"Which elementary school do you go to?! Which class?! Don't you know it's class time right now?! At your age— don't run!"
Whether it was a patrolling disciplinary teacher or a nosy passerby, at an hour when you might not see a single soul on the streets, a small child running wild was admittedly conspicuous.
The little cat couldn't make sense of this "school" behavior of adult cats. Origami had been taking her along for several days now — the moment class started, she'd be stuffed into the cat carrier to watch these immobilized students sit in neat rows, day after day after day.
A seven-year-old's education didn't cover much about time, but Yimi could still see that these adult cats were spending most of their hours on things that weren't their own. Something she couldn't understand.
What did adult cats even hunt with?
Following her memory, she ran all the way to the Itsuka household. The little cat peeked inside — her target today was Yoshino-nee-chan. They'd only met a few times, but Yimi's affection for Yoshino had already climbed to roughly the same tier as her "grandma" (fake), because Yoshino always fed her. The trouble was that Yoshino's usual haunt was Shiori's territory.
But from her reconnaissance over the past few days, Shiori should be pinned down at the place called "school" right about now.
Yimi crept carefully to the door. Fingers curled like paws, she began alternating scratching motions against it.
No response — though the cat could already hear footsteps approaching.
Startled by the strange footsteps, the timid girl tiptoed up and peeked through the peephole, not daring to make a sound.
"It's little Yimi," Yoshinon announced in a deliberately unguarded voice.
"Mm." Yoshino didn't move — still no sign of opening the door. She waited quietly.
"Yoshino-nee-chan." The little cat called out.
Hearing the form of address she wanted, Yoshino finally opened the door and brought her inside.
Yimi rummaged through her personal space, produced a few cans of cat food, and pressed them into Yoshino's hands as a welcome gift.
"Thank you..."
Yoshino set the cans aside and picked up a small teapot to brew tea — only for the little girl to sidle up and hug the arm that wasn't holding Yoshinon. "Can I eat you?"
"Mm?" Yoshino raised her head in thought, apparently dredging something up from some television memory she'd filed away. A faint blush gradually spread across her small face.
She picked up a pencil and gave the little cat a light tap on the head.
Yoshinon very cooperatively played the stern voice: "Honestly, where did you learn a line like that?! You're way too young to be watching that kind of stuff, understand?!"
"I can pay you for it." The little cat held up a paw — then hesitated, looking down at her hands.
"What kind of terrible line is that?! Who's your guardian?! I'm telling her to spank you!" Yoshinon crossed her arms with a huff.
Yimi chewed on her fingernail. Thinking about it, she didn't seem to have any payment to offer. The only thing of value she was carrying was the Spear of Longinus, and there was absolutely no way she was giving that up.
There were the cards — but all the ones she actually liked had already been handed over. Things she herself didn't value couldn't trigger Famine's exchange. The first stage — starving people thin — might work, but that was compulsory and one-sided.
"Wait here." The thoroughly unprepared little cat ran back out to get ready.
"She left..." Little Yoshino reached her hand toward the direction Yimi had gone.
Yimi ran back to the children's sandbox. The ground was still damp after the rain, leaving puddles on the uneven equipment — but the most eye-catching feature was still that row of pipes split down the middle. They had once been the little cat's favorite thing in the whole sandbox.
At a time when everyone was at school, only she would be here. Even the occasional mother with a stroller who sometimes passed through wasn't willing to let her child play in soaking-wet sand.
Yimi found a spot that wasn't too wet and sat down quietly, flipping through her cards. Most of the text she couldn't read — the cat's literacy matched her appearance.
By now she had grown fairly reliant on her human form. Most of the time it was comfortable to use — flexible hands, a higher vantage point than her cat form. If not for the fact that her body couldn't squeeze through small spaces and she couldn't climb walls during her weakened state, she'd probably stay like this all the time.
She sat there until noon, finally waiting for the person she'd come for.
"Violent girl!"
Even high schoolers could be done with afternoon classes by three, so most students stayed on campus during lunch — but a handful who lived especially close had permission to commute. And if school rules were any more relaxed, plenty of kids bursting with energy who had zero patience for a midday nap definitely wouldn't sit around wasting two hours.
"Mm?" Yimi rolled over and sat up, glancing past him. "How come the other one didn't come?"
"Stop bringing him up! Do you want to play with him or with me?!" The boy stamped his foot in frustration and produced a brand-new deck. "Did you bring your cards? This time I'm winning back everything that's mine."
"Sure." Yimi hopped down from the pipe.
The whole reason she'd been sitting here waiting was exactly this: a willing mark ready to hand over cards. Win enough nice ones and she could try asking Yoshino-nee-chan to call up some Reiryoku.
The boy snickered — skipping rock-paper-scissors entirely — and went straight to setting up the field. "You should know, in post-rain conditions, this is my home turf."
The spot he picked was under a puddle.
Plastic cards wouldn't dissolve in water the way paper ones would; the only real downside was color bleeding and the occasional splash when the opponent attacked. No child willingly aimed at cards sitting under water — so it was another way to seize the initiative.
Against a cat who already won through thoroughly unsportsmanlike means, however, it was completely useless. Yimi simply stood a full meter back and flung her card out. It barely disturbed the water — yet it flipped his card sideways and exposed the back.
"How is that even possible... your luck is really good..."
The boy scrambled to lay down more cards.
"Damn it, that one didn't work either?"
"You're definitely cheating..."
"You..."
Five minutes later, the boy who had lost his last card clutched his head in disbelief. "How did you do that..."
In card-flipping technique, flat ground was supposed to be the hardest surface to overturn cards on — so how was he getting one-shotted every single time?
"Congratulations, Host, on unlocking the achievement: [You're Bad — Go Practice]. Portal energy +5%."
More energy.
The little girl looked down and counted the cards in her hand, trying to find something she liked — or something Yoshino-nee-chan might like.
"T-today... today..." The boy stumbled over what he wanted to say.
"Hmm?"
He turned his face away. "How come you're not cursing at me today?"
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