Chapter 36: A Gift of an Omamori Charm

The next day, just as Arisugawa Yuu was about to leave, Miyamizu Rin called out to him.

“Is something wrong, Senpai?”

Arisugawa Yuu looked into Miyamizu Rin’s clear eyes, which were like a handful of water scooped from a summer lake.

“Be careful when you go out. You could be attacked by a monster at any moment, and with your current strength, you’re not yet able to protect yourself.” Miyamizu Rin instructed gently, then extended her delicate hand, offering him an exquisitely crafted omamori.¹

‘In Japanese, “O” is an honorific prefix with no real meaning, while “mamori” comes from the word “mamoru,” meaning to protect. Thus, an omamori signifies being witnessed and protected by the gods.’

To put it plainly, it was a good luck charm.

Arisugawa Yuu reached out and took it.
The small omamori still held the warmth of the girl’s body, and a faint, sweet scent wafted from it—her personal fragrance.

The charm was shaped like a small, white-furred fox, resembling the true form of that silly fox, Miyamizu Yukisato.

Arisugawa Yuu thought of the fox statues along the shrine path and began to ponder the connection between them.

Before he could figure it out, he heard Miyamizu Rin point to the fox omamori in his hand and say, “Infuse it with your divine power, and you can contact me no matter how far away you are. If you encounter danger, remember to call for help immediately. Don’t feel ashamed; your life is more important than your pride.”

“It’s that magical?”

Looking at the delicate fox omamori in his hand, Arisugawa Yuu marveled for a moment.

Miyamizu Rin smiled faintly and said softly, “Remember to keep it safe. Don’t lose it.”

Arisugawa Yuu brought the omamori to his nose and sniffed, “Don’t worry, Senpai. A charm this fragrant, I couldn’t bear to lose it. I promise, even if I lose myself, I won’t lose this.”

Seeing him like this, Miyamizu Rin poked his forehead with her delicate finger irritably, her face blushing as she scolded, “I’m trying to be serious with you. Can’t you be a little more proper?”

“I know.” Arisugawa Yuu reached out with his other hand and held Miyamizu Rin’s small hand, continuing, “Don’t worry, Senpai. You’ve already seen how strong my will to live is, haven’t you?”

With her hand held by him, Miyamizu Rin’s delicate body trembled, and her face grew even redder.

To hide her unusual reaction, she turned her head away and said, “It’s good that you know.”

Seeing her shy and adorable appearance, Arisugawa Yuu smiled, “Senpai, has anyone ever told you that you’re very cute?”

Miyamizu Rin turned her head back, coughed lightly, and said, “As beautiful as I am, I don’t need others to tell me I’m cute.”

Arisugawa Yuu nodded in deep agreement, “True. Senpai’s beauty is indeed unparalleled.”

“So you’re just going to keep holding my hand?”

Miyamizu Rin glared at Arisugawa Yuu, both shy and angry.

Arisugawa Yuu quickly let go.

Although he felt a slight pang of regret, he didn’t show it, instead saying with a straight face, “Sorry, Senpai. If I said I didn’t do it on purpose, would you believe me?”

Having spent so much time with him, Miyamizu Rin could tell at a glance whether he was being intentional or not.

However, she didn’t argue with him, instead sighing slightly, “Forget it. I’ll let it slide this time. Don’t let it happen again.”

After speaking, she gently adjusted his collar and instructed, “It’s one thing to be improper in front of me, but don’t mess around when you’re outside, understand?”

A warmth spread through Arisugawa Yuu’s heart.
He said, “Don’t worry, Senpai. I’m not a child anymore.”

“True.” Miyamizu Rin smiled slightly.
“Since you’re not a child anymore, remember to come home early.”

‘Home?’

Arisugawa Yuu was slightly taken aback.

Miyamizu Rin also realized her words were a bit too ambiguous, sounding like something a newlywed wife would say to her husband, and her face grew even redder.

Arisugawa Yuu thought of the same thing.
Seeing her blushing and adorable appearance, a mischievous thought arose in his heart, “Don’t worry, wifey. I’ll be back soon. I definitely won’t leave you to guard an empty house alone.”

To this, Miyamizu Rin’s response was, “Go die.”

“……”

Arisugawa Yuu was kicked out of the Miyamizu Shrine secret realm by the embarrassed and angry Miyamizu Rin, looking like a henpecked husband kicked out of bed by his wife.

He really hadn’t expected to reappear in the outside world in such a disheveled state.

Fortunately, the park seemed to be empty in the early morning, and no one saw his predicament.

Arisugawa Yuu guessed that Miyamizu Rin had probably set up some kind of barrier around this park, so ordinary people couldn’t enter.

No, they probably couldn’t even see it, not even knowing there was a park here at all.

When Arisugawa Yuu left the park and looked back, he found that the place he had come from was now empty.
There was no trace of the park.

He infused some divine power into the fox omamori and asked, “Senpai, how do I get back later? The park has disappeared.”

Miyamizu Yukisato’s voice came from the other side, – “Arisugawa-nii, are you an idiot? Didn’t Big Sis teach you how to open the door before?”

The method to open the door was the strange hand seal Miyamizu Rin had made that day, which she had taught him last night.

Arisugawa Yuu awkwardly rubbed his nose, – “I thought that was just for opening the Miyamizu Shrine secret realm.”

Miyamizu Rin’s voice came from the other side, – “That hand seal is for breaking barriers. Not just the Miyamizu Shrine secret realm, but other barriers can also be broken with it. Of course, only by using the divine power inherited from my lineage can you open the Miyamizu Shrine’s secret realm.”

“The Miyamizu Shrine’s barrier is that powerful?”

Arisugawa Yuu was shocked.

– “Arisugawa-nii is really a big dummy. Big Sis is so powerful, of course the barrier she sets up is also very powerful.”

Hearing Arisugawa Yuu being called a dummy by Miyamizu Yukisato, Miyamizu Rin’s melodious chuckle followed.

“……”

Cutting off the connection, Arisugawa Yuu took out his phone, which had been off for several days.

The reason it was off was that, perhaps because they were in different worlds, there was no phone signal in the Miyamizu Shrine secret realm.

As soon as the phone was turned on and connected to the network, a bunch of unread messages popped up.

Most were from Kanzuki Kanon, and a small portion were from Yukino Sora.

Arisugawa Yuu glanced at them roughly.
The content was not much different from what he had imagined.

Kanzuki Kanon’s messages were nothing more than silly things like, [My dear brother, you’ve really grown some backbone, haven’t you? How dare you ignore me.] and, [Good, very good. How dare you not reply to my messages for so long? When you get home, I’ll punish you properly.]

Yukino Sora’s messages were more about sharing her life, as well as some greetings.

However, sharing her life was one thing, but what was with all the leg pictures she sent him?

Looking at the screen full of pictures of legs in pantyhose, thigh-high socks, and bare legs, Arisugawa Yuu’s lips twitched.
‘Is this how you share your life?’

To let Yukino Sora know the proper way to share her life, Arisugawa Yuu picked up his phone again and dialed her number.

Footnotes:
¹Omamori (御守) are Japanese amulets/charms commonly sold at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, dedicated to particular Shinto gods as well as Buddhist figures, and are said to provide various forms of luck or protection.