I have an unlimited number of shikigami

"There are no monsters in this world, so I'm not afraid of being known by my own kind."

"I understand!"

"Weren't you photographed too?"

"...I was forced by you!"

Fujiwara Izaya turned around and said to the Queen in a teasing tone, "You're thousands of years old, can you stop being so arrogant?"

"Crack!"

The Queen left him with a noble silhouette.

The two continued walking, passing stalls selling grilled corn, fried chicken nuggets, goldfish scooping, lotteries, hot dogs, masks, stuffed dolls... The narrow Koenji Temple was packed with all kinds of vendors, and there were people everywhere you went. The lively atmosphere seemed to have swallowed up the whole of Tokyo.

The Queen stopped in front of a stall selling candied apples, gazing curiously at the glistening candies: "Candied apples? I've never had them before. I wonder if they're good, maybe they are."

She muttered to herself.

Fujiwara Izaya instinctively took out his money and bought a string of skewers.

The Queen held it in her mouth for a while, then realized it was just pretty but tasted so-so. She then stuffed the saliva-covered apple candy into Fujiwara Izaya's mouth and snatched the opened bottle of Ramune soda from his hand.

A group of girls, all dressed in gorgeous red yukatas, laughed and strolled through the crowd.

As the night deepened, they danced through the alleyways like a school of goldfish swimming in a dim canal.

The Queen seemed mesmerized, gazing at their retreating figures: "The girls of this world live such vibrant lives..."

Fujiwara Izaya grabbed her hand, swallowed the apple candy, and said, "When we go back, do you want to come to school with me for a year?"

"Don't drag me down with you!" The Queen looked at him like he was an idiot, one hand covering her slightly protruding belly. "You want me to go to school with this big belly? How could you even think of that? If all the Heavenly Dogs were as stupid as you, they'd be wiped out sooner or later..."

"Does the Queen also have a sharp tongue..." Fujiwara Izaya murmured.

"what?"

"Your Majesty is so beautiful! (voice cracks)"

"Humph!"

Near the deepest part of the festival, only one vendor remained.

Perhaps it was the warm yellow light from the bulbs that made the goods on the shelves seem particularly appealing, and the stall owner was leisurely brewing tea.

The Queen glanced at the shelves

On the plain wooden shelves, there are all kinds of kaleidoscopes.

When you pick it up and look at it, the whole world, surrounded by orange light, suddenly starts spinning, and the number of objects seems to increase infinitely.

"Should we buy one?" Fujiwara Izaya asked.

The Queen hesitated for a moment.

Isn't it too childish for a monster thousands of years old to use such a childish toy?

"Anyway, there are enthusiastic tourists everywhere, so there's no need to feel embarrassed about this childish play." Fujiwara Rinya simply paid for one.

Emerging from the shop, the Queen eagerly placed the kaleidoscope before her.

The lights in the alleyways and the lanterns above her head spun and distorted in the kaleidoscope, making her feel dizzy; the faces of pedestrians on the street split into countless identical mirrors, appearing and disappearing in a flash.

Young men and women holding hands, young women wearing yukatas like herself, fathers and mothers with their children, girls in red yukatas weaving through the crowd like goldfish—as my gaze spun, Fujiwara Izaya's face suddenly appeared, splitting into many faces, each one revealing a warm smile as it spun.

The Queen momentarily forgot to breathe.

She took the kaleidoscope away from her eyes, reached out to grab him, but grasped only air.

Upon closer inspection, he realized he was lagging behind and was about to be swallowed up by the crowd.

"This thing is no fun at all..." the Queen muttered, tossing the kaleidoscope aside and sending a pungent fragrance towards Fujiwara Izaya.

A soft, warm body suddenly crashed into his arms.

Fujiwara Izaya hugged her and asked with a smile, "Why did you throw it away?"

"It looks so close, yet it's actually so far away. I don't want it anymore..." The queen said coldly, her ears on her head patting his cheeks left and right, but soon she started snoring softly.

This fox is thousands of years old, and whenever it feels comfortable, it purrs like a kitten.

lovely!

Fujiwara Izaya hooked his arm around hers and said, "Let's go inside!"

"Where?" The queen nestled in his arms, not wanting to move.

"There are performances inside Koenji Temple."

"Come on, come on, hold me in your arms." A gentle smile appeared on the Queen's snow-white face.

What a beautiful smiling face that makes you want to smile back.

At the end of the orange light, many red or white lanterns hung. Under the dim light, a grand shrine with a stage on the roof of the building caught her eye.

An ancient wooden bridge, a dense crowd of people carrying lanterns slowly moving forward.

It was a stage larger and more magnificent than any festival the Queen had ever seen, like a radiant castle.

