𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐄 - ★彡[ᴋᴀᴍɪꜱᴀᴛᴏ ᴀʏᴀᴛᴏ]彡★

二十九 - 29

Yae Miko was crass, almost boarding the cynical line. That was my first impression of her– which was most likely incorrect. An aloof shrine maiden was what I had heard from the people who disliked her, and a beautiful and respectful maiden from those who didn't. I thought that neither of those were necessarily right nor incorrect. Someone like her didn't care all too much if someone else stuck a label on her from their perspective, she probably only cared about a few people's selective opinions.

By a few people, of course, it means purely herself.

Characters like Yae Miko were hard to come across, haughty and inconsiderate people with an extremely high amount of intelligence. In this world, people like her were commonly scorned upon, yet fantasized over in works of fiction. If you met a cocky attractive person in the midst of work you would get pissed off and most likely steer clear of them in general. If you met a cocky attractive person in the midst of reading a novel you would swoon over them and their charismatic attitude, calling it charming and endearing. That was the power of the human mind- turning the hated into the loved in less than a second so long as society all complied to it.

 People speak of how money could simply become worthless so long as people decided it was.

Characters like Yae Miko most likely never concerned themselves with thoughts such as those, probably thinking of them as irrelevant and childish.

After all, right now she was staring at me with no revealing emotions in her eyes, just a simple stare that wasn't quite kind or mean, not quite a mockery but bordering on the edge of one. She placed her hand on my forehead.

It was cold.

I found myself losing the will to speak or say anything to the shrine maiden, biting my lip and fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill from my eyes.

An idea popped into my head: I would go to the Kamisato Estate and see Thoma, just to verify that the shrine maiden wasn't lying. If Thoma remembered me, then he could fill me in on everything that had happened.

"You're thinking of going to the Kamisato Estate, aren't you?" Yae Miko cut through my thoughts.

 "I hate to break it to you, but that's an absolutely horrendous idea, of course, you may do so if you wish. I have no means to stop you from doing whatever you please." 

I couldn't dispute what she was saying, because she was right. I had no dignity left to hold on to, but even so it would still be humiliating to go and get scolded by Ayato again.

I felt a sudden wave of loneliness wash over me, and I curled up into a ball, burying my head in my hands. Even if it looked pathetic to Yae Miko, I just needed to close my eyes and give myself a moment to grieve.

Father, I'm sorry...

I found myself wishing that before I had left that I had said goodbye. How much of a fool was I, to not even tell him before I leave? I should've taken advantage of every hour, every minute, every second that I had had with him and Ayato.