Relax a little.
Kisaragi Chiyo picked up her knife and fork, cutting the adorable chocolate ice cream bear topping the pancake in half from its head down. The thick, sweet red jam inside slid down the silver knife and dripped onto the white porcelain plate.
"How about we follow my suggestion and eat something first?" Kisaragi Chiyo began to enjoy the soft and sweet pancake in front of her without even looking up, completely indifferent to Hara Kenji, whose body and expression were both unusually tense beside her.
"You.." The curly-haired man lowered his eyes, looking at the pancake in front of him that was identical to Kisaragi Chiyo's. The only difference was that the chocolate ice cream had been replaced with vanilla ice cream; Hara Kenji's portion was the same.
It couldn't be because cats and dogs aren't allowed to eat chocolate, could it?
The Curly-haired man showed a trace of helplessness on his face, but before the words he originally intended to say could leave his mouth, he was interrupted by Hara Kenji's actions.
The Long-haired Wraith with dark purple eyes picked up the steak knife. The smile had vanished from his face, his eyes were fixed on the pancake in front of him, unwilling to cast his gaze upon the Curly-haired man opposite him. His pale fingers gripped the steak knife tightly, cutting the pancake in half with force, the tip of the blade scraping against the plate with a sharp, brief, piercing screech.
Hara Kenji stared fixedly at the red jam spreading out from beneath the knife, bright red and viscous.. The sudden surge of nausea in his stomach made his brain reel, the piercing, noisy, chaotic sounds repeated incessantly in his mind until, following the rhythmic *beep, beep, beep* of the countdown, everything vanished with a sudden bang.
Nothing remained.
Hara Kenji's expression was exceptionally calm and cold; he had never felt as lucid as he did at this very moment.
He put down the dinner knife in his hand and slowly raised his head, his dark purple eyes carrying a sharp sense of aggression. At the same time, his chest heaved; even though he no longer needed to breathe, Hara Kenji still felt an uncontrollable sense of mental urgency and hypoxia at this moment.
Subconsciously, Hara Kenji wanted to seek a sense of security from Kisaragi Chiyo beside him. An unprecedented longing, like this, swept through his soul. Just like humans who seek relief from mental pressure through gluttony, he wanted to swallow Kisaragi Chiyo whole.
Chewing through flesh and bone, it didn't matter if the sharp bone fragments slashed his throat; he wanted to devour everything, from the body to the soul, without wasting a single drop of blood.
Only this way.. only this way could he feel safe and secure.. his craving for the living, for Kisaragi Chiyo, had never ceased.
"Sorry.. sorry to disturb you, your hot drink is here.." The waiter's hands trembled as he placed a cup of hot apple tea in front of Hara Kenji.
Please enjoy.
After using all his strength to shout those words, the waiter, like a rabbit escaping from a tiger's maw, made a sharp turn and vanished from sight in a flash.
Hara Kenji: ".."
All the pent-up frustration and thoughts from just now, once suddenly interrupted, deflated instantly like a punctured balloon.
Hara Kenji's tense expression gradually softened, he looked at the cup of hot apple black tea placed before him with an expression tinged with helplessness and amusement.
He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Kisaragi Chiyo, who was seriously enjoying her pancakes, a feeling of helplessness, like being soaked in hot water, gradually spread through his heart.
That's too cunning," Hara Kenji complained softly. "You aren't even willing to coax me a little bit yourself.
Although the voice was very soft, the people present all had exceptionally keen hearing, not to mention that Hara Kenji had intentionally spoken those words for Kisaragi Chiyo to hear.
But as the object of the complaint, Kisaragi Chiyo gave no reaction; she seemed completely immersed in the delicious food, not even sparing a single glance for Hara Kenji.
Kisaragi Chiyo lowered her eyes, seriously observing the pancake on the plate that looked exactly like a pancake, while casually stepping on the tentacle beneath the table that was trying to wrap itself around her ankle.
Curly-haired man: ".."
The man in the black suit sitting opposite him wore an expression of hesitation, his lips twitching as if he wanted to say something but was forcing himself to hold it back.
His gaze drifted toward Kisaragi Chiyo, then shifted to examine Hara Kenji, as a familiar smile returned to the other man's handsome, slightly melancholy face.
