“Move it!”
“Bwuh?!”
Iris sent the head flying with a roundhouse kick.
“Hito!” several yokai voices called out to the head, which was rolling across the floor unconscious.
“Ooh, that was a nice kick.” President Momone praised Iris with a smile, then returned to teaching the yokai a lesson with her wooden sword.
▽
Ten minutes later, after defeating all the hostile yokai in the room, President Momone tapped the end of her sword on the floor like a cane.
“So, you’re the representative of this group?” she asked, looking down at the tanuki.
Pon nodded silently.
The battered and bruised yokai huddled together behind him (I think it was a him?), trembling in fear. Somehow, I was getting the impression that we were the bad guys here...
For the record, we’d released the nekomata already, and Harissa and Ai had joined up with us in the warehouse. Some of the other nekomata were a little scratched up, but they were mostly unharmed.
“I came here at the request of the human boy over there to mediate your dispute,” said President Momone. “I’m not here to exterminate you mercilessly, so there’s no need to worry.”
“...Really?” Pon asked.
President Momone nodded in response. “My grandfather’s the one actually in charge of supernatural events in this area, and it’s his policy not to hurt innocent yokai. As his granddaughter, I follow the same policy.”
“So, you’re the grandchild of Kibi Shrine’s Demon Slayer? No wonder you’re so strong...” Pon sighed in resignation.
But there was a hint of relief in there, too. It seemed he believed everything President Momone was saying.
“Hey, catgirl. Come over here.”
“M-Meow!”
At President Momone’s prompting, Ai left the other cats and came over.
“I’ll hear your side of the story first. Why did you come down from the mountain?”
“That’s because... so many humans have been coming and going from the mountains recently, we couldn’t live there anymore. So we left in search of a new place to live, meow.”
“I see.” Next, President Momone looked at Pon. “There’s plenty of free space around here, so why couldn’t you accept these guys?”
“It’s a harsh world for yokai to live in these days. Especially for us yokai that can’t blend in with humans... We struggle to even find places to sleep. The number of places that are safe from human eyes both day and night is limited.”
Pon turned around and looked at his group of friends. It was true that they were all yokai who had no chance of blending in with society.
“There’s also the issue of food. The areas with plentiful food have long been claimed by other yokai, so we’re restricted to a very limited amount of space. That’s why I look after this lot...”
Pon paused for a moment and placed a leaf on his head. Then, with an energetic shout, he transformed into a middle-aged man.
“...By turning into a person like this, then getting whatever’s necessary from town.”
Once he was done talking, he returned to his tanuki form. So, that’s why he was the leader of this group, despite not seeming particularly strong...
“But the amount of resources I can obtain on my own is limited. I can’t look after any more than this.”
“Then why don’t you get the nekomata to help you? It’s easy for them to blend in among people.”
President Momone had a good suggestion, but Pon shook his head.
“No. If we did that, we’d end up reliant on the nekomata. It might work at first, but they’d betray us eventually.”
“So you’re worried you’d end up as glorified slaves?”
“We wouldn’t do that, meow!” Ai chimed in.
“Who knows?” replied Pon. “Cats are known to be highly protective over their territory. And highly fickle.”
It didn’t seem like Pon was going to back down here, despite Ai’s pleading. And with that, we had ourselves a stalemate.
“Satsuki, what do you think?” I asked.
“It’s not that I doubt Ai, but I can understand why the tanuki is worried. Anyone would be uneasy if they had to rely on someone else like that.”
“But they’re doing the same thing right now, right? It’s just Pon gathering food for everyone, rather than the nekomata. So why shouldn’t they let Ai do it?”
“That’s where the difference in trust comes in. Having the nekomata gather more resources for them is all well and good, but what if they stopped doing it? Things would get tough for the other yokai.”
After living without a worry, it would be hard to go back to struggling to make ends meet. That would basically mean they were dependent on the nekomata to maintain their lifestyle, so they’d have to make sure they were nice to them all the time... I see, so that’s what President Momone meant by “glorified slaves.”
Ai continued to argue against that vehemently, but Pon still wasn’t listening. It seemed like it’d be a huge hurdle to get them to accept the nekomata living here... Wait, come to think of it...
“Ai.”
“Meow? What is it, meow?”
“How come people started to frequent your mountain more?” I looked over at President Momone. “President Momone, has anything changed in the mountains by the school recently?”
“Now that you mention it... I can’t think of any reason people would be there more often. We haven’t held any kind of event there, and there are no plans for development in the area, either.”
“Right?”
I’d been to the mountains myself several times over the last few months, and I hadn’t seen any signs of other people there.
“What’s the meaning of this? I won’t hold back if you’ve been lying, nekomata.”
“I-I’m not lying, meow! There have been lots of people on the mountain! They come and go nearly every day, meow!” Ai frantically waved her hands in the air as she spoke.
“Every day... Which means they must have some kind of goal, right?” I asked.
“And if there’s a lot of them, they all probably share the same goal. They must have something in common...” mused President Momone.
