Chapter 7: Catching the Cat and Getting Catched

“Black~” Nekono Ikuya, who had instantly transformed into a little devil, raised her voice and drew out the last syllable, and then flashed a photo in her hand.

"Heh heh, look... what is this!" He slapped the photo in front of Blake, almost smearing it all over Blake's face.

Blake looked closely!

A vivid image of a naive young man frantically trying to catch a cat in a luxurious villa comes to mind; it is just like himself a few years ago.

The scene itself is nothing special, if you ignore the violently shaking display shelf in the center of the picture, the teetering vase on the shelf, and the young Blake chasing the cat while looking back in astonishment, staring intently at the vase.

Blake: "..."

The moment his gaze was captured by the photograph, fragments of memory exploded in his mind like thunder. Blake felt a chill run down his spine, and cold sweat instantly covered his back.

Blake: My family is sweating buckets.

It wasn't over yet. Under Blake's gaze, Nekono Ikuya's smile grew even more cunning. He twirled the photos between his fingers, and in an instant, several similar photos slid out from behind the first one.

It's actually a TV series!

Blake looked at the remaining photos one by one—

Young Blake reacted with lightning speed, spinning and lunging in terror, but he was too late. His fingertips missed the bottle by mere millimeters. The expensive antique vase shattered on the ground with a deafening crash, the fragments scattering like petals, reflecting Blake's desperately outstretched hands in the center.

The fiery cat nimbly slipped out from under the display shelf, its tail held high, the tip of which casually swept across Blake's stiff arm as he stumbled and missed, with an air of "it's none of my business" as it left behind only an elegant tail flick, seemingly about to make its escape.

The cat completely disappeared at the edge of the frame. Amidst the wreckage, Blake tiptoed to his feet, his panicked eyes darting left and right. Seeing no one around, he immediately tiptoed and crouched low, fleeing guiltily. His retreating figure seemed to say, "It's none of my business" and "I'm outta here."

What a brilliant cat-catching and bottle-breaking drama!

The composition is as precise as a movie scene, and the characters are vividly portrayed. In just four photos, the beginning, development, climax, and conclusion are completed, and the images of the cat and the human leap to life, making one smile involuntarily—if only the protagonist wasn't him.

Blake slowly cracked open.

That's right, everyone makes a few mistakes when they first enter the workplace, the only difference is the size of the mistake, and Blake was no exception.

How carefree and ignorant those were! Blake sighed. He remembered that it happened shortly after he arrived at the Cat Wilderness's house. He was only twenty years old then and couldn't even handle a kitten.

...Well, he's only in his early twenties, and he still can't quite handle that nasty cat that always likes to tease him.

Blake glanced secretly through his sunglasses at the smug, tail-wagging Nekono Ikuya.

And of course, there's this one too!

Blake was truly baffled as to how Nekono Ikuya had taken these photos.

He observed that there was no one nearby, and the photos seemed to be taken at close range, with the camera almost touching their faces. The shooting angle and timing were also just right.

Could it be that Nekono Ikuya was able to lurk around him without him noticing?

At that time, Ikuya Nekono was only five years old!

Just as Blake was still reeling from the shock, Nekono Ikumi's innocent voice, utterly detestable, drifted into his ears.

"Oh my, oh my, it seems Yumi has captured some amazing footage. What could it be?"

Nekono Ikumi shook her head, blinked her round eyes, and smiled like a cat that had just stolen some fish.

He tapped the stack of "evidence" lightly with his fingertips, a cunning glint in his large cat eyes. He leaned closer and whispered to the demon Black.

"For example, it seems that it wasn't just Ta Xue, the naughty cat, who broke that vase?"

Blake's gaze slowly fell on Nekono Ikuya's adorable little face, and Nekono Ikuya tilted her head innocently.

He casually waved the "evidence" in his hand, his smile becoming even more harmless.

Alright, you little devil, you win!

Blake was silent for a moment, pinched the bridge of his nose, and his eyes behind his sunglasses were filled with a resigned helplessness. He decisively raised his hands in surrender.

"Well...what do you want?"

That's exactly what I've been waiting for!

Nekono Ikuya's eyes lit up instantly, her smile widened, and her non-existent tail curled up even higher.

He snapped all the photos together and, under Blake's burning gaze that seemed to scorch them, slowly stuffed the stack into his coat pocket. After putting them in, he even patted them solemnly, as if to make sure they were safe.

After doing all this, he raised his cat-like eyes and said succinctly, "Dessert, Blake, you have to keep it a secret~"

Nekono Ikuya first glanced suggestively at the dessert box tart on the ground, then quickly stared intently at the phone call Blake had just dialed after entering the number.

...He knew it!

Blake maintained a calm demeanor on the surface, but inwardly he was seething with rage; his sunglasses concealed all his emotions.

He knew that young master Yuya would make this exchange; he had never felt such empathy for Mr. Kuroiso.

Honestly, Young Master Yumi, don't copy everything from Miss Ai next door!

Nekono Ikuya: Why can't we learn from Ai? This is a method that Ai has recommended to Ikuya many times. Ai has personally tested it and guarantees it works!

Kuroji, who was passing by, gave it a hard thumbs down.

Black ultimately lost and had no choice but to humiliatingly agree to a "mutual secrecy agreement" with Nekono Ikuya.

