"Sorry for keeping you waiting, Yu."
At the entrance of Radish, Nakano Yu looked at Katsura Kotonoha, who was running toward him holding a stuffed bear, and quite naturally allowed her to link arms with him.
"Did Kotonoha go back for the doll?"
Looking at the smiling Katsura Kotonoha, Nakano Yu could not help but pat her on the head and say.
"Yes and no, I guess. Where shall we go next? Kokoro said there's an old street nearby and that it's really fun."
Nodding, Katsura Kotonoha gave a vague answer, then took out her phone, glanced at the outing plan prepared by Katsura Kokoro and said.
"Then let's go there."
Hearing that, Nakano Yu slightly raised an eyebrow. An old street, huh? He hadn't been there for quite some time.
"Mm-hm!"
Katsura Kotonoha was now quite relaxed, without the initial shyness she had when they first met. There was more intimacy between her and Nakano Yu.
The two of them walked and talked and soon arrived at the old street.
It was called an old street, but in essence it was a shopping street, just not as large as Ukiyoe Street in front of the shopping mall, and everywhere it gave off a sense of antiquity.
"Nakano Yu, they have cotton candy over there, and a Tarot Mystery House!"
Katsura Kotonoha had probably never been to the old street before, so everything felt new and exciting to her.
Nakano Yu smiled and followed Kotonoha as they browsed the old street. Soon they stopped in front of a shop.
"Oh my, madam, you are too kind. Love is your destiny, this old woman only foretold it in advance."
"Hahaha, is that so? In any case, thank you, Granny from Shitamachi! Please, you must accept this!"
"Oh no, you shouldn't…"
In front of the fortune-telling shop, an old woman was counting money while a richly dressed lady was leaving.
After counting the money, the old woman was about to put it away when her body suddenly stiffened, as if she had sensed something, and she abruptly looked up.
"Na-Nakano…-sama?!"
When the old woman saw the young man and girl standing in front of her shop, her aged face was filled with shock.
"Nakano Yu, do you know this grandma?"
Seeing that the old woman actually spoke Nakano Yu's name, and with such respect, Katsura Kotonoha looked at him for confirmation and asked.
"Yes, you could say we know each other. Takeda-bāba, have the amulet stocks in your shop been replenished recently?"
Nodding, Nakano Yu smiled and looked at Takeda Mitsue, asking her.
"Nakano-sama, you truly make this old woman ashamed. I stopped selling amulets a long time ago."
Looking at Nakano Yu, Takeda Mitsue spoke respectfully, but inwardly she secretly grumbled against him.
Takeda Mitsue knew the young man in front of her; she had known him for several years.
A few years ago, due to certain changes, she rented this shop on the street and opened a fortune-telling house, and at the same time sold items for exorcism and protection.
But not long after she opened the shop, this guy appeared.
As soon as she started talking with Nakano Yu, all the spiritual items in the shop shattered. The reaction was even stronger than when encountering a vicious evil spirit.
At that time, she realized that the young man in front of her was someone she must not provoke. She did not even ask Nakano Yu for compensation; on the contrary, she gave him the spiritual bell that was the treasure of her shop.
As soon as she let it leave her hand, the bell also exploded, which made her heart ache for a long time.
Still, she could not truly blame Nakano Yu for those things. He only wanted to test the quality of the exorcism amulets, hoping to prepare some for the Five Sisters, but as soon as he released a bit of his aura, all the amulets exploded.
In the end, Nakano Yu had no choice but to give up. He had actually considered the ofuda of the onmyōji from Kyoto, but they all required spiritual power to activate, so he had to give that up as well.
"I understand."
Hearing that, Nakano Yu nodded. He had already noticed that the rich lady who had just left was wearing Takeda Mitsue's amulets, which were, of course, merely decorative and had very little spiritual power.
"Ah, hahaha~ I wonder what brings you two to this old woman today? Do you want to ask about love? Or perhaps about fate?"
Giving a vague response, Takeda Mitsue laughed and changed the subject.
