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I: The Flowers Are Not Sleeping
Chapter 25: Relieve Summer Heat
Red-haired people should protect themselves when going out.

***

It had been a long time since she had seen the sea in her hometown.

The color of her hometown was red. Red hair, red residents.

There was a strait between her hometown and the big country on the other side of her hometown. When the weather was clear, she could see the outline of the seaside with the naked eye. The mountain where the shrine was built faced a country in the middle of the sea. That country was covered by fog all year round. When the weather was bad, the fog over there would drift over and cover her hometown.

The last time she saw the sea in her hometown, it was red, soaked in the resentment and fear of her hometown, and the red sunset fell from the sky.

Yayoi felt very tired and slowly closed her eyes, her consciousness falling into darkness.

"Do you like them?"

When she woke up again, she saw the soft morning light. The green flowing in the courtyard, and the koi carp under the pontoon swinging its tail, rippling in the water, creating circles and circles of water ripples.

Red koi, red tail, and sister's red hair.

She was sitting on the railing, wearing a white yukata, with her wide sleeves hanging down to the railing. The weather was a bit cold today, and she wore another white haori on top of her white top, with the hem hung to the ground.

She looked at the few koi carps in the water. Their red tails were wagging, and their bodies were flexible and slender.

—Don't know.

she answered.

—I think you will like it.

The red-haired woman next to her tilted her head slightly, smiled and arched her eyebrows. She reached out to touch her red hair, and the warmth in her palms felt warm.

*clonk*

The shishi-odoshi at the edge of the hot springs pool knocked on the stone, and the crisp sound spread like water waves towards the surroundings.

Yayoi woke up, her eyes were filled with hazy mist, and the soft moonlight fell thinly.

The sky in summer was very clear, and the hot springs pool was filled with thick water vapor. The edge of the pool seemed to be covered with a layer of veil, and the outlines of things under the veil were faint.

There were several pine trees beside the hot springs pool. The female hot springs and the male hot springs were separated by a high bamboo fence. The branches were full of green, and the slender pine branches extended to the other section of the bamboo fence.

Yayoi was in a daze for a while in the steamy hot springs pool, and suddenly remembered what happened in the middle of the night.

She seemed to had returned to her hometown once, but it seemed that she had never returned.

There was no sister in her hometown.

She hadn't seen her sister for a long time.

Her sister also hadn't visited her for a long, long time.

Yayoi felt a little sad, half of her head was buried in the warm hot springs water, her red hair spread out and swayed in the water, like blooming flowers, and the water was bubbling with gurgling water.

*splash*

Yayoi raised her head from the water again, her red hair wet and stuck to her cheeks.

Yayoi didn't know when her sister started to stop visiting her. She occasionally heard someone say that her sister and her brother-in-law went to 'Konoha', but what 'Konoha' was, Yayoi didn't know. It seemed to be a place far, far away.

As spring came and autumn went, the cherry blossoms in the courtyard bloom and fall. The pink cherry blossom petals rolled down the soil and disappeared in the soil. In autumn, the ground was covered with dead leaves and the dark branches were bare.

Wind chimes were hung under the eaves covered with tiles, rang loudly.

Yayoi never waited for her sister.

Satoru always called her stupid, and Yayoi felt that she was really a bit stupid.

She waited for a long time, but couldn't wait. What she waited for was the sky full of red clouds. She couldn't wait any longer.

It would have been nice if she hadn't waited in the first place.

It would be nice if she got out earlier.

But at that time, she was so stupid that she didn't even know why she was always sitting in the courtyard. She just stared blankly at the cherry blossom trees in the courtyard that bloomed and fell year after year.

Yayoi buried her head in the water again, and bubbles bubbled on the surface of the water.

She was so stupid.

On the other end of the bamboo fence, the water vapor was also dense, and the sound of rushing water could be heard one after another, the shishi-odoshi knocked on the stone repeatedly, and there were also the sounds of two boys talking.

Yayoi poked her head out of the water and moved her ears.

There was only a bamboo fence between the women's bath and the men's bath. Many of the facilities at Nozawa Onsen Hotel retain traditional techniques. The measures to separate the women's bath and the men's bath were the same as most hot springs hotels, which were only separated by a bamboo fence.

