Ch.58Chapter 9. It Was Summer. (5)

When I opened my eyes in the morning, my first thought was that I couldn’t keep living like this.

Setting aside all this talk about running away, wasn’t it incredibly inconsiderate to just crash at a friend’s place indefinitely?

Especially for such a ridiculous reason as being scared of something.

Let me think about this again.

It’s just a severed nose, right? Even though it looked vaguely human-shaped, I’ve already sliced things like that with a knife myself.

Cutting off a nose should be nothing.

It’s just… you know.

It’s just really gross seeing a human body part that large…”

“…”

But thinking about it again, maybe that’s not even the real issue.

I mean… think about it.

It could be crawling around next to me while I’m sleeping.

The reason people fear cockroaches isn’t because they’re afraid cockroaches will eat their flesh and kill them. It’s because they’re afraid those disgusting things might crawl up their bodies and into their mouths.

If I truly believed it had no intention of living with humans, wouldn’t steal my food, and would run far away where I’d never see it again, I might be able to tolerate it. After all, we swim in seawater even though it’s full of invisible tiny bugs, right?

“Would you like me to perform an exorcism?” Yuka asked with a smile.

I had woken up early.

Even though I wasn’t going to school anymore, habits formed over a semester don’t change easily. Sometimes I’d wake up a few minutes before my alarm was set to go off, which left me feeling both annoyed and amazed.

Still, this life was much more relaxed than my life before I woke up here.

Yuka made this suggestion with an expression that showed she didn’t think there would be any real danger.

That makes sense. To Yuka, ghosts were much safer opponents than yokai. Of course, if there were yokai that fed on ghosts, that would be a serious problem.

“…No, it’s fine.”

It wasn’t even a ghost to begin with.

Perhaps what Yuka sensed wasn’t a ghost or spirit, but rather numerous living somethings beyond the door.

“If you’re really scared, getting a pet might help,” Yuka suggested.

I blinked a few times at her words.

“A pet?”

“Yeah. Like a cat or dog. Surprisingly, ghosts are often afraid of animals. People who live alone might get possessed, but people with cats or dogs rarely do, right?”

“…”

In my previous life, I probably would have argued that “possession” was a symptom of mental illness, and that people with pets experienced it less because pets provided emotional stability.

The most difficult cases I encountered after receiving reports were elderly people who trusted only their own beliefs but not hospitals, or parents who believed in pseudoscience. It was frustrating when someone would clearly die if left alone, but the person who reported them insisted on hospitalization while the subject refused.

In fact, while pets can help with mental illness, there are also cases where mental illness causes people to pathologically collect pets, so I can’t say it’s 100% effective.

“Ah… sorry about that.”

Seeing that I wasn’t responding, Yuka’s face slowly turned pale.

Maybe she thought I couldn’t afford to keep a pet?

…It’s true that keeping a pet requires visits to the vet for vaccinations and sometimes surgery, so I couldn’t casually say I’d get one. Animal hospitals are famously expensive.

And cats and dogs themselves are quite expensive. Unless you specifically look for someone giving them away for free, you have to pay quite a bit. And if it’s a purebred cat or dog, the price isn’t something you can easily afford.

“No, it’s fine. That was actually helpful.”

I quickly reassured Yuka.

Well, at least I didn’t need to worry about the cost of the cat itself.

I already knew of one.

*

For now, I stayed at Yuka’s until Sunday.

Fortunately, Yuka seemed a bit disappointed to see me leave after breakfast to go to work, and thanks to that, I was able to subtly take advantage of her hospitality and return to her place right after work on Sunday evening.

Monday was my day off, so Yuka and I had quite a good time together. We chatted late into the night and watched movies on the TV in Yuka’s room.

As is always the case when you’re with a close friend, time passed quickly even though we didn’t do anything special.

Still, to maintain at least a minimum level of decency, I brought various snacks when I went to Yuka’s on Sunday. Yuka was happy about that. That’s all that matters, right?

I’ll make sure to repay the debt later. Though I’m not sure how yet.

So on Monday, after leaving Yuka’s house, I headed straight to Minato Ward.

And I found a nearby pet shop and bought a carrier cage.

I thought it would be a hassle to carry everything at once, so I planned to first bring Kuro home and then buy and move all the supplies within the day.

“Kuro!”

When I called the name and opened a can of tuna, Kuro appeared at the sound.

Slowly approaching me from a distance,

“Meow?”

