Tokyo Soft Rice King.

However, Grandma Kobayashi brought a whole cartload of kimonos... If these kimonos were sold normally, the sales revenue would probably be over 100 million.

"Huh? Didn't I mention that I own a kimono shop?"

How come you have everything? Do you mean all the pachinko parlors you go to are yours? Are you actually playing for free and not spending any money at all?

"So, old lady, you're in business?"

"I had already handed it over to someone else to manage. I just mentioned that I wanted to prepare kimonos for the young ladies, and the shop manager brought over all the kimonos in the shop by truck. He even asked if I needed any custom-made ones. It was really outrageous... Well, seeing how much they liked them, it turned out pretty well."

The fact that the mother-in-law takes her instructions so seriously speaks volumes about her standing among her subordinates.

From this perspective, Grandma Xiaolin's wealth is becoming increasingly substantial.

On the other hand, what Makoto was more concerned about was that Grandma Kobayashi hadn't changed into a kimono.

"Grandma, why didn't you change into the kimono I picked out for you?"

"I don't think I need to. I'm way past the age where it's appropriate to wear a kimono..."

"No, that's not true! In fact, you look even more traditional in a kimono at your age!"

Then, she relentlessly pushed her mother-in-law back into the room.

"Let me help you change!"

"Really, we don't need to..."

At this moment, Kuroba Akira also pointed to the black tail on his head and chimed in.

"Go change into it, Kuroo also said it would be better to change into it."

Kuroo did say that, but what she actually said was: "It's better to dress formally for important occasions, and even better if you wear all white."

"Oh dear..."

Left with no other choice, Grandma Kobayashi had to go back inside with Makoto to change into her kimono.

But an all-white kimono... could it be referring to a 'white kimono'?

The kimono that every girl wants to wear at least once in her life is the snow-white, exquisitely beautiful Shiromuku.

Because it's called a 'wedding dress', which means the same as a wedding gown.

What's the meaning of making Granny Kobayashi wear a wedding dress? Kuroo, are you going to introduce her to a new or old man?

Kuro-Tail sighed, slid down to Kuro-Babami's neck, and patted his head with its little paws, indicating 'Mortals don't understand, I'm too lazy to explain to you'.

The other girls found Kuroo's seemingly human-like expressions and actions quite unbelievable.

Moe: "So cute!"

Shiori: "It's not breathing, it's sighing? How interesting."

Future: "So cute! It actually sat on your shoulders, Ming... Oh my god, how can there be such a cute little thing! Kawaii! So cute!"

The group of people who saw Kuroo for the first time immediately gathered around.

No one had seen Kuroo before because she arrived after they went inside to change clothes. She mainly came to complain about why they were taking so long. She had been waiting at the shrine for ages and no one had come, so she came over to ask what was going on.

Most girls are powerless against cute, fluffy things, and Kuro-o is exactly what they love. They all gathered around to pet Kuro-o, and even Kuro-ba Akira got his head patted.

No wonder everyone says pets are a great way to pick up girls...

If it were to do a backflip with its tail, it might actually be able to do it.

However, given Kuroba Akira's situation, all he wanted to do now was to remove the black tail from his head, use it as a form of mockery, and let the women mess with it, without implicating himself.

Black Tail's little paws remained by Black Feather Akira's ear, and it naturally heard Black Feather Akira's thoughts, so it refused to let go, determined to be tormented along with Black Feather Akira.

Fortunately, Grandma Kobayashi, now dressed in a kimono, quickly appeared before everyone, drawing their attention away from the crowd.

She was wearing a warm wool kimono with floral patterns, layered over a batwing-sleeved cardigan—a slightly dated outfit, but one that suited Grandma Kobayashi perfectly.

Kuroba Akira then crossed his arms and joked.

"I see. It seems I should call her 'Grandma Meihua' from now on."

"You little brat... stop messing with me!"

It's rare to see Grandma Kobayashi so shy.

Finally, everyone had changed their clothes and could set off to worship.

As for Kuroba Akira and the others... what men wear is completely unimportant.

In fact, Makoto did try to persuade Nishimura to put on a kimono, but he said he'd rather die than crossdress, which made Kuroba Akira, who had promised Makoto he would crossdress, feel ashamed.

"Um, is it really okay for us to change into kimonos too?"

Junko Ohno scratched her head and asked a little embarrassedly.

Originally, the two teachers weren't supposed to have any kimono to wear, but since such a large batch of kimonos had been brought in, including children's sizes, they were encouraged by everyone to put on kimonos as well.

As a teacher, I feel a little embarrassed to have benefited from the students' parents' support.

Grandma Xiaolin was very polite to them, showing a kind smile like a grandmother, and indeed she was a grandmother.

"Of course, the children have always received your care at school, so please don't be shy this time."

It's only when they smile that you can clearly see that Grandma Lin and the class monitor are indeed grandmother and granddaughter.

Kuroba Akira gave Teacher Luo a thumbs-up in praise.

"So cute! Ms. Luo! She looks just like a Shichi-Go-San doll!"

