Ten minutes later, Masaru was back with a bottle of orange juice, a can of soda and a few rice balls. He did try to act indignant that Ayumu still hadn’t started eating, but Ayumu simply reminded him that he disliked eating alone.

Masaru sighed in response, but looked resigned and sat down on the chair facing Ayumu’s bed, starting to unwrap the packaging of a rice ball.

They sat in silence, taking occasional bites of their food. There was a certain tenseness in the air, considering how unusual the silence was. But Ayumu expected as much, given the situation; he took the chance to banish any hesitation or doubt in his mind.

“Hey, Ayumu…” Masaru said softly after swallowing the last bite of his first rice ball, and Ayumu looked up at him curiously, “I, uh… wanted to tell you that I’m-”

“You don’t need to say it.” Ayumu cut him off as soon as he realized that he was trying to apologize, “It’s not your fault that you’re friends with a weirdo with very ‘unique’ problems.” Ayumu laughed bitterly.

“Don’t start again.” Masaru sighed, looking exceptionally weary and even a bit angry, “I… honestly, I want to say a lot of things, but I just… don’t have the proper words, I think.”

Masaru fiddled with the second rice ball’s packaging for a few moments, seemingly lost for words. Ayumu wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find any words himself, so he kept scooping the porridge into his mouth with the spoon while keeping his eyes on the now half-full earthenware pot.

“I guess the point is,” Masaru said, finally unwrapping the second rice ball, “It doesn’t matter what happens, I’m not going to stop being friends with you or leave you to handle this stuff on your own.”

Ayumu didn’t look up from his pot, but he could feel a sense of relief washing over him, along with a very distinct feeling of guilt. Of course. Of course his friend wouldn’t abandon him, even when it’s something like this.

“Thanks, and-” It was Ayumu’s turn to be interrupted.

“And nothing.” Masaru said simply, “If I don’t get to apologize, you don’t either.”

“I was actually going to ask whether you’d help me even if I turned out to be a serial killer.” Ayumu joked, partially to give him an excuse to grin like an idiot.

“As long as I don’t have to handle the bodies myself, I guess.” Masaru grinned back, “Oh, and you’ll also have to target the assholes from the track and field club first.”

Ayumu snorted, “I’ll consider it if it ever comes to that.”

Before long, they were both done eating and Ayumu found himself leaning against the wall while sitting in a lotus position on his bed, messing around with the half-full bottle of orange juice in his hand all the while. Masaru had gone to dispose of the empty packages and leave the donabe in the sink downstairs.

Tomos sat straight with regal poise on the bed in front of Ayumu, having come out right as Masaru stepped out of the room. It was now or never, it seemed.

Ayumu looked up at the sound of his friend’s footsteps, and the door swung open to reveal Masaru moments later. He was opening his mouth to say something, but his eyes found Tomos and he let out a strange startled sound instead.

“A-a cat?” He looked at Ayumu, visibly confused. Ayumu understood the question running through his friend’s mind and spoke up.

“So, yeah, this cat isn’t a normal cat.” Ayumu ignored the rather reproachful look Tomos shot him and continued, “Don’t worry, he’s friendly. His name is Tomos.” He said reassuringly.

“Al..right, I guess.” Masaru said, eyeing the cat wearily and carefully approaching them, “I’ll take your word for it.”

“He cannot understand me without the Senses, so I suggest that you explain the situation to him before we begin.” Tomos said lightly, surveying Masaru with his luminous eyes.

“O-OK, I will. I guess I skipped over a lot of stuff last night.” Ayumu replied, noting that Masaru’s eyes widened for a few moments before he closed them and shook his head in resignation.

Ayumu straightened up and looked at his friend directly before explaining what happened the previous night.

“Damn…” Masaru breathed, looking horrified as Masaru finished describing his run in with the kuchisake onna, “I guess I know why you didn’t want to report anything to the police. That must have been terrifying...”

