Chapter 477: The Witch with Animal Ears
"Dongdong-dong-dong-dong-dong-"
A rhythmic and powerful heartbeat kept appearing in Aize's chest, making him cover his heart while saying something silently in his heart.
"This feeling...is here again."
Yes.
This strange situation is not the first time that Aize has encountered this situation.
As early as when he was a child, Aize had such an experience when he first set foot on the grounds of Kenshi Shrine.
He was so scared at that time that he thought there was something seriously wrong with his body that he had a physical examination after returning home. After that, he didn't dare to come to Kenshishi Shrine anymore, for fear that there might be some problems there.
Until today, after several years, Aize revisited the old place and happened to happen to meet the Spring Festival, so he decided to come again.
As a result, as soon as I stepped into the territory of Kenshimi Shrine, this strange situation occurred again.
"What on earth is going on?"
This time, Aize did not panic like he did when he was a child. Instead, he forced himself to calm down, looked at the shrine in front of him, and fell into deep thought.
At this moment, Ma Ting Luhua seemed to see someone and his eyes lit up.
"Look, Aze, it's Rentaro and Koharu!"
Without waiting for Aize to respond to her, Ma Ting Luhua started waving and calling people.
"Hey! Rentaro! Koharu! Over here!"
Kenjiro Shrine was also quite lively at this time. Because the parade had already come in, there were people everywhere, filling the square in front of the shrine.
The sound of the catkins is quite loud, but in such a lively occasion it is naturally drowned out by all kinds of noise.
Ma Ting Luhua called out several times and finally called over a pair of siblings who were mixed in the crowd.
"What? It's Sister Luhua. I thought it was the beautiful foreign tourist I just chatted up who called me."
The first person to speak was a boy who was wearing kimono-style casual clothes. He was slightly shorter than Aize, but had a slender figure and a somewhat handsome appearance.
He is about the same age as Aize, and looks quite energetic, but gives people a somewhat frivolous feeling. There was some expectation in his eyes when he walked over, but he became disappointed after seeing Ma Ting Luhua.
"Ashika-sister! Are you here to watch the miko perform the Kagura dance? I thought you would help out in the store today!"
The next person to speak was a petite, cute girl with long pink hair tied into two ponytails. She had a rich and cheerful expression and a very clear voice.
The girl should be one or two years younger than Aize, but her height is not outstanding at all. She is wearing a light yellow short dress that is somewhat similar to the one worn by the Madderen Rose. There is also a blue butterfly-shaped decoration on the chest of the dress, which perfectly sets off her cuteness.
Looking at the brother and sister, Aize suppressed the abnormality in his heart.
"You are Rentaro? You are Xiaochun?" Aize smiled in surprise and said, "Long time no see. You have changed a lot."
The brother and sister, whose attention was originally on Ma Ting Luhua and who had not noticed Aize's existence at all, were stunned for a moment, and then their eyes widened at the same time.
"You're not Aize, are you?" The frivolous boy was surprised at first, and then he said in surprise, "Yes! You are Aize! You are back?"
"Brother?" The cute little girl covered her mouth with her hands, looking surprised and uncertain: "You are Brother Aize? Really?"
The brother and sister in front of them are named Kurama Rentaro and Kurama Koharu, and they are the grandsons of Aize’s grandfather Kurama Genjuro.
In other words, these two people are actually Aize's cousins.
"You finally decided to come back. Why didn't you tell us?"
Kurama Rentaro put his arm around Aize's shoulders and punched him excitedly and complainingly.
"Long time no see, brother, you are finally back!"
Kurama Koharu also pulled the corner of Aize's clothes with joy on her face. This was a habit she had since childhood.
Although they haven't seen each other for several years, the two of them didn't seem to feel unfamiliar with Aize at all, and even used words like "I'm back" to explain it, proving that in their hearts, they already regarded Aize as one of their own.
"I have no choice. My mom asked me to come here to help grandpa." Aize smiled unconsciously and said, "Why? Didn't grandpa tell you that I was coming?"
