After all, he truly did die once, didn't he?
Besides, he wasn't some kind of cat demon; he was a human, he was Matsuda Jinpei.
*
“You don't actually think all humans can see yokai, do you?” The Cat demon gave him a cold, sideways glance. “Aside from a few special humans who can see yokai, the vast majority of humans will never even catch a glimpse of one in their entire lives, even if they are sitting face-to-face with one.”
Of course, correspondingly, there are special individuals in this world who can see spirits even if they are ordinary people, such as foxes, civets, badgers, the like.
"So that's how it is." Having no understanding of the world of yokai, Matsuda Jinpei remarked that he had truly gained some new knowledge.
"That's why you have to be careful." As the Cat demon spoke, he suddenly let out a light chuckle, his pure golden pupils narrowing slightly with a strange radiance.
Once you have mastered basic survival skills, I will teach you how to use your abilities; only then will you be a truly qualified yokai.
And so, in the days that followed, Matsuda Jinpei stayed by the Cat demon's side, beginning to learn how to be a qualified yokai.
*
It's truly incredible," the Cat demon exclaimed repeatedly in amazement. "You are the smartest, most talented yokai I have ever met.
It was only when Matsuda Jinpei discovered that he could actually slip into shadows that he learned from the Cat demon that the other yokai he had been stitched with was a Yatagarasu.
“.. So am I a cat or a dog then?” Having finally gotten used to walking on all fours, Matsuda Jinpei flapped the pair of extra wings on his back, which were covered in jet-black, glossy feathers, in an unnatural manner.
He was wrong; he had really just been talking nonsense before, so how did he actually grow a pair of wings? Matsuda Jinpei flapped his wings with some frustration, only to be swept by the unfamiliar wings and knocked face-down onto the ground.
Matsuda Jinpei: ".."
Enough, he had truly had enough of this unreasonable world.
"You are obviously a cat." The black cat let out a surprised sound, its pure golden eyes staring at him, seemingly wondering why Matsuda Jinpei would ask such a foolish question.
"Even though you have the wings of a Yatagarasu, look at those perfect triangular ears and that elegant, long tail that would make any cat proud.. You are undoubtedly a cat," the Cat demon said with certainty.
*
In short, life continued day by day, after becoming completely familiar with his own wings, Matsuda Jinpei was able to skillfully master the ability to dive through shadows as well as flight.
Thus, Matsuda Jinpei had successfully completed his apprenticeship under the Cat demon.
As a token of gratitude, Matsuda Jinpei used the money he had earned by helping humans solve minor troubles during this time to buy an amusement park ticket and gave it to the Cat demon.
Although this ticket was hardly worth mentioning compared to the help the Cat demon had provided him, Matsuda Jinpei remembered the other party mentioning several times that if there were an opportunity, she would bring the little human girl she liked along to play.
So, he chose the amusement park tickets as a gift to give to the Cat demon.
After the Cat demon left, Matsuda Jinpei did not choose to leave the amusement park immediately; it had become a temporary place for him to stay.
Because he discovered that, in addition to inheriting the Yatagarasu's wings, he had also inherited the ability to transform into a human form, even if it was only for a few short minutes, Matsuda Jinpei still felt an extraordinary sense of pleasant surprise.
He hung his head in deep thought. Through his meticulous sensations, he seemed to perceive that his power had become even stronger than before, the reason for this change was likely related to the things he had been doing lately.
Yes, Matsuda Jinpei's methods for earning money by helping humans solve small troubles included, but were not limited to, helping to solve rodent infestations, helping elderly ladies cross the street, escorting lost elementary school students to the police station, accepting commissions from middle school students to find lost items in abandoned small shrines.
And so, Matsuda Jinpei gradually became a popular character in the amusement park. Although many humans attempted to adopt him, Matsuda rejected them all with his cold and aloof demeanor.
His goal was not to find himself a long-term human meal ticket, but rather to maintain a stable human form in order to continue being a good cat.
One day, while Matsuda Jinpei was conducting his usual patrol of his territory within the amusement park, an intense aura, as impossible to ignore as an ink blot on white paper, drifted from somewhere within the park.
It was only at this moment that Matsuda Jinpei understood for the first time what the Cat demon meant when he spoke of a thick, heavy aura of death.
