The city lights appeared strange and dazzling beneath the night sky. Giant billboards and multicolored neon signs flashed in the distance.
Roads stretched outward like golden spiderwebs, with countless cars forming rivers of light that flowed between buildings, finally fading into the darkness of the suburbs.
Takashi, Yukino, Kotonoha, and Hoshino Ai—four people from different backgrounds—were now walking together through the streets of Nishinomiya.
Whenever they passed a street musician playing unfamiliar tunes on a guitar, Takashi would stop and listen.
Each time he stopped, the three girls would stop with him.
After a while, Takashi would continue walking.
After one such pause, Hoshino Ai muttered, "What's so good about that? He sings worse than me~"
Takashi shot her a mocking glance. "With that murderous voice of yours, you've got no room to judge anyone."
"What do you mean by a murderous voice? I'm not that bad, okay?"
"You think anyone besides your fans actually thinks you sing well?"
Hoshino Ai was momentarily speechless.
She couldn't really argue with that.
"So, where are we going now?"
Maybe from all the walking, Yukino's voice showed signs of fatigue.
"What's wrong, Second Miss? Tired already?"
Takashi turned to her, grinning teasingly.
Hoshino Ai looked surprised. She hadn't expected anyone to have such weak stamina.
They hadn't even been walking for half an hour.
"I just don't want to waste time on meaningless walking."
Yukino's face grew colder, the air around her seeming to chill further.
If this had been winter, it would've felt freezing. But in summer, having a walking air conditioner like her around wasn't so bad, Takashi thought.
"Hang in there. There's a place I absolutely have to eat at before I leave," Takashi said.
Hearing that, Yukino didn't argue anymore.
Fifteen minutes later, Yukino's breathing started to grow uneven—she was panting.
Ten more minutes passed. Yukino was now breathing heavily, her face twisted in exhaustion.
Takashi's relaxed voice entered her ears, and she found it infuriatingly smug.
"You said that ten minutes ago."
Yukino didn't respond.
Another five minutes passed before she finally couldn't go on.
She reached out and lightly tugged Takashi's sleeve, as if trying to shift some of her weight to him.
Kotonoha looked a little displeased but said nothing—seeing how much Yukino was suffering, she just helped adjust the jacket slipping off Takashi's shoulder.
"Second Miss, you really ought to work on your stamina," Takashi said, smirking again.
Yukino shot him a death glare through her heavy breaths. "…Shut up."
By now, she had completely figured it out.
Takashi had been dragging her around on purpose.
That whole "must-visit restaurant" thing? Total lie.
Takashi glanced around, spotted a random restaurant that looked decent, and walked in.
Yukino realized, yet again, Takashi's terrible sense of humor.
They lifted the cloth curtain and entered the small establishment.
It was a husband-and-wife-owned restaurant that had been around for fifty years.
The lights inside were warm and yellowish. One wall was covered in newspaper clippings and photographs.
Most of the newspaper pieces were about the restaurant itself.
Clearly, it had once been quite popular—famous enough to be in the news.
Now, whether it was because it wasn't mealtime or some other reason, the place was nearly empty.
In this retro atmosphere, the ceiling was decorated with delicate conch shells and seashells, and dolls of various kinds were placed by the windows.
There was even a white cat lounging on the counter.
Its fur was pure white, limbs slender and elegant, whiskers beautiful, and its translucent eyes seemed to reflect the figure of a person.
This white cat wasn't any particular breed—just an ordinary white cat.
But it was ridiculously cute.
So cute, in fact, that even Takashi, who had no affection for cats, found it adorable.
Oh, a Yukinoshita bait trap, he thought the moment he saw the cat, glancing immediately in Yukino's direction.
When Yukino saw the cat, her eyes lit up and were completely locked onto it.
Her soft pink lips moved slightly—reading her lips, it seemed she was trying to imitate a cat's meow.
"What an adorable kitty."
It wasn't just Yukino who was enchanted. Kotonoha and Hoshino Ai were also drawn in, both pulling out their phones to snap photos of it.
Kotonoha was using a flip phone.
It was a model long obsolete on the mainland.
But in Japan, it remained quite popular.
There was still a significant market for flip phones in Japan, even among students.
As soon as Kotonoha flipped open her phone and the screen lit up, Takashi saw that the lock screen wallpaper was a photo of himself.
Kotonoha seemed to notice something was off and quickly closed the phone, glancing over at Takashi.
Their eyes met—Takashi's half-smiling gaze caught her like a girl caught with a secret. She shyly looked down, her face turning red.
Just as he was about to find a seat, he noticed the white cat staring straight at him, those glass-like eyes unmoving—not even sparing a glance at Yukino or Hoshino Ai.
What are you looking at? I'm not interested in cats that don't turn into catgirls.
Takashi had once raised a ragdoll cat. He fed it well and treated it with care, but one day when the door was open, it dashed out and was never seen again.
Since then, Takashi disliked cats.
He hated giving everything and getting nothing in return.
Withdrawing his gaze, he found a seat and ordered juice, pasta, vegetable salad, hamburger steak, fries, and a steak.
"I'll start with these."
As he closed the menu, he suddenly felt something pressing on his thigh. Looking down—
That white cat had jumped into his lap, staring up at him with wide eyes.
Then it let out a soft "Meow~."
Takashi frowned and ordered, "Get off."
The cat tilted its head, seemingly confused why this two-legged creature it felt so drawn to didn't seem to like it.
"Why are you being mean to the cat!" Yukino snapped at him, then reached out as if to pick the cat up off his lap.
But the cat didn't like Yukino.
As she extended her hand, the white cat smacked her twice with its paw.
Takashi saw this and burst into laughter. "Hahaha!"
His opinion of the cat slightly improved.
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