If there was any movement on one side, it could be heard immediately on the other side. What's more, Yayoi's five senses were naturally developed to a level that even beasts couldn't match.

"You have something on your mind."

Yayoi looked up and saw Shoko Ieiri leant on the smooth stone in the hot springs pool. The girl's hair was moistened by the water vapor in the hot springs, and the bruises under her eyes were thick, but it did not prevent her eyes from being clear.

"Are you scared by the curse?" Shoko lit a cigarette, and the smoke rose with the water vapor from the hot springs.

Shoko shook her head when she saw the little red-haired girl in the water looked dumbfounded.

The short-haired girl couldn't help but reach out and pinch Yayoi's face.

Tsk tsk, this skin, this feel, was so good. Looking at that dull look made people want to bully her, the unscrupulous female high school student thought while pinched Yayoi's face.

She finally understood why Satoru liked to pinched Yayoi's face so much.

But Shoko was not Satoru. The girl put down her hand holding Yayoi's red hair. She held her chin with one hand and held a cigarette. She looked at Yayoi with sympathy on her face and said, "You little red hair is really destined to go together with Gojo and Geto. You can meet these two unlucky things wherever you go."

Yayoi felt that what the young lady said made sense. She held the steaming towel and exposed half of her red head in the water. A few bubbles popped up on the water.

"I think my luck is very bad." Yayoi said gloomily as her whole head emerged from the water.

Yayoi sincerely felt that she rarely had good luck. Whether she was "Yayoi Amamiya" or "Yayoi Uzumaki", they were both the unlucky types. It might be because her luck was spent on gambling, and she and her brother-in-law never won when playing dice.

"Half and half." Shoko thought that Yayoi was talking about what happened last night. "Usually meeting those two guys must be extremely unlucky, but similar to the scene last night, when you meet those two guys, you can lie down peacefully. It won't be a problem."

"By the way, what did you eat when you grew up?" Shoko couldn't help pinching the little red-haired girl's face again, "Isn't this skin so good?"

"Eat the food cooked by mom." The honest little red-haired girl answered honestly, and added at the end, "Eat well, sleep well, and don't stay up late."

The answer was so honest that Shoko couldn't help but look at the redhead a few more times. Yayoi looked innocent and a little silly.

Satoru would actually be defeated by such a person?

Shoko couldn't help but began to doubt the intelligence of her idiot classmate. Satoru on the other side of the bamboo fence sneezed firmly, and the sound of 'achoo' came clearly into the little red-haired girl's ears.

"How did you make Satoru humiliated?" Shoko said seriously, "You look stupid."

Yayoi tilted his head, "I don't know either."

Shoko sighed.

"Gojo also said I was stupid." Yayoi sometimes felt that Satoru's words made some sense, just a little bit. She was still young and her mind would become smarter, "But he said I was stupid, then why are you still feeling humiliated by me?"

[redhead doubt.jpg]

Shoko Ieiri: "..."

But now it's clear, this redhead was naturally black, or the kind of black that's so dark that you didn't even know it.

The sound of water rushing on the other side of the bamboo fence was much louder than before, and there was also the urgent voice of Suguru to dissuade him. The other party tried his best to tell Satoru that there was a female bath opposite. Even if he didn't break into private houses and cause chaos on the streets this time, the girls in the female bath would have sent him to the police station.

It seemed that Satoru in the pool was already trying to jump over and hit the redhead, so Shoko glanced at the fence.

She swore that if Satoru dared to come over, she would call the police.

She didn't mind letting Yaga-sensei go to the police station to fish for people again.

Shoko Ieiri: Light a cigarette.jpg

She had long wanted to take revenge on these two b*tches, so she was called over at midnight last night to clean up their mess.

The incident in the azukiarai bridge was a bit big. Several children ran to bridge where the curse was entrenched. The children who came back were injured to varying degrees. Two of them even directly fed the curse, which directly alarmed the local people and the Metropolitan Police.

The damage caused by the curse could only be dealt with by professionals. Unfortunately, there were very few people in the world of jujutsu who could use Reverse Cursed Technique. What's more, Shoko's Reverse Cursed Technique could heal other people, so a minor female high school student was woken up by her colleague in the middle of the night. Her colleague showed no guilt at all and asked her to come over overnight to help clean up the mess.