"Not at all!" Kurama Rentaro curled his lips and said, "Grandpa is the executive committee member of the Kasuga Festival this time. He was entrusted with an important task by Hoori. He has been busy with the festival since last month. He rarely even goes home. How could he tell us about this?"
"So, brother, are you planning to stay here for a while this time?" Kurama Koharu clapped his hands and said happily, "That's great, we haven't been together for a long time!"
Ma Tingluhua standing by also nodded with a smile.
When they were young, the four of them often played together and formed a fixed small group.
Aize and Anma are cousins, so it's natural for them not to hang out together. Ma Ting Luhua was dragged into the group by Aize's unreliable mother, and thus became the oldest sister in the small group.
When Aize came to Suizhi Town before, he spent most of his time hanging out with these three people and having fun all day long. Now, this small group of four is finally together again.
"When you didn't come back a few years ago, Xiaochun kept thinking about you." Ma Tingluhua also revealed mischievously, "All day long, she kept asking me if Auntie told me when you would be back when we talked on the phone. I was fed up with her thinking."
"Yeah." Kurama Rentaro betrayed his sister without hesitation, saying, "She keeps calling you brother all the time. If you don't know, you'd think you're her real brother. It's so annoying."
"You don't talk about it every day, do you?!" Kurama Koharu's face suddenly turned red. She glanced at Aize secretly and said angrily, "Sister Luhua! Brother Lian! Stop talking nonsense!"
"Are we talking nonsense? Look at you now!" Kurama Rentaro said with some disdain: "I've been with you every day and I've never seen you blush once. But as soon as Aize came back, you started to act shy. You have no shame."
"I, I'm not pretending to be shy! Brother Lian, you idiot!" Kurama Koharu was so angry that her face turned redder, and she shouted, "If you want to talk about pretending, you are the one pretending there, right? Who can approach girls as nonchalantly as you do?"
As soon as these words came out, Aize raised his eyebrows.
"Chatting up girls? You?" Aize's eyes changed when he looked at Kurama Rentaro, as if he was getting to know him all over again, and said, "Are you so bold now? You've even learned to actively chat up girls?"
"Well, any man can do this, right?" Kurama Rentaro was not ashamed, but proud of it. He said, "Hoori is just a small town, there are acquaintances everywhere. If you don't work hard to strike up a conversation, good women will be snatched away by others. I don't want to end up on a blind date with a girl I've known since childhood. That's too embarrassing."
As he spoke, Kurama Rentaro still hugged Aize's shoulders and said these words in a sly manner.
"But you, after all, grew up in a big country and live in a big city. You should have had one or two girlfriends, right? Are you still as withdrawn as before?"
Kurama Rentaro's words made Mataba Roka show an interested expression, and Kurama Koharu even pricked up her ears quietly and began to eavesdrop carefully.
"Unfortunately, unlike you, I haven't changed much compared to before except for my height." Aize slapped Kurama Rentaro's hand away and said nonchalantly, "Even if you were born in a big country or a big city, not everyone will have a girlfriend at this age."
"At least, I have no interest in girls in school."
Hearing this, Ma Ting Luhua felt a little regretful, as if she was disappointed for not getting to hear the gossip about her childhood sweetheart. Kurama Koharu breathed a sigh of relief imperceptibly and became inexplicably happy. Only Kurama Rentaro looked disappointed.
"You are clearly not grateful for what you have. I have heard that girls in big cities are not only pretty, but also very open-minded. If it were me, I would definitely date a few first!"
Kurama Rentaro's words were immediately met with a rebuttal from Kurama Koharu.
"Brother Lian, please don't teach me bad things! Not everyone is as shameless as you!"
Kurama Koharu really dislikes her brother and starts rolling her eyes.
"It's true that some girls are very open-minded, but if you say they are pretty, I don't dare to compliment them." Aize shrugged and said, "There are still many ugly people in this world, and people in big cities are even more realistic. If you come to my school, you will only see ugly people scrambling to do weird things."
