yui agree, Rio felt moved too.
"Alright, let's go together then."
Anyway, no one was waiting for her at home.
Accepting so much information in a short time made even the brilliant Rio feel a bit tired.
It was time to relax properly.
"Alright (Chi Chu), let's go."
....
Meanwhile, inside the Otherworld.
Tamamo-no-Mae, wearing a kimono, sat inside the white-cloth-covered carriage, facing a flickering green candle flame.
She took out the scroll from her bosom and slowly opened it. Her slender white fingers caressed the line of black names written with a brush next to the two characters for "Yoru."
"This guy's True Name..."
What entered Tamamo-no-Mae's eyes was a name that made her heart palpitate with fear.
The End of the Eight Million.
If Yui or Rio saw these words, they might not react much, only finding it baffling.
But if Miko saw these words, her reaction would be the same as Tamamo-no-Mae's.
"Eight Million" wasn't just a simple number.
Legends said there were Eight Million Gods (Yaoyorozu no Kami) in Sakura Prefecture. Whether it was an exaggeration or factual was unknown.
In short, the number "Eight Million" had become synonymous with the gods of Sakura Prefecture in modern times.
And Sakura Prefecture's definition of so-called gods was different from the mainland (China); it also included monsters like Tamamo-no-Mae.
The meaning of "The End of the Eight Million" was simple.
Translated, it meant: The One who Ends all Gods and Evil Spirits.
Just looking at these words made Tamamo-no-Mae shudder.
The name on the contract must be real; otherwise, the contract wouldn't take effect.
Who exactly is that guy?
No... is Yoru really human?
How could a mere human have such a True Name?
Tamamo-no-Mae was incredibly glad she chose to deal with him and adopted a very gentle attitude instead of being tough and arrogant.
Otherwise...
Maybe today, Yoru would have become her End.
"However..."
Tamamo-no-Mae rested her chin on one hand, looking interested.
"The tune he played was actually quite nice."
....
Half an hour later, in a women's clothing store in the downtown shopping district of Kyoto.
"This outfit looks really good."
"R-Really? I don't usually wear this style."
"Little Rio, try it on, okay?"
"Ah this..."
"Okay, okay, go quickly, go quickly."
Before Rio could refuse, Yui pushed her into the fitting room.
The most obvious change after this Otherworld adventure was Yui's address for Rio.
It skipped directly from "Futaba-san" past calling her by name "Rio" to the final form: "Little Rio."
Watching the heartwarming scene in front of him, Yoru thought that in terms of dressing up, Yui was indeed the one with the most say among the three Super-Quant Club members.
Rio aside—wearing a lab coat over her school uniform all day, if her looks weren't top-tier, she would look like a perverted scientist.
Miko's dressing style was mainly simple and unadorned.
School uniform with a skirt, and a bright yellow sweater over it.
This simple style, almost like a middle-aged woman's, could only be pulled off because she was good-looking.
Speaking of dressing up, Yui, with her slightly Gal style, was indeed very eye-catching.
Of course.
This was a women's clothing store after all.
In such a home field, when it came to being eye-catching, Yoru completely defeated Yui.
"That boy... looks like a high school student, right?"
"No, no, no, should be a university student, right?"
"So handsome. Should we go hit on him?"
"He's here with his girlfriend, right? Otherwise, why would he enter this kind of store?"
"Eh, I just saw him enter with three girls. Even if he's accompanying a girlfriend, he wouldn't bring so many people, right?"
"So you're saying there's a chance?"
....
A normal high school boy staying in this women's clothing store full of female customers, with a special underwear display rack, would have been embarrassed and unsure where to look long ago.
However, Yoru was extremely calm, looking at ease.
You gotta be kidding.
Could a professional exorcist be afraid of this little embarrassment?
He, Yoru, was famous in Sobu High for his social anxiety.
Social Terrorist.
"Hey, handsome."
A woman dressed flamboyantly in a miniskirt and spaghetti-strap top, exposing large patches of snow-white skin, with exquisite makeup, held her friend's arm and came up to talk to Yoru with a smile.
"Alone? Want to go eat something with Big Sister later?"
Yoru scratched his head, revealing a shy smile typical of a high school boy.
"Sorry, I'm here with my girlfriend."
"Eh?"
The woman was disappointed, then asked curiously.
"Which one of the three just now is your girlfriend? Is it the girl with peach-pink hair?"
"You misunderstood."
Yoru smiled shyly and spoke slowly.
"All three of them are my girlfriends."
At this moment, silence spoke louder than words.
Customers in the entire women's clothing store fell silent instantly.
Surprised, amazed, incredulous gazes all fell on Yoru simultaneously.
No, you alone, dating three girlfriends?
And you can bring them shopping together?
And say it so openly?
Indescribable, beyond description.
The woman who came to hit on him and her two friends looked complicated. Finally, they could only smile awkwardly.
"Oh, oh, I see. Sorry to disturb you."
After they left the store awkwardly, Miko walked up to Yoru and sighed softly.
"What nonsense are you spouting again?"
Miko found that recently, her immunity to Yoru's craziness was getting higher and higher.
This wasn't a good thing.
Could it be that after becoming an exorcist, everyone would walk down this path of no return to becoming a mental patient?
That was a bit hard to accept.
Just then, the fitting room door opened.
"Quick, quick, let me see, let me see."
Hearing Yui say this, Yoru couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Why is it that the same sentence...
