Suzume's Locking-Up IF: You're the One Who Wanted to Be a Cat - A white cat confessed to me (Souta-san is still a chair, right?)

Suzume ran. The hem of her skirt fluttered and bounced, her hair whipping into a tangled mess in the wind. Every time her school loafers kicked off the asphalt, tiny clouds of dust swirled up into the air. (Why—why did that cat talk!?) Her breath came in ragged gasps, her head filled with nothing but question marks. That white cat—Daijin—had been born from the keystone Suzume pulled out in the Tachibana mine. And just when she thought it had spoken in human language, it had bolted straight toward town without a second's hesitation. "We're going after it," Souta had said sharply, immediately breaking into a sprint. Suzume had chased after him desperately. Down the hills, across Ushio Street, toward the harbor. The scent of the sea suddenly grew stronger. A fishing boat's whistle sounded in the distance. The white cat was absurdly fast. It paid absolutely no attention to human eyes. No—why would it need to? After all, it was just a cat. At least, in appearance. "Ah—sorry, fishermen, excuse me!" Suzume shouted as she slipped between fishermen drying their nets. The fishermen stood there with their mouths hanging open, watching a high school girl in uniform sprint past. She entered the edge of the harbor, an area lined with old pier warehouses. The tin walls, rusted by the salt breeze, swayed with creaking groans. The cat disappeared into one of them—a particularly large warehouse. "In here." Souta rushed in first. Suzume took a deep breath, then stepped into the dim warehouse. The smell of mold and salt stung her nose. The vast space with its high ceiling was piled high with disused fishing gear, ropes, and wooden crates. Sunlight streamed in thin beams through tears in the walls, making the dust glitter and dance. At the very back. Cornered in the shadows, the white cat stared intently at Suzume with large golden eyes. "W-We caught it... right?" Suzume said timidly. The cat didn't move. In that moment. A soft glow. The white fur shone as if light were radiating from within. "Eh?" Suzume instinctively stepped back. The cat's form was enveloped in a pale light, growing larger right before her eyes. The light was so intense that Suzume shielded her face with her arm. And then, when the light quietly subsided— There stood a person. Silver hair. Skin as translucent as white porcelain. And the same golden eyes as the cat from moments ago. He looked about Suzume's age, in his late teens. His slender frame was draped loosely in pure white clothing resembling a kimono. A young man—the divine avatar, Daijin. His unearthly beauty made her thoughts grind to a halt for a moment. The next instant—thud! A shock ran through her back. "Ow!" Before she knew it, Suzume had slammed her back against a pile of wooden crates by the wall. She must have been stepping backward, one step, then another, without realizing it. Literally overwhelmed by that beauty, she had physically run out of places to retreat. "U-Um, the cat... why is it a person..." Her mind was a complete mess. Daijin, seemingly utterly unconcerned with Suzume's confusion, walked up to her at close range. In a single step, he was right in front of her. A cool, crisp air drifted from him. A clear coldness, like a winter morning. "Suzume." His voice was so beautiful and transparent, unlike anything she had ever heard. Gone was the lisping tone from when he was a cat; it was clear and distinct. "I like you." He smiled brightly. "..." Suzume's thoughts, this time, went completely blank. A c-confession? No, was that a confession? In the first place, he was a cat until just a moment ago. A cat turned into a person, saying he likes me. Likes what? Who? "Eh, w-wait... who are you!?" The voice she finally managed to squeeze out echoed through the warehouse. Daijin blinked his golden eyes and tilted his head curiously. The gesture somehow still seemed cat-like. "The stone Suzume pulled out." "The stone..." "It's Suzume's." He said it and smiled again, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. That smile was so direct, so utterly devoid of lies, that Suzume's heart gave a sudden thump. (Wait, what is this? Why am I getting flustered!?) Feeling her face turn red, Suzume shook her head forcefully. No, this is weird. He's a cat. A former cat. So what's with this pounding in my chest? Oblivious to Suzume's turmoil, a clattering sound came from the warehouse entrance. "Suzume, get away from him! That guy is...!" Souta, out of breath, had finally caught up. He stopped for a moment, faltering, and glared at the silver-haired young man. "So you could take human form after all. This is Daijin. The divine avatar born from that keystone." "A-A god..." A god. The weight of that word made her head spin again. "Daijin, return to your original keystone form immediately. Because you escaped the seal, the back door has opened. At this rate, an earthquake will happen." Souta's fierce tone snapped Suzume back to her senses. Right, he wasn't just a cat. He wasn't just a beautiful young man either. This person was a god, and right now, he had caused an incredibly dangerous situation. But Daijin simply turned his face away. "No." Curt as a child, yet filled with an absolutely unshakable will. Souta, his expression grim, took a step forward. That's when it happened. Daijin smoothly moved beside Suzume and tugged at her sleeve. His cold fingertips faintly brushed against her wrist. "Don't come to take Suzume." A low murmur. The next instant. Souta's legs warped, as if they were made of clay. "Eh?" Souta raised his voice—or rather, before he could, he lost the ability to speak. Both of his legs transformed into the legs of a chair, wood grain and all. From there, up to his waist, his body completely changed into a wooden chair with a backrest. An old wooden chair, the kind you might find in an elementary school classroom. Thud. Souta, now a chair, lost his balance and fell to the floor. But it wasn't just any chair. It deftly stood