Chapter 1: Daily Life 1
Chapter 1: Daily Life 1
Beep, beep, beep! Beep, beep, beep!
I woke to the sound of my alarm before reaching over and slapping it silent.
“Nguh...”
It was too early for all that noise...
Now that fall was over, it was gradually getting colder out and rapidly getting harder to get up in the morning. Just ten more minutes would make all the difference. Yeah, just ten more minutes...
Telling myself that, I rolled back over.
▽
Needless to say, I was late for school that day.
My history teacher paused mid-lecture to scold me personally before I slunk to my desk and silently pulled out my books. The teacher went right back to the lesson, but since I’d missed the first half of it, I had no idea where we were or what we were doing. I tried to remember what we’d covered last class and find my place in my textbook, but I hadn’t taken any proper notes... In the end, I gave up trying to figure it out. Stifling a yawn, I leaned back in my chair and just pretended to listen.
“...”
Glancing left and right, there wasn’t even anything particularly interesting to look at—just the window and the door. I had to fight back another yawn. The classroom was so boring. But just the classroom, mind you. I couldn’t say school was boring on the whole thanks to the troublesome bloodline I’d inherited from my father.
▽
Come lunchtime, just as I was about to walk to the cafeteria, someone called out to me from behind.
“Namidare.”
“Yes?”
I turned around to see the vice president of the student council.
“Can I help you?” I asked, wondering if this was just the usual business.
“The president wants to see you.”
“Understood.”
I nodded obediently and followed her back to the student council office. As I walked through the door, I couldn’t help thinking about how much time I spent here for someone who wasn’t on the student council.
“Hey, Prez. You called?”
“Indeed. I’ve been waiting for you, Rekka Namidare.”
The to-the-point response I got came from the girl sitting at the desk farthest into the room as she beckoned me closer. It was, of course, none other than the One-Eyed Student Council President that ruled over Mitsuhashi High, Momone Kibi. She was most recognizable by the patch she wore over her right eye, but for the record, she wasn’t blind in it or anything. She just used the eyepatch to seal her spirit sight in her everyday life. Actually... putting it that way made it sound pretty abnormal, but abnormal was pretty normal for President Momone. I could only begin to imagine what she’d summoned me for.
“Yeah, so, uh... What’s up?” I asked.
“Nothing too serious this time,” she answered, tossing the papers she was holding onto the desk. “The guys in the soccer club are saying they saw something strange in the sports shed.”
“Something strange, you say?”
I raised an eyebrow at her vague phrasing. Chances were she had something very specific in mind when she said that.
“C’mere,” she said, beckoning me even closer.
I approached as ordered, and she threw her arm around my shoulder like usual, butting her forehead against mine as she leaned in close. Then she whispered in my ear so that the vice president wouldn’t hear...
“It seems like a stray yokai has taken up residence there. Just go talk to it.”
As soon as she said the word “yokai,” I had one thought: I knew it. That was what she’d really meant when she said “something strange.” You see, President Momone’s family ran a shrine that had made their living dealing with yokai for generations. I had to ask for her help with similar issues sometimes, and in turn, she would occasionally call me over to handle supernatural incidences around school on her busy behalf.
“I get that you want me to talk to it, but what if it’s violent and won’t listen like the last one?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve called Hito too, so go over there with him.”
“Hito? There’d be a lot of trouble if someone, say, you know...”
Hito was, well, a yokai that was basically just a giant floating head. If anyone so much as caught a glimpse of him—even in broad daylight—they’d probably scream bloody murder.
“Deal with it. Pon’s out on his part-time job distributing tissues.”
For the record, Pon was a tanuki that was more or less the leader of the local yokai. Since he could transform into a human, he acted as a go-between.
“Ah, that’s fair. It’s not like we could ask him to come help out with this while he’s at work.”
That go-betweening included working a part-time job to make enough money to feed everyone. It just wouldn’t feel right to take him away from that.
“Ah, ahumph... Ehem!”
Our conversation about it, however, was interrupted when the vice president cleared her throat in an overly exaggerated fashion.
“How long are you intending on standing so close, President?”
“Hm? Oh, you’re right.”
Once the vice president pointed it out, President Momone stepped back.
