Chapter 40 is like a masterpiece worth billions. Truly rare! ...
"Haha, how could this be? Although I do look a bit like Tayuki, how could Furuya-kun mistake Tayuki for me? Haha." Nekono Yuuya sat on the sofa with Tayuki in her arms, their two similar emerald green cat eyes, one filled with indifference and the other with a smile.
"What's so funny?!" Rei Furuya sat down opposite Ikuya Nekono, arms crossed, clearly annoyed. "I already said he didn't really apologize, he was just making a joke. He just happened to get caught by the joke's creator while making it!"
Moreover, looking at the two equally clear and bright blue eyes on the sofa, Furuya Rei subtly pursed his lips. Nekono-kun and Fuyuki really do look alike.
Nekono Ikuya didn't care whether Furuya Rei had really mistaken him for someone else. He laughed and haphazardly stroked Fuyuki's fur. "Fuyuki, Furuya-kun mistook you for me. We really look alike, don't we?"
"Meow~" Ta Xue meowed softly, but it wasn't to express agreement; rather, it was to show impatience.
Because Nekono Yuuya was laughing so hard that her hands, which were stroking Tayuki's fur, couldn't escape it, Tayuki started to feel uncomfortable with her fur.
"Meow~" Tayuki meowed softly again as a reminder, and moved her body slightly, but she couldn't break free from Nekono Yuuya's embrace.
Nekono Ikuya completely ignored the meaning behind Tsubaki's cry, laughing as she hugged him even tighter.
"..." Tayuki narrowed his eyes dangerously, aiming at Nekono Ikumi and slowly extending his claws.
Its movements, seemingly slow but actually swift, suddenly gathered strength, and its sharp armor shot out like a scimitar drawn from its sheath. The next second, a flash of cold light!
"careful--!"
Rei Furuya subconsciously tried to warn him, but it was too late to stop him; his purplish-gray eyes suddenly widened.
"Smack!" The cat's paw slammed heavily onto Nekono Ikuya's face, making him stagger.
"Ugh?" Nekono Ikumi was suddenly slapped backward onto the sofa by a strong force, and the force in her hand loosened.
With a nimble twist, Ta Xue broke free from Nekono Yuuya's embrace and leaped upwards. It landed gracefully high up, slowly crouching down, its haughty eyes leisurely grooming its fur.
Reclaiming its elevated position, it stomped its paws and meowed contentedly. The cat definitely had a better view from above. "Meow~"
"Nekono-kun, are you alright?" Furuya Rei rushed to Nekono Ikuya in alarm.
Nekono Ikuya covered her face and slowly sat up, her voice still a little dazed, "I'm fine..."
He was just caught off guard by Ta Xue's surprise attack. Damn it, he shouldn't have gotten so cocky!
"Really?" Furuya Rei looked at Nekono Ikuya's hand covering her face, still worried.
Is Nekono-kun really alright? He just saw a bright, chilling glint of light flash in the sky!
"Hmm? Something might be wrong." Nekono Ikuya paused subtly, assessed her own condition, then suddenly changed her mind and puffed out her cheeks.
Then, under Rei Furuya's worried gaze, he slowly lowered his hand, revealing his face—
A bright, deep red cat paw print!
Ta Xue's initial display of claws was clearly just to intimidate; it still loved Yoko Yumi. In the end, it withdrew its claws before they landed on his face.
But retracting its claws didn't mean that Tayuki's strength had also decreased; its strength was still considerable. So even though only Tayuki's paw pads landed on her face, Nekono Ikumi still had a cat paw print.
Furuya Rei was taken aback, then realized that Nekono Ikuya was alright, so he relaxed, pointed at Nekono Ikuya's face, and chuckled while clutching his stomach: "Hahaha."
Ta Xue did a great job! What goes around comes around, and now it's his turn to smile.
"Sigh!" Nekono Ikuya sighed heavily, her fresh cat paw prints still visible on her face as she looked at Furuya Rei, who was laughing heartily, and Fuyuki, who was innocently licking her paws.
