【Ch. 11 - Girl Next Door ②】

I crumble Kitohana-sama's letter in my hands.

"Uh, Tama?"

Takeda calls out to me with some concern in his tone. I probably have an extraordinarily annoyed look on my face at the moment. But of course I do! She was just actively messing around with my private life too now. I had enough of this when I was working!

I would like nothing more than to get back at her one of these days, but now wasn't really the time for schemes or plots of revenge. Really, I just want to lie down after today and rest. Except now I had to do it in a brand new residence, effectively next door to my new boss.

That would usually be utterly unreasonable, but really I couldn't actually honestly think of Takeda as my boss. In the first place, I mostly had myself to blame for bringing him to Kitohana-sama, even if it was under duress.

Granted, given the nature of the kami, I'm not sure if any of the others besides Inari-sama would have been better choices. Even Inari-sama has her own quirks.

With some newfound resignation, I gesture to the shrine attendant who was still here waiting on the two of us.

"Just take us both to a gateway."

"Certainly, please follow me."

She nods respectfully and motions for us to follow. We head into the shrine's interior grounds, past all of the crowds.

"So what did the letter say?"

I sigh deeply, "Haaaah, it was more meddling. To make a long story short, we're now neighbors starting today."

"Eh?!"

Some heads turn our way towards Takeda's surprised yell. He looks around in a fluster before shooting me a confused look in silence no doubt urging me to explain more thoroughly.

"Like I said, during her absence she somehow managed to move the entirety of my mortal residence next to yours. It's also apparently my primary abode now."

"...Seriously?"

I don't bother responding, and just sigh again in resignation. We continue onward, Takeda clearly still trying to process this newfound information by the time we arrive at a suitable gateway.

The gateway itself was just a simple door, one of the many within the shrine grounds. Gates didn't actually have a fixed location within a shrine. They were, in fact, any entranceway or exit on the grounds.

The ones deemed suitable at any given time were simply the least inconspicuous one to emerge or enter from. Which really just meant any door in the mortal realm without anyone not in the know nearby or within eyeshot.

If the shrine was remote enough, one could very well use even the main entrance for this purpose.

The attendant simply opened the door in front of us and stood aside. If you did not know any better, it would really look like we were travelling normally between rooms. I motion to Takeda and the two of us step through.

And just like that we were in the mortal realm.

"Huh. That's it?"

Takeda looks back at the closing door.

"That's it. Mundane isn't it? It's more noticeable if we were to use an exterior entrance, though. From the one's inside, its really no different from just normally going from one room to another."

"I see... Somehow, I guess I'm a little disappointed?"

"I'm sure it used to be a more extravagant in the past, but with all the traffic that happens between the realms these days, it's better to be ordinary."

"I guess so..."

"Anyway, you'll have to lead the way. I don't know where you live, after-all."

We had already left the shrine grounds as we conversed. From here-on though, I was left in the awkward situation of not actually knowing where I lived somehow. So Takeda would have to take the lead.

"Right, right... Before that though, what about my previous neighbor? What'll happen to them? I mean it's not even been a day and they've already been moved out?"

"I'm sure they're fine. We're not ones to simply leave mortals helpless in situations like this. At least I would presume."

"...That somehow doesn't fill me with much confidence."

Frankly, I'm not entirely sure I believed it either. Normally we'd do this with more mundane methods so it'd usually take weeks. I'll have to drill that kami later for answers. Well, it's not like her to leave mortals in dire straights based on her whims anyway.

I hope.

"Well, let's leave that for later. I seem to be attracting some attention, so how far is it?"

I was starting to get looks. My messenger raiment, while not outlandish, wasn't exactly normal wear to simply be wandering around in.

"Not that far. We should be heading off the main roads pretty quickly soon."

He looks at me quizzically for a moment.

"Shouldn't you be hiding your ears and tail?"

Ah, this was probably result of his awakened powers.

