"Koromaru used to live at the shrine I'll be taking you to... he used to belong to a priest, there. He kept guarding the shrine even after the priest had died in an accident, and the neighborhood regularly took care of him - one night, he ended up fighting during the Dark Hour and defending the shrine from shadows. We think that's how he Awakened - Akihiko-senpai was there to catch the tail end of it and fend off the shadows before Koromaru was overwhelmed."

She pauses to pick up her bowl, tipping it to sip at the warm, cozy broth.

"I'm not surprised about the mirroring thing... I bet a lot of social animals work really similarly, just like us humans. And dogs have evolved and changed to understand us so well, too - if there was ever going to be an animal awakening, I would've guessed a dog, too. They're the closest to us, with cats coming in a close second."