Masamichi wondered if he’d wake up and find himself back to normal.
A fleeting wish like that could never come true, and when he awakened the next day, he found that he was still the (presumably) same five-year-old boy.
It was almost one in the afternoon, and Masamichi was sitting alone in the tea room of his home, Bougyoudou.
Shino had left at a little past ten, saying he had a business meeting.
“I don’t imagine Kagiroi would come and hassle you that often when he should be trying to recover his strength, but I’ve strengthened the barrier around the house just in case. Now, don’t you dare leave the house by yourself,” he had said, and Masamichi had no choice but to nod obediently and say he understood.
Fortunately, there was a wooden step stool that Yoriko, the wife of the previous owner, had used to sit on and watch over Shino as he cooked in her later years. Masamichi had been able to use it to do the dishes after breakfast and run the washing machine. It’d taken a while to wipe and put away the dishes, but thanks to the low kitchen, he managed to get the job done.
The vacuum cleaner was a different story. It’d been too big for him to handle properly, and the same went for the broom and dustpan he usually used to clean the shop’s brick floor.
He wanted to sweep the floor at least, but he needed a break after getting completely exhausted from the work he’d been doing.
I get tired so easily. I wonder if it’s because Kagiroi stole my chi. I ate well and slept soundly next to Shino until this morning, but I suppose I can’t get it back that easily.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Masamichi used a cushion as a pillow and stretched down on the tatami mat.
He consciously relaxed all his muscles and let out a long sigh that was more like that of an old man than a child.
Come to think of it, I used to do this type of thing when I was five.
He closed his eyes and recalled his past.
Normally, five-year-olds would be at an age where they were full of energy and mischief, running around innocently and making adults chase them.
But in Masamichi’s case, he had been prone to illness as a youngster and was often in bed, suffering from asthma attacks or tonsilitis and high temperatures.
Masamichi sighed again, recalling how he would lie in bed listening with a sense of envy and longing to the voices of children playing outside.
“Just because I’ve been turned into a child, it isn’t as if I’ve gone back to being that sick boy,” he mused, suddenly feeling uneasy and putting his hand to his forehead.
It felt cool. He didn’t seem to have a fever.
This is an old, familiar feeling.
When Masamichi was five, his parents and grandparents had all been busy with their work, and he was usually left alone in the Japanese-style room with the tatami mat, where he slept with his parents.
He looked forward to having his mother or grandmother come and check on him now and then. He would pretend to be asleep, loving how they touched his head or his cheeks with tender care.
Not that Shino would ever do something like that if I pretended to be asleep now.
Masamichi missed Shino’s grumpy voice telling him to get up and wanted to hear it in that moment. He gently pressed his hand against his chest through the sweatshirt he’d been wearing since the previous night.
The day before, he had been an adult. But when he thought about Kagiroi kissing him and stealing his chi, his whole body shivered with goose bumps.
That wasn’t very good. Really…awful. I was so scared and disgusted that I wanted to run away, but I couldn’t get any strength into my body. That’s never happened to me before.
Is that what it is like to be controlled by fear? Masamichi wondered about that as he opened his eyes and gently rubbed his arm.
His heart calmed down a bit, and he felt like he could reflect on his interaction with Kagiroi a little more calmly than he had the day before.
I couldn’t speak, and even if I had, I doubt if anyone would have come to help… It was good that I managed to push him away in the end, but I really wanted to make him stop sooner, before his lips touched mine. I mean, after all…I’m Shino’s servant.
Shino was the one to whom he should devote his chi. Yet he had allowed Kagiroi to touch him and even steal his chi. Masamichi felt a strange sense of guilt that surprised him.
The day before, Shino had scrubbed Masamichi’s body clean with a towel during a bath, and the youth had apologized repeatedly, almost in tears.
Although he couldn’t distinguish it himself, Kagiroi’s scent seemed to cling to his body, and Shino could detect it since he was a specter, which Masamichi felt terrible about.
Shino had said he didn’t need to apologize, but his sour face clearly showed he wasn’t happy about it.
Of course he isn’t happy about it. Maybe there was no way for me to stop it from happening, but I ended up giving energy to my master’s enemy.
The next morning, Masamichi continued to think about Shino’s displeasure and felt even sorrier.