“Good grief... You’re too close to Namidare, President.”
“Hahaha, don’t be jealous.”
“What?! I am not jealous!”
The vice president blushed bright red at President Momone’s teasing. Although... the vice president probably had a point about President Momone’s lack of awareness about personal space. She was manlier than most high school boys, but she was beautiful to look at and it honestly made my heart skip a beat when she leaned in close like that. It’d be nice if she learned how to rein that in some. But, oblivious to my misery, President Momone was only laughing.
“It’s just me and the problem child. It’s not like you need to keep an eye on us, Vice President.”
“It’s a matter of public decency.”
“Isn’t it an abuse of your authority to try and reprimand us when there’s nothing unwholesome going on here? Don’t you think so too, problem child?”
“Honestly, I have to say I agree with the vice president...”
“See? Even Rekka Namidare agrees with the president’s opinion.”
President Momone smoothly ignored that I’d said vice president and only heard what was convenient for her.
“That said, I’m a blossoming young lady myself. I have my own interests in love, and no one has any right to say what I feel for whom.”
“Wha?!”
“Huh?!”
President Momone’s sudden declaration made the vice president and I both shout at once. But while our jaws were on the floor, she broke into a wicked grin.
“Hm? What’s wrong? I didn’t say a word about Rekka Namidare, now did I?”
“It’s nothing,” I replied as bluntly as I could, but her grin only broadened.
“Well, that’s how it is. I’m leaving the sports shed to you.”
“Hahh... You sure don’t hold back when it comes to favors,” I said a little unhappily, making President Momone smile wryly.
“Don’t be like that. I heard you were late again today.”
“Ugh, word sure spreads fast around here...”
“I’ll tell them you were helping out the student council as usual, so go earn your keep.”
“Yes, ma’am.” My shoulders slumped as I nodded and left the student council office. “Jeez. The president sure keeps a close eye on me...”
Honestly, my bloodline was such a pain. The so-called gift that I’d inherited from my father was constantly getting me caught up in the crazy stories that surrounded heroines in danger. That was how I’d gotten involved with the local yokai in the first place, not to mention everything else that had come of it. But all said and done, President Momone was definitely the one that pushed me around the most. Granted, helping her out counted as helping the student council, which was probably about the only good thing going on my student record right now.
“I had a lot of unexplained absences during the first semester, after all...”
In other words, I was now paying for that. Ever since my parents moved overseas for work, I haven’t had anyone to wake me up in the mornings, so the tardiness was something of an inevitability... But the unexplained absences were just me skipping school, I have to admit. Wait... Huh? Why did I have those unexplained absences again? And so many of them...
I said I was skipping school, but it’s not like I’m a delinquent or anything, you know? Really, I’m just your average high schooler. I’m no honor student, but I’m not a troublemaker, either. Actually, I guess I can’t say I’m average when my grades are markedly below average... But did I even have the guts to just straight-up skip school? I definitely remember taking those days off, though... Was I just too tired to come to school one day? And then... I just let it happen over and over? Was I just so in the doldrums that nothing really memorable happened?
“Have I stopped being attentive without Mom and Dad around...?”
Something about it all didn’t make sense, but I just had to resolve myself to be more diligent in the future. Tapping my own head in reprimand, I headed outside where Hito was waiting for me.
▽
Negotiations with the yokai living in the sports shed went well. Hito should be taking him to Pon’s place right about now. And so, eventually, the school day came to an ultimately uneventful end.
I quickly left my boring classroom and headed for the light literature club room, which was located on the second floor of the old school building. I climbed the creaky wooden stairs and made my way down the hall.
“Toki... Huh?”
When I opened the door, the room was empty.
“I’m pretty sure we were supposed to meet today...”
I checked my phone, but didn’t have any messages about a sudden cancellation.
“If she’s not here, then...”
From the club room, I made my way back into the main building. My destination was the nurse’s office. Walking against the grain of the flood of students in a hurry to leave school, I eventually made it there.
“Excuse me...”
“Hm? Oh, it’s you.”
The school nurse sure had a sharp tongue...
“You’re after Tokiwa, right? She’s sleeping over there.”
“Got it.”