As for the Metropolitan Police Department, they could only be suppressed through communication with the government professionals in the jujutsu circle.

Shoko's angry curses broke through the phone and went straight into Satoru's ears. The next second, that idiot actually hung up on her. Was this the attitude of asking for help?! Talk to me, b*stard!

At that time, Shoko was so angry that she wanted to throw her phone at Satoru's face. No matter how beautiful his face was, this face was still on the face of a scum! She, don't care!

The result came anyway.

Shoko looked up at the sky, her eyes dull. God knew why she came.

If it wasn't a task assigned by the school, did you think she would come back to wipe the butts of these two scums!?

The higher-ups were dogs, and you two were not humans either!

"Little redhed." Yayoi heard Shoko suddenly speak, the gurgling hot springs water flowing through the shishi-odoshi was accompanied by the girl's clear voice.

"Shoko-san."

Yayoi didn't understand why she suddenly called her. Yayoi saw that the girl's eyes were clear and there was a small mole under her eyes. Even the bruises under her eyes could not hide the girl's delicate and beautiful face.

Yayoi suddenly smiled when he saw Shoko, the corners of her mouth curved upward, and her eyes also curled up in laughter. The smile was very short. After the short smile passed, Shoko lit another cigarette for herself.

The girl with most of her body soaked in the hot spring water gently blew out a smoke ring and told Yayoi, "If you don't know what to do, just follow your own feelings."

Yayoi was a little confused.

"I don't think you are a smart person." Shoko added. The girl leaned on the smooth stone and looked up at the dark sky. "There are many things in this world, and the results are not what people want. You just need to make the choice you want."

Yayoi kind of understand, but not completely.

The results of many things in this world were not as expected as they imagined. For example, Yayoi had been in the courtyard all the time. The clan elders did not approve of "the vessel" going out to interact with other people. Yayoi waited in the courtyard every day for someone to take her out to play. If no one was with her, then there was no point for her going out.

Yayoi had always been ignorant and half-informed, but she knew that many things did not go as Yayoi hoped. Her sister she wanted to wait for did not come to the courtyard on the day her hometown was destroyed. Looking for her inside, she wanted to wait until the cherry blossom trees bloomed, but the cherry blossom trees had long been burned down.

Yayoi didn't know much about her wishes, but when those wishes were destroyed, the sad emotions in her heart would keep pouring out of her heart like spring water.

Only then would she realize in a daze what was her wish, but it had been ruined.

It would be better if she just follow her heart from the beginning. Even if she didn't know what her wishes are, followed her heart was better than doing nothing.

Yayoi didn't fully understand what Shoko said, but she felt that what the Shoko said made sense, so she said, "I also think that following my own feelings is more suitable for me."

Yayoi was holding the towel on her head. Her cheeks were red because she soaked in the hot springs for too long, and her cheeks were slightly bulging, a bit like a guinea pig.

Shoko inexplicably wanted to stroke the redhead, and itching hands were ready to move.

She looked more like a small animal than a human being. No wonder Satoru always strokes other people's red hair.

With a 'splash', Yayoi stood up from the water. The hot springs water slid down the girl's curved body. The water droplets from the tips of the red hair soaked by the water dripped down, and ripples appeared on the surface of the water.

The girl's skin was fair and soft, and her amber eyes add a different kind of beauty under the orange light.

She had a good foundation, this skin, this figure.

Tsk tsk.

Shoko held a cigarette in her mouth and her eyes were as fierce as the Mama-san[1] in the flower street[2]. She thought to herself that if this little redhead grew a few years, she would definitely be a beauty.

The only school girl in the first year of the Tokyo Jujutsu High School suddenly remembered what Suguru told her this morning that Satoru, would do something to the little redhead that was worse than a pig or a dog.

At that time, Shoko looked at the short, flat-chested little red-haired girl passing by. She curled her lips, turned to Suguru and said, "This red-haired girl won't be Gojo's type, right?"

Don't think she didn't know that these two people secretly read her shojo comics behind her back, as well as the 'little notebooks' that adolescent boys use to relieve their loneliness at this time.

Suguru told her with a serious expression, "Don't be fooled by her superficial appearances. There is a 200% chance that this red-haired girl will become a red-haired beauty when she grows up."