Junko Ohno raised her hands and complained.

"Don't you dare call me cute! Isn't Shichi-Go-San Festival Children's Day?!"

Yes, you look like the smallest one here.

Having finished giving the proper reasons, the wicked mother-in-law's smile turned evil, and she gave an improper reason.

"In addition, some brat has the audacity to say he's going to get the kimono I prepared dirty, so naturally the more people who wear it, the better."

Then he raised an eyebrow and looked at Kuroba Akira provocatively.

"Hehe, Shirako, you can get as many kimono-clad beauties as you want. I have as many as you want here. I don't believe you can get them all dirty!"

"Get it dirty? Oh ho..."

Teacher Luo squinted and immediately understood, and the others also looked at Kuroba Akira.

Kuroba Akira's expression changed, and he quickly shook his head in denial.

"Nothing, nothing! There's nothing at all!"

He admitted that he had indeed been boastful before.

If they found out that he had previously entertained thoughts of playing a kimono-clad, evil official role, he would immediately have these beauties in kimonos take off his waist.

It's even gotten dirty... Xiao Ming, who's been working too hard, is still inactive. Bai Zi's Bai Zi has already emptied his magazine!

Several quick-witted girls, or those who had read a lot of doujinshi, had already guessed what 'dirtying the kimono' meant, and their gazes toward Kuroba Akira had begun to turn into those of wild beasts.

So Kuroba Akira quickly got back to the main topic and called everyone to set off.

"I said it's about time we left! It's already 11:40, and we probably won't get there until midnight! Let's get going!"

Grandma Lin nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it is indeed getting late. Let's set off."

If possible, everyone wanted to experience the New Year's countdown together inside the shrine, so they stopped dawdling and went out of the courtyard to get on the bus.

Normally, the question of which car Kuroba Akira should ride in would definitely be a hot topic of debate, but today there were two other men, so Kuroba Akira naturally chose to ride in the same car with them. With Grandma Kobayashi also joining them, the four of them in the car were just right.

Kuroba Akira got into Kobayashi's car, and the allocation of the other people didn't matter. Everyone got into the teacher's car, Anri's car, and Takanashi's car, and the four cars drove together to Tomita's Inari Shrine.

Just before the New Year countdown, around 11:50 p.m., the car had already arrived at the Tomita family's Inari Shrine, which wasn't far away to begin with.

Four cars were parked in the parking spaces outside the torii gate. Before even getting out of the cars, you could see a sign in front of the torii gate that read, "We are very sorry, the main hall of the shrine is under renovation and it is not convenient to receive tourists this year." It was clear that they had the whole place to themselves.

No one knows if it's true or not, but since we've already given advance notice, we should just hurry up and go up. Otherwise, if others see that someone else can go up, they might follow suit, which would be troublesome.

So everyone quickly passed through the torii gate and climbed the stone steps, and the group of fifteen people began to spread out and lengthen.

As for why there are fifteen people, it's because the handsome and dashing butler, Miss Ruiqing, said that she would stay at the torii gate to stand guard and prevent others from accidentally entering the shrine. She even said a line that would be among the top three most cringeworthy lines even for those with delusions of grandeur.

Kuroba Akira walked the slowest, falling right behind. The main reason was that he noticed Kuroba, who had been above him, had disappeared as soon as he got off the car. He wondered if Kuroba had gone to settle scores with Uncle Faquan.

Furthermore, if everyone stayed with Kuroba Akira, the flower-adorned procession wouldn't be able to move forward, so Kuroba Akira told everyone to ignore him and go up first.

At that moment, Motoko Kobayakawa, who was walking behind, secretly came up to Akira Kuroba, put her hand to her mouth, and whispered a greeting.

"Um, Kuroba-kun..."

Kuroba Akira looked up and asked.

"Yes? Is there something you need?"

Akira Kuroba noticed a hint of unease on Kobayakawa-sensei's face.

"Well, it might seem a bit unnecessary to worry now that we've come this far, but won't it cause problems if we go into the shrines of other gods?"

"Hmm? Could something go wrong?"

"Shrines are essentially gathering places for the gods' faith, and the New Year is a day when faith gathers in large numbers. To prevent other gods from causing trouble or even stealing faith, they usually prohibit the entry of other gods' representatives. Some shrines even set up curse barriers, and those who trespass will be cursed by the gods..."

"Oh? There's such a rule?"

Kobayakawa Motoko was speechless.

"You didn't know that at all?"

"This is my first time visiting a New Year's shrine here..."

"Hmm... Actually, what I'm more worried about is that I'm currently using my abilities, which might cause some misunderstandings..."

In order to conceal her identity from the students, Motoko Kobayakawa is still using the disguise of Momoko-senpai.

However, this might cause the gods of the shrine to misunderstand it as a hostile agent's 'treachery,' and thus curse her.

"How about... I don't go upstairs? I'll go down and keep Miss Lin company."

"It should be fine. We've come to the shrine of my family's deity, and it has already seen you. It shouldn't curse you."

"You mean the cat that was always on your head before?"