cat's revenge

"I like Natsume-kun."

"but……"

"If such a conversation happened before I left that place."

"--I definitely will……"

……

The first encounter between a boy and a girl was during the summer vacation of the first year of junior high school.

It was a noisy summer day.

Natsume had just left her original host family and moved into Aunt Toko's house.

Chased by monsters, he fled to the mountain and hid in a small, deserted shrine, holding his head and waiting for the monsters who searched for him to leave quickly.

The breath of the monster went farther and farther away, and the boy finally breathed a sigh of relief. He panted and relaxed. After he couldn't hear the other party's voice at all, he carefully pushed open the wooden door of the abandoned shrine, and poked his head out cautiously. To observe the surrounding situation.

"Then... are you alright?"

The first thing I saw was the long hair that fell down as the girl bent down, and then when I raised my head, what I saw was the girl's face.

"Ah, it's okay." Natsume replied subconsciously.

Then he turned his attention to the girl's attire—the black-haired girl with Ji's hair style, wearing sleeves that were completely incompatible with the hot summer, and were embroidered with delicate patterns.

The girl stretched out her hand: "May I help you out? If you hide here, you might get stuck."

"Ah, ah, thank you." Probably because the other party has a delicate and gentle appearance like a human girl, Natsume didn't think the other party was scary, seeing the hand extended to her, she naturally reached for it.

——Sure enough, the girl's hand was as cold as ice.

"Why are you hiding here?" After pulling him out, the girl reached out to help up the offering bottle that was knocked over by him in a panic.

At this time, Natsume noticed that there were not many fallen leaves around this seemingly abandoned shrine, but it was cleaned very cleanly. In front of the shrine, a white porcelain vase was also symbolically enshrined, with a white stick inserted in it. wildflowers.

"That..." The young man was at a loss for words, but instead clenched his fists, "Because...um...just passing by." His eyes turned to one side.

Natsume Takashi, who was entangled by all kinds of monsters because he "can see", has never communicated with such a humanoid existence, but...

"I'm quite happy, it's the first time I saw someone else coming." The other party seemed to realize his embarrassment, and showed a thoughtful smile, "However, don't come here again, the road here is very complicated. If you are not careful, you will get lost. Shall I take you down the mountain?"

On the way down the mountain, the two of them didn't meet anyone or monsters again. When they came to the side of the road, Natsume just bowed slightly to the child, then turned and ran away.

——At that time, he thought the girl was the owner of that shrine.

"Ah, that shrine." While having breakfast the next day, Shigeru Fujiwara raised his head and thought for a while when he heard Natsume ask about the shrine, "I used to hide there when I was playing hide-and-seek with my friends when I was young. , but it is said that there is an undead girl enshrined there, if found, she will be taken to the other shore."

Natsume:……

"Hahaha, I'm just kidding, that shrine is the one of Kuruka's family, right?" Shigeru Fujiwara turned to ask Aunt Toko who was busy inside, "It feels like I haven't heard about Kuruka's home for a long time."

"Hush!" Aunt Tazi inside made a silent voice, "Didn't the daughter of Li Hualuo's family..."

"Ah..." Shigeru Fujiwara supported his forehead, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought this up. What's wrong with Takashi? You look so bad, are you uncomfortable?"

"No, no, I'm just full..." Natsume put down the bowl absently.

——"I'm quite happy, it's the first time I see someone else coming."

The girl's words echoed in his ears.

So gentle and lonely.

No.

The boy shook his head vigorously.

No.

can not go.

After finally getting out of trouble, if I go to that kind of place again, I don't know what I will encounter.

"So, why on earth did I come here?" Natsume squatted in front of the shrine, and carefully placed the steamed buns she had prepared on the altar of the shrine with a piece of paper.

The white flowers in the offering bottle were already a little wilted, so the young man added a little more water to it.

This time, the girl did not appear.

"That's right." He laughed as if he was relieved, and the wind blew the corners of the paper pressed by the steamed buns, making a crisp "crash".

However, in the next second, a black shadow rushed towards him.

"Natsume—quick, hurry up and give me the friend account—"

The figure of the monster was so huge and ferocious that the young man was slammed into the thick tree next to him by it. The impact of this blow was so great that Natsume Takashi's mind froze for a moment. Whitespace.

"it hurts."

No, get moving—

You have to run away from here quickly.

The monster rushed up and pinned the boy's shoulder, its sharp claws almost pierced into the boy's shoulder, leaving bloodstains.

