After saying goodbye to Nekomata, Kisaragi Chiyo returned once more to that abandoned tunnel entrance before leaving.
This time, there was no pitch-black tunnel, nor any light visible from the other end; there was only the interior of the tunnel, which was completely blocked by large boulders. Near the entrance, there were some cushions and cat beds, as well as small bowls filled with cat food.
Several cats were huddled together, upon seeing Kisaragi Chiyo appear at the tunnel entrance, they immediately stood up, transformed into Smilodons, let out low, growling warnings.
Kisaragi Chiyo: ".."
Well, this time, his knack for being disliked by cats remained as consistent as ever.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Unrewarded Guessing Game: Who is Nekomata's feline friend?
Thanks to all the little angels for the favorites, mwah!
Chapter 38
Kisaragi Chiyo crossed out several lines of text on the manuscript with somewhat violent movements, the tip of her fountain pen lingering on the white paper for a long time, causing several blurred, repeated words to bleed into the page.
The new serialized issue had already been released. Although it received a far more enthusiastic reception than before, it also meant that Kisaragi Chiyo had to face another problem.
It was time for him to start writing the story for the next installment.
If he didn't start writing again soon, he might run out of time; he couldn't afford to face the embarrassment of a missed deadline right at the beginning.
Kisaragi Chiyo curled her body against the hard solid wood of the wardrobe, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling. The cool light from the laptop screen was the only source of light in the pitch-black wardrobe, on the pure white, clean new document, Kisaragi Chiyo's gloomy, frowning face was faintly reflected.
So why did I suddenly lose focus?
Kisaragi Chiyo clutched her head irritably, falling into a deep state of bewilderment.
Wasn't he just brainstorming the plot? So exactly where did things go wrong that he suddenly spaced out? By the time he snapped out of it, a whole hour had already passed!
Kisaragi Chiyo looked at the time displayed in the corner of the laptop screen in disbelief, her narrow, misty-gray eyes widening slightly. No matter how much she stared at the time on the screen, it couldn't change the fact that despite three hours of editing and revising, she still hadn't written a single satisfying word.
Kisaragi Chiyo: ".."
Inspiration.. where exactly is his Inspiration Rat now? Is it even possible to find your nimble and charming figure within such a dark and cramped cabinet?
Kisaragi Chiyo continued to stare at the blank document for a while longer, before finally blinking her somewhat dry and slightly aching eyes and having to admit something.
He really couldn't write a single word right now.
Kisaragi Chiyo lowered her head and let out a soft sigh, ultimately choosing a strategic retreat by closing her laptop.
He organized the manuscripts he had written and crossed out, stacking them together.
Words about the Rat were densely scattered all over it.
After questioning Madame Shimizu and receiving her consent, Kisaragi Chiyo finally decided to write about her experiences at the Shimizu residence in the second installment of the story.
Rainy weather, omnipresent rats, madness, so-called curses.. these words combined certainly made for a headline-grabbing topic.
However, due to confidentiality reasons, he also had to keep the parts of the story regarding the Church of Hope vague.
*
After crawling out from the wardrobe, Kisaragi Chiyo first stretched her somewhat stiff limbs; her neck and shoulders cracked, making one wonder if she would develop occupational diseases if this continued for a long time.
Kisaragi Chiyo picked up the large black haori draped over the chair and put it on. Just as she opened the door, she heard the sound of rapid tapping footsteps approaching her from a distance.
The Bernese Mountain Dog, which had grown significantly larger than before, spread its limbs and came charging toward him joyfully, its speed and the force of its impact no less than that of a small cannonball.
Kisaragi Chiyo showed great foresight by stepping aside just a second before the puppy was about to crash into his arms; he then watched with cold indifference as the puppy, unable to stop its momentum, zoomed straight under the bed.
With a loud thud, the world became quiet once again.
'He must have bumped his head.'
Kisaragi Chiyo thought calmly, her next move almost predictable. After counting a few seconds in her mind, the Bernese Mountain Dog that had crawled out from under the bed wagged its tail with a look of grievance and let out a furry whimper as it nuzzled into her embrace.
Almost out of habit, Kisaragi Chiyo subconsciously reached out her hands to catch the puppy, who was taking this opportunity to act spoiled. Along with the familiar, heavy weight in her hands came the freshly washed black haori, now covered in newly shed dog hair.
Kisaragi Chiyo: ".."
A dog in its shedding season is like a walking dandelion; it's truly terrifying.
"There." Kisaragi Chiyo sighed, crouching down to pull the whimpering Bernese Mountain Dog into her arms, one hand pressing down on its nudging, furry head.
