“It’s someone I know meow? Which class’s cute girl? Hehehe, bring her to show me!”
“No.” Hoshino Haruka paused.
“Emm… it’s a child I just met yesterday.”
She had originally wanted to say “the one I picked up yesterday,” but for some strong emotional reason, Hoshino Haruka inexplicably changed her words at the last moment.
Hoshino Haruka smoothly changed the subject. “By the way, Peach (Magical Girl Peach Red) is really slow today.”
“Meow? What’s up with Peach-chan?”
“When I contacted her via magic communication earlier, it looked like she was fighting Lilith on the commercial street.”
Hoshino Haruka frowned slightly.
And suspiciously, she had even shouted over the magic communication channel not to let their companions come help, insisting on fighting Lilith one-on-one.
Still, what exactly had that weirdo Lilith—who only had sweets on her mind—done to make Peach so angry?
Usually it was Chiyoda who pranked Lilith…
At the same time.
Inside the bedroom of Hoshino Haruka’s apartment.
Boom—!
The muffled thunder-like sounds from far away continued.
Su Ruanruan was curled up entirely inside the large white duvet, wrapped like an airtight silkworm cocoon, trembling on the bed.
The apocalyptic magical light-cannon bombardment outside had been going on for several hours straight.
Every collision of the wildly exploding magical spells made the apartment floor shake.
“Wuuu… X﹏X”
Inside the dark duvet, Su Ruanruan hugged her bare knees tightly and sobbed until she was out of breath.
“…I don’t want to be captured and sliced up wuuu…”
After who knows how long, the explosions and sirens outside finally stopped, seeming to move farther away.
Everything seemed to return to peace.
But Su Ruanruan didn’t poke her head out. Instead, she shrank even deeper into the duvet in fear.
So when Hoshino Haruka got out of school early that afternoon and pushed open the front door, what she saw was a large lump on her own bed—the duvet bundle still trembling slightly.
Click.
The crisp sound of the door opening rang especially clear in the quiet apartment.
“Eek—!”
Su Ruanruan inside the duvet instantly tensed up like she had been electrocuted.
Hoshino Haruka walked to the bedroom doorway and casually flipped the wall switch for the ceiling light.
Click.
The moment the lights came on—
“Waaaaahhh!”
A miserable shriek erupted from inside the duvet. Su Ruanruan burst out like a cat with its fur standing on end!
Then, in a perfectly executed move, she slammed both knees onto the floor and pressed her forehead firmly against the ground in a full dogeza.
“I’m sorry! Please spare me! I don’t taste good and I’m not fun to play with! I’m just an ordinary cat girl, please don’t capture me wuuu—!”
Hoshino Haruka stood at the doorway, raising an eyebrow as she expressionlessly watched the white fluffy ball on the carpet.
Hearing that familiar breathing, Su Ruanruan’s crying came to an abrupt stop.
She cautiously lifted her head, peering through tear-soaked lashes at Hoshino Haruka—who was still wearing her school uniform and carrying her school bag.
The air froze for a second.
Grievance, fear, and the relief of surviving a disaster flooded her all at once.
Su Ruanruan’s mouth twisted, and she burst out crying even louder.
She scrambled up on all fours and threw herself into Hoshino Haruka’s arms like a homeless puppy.
Her two fair arms locked tightly around Hoshino Haruka’s neck as she rubbed her cheek frantically against the cool school uniform.
“Wuuu… Haruka! You’re finally back! It was so scary outside… there were explosions the whole time… I thought I’d never see you again wuuu…”
Hoshino Haruka, pushed back half a step by the impact, said nothing.
She simply reached out and steadied Su Ruanruan’s slender waist with both hands.
Feeling the soft, petite body in her arms cling to her desperately out of fear—as if she were the only driftwood on a vast sea—a dark emotion quietly grew in the depths of Hoshino Haruka’s heart.
From that sudden lunge, the collar of the already oversized tracksuit Su Ruanruan wore had fallen completely open.
Hoshino Haruka lowered her gaze slightly and had an unobstructed view of the breathtaking sight beneath: the snowy-soft curves rising and falling violently with her sobs, along with that sweet milky fragrance, assaulted her reason without any defense.
She could even clearly feel the fluffy cat tail, driven by extreme fear and a desperate need for safety, anxiously wrapping itself tightly around her calf.
Hoshino Haruka suppressed her wildly beating heart.
Her palm slid slowly down Su Ruanruan’s spine, gently soothing the trembling stray cat in her arms.
Instead of telling her that it was actually safe outside, Hoshino Haruka lowered her head slightly and spoke in that cool, calm voice right beside Su Ruanruan’s fluffy ear:
“Mhm, it really is dangerous outside, Softie. I’ll protect you, okay? As long as you stay inside the house, there won’t be any problems.”
“Eek—!”
Hearing those words, Su Ruanruan let out a miserable cry.
Her tail stiffened in terror as she burrowed even deeper into Hoshino Haruka’s embrace.
“I won’t go out! I absolutely won’t go out wuuu!”
Watching the little creature in her arms—now completely terrified and able to rely only on her—Hoshino Haruka’s lips curved into a tiny, almost imperceptible arc of pure delight.
She expressionlessly tightened her arms, locking the soft body firmly against her as she coaxed gently:
“So, you must never run around. As long as you stay home obediently and depend only on me… I will protect you.”
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