K – Return of Kings: Side Stories c1

On Lying in Hiding and Reunions by Miyazawa Tatsuki

“Heey! There’s not enough dip sauce here! Do you want to starve us to death or something?” a man wearing a pink tutu on a body too reminiscent of a big hill shouted, bending backward from the stool he was seated on.

“Munch on your own fat if you have to! I’m busy with the guest of honor!” a man with a blond bobcut and bluish aftershave shadow on his face yelled back. He was dressed in something that looked like j.a.panese-style clothing, though very remotely, because it was made out of some synthetic cloth, combined with see-through plastic, altogether giving the full feel of an outfit you would see in a SF flick. On an alien, of course.

Addressing the blond man in j.a.panese clothes, a man in a bright red china dress carrying a silver tray full of colorful c.o.c.ktails remarked, “He’s right though, quit clinging to that sweetheart and help me out here.”

That got the j.a.panese clothes man mad. The lips, as if color-coordinated with the vermillion brightness of the dress, opened wide as the j.a.panese clothes wearer puffed up his cheeks and exhaled, “Boo!”

Still, he reluctantly got up from his seat. His hand touched that of a young man he was entertaining until now to express regret at parting. Rough fingers lightly traced those, only thin and white, of the young man. “I’ll come back later ”
“Y-yeah,” was all the young man, expression stiff, managed. But his suffering didn’t end with the j.a.panese clothes wearer’s departure.

On the enamel couch around him, as if to surround him on all sides, there were sitting three more such eccentrics, or maybe aliens, or maybe monsters. And he hadn’t even called any of them.

One of the creatures had an Afro and his head looked pretty much like a bird’s nest. Another one wore a patchwork dress with floral patterns. On his neck, fingers and in the hair, big and gaudy accessories imitating roses, lilies and cosmoses were found.

The last one was clad in a gorgeous dress like what you would see on Hollywood actresses walking down the red carpet. The neckline of the dress generously exposed the cleavage; a dangerous and seductive smile played on the lips; the slick hair was long and black, and the waist was trim and tight. No matter how you looked, you would only see a beautiful bewitching woman, but this personage, too, was of an entirely different gender than what he looked.

Currently, inside this reserved establishment, there was only one actual female.

Deafening beat of upbeat Western music, along with a mix of cigarette smell, chilli sauce, makeup, and flower perfume scent was filling the not-very-big s.p.a.ce. Employees and customers, dressed very quirky, were gliding about the dark room under the rainbow of disco lights like a flock of deep-sea fish.

The young man focused his attention on the only girl here, who also happened to be his companion. His gaze had a begging quality to it, unusual for him, as if he was pleading for help. But, alas…

“Meow! It’s super fun here!” The young man’s only hope and ally was living it up on the dance floor with other customers, shaking her hips, stomping her feet and waving her arms. Because she boasted superhuman reflexes, she quickly grabbed people’s attention even though her movements were pretty much random.

“Oh, wow! I’m so moved~”
“She’s really lighting it up~” The customers cheered watching the girl jump about.

The young man dropped his head dejectedly.

“Oh?”
“Are you OK? What is wrong, dear?”
“You look down, sweetie.” The three next to him worriedly asked. The ring of the siege they had laid around the young man tightened. No matter where he tried to look, he couldn’t escape the sight of the coercive men in strange clothes.

In his heart, the young man beseeched his late mentor for an advice on how to overcome this ordeal. Unfortunately for him, not even his experienced mentor could help him, only shaking his head and keeping his silence.

The young man then tried asking his currently missing King the same question, only to be met with another silence as even that wise king couldn’t provide him the answer he sought. Except that king of his, while looking suitably sympathetic, also seemed to be just the slightest bit amused with the young man’s current predicament; that fact, especially considering that that reaction showed up even in the young man’s imagination, made the young man just a little angry.

“Hey.” Finally the men went as far as grabbing the young man’s hand. It was the Afro Bird Nest who did it. “Wow, such muscles, lean but so steely… Do you do martial arts or something like that?” Eyelashes, impossibly thick with mascara, were batted at the young man.

Just when the young man went stiff yet again, a fist was applied to the top of that Afro with a satisfying thud. “Alright, that’s enough!”
“Owww!” The Afro held his hurting head.

The newcomer who had just treated him to the punch, proceeded shoo away the preceding men. “Stop making queer pa.s.ses at my guest! Now, get lost!”

