My Childhood Friend Meows Under My Skirt. (GL) - Chapter 3

“I encountered a gray cat. Its eyes had a hint of blue, and it was an adorable little creature.”

As Kimizu spoke calmly, showing her back covered in fur, the light from the ceiling glinted off her own skin around her shoulders.

There was a stirring at her waist, hidden beneath her hakama, and as if recalling something, Kimizu made a gesture as if to search with her hand, revealing a tail that emerged from there. Maki gasped, knocking over a plastic bottle on the table. The tail was longer, thinner, and more supple than that of the white cat that clung to Maki.

This was the reason. More than being familiar with mysterious phenomena due to her position as a shrine maiden, Kimizu knew more deeply about Maki’s transformation into a cat. It was because Kimizu herself had received the same blessing.

“It was a long time ago, before I took on this role. When I tried to save it from falling into the moat, I ended up falling into the pond with it. That was when the merging began.”

“That’s similar. Just like with Maki…”

“In both cases, being in a critical situation triggered the phenomenon. So, it seems this blessing might have been an accident that occurred unconsciously.”

“Will it not revert?” Maki asked.

“I had the former shrine maiden address the situation. There will be no further merging, but this back and tail will remain on my body forever.”

“Forever,” Maki whispered, and I could hear the sound of her swallowing.

I followed suit, swallowing hard.

I can’t take it anymore.

“Kimizu-san.”

“What is it?”

“Can I touch it?”

“No.”

“That was an immediate response! Why?”

“I feel an unusual lewdness in Natsume-san’s gaze and hands.”

With a gentle smile, Kimizu turned to hide her back. When she concealed it so demurely, it only made me want to see it more. I wanted to touch it, even just for a few seconds.

“It’s pure curiosity!”

“It’s impure lewdness.”

Maki nodded vigorously beside me, as if to agree. Damn it, she’s in the way. Why is Maki here? She should just go home and do her homework. The fur on Maki’s body, which appeared as a white cat, was subtly different. I might never have the chance to touch it again. What would it feel like?

“Just showing it is pure torture! I wish I had never seen it from the start. If I have to feel this way, I wish I had never met you… I don’t understand why you’re being so cruel!”

“I realized that Natsume-san is much more of a problem than I thought.”

With a smile still plastered on her face, Kimizu subtly took a step back and quickly put on her white coat again. I wondered when I would see that back and tail again. From now on, I would have to visit frequently and gradually build trust. Next time, I should bring some sweets.

With one more purpose added to my life, I returned to the main topic. Kimizu was about to lend a hand to Maki.

“In my case, the merging had already progressed, so I couldn’t completely revert this body. However, for you, Maki, it is not too late.”

“Does that mean it can be completely erased?”

When Maki asked, Kimizu nodded.

“Like with an illness, the sooner you address it, the better.”

“How do you erase it? You don’t mean there’s a prescription, do you?”

Kimizu elegantly held a plastic bottle of tea with both hands and began to drink. The contents of the bottle diminished rapidly, until it was empty. It was at a pace my brain couldn’t keep up with.

After taking a breath, Kimizu stood up.

“I will guide you. Please follow me.”

We were led into the main hall. The light was dim, illuminated only by sunlight streaming in from outside. The room was more than twice the size of my own, with tatami mats laid down, creating a slightly tense atmosphere. When I turned around, I could see the offering box where we had just been standing.

Kimizu pulled out a cushion from the closet and instructed us to sit in seiza on the space she had spread it out.

Directly in front of us, a small torii gate and a shrine were erected. The light did not reach deep inside, so the details of the structure were not clearly visible. Perhaps it was meant to remain unseen. There was a solemn intent, as if it were determined not to reveal its full form.

“As Matsuhara-san mentioned, there is a prescription to stop the merging caused by the blessing. I will retrieve it now.”

With that, Kimizu sat in seiza a few steps ahead of us. After bowing her head once, she stood up and moved half a step forward. She raised one hand and moved to the right, then flowed smoothly to the left. It resembled a dance. A refined dance that seemed to invite the sound of ancient instruments to accompany it. Perhaps it was a ritual necessary to retrieve what was called a prescription.

The dance lasted about five minutes.

Eventually, without a sound, it suddenly came to a halt.

Kimizu quickened her pace and headed toward the shrine without hesitation. After the sound of a metal door creaking open, she returned holding something small wrapped in black cloth with both hands.

Kimizu sat in seiza facing us.

“Thank you for waiting. I managed to retrieve it safely.”

She told us we could relax our legs, and I gratefully did so. There was a sense of relief in the air, so I decided to ask.

“What was the meaning of that dance earlier? It was beautiful. Was it an important gesture?”

“It doesn’t have any particular meaning.”

“It doesn’t have any meaning!?”

“It was just my hobby.”

“Then what was that time for?!”

“Since it was a chance, I thought I would show you the Japanese dance I recently started learning. How was it? Did I do well? I was quite nervous, you know.”

“How can this person so boldly ask for feedback!”

In other words, she had spent those five minutes showcasing her hobby. In this sacred hall, close to the divine, she had been performing her personal pastime. She had been enjoying her own little stage. While she had called me a problem, I felt she had no right to say that.

Satisfied with showcasing her hobby, Kimizu returned her gaze to the small object she had brought from the shrine and began to unwrap the black cloth.

What emerged was a single bottle, filled with several black pellets. When Maki took the bottle and shook it, the pellets made a pleasant rattling sound. As she examined it from various angles, Maki asked,

“Is this the prescription? It really looks like medicine. More like seirogan, actually.”

“Yes, it’s seirogan.”

“Let’s go home, Ichika. I just realized this was a wild goose chase.”

“Wait, wait!”

She called out to us in a leisurely tone as we stood up in disbelief. Her expression, not in a hurry, was somewhat irritating. She looked less like a distinguished shrine maiden and more like a mischievous older sister from the neighborhood.

“It’s not just ordinary seirogan. Each tablet contains the power of the land that I used to suppress the merging. It should be something easy to take orally and familiar.”

“Why seirogan then?”

“During the ritual to transfer the power, I was nervous and happened to have seirogan with me.”

Maki and I exchanged glances. I thought it was a story worth listening to, enough to sit back down in seiza. If she joked again, we would leave.

Perhaps Kimizu sensed the atmosphere or realized there was no more time for jokes, as she switched to a serious tone to explain.

“Take three tablets a day, spaced seven to eight hours apart. Neither more nor less. If you take too few, it won’t suppress the progression, and if you take too many, it will put unnecessary strain on your body. If you space them out too much, it will lose its effectiveness.”

“…What if I think the progression has stopped?” Maki asked.

“Please come to me once. We will check the progress.”

Kimizu continued.

“That medicine is like spreading poison within your body. It is a poison that is minimally harmful to humans but effective against cats. You need to regularly introduce this poison into your body. Three tablets a day, spaced seven to eight hours apart. Please make sure to follow this.”

Poison.

That expression was too clear and raised a simple question in my mind.

At the same moment, Maki asked,

“So, you’re saying we will be dealing with the cat inside our bodies by taking this poison?”

“That’s right.”

“Then what will happen to the white cat if we keep taking it?”

Silence fell within the shrine. For a brief moment, I felt as if someone was listening to our conversation.

“Only one soul can continue to live in one body.”

Kimizu answered calmly. I understood that she was deliberately doing so. And with words that allowed no misinterpretation, she stated,

“The white cat inside you, Maki, will die.”