The incident at the juvenile detention center had caused a slight delay, so Hanakain Fubuki arrived home a little later than usual after school.
Not much later, though – maybe five to ten minutes at most.