The three men made sure to make their complaints known, but in the end obeyed the newcomer’s order and, getting up slowly, left the young man’s side. From that, it was clear that the newly arrived man was the most influential person in this establishment.

The man plopped down in front of the younger one. “Sorry about that. I left only for a bit, and this happens,” the man apologized with a strained smile, taking a puff of his metal-tipped pipe.

The young man, Yatogami Kuroh, let out a sigh of relief. “No, you’re a lifesaver,” he bowed in sincere grat.i.tude. “I understand that they were just trying to be welcoming, but a bit too close for my liking, and it was making me feel uneasy. So I’d like to thank you.”

The man narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

♦

“You don’t happen to be prejudiced against our kind, do you?” the man said in a soft voice.

He talked in a properly polite and controlled manner, but among all the people here his outfit was by far the most bizarre. Layers of cloth and designer clothes worn on top of one another had been arranged in a certain aesthetic representation through the man’s sense of beauty.

A highly strange mix of huge gla.s.ses with thorns, taking up about half his face, a reddish-brown kerchief and a string of twinkling mini lights hanging from his chest to about his hip level was not a combination you could arrange into anything decent-looking without a good measure of fas.h.i.+on sense. The man managed to wear such a bizarre getup with smart splendor and even elegance. As it was, he looked like a very originally dressed chindon'ya[*].

“Prejudiced? And what do you mean by "your kind”?“ The young man before him, Yatogami Kuroh, on the other hand, wore simple swis.h.i.+ng black clothes. He didn’t really try to look stylish, but, due to being quite handsome to begin with, still managed to come off as very attractive looking.

It appeared that he really didn’t understand what the man meant.

”…“ As if trying to sound Kuroh out, the man said, "Well, let’s see. Two main points that I meant by that. First, prejudice against my kind, people like me - that is, those who are referred to as gays and drag queens and such. And second, prejudice against the occupation like ours. Don’t look down on us thinking that we’re dirty "tippers” who sell information on people behind their back in exchange for petty buck.“
”!“ Kuroh’s eyes widened, and he looked sincerely shocked. Then his face turned serious. "I wasn’t reared to grow up so ill-mannered that I would look down on someone who’s helping me! No matter what kind of outward appearance they may have!” He vehemently said, seemingly riled up, and struck the table with an open palm. “Ah,” he gasped, checking his outburst, then continued, lowering his voice apologetically, “Well, you’re being self-deprecating when you say that, but flower shops sell flowers, bookstores sell books, and you just happen to trade information for money, is all. Is it even viable to consider one occupation better or worse than other?”
“But what we do is illegal.”
“But it doesn’t go against the court of conscience, does it? I think that if there is something to be ashamed about, it’s not in the superficial reputation of the profession, but in the contents dealt, which, in the end, is what comes back to each trader and gives them a corresponding reputation.”
“Meaning?”

Kuroh didn’t notice the barely suppressed laughter the man asked the question with, and elaborated serious as ever, “If a flower shop were to sell wilted flowers, it would become known as dishonest. If bookstore were to sell damaged and sullied books without warning the customer beforehand, its reputation would surely plummet. If, for instance, you were to show contempt for others by supplying them with bad information that cannot be trusted, then you should be ashamed of yourself, but as long as you work fair, there is no reason for you to be ashamed. That’s what I think.”
“Indeed.” The man touched a finger to his chin, pondering what Kuroh said for a few moments. “Well, I can’t be quite as positive as you are, but neither I’m inclined to wallow in self-deprecation. That’s a bad trait of flaming queens, you see.” He chuckled.

In the way he phrased it, there was rigid ice indicating that no casual so-called “understanding” of how it was to live in the underground world would be forgiven. Kuroh sensed it, deciding against going into that any further, and changed the subject instead.

“That aside, I want to ask you a question of my own. Why are you sheltering us, despite knowing that Jungle is targeting us? That may put you people in danger, too, you realize?”
“Mnn. I have several reasons.”

Just then, the girl from earlier came on unsteady feet to where Kuroh and the man were sitting. “Mmm! Meow! That was fun!”

She wanted to sit down next to Kuroh, but made a mistake in a.s.sessing the distance and plopped down right into Kuroh’s lap instead. Kuroh took the girl, Neko, a companion of his and a possessor of the ability to manipulate perception at will, by the hips and s.h.i.+fted her back to her rightful spot.

“What’s with you? Did you drink alcohol by mistake?” Kuroh asked disapprovingly.
“Nope. Only cat powder juice.”

