Matsuda Jinpei walked over to Kisaragi Chiyo's side and sat down cross-legged. Water droplets slid from his hair, tracing the curves of his cheeks, down his neck and collarbone, finally soaking into a small, dark stain on the clothing at his chest.
"Dry your hair." Kisaragi Chiyo casually pulled a clean towel from the cupboard and tossed it to Matsuda Jinpei.
Matsuda took it and draped the towel over his head, roughly and casually ruffling his curly hair until it was half-dry and no longer dripping, only then did he let go.
Kisaragi Chiyo was satisfied. Her gaze traced imperceptibly over Matsuda Jinpei's broad shoulders, arms, chest before she finally picked up the used towel, tossed it into the laundry basket, closed the bathroom door.
Matsuda was left alone, propping his head up with one hand while sitting cross-legged by the low table, a look of regret on his face.
*
By the time Kisaragi Chiyo finished washing up and came out, Matsuda Jinpei had already laid out breakfast on the low table, the bedding used previously had all been put away in the Japanese-style closet.
Spinach tamagoyaki, mackerel, mushroom tofu miso soup, seaweed salt rice balls.
"I brought this back from the cafeteria." Matsuda knew exactly what Kisaragi Chiyo was thinking the moment he saw her glancing toward the kitchen.
Although Matsuda understood that his cooking skills were limited, seeing Kisaragi Chiyo's sudden expression of relief upon hearing it was takeout from the cafeteria left him feeling a little dissatisfied in his heart.
"At least the tamagoyaki from the cafeteria doesn't have three big spoonfuls of salt in it." Kisaragi Chiyo stared at Matsuda expressionlessly, remaining unmoved by the accusatory look he threw her way.
Well, I'm still better than you," Matsuda Jinpei said, ruthlessly exposing Kisaragi Chiyo's secret. "After all, who was it that said they were going to make steamed fish last time, only for the fish to still be alive and dancing right in the pot?
Kisaragi Chiyo: ".."
Kisaragi Chiyo: "That was an accident."
How did he know that the fish, which should have been processed when it was bought, had somehow not died completely that one time?
"Ha." Matsuda Jinpei didn't listen to Kisaragi Chiyo's sophistry; he curled his lips and let out a short, mocking laugh.
"I hate you," Kisaragi Chiyo said resentfully.
It's okay," Matsuda Jinpei shrugged, his teal eyes gazing at the young man as he smiled, "I love you.
“..” Kisaragi Chiyo averted her gaze, slowly lowering her head and covering her face with one hand.
"That's cheating," Kisaragi Chiyo muttered, unable even to get angry.
"I'm just telling the truth." Matsuda Jinpei shrugged, then he braced one hand on the low table, leaned over, used his other hand to pinch the young man's chin, tilting his head up.
"I just really wanted to do this." Matsuda Jinpei lowered his head, gently sucking on the young man's lips, then his flexible tongue skillfully pried open the gap between the lips, familiarly scavenging the air within the other's mouth.
Matsuda Jinpei only let go once Kisaragi Chiyo's breathing became rapid.
"Mint flavored." Matsuda Jinpei sat back in his seat as if nothing had happened. He licked the corner of his mouth, as if nothing had transpired, he said, "Itadakimasu," before using his chopsticks to pick up a piece of spinach tamagoyaki and pop it into his mouth.
"Isn't yours the same?" Kisaragi Chiyo's tongue felt a bit numb from the suction, her red lips were moist, it was obvious what had just happened.
"That's different." Matsuda Jinpei shook his head and took a sip of the miso soup. The saltiness was just right, but compared to how Hara makes it, it felt like it was missing something.
"What are you doing.." Matsuda Jinpei took a few bites, watching Kisaragi Chiyo pull out her phone and snap several photos of the breakfast, before she began typing a message.
"Sending a message," Kisaragi Chiyo replied without even looking up.
“To whom?” Matsuda Jinpei's chewing slowed down. He blinked, seemingly unable to fathom that while he had been working overtime these past few days, Kisaragi Chiyo had actually made new friends in Hell Assistant Official.
Is it that white-haired brat jailer or Miss Karashi.. It couldn't possibly be Hozuki, could it? Matsuda Jinpei made random guesses about the potential candidates in his mind.
"It's Hara." Kisaragi Chiyo lowered her eyes, as if she had seen something interesting, the slight curve of her lips lifted into a pleasant arc.
