Kyosuke's Misunderstanding / Calligraphy Written by the Dead

"Hello, uh, Kyosuke?"

"Yeah, Yotsuya Kyosuke. He's my little brother."

Miko spoke as she pulled Hana over to her side, not caring what Kyosuke thought. He'd chosen to come along, after all. Even though she still needed to question Hana and Yuria later, that didn't stop her from making him feel awkward now. It was a rare opportunity, and little brothers were made to be messed with.

"Okay, we should get going."

"Right. Miko, make sure you do your best today!"

"Mm, I will."

As they spoke, the two girls had already walked some distance away. Watching Miko deliberately leave him behind, Kyosuke glanced at Yuria and began to understand her malicious intentions. But... he had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep addressing her politely.

"Let's go too, Sister Yuria."

Since he wanted to get information out of Yuria, he had to get on her good side first. The difference in their heights made him uncomfortable, and this Golden Twin-Tailed Girl didn't look particularly easy to talk to. But if he wanted to have something to tell Mom today, he'd just have to grit his teeth and go for it.

"Uh, okay. Let's go."

Yuria still wasn't very good at conversation, and struggled to think of a way to talk to the child in front of her. She didn't notice how unnatural Kyosuke's tone and expression were. As she agreed, she reached out to him.

"Do you want to hold my hand while we walk?"

In that moment, Kyosuke felt a kind of... resentment that could probably be called humiliation. It seemed like she was treating him as a little kid who didn't know any better. Was she seriously worried he'd get lost on the way?

...As expected, his sister's friends were all weirdos.

Yotsuya Kyosuke silently suppressed his indignation, forced a smile, then reached out with his trembling right hand and took Yuria's fingers.

If he wanted to get information out of her, he had to put up with it.

"Then... I'll leave it to you, Sister Yuria."

He spoke through gritted teeth, then looked at Miko walking ahead of him. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he thought he saw his sister's shoulders twitch.

"Pfft."

Miko covered her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter. Hana, who had been chatting with her, looked confused.

"Miko?"

"I just thought of something funny. I couldn't help laughing."

Miko waved to show she was fine, then composed herself and looked toward the gate ahead.

"Well, I should go join the competition now. Hana, keep an eye on Kyosuke for me."

She wasn't worried about her little brother's safety. After all, she'd made protective charms not only for Hana and Yuria.

After reminding Hana, Miko quietly headed to the competition venue. She entered the waiting area and waited for the event to begin. There were quite a few people taking part this time. It was an ordinary competition, and many people had some experience with calligraphy, so they were happy to participate. Still, most contestants would be eliminated in the first round, followed by the second round and then the finals.

She would probably have no trouble getting through the first round. As for what came after, Miko wasn't sure. She didn't know whether anyone would notice that she'd copied the calligraphy exactly, or just how discerning the judges were. But she was already here.

Meanwhile, after watching Miko enter the waiting area, Yurikawa Hana turned to the two behind her. The awkwardness between them was still palpable. Yuria didn't know how to break the ice. Maybe she could bring up romance or something, but the feeling that she was the older one left her unsure what to say. If she chose too frivolous a topic, it might damage her image as a mature person. Kyosuke, on the other hand, wanted to use some casual topic to shift the conversation toward his sister. But looking at the petite girl in front of him, and feeling self-conscious about the people around them who seemed to be watching, he couldn't bring himself to say anything.

"Um, actually, Yuria-chan, you don't have to hold Kyosuke's hand like that."

Seeing the two of them acting so strangely, Hana found Yuria's behavior both amusing and awkward.

"Kyosuke's really clever and dependable. Last time I took a wrong turn, he was the one who led me back."

As she defended Kyosuke, she also revealed how easily she got lost. That was one reason Kyosuke didn't have the best impression of her. This orange-haired big sister didn't seem very smart.

Still, he was grateful to Hana for saving him just then.

Chapter 68: Kyosuke's Misunderstanding

She was hard to get along with. This girl was nothing but trouble.

That was the impression Yotsuya Kyosuke had formed of Yuria after meeting her. Her presence was exactly why he felt so grateful to Hana now.

"By the way, has my sister gone to the competition already?"

"Yep. We'll get to see Miko again soon, right?"

"Yeah. Come to think of it, this is the first time I've ever met you, Sister Yuria."

Using Hana as a stepping stone, Kyosuke quickly steered the conversation toward Yuria and his sister. Hana didn't realize he was fishing for information and answered his questions quite plainly.

"Mm-hm. I was really surprised when I first met Yuria, too. I couldn't figure out how she knew Miko at all. But Yuria-chan is super nice. She brings me food every day. And of course, I make sure to return the favor!"

As she spoke, she seemed to think of something and hurriedly took a bag of bread from her backpack, then smiled sheepishly.

"Speaking of which, I'm getting a little hungry."

No, seriously, what kind of appetite did you have?

