"Hmm?"
In the morning, the tanuka, who had woken up, looked at the bizarre scene before it, since beside its master, Fuji, there were three figures who had stayed in Fuji's apartment.
Nifuji aside, there were also Mayuri and Eli, which made it so confusing, wondering why they were in Fuji's place?
"Did you wake up?" Fuji noticed the tanuki. "The breakfast is ready. Do you want to eat?"
Tanuki nodded fiercely, as it was hungry and thirsty, so it agreed, yet it was also staring at Fuji curiously.
"What's wrong?"
You are beautiful.
Tanuki wrote those words on the mini whiteboard that Fuji bought.
Yup, in its mind, Fuji had become so beautiful, having a rosy complexion and also a moist skin-like texture, almost glowing in the holy light, seemingly having ascended to heaven despite being living.
Or rather, she was like a dry flower that had received water, moisturised, and bloomed beautifully again.
"Thank you."
Fuji smiled as she patted the tanuki's head. "Go to the bathroom first."
Yes.
Tanuki nodded, thinking to wash its paws and clear up the bleeder first.
"....." 2x
However, the two forgot that Mayuri and Eli were there, and they looked at this interaction in a daze.
"...did you just see that?"
"...I saw it."
"So... it wasn't an illusion."
"No..."
"..." 2x
"HIROTAKA!" 2x
Mayuri and Eli quickly jumped onto him, feeling afraid as they realized that Fuji had kept a youkai!
Or rather, it was a tanuki!
"Ugh!"
Nifuji, who lay on the sofa exhaustedly, was startled by the jump, then looked at the two, who were scared, as he looked at Fuji, who looked awkward, then the tanuki, which scarred its round buttocks before it walked to the bathroom.
"..."
There were many things that he wanted to say, but he said, "Don't worry."
"B-But, that's a youkai!"
A youkai!
It was a ghost, how could he be so calm?!
"That's just a smart dog. Fuji is a writer, and she has a lot of free time as she works at home, so she trained her dog, right?"
Naturally, as Nifuji made the excuse, he looked at Fuji to help him to affirm his excuse.
"....." Fuji.
"...yes."
Fuji wanted to complain that she didn't have a lot of free time. Yes, a writer might work at home, but did it seem like she did nothing at home?
Of course not, okay?
When she was at home, she was working, and she even spent so many hours, even 14 hours in front of her computer to write, since if she didn't write, then she wouldn't make any money.
However, she knew that she had to calm Eli and Mayuri, and in her eyes, while the tanuki might be a weird dog-like creature, in her mind, it was just a dog, and her pet.
"T-That's great..."
"So, it's a smart dog..."
Eli and Mayuri somehow believed in the lie, but it was understandable since, compared to a youkai, an illusory creature, they believed that the tanuki was a smart animal instead, as it was more believable.
Compared to the fictional creature, their minds preferred to believe that the tanuki was a smart dog instead.
This was a normal, common reaction, especially when one had entered the modern era, as everyone was more into science than romanticism, where there was a creature known as a tanuki in this world.
Yet, Nifuji knew well that Fuji's pet was an "actual" tanuki, the naughty youkai creature, who loved to tease a human, but instead of teasing them, it had become an obedient pet, which was good enough.
If the princes in the Middle East could keep a crocodile, a hawk, a horse, a lion, and all other things as their pets, why couldn't he, Nifuji, the owner of the sugar daddy owner, keep a youkai as his pet, right?
"Wow, how did you do it, Fuji-san?"
"I think that you can make a lot of money as a dog trainer."
"..."
As Eli and Mayuri quickly surrounded Fuji, asking her how to teach her dog, Fuji was at a loss, as she stared at Nifuji with a resentful and helpless gaze.
"Ah, um, it's just my hobby, and I don't think that I can do it again, as not everyone is as smart as my dog..."
"Wow!" 2x
Eli and Mayuri were quickly distracted as they kept asking Fuji a lot of questions, which made her a little troubled, but she still answered them anyway, as their relationship had become closer last night.
Yes, if there was a reason why Nifuji was a bit petty, as he didn't help Fuji, it was because she had betrayed him by working together with Eli and Mayuri to take him down.
Nifuji might be a superhuman, but even so, he had to admit that it was quite hard to handle three women at the same time. It wasn't that he was overwhelmed or anything, but he hadn't fallen asleep since last night, even though he had to go to work.
Yup, working.
Nifuji knew that he had to go to work in his office again, and frankly, he didn't really want to.
Unlike his equity firm, where he could just guide his followers, and they would follow his words like a cult leader, in the company where he worked, and also the largest shareholders, it was troublesome.
Yes, even though he might be the largest shareholder, due to the company's tradition, and everyone's common sense, even if he was the largest owner, he felt like he was treated like a tool somehow.
A tool, one among many cogs, and when he broke, he could be replaced by anyone, which led him to ignore them and just work depending on his mood, only for a few days, and only for a few hours at a time.
Still, even if they could talk or even reprimand him, they could do nothing to him, as he was the largest shareholder. But at the same time, Nifuji was also annoyed since he thought that he could do nothing to them.
Frankly, he had been buying the debts of those annoying pests and had been thinking of urging them to repay the debts with 50% or more interest, or, rather, he had planned to evict them from their home.
By using their seniority, loyalty, and all other things to the chairman, they could do anything to him just because he was young, and the chairman of the company just used him like a tool, or just watched from a distance, watching him exhaustedly fighting a group of monkeys, yet trying to make himself like a savior in front of him.
When Nifuji thought about how exhausting it was to work under them, he knew well what he should do: "I quit."