Gloomy, deathly silent.. so heavy it was almost suffocating.
Why would such an existence appear here? Matsuda Jinpei narrowed his eyes. He still remembered the Cat demon saying that whether it was a yokai or something else, they all possessed a very strong sense of territory, unless there were special circumstances, they rarely left their own domain.
So.. Matsuda Jinpei let out a cold laugh. He stood gracefully in the tree, his cat ears pressed down, his long tail swishing unhappily behind him.
Feeling extremely displeased and sensing that he was being provoked, Matsuda Jinpei decided immediately to go and confront the other party.
-----------------------
Author's Note: *Adapted from "I Am a Cat"
(Wiggling) (Crawling slowly) Because I will be falling into a month-and-a-half-long overtime hell starting in January, in order to ensure stable updates on the rankings later, I want to save a few more chapters this month. After that, the update schedule will change to every other day. (Blows a kiss) (Crawls away slowly)
Thank you for the support, my little angels! Mwah!
Chapter 43
"That is how everything happened.." The curly-haired man recounted what had happened to him in meticulous detail to the two people opposite him.
Since raising the initial question, Hara Kenji had remained silent. Even after listening to the other man's story, he had no intention of expressing any opinions.
He lowered his eyes and remained silent, his thin lips pressed into a nearly straight line, as his dark purple eyes stared at the cup of hot apple cider in front of him. He maintained this posture, an evasive gesture, for a long time.
The cup of tea in front of him had long since gone cold, having missed its best time for drinking, it emitted a concentrated, sweet and sour scent of apple that had developed after cooling.
"What a truly wonderful experience." Kisaragi Chiyo, who was sitting nearby, lifted her eyelids to glance to the side and let out a sigh of emotion.
One of his hands hung below the table, while the other held a pen, its tip resting on a lined notebook filled with writing.
The tip of the pen scratched across the smooth pages with a faint rustling sound, as if this were the only sound left in the world.
This notebook had been pulled from Kisaragi Chiyo's sleeve as soon as Matsuda Jinpei began telling his story. After politely asking if the man would allow the conversation to be recorded and receiving his nod of approval, Kisaragi Chiyo finally began to write.
"So, Mr. Yokai, your memories after death began from the moment you possessed a demon?" Kisaragi Chiyo frowned, he couldn't help but stop writing, feeling as though something about this didn't add up, leaving him with a sense of strangeness.
He did not ask about the other party's time of death; at least, from the other party's narration, it could be inferred that it was after Hara Kenji.
It seemed like more nonsense was being said; the movement Kisaragi Chiyo was recording paused for a moment, she added a small line of text next to her notes.
[Memory Retention Deficiency]
Matsuda Jinpei retained his memories from when he was alive, but he had no memories of being a spirit..
Kisaragi Chiyo stared at the neat notes in her notebook, pondering the problem, but she simply couldn't grasp the key point.
It wasn't until his gaze touched upon the words "Hell" that a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
“Xiaohei”
Kisaragi Chiyo couldn't help but raise his voice slightly, but he quickly realized that this was a dessert shop in an amusement park, not a private space where only the three of them existed, so he lowered his voice again.
"It's that Nekomata." Kisaragi Chiyo leaned over the edge of the table, tilting forward slightly. He pushed his notebook toward the center of the table, making it easier for the curly-haired man sitting opposite him to see.
"It's right here." Kisaragi Chiyo used a hand clad in a black glove to lightly tap a line of text. The silver earrings on both sides of his cheeks swayed slightly with his movement.
Mr. Yokai, the scent of death on you is as thick as a demon that has escaped from hell.
Through his sunglasses, the curly-haired man's gaze fell upon the neat and elegant handwriting in the notebook. Opposite him, the young man with crow-black hair and one eye covered looked focused; his lowered, misty-gray eyes were like a mountain shrouded in thin fog. His face, which had originally worn a cold expression, appeared somewhat softer due to the angle.
"Are you trying to say that I'm actually a fugitive?" The curly-haired man let out a light chuckle, he reached out with a slender, pale hand to push back the sunglasses that were sliding down his face.
With a high bridge to his nose and thick, long eyebrows that carried a slight, sharp curve. Even without seeing his full face, the parts that were visible were enough to determine that he was a handsome man.