“It was, yeah.” Ayumu sighed, trying not to think too much about the incident.

“I guess I should thank you for protecting my friend. Tomos, was it?” Masaru looked at the cat and gave a short bow, “Thanks, and I hope you’ll keep helping him in the future.”

Tomos looked rather pleased and inclined his head graciously, something of a smile gracing the feline face.

“I think he will be, yeah.” Ayumu said carefully, “You, uh, will have a hard time believing some of the things he’s told me...”

“I think we’re well past that point,” Masaru laughed weakly.

Well, Masaru wasn’t wrong, Ayumu thought. But there was something very absurd about saying that he found a one-of-a-kind magic book in the secondhand section of the antique bookstore which reopened recently.

“So, uh…” Masru began after he had finished explaining, “I guess you’re some kind of Chosen One now, I guess?”

“Feh, such a conceited notion.” Tomos sniffed as Ayumu felt his face go red with embarrassment, “There is no such thing as “Fate” or “Destiny”, and certainly no such thing as “Chosen Ones”. The Liber Nominum Universalia has simply found seeds of potential in you which it deems promising enough to consider you a possible Successor. If those seeds fail to blossom, it will simply reject you and await another.”

“Well… I guess that’s different enough.” Ayumu sighed, feeling slightly stung at how offended the cat sounded. “Right, can you do something to let Masaru understand what you’re saying as well?” Ayumu added when he realized that Masaru didn’t hear a word of the cat’s spiel.

“Yes.” Tomos said, “Because of the circumstances and your condition, the method I have deemed necessary comes with a price- no, not something unreasonable.” He added the last part when Ayumu raised his eyebrows at the cat, “But it is intimate enough that not announcing it to the parties involved would be a great discourtesy.”

“Now, to elaborate: under normal circumstances I would have established a pseudo-familiar bond between you two, which would have allowed the Masaru boy to access a predefined portion of your power in exchange for you being able to wield a portion of his spiritual and vital energy. As it is a rather barebones spirit-pact which is easily modified, I can change the amount of spiritual and vital energy you’re allowed to wield from the Masaru boy to be incredibly small and in exchange grant him about the same level of perception of the Unseen that you possess. Though he would still have been limited by his own lack of aptitude, so higher-level perception and the ability to clearly recall every aesthetic detail of the Other would have been unreachable for him.” Tomos continued, and while Ayumu was sure he understood most of what he said there was still a sense of doubt in him which was looking for hidden meanings or traps hidden beneath the jargon.

“So, um, what is the ca- I mean, Tomos saying?” Masaru asked, looking rather lost as he looked between Ayumu and Tomos..

“Tomos is explaining something to me. Just a bit more and I’ll tell you everything.” Ayumu told him, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “Sorry, I think it won’t take much longer.”

“Hmph, how impatient.” The cat shook its head haughtily, “But yes, let us not keep the boy waiting, this situation is highly discourteous towards him.”

“To continue- that sort of contract would have required a bit of maneuvering on your part as well- I was planning on it being an introduction to the use of your abilities, but…” The cat trailed off and Ayumu simply nodded, ignoring the annoyed edge in his tone, “Regardless, now it seems that I need to step in with a shortcut.” The cat gave a theatrical sigh, and he himself felt his eye twitch in annoyance. He wished the cat had a better attitude.

“Rather than a contract, it will be a bond between your souls.” Ayumu had to do a double-take at what the cat said.

“What…?” He asked, bemused, “That sounds pretty…”

“Do not worry,” The cat said reassuringly, “It is nothing so intimate as a direct link- that would be a foolish and dangerous affair. It’s simply a mutual connection which lets you share your spiritual energy with each other. I can arrange for it to be more akin to the aforementioned Familiar Pact, and there would be scarcely any difference between the two.”

“Besides the price thing, right?” Ayumu said, still not fully reassured.

“Indeed. The price is that the initial connection requires you to experience a mutual memory from the perspective of the other.” The cat said, and Ayumu stared at it blankly in response.