The heavy ba.s.s music kept on pounding in the background, and Neko hiccuped. Upon a closer look, her face appeared to be flushed a little.

“Neko-chan, you’ve been drinking the cat powder juice all the evening, no? It’s something one of our visitors brought, saying that it’s good for one’s health,” the man explained chuckling.
“Did you get drunk on cat powder juice? Just like a real cat, huh.” Kuroh’s expression showed that he was torn between admiration and disbelief.
“Meaow!”

Neko bent down, throwing her upper body on the table with all her might and squas.h.i.+ng her rather voluptuous b.r.e.a.s.t.s against its hard surface. She wore a mini-dress and a coat adorned with fur. To that a.s.sembly, a magician-like hat was added - geez, who gave her that?

“The first reason I should name would probably be, because this girl asked me,” the man said gently, stroking Neko’s head. Neko’s eyes squinted up with a smiling "Fumeow", as she showed a relaxed expression on her face.
“Well, aren’t you getting along,” Kuroh commented.
“Of course we are, we’ve met quite a few times,” the man answered with a snicker.

In order to obtain clues as to where their master, Isana Yas.h.i.+ro, might be, Yatogami Kuroh and Neko turned to the best informant in the neighborhood. They, however, couldn’t even imagine that he would be willing to help them even at the cost of potentially risking his own head.

“It may come off as impolite, but to be honest, at first I pegged you as a person who prefers to keep his relations.h.i.+p with customers strictly professional,” Kuroh commented. The man may have been pleasantly polite on the surface but he drew a strict line when it came to business. That was the impression Kuroh got of him as a professional informant.
“Yes, you’re not wrong about that. But there is another reason why we decided to give you a helping hand.”
“Ohh,” Kuroh’s eyes glinted. “If it’s not too much of a bother, can you please name that reason?”
“Fufu. How about a little quiz first then, Kuroh-chan?” the man chuckled impishly. “Who, do you think, is the worst enemy to us informants?”
“Hm,” putting a hand to his chin, Kuroh appeared to think. “…Hmm,” frowning, he thought harder. “Ummmm.”

The noises he was emitting were getting progressively more loud, and the informant finally took mercy on him.

“I’ll give you a hint then. If, in your previous example, flowers and books were distributed for free to anyone who wants them instead of being sold, it would create a big problem to the flower shop and the bookstore, wouldn’t it? Especially if it was being done half in fun, as a game.”
“Ah.” Kuroh seemed to have realized something, as his head snapped up.
“That’s right,” the man confirmed kindly but sharply. “To us, the worst enemy imaginable is cyber pranksters who procure information themselves, save it and then spread it all over the Internet. They don’t deal in information for money, nor do they have any work ethics in handling it, they just do it as a game.”
“In other words, communities like Jungle?”
“Exactory,” the man said in broken English, raising a finger.
“I see. That’s why you’re doing this for us,” Kuroh lowered his voice meaningfully.

Just then, the string of mini lights the man wore blinked red. “That’s enough!” the man suddenly barked sharply, still facing Kuroh.

Immediately, the music stopped, the colorful disco lights went out, and the s.p.a.ce got illuminated with absolutely normal commonplace lighting.

A strangely dampened mood filled the air. “Eh? Eh? What? What happened?”

Only one person didn’t look surprised at this turn: a guy in skinny jeans and a blue sweater, standing next to the wall. Amidst the gaudily dressed crowd that guy had nothing of mention about him, aside from some piercing and makeup.

All the eyes focused on him. Even the hiccuping and flushed Neko picked herself up and was now staring at him with eyes narrowed in suspicion.

The man in the j.a.panese clothes from earlier, ripped like a guardian of Buddha[**], grabbed the blue sweater guy’s both arms tightly. The guy’s hands were clasped around the body of a PDA.

“Hmph.” The informant sitting in front of Kuroh, stood up slowly and turned around just as slowly. Drawing closer to the blue sweater guy, he said in a voice that was sure to make anyone feel dread, “What were you doing just now, sweetie?”
“Eh? What is it, nee-san? You look so scary all of a sudden, what’s wrong?” Clearly in panick, the blue sweater guy desperately tried to kiss up to the informant, “W-Well, you know, i-it’s nothing.”
“Answer me.” The informant’s voice was legitimately icy. “What were you doing?”
“Uh, I…”
“If you can’t answer, how about I answer for you?”

Kuroh, Neko, and all the men present were abuzz. The informant was about to throw the irrevocably heavy accusation in the guy’s face.

