Chapter 117: Kani Nayuta Scares Herself!
[Kani Nayuta]: "Those two at the next table… seem a bit off…"
Perhaps fearing another eavesdropping incident, Kani Nayuta had switched to texting, her fingers flying across her phone's screen under the table. Communicating via message while sitting face-to-face felt absurdly modern and slightly silly, but in their current bizarre circumstances, it was the prudent choice. After all, who knew how sharp a demon's—or an evil god's—hearing truly was?
Kasumigaoka Touji placed a perfectly grilled piece of skirt steak into his mouth, chewed slowly with an expression of pure bliss, and only then glanced at his vibrating phone. A mischievous glint appeared in his eyes. He loved these little moments of shared conspiracy. He tapped out a reply.
[Touji.]: "Be more confident, Kani-sensei. Remove the words 'seem a bit.'"
[Kani Nayuta]: "..."
Her string of ellipses conveyed a universe of stunned realization.
[Touji.]: "Come to think of it, you once mentioned you had a gaming friend who insisted she was a real angel…"
[Touji.]: "Gabriel, was it? She might not have been joking."
[Kani Nayuta]: "No way, that's impossible! Gabriel-chan is just a harmless, delusional chuunibyou… right?"
Kani Nayuta's reply lacked its usual conviction. Her bedrock belief in a rational, scientific world had just sustained a direct hit. Witnessing Jashin-chan suddenly elongate to over two meters tall—not with jerky mechanical props, but with a smooth, unnervingly organic motion—had short-circuited her logic centers.
She was utterly dumbfounded!
Could that be achieved with special effects? she wondered desperately. Well… maybe with advanced stage props?
But it hadn't looked like props. There were no seams, no telltale gaps. Upon closer inspection (while trying not to stare), the golden-haired girl's snake tail and the blue-haired girl's horns and swaying tail showed no signs of being accessories. They moved with a natural, inherent life. When given the meat, the cow-girl's tail had perked up and wagged with genuine, unthinking joy—a reflexive action, like a real animal's.
It felt… authentic.
Her worldview, carefully constructed over seventeen years, didn't just crack—it shattered into a million pieces within that single, surreal minute.
And now, in the vacuum left behind, a storm of wild questions and fears rushed in.
What is the true nature of this world?
Are those two next door actual monsters… or evil deities?
Are such creatures not just fiction?
How many of them are there?
Where do they usually live? Do they hide among crowds, or dwell in secluded, mystical places?
Why does no one else in the restaurant seem to notice anything amiss? The waitstaff just brought them charcoal without batting an eye. Why can we see it?
A chilling possibility dawned on her. Could it be… they've done something to us? Marked us?
Her imagination, honed by years of crafting intricate narratives and character backstories, took a horrifying turn.
After they finish their barbecue… are they planning to have a 'person' for dessert? Did they choose us specifically? Is that why they're not bothering to hide in front of us—because we're already considered… prey?
"Hiss—!"
Kani Nayuta gasped sharply, the sound barely escaping her lips. A cold sweat broke out on her forehead and the back of her neck. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird.
An even more terrifying conjecture bloomed, dark and pervasive: What if… everyone in this restaurant isn't human? What if we've accidentally walked into a gathering place for non-humans?
Her panicked gaze swept the room before snapping back to the man across from her.
Even my beloved Winter-sensei… No! He has to be human! She forcefully cut off that line of thought, but the damage was done. The seed of paranoia was planted.
Even so, the sheer terror conjured by her own mind was overwhelming. A full-body shiver wracked her frame, making her fingers tremble against her phone.
…People really, really shouldn't try to scare themselves.
****
"The marbled beef is ready…"
Kasumigaoka Touji's calm voice cut through her spiraling panic. He used the kitchen shears to snip a large, gloriously fatty slice of wagyu in half. He took one piece for himself, dipped it into the small bowl of raw, golden egg yolk, and placed it in his mouth.
The experience was sublime. His teeth sank through the impossibly tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture, which still retained a whisper of substance. The rich, buttery, piping-hot meat juices, perfectly complemented by the silky egg wash, flooded his palate in a wave of decadent flavor. He couldn't help but let his eyes slide shut in an expression of pure, unadulterated contentment, giving a satisfied nod to himself.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Kani Nayuta's face pale, her breath catching. Then she began to tremble, a fine shiver that was visible even across the table. He paused, a piece of beef halfway to his mouth.
