His voice from last night still echoed in her head. "I don't care." That voice had trembled. If he didn't care, he wouldn't shake. She knew that. And yet, this morning, Ren wasn't looking at Aoi at all. Along the Minase River on the way to school. Ren walked ahead. Usually, he'd come to her side and read off his revenge list. "October 2020, the time you started cleaning the bathroom right when I needed to use the toilet," that kind of pointless stuff. Today, not a word. From a step behind, watching his back, Aoi saw nothing out of place. Black hair swayed slightly in the morning breeze. His tall frame passed between the cherry blossom trees. Normal. And yet, something was different. (Should I say something?) "……Ren" He didn't stop. His pace didn't change. He kept walking straight ahead, as if he hadn't heard. Aoi closed her mouth. He heard. He definitely heard. Ren's ears were cat-level good. At a distance where you could hear the Minase River babbling, there was no way her voice didn't reach him. He heard and ignored it. (……I see.) Her feet felt heavier. --- She knew the moment she walked into the classroom. Ren was talking to Hinata, answering her properly. His mouth relaxed slightly, and Hinata laughed. Dimples showed. Ren said something else, and Hinata laughed again. When Aoi passed by Ren's side, his gaze didn't come. Their eyes didn't meet. She pulled out an eraser and placed it on her desk. Deliberately in his line of sight. In her head, she whispered, "Try hiding it." Go ahead. Pretend you don't see it and slip it into your pocket like always. Then I'd have a reason to talk to you. Ren glanced over. For just a moment, his eyes fell on the eraser. Then he looked away. (……Why won't you hide it!!) Aoi screamed silently inside. On the verge of tears. Him hiding it would've been better. Why is he doing nothing today? Not even harassing me—that's worse than harassment. My feelings are wrong. They have to be. "[excited]Aoi! Hey, hey!" Hinata burst in. Her light blue eyes sparkled. "[excited]I'm thinking of confessing to Kurosaki-kun at lunch!" Aoi's face went rigid. "……For real?" "[excited]For real! I've been going back and forth, but if I don't say it, I'll regret it, right? You'll support me, yeah?" Hinata's dimples were so cute. Really cute. The face of her best friend. "[gentle]……Y-yeah! I'll support you!" She laughed. She thought she laughed. But she could feel her face stiffening. Hinata said "Thanks! Don't get in the way, okay? ♪" with a wink and headed toward Ren's seat. Holding a container with side dishes. Aoi stayed frozen, chopsticks in hand. Ren looked at Hinata, and his expression softened slightly. A completely different face from when he'd walked past Aoi this morning. Her stomach twisted. (Laugh. Laugh, Tanaka Aoi. Eat your lunch. Today's side dish is cute octopus sausages. Laugh.) Her face wouldn't listen at all. A classmate in the next seat peered over worriedly. "Aoi-chan, you feeling okay?" "[serious]I'm fine! Just a little sleepy!" She wasn't fine at all. --- When she opened the front door after school, it was quiet. The old guest room on the first floor—Ren's room—the door was open. Inside, the futon was folded away. Ren wasn't there. She went out to the veranda. Evening light fell across the garden. She looked at the spot where Kuro used to sunbathe. A rectangle of warm light pooled there. Now, no one was there. She spread out her homework. Nothing went into her head. Close to 10 p.m., she heard the front door unlock. Aoi went into the hallway. Ren was taking off his shoes. "[serious]Where were you?" Ren didn't even look at her. "[cold]None of your business." "[serious]It is my business. You're our——" Her words stopped. Nothing came next. She'd almost said "our cat." Almost said it, then swallowed it. She knew he was a cat. But not anymore. He was Ren. Ren, here with them. "——Never mind." Ren's door closed quietly. Aoi stood in the hallway, unable to move for a while. Her stomach made a pathetic growl in the silence. She hadn't eaten dinner properly. Her stomach had ruined the melancholy mood. (This is the worst.) She trudged back to her room. --- She looked at the photos of Kuro pinned to her wall. One by one. A photo from when he was a kitten. Curled up on the veranda. When she'd pointed the camera at him, his golden eyes stared straight at the lens. Him sleeping on her lap. "[whispers]Kuro" Her voice cracked. "[whispers]Where did you go?" Tears came. She remembered the chocolate mint ice cream. The mint-colored bag hidden in the bottom of her bag. "I don't know," Ren had answered immediately, quickening his pace. But he definitely put it there. He did nothing but harass her, and yet he did that. That person wouldn't meet her eyes now. "[crying]Kuro's gone. Even though he became Ren……Ren's disappearing too." The moment she whispered it, a shadow moved outside the window. She pressed herself against the glass. Ren was walking down the dark street. As he passed under a streetlight—his right hand became faintly transparent. Through his hand, she could see the asphalt of the road. Just for a moment. But she definitely saw it. Aoi flew out of her room. Down the stairs, out the front door, running. As she ran, the cold under her feet told her. Slippers. She'd flown out in pajamas. But she couldn't stop. Running toward Kagura Hill. Stone steps came into view. 186 of them. No time to count. Partway up, a neighbor was walking his dog. "[surprised]Oh, I thought you were a ghost!" "[serious]I'm kind of feeling that way right now!" She screamed and ran up the stone steps. Her lungs burned. Her slippers clattered against the edges of the steps. Her feet stumbled. She caught herself with her hands and ran again. She entered the grounds of Kagura Shrine. Moonlight alone illuminated the ground quietly. The sacred tree—a 350-year-old camphor—at its roots, Ren sat collapsed. In the moonlight, his right arm and shoulder were semi-transparent. Beyond the fabric of his clothes, she could see the soil of the ground. "[scared]Ren!" He turned around. A face she'd never seen before. Not the calm, observant Ren she knew. Fear and sorrow were all over it. "[crying]I don't want to go back." His voice trembled. "[crying]I don't want to become a cat again." Aoi ran forward and dropped to her knees in front of him. "[crying]I finally got to talk to you at the same eye level. I finally got you to call me by my name." His right arm faded faintly in the moonlight. Aoi reached out both hands and gripped that fading hand tightly. It was warm. Even as it disappeared, it was warm. "[crying]Don't go back! Please, don't go back!" Tears fell in drops. The warmth of the hand she held spread slowly into her palms. In that warmth, everything tangled in her chest came together into one word. When Hinata said she'd confess, why couldn't she smile? When she saw Ren smile at Hinata, why did her stomach hurt? Why did she want him to hide the eraser? Why did she almost cry seeing the chocolate mint ice cream? Why did her hands tremble slightly as she draped a blanket over Ren sleeping in the hallway? It was all the same. I love Ren. Not as Kuro the cat. As Kurosaki Ren. As this person, here now. "[serious]……I don't know how." Ren said it faintly. The two of them stayed still at the roots of the sacred tree. The moon moved. The wind blew. The camphor's leaves rustled softly. Aoi held Ren's fading hand and didn't let go. The old stone lantern at Kagura Shrine cast a dim glow across the grounds. Two days until the "Beast-Returning Festival." They still had no idea how to keep Ren human.