I have an unlimited number of shikigami

"Anyway, we're a married couple registered with the God of Fate, so it's perfectly legitimate for me to tease you however I want... I suddenly remembered something, how about you wear handcuffs when you're on duty tomorrow? Wear your police uniform, lean against yourself with the handcuffs on, and we'll play our natural selves..."

Strange and unusual words.

Warm breath, the softness of her cheek, the feeling of being pressed against her buttocks—all sorts of unprecedented experiences seeped into Kasahara Fukae's heart. She was a woman who didn't know how to fall in love, and for a moment she didn't know how to respond. She just leaned softly against him, listening to his tender and affectionate heartbeat.

I don't know how much time has passed.

The two talked by the window, with Kasahara Fukari changing her position about every ten minutes. Sometimes she would cross her arms and look directly at Fujiwara Izaya, sometimes she would lazily lean on his shoulder, and sometimes she would sit on the windowsill, her beautiful legs swinging idly. Occasionally, Fujiwara Izaya would lift her legs to his waist, making her wrap her legs around his waist.

Kasahara Fukaeri would never do that.

Even with her legs raised, she didn't scold him. Her expression was less aloof than usual, more elegant and languid, reminiscent of Mrs. Kasahara. Occasionally, she would interject with a word or two, her voice different from usual. Her lips, usually quiet and reserved, were now as rosy and vibrant as a young girl's, and her eyes radiated a dignified glow.

"How do you plan to test this Miss Jingxia?"

Why would I test her?

"...If you're not going to test me, why did you go to all this trouble to get here?"

“Oh, I had Mirror Princess attach herself to the small makeup mirror in her backpack.” Fujiwara Izaya smiled smugly. “We definitely won’t get any information out of these fox women. Instead of trying to extract information from them, we’ll just track them.”

Kasahara Fukari's eyes stiffened slightly: "Only by coming in here can Mirror Princess follow her?"

"Of course not, Mirror Princess is incredibly powerful. She can hide anywhere there's a mirror. For example, a car's rearview mirror, the glass of a shop on the street, puddles on the road, reflective metal zippers and buttons, etc... Theoretically speaking, Mirror Princess can track anyone at any time."

Kasahara Fukaeri took a deep breath.

Her cheeks puffed up angrily, and in Fujiwara Izaya's eyes, this posture had a cute and endearing contrast.

"You tricked me into coming here on purpose, didn't you?" she asked, grabbing Fujiwara Izaya by the neck.

"Yes, that's exactly what I want to do to lure you in." Fujiwara Izaya frankly admitted, "To win over Fuka Eri's heart, foolish gentleness alone won't work. I have to use some mischievous little tricks to get close to you. I'll appear smug on the surface while calmly plotting in my heart. That's my method of love."

“It’s over.” Kasahara Fukari’s legs slid off his waist and her feet touched the ground.

Fujiwara Izaya, with his arms still around her waist and his gaze level with her nose, chuckled leisurely, "However, this was a spur-of-the-moment decision, not a premeditated one. Please believe me on that point."

Kasahara Fukari looked at the boy who was half a head shorter than her, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

Although her smile was small, it was clear that she wasn't angry; she was probably used to his behavior.

“I don’t want to know why, but I don’t think you’re a very honest person.”

"I'm not even human..." Fujiwara Izaya asked earnestly, "Can you make me a little more honest?"

How can I get you to be honest?

"I'm the kind of person who listens to his wife the most," Fujiwara Izaya said, as if revealing a secret.

“Then you should listen to me.” Kasahara Fukari suddenly acknowledged her identity, put her hands on his shoulders, and commanded, “You’ve been hugging me for so long, it’s time to let go.”

The wind blew through the gaps between the tall buildings, ruffling her long orange hair.

"What did you say? I can't hear you." Fujiwara Izaya wrapped his arms around her waist affectionately, like snuggling into a warm blanket on a winter morning when he was still in bed. "The wind is too strong. Let me hold you to keep warm."