Though Yotsuya Kyosuke had seen this sort of thing before, he was still deeply shocked. But this wasn't the time to be shocked. He quickly sorted through the clues in Hana's words, then discreetly shifted his gaze back to Yuria. He didn't much like her attitude, but he'd carefully studied her clothes, the mushroom ornaments in her hair, her black-painted nails, and the mushroom patterns that appeared everywhere. Those bright mushroom designs showed off their owner's unique interests.

Did she like mushrooms?

That was all Kyosuke could conclude, but he still smiled and let his curiosity about Yuria show.

"Hey, Sister Yuria, can you tell me how you met my sister?"

"How I met her?"

Yuria was a little surprised by the question. But she couldn't exactly say that she'd been spying on Miko, gotten caught, and then been forced to grant her three wishes, could she? Yuria had her pride, after all.

"Uh, we met at the fortune-telling place."

After thinking it over, Yuria made up a lie. She had, after all, seen Miko at the fortune-telling place.

"We were both planning to go there, so we got to know each other."

"What did you go to the fortune-teller for?"

Kyosuke stared right at her. He quickly connected fortune-telling with a few things, and his emotions grew agitated.

"Could it have been... to have your love fortune told?"

He couldn't be blamed for thinking that. Given the personalities of the girls in his class, romance was the only topic they ever talked to him about. As for anything else... maybe they didn't want to waste time talking to him, so they rarely brought it up. At the thought of his sister getting her love fortune told, Kyosuke suddenly became sensitive. It was like a father hearing that his daughter was in love. As her little brother, he didn't want to see his sister fall in love either. Maybe it was sibling affection, or maybe he was simply too close to her and didn't want her to get a boyfriend and start neglecting him.

"Love? No, that's not it!"

Yuria's face flushed red as she hurriedly waved her hands. Kyosuke's startling claim embarrassed her. If he hadn't brought it up, it would never have occurred to Yuria that young people usually went to fortune-tellers to have their love fortunes told.

"I only had them tell me whether my parents would be safe and well, and whether anything good would happen soon. It had absolutely nothing to do with love."

"And what was the result?"

"Of course... of course it was good."

After stumbling through the lie she'd made up, Yuria looked at Kyosuke's solemn expression and remembered what he'd said. She couldn't help looking away in a panic and changing the subject.

"Ah, the competition's about to start. We should go inside."

As she spoke, she grabbed Hana by the arm and pulled her into a run.

"Eh? Yuria-chan?"

"The competition's about to start. We'd better hurry."

Something was definitely off. Watching Yuria panic, Yotsuya Kyosuke's little face turned serious. He had no idea how much his words had affected a girl who'd barely interacted with boys her age and knew nothing about romance. He quickly took the panic on Yuria's face as proof she was hiding something.

"So... the fortune-telling result was really bad?"

He rubbed his chin, convinced he'd figured out the truth.

"No wonder my sister's been picking on me all the time lately, and always seems to be in a bad mood. It must be because her fortune's been terrible recently. Then, for this competition..."

He watched the two girls walking farther and farther away, nearly forgetting he was there. Thinking of the calligraphy skills his sister had never shown before, Yotsuya Kyosuke suddenly hesitated.

"I've figured it out anyway. Maybe... I should just head home?"

It wasn't that he had no faith in his sister. It was just hard to have much confidence in someone who needed him to wake her up almost every day. The thought crossed his mind, and he made up his mind.

"Yeah, I should go home first."

Miko was idly scrolling through her phone when she received messages from Hana and her mother. Hana said she couldn't find Kyosuke and kept apologizing to her, while her mother said Kyosuke had gone home.

"...What was that kid up to?"

Even as a cultivator, Miko hadn't been able to divine what had happened. She could only guess that Yuria had said something nonsensical to the kid and made him misunderstand.

"Forget it. I can't be bothered with him."

She replied to both of them on her phone, and reassured Hana and Yuria. Then she looked around at the people nearby and suddenly felt a little anxious. As the competition drew closer, her feelings about it grew more complicated. She felt nervous, anxious, and tense, just like everyone else taking part.

She gripped the strap of her shoulder bag tightly and took a deep breath. Imagining the competition as drawing talisman patterns finally helped her calm down.

As time passed, the doors to the waiting area finally opened. Miko put her shoulder bag in the storage room, checked the talisman on the iron box, then followed everyone else into the competition hall.

The lights shone down on the contestants, and the grandstand was packed with people, lending the event a lively atmosphere. Naturally, some of the contestants felt the pressure.

"Please, just don't let me make a mistake."

Someone murmured to themself. Miko simply swept the grandstand with her Spiritual Sense and quickly found Hana and Yuria. She smiled at them.

Chapter 69: Calligraphy Written by the Dead

The competition went quite smoothly. After writing a simple line of haiku, Yotsuya Miko sailed through the first round. Each contestant's work was projected onto the large screen inside the venue for the audience and judges to examine and score. That made the atmosphere in the hall quite lively.

