Honda had obviously never experienced anything supernatural, and the thought hadn't even crossed his mind. He rubbed his eyes, felt a little puzzled, then decided he must have imagined it.
The Shimada family's son left the room with Honda, and they walked together for a while. Neither was much good at socializing, so they made small talk, and the atmosphere was a little awkward.
"...I heard the inn isn't planning to stay in business?" Honda picked a less-than-ideal topic. "It all looks pretty good. The surroundings are lovely."
"Yeah, it's a little out of the way, and the upkeep costs are too high," the Shimada family's son replied. "We were planning to close for good this year and sell the place when we got the chance. Now that they're filming here, maybe we can keep it going a little longer."
"Maybe it'll become a tourist attraction. This drama has quite a lot of fans," Honda said politely.
"Haha, that's the idea."
When they reached a fork in the path, the Shimada family's son pointed in the other direction. "I'll go keep my mother company, then."
"Oh, right. I'm heading to the kitchen. See you at lunch. The food's supposed to be great today," Honda said.
They went their separate ways.
When Honda returned to the kitchen, the chef was back and chopping vegetables. Honda couldn't be much help, so he went to the break room next door. There was a different crowd in there now. A few people were on their phones, heads bowed. When they saw Honda, they gave him a casual greeting.
Honda took out his own phone and browsed the web and social media. After a while, he started playing a mobile game, putting the cat completely out of his mind.
Everyone ate lunch together, then continued