“Y-you can’t be serious.” Ayumu said, feeling deeply uncomfortable. “That’s kinda… I’m not sure I’m fully comfortable with the idea.”

“Hey, what’s the matter?” Masaru cut in before Tomos could answer. He had leaned forward with a serious look on his face, “Do you need to, uh, make some sort of weird blood sacrifice or something?”

Ayumu sighed and buried his face in his palms. “No, it’s not that.” He said without looking up.

“It is rather unfortunate, but I assure you the price isn’t as bad as it might come across. It will be the memory of an incident between you two, and each will experience the emotions and thoughts of the other during that incident and that incident alone.” The cat said soothingly, the look in its eyes very sympathetic.

Ayumu took a deep breath and looked up to meet his friend’s gaze. Well... there is always the possibility of leaving this affair for another day, but Ayumu wasn’t willing to put this whole thing off any longer than necessary. He… probably would lose his nerve and attempt to procrastinate further if he did not rip the proverbial bandage off instantly. “So, um… Tomos said that there’s a way that you’d be able to see and hear the same stuff as me, but, uh…”

“If that’s the case, then tell him to do it.” Masaru said firmly, looking completely serious. “Why are you hesitating?”

Ayumu gaped at his friend, who in turn did not seem to falter, so Ayumu pulled himself together to snap, “Y-you don’t even wait to hear all the details! You said that you wouldn’t be reckless, remember!”

“I’m not being reckless.” Masaru insisted, “I told you, I want to help you and I want you to be able to depend on me. If there’s a way to make that possible, then I don’t care about the details.”

“But I do care about the details!” Ayumu shot back, feeling frustrated at his friend, “Masaru, we’ve already had this talk. Just… at least listen and try to understand what the consequences might be. After that I won’t mind you saying yes.”

Masaru frustratedly rubbed the side of his head, messing up his air, and said, “Fine, fine. Tell me the details so I can say ‘yes’ again.”

Ayumu sighed and explained everything Tomos had told him, forcing himself to not beat about the bush too much in the process.

At the mention of the “price” Masaru began to look less sure of himself, much to Ayumu’s surprise. His expression mirrored his own discomfort, but after a few moments he gripped his knees tightly and said, “I don’t care, I’m ready for anything.”

Ayumu was tempted to try and dissuade him by pointing out how nervous he looked, with his hands still gripping his knees tightly, but he knew it would just end up as a pointless back-and-forth. His friend was nothing if not obstinate.

Ayumu exhaled and said, “You heard him, Tomos. Let’s get this over with.”

“Of course. Please extend one hand, both of you. Palm facing down, please.” Tomos said, his eyes getting slightly brighter when he added the last part. Ayumu nodded and extended his right hand, gesturing to Masaru to do the same, who obliged.

Tomos considered both of them for a moment and touched the back of their palms with each of his front paws.

Ayumu suppressed a shudder, a feeling of dread creeping up on him for some reason at the touch of the cat’s soft paws. A claustrophobic sensation suddenly engulfed him, making him break into cold sweat despite the chill running up his spine. He gave a sidelong glance towards Masaru, who still looked determined, if a shade paler than he was previously.

He heard the softest rumble coming from Tomos’ throat, and if he didn’t know better he would have assumed he was purring.

Only a few moments later the sensation passed and Tomos removed his paws from both of their hands, giving a satisfied nod. “There is a mark on both of your hands now, though it is currently only visible to you because of the Masaru boy’s lack of the Senses.” Tomos told Ayumu, “Have both of your hands touch at the point the marks are located, and use your free hands to touch somewhere you can clearly feel the other’s heartbeats.”

Ayumu nodded and inspected the back of his hand, not quite processing all of Tomos’ instructions immediately. He could make out a slightly paler patch of skin in the shape of a pawprint on the back of his hand. He looked at Masaru and noticed an identical mark.

