35 Exclusive from Jinjiang

◎What is the world of human beings? ◎

37

Fyodor was certain that the cat in front of him was lying.

Putting aside whether fighting with baguettes and rye bread makes logical sense, Dazai's eyes at the time were enough to tell him that the so-called secret of "Kawakami Wakai" was definitely not something so trivial.

but……

He was quite curious to hear how the kitten would continue the story.

"Oh?" He looked up, trying to make his expression seem interested without being too exaggerated. "So who won in the end?"

Kawakami Wakai: emmmmm...

She glanced at Fyodor: "Of course the rye bread won! Because the baguette got eaten!"

"..."

“Well—” Fyodor rested his chin on his hand, looking at the flustered kitten, “If I could get Gogol to get these two kinds of bread, I wonder if you would be interested in recreating that scene with me?”

Startled, Kawakami Wakana hurriedly checked her killing intent level. Fortunately, it hadn't changed.

"No, no need," she said, scratching her head and laughing. "After all, it's a bit unfair to you, Fei Jia, to just resort to violence."

Fyodor: ?

What an unlikable little cat!

"Oh, right!" Seeing Fyodor's favorability rating starting to drop, Kawakami Wakana quickly asked, "Fyodor, what kind of novels do you like to read?"

"—Well, I promised to write you a novel last time, but because of Francis's situation, that novel wasn't just for you, Fedia. So I've been thinking about whether I should write another one..."

At this point, Fyodor's hair was almost dry. After all, his hair was only slightly longer than the average man's hairstyle, and it was easy to dry after washing.

"A story about a person who isn't kind getting a happy ending." He said with a hint of mockery, "You can actually write this kind of story?"

Kawakami Wakana immediately understood: "Like the House of Demons? I understand! I'll give it a try!"

As she spoke, she picked up her pajamas and prepared to go to the bathroom.

A bed had already been laid out on the floor. A hot water bottle was placed inside the blanket, and it was warm and cozy as soon as you crawled in.

Fyodor discovered that he couldn't even remember the last time he had a proper night's sleep in a bed.

However... it doesn't seem so bad.

Fyodor was the type to stay up late all the time. He couldn't sleep at this hour either. So, he simply closed his eyes and pretended to sleep in bed, but his ears were constantly listening to the sounds around him.

He could hear the sound of water in the bathroom stop sometime ago, followed by footsteps and the buzzing of a hairdryer. After some time, the kitten cautiously meowed "Fydya," and when he didn't respond, she turned off the light. Before getting into bed, she even said goodnight to him in Russian.

Before long, the faint breathing of the baby after falling asleep was detected by the ears.

Fyodor was very uneasy that night.

Humans are most vulnerable when they are asleep, especially when they enter deep sleep. He only needed to observe whether Kawakami Wakana's eyes were moving to determine her sleep state. This also meant that throughout the night, he had countless opportunities to kill the troublesome cat.

He sat up several times, and even almost got up once to go to the kitchen to get a knife, but when his toes touched the hot water bottle that Ruoyi had prepared, he would unconsciously think of the novel she had promised him that belonged only to him, and then he would lie back down.

I even unconsciously thought of Kawakami Wakana's hands.

Her hands, like the hot water bottle at her feet, had a warm touch.

It felt like I was truly being controlled.

This feeling made Fyodor very unhappy, but while he hated himself for getting caught up in such a thing, it also gave him a sense of "being alive".

Before he knew it, the sky was beginning to lighten in the east. Fyodor, who had been fighting him all night, had somehow fallen asleep. It wasn't until he smelled a fragrance that he realized he had also fallen asleep in front of Kawakami Wakana.

"Utra, Fedya!" Fyodor had been struggling all night, but the kitten seemed to be sleeping soundly. It probably heard him get up and immediately ran out of the kitchen.

"Lunch is ready. Would you like some? We're going to see Dr. Blackjack this afternoon."

“Blackjack?” Fyodor instinctively reached for his forehead.

“I checked this morning, you don’t have a fever.” Kawakami Wakana stopped him. “But have you forgotten? The kid I saw at the internet cafe last time, his sister is having surgery today.”

Fyodor was about to ask what this had to do with him when Ruoyi beat him to it.

"Don't you dare say it has nothing to do with you!"

"After all, it was Fei Jia who paid for the surgery, so shouldn't she at least personally confirm whether the surgery went smoothly?"

"Luckily, I have a dryer for your clothes, so they're already wearable. There's no need to buy new ones."

"..."

“Alright,” Fyodor said without objection.

"Yay—" A smile immediately bloomed on the girl's face. "But before that, it would be better to eat something."

Eating?

It seems this little cat is unaware that, except at legitimate restaurants or when its supernatural abilities are needed, it never eats food prepared by other people. After all, refusing is a more efficient method than trying to determine if the food has been poisoned.

Kawakami Wakana had already urged Fyodor to get up, made the bed, and placed two plates of omelet rice on the table.

Then he started eating heartily on his own.

Fyodor had no appetite to begin with. But watching the little girl wolf down her food with relish, Fyodor felt, for the first time, the instinctive human desire for food.

He swallowed hard without making a sound and tried a bite of the omelet rice.

