Demi-human Girls Completion Manual-Chapter 892 - 25: Mikhail (6k)
The unconscious Tangze Asuka seemed to have had a very deep, very deep dream.
In her dream, the scent of Buddhist incense, which she seemed to have been accustomed to for a long time, filled the tip of her nose. She was wearing a black high school girl’s uniform, her gaze somewhat vacant as she knelt down in a traditionally decorated room.
"Dong! Dong! Dong!"
Beside her ears, the gentle sound of a wooden fish being tapped drifted in from outside the room, accompanied by the calming scent of burning Buddhist incense. It was only then that she seemed to regain some awareness, yet she still sat there vacantly, kneeling by a wooden sliding door made of paper, with a small table placed before her, and her open, empty school bag lying next to it.
On the wooden table, the assignments given by the teacher were scattered about. If it were other high school girls, they would have surely already gone out with friends to clubs or strolled about outside while finishing their homework. But Tangze Asuka had not joined any clubs. If nothing unexpected happened, she would head straight back to her home, a temple in the suburb of Kyoto called "Thousand Hands Temple," as soon as school finished in the afternoon.
"Dong! Dong! Dong!"
Tangze Asuka sat there dazedly, the sound of the wooden fish continuing to tap in an ancient, unchanging tone, tapping and tapping endlessly at the same slow, steady pace.
Dad... is he performing a ceremony?
"Thus I have heard: One time, the Buddha was staying in the Jetavana Monastery in Savatthi..."
"At that time, the elder Subhuti, among the audience..."
"..."
From outside the tightly closed sliding door beside Tangze Asuka came the distant sound of a warm male voice reciting Buddhist scriptures aloud. Ever since Tangze Asuka had returned to Kyoto from her mother in Tokyo two years ago, she had been hearing her father reciting Buddhist scriptures and tapping on the wooden fish every day. To Tangze Asuka, who had lived with her mother since childhood, this indeed was somewhat troublesome.
Am I... not doing my homework...
What am I doing?
In her dream, she felt an overwhelming weight on her consciousness. Even the act of lowering her head to look at the wooden table was frighteningly slow, and it took several seconds before she finally saw the scattered homework on the table. There, a Buddhist scripture was spread open, the text all handwritten in Japanese by her father, making Tangze Asuka’s head hurt just looking at it.
Her academic performance was poor, and her personality was very reclusive, with virtually no friends...
What am I doing?
It seemed she wasn’t... reading the Buddhist scriptures...
Why would she be reading the Buddhist scriptures?
The thing she disliked the most was these things. Every time she heard them, she felt annoyed. It was almost the twenty-first century, and yet staying like some old relic, chanting like a monk...
It’s indeed very strange.
So, what was she really doing?
"Dong! Dong! Dong!"
Outside the door, the incessant sound of the wooden fish continued, and Tangze Asuka, her sluggish consciousness thinking here, slowly lifted her head to see that not far in front of her, on the tatami, was a small TV. It was showing an animated series produced by Tokyo TV Station, "Neon Genesis Evangelion."
"For a wounded pride, I will return it tenfold!"
Watching the beautiful figure of the heroine in a red fitted battle suit on the TV, her iconic phrase rang clearly in her ears, finally pulling Tangze Asuka’s puzzled mind back to reality.
The heroine’s name seemed exactly like hers...
Right, she was watching anime.
She was watching anime...
"Dong! Dong! Dong!"
"The Buddha said: ’Excellent, excellent, Subhuti! As you have said, the Tathagata well observes and remembers all Bodhisattvas, and well instructs all Bodhisattvas...’"
The sound of the wooden fish continued uninterrupted outside the hall, and the room’s sliding door remained tightly closed. In front of her, the small TV kept on repeating images of the animated protagonist sharing her name...
Tangze Asuka tilted her head confusedly, continuing to kneel like a statue, motionless.
...
...
"Ugh... My head hurts..."
Tangze Asuka clutched her head in pain, as if it had been struck hard. She rubbed her eyes, and then with difficulty, she saw a blurry figure in front of her,
"You’re awake, young lady?"
"Mr. Hooked Kiss?"
"Hmm, it seems you’ve come to your senses. You were struck by the aftermath of Michael Angel forging the Gospel Relics earlier. Although it hit your head, you’re just an ordinary human girl, so it’s a small misfortune in a greater fortune. How are you feeling now?"
"Ah? I feel a little... headache... and I seem to have had a dream just now."
"A dream?"
"Ah, but I’m alright now, thank you. Where’s Mr. Fisher?"
As Tangze Asuka’s consciousness became clearer, she sat up, rubbing her head, realizing she was lying on the floor of a spacious room. Beside her crouched the Whale-man Hooked Kiss, and hearing her question, Hooked Kiss smiled helplessly, motioned with his mouth in a direction, and said,
"He’s over there sulking..."
Tangze Asuka looked in the direction indicated by Hooked Kiss and saw Fisher sitting by the window in the room, arms crossed and face cold, his handsome face bruised and battered, as though he had suffered significant injury in the previous aftermath as well.
Oddly enough, Hooked Kiss looked completely unfazed.
Tangze Asuka expressed her curiosity to Hooked Kiss, but he just shook his head and explained,
"Originally, he should be fine as well, but he meddled too much trying to stop Helair Angel... Anyway, I’ve already treated your wounds simply, it shouldn’t be a big issue. We were all just waiting for you to wake up."