It was a bad thing to do. My being Shino’s servant might actually be causing him more trouble than without me. He’s certainly spending more money keeping me with him. He pays for my food, clothing, housing—everything—and even sends me to prep school…
Masamichi buried his smooth cheeks against his duvet. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Shino was losing out by having him as a servant.
The one thing I have is my chi. And even that has been stolen by Kagiroi. Now I have nothing to offer Shino.
“Oh god…”
A sigh of despair escaped from his small lips.
That was when he heard the sound of the shop door being unlocked.
He’s back!
Despite all his woes, the thought that Shino had come home filled Masamichi with energy, and he jumped up in his little body.
“Shino! Welcome home!”
He’d been so looking forward to having his master return home that he called out as the door started to open—without confirming that it was Shino.
In place of a response, the iron tongs attached to the door rang out with a tinkling sound.
He wanted to run out to the shop entrance and welcome him home, but the gap between the tea room and the shop floor, which was usually easy to handle, was too steep for him in his present state.
A child with good reflexes would have probably jumped down. But Masamichi was aware of how clumsy he was and avoided such an adventure. Instead, he tried to go around the lower steps near the cash register.
Then he came to a halt with a small yelp.
It was indeed Shino who had walked in, but he wasn’t alone.
A man in a plain-looking suit appeared behind him.
He looked to be in his late forties or early fifties.
Does he work for some company? He looks like the type of person you’d expect to see at a bank or some old establishment.
That was Masamichi’s first impression of the man.
Although Masamichi was a mere human, he could immediately sense that the man wasn’t a bad person.
After working part-time at that izakaya bar, he had developed an ability to tell if a customer was a good person or someone to watch out for.
And the man who had just walked in with Shino was clearly the former.
He wore a well-made suit—one that was of good quality but not so over-the-top that it would overwhelm the other person. He had on a white shirt that gave you a sense of cleanliness, a tie with strips in nice and fashionable colors, and shoes that were well polished but looked like they’d been worn a lot.
His appearance spoke of someone honest and steady.
He was of medium build, with short, neatly parted hair that was a little on the thick side, and about half of it had turned gray.
The most striking feature was his general appearance. He was so ordinary that his plainness in itself made an impression on you, but at the same time, the extent of how average he looked failed to make an impression on others.
He was just ordinary.
He was the kind of person you’d find at a straitlaced workplace. He was simple-looking and seemed easy to get along with.
That might be the best way to describe the man.
Behind his casual, half-rim glasses, his eyes were probably always friendly.
The wrinkles around his eyes and mouth softened his smile, but the lack of obvious characteristics in his facial features made that smile something that didn’t leave a lasting impression on the beholder.
He was someone who gave you so little sense of how unique he might be that it was surprising.
He does look like a nice guy, but…
Still, he was walking into Bougyoudou, an unusual shop, with Shino.
Maybe he was a good person, but that didn’t mean he was completely normal.
A little wary and with a somewhat unsteady gait, Masamichi walked down the three-step staircase, which he didn’t usually use, and proceeded down the aisle toward them.
The only good thing about becoming small was that there was a little more room in the narrow aisle, which was barely wide enough for one adult to pass through, and that he could move at a quick pace.
“A spectacular sight as always,” the man remarked as he looked at the piles of vessels that filled the store. “Mr. Tatsumi, I can only say you’re amazing for grouping these artifact spirits with their various traits so they are all comfortable.”
He then fixed his gaze on Masamichi. “I’m humbled to have you receive me, Mr. Masamichi Adachi. How do you do?”
It was a polite greeting that Masamichi wouldn’t have expected as a small child, and he quickly bowed to the man.
“Welcome, sir.”
Was it right to welcome him? Shino said he was having a business meeting, so this person must be a customer, right? But he knows who I am.
He raised his head to see Shino’s reaction, but that didn’t help since he was still frowning as usual. Masamichi then noticed that Shino and the man were both carrying large paper bags.
A business meeting…or maybe they went shopping together.
Shino then lifted his paper bag like it weighed nothing and said, “Hurry up and get back to the tea room. And get changed.”
“Get changed? But I don’t have anything to change into.”
“I’ve bought you clothes.”
“There were some cute findings,” the man added with a smile.