Bonus Chapter: The Silver-Haired Shrine Maiden’s New Year
My name is Otonari Juuzou, a first-year at Hirayama High School.
Today is the last of the three official days of the New Year holidays, and I’ve come to the shrine alone.
Normally, I’d go to hatsumōde with my best friend Matsuri, but apparently, he’s out on a date with his new girlfriend.
He confessed to the girl he had a crush on and got shot down. Then, a classmate who had seen it all confessed to him, and now they’re together.
“She confessed right after he got rejected—doesn’t that seem kind of insincere?”
That’s the kind of annoying thing Matsuri was saying.
So I told him, “Whether or not you wanna date her is your own choice. Using public perception as an excuse is just disrespectful to the girl.”
I gave him that push.
The girl he introduced to me—Kaieda Jun—refers to herself as boku, which is a bit unusual for a girl, but once we talked, she turned out to be a caring, deeply empathetic person. She’s petite, but she’s got curves where it counts. Can’t say I’m not jealous.
She’ll probably have him wrapped around her finger, but I think that suits Matsuri just fine.
…Good for you, Matsuri.
Even though they started dating before winter break and spent Christmas together, he still hasn’t even kissed her.
And yet today, he’s been invited over to her place… Poor bastard.
From now on, I’ll make sure to tease him thoroughly. The least he can do is let me have a little fun with my lonely single-guy bitterness.
So yeah, that’s why I’m doing hatsumōde solo this year.
My little sister actually wanted to come with me. But she’s a third-year, and that means she’s in the middle of exam prep. If she caught a cold at the shrine now of all times, it’d be a disaster. I managed to convince her to stay home.
“…Man, it’s crowded.”
I muttered to myself, surprised by the turnout.
It’s the New Year, so of course the shrine is bustling, but usually by the third it’s calmed down a bit. Still, for some reason, it feels way more packed than usual this year.
As I moved toward the shrine grounds, I noticed the crowd was especially thick around the vendor stalls.
I found it odd but decided to offer my prayers first.
Unlike me, my little sister has a real dream—she wants to become a doctor. And for that, she needs to get into a good school.
I know better than anyone how hard she’s worked. I can’t let her stumble at this point.
I don’t care what happens to me. So please, gods…
I tossed in a generous 500-yen coin and made sure to pray with extra care. Then, I headed toward the stalls to buy a protective charm.
…Still, why are there so many people here?
I slowly pushed my way through the crowd and finally reached the vendor area. That’s when I saw a familiar face.
“Wait… Isn’t that the fairy?”
Amid the shrine maidens working at the stall, one girl stood out—a tiny figure I couldn’t mistake for anyone else: Kisaragi Alice, the girl Matsuri had confessed to a while back.
With her silver hair and childlike appearance that didn’t look anything like a high schooler’s, she stood out even more in a slightly oversized shrine maiden outfit, flitting around like a small animal. It was oddly heartwarming to watch.
Maybe that’s why there’s such a crowd—people are just here to see her. She does kinda give off that good-luck vibe.
“Huh? You’re… Yamazaki-kun’s friend… um… the porn mag guy!”
When she noticed me, that’s how she decided to greet me.
“Otonari. You don’t have to remember it, but could you please not call me that…”
The second she said that word that so didn’t match her appearance, everyone around us stared in shock. Now I’m getting stabbed by all these freezing cold glares…
“Okay. Sorry, Otonari-kun.”
She said it without a hint of malice—which only made it worse.
“So, what are you buying? A charm for romantic success?”
“Nah, I don’t need that.”
“…You’ve got a girlfriend?”
Don’t look so surprised.
…Well, I don’t, actually.
"I just don’t have the time or energy to be dating right now. I’ll take charms for health and academic success."
"...Surprisingly studious?"
"Not for me—my little sister. She’s taking entrance exams this year."
"I see… You’re a good big brother. Here you go."
