Chapter 356 – Kazumi Shimizu’s Exposure
“Calm down, Kazumi Shimizu!”
“I can’t make a move here!”
Frenzied shouts echoed in her mind. The young girl forced herself to stop the unconscious urge to release her “Black Coffin.” The sharpness in her eyes gradually faded, returning to the lifeless, dead stare of before.
Kazumi absolutely did not want to make a move.
Especially not at this time and place. If it hadn’t come to the worst-case scenario, the girl truly didn’t want to unleash her abilities here and fight with the young lady Onmyoji in front of her.
This wasn’t because Kazumi agreed with the other party’s earlier statement about friendship, but rather that the current situation was entirely unsuitable for action.
Although the girl’s strength had largely recovered, it still hadn’t reached its peak. Meanwhile, Mai Shinomiyai had clearly had several months more than her to recover her strength. Even if she had attended school with injuries back then, she would definitely be fully recovered by now, not to mention the various trump cards that someone from a prominent family would surely possess.
During their previous battle, Kazumi still vividly remembered the thick stack of talismans Mai had pulled from her怀. That Tengu Shikigami had already exhausted the girl’s only temporary summoning item, and if another new creature of that magnitude were to appear now, the girl truly wouldn’t know what to do.
In short…
Kazumi couldn’t defeat her.
Of course, “couldn’t defeat” here didn’t mean literally couldn’t defeat her, but rather couldn’t instantly kill her without causing a large-scale disturbance.
If push came to shove, with her partially restored abilities, and considering the other party’s clearly limited combat experience, it wasn’t impossible to seize an opening and kill her.
But the problem was that killing Mai Shinomiyai wasn’t Kazumi’s goal, or at least not her goal right now.
A fight would surely cause a huge commotion, possibly even attracting the intervention of local police and heroes. And with so many people present, her identity would be immediately exposed the moment the other party spoke.
If the girl’s true identity were exposed, the only way to temporarily delay the transmission of information would be to kill all potential witnesses and then abandon her original identity to disappear completely into the [Shadow].
This was the worst-case scenario among all her anticipated sudden developments. Although it sounded like something that wasn’t entirely unacceptable, Kazumi vaguely knew in her heart that if she did something like that, abandoning everything and stepping into that darkness would truly mean there was no turning back.
Even the most wicked villains have a pure place in their hearts, and this outwardly stable life and the scorching sun hanging high in the sky were probably the girl’s last sanctuaries.
“What are you referring to, Kiyomizu-san?”
Composing her expression, Kazumi slowly raised her head. Her calm gaze met Mai Shinomiyai’s spiritual energy-infused eyes without a trace of fear, and she asked in a detached tone.
“You can see these Shikigami spirits, can’t you, Kiyomizu-san?”
Mai Shinomiyai pointed to the little ghosts still floating beside her and replied.
Perhaps feeling that her somewhat interrogative tone was causing Kazumi discomfort, she quickly extinguished the spiritual energy emanating from her body, recalled the spirits floating nearby, and looked at Kazumi, continuing:
“This isn’t a bad thing, Kiyomizu-san, so please don’t be so nervous.”
“Where did you see that from?”
Mai Shinomiyai’s words caused Kazumi’s furrowed brow to relax slightly. At least based on the other party’s reaction, she shouldn’t suspect her identity to that extent yet.
“I noticed during the courage-testing event that you were always looking for the spirits’ locations, and you managed to avoid some of the startling points each time, so I was wondering if you could see them.”
Sensing that the girl’s vigilance had lessened a bit, Mai Shinomiyai also breathed a sigh of relief. She had to admit that the other girl was truly a girl with an extremely powerful aura, as just a few words felt like she was about to make a move on her.
“Is this situation common?”
Hearing the other party’s words, it didn’t seem as bad as she had feared. Kazumi’s worried heart finally settled. She walked to the table, picked up her water cup, took a sip of water, and turned to look at Mai Shinomiyai, asking.
“It’s not exactly common, but it’s not rare either… it’s probably similar to urban legends where children can see ghosts and monsters. It’s actually a manifestation of high spiritual sight, but generally, people without talent lose this ability as they grow up.”
“I… have talent?”
Mai Shinomiyai’s answer surprised Kazumi. Being praised for talent in this area by an Onmyoji from the spiritual energy side sounded so strange.
“Yes, yes, being able to see hidden spirits is basically a mark of spiritual sight, and considering your personality, Kiyomizu-san…”
People with abilities often have strange personalities, especially those who awaken spiritual sight on their own without guidance from a mentor to seal it. Their personalities would certainly be unlike ordinary people. After all, how could one grow up constantly seeing ghosts and monsters and have a normal personality?
“I just didn’t want to be startled suddenly.”
From the other party’s words, Kazumi quickly grasped the key point. She probably attributed her act of seeing spirits to some kind of spiritual talent. While that explanation didn’t seem to be too problematic.
According to Mai Shinomiyai, people like this were not uncommon. Kazumi was completely relieved. The other party was probably just a little curious, and in that case, she might as well go along with her words.
“Then it’s quite sly of you, Kiyomizu-san, to pretend to be scared when you can clearly see them!”
As if recalling something amusing, Mai Shinomiyai stuck out her tongue slyly and looked at the cold-faced girl in front of her.
“?!”
“You were peeking?!”
Her gaze, filled with killing intent, snapped back. The surrounding air seemed to condense at that moment, forming sharp knives around Mai Shinomiyai, stabbing fiercely towards her.
“No, no! I just sensed a probing gaze and came to take a look. Just for a moment, I switched away immediately!”
Mai Shinomiyai’s genius-level survival instinct was fully displayed at this moment. Although she didn’t know why, she felt that if she spoke the truth, she would be killed by this cold girl! Although the pairing of an ice queen girl and a passionate boy was quite appealing.
She quickly raised her hands above her head to signal surrender, and Mai Shinomiyai finished her sentences at a speed completely uncharacteristic of her usual self, then looked at Kazumi with utmost sincerity.
“Really?”
“Really!”
Seeing Mai Shinomiyai nodding her head as fast as a hamster, Kazumi felt a sense of disillusionment. However, thinking that her small actions had been seen by the other party using her abilities, her sense of shame increased considerably.
The girl walked to her small bag by the bed and took out the clean clothes she had prepared long ago. Kazumi glanced at Mai Shinomiyai, who was still sitting in her original spot like a good baby, let out a cold snort from the corner of her mouth, and then walked towards the bathroom.
“Then I’ll go take a shower first.”
(Ps: Exposed are the love schemes and small actions, hehe.)
(Ps: Why would you think Shinomiyai is a bitch? I personally feel she’s written quite normally.)
(To be honest, the protagonist is more of a bitch than her (super quiet))
