Chapter 36: A Black Cat Is Also a Cat — What's Wrong with Filming Tom and Jerry?
The diary update was a little late today — Renji had been distracted by Utaha's release.
> Sorry, today's diary update is a bit late. Today is the big release day for Utaha-sensei's Love Metronome, and as a ten-year fan of hers, of course I had to show my support. I didn't catch her promotion at the bookstore today; looks like I'll wait for the signing event next week. Anyway, I bought the book and read it for over an hour, so today's diary will be a short review…
Renji snorted to himself as he wrote his playful entry. The male lead was conventional; the female lead — Sayuka — felt suspiciously like Utaha herself. He teased that Utaha was destined to be a "defeated dog" in her own work, then riffed on tropes and predecessor tropes with that particular, mean-pleased fondness he reserved for authors he liked.
Meanwhile, in the real world, Utaha herself was waiting nervously for first-day sales while also getting a small ping: Reading Value +1. She snatched her diary and glared at the latest entry.
"What nonsense has that Mysterious Person written about me today?" she muttered. She was almost certain the Mysterious Person never wrote her up flattering. Then she read — and froze.
He'd written a full review of Love Metronome.
He'd even joked she was "born to be a defeated dog."
Utaha bristled. "How can I be a defeated dog? I'm a novelist, not a caricature!" But as she read on, something niggled at her. The entry suggested Sayuka might lose — not once, but repeatedly. Utaha felt a cold sliver of doubt. Had she, without noticing, been scripting her own defeat? She shook it off. No — she'd correct it. If she had to, she'd rope Eriri in as an illustrator and shift the balance back. With Eriri onboard, a comeback was almost guaranteed.
Still, the Mysterious Person's teasing lines — It was me first. Why did it turn out this way? — planted strange inspiration. Utaha found herself scribbling the next volume's ideas, and before she knew it a page of text had poured into the diary through thought alone. In that feverish rush she didn't notice how her own subconscious had cast Sayuka as the loser she joked about. The group chat exploded with gossip; even those who didn't care for romance were entertained.
Kuroneko, however, ignored the romance chatter. She'd been busy drafting worldbuilding pages for her own novel — occultism, exorcists, settings — and had been posting snippets in the comments to gain reading value. Today she asked whether she could be a light-novel author someday and, to her surprise, the Mysterious Person picked her snippet as the featured comment. She felt equal parts embarrassed and ecstatic, and muted her phone to wait for the next update.
Renji watched all of this with amusement. He'd planned to poke Kuroneko next — he had an exchange in mind — when Jerry suddenly burst into the room with a clatter and a triumphant squeak.
Everywhere Jerry went there was chaos. It had been tinkering. "Holy moly, Jerry, you really developed the Breath of the Mouse?" Renji laughed. In only a few days the little creature had indeed managed a tiny, mouse-sized breathing practice — a cheeky analogue to Ripple. Jerry strutted proudly as if to say, Is that hard? Renji gaped; even Yoriichi might have admired the speed of that little invention.
Then an idea struck Renji. If Jerry could perform a miniature breathing technique, why not stage a little Tom-and-Jerry routine? After all, a black cat is also a cat. Let Jerry test its new Breath of the Mouse in a few days of harmless mischief with Kuroneko — and use the chance to cameo as a Ripple instructor to the girls. Comedic, educational, and likely to net reading value.
Jerry's new skill wasn't anywhere near Renji's Pure Yang-level output, but it was impressive for a creature its size — something ordinary people might need decades to cultivate. Plus Jerry's tinkering led to breakthroughs on Renji's Ripple Projector design; he was optimistic the 1.0 projector prototype wasn't far off. With a mini-projector, Jerry could even stage a convincing exorcist cameo.
That night Renji brewed another cup of Immortal's Happy Tea and kept researching Ripple derivatives with Jerry. The little mouse's discoveries sometimes outpaced Renji's; that combination of pressure and productivity thrilled him.
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The next day after school Renji planned to act on Jerry's breakthrough, but his sister Kouka dragged him to a club recruitment fair — she couldn't decide which club to join. That's how he met Kato Megumi for the first time in person.
Megumi's self-introduction was measured and plain, but it carried an oddly friendly gravity — exactly Renji's impression of her: calm, composed, and quietly formidable. Renji stayed in the background, letting Kouka take the spotlight. Without his flamboyant persona, his presence probably wouldn't outshine Megumi.
Kouka Miyauchi wavered among club booths. Meanwhile, a few sport-club reps noticed Renji and invited him to join with enthusiastic hyperbole about "dominating the nation." Renji imagined overpowered matches like super-powered tennis or basketball after the spiritual resurgence — ridiculous but entertaining. He gently deflated those fantasies with a few jokes and excused himself, then saw the time and went to see Kouka off.
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Renji's day had other threads. He'd been in Akihabara the previous day — Utaha's Love Metronome came out — and he'd bought copies in disguise. Sales were modest; the clerk confirmed the early numbers weren't explosive. In the original story, Utaha's early sales floundered until a blogger helped boost her; here Renji didn't know how things would go. He read part of the book with a convenience-store bento and felt a nagging doubt about his own schemes — about how far he could push the diary's influence without drawing dangerous attention.
He'd also been building useful connections: Koshigaya Takeru and Kagayama Kaede on props, and Dr. Agasa next door with his gadgetry. Takeru's raw skill and Agasa's inventiveness made them perfect allies; a visit to Agasa's lab left both impressed and promising a mentorship between inventor and young engineer. Renji banked goodwill with both.
Back at the mansion that evening he wrote a diary note that balanced mockery and practical guidance — a touch patronizing, but genuinely useful: Miko should learn Ripple first; Eye Killers and the Temple of Emptiness were dangerous options; and spirits sometimes pose as children. Keep tone harmless enough so the girls trusted his notes, but precise enough that they'd follow safer advice.
Renji also planned the Tom-and-Jerry test with Kuroneko — a comedic exorcism demo that would secretly let Jerry show off its Breath of the Mouse and let him test the Ripple Projector in public without overtly revealing anything supernatural.
He revised one last time, sipped his tea, and set Jerry on its new miniature furniture to try it out. The mouse squeaked happily, and Renji fell into bed with one eye on the diary and the other on the increasingly strange world around him — ready to play whatever role kept him safe and entertained.
END of the chapter
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