I paid for the charms, accepted them, and then made my way through the crowd to escape the crush of people. I decided to take a short break behind the shrine.
"Whoa… it’s been reposted so many times."
Out of curiosity, I searched the shrine’s name on a microblogging app on my phone. Sure enough, there was an official account posting updates about the shrine and pictures of the shrine maidens. Among them, that silver-haired fairy had her photo reposted a ton. Some replies even said things like "Silver-haired miko moe~."
No wonder the place was packed.
Just as I was thinking that, I sensed a stir around me. When I looked up, the center of that online buzz was standing right in front of me, slightly out of breath.
"Good… you’re still here…"
"Me? …Do you need something?"
We’d only talked a few times before, all through Matsuri. Nothing more than casual acquaintances.
…Did she give me the wrong change or something?
"I… wanted to give you this, Otonari-kun."
What she held out was—
"A family safety charm?"
I picked it up and held it in front of me.
"It’s a gift from me. You don’t have to pay, of course."
"...Why are you giving me this?"
I asked, genuinely confused by her intent.
"…Well, this is just something I heard from someone I know, but… there was a girl who couldn’t focus on her exams because her older brother got seriously hurt around that time. So I thought… I’d like Otonari-kun to take care of himself, too… Sorry, that probably sounds weird. It’s just me being selfish—don’t worry too much about it."
I see. That made sense.
"Thanks. But are you sure it’s okay? Leaving work like that…"
"Yeah, no problem! It’s actually my break time right now, so I didn’t abandon my duties or anything!"
"Got it."
I felt a little relieved.
Still, this girl really doesn’t get intimidated easily. Not to brag or anything, but I’m big, and I’ve got a naturally sharp look in my eyes. Most people—especially women and kids—get scared of me when we first meet.
But… well, I suppose it makes sense.
The guy she’s rumored to be dating is known as The Wolf of Hirakō—a hidden power at our school. It’s said he single-handedly crushed the delinquent gang Ouroboros.
Apparently, he’s got four girls in his harem at school, and this girl in front of me is one of them.
There were even rumors that the resurrected Ouroboros was planning a revenge attack, but lately that talk has gone completely quiet. Now the prevailing theory is that The Wolf wiped them out again.
I tried asking someone at school with ties to Ouroboros about it once. We only knew each other in passing, but even then, they looked spooked and wouldn’t say a word.
Seems like it’s not just him people are scared of—there are whispers that she is feared too, known as The Silver Witch. Probably just an exaggeration, but still…
In any case, thinking of the girl before me as just a fragile little thing because of her looks would be a mistake. My instincts were telling me the same thing.
We chatted for a bit and ended up exchanging group chat handles.
“…By the way, why’d you even decide to talk to someone like me?”
“Hmm… maybe because we’re both fans of big boobs?”
“Pfft… What the hell kind of reason is that…”
Even as a joke, that one had bite. I mean, the girl standing in front of me is the definition of a flat-chested, childlike figure. Maybe it’s just a case of wanting what she doesn’t have… She really was something else.
“Well then, how about I give you one of my recommended books as thanks for today?”
“...R-Really? I mean—uh, actually, on second thought… no, I’m good…”
Something must have popped into her mind, because her face suddenly went pale. I had no clue what she was thinking, but that was where we parted ways for the day.
Later, when I happened upon a particularly good image, I thought of her and messaged it. She replied with a surprisingly happy response—which only deepened the mystery.
From then on, whenever I found a solid image, I’d send it her way.
She must have been careful not to let her family see, because her messages were always marked as read late at night. She’d usually reply with a one-line comment about the boobs or the butt. Her favorite points matched mine perfectly. She got it.
It honestly felt like I was talking to one of my guy friends. More than once I wondered if she’d given me someone else’s account by mistake.
Lesbian… or maybe bisexual…? I wondered for a while, but eventually decided it didn’t matter.
And just like that—with no real interaction in person—our strange relationship continued.
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