#kca 47

That was something they could not abide!

Yamai was resolutely against revealing it to Komi.

And for damn sure not to Tadano!

Yamai stared daggers at him. Her reaction to his mere presence was more than enough to mask her otherwise giddy and flustered state.

She feared that he would figure out the truth on his own if given the opportunity.

From her perspective, his ability to read people was ‘creepy’... It was far too accurate! It was as if he could literally read their hearts and minds at times.

One step too close to either of them and he might well unravel their entire web of lies and deceit, and then ‘get a little too comfortable’ with Komi!

Yamai growled under her breath in his direction at the thought of it. Just because she was now in a relationship with Nakanaka, that didn’t mean that her goddess was suddenly fair game!

That sentiment rang true for Nakanaka as well, albeit to a lesser degree—she was much more passive in her disapproval.

After all, she could already tell it was a foregone conclusion. And if it was going to happen eventually, why bother fighting it at all? Doing so would only serve to put a strain on her and Komi’s friendship, and she would much rather die than let something like that happen.

Just as well, regardless of her own personal feelings on the matter—mongrel or not—she knew that there were far worse people in the world than Tadano who could be standing alongside her sworn ally.

It annoyed her to admit it, but at the very least, she knew that he could be trusted. Better him than somebody else...

Still, she scowled at Tadano whenever he happened to glance in their direction for more than a second or two.

Begrudgingly allowing him near Komi was one thing, but him staring at her and Yamai was another matter entirely! It was embarrassing enough already doing this awkward half-sideways hug while walking! She didn’t need an audience on top of that! (This sucked!)

...

For a while now, as they traveled, Tadano had noticed something strange about those two.

...You know, aside from the usual things.

It was the odd way in which mana gathered and dispersed around them like a swirling vortex of mist.

He was more than just a little curious about it, but upon sensing their hostility... He decided to just ignore all that and avoid eye contact with them as much as possible for the rest of their trek.

They were on foot, following Komi’s lead to her grandmother’s home, as that was where her parents and brother were currently holed up.

She felt it only right to inform them of her plans before departing for the so-called Land of Enchantments.

She could have done so by phone, just as Tadano had done with his family, but that would not have sat well with her. It felt too impersonal. And in truth, she also wanted to be doted on just a little bit more before leaving.

Before long, the six of them made it all the way to Komi Yuiko’s lavish, yet traditional home.

They were just a few meters away from reaching the door when Komi suddenly got cold feet and stopped in her tracks.

She wanted to invite her friends inside—really, she did!—but when the time finally came, the prospect of actually doing so made her eyes go wide in shock, and she started trembling in fear.

In her eagerness to get things moving, Komi had all but forgotten about her grandmother’s rather intense personality. She didn’t know what to expect should her grandmother come face to face with her friends here—most of all, Tadano.

Her grandmother had reacted quite negatively when she found his name at the top of her phone’s contacts list before... Remembering this made Komi tremble yet again.

She stood there for what, to her, felt like several minutes with her heart pounding loudly in her ears as she tried to decide what to do.

The clock was ticking. Between fight or flight, what should she choose?

...Well, being more realistic about it, what choice did she really even have in the matter? She had already delivered her friends all the way up to her grandmother’s doorstep, hadn’t she? What was she going to do, turn around now and just tell them to leave?

No! She could never do something like that! That would be rude!

And even setting that point aside, the more she thought about it, the more she realized she had truly locked herself into inviting them in for one reason if not another.

Nakanaka needed to rest.

Komi suddenly felt guilty, having not even considered the option of hiring a carriage for the lot of them.

Poor Nakanaka had been forced to walk all the way there—assisted by her ‘rival’, no less.

In Komi’s defense, her grandmother’s home wasn’t terribly far from the shrine, and there were no carriages in sight... but she probably still could have called one up or something, right? Why didn’t she think of that before?

...

Okay, well it’s more like Tadano could have called one for them in her stead... But still! The point remained.

It pained Komi to think how humiliating this all must be for Nakanaka to endure. It was already bad enough that she had food poisoning!

Komi shook her head to snap herself out of her spiraling negative thoughts... Or more like she shook the entire upper half of her body, with her hands raised up in front of her chest and balled up into loose fists.

It was much too late to worry about such things. They were already there, and they were going to go inside. That’s all there was to it. She just needed to steel herself for it first.

Of course, that was the hardest part.