So she was here after all. Tokiwa—Midori Tokiwa, the president of the light literature club—spent most of her school day in the nurse’s office. She even did her schoolwork here, and her condition sometimes impacted our club activities too.
“Tokiwa, it’s time for club,” I said, opening the curtain around her bed.
And to my surprise...
“T-T-Tokiwa?!”
“Mm... Rekka?” Tokiwa sleepily called my name as she rubbed her eyes.
But that wasn’t the surprising part. In her sleep, her shirt had ridden up, leaving her extremely exposed. Her b-bra was showing!
“Tokiwa! Fix your clothes!”
“...Mmwah?”
Tokiwa apparently wasn’t quite awake all the way, and moved slowly as she made herself decent. She may be my upperclasswoman too, but her lack of awareness was of a different flavor than President Momone’s.
“Ahem, anyway... Um, it’s time for club activities, so I came to get you,” I cleared my throat and informed her.
Tokiwa remained in a daze for a moment.
“...Carry me?” she ultimately replied, lifting her arms as if to ask for a piggyback ride.
She was probably too sleepy to walk on her own, but...
“Come on... Please use your own two legs.”
“Hmph...”
Tokiwa puffed out her cheeks in a pout. When she behaved so cutely, it almost made me buckle...
“Why don’t you just carry her, kid? It’s not like it’d be the first time, right?” the school nurse said irresponsibly.
“No, it wouldn’t be the first time, but that’s not the problem...”
“What? You don’t want to give a piggyback ride to your big-busted upperclassman?”
“It’s because she’s big-busted!”
I realized the error of my ways as soon as the words left my mouth, but Tokiwa only lazily cocked her head to the side. The nurse, however, got a good hearty laugh out of it. When she finally pulled herself together...
“Go on, take her with you already. I’ll be the one who catches hell if I just let her live in that bed.”
“...”
With a resigned sigh, I turned around for her. I immediately felt a soft sensation squish against my shoulder blades as Tokiwa—who was surprisingly light for how heavy her, um, assets looked—climbed onto my back.
“Have fun now, kids! Thanks for taking care of her!” the nurse chortled as she waved us off.
“Oh, shouldn’t you take out your hair ornament?”
The ornament Tokiwa wore was big and flashy enough that it was forbidden by the school dress code. That was why she normally took it off while walking around in the hall.
“Mm, it’s probably fine.”
“But if a teacher sees you...”
“Then you should flee in a wild dash.”
“...Am I a horse to you?”
“Just my darling underclassman.”
She shook her head and nudged her forehead against me. Fighting off the ticklish sensation on the back of my neck, I made my way to the club room in the old school building for the second time today.
“All right. We’re here.”
“Mm...”
After lowering Tokiwa into the chair in front of the computer, I finally took a breather. Fortunately, no one had seen us on the way here. My heart was still pounding, though... I was worried Tokiwa could hear it with how closely she’d been clinging to me.
As for Tokiwa, she combed her hair over her shoulder as the computer slowly booted up. The light literature club consisted of just the two of us, but Tokiwa was the only one who ever did any real work. I’d only joined as a ghost member to keep it from being shut down, so I didn’t really have a whole lot to offer the club. When we had meetings, mostly I’d read the books in the club room or manga I brought from home. Sometimes I’d just nap, and sometimes I’d even do my homework when the mood struck me—which was rare, I’ll admit. And as I whittled away my time, Tokiwa was always typing away at the computer next to me.
Clackity clack clack...
This was the daily life of the light literature club and how I spent my time after school. I honestly didn’t hate it. If anything, I enjoyed it.
It was because I had these pleasant afternoons that I didn’t hate school altogether. There were also the infinite favors and errands President Momone asked of me. I’d hate to admit that I actually enjoyed any part of that, but it was always at least a good way to kill time.
“Now then...”
What should I do besides babysit Tokiwa today?
▽
Once we’re done with club activities for the day, I always walk home with Tokiwa. She was in danger of collapsing at a moment’s notice, after all... Sometimes we’d meet up with President Momone if she was done with her student council affairs for the day too, but usually it fell on me to make sure Tokiwa got home safely.
“All right then, Tokiwa. See you tomorrow.”
“Do you want to come inside?”
“No, it’s already pretty late.”