"Please do a reading for Kotonoha. I don't need one; I'm afraid your crystal ball will explode."
Nakano Yu waved his hand. He had come because Katsura Kotonoha looked interested in this shop, and besides, he did not believe that Takeda Mitsue's deceptive fortune-telling could predict anything.
"Alright, young lady, come forward and place your hand here."
Hearing that, Takeda Mitsue did not delay. She took out a faintly glowing crystal ball. The ball glimmered slightly, not because Takeda Mitsue was infusing it with spiritual power, but because it was dusted with a layer of glittering powder.
"Mm."
Nodding, Katsura Kotonoha stepped forward and placed her hand on the crystal ball.
"What would you like to know, young lady?"
Looking at Katsura Kotonoha, Takeda Mitsue rubbed the crystal ball in the air and asked.
"P-please… help me predict how many chi-children Nakano Yu and I will have in the future."
The girl said, blushing, then glanced toward Nakano Yu. Seeing that he was also looking at her, she quickly looked away.
Kotonoha, ah, Kotonoha, Nakano Yu is still here. How could you say something so bold?!
At that moment, Katsura Kotonoha felt nervous, but also full of anticipation. She was curious how many children she and Nakano Yu would have in the future and whether they would be boys or girls.
If it were a girl, she could entrust her to Kokoro. By then Kokoro would also be a little older, right? The children would surely get along well.
If it were a boy, she and Nakano Yu could raise him together, because boys are mischievous, and she might not be able to handle him alone.
While Katsura Kotonoha was thinking, Takeda Mitsue had already begun the fortune-telling.
It was called fortune-telling, but in essence it was just rubbing the crystal ball. During that time, Nakano Yu did not feel any energy fluctuations, which meant that Takeda Mitsue was still, as usual, deceiving people.
Nevertheless, seeing the happy expression on Katsura Kotonoha's face, he did not expose her.
"Oh my! Incredible, young lady! You and Nakano-sama will have four children in the future!"
After pretending to divine for some time, Takeda Mitsue showed a serene smile, truly resembling a kind prophetess.
"Four, four?!"
Hearing that, Katsura Kotonoha was surprised, clearly not expecting such a number. Originally she thought there would be at most two.
"But, but that is understandable for Nakano-kun…"
Looking at Nakano Yu, Katsura Kotonoha thought quite naturally, then withdrew her hand from the crystal ball and asked:
"Nakano Yu, will you try?"
"No."
Nakano Yu shook his head. As a God Slayer, his fate was like gears constantly turning and changing, in other words, he was a Defier of Fate.
"Now then, young lady, you and Nakano-sama are a couple, such a beautiful couple! By the way, I have a bracelet here that can protect true love. It's only two… hundred yen now!"
Shifting her gaze between Nakano Yu and Katsura Kotonoha, Takeda Mitsue returned to her old sales habit. As she spoke, she took out a string of glazed bracelets.
While speaking, she suddenly noticed Nakano Yu looking at her, so the two thousand yen that had been on the tip of her tongue immediately changed to two hundred.
"So cheap?! Can this really protect true love?"
Hearing that, Katsura Kotonoha was clearly interested. After a short conversation with Takeda Mitsue, she bought the bracelet for two thousand yen.
Katsura Kotonoha felt that the value of the bracelet was too high to be so cheap and that it was surely discounted because of Nakano Yu. Out of kindness, she paid two thousand.
Of course, Takeda Mitsue was very happy about that, because who would complain about earning more money?
While Takeda Mitsue was happily counting the money, from the corner of her eye she suddenly noticed Katsura Kotonoha intending to put the bracelet on Nakano Yu.
This scene immediately changed Takeda Mitsue's expression. She opened her mouth to stop her, but then realized that the bracelet had not broken when it touched Nakano Yu.
"What's wrong, Takeda-bāba?"
Noticing Takeda Mitsue's unusual behavior, Katsura Kotonoha turned and asked.
"Nothing, you two truly love each other."
Waving her hand, Takeda Mitsue said with a smile, but in her heart she realized something was wrong.
