The Katou Household
Megumi quietly looked at her grandmother, her eyes bright and peaceful like a small summer pond reflecting the sunlight.
"Grandma, is this all right?"
She held out her phone and showed her Yuto's reply, looking somewhat helpless.
"Mm... Mm! Very good! Excellent work, Megumi!"
Her grandmother energetically gave her a thumbs-up.
Megumi let out a quiet sigh.
"Grandma, interfering with what other people write in their messages isn't good."
She was referring to the way her grandmother had "guided" her earlier. The message Megumi sent had been corrected before it was delivered.
"Don't worry about such little things, Megumi. It's fine. Completely fine."
Her grandmother laughed dismissively.
Megumi puffed out her cheeks slightly, but eventually returned to her usual calm expression.
Only the faint lowering of her eyes revealed how helpless she truly felt.
"Come to think of it, Megumi, you reacted very differently this time."
Her grandmother's words left her confused.
"Last time I asked you to message Yuto-kun, you looked completely unwilling. This time, though, I could see the anticipation on your face."
Her grandmother smiled with satisfaction.
Megumi froze and instinctively touched her cheek.
"Anticipation... Really?"
"Of course. I've watched you grow up since you were little. I can tell what you're thinking with a single glance."
As Megumi listened, her hand unconsciously moved to her chest.
Thump...
Thump...
Thump...
Her heartbeat slowly reached her ears, growing louder with every beat.
A question quietly appeared in her mind.
Had she really been looking forward to it?
...
After Yuuka finished her flower cakes, everyone from Gensokyo stayed a little longer before leaving.
Yuto said goodbye to the girls, and once they were gone, the restaurant suddenly felt rather empty.
Aside from the three people playing games, only the restaurant's staff remained. Erina and Hisako sat together chatting, while Tohru and Kanna did the same.
Yuto glanced at the clock.
It was almost eleven.
At this hour, Kanna should probably be going to bed.
She might have been a dragon, but she was still young, and maintaining a regular sleeping schedule was extremely important for a young dragon.
Sleep played an essential role in their growth.
Their bodies were far more complicated than those of humans, and sleeping helped regulate their condition and allowed them to mature properly.
"Kanna, it's time for bed."
Yuto smiled at her.
The little girl looked blankly toward the clock. After seeing the time, she innocently scratched her head.
Her pure, confused expression was so adorable that anyone would have wanted to pull her into their arms and squeeze her.
"Okay."
Kanna nodded obediently.
Just as she was about to jump down from her chair, the restaurant door slid open.
Kanna stopped and instinctively looked toward the entrance, her expression turning puzzled.
Yuto smiled when he saw the enormous furry body blocking the doorway.
He immediately noticed the distinctive white crescent on its chest.
It was the giant Totoro from before!
"Glorp~"
With a sound strangely similar to wobbling jelly, Totoro squeezed its round body through the entrance.
It was still covered from head to toe in soft fur, with the same enormous smile spread across its face.
It stood quietly in the doorway, looking both adorably foolish and wonderfully huggable.
"ROAR!"
Totoro could not speak and could only communicate through loud cries.
Fortunately, Yuto understood it.
Perhaps that was because of the restaurant, or perhaps there was another reason. Either way, there was no need to think too deeply about it.
Yuto understood that Totoro was greeting him, so he returned the greeting and wished it a good evening.
Totoro's eyes curved into narrow lines, and its enormous smile became even brighter.
"ROOOAR~~~"
'I brought some friends.'
Yuto immediately became curious.
Totoro's body was so large and round that it completely blocked the doorway, preventing him from seeing the friends behind it.
The giant creature waddled forward several steps, swaying from side to side as it walked.
Because of how round it was, every movement looked both cute and comical.
While Yuto laughed, one small Totoro after another emerged from behind it.
Their bright eyes watched him curiously.
Each was only about as tall as Yuto's lower leg, and every one of them looked wonderfully vacant.
They crowded around the giant Totoro like chicks gathering beneath a mother hen.
