Chapter 19: We Do Not Await Your Return
After climbing that ridiculously steep hill, there was a
shrine waiting at the top.
Ichijo collapsed on all fours, gasping for air. When he
finally caught his breath, he stood up and walked over to the shrine.
It was just an ordinary old stone shrine, nothing special
about it. But somehow it looked weirdly clean. Even though it was stuck halfway
up this impossible climb where nobody would ever come, it looked like someone
had just scrubbed it down recently.
Maybe he really could get home. The thought made his heart
pound.
He looked inside the shrine and saw two round stones. There
was a third one, but it was cracked right down the middle.
Of course, there was no guarantee this shrine would actually
take him back to his world.
The path kept going up toward the peak, but a huge boulder
blocked the way completely. It might as well have been a dead end.
He didn't have a choice. He'd come this far he had to try.
This guy had an ego the size of Mount Everest and had barely
ever apologized for anything in his life. But now he dropped down on one knee.
Then the other. He sat up straight in that formal kneeling position and put his
hands flat on the ground.
Slowly, he bent forward until his sweaty hair touched the
dirt.
"Please, I'm begging you. Please send me back to my
world! Please, just let me go home!"
Over and over again, dozens of times. He pressed his
forehead to the ground, pleading desperately. He shouted from the bottom of his
lungs, meaning every single word.
But his voice just echoed back from the mountain, empty and
hollow. Nothing happened. No wind, no wind chimes ringing.
Still, Ichijo wouldn't give up. He apologized to the trees, the leaves, the vines, the roots everything he'd damaged on his way up.
"I'm sorry, forgive me, please forgive me." He said it again and
again.
His voice got quieter and more hoarse.
Even so, he kept forcing the words out. His hands shook as
he grabbed at the dirt, using every bit of strength he had left.
"Mountain god, please, please, just let me go
back..."
"Let me go back! Whoa!"
He stumbled backward but someone caught his arm before he
could fall. After getting his balance back, Ichijo saw the traditional gate in
front of him and freaked out.
"What are you talking about?"
The person holding his arm a woman with thin hands asked
quietly. He turned around and saw his childhood friend's familiar face,
eyebrows slightly furrowed. She'd looked at him the same way since they were
kids.
Usually he'd insult that expression, call her boring or
depressing, but seeing it now made him feel incredibly relieved.
"I'm... back..."
He whispered in a shaky voice, running his hands all over
himself like he was checking to make sure everything was there.
To her, he just looked like he was acting weird. Where did
all that arrogance from before go? Just a minute ago he was being a total jerk.
He'd been about to kick down someone's door a stranger's
creepy-looking house, no less when he suddenly flew backward. She'd only
reached out to stop him from doing something so awful and happened to catch
his arm.
The guy was heavier than her. She'd caught him on instinct,
but she should've just let him fall on the gravel.
Right after thinking that, he started yelling about going
home. She had no idea what was happening. If this was a joke, it wasn't funny.
His face looked like he was about to cry. She couldn't
understand why he'd suddenly changed like this, so she let go of his arm in
disgust. At least he hadn't hit his head since she'd caught him.
She stepped back to get away from him, but he stepped
forward. She moved three steps to the side; he came at her from an angle.
The sound of footsteps crunching on gravel echoed in front
of the gate.
She couldn't shake him off. At this rate, he might actually
grab onto her. Just thinking about it made her skin crawl.
This is creepy. Someone help me. God, Buddha, Mom anyone!
And what's with that gross relieved look on his face? Stay away from me!
She couldn't say any of this out loud. Feeling pathetic and
frustrated, she bit down hard on her dry lip...
Ching.
A sound came from the house, and everything changed
instantly.
The moment that clear, high-pitched tone rang out, Ichijo's
red face went pale and he took off like a scared rabbit.
He kicked up gravel everywhere, took a few big steps, then
totally wiped out. He slid sideways across the ground, carving a long groove in
the gravel with his body.
He jumped right back up and ran down the dirt road as fast
as he could. He disappeared into the distance... and fell again.
He vanished behind the rice plants swaying in the fields. A
bunch of red dragonflies flew overhead.
She just stood there, stunned, watching her childhood friend
run for real for the first time ever.
Ching, ching.
The sound came from behind her again.
This time, it didn't have that bone-chilling, terrifying
feeling from before. The wind chime just sounded reassuring, almost majestic.
For some reason, she could breathe so much easier now. She
smiled a little, stood there with her eyes closed, and just listened while
taking deep breaths.
"What an annoying pest. He should've left ages
ago."
