Becoming a god in a low-key way in the supernatural world

"Just arrived at Okaya Station... How about it, are you free to pick me up?"

"Okaya Station? Find a coffee shop and sit for a while, I'll be there in ten minutes... We'll talk when we meet."

After hanging up the phone, Kotegawa hurriedly put on his clothes, grabbed his phone and wallet, and once again transformed into clouds, taking off directly into the air and flying straight towards the direction where Okaya was standing.

Chapter Fifty-Seven: The New Year (Part Seven)

Outside the brightly lit Okayama Station, Kotegawa's figure appeared quietly. He glanced at the Special Division officers guarding the area and stepped into a nearby ramen shop.

Wearing her special department uniform, Hu Tao was eating soup udon when someone was peeking at her from the side.

The owner looked up and said, "Welcome."

Kotegawa nodded and sat down directly opposite Kurumi.

Hu Tao's eyes curved into crescents: "So fast!"

Kotegawa looked at her, slightly speechless: "You haven't had dinner yet, have you? I'll fry some shrimp balls for you when we get back. We can prepare the New Year's dishes today."

"Wow! What perfect timing!" Hu Tao finished the last bite of noodles, drank two sips of soup, and clasped her hands together. "Mmm, delicious udon! Shall we go?"

Kotekawa stood up, took Kurumi's suitcase, and Kurumi held his other arm in hers. The two left together, and after walking a short distance along the road, Kotekawa put his arm around her waist and gracefully disappeared into the night with her.

Ten minutes later, Kotegawa brought her to the courtyard, gently opened the door, and led her into the house.

Kotegawa was about to turn on the light, but Kurumi stopped him in the dark room, shook her head slightly, and pointed upstairs.

Seeing this, he picked up her suitcase, and together they quietly went upstairs and into the house.

After the door closed, Hu Tao stretched and yawned, took off her coat and threw it on the floor, rolled around on the bed, and looked at him with a smile.

Kotegawa picked up her coat and hung it on the hanger along with his own. Then he took off his shoes, lifted the blanket, and sat down, warming her cold feet as he whispered, "Aren't you spending the New Year at home?"

"Anyway, Machiko and my brother are both home." Hu Tao stretched again: "Being cooped up at home every day is driving me crazy."

Kotegawa leaned close to her and whispered, "But you just came back this year. If you spent the New Year at home, your aunt and uncle would be very happy, wouldn't they?"

"Then I'll go?"

"...Let's talk about it tomorrow." Kotegawa gently rubbed her puffed-up cheeks and said softly, "Why did you come in such a hurry? What happened?"

"There's nothing that prevents you from coming, right?"

"Of course not," Kotegawa quickly said. "I'm just a little worried. If you have anything on your mind, please tell me. Don't keep it to yourself."

Hu Tao's expression softened a bit, and she hummed a few times: "It's nothing, I just wanted to come... My family is going to attend a shrine gathering for the New Year, so I'll be home alone again."

"That's how it is... So why don't you stay here for the New Year? Jia might come over after the New Year too."

“Yeah, we were just chatting a few hours ago…” Hu Tao thought of the topic they had talked about earlier, hummed a few times, turned to her side, and said with her back to him, “Okay, I’m going to sleep.”

Kotegawa paused for a moment, then lay down as well, turning to his side and looking at the back of her head.

After a while, Hu Tao turned around, looked at him with some embarrassment and annoyance, then pulled the blanket up to cover their heads.

The next morning, Kotegawa, who had just gotten up, went to the yard to practice his boxing. Kenji, who had also gotten up, was going out for a walk. But as soon as he stepped out, he heard someone call out from afar, "Good morning, Uncle Kenji!"

Kenji instinctively turned his head to look, and when he saw it was Kurumi, he was immediately startled: "Eh? Kurumi-chan?"

Hu Tao jogged over, pulling her suitcase, and said obediently, "No one's home for the New Year, and I figured I'd have nothing better to do, so I came over... Uncle Kenji, can I stay here for the New Year this year?"

Kenji paused for a moment, then subconsciously said, "Of course, but I still need to let your family know beforehand..." As he spoke, he turned around, glared at Kotegawa in the yard, and said in a calm tone, "Kenji, Kurumi-chan is here, come out quickly."

