Our story branches in two directions.
Just when Utaha was filled with boundless joy, looking as though spring had already arrived, Asakura's side also had some new things to do.
Truth be told, he was already busy enough as it was.
The tasks waiting for him to tackle could practically be lined up into a long long-term to-do list.
For instance, researching the potion brewing methods he had just acquired—even casually flipping through the Half-Blood Prince's notes along the way brought him immense benefits; for instance, continuing to put into practice the various urban legend locations recorded on that scroll of a map Shiori had given him, keeping the urban legend tour that had almost been abandoned halfway going; and for instance, finding time to visit Hitori and Asagumo, making himself appear a little less like a scumbag on a moral level, and also making himself appear a little less physically drained.
There were simply too many things to do; just thinking about it gave him a headache.
However, before formally unfolding these plans, an unexpected occurrence interrupted his original vacation arrangements.
"...The Obon Festival, huh."
Asakura sat in his room, flipping through the calendar on his phone, muttering softly under his breath.
To tell the truth.
Even though he had crossed over into this world for so long, he had still spent a considerably long period of time mixing up the "Obon Festival" with the common animation staples of "Summer Festivals" or "Fireworks Displays" as if they were the exact same thing.
But in reality, after looking into it a bit, he discovered that the two were fundamentally completely different matters.
While the former would also feature festivals hosted by shrines, people setting up street stalls, and potentially fireworks performances by companies like Tamaya.
Its core essence was actually closer to a festival for commemorating the deceased.
According to traditional accounts, it was a period when departed relatives would return to the human realm to visit their families.
"So..." Fujiwara Chika, who was sitting to one side, suddenly poked her head over, her eyes flashing brilliantly as she looked at Asakura, "What is it actually like in reality?"
"Will the souls of the deceased truly return from the other shore?"
The young girl's tone was filled with pure curiosity.
While Asakura was still recuperating at home and preparing to head out, this child had suddenly appeared in front of him like an unheralded tornado.
Then she had confidently and righteously freeloaded her way into staying, sticking right by his side, completely unbudgeable no matter how he tried to drive her away.
Seriously, Asakura felt that Shiina was practically on the verge of bristling...
"For this kind of thing, you can go ask Yotsuya."
Asakura let out a sigh and rubbed his temples, attempting to shrug the trouble off onto someone else.
"Yotsuya?" Fujiwara Chika tilted her head.
"I mean that child Miko, you should have met her before too, right?" Asakura explained.
That young girl who could see all kinds of strange things.
Recently, however, because she had borrowed Asakura's Mystic Eye Killers, the young girl's life had finally recovered to a normal state to a certain degree.
At the very least, she didn't have to face various monsters popping directly into her face every day, living in constant terror that the next moment she would be discovered by the monsters for being able to see them and get eaten up or something.
On the contrary, because Miko herself had personally experienced the sheer bliss of "not being able to see the monsters," she ended up feeling increasingly guilty toward Asakura, constantly feeling that she owed him an astronomical favor, and so she was desperately trying to repay his kindness.
The issue was that aside from Magnetic Field Rotation, Asakura currently lacked absolutely nothing.
A mere ordinary high school girl couldn't exactly go and elbow-strike a True Ancestor like Narushiki, so she really couldn't offer much help.
"That's true."
Fujiwara Chika nodded very naturally after listening.
Then she whipped out her phone, operating it with lightning speed while murmuring a few words under her breath.
Asakura caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye but paid no mind to what she was doing—when dealing with this kind of overly familiar person, the absolute best method was to just leave her alone. Once she realized she was making a fool of herself, she would gradually find it boring and leave.
Yet before long.
A wave of unusual commotion suddenly echoed from the entrance of the Rabbit House.
Asakura looked out of the shop in puzzlement.
He saw a stretched luxury limousine slowly pulling up right in front of the shop doors.
The vehicle's body was polished gleaming bright, its lines sleek and smooth, carrying an absolute aura of presence.
Just looking at it gave off a distinct vibe of 'Your grandpappy here is incredibly expensive!' If he were to park his own battered, broken down vintage car right next to it, that stark contrast between heaven and earth would become all the more intense.
This sudden development instantly left the customers who were lining up to buy Rabbit Dango completely stunned on the spot.
Even the residents of the Tatsuyama Shopping District began a flurry of whispered discussions.
"Wow, this is the very first time I've seen this kind of car in real life!"
"Are they filming a TV drama? Did a celebrity arrive?"
"Autobots, transform! Chi-chi-ku-ku!"
The chatter rose and fell in waves.
