Shinji Matou at Your Service-Chapter 1035: Hang Up the Phone

"little Mama~"

Mana was the first to react. She sweetly called out and rushed over to hug the person's leg.

There was only one person she would call that—young Shiki Ryougi, or in other words, Ayako Mitsuzuri.

Ayako looked down at Mana, who was hugging her leg, then up at Shiki standing outside. She made a few confused sounds before coming to her senses and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Just passing by."

"..."

Shiki's curt response was not enough to satisfy Ayako, but luckily Mana chimed in.

"Mama, Mama, we ran into some trouble and wanted to borrow your phone."

With this explanation, Ayako understood. Upon closer inspection, the three of them outside did look pretty battered, their clothes torn in several places and stained with blood. Without hesitation, Ayako quickly invited them into the house, served them tea, fetched water, and brought out a first-aid kit.

She had lent them the phone right away—figuring their families must be worried sick about them—at least, that's what Ayako thought. However, the events that followed left her completely dumbfounded.

The phone connected, and a female voice came through.

"Hello."

"Is that you, Azaka? It's me—"

Before Shiki could finish her sentence, there was a loud "bang," as if something had struck the receiver hard.

Yet, the call didn't disconnect, and faint background sounds could still be heard. A gentle male voice asked:

"Azaka, who's on the phone?"

"Telemarketer," the woman responded without hesitation, then added in a sweet tone, "Mikiya, could you come to my room for a moment, please?"

"Hey, Akaza, let Mikiya answer the phone."

Shiki couldn't take it anymore.

And then—

"Beep~~~~~"

The call was cut off.

"..."

Speechless, Shiki redialed, but this time the line was busy.

Unwilling to give up, Shiki tried again, but Mana stopped her.

"There's no point, mom. Aunt Azaka won't answer anymore."

"So, what should we do?"

Shiki put down the phone helplessly.

"The only number I remember is Mikiya's. If we can't reach him, we can't get in touch with the Matou family."

"Um, Shiki-san, the Matou family you're talking about—is it the Matou family with Shinji and Sakura?"

Ayako chimed in.

"Yes," Mana quickly answered.

"Oh, right, Mama, you're friends with Sensei and Aunt Sakura. Can you contact them?"

"I can."

Although Ayako was puzzled, she still opened her phone's contact list and found the Matou family's number.

She had Sakura's mobile number as well as the Matou family's landline.

Shiki thought for a moment and decided to call the Matou family's landline.

"Hello, Matou residence. Who would you like to speak to?"

It was a woman who answered the phone, and her voice was familiar to Shiki.

"Fujino? It's me, Shiki Ryougi."

"Miss Ryougi? Long time no see. How have you been?"

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"Not too well. We need your help. It's urgent."

"Urgent? Understood, I'll call Shinji on the phone."

"Shiki-san, it's me."

The voice on the other end changed to that of a man.

"What's going on?"

"Mana and I have run into some trouble."

"Where—"

Shiki glanced at Ayako standing next to her, and Ayako took the phone.

"Shinji, it's me, Ayako Mitsuzuri. Shiki-san and the others are safe at my family's old house. You—"

"We'll head over right away."

"Right away? Do you even know where my old house is? Hey, hey—"

Just like with Akaza, Shinji abruptly hung up.

She tried calling back.

This time it wasn't busy, but no one picked up.

She tried again.

It connected, but once again, a woman answered, saying that Shinji had already left.

"..."

At this point, even Ayako began to understand how Shiki was feeling.

The calmest one of all was still the youngest, Mana.

"I believe in Sensei. He'll be able to find us. If he can't, I won't call him Sensei anymore."

"..."

Ayako had given up trying to make sense of any of this.

What kind of people were these? Being good at archery and finding people were two completely different things, weren't they?

But even if they couldn't find them, it didn't matter, because—

"I'll be heading back to Fuyuki tomorrow. If he can't find you, I'll take you to the Matou family myself. For now, you can stay here for the night. I'll find some clothes for you, heat some water, and you can take a bath and get a good night's rest."

"There's no need to go to so much trouble. We—"

"—Mama, is there anyone else living around here besides you?"

Mana interrupted Shiki once again.

"No, everyone else has moved away from this area. My family and I don't live here either. We only come here when we need a quiet place to meditate."

Ayako's family was a traditional Japanese warrior family with a long history. Their main livelihood also had a warrior's touch—they ran a dojo.

Ayako's parents owned the most famous karate dojo in Fuyuki City, and they were quite well-known in the area. Regardless of the form of martial arts, reaching the highest level always required some degree of spiritual refinement. The Mitsuzuri family had kept this old countryside house precisely because of the peace the area offered, making it an ideal place for spiritual practice.

Recently, Ayako had been feeling restless, and it had a lot to do with the mother-daughter pair standing in front of her. To be precise, it was because of the match Mana had strongly encouraged, which ultimately did not happen. However, while Ayako was packing up in the waiting room, she had witnessed Shinji's incredible arrow.

It was beyond imagination—not only had it split her arrow, but it had also pierced her heart.

Don't misunderstand—it wasn't a romantic feeling. It was purely a result of her passion for archery, driving Ayako to constantly dwell on that arrow.

The more she thought about it, the more flaws she found.

His posture when holding the bow was far too casual.

Despite it being his first time using the archery club's bow, he didn't need any practice or warm-ups.

And then the final result—one arrow split her previous shot in two.

The arrows used by the archery club were for sport, not weapons, and had little destructive power. It was difficult enough to split an arrow in half horizontally, let alone vertically, striking the feathered end and splitting the shaft in two.

Ayako had asked her elders about it, and through her connections in the archery club, she had even consulted professional archers. The result was always the same: "Impossible. You must have seen it wrong."

But Ayako was sure she hadn't. Those two arrows were still sitting in her room.

She had considered asking Sakura or going directly to Shinji, but the fact that he had waited for her to leave before shooting that arrow meant he didn't want her to know. Although Ayako seemed carefree on the outside, she was very perceptive and had a sharp insight. Given her dedication to martial arts, it was natural that she felt unsettled, to the point where even her parents and brother noticed something was off.

To regain her composure, Ayako had deliberately returned to her old home on her day off, hoping the quiet environment would help her settle her thoughts.

She hadn't expected to run into Shiki and her daughter in such a remote place. Maybe it was fate.