Chapter XXXIII.

'Ah! My chin! My chin! Neko-chan, it hurts!' I squalled, while I desperately tried to pull the cat's head away by the back of its neck, but it refused to let go.

I had been able to notice, not without a scratch, that Neko-chan had a very strange way of showing its affection. It would reach up with its two paws for the person's face or neck to bit the latter at the chin, and it wouldn't let go easily!

'Itai!' I moaned, when it finally released my flesh from in-between its teeth, and setting the small ball of fur down on the floor from my lap, I sniffled. 

'Oi! I'm hungry!' Gōjun told me, abruptly, and I looked at him, where he was sitting a small distance away, at the table, reading one of Katsura-san's novel.

It was past noon, and I had to admit that I was starting to feel hungry too.

'Let's go and see what there is in the kitchen!' I said, smilingly, and getting to our feet, we made our way together for it.

When I opened the refrigerator, I saw that there was a packet of chicken sausages. But, apart from that, and a bottle of water, the refrigerator was completely empty. And when, I looked into the freezer, it was to see that it was filled with several other packets of sausages, together with tons and tons of ice-creams of different flavors, but nothing else.

'I fear that apart from sausages and instant noodles, she eats nothing else!' Gōjun asserted. 

Eh?! I cringed, and immediately, I turned around to look at him where he was standing behind me. He had opened two of the doors of the cabinet on the wall, and they were both filled with only instant noodles and cat food.

'And apart from tea and milkshakes, I don't think she drinks anything else!'

My expression turned even more awkward.

In effect, Katsura-san's kitchen contained only ingredients to prepare these.

Can a person actually live only on instant noodles and sausages? And drink only tea and milkshakes every day?

Gōjun and I looked at each other's face.

A short while later, we were both sitting in the living room again, and I was preparing to pour boiled water into our instant noodles when, Katsura-san returned by that moment.

'I'm sorry that I had to abandon you for a while!' she apologized to us once again, and I told her that it was okay, with a smile.

Taking a glance at her four little companions who were cleaning their paws, then, she gave me a grateful look and thanked me for having fed them. She had sent me a text message earlier to inform me that it would take her a little longer to be back.

'Oh, it was a pleasure!' I declared, cheerfully, before I inquired, 'But, have you taken lunch yet?'

'No, I'm dying with hunger!' she replied, in a moan, as she approached us at the table, holding her belly with her hand. A smile came to her lips, however, when she looked at the bowls of instant noodles in front of us, and she exclaimed, 'Oh, I simply love instant noodles, you know! And I hope that you like it too!' Giving us an intrigued look, then, she asked, 'But say, why are you eating it plain?'

'Plain?' I repeated, bewildered. 

'Have you never eaten sausages with instant noodles before?' she asked, seeming puzzled, before she put her forefinger up at us, to tell us, cheerily, 'You absolutely need to try it! It makes the noodles all the more succulent!' 

Asking me not to pour the boiled water into our noodles yet, she disappeared into the kitchen to rummage something, only to return after two minutes with a bowl of sausages that she had sliced and fried, as well as a bowl of instant noodles for herself.

'Now, you can eat!' she declared, after our noodles had cooked in the boiled water and we had placed a few slices of the fried chicken sausages on them. 

In effect, I had never eaten sausages with noodles before, and apparently, Gōjun was in the same case.

With my chopsticks, I picked up some noodles and a slice of sausage to bring it to my mouth to try it. 

My eyes widened in elation. 

'It's really very succulent!' I exclaimed, and looked at Gōjun's face, instantly. The latter seemed to like it just as well!

'I'm so happy!' Katsura-san told us, happily, and she started to eat too. 

When we had finished, we were all holding our belly with our hands, feeling completely full.

But then, suddenly, I saw Gōjun stiffen as he leaned backward to keep himself propped up with his arms. The latter had rested his palm on something and seemed to be hesitating to look down to see what it was. I had to admit that I had the same hesitation after the episode with the Yaoi manga. However, slowly, he looked down and I saw his eyes widened. 

I almost cringed, expecting it to be another Yaoi manga, but unexpectedly, he exclaimed, in a loud gasp, 'Is this the latest season of "Extreme West"?!' 

Extreme West?!

I looked at the object that he was holding in his hand. 

It was a DVD box.

I had heard this name before. It was the name of an ongoing manga that has been adapted into an anime series. Apparently, the anime has been on hiatus for a little more than two years now. 

Does he like this anime?