"Although there are some pretty girls, I think girls like those who grew up in a small country town like Hoori are more beautiful and simple."
"Ren Taro, listen to my advice. It's better to cherish the resources around you. If you think that girls in big cities are easy to approach, you are totally wrong. The result will only be that a pure country boy like you will be played around by a scumbag or a green tea girl."
As he was talking, Aize suddenly realized that the noise around him began to decrease.
“Here it comes!”
Ma Tingluhua pulled Aize's clothes and said something.
"The miko is about to start the Kagura dance!"
Aize had already seen it without Ma Tingluhua reminding him.
I saw a figure slowly walking out of the shrine in front of the temple where the parade stopped.
She was a girl who was about the same age as Aize, one or two years older than Kurama Koharu, and two or three years younger than Matawa Roka. She had an incredible aura around her.
The girl has long, pure white hair like snow, which is tied into a bun with two thin ponytails hanging down. She also wears a golden crown on her head, and a lotus-shaped hair accessory, which instantly adds an indescribable sense of solemnity and sacredness to her.
The girl has beautiful fair skin and long legs. She is wearing a traditional shrine maiden costume, a white dress with a red hakama, and a light pink Chihaya on the outside that gradually turns white downwards. The hem is tied with a red knot, which makes it more noble and elegant than the ordinary shrine maiden costume.
The girl's appearance was so beautiful and delicate that it was shocking. Her facial features were regular on her tense face, and her eyes were as dazzling as sapphires. Aize felt like he saw a princess in a fairy tale, or a fairy in a myth.
"She is the miko of Hoori Town?"
Aize murmured.
The shrine maiden of Suizhi Town is a very special existence.
Why does everyone call her Miko-sama?
Because even the adults in the family won’t allow it if I don’t use the respectful title.
Hoori is a place full of stories, and the shrine maiden is the one closest to these stories and the most respected.
However, now this honorable priestess began to dance in front of everyone, holding the prayer tools in her hands.
“————”
All the sounds around suddenly disappeared.
Including Kurama Rentaro and Kurama Koharu, the brother and sister who had been chattering all the time stopped talking unconsciously and, like Kurama Roka, were fascinated by the show.
Aize was also somewhat surprised.
It’s just because the dancing witch’s dance is so beautiful.
Her movements were graceful. Every time she stepped and turned, her long hair brushed the air, and her sleeves fluttered like a water fan. Combined with her beautiful and serious face, the incredible atmosphere around her became even more intense.
She looked focused and her tense face did not make people feel that she was trying too hard. Instead, she had a sense of solemnity. The seriousness and piety revealed in her eyes did not seem like a deliberate performance at all. It was as if she was really offering Kagura and dance to God.
Concentration, seriousness, solemnity, and dignity... Aize can easily feel these rare and precious qualities from the other person.
Coupled with her beautiful appearance that made her look like a real fairy, Aize could understand why people around her were so fascinated by her.
This is really attractive.
"…Rentaro, this guy, said that the girls in Hoori are not good. Aren't they a hundred times prettier than the girls in the city?"
Aize was speaking with emotion in his heart.
In Aize's opinion, this shrine maiden who holds a special status in the town of Suizhi is absolutely the most beautiful girl he has ever seen since he came to this world, no doubt about it.
Not to mention in this life, even in the previous life, it would not be possible to find a beautiful girl who is so pure, so decent, and so elegant.
Perhaps, only in the second dimension can you see such an incredible girl?
"Um?"
Suddenly, Aize was stunned.
“…Is it my illusion?”
Aize looked confused.
Just now, for a moment, Aize seemed to see that the dancing witch seemed to have grown a pair of...animal ears on her head?
Are those animal ears?
Aize opened his eyes wide and looked over carefully.
Then he saw it again.
A pair of small... white animal ears like those of a fox or a puppy slowly popped out on the witch's head.
“…………”
At this moment, Aize was completely silent.
(End of this chapter)
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