When his mind was in chaos due to the pain, the boy heard some kind of hurried voice.

—what's the sound?Footsteps?It seemed to be... the sound of someone running over in a hurry.

Then, the weight on her body was lightened in an instant, and what Natsume saw was that the girl with the girl's hair was using her body, relying on the power of running, to bump into the body of the ferocious monster sideways, bringing it together It looks like it's rolling down a slope.

The girl's movements were very flexible. Before landing, she used her strength to adjust her landing posture, and rolled to remove most of the impact force.

"Get out of here quickly." She ordered to the monster, "Don't step into the sanctuary of this shrine again!"

However, what was unexpected was that after the girl gave such an order, the ferocious and terrifying monster showed a frightened expression, turned around and turned into a black gust of wind and fled into the distance.

"Well, are you okay?" The girl patted the dust on her body, turned her head to look at the boy, and then her eyes fell on the shrine behind him, "Ah... did you bring that steamed bun?"

"Ah, um." Natsume nodded, admitting it, "You...thank you."

She blinked her eyes and showed a cute smile: "You're welcome, I didn't expect anyone to come here." She scratched the back of her head, put her hands behind her back, and lightly rubbed the fallen leaves on the ground with the toes of her clogs , "Ah, you're hurt."

Natsume lowered his head, looked at the blood on his shoulder, and smiled wryly: "Fortunately, it's not very serious, it's just a skin trauma."

"Wait a minute." The girl turned her head and got into the bushes, and after a while, she got out again, holding a bunch of bandages and a bottle of iodine in her arms.

Natsume:? ? ?

"Did you say this?" The girl put her eyes on the things she brought,

"I hid this secretly. If there are vicious monsters nearby, there will always be some little monsters who are innocently injured..."

She skillfully bandaged the boy's wound, and after carefully confirming that no bones or joints were injured, she breathed a sigh of relief: "It really doesn't look that serious."

"Master Lihualuo."

"Master Li Hualuo is with the human boy."

"Master Li Hualuo, there is such a vicious big monster who has escaped from the side!"

"Scared."

A few little monsters with rabbit ears jumped out from the bushes, surrounded the girl in twos and threes, and called the girl: "Master Lihualuo."

The girl picked up one of them, reached out and stroked its head.

"Don't worry, I've already chased it away, and it won't come back."

——Chestnut blossoms fall.

Natsume remembered what he had heard in the morning, combined with the girl's cold ice-like hands, he showed a pensive expression.

This child should be "the one" enshrined in the shrine.

Natsume Takashi at the time thought so.

When he came to this shrine for the third time, he saw the girl sitting on the edge of the shrine with a rabbit in kimono sleeping in her arms.

He brought bean paste steamed buns to the girl.

As long as there are girls, he will not see ferocious monsters.

He has been misunderstood like this.

until……

When the girl appeared at the door of her house with a paper bag in her hand, she raised her hand and knocked on the door.

Inside, Aunt Tazi responded: "Okay, I'll be right over—"

He didn't think about anything at the time, so he rushed up quickly, grabbed the girl's wrist, and dragged her to a corner where Aunt Tazi couldn't see.

"Natsume-kun, you—"

"Shh." He raised his hand to cover the girl's mouth and made a silent gesture.

"Ah, Guizhi, what are you doing?" Aunt Tazi who heard the voice came over looked suspiciously at the two people hiding in the corner.

"Ugh?"

The girl backhanded off his hand covering his mouth: "Well, how are you?" She raised the paper bag in her hand, showing a sunny smile, "I'm here to return the gift."

... Aunt Tazi, I can see a girl named "Lihualuo".

At that moment, Natsume Shiki understood a fact that he had been misunderstanding before.

Li Hualuo is not the "that" enshrined in the shrine, but a real human being who can "see" like him.

The boy's face flushed red.

"Ah... ah." He took a step back and covered his face shyly.

Seeing him like this, the dull girl finally came to her senses: "Ah! Have you been..."

The two people looked at each other, looking at each other who was blushing because of the misunderstanding, and finally laughed "puchi" at the same time.

Although Aunt Tazi on one side didn't understand where the smiles of the two were, she just looked at the smiles of the two children and smiled happily together.

--until--

Yuki looked at the boy in front of him and showed a sad smile: "Long time no see, Natsume-kun."

Unlike that time, the me now will only bring you danger.