When I crouched down in front of Kuro with the cage, Kuro looked up at me with an obviously wary expression.

Had there been humans who tried to catch it before?

Well, I don’t think there would be that many people deliberately trying to rescue a stray cat, unlike a stray dog.

I mean… of course there are people who post videos on YouTube of rescuing cats, washing them clean, and caring for them, but in animal entertainment programs, the rescue subjects are usually dogs.

Stray cats seem to be considered already part of the urban natural ecosystem.

Well, dogs can bite people if they become feral, but cats generally avoid people.

…Like that nose.

Objectively thinking, it might be better to rescue a dog.

When I fought with Loneliness in the form of a dog last time, I felt an almost instinctive fear. Since it’s a child of the same being, it might fear dogs more than cats.

However, there were two obstacles to keeping a dog: first, I would have to go looking for a dog to adopt, and second, I’m afraid of dogs myself.

Maybe I’d get used to it if we lived together, but dogs require a lot of care. They need walks. And they crave human affection much more strongly than cats.

Anyway, for various reasons, it would be problematic for me to keep one right now.

I took out the can of tuna I had brought, put it on a plate, and placed it deep inside the cage.

Then I stared at Kuro.

Kuro stared back at me.

“…”

“…”

Maybe it realized I was trying to take it with me?

What should I do? Should I just grab it and put it in?

While I was contemplating this, Kuro started to move.

With an expression that seemed to have given up on something, it sauntered into the cage and began eating the tuna on the plate with smacking sounds.

…I feel somewhat disrespected, but what can I do?

I guess this means it’s accepted the situation?

I slowly stood up and walked carefully. Thinking about it now, putting a concave plate inside the cage wasn’t a very good idea. I should have bought a food bowl too.

Being as careful as possible not to shake the cage, I headed back to the station.

Kuro was surprisingly quiet in the cage. Could it possibly know that I was taking it home?

I hope it will behave well at home too.

…No, actually, it might be better if it runs wild. That way, that crawling nostril might at least be scared of it.

*

Upon arriving home, as I was carefully opening the door, I suddenly remembered something and deliberately slammed the door open loudly.

That’s right.

Last time, I moved too quietly, and that nose noticed me too late.

If I give it time to escape first, maybe we won’t have to encounter each other at all?

“Hiss!”

Of course, Kuro in the cage didn’t appreciate this.

It must have been sleeping after finishing the tuna inside, because Kuro, visible through the cage entrance, had its back fur raised.

“Sorry.”

I apologized and slowly entered the house, closing the door.

“…”

Then I carefully surveyed the room. Peeking into the room through the open door, there were no signs of anything having entered. Naturally, I didn’t encounter any giant nostrils or eyes stuck to the wall.

Well, it doesn’t have eyes, but in a way, those nostrils look like eyes.

I carefully set down the cage.

When I slowly opened the door, Kuro crawled out.

Perhaps tense about facing a new place, it lowered its upper body slightly and looked around.

But soon, just like when I first saw this cat, it quickly realized there was no particular threat in this room and promptly jumped onto the futon I had laid out.

Then it curled up and lay down.

“…”

Isn’t that a bit too comfortable?

I scratched my head and then stood up again.

“Meow?”

Looking at Kuro who was looking up at me, I shrugged my shoulders.

“I’ll be back soon.”

Kuro lowered its head again without any particular response.

It must really like that spot.

I backed out of the room cautiously.

…But what should I buy first?

Well, I’ll just ask the store clerk. If anything is missing, I can always buy it tomorrow.

*

After buying various things and struggling to bring them to the room, it was around 4 PM.

And I hadn’t even bought everything yet. I realized later that I hadn’t bought a cat tower.

After going to the vet to check for parasites, being shocked by the bill, paying with trembling hands, returning home, and setting up various things, it was well past 6 PM.

I was extremely tired. I had eaten a hearty breakfast at Yuka’s, so I wasn’t that hungry, but I didn’t want to make the news for starving to death in my sleep, so I filled Kuro’s food and water bowls with cat food and water, and made myself a cup of instant ramen.

I had spent quite a bit. Today was probably the day I spent the most money since coming here, except for when I bought my school uniform.

Then I grabbed Kuro and dragged it into the bathroom.

I scrubbed Kuro thoroughly with cat shampoo. Even though the vet said it didn’t seem to have parasites, it’s better to be free of germs if it’s going to be roaming around the room.

It scratched my arms several times, but I didn’t mind. These kinds of wounds would disappear completely in a few hours anyway.