He stared at the box breathlessly for a minute, before he looked up at Katsura-san to tell her, with astonishment, 'I didn't know that the fifth season has come out yet!'

'It has come out only recently and is not yet available on the market!' she informed him, with a small chuckle.

Eh?! I cringed. Does it mean that she has obtained it from the black market?!

'Do you want to watch it?' she asked him, in another chuckle, and taking the DVD out of the box, she made for the television set to switch it on and put the disk in the DVD player. Grabbing the remote control, then, she brought it to him, telling kindly that he only had to press on the button "play" when he wanted to start watching it.

'Oh, by the way, Hime,' she said, turning to me, 'There's something that I wanted to talk to you about.'

'Yes, what is it?' I asked, intrigued.

'Well, during the whole week, I haven't stopped thinking about ways to attract more devotees at the shrine, and I think I've come up with a great idea! I was thinking that we could organize a funfair on the grounds of the shrine and invite the whole population of Kokubunji to attend it, perhaps by distributing leaflets around the city and putting a post on the internet! What do you think?'

I held my breath, mesmerized by the idea.

'I think that it's a fantastic idea!' I told her, merrily. It would attract many people at the shrine and many would surely want to visit it again! It would prevent the shrine from remaining in its state of near-abandon!

'Really?!' she asked, excitedly. 'I think that this Saturday would be perfect! And I was also thinking that we could organize a Kagura dance! I'm sure that this would attract people even more!'

'A kagura dance?' I was more than captivated. 'Oh, Katsura-san, that's an excellent idea!'

I love Kagura dances!

'But, would you accept to dance in that case?' she asked me, then, in a small, nervous giggle.

'Eh?! You-You want me to-to dance?!' 

I had backed away by several feet by now to stare at her face, frantically. 

'But- But, I can't! I'm going to humiliate myself!'

'You should do it!' Gōjun stated, out of the blue, and I looked at his face, in puzzlement.

'You hold on a lot to the fate of that shrine, don't you?!' he asserted. 'And so, you should do it!'

'Y-Yes, but-'

I stared at the ground, completely traumatized at the idea of dancing. 

There will be people at the shrine, watching me! And with my two left feet…

Closing the distance between us, Katsura-san took hold of my hands in both of hers, to tell me, with a pleading look, 'Hime, please! You have to do it! I don't know anyone else! And if you're too scared, you could perhaps ask a friend to dance with you!'

A friend?

'W-Well, I could ask Natsui...' I pondered, and Katsura-san clapped her hands once, happily, to exclaim, 'Should I take that for a yes? I'll take that for a yes!'

'Eh?' I cringed. I-I didn't…

She gave me another pleading look, making my heart stir, and hanging my head, I gave in, with a small moan, 'Alright!'

'Yippee!' she cried, victoriously, and grabbing my hands again, she took me to her laptop to pick it up, informing me, 'I've already downloaded a choreography! It's a non-storytelling one and is absolutely beautiful! Let's go outside! I'm going to show it to you! And maybe, I could help you to practice a little! I'll send you the video later so you can practice at home!'

And on these words, she had stood up and pulled me to my feet to drag me towards the door, while on his side, Gōjun gave me a satisfied look, before he turned his gaze towards the television screen to start watching his anime.

Katsura-san and I came downstairs into the yard, and finding ourselves a shaded area, we studied the steps carefully together, and she helped me to practice by ensuring that I was doing the steps properly, and by pointing it out to me whenever I missed a step. 

I was still as scared as the first time she had mentioned dancing, but I really wanted to give it my best for the sake of helping the situation at the shrine. Katsura-san informed me that she was going to take care of everything else - the music and the organization of the funfair- and that I should simply concentrate on my performance.

When we returned upstairs after several hours, Gōjun had just finished watching his anime, and we all took an ice-cream together. 

It was really very enjoyable. 

Each one of us tried a different flavor. Katsura-san chose the strawberry-vanilla flavor, while I chose the peach-vanilla flavor, and Gōjun, pure chocolate. 

And soon, the sky had gone to orange; the sun goddess Amaterasu preparing to take leave to allow her brother sovereignty over the sky. 

***

Gōjun Shoran was watching the dark-haired girl play with Katsura Hiō's four little companions when, he was approached by the brown-haired woman. 

The latter came to stand beside him where he was sitting at the table, and immediately, he looked up at her to see her take a glance towards the dark-haired girl, before she closed her eyes at him to give him a cheery smile.

