Kiyohiko Gets His Revenge

Just as Kiyohiko turned back, ready to complete the final step of his trap, familiar, light footsteps came from the other end of the corridor.

"Oh my, Mr. Kiyohiko, you're so energetic in the corridor so early in the morning. It seems yesterday's bitter melon daifuku worked very well. Have you completely regained your energy?"

That voice, gentle enough to melt his bones, exploded beside Kiyohiko's ear like a thunderclap.

Shinobu Kocho walked toward him at an unhurried pace, a hint of amusement in her purple eyes. Her gaze drifted almost imperceptibly over the wooden basin teetering on the beam.

At the sight of the basin, Shinobu Kocho's smile grew even more amused. Without saying a word, she quietly raised the sheath of her Nichirin Blade a little, then gave the basin a gentle nudge.

And so, under Kiyohiko's horrified gaze, the medicine jar fell not toward Shinobu, but directly toward his own head.

"Bang!"

A dense cloud of flour burst into the air, along with chili powder and sour plum powder.

In that instant, Kiyohiko felt as though he had been hit head-on by a giant white grenade.

The pungent smell rushed straight up his nose, and the tart powder coated his eyes. In an instant, he became a ghostly white "flour ghost," and inhaling too much dry powder even sent him into a series of earthshaking sneezes.

"Achoo! Achoo! Cough, cough... My eyes!"

He rolled around on the floor in a sorry state, trying to wipe the powder off his face, only to spread it more evenly. He looked just like a freshly steamed white bun.

Shinobu Kocho stopped three paces away and elegantly covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve to avoid breathing in the dust. As she looked at the "masterpiece" on the floor, she could no longer hide the laughter in her eyes. Even her shoulders began to tremble slightly.

"Hehehe, Mr. Kiyohiko, is this the Eastern blessing you spoke of? What an original way to give someone a blessing."

She bent down and looked at the comical-faced young man struggling to open one eye, her voice full of teasing.

"Since you're so energetic this morning, shall I double the amount of 'training' you do this morning?"

"What training? Achoo... You just want to beat me up..."

Kiyohiko pointed at her in grief and indignation, but flour had gotten into his mouth, making his words come out muffled.

"You definitely did that on purpose! You must have spotted me ages ago!"

"Who knows?"

Shinobu Kocho straightened up and turned to glance at Kanao, who stood in the distance with her expression as unchanging as ever. She chuckled softly.

"Still, your performance was quite a success, Mr. Kiyohiko. Even Kanao was absorbed in watching it."

The white powder dancing through the air gradually settled, covering the corridor in a thick layer of fresh snow.

Like a puppet with its strings cut, Kiyohiko sat in the pile of powder with his eyes closed, both hands clawing wildly at the air. His once handsome face was now smeared with flour and tears into an abstract painting.

This kind of continuous damage was what Kiyohiko's regenerative ability was least able to deal with.

On top of that, Kiyohiko couldn't even open his eyes now, much less find some water to wash his face.

And so the heroic Kiyohiko-kun had no choice but to bow his head to the evil Shinobu Kocho once more, for the time being.

"Miss Shinobu... Help... Achoo! My eyes... It's like the chili powder and sour plum powder teamed up to assassinate them... I can't see. Am I going blind? I haven't seen you wear that really revealing... Ah, no, I haven't seen tomorrow's sun yet!"

His muttering echoed through the quiet corridor, filled with a kind of absurdity that was both exasperating and funny.

Shinobu Kocho looked at him in his predicament, as though he wished he could bury his head in the ground, and let out a helpless sigh. Hidden in that sigh was a touch of tenderness that even she herself hadn't noticed.

"Oh my, Mr. Kiyohiko, so you do know how to beg me for mercy. I thought all you knew how to do was oppose me and cause trouble."

Though her words were still as sharp as ever, she stepped forward nonetheless. Her wooden sandals made a soft crunching sound on the flour as she walked up to him and slowly crouched down.

A strong reek of Wisteria, like stagnant water to Kiyohiko, wafted into his face. He instinctively tried to pull back, but a slender, icy hand held him by the shoulder.

"Don't move. If you fidget and I accidentally stick an anesthetic needle into your tear duct, you really will become a blind Mr. Demon."

Shinobu Kocho's voice was close at hand, as gentle as if she were comforting a child who had broken a vase, but her words made Kiyohiko's body instantly stiffen.

He could feel Shinobu Kocho's cool fingers gently supporting his chin, forcing him to lift his head.

Feeling Shinobu Kocho's cool fingertips and her warm breath in front of him, Kiyohiko suddenly felt that he wasn't suffering quite so much anymore.

"Honestly, you're a demon, yet you're always doing things even clumsier than a human would."

Shinobu Kocho took a spotless white silk handkerchief from her sleeve and dipped it in some clean water from the jar beside them. Holding his forehead with one hand, she used the damp cloth in the other to wipe the powder from around his eyes with the gentlest of movements.

"I told you... I'm human... I just have a slight... Achoo! A slight genetic mutation... Mm, Miss Shinobu, your hand is so cold."

Kiyohiko felt the damp cloth pass over his eyelid, the burning sensation giving way to coolness. He cautiously opened one eye and, through the hazy moisture and remaining flour, found himself looking straight into Shinobu Kocho's purple eyes, deep as an abyss yet rippling with a smile.

"Cold? Perhaps it's because I spend every day thinking about what kind of poison would make a disobedient child like you a little more 'well-behaved,' Mr. Kiyohiko."

Smiling, she deliberately flicked his reddened, swollen eye with her fingertip. There was only the faintest trace of indulgence in the gesture, but it was like a drop of honey added to a bitter medicinal brew.

"Ow..."

Kiyohiko complained.

Shinobu Kocho carefully wiped the white powder from his cheeks, and the delicate features beneath his comical face gradually emerged.

As Shinobu Kocho looked at his eyes, which were gradually clearing yet still held a trace of grievance and roguishness, it was as though his foolishness had knocked a small opening in the icy defenses around her heart.

I don't think I've ever looked at him this closely before. Looking at him like this, he is a little handsome.

No, wait, Shinobu Kocho, what are you thinking?

"All right, you're a little cleaner now. Since you like flour so much, Mr. Kiyohiko, how about you help Miss Aoi grind medicinal powder for the next three days? Of course, you're not allowed to wear a mask."

She withdrew her hand and stood up gracefully, looking down at him.

"No, I refuse!"

Kiyohiko protested:

"These past few days, you've been drawing my blood in the morning, I've had to go to the dojo to get beaten up at noon, and in the afternoon I've had to drink that awful medicine you give me. I don't have time!"

"Overruled. You can't refuse me, Mr. Kiyohiko."