Kotegawa exclaimed "Oh!" and pretended not to see Kenji's dark face. He ran out, took the box from Kurumi's hand again, and led her into the house, where he greeted Aunt Akiba and Seiko.

Aunt Akiba was also surprised and taken aback. This time, Kotegawa helped explain a few things, and Aunt Akiba didn't think much of it and welcomed Kurumi.

Qingkong tilted his head, as if he had seen through something.

In the courtyard, Uncle Kenji called Kotekawa out again. As soon as they stepped out the gate, he grabbed Kotekawa's arm and asked with a dark face, "What's going on?"

“Her family was going to a Shinto gathering for the New Year, but she didn’t really want to go. She was bored at home alone, so she came here,” Kotegawa said honestly. But seeing Kenji’s face darken, he added, “Kurumi is also my girlfriend…”

Uncle Jian's vision blurred, and he almost choked. He knew it...

He glared at her for a moment, then sighed, "I really don't understand you young people anymore... Let's keep this from Qiuye for now, and talk about it after the New Year. You, you better behave yourself! Don't think about anything else!"

Kotegawa nodded vigorously.

Uncle Jian then let go of him, put his hands in his pockets, and went for a walk with a long sigh.

In Tokyo, Yuka, who had just woken up, let out a surprised "Ah!"

She stared at the message on her phone, rubbed her eyes hard, and after confirming that she wasn't seeing things, she jumped out of bed and started frantically calling Takanashi.

The phone was constantly busy, but just as she finished calling for the fifth time and was about to call for the sixth, the call was finally answered.

Takanashi's murderous voice rang out: "Honba Yuuki! Are you crazy?! Do you even know what time I went to bed last night?!"

Yuka wasn't angry at all after being scolded, but instead said nervously, "Listen to me, Hanamai, Kurumi arrived at Kotegawa's house early this morning."

Takanashi seemed taken aback for a moment on the other end of the phone, then said, "Let her go, what does it have to do with me?"

"Oh dear, you're so dense!" Youjia exclaimed anxiously, "She must have gone there overnight because of our assumption last night... Huawu, we can't just sit here and wait, we have to take action!"

"I already told you it was just a hypothetical scenario!" Takanashi was exasperated. "No action! Absolutely no action! Okay! I'm going to sleep! Don't bother me anymore, you hear me?"

Yujia said "oh" first, then muttered softly, "But Hu Tao clearly has feelings for Kotekawa. We talked for so long last night, and the more we talked, the more I felt that Kotekawa might actually marry a few more wives... Hanamai, I think we can't just sit here and wait like this. Why don't we go too?"

"Let him marry whoever he wants! I don't care! I'm going to sleep now! If you want to go, go by yourself! Honestly, if I leave, will my mom be left here alone for the New Year?"

"Oh..." Yujia hung up the phone, feeling a little aggrieved. She lay back on the bed, thought for a few minutes, and then jumped up again to change her clothes and look for her suitcase.

Since Hu Tao isn't spending the Lunar New Year at home, it's okay for her not to spend it at home either, right?

Since Hanamai isn't going, she'll go by herself! At worst, she can have Kotegawa pick her up when she gets there…

On the other side, Takanashi, who had also gone back to bed, couldn't fall asleep. She tossed and turned, and suddenly opened her eyes, filled with irritability.

There was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Hua Wu, wake up and have breakfast!"

Takanashi Hanamai paused for a moment, then threw back the covers, got out of bed, quickly went to open the door, and blurted out, "Mom, how about we go to Nagano for the New Year?"

Chapter Fifty-Eight: The New Year (Part 8)

At 1 p.m. on the day before New Year's Day, Kotegawa arrived at Okaya Station again, this time by car.

Outside the station, Yuka, who was sitting on her suitcase scrolling through her phone, heard the horn and looked up. When she saw the familiar car, her eyes lit up, and she got up and dragged her suitcase over.

Good afternoon!

Kotegawa looked at her for three seconds, took the suitcase from her, carried it to the car, and asked, "Have you had lunch?"

"No, but I brought an apple, and there's one left. Do you want some?"

"Let's keep it for now."