“You were trying to sell out Kuroh-chan and Neko-chan, weren’t you? To Jungle. For points.”
“Ugh.” The guy in the blue sweater couldn’t say anything, only shake sweating like pig with cold sweat. It could pretty much be counted as a confession.

“I did give everyone a fair warning, didn’t I? That if you want to a.s.sociate with me, don’t tangle up with Jungle in any way. And I won’t buy the excuse that you didn’t hear it.”
“Um, nee-san, I’m sorry.”
“Give it here.”
“Eh?”
“Your PDA. Give it here.”
“Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to destroy it. Kuroh-chan and Neko-chan are my precious guests. Until things calm down, I cannot have anyone leaking any information, however insignificant, about them. Of course, it also means that I will keep a watchful eye on you for a while, too.”
“No, you can’t be serious.” The blue sweater guy looked at the men surrounding him as if seeking help. But they only gave him cold stares, and no one tried to come to his rescue. All because the guy broke the unspoken rule of protecting their comrades. As a result, he landed himself into an irrepairable situation.
“I’m waiting.” The informant came close and held out his hand. “Give it here.”

However, just then, the blue sweater guy, who till that moment looked resigned to his fate with his head hanging down, showed a reckless expression on his face and spat out with desperate vehemence, “No way I’ll do it!”

Shaking off the j.a.panese clothes man who was keeping his hands pinned, he put some distance between himself and the others. Then, throwing up in the air the arm holding the PDA, he yelled, “Like I’ll let you nullify all the points I’ve painstakingly collected! Moooron!”

That took even the informant by surprise, as his eyes widened in shock. He apparently didn’t expect it to go that way.

The blue sweater guy’s eyes were filled with unmistakable anger and malice. The PDA ama.s.sed green light, but just before it could release it all at once,
“Don’t jump off the deep end, ruffian!” Kuroh, who was by the guy’s side before anyone knew it, stuck out with his arm, hitting the guy’s hands with precision and making him cry out in pain and crouch down. The PDA hit the floor with a hollow sound and rolled across it.
“Meohahahaha!” Neko jumped on it, picking it up.
“It hurts! It hurts so much!” the guy wept like a baby.

The j.a.panese clothes guy, intending to correct his earlier mistake of letting the guy break free from his hold, tackled the crying guy, pus.h.i.+ng him to the floor, like he was playing rugby. The other men followed suit. As he was being buried under the heap of the men’s bodies, the blue sweater guy started screaming and crying even louder.

Understanding that the danger had been averted somehow, the informant breathed a big sigh of relief and turned to thank Kuroh. “Thank you, Kuroh-chan.”
“No need, I only did what anyone would.”
“Well, I have to say, I didn’t expect that this boy would be that far gone,” the informant remarked, staring at the uncontrollably sobbing blue sweater guy who had been tied up with some stockings by the other men.
“You didn’t expect him to be a Jungle user?” Kuroh asked.
“Well, let’s see…” the man was in thought for a few moments. “That in itself isn’t very surprising. He always loved game apps and was always playing with his PDA whenever he had time, so it’s not really a wonder that he tried Jungle as well. It’s just…” the man shook his head regretfully. “…I never expected him to turn on me and attack me like that, looking like a real demon, too. You know, he always adored me so much and called me nee-san, and I had a soft spot for him, too.” There was sadness in how the man said it.

Kuroh didn’t know what to say to him.

“It goes to show just how excellent and toxic the Jungle point system is, I suppose. As I suspected, it really is a threat to us,” the man whispered.

Kuroh nodded. The ones who had suffered the most from Jungle’s anonymity and unbridled attacks stemming from there with no way to counter them were none other than Kuroh himself and his companion.

The informant made an effort to put on a cheerful face. “—In any case, you really helped us. This incident was unfortunate, but we promise that we will hide you properly from now on.” The man sent Kuroh a dramatic wink. “So rest a.s.sured.”

Kuroh gave a little strained smile to that, because the incident reaffirmed the man’s shrewdness to him. The man used the outsiders, Kuroh and Neko, as a bait to smoke out Jungle users within his circle. This exaggerated welcome party was thrown for that purpose, too, no doubt. The man must have suspected the blue sweater guy to a certain extent and used this opportunity to set up a trap for him. Which only should have been expected from a veteran informant like him who hid in the underground world and singlehandedly controlled information business. Tricky was his middle name. However…

“Yes, please.” Kuroh by no means disliked shrewd men, perhaps because such shrewdness was something that he himself lacked. “We’ll be in your debt. As fellow people opposing Jungle, we’ll take you up on your kind offer.”
“Hmph. I like the way you phrased it. So honest and openhearted,” the man smiled and held out his hand.

