Onlymereseconds after she closed her eyes.

Whenher eyelids fluttered open once more, , as she had called herself, was no longer present.

Herexpression reverted to her usual soft one. At this instant, the was back to her true self.

“Ah! Ifelt like I had a great sleep. Huh? Hakamada?”

“H-Hi… Hirai!?”magic

Witheyeswide open and arms outstretched above her head, Hirai was indisputably Hirai. Her voice, tone, and every other aspect were reminiscent of Hirai. Notwithstanding the flaws in her Japanese, she was indeedHirai.

Startledyet relieved to have her revert to her former self, I stood still, my mouth agape, while she grinned atme.

“What’swrong?”

No, thiswas not a matter of what was wrong…

“I-I-I-Iam sorry!!”

Regardlessof me being possessed, I tightened her neck drastically. Had that person not manifested, Hirai truly would have perished. Whenever the faint handprint of mine that lingered on the nape of her neck came into view, my heart ached deep inmy chest.

“Don’t mind it, itwill fade away soon. Ahaha, we both landed ourselves into a messy predicament, didn’t we?”

“Iamtruly sorry…”

“Don’tbe that downcastーwe’re both in one piece, you know.”

Asmyshoulders slumped, Hirai told me to get my spirits up (?) and patted me on the back, ah… I knew it, this person was undoubtedly different from the person I had just spoken with earlier.

Ishould confirm that at least for now, nevertheless.

“Um, Hirai. Thismay sound crazy, but who is ‘Ayame’…?”

Theanswer was immediate when I inquired aboutit.

“Huh? Oh! That’s my maman[i].”

“M-Ma…”

Maman.

Maman―?

Thatwouldmean…

Yourmother!?

“Youwere speaking to her, right? Earlier.”

“Whatexactly… isgoing on?”

Holdon, holdon, Hirai’s mother, Hirai’s mother, earlier she…

Mother? WhyHirai’s mother was Hirai herself? No, I mean, your mother was Hirai, and you yourself too, wait no, I didn’t get a single thing!Confusionreigned in my mind as Hirai said the person who was talking to me earlier (that was likewise Hirai) was her mother.

“Details, please.”

“Yeah. Youprobably don’t understand unless the explanation is given, right? Sorry, I’ve been keeping it a secret until now…”

Onceand for all, Hirai revealed her secret to me.

Themother, “Hirai Ayame,” a so-called guardian spirit that protected her daughter, Hirai, periodically took over her body to keep her safe. WhenAyame possessed her, not only Hirai’s consciousness but her body and thoughts were in her control as well. During that time, she indeed transformed and became a different person. She did, nonetheless, only ever unveil herself when Hirai was in peril; otherwise, she remained aspirit by Hirai’s side.

Thisstory was another unbelievable one but I had witnessed it with my own eyes, and apparently that was what happened. It was thewill of a firm mother who wished to protect her daughter. So far, in spite of almost being victims of molestation, stalking, and so forth, everything was eventually resolved in a smooth flow of events. It was undeniably thanks to the advice and assistance of Hirai’s mother, Ayame. Incidentally, it appeared thatthe store manager and Takenaka from the convenience store were the only ones who knew about this, aside from her family.

“Mamanlooks and speaks in a terrifying tone, but she is in fact incredibly sweet, and always saves the day, just like she did today.”

“Isee… Your mother loves you very much.”

Afterlistening to the whole story of Hirai, I finally unraveled the mystery behind the whole thing, while simultaneously feeling slightly touched by the wondrous love of her family. Indeed, when the cat that possessed me was separated from me, that person empathized with the hardship of being parted from its family while trying to persuade it to leave me.

Surely, itwas because she was in the same boat as the cat.

Evenso, even after her death, she was still protecting… Hirai, her daughter. Shekept watching out for her.

She said all those things to me and then disappeared before me but I supposed everything was a form of mother’s love…

“…Huh? Whatare you talking about, Hakamada? My maman is living a normal life, you know?”

