June 12th, 4:30 PM, the day after the massive battle at the marine park. Mikoto and Shido were walking back to the shrine.
The two had just finished grocery shopping and decided to move their dinner from the Itsuka house to the shrine. The shrine had a big, beautiful backyard that was perfect for setting up a grill.
As for why they were grilling fish, we have to go back to 12:00 PM today...
___________
"Shido! Let's go eat grilled eel!"
After seeing it on the TV news, Tohka enthusiastically suggested eating eel for the midsumr Day of the Ox.(TL:The day associated with the Ox sign in the traditional Japanese calendar where main dish is grilled eel)
"Eel, huh."
Shido thought about it. It wasn't a bad idea. In fact, just thinking about the taste of grilled eel made him hungry.
"Umu! They say eel gives you lots of stamina, so it's absolutely perfect for Kotori right now!"
"Oh my, you thought of this just for ? Thank you, Tohka. Then let's go to an eel restaurant tonight," Kotori smiled. Because she overdosed on her dicine and fought in that huge battle, she still looked a bit pale and weak.
"Ohoho, eating grilled eel is a sumr tradition, but just going to a restaurant feels like a bit of a waste, don't you think?"
For so reason, Yoshinon spoke up.
"Oh? Do you have a better idea, Yoshinon?" Mikoto asked.
"Co to think of it, doesn't Mikoto-chan have a huge backyard at her place?"
Yoshinon was right. Tamako-obaa-chan's house was built on a corner of the shrine property, and there was a traditional Japanese garden right behind it.
"Instead of going to a restaurant, how about we all have a BBQ together over there?"
"I... I agree..." Yoshino also raised her hand.
"Umu! That sounds super fun!"
A sumr evening, listening to the cicadas, everyone happily grilling food together—just picturing it made Tohka's eyes sparkle.
"A BBQ... the other ingredients are fine, but eel..." Mikoto gave a weak smile.
"Tohka, prepping an eel is really hard. If we do it ourselves, it might not taste very good."
Shido smiled wryly too. Unlike the others, these two experienced cooks knew the real problem hiding behind the fun: deboning the eel.
Eels have a ton of tiny bones. A chef has to carefully slice them open with amazing knife skills. It looks simple, but it's a dish that truly tests a chef's level. Basically, if you aren't a pro, you're going to make a ss of it.
"What are you worrying about? Just leave that to Fraxinus. If they give us ready to grill eel fillets, it'll be fine, right?" Kotori laughed after hearing their concerns.
And so, with Ratatoskr backing them up, the Spirits's fun and slightly luxurious backyard BBQ plan was officially set.
"Kotori and the others should be here around five. Why don't we prep the ingredients before they arrive?" Shido suggested.
Because Tohka and Yoshino wanted to see how eel was deboned, they went with Kotori to watch the prep team. But besides eel, Shido and Mikoto had also bought a ton of other food, from fresh mackerel to chicken skewers and all sorts of vegetables.
"Huh... is that... Dried fish?"
As they crossed the overpass and reached the shrine's Torii gate, they saw a large gray cat sitting there. It had a long scar near its eye.
"Dried fish?" Shido asked, confused.
"Yeah, it's the Nanko-gang's cat. He's probably here to collect his dried fish tax."
The cat, actually nad Niboshi(Dried Fish) , was a pet belonging to the local Yakuza group. He often wandered around their turf begging for food. Because he was cute, and because he belonged to the Yakuza, people started joking that "Niboshi-sama is here to collect his dried fish tax."(TL:hey I just re read those Yutsuki's catfriend encore chapter on my other novel and it seem it's also Tamako-obaa-chan and Niboshi over there huh? Seem like she is a canon character? Or these fanfic author are just that good of a friend they used each other setting lol~)
Seeing Mikoto co back, Niboshi trotted over to Tamako-oba-chan's house. Because the old lady used to live alone, she spoiled the cat, often leaving a small gap in the kitchen window for him. Eventually, the cat started waiting there for food on his own. Even after Mikoto moved in, the habit stayed.
"What a smart cat..." Shido smiled after hearing the story.
"Do you want to feed him, Shido? Maybe he'll start visiting your house to collect tax too," Mikoto joked.
"Yeah, I'll give it a try."
When they walked up to the front door, they heard owing coming from the kitchen.
"Strange. It sounds like there's another cat inside."
Mikoto tilted her head. It definitely sounded like two cats. She and Shido walked into the kitchen, only to freeze at the crazy sight in front of them.
"ow!"
On one side was the gray cat, quickly batting a small dried fish with its paws. And on the other side...
"ow! ow~"
Crawling on the floor, owing seductively, and using a dried fish to tease the cat was a girl in a red and black Astral Dress—Tokisaki Kurumi. By the way, she definitely took the dried fish from the fridge, because the refrigerator door was still wide open.(TL:and of course with Niboshi and cat, it's could only an Kurumi)
[Why is Kurumi inside Senpai's / My house!?]
Faced with this totally absurd situation, Shido and Mikoto's brains completely stopped working.
"Umm... Kurumi..."
Shido carefully called out her na.
"...Eek..."
The girl on the floor flinched hard, then slowly and stiffly turned around.
"Shido-san... and Yakumo-san... why... are you here?"
Caught completely off guard, Kurumi's voice sounded incredibly rigid.
"Umm... this is my house" Mikoto smiled awkwardly.
[!!!]
A total miscalculation. That was the only thing going through Kurumi's mind. She had just been resting at the shrine when she saw a gray cat jump into a house. Wanting to play with the kitty, she sneaked inside, made sure no one was around, and grabbed so dried fish from the fridge. She had no idea this was Yakumo Mikoto's house, or that Shido and Mikoto would co back right at this exact mont.
"By the way, why are you here, Kurumi?" Shido asked.
"Kihihihihihi! Why, you ask? I only ever appear before you for one reason, don't I?"
Kurumi forced a wicked, scary smile. But if you looked closely, you could see a drop of sweat forming on her forehead.
[You're obviously just here to play with the cat! You're here for the cat!]
She clearly didn't even know this was Mikoto's house until a second ago, yet she was acting like she ca here to eat Shido. Mikoto scread internally.
"A-Anyway! Since I've caught the two of you alone, I won't hold back!"
Pulling her long and short pistols from the shadows, Kurumi forced a villainous smile and declared.
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