"A photo?" Kisaragi Chiyo blinked slowly. At this time, he had not yet grown out the hair at his forehead, regarding his heterochromatic eyes, he chose to use an eyepatch to cover his dark red right eye.
"Why do you do that?" Hara Kenji asked curiously. Taking advantage of Kisaragi Chiyo's inattention, he stealthily reached out and pinched the little bear's tail on her coat.
"To seal the aura." After saying this one sentence, Kisaragi Chiyo was unwilling to continue the conversation further.
The smile on Yuan Ren's lips faded slightly, but he did not press the suspicious topic any further, instead taking out a rabbit plushie to divert Kisaragi Chiyo's attention.
The pure white lop-eared rabbit plushie looked fluffy, with two large long ears that could be tied into a bow on its head. With its pink inverted-triangle nose and obsidian-like round eyes, it certainly possessed a look that was very popular with children.
Little Kisaragi Chiyo took it with both hands and held it in her arms, whispering a thank you to Yuan Ren, her face clearly filled with affection.
"Do you want to take the photo yourself?" Matsuda Jinpei pulled out his phone and shook it in his hand.
Hearing his voice, Kisaragi Chiyo turned her head. Her shoulder-length bob made her look incredibly well-behaved; her eyes were quite round, unlike the narrow, elongated ones she would have as an adult. As she looked over while clutching a rabbit plushie nearly half her size in her arms, Matsuda Jinpei had to admit once again that she really knew how to pick out things.
The fluffy rabbit doll and the equally fluffy Kisaragi Chiyo, who was wearing a little bear outfit, were so adorable that one would want to take several photos of her and save them in a private folder.
But Matsuda Jinpei held back. He didn't want his behavior to make him look like some suspicious guy. With a calm expression, he handed his phone to Kisaragi Chiyo and guided him step-by-step on how to use the camera app to take a photo.
"Like this." Matsuda Jinpei held Kisaragi Chiyo's hands and taught her how to take a photo.
So amazing!" Kisaragi Chiyo looked up, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at Matsuda Jinpei. Holding the phone with both hands, she let out a cry of wonder, "As expected of Lord Cat God!
A child's praise is simple, yet it is the most sincere.
Ahem.." Matsuda Jinpei rubbed his nose and shifted his gaze away, looking a bit embarrassed. "It's nothing, it's all thanks to technology.
Lord Cat God, I'm so jealous," Hara Kenji said from the side, his voice drawn out and sounding a bit sour. "I want Chiyo-chan to look at me with such admiring eyes, too.
And you're clearly feeling quite smug in your heart, aren't you, Little Jinpei?" Hara Kenji poked Matsuda Jinpei's back dissatisfiedly with a tentacle. "Your ears are red; it's super obvious.
"Shut up." Having his inner thoughts exposed, Matsuda Jinpei bristled slightly, but when he looked down to see Kisaragi Chiyo intently studying the camera functions, that hint of embarrassment vanished instantly.
Ah, as expected.
She is truly too cute.
It is only natural to be envious.
Matsuda Jinpei thought to himself with a hint of smugness.
*
By the time Matsuda Jinpei returned with breakfast, Hara Kenji and Kisaragi Chiyo had both woken up; the man and the young girl were squeezed together in the bathroom, with Hara Kenji patiently teaching Kisaragi Chiyo how to switch between hot and cold water.
"This side is the cold water, the other side is the hot water. If you need it, you just have to twist it like this~" Yuan Ren bent down, a smiling expression on his face, patiently guiding Kisaragi Chiyo through several more attempts.
"I've memorized it." Kisaragi Chiyo's expression looked very serious; she nodded and completed her morning wash following Yuan Ren's procedures and order with utmost seriousness and rigor.
"Great job!" Yuan Ren laughed and reached out to give Kisaragi Chiyo a high five; he seemed to be completely immersed in the joy of raising a child.
"Time to eat." Matsuda Jinpei leaned against the doorframe, having finished watching the interaction between the two. He called out in a casual tone, after setting out breakfast for Chiyo-chan, he followed Yuan Ren out to the balcony.
"What's wrong?" Matsuda Jinpei closed the balcony door, then glanced back at Kisaragi Chiyo, who was sitting in a row with the plush rabbits, making sure the seal of the glass door was tight enough so that she wouldn't hear their conversation.
"Little Jinpei, have you noticed?" Hara Kenji exhaled a breath of white mist. He was wearing a white fleece-lined jacket over a black undershirt, with the collar of his jacket left open, allowing the cold wind to blow right in—a way of dressing that offered no warmth at all. Even though he no longer had such a need, Hara still insisted on changing his clothes according to the seasons.