"Ah, what? It's Hagi." Matsuda stuffed another piece of tamagoyaki into his mouth, but as he chewed, he suddenly realized that something seemed off.
“Wait,”
Raising his head sharply, Matsuda Jinpei finally reacted, his voice rising an octave. He seemed to have choked, letting out a series of coughs.
"How did you get in touch?" Matsuda Jinpei asked, his beautiful teal eyes wide. His eyebrows arched in shock, his expression one of utter disbelief, as if he had just witnessed something incredible.
"There's signal in Hell too?" Matsuda bit his chopsticks and frowned, seemingly skeptical of the answer Kisaragi Chiyo had given.
"Of course, you can use it as long as you buy a package." Kisaragi Chiyo held up her phone, showing her recent chat messages with Hara Kenji to Matsuda Jinpei. The signal displayed in the upper right corner of the phone was at full strength, the network was completely smooth.
However.." Kisaragi Chiyo put down her phone, picked up a piece of fish with her chopsticks, shoved it into her mouth with a somewhat aggressive motion, her tone carrying a hint of resentment. "Even though this is clearly within Japan, they are charging international roaming rates.
Matsuda Jinpei: ".."
International roaming?" Matsuda Jinpei blinked several times. "Wouldn't that be incredibly expensive?
"It's basically just burning money." Kisaragi Chiyo took a huge bite of the rice ball, eating two-thirds of it in one go. With his mouth stuffed full of food, his cheeks puffed out like a hamster's, making his voice sound somewhat muffled as he spoke.
But Matsuda Jinpei listened carefully and picked out a few words, something about unscrupulous merchants and reporting them.
“I didn't expect that money from the mortal realm could actually be used in Hell as well?” Matsuda Jinpei found Kisaragi Chiyo's indignant expression somewhat amusing. He asked the question casually, hoping to divert her attention, but he didn't expect that his question would be met with a long silence from her.
“..”
What's wrong?" Seeing Kisaragi Chiyo's expression, Matsuda Jinpei's expression also gradually grew solemn, he hurriedly pressed, "Could it be that something else has happened?
For example, unreasonable charges such as service fees and Hell taxes.
"No." Kisaragi Chiyo mechanically fed the food into her mouth; although her face remained expressionless, her voice sounded somewhat weak.
I don't have any money on me, Hell doesn't accept mortal currency.
"Then how did you.." Matsuda Jinpei asked, his tone cautious.
An advance on my wages." Kisaragi Chiyo's lips curled slightly. "I took an advance on my wages from Hozuki, so now I've actually incurred debt before even starting the job.
Pathetic. It was truly pathetic, so it was no wonder Kisaragi Chiyo wore such an expression.
Matsuda and Kisaragi Chiyo looked up and locked eyes, both simultaneously thinking of that colleague they had never met in person, only heard rumors about, who had been burdened with a three-hundred-year mortgage since joining the company.
The two of them couldn't help but shudder.
Terrifying, it was truly terrifying.
From birth to death, from death to rebirth, can one not even escape the troubles of money and work even in Hell Assistant Official?
"If you don't work, you won't have money, if you don't have money, you have to work." Kisaragi Chiyo sighed, thinking of her one hundred autographed copies with zero progress, her expression grew even more depressed.
"It really isn't easy for humans, whether they are living or dead." Matsuda Jinpei let out a sincere sigh of lament.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Thank you all for your support, little angels! Mwah 030
Chapter 139
Pass through the long tunnel at the prefectural border, you will find the Snow Country. *
Wintertime Hokkaido was completely covered in heavy snow, the distant trees were blurred into the snowy landscape, appearing as dark patches on the retina.
The sky was a soft blue, as if washed clean by the snow, without a single cloud in sight. In the distance, the snow shone brilliantly under the sunlight, reflecting a piercing glare; if one didn't want to suffer from snow blindness, one couldn't stare at the reflective snow for too long at this time.
Therefore, after admiring the pure white snow for a moment, Kisaragi Chiyo averted her gaze. She tucked her neck into a soft wool scarf and wore a heavy black duffle coat with several heat packs underneath; even her gloves had been swapped for fleece-lined ones to suit the weather.
"Hasn't it arrived yet?" Kisaragi Chiyo stomped her feet and turned her head, her misty gray eyes narrowing slightly as she gazed toward the far end of the tracks, seeing nothing but upright utility poles and lines.