Let me see where you bumped yourself?
"It hurts." A sticky, soft voice sounded from his embrace, as the little puppy with purple eyes rested her head on his shoulder with moist eyes.
"You actually dodged me, Chiyo-chan is so mean." The tone was highly distinctive—light, airy, intentionally drawn out, as if it carried a little hook.
“Mhm, mhm, mhm.” Kisaragi Chiyo remained unmoved, nodding with a somewhat perfunctory tone, lightly rubbed the other's head.
If you don't rush at me like this next time, I might consider catching you.
"That's because I haven't seen Chiyo-chan for three whole hours!" Hara Kenji accused loudly.
"I've been missing you every single moment during these three hours." Even though his tone was a mock complaint, it was laced with a hint of a smile.
Hara Kenji always had a hundred different explanations for his actions and was skilled at exploiting his advantages. Right now, he was relying on the adorable appearance of the Bernese Mountain Dog puppy; its eyes were wide and crystal clear like glass beads, after only a few seconds of eye contact, it had already made it difficult for Kisaragi Chiyo to maintain a cold expression.
"It's only three hours," Kisaragi Chiyo replied in a flat tone.
Although he said that, his hands had already begun to honestly and skillfully pet the puppy from head to tail with practiced movements.
“Kisaragi's chin.. I want more chin, I want my ears rubbed too.” Hara Kenji was practically sprawled out on the floor, turned into a fluffy pile of dog-dough under Kisaragi Chiyo's gentle onslaught.
He let out a contented whimper, tilting his head back slightly to expose his chin, his beautiful purple eyes fixed unblinkingly on Kisaragi Chiyo, who had her eyes half-lidded, his expression focused and earnest.
Kisaragi Chiyo rarely wore gloves when she wasn't going out.
His fingers were slender and long, his skin a pale white from a rare lack of sunlight, reminiscent of a cold winter. Because of this, the faint blue veins on the back of his hands were easily visible. Unlike Hara Kenji, Kisaragi Chiyo, being human, had neatly trimmed nails that showed a healthy, light pinkish hue.
Warm fingers gently rubbed from the base of the ear to the tip, as they continued to stroke the sides of the cheeks, they moved down to the chin. It felt as comfortable as being soaked in warm water; Hara Kenji was almost mesmerized by the sensation. With his eyes closed, when Kisaragi Chiyo's hand reached his back, he buried his head deeply into her embrace.
The temperature of a human chest was much higher than that of fingertips; pressed against the slightly thin chest, one could clearly hear the rhythmic heartbeat coming from within the chest, beneath the ribs.
"Little Kisaragi.." Hara Kenji's low voice came from her embrace, his moist breath seemingly seeping through her clothes and onto her skin, causing Kisaragi Chiyo's hand, which was stroking the puppy's back, to freeze for a moment.
“What kind of nickname is that?” Kisaragi Chiyo looked down at the puppy clinging to her in his arms, refusing to get up, asked with a frown, “Weren't you calling me that.. that something before?”
"You wanted to say Chiyo-chan, right?" Hara Kenji didn't know why the form had suddenly changed into a physical one; his eyes curved as he looked with a smile at Kisaragi Chiyo, who was being pinned to the ground by the sudden weight.
That man's originally somewhat gentle expression turned cold again the moment he saw her face.
Get up." Kisaragi Chiyo looked indifferently at Hara Kenji, who was bracing his hands at her sides with half of his body weight pressing down on her, said in a slightly cold tone, "Do you realize how heavy you are?
The weight of the massive Hara Kenji and the puppy could not be compared at all; the former was a weight too heavy for any living thing to bear.
"How truly heartbreaking." Hara Kenji lowered his head, looking down at Kisaragi Chiyo from a high angle, his long black hair spreading out and falling from his shoulders and the side of his face, enveloping the person beneath him like a birdcage.
Her long eyelashes were lowered, her dark purple eyes curved into a perfect arc; the shadow cast from above imbued those eyes with a dark, heavy hue.
Like a rich, intense grape-flavored hard candy—this sudden thought popped into Kisaragi Chiyo's head at an inopportune moment.
Hara Kenji smiled. He watched Kisaragi Chiyo's indifferent and slightly distracted appearance; even though she was clearly reluctant, those beautiful misty-gray eyes still reflected his own image just as he had hoped.
Ah, what a lovely expression.
Hara Kenji thought to himself in high spirits, feeling his canines begin to itch faintly in his mouth once again, the desire to find satisfaction by biting into something grew ever stronger in his heart.