The Japanese food was indeed quite delicious. However, he hadn't been eating properly for too long, and he felt full after only a few bites.

But then he noticed the girl's bright eyes.

"I thought you wouldn't eat it, Fei Jia!"

Fyodor: ?

Why do you say that?

"Afraid that I poisoned her, or added some strange medicine?" Kawakami Wakana thought for a moment, "I have a feeling that Fei Jia is the kind of person who would think that way."

"..."

This kitten can be surprisingly good at judging people sometimes.

"But don't force yourself if you can't eat." Ruoyi said seriously while tidying up her tableware. "I'm a medical student, listen to me. Eating in moderation is the best eating habit."

"..."

Fyodor found it quite funny.

He's just a medical student, and in a profession where he can't directly get a medical license, yet they're lecturing him?

but……

For some reason, for a brief moment, he seemed to sense that perhaps this was what "the life that humans should have" meant.

Kawakami Wakai, seeing Fyodor's favorability suddenly increase by 2%, thought: Hmm?

Is her omelet rice really that delicious?

Every time I cook for Xia Jiang during my university years, I get criticized...

…………

After cleaning up the dishes, Kawakami Wakana and Fyodor went to Blackjack's place together. It was conveniently located within Tokyo, not far away.

When they arrived, the little girl was being wheeled into the operating room. Ruoyi, who was waiting with the child's family, felt inexplicably nervous as she watched the "operation in progress" screen.

It's unclear how much time passed before Pinoko, Blackjack's assistant, emerged from the operating room and announced that the surgery was a success.

At that moment, the girl's parents and brother wept with joy. Only Fyodor watched quietly, as if all the joy and emotion had nothing to do with him.

At that moment, Kawakami Wakai's phone started buzzing.

Kawakami Ruoyi: "..."

Why did you have to call now of all times?

I suddenly feel like I'm such a spoilsport.

"Aren't you going to answer it?" Fyodor looked at her leisurely. "It's probably better to answer it if it's an important call from your workplace or a professor at school."

"Yes, yes." Ruoyi quickly got up, took her phone and went outside, only to find that it was a call from a public phone.

"..."

These days, unless in very special circumstances, few people use public telephones. At least Ruoyi's family and friends all have cell phones. So, she subconsciously labeled it a scam call.

Ruoyi was even angrier now, and she hung up the phone immediately.

But no sooner had she hung up than the same number called again.

Kawakami Ruoyi: "..."

No? Why are you so persistent? Is this scammer determined to fleece her?

She was a little angry.

A little angry, Ruoyi answered the phone irritably, and before the other person could say a word, she said curtly:

“Hello, I am still a college student. I don’t have any children or grandchildren who could be involved in a car accident and extorted by someone or who could embezzle company funds (1). My parents are also very healthy, and I don’t need carpets, vases, or health products.

"Pfft, hahahahaha—" A familiar voice on the other end of the phone laughed so hard that one might think the person had lost their mind.

"Is Ruoyi-chan this wary?"

Kawakami Ruoyi: "..."

Is it Osamu Dazai?

She suddenly felt a burning sensation on her face, and almost blurted out another curse at this guy who never used his own phone when he needed something: "Sukabul."

"What's up?"

"Of course it's about the videotape," Dazai Osamu said with a smile. "It's already being taken care of. In short, you can rest assured that there won't be any problems leaving it to the Armed Detective Agency."

Ruoyi gave a curt "Oh" and prepared to hang up the phone.

"Wait, don't hang up yet!" Dazai Osamu immediately raised his voice. "Have you ever heard the story of the Frog Prince?"

Kawakami Wakai: Huh?

Is the reason you asked her not to hang up the phone just for a fairy tale that even kindergarteners could tell?

"Don't rush, Wakana-chan," Dazai Osamu's tone became deep. "Wakana-chan should know that the curse of the prince turning into a frog was broken by the princess's kiss, right?"

"...?"

“You’re not a princess, and it’s hard to say whether ‘curses’ really exist in real life,” Dazai Osamu said. “But I hope Wakana-chan can realize that what you’re trying to do to the ‘demon’ right now might be very similar to that fairy tale.”

“Turn him back into a human.”

"And doing this will only lead to a few outcomes—either you succeed, or you sink into depravity with him, or you think you've saved her but unknowingly put new shackles on him."

"As for the 'demon,' the chances of success are slim."

"...?"

[Author's Note]

(1) In Japan, there is a very common type of scam called "oreore" (me-me scam), which involves calling elderly people and then—

"Grandpa/Grandma (sometimes it might be your parents), it's me! Something's happened to me... (The gist of it is usually that I hit a gangster's car, embezzled company funds, or borrowed money, etc.)"

If you have elderly family members in Japan, please be aware of this! It might be easy for younger people to spot a scam, but older people might actually fall for it.

Today's Mini-Theater

Wakai, who got cocky after Fyodor ate the omelet rice she made, is like...

He started researching all sorts of strange and unusual dishes, maybe Japanese style, maybe Russian style, and even once invited the Hinata siblings over for a meal.

The Hinata siblings, after eating the meal cooked by Wakai: "..."

What is that??

Is this something anyone would be willing to eat?

So their gazes turned to Fyodor, who was standing to the side: "..."

All right.

There are indeed people willing to eat it.