The long-haired man with dark purple eyes and a face that felt incredibly familiar to him spoke with a smile, "So, sir, who exactly are you?"
Or should I call you one of my own?
-----------------------
Author's Note: *Marked text is original dialogue
The next chapter will be written from Matsuda Jinpei's perspective to cover some plot developments.
Thanks to all the little angels for your support, mwah
Chapter 42
I am a cat. As for a name.. I don't have one yet. *
No, this is certainly not the kind of occasion for "I am a cat." He clearly remembered that he was a human, a police officer, who had died in the line of duty during a bomb explosion on a Ferris wheel.
He is no cat.
He is Matsuda Jinpei
A long-dead.. ghost
As this thought surfaced, Matsuda Jinpei opened his eyes, a pair of pure golden eyes appeared before him, giving him a start almost by reflex.
But before he could even process his surprise, a trembling cry, which could almost be described as soft and crisp, escaped his own mouth.
Matsuda Jinpei: ".."
Matsuda Jinpei fell into silence, Matsuda Jinpei's worldview gradually collapsed, Matsuda Jinpei began to question his life.
He lowered his head, every single hair on his body standing on end; from a distance, he looked like a plump, round, black chestnut covered in soft spikes.
Matsuda Jinpei stared in astonishment at the parts of himself that should have been nimble hands, now replaced by cat paws with pink paw pads; a highly human-like expression of surprise appeared on the cute, round, youthful face of the cat.
So what on earth happened??
Even if.. even if he couldn't go to heaven and become an angel with two pure white wings and a golden halo atop his head, he still shouldn't have turned into a cat.
Life.. no, it should be called a cat's life now. There is definitely, definitely something wrong!
For example, this black cat with pure golden eyes right in front of her. Normally, a cat absolutely shouldn't have two tails.
Mimi Matsuda put on a serious expression and tried to rest her chin on her paws, making it look like she was deep in thought.
So, do monsters actually exist in this world?
Thinking of this, Matsuda Jinpei's eyes slowly widened, a look of disbelief surfacing in his beautiful, cyan eyes.
Then, in the very next second, Officer Matsuda, who had only just managed to accept that this world was unscientific, was informed by the other party that he himself was no ordinary cat, but a young demon that had been forcibly stitched together.
"What do you mean, a forcibly stitched-together demon?" Matsuda Jinpei paused, his voice dry as he pressed for an answer; at this moment, he couldn't even care about the 'mimi' sounds he was making.
"It means stitching two different monsters together, fusing them completely." The monster calling itself Xiaohei lowered its head and gently rubbed its head against his forehead. The furry, warm sensation made Matsuda Jinpei instinctively want to recoil.
Then, because he was not yet used to walking on four limbs, he rolled once on the spot before collapsing onto the ground.
Matsuda Jinpei: ".."
It was truly too embarrassing.
Matsuda Jinpei buried his face in his paws, but he couldn't be blamed for it; after being human for twenty-six years, this was the first time he had walked on four legs.
"A strange man did it," the Cat demon continued.
It had no intention of mocking the kitten; it lowered its eyes, looking at the kitten in front of it that was much smaller than itself, a look of confusion appearing in its pure golden pupils.
Your aura smells very wrong," the Cat demon said slowly, wagging its two tails. "I originally intended to take your soul after you died, but you survived.
"After that, your scent changed." The Cat demon rose from its crouching position, walking with elegant steps as it circled Matsuda Jinpei twice.
You have a very strong scent of death on you, just like those evil spirits that escaped from hell.
"And compared to a yokai, your scent seems more like a human's.. I mean, in terms of your soul, of course." The Cat demon tilted its head, observing Matsuda with a curious gaze.
"Does a hell also exist in this world?" Matsuda Jinpei asked back subconsciously.
But he soon realized that since monsters existed in this world, then adding a hell to the mix was not a difficult thing to understand.
"Of course hell exists in this world." The Cat demon did not become suspicious because of Matsuda Jinpei's lack of common sense. Because to it, Matsuda Jinpei's age was simply too young—so young that any of Matsuda's ignorant reactions seemed normal in its eyes.
In the terms of the human world, the current Matsuda Jinpei was still a newborn baby.