“Ai, did you notice anything similar about the people who’ve been in the mountains recently?”
“Y-Yes, meow!” she exclaimed, her ears standing up straight. “All the humans who came into the mountain had glowing eyes!”
“Glowing eyes?”
Satsuki, Iris, Harissa, and I all exchanged looks. We were all thinking about a certain friend of ours we’d just seen at Nozomiya.
“What’s wrong, Rekka Namidare?” President Momone asked suspiciously.
“Um... There’s a slight chance I might know how to solve this one,” I said with a nervous laugh.
▽
Three days later.
I was finishing up the rest of my summer homework in my room, when...
Knock, knock!
Someone was suddenly rapping at my window. Wait a minute, my room’s on the second floor! I looked outside the window dubiously to find Ai in a hat.
“What’s wrong, Ai? This is the second floor, you know.”
“I’m a cat, meow! Scaling a roof is nothing to me.”
Evidently, Ai had climbed up to the roof of the first floor to reach my window.
“How did you know this was my room?”
“It was the only one with a light on.”
So, a lucky guess, then. Well, Harissa was probably asleep right now, so it was for the best.
“Can I come in, meow?”
“Sure. Take off your shoes, though.”
Ai obediently removed her shoes before diving in through the window.
“Ooh! It’s a bed, meow! It’s so soft! Can I sleep in it, meow?”
“Did you come here just to sleep?!”
“Cats can sleep anywhere, meow.”
Ai laughed happily as she rolled on my bed. B
ut instead of closing her eyes, she looked at me.
“Rekka...”
“Hm?”
“Pet my head, meow.”
“Why?”
“Pet me like you used to, just like old times.”
“...”
Old times... back when Satsuki and I were looking after her at the shrine, huh? I guess I couldn’t really say no to that. I walked over to the bed and sat down, reaching to pet Ai’s cat ears as she laid down. Petting her ears was different than just patting her head, but as I did it, she gradually started to yawn. She tilted her head, leaning in like she was asking me to get the other side of her ears, too. I obliged.
And then... I heard something I wasn’t expecting. Was she purring? I guess she still really was a cat. Would she turn back into one if I asked her to? As a certified cat fanatic, it’d be great to get in some good scritches or something. And all that fluff...
As I was seriously contemplating how to go about asking for that, Ai opened her eyes and looked at me.
“Rekka, thank you, meow.”
“Huh? A couple of pets is nothing.”
“That’s not it, meow. Um... what did you call them again? Ah, the mole people. Thank you for talking to the people with glowing eyes for us.”
Ah, that. Several days ago, Ai and the other nekomata left their home in the mountains and had a quarrel with some local yokai when they got into town. But once we got involved and realized why the nekomata had left their home in the first place, we rushed back to Nozomiya just before it closed.
You see, this all had to do with the “other mole people” Tetra was telling me about. Nekomata and the mole people had a very distinct feature in common: glowing eyes. And once we brought Tetra—the representative of the mole people—and the nekomata together, they were able to talk things out.
As it turned out, what the villagers from Jizu were really seeing on the mountain were the nekomata. They’d just assumed they were mole people because of their eyes at night. The nekomata had mistaken the mole people for other nekomata the same way, but would always panic and run once they realized they didn’t have ears and tails. For the most part, the mole people looked completely human. And the entrance to Jizu Village was on the mountain, which was why the nekomata had seen an increase in traffic in the area lately. Many of the mole people were working part-time jobs like Tetra, and traveled to and from the mountain every day.
After the mole people and the nekomata got all that straightened out, they were easily able to come to an agreement to help each other protect their secrets from outsiders. It was mutually beneficial. For example, the mole people would help secure resources for the nekomata, while the nekomata would help guard the entrance to Jizu Village to make sure it wasn’t discovered by ordinary humans.
As for the yokai that got in a fight with the nekomata, President Momone was going to lend them a helping hand. She’d said she was going to work them to the bone in exchange, which worried me a bit. But other than that, everything was neatly wrapped up.
“You always come to save me, Rekka,” Ai said.
“It was just a coincidence this time.”
“I’ll have to give you a thank-you present, meow.”
“Present?”
“If there’s anything I can do, just let me know, okay?” she said, looking up at me with expectant eyes.
Anything she could do...? Did she really mean that? I glanced over her human body one more time, and after thinking it over carefully, decided to ask her for what I really wanted.
“Ai...”
“Meow?”
“Can you turn into a cat for me, just once?”
Ai rolled off the bed with a loud crash.
R, who had been watching the whole thing, let out a heavy sigh.
“Good grief,” she muttered.
—Fin—
R’s Special Mission 4
“Come on! You have to finish it now, or you won’t be going to the summer festival tomorrow!”
“Waaah!”
...And so there I was, visiting Shirley’s house, just as Fam was crying over her math homework.
“Jeez! I told you to do your research project and book report on your own! Why did you leave all it until today?!”
“’Cause reading makes me sleepy!”
“That’s no excuse!”
“Hmph...”
Fam was sulking over being scolded. Shirley seemed to realize she had gone too far, and let out a weary sigh.