So his gaze began to shift down from Kisaragi Chiyo's face, finally landing on the place he had been eyeing for a long time.
In the end, Hara Kenji still couldn't help himself; he opened his mouth and leaned his head down.
*
“Welcome.” Inside Cafe Poirot, Amuro Tooru had just finished packaging a cake for Date Wataru, who had rushed over after work to buy a cake for his girlfriend. As the bell at the shop entrance chimed, he turned around to see Kisaragi Chiyo appearing at the door with a deadpan expression on her face.
It was the kind of sour expression one makes upon waking up to find their wallet and bank cards completely empty, only to be told they are one hundred million in debt.
His entire being radiated an aura that screamed "keep away."
That is assuming one ignores the animal hair clinging to the black haori the person was wearing, as well as the adorable Bernese Mountain Dog puppy being held by its leash at their side.
"Long time no see, Kisaragi-kun." After a moment of being stunned, Amuro Tooru quickly reacted. He first greeted Kisaragi Chiyo before turning his gaze toward the cute, standard-looking puppy beside her.
“This is?”
"It's a dog." Kisaragi Chiyo lifted the leash in her hand.
"Of course I know it's a dog.." Amuro Tooru was momentarily speechless, then he looked at the Bernese Mountain Dog puppy crouching quietly at Kisaragi Chiyo's feet.
The puppy with purple eyes stayed by Kisaragi Chiyo's feet like a guardian statue, following her every step. However, because it was only as high as a person's shin, even though it tried its hardest to maintain a serious expression, the fluffy, furry little dog could only be described as adorable.
"Does it have a name?" After Amuro Tooru smiled and guided Kisaragi Chiyo to her seat, he finally couldn't help but ask a question as he watched the Bernese Mountain Dog puppy, which was acting so well-behaved and was gently rubbing its head against Kisaragi Chiyo's arm in a pleasing manner.
“hagi。”
Kisaragi Chiyo lowered her eyes and replied, "His name is Hagi."
Kisaragi Chiyo glanced at him from the corner of her eye. Seeing the puppy looking up at her with bright purple eyes as if pleading after having done something wrong, her heart instantly softened. But the next second, recalling what he had done not long ago, she withdrew her gaze and looked straight ahead at the menu on the table.
“.. Really?” Amuro Tooru froze for a moment upon hearing that name, before letting out a smile that was no different from the one he had just worn. His purplish-gray eyes watched the puppy making those whining, affectionate sounds; his gaze drifted suspiciously for a moment before he chose to silently look away.
“?” Date Wataru, who was standing with his back to the door, was also drawn to this name. He turned around to greet Kisaragi Chiyo, his gaze also fell upon the puppy that was acting spoiled.
"That.. is a wonderful name.." Date Wataru praised with a smile, a fleeting sense of nostalgia flickering in his eyes.
"What's wrong with this little one? It seems to be trying very hard to please you." Date Wataru looked at the Bernese Mountain Dog puppy, which was gently thumping its tail against the sofa, with a hint of amusement. Even as it carefully pawed at its owner, it received no response.
"Probably because it knows it did something wrong." Kisaragi Chiyo looked at the pitiful Bernese Mountain Dog puppy; since just a moment ago, it had been taking advantage of the fact that no one else could hear its voice, constantly changing its way of addressing her and using a clingy tone to pester her ears.
Kisaragi, Little Kisaragi, Chiyo-chan.. it was so noisy.
So that's how it is." Date Wataru gave a knowing smile, said with a laugh, "After all, it's a puppy; being curious is in its nature. At this age, a young dog's desire to explore is at its strongest. They're still at an age like a small child, so making mistakes is inevitable.
"So is it normal for it to bite people too?" Kisaragi Chiyo looked toward Date Wataru.
After all, this was his first time owning a dog, so he still lacked knowledge in many areas.
"It's normal for puppies; it's one of the ways dogs express their emotions." Although Date Wataru had never owned a dog himself, once Natalie proposed her plan to get a Golden Retriever in the future, Date Wataru began researching the necessary preparations for dog ownership online.
Generally speaking, dogs express affection, a desire to play, or jealousy through biting.
Of course, there's another possibility—it might just be pure teething," Date Wataru added, observing the size of the Bernese Mountain Dog. ".. He looks to be about two months old, doesn't he? He should be right around the time for teething. Buying him some chew toys or something similar would help a lot.
"Is that so??" After hearing Date Wataru's words, Kisaragi Chiyo wore a thoughtful expression.
The teething stage?