The mountain god opened his eyes and growled, his face
scrunched up in irritation.
He'd only rung the wind chimes to get rid of that irritating
Ichijo. Helping the woman was just a side effect.
The mountain god didn't care what happened to humans who
didn't respect him. Why should he?
People who normally didn't believe in gods who even made fun
of them only to beg for help when they were in trouble were ridiculous. He
wasn't going to listen to such selfish wishes.
Gods weren't there for human convenience. They weren't
superheroes who came running whenever someone called.
The mountain god had been asleep for a long time, and waking
up had put him in a seriously bad mood. Since there was no doorbell ringing,
Minato, who'd been sitting at the low table, quietly went back inside. When he
came back out, he was carrying a plate of sweet bean cakes.
The mountain god's fur had been standing on end from his bad
mood (he could smell it even before seeing it), but now it settled down and he
sat up.
Using so much divine power to trap one human's mind in the
spirit world had worn him out. He needed to sleep for a while. But first, he
was definitely going to get his energy back.
"I'll take some." "Go ahead."
While the mountain god's tail wagged frantically, Minato
also picked up one of the sweets with a toothpick.
Someone with a twisted personality doesn't just become a
good person after a few months. People forget their lessons once the immediate
consequences are gone.
Ichijo's bullying behavior, which had been quiet for a
while, was starting to show up again lately.
At an onmyoji dormitory somewhere in Tokyo, Ichijo sat in
his chair in a corner of a room with the blinds closed, hands shoved in his
pockets, legs spread wide.
Right across from him, his childhood friend who'd put on a
little weight recently kept staring at her phone.
Their coworkers at nearby desks kept glancing over at
Ichijo, who was radiating a dangerous mood. There was this weird excited
atmosphere in the air, like everyone was waiting for something to happen.
Ichijo had no clue about any of this. He was just pissed
that his childhood friend only gave him half-hearted responses to everything.
"I'm telling you, don't go with that guy. He's bad
news."
"I can't help it. It's work."
"You've gotten... well... you've put on weight
recently, so you'll just slow things down even more."
SNAP! A ballpoint pen broke. A young woman at a
nearby desk had done it.
Her perfectly manicured hand threw the broken pen into the
trash can at her feet. She immediately pushed her chair back.
As she started to stand up, someone grabbed her thin
shoulder from the next seat over, pinning her to the chair. She couldn't get
up.
She glared at whoever had grabbed her with that iron grip.
It was a woman who was still beautiful despite being middle-aged, sitting there
looking completely calm.
The younger woman was furious about the nasty things being
said to her friend, and she was radiating pure rage.
Don't stop me! I'm going to destroy that
harassment-loving coward today!
Getting this silent message, the older woman shook her head.
She lifted one corner of her bright red lips and sent a meaningful look with
her naturally long eyelashes.
Wait.
The angry woman suddenly understood and transformed back
into a proper lady, grinning and nodding. These were the Harima sisters, who
looked a lot alike.
Evil spirit removal jobs were usually done in pairs. Ichijo
had been getting more and more annoyed lately about his childhood friend who
he'd been worrying about being partnered with men who weren't him.
Especially since her partner was that annoying Harima guy.
He'd been giving orders mixed with his personal feelings: don't go, refuse the
assignment.
But he didn't understand where these frustrated emotions
were coming from, and everyone around him looked at the emotionally stunted
Ichijo with lukewarm pity every day.
His childhood friend's blunt responses made Ichijo even more
irritated. She kept looking at her screen and tucking her hair behind her ear,
completely unaware of his feelings too.
"Hey! Look at me for once...."
Ching.
His complaint got cut off. Without missing a beat, Ichijo
kicked his chair over and spun around. Looking panicked and desperate, he ran
through the gap between the desk and wall and burst out of the room.
The papers on the wall that had been blown around by the
wind slowly settled back into place.
This would keep him quiet for several days.
Looking annoyed, the woman reluctantly stood up and put the
fallen chair back. She turned to face the men who were trying not to laugh and
the women giving her thumbs up.
"Sorry for the trouble."
She apologized with a completely different expression a
brilliant, radiant smile. The corners of her glossy lips stayed turned up.
"It works perfectly, and it's just a phone
ringtone."
"I wonder what's so scary about it. It's actually a
nice sound."
She hugged her phone to her chest with both hands like it
was precious treasure, smiling with healthy, rosy cheeks.
"You're right. I should probably download it too, just
in case."
The exasperated man in a Panama hat sitting diagonally across from her also pulled out his phone.
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