Chapter 66 New Year's Bell

Ori stared at Nanaya blankly. This senior brother who had always acted cynical rarely showed his serious side in front of him, which made him a little uncomfortable. However, Ori was very grateful for Nanaya's recognition of him in his heart, because Nanaya was the first peer who understood and recognized him, and also his first friend.

After a long while, Ori smiled and said, "I don't know if I will regret it, because I don't know whether I am playing the role of a sister or the sister in my and my mother's minds."

"Actually, my sister is not as quiet as I am. She prefers acting rather than being a director. Being a director is actually my own dream, not my sister's. From this point of view, I must be a very failed shadow dancer."

"No, I think this is great." Nanaya once again put his hand on Ori's head, "After all, Ori, you are still Ori in your subconscious, instead of completely replacing yourself with your sister. More importantly, if you really become an actor, I won't have a lovely junior like you~"

After being rubbed hard by Nanaya, Ori finally burst out with his dissatisfaction. He bared his little fangs and threatened Nanaya: "Hey, senior! I should have told you many times! Don't touch my head casually!"

Nanaya laughed: "But think about it, reality is really interesting. Ori wanted to be a director, but the first movie trophy she won was the Best Actress. This is probably the unpredictable nature of life."

"Hey, Senior. You know what? When you showed me the script of Kara no Kyoukai, I was totally shocked. The dual personality of Ryougi Shiki and the death of the personality named 'Ori' in the script, I felt like they were talking about me. I almost thought that Senior had secretly investigated my affairs and was going to use it to blackmail me."

Nanaya broke out in a cold sweat: "Ah? Really? I just thought of this story because I saw how beautiful Ori looked in a kimono under the moon."

Ori looked up at Nanaya and said with a smile: "Well, later I asked Sugai to investigate Senior and knew that Senior was not lying."

"Haha, so you have investigated..."

Nanaya turned his head away guiltily, and tried his best to force out a stiff smile. Now he finally understood why Ori had been glaring at him when he and Ori had just met.

[Should I thank Ori for his patient investigation instead of just throwing me into Tokyo Bay? ]

No wonder Nanaya always felt that there was something wrong with the way Morikawa Sugai looked at him. Could this be the root of the problem?

"Senior, do you know why I don't want to play the role of Ryougi Shiki?" Ori said, swinging his legs gently, "Because I always feel that this role should be played by the elder sister, and I am not qualified to play this role at all. So when Senior came to me, I was resisting this matter."

"I just find it strange that a guy who wears women's clothes all day long would have such a strong resistance to playing a female role. It doesn't make sense at all."

"Don't mention it! I'll really get angry, Senior!"

Ori blushed and waved his little fist at Nanaya.

"What does it matter? You've won the Best Actress award, right? I think your sister will be happy too."

"Maybe, but I guess if it was my sister, she would probably complain more about me not taking her to play such an interesting thing."

"Then let's do this. After your sister wakes up, I'll let her play the role of Ryougi Shiki." Nanaya teased and laughed heartily. He felt that if there was a chance, this could be a very interesting thing.

"Will there be a chance?"

There was also a hint of longing in Ori's eyes.

"Of course there will be. I trust my instincts. I am a master of all plans!"

Nanaya answered in the affirmative.

··

In the next few days, Nanaya would go with Ori to visit Ryougi Shiki every day.

Every time Ori came, she would take care of her sister personally, read to her, comb her hair, trim her nails, and even help her take a bath.

Nanaya would always stand by and watch Ori complete these tasks silently.

Of course, when Ori was giving Shiki a bath, Nanaya would actively avoid it, as he didn't have any bad habits.

Although Nanaya is a time traveler, he is not a person who can bring miracles. Ryougi Shiki is still the same as before, with no signs of waking up.

After the visit to Shiki is over, Ori will take Nanaya to visit Kyoto. As a city with a well-developed tourism industry, Kyoto has many scenic spots.

Under the guidance of Ori, Nanaya visited various scenic spots such as Kiyomizu Temple, Kinkakuji Temple, Nijo Castle, Ginkakuji Temple, Kyoto Imperial Palace, etc. Due to his job, Nanaya also took photos of various scenic spots, so that if she needs to use the Kyoto lens in the future, it will come in handy.

The time that Nanaya stayed at the Ryogi household was generally pleasant, except for the encounter with Ori's mother, Ryogi Kiyomi.

As for Ryougi Kiyomi, Nanaya felt that her mental disorder had reached a serious level. In fact, although Ori had always been pretending to be her sister in front of her, if she really looked into the details, Nanaya did not believe that she could not realize that her "daughter" was actually a boy.

