Chapter 349 312 – Miyuki Yukino
"Whew… whew!"
Looking at the woman before him, so lovely and refined, yet somehow making the heat inside him surge higher and higher, Takumi took several deep breaths.
"A yuki-onna from the same clan as Kazehime, but the aura around her is even stronger.
"And that voluptuous, mature air about her… she's way too tempting."
Takumi murmured a few words to himself, then stepped toward Miyuki, who was seated in a chair.
Miyuki Yukino was one of the few yuki-onna still left in the world. [T/N: Yukino is the clan's last name]
Kazehime had mentioned before that she had a sister who was about to awaken.
Then this woman was probably one of the yuki-onna from Kazehime's older-sister generation. No wonder she carried such a ripe, seductive charm.
But then again, where was Kazehime?
As he walked over, Takumi swept his gaze around the area, but he did not find any sign of Kazehime.
Only when he released his senses did Takumi discover that Kazehime had been frozen over by the snowy mountain and was still struggling to break free from her icy restraints.
"Oh? Did something go wrong?"
A trace of confusion appeared on Takumi's face as he arrived in front of Miyuki.
Miyuki, who had only just awakened not long ago, looked around with eyes that seemed cold and indifferent, though a little curiosity was mixed in as well.
She had slept even longer than Kazehime—four or five full decades.
The times had changed too quickly. She had no time to adapt at all.
Fortunately, she was a yuki-onna, and Kazehime also had modern human currency on hand.
After gradually coming to understand this brand-new human society, Miyuki had used the phone number Takumi had left with Kazehime and called him over.
As for why she had summoned him here, naturally, it was not to rent any apartment.
She wanted to teach this man a lesson and make him stay away from Kazehime.
And this was where Miyuki's painstaking concern came from.
"After I last went to sleep, Kazehime's older sister and most of our clan vanished. They were all spirited away by a man.
"This time, I cannot simply stand by and watch as Kazehime walks down the wrong path too!"
The moment she thought of her past "failure," Miyuki clenched her delicate fists.
In those clear blue eyes of hers, an incomparably resolute look appeared.
Miyuki had decided that once that man arrived, she absolutely had to give him a proper lesson!
As her emotions gradually grew more intense, strands of cold air spilled out from inside her body.
The ground around her was suddenly covered in a layer of frost, and a few pieces of ice even appeared in the coffee in her hand.
The bone-chilling cold made the passersby nearby silently move away from this strange place.
And at that moment, Takumi approached head-on and sat down in front of Miyuki.
There was a bright, sunny smile on his face. As soon as he sat down, he spoke warmly.
"Nice to meet you, beautiful miss. I'm Takumi, the landlord of the rental apartment. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Ah…"
Looking at the handsome young man in front of her, Miyuki's heart suddenly gave a violent thump.
The instant her azure eyes met his, an indescribable stirring spread through her heart.
It was clearly their first meeting, yet she felt as if she had fallen for the man before her.
No! No!!
Miyuki forcefully suppressed the electrifying feeling of love at first sight surging through her heart and tried hard to make herself appear cold and indifferent.
She had come here to warn this man not to harbor improper thoughts toward Kazehime. She did not want the "suffering" from the past to repeat itself!
Miyuki's heart became resolute once more, but her fair skin, flushed with pink, exposed her true thoughts.
A blush drifted across her peerlessly beautiful face, and that expression caught between icy pride and bashful shyness could not help but make one's heart race.
Takumi's gaze also fixed straight on her, not even blinking once.
Miyuki had been about to speak, but when she met Takumi's burning eyes, she immediately lowered her gaze shyly.
"D-Don't keep staring at me like that… It's not like there's anything about me worth looking at that way~~"
Her tone still sounded forceful at first, but the further she went, the softer her voice became.
She unconsciously toyed with the silvery-white hair by her temple, not daring to meet Takumi's eyes at all.
And seeing her shy, adorable behavior, so completely at odds with her mature and coolly beautiful appearance, Takumi's heart surged even harder.
"Whew…"
He let out another long breath, releasing the restless heat inside him, then spoke.
"You're Kazehime's older sister or one of her companions, aren't you? You came here for her, right? How should I address you?"
Having her identity pointed out directly by Takumi, Miyuki's expression turned a little flustered.
At that moment, she had already completely forgotten the reason she had come here in the first place.
Biting her lip lightly, she nodded, her head muddled as she said, "J-Just call me Miyuki."
The moment those words left her mouth, Miyuki regretted it.
That was her true name!
How could she reveal it to an outsider!?
Her true name was clearly something she could only reveal to the person most important to her.
Miyuki regretted it over and over in her heart, but her eyes still cast an expectant look toward Takumi.
Under her hopeful gaze, Takumi smiled and said, "Miss Miyuki, then. What a beautiful name."
"Ngh~~~"
Miyuki immediately let out a low moan. She felt as if her entire body were about to melt.
Takumi, who had already deployed a barrier to drive people away ahead of time, could not help clicking his tongue.
The reaction from Miyuki before him seemed much more intense than Kazehime's.
Could it be that the older one got, the more agitated their "emotions" became?
Takumi looked somewhat at a loss, while Miyuki gradually came back to her senses.
She felt ashamed of her own reaction, and at the same time, she finally remembered her original purpose.
Right! She had come here for Kazehime!
She had to stop Kazehime from being deceived and carried away by the man in front of her!!
That was right. That was what she had to do!
Perhaps because she felt a little guilty, Miyuki repeated this to herself several times.
With her gaze finally becoming a little firmer, Miyuki pressed down her soft, delicate voice and said coldly, "Mr. Takumi, I came here because of my little sister Kazehime.
"Please stop approaching her. Her older sister and many of our clan members disappeared forever because of men like you.
"I am unwilling to accept a fate where the same tragedy repeats itself!"
Miyuki's words were so righteous that Takumi had nothing to say.
After a long silence, Takumi spoke in a low voice. "Then, Miss Miyuki, you want me to stay away from Kazehime?"
"Mm… It would be best if you cut off contact entirely."
Miyuki nodded solemnly, then added another sentence.
This time, Takumi put on a troubled expression.
"But Kazehime and I have mutual feelings for each other. Isn't that a little unreasonable, Miss Miyuki?"
"Hmph~ What mutual feelings? You clearly tricked my little sister.
"She loves reading those strange and unusual storybooks. She doesn't understand how sinister humans can be."
Miyuki glared at Takumi angrily.
It was just that her ice-and-snow-like, crystal-clear skin was flushed with a charming blush, so she had no intimidating presence whatsoever.
As Takumi looked at her, it seemed less like Miyuki was accusing him and more like she was pouting and complaining to him.
A yuki-onna like her, exuding the charm of a mature beauty from head to toe, speaking to him in that slightly archaic way…
It really was hard for him to resist!
...
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