At the front stood a blue Totoro.
It was the largest of the smaller ones, and its round body made it resemble a roly-poly toy.
Every part of it looked impossibly adorable!
Behind it were several white Totoros of roughly equal size.
Their eyes appeared even more innocent and childish.
Yuto guessed they had only recently been born.
Standing together in a neat line, they looked like soft dumplings made from handfuls of snow.
"Woo~"
The blue Totoro let out a cry.
Compared with the giant Totoro's roar, its voice was noticeably softer and cuter.
"Chirp, chirp, chirp~~~"
The tiny white Totoros immediately began calling as well.
Their voices were even more childish, like newly hatched birds, yet surprisingly clear and sharp.
With all of them calling at once, the group quickly became noisy.
"Woo~ Woo~~ Woo~~~"
"Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp~~~~"
The little Totoros refused to stop, and the restaurant began to feel somewhat like a pet shop—noisy, chaotic, and overflowing with energy.
Then the giant Totoro let out a single roar, apparently deciding they had become too loud.
The smaller ones immediately fell silent.
They behaved like younger siblings who had just been scolded by the oldest child in the family.
Yuto found the scene so amusing that he could not stop smiling.
Kanna, who had been preparing to go to bed, no longer had any intention of sleeping.
Her eyes sparkled as she stared at the Totoros, filled with unmistakable longing and affection.
The appeal of soft, furry creatures crossed all species.
Even the toughest man might have a special weakness for a tiny kitten.
"So cute..."
Kanna murmured while lightly biting one finger.
The way she stared at the little Totoros resembled a child looking at a cream-covered cake.
Still seated, she leaned her entire body toward them.
Her small hands were clasped against her chest, and her shining eyes overflowed with affection, making her look just as adorable as the creatures she was watching.
Once the giant Totoro finished disciplining them, it led the smaller ones toward the chairs.
Its enormous body was so round that it occupied three seats by itself.
The little Totoros climbed onto the remaining chairs one after another.
They were too short to reach the counter while sitting, so all of them remained standing.
A neat row of adorable creatures now stood before Yuto, staring at him with wide, blinking eyes that resembled tiny stars.
"ROAR~"
The giant Totoro asked for beans again.
This time, however, it also pointed toward its companions.
Its meaning was obvious.
It wanted them to taste the beans it had enjoyed during its previous visit.
Fortunately, Yuto had bought more broad beans that morning.
The ones he served the giant Totoro last time had been left over from Tohru's snacks, and only half a packet had remained in the restaurant.
When Yuto went to buy bubble tea ingredients earlier that day, Tohru had picked up another mountain of snacks.
Among them happened to be more broad beans.
Yuto turned toward Tohru and gave her a meaningful look.
'Hand over your beans.'
Tohru looked devastated.
She had not even eaten any of them yet.
In the end, the dragon girl endured her enormous sorrow and went upstairs to retrieve the snacks.
When she handed over the packet, she wore the expression of someone suffering through a terrible tragedy.
Yuto lightly tapped her on the head.
She was a dragon.
How could she be so obsessed with snacks?
He carried the packet into the kitchen and poured the beans into several bowls, then placed one in front of each Totoro.
The smaller Totoros stared at the broad beans with obvious curiosity and confusion. They had never eaten anything like them before and did not know what to make of the strange food.
The giant Totoro, meanwhile, had already begun pouring the beans directly into its mouth.
Its mouth was so large that an entire bowl barely made its cheeks bulge.
Then it started chewing.
Crunch, crunch, crunch—
The sound resembled a string of tiny firecrackers going off.
Clear delight appeared on its face.
After seeing the giant Totoro's reaction, the smaller ones began trying the broad beans as well.
Unlike their larger companion, who simply poured everything into its mouth, they ate far more politely.
Each picked up one bean at a time.
The instant they tasted them, their expressions lit up with the same excitement and happiness the giant Totoro had shown during its first visit.
Wide smiles spread across their faces, and their little eyes sparkled.