“Right we have to, uh, join the places Tomos put his paws on, I guess?” Ayumu told Masaru who was looking at him expectantly, and he nodded and held up his hand, its back facing towards him. Ayumu raised his hand and did as Tomos had instructed.

Nothing happened, but then he remembered the second part of the instructions. He felt a bit awkward as he told his friend, “So, um, we need to use our free hands to feel the other’s pulse.”

“A-alright.” Masaru said, looking rather apprehensive, “Where should I, uh…”

“I think the base of the neck would be best?” Ayumu suggested, thinking that having their hands on each other’s chests would be a bit too awkward, “I think I remember how from one of those first aid lessons.”

Masaru nodded and Ayumu decided to take the initiative. It took a few moments, but he was able to feel Masaru’s pulse very clearly on his extended index and middle fingers. Masaru mimicked him and it took him a bit more time to find his pulse, much to Ayumu’s discomfort. He was ticklish, so he had to try very hard to not squirm at the touch.

“Alright, we’re both ready, I think.” Ayumu said, trying his best to not feel too uncomfortable at the situation.

“Now, both of you must close your eyes and try to synchronize your breathing.” Tomos instructed, “The price will be paid when you two reach a point of synchronicity, and the connection will be fully established after the payment.”

Ayumu nodded and told Masaru what they must do. Masaru nodded as well and they both closed their eyes.

It was rather hard to really concentrate at first, mostly because of how embarrassed he felt, but he shook off the feeling and concentrated on breathing in unison with Masaru. Seconds passed, and he had to admit that the process felt rather meditative, and other thoughts slowly left his mind.

Before he knew it, he wasn’t quite himself anymore. His heart was filled with chaotic emotions that didn’t quite feel like they belonged to him, and his mind was racing with borderline incoherent thoughts. He was stomping along the road, the ground curiously closer to him than usual, and a backpack on his shoulders.

He was angry. Or rather, he felt hurt and ashamed, and the only way he could really process those emotions was by using them to feed his anger. He was tired of being taunted and looked down upon, and provoked for the petty amusement of his peers, who regarded him with a mixture of fear and contempt.

Before he could go on an internal spiel for what felt like the umpenteenth time, he noticed a small figure following him, having caught a glance of it while turning a corner. His anger flared, all of it being directed at the pursuer now, and he stopped in his tracks and turned around, waiting at the turn.

Just a few moments later his pursuer came into view, and Ayumu felt a dull surprise when he realized that he was looking directly at a younger version of himself.

Or rather, he was experiencing Masaru’s side of their first “conversation”. It was hard to separate his own thoughts and feelings from Masaru’s past ones at the moment, so he simply decided that processing the experience would have to come later.

He instead directed his attention towards the unfolding events, seeing the young Ayumu look shocked and take a few steps back but not really flee after being discovered. The young Masaru glared at him, livid, and recognized him after a few moments.

“What do you want?!” He Masaru snapped in his boyish voice, and the present Ayumu winced in unison with the past Ayumu, but for different reasons. The last syllable of the sentence was very high-pitched and grating… to think that his friend used to sound like that.

The past Ayumu was shaking from head to toe, but still stammered, “H-Hirokawa-kun, you left something in the c-class.” He fumbled around with his bag and brought out a textbook. Masaru looked at the letters scrawled on the cover in what he recognized as his mother’s handwriting, and he could only make out the dancing characters because he was so familiar with how his name was written.

Masaru clenched his little fists, feeling very humiliated that he forgot to pack something because of his absentmindedness again, and snatched up the book from his hands, grumbling a faint “Thank you.”

“O-oh, and-” Masaru was interrupted in the process of turning around to stomp off by the words and he turned round to scowl moodily at the other boy again. He was closing his backpack and slinging it back on his shoulders, and Masaru grumbled impatiently at him.

The present Ayumu flinched at the thoughts the young Masaru was having- he was livid that the young Ayumu was trying to cozy up with him, probably thinking that the young Masaru was a weirdo just like him, or maybe wanting to use the young Masaru as a shield against their other classmates who teased Ayumu as well.

