Seraphim is a Bystander

School Trip Day 1: A Cat?
—Aoi's Point of View—
 

After leaving the others, I walked through the vast grounds of the god's residence, searching for a shinshi (divine servant).
The cat perched on my shoulder had no awareness of the situation, lounging comfortably and even letting out a yawn.
“Seriously… I’m trying to find a shinshi for your sake, you know?”
“…Funya?”

I gave up scolding the laid-back cat and resumed my search.
From what I had researched beforehand, there were apparently two types of shinshi at this shrine:
one type were humans employed to do the work, and the other were actual divine familiars serving the god, like the woman I had met earlier.
The ones within public view were usually the human kind.
As I recalled that, I spotted a woman in shrine maiden robes sweeping the grounds.
There weren’t any information booths marked on the map I studied, so I felt a little bad about interrupting her work—but I approached her anyway.
“Um… excuse me, do you have a moment?”

“Yes? What is it?”
As she looked up in response to my voice, her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the cat on my shoulder.
Even though I wasn’t the one who brought the cat in, I felt oddly guilty and explained the situation.
“It seems this cat wandered in, and I couldn’t find anyone nearby who looked like its owner…”

“I see…”
She tilted her head thoughtfully for a moment, then spoke.
“Animals aren’t supposed to be allowed in here, but… in any case, we’ll take care of it from here.”

“Sorry to trouble you, and thank you.”
It wasn’t something I could handle myself, so I reached to take the cat off my shoulder.
…But the cat skillfully dodged my hand while staying balanced on my shoulder.
“…”

“…”
An awkward silence passed between me and the shrine maiden.
I tried again, this time a bit more seriously, but the cat effortlessly evaded me—slipping from one shoulder to the other, then onto my head.
“L-let me help…”
“Ah… Sorry, I’d appreciate that.”

With the shrine maiden’s help, I tried once more to catch the cat—but it kept slipping away gracefully.
She started getting visibly tired and was panting a little.
“Hah… haah… Um, would you mind coming with me? My supervisor should be able to handle animals.”
“Y-yeah. Sorry about all this…”

Giving up on catching it for now, we decided to head to her superior, who apparently knew more about animals.
…Why were there so many irregularities ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) today?
As we walked, the shrine maiden glanced at the cat still relaxing on my shoulder.
“Animals really seem to like you, huh?”
“I don’t think that’s normally the case, but… this one seems to really like me for some reason.”

“Nya.”
As if it had been listening, the cat gently smacked me on the cheek with a soft paw—like it was saying “Don’t get cocky.”
All I felt was the soothing softness of its paw.
The shrine maiden looked at me, somewhat envious, as she guided me to a building that seemed to be for shinshi.
“Otsuki-sama~? May I speak with you for a moment~?”

Not even a minute after she called into the building, a woman stepped out.
She wore shrine maiden robes made of visibly higher-quality fabric than the guide’s, marking her as someone of importance here.
“Oh? And who might this be?”
…And most notably, unlike the human shrine maiden, this woman had animal ears on her head and a fluffy tail sticking out from her hakama.

“Sorry for taking up your time…”
“This guest found a cat on the premises…”
Still unsure how to interact with what was clearly one of the god’s familiars, I let the other shrine maiden explain the situation.
The familiar tilted her head in confusion.

“How strange… With my barrier in place, no animal should be able to enter unless invited…”
“That’s what I thought too…”
So the reason animals weren’t allowed was because of this barrier she maintained.
Still, the cat was definitely here, so the three of us—if I was counting correctly—stood there puzzling over it.

“Hmm… well, I’ll take this little one into my care for now.”
“Ah, be careful. It’s really good at escaping.”
“That’s fine. I can handle ordinary anima—wha…?”

“…Is something wrong?”
As the familiar got a closer look at the cat resting on my shoulder, she suddenly froze.
Even when I and the other shrine maiden spoke to her, she remained locked in a silent stare with the cat.
“Wh-what’s going on?”

“I’m not sure…”
“…!”
Finally, the familiar came back to life, and now she was clearly flustered—nervously sweating and darting her eyes around.

“U-um… are you okay?”
“Eh?! Ah, y-yes, um… r-right!”
“?”

Still confused, I listened as the now-panicked familiar stammered on.
“R-right! That c—that cat! It seems to want to go with you! You should… take it with you!”
“Eh? But it might belong to someone…”

“N-no, no! I can communicate with animals, and I’m sure it doesn’t!”
She insisted with an almost desperate intensity.
Hmm… I would like to take the cat along if she’s that sure, but… is it really okay to adopt an animal while on a school trip?
“But… I am on a school trip, and taking it along might be…”

“It’s fine! I’ll talk to your teacher myself! Okay!?”
“Uh, w-well… if you say so…”
Overwhelmed by her energy, I nodded, and she pulled out a notepad and asked for my school and teacher’s contact info.

“So you’re Aoi Futaba from Tōto Central Elementary… Wait, elementary school?”
“Eh? Yes, I’m in elementary.”
“…Kids these days are so big and mature…”

“Ahaha… I might be the tallest in my class.”
She then rushed off somewhere and, within a few minutes, returned with a big smile on her face.
“All set! I spoke to your teacher—you’re allowed to take the cat along!”

“Really? Then… I guess I’ll bring it with me until it gets tired of me.”
“Yes, and you could even take it home with you!”
“Ahaha… I’ll have to talk to my family about that first.”

Something about her urgency was odd, but since I got permission to walk around with the cat, I decided to head back to my group.
“Thank you for your help.”
“Not at all! Enjoy your trip~!”

“Thanks again!”
I gave my thanks to both shrine maidens and made my way toward the main shrine building, where everyone else had apparently gone ahead.
“…Things just keep getting weirder today.”

“Nya.”
As I muttered that, feeling a bit worn out, the cat on my shoulder let out a relaxed meow—and yawned, totally unfazed.