The smaller Totoros were noticeably more energetic than the larger one.
After eating the beans, they began jumping around happily.
They leaped from the chairs to the counter, then bounced from one place to another, turning the entire countertop into their personal playground.
When they reached Kanna, the little girl could no longer resist trying to grab one.
Fortunately, Tohru stopped her in time.
"Chirp, chirp, chirp~~~"
One of the small Totoros noticed Kanna's movement and called toward her while wiggling its body.
To Yuto's surprise, it suddenly jumped onto Kanna's shoulder, then bounced onto the top of her head.
It looked around curiously and even reached out to touch one of Kanna's horns.
A rare smile appeared on Kanna's face.
She lifted the small Totoro from her head and held it in her hands.
Her palms were tiny, but her strength was more than enough to support it.
The little Totoro stared curiously at her, blinking like a baby.
Kanna gently tightened her grip, feeling the softness beneath her fingers.
Her eyes grew even brighter.
"Chirp, chirp, chirp~~~"
At that moment, the other little Totoros seemed to receive some sort of signal.
One after another, they jumped onto Kanna.
In an instant, she was completely buried beneath them.
They clung all over her body as though they had somehow sprouted directly from her.
Yuto watched curiously.
Was there something about Kanna that attracted them?
Tohru looked equally confused.
After thinking for a while, she came up with a fairly reasonable explanation.
Perhaps it was because Kanna was so innocent.
Kanna, meanwhile, had clearly become flustered.
She awkwardly removed the little Totoros one by one while they crowded around her and chirped without pause.
She looked like a child trying to take care of even younger children.
"ROAR~"
At the giant Totoro's call, the smaller ones immediately jumped down from Kanna.
They formed a neat line and returned to their seats.
Only then did Kanna relax.
She was still smiling, however.
The chaos had not upset her at all.
"ROAR~"
The giant Totoro called again and rose from its seat.
The smaller Totoros jumped down from their chairs as well.
It seemed they were preparing to leave.
Yuto watched them with a smile.
There was no denying that adorable creatures had a way of helping people relax.
Especially enormous adorable creatures.
The giant Totoro began searching through its fur with one paw, apparently looking for something.
Its thick coat rustled as it searched, but no matter where it checked, it could not find what it wanted.
Confusion appeared in its eyes.
Where had it put the thing?
After staring blankly at Yuto for a moment, its eyes finally lit up.
It reached inside one ear and rummaged around.
A small brown object resembling the fruit of some unknown plant appeared in its palm.
The giant Totoro held it out toward Yuto.
It was a gift.
Yuto looked puzzled.
He could not tell what it was.
Tohru, standing beside him, looked equally confused.
The giant Totoro let out another roar.
"Bury it in soil, water it, and let it grow."
That was what the sound meant.
So it was a seed.
Yuto accepted it with interest.
It looked unlike any seed he had ever seen.
Circular patterns covered its surface, resembling the rings inside a tree trunk.
As he examined it more closely, he thought he saw the seed briefly flash with light.
Perhaps it was only his imagination.
"Thank you."
He thanked the giant Totoro.
The creature rubbed its stomach and smiled broadly.
Then it turned around.
Unfortunately, it was so fat that the movement caused it to bump directly into the smaller Totoros.
A chorus of "woo" and "chirp" immediately filled the restaurant.
One roar from the giant Totoro silenced them again.
Afterward, they formed the same line as before and marched toward the door.
The giant Totoro once again squeezed its enormous body through the entrance with a loud wobbling sound.
It really was incredibly fat.
Once the Totoros had gone, Kanna's disappointment became obvious.
Yuto and Tohru both smiled.
Kanna sighed and propped her head on one hand like a weary adult, her expression filled with sadness.
"All right, Kanna. It's time for bed."
"Oh."
Kanna hopped down from her chair and began walking upstairs.
When she reached the rear door, she turned and asked Yuto a question.
"Kamisaka, can I keep a Totoro?"
"No."
Kanna looked heartbroken, Yuto could only sigh helplessly.