...It wasn’t as though it was expected, but it still hurt to remember that his best friend started off as thinking of him as a freak one upon a time. But he didn’t hold such a thing against Masaru. He could never.

Startled, the young Ayumu fumbled in his pocket to bring out a something red, which looked as though it was previously crumpled-

A volcano of uncontrollable wrath burst in his chest as he dashed forward and wrenched the scarlet lucky charm his mother had made for him from his hand, shoving him to the ground in the process. The young Ayumu cried out, first in shock and then in pain, and Masaru yelled, “It was you! You stole it!”

The young Ayumu, his elbow now bleeding and his eyes watering as though he was on the verge of tears, shook his head vigorously, “N-no! I didn’t steal it!”

“Liar!” Masaru said, and even the present Ayumu felt a bit shaken up by how contemptuously he spat the word at him, “Liar, liar, liar! You always lie about stuff, why should I believe you?!”

“P-please…” the young Ayumu pleaded, his eyes watering but not a tear leaving his eyes, “Believe me- you left it on your seat two days ago and I saw Tanaka-kun and Satou-kun take it and throw it in the trash…”

“So you want me to believe that you dug through trash just to give me this lucky charm back?!” Masaru snapped, refusing to believe a word.

“I-it was just the waste paper basket in the classroom, and it was resting on the top so…” the young Ayumu said in a small voice as he tried to get back up to his feet, “I-I would have given it back sooner, but I was…” he trailed of, beginning to twiddle his thumbs and look anywhere but towards him nervously.

“What?” Masaru snapped at him, making the young Ayumu flinch again, “Just say it!”

The young Ayumu scrunched up his face and said, barely louder than a whisper, “I was afraid you were going to yell at me…”

His words were greeted with silence from Masaru, whose rage was slowly ebbing and being replaced with shame and a strange urge to start crying. But he held those feelings in, not betraying any sign of tearing up. He… didn’t know what to make of the smaller boy.

For the first time he looked someone else in the eyes that was not his parents or his older sister. The other boy had wiped his watery eyes on his sleeve, and now he noticed for the first time how resigned the young Ayumu looked. As though he knew that he would be called a liar and made fun of or pushed away-

And it made Masaru feel sad as well. The bubbling sense of shame and disgust at his own inability to hold his temper paradoxically was turning into anger again, but he tried to rein it in as best as he could. He needed to apologize-

“I’m sorry, Hirokawa-kun.” Masaru was shocked when Ayumu politely bowed in apology, “I shouldn’t have followed you like that, it was my fault for being too afraid to ask you during class. I won’t do it again. And… if you still think that I stole your charm, then I hope you will try to forgive me going forward.”

Masaru felt lost for words as the young Ayumu mechanically rose from the bow and tried to scurry off without looking at him. But before he could make his escape, Masaru rushed to him and grabbed his sleeve. The other boy looked at Masaru in alarm, making him feel another pang of guilt, but he shook it off and said in the calmest way he could, “Maeno, you’re still bleeding…”

“I-it’s alright.” Ayumu said hurriedly, “I’m… used to it.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Masaru said firmly, hiding the slight sense of horror he felt at the last few words, “It was my fault, my dad says you should always take responsibility for your actions, so I want to disinfect it and put a bandage on it.”

Ayumu looked unsure, but there was some other emotion Masaru couldn’t quite make out. The dark-haired boy nodded, and Masaru tried to smile in response.

...How long has it been that he tried to be nice to one of his classmates? How long has it been since one of his classmates tried to take initiative and be nice to him?

So they both set off towards Masaru’s house, Masaru leading the young Ayumu by the sleeve the whole way. They didn’t speak at all on the way. Or rather, they didn’t know what kind of conversation they should be having in this situation, so both opted to let the awkwards silence hang in the air.