After drying its fur with a hairdryer and letting it go, Kuro ran to the corner of the room, clearly annoyed, and hissed at me.

“Sigh…”

I decided to ignore that. I was too exhausted for a battle of wills.

I turned on the fan, got under the blanket, and lay on my side.

I thought I’d watch some TV before sleeping.

I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while anyway. I’d be trembling if I heard that snoring nose sound again.

While pretending to be relaxed but actually being tense, I felt something against my stomach.

Looking down, I saw Kuro burrowing between the blankets.

“…Won’t you suffocate if you go in there?”

I asked, but of course Kuro wouldn’t answer.

I lifted the blanket.

Kuro was curled up and lying in front of my stomach.

“…”

I stared at it quietly for a while.

…This helps.

Somehow, it was a little less scary knowing I wasn’t alone in the room.

Plus, this one was going to stay here from now on.

I reached out and gently stroked Kuro’s fur. The warm, soft feeling characteristic of cats made me feel much more at ease.

“You have to tell me if anything happens, okay?”

I said that, but Kuro didn’t answer, perhaps having fallen asleep.

Well, still.

I think I’ll be able to sleep properly tonight.

*

…Or so I thought.

“Hiss!”

My eyes flew open at the sound of Kuro hissing.

“Kuro?”

I asked, but Kuro’s eyes were fixed on the ceiling.

The light coming in from the window was reflected in Kuro’s eyes, making them shine brightly.

There was no sniffing sound, but Kuro must have heard the sound of that nose wriggling and moving.

I looked at the ceiling and then back at Kuro.

Kuro’s face moved slowly, as if following something moving above.

I hope it’s not seeing a ghost.

…

I jumped out of bed and turned on the light.

Then I looked up at the ceiling carefully.

Last time, that nose was wriggling, and with a flexibility unimaginable from its appearance, it disappeared into the gap between the ceiling and the roof.

What about my room?

Perhaps because it wasn’t a room at the edge of the roof, I couldn’t find any gaps in the ceiling. Actually, the gap in the man’s room wasn’t that big either, but in my room, I couldn’t even see that much of a gap. I couldn’t check properly because I couldn’t reach it, though.

I headed to the kitchen.

And I took out the sashimi knife I had bought earlier. I also grabbed the flashlight I had bought based on the lesson learned from chasing Kudan.

Actually, I didn’t buy the sashimi knife for cooking. I mean, what kind of cooking would I do with this? I’m not going to slice sashimi.

I just thought that slitting my wrists with a sharp knife might hurt less.

Saying it like that makes me sound like I really want to commit suicide. I should pretend to be slicing sashimi in front of Yuka. Otherwise, she’ll be extremely worried.

Hiding the knife behind my back, I opened the front door and peeked outside.

I looked left and right, but there was no one in the corridor. Of course not. It was now 2 AM.

I had already checked the structure of the apartment. It was a small two-story apartment with four rooms on each floor, and there was a roof above. I’m not sure if it was slate or what, but it was a sloped roof designed to let rain flow off easily.

That means it’s possible for some small creature to live inside it.

But my room had no way up to that roof. There wasn’t even a door that opened in the ceiling.

I hadn’t seen one in the other rooms either.

However, I did know that there was a small space at the end of the corridor.

At the very end of the 2nd floor corridor, there was a gap just wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways, allowing one to ‘turn and enter’ that space.

And above it, there was a small door that allowed one to see inside the roof. Even though it was a cheap apartment with no soundproofing, they seemed to have made it possible to check the internal structure somehow. It looked like an attic with a ladder coming down.

Though it wasn’t really meant to be used as an attic.

I went there, carefully climbed up the narrow stairs, and cautiously opened the ‘attic door.’ The door wasn’t even locked, so it opened disappointingly easily.

There wasn’t a… strong smell coming from inside.

Well, if there had been rotting meat in there, my room would have been in chaos long ago.

I turned on the flashlight and carefully illuminated the inside.

And—

“…!”

My body froze stiff.

In there, a large mass of flesh was wriggling.

It was probably the nose I had seen.

I slowly climbed up the stairs. Honestly, I didn’t really want to get close.

But with cockroaches too, you can’t feel at ease until you either make them leave the house or catch them and flush them down the toilet.

Carefully climbing up and standing precariously.

Crack.

I stopped when I heard that sound from under my feet.

Looking down, I saw that the ceiling had slightly sunk in a precarious way.