“My mom and dad aren’t coming home tonight.”
“...That’s all the more reason not to.”
Every now and then, Tokiwa will say or do something that leaves me wondering if she really appreciates the fact that I’m a man or not. I wish she was a little less oblivious about how charming she could be to the opposite sex. Maybe I should ask President Momone to educate her a little...
“Well, I’m headed off now, Tokiwa. See you tomorrow.”
“Mm... See you.”
Tokiwa waved from the door, and I waved back as I walked off. With winter almost upon us, the sun was setting earlier and earlier. The walk home was dark, illuminated only by the streetlights. It was also quiet, and honestly a little lonely...
“Hahh...”
Soon it would be cold enough for me to see my breath when I sighed like that. For now, the road was still lined with dry leaves. And the sound of my lonesome footsteps... Somehow, the whole scene was just so melancholy. What was that about? I don’t remember feeling this way when I walked home yesterday. I just couldn’t escape the feeling that my commute wasn’t always this solitary...
“...”
Just my imagination, I guess. There were moments like this that I thought it would be nice to have someone that was always around. Someone like a childhood friend, I guess... But I didn’t have anyone like that. My imagination had really been running wild lately.
“Rekka?”
“!”
The moment someone called my name, I whipped around to see who it was. I almost thought my delusions had come to life, but I’d gotten my hopes up a little high.
“Wh-What’s the matter, Rekka?”
“Oh... Hey, Yulia.”
My shoulders slumped as I gave a modest wave to the surprised girl. Apparently, I’d wandered by the church without realizing it. Yulia, you see, was the nun who’d recently moved to town to take care of it.
Really, there was a considerably large nonhuman population around here, possibly drawn to the town by me and my bloodline. And Yulia, while a nun, moonlit as an exorcist. That had initially put her at odds with the local supernatural authority, President Momone, but the two of them had reached a compromise, and Yulia was beginning to explore other ways to work out her aggression for nonhumans.
“Um... So, what’s up? Did you need something?”
“No, not at all. I just happened to spot you, so I called out to say hello,” Yulia said before clearing her throat. “You seem to be rather flustered, though. Were you having more strange hallucinations about the opposite sex?”
“No! Nothing of the sort!” I denied in a much louder voice than necessary (since I had actually been daydreaming about a childhood friend and whatnot).
But Yulia wasn’t convinced.
“You’re surrounded by enough temptation as it is, so you must always remain vigilant. To begin with, you...”
There, she launched into a sermon. I was stuck on the spot, hesitant to remain but unable to leave. To someone raised under the holy roof of the church, I must have seemed like the very personification of frivolity. And while I couldn’t deny that, Yulia seemed to have mistaken my frivolity for carelessness when it came to women. She saw that as an immoral flaw, and would try her best to correct it whenever we crossed paths like this.
“Hey, are you listening to me?”
“Hweh?!”
She suddenly leaned in close, making me squeak in surprise. She was trying to rebuke me for not paying attention to what she was saying, but...
“S-Say, uh, do you think you could let me off for today?”
“I’m not done talking yet.”
“Um, that’s...”
Yulia didn’t seem to realize it, but she was standing so close now that she was practically right up against me with her shapely body. She was wearing her habit, which didn’t do much to disguise her curves when I could feel them... I knew it would only enrage her if I pointed that out, however, so I tried to skirt the issue and chose my words carefully.
“Yeah, okay... But could you step back a little first, though?”
“Are you planning on running? I won’t let you get away.”
I’d dug my own grave. Yulia grabbed my tie with an iron grip to make sure I wouldn’t be going anywhere, which, unfortunately for me, only brought us closer together.
“Close! Too close!”
“Is that inconvenient for you?”
“I-I wouldn’t say that. It’s just...”
If I said anything about her breasts, I was sure she’d probably reply with her battleaxe. I needed another way to phrase it... I know!
“How am I supposed to stay calm with someone so beautiful standing so close to me?”
“...!”
At my unbearably cringeworthy line, Yulia recoiled in surprise. She then smote me directly in the forehead with an admirable karate chop.
“It’s the temptation around you that leads you to say such things without a care in the world!”
“Th-That’s not exactly the problem...”
