CGBTS Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Meeting the Village Chief

Novel Title: あの夏から戻れない (Can’t Go Back to That Summer)

Author：宮緒葵 (Miyao Aoi)

Illustrator：笠井あゆみ (Kasai Ayumi)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 櫛原夏生 (Kushihara Natsuo -MC) & 四辻柊 (Yotsutsuji Shuu -ML)

*Please read at knoxt.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

֍֍֍

The people wearing Western-style clothes were relatively young, but even those clothes were somewhat dowdy, or rather, far removed from modern fashion trends. Had Natsuo’s grandparents really dressed like that when they were young, as he had seen in old photo albums? There wasn’t a single person wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

In the air, as though viewed through a sepia-colored filter, Shuu’s figure stood out vividly. Shuu was only wearing a freshly washed samue, but perhaps it wasn’t just Natsuo who thought that, rather than concealing anything, the simple clothing only made his natural good looks stand out even more. The young women were staring passionately at Shuu, not Natsuo.

“…?”

Suddenly sensing a piercing gaze, Natsuo turned around and found himself making eye contact with a girl with long black hair. Her upturned, catlike eyes made her look quite strong-willed, but even in the unfashionable outfit of a blouse that didn’t quite fit her properly and a burgundy pleated skirt, she was undeniably beautiful.

Even though he was sure they had never so much as spoken to each other, why was she glaring at him with such obvious hostility?

Still tilting his head in puzzlement, Natsuo continued walking. Eventually, they arrived at a large mansion surrounded by black-painted wooden walls. From its orderly tiled irimoya-style roof to its imposing main gate, the architecture brought temples and shrines to mind. Even to an outsider like Natsuo, it was immediately obvious that someone powerful lived there.

“Hey! Big Bro Shuu! Big Bro Natsu!”

Kazuo, who had been waiting for them in front of the gate, came running over while waving his hand. Apparently, this really was the village chief’s house after all.

“Big Bro Natsu, my big sis didn’t give you a hard time, did she?”

“…Your big sis?”

“You know, like this.”

Kazuo raised the corners of his eyes with his fingertips and puckered his lips. When it came to a sharp-eyed, prickly girl, there was only one person Natsuo could think of.

“The beautiful girl in the white blouse and burgundy skirt? She glared at me, but she didn’t do anything else.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry about that. Big Sis Etsuko has a thing for Big Bro Shuu, so I think she doesn’t like you.”

“Ha-have a thing for him?”

As Natsuo tilted his head, wondering what that meant, Shuu explained that it meant she was in love with him. Come to think of it, Natsuo vaguely remembered hearing the expression in a period drama he had watched with his grandmother. At the very least, it wasn’t the sort of expression a child like Kazuo would normally use in everyday conversation.

Another strange detail had been added to the growing pile of things that felt wrong, but the mystery behind the girl’s hostile glare had been solved. That girl from earlier… Etsuko was in love with Shuu, so she had been jealous of Natsuo because Shuu had been holding his hand. For her to become competitive even with Natsuo, who was unmistakably a man, Shuu must have been quite deeply loved.

“Natsuo. This is where we part. I need you to go meet the village chief by yourself.” After passing through the main gate and arriving in front of the entrance with sliding doors fitted with frosted glass, Shuu suddenly said something outrageous.

“I thought you were going to come with me…?”

“I’d very much like to, but it’s a custom in Odakamaki Village for a stray person to meet the village chief alone the first time. …It was the same for me fifteen years ago.”

Most likely, ‘stray person’ referred to people like Shuu and Natsuo, humans who had been caught in that mist and wandered into this place… into Odakamaki Village. Kazuo, Etsuko, and the people dressed in those strangely old-fashioned clothes were probably the original residents.

“It’s all right, Natsuo. The village chief is an eccentric person, but he’s not someone who would hurt you. You just have to meet him once and get his permission. It’ll be over quickly.”

“……Okay.”

At this point, throwing a tantrum and insisting that he was anxious about being separated would simply be selfish. Natsuo nodded with a stiff expression, and Shuu removed the emerald pendant and quickly fastened it around Natsuo’s neck.

“Shuu, this…!”

Natsuo couldn’t accept it. It was Shuu’s precious good-luck charm, and when he had gone missing, it had been the only thing he had been wearing apart from his clothes.

“I’m just lending it to you. I’ll make sure to get it back from you later.”

Shuu tousled Natsuo’s hair, and the tension in his cheeks finally eased. If he was saying he would get it back, that meant they would definitely see each other again.

Natsuo took several deep breaths before entering the mansion alone.

There was no one there to greet him, but instead, candles had been lit here and there along the long wooden-floored hallway. Presumably, he was supposed to follow them.

Although there were electric lights, they hadn’t been turned on, leaving the interior strangely dim despite it being daytime. It was like a haunted house. The more lavish the architecture was, the more it heightened his fear. At any moment, he half expected a blood-soaked armored samurai to leap out at him from around a corner.

Clutching Shuu’s pendant tightly, Natsuo nervously made his way down the hallway. At the room on the right at the end of the corridor, the trail of candles stopped. Apparently, he was supposed to enter this room. What was drawn on the sliding door…? Four thin rods with thread wound around them again and again…?

“Excuse me, I—……!”

Beyond the peculiar sliding door lay a Japanese-style room containing an uncanny scene.

Paper dolls with their heads painted completely red were pasted all over every wall, eerily illuminated by the light shining through numerous crimson lanterns hanging from the ceiling. On a large platform at the back of the room sat vases and ‘heishi’ bottles filled with an abundance of purple flowers shaped like fishing bells, along with small dishes piled with salt. Threads had been wound around and around the slender poles installed at each of the four corners. It was the same as the design on the sliding door earlier.

The reason it reminded Natsuo of some kind of altar was probably the figure seated in front of the platform. Wearing layer upon layer of kimono, with a tassel ornament made from bundled red threads hanging over his chest, and dressed in a white hood and ‘hakama’, his attire brought a Shinto priest or ‘yamabushi’ to mind.

֍֍֍

*GLOSSARY: 

☝🏻Irimoya-style roofs

☝🏻‘Heishi’ (sake vessel)

☝🏻Yamabushi (shinto priest)

Illustration 2:

Next update: 2026.10.10

֍֍֍

Would appreciate some donation. Thanks!