Matsuda Jinpei, who was twenty-six before death but was treated as a baby by a demon: ".."
Fine, Matsuda Jinpei struggled for a few seconds before reluctantly accepting this explanation. Perhaps in the eyes of a demon hundreds of years old, most humans' ages were all more or less the same as a child's.
"What's the deal with that strange man you mentioned?" Matsuda Jinpei recalled what the Cat demon had mentioned before. As a police officer, his keen intuition gave him a strong sense of unease and agitation regarding the idea of forcibly stitching two different kinds of demons together.
This sounds like an absolutely heinous act.
At the very least, from a human perspective, anyone capable of stitching two different humans together like that is an absolutely heinous pervert.
Matsuda Jinpei revealed a deep gaze, but before he could continue his thoughts, his head was lightly tapped by the Black cat's paw.
I'm not very clear on the matter either," the Cat demon said, gracefully withdrawing its claws to lick them. "I only heard it mentioned by other demons.
"As for that man, I haven't seen him either. Most of the demons captured by him for experiments are just insignificant little spirits who go unnoticed and have low abilities." The Cat demon didn't seem to care much about this matter, its two tails swaying leisurely behind its back.
As it spoke, the Cat demon glanced at him again and added, "And of course, there are younglings like you, who have only just been born and have no ability to defend yourselves."
"But you are still very strange." As she spoke, the Cat demon lowered her head again, her pure golden eyes suddenly pressing close. Her mechanical pupils, like pure gemstones, stared intently at him, as if she could see right through his soul.
"You should have been a weak demon." The Cat demon's nose twitched, its damp nose sniffed against his head.
But you seem to have grown a bit stronger..
"Could this be related to your strange soul?" The Cat demon raised its head, still unable to understand, so it simply stopped obsessing over the matter.
Instead, he turned to Matsuda Jinpei to mention something else: "I can't take you away with me now; I don't like other demons existing on my territory."
The Cat demon looked down at the kitten standing unsteadily before her and gave a kind suggestion: "I can teach you basic survival skills, but I still suggest you find a human to serve as your meal ticket."
Just by walking a few steps in front of them and letting out a couple of random meows, they will willingly take responsibility for your food, clothing, housing, transportation.
"Sometimes, if you just proactively curl up in their laps, they'll feel as though it's a divine blessing." The Cat demon patiently shared her experience in choosing humans with Matsuda Jinpei.
"The most important thing is kindness." The Cat demon slowed its pace, occasionally looking back at Matsuda Jinpei, who was walking two or three steps behind, stumbling along.
“With women as the primary target—of course, that is just the most basic choice. As a clever kitty, one's selection certainly cannot be limited solely to appearances.”
Having said that, the Cat demon took the initiative and began a demonstration on the spot. It walked with elegant, slow steps toward a bald, six-foot-tall, muscular man who had a cat charm hanging from his phone.
A lazy, nonchalant "meow" immediately caught the man's attention.
Without even letting the burly man touch a single strand of her fur, she used only a few soul-stealing steps and a seemingly casual yet meticulously designed wag of her tail to make the man willingly buy the small sausage and offer it to her with both hands.
“Look, just like this.” The Cat demon pushed the small sausage toward Matsuda Jinpei. “Humans are creatures that can be easily captured like this, but you must observe carefully; for weak spirits that can be seen by humans, humans with malice are extremely dangerous.”
"What do you mean, monsters that can be seen by humans.." Matsuda Jinpei looked at the sausage pushed in front of him, the familiar aroma wafting from the tip of his nose. He felt hungry, but he didn't feel any desire to eat. Or perhaps, this ordinary food before him simply couldn't satisfy his hunger.
But despite the Cat demon's kindness, he still could not bring himself to refuse. So, he lowered his head, clumsily pressing his front paws against the sausage, ate the food the other had pushed toward him.
As expected, the feeling of hunger did not subside with the extra food in his stomach; instead, a deeper, more profound emptiness, howling from within his very soul, swept over him.
But Matsuda Jinpei said nothing; he simply acted as if he were full and offered a word of thanks to the other party.
Vaguely, he had a dim feeling in his heart that his current situation might be related to what the Cat demon had said about him having a heavy aura of death upon him, as well as having a soul just like a human's.