Chapter 17

"Heh, don't be in such a rush, let me see what your name is." Kitakami Yoru smiled unexpectedly and reached out to gently stroke the fat cat's head.

"Meow~"

The fat cat let out a cry, its large amber eyes wide and round, and it swatted at Kitakami Yoru with its paw.

You can keep me, but don't touch my head!

This fat cat was still a bit wary of strangers.

And so.

Kitakami Yoru had no choice but to ambush from below, pinning the fat cat's belly with one hand while reaching for the small name tag on its collar with the other.

The name tag was made of brass, very dirty, and showed significant wear.

"Rustle..."

Using his fingers to rub away the grime on the tag, the information engraved on it was already blurred and illegible.

"A string of Arabic numerals, a few are blurred, it should be the original owner's phone number..."

"And... what is this number?"

Above that string of Arabic numerals, there was another line of small text, almost entirely worn away and impossible to see clearly.

Only a single Chinese character remained: 【Three】.

"Is it the original owner's name? No... or is it your name?"

Kitakami Yoru muttered to himself.

Immediately after, as he gently stroked the fat cat's fur, he remembered that today happened to be Wednesday.

And right now, it was exactly three o'clock.

"How about I call you San-san? How does that sound?"

"San-san?"

Being stroked by the chubby, warm hand, San-san seemed very comfortable and even squinted its eyes.

"San-san is a little girl cat~"

Kitakami Yoru picked up the showerhead and body wash nearby and began to help San-san bathe.

San-san was very smart; it seemed to know that the human in front of it wouldn't hurt it, and since the bath felt good, it cooperated quite well.

But after the bath, once this hateful fat cat had its fur blown dry, it ran off immediately and wouldn't let him touch it anymore.

"I should wash up too."

Kitakami Yoru grumbled, turned on the bathroom heater, and took off his clothes.

Looking at his own naked self in the mirror, covered in layer upon layer of fat, he couldn't help but grit his teeth!

The only consolation was that a certain place was truly impressive.

Just like the contrast between his physique and others'.

"Kasumigaoka Utaha! Kaguya Shinomiya!"

Kitakami Yoru punched the wall hard again!!!

After showering, Kitakami Yoru went to the living room.

Over the past few days, he hadn't stopped for a single moment.

Almost all his time had been spent buying furniture and figuring out how to decorate the living room to his liking with the least amount of money.

The cozy living room and its layout were no longer what they were when he first rented the place.

San-san was lying quietly in the corner of the sofa.

Kitakami Yoru decided not to disturb it, so he went to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of sugar-free, zero-fat oolong tea, and sat down beside it to think while watching it.

To be honest, wanting to raise a cat was a whim.

Kitakami Yoru himself didn't know much about raising cats; he only knew that some human foods were bad for them and that they could eat fish, chicken, and so on.

They also needed regular vaccinations and deworming, which was good for both the cat and the owner.

Other than that, he didn't know much else.

He didn't have the conditions at home for the time being, and since he wasn't sure, he planned to take San-san to a nearby pet shop to get those things sorted when he had time.

"Knock, knock, knock~"

The door was knocked, and immediately after, Gabriel's polite voice came from outside.

Kitakami Yoru hurried to open the door in his slippers and saw Gabriel standing at the entrance.

She was short, only reaching his chest.

"I'm actually quite tall; I was 176 last year, already far exceeding my peers."

After a silent grumble, Kitakami Yoru looked at Gabriel curiously.

"Kitakami-kun, could I ask you about school?"

"Tomorrow is the first day of school, and since I just arrived here, I've found there are a lot of things I don't understand..."

Gabriel smiled a bit bashfully, twirling her golden hair with her finger.

"Ah, sure, no problem. Do you want to come in?" Kitakami Yoru blinked his large eyes.

"Okay, thank you!" Gabriel flashed right inside.

Kitakami Yoru: "...?"

"Forget it, Gabriel is either truly thick-skinned or just not afraid of me..."

Looking at the petite and cute Gabriel, then looking at himself.

Is she not afraid that I might do something bad?

Closing the door, Kitakami Yoru went to the kitchen to get a drink and some fruit to treat Gabriel.

Returning to the living room, he found Gabriel holding San-san in her arms, gently rubbing her face against it.

"Kitakami-kun, is this the cat you're raising? When did this happen?" Gabriel asked curiously.

San-san showed no wariness toward the stranger at all, letting Gabriel rub against it and occasionally letting out a meow.

"I just picked it up and adopted it. It's just friendly to you, but still a bit wary of me." Kitakami Yoru sighed softly.

Does even a female cat hate me?

"Oh, that's easy to fix. I'll make an exception and help Kitakami-kun later, using just a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny bit of power. Heaven won't know." Gabriel muttered silently to herself.

Inside the Shinomiya family mansion, in Kaguya Shinomiya's room.

The blonde maid with side-ponytails, Ai Hayasaka, held a stack of documents in her hand, making no sound at all.

She appeared silently behind Kaguya Shinomiya, giving her a start.

"Hayasaka?" Kaguya Shinomiya scolded.

"Apologies, Lady Kaguya, you were just too engrossed. The information has been retrieved." Ai Hayasaka chuckled with a hint of dark humor.

"I won't look at it, just tell me the result." Kaguya Shinomiya had absolutely no interest in the profile of a dead-fat-otaku.

"No suspicious points were found. The records show that similar incidents of suspicion occurred during Kitakami Yoru's elementary and middle school years, but they were all unverifiable, and it's impossible to determine if they were true or false."

"He himself shows no abnormalities, and no DNA was found, but the possibility of him being the culprit cannot be ruled out, nor can it be confirmed."

Ai Hayasaka said, bypassing some unnecessary information.

This file contained detailed information on Kitakami Yoru's entire family, down to their underwear sizes, and even included his online shopping and browser history from the past year.

Everything had been dug up by Ai Hayasaka, who had read through it carefully without missing a single detail.

Privacy!

The crucial privacy of a human being!

Just like that, without reservation, it was laid out before Kaguya Shinomiya and Ai Hayasaka!

"It's almost certain that you haven't suffered any harm." Ai Hayasaka concluded finally.

17: Eriri's Abnormality

Thursday.

The first day of school at Shuchiin, and unusually, it was a beautiful day.

The sun was bright, and the breeze was gentle.

Countless vibrant high school girls could be seen everywhere—on the trains, in cafes, and in the streets and alleys.

"Ha~"

Eriri, all by herself, walked through the grand and solemn gates of Shuchiin, yawning.