Since there had been no preliminary round to improve the overall quality of the contestants, some of their work was a crushing blow to the people who'd written it when it was shown to the public. It was also a test of the audience's manners. When one contestant's work appeared, the faint, unrestrained laughter from the stands made it impossible for the contestant to stay there. They hurriedly covered their face and left.

Still, once the first round was over, a great many contestants had been eliminated, and the remaining ones showed a much higher level of calligraphy. With her sharper perception than an ordinary person's, Miko couldn't help admiring the work of several contestants. The qualities and spirit contained in their calligraphy made their work truly outstanding.

However, she no longer needed to worry about whether she could win. The instant her work was displayed, the audience's and judges' gasps of admiration made her realize that they could sense some kind of emotion in it, or what could be called its inner substance. Even ordinary people had a hard time sensing that. What they admired most was the shape of the characters she'd copied.

Some of the judges even recognized the calligraphy master she'd copied at a glance. They praised her for capturing his spirit and called her a rebirth of a master from the present age. But she knew her own work best. If that calligraphy master were to come back to life and see the characters she'd copied, he'd probably point at her nose and curse her out.

So she calmed herself and wrote through two more rounds, neither pleased nor upset. To a chorus of gasps, she won first place without a hitch. It went so smoothly that she felt rather frustrated, and once again wondered what all the hard work she'd been required to do earlier had been for.

"Congratulations, Miss Yotsuya Miko."

Several judges greeted her warmly, asking who her teacher was, directly and indirectly, and introducing themselves. When they heard that the girl in front of them had no teacher, they became even more enthusiastic. But Miko wasn't in the mood to talk to them one by one. She only looked at the other winners beside her. As she'd thought, they were the few people whose calligraphy had shown the inner qualities she'd noticed earlier.

The contestant in second place was a delicate-looking young girl. She seemed uncomfortable with the crowd and the enthusiastic welcome, so when she saw the judges focusing on Yotsuya Miko, she looked secretly relieved, as if she'd let out a breath. Third place went to a young man who seemed kind and welcoming on the surface, and particularly good at pleasing others. But their calligraphy's inner qualities were completely different from their outward appearances. The young girl's writing was fierce, with an indescribable sense of dominance. The young man's was lavish and opulent, with the air of gold and silver, yet it also concealed a hint of elegance.

"Can you tell? My calligraphy."

Miko spoke out of the blue, looking at the young girl. The girl was caught off guard by the question, and could only flush red.

"I... I think Miss Yotsuya's calligraphy is very good."

With everyone looking at her, she didn't know what to say. She truly couldn't see anything unusual, so she could only awkwardly squeeze out those words.

"With several great calligraphy masters here, I'm sure everything was judged fairly and impartially. You two don't need to worry. I admit defeat."

The young man didn't really understand what Miko meant either. He assumed she thought she'd been praised too much and didn't believe it, and couldn't help finding it amusing and enviable. He didn't feel any resentment. That was simply how he was. He often worried that his calligraphy skills weren't good enough, but over time he'd learned to accept it.

"After all, calligraphy does depend on talent. I wonder what you two think of my work."

He was clearly used to handling social situations, and naturally shifted attention away from the judges, who had been left out of the conversation. That saved the first-place winner from causing trouble later.

"Eh? Mr. Fujiwara's calligraphy? Um... it's good, too."

The young girl was still a little dazed. She didn't know how to say something nice and could only manage the most straightforward answer. Miko, however, glanced at him and gave a slight nod of agreement.

Her Spiritual Sense was still active, so she could make out most people's thoughts. She knew exactly why the judges were so enthusiastic toward her, and had naturally ignored them. She also understood what Mr. Fujiwara was thinking. But there was no need for him to worry. This was the only calligraphy competition she would enter, and she probably wouldn't take part in any more. She'd entered the competition just for the prize money, but winning so easily had made her feel unhappy instead. These people couldn't see the flaws in her calligraphy at all.

As she thought this, something else came out of her mouth.

"Mr. Fujiwara, your calligraphy is impressive. The judges' comments have given me a lot of new insights. I think my calligraphy will improve a lot when I go home this time."

Hearing that, the judges revised their impression of her as "arrogant," and their enthusiasm returned. After a slightly drawn-out awards ceremony, Miko politely declined the judges' invitations to stay and quickly went over to the two other contestants.

"Mr. Fujiwara, Miss Amamiya."

"What is it, Miss Yotsuya?"

The two turned around in confusion. Miko smiled slightly and apologized to them.

"I'm sorry I asked such a strange question earlier."

"Eh, it's nothing like that. I was just a little surprised."

"Mm, please don't worry about it."

After a few polite exchanges, the three went their separate ways.

As soon as Miko walked out of the venue, Yurikawa Hana threw her arms around her, looking extremely excited.

"Wow! Miko, your calligraphy is so beautiful!"

"Really?"