CHAPTER VII
Again. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAT???!!!"
"What?" that stopped him.
"You mean, I-I-this-I'm in a world full of cats?!" I stuttered. Geez! When did I become like this??
Suddenly Inochi giggled then slowly made an effort to stop herself.
"Sorry, sorry," she said, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "I just can't help laughing with the expression on your face. You take over, Shi."
"You're a human, aren't you, Asahi?" Shi asked me quietly.
"Well, yeah. Can't you even see the difference of our ears? Or our whiskers?"
She just smiled at my remark. "Actually, it's your hair that makes you a human." Us cat-humans can't grow our hair that long."
Cat-humans. So that's what they call themselves, huh?
"It's not that we can't," Inochi said. "It's our hair that won't grow any longer than it should be."
"Anyway," Shi continued. This world is like a mirror image of your world."
"You've probably met our mirror image in your world."
Geez. So it's really them. Wait! Mirror image? So that means…
"There's someone who's me in this world?" I asked them suddenly.
"Well, yes." The both of them replied.
How about me in Asahi's world?" Youhi suddenly asked. I noticed Shi gave a worried look at Inochi before answering.
"Well…umm…guess so… Anyway, the thing is," Okay, she obviously evaded giving him a straight answer. What might the reason be? "The thing is, one from another world cannot live or even stay for so long in the other world."
"What?" Youhi suddenly cried. "So you mean Asahi won't be able to stay with me for much longer here?"
"Well, yes, of course," Inochi replied.
"What would happen to me if I stay much longer?" Oh no… This really is trouble. I really need to find a way out here.
"Starting by the time you arrived in this world, your body's slowly starting to deteriorate," Shi said quietly. "Well, you won't feel it right away. But I can assure you you'll really feel some pain now and then as your stay here extends. And then…. You'll die."
"No!" Youhi and I said in unison.
"Eh?" I turned towards him and for a fleeting moment, I saw something reflecting in his eyes. When he turned to look at me, it was gone.
"What?" he asked absentmindedly. "Oh. It's just that," he went behind me and hugged me tightly. "I just want Asahi to stay by my side forever."
"Geez!" Why the heck did I just blush? I tried to free myself from his hold.
"Nya Shi," Inochi pouted. "You really sounded like death yourself when you said those words. I really hate it when you're like that."
"But I'm---"
"Anyway!" Inochi smiled at me. There's a way for you not to die."
"Tell me what we should do!" Youhi demanded. Okay, this seems a different side of him.
"Well, she'll just have to go back to her world as soon as possible."
"Geez!" I cried. "You don't know how much I've been meaning to leave this world since the beginning! But the question is, how the heck would I go back?"
"You'll just have to make a wish," the twins said. "With the queen."