The two exchanged a handshake.

♦

“Phew.”

A short time after, Kuroh stood under a running shower at a hiding place the informant provided for him and Neko. Kuroh liked feeling cold water hit his body.

In his disciple days, in the coldest period, he used to spend an hour standing under a waterfall. Although his late master, Miwa Ichigen, used to comment that while such a training may have been good for cultivating his mind, it hardly did anything for his proficiency in swordplay, Kuroh wanted to get closer to his mentor’s level at least a little, so he went through a lot of trial and error, including going to a waterfall deep in the mountains. How much, if at all, it helped him improve his swordsmans.h.i.+p remained unclear, but it did give him robust health excellent enough to be able to take cold showers in the middle of winter without any negative consequences. When a cold spray hit his skin, it felt very sobering, his heart bracing itself in readiness.

In truth, it had been a while since he last had had a chance to clean his body.

Kuroh and Neko used As.h.i.+naka Academy as the base of operations in their quest to find Isana Yas.h.i.+ro, but since presently, they were the targets of Jungle’s persistent pursuit, they decided not to return to the academy for the time being in order not to risk involving innocent students into this.

“It’s a cla.s.sic plan to-go-to to hide in a crowd when you need to hide, but in this case, that’s what we must avoid at all costs.”

After all, as they had already been made to realize just earlier, the Green clan had snuck everywhere, and it was next to impossible to identify what people were affiliated with it and what weren’t from just their looks. It may have been the best option for the two to lie low in some remote place in order to escape from the Green clan. Something like surviving in a forest was a piece of cake to both Kuroh and Neko, and if there was no one else around, Jungle wouldn’t be able to use those anonymous attacks it specialized in. However, if, for argument’s sake, Kuroh and Neko did decide to go with that plan…

“We won’t be able to search for s.h.i.+ro,” Kuroh smiled bitterly. It would be reversing their priorities.

Kuroh screwed the tap shut. Drying up his wet body with a towel and keeping his eyes closed, he took a few steps to come into the dressing s.p.a.ce of the bathroom and, not opening his eyes, outstretched a hand to rummage on the shelves.

That’s when panicked sounds a.s.saulted his hearing. “Meow!”

What his hand was currently grabbing didn’t feel like a towel. It was something more hairy. The moment Kuroh tried to pick it up, the “towel” got mad, “Mheeeeooowww!!!” and scratched him for all it was worth.

“Uwaah!” Kuroh got thrown out of balance, while what he thought was a towel began violently jumping about the narrow dressing area. Whatever it was, it looked like it fell into a panic at Kuroh’s treatment.

Kuroh had regained enough presence of mind to realize that what he mistook for a towel was, in fact, a cat. Amidst the chaos, he had finally succeeded in cracking the door leading to the corridor open. He had fallen on his backside in the process, and a striped cat, jumping over his head, escaped through the crack. Just then…

“Kurosuke? What’s wrong?” a cat-like girl with the name Neko appeared, asking in a carefree voice. A kitten was sitting on top of her head, a calico cat on her shoulder, and in her arms she was hugging a very chubby belligerently looking black cat. That cat stared at Kuroh intently.
“Ah, well, I…” Kuroh had a realization that he was still naked and, fl.u.s.tered, hurried to cover his bottom half with a towel.

Neko let a mischievous smile blossom on her lips. “Wah! Kurosuke’s naked! You’re always scolding me about it but today you’re the one in the nuddy!” Neko danced with joy, jolting the cats on her person.
“D-Don’t lump me together with you!” Kuroh hurried to protest but it wasn’t convincing when the towel wrapped around his lower body was the only cloth he was wearing at the moment.
“Kurosuke, nuddy!”
“Q-Quiet down! I’ll put on clothes right away!”

Neko kept dancing until Kuroh dived back in the bathroom, hiding from the view.

♦

“This place really is overrun with cats, huh,” Kuroh remarked disbelievingly.
“Ehh? Did you mean me?” Meko, laying on a couch, asked sleepily. Currently, she was pretty much buried under 14 cats, turning into what could only be described as one big fluffy lump. The lump had white, brown, tabby and black cats, offering color gradations in abundance. Neko’s popularity among cats was only to be expected, Kuroh supposed. Neko’s sleep-heavy eyelids were beginning to close.