"Are you talking about how the child we're raising grew taller overnight?" Matsuda Jinpei raised an eyebrow. He was still dressed entirely in black; even his occasional changes were nothing more than switching from a black suit jacket to another style of the same color.
He wasn't wearing sunglasses today, revealing a pair of sharp, teal eyes. The hem of his long black coat swayed in the high wind, making him look like a silent raven.
"I was truly startled when I woke up this morning." Hara Kenji spoke with a smile most of the time. He rested his elbows on the balcony railing, propping his chin up with one hand, his dark purple eyes narrowing slightly as he gazed at the blue-gray mountains in the distance.
I asked him how old he was.
He told me very certainly that he is seven years old this year.
"But he himself didn't feel anything was wrong at all." Hara Kenji slowly cast his gaze toward the crowd on the street. Speaking of which, Yashihara was truly a strange place; there were very few ghosts or spirits, but there were an unexpectedly large number of yokai.
He had originally wanted to have a friendly chat with those little monsters, but in just a single encounter, without even giving him a chance to speak, those little monsters had screamed and ran away. This strange situation made Hara Kenji couldn't help but wonder—did he actually look terrifying in the eyes of the monsters?
Little Jinpei." Hara Kenji touched his face with a hint of melancholy. "I'm going to ask you a question, you must answer me truthfully.
Matsuda Jinpei cast a puzzled look. "Go ahead."
Does my current appearance look scary.. no, does it look too demonic?
.." Matsuda Jinpei showed a slightly speechless expression. "It should be the aura on your body, right? It's still too dangerous for those ordinary monsters.
So that's how it is." Hara Kenji was quickly cheered up, he turned to reveal a confident smile. "I told you, I have a face that can make even Chiyo-chan fall in love with me!
"Just gloat all you want." Matsuda Jinpei still couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Of course, Little Jinpei isn't bad either," Yuan said in a lazy tone, his long hair tied up like the beautiful, wind-swept arc of Nagatsumachi Chizuru's tail feathers.
“He's totally the super handsome type.” Yuan said, letting out a whistle.
"You're in a mood to chat about that, I see." Matsuda Jinpei gave a snort, crossing his arms. The cat ears in his hair were hidden away, which had left Kisaragi Chiyo feeling a little disappointed when she discovered them.
Don't be so serious," Hara Kenji teased. "I've actually been wondering how to solve the problem with Chiyo-chan.
"So, what method did you come up with?" Matsuda Jinpei asked, his expression one of eager anticipation.
"Let's use Chiyo-chan's phone to contact that gentleman friend!" Yuan clenched one hand into a fist and struck his palm, his dark purple eyes curving slightly like two moons.
"Perhaps that reliable, special, gentleman friend will know why Chiyo-chan has become like this." The words, emphasized with deliberate weight, made Yuan Ren's expression look somewhat teeth-gritting.
Hey, reel it in a bit." Matsuda Jinpei warned Hara Kenji, while keeping an eye on Little Kisaragi Chiyo in the room out of the corner of his eye, "Don't make such a fierce expression, like a dog trying to mark its territory.
Not at all," Hara Kenji said in an exaggerated voice, "I'm really just purely curious.
You're just lying to yourself." Matsuda let out a sneer, mocking him leisurely, "Saying you don't have any ulterior motives? You're trying to fool a ghost.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Thanks for the support, little angels! Mwah!
Chapter 77
When Nozono Shizuka received the call, he was transcribing an ancient book. Upon seeing the caller's name on his phone screen, his left eyebrow twitched slightly, a look of surprise crossed his face.
He leisurely set the brush in his hand aside, picked up his phone, tapped to answer.
Hello?" Nozono Shizuka's tone carried a hint of playful teasing between friends. "It's quite rare to get a call from you. I assume you must have something important to discuss, Kisaragi Chiyo?
On the other side of the communication, there was no response as expected; instead, there was only silence accompanied by a faint static.
Nozono Shizuka frowned subconsciously. Just as he was about to ask further, a low male voice, laced with laughter, suddenly came from the other end.
Mr. Mechano?
The tone was light and airy, likely one of those pleasant, magnetic voices, but Nozono Shizuka was clearly not interested in it. Perhaps due to the influence of Natori Shu, he had a natural immunity to such things.
So, his already furrowed brows deepened even more. With his crimson eyes lowered slightly, looking at the ink that had not yet completely dried from the recent transcription, Nozono Shizuka asked coldly, "Who are you?"
"I am Yuan." A strange surname came from the other man's mouth.