"What… did you just imagine?" he asked, his tone a mix of concern and bewildered amusement. He could guess the general theme—it undoubtedly involved their supernatural neighbors—but her reaction seemed disproportionately intense, as if she'd just watched a horror movie trailer play out behind her own eyes.
"Don't overthink it," he said soothingly, his voice dropping to a calm, steady register. "Although I have no idea what specific nightmare scenario you just conjured, I can guarantee you… it's definitely not what you're thinking."
He sought to ground her. With his chopsticks, he picked up the other half of the luxurious marbled beef, swirled it gently in the egg wash, and held it out toward her. "Here. Ah~."
"Mmm…" The familiar, comforting ritual broke through her fear. Kani Nayuta subconsciously leaned forward and accepted the morsel from his chopsticks.
The act of being fed, simple and intimate, acted like a lifeline. Like a small, frightened animal finally finding its safe harbor, she suddenly pushed her chair back, scurried around the table, and threw her arms around Kasumigaoka Touji, burying her face against his shoulder.
She hugged him with a desperate, clinging tightness, as if trying to fuse herself into his very being, to draw safety and solidity from his presence.
"I'm dying of curiosity about what you pictured to scare yourself this badly…" Kasumigaoka Touji murmured, a fond exasperation in his voice. He carefully extracted his arm from where it was trapped against her soft warmth, then wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling her into a proper, reassuring embrace. His other hand came up to gently pat her back in slow, rhythmic circles.
"Shh, it's okay. It's alright. Don't let your imagination run away with you," he whispered near her ear. "No matter what happens, I'm here. I'll protect you. Here, have some comfort food."
Still holding her, he reached over with his free hand, picked up a freshly grilled, puffy rice cake with his chopsticks, and offered it to her. "Try this. Crispy outside, soft inside."
"..."
During their brief, intense moment, Jashin-chan and Minos had glanced over, their expressions quirking with mild, confused curiosity. '
What's with these humans? Sudden hugging?' They shared a look, shrugged in unison—a gesture remarkably human for a snake deity and a cow demon—and promptly turned their attention back to the far more important matter at hand: orchestrating the perfect sear on their own mountain of premium beef. Their joyful bickering over grill space resumed, a bizarrely mundane counterpoint to the existential crisis unfolding a fern away.
Gradually, held securely in Touji's arms and soothed by his steady heartbeat and calm presence, Kani Nayuta's tremors subsided. The warmth of his embrace and the simple, delicious taste of the grilled rice cake acted as anchors, pulling her back from the edge of her panic.
As she calmed, a wave of sheepish embarrassment washed over her. She'd practically tackled him over a… a hypothetical. She swallowed the last of the sticky-sweet rice cake, took a deep, steadying breath, and slowly loosened her grip. She pulled back just enough to look up at him, her cheeks faintly pink.
"Just now… my entire worldview collapsed," she confessed in a small voice. "Everything felt strange and… dangerous."
"Hmm… I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised too," Kasumigaoka Touji admitted, his arm still resting comfortingly around her. "I also operated under the assumption this was a fairly standard, scientific world. Looks like the user manual had a few chapters we missed."
He began transferring the now-cooked ingredients from the grill to his plate—the tiger prawns, the corn, the remaining beef.
Seeing his actions, Kani Nayuta immediately stood up, her earlier fright replaced by a desire for normalcy. She gathered her own plate, chopsticks, and her little dishes of dipping sauces.
"Speaking of which…" she began, then trailed off as a new thought occurred to her. She remembered, with startling clarity now, how casually Kasumigaoka Touji had 'teased' Jashin-chan earlier, even pretending to call the police on her. At the time, she'd been too shocked to process it. Now, she looked at him with renewed, deep curiosity.
Was he unaware of what she might be? Or… was he simply not afraid?
The way he'd handled the situation, from offering the meat as a peace offering to his unflustered demeanor, suggested the latter. A strange, comforting certainty settled over her: He's not afraid.
"What is it?" Touji asked, looking up from the tiger prawn he was deftly peeling. He saw her hesitating, her expression thoughtful.
"Hmm, it's nothing… I'll tell you later," she said, casting a quick, wary glance toward the neighboring booth. Some conversations were best saved for when there weren't literal evil gods within earshot.
She settled herself on the sofa next to him, their sides touching, sharing the warmth and the safety of his proximity. The world might be stranger than she'd ever dreamed, but at this moment, in this cozy nook with the smell of grilled meat and the sound of his calm breathing, she felt like she could face it. As long as he was beside her.