When she says it, it sounds so lively and cute, but if I say it, it would feel crazy and perverted?
Truly wonderful.
"I-I'm a bit embarrassed."
Rio walked out of the fitting room, blushing slightly.
Although she still wore glasses, her clothes were completely different.
A camisole with a small gray jacket over it. Considering Rio's personality, Yui chose hot pants instead of a skirt for her.
Yoru's first reaction.
White. Really white.
Second reaction.
Big. Really big.
But thinking of how Rio suffered so much criticism in junior high because of this body that developed faster than her peers, Yoru felt a bit bitter inside.
"So cute."
Yui looked jubilant, pulling Rio's hand and dragging her in front of Miko and Yoru, smiling sweetly.
"You guys also think Little Rio looks cute like this, right?"
Miko nodded with a smile and praised from the bottom of her heart.
"Mmhmm, indeed better looking than usual."
Rio's face flushed. She looked at Yoru shyly, her voice a bit nervous.
"Yo... Yoru-kun, wh-what do you think?"
"Mmhmm, very nice. It suits you well."
Facing such a question, Yoru naturally wouldn't give another answer.
Hearing this answer, Rio seemed relieved, a rare smile appearing on her face.
"Since you all say it looks good, I'll buy it."
"Oh, I forgot."
Miko suddenly seemed to remember something and hurriedly said.
"We received a total of 100,000 yen in exorcism rewards recently. 10,000 is kept for club activity fees. Yoru contributed the most, so he takes 30,000. The remaining 60,000, let's split it equally among the three of us, 20,000 each."
"No need."
Rio waved her hand.
"I hadn't officially joined the Super-Quant Club back then. Let's talk about it next time."
Seeing Miko wanting to persuade her further, Yoru shrugged and said calmly.
"Just do as Futaba says."
Miko and Yui didn't know, but as a transmigrator, Yoru knew very well.
Futaba Rio wasn't a child from an ordinary family.
Just that luxury apartment in the city center was worth tens of millions.
Such a big house was basically for Rio to live in alone.
This genius science girl was an out-and-out hidden rich lady, perhaps even wealthier than the Yukinoshita family.
A mere 20,000 yen really wasn't much money to Rio.
Under Yui's persuasion, Miko picked two tracksuits and also chose a casual dress.
At this time, a female shop assistant looked at the three girls with a meaningful gaze, walked straight up to them, and put on a polite enthusiastic smile.
"We have a promotion today. Would you like to buy two more pieces?"
"Um, no need..."
"How about these sets? Very suitable for high school girls like you. And this, this, these are all the most popular styles right now."
Listening to the assistant's incessant introduction and watching her taking down clothes on her own and forcefully comparing them on Yui and the others, Yoru understood.
This sister is up to no good.
Leaving aside the socially anxious Rio, Miko obviously wasn't good at dealing with this kind of scene either.
Yui was a social butterfly.
The problem was...
Her personality was too gentle. Even facing a shop assistant she met for the first time, she couldn't harden her heart to refuse.
Yoru felt a bit helpless.
In his opinion, the psychological illnesses of these three members were much more severe than his.
Such a thick-skinned assistant who saw they couldn't bring themselves to refuse and pushed sales frantically deserved a heavy punch.
"Hey, I say."
Hero, debut!
Yoru walked up to the assistant. His height of over 1.8 meters gave her an inexplicable pressure. She forced a smile and said.
"Th... This gentleman..."
"Stop."
Yoru started his output directly.
"Do I need you to teach me how to buy clothes? We already explicitly refused you, so don't stick your damn face (B-Face) here and force it. You just think high school girls are easy to talk to and want to take the opportunity to scam more money, right? I see your store is quite nice; how could it cultivate an employee like you?"
Yoru didn't lower his voice intentionally; all customers in the store could hear what he said.
The smile on the female assistant's face stiffened. She seemed to want to argue something, but Yoru couldn't be bothered to pay attention to her. He took Yui and the others straight to the counter, paid the bill, and left.
....
This brief interlude didn't affect everyone's mood.
"How about tonight..."
Rio checked her phone and found it was nearly 8:00 PM. She looked reluctantly at Yui and Miko and whispered.
"Since you've already told your families, why not stay at my place tonight?"
Rio had a lot of fun.
After all, this was the first time she had come out to play with friends since junior high.
"No problem."
Miko nodded and said casually.
"I originally thought we would all go to stay at Yoru's place. If your place has room, that's certainly more convenient."
After saying this, Miko suddenly realized the atmosphere had become a bit subtle.
Yui and Rio were both looking at her with extremely complicated eyes.
"You... have been to Yoru's place?"
At this moment, the air seemed to go still.
Miko opened her mouth slightly, knowing she had misspoken, and didn't know how to explain.
Staying with the Super-Quant Club members was too relaxing, and she didn't have to worry about evil spirits suddenly appearing.
She subconsciously spoke her inner thoughts.
Feeling the sudden silence, Yoru sucked in a breath of cold air.
Could this be...
The legendary Shuraba (Carnage Field/Love Battlefield), more terrifying than evil spirits in Sakura Prefecture?
No, I clearly haven't laid a hand on any member yet.
School Days Makoto, is this the curse for bad-mouthing you back then?
"Hmm..."
Feeling the inexplicably awkward and silent atmosphere, what was Yoru's choice?
"I'm a bit hungry. How about..."