Chapter 8.5: A Perfect Evening

The evening rays of the sun cascaded through the window of the living room. We had just arrived home from Hina's first day back at school since she collapsed. Hina, who is currently sitting on my lap, looked up at me with a warm and dazzling smile.

"Did you have fun today, Eri?" she asked, her ears twitching happily, tickling my cheek.

"It was certainly eventful, but I had a lot of fun," I answered with a smile, seeing Hina in such a happy mood.

"Hehe. I'm glad, I always want us to have fun together." Hina giggled, before turning to face me. I felt like I was getting a sense of déjà vu from the night of the full moon, however, another full moon should still be a few weeks away.

"Hina, you are being affectionate today, did something happen?" I asked with a slightly worried look. Hina just tilted her head in puzzlement and then looked at me as if I was being silly.

"A lot happened, you know. I made new friends, who I get to spend the day with tomorrow. I enjoyed school for the first time, and I got to spend the day getting embarrassed, laughing, and having fun with the love of my life. I am very happy right now, and you're a big reason why, you know." Hina answered, rubbing her cheek against my own, purring gently.

Hearing her words made me blush in embarrassment. "Tha..thank you, Hina. I feel the same way about you." I answered while rubbing her ears, causing her to lay her head on my chest.

"Hehe, embarrassed Eri is so cute. Eri, I know I get shy and easily embarrassed at school sometimes, even getting mad at times." Hina giggled to herself before continuing, her face becoming slightly red, "But when we are at home, I want to bravely show my affection and receive it in return."

I was left speechless by her beauty. I couldn't come up with a response. She then asked with her big silver-white eyes looking directly at mine, my reflection appearing on the surface as if I was the only thing she could see in this moment. "Is that no good?"

In that moment, I knew I didn't need to respond with words, but with my actions instead. I hugged Hina in a tight and warm embrace before giving her a gentle kiss, making the world feel as if time was moving in slow motion.

As we separated, we stared into each other's eyes, having a silent conversation that only the two of us could understand.

"I love you, Eri." Hina purred, wrapping her tails around my arm.

"I love you too, Hina, forever and always." I answered, my breath escaping me as I relished in this moment. I want to do something for her.

"Hina, would you like for me to brush your ears and tails?" I asked with a loving smile.

Hina's tails let go of my arm and began swaying excitedly. "Mmmh, it feels amazing when you brush them," she answered, giggling happily.

As I got up to grab the brush, Hina looked up at me as if wanting to ask something.

"Can I look at your smartphone when you brush my fur? I've never really seen one, so I was hoping you could explain how they work to me before we go and buy mine tomorrow." Hina asked, her ears twitching excitedly.

"Of course, you can, though I don't really know much about them myself. I have only really used it to text Sakura and Sayori and take pictures." I answered while laughing.

After I grabbed the brush and sat back down, Hina immediately sat back down on my lap sideways, so I could brush her tails. I then handed her my phone, completely forgetting the screen lock.

Hina's ears were twitching happily when she saw my phone, which had a cat cover on it with the ears sticking out at the top.

"That makes phones like these, it's so cute, do they have fox ones?" Hina asked excitedly.

Puzzled by her question for a moment, before realizing she was talking about the cover. I laughed and answered, "That is the phone cover; we will see if they have a fox one tomorrow."

"Oh." Hina replied, her face blushing from her embarrassment from asking such a question.

I started brushing one of her tails gently, causing her to purr even more than earlier. While I was doing such, Hina turned the phone on, immediately becoming confused once again. She looked at it in puzzlement, tilting her head; it seemed that question marks were going to pop up at any minute.

"Eri, what is this pin thing it is asking for?" Hina asked looking at me for help.

I couldn't help but laugh; her cuteness was on full display after all.

"Don't laugh..." Hina pouted but still looking at me for help.

"That is the pin to unlock the phone; it is a password so others can't get into your phone without permission. Can you guess what my password is?" I ask after patting her head in apology for laughing.

"My birthday?" She asked, looking like she felt confident in her answer.

Surprised at how she got it right, I asked, "How did you know?"

"Well, because if it was my phone, I would use your birthday as my password. So I thought you might do the same." Hina answered proudly, before unlocking the phone.

I continued brushing her second tail when I heard her squeal "Nyaaa!" worried I might have brushed her tail too hard, I looked at her.

"What is this picture, Eri?" Hina asked with a bright red face, showing me my phone's home screen. My background was a picture of Hina happily eating cookies, with crumbs on her cheeks, looking like a cute chipmunk eating.

"I wanted a picture of Hina being so cute as my background; I took one of you the other day." I answered honestly.

Hina's face became even brighter; she yelled "Eri, you baka!", needless to say, I got chomped. She then told me that she was going to get a picture of me embarrassed and make it her background on her phone. She asked me questions about the app store and the Line messaging app that I use to talk to Sakura and Sayuri.

"Eri, what are these faces that you can send? They look funny and cute." She giggled looking at the different faces.

"Those are emojis; they are used to show what you are doing or feeling." I answered while brushing her third tail.

"So what do the ones that look like chocolate yogurt and the purple eggplant mean? Nyaah, are they used when you are shopping?" Hina asked with a proud smile, thinking she got it right.

'Hina, you are too innocent.' I thought to myself. "Yeah, that's what they mean, but nobody uses them." I answered with a white lie; I didn't have the heart to tell her.

I finished brushing her tails, which gave me a grateful and purring hug in response. I decided it was time to put the phone away before Hina found something else that might cause misunderstandings again. She looked at me slightly disappointed.

"I will teach you more about phones when you get yours tomorrow, I promise." I tell her, patting her head as she purred gently, nuzzling on my chest.

"I can't wait for tomorrow." Hina said gently, still in a relaxed state from me rubbing her ears.

"I can't wait either." I reply before asking with warm eyes, "Hina, will you sing for me? I want to hear your beautiful voice."

Hina blushed slightly before singing a beautiful melody about a fox-spirit singing for her lover who she misses dearly during a full moon.

(Chorus)

Beneath the full moon's gentle glow,

My love does grow,

With fur of purest white,

Longing for you in the still of night.

My coat, Pure as snow, a tranquil escape,

In moonlit dreams, we'll reunite,

Under the stars, our love will ignite.

In this realm where love's the lore,

Oh, my dearest, don't be late,

In the moon's embrace, we'll seal our fate.

While Hina sang such a loving song, Seba and the rest of the staff came to listen to her concert. Her voice entranced everyone, her words bringing us to tears. With that, the end came to a perfect evening.