“…”

I looked up again.

What had seemed like a mass of flesh was now extending two holes toward me.

The sight illuminated by the white flashlight was truly eerie. When I saw it before, it was properly flesh-colored, but under the white light, the skin looked extremely white and pale.

And… it was closer than I expected.

Just like how Kuro had looked at the ceiling and moved its gaze.

I’m staying in room 202. The man stays in room 201. Naturally, there are rooms 203 and 204 on the other side.

I seemed to be standing on the ceiling of room 204, and that nose seemed to be positioned at the boundary between rooms 203 and 204.

“…”

I tensed my body. I couldn’t even stand up straight here. This ceiling was so low that even with my height, I had to hunch over considerably. I probably couldn’t go to the corner even if I wanted to.

I—

Leaped with all my might toward that nose!

The nose, which had been watching me, seemed not to have expected this and failed to respond properly.

“…Ah!”

But there was one problem.

Just as the sound of cracking had occurred earlier just from me walking, the same was true here.

Even though my weight probably isn’t much more than other girls my age, I ended up breaking right through the ceiling of room 204.

But there was one positive thing.

That nose fell right in front of me.

Splat!

Do you know those sticky toys that used to be available from vending machines in front of stationery stores long ago? They came in shapes like maces or hands, made of a material that seemed very bad for your skin if you touched it too often—sticky rubber toys.

If you throw them hard on the floor, their shape completely collapses. They stick to the floor for a while in a collapsed form, then slowly detach from the floor and recover their shape. If slimes existed in reality, they would look just like that.

And what fell in front of me was similar.

The nose’s form momentarily became just a lump of flesh.

The nose, which had been flattened against the floor, was slowly recovering its body.

I quickly took advantage of this opportunity and rushed at it.

I could feel the sensation of human-like yet strangely soft skin directly in my hand.

“Eek.”

I involuntarily made such a sound and raised the knife.

And as I was about to strike down hard—

“…”

Sniff sniff. Snore.

I stopped moving when I saw the nose trembling and making such sounds.

It was certainly extremely disgusting. I wanted to get rid of it from my sight immediately.

But…

But, somehow.

Feeling the slight vibration in my hand, I couldn’t do it.

“…I’ll let you go.”

When I said that, the movement stopped.

Since I was pressing it down with my knee and holding it down with my hand, the nose still looked like human skin that had been kneaded like clay and then spread flat on the floor.

At least in this state, it didn’t seem to pose any threat.

“I’ll let you go, so don’t run away.”

Would it understand my words?

I sincerely hoped so.

I moved my body to the side.

Splat, I sat down on the floor.

My whole body ached. I think I got scratched somewhere in the process of falling.

The room I had entered was one of those rooms I had checked before.

Looking up at the ceiling, I saw that the fluorescent light was also smashed.

But there didn’t seem to be any broken wires. At least I could still hear the refrigerator running.

That unpleasant smell crept into my nose.

Still, I’m glad it’s not the ceiling of my neighboring room that’s broken. If this smell had entered my room, I probably would have given up living here.

“…What are you?”

Sniff sniff.

In response to my words, the nose, which had forcibly restored its body, made such sounds and headed toward the corner of the room.

I stared at it without even getting up from my seat.

As if to show it had no intention of attacking me, it was trembling in the corner…

Well, I didn’t find it particularly appealing. Honestly, if it had been just a little smaller, I would have dealt with it immediately, whether it harmed me or not. …It’s human nature to want to catch bugs when they appear in your room.

I pointed at the refrigerator with my sashimi knife and asked,

“Is it you?”

Sniff sniff.

Whether it was affirmation, denial, or just fear, I couldn’t tell.

“Haa.”

I ran my hand through my hair.

Looking at it now, I understand why it was handled that way.

In other words… it’s a ‘failure,’ right?

This creature probably didn’t attract Jjapguras’s interest. But it couldn’t exert any remarkable power either.

But even so, a result is a result. That thing is… a divine body in many ways.

Instead of completely discarding it, they probably wanted to hide it for now.

Snore.

I don’t understand how it can make such sounds with just a nose. Snoring is called snoring, but it’s actually caused by vibrations in the throat.

Well, if we’re saying that thing isn’t a natural phenomenon either, I guess we could call it that.

I looked up at the hole in the ceiling with a blank expression.

Now I see why Jjapguras has been somewhat cooperative lately.

Watching me like this must be simply entertaining for a third party.

Damn it.

What should I do now?