While I was freed from Yulia’s grasp, she was even angrier than before. There was no way I could tell her now that the only temptation in front of me was her. Yeah, it was safer just to stay quiet on the matter.
“Good grief. Both you and that Momone... Just watching the two of you worries me. If you don’t put any effort into changing your ways now, you’ll never make it into heaven.”
“R-Really?”
“That’s right. Ever since I met you, you two have been...”
Crap. Another sermon was starting.
To someone of the cloth, President Momone and I probably did seem rather lax about a lot of things. Yulia, meanwhile, was absolutely unyielding, and she’d been that way ever since I met her. She was faithful to the church’s teachings, a devoted exorcist, and probably lived a very wholesome life herself. Actually, now that I think about it, it was kind of a miracle that President Momone and I had managed to talk her out of killing the local yokai in the first place. Hm? Wait a minute...
“Hey, Yulia.”
“That’s why I’m saying you... What?” Yulia asked back, pausing her sermon.
“This might sound weird, but... When you first met me and President Momone, was there someone else with us?”
“Someone else? Do you mean that nekomata girl?”
“No, someone other than Ai...”
Someone who would’ve been able to persuade Yulia. It was just too hard to believe President Momone and I had done it ourselves... But what made me think that? Even though I’d been the one to ask, I wasn’t quite sure why. But Yulia couldn’t seem to think of anything, either.
“...Sorry, I don’t recall.”
“I see. Thanks. I just had the feeling there was another girl there with us for some reason.”
At that comment, Yulia raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
“Another girl, you say?”
“What? No!”
“It seems I need to thoroughly retrain your mind. Come to the church anytime. I’d be happy to provide you penance.”
“Give me a break!” I yelled, fleeing from her like a startled hare.
Yulia yelled after me, but I pretended not to hear her as I kept running. Being too laid-back like President Momone and Tokiwa was a problem, but being too rigid like Yulia was equally problematic. That said, she definitely had her soft spots... Heh.
“Wait, what am I thinking?”
Whenever I had stupid thoughts like that, she would normally make a witty remark... Huh? Wait, who?
“Hngh...”
I was so close to remembering, it was on the tip of my tongue... Something important...
“It’s no use. I can’t remember.”
Was my memory always this terrible? Well, I guess so... I’d always been bad at subjects that required memorization. It was a miracle I’d even made it into high school. I barely ever studied, either. And over summer vacation, I didn’t even do my homework until just before the annual festival... Huh? Why did I even do it before the festival? Had I promised to go with someone? Going to the festival with someone, hmm...
Bzz... Bzzzz...
“...”
What a strange day.
Bzzzzz... Bzz...
Misunderstandings, forgetfulness, my imagination... Too many little things kept bothering me.
Bzzzzzzzz...
But there was no need to be worried by it. I’d stop worrying soon anyway.
“Oh, Rekka.”
“Hm?”
Hearing my name, I suddenly snapped back to my senses. For a second there, it was almost like my head was filled with static.
“What are you doing looking so dazed?” asked the girl who’d called out to me.
It was Yorun, casually dressed and peering at my face quizzically.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” I said, shaking my head and waving my hand to reassure her.
“If you say so,” she replied with a smile.
Yorun was another of my acquaintances, though we’d met under extraordinary circumstances. President Momone brought me a cursed video game that had sucked us into the game world, which was where we’d found Yorun. Thinking back on it, it was a pretty incredible experience. I’d thought she was a game character at first, but as it turns out, she was just stuck in the game like we were. In the end, we brought her back to the real world with us when we escaped, and she’d been living at Kibi Shrine ever since.
“What are you doing out at this hour, Yorun?”
I knew there were families that preferred to eat earlier or later, but it was pretty universally dinnertime. It seemed strange to find Yorun out and about right now considering she was depending on the Kibi family. Surely she wasn’t out to have dinner by herself.
“We ran out of soy sauce, so I’m headed to the shopping street to get more.”
“Oh, so you’re in the middle of an errand.”
“Yep. The president’s family has been looking after me, so this is the least I can do.”
Now that I took a closer look, she was carrying an empty shopping bag on her arm. It made perfect sense that she was on her way to the supermarket.
“Come to think of it, my fridge is pretty bare.”