“What!?” Translator: MadHatter

“Yeah, she’satmy parents’ house in Hokkaido. Do you want me to show you a photo of her later?”

What…Not shared on aggregator websites

Accordingto her story, Ayame was a well-known medium in Hokkaido, and her power was said to surpass that of Hirai and Takenaka.

Everynow and then, shewould accept a request to personally visit a sacred place and subdue evil and vengeful spirits in various places (her main job apparently was part-time at a supermarket), but what was remarkable was that she was not only purifying evil andvengeful spirits and guiding them to Buddhahood, but she was apparently so worried about her daughter who had come to Honshuthat she detached part of her consciousness and went into a semi-astralized state, and though Ayame herself was in Hokkaido, shesent half of her consciousness toward Hirai and became a living spirit, possessing her. She was capable of performing astonishing feats that no ordinary person wouldbe able to imitate.

Hirai’smother’s ability to pull off such a feat astounded me considering that she was still alive and that shewas in Hokkaido, which was far distant fromhere.

Imean, just how worried were you over your daughter? Rather than saying amazing, or overreacting, wasn’t that extreme overprotectiveness?

“Hirai… haven’t youever thought that you kind of hate it…??”

“Hateit? Aboutwhat?”

“I… I see.”

Notwithstanding, Ifound it marvelous that Hirai, who went out to Honshu to work in the company of her mother’s living spirit until now, was equally exceptional.

“Iwonder if that cat… has attained Buddhahood.”

“Yeah, it’sokay. I am confident that the cat has attained Buddhahood and is probably in heaven by now.”

“I… havedone something wrong to that cat, haven’t I?”Clutchinga small cat food can, I muttered to her, and she gave a subtle headshake in response.

“No. It’s nota bad thing, because even though that feeling of yours wasn’t accepted, I think it’s a tiny act of kindness on your part.”

“Couldbe.”

“Iam sure that the cat is pleased that Hakamada was the only one who tried to make a memorial service for it.”

Thatwas what Hirai told me.

If thatwas the case, I hope so…

“Somehow, it’s tough, isn’t it? Everything’s so muchmore complicated here.”

“Yeah.”3edc

“Doyouwant to resign?”

“No, Iwill carryon.”

“Isthat so? That’sgreat!”

“It’stough, and thingslike this may occur again, but I enjoy… being with these people, so I don’t feel like quitting just yet.”

Besides, Istill had… reasons to stay.

Finally, theshift ended. Hirai and I parted ways and made our way home.

Withthemorning sun streaming down on my back, Ilet out a big yawn. Perhapsdue to being possessed, Ifelt twice as exhausted as usual, so I got on my bike, drained.

Neithertomorrow nor the day after, I had no part-time job, and if I just went home and slept, I might be able to sleep for the next two full days.

WhileIwas mulling over this, I reached that tunnel. Unexpectedly, I stepped on the brake and brought the bike to a halt.

Thatmottled patterned cat was in front of the tunnel’s entrance. The same mottled patterned cat, which had often presented itself in front of me, was basking in the light the same way Iwas, lookingat me with an expression as if it wanted to say something. Yet, the cat didn’t wear a resentful expression on its face likebefore.

Idismounted from my bike, approached the cat, and placed the contents of the cat food can a short distance away from it.

Withme taking several steps backward, the cat, seemingly starving, sprang for the can and began to eat it, noisily.

“I amsorry I could only do this,” I said to the cat, which occasionally licked its tongue. “Try not to get run over.”

“Nah-oh.”e3dfv

Asif to say, “I understand,” the cat turned to me and purred.

Afterwaiting for the cat to finish its meal, I made sure it disappeared into the copse and it never looked back before I mounted my bike andstarted it up again.

T/N:

[i] It’s another way of saying mother in Japanese. Though, I will be using the literal word since the depicted Hirai uses strange Japanese