Immediately following that, an individual who looked exactly like a professional butler from an anime stepped out from the front passenger seat. He walked unhurriedly over to the car door and pulled open the rear passenger door, making a 'please exit the vehicle' gesture to the passenger inside—he might have spoken those words too, but Asakura, sitting inside the shop, couldn't hear whether the other party said anything.
In the next instant, a weak, pitiful, and helpless figure came stumbling out from inside the vehicle.
It was precisely Miko.
Her face was stark white, her legs trembling slightly.
The rims of her eyes beneath the Mystic Eye Killers were slightly red, bearing an expression of desperately trying to endure 'not crying right out on the spot'.
No matter how one looked at it, she did not look like she had come of her own free will.
She looked far more like she had just survived a literal kidnapping.
"..."
Asakura fell silent as he watched this scene play out.
He rubbed his temples and turned to look at the pink-haired young girl beside him who was currently wearing a sweet smile: "So, what did you do?"
"Didn't the Exorcist Master tell me to invite Miss Yotsuya over?" In a twist, Fujiwara Chika turned back to ask Asakura with a face completely filled with astonishment.
Her expression was sweet, her tone entirely innocent.
If he didn't already know that this fellow was fundamentally the literal cancer of the Earth, Asakura might have actually believed her ghostly nonsense.
In truth, many people would be completely deceived by Fujiwara Chika's sweet and lovely appearance upon their very first meeting. Granted, Fujiwara Chika wasn't terrible enough to be labeled a wicked woman, but she actually harbored quite a few little calculations in her heart, and very often she would use her surface-level protective coloration to achieve her own goals.
"If the Exorcist Master feels it won't do, then it's no problem at all for me to have Sebas-chan send her right back, you know!" The girl smiled sweetly, speaking with a grin that seemed as bright and cheerful as a complete simpleton.
"Drop it, you'd better stop tormenting her."
Asakura let out a sigh.
Although turning on the Rabbit House's barrier for driving away idle people at a time like this and watching outsiders pass by the shop doors three times without entry would be quite amusing, it was still broad daylight after all, and there were quite a few customers in the shop. It was best not to deliberately spawn some brand new urban legend.
"M-Mr. Asakura!"
The moment Miko, who had been escorted all the way into the Rabbit House, caught sight of Asakura, it felt exactly like spotting an island amidst a vast, boundless ocean—
No, that wasn't right; it was more like beholding the Promised Land, overflowing with food and flowing with rivers of milk and honey.
The young girl revealed an indescribably pleasant surprise on her features, and a massive, completely unreasonable sense of security instantly surged within her heart.
"Yo, Yotsuya." Asakura raised his hand, giving a greeting to the young girl who was standing at the entrance and hadn't quite caught her breath yet, "What's the situation with you right now?"
Hearing the sound, Miko looked up; her face was still somewhat pale, and her eyes held a look of lingering shock.
"M-Mr. Asakura..." She inhaled deeply through her nose, looking as though she were sorting out her thoughts, "I was playing on the street with Hana... when suddenly a bunch of men in black popped out and stuffed me into a sedan."
"On the way, they kept saying things like 'the boss wants to see you'... and then in the blink of an eye I ended up right here..."
The young girl's tone grew more and more aggrieved.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, she abruptly snapped her head up.
"Ah, that's right! Hana! How is Hana doing?"
"If you are referring to Miss Yurikawa Hana—"
The butler standing to one side, whom Fujiwara Chika called Sebas-chan, bowed slightly and began to report in an exceptionally professional tone.
"Initially, her reaction was extremely intense, and she even intended to call the police to rescue you."
"Hana..."
Miko's eyes instantly welled with tears, so deeply moved she was practically on the verge of crying.
"However," Sebas-chan continued to speak, his tone completely devoid of any emotional fluctuation:
"After we revealed our identity and provided her with ten premium dessert buffet coupons valid across any region, she departed quite happily."
"Hana-aaaaah————!"
Miko collapsed to the ground, weeping.
Her whole being turned a despondent ash-white, looking exactly as if she had been betrayed by friendship.
Asakura silently cast a glance at Fujiwara Chika, his eyes entirely filled with disgust.
Look at the total mess you made.
Fujiwara Chika felt a flash of guilt from the stare. She first had her family butler leave the Rabbit House, then extended her small fist to rap herself on the head, and subsequently stuck out her pink, tender little tongue.
She put on a cute-acting expression that was as practiced as practiced could be.
"Ehe~"
"Ehe" your head.
Asakura rolled his eyes.
He pulled a seemingly completely ordinary sundae out from nowhere.
He placed it deftly onto the table, then slid it in front of Miko.
"...I, I don't want to eat."
Miss Yotsuya, who was still immersed in her sorrowful and melancholy thoughts, muttered in a tiny voice.
"It's not for you to eat."