With my parents out of town, I had to take care of feeding myself.
“Do you want to go together then?”
“Sure. Let’s go.”
With no reason to refuse, I headed to the shopping street with Yorun. It was just a little past 6:00 P.M. now, so the supermarket wasn’t particularly empty or crowded. It was pretty average traffic as we walked around, but we both knew exactly what we’d come for. Yorun grabbed some soy sauce, and then we went to the to-go counter so I could grab a premade meal.
“Do you always get these?”
“Nah. Sometimes I go over to the Otomos’ next door to eat. They’re good family friends, so they look out for me.”
“Hmm... Do you cook yourself?”
“Sometimes.”
It would have been more accurate to say “rarely,” but there was a valid question about whether or not heating up instant noodles in the microwave actually counted as cooking or not.
“Let’s see...”
While I was contemplating which dinner to choose, Yorun picked up a random rice ball.
“If you like, I can come over and cook for you sometime,” she then murmured.
I couldn’t help looking at her in surprise.
“What?”
“Nothing. I’m just surprised.”
“Did I say something that weird?”
“Not weird, but...”
I honestly didn’t think Yorun was much the type to cook, either. But when I told her that, she pegged me in the face with the rice ball she’d picked up.
“You can be kind of rude sometimes, Rekka.”
“I get that a lot...” I replied as I peeled the rice ball off my face.
I then placed the now-crushed rice ball into my basket and glanced over the ready-made side dishes at the counter, picking up some potato salad and fried chicken. That should be enough for tonight.
“So, how about it?” she asked.
“Mm... Well, I’d appreciate it if you did, but what brought on the offer?” I asked back.
She scratched her cheek and said, “Truth is, we may have found my family.”
“WHAT?!” I yelled without thinking before quickly covering my mouth.
The people around us looked at me strangely, but my surprise took priority as I stared at Yorun’s face fixedly.
“You’ve seriously found your family?”
“Yeah. The president and her grandfather were investigating the previous owners of that game... and they think they found a family that fits the bill.”
“Ooh!”
As expected of President Momone. She really was reliable. No, she was just plain incredible. She’d found Yorun’s family in practically no time at all with hardly any clues to go off of.
“Since I was in the game for so long, my memories of reality are pretty fuzzy. It’s all a little scary. I mean, what do I do if I don’t recognize my parents when I see them? They might not recognize me, either...”
“Yorun...”
Though she was mumbling with a forlorn look on her face, it quickly perked up into a smile.
“Well, I guess I’ll find out when I meet them! But that’s why I thought we should have a meal together. To celebrate finding them, I mean. I haven’t properly thanked you for saving me yet either, so it’ll double for that too.”
“In that case, then I suppose it’s all right.”
“Hmph. That reply sounds so forced.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I waved my hands in denial at her sulking protest. It really was happy news. If anything, I was the one who should be congratulating her.
“I know! Since it’s a celebration, let’s invite everyone over. Like President Momone and Tokiwa.”
I was thinking we could turn it into a party, but Yorun let out a heavy, despondent sigh.
“Hahh, Rekka, sometimes you’re just so... No, you’re just downright thickheaded.”
“Wuh...?”
Did she not want a party?
“Well, fine. In that case, you have to be the one to contact Touko, okay? I don’t have her info.”
“Got it.”
We then set a tentative date and agreed to get together at whatever time everyone could manage. From there, we parted ways when we left the supermarket. Groceries in hand, I walked past Nozomiya as I left the shopping street, and I made it home without running into anyone else in particular.
Slam!
“Hm?”
Just as I was about to unlock my front door, however, my next door neighbors’ opened. My dad had always been good friends with the Otomo family, so they were sort of looking after me now that I was living alone.
“...”
Figuring that I should greet them if they were going out, I stopped what I was doing and turned to say something. The person who’d just come out of their house, however, wasn’t who I was expecting.
“Oh...”
It was a young girl in a red kimono named L. I think she was around nine? I wasn’t exactly sure; I was just going based on looks. She wasn’t the Otomos’ daughter or anything. She was just someone they’d taken in recently. I didn’t know the details, but apparently they’d found her shivering under the bridge one rainy day. I was curious what her story was, but Uncle Itsuki had never said anything about it. They seemed to have whatever was going on under control. But as for L...