Although that bracelet contained very little spiritual power, it still had some. It definitely should have broken as soon as it touched that guy. Could it be that the spiritual power had leaked out, or… that Nakano Yu had previously deliberately shattered the amulets?!
Thinking of this, Takeda Mitsue's expression changed. For so long she had thought that her spiritual power was not pure enough and had been rejected by a higher force on Nakano Yu's body. Could this actually have been the truth?!
"Eh? Nakano-kun, what a coincidence, did you also come to Takeda-bāba?"
At that moment, Takeda Mitsue suddenly heard a somewhat familiar female voice. She looked up, but as if she had seen something terrifying, her eyes suddenly narrowed.
She saw two girls approaching her shop. One proud girl with short orange hair was eating bread, and beside her was a girl who looked somewhat exhausted.
They were Yurikawa Hana and Yotsuya Miko.
However, what caused Takeda Mitsue's strong reaction was not those two girls, but the hunched evil spirit, as tall as three meters, that was following Yurikawa Hana!
"Can you see it? Can you see it?"
Takeda Mitsue could not see the exact details of the evil spirit, but she could feel its enormous evil aura and the low whispers echoing in her ears.
"Yotsuya-kun and Yurikawa-kun, what a coincidence."
Nakano Yu, who had just put on the bracelet and was about to leave with Katsura Kotonoha, heard the call behind him. He turned and, seeing that it was Yotsuya Miko and Yurikawa Hana, greeted them.
And Katsura Kotonoha, seeing two more girls she did not know, pressed her lips together and tugged at Nakano Yu's sleeve.
Although she knew it was impossible for Nakano Yu to have only her, wasn't this a bit too much? Just by going out today, she had already met four!
"Oh, Kotonoha, let me introduce you. These two are classmates from Shuchiin Academy, Yotsuya Miko and Yurikawa Hana. They helped me with a small matter earlier, so we got acquainted."
While introducing them to Katsura Kotonoha, Nakano Yu also made it clear to Kotonoha that his relationship with Miko and Yurikawa Hana was not romantic, but merely acquaintance.
Hearing that, Katsura Kotonoha nodded and greeted them:
"Yotsuya-kun, Yurikawa-kun, hello. I am Katsura Kotonoha, Nakano Yu's fiancée."
As soon as the rather shocking words of Katsura Kotonoha were spoken, Yotsuya Miko did not react much, but Yurikawa Hana's eyes lit up as she spoke:
"Fiancée?! That sounds so happy! You two look perfect together! Congratulations, be sure to invite me to the wedding celebration."
Faced with the enthusiastic Yurikawa Hana, Katsura Kotonoha smiled and nodded, inexplicably feeling that the girl in front of her resembled Yotsuba very much.
While Yurikawa Hana approached Katsura Kotonoha and chatted about how she and Nakano Yu met, Yotsuya Miko quietly moved closer to Nakano Yu.
"Na-Nakano-kun, you can see that thing, right?"
Standing on tiptoe, Yotsuya Miko tried not to look at the evil spirit and quietly asked the young man beside her.
"Yes, I can."
Nakano Yu nodded, and his gaze lingered on the evil spirit following Yurikawa Hana.
As if sensing Nakano Yu's gaze, the evil spirit glanced at him, then quickly turned away, pretending not to have seen him.
It had a bit of intelligence and knew what beings it could provoke and which it could not. Obviously, the human looking at it was someone it must not touch.
Takeda Mitsue also noticed the evil spirit's unusual behavior. She looked at Nakano Yu, then at the evil spirit, and her originally nervous heart suddenly calmed down.
With Nakano Yu here, what was there to fear at all?
"She can't see… she can't see…"
In the end, the evil spirit could no longer endure it and began to mutter, intending to flee.
But how could Nakano Yu give it that opportunity? His aura erupted, and the moment it fell upon the evil spirit, it instantly turned into black smoke.
Yotsuya Miko, who was standing beside Nakano Yu, watched this scene, and the corner of her mouth twitched.
Although she knew that Nakano Yu was very strong, this… wasn't it a bit too easy?