Shimizu Miyuki and the White Snake 3

Looking at herself in the mirror, Seele felt she was about ready. Wearing only white cotton socks, she stepped onto the carpeted floor and walked out.

Once she reached the edge of the courtyard, Seele found her shoes and put them on. Just as she was about to sit on a stone bench in the middle, Higokumaru came running toward her with a familiar white snake in her grasp.

"Big Sis, look what I caught! Let's make snake soup!"

Higokumaru walked up to Seele and proudly held up the white snake in her hand. It was about a meter long, and rather than looking frightening, it was actually a little cute.

Its eyes lacked the cold, sinister look of ordinary snakes; they resembled human eyes instead. Faced with being caught by Higokumaru and possibly turned into snake soup, the white snake struggled desperately.

But how could it possibly break free from Higokumaru's fox claws...?

"Huh?"

Looking at the white snake in Higokumaru's hand, Seele realized... this seemed to be the very snake she often encountered outside the shrine!

"Higokumaru, wait... Don't be so eager to eat it. You... you understand human speech, don't you?" Seele looked at the white snake in Higokumaru's hand. It had no demonic aura, but it did carry a trace of divine power.

"Damn fox, let me go!"

After hesitating under the gaze of Seele's beautiful eyes, the white snake turned and snarled at Higokumaru.

"So you really are a demon. I thought you were going to keep pretending! But wouldn't it have been better if you had? I haven't had snake soup in ages!" Seeing the white snake speak, Higokumaru wasn't surprised at all. She turned its head toward herself, her fox ears twitching atop her head.

"Talk. What kind of snake are you? Why