Chapter 31: Marking the Points
Yotsuya Miko paused for a moment, then sighed helplessly while massaging her forehead.
"...You were actually peeking?"
"What else? A gentleman's word cannot be taken back; I had to peek."
Hearing this, Miko didn't look displeased. Instead, she shook her head with a dumbfounded smile.
Before entering the bathroom, she had already confirmed it.
The glass door connecting the bathroom to the living room was designed to prevent peeping from both sides.
Inside the bathroom, the glass of the shower stall was also frosted, and there was a curtain outside.
Trying to peek?
Unless Yoru has X-ray vision.
Wait a minute, could he actually have it?
But on second thought, Miko smiled self-deprecatingly.
If Yoru really had X-ray vision, would he need to wait until she was showering to peek?
Couldn't he peek whenever he wanted?
It was just needless worry.
"Thanks."
"Thanks for what? I don't understand."
"If you don't understand, forget it."
Since Miko couldn't think of a reason for Yoru to peek at her showering, there was only one explanation.
He was standing outside the bathroom door not to peek.
Perhaps he was worried that an evil spirit might follow them and launch a surprise attack while she was showering.
Or maybe, he was simply worried that she would feel scared while showering.
Whatever the reason, a thank you was in order.
Through this incident, Miko felt she understood Yoru a little better.
This guy...
Does he have a bit of a Tsundere attribute?
Of course, she couldn't say this out loud; otherwise, she didn't know what kind of weird response Yoru would come up with.
While Miko was washing her hair, Yoru, sitting outside with his back against the glass bathroom door, was marking a map.
"Hmm... S-Rank zone, more or less."
What he held in his hand was a map of Kyoto, and he marked the area where the unfinished building was located with an 'S'.
....
After showering, Miko came out wiping her wet long hair with a towel and muttered softly.
"This set of clothes is a bit too big."
On her upper body, she wore Yoru's T-shirt, and on her lower body, a pair of shorts. Her two tender white feet stepped on the floor, adorned with cute pale pink nail polish, making one want to admire them.
The problem was, Miko's appearance looked indeed quite comical.
Yoru's T-shirt was almost long enough to be a dress on her.
The legs of the shorts extended downwards, past her knees.
Among girls her age, Miko was considered quite tall.
But wearing clothes belonging to Yoru, who was over 1.8 meters tall, still gave a jarring sense of "a small horse pulling a big cart."
Wait, that's not right.
A small horse should pull a big cart. (Note: Innuendo/Meme reference).
Seeing Yoru recording something in his notebook, Miko sat obediently on the sofa opposite him and asked curiously.
"Um... I have a few questions I want to ask you."
Yoru looked up and glanced at her. Seeing Miko completely swallowed by his clothes, he almost lost his composure. He cleared his throat twice to steady himself and said:
"Mmhmm, go ahead."
As soon as he said this, Miko fired off several doubts from her heart like a machine gun.
"How can I awaken the ability to fight against evil spirits like you?"
"How should we deal with the 'Door' inside that building?"
"Why didn't you bring that sword from my house today? If you had brought it, would you have been able to defeat that evil spirit?"
"Also, back then you said the evil spirit inside the building looked like a turtle something... I didn't hear clearly. Turtle what?"
....
The first three questions were within Yoru's expectations.
But hearing Miko's last question, he frowned slightly and scrutinized her carefully.
"You... don't know what that thing looked like?"
Miko's eyes revealed a clear, innocent purity as she tilted her head in confusion.
"Like what?"
"It's hard to describe. You'll understand when you grow up."
Yoru didn't delve deeper into this topic. Before Miko could pursue it further, he continued immediately.
"Let me answer your first three questions."
"First, according to my deduction, you should be able to awaken an ability similar to mine. As for the specific method... I have a rough theory. I'll tell you the answer after discussing it with Futaba Rio on Monday."
Miko looked like she wanted to say something but stopped. In the end, she could only nod helplessly.
Yoru had made it very clear before.
He and she were likely the two most powerful spirit mediums in the history of Sakura Prefecture.
What they faced were also unprecedented paranormal events.
It was like crossing a river by feeling the stones; no one knew the true nature or the various dangers they would face in the future.
Even Yoru couldn't give her all the answers she wanted.
"Second question."
At this point, Yoru handed the map to Miko.
"Where we went today belongs to an S-Rank location. Including the ones I've explored over the past two days, there are a total of three A-Rank and one S-Rank 'Doors' discovered in Kyoto that haven't been resolved yet."
"My assessment criteria are rather crude."
"S-Rank means I can possibly resolve it if I go all out, but there is a risk of death in the process."
"A-Rank means I might get injured during the process of resolving it."
Miko looked down at the markings on the map and asked curiously.
"Then why aren't there any B-Rank or C-Rank ones?"
She looked up to see Yoru looking at her like she was an idiot.
"Are you stupid? B-Rank and C-Rank ones are those I can resolve immediately at this stage. I destroy them as soon as I find them, so why mark them?"
Miko felt very embarrassed and thought that makes sense.
Yoru's personality was unpredictable to her, but there was one thing she could confirm.
This guy truly hated evil spirits and would never show mercy.
"As for the third question, that longsword isn't for me to use. It's prepared for you."
"Prepared for me?"
"Of course."
Yoru spread his hands and smiled.
"You saw my combat power with your own eyes today. Although that longsword is the real deal, expecting it to help me significantly isn't realistic. After all, it's just something from the Old Geezer's place."
Miko nodded slightly, then asked again.
"Since we're on this topic, I'm a bit curious. Why did Mr. Oda give such a valuable longsword to us for free?"
"Isn't that simple?"
Yoru wanted to take this opportunity to explain the current situation to Miko, so he elaborated.
"As an exorcist, he definitely doesn't just sell small items like protective charms. His main source of income is actually accepting various exorcism commissions."
"But now, because of the appearance of the 'Doors,' many commissions are beyond his ability to solve."
"If he fails to resolve clients' requests for a long time, people will start to doubt whether Oda Noto is a genuine spirit medium, and his business will be affected."
"The solution is for him to transfer these commissions to me."
"I get what I want: intelligence on evil spirit activities in Kyoto and generous rewards from clients. And he gets the reputation for completing the commissions."
"We each take what we need. It's just a transaction."