"I am, actually. You're most likely seeing through my sensory inhibition wards. I would wager you can see past most basic ones meant for mortals now. Look around. You should actually see more of us now."

I gesture around us. A variety of spirits were mingling with crowds in the streets. The density was by no means large, but the scattering was regular throughout.

His eyes widen as he notices them. Perhaps he wasn't expecting there be quite so many hiding amongst the mortals.

"Oh... wow. I don't know why it hasn't really hit me until now, but my view of the world has been pretty much flipped, huh?"

"That is indeed, certainly a late realization."

"Well, its not like I had time like this to just take it in."

He was looking to and fro at the various spirits around us, even scanning the sky for something. A tengu, perhaps? At any rate, this was going to take a while if he planned to have some weird existential reevaluation right now.

"Certainly. But I'd prefer if you'd bask in wonder later, _Master_."

I call out to him in quite the loud voice.

"Oi, I thought I told you not to call me... that..."

He trails off realizing that he was now getting looks from some of the surrounding passer-bys. There was even a quintessential pair of whispering schoolgirls not that far away. I'm sure my cosplay-like raiment was not helping matters.

"Agh, fine. It's not much further, follow me."

Success. I'd really prefer to just simply get out of these clothes and unwind post haste. Takeda sets off in a rush, doing his best to ignore the optics of having me follow him into an alleyway and we continue on in relative silence.

It really didn't take that long to arrive. The building he lived in was your average apartment complex with nothing really to comment on, but that was to be expected.

We were on the second floor, outside the door to his apartment, number 203. Not knowing which of the units next to his was now mine, I retrieve the key that was given to me. A tag with the number 204 stamped on it hung from it.

"So I'm in this unit, then."

I begin to head towards the door, but Takeda holds out an arm to stop me. In his outstretched hand was the package Kitohana-sama had handed to him earlier.

"I was told to open it together with you, but I reckon it was meant for you anyway so I think you should just take it."

"Oh?" I tilt my head and take the package from him, "I presume she wanted you to see what the contents were with me."

"I'm sure, but I think I'm more than done with excitement for today. Also, if that's what she wants us to do, I’d guess it's probably another one of her pranks or something."

It seems my new master is quick on the uptake.

"Yes, you're probably right. I'll see what it is by myself. Good night, Takeda."

"Right... Good night, Tama."

With this exchange, he flashes a tired smile and enters his apartment. I make my way to my own new residence and head inside.

Once I close the door behind me and get a good look at the interior, I can't help but wonder just how much enthusiasm that capricious kami was emitting when she explained the situation to Inari-sama.

It was exactly the same as my old residence. Layout and all. I am certain that this was not a coincidence. I can't help but wonder if they simply actually physically swapped the two apartments with one another. Even the novels I had left on the table were exactly where I remembered them.

Questions for later. I make my way over to living room and lay the mystery package onto the table. Whatever was inside, I'm sure it was going to cause me a headache, but at least I'd spare Takeda from it.

With trepidation, I tear it open.

"..."

It was clothing. Black, with red and gold accents. At a glance it looked like it was a traditional style raiment. Was this for one of us? Maybe perhaps it wasn't actually going to be malicious for once. Takeda did need some proper attire in any case.

I lift up the raiment, unfurling it to get a better look.

"...W-what is this?"

I was naïve. Far too naïve.

Of course I shouldn't have trusted that kami for a second.

This was for me. It was a black and red style kimono, but far _far_ too sheer a cut. I could tell immediately that no matter what, this was going to be a high exposure garment.

The inner lining I spotted underneath this top layer was something else too. I could only best describe it as a low cut leotard. The white stockings folded next to it were simply just taunting me at this point.

"..."

I set down the kimono. Let's try to ignore the bell collar I had only just noticed, too. Closing my eyes I take some deep breaths. I don't even have the energy to properly quip or be angry at Kitohana-sama anymore.

I'm going to bed.

Let's just pretend I never saw it for now.