Thanks to Megumi walking him to the station, Yoru got home safely. The rain had stopped by the time he was on the train.
The fat cat in his arms was a little restless.
But not too bad.
This wasn't a completely wild cat. The tag around its neck suggested it had once been someone's pet.
It might've been abandoned, or simply wandered off and couldn't find its way home.
Such cats were usually much less wary of humans and could be tamed easily.
After changing shoes and closing the door, Yoru set the chubby cat down and let it explore freely.
But surprisingly, the cat just stood there at the entrance, staring at him with wide eyes—not running, not hiding.
Yoru didn't have time to deal with the cat for now. He carried the bags inside while the cat quietly curled up at the entrance.
After putting away the review books and seasonings, he returned and picked up the chubby cat.
"Hm? You already know you've got room and board covered, huh?"
"Is that why you're not struggling or resisting?"
"Meow meow~"
The cat meowed a couple times but didn't protest as he grabbed it by the scruff.
Yoru brought the cat to the shower room, placed a basin of water on the floor, and gently set it down.
The cat didn't resist. Instead, it jumped into the basin on its own and shook its body.
"Hehe, hang on. Let me see what your name is." Yoru chuckled, reaching out to pet the cat's head.
"Meow~"
Its amber eyes went wide and round, and it swatted his hand away with a paw.
You can raise me, but don't touch my head!
Still a bit wary of strangers.
So Yoru tried a different tactic.
One hand held down its belly, and the other reached for the tag around its neck.
The tag was brass, dirty and heavily worn.
Shhhk—
He rubbed the grime off with his fingers. The information engraved on it was mostly illegible.
"A string of numbers… looks like a phone number, but most digits are blurred…"
"And this… what's this character?"
Above the numbers, there was a tiny character—barely visible after the wear.
Only one character remained: [三](three).
"Is that your owner's name? No… maybe it's yours?"
Yoru muttered, stroking the cat's fur thoughtfully.
Then he remembered—it was Wednesday today. And it was 3 p.m.
"How about I call you San san? Sounds good?"
"San san?"
The plump cat purred happily under his big hand and even squinted its eyes in contentment.
"San san is a little girl kitty~"
Yoru picked up the showerhead and some body wash, giving San san a full bath.
She was smart and seemed to know the human wouldn't hurt her, so she obediently let him wash her and even seemed to enjoy it.
But after the bath, the little rascal ran off right after being blow-dried and refused to be touched again.
"Guess I'll take a bath too."
Yoru muttered as he turned on the bathroom heater and took off his clothes.
Staring at his naked reflection in the mirror, layers of fat stacked on his body, he gritted his teeth again.
The only comfort was that—at least something about his body was genuinely impressive.
Just like the contrast between his figure and everyone else's.
"Kasumigaoka Utaha! Shinomiya Kaguya!"
Yoru slammed his fist into the wall again!
...
After taking a shower, Yoru walked into the living room.
He hadn't rested at all over the past few days.
Nearly all his time had been spent buying furniture and figuring out how to decorate the living room he liked with the least amount of money.
The cozy living room and its layout were nothing like when he had first rented the place.
San-san lay quietly curled up in the corner of the sofa.
Yoru decided not to disturb it, went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of sugar-free, zero-fat oolong tea, then sat down beside it and observed it silently.
To be honest, wanting to raise a cat had been a sudden whim.
Yoru didn't know much about raising cats. He just knew they shouldn't eat human food, and they could eat fish and chicken.
They also needed regular vaccinations and deworming, which was beneficial to both the cat and the owner.
Other than that, he wasn't sure.
The house didn't have the right setup for those things yet, so he planned to take San-san to a nearby pet shop to get everything sorted when he had time.
Knock knock knock—
There was a knock at the door, followed by Gabriel's polite voice from outside.
Wearing slippers, Yoru hurried to open it and found Gabriel standing at the doorway.
She was short, only reaching his chest.
'I'm still pretty tall. I hit 176 cm last year, way taller than most guys my age,' he thought to himself while curiously looking at Gabriel.
"Kitakami-kun, can I ask you something about school?"
"School starts tomorrow, and since I just got here, there are lots of things I don't understand..."
Gabriel smiled a little awkwardly and twirled her golden hair with her finger.
"Ah, sure, no problem. Do you want to come in?" Yoru blinked his big eyes.
"Yes, thank you!" Gabriel darted inside without hesitation.
Yoru: "...?"
"Forget it. Gabriel really is dense and not afraid of me at all..."
He glanced at the petite and cute Gabriel, then looked at himself.
Wasn't she worried he might do something bad?
Shaking his head, Yoru went into the kitchen, grabbed a drink and some fruit, and returned to the living room to serve her.
He came back to find Gabriel holding San-san in her arms, gently nuzzling it with her face.
"Kitakami-kun, is this your cat? When did you get it?" Gabriel asked curiously.
San-san didn't seem wary of the stranger at all. It let Gabriel cuddle it and even meowed occasionally.
"I picked it up recently. It's only friendly with you, still a bit cautious around me." Yoru let out a quiet sigh.
Even a female cat hated him?
'Oh, that's easy to fix. I'll make an exception and help Kitakami-kun out a little. Just a tiny bit of divine power—Heaven won't find out,' Gabriel whispered to herself.
...
In the Shinomiya family estate, inside Shinomiya Kaguya's room.
The blonde maid with a side ponytail, Ai Hayasaka, held a stack of documents without making a sound.
She silently appeared behind Kaguya, startling her.
"Hayasaka?" Kaguya frowned.
"Sorry, Kaguya-sama, you were too focused. I've dug up the information," Hayasaka said with a mischievous smile.
"I won't read it. Just give me the summary." Kaguya wasn't interested in the background of a fat otaku.
"There was nothing suspicious. The records show that Yoru had been involved in similar suspected incidents in elementary and middle school, but nothing could be confirmed."
"There's nothing strange about him. No suspicious DNA was found either, though we can't completely rule out the possibility. He might be the culprit—or not."
Hayasaka skipped over some unnecessary details.
The file contained incredibly detailed information on Yoru and his entire family—even their underwear sizes, online shopping history, and browser records from the past year.
Everything had been investigated and thoroughly examined.
Privacy!
As a human being, privacy was essential!
And now it was all laid out in front of Kaguya and Hayasaka without a shred of restraint.
"It's pretty much certain that you weren't harmed." Hayasaka concluded.