Fujiwara Izaya bought a bunch of food and pulled the Queen to the outer corridor to watch.

A group of excited children were wildly waving their fireworks, creating a dangerous yet lively scene.

Several large red lanterns hung on the stage, supporting a white curtain.

In the center was a high platform resembling an altar, upon which sat a dignified-looking puppet dressed in armor. Women and children in ancient costumes danced to the accompaniment of harps and drums.

The Queen's eyes sparkled as she looked on.

“I’m not bragging, but my mountain god festival is much more fantastical than this,” Fujiwara Izaya said while fanning her.

The Queen turned her head and glared at him, then snatched the fan from his hand.

The fan, decorated with gold powder, shimmered under the light. She smiled happily and twirled the fan as if dancing.

“Fool! What good is a majestic-looking tengu?” She said to her fan, seemingly showing off. “Even the most powerful tengu will become spineless under the slightly upturned fur of a fox.”

Fujiwara Izaya hugged her and kissed her sweaty neck: "I'm clearly very hard."

"It itches, let me go!"

The Queen dodged with a laugh.

Under the light of the electric lamp, she looked like a lover in her first love, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"I'm a little infatuated with you, so infatuated that I want to devour you." The queen opened her mouth and bit him.

The world was decorated with glittering gold, and people played music, beat drums, and laughed and played.

The Queen released her grip, licking the blood from her lips as she looked at the stage: "Human performances about romance and nature can be described as elegant. But what's interesting is that even though monsters are far superior to humans, they still like to imitate them. Participating in human daily life or festivals is truly a lot of fun."

“My father told me that this is called ‘the bloodline of fools.’ Any learning from humans, any joy or sorrow like humans, is due to the bloodline of fools.”

Fujiwara Izaya put his arm around the Queen's waist and leaned his face close to hers.

The queen tilted her head back and gently kissed him, and the world around them seemed to take on a pink hue.

※※※※※

Shortly after the festival, September arrived.

After Kitagawa Academy opened, Fujiwara Izaya found his counterpart in this world and gave him a bracelet, instructing him to give it to the boy at the right time. Then, accompanied by the Queen, he embarked on his journey back to his original world.

The queen pressed her forehead against his chest and exclaimed as if in a dream, "I can finally go back and rule the world!"

"Snapped!"

Fujiwara Izaya patted her butt.

"With you and the children." The Queen obediently closed her eyes, curled up, and rested her cheek against his chest. Listening quietly to his heartfelt words, she thought: We live in the same world, loving each other…

Fujiwara Izaya lowered his head, inhaling the fragrance of her hair.

Her beautiful red hair cascaded down, and her pointed pink furry ears, like those of a shy little fox, peeked at his face from within her hair.

“Thirty long months,” the Queen said.

It's been a really long time, Fujiwara Izaya thought to himself.

The Queen listened intently to the stirrings in her heart as the pink fox ears rested against her chest.

As if groping for directions on a map, reading the vivid scenery of life, they read into his heart, their hands clasped tightly together.

※※※※※

Tokyo.

The New Year is approaching, but the weather remains warm.

At noon on the 31st, the sky was high and the clouds were light, and soft sunlight filled the streets.

Asakusa Shrine was packed with tourists, almost all of them families. Kawashima Miki, with her keen business sense, sold off her "Ootengu" merchandise and made a small profit.

Yukino Riho got up very early.

Mopping the floor, washing clothes, tidying up, cleaning the house, and so on—these are the kinds of household chores that Miki Kawashima is good at. She yawned as she came out of her room.

"Is Miki going to the Yin-Yang Bureau today?" Yukino Riho asked.

Kawashima Miki rubbed her sleepy eyes and mumbled, "No, I'm going to buy some New Year's goods today..."

"We need to buy a multi-year supply," Yukino Riho reminded her. "The Kasahara and Hoshimi families will also be celebrating the New Year here, so buying too little won't be enough."

"Why buy so much? We don't even know if they'll come back..."

Miki Kawashima grumbled.

After a quick wash, she changed into casual clothes and went out.

At the end of the year, every commercial area was so crowded that it was almost impossible to move.

Today is the last day of business, and all the shops are loudly soliciting customers. In addition, most ordinary people know about the monster incident, and many shops have taken the opportunity to launch related products.

Miki Kawashima roughly compiled a table.

There were many things to buy, from ingredients for New Year's buckwheat noodles and chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) to rice cakes, herring roe, and so on—a lot to eat, and even more to use. She bought them from each shop one by one, and then had Dark Raven carry them back and forth.

During the three months that Fujiwara Izaya was away, Dark Raven was her punching bag.