“Tch.”
She looked my way and clicked her tongue.
“Yeah, uh... Good evening to you too.”
“Tch...”
For some reason, L hated me. She glared at me every time she saw me.
“What are you even doing?” she asked.
“Huh?”
What was I doing...? Her sudden accusatory tone left me bewildered. But instead of explaining, she continued to silently glare at me for a little while before running off somewhere.
What was that about? Did she just hate me that much? Or... was she mad because I wasn’t doing something I should have been? I wanted to know, but the only person I could ask was already gone.
I had that nagging feeling in the back of my mind, but there was nothing for me to do other than go inside now.
▽
After dinner, I was reading manga on my bed.
“Wahahaha!”
Laughter resounded from the portable TV sitting on my desk. There wasn’t anything I was particularly interested in watching, but having the background noise made the otherwise quiet house seem a little less lonely. I was actually supposed to be doing my literature homework right now, but I couldn’t find the motivation and was dragging out the inevitable as usual.
“Wahahaha!”
More laughter from the TV. It was honestly just a waste of battery to have it on while I wasn’t really watching it, but I left it on anyway because anything was better than silence.
“Oh, that’s right. I have to contact Touko.”
Remembering the invitation Yorun had tasked me with at the supermarket, I picked up my cellphone. I pulled up my contacts list and selected Touko Iwazu’s number.
Brrring, brrring, brrring...
“...She’s not picking up.”
Could she not hear the phone ringing? Or was she just away from it right now? She didn’t seem to have a voicemail set, though. It just kept ringing. I gave up after counting 20 rings and decided to try again later. I then went back to reading my manga, but...
Knock, knock!
Suddenly, someone was rapping at the window.
“Hm? Oh, it’s you again.”
This was the second floor, but that didn’t give me too much pause as I opened the window. Hanging just outside was a girl with cat ears and a broad grin.
“Meow! Good evening, Rekka!”
“Ai, I told you not to come in the window.”
“I’m sorry, meow.”
Her apology sounded genuine, but never once had Ai entered my house through the front door. Honestly, I’d kinda given up on it, so I didn’t say anything more as I let her inside. For the record, Ai’s cat ears were the real deal. She even had a tail sprouting from her backside. That was a roundabout way of describing it, but Ai was a nekomata. She was a kitten I’d found and looked after at the local shrine when I was a kid, but she’d grown up into a yokai. It was a rather strange story, but I was happy to have been reunited with her. And that was thanks to my bloodline. She’d come to me because she was in trouble, and President Momone and I had worked together to resolve the problems with the local yokai. Ever since, Ai would come over to play like this sometimes.
“Come to think of it, Rekka, I heard you found another new yokai.”
“Well, it was President Momone who found him. Speaking of which, is he getting along with the locals?”
“Things are going just fine for now. He’s not violent, at least. We’ll give it some time and then discuss the possibility of him staying with us permanently,” Ai replied as she rolled around on my bed.
The local yokai and nekomata were technically separate groups, but they’d formed an alliance in the face of adversity that they continued to uphold even after the food shortage was solved. They clearly communicated on the regular, considering Ai already knew about the yokai I’d recruited earlier in the day with Hito.
“Rekka, will you pet me on the head?”
“Sure, sure.”
I sat down next to Ai and stroked her head gently. Her hair had a curious texture, closer to animal fur than human hair. Doing this almost felt like petting a real cat.
“Mrow...”
And when I scratched between her ears, she comfortably began purring. This was nice and relaxing for both of us, but I honestly preferred petting Ai when she was in cat form. She looked unhappy the last time I’d asked her to transform for me, however, so I made sure to save asking for when she was in a really good mood.
“Oh, meow! That’s right!”
“Huh?”
Ai suddenly sat up, stuck a hand in her pocket, and announced, “I found something strange earlier, meow! So I’m giving it to you as a present, Rekka!”
“Something strange?”
“Meow! A strange creature, to be precise!”
So it was alive, huh? But what kind of creature would a nekomata consider strange? If it fit in her pocket, maybe it was a bug or something? I wondered as I waited for her to show me, when...