"Hmm, I suppose I'm.. Chiyo-chan's friend?" The man calling himself Yuan smiled again as he spoke those words.
He lowered his voice, his laughter sounding as if it were being squeezed from his throat; it was an incredibly intimate way to address someone, yet in the end, the relationship was defined simply as friends.
"What about Kisaragi?" Unmoved by the answer provided, Nozono Shizuka remained indifferent. He had never heard Kisaragi Chiyo mention a friend with the surname Yuan.
Tell him to come and speak to me.
"Sorry.. that request might be a bit inconvenient for the time being." Hara Kenji stood on the balcony, leaning against the railing in a relaxed posture.
Dark purple eyes stared intently through the floor-to-ceiling glass door at Kisaragi Chiyo, who was inside seriously learning how to play Snake from Matsuda Jinpei, a smile couldn't help but curl upon his lips.
But that smile gradually faded after she thought of something.
Had Kisaragi Chiyo never mentioned their existence in front of her friends?
Hara Kenji lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes fluttering slightly like fragile butterfly wings. His face, which had originally held a somewhat obscure expression, cleared up in the next second.
“Is there something inconvenient about it?” Yuan heard the young man on the other side say, “You are that Evil Spirit being kept by Kisaragi, aren't you?”
"That's right," Hara Kenji said with a smile that made his eyes crinkle, bowing slightly as his gaze fell forward.
The child, wearing a little bear plush coat, leaned obediently against Matsuda Jinpei's side, watching the Curly-haired man manipulate the giant snake that had almost occupied the entire mobile phone screen.
The fluid and skillful movement left Kisaragi Chiyo dazed, to the point that she even forgot to blink.
You are right." Yuan raised a hand to tuck a long strand of hair falling by his cheek behind his ear. "The Evil Spirit you spoke of is me.
A smile spread across his handsome, pale face, the corners of his mouth curling upward. As his thin lips parted, his crimson tongue and sharp canine teeth were revealed.
How about we set a time to meet?" Hara Kenji suggested very thoughtfully. "You can decide on the location.
This matter was quickly agreed upon by the other party. As for the verbal warnings and sarcasm, the Evil Spirit, who was in a good mood, didn't take them to heart at all.
After hanging up the phone, he entered the room with light steps, making intentional noise to successfully catch Kisaragi Chiyo's attention.
"Oops." Hara Kenji let out a soft exclamation as he reached out with both hands, tucking them under Kisaragi Chiyo's armpits, lifted her up with ease.
Clearly, Kisaragi Chiyo's pupils contracted sharply at being treated this way for the first time. He instinctively wanted to struggle, but because of their previous interactions, the trust he still held for Yuan forced him to suppress the movement.
“You've grown again.” Yuan smiled as he looked at Kisaragi Chiyo, who had become even more lanky than before. She had a look of reluctance on her face, like a little cat that had been forcibly picked up but was too lazy to struggle, choosing instead to just let it happen.
An expression of utter despair appeared on that face, which still carried baby fat and a youthful innocence, making her look both adorable and hilarious.
"It looks like we'll have to buy new clothes for our little Chiyo-chan." There was an excitement in Hara Kenji's tone that made Kisaragi Chiyo instinctively feel that something was wrong.
On the other side, Matsuda Jinpei offered no comment on this; he simply gave Hara Kenji a light tap on the head, took Kisaragi Chiyo from his hands, silently stuffed a skewer of tri-color dango into her mouth.
*
"This clothing.." Kisaragi Chiyo lifted her sleeves, looking at Hara Kenji with a conflicted expression.
Is it a bit too long?
This time, Yuan Ren chose a V-neck oversized sweater paired with a shirt for Kisaragi Chiyo. The large sweater hung loosely on the youth's slender frame, the long sleeves dangled down, just enough to completely cover his hands.
Is this what people on social media call "moe sleeves"?
Matsuda Jinpei lowered his eyes, resting his chin on one hand, with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"No, no, no, not at all." Hara Kenji shook his finger. He leaned down and reached out to adjust the position of the eye mask on Kisaragi Chiyo's face.
Nowadays, Kisaragi Chiyo looked to be about ten years old. Her originally rounded eyes had become somewhat narrower and longer, one could already see the shadow of her future self in the young girl.
"As expected.." Yuan Ren held back for a moment, but ultimately he couldn't resist. He cupped Kisaragi Chiyo's cheeks in both hands and rubbed them with a bit of force.
"Chiyo-chan, you are truly too cute!" The Evil Spirit's tone rose, its dark purple eyes narrowed with pleasure.