Soon enough, they were both standing on the front door of Masaru’s house, and were greeted by his high school-aged older sister, who looked incredibly surprised to see Masaru with another kid his age.

Ayumu bowed to her politely, “Hello, pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Maeno Ayumu, and I am one of Hirokawa-kun’s classmates.”

“Hello! I’m Hirokawa Mika, that idiot’s older sister. Nice to meet you!” She replied cheerfully. With a cheeky grin she added, “Oh, you’re adorable and polite.” and Ayumu visibly turned red at the words, “Unlike someone over here.” She looked at Masaru pointedly, who simply stuck out his tongue in response.

She noticed Ayumu’s injured elbow and her cheeky smile turned into a scowl as she turned to look sharply at Masaru, who braced himself for a harsh scolding. But before she could say anything, Ayumu spoke up, much to Masaru’s surprise.

“I, uh, fell down while trying to avoid a speeding bicycle on my way home.” He said, stepping in front of Masaru, “Hirokawa-kun said that his house was close and he knew some first aid, so I agreed to come along with him.”

Masaru looked down at his feet, not meeting his sister’s eyes as to not give away the guilt he felt. After a few moments of silence Mika said, “Well, I’m glad my little brother is learning to be nice to others and make friends.” And rather than feeling relieved, he felt another stab of guilt at how pleased she sounded.

“Mika-nee, could you get the first aid box for me? I’ll take Maeno…-kun to the living room” Masaru said without looking at his sister and dragging Ayumu to the living room in a rush.

“What do we say when asking someone for something?” Masaru’s sister demanded, folding her arms and looking at him strictly.

“...Please.” Masru said, pouting.

“That’s a good boy.” Mika shot him a saccharine smile and went upstairs, while Masaru stuck out his tongue at her back.

Masaru looked at Ayumu at the sound of a timid laugh. Huh, had he ever heard the dark-haired boy laugh before? Ayumu quickly went quiet, looking rather embarrassed. “Your sister is very nice.” He said softly as they entered the living room.

“She’s only being nice in front of you.” Masaru said promptly, “She’s lazy and nosy and always babbles stuff she’s not supposed to.”

“She’s trying her best, I’m sure.” Ayumu said as they sat down on the cushions laid in front of a kotatsu in the middle of the living room.

Masaru was confused, since what the other boy was saying didn’t sound as though he was just saying it out of courtesy, “How do you know?” He asked, a slight frown on his face.

“W-well, I don’t have siblings so I can’t say I know because of experience…” Ayumu said, twiddling his thumbs and not looking at Masaru, “But I genuinely think she’s trying to be a good big sister to you…”

Before Masaru could retort, his sister entered the room with the first aid box and placed it on the kotatsu. “Do you need help with that?” She asked, crouching down and looking between them.

“No, I want to do it.” Masaru said stubbornly as he pulled out the rubbing alcohol, cotton and bandage from the box.

Mika sighed and got up, “Alright, but I’ll kick your ass if you mess up.” She warned, “I’ll bring you two some snacks and juice since mom isn’t home.”

“T-thank you for your hospitality, Hirokawa-san, but it’s fine I’ll just get the injury cleaned and bandaged and-” Ayumu started babbling, flustered, and Masaru felt a twinge of annoyance. He remembered that he had this same habit in class as well, starting to jabber very fast while fumbling around for words when he’s flustered.

“Nope, not having it-" Mika admonished him before he could finish, “You’re our guest, so I can’t have you leave without eating something. Besides…” She smiled, but this time it was very understated and made her look very mature, “This is the first time my idiot brother invited a friend over, so of course I can’t let you go just like that.”

“Y-you’re the idiot!” Masaru shot back, trying to mask his embarrassment in front of Ayumu. He almost wanted to shout at her that they weren’t friends, but…

“T-thank you…” Ayumu said, looking unsure as to whether he’s supposed to feel pleased or uncomfortable.