The young man realized on the spot that the woman had been watching him observe the said-girl for a while, and feeling a bit embarrassed, he averted his eyes.

'Here!' the woman declared, out of the blue, holding out to him the paper manuscript she had in her possession, and Gōjun's eyes returned on her, to give her an intrigued look. 

'You're a fan of the whodunit genre, aren't you?' she told him, and his breath caught. 

Is this her most recent novel? he asked himself.

It had gone to submission only today and, therefore, this would mean that he'd be the first person to read it, other than her publisher! 

She was doing him a great honor!

'I would really like to have your opinion about it!' she murmured, nervously. 'That is, if you will please accept to read it!' 

'I surely will!' he replied, promptly, and accepted the manuscript with both hands in due respect. He had read one of her novels earlier and had found that she was really good at writing.

'Really?!' she said, joyfully. 'Oh, thank you so much!'

'Wah! Niou-chan has scratched me again!' they heard the dark-haired girl cried at that moment, and they both took a glance at her, before they looked at each other again to chuckle. 

The woman, then, moved to join the girl, to chide her oldest companion, 'Oi, Niou-chan! That's really not done! Look, Hime is crying!'

***

A short while later...

'You really love cats, don't you?' Gōjun asked me, as he looked at me to take in the several scratches I had on my hands and face.

We had said goodbye to Katsura-san by now and were walking along a street of the city. It was the matter of only a few minutes now before the sun would go completely down the horizon.

'Yes! A lot!' I replied, squirming a little. I was extremely fond of cats and didn't mind a few scratches.

'Well, the least that could be said is that your friend is quite weird!' he stated, as he looked back ahead of himself again.

'I guess that she is!' I admitted, scratching my cheek and giggling at the floor.

'But, she's cool!' he asserted, and my eyes returned on him to see him hold up at me the manuscript she has given him.

I smiled, and nodded in acknowledgement.

'By the way, did you ask her the name of the young man that she knew in high school?'

At this, I jerked to a stop, my expression turning awkward.

He came to a halt too and turned around to look at me, his eyes tightening.

'Don't tell me that-'

He didn't complete his question; the answer was written all over my face.

'You're really way too distracted!' he muttered at me, and lifting his hand up to my face, he flicked me on my forehead.

I rubbed my skin with both hands, sniffling.

How could I forget something so important? On top of that, it was not something that I could ask Katsura-san on the phone! I'd have to wait until I meet her again to ask her about it now!

Oh, I'm so lame!

Shaking his head at me, Gōjun started to walk again, and I stared after him, something occurring to me at that moment.

I was surprised that he had been thinking about it to mention it. 

Could it be that I am not the only person who is interested in Katsura-san's love story? 

Could it be that he, too, secretly wishes for a different conclusion to it? 

And, therefore, could it be that Gōjun Shoran actually believes in true love, but he simply refuses to admit it to himself because he's… scared?

'Oi, what are you doing?' he demanded at me, grouchily, as he paused down a small distance away, to look at me where I was standing in the middle of the street. 'Are you coming or not?'

'Hai!' I replied, very quickly, and ran to catch up with him. 

As we continued to walk side by side in the twilight, I couldn't help but watch him from the corner of my eye, pondering over these questions.

***

Meanwhile... 

'Tadaima!' Yūsei Nishoji called, awkwardly, as he entered the genkan of the house, and taking his shoes off, he headed for the dining room to find Naoyasu Hanabusa to greet him properly, even if, with a certain reluctance. Ever since the events with Sōken, he had been trying to limit any dialogue with the red-haired male.

As the teenaged young man slid the door of the room open, suddenly, he froze into place, having a powerful impression of déjà-vu. 

The red-haired man was not alone in the dining room. 

Sōken Nishoji was sitting with him at the table, both males smoking a cigarette.

At the sight of the latter, all the emotions that the blond teenager had felt the first time he had seen him in this room, returned and overwhelmed him with as much power.

'Please, excuse me!' he managed to breathe out, and swinging around, he ran upstairs to his room to close himself there, his emotions in turmoil.

Sōken Nishoji… He had not expected to see him again so soon. But he guessed that this was going to happen very frequently now and he couldn't escape it.

On their side, downstairs, Naoyasu Hanabusa and Sōken Nishoji stared at each other's face for a whole minute after the blond teenager was gone, their feelings agitated. They would then lower their eyes onto the table to extinguish their cigarettes in the ash tray, none of the two daring to say a single word. 

Thank you for reading!