“Humming a cheerful tune, Qianye savored her hotpot. Ever since that unexpected encounter with Kurumi, her daily life had blossomed into vibrant prosperity.”
“It truly felt wonderful to be supported by a wealthy older sister.”
Indeed, after that fateful night, Qianye had struck an agreement with the young lady Kurumi. From that moment on, Qianye found herself comfortably maintained by the affluent Kurumi.
However, as a form of compensation, Qianye was to serve as Miss Kurumi’s personal cat.
Initially, Qianye had been resistant, but Kurumi’s offer was simply too generous. Not only did she teach Qianye how to sustain a long-term presence in this world, but she also provided all the necessary living expenses. This arrangement, Qianye mused, was undeniably superior to dealing with a certain goddess who seemed incapable of coherent speech.
“Ach-choo! How peculiar, how could a god possibly catch a cold?”
In another world, Celia Agrate, seated upon her divine throne, suddenly sneezed. Unbeknownst to her, this sneeze was entirely due to Qianye’s passing thoughts. After all, Qianye hadn’t explicitly named the goddess, and Celia hadn’t actively sought to eavesdrop on Qianye’s musings, thus she naturally perceived nothing.
“Meow~”
A charming feline cry echoed as a pinkish-purple figure gracefully leaped onto Qianye’s shoulder.
It was a rather peculiar feline; despite being a cat, it sported two curved horns on its head and two tails, one of which terminated in an inverted heart shape, making it resemble a succubus’s appendage more than a domestic cat’s. Should one have the opportunity to turn the cat over and examine its belly, a unique heart-shaped pattern could be faintly discerned, glowing with a subtle pink light beneath its fur.
“Tamaki, you’ve come running over again?” Qianye asked, tenderly stroking the kitten’s fur.
That was right; this kitten, affectionately named Tamaki by Qianye, was the very one unexpectedly transformed into a familiar by Qianye’s power. Consequently, it had gained a fraction of Qianye’s abilities, such as an irresistible allure to cat lovers, much like catnip to a feline.
“Such a cute kitten! Let me pet it!”
“Please don’t run away! I only wish to feel your silky fur.”
“Oh, Lord Cat, please accept me as your humble pet!”
A sudden surge of girls, their eyes alight with fervent adoration, poured into the establishment, startling everyone present, especially the owner of the Chinese restaurant, whose business was now utterly disrupted.
“Alas, there’s no helping it. I suppose I must intervene!” Qianye sighed softly. An invisible, soft pink light emanated from the heart in Qianye’s left eye, spreading outwards and sweeping over the surrounding crowd.
All those encompassed by this pink luminescence, regardless of their current state, were instantly restored to their previous conditions. The owner resumed attending to customers, guests lowered their heads to continue their meals, and the intruding girls quietly departed as if they had never arrived. Just like that, the restaurant returned to a state of tranquility, as though the preceding chaos had never occurred.
“You naughty thing, you always cause this kind of trouble every time you make an appearance!” Qianye gently stroked Tamaki’s head, and the kitten purred contentedly.
“Meow~”
There was no avoiding it; any creature that became Qianye’s familiar would also acquire some of Qianye’s abilities. If it were a human, they could actively control it, but Tamaki was a cat, and thus would involuntarily charm cat-loving humans, leaving Qianye to invariably clean up the aftermath. This was one of the reasons Qianye had named the cat Tamaki, after all, ‘to preserve heavenly principles and destroy human desires, meow!’
“Phew. Since you’ve escaped, it means I’ll have to personally accompany Kurumi tonight,” Qianye murmured to herself, continuing to stroke the cat.
Being maintained by the wealthy Miss Kurumi was not without its stipulations. In return, Qianye was to serve as Tokisaki Kurumi’s cat. Tamaki, already a cat and Qianye’s familiar, could facilitate Qianye’s consciousness transfer. In a sense, Tamaki was an extension of Qianye, simply in a different form. Now that Tamaki had run off on its own, as compensation, Qianye would have to don cat ears, a collar, and a cat tail, and personally attend to Kurumi.
Some might ask if this would compromise Qianye’s male dignity? What a preposterous notion! Hadn’t Qianye’s dignity, male consciousness, and integrity all been utterly shattered by Shido?
“Woo woo woo woo woo woo~”
Just as Qianye was lost in a labyrinth of thoughts, the spacequake alarm suddenly blared. Everyone nearby instinctively scattered for shelter, quickly leaving Qianye completely alone, accompanied only by the cat.
“Tsk, it’s already come to this!” Qianye tapped her head. She had been so engrossed in leisure these past few days that she had completely forgotten about her important duties.
“Since the spacequake alarm has sounded, it means Tohka has reappeared! And if my memory serves me correctly, her appearance location is still Raizen High School!”
****
Under the twilight sun, the broken walls and ruins glowed with a golden radiance, reflecting off the figures of girls holding beam swords and machine guns, flying through the air, poised for battle.
“Gulp!”
Shido swallowed hard. Although he had long been mentally prepared for this moment and had resolved himself to face it, when confronted with the reality, he still felt an overwhelming wave of nervousness.
“Shido, I have good news and bad news for you!” Kotori, as ever, sat in the commander’s chair, a lollipop in her mouth, legs crossed, eyes fixed on the screen as she relayed instructions to Shido.
“The good news is that the Spirit Qianye calls Tohka is currently in your classroom. This presents a heaven-sent opportunity for the two of you to be alone.”
“That’s certainly good news. What’s the bad news?”
“The bad news is that the entire school building is surrounded by the AST. While they’re likely hesitant to rush in due to the Spirit, they’re probably discussing countermeasures right now. Which means once they finalize their strategy, they’ll take action, so you need to hurry!” Kotori’s voice echoed in his earpiece. Shido knew Kotori’s analysis was accurate, and thus understood the urgency of his actions.
However, Kannazuki, the sub-commander, who stood beside Kotori, intently observing the screen, suddenly interjected.
“Commander, the opponent is a Spirit. Failure means certain death, so he absolutely must undergo thorough training before he… *Puh-ha*!”
Before Kannazuki could finish his sentence, Kotori delivered a sharp elbow strike to his chest. Kannazuki collapsed to the ground, a pained (yet blissfully content) expression on his face. Kotori then pressed the sole of her foot against Kannazuki’s head, reprimanding him with a haughty tone.
“How dare you question my decision, Kannazuki? Your audacity has grown, hasn’t it? In that case, until I grant my permission, your human status shall remain revoked. Understood?”
“I am no longer human, Commander!” Kannazuki cried out to the heavens. Kotori responded by pressing his face firmly into the floor with her foot.
“No human language! Speak in pig Latin!”
“Oink oink!”
Even without witnessing the scene firsthand, Shido felt sweat trickling down his back. Black-ribbon Kotori, he mused, was truly terrifying.
“I’m going up!” Shido took a deep breath, dispelling the distracting thoughts, and ascended the nearby stairs. Although the school building had suffered severe damage, the stairs remained largely intact and passable. Just past that corner, he could…
*Thump!* Shido felt himself collide with something incredibly soft, yet the impact still sent him sprawling to the ground.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t…” As Shido began to apologize, he abruptly froze. He saw a skirt that had billowed upwards from the impact, and beneath it, black… frilly lace panties, along with an upright succubus tail, heart-shaped at its tip.