With a lot of conflicting emotions, Masaru dabbed a bit of rubbing alcohol on a piece of cotton and started cleaning the scraped elbow, his feeling of guilt resurging. He noticed that Ayumu didn’t squirm or flinch as much as he expected, and…

Yes, he now understood the kind of “sad” he felt a bit more. He wouldn’t describe it as pity or sympathy, just a sense of melancholy that he still didn’t feel equipped to describe.

“Hey, Maeno-kun.” He said softly and Ayumu looked up. “I… believe you.”

“I-I don’t…” Ayumu stuttered, looking as though he didn’t dare believe his words, and at this point Masaru wasn’t able to look the smaller boy in the eyes anymore. He instead concentrated on cleaning the scraped elbow and putting a bandage on it.

“I’m sorry, I should have known that you wouldn't have bothered returning my book and lucky charm if you were the one who stole it or threw it away. I shouldn’t have called you a liar. You’re not a liar.”

“And thank you, for giving me back-” Masaru looked up after putting on the bandage, and he stopped mid sentence at the sight of tears freely sliding down Ayumu’s face as he started sobbing openly into his arms.

“Um, er…” Masaru was lost for words, not really having any prior experience in consoling a crying person, he mimicked his mother and put his hand on the other boy’s head, but it only made him sob harder.

“What did you do?!” Masaru looked up in horror at his older sister, who looked particularly livid. She quickly left the tray of rice crackers and orange juice she was carrying on the kotetsu and patted Ayumu on the shoulder, “What did Masaru do? Did he use too much rubbing alcohol? Did he hit you?” She was glaring at Masaru all the while.

Ayumu shook his head vigorously, still sobbing and sniffing as he wiped away his tears with his arms. Masaru couldn’t muster up any words; for the first time in a long while, seeing another person of his age cry was also nearly bringing him to tears.

Ayumu hiccuped and pulled himself together, “I-I’m just happy, that’s all.” He said, trying to smile through his tears and runny nose.

And in that moment, Masaru decided that he will try to be friends with that other boy. Even though he still thought he was somewhat odd, and not really sure whether he was prepared to believe the monsters and stuff he occasionally talked about he…

Before he knew it, Ayumu was sitting in his bed again, looking directly at the teenaged Masaru, who looked slightly dazed. He leaned back, looking at the back of his hand again and was surprised to see the vague outline of a four-pointed star instead of the pawprint. The process must have been successful.

He looked up at Masaru to ask how he was feeling but he instead felt his friend tackle him into a bear hug, knocking the breath out of him and almost knocking him into the wall.

“H-hey, Saru gettoff-” He blurted out, trying to push the other boy off him, “It’s alright, that was all a long time ago, you don’t have to feel bad, ugh…”

But his friend didn’t listen, instead holding on to him tightly. Ayumu sighed, stopping his struggle against his grip and instead giving in, letting himself be hugged.

He could hear Tomos snicker nearby and he shot him a disgruntled look in response, half wishing that he was strong enough to throw off his friend.

But it wasn’t long before Masaru let go of him, and the taller boy slowly sat up, his eyes not leaving his lap and his expression thoroughly guilty.

Ayumu looked away and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, “That’s why I didn’t want to pay that stupid price.”

“Well… I won't say that I'm not kinda glad.” Masaru said softly, and Ayumu felt incredibly wrong-footed in the moment.

“I hate to interrupt, but…” Ayumu was glad that Tomos had decided to cut in, and he was elated to see that Masaru turned to look at the cat as well with slightly widened eyes.

“Ah, I see that the process was successful, by your reaction.” Tomos turned his luminous eyes towards Masaru, who still looked rather awed by the idea of a talking cat. “Excellent. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Masaru. You may continue to address me as Tomos for the time being.” The cat said to Masaru imperiously and he gave a bow while sitting. “I can commence with the explanations, I presume?” Tomos turned his eyes to Ayumu.

Ayumu glanced at Masaru, who gave a thumbs up with a reassuring grin, and then turned towards Tomos and nodded firmly.