However, Ryougi Kiyomi, who firmly believed in her heart that her son had been sleeping in the hospital because of her, took the initiative to block all this information. At this time, she firmly believed that her son was lying in the hospital, and all she could do was pray continuously for her son to wake up soon.

It is normal for people to have preferences. Back then, Ryougi Shiki was obviously the one favored by Ryougi Kiyomi. But as a mother, how could she not love her own children? Whether it was Ori or Shiki, if both of her children could not appear in front of her in good health at the same time, how could she feel at ease as a mother?

Nanaya felt that perhaps in Ryougi Kiyomi's heart, it didn't matter who the child lying in the hospital was, because as a mother, what she wanted was the safety of her two children.

The accident that year was a painful blow to every member of the Ryougi family. The trauma of everyone in the family could only be resolved after Ryougi Shiki woke up in the hospital.

As an outsider, all Nanaya could do was pray with everyone in the Ryougi family before dinner, hoping that Ryougi Shiki would wake up as soon as possible.

However, he didn't know if it was because he knew the secret of the Ryogi family, but during this period, except for the fact that Ori's mother Ryogi Kiyomi's attitude towards Nanaya remained unchanged, Ori's father Ryogi Shun and the butler Sugai's attitude towards Nanaya had improved a lot, which made him feel flattered.

[What's with the way they look at their family members? They wouldn't do anything immoral, would they?]

After seven nights of fear and anxiety, the first New Year of the 21st century finally arrived.

Apart from the time, with one celebrating the lunar calendar and the other the Gregorian calendar, the New Year customs between Japan and China are more or less similar.

After a year of hard work, adults will go home to reunite with their families, sit together to eat reunion dinner, and wait for the New Year's bell to arrive. Children will set off firecrackers, ask for New Year's money from their elders, and do what children should do.

At midnight, the temple will ring the bell to pray for blessings. At this time, people will go out to the nearest shrines and temples to burn incense and pray for blessings, hoping that everything will go well in the new year.

However, because Ryougi's family does not have any children at present, there is basically no part related to children in these activities.

But in the evening, everyone still sat around the dining table and had dinner together like ordinary people.

If Nanaya were asked to name the biggest difference between Japan and China in celebrating the New Year, Nanaya would definitely vote for the New Year's Eve dinner. Unlike the Chinese people who are used to eating and drinking on this night, traditional Japanese families eat soba noodles on this night.

The way to eat it is not complicated, just dip the soba noodles in the sauce and eat them together.

Although many Japanese families basically don't do this nowadays, and soba noodles are just a token meal like dumplings and eight-treasure rice in China, the Ryougi family, as a traditional family, is obviously not one of them.

The only thing that Nanaya could be thankful for was that as a guest, the noodles and dipping sauces given to him were specially made, so they tasted good. As a member of the family, the noodles and dipping sauces given to him were made in the most traditional way. The bitter taste of the buckwheat noodles was particularly strong, and he kept frowning while eating them.

Out of curiosity, Nanaya secretly tasted a little and almost spit it out.

"You can bear this."

When Ori and Nanaya finished their meal and went out to visit the temple, Nanaya directly complained to Ori.

"We eat this every year, and I'm used to it. Although it does taste terrible." Ori stuck out his tongue and said, "I really don't understand why there is such a rule. I always think it's just my father's bad taste."

"Hmm... I always feel like I'm not full. Do you want to go eat something first?" Looking at the izakaya on the roadside, Nanaya rubbed his stomach and said unwillingly. He always felt like something was missing if he didn't have a big meal on New Year's Day.

Ori immediately dragged Nanaya away and said, "Let's go to the shrine first. This matter is more important than eating. I will take you to eat something delicious after we are done."

The temple that Ori chose was not a very famous temple like Kiyomizu Temple but a medium-sized temple. In his words, as tourist attractions, those temples must be overcrowded now, so it is better to avoid joining the crowds.

Nanaya followed Ori to burn the first incense in the temple and worship the statue. After doing all this, the two asked the monks in the temple for a fortune.

"Xiaoji, it's just so-so." Ori looked at his fortune stick and felt a little regretful. "What about senior? Did you draw a bad luck?"

"Medium luck, looks good." Nanaya showed his fortune to Ori, "But it's rare for temples to draw big bad fortune or something like that. Also, what do you mean by expecting me to draw big bad fortune?"

"Spray~"

"Hello!"

Nanaya tried to grab Ori's head, but he dodged him.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

At this time, bursts of bell sounds came from the main hall behind the temple.

"Happy New Year, Senior. Please give me your guidance in the new year~"

Under the New Year's bell, Ori had a bright smile.