“Here mew go!” Ai declared as she pulled an exhausted fairy out of her pocket.
“Poppy?!”
“Mrow?!”
Ai recoiled at my sudden shouting, but I had bigger things on my mind at the moment.
“Poppy! Hey, are you okay?!”
I immediately snatched the fairy from Ai’s hand and called out to her. Poppy was yet another girl I’d met thanks to my bloodline. She was probably on her way to visit me when she coincidentally ran into Ai, who didn’t know about her. Ai had probably handled her carefully so she could bring her to me, but just being grabbed was enough to seriously hurt a palm-sized fairy.
“Poppy! Poppy!”
I kept calling her name, worried the situation had taken a turn for the worst. Then...
“Ugggh...”
Poppy let out a pained groan as she slowly opened her eyes. I heaved a sigh of relief to see her safe for now, then went downstairs to get her some water and breadcrumbs.
“...Phew, I’m alive again.”
“I’m glad to see you’re okay.”
“I had no idea you were Rekka’s friend. Please forgive me, meow...” Ai said, bowing her head to the recovered Poppy.
“It’s okay. My wings aren’t broken or anything, so I’m just fine.”
“I’m really sorry, meow...” Ai apologized again, her tail drooping.
Poppy flapped her wings and flew up into the air so she could pet the dejected catgirl on the head.
“See? I can fly just fine, so there’s nothing to feel bad about.”
Pet, pet...
“Mrow...”
Consoled by Poppy, the smile returned to Ai’s face. Despite the difference in their sizes, Poppy almost looked like Ai’s mother right now.
“I’m Ai, meow.”
“And I’m Poppy. It’s nice to meet you, Ai.”
“Likewise, meow!”
Poppy shook the finger Ai had extended to her in a handshake of friendship. Things had been tense for a moment, but it now seemed like the two of them would be good friends.
“Now that there’s three of us, should we do something?” I asked.
“I want to watch TV, meow!” Ai immediately raised her hand and volunteered.
“Oh, that sounds nice. I’d like to watch TV, too,” Poppy agreed with a nod.
Both Ai and Poppy often came by on their own, and now that I thought about it, they both usually ended up settling down in front of the portable TV when they came over. Were they that interested in it because they didn’t have TV where they came from? They both lived outside, after all.
“All right, let’s watch TV.”
“Okay! Oh, but isn’t the TV a little small for the three of us...?” Poppy suddenly realized with a look of surprise.
It was true that the portable TV was ill-suited for multiple people watching it at once. But there was no need to worry.
“There’s a regular TV in the living room, so let’s go down there.”
“There’s a TV downstairs too, mrow?”
“So you have two of them? That’s amazing!”
It was honestly kind of silly to have my own personal TV in my bedroom when I was the only one in the house... Huh? There it was again. That strange feeling. Except it wasn’t really a feeling this time so much as it was a question. And a simple one at that. Why had I bought a portable TV after I started living alone?
If it had been while my parents were still in the house and there was something I really wanted to watch, it would’ve made sense. But why had I gone out of my way to get one when I had the regular TV all to myself? Was it just to have background noise while I was reading manga? No, that didn’t make sense either. I could always just read manga on the couch in the living room. So was it to watch TV while I was on the computer? I never really did that, though. Was it to watch TV somewhere other than the living room? Maybe outside? No, that still couldn’t be it. There was nothing wrong with the living room, and it wasn’t like I ever took the TV outside.
Though I had a monthly allowance—no, because I had an allowance, I had to be careful how I spent my money. And a portable TV was definitely a luxury for a high school student with no job. Spending money eating out every day was one thing, but had I really bought something so expensive without a good reason? Even for someone as stupid as me, that was a little... And yet, here it was. So the question remained: why had I bought it? Was it... really for myself?
“Rekka?”
“Are you okay?”
“Ah, sorry. Was just thinking to myself.”
Ai and Poppy both looked concerned, but I brushed their worries off with a smile. I had spent so much time today pondering so many weird things that I was starting to get a headache. Honestly, right about now, turning my brain off and watching some TV sounded great. Homework could always wait.
With that settled, it was time to go downstairs. And just as I was thinking that...
BOOOOOOOOM!
An incredibly loud explosion sounded from outside.