“You snuck out of morning study sessions so often, I bet you haven’t finished your English homework either, right? You really won’t be going to the summer festival at this rate.”
“B-But I want to go...”
“Then make sure you work hard.”
“I know!”
With the way Fam was glaring at the formulas on the page with tears in her eyes, it seemed progress would be slow.
“Do your best, Fam. I’ll help, too,” Rain offered, unable to sit by doing nothing.
“Thank you, Rain...”
“Rain, you can teach her if you want, but you can’t do it for her. Understand?”
“I know.”
“Then I’ll go search for materials for the science project. The types of projects you can do in a single day are limited, though...”
“Thank you too, Shirley.”
“Yes, yes. Now do your best to finish today so we can all go to the festival together tomorrow.”
“Yup! I’m going to watch the fireworks with Brother Rekka!”
“...!”
Fam’s offhanded remark caught the attention of both Rain and Shirley.
“Fam, when did you make such a promise with Rekka?” Rain asked.
“Huh? Um, the last time I went to his house, I think.”
“So, the time you skipped doing homework was all going to play at Rekka’s, right?” asked Shirley.
“Huh? Y-Yeah.”
“...”
Rain and Shirley suddenly had terrifying expressions on their faces.
“What shall we do, Rain? Do you want to watch TV together while eating ice cream? Are there any dramas you want to see?”
“Quite a few, actually.”
“Huh? Huuuh?!” Fam wailed at their sudden betrayal.
The reason for their change in attitude was pretty clear, but she didn’t seem to get it.
“Wh-Why?! You said you were going to help just a minute ago!”
“Hmm...”
Rain placed a hand against her cheek, and Shirley crossed her arms in contemplation. Their silence made even more tears well up in Fam’s eyes. Since the topic had somehow taken a turn towards Rekka, I decided now would be a good time to take a peek inside. I’d hit Rain, Fam, then Shirley.
That’s so unfair of Fam! I can’t believe she snuck out to play with Rekka again... Or am I just too slow on the draw? But mother said that a lady must be graceful in all things... Argh! Mother, what should I do?
Hmph! Why are they being so mean all of a sudden?! I mean, yeah, it’s my fault I didn’t do my homework, but... argh, I can’t watch fireworks with Rekka if I don’t finish! I don’t want that!
Hmm... Knowing Rekka and Fam, they were probably actually playing around, so it’s not really worth scolding her over... but I can’t say I agree with it. To be specific, I don’t agree with me not being there for it.
It was interesting seeing three different streams of thoughts back to back as I swapped targets. Especially with Rain and Shirley, it was fascinating to witness how the same jealousy could reach two different conclusions. And so the nervous silence in the room continued for a while, until Shirley eventually smiled at Fam.
“...Heehee, I’m just kidding. I’ll help you out, Fam, so don’t worry. Come on, Rain. You coach her on what she doesn’t understand.”
I guess I’ll put off the penalty for sneaking out until later, and just help out with her homework for now. Rekka would feel bad if Fam was the only one left out, anyway.
Heari
ng her compassionate words alongside her inner thoughts sure made her sound a lot more malicious... Like it was half kindness, half calculation. Of course, being calculating could also be a sign she was prepared to do what it takes to get Rekka’s heart, so I didn’t have a problem with that. All the better for my mission. And besides, the other half was still unmistakably kindness.
Now that I was done at Rain’s place, my last stop was to see Tetra and our most recent addition, Ai.
▽
The two of them just so happened to be in front of the entrance to the underground village. Come to think of it, the mole people and nekomata had formed an alliance the other day. It sounded like they were here today holding their first debrief meeting.
“...And so there were no reports of humans spotted near this entrance, meow.”
“I see. Thank you.” Tetra nodded at Ai’s report.
It seemed like they were acting as representatives on behalf of their respective species. It was thanks to Rekka that they’d been able to negotiate with each other, so this felt like the natural arrangement. After Tetra finished listening to Ai’s report, she gave her own.
“Just in case, I had some of the villagers working in the shopping district ask around, but there haven’t been any rumors of nekomata sightings anywhere.”
“Really, meow? That’s great, meow.”
Ai placed a hand against her chest and sighed in relief. The nekomata had come down from the mountain for a while, so their biggest concern now was about whether or not they’d been spotted.
“Oh, and also—” Tetra bent down to pick up a paper bag and offered it to Ai. “Here are the clothes you asked me to clean. There were a lot of them, so I had to ask Lea for help, but we used both detergent and fabric softener, so they should smell nice now.”
“Ooh! Thank you, meow!” Ai accepted the paper bag and sniffed it. “I was doing my own laundry for a while, meow... But I reached my limit, so you really saved my fur.”
“It’s nothing,” Tetra said with a grin... before suddenly leaning towards Ai with a serious expression. “By the way, Ai... I heard you knew Rekka from when he was young?”
“Meow?” Ai drew back a little, her ears feeling ticklish.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, meow.” Ai shook her head to show she didn’t mind.
I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 9 Page 11