Asakura replied calmly.
"..."
Miko fell silent.
Now she wanted to cry even more.
"You must not toy with a girl's feelings like that!"
Fujiwara Chika stepped forward immediately, looking righteously indignant, "Dame da yo!"
No.
You, of all people, have absolutely no right to say that.
Asakura rolled his eyes, too bothered to pay attention to this prime instigator.
He continued to address Miko: "In this sundae, I added a little bit of..."
Speaking up to this point, Asakura paused for a brief moment, searching slightly for an explanation that sounded a bit more dependable: "...food additives."
"Huh?" Miko was stunned.
Is it really okay to say something like that in a dessert shop?
"Don't worry,"
Asakura waved his hand, "It's a thing called 'Skiving Snackboxes'."
"...Skiving?" Miko blinked.
She completely failed to react.
After all, it was still summer vacation right now.
"The core philosophy of this merchandise," Asakura began to explain with a straight face, "is to replicate the symptoms of certain illnesses. This achieves the effect of letting you go sleep deeply in the nurse's office without needing a doctor's diagnosis note."
"The Skiving Snackbox inside this sundae right now is a type called 'Canary Creams'." transformation he said.
Miko fell silent for a brief moment: "...Can cookies even count as candy?"
"In this country where fried gyoza and ramen can both count as side dishes, I feel like cookies counting as candy is completely fine," Asakura replied.
"No, no, no!" Miko couldn't help but criticize and complain. "From a fundamental level, those are completely different issues!"
"The lead vocalist of that legendary band also once said—" Asakura spoke with a straight face: "'Rice is a side dish!' (Note 1)"
"Even Japanese people wouldn't treat rice as a side dish!"
Miko counter-argued, having a breakdown.
"Oh, Yotsuya," Asakura spoke with earnest gravity. "Are you going to defy even that legendary lead vocalist?!"
Miko held her forehead, "No, I am simply complaining about Mr. Asakura, who actually takes song lyrics seriously..."
Her tone was utterly filled with a sense of powerlessness.
"So what kind of illness do Canary Creams represent? Hypersensitivity pneumonitis? (Note 2)"
"No, it means the person who eats it will turn into a canary," Asakura quick-answered.
"This is completely entering the domain of magic instead of whatever illnesses, hey!" the young girl criticized.
Subsequently, she suddenly realized something and looked at Fujiwara Chika on the side.
The pink-haired young girl still wore a gentle and sweet smile on her face, only that smile looked somewhat strained.
Upon noticing Miko's gaze, Fujiwara Chika gave a dry laugh: "Ahaha, what a miraculous treasure, Miss Yotsuya must preserve it well... Um, why is the Exorcist Master tying my hands behind my back?" The young girl first tried to struggle a bit, but as a result failed to break free from Asakura's vice-like grip. Thereupon, she shifted her strategy, pressing her tender and beautiful body against Asakura.
Those massive headlights were even squeezed slightly out of shape, highlighting their softness while she breathed out like an orchid, saying, "Committing such an intimately close contact action toward a girl is definitely not what a self-respecting, clean-living boy should do, you know~"
Had Asakura still been that innocent little virgin from back then, he would surely have blushed and suffered a crushing defeat in the face of the girl's soft and cute acting attack.
But the current Asakura was terrifyingly strong. As for keeping himself pure and clean—in a certain sense, he had already been defiled inside out by Asagumo. By this point, he had absolutely nothing left to lose...
"Miko, this fellow is the 'boss' those people in the car were talking about just now. You can take your revenge where it's due and vent whatever grievances you have," Asakura said completely cold-bloodedly, ignoring Fujiwara Chika's struggles and her ingratiating, cute-acting behavior.
Miko held the sundae as if she were holding a legendary holy sword and came before Fujiwara Chika. The fearless Fujiwara Chika's smile grew subtly fractured on her face.
But before she could utter any words begging for mercy, Miko put down the sundae and let out a gentle sigh.
"Forget it, although it did cause some trouble for me... it's not a huge issue either, there's no need to go to this extent." Miko pushed up the black-framed glasses on the bridge of her nose that came from Asakura, and asked Fujiwara Chika: "So, what business does Miss Fujiwara have with me?"
☆
Note 1: "Rice Is a Side Dish" (originally titled Gohan wa Okazu) is an insert song from the second season of K-On!. Although the era of pure "moe" anime may be on the wane, K-On! is considered a pioneer of the "slice-of-life moe" genre; given its status as a veteran among band-themed anime, it is fair to call it legendary.
Note 2: Hypersensitivity pneumonitis is also known as "bird fancier's lung." The name stems from the fact that many canary owners developed the condition after inhaling feather dander, fecal particles, and protein dust.