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Thanks to the convenience of modern technology, Bokue and the others set out from Tokyo after lunch and arrived in Kyoto by three o'clock that afternoon.
"Waaaah~ So this is Kyoto!"
Inside the bullet train station's main hall, Kuroka pressed against the huge glass window on the second floor, gazing down with wide golden eyes full of curiosity.
Xenovia, having already been dragged here once before by a certain partner for personal reasons, was relatively calm.
Outside, the sun blazed fiercely overhead—the hottest part of the day. The sunlight slanted down in golden beams, and the heat shimmered visibly above the pavement.
Yet even so, the streets beyond the station were bustling with people and traffic. Men and women strolled along the shopping district in traditional yukata, shaded under oil-paper parasols, perfectly blending with the old-style cityscape around them.
It truly felt like time had turned back four hundred years.
"That's Kyoto for you."
Standing beside her, Irina also gazed out the window, a nostalgic glint in her eyes.
"It's not as modern as Tokyo, but it preserves Japan's most traditional spirit. That's why they say Kyoto is the real hometown of the Japanese people—huh?"
Just as she finished speaking, she felt a light tap on her shoulder.
Turning around, she found Bokue Keikain dragging his suitcase, having just come off the train.
The boy reached out and poked her cheek lightly.
"You always say stuff like that... but if you ever run into a hardcore Tokyo native, you two are gonna end up screaming at each other for at least half an hour."
"Is it really that bad?"
Kuroka blinked her big eyes.
This was her first time in Kyoto. Although she'd heard Bokue mention a few things about it before, she'd never properly learned much about the place.
Kyoto was indisputably Japan's top-tier city when it came to cultural preservation.
If people still wanted to argue even over that—just how deep was this Tokyo-Kyoto rivalry supposed to run?
"Well~ it's pretty close to that, yeah."
Irina averted her gaze slightly, a little awkward.
Clearly, she had personal experience.
Not lingering too long at the platform, the four of them quickly moved toward the nearby elevator.
As the elevator descended, the girls kept chatting.
"Oh right, Kuroka—this is your first time in Kyoto?"
"Mm... yeah."
Kuroka answered while looking down at her phone.
She opened up her map app, trying to find a route to the Keikain estate—but maybe because of poor signal inside the elevator, the map just wouldn't load.
Irina noticed her fiddling with her phone and smiled smugly.
"You don't actually need a map to get around Kyoto. Just memorize a song."
"A song?"
"Let's see... been a while since I sang it... Ahem..."
The elevator was enclosed, not too big. With one guy, three girls, three large suitcases—it was packed full. But since it was all familiar faces, Irina didn't bother being shy. She cheerfully started singing:
"Marutakeebisu~ Nishioike~ Hanayome~ Rokkaku~ Tako~ Nishiki~"
To someone who knew the lyrics, it made sense.
But to Kuroka—who hadn't even looked at a Kyoto map—it was pure gibberish.
"Marutake... something something Nishioike? What even is that, nya? And why does it sound so weird?"
"They're street names."
Bokue glanced at the display screen showing the descending floor number and explained casually:
"Kyoto was originally modeled after The Tang Dynasty, so the whole city layout is a big, neat grid—like a bunch of rice fields. Every street's marked with stone nameplates. As long as you remember the street names in order, you'll always know where you are. Before smartphones were common, kids here used songs like that to avoid getting lost."
"Ooh~"
Kuroka's eyes lit up—then immediately filled with more questions.
"So, Bokue, did you sing that weird song too? I mean, you were a kid before smartphones got popular, right?"
"Nope."
Bokue answered crisply and decisively.
Kuroka twitched her ears, a huge question mark practically floating above her head.
"Why not? I thought Kyoto kids all had to learn it, so they wouldn't get lost?"
"Because..."
Bokue thought for a second, then gave a very Bokue-style answer:
"My house is kinda big—"
Kuroka: ?
What the heck did that mean?
Big enough you didn't even need to memorize the roads to get home?
How freaking big was it supposed to be?!
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The scene shifted.
The group exited the station—and instantly got blasted by the wave of summer heat.
Luckily, none of them were ordinary people, so nobody had to worry about heatstroke or anything even after walking for a while under the sun.
Even though Xenovia had been here before, her visit was rushed, and her mind had been occupied with Church business—so she barely remembered the layout of Kyoto.
As for Irina, even though she grew up here, she'd been away for ten years. Her memory of the streets was fuzzy at best.
And Kuroka? She'd never been here at all. Without a map, she was totally lost.
Thus, the three girls had no choice but to stick close behind Bokue, trudging westward.
They walked further and further—past the bustling commercial areas, past the temple gates, into quieter streets where tourists thinned out.
Finally, they arrived in front of a white wall that stretched so far in either direction it seemed to have no end.
"Is this it?"
Kuroka glanced around, blinking curiously.
They had already walked across the entire downtown Kyoto area. If they went any farther, they'd basically be leaving the city center altogether.
Did Bokue... maybe got lost after being away too long?
"Wait a second."
Bokue didn't answer.
Instead, he lightly leapt onto the top of the wall, glanced around on the other side, then turned his head, scanning the distance.
"Ah, there it is. This way'll be faster."
After saying that, he hopped down and casually brushed off his palms.
"Come on—keep up."
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After another solid five minutes of walking, the four finally rounded a corner.
Ahead of them stood a massive set of gates.
Above it, carved in bold, dragonlike script:
[KEIKAIN]
At that moment, everything clicked for Kuroka.
No wonder Bokue had jumped onto the wall earlier.
He'd been looking for his own front gate.
Wait—
Wait wait wait—
Hold on—
Did that mean that long, endless white wall they'd been walking beside... had all been Bokue's family estate wall!?
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Just then, the gates creaked open from inside.
Out walked a black-haired young man, whose height and build gave off the vibe of a leveled-up Levi Ackerman.
He pulled a cigarette from his pocket, clearly intending to have a smoke and relax.
But the moment he caught sight of Bokue and the girls walking toward him, his eyes froze.
Two seconds passed.
The cigarette fell from his hand with a soft plop.
"You bastard—you actually dared to come back?!"
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