Shoko looked suspiciously at Suguru, who had narrowed his fox eyes, and Satoru, who was teasing the little red-haired girl. The red hair and white hair started fighting again. Yayoi had good physical skills, if the fight continued like this, Satoru would advance from a mage to a violent mage.

Shoko blew out a smoke ring slowly and said to herself, how did you know that little redhead would be 200% a red-haired beauty when she grew up.

"I think that redhead should stay away from both of you at the same time." Shoko came to the conclusion, don't think she didn't know. You two were not good dogs, you look like a human but were still a scum inside.

Recalled the past and looking at the little red-haired girl in front of her, Shoko deeply felt how wise what she said at that time was.

Hm?

Yayoi had already come ashore wrapped in a bath towel. Shoko accidentally saw Yayoi's back. Although half of her back was covered by her red hair, most of the black lines could still be seen, which were a bit like swirling lines, with a large number of small runes engraved around them.

What was that? Yayoi also had a tattoo?

Shoko paused.

"Little redhead." Shoko Ieiri said.

Yayoi turned around, her long eyelashes were wet with water, and the ends of her bangs were still dripping with water, and she still looked silly.

"What's the matter, Shoko-san?" Yayoi tilted her head.

"You still have a tattoo?" Shoko said.

Yayoi shook her head, reached out and touched the black runes on her back, "It's not a tattoo."

Shoko squinted her eyes. She was sure that this was not a tattoo or a birthmark. If it was just a swirl pattern, it could be explained. Ah, that couldn't be explained. There were so many runes around, even a fool could understand them. Definitely not something ordinary people did.

After Yayoi walked away, Shoko slowly said, "Gojo, what's going on with that little redhead?"

"What's going on?" Satoru's voice came from the other end of the bamboo fence.

"I have never seen such an incantation on her body." Shoko said calmly.

There was silence on the other side of the bamboo fence. After a moment, Shoko suddenly felt the pine branch above her head shaking suddenly. Then Shoko saw Satoru holding the pine branch with one hand and the bamboo fence with the other. His silver-white hair was wet, he was not wearing any sunglasses, and his delicate face was directly exposed. He was extremely skilled in climbing the wall.

Satoru's expression was unusually serious, "Speak clearly."

Shoko slowly puffed out a puff of smoke, "There is a incantation on her back, in the shape of a swirl, and there are a lot of runes engraved around it."

Swirl.

Another swirl.

Satoru's mind flashed to the whirlpool totem in the birth domain of the cursed spirit. When he found Yayoi, there were a lot of sealing runes and sealing formations in that strange room. Even he couldn't figure out what that rune was for.

He just felt that the pattern of the rune was a bit like a whirlpool, going round and round, spinning and refluxing around the center.

Satoru was silent for a long time before he spoke, "Is it a curse?"

"How did I know?" Shoko slowly put out the cigarette and calmly picked up the water scoop on the side.

The short-haired school girl hit Satoru's head and shouted at the top of her lungs, "There's a pervert!"

Successfully alarmed the other girls in the hot springs pool. No matter how good-looking Satoru was, what was the boy who had crossed the wall of women's bath?

That's the pervert.

The moment Shoko shouted, Satoru was caught off guard and received a scoop from his female classmate, and then a wooden basin, towel and scoop of water hit him in the face.

Satoru: Grass! (a plant)

After Yayoi changed her clothes in the women's locker room, she turned around and was blocked in the corner of the women's locker room by Satoru who came out of nowhere.

Yayoi: Redhed confused.jpg

The white-haired boy spoke aggressively, "Take your clothes off."

Yayoi: "..."

***

· Genuine translation can be found only in OchatimesBlogspotCom, FanFictionNet, and Wattpad

• Omake •

Little Redhead: Can I hit him?

Sister Shoko: Red-haired people need to protect themselves when they go out, do you understand?

#Shoko and Yayoi taking a bath#

5 Satoru: I always feel that they are talking bad about me. Wait, I'm going to take a quick look.

Brother Suguru: It's up to you. I won't fish for you once you get into the police station.

[1] A mama-san or mamasan is usually a woman in a position of authority, especially one in charge of a geisha house or bar or nightclub in East Asia.

[2] Brothel



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