Chapter 26: Kuroka Wants to Play (Patreon)

The scene shifts to inside the Hanakain residence.

Having returned home so late, Hanakain Fubuki inevitably endured a round of affectionate pestering, his face smothered by a certain someone.

By the time the young man had washed his face, wiping away all the drool left by a particular cat-eared girl, and emerged from the bathroom, Kuroka had already set the dinner dishes on the table in the living room.

"Alright, dinner time, dinner time~"

Humming a little tune, she sat down at the table, turning her head towards the bathroom door where Hanakain Fubuki had just appeared. She waved him over, gesturing for him to sit beside her. Beneath the hem of her kimono, her two fluffy cat tails swayed gently back and forth, indicating she was in a remarkably good mood.

It was as if she wasn't the same person who, upon his arrival, had sniffed him intensely, discovered the fresh scent of an unfamiliar woman, and instantly flown into a frenzy, nibbling and biting him all over.

One could only say that cats really are like that, much like dogs, enjoying marking their territory thoroughly with their own scent.

Though it was rather strange.

Despite not wanting her little sister to detect her scent, leading her to use magic every morning to cleanse Hanakain Fubuki of the scent he'd acquired overnight before he left, she still got upset smelling other women on him when he returned in the evening. She absolutely had to reapply her own scent, covering up the others, before she felt happy.

Then, the next morning, she'd have to use magic to clean it off again…

It felt quite similar to how students in some strictly managed schools, due to regulations, could only wear uniforms during the day. So even if they bought new clothes, they could only change into them after classes ended, just for the sake of looking pretty at home for a few hours.

However, Hanakain Fubuki didn't really mind. After all, he wasn't the one doing the work. As long as the cat girl herself was happy, that was fine.

"Fufufu~"

Hanakain Fubuki had barely sat down when Kuroka, who was originally beside him, couldn't resist snuggling closer, worming her way into his lap and settling down quite comfortably without any hesitation.

Throughout the entire process, Hanakain Fubuki himself didn't even move, yet the cat-eared girl, relying on the innate flexibility of a feline, effortlessly climbed onto him.

She even had a large, juicy piece of beef brisket clamped in her mouth, holding it out to the young man with her front teeth.

"Nnh?"

No words were needed; her intention was crystal clear. She wanted him to take it, mouth-to-mouth.

Hanakain Fubuki: "..."

Fine, might as well go along with her.

After a moment's thought, the young man lowered his head, opening his mouth to accept the offering.

But Kuroka moved faster. The instant he opened his mouth, she leaned forward, deftly coordinating to tear the beef brisket into two roughly equal smaller pieces.

Exactly one piece for each of them.

"...How is it? Tasty?"

Her request fulfilled, the cat-eared girl licked her lips in satisfaction.

Hanakain Fubuki was still chewing. "It's alright, but you sucked out all the broth. It doesn't have much flavor left."

"Want another piece then?"

"Maybe later. Let's eat first..."

"A pity."

Although he said later, Kuroka didn't get off his lap. She continued to occupy her exclusive spot. Whenever Hanakain Fubuki happened to pick up a dish she wanted, she would lower her head and snatch the food right off his chopsticks.

Correspondingly, however, she would also occasionally pick up food with her chopsticks and turn to feed him.

Sometimes with chopsticks, sometimes with her mouth.

Sometimes I really think buying four dining chairs was such a waste. One would have been enough... Hanakain Fubuki couldn't help but complain inwardly while eating.

The cat-eared girl's voice came from below.

"So, how did things go with my little sister at school today?"

"Hm? Alright, I guess..." Hanakain Fubuki replied after swallowing his food.

Kuroka's little sister naturally referred to Koneko Toujou, whose real name was Shirone. Kuroka had told him this long ago.

"What do you mean, 'alright'?"

The cat-eared girl in his arms pouted, turning around and using her chopsticks to stuff a bunch of enoki mushrooms from the beef brisket broth into the young man's mouth.

"Didn't Big Sis ask Fufu to take good care of Shirone at school? Don't tell me Fufu was just busy hooking up with other big-chested girls all day?"

Hooking up... seriously?

Hanakain Fubuki wordlessly tapped the top of her head lightly with the end of his chopsticks.

"What are you thinking? Besides, Koneko and I aren't even in the same grade. Running over to another grade level would just make me look suspicious, right? And she's not a kindergartener; she doesn't need someone checking if she ate her lunch properly."

"What does that matter~"

Kuroka seemed completely unfazed.

"Didn't Big Sis say before? If it's Fufu doing it with Shirone, I totally approve, you know?"

"...Are you sure that isn't just your twisted sense of humor, Kuroka?"

"Twisted sense of humor? How so?"

Not understanding what he meant by "twisted sense of humor" at first, the cat-eared girl pondered for a moment before letting out an "Oh."

"Fufu, are you talking about when I mentioned wanting to suddenly appear and join in when you and Shirone are doing that kind of stuff? Mmm... that can't be helped! It's because Shirone keeps avoiding me. I read somewhere that if sisters experience certain things together, it's easier for them to reconcile~"

"I highly doubt the 'certain things' mentioned in that book refer to that kind of thing..." Hanakain Fubuki felt the urge to facepalm.

"Forget it. Let's not talk about these weird things."

"Right~"

Surprisingly, Kuroka obediently didn't pursue the topic further, merely licking her lips alluringly.

"After all, we can take a bath after dinner, and then we can... hehe~"

As she spoke, the girl seemed to remember something and switched topics.

"Speaking of which, has that girl from the Jujutsu Association contacted you again?"

"No, haven't heard anything since then."

Hanakain Fubuki put down his bowl and chopsticks, pulled out his phone from his clothes, and checked his forum DMs and SMS messages.

Indeed, there were no new notifications.

"Hmm..."

Kuroka tilted her head, looking seriously, and only shrugged after confirming there were no follow-up messages.

"Oh well, if there's nothing, there's nothing. Let's eat, let's eat~ After we finish, we'll really go at it!"

Almost the instant the girl's cheerful voice faded, an emergency news alert pushed by a news app dropped down from the top of the phone screen.

[This afternoon at 5:39 PM, in a private residence in Tokyo's Chuo Ward, Tokyo Metropolitan Police discovered the body of a male, suspected to be the victim of a brutal murder by cult members. Citizens are urged to pay attention to safety at home, avoid leaving doors and windows open for extended periods, and contact the authorities immediately if suspicious individuals are sighted...]

The rest was mostly boilerplate warnings.

Hanakain Fubuki focused on the first part.

Based on the description, that should be the unfortunate homeowner found in the house where I dealt with that killer priest today.

But why only one body? Didn't I twist the killer priest's head off and leave it on the table?

Even if the Japanese police are incompetent, they shouldn't be unable to count the number of corpses correctly... right?