Yukino looked at herself in the mirror, and another wave of shy embarrassment flashed through her eyes.
But now the arrow was on the string, and there was no turning back. All she could do was lower her head and step out of the bedroom.
The moment he heard movement, Takumi turned to look.
What met his eyes was a beauty with long, straight black hair.
Her silky hair fell over her shoulders like the night itself, with a few loose strands lightly tracing the lines of her delicate face.
The catgirl outfit outlined her slim, exquisitely proportioned figure.
Black lace and silk intertwined, wrapping softly around her pale skin, and the way it hid and revealed her body only made her look even sexier.
The soft cat ears perched in her hair at a slight tilt, giving her an irresistibly playful, adorable charm.
At her waist, the fluffy cat tail swayed gently, as if silently acting spoiled.
The moment Yukino cautiously lifted her head, she met Takumi's burning gaze.
She immediately lowered it again in embarrassment, just like a guilty little cat caught doing something bad.
"Come here."
Seeing her freeze at the doorway, Takumi beckoned at once.
Yukino bit down on her soft pink lip and slowly walked over.
Her steps were hesitant with embarrassment, but because her body was so light and graceful, every movement carried a catlike blend of laziness and elegance.
By the time she stopped in front of him, she had her head lowered again, not saying a word.
Takumi was fighting a losing battle to keep the grin off his face. He reached out and gave the cat tail behind her a little squeeze.
"Man... what a shame. It's not the insertable kind."
"Mm!!"
The instant those words hit her ears, Yukino's face turned even redder, like blood might start dripping off it.
"I-I would never buy something like... that."
"All right, all right, I'm just saying it's a pity. Now give me a little meow, and while you're at it, call me Master."
"...You're way too much."
"So? Are you doing it or not?"
As if terrified someone might hear, Yukino carefully glanced around the room.
She took a deep breath, forcing down the burning shame in her chest.
She had agreed to this, after all. At this point, there was no backing out.
And after everything else she'd already done, doing this too didn't really matter anymore.
Repeating those thoughts to herself a few times, Yukino actually managed to talk herself into it.
Even the cat ears on her head, which were supposed to be nothing more than decoration, seemed to twitch nervously.
After hesitating for more than ten seconds, Yukino finally lifted both hands, still covered in those delicate cat paw gloves.
Her face was flushed with embarrassment, but she still forced the corners of her mouth into the faintest smile and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Meow... meow... M-Master~~"
"Hahhh...!"
Takumi let out a long breath, the surge in his chest crashing through him like a tidal wave.
His eyes fell on the bell collar fastened around Yukino's neck, and he couldn't help pulling her straight into his arms.
Jingle, jingle~
The bell shook and let out a string of crisp, clear little chimes.
The sound lingered long and bright, almost as if it could echo through the rafters for three days.
At that same moment, on the street not far from the little house Yukino was renting, a car was slowly approaching.
The one driving was a mature beauty in a white jacket—none other than Takumi's teacher, Shizuka.
And sitting in the front passenger seat was another black-haired woman.
She wore her hair in a neat short cut just brushing her ears, and her beautiful, alluring face looked about seventy percent like Yukino's.
But dressed in a fitted suit, her body was all graceful curves, full and mature in a way that only an adult woman could be.
Her face seemed to carry a gentle smile at all times, the total opposite of Yukino's usual cold, expressionless look.
"Hey, Shizu, just one more turn and we're there."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. What a pain you are. First you drag me out to dinner, then you make me drive you to go see your little sister."
Shizuka grumbled as she shot a helpless look at Haruno beside her.
Haruno had been one of her students too, and the two of them got along pretty well.
Still, Haruno loved calling her "Shizu," and that always left her feeling weird.
And once she thought about how Takumi liked calling her that too, Shizuka immediately felt a little overwhelmed.
She was almost thirty, and being called "Shizu" by people...
Actually... it kind of made her happy.
Didn't that mean she still seemed young?
Yeah!
Takumi really did have good taste!!
The moment her thoughts wandered off in that direction, Shizuka's cheeks flushed pink.
Lately, she didn't know what was wrong with her—she kept thinking about Takumi all the time.
Especially these past few days of vacation, when she hadn't seen him once. The more she didn't see him, the more she missed him.
"What a disaster..."
Shizuka muttered under her breath, then changed the subject and asked Haruno beside her, "Did your sister Yukino get into some kind of fight with your family? Why is she living out here alone?"
"My little sister's grown up. Girls her age are bound to clash with their family sooner or later, aren't they?"
Haruno tossed the question back without revealing the truth.
Seeing that she wasn't going to get a real answer, Shizuka let it drop.
But as a conscientious teacher, she quietly made a mental note of Yukino's situation.
If she could, she wanted to keep a closer eye on that girl and see if there was some way she could help.
And after Shizuka's question, the atmosphere inside the car fell quiet.
Haruno gazed out the window, all sorts of thoughts moving behind her eyes.
The truth was, she and Yukino had been very close all the way up until middle school.
But because of the family's situation, and because of the way their mother raised them, Haruno had come to realize she couldn't always be there to support Yukino forever.
It was precisely because she cared about her little sister so much that she had started deliberately keeping her distance.
She wanted to place herself in opposition to Yukino, to force her to grow and break free from depending on her.
Only then, if something serious ever happened in the future and Haruno couldn't help her, would Yukino be able to stand on her own.
That had always been the logic behind it.
But logic was logic. Haruno still couldn't help feeling a little bad about it.
Especially today, when she had suddenly been struck by a bizarre feeling, as if her heart were going to leap right out of her chest.
Like some strange sisterly resonance, a hot, humiliating sensation had spread through her body.
There had even been faint little reactions in her body, like someone was touching her.
That whole series of strange "hallucinations" had made her desperately want to go see Yukino.
Which was why, after meeting up with Shizuka for dinner, she had used the GPS on Yukino's phone to track down the little house she was renting.
Looking at the house in the distance, Haruno felt a thrill of excitement bubble up inside her.
It had been so long since she'd last seen her little sister.
How should she tease her when they met?
The more Haruno thought about it, the more a darkly playful smile spread across her lips.
But as the car drew closer, Shizuka, as an experienced driver, started noticing that something was off.
"Why isn't there a single pedestrian around here? The moment we turned the corner, everyone disappeared. And there are plenty of houses nearby too, so why is it so dead quiet?"
Shizuka frowned, unease creeping into her heart.
Because this kind of situation was just way too abnormal.
At that moment, a few soft, wavering "kitty" sounds faintly drifted into both women's ears.
Shizuka: "..."
Haruno : "..."
"Damn it, who the hell is playing this hard in broad daylight? And that sound kind of..."
Cheeks flushed, Shizuka cursed under her breath and followed the sound with her eyes—only to see a little house.
And that little house just happened to be the one Haruno had said her sister was renting.
...
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