“Another fifteen minutes.” Hara Kenji exhaled a breath of white mist. He rubbed his hands together and mimicked the young man by hunching his shoulders and tucking his hands into his coat, even though, as an Evil Spirit, he wouldn't feel the cold.
"It'll be worth the wait." Matsuda Jinpei took another step closer to Kisaragi Chiyo, the three of them huddled shoulder to shoulder, counting the snowflakes as they drifted down from the sky.
After counting for a while, Kisaragi Chiyo lost track. He reached into his pocket and caught one of the snowflakes falling before his eyes; the snowflake, as light as goose down, landed on his glove and quickly melted.
It had been over half a year since Kisaragi Chiyo returned from Hell. After three months of hard study, Hara Kenji had also followed closely behind, becoming the last civil servant in this household to join Hell Assistant Official.
The three of them went to Hell together again later, after some discussion, Matsuda moved out of the staff dormitory and found a three-bedroom house for rent a little further away from his workplace.
It had all the necessary utilities and came with a small courtyard, where a maple tree was planted.
According to the homeowner, in order to ensure the maple leaves stay red throughout all four seasons, the corpses of one hundred sinners were buried beneath this tree.
On the day of their arrival, Hozuki and some of Matsuda Jinpei's colleagues also came along. Hozuki brought a packet of Snapdragon seeds for Matsuda Jinpei, saying that if they were planted in the garden at this time, they could be harvested in a few months.
Matsuda Jinpei accepted them solemnly, then stuffed them into the very bottom of the cabinet and locked them away.
Having Konan as the Snapdragon in the house was enough; the three of them unanimously agreed that there was no need to raise a second child.
Kisaragi Chiyo still failed to see Oboshima-san this time, when he asked Hozuki about the Oboshima shrine maiden's whereabouts, he received only an uncertain answer regarding her return.
We will meet after she returns." Looking at the despondent Kisaragi Chiyo, Hozuki expressionlessly pushed a set of work toward him. "Business in Hell is currently very busy, we are in need of more hands. Since you have the time, go and handle these tasks.
As soon as he heard he had to work, Kisaragi Chiyo's slight melancholy vanished instantly. He picked up the documents Hozuki handed him and flipped through them, feeling an immediate headache.
They were all tasks that required traveling all over Japan, but fortunately, the substantial travel expenses and meal allowances successfully comforted Kisaragi Chiyo. Moreover, since transportation costs and hotel expenses could also be reimbursed, Hell Assistant Official was indeed a rare, conscientious company.
Why are there so many fugitives who escaped from Hell?
Kisaragi Chiyo flipped through the files, her brow furrowing more deeply with every page. Setting aside the relatively harmless little monsters and spirits that wouldn't cause much trouble, there were a few individuals mixed into this fairly thick stack of documents whose introductions immediately signaled how troublesome they would be. Just how did Hell allow those guys to escape into the human world?
“This is related to that guy,” Hozuki said, glancing up at Kisaragi Chiyo. “He released all of these.”
Both of them knew exactly who he was referring to.
"What exactly is he?" Kisaragi Chiyo pressed for an answer.
Although he had been tracking the other's trail all along, he still hadn't figured out what that man's true identity actually was, which couldn't help but leave him feeling somewhat discouraged.
You can call him [].
"A snake?" Kisaragi Chiyo was slightly stunned.
A snake, specifically a snake that, according to legend, is capable of flying through the sky.
Hozuki nodded, then shook his head.
He is, he isn't.
"What do you mean?" Kisaragi Chiyo looked at Hozuki, utterly confused.
He was originally a mage traveling through the mortal world, but a human body will always face the day when it is injured and eventually dies.. At first, he wanted something similar to the Hachibikuni, so he began to pursue the traces of the mermaid. But the mermaid had long since vanished for hundreds of years, so naturally, he failed to find her even on the day he was about to die.
But just as he was about to give up, he found a corpse.
Hozuki looked at Kisaragi Chiyo with calm eyes, but the words he spoke made the young man shudder instinctively.
You know about the changes in Matsuda, right? The body he's possessing now..
"He.. that guy.." Kisaragi Chiyo's voice was somewhat parched. He clenched his cold palms, feeling a slight shock at the suspicion rising within his heart.
He sewed himself and..
You could say that." Hozuki nodded slightly. "But after all, it is just a corpse. Even if it grants him power while slowing his death.. any corpse will eventually reach that day.