The contract was signed, names were exchanged, and grand declarations were made.
So, next up should be…
Going home for dinner, then washing up and going to bed.
After all, tomorrow was the new semester, and it was time to start going to (sitting in) school (prison) again.
However, thinking about being able to eat the class monitor's handmade bento starting tomorrow, Akira felt a hint of anticipation for the otherwise boring campus life.
"Then it's about time for us to head back."
Miyako nodded, and at the same time, poured another capful of milk, continuing to feed the cat.
"Okay, but Kuroo seems to want to keep drinking. Should we continue feeding her when we get back?"
"No need. Just leave that bottle of milk here. Kuroo is a smart cat; she'll figure out how to drink it all herself."
Miyako blinked, a look of confusion on her face.
"Aren't we taking Kuroo home?"
"Kuroo isn't my cat to begin with. She probably doesn't see me as her owner either; she just often comes to where I live to freeload food. Even if you wanted to take her back, she wouldn't follow you. Plus, she doesn't let anyone touch her."
"Meow meow meow!"
Kuroo immediately turned around and meowed a few times at Akira in protest, as if saying, 'I'm not freeloading! That's accepting human offerings!'
Akira naturally looked dismissive.
Yes, yes, yes, it's cats that domesticated humans and rule this world.
"I see…"
Miyako accepted this explanation, but she looked at the milk bottle in her hand with a hesitant expression.
"But I want to keep the empty bottle as a souvenir…"
After all, it was milk exchanged for a life; it certainly had commemorative significance.
But if they kept feeding her with the bottle cap, who knew how long it would take… If they returned too late, they might miss dinner.
Just then, Kuroo, with great understanding, meowed twice at Miyako, then jumped onto the offertory box and made a scratching motion.
Having spent a long time with Kuroo, Akira could also read the cat's intentions. Making a scratching motion in a place unsuitable for scratching was a way of conveying that it wanted humans to use their flexible fingers, which it didn't possess, to help it open something it couldn't open.
"It looks like she's telling us to open the offertory box."
"Eh?"
Miyako didn't know a little cat could convey such complex information, so she just made another sound of confusion, then watched Akira walk over and open the offertory box.
There wasn't a single coin in the offertory box, only an empty bowl.
He had been hoping to find the coins he couldn't pick up from the vending machine in the offertory box… but there was still nothing!
He really didn't have much financial luck today… However, meeting Anri Hitomi and Miyako, and establishing a transactional relationship with them, was his biggest gain.
Akira picked up the bowl and looked at it. He didn't expect it to be quite clean, with no dust on it. The inner wall of the bowl also had a pattern like a magatama, making it look quite like an antique artwork.
But why would there be a bowl in the offertory box?
Speaking of which, which deity was enshrined in this abandoned shrine?
No, what's even stranger is… Is there actually an abandoned shrine in this vicinity?
Even the smallest shrine shouldn't be abandoned, right, especially since this is Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo?
Chiyoda Ward, one of the six central wards among Tokyo's twenty-three wards, is the least populated but also the most important ward in all of Tokyo.
Because this is the center of power in Japan.
The Imperial Palace, the National Diet Building, the Supreme Court, the Cabinet Office—all these important places are located here.
So many politicians, bureaucrats, and celebrities also live in this area.
To describe it in an easier-to-understand way…