In the car, Youjia fastened her seatbelt, looked around, and asked with wide eyes, "Where are Qingkong and Hutao?"

"I'm preparing New Year's dishes at home." Kotegawa started the car. "Let's grab something to eat first, and then we'll go buy some fireworks together."

Fireworks? Are we going to have fireworks tonight?

"Yeah, with Chihaya from next door..." Kotegawa, who was about to drive off, suddenly paused, took off his sunglasses, and looked towards the station entrance. There, two people who had just come out of the gate with their suitcases were looking around for a car.

He turned his head and asked in a slightly strange tone, "You and Takanashi have already discussed this?"

Yuka was excitedly researching which fireworks were the best when she heard this. Without looking up, she said, "Well, I did tell Hanamai before I came, but I can't leave Senko-sensei alone in Tokyo..."

“Yes…” Kotegawa got out of the car and walked quickly over to a taxi as it approached, raising his hand to say, “Good afternoon… Ms. Senko, Takanashi.”

Ms. Senko took off her sunglasses and exclaimed in surprise, "Eh? Kotegawa-kun? Did you come here specifically to pick us up?"

The little bird, Takanashi, was also startled and quickly waved its hand at its mother, who was looking at it: "No, no, no, I didn't tell him."

Kotegawa glanced at her, then looked at the car behind him: "I just came to pick up Yuka."

Yuka also got out of the car, looking bewildered, and said, "Hana-mai, Senko-sensei, you're here too?"

Takanashi, surprised by the coincidence, blushed and said, "My mom and I just came here for tourism, to see the snow-capped mountains and Matsumoto Castle."

"Huh?" Yuka looked at Takanashi with a strange expression.

A taxi stopped beside them, the door opened automatically, and the driver's eyes were filled with a hint of inquiry.

Teacher Qianzi looked back and forth, seemingly a little embarrassed.

Kotegawa took two steps forward, casually closed the taxi door—which seemed to have no clue about the atmosphere—and said politely, “It’s been sunny these past few days, so we can see the snow-capped mountains clearly. Matsumoto Castle is quite far from here, but it’s getting late. How about you stay at my place for the night and we can celebrate the New Year together? Tomorrow morning at five, we can go up the snow-capped mountains to watch the sunrise. With me here, you don’t need to worry about safety… What do you think, Ms. Senko?”

Ms. Chiko's eyes brightened, and she smiled, "That sounds good! But isn't it a bit too intrusive?"

"No, no, no, the more people there are for the New Year, the more lively it is! We're too busy having fun." Kotekawa took the suitcase from Chiko-sensei's hand, took a few steps forward, opened the car door, and invited Chiko-sensei to get in first. He then turned to look at Takanashi Hanami, who was still standing there, and gestured with his lips: "Get in the car!"

Takanashi hesitated for three seconds, then walked over and sat down in the back seat.

Yuka returned to her passenger seat, fastened her seatbelt as usual, and then turned around, leaning against the seat to ask, "Senko-sensei, Hanamai, have you had lunch?"

"I ate something in the car."

"Perfect timing, let's go grab something to eat!"

Kotegawa restarted the engine and drove back to Ina, heading towards the family restaurant he had visited the day before.

The waiters in the restaurant recognized him; after all, he had been there yesterday.

There wasn't much to say about Kotegawa. He politely ordered his food and then introduced some interesting sights to Ms. Chiko. Last time, Ms. Chiko had brought Kotori here and hadn't had time to explore on her own.

It's still winter, and the weather is getting colder. There's not much to see here for now, but the sunrise over the snow-capped mountains is quite beautiful. If you happen to be backlit, you might even see a rainbow.

Ms. Chiko listened with a smile, her worries from the journey easing slightly. After a while, she took out her phone and asked softly, "What's the Kotegawa family's phone number? I'd like to say hello before I go over, and if possible, I'd also like to go to the mall later."

“Perfect timing! Kotegawa is going to buy fireworks later too!” Yuka, who was sitting next to Kotegawa, said first.

Kotegawa nodded and gave his home phone number to Ms. Chiko.

Ms. Qianzi, holding her phone, got up and took a few steps to the side.

Youjia glanced at it, winked hard at Huawu, and said in a high-pitched voice, "Huawu~"