Famine's rules were set by what Yimi considered fair—so if she believed that a simple escort was genuinely dangerous for the demon, the price could be raised accordingly.
But Yimi hadn't agreed yet.
Scratch-scratch-scratch-scratch—
The scratching noise at the door.
Origami opened it and looked down at the small girl digging her curled fingers at the frame like tiny claws. She glanced at her phone.
The Spacequake alert had ended around ten in the morning. It was now past six in the evening. She'd been running wild outside all day and only just came back?
Yimi bowed her head and sidled up close to Origami's hand.
Pet me. Kitty is about to leave. While my Spirit power is still recharging, let me spend one last day with you.
"…" Origami reached down and stroked her head.
The pre-dinner ritual complete, Yimi trotted to the dresser, rose on tiptoe to paw at the cat food Origami had placed slightly out of reach, twisted it open, scooped out a handful, and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Today a green person picked me up," Yimi told Origami, attempting to narrate her entire day. "She locked me in a room, then she went out, then she came back, then she said she'd help me, then she had no clothes on, then Shiori came out and said she'd help her, then the green person called Shiori a pervert, then Shiori lifted her skirt—" The rest she only heard secondhand—she'd caught Shiori and Natsumi shouting at each other.
The story kept getting more alarming the longer it went.
Was Shiori becoming more unhinged?
Well, that was… gratifying, in a way. But Yimi should probably spend less time with her going forward.
Origami took the cat food from Yimi's hands and pointed to the plate on the table, covered in plastic wrap: "Made your share. It's not hot anymore."
"Hmm…"
Yimi climbed onto the chair, gripped the spoon in her fist like a dagger, and worked her way through the curry in unrefined but determined bites.
Origami sat across from her and watched in silence—only to notice that the little cat kept stealing glances at her. Every time their eyes met, Yimi's gaze would dart away.
Strange. Had she hidden a mouse in the apartment?
Origami went to her bedroom and opened the door to reveal a fully assembled children's bed. "Bought you a bed. No more sleeping on floor mats."
"Hmm?" Someone who doesn't freeload off you is a good person. I want to take her with me.
"Notification to Host: the transit portal can only transport Host. No other living being may travel through it."
After she was gone, the person who didn't freeload off her would be alone again.
The little cat resolved to compensate her with the truth about the world: "I'll tell you something—the world is actually round."
Origami considered this briefly, then nodded with perfect calm. "Someone already figured that out."
Yimi's mouth fell open and stayed that way for a very long time.
Someone had stolen Kitty's discovery!
It must have been that useless Shiori—Kitty had only told her this secret. She must have gone behind Kitty's back and told everyone the moment Kitty wasn't watching. From now on, Shiori was officially the world's biggest idiot.
Yimi seized her spoon and unhappily stuffed her cheeks to capacity.
"And this." Origami slid a pink mobile phone across the table.
The little cat picked it up curiously and sniffed it.
"For staying in contact from a distance. You can talk to me even when you're very far away." Origami sat beside her, both hands guiding Yimi's: "Tap this green button, then tap this one—I'll call you so you can see how to answer…"
Smartphones were everywhere now. A cheap model with GPS could be bought for next to nothing. If this one ran off again without a word and she couldn't find her, it would be an unacceptable loss of a research subject.
"Hmm!" The little cat stole another look at this big cat who had been so good to her.
"…"
Something was off about the cat today. Whether or not it was just her imagination, Origami couldn't shake the feeling that those eyes looked as if they were seeing her for the very last time.
Origami looked down to dial a test call—and at that exact moment a call came in instead. The contact label read DEM. More precisely, it was Ellen, the strongest Wizard who had given her the Realizer equipment some days ago.
Origami raised the phone to her ear without greeting, waiting for the other side to speak. Her free hand closed gently over Yimi's mouth before Yimi could make any noise.
Yimi stared at her bowl of curry, uncomprehending.
Not letting Kitty eat?
"Is it convenient to meet? Just the café downstairs. Preferably within ten minutes."
"Do you know anything about the First Spirit?" Origami turned the question back on her.
"That's classified… though you really are in luck. I'm probably here for exactly that reason."
"…I'll be right down."
A corner booth in the café downstairs—its only practical function: a private place to talk.
"I've already swept the place. No need to worry about anyone listening in." Ellen stirred her spoon lightly through the foam pattern on her coffee.
Origami's gaze dropped slightly, settling on Ellen's bandaged hand.
"Cold girl. This hand may very well be a gift from the 'First Spirit' you care so much about."
Not entirely true—it was only something she said to pique Origami's interest. Yimi hadn't activated Love Train deliberately earlier. And Ellen certainly remembered what the First Spirit looked like.
"Where is she?" Origami's tone hardened fractionally.
"You're on good terms with Itsuka Shiori." Ellen lifted her coffee and took a sip. "If you invited her out alone tomorrow, do you think she'd have her guard up?"
"What are you planning?"
"Don't look at me like that. I never said we have any interest in her—today I went to meet her alone and was very rudely ambushed by that terrifying Proto-Spirit. She really is a peculiar girl. Not the slightest bit charming, yet somehow she keeps attracting romantic entanglements."
"You think you can beat the First Spirit?" Origami didn't sound convinced.
"That's not something you need to concern yourself with. Tomorrow is Saturday—can you get her to come out? Or is that all your vengeance for your parents amounts to?"
Ellen drained the last of her now-cold coffee. "From what I've looked into, you seem to get along quite well with the Spirits around Itsuka Shiori. Perhaps someday you'll even manage to befriend the First Spirit herself."
Ellen left. Origami watched her back until she disappeared, then lifted her hand from her coffee cup—along with the handle, which had snapped clean off at some point without her noticing.
A waitress knocked and stepped in. "I'm terribly sorry, miss—the lady who just left didn't pay. Could you take a look at the bill…"
"…"
Once the revenge is done, I'm quitting DEM.
She pulled Shiori's contact out of the blacklist. Stared at the name for a long time. Didn't call.
It was entirely possible Shiori had never even known she'd been blocked.
She locked her phone, stepped out of the booth—and found a small girl pressed flat against the glass outside, peering in.
Strange. Genuinely strange.
It had the uncanny quality of an old cat approaching the end of its life, always wanting one last look at its owner. But this cat was just a child. She had probably simply reached the clingy stage.
Origami took her by the hand and pulled her away without comment. "There will be a Spacequake alert tomorrow. When it sounds, follow the crowd to the shelter. Don't wander off."
"Congratulations, Host, you have unlocked the achievement: [The Classmate Who Gets Along Well With You but Is Often Bullied Suddenly Tells You Not to Come to School Tomorrow]. Reward: +1 Gacha Draw."
"Miao?"
"Origami?" Shiori's startled voice came from behind them both.
She didn't usually appear in this part of the building—but since Yimi's Aerial Slice had cut the Itsuka apartment cleanly in two, a temporary relocation had become unavoidable.
"Shiori…" Origami suddenly remembered the jumbled, chaotic account Yimi had come home rambling about.
She shifted her grip and hoisted Yimi up from underneath, then took a quiet, unhurried step back.
Shiori: "?"