Newcomers always get a little more favored, right? Tayuki has completely sided with Furuya.
What a fickle and wicked cat!
"Click." The door was pushed open again, and Morofushi Kagemitsu walked in. "What is it?"
As soon as he entered, he heard Rei Furuya's unrestrained, arrogant laughter coming from the living room, so he couldn't help but ask while changing his shoes.
"Kagemitsu!" Nekono Ikuya raised her voice in a wronged tone, turning her head pitifully to look at Morofushi Kagemitsu, her blue eyes glistening with tears, "Look at them!"
Nekono Ikumi said plaintively, "Waaaaah, they're so mean! They ganged up on me!"
"???" Morofushi Kagemitsu paused in his shoe-wearing motion, instinctively turning his head towards Nekono Ikuya. He took a closer look and was instantly shocked.
Nekono Yuumi was curled up pitifully on the sofa, her dark hair slightly disheveled and softly clung to her forehead. Her once clear and bright blue eyes were now misty, the mist accumulating more and more, making her eyes look like a clear pool in the forest covered with dew in the early morning, shimmering and crystal clear.
They look both cute and pitiful.
There was a bright red cat paw print on his fair face, the contrast between white and red was particularly striking.
"!!!"what happened?
Morofushi Kagemitsu looked at Nekono Ikuya, who was sitting on the sofa with a wronged expression and tears in her eyes, and Furuya Rei, who was bent over and laughing heartily, and was very confused.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the Snowwalking Cat sitting high on the shelf, casually grooming itself, and he seemed to understand something.
Morofushi Kagemitsu slightly curved the corners of his mouth.
Although he knew that most of Nekono Ikuya's grievances were an act, this was still a rare opportunity for him to see Furuya Rei gain the upper hand.
Like a painting worth billions.
That's rare!
"Sigh!" Nekono Ikuya keenly noticed the smile in Morofushi Kagemitsu's eyes and the curve of his lips, and instantly dropped his act, his face becoming expressionless.
I forgot that Jingguang was a black sesame dumpling, what a waste of my expression, what a blunder!
"Hahaha." Rei Furuya, standing to the side, raised his eyebrows in triumph and laughed even louder.
"Ahem." Morofushi Kagemitsu clenched his fist to cover his mouth and hurriedly walked over to pretend to agree with Nekono Ikuya, "That's too much! They've really gone too far! How could they gang up on Ikuya like that?"
Morofushi Kagemitsu blinked his blue cat eyes and looked sincerely at Nekono Ikuya.
Look into my sincere eyes.
“Oh.” Nekono Ikuya remained expressionless, her gaze towards Morofushi Kagemitsu carrying a hint of accusation.
It's too late. Don't think I didn't see you laughing just now, hmph, you wicked Jingguang!
Cat's eyes accuse me of staring—
"As if nobody doesn't have cat eyes!" Nekono Ikuya said dismissively, firing off accusatory beams of light.
Rei Furuya, who was unfortunately caught in the crossfire, asked with a question mark: "?" Eye shape discrimination?
Unable to withstand the accusatory gaze, Morofushi Kagemitsu gently shifted his gaze and quickly changed the subject.
"When I came in, I saw so many cherry blossoms and roses in the yard, they're so beautiful! Yumi, does your family like cherry blossoms and roses a lot?"
Luckily, Morofushi Kagemitsu just happened to scratch the itch, and Nekono Ikuya was very interested in the topic, so his attention was diverted.
"Does Kagemitsu also think those cherry blossoms and roses are beautiful? I think so too!" Nekono Ikuya said with great surprise.
He said to Morofushi Kagemitsu in a lighthearted tone, "Our family really loves cherry blossoms and roses, which is why we've filled our yard with them. I love cherry blossoms, my mother loves roses, and my father loves me and my mother!"