"How long are you going to hug me?" Kasahara Fukari pushed his shoulders with both hands.

"If possible, it would be best to do it until the end of the world." Fujiwara Izaya pulled her hands down and placed them between their chests, asking softly, "Is Fuka Eri willing?"

“…We’ll talk about it later,” Kasahara Fukaeri replied casually.

"I'll wait for you," Fujiwara Izaya said softly, his fingertips gently brushing against the strands of hair on his forehead.

Kasahara Fukari looked at his fingers.

Those long, strong fingertips moved through her orange hair; not long ago, those fingers had been playing with her black stockings.

"Snapped--"

The door opened.

Miss Jingxia walked in and sniffed the air.

She didn't smell anything unusual, and since the young couple in front of her were embracing intimately by the window, she didn't think much of it and said, "Master, the time is up. Would you like to extend the time?"

Just as Fujiwara Izaya was about to answer "add," Kasahara Fukaeri interrupted, "Check, please!"

Miss Jingxia looked at her young husband.

"My wife is the boss at home."

Fujiwara Izaya released Fuka Eri's soft body and stretched contentedly.

After paying the bill, the two walked out of the lovers' cafe. In the early hours of the morning in Higashi Shinjuku, the large neon signs were still flashing, and there was only trash and no one on the streets. It seemed that the tranquility of the city night had reached here.

Kasahara Fukaeri changed into a bodycon skirt and walked on the empty street in high heels.

Tonight's surveillance mission is over. Before parting, Fujiwara Izaya stood in front of her, looking at Kasahara Fukaeri with an unusually serious expression: "There's something I need to tell you."

"what?"

“Li Sui and Mei Ji both have complaints about you,” he said. “You’ve been taking up all my time every night for the past month, and they’re quite unhappy about it. They’re preparing to file a lawsuit against you.”

Kasahara Fukaeri looked somewhat embarrassed.

"Alright, it was just a joke, they're not that petty." Fujiwara Izaya laughed again. "How about going back to Asakusa Shrine to stay? Tomorrow morning, I'll fry you some hot eggs and make you some delicious sandwiches. By the way, do you want your fried eggs fully cooked or runny?"

Kasahara Fukaeri hesitated for a moment: "Well-done, but Asuka prefers runny eggs."

"Understood, I'll make sure you sisters are satisfied." Fujiwara Rinya waved his hand, humming a song as he hailed a taxi and drove away.

Kasahara Fukari returned to the surveillance vehicle.

He rested his forehead on the steering wheel and took a few deep breaths.

A strange feeling she had never experienced before suddenly surged up, almost shattering her thoughts.

Chapter 181. Night

The rain had stopped for a long time, the wind had blown away the dark clouds, and the moonlight was gently falling on the earth.

Orange lights illuminated the outline of Asakusa Shrine.

The terrace extending outward from the side hall is suspended over the artificial lake, with thin white gauze hanging all around.

This lakeside terrace, with a laurel tree planted beside it, is a favorite of Kawashima Miki. Most evenings she likes to bring the work she didn't finish during the day here to continue, and when she gets tired, she soaks her feet in the lake to relieve her fatigue.

The same goes for tonight.

A laptop sat on the low table, the light from the oil lamp flickering slightly on it.

In the warm yellow light, Kawashima Miki's neatly manicured nails tapped rapidly on the keyboard, her damp black hair cascading down her back. On the desk were a small makeup mirror, a bottle of perfume, and several books and essays written by Fujiwara Izaya in the past.

I typed a few lines.

Kawashima Miki stopped and took out a small mirror to look at herself.

Her red and white traditional shrine maiden outfit, her beautiful hairline, her mature and elegant eyebrows and eyes, her delicate nose and full red lips... she was already beautiful, but the classic shrine maiden outfit made her look even more elegant.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Kawashima Miki couldn't help but lick her lips.

