WHEN I returned from seeing off Shizuku, I still felt abnormally refreshed.
After absorbing Shizuku’s spiritual energy, I’d feared that Shinozaki would have to siphon mine again. Yet to my surprise, I could just go home.
“Don’t worry,” he’d said. “You haven’t accumulated much spiritual energy since your first day in the office. It’s strong, sure, but you’re a complete amateur. Someone of your caliber couldn’t absorb that much energy with one halfhearted little kiss.”
I furrowed my brow. “Oh, is that how it works?”
“What’s this?” he asked with a sly smile. “Did you want me to kiss you?”
“I’m heading out now! Good work today!”
I punched my timecard at the speed of sound and sprinted to Imaizumi until I was out of breath. By the time I reached the underground mall, I was puffing for air.
“I-It’s not like that,” I muttered. “I definitely didn’t want him to kiss me or anything…”
Shaking off my bewilderment, I visited the drug and hundred-yen stores to pick up some necessities.
When I climbed the stairs to the surface again, a purple night sky floated overhead. Below, the streets teemed with people on their way home or heading to bars. I could already spot students preparing for a fun night in Kego Park.
In the past, crowds always nauseated me. I couldn’t have known that my spiritual energy had been influencing that dislike; my intuition had been too sharp in more ways than one: ever since Shinozaki had absorbed my spiritual energy, they hadn’t fazed me.
“I had to push myself way too hard, huh?” I murmured.
Waiting for the crosswalk light to change, I checked what seemed like every post and comment on social media. To my great relief, no strange stories concerning the incident in front of Tenjin Station were circulating.
“Breaking News: Bizarre Spectacle in Broad Daylight! Mysterious, Black-Haired Beauty Turns Crowd of Men into Zombies!”
If that had made the headlines, it would have caused an enormous amount of trouble for ayakashi in Fukuoka Tenjin.
“Oh—looks like there was a sudden downpour around noon.” Instead, I found reports of a large shower sweeping through Tenjin. The sidewalk was still damp, I noticed.
Rain. And a commotion that humans conveniently forgot.
“Could this be Shinozaki’s doing?” I mumbled.
“Mrrrow,” came a soft meow from behind me.
Jolting, I dropped my phone, and Yoru caught it before it hit the ground. Though he wore a suit that seemed a bit stifling for the beginning of summer, he appeared entirely unruffled.
“Whoa, you startled me… Are you heading home too? Good work today.”
Instead of answering, Yoru glanced at the sky and sniffed the air. “The rain stinks of fox,” he said. “I think President Shinozaki caused it.”
“You can tell? That’s amazing.”
“Hard to miss his stench. It reeks.”
“Are you two at odds with each other, by chance?” I asked.
“Not particularly.”
Shinozaki had mentioned something about his abilities during my onboarding. Apparently, he could manipulate the memories of people within a fixed radius by triggering an abrupt rainstorm.
In Japanese, sun showers were called “a fox’s wedding.” According to Shinozaki, kitsune often caused unexpected bursts of rain.
“So,” I said, “that’s why no one’s written about the incident on social media.”
The crosswalk signal turned green. Side by side, Yoru and I headed toward the station, leaving the tumult of the city behind us.
Yoru was an attractive man. Unlike Shinozaki, however, he didn’t command attention. Few people noticed him despite his slender frame and classically handsome Japanese face. He was neither too tall nor too short. Overall, he possessed an understated charm that most wouldn’t recognize at a glance. Those who did notice him, though, stared at him in disbelief, doing double, triple, or even quadruple takes.
In all likelihood, few people could see the upraised, two-pronged tail protruding from the center vent of his suit. Or the cat ears atop his head, for that matter.
“Checking my reflection has gotten pretty depressing lately,” I grumbled. “Surrounded by all these gorgeous people.”
Silent up to that point, Yoru finally opened his mouth. “Lady Kaede,” he said.
“Hm? What is it?”
His usually impassive expression transformed into a slight grimace as he regarded me. Then—
BLEP!
