V5 Story I – Part 01

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Translator: Kell


Story I

Once upon a time, there was a lonely cat.

The cat had eyes blacker than obsidian, and fur blacker than night.

The cat was kept in a large cage and raised with great care.

The cat was always alone, surrounded by girls.

The cat, being an animal, was not accustomed to humans.

The cat always lived in solitude.

The cat had been looking for a beast in human form for a long time.

The cat wanted to meet an animal other than itself.

One day, the cat met a fox.

This story begins from there.

Yes, the same fox that was buried somewhere far away.

This is a tale of a monster who claims to be a cat.


The plate of stew spun in the air.

Its still-warm contents splashed all around. I caught the plate before most of the stew spilled out. Thank goodness my recently-healed fingers worked just fine. I put the plate back on the table so as not to spill the wobbling soup, and turned my attention to the person who tossed it.

A girl was gracefully sitting cross-legged on the couch.

Dressed in a gothic Lolita attire, she folded her arms and shot me a glare.

“What are you doing, Mayu-san?”

“What are you doing, Odagiri-kun?”

We both said at the same time. Our sharp gazes met.

I let my shoulders drop and sighed. “That’s my line, Mayu-san. Please don’t throw food that others worked so hard to make. Even a young child observes the bare minimum of table manners.”

“Right back at you, Odagiri-kun. What in the world is this? It can’t possibly be human food. You should apologize to the chocolate.”

She just denied my human rights. Not that I didn’t know already, but I was less than chocolate.

I let out another sigh and looked around. Black liquid was splattered all over the table and the floor. Carrots and pieces of meat were scattered about. There was still a lot of beef stew left in the pot.

It was very dark in color—the result of using a large amount of chocolate as seasoning.

It was a dish I created as part of the “Feeding Mayuzumi Actual Food” project.

“I didn’t have much of a choice,” I said. “You only eat chocolate. You have no idea how much I’ve been racking my brains over the ratio of chocolate to roux…”

“The proof of the pudding is in the eating. No fancy speeches needed. Try it.”

I picked up a spoon. I did too much taste-testing while cooking that I couldn’t make vague assessments. But I’d like to believe that I didn’t make anything crazy.

I scooped up the black liquid and took a sip.

Rich and thick flavor spread out on the tip of my tongue. The sweetness of the chocolate remained without overpowering the flavor of the beef and the umami of the melted fat. It was a miracle, in a way.

I put down the spoon and looked into Mayuzumi’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”

It was completely my fault.

Mayuzumi exhaled sharply. “Maybe you’re confident in your cooking skills, but you’ve still got a long way to go to satisfy my palate. Go work on it.”

I don’t want to hear that from someone who’s satisfied with a bar of chocolate bought from a convenience store.

Mayuzumi rested her cheek in her hand triumphantly. Bracelets resembling rose vines were wrapped around her wrists. Large red flowers were blooming on lace gloves.

September. Even in the mild autumn sunlight, Mayuzumi remained the same.

She looked like a doll, sitting cross-legged on a leather couch. In the room with its optimized air conditioning, she was exuding a somewhat sinister beauty.

“You finish what’s left in the pot. Don’t waste food, lest you incur the wrath of the gods,” Mayuzumi rebuked.

Her eyes narrowed sympathetically at the scattered wreckage. She picked up a piece of chocolate that survived the disaster from the table.

Snap.

The chocolate bar split. The sweet aroma of chocolate overpowered the smell of beef stew. My heart burned.

I took the pot and quietly retreated to the kitchen. This all happened because of Mayuzumi’s unbalanced diet in the first place, but for once I couldn’t say anything back to her. I placed the pot on the stove and let out a sigh.

I just needed to add more roux, but then there would be too much stew for one person.

Maybe I should share it with others.

Nanami’s and Yusuke’s face appeared in my mind. They would be delighted, for sure.

I hadn’t seen Yusuke since we hung out sometime last August.

Asato had caused all sorts of incidents. The fox’s horrific games of taking advantage of humans who begged him for help came to an end when we locked him up in the spirit world.

The wounds left by the fox, however, lingered. Yusuke, who had beaten to death humanoids made in the likeness of Asako and Aki, suffered a temporary mental breakdown.

It was so bad that he could’ve beaten anyone to death.

But after shutting himself up in his room for a while, he recovered enough to be able to go to the movies. He should be fine now, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to visit him once in a while.

I hadn’t seen Nanami recently, either. I recalled standing on the ground floor of the apartment the other day and talking with her. She said she had something she wanted to show me.

I still had no idea what it was. Maybe I should pay her a visit.

After making plans, I picked up a rag and a dishcloth, returned to the room, and quickly wiped up the stew spilled on the table and floor. I then got up and opened the window to ventilate the room. Mayuzumi would usually complain, but she was silent, most likely because she didn’t like the smell. The smell of the stew disappeared with the cool breeze. But the aroma of chocolate that permeated the room remained.

I closed the window and stared at the pale indigo curtains. I could no longer smell a sweet scent. The furniture in the apartment had been replaced. The bloody words were nowhere to be seen.

Summer was about to end.

The coming of autumn was a joyous occasion for me. The sweltering heat was already far away. I thought back to the season tinged with suffering and despair.

A gentle smile popped in my mind. I shook my head.

I hadn’t seen Shirayuki ever since then.

Immediately after the incident, Yukihito came to inform me that I was forbidden from visiting the Minase clan. So I gave him a letter addressed to Shirayuki instead. I still hadn’t received a reply, though.

My grip on the dishcloth tightened. My skin, marked with burn scars, stiffened.

“You are the man I love. Be proud. And stand tall.”

I recalled what she said. I remembered her soothing body heat.

But I must not take advantage of her. I must not acknowledge her words.

Shaking my head wildly, I wiped off the smudge I found on the table. She was too good for me. I wasn’t worthy of her words.

“You are the most wonderful woman I have ever met. But I cannot accept your feelings. I would like to personally talk to you sometime.”

The message I had written in the letter flashed through my mind, and each time I felt like bursting into tears. I was being self-centered. Why would I cry?

I was simply worried. What if I hurt her?

“Deep in thought again, are we?”

Snap.

I turned around to see Mayuzumi regarding me with a languid gaze.

Small vines were wrapped around her ankles as well. Red flowers were in full bloom on her milky skin.

They looked like flowers laid with the dead.

“Your hands have stopped moving. Can you finish cleaning up already? And go find something entertaining. I’m at my wits’ end. I feel like my brain is melting.”

“Brain cells don’t deteriorate that easily, Mayu-san.”

There was no answer. Mayuzumi’s eyes were closed like a corpse’s.

The case with the fox was over, and peace had returned. Mayuzumi detested the gruesome tales he shared, but at the same time, she was probably never bored.

She had lost her source of entertainment.

Lying down on the couch, Mayuzumi looked like a princess who had suffered a tragedy. I remembered the pot of stew.

If I poured the rest into her mouth, would she still wake up?

I was too terrified to try it.

Riiiiiing.

An electronic sound rang out, and I whirled around in a panic. The office phone, which rarely rang, was ringing. I swallowed, calming down my racing heartbeat.

I had already learned it the hard way. The days of peace would always come to an end.

The office rarely received cases, but the chances were never completely zero.

Mayuzumi got up like a wound-up doll and walked over to the phone.

She picked up the receiver. “Yes, this is the Mayuzumi Detective Agency. What? I told you not to contact me.”

Her voice took on a note of displeasure. She shook her head irritably.

Apparently, the caller was someone she didn’t like.

Who was it?


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