Sett Chapter 15: Nekomata (Patreon)

"Is that so?" Yukino hesitated for a few seconds before bowing to Hiratsuka Shizuka. "Thank you, Hiratsuka-sensei."

Although Hiratsuka had already paid the reward for her, Yukino still decided that when she returned home, she would prepare an extra token of gratitude for Tadashi.

After all, a transaction is a transaction, but personal gratitude is something else entirely.

'Hiratsuka-sensei seems... different. Is it just my imagination?' Yukino glanced curiously at Hiratsuka while speaking.

In the morning, when she was exhausted, she hadn’t noticed anything. But now, after a good sleep, Yukino could see that Hiratsuka’s complexion had become more vibrant, her appearance glowing as if she had been revitalized. There was still the usual bold demeanor, but now she also exuded a more feminine charm.

‘How odd,’ Yukino thought with a slightly perplexed expression. 'Could it be that Hiratsuka-sensei has found a boyfriend?'

"By the way, there’s something else," Hiratsuka suddenly remembered and clapped her fist into her palm. "Yukino, your issue isn’t fully resolved yet. What Tadashi did earlier was only cleanse the spirit's aura from your body."

"We still need to deal with the spirit’s physical form."

"Otherwise, it will keep haunting you."

"A spirit?" Yukino gasped in surprise. "What exactly is it?"

"A type of vengeful cat spirit," Tadashi chimed in, drawing both women's attention. He explained, "The aura on you was left by a cat spirit. You must have come into contact with its physical form somewhere, which is why it attached itself to you."

"A cat?" Yukino's expression became complicated.

She then told Tadashi about the dead kitten she had buried a few days ago.

If there was any moment she had come into contact with such a spirit, it would have been then.

"That’s quite possible," Tadashi nodded thoughtfully. "After we finish dinner, we’ll head over to your house and the place where you buried the cat. Let’s try to settle this in one go."

"Understood!" Yukino nodded seriously, realizing the gravity of the situation.

…

An hour later, Hiratsuka was driving a four-seater car with Tadashi and Yukino as passengers.

‘He just naturally sat in the front?’ Yukino, sitting in the back seat, glanced at Tadashi and Hiratsuka. Neither seemed to think anything of it.

‘And I’ve never heard that Hiratsuka-sensei has any relatives with the surname Higashino.’

‘My sister hasn’t mentioned anything either.’

‘It’s like Tadashi just appeared out of nowhere.’

Yukino quietly pondered. Without realizing it, she had grown increasingly curious about Tadashi. Perhaps it was due to the fear of the supernatural or her surprise at encountering such extraordinary power.

Either way, Yukino was now very intrigued by him!

After about thirty minutes of driving, Hiratsuka stopped the car.

The three of them got out and walked into a nearby residential park.

"It’s over there," Yukino led the way, pointing at a large tree near the slide. "I buried the kitten under that tree."

Since the park was closer than Yukino’s house, they decided to check the burial site first.

"Let’s go take a look," Tadashi said, taking the lead and walking toward the tree.

Hiratsuka and Yukino followed closely behind, feeling a bit nervous. Earlier, just a fragment of the spirit’s aura had rendered them helpless. Now, the thought of facing the spirit’s physical form made them even more uneasy.

However, with Tadashi around, they felt a sense of reassurance, despite their lingering concerns.

*Meow—*

Suddenly, a sharp meow echoed through the air as they approached the tree.

"A- a spirit?!" Both Hiratsuka and Yukino were startled by the sound.

Tadashi remained silent, only looking upward.

The two women followed his gaze toward the branches of the tree.

*Meow—*

A second meow sounded.

But this time, Hiratsuka and Yukino no longer felt frightened.

Atop one of the branches sat a skinny stray cat, its green eyes peering down at the humans below.

It wasn’t a spirit, just a stray cat.

"So, it’s just a kitten," Hiratsuka said with a relieved smile.

"It scared me," Yukino also sighed in relief.

"No," Tadashi narrowed his eyes and said in a serious tone, "That’s it."

What?

Both Hiratsuka and Yukino were stunned.

*Meow!!*

The kitten on the branch suddenly let out a chilling screech. Its eyes turned fierce, and a second tail sprouted from its body. An icy, bone-chilling aura began to emanate from it.

In an instant, the temperature around them seemed to drop by ten degrees, as if summer had abruptly turned to winter.

*Meow!!!*

The cat spirit let out a fourth cry and leapt from the branch, moving so fast that it became nothing but a blur as it lunged straight at Tadashi.

"Watch out!" Hiratsuka gasped, her face paling.

"Tadashi-kun!" Yukino called out in alarm.

No one had expected the seemingly normal kitten to be the spirit. The sudden attack caught them completely off guard.

"Heh…"

But Tadashi merely chuckled softly, his expression calm.

As the cat spirit lunged at him, Tadashi had already clenched his fist.

*Whoosh!*

His left hand shot out, creating a gust of wind with its speed.

The cat spirit was mid-air, making it an easy target.

Tadashi’s punch hit it squarely, unleashing a force so powerful that it sent the spirit flying back at an even greater speed, smashing into the tree trunk and creating a crater the size of a washbasin.

"So fast!"

Hiratsuka and Yukino stared, wide-eyed with shock.

The cat spirit had moved at lightning speed, yet Tadashi had reacted in time!

"Of course, we never needed to worry about him," Hiratsuka chuckled quietly, muttering to herself.

"What incredible speed… I couldn’t even follow his punch!" Yukino gazed at Tadashi in astonishment, her eyes sparkling.

If she had this kind of power, would she have been able to punish those who had bullied her when she was younger?

Despite being from a prestigious family, Yukino had experienced bullying due to her personality. Her indoor shoes had been hidden, her flute stolen, and she had been ostracized and ignored.

All because of her unwillingness to conform.

But Yukino had never thought she was wrong.

It was the bullies who were at fault, and she had been right all along!