“No, not you. I’m talking about the real cats, although it might sound strange; there’s a lot of them here.” There were 14 in the living room alone as far as he could count.

“Well, it’s only natural,” Neko answered carefree, “because this is a cat house.”

Kuroh nodded in agreement.

The hiding place the informant provided for Kuroh and Neko to temporary reside in was a solitary house that functioned as a shelter facility for abandoned and abused cats. “I have a wealthy acquaintance who absolutely adores cats, so he financed buying of an entire house just for cats,” the informant explained to them earlier.

Usually, a specially hired house keeper and a pet sitter would come to take care of the cats, but Kuroh and Neko got a permission to use the place in exchange for taking care of its fluffy residents. All the cats were ultimately friendly to them, and, save for the earlier accident, they ran in no trouble so far.

With so many cats around, it would be no wonder if there were such issues as smell, hygiene and fur all over the place, but there hardly was any, probably because of earnest regular cleaning of the house.

“Meow.” A little kitten slowly climbed up into Kuroh’s lap where he was sitting on a chair. Although Kuroh was more of a dog person, it wasn’t like he disliked cats any. Showing a tiny smile, he stroked the kitten’s fur with his fingertips, and the kitten nuzzled against his palm, clinging to him. “OK. There, there.”

Once before, when they had to go into hiding during the “Colorless King Incident”, their hiding place was a shady hotel. Compared to that, it was perhaps in order to say that this time they were much better off.

“…” Abruptly, Kuroh felt a gaze upon himself and snapped his head up. On the belly of the soundly asleep Neko, whose breathing was quiet and peaceful, there sat coiling the conspicuously big gruffy-looking cat - the same black one that Neko was hugging just earlier - that was staring at him.

“…”
“…” The two engaged in a silent staredown.

Kuroh experienced a distinct sense of deja vu: he had a feeling that he had seen this cat before, at a different place, except it was many years ago and a long ways from here. He really didn’t think that that cat that had disappeared without a trace back then could suddenly pop up here. Still, Kuroh couldn’t shake off the feeling as he called, “Tamagorou.”

But before he could even properly finish, his PDA signalled an incoming.

Groggy, Neko sat up in confusion. All the cats that were lounging on her fell down to the floor.

Kuroh took a look at the message from the informant. “Looks like trouble is brewing. Check this video,” it read.

Kuroh did as he was told, clicking the specified address and accessing the video. Neko came around and peered at his PDA from behind his shoulder.

What they saw was the worst prank possible, humiliating and making fun of the previous Red King and his friends. The priceless lost lives of two men were caricatured and ridiculed on the game screen. By the time the short demo was over, Kuroh was trembling bodily.

‘Did the Greens have to go that far?’ Anger was whiting out the pupils of his eyes.

The goal behind that video was probably to provoke Homura and sow chaos, but to go that far—

For the first time Kuroh felt real raging fury towards Jungle. In a sense, he had resigned to the two of them being Jungle’s attack targets. But this…

'This is clearly going too far.’

“So mean,” Neko quietly murmured behind him. “Anna… I feel so bad for Anna, Kuroh,” she added with sadness, so unusual for her, and sniffed. Then she tagged at Kuroh’s sleeve.

That was the moment when Kuroh had found his resolve. “Neko. We’re going outside.”
“Eh?”
“Jungle went and did something as hideous as this. Homura will make their move now, no doubt. As well as Scepter 4. Which is bound to result in a mayhem. And it does, the ringleader who set this up might show up as well. And then maybe…” Although the chances were slim, but still. “ …we’ll be able to obtain some clue about s.h.i.+ro’s whereabouts.”
“Right!” Neko put her hand on Kuroh’s shoulder, hopping with impatience.
“Let’s go, Kurosuke! Let’s go!”

Kuroh nodded energetically.

And the two started walking at the same time, heading for the door. As they went on a trip after a trip, they were able to reach a perfect synch between the two of them. They were also quick on their toes, ready to act at any moment.

Kuroh called the informant and explained the circ.u.mstances to him.

Neko as she was about to shut the door to the house, said to the cats that came following her, “We might not come back here anymore, and I’m sorry about that.”

“Meow!” the many feline residents complained at the same time.

The door closed with a click.

The big cat Kuroh had a staredown with yawned softly and turned to them, as if to say that they would see each other again some day.