up on its four legs and began trembling on the spot, clattering. Though it had no expression, somehow the movement seemed to convey utter bewilderment, as if saying, "What in the world is going on?" "S-Souta-san...!!?" Suzume let out a bizarre shriek. Her mouth opened and closed wordlessly. A person had turned into a chair right before her eyes. Was this even possible? And it was moving. Was it alive? No, did being alive or dead even apply to a chair? "Eh, ah, eh, but it's moving...!?" When Suzume pointed, the chair rattled and shook, moving its four legs skillfully as if to say, "That's right, I can move." "Y-You can't talk!?" Clatter clatter. The chair swayed left and right, as if shaking its head. "You can't even make a sound!?" Clatter clatter clatter. "Then I have absolutely no idea what you're trying to say!!" Clatter... The chair stopped moving dejectedly. Beside Suzume, Daijin stood with a nonchalant expression. "That person can't speak. He'll stay like that forever." He said it so casually. "Wh-What gives you the right to do whatever you want!!" Suzume shouted—and that was the very moment. Rumble rumble rumble... The ground began to tremble in small shakes. The warehouse walls creaked and groaned, and the piled-up wooden crates rattled noisily. In the distance, she could hear the ropes of fishing boats moored at the harbor screeching in protest. "An earthquake...!" The color drained from Suzume's face. "Wh-What should we do!? Souta-san!" She shouted, then gasped. Right. Souta was a chair and couldn't speak. The chair, however, began tapping the floor with its legs—knock, knock. Then, with one leg, it pointed in the direction of the mine. "Ah, you mean go back to the mine!?" The chair shook once, strongly. A sign of affirmation. "To close the back door, we need a prayer and the keystone. But the keystone is..." He started to say, then Souta (in chair form) stopped moving. Right, he couldn't speak now. And the keystone was— "Then, what do we do to get you back to normal, Souta-san!?" Suzume pressed Daijin. Daijin looked up at the air for a moment as if thinking, then smiled brightly. "If Suzume looks only at me." "Hah!?" "I'll think about it." At that innocent demand, something inside Suzume snapped. "Forget that—tell me how to stop the earthquake!! Honestly, why do you think everything will go your way!? You've been completely selfish ever since you were a cat, and if you think being good-looking means you'll be forgiven for anything, you're dead wrong!!" As Suzume rattled off her tirade, Souta the chair trembled in small clatters, continuing to point toward the mine. It was as if he was urging her, "Forget about me for now, let's hurry." "...Fine. We'll go back to the mine first. But I'm carrying you, Souta-san!" So saying, Suzume scooped up the chair that was Souta in both arms. "S-So heavy..." The weight far exceeded her expectations, and the words slipped out involuntarily. The chair had the literal weight of wood combined with the condensed mass of a grown man, pressing down heavily on her arms. "Souta-san, couldn't you be a little lighter..." Grumbling in a pathetic voice, Suzume started running. Daijin followed behind her. "Suzume, I'll carry him." He called out to her repeatedly. "Be quiet! You're the one who did this to him, aren't you!" Suzume snapped back flatly, running while looking only ahead. In that instant, the sound of Daijin's footsteps behind her stopped completely. (...Huh?) The atmosphere changed. Suzume glanced back as she ran. Daijin's golden eyes were opened wide. The expression had smoothly vanished from his beautiful face. Then, as if utterly bewildered, he looked down and bit his lip. (What's with that face...) Suzume felt a sharp pang deep in her chest. It was like a child being scolded for a prank for the very first time in his life—no, maybe that was exactly the case. He was a god, had been inside a stone for hundreds of years, and perhaps knew nothing of the subtleties of the human heart. But she couldn't afford to worry about that now. Just as they reached the front of the Tachibana mine, the ground shook harder than before. Thud! "Eek!" Suzume lost her balance and nearly pitched forward. That's when it happened. From behind, something cool supported Suzume and Souta's (the chair's) backs. "Ah..." She turned to find Daijin's face right behind her. He had caught both of them with one hand. His silver hair brushed softly against Suzume's cheek. His golden eyes wavered anxiously, and he murmured in a voice so faint it was hard to imagine coming from that arrogant attitude earlier. "Because... Suzume won't look at me..." It was a voice that sounded on the verge of tears. Inside Suzume, anger and guilt swirled in a tangled vortex. (Oh, for goodness' sake, what is with this god! He has no idea how I feel!) But—it was a fact that he had helped her. "...Thank you." Suzume said quietly. In that instant, Daijin's face lit up brightly. It was so easy to read, like the sun suddenly emerging from a cloudy winter sky. However, Suzume immediately began checking on Souta the chair's condition. "Souta-san, are you okay? Are you broken anywhere?" The chair rattled and shook, appealing that it was fine, but Suzume's eyes were no longer on him. Daijin's face clouded over again, just a little. Reaching the deepest part of the mine, Suzume stood before the old wooden door called the back door. Rumble rumble... From beyond the door, she could hear the earth rumbling. In time with it, a reddish-black haze—the presence of the worm—wavered and leaked through the gaps in the door. The air crackled and tingled, making her fingertips buzz numbly. "I-I have to hurry..." Beside the panicking Suzume, Souta the chair began tapping the floor again—knock, knock. Tap, tap-tap, tap. He struck the floor in a steady rhythm. "Eh, is this... the rhythm of the prayer?" The

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Episode 2

Name: Suzume's Locking-Up IF: You're the One Who Wanted to Be a Cat
Author: Novelia

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