“I didn't mean it like that.” Kisaragi Chiyo slowly raised his eyes, shifting his gaze from the notebook to the man's face. Through the sunglasses, he seemed to gaze vaguely at those eyes with teal irises.
A strange aura gradually spread. As if sensing something, Kisaragi Chiyo slightly recoiled to his original position, then averted his gaze, no longer looking at the man sitting opposite him, whose name remained unknown to him even now.
"I say," Hara Kenji finally spoke, persistently pressing with the previous question, as if doing so would allow him to avoid facing another problem that made him want to shrink back.
No, he didn't want to retreat.. He just didn't know what to do.
Lost and bewildered, just like a young child left behind after school. He remembered nothing; besides an instinctive sense of familiarity toward the other, he remembered nothing at all.
This familiarity, which was almost instinctive, caused Hara Kenji to involuntarily experience resistance and defensive reactions. Therefore, he could only use other emotions to disguise himself; almost subconsciously, he forced himself to put on a smile.
"An introduction?" Hara Kenji's eyes curved into a smile as he tapped his fingers on the table, drawing both of their attention to himself. He looked completely composed, as if he hadn't just been the one sitting in silence.
"And what is your name, sir? Still unwilling to reveal it.. It can't be some shameful secret, can it?" Hara Kenji's eyes were filled with smiles as he tilted his head slightly. He looked very calm, as if he already didn't care about anything, though it was only an appearance.
Seeing Hara Kenji's calm and indifferent facade, which was merely a coward's disguise, Kisaragi Chiyo felt like laughing. However, he still chose to save the other man some face, merely using his foot under the table to gently kick away the tangled, knotted, clumped-up tentacles that looked rather pitiful.
"You.." The curly-haired man was left speechless by Hara Kenji's attitude.
With just a single glance, he saw through Hara Kenji's pretense. He raised his hand to messily scratch his curly hair, letting out a light click of his tongue, his tone somewhat dissatisfied: "That really is an infuriating performance."
"Me?" Hara Kenji pointed to himself, the smile on his face turning somewhat stiff.
What right do you have to say that about me?" Hara Kenji's tone grew a bit more forceful as he tried to regain control of the conversation. "You've been acting so evasive and refusing to give a name—what exactly is your purpose?
"Ha." The Curly-haired man let out a cold, mocking laugh, a harsh and somewhat sorrowful sound squeezing through his lips.
Those who have already died have no right to question me.
"I.." Hara Kenji seemed as if his throat had been constricted, suddenly unable to utter a single word. He puffed out his cheeks, looking somewhat petulant and sulky, crossed his arms while turning his face away, looking exactly like an elementary schooler having a petty grudge.
And the curly-haired man opposite him didn't look much better; he turned his face away to gaze out the glass window, his long eyebrows knitted tightly together. An aura of anger and sadness radiated from him, yet it remained suppressed and unexploded, twisted like a knotted rope.
It wasn't any better than Hara Kenji's pile of tangled tentacles.
Even though his personality wasn't actually like that. But right now, he truly didn't know how to face it for a moment—having lost his memory and forgotten his own friend.
Kisaragi Chiyo: ".."
How did the atmosphere suddenly become so tense? Weren't they chatting just fine before?
Please, he is not Reigen Arataka; being a psychological mentor or something like that is not a job he excels at.
But in the end, Kisaragi Chiyo resigned himself to the role of the mood maker. With the waiter in the distance looking terrified and potentially pulling out a phone to call the police at any moment, he had no choice but to face the challenge head-on.
After all, he didn't want to face the arriving police and waste a bunch of breath explaining.
Just consider it for the sake of the kittens and puppies, for the sake of the other guests, for the sake of the waiter's heart, for the sake of world peace.
*
"In that case," Kisaragi Chiyo said, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Hara Kenji, who was clearly angry yet still subtly keeping an eye on the situation, let out a soft sigh.
He raised his right hand and reached out toward the man.
Let's start the introductions with me.
Kisaragi Chiyo." The gloomy young man said in a very flat voice, "My profession is supernatural novelist, my relationship with this guy next to me is that we are roommates.
Roommates?
The curly-haired man's expression turned somewhat strange upon hearing that word, but the tension in his body eventually relaxed.
He didn't actually want to have a falling out with Hara Kenji at all; he just didn't know how to face him now, facing someone who remembered nothing.