Chapter 356

But... the "scratch-scratch" sound at the door continued, as if something was patiently scraping the door panel with its claws.

Just as Natsume Chikage began to wonder if they had really encountered something unclean.

"Meow~"

"Meow-woo~"

Several soft and familiar cat meows clearly came through the door gap.

Natsume Chikage was stunned at first, and then his tense nerves relaxed for the most part, though his vigilance hadn't completely disappeared.

"Ruri, you step back a bit first."

He said in a low voice, turning to walk into the small kitchen and picking up a sturdy rolling pin.

Then, he took a deep breath, his expression serious as he slowly unlocked the door and pulled it open a crack.

Suddenly.

The snow-white kitten outside, seeing the door open, immediately stopped scratching.

It sat upright on the ground, tilted its little head, looked at the siblings inside, and meowed obediently a few times, its tail tip swaying gently.

Natsume Chikage looked at the familiar white cat before him, and the expression on his face suddenly became very strange.

He had thought it was some kind of monster or ghost...

So it was you, "Nani-o."

Not having seen it in front of Fujiwara Aoi's house earlier, and not having met it on the way, Natsume Chikage had thought he wasn't fated to see it today.

Who would have thought this little guy would come to his door on its own?

Natsume Ruri, who had been hiding behind her brother and feeling a bit scared, turned fear into joy upon seeing that it was a beautiful white cat outside:

"Wow~! It's Shiro! How did you come to our house?"

Natsume Ruri happily wanted to get closer, extending her hand to touch the kitten's head, but remembering that her brother might be worried, she timidly pulled her hand back and looked at Natsume Chikage expectantly.

Natsume Chikage naturally saw his sister's affection and concern.

He took a prepared cat treat from his school bag, tore open the seal, poured a little clean water into it, and shook it gently.

【Cooking successful, cat treat flavor increased by 20%!】

Seeing the prompt pop up before him, Natsume Chikage's mouth curled slightly, and he handed the "special" cat treat to his sister.

"Ruri, use this to feed it."

Natsume Ruri turned back, seeing the cat treat in her brother's hand, and opened her eyes wide in surprise:

"Brother, how come you carry cat treats with you?"

"Could it be..."

Looking at the expression on his sister's face, which was a mix of surprise and an inability to hold back a laugh, Natsume Chikage felt a rare moment of embarrassment and quickly found an excuse:

"This is actually... given to me by Fujiwara-san."

"They often encounter this white cat in front of their house too, and occasionally feed it, so they gave me a few as spares."

Natsume Ruri blinked and realized:

"So that's how it is."

"But... how did Shiro follow us to our house?"

Natsume Chikage coughed lightly:

"Maybe after Fujiwara-san and I fed it last time, it remembered my scent and followed us all the way here."

Natsume Ruri clapped her hands happily:

"Looks like you're liked by Shiro, brother!"

As they spoke.

Natsume Ruri had already carefully squeezed out the cat treat, handing the fragrant meat paste inside to the white cat's mouth.

The white cat immediately leaned in, its pink little tongue quickly licking the delicious meat paste, and its throat continuously emitted a satisfied "purr-purr" sound, clearly loving this enhanced cat treat extremely.

"Brother, Shiro is making a purring sound; it seems to really like this cat treat."

"Yeah, it seems to like it quite a bit."

"Brother... I, I want to touch its head, can I?"

Natsume Chikage remembered the white cat's docile behavior when he touched it last time, so he nodded:

"It's busy eating right now, so it should be fine. Try to be gentle."

"Mm-hmm!"

Getting her brother's permission, a bright smile immediately bloomed on Natsume Ruri's face.

She carefully and extremely gently extended her hand to touch the white cat's fluffy little head.

The white cat only moved its ears slightly and didn't dodge, continuing to lick the cat treat intently.

Feeling the soft, warm sensation from her palm, the smile on Natsume Ruri's face became even brighter.

Watching his sister so happy, Natsume Chikage's mood also became exceptionally soft and pleasant.

However, after finishing the cat treat, the white cat just licked the corners of its mouth and paws as if still wanting more, and meowed at the two of them twice more, as if thanking them.

Afterward, it turned around and disappeared into the shadows at the corner of the hallway with an elegant and calm cat walk.

"Ah... it left..." Natsume Ruri looked at the empty doorway, her tone carrying obvious regret; she had clearly fallen in love with this obedient and beautiful little cat.

Natsume Chikage looked in the direction the white cat had left, pondering in his heart.

This little guy came to his door on its own... this should be a sign that it has a good impression of him, right?

Otherwise, it wouldn't have followed him all the way to his door.

No... maybe it was just here to "mooch a meal"?

That was also possible.

But regardless of the reason, it didn't matter.

Currently, it seemed his "special cat treat feeding plan" was indeed effective.

Otherwise, this picky little guy wouldn't have appeared again, or even come to his door.

As long as he continued like this, he figured that conquering this "special equipment" was just around the corner.