“This, this is a pendant!”
Su Ruanruan was so anxious she was about to cry.
She spoke and gestured frantically, desperately trying to yank her tail back as she attempted to argue, “It’s really a realistic pendant! The kind attached to clothes! I didn’t originally have these strange things growing on me!”
Hoshino Haruka watched her flushed face and the way she was anxiously hopping in place.
She deliberately released her grip and let out a sigh in cooperation.
“Oh, attached to your clothes, huh.”
Hoshino Haruka turned around, her voice calm and even.
“That’s too bad then. The Magical Girl Association has rules against casually sheltering ‘humans’ of unknown origin. Since you’re an ordinary person, I can only contact the Metropolitan Police Department right now and send you to a shelter—”
“I’m an otherworld creature desu!!!”
Before she could finish speaking, Su Ruanruan immediately shouted decisively.
To make it more believable, she even vigorously shook the pair of white fluffy cat ears on her head a couple of times.
“…”
Hoshino Haruka’s hand holding her terminal paused.
With her back to Su Ruanruan, the corner of her mouth twitched slightly, unable to hold back.
She turned her head, barely suppressing her smile. “What did you say just now?”
“I said, I’m a one hundred percent pure otherworld creature!”
Su Ruanruan feared losing this only sanctuary in front of her.
She looked up urgently, almost raising her hand to swear an oath.
“That’s good then.”
Hoshino Haruka nodded, her tone returning to calm.
“Since you’re an otherworld creature, you’re outside human legal jurisdiction. I can adopt you.”
“Yay!”
Su Ruanruan happily waved her little fist.
She completely failed to notice the logical loophole in the other party’s statement.
Watching this adorably foolish little cat girl, Hoshino Haruka kept a straight face on the surface, but a trace of nearly imperceptible gentleness flashed in her eyes.
According to the Otherworld Regulations Management Law, otherworld magical creatures only had a maximum residency period of one month in the present world.
Privately sheltering sentient, intelligent beings was strictly forbidden.
Once discovered, they must be forcibly repatriated.
But Hoshino Haruka could not do that.
When she had found this girl, the shocking old scars on her body, her subconscious fearful reaction of protecting her head, and that strange collar—Hoshino Haruka had seen everything clearly.
Sending her back to that world would be no different from throwing a lamb into a tiger’s mouth.
Besides, this house was usually just her living there alone anyway.
Secretly raising one noisy little creature probably wouldn’t be a big deal.
However, to completely deter this little one from running around outside and getting discovered and reported, Hoshino Haruka decided to use some strong medicine.
She bent down slightly.
Her shadow enveloped Su Ruanruan’s petite body.
Hoshino Haruka deliberately lowered her voice and whispered into Su Ruanruan’s ear in a sinister tone like she was telling an urban horror story:
“But you must remember this: you absolutely cannot step even half a foot outside this house.”
“In our world, if an otherworld creature like you—with cat ears and no identity registration—runs out onto the street, you’ll immediately be caught by the evil scientists patrolling everywhere.”
Su Ruanruan’s breathing stopped.
“They’ll lock you up in a basement lit only by incandescent lights and strap you to a cold metal operating table.”
Hoshino Haruka’s finger gently traced down Su Ruanruan’s spine, as if marking where the incision would be.
“No anesthesia. They’ll use a rusty electric saw to cut open your stomach and slice off your organs, bones, and this beautiful tail piece by piece, then soak them in formalin for study.”
“Eek—!!!”
Su Ruanruan sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.
The cat ears on her head flattened with a swish, pressing tightly against her scalp and turning into airplane ears.
She had already suffered enough from those brutal people in the Witch World.
She thought she had escaped, but the Magical Girl World was actually even more perverted?!
No, it really was worthy of being even more evil than the Witches.
“I-I absolutely won’t go out!”
Su Ruanruan clung desperately to Hoshino Haruka’s arm like it was a lifeline, shaking her head so fast it left afterimages.
“I won’t go anywhere! I’ll just stay home! Um… can I hide inside the cabinet?”
Ring ring ring—!!
At that moment, a sharp mechanical alarm suddenly blared from the living room.
Having no concept of this world and already in a state of extreme panic, Su Ruanruan reacted like a cat that had stepped on a live wire.
“Aaah!”
Her cry broke in pitch as she jumped straight off the ground and clung tightly to Hoshino Haruka’s neck.
The impact made Hoshino Haruka stagger back half a step, but she caught Su Ruanruan by the thighs.
So light.
Through the oversized T-shirt, she could clearly feel the girl’s thin ribs.
Her heartbeat was frantic, like that of a tiny bird that might die of fright at any moment.
Hoshino Haruka didn’t push her away. Instead, she carried her out of the kitchen and into the living room.
She peeled the koala-like Su Ruanruan off herself and placed her on the soft fabric sofa.
Picking up the remote, she pressed it with a beep and turned on the LCD TV on the wall.
“It’s just the alarm clock. Sit here and watch some TV for a while.”
Hoshino Haruka reached out to smooth Su Ruanruan’s messy white hair, her voice softening unconsciously.
“I’ll go back to the kitchen and make you something to eat. It’ll be ready soon.”
With that, she turned and walked back to the kitchen.
Su Ruanruan curled up cross-legged on the large sofa.
She stared blankly at the large, flat black rectangle in front of her.
Colorful little figures jumped around inside it and made strange noises.
It had no trace of mana fluctuations at all, yet it could contain people inside.
This unfamiliar world was filled with terrifying things she couldn’t understand everywhere.
So scary. So scary.
When the TV began playing a long morning news broadcast, Su Ruanruan couldn’t help but look around.
This house was too big.
The living room was so empty it lacked any sense of life.
In the shadowy corners untouched by the morning light, it felt like an “evil scientist” holding a rusty saw—as Hoshino Haruka had described—could leap out at any moment.
Su Ruanruan swallowed hard. The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became.
Her tail thumped anxiously against the sofa cushion behind her.
In this completely unknown world, the only one who wouldn’t hurt her and was even willing to cook for her was that black-haired girl from earlier.
She couldn’t stay here alone any longer.
Pat.
Su Ruanruan jumped down from the sofa, not even bothering to put on her slippers.
Her fair little feet pattered across the solid wood floor as she dashed toward the kitchen on her short legs, pat pat pat.
From the kitchen came the lively sizzle sizzle of frying eggs, full of the warmth of daily life.
The air was filled with the aroma of butter and bacon.
Hoshino Haruka was holding a spatula when she suddenly felt a weak tug on her clothes.
She looked down.
At the edge of the doorframe, a small head topped with white cat ears peeked out.
Su Ruanruan gripped the hem of Hoshino Haruka’s deep blue uniform skirt tightly with both hands.
Her pink eyes were full of fear and unease about this strange world as she looked up at her pleadingly.
“Um…”
The little cat girl’s voice was soft and sweet, carrying a hint of guilty flattery.
Yet she refused to let go of the skirt hem.
“The living room… is a bit cold,” she said quietly.
“C-can I watch you cook from here?”
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