“Yoru!” I exclaimed as he licked my cheek. “What the heck are you doing?! You’re not a cat right now!”
“But I am a cat,” he replied.
We were starting to draw sporadic glances, so I dragged him into an alleyway. “Listen here, Yoru, you look like an incredibly handsome man right now. You can’t just lick my face in public.”
“But humans are always so happy when I lick them.”
“That’s because you’re an adorable cat! Adult men don’t go around licking people, no matter how gorgeous they are!”
“But…” His tails flicked in irritation. “Your spiritual energy smells like fish.”
“Fish?” I repeated in horror, pressing a hand to my lips. “Oh, is it because I absorbed Shizuku’s spiritual energy?”
Yoru furrowed his brow. “Lady Kaede.”
“Oh, um, yes?”
“You’re absorbing energy from other ayakashi when you already have me as a familiar?”
“No, it was just an emergency,” I reassured him. “I had to do it for work.”
“You smell like fox too.”
“Wha—”
“Outrageous,” he said, leaning in and sniffing me loudly. “President Shinozaki must have marked you without my knowledge.”
I shuddered at the idea of Shinozaki’s kiss and neck bite leaving a scent. “So, um, you can tell? As a fellow ayakashi?”
“Sure can.”
“Yikes.”
“You,” Yoru said, “need to consider your role as my owner more carefully.”
“Um, right. Sorry, I guess?”
He jutted his head obstinately, and with a sigh of resignation, I began to stroke his black hair. His ears flattened, and a low purr rumbled in his throat.
“Can I stop yet?” I asked.
“Just a little longer.”
“Let’s continue this when we get home. Petting a grown man’s head, even in semiprivate, feels…weird. Plus, it’ll feel better when you’re a cat! Right?”
“Sure.” Securing that promise of future scritches, Yoru finally stepped back.
I sighed in relief. I had no problem spoiling him in his cat form. After all, who didn’t love petting a cute little furball? But maintenance of a safe mental distance from thoughts of his human form required significant effort.
“Scritches, huh?” I mumbled, staring at my palm. Was my desire to pet Shinozaki’s tail similar?
No, it feels different somehow.
What was the fluttering in my stomach I felt around Shinozaki?
“Lady Kaede?” questioned Yoru.
“It’s nothing,” I replied. “Let’s go.”
My emotions surrounding Shinozaki and Yoru were different. For instance, I never could have lived with Shinozaki, regardless of whether he transformed into a fox. Yet for some reason, cohabitation with Yoru didn’t bother me. Perhaps because Yoru viewed me as his owner…? Similarly, I thought of him as a cat even when he assumed his human form.
“But in that case…” I muttered.
How do I view Shinozaki? As my boss?
To an extent, yes, but our relationship wasn’t merely one of employer and employee.
As an animal who marked me?
Definitely not. Shinozaki was a kind man in spite of his startling behavior.
As we walked, I reflected on each of my encounters with him, examining my emotions one by one.
The sound of his voice when he saved me from Yoru in Ōhori Park had flooded me with relief. That he saw the drool on my face after I fell asleep embarrassed me. Whenever I looked in the mirror, I remembered his kiss. And motivation surged within me with his every glance at work.
“Oh,” I said, events from earlier that day replaying in my mind. “I’m no different from Shizuku fangirling over Jellysh.”
“Lady Kaede?”
“It’s nothing! Nothing at all! Let’s hurry home and get some dinner, okay?”
“Mrow.”
My favorite, huh?
Satisfaction swelled within me as I found a word that fit.
Yeah, Shinozaki’s my new fave.
His smile brought me joy and pushed me to excel at work. My heart thrilled with excitement whenever I learned something new about him—that having his tail stroked made him weak in the knees, for example, or that he struggled to eat spicy curry.
Everyone needed encouragement to overcome the difficulties of starting a new life. My boss himself had provided that inspiration for me. Could I have been any luckier?
All right! Time to girlboss and support my fave!
🍁🍁🍁