The cherry blossoms and roses in the garden are proof of love! Nekono Ikuya happily and silently proclaimed, making even the cat paw prints on her face more vivid and adorable.
"Oh, I see." Actually, there's no need to add the last sentence.
Morofushi Kagemitsu was caught off guard and suddenly received a huge mouthful of family-style dog food (a Chinese slang term for public displays of affection), leaving him feeling a little choked up. This sudden turn of events caught him completely off guard.
“Oh, right, speaking of cherry blossoms.” As if she had just thought of something, Nekono Ikuya’s eyes lit up and she looked at Morofushi Kagemitsu and Furuya Rei with great interest.
“I have a nickname, Sakura-tori, you know? It’s Sakura-tori!” He emphasized, and even reached out to manually put quotation marks around the name Sakura-tori.
Why all the mystery?
Morofushi Kagemitsu and Furuya Rei exchanged a glance, then raised their eyebrows in a gesture of interest, playing the straight man for Nekono Ikuya, "Oh? Tell me more!"
At the same time, the word "Sakura-tori" involuntarily came to mind, reminding them of the famous "Bamboo Cutter" from the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. They seemed like two similar nicknames.
As expected, Nekono Ikuya said, "This is because my parents told me that I was born from a cherry blossom, just like Princess Kaguya was born from bamboo, so my nickname is Sakura-tori."
It really is related to the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Morofushi Kagemitsu and Furuya Rei remarked, "What a romantic nickname!" They didn't take Nekono Ikuya's words seriously.
"Meow~" Ta Xue suddenly raised her paw in surprise and meowed. Is this something I can say?
Nekono Ikuya didn't actually know whether he was born from a cherry blossom; he just thought that such an origin sounded interesting.
And deep down, he believed this claim, since his mother had told him it herself, and his mother was a powerful witch.
It's not surprising that the witch didn't want to conceive in the conventional way and chose a more mysterious way to give birth to offspring, is it?
He blinked his clear, bright green eyes at Furuya Rei and smiled teasingly, "So instead of thinking of me as a cat demon, Furuya-kun, you should think of me as a cherry blossom fairy, since my nickname is Sakura-tori."
"Who mistook you for a cat demon?!" Furuya Rei instantly bristled; it certainly wasn't him.
Rei Furuya muttered to himself, "I already said I was joking before. Seriously, when are you going to stop? I'm scared."
Morofushi Kagemitsu glanced at Nekino Ikuya, whose eyes held a sly glint, then at Furuya Rei, who seemed to be begging for mercy, and suddenly smiled.
He pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Is Yuya born from cherry blossoms? I see."
Huh? Kagemitsu, what's wrong with you? How could you believe that so easily? Furuya Rei turned his head in surprise, looked at Morofushi Kagemitsu, and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Did he really believe it or not?
Ignoring Furuya Rei's suspicious gaze, Morofushi Kagemitsu continued to feign profundity: "Then I have no choice but to tell you my secret."
Alright, no need to guess anymore, it's a fake letter. Furuya Rei's narrowed eyes returned to normal, and he watched Morofushi Kagemitsu's performance with a blank expression.
“My mom says I’m the child she and my dad got by making a wish on a shooting star, so I’m the child of wishes and the child of stars!” Morofushi Kagemitsu said with a smirk.
Nekono Ikuya clapped her hands: "Yay! Kagemitsu is the Child of Wishes and the Child of Stars!"
"Meow?" Tasuke's eyes showed surprise as he carefully examined Morofushi Kagemitsu.
Really? Wow, that's amazing!
At this moment, a naive cat was unwittingly tricked by a cunning elementary school student.
Nekono Ikuya counted on her fingers: "I am the cherry blossom fairy, Kagemitsu is the wish child, so what is Furuya-kun?" Morofushi Kagemitsu and Nekono Ikuya both looked at Furuya Rei.
Looking into those two pairs of cat eyes that sparkled like stars, Rei Furuya thought, "..."
Can't I just be a regular elementary school student?
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