Not long ago, she had just returned from playing a game of tennis with several of the Onmyōryō's directors' wives. After taking a bath, she specially changed into her shrine maiden outfit and, with a sense of waiting for someone, went to the terrace alone to handle the Empress's bubble bath.

"Did you spray too much perfume...?"

Kawashima Miki raised her slender wrist and sniffed it.

The rich scent of roses, carrying a sweet weariness after exercise, gently trembled and permeated her snow-white oval face in the dark and quiet night.

"Perfect..."

Kawashima Miki put the mirror away with great satisfaction.

"Now I'm just waiting for my little husband to come back." She smiled smugly, but the next second, her face suddenly turned cold, and she muttered indignantly, "You bastard, I'm running around all day for you, and all you can do is spend my money, you can't do anything else right!"

The disgruntled young wife grumbled as she waited on the terrace for her husband to return home late.

Since returning to Tokyo a month ago, Kawashima Miki, as the only shrine maiden of Asakusa Shrine, has attended countless board member tea parties, held several small meetings, and gone shopping and to beauty salons with many board member wives she had never met before.

The ladies' favorite topics of conversation were many useless discussions about pleasure and love.

I can't help but laugh every time I hear these stories about Kawashima Miki.

Is love useless?

That's because you've never experienced true love.

After secretly mocking those pitiful women, Kawashima Miki would diligently manage her Asakusa Shrine.

For example, the mountain god portrait hanging in the worship hall—over the course of the month, she first moved it to the screen at the entrance, then took it to the backyard to prevent tourists from seeing it, and finally simply took it back to her own room to hang. While tidying the kitchen and storage room, she found many empty cans and cardboard boxes, which she sold at the recycling center. With the money, she bought a large king crab and enjoyed a delicious meal with Yukino Riho and Fujiwara Rinya. And then, her favorite thing to do was to go barefoot down into the worship hall's pond and retrieve the coins tourists had thrown in. Then, like a squirrel that had just harvested acorns, she would excitedly show off her spoils to Fujiwara Rinya in bed.

Fujiwara Izaya mocked her for being like a hamster.

She then started beating him up without any hesitation.

From her teenage years, Miki Kawashima loved to fill her life with beautiful but not particularly valuable things. During her school days, she collected brooches, filling her painted storage box to the brim with all sorts of them. After moving to Tokyo, she developed a passion for collecting high heels, creating a dedicated shoe room. She had a couple hundred pairs of high heels lying around, buying more even if she barely wore them.

Fujiwara Rinya has complained about her collecting habit several times, but she just chuckles and continues to buy herself all sorts of high heels... Anyway, it's all her money, so she can buy whatever she wants.

This passion for life has always driven her forward.

She also experienced a period of confusion. For a long time during her time with the Empress, she was like a butterfly that flew into the room, fluttering and circling, unable to find its way out. Fortunately, her young husband eventually opened the window again, and the exhausted butterfly regained its freedom.

and so.

She really likes Fujiwara Izaya now.

That kind of deep-seated, unparalleled affection.

Footsteps came from the other end of the corridor, and Kawashima Miki looked up.

"Take a break." Yukino Riho brought over a pitcher of lemonade.

The lemon slices, thinly cut into rounds, float on the surface of the glass along with the crushed ice, looking very refreshing.

"I was thirsty." Kawashima Miki brushed a strand of hair from her forehead, smiled, and picked up a glass to pour herself a glass of lemonade.

Yukino Riho also sat down and casually picked up the biwa that was placed on the terrace.

The moon is very round tonight, like the full moon in poetry. Its light, like mercury spilling across Tokyo, covers the eaves of the temple with layers of silver frost. Yukino Riho, sitting in the moonlight, looks just like a fairy from the moon.

"What kind of music would you like to hear?" she asked.

Kawashima Miki mumbled in response, "Whatever."

When Fujiwara Izaya was not home in the evenings, this is how his two wives spent their time.