Satisfied with the deal finally done, she curled up in her chair, humming an off-key song, looking exceptionally cheerful, and regaining her previous adorable self...

Blake couldn't help but sigh: What kind of demon is Young Master Yuya?

...

What kind of succubus is Nekono Ikuya?

A huge question mark appeared above Rei Furuya's head, and the world seemed to have become strange.

Not long ago, he had an unforgettable self-introduction, encountering quite a few confusing classmates and two rather strange teachers.

The new school's anomaly file in my hands had only just begun recording when it started piling up at lightning speed.

He thought that after being subjected to these successive shocks, his mentality would soon be tempered into one of equanimity, and he would not be surprised by anything that happened next, and would be able to face all the abnormalities with a smile.

But it turns out that Furuya Zero was wrong.

Before noon even arrived, during the break between the second and third classes, Furuya Rei broke down again, unable to maintain his composure and unable to smile anymore.

The eerie atmosphere during class, where no one could pinpoint the problem, was certainly perplexing, but the strange observations everyone made after class were truly chilling.

The first class ended well, perhaps because Mr. Kobayashi was still there. Although the students around him would occasionally steal glances at him and whisper to each other, I don’t know what they were talking about, but their behavior was still relatively restrained.

A very subtle atmosphere permeated the surroundings, and Rei Furuya sat alone in an empty seat, his body somewhat tense.

In order to divert attention, and also out of vigilance and instinctive reconnaissance of the unfamiliar environment, Rei Furuya officially began the treasure hunt.

Rei Furuya had a feeling something was off from the very first moment he sat in that empty seat.

Although the desktop was completely empty and spotless, the desk drawer was almost like the entrance to a small treasure chest—it was far too full.

Rei Furuya quietly reached into the desk drawer, his fingertips first touching a book... no, not a textbook, as textbook covers are usually made of paper.

Rei Furuya glanced discreetly at the desk to his side; indeed, the textbooks here also had paper covers.

He rubbed his fingertips together, carefully feeling the texture of the book cover. It was delicate and smooth; it was a leather cover!

Furuya Rei curiously pulled out a corner of the book—"World Classic Dramatic Makeup and Styling Art"? The cover featured an exaggerated close-up of stage makeup.

Jiangu Ling: "???"

Looking at the exaggerated makeup on the cover, Furuya Rei raised an eyebrow, silently put the book back, and reached for the next book—"The Complete Magic Tricks—From Beginner to Burial"?

"What is all this about?" Furuya Rei was somewhat taken aback. This was completely different from what he had expected!

Besides the leather book, Furuya Rei also found a thin hardcover notebook tucked under the desk drawer.

Rei Furuya skipped over the other leather books, pulled out the hardcover notebook first, quickly flipped through a few pages, and sure enough, it wasn't a class note.

Although the hardcover notebook is very thin, it contains a lot of content. The first few pages are all sketches, which are scribbled but vivid: exaggerated and realistic human expressions, close-ups of facial features such as eyes and lips from different angles. Although there are only a few strokes, the characteristics are particularly prominent.

Another page features an extremely delicately drawn facial outline without any features, which looks both subtly empty and seemingly contains infinite possibilities, exuding an indescribable eeriness.

Rei Furuya quickly closed his notebook, suddenly no longer wanting to know what the other books were.

Never mind, let's look at something else first.

Rei Furuya's fingers groped around to the side and quickly found a cardboard box. He carefully pulled it out and saw that it contained a deck of... playing cards?

However, this deck of cards is clearly not ordinary. The card box is decorated with a starry night scene, and the colors are quite vibrant. Furuya Rei has never seen a card box with this style of painting before, so it must have been specially made by the owner.

Upon opening the box, the designs on the backs of the cards were even more peculiar. Each playing card featured a different style of cartoonish, simple line drawing of a human face, including one holding a detective's mirror, wearing a tilted hat, sporting an afro, pretending to be a one-eyed monster, and even wearing cat ears... The designs were varied and full of wicked humor.

Rei Furuya casually drew a Queen of Hearts. The card itself looked normal, but the arrogant cat paw that occupied a third of the space in the lower right corner made his lips twitch.

What's this? Just pressing a cat paw mark? He temporarily took the playing cards out of the table hole.

Rei Furuya continues to explore the treasure chest in the table hole.

He reached inside again and his fingers touched a cool, smooth, round object. He skillfully pulled it out and looked at it, and was caught off guard to see himself. It turned out to be a small silver makeup mirror.

Before Furuya Rei could think about it, he pulled out a small eraser with a strange cat face pattern from under the silver makeup mirror, as well as a Q-version double-sided coin with a smiling face on one side and a crying face on the other.

Rei Furuya finally couldn't resist his curiosity and simply took everything out of the desk drawer.

After a moment, he stared at the scattered items on the table and fell into deep thought.

Fashion magazines, magic props, painting tools... how come there's all sorts of random stuff?

Isn't this a seat that's been empty for a long time? Why is it crammed with so much stuff?

Most importantly... Rei Furuya looked at the several flat metal boxes that he had placed in the very center.

One of the metal boxes was already open, and inside were several thin, cicada-wing-like sheets of varying shades of color... silicone sheets? Or some kind of film? The edges were trimmed very finely.

What is this?

Rei Furuya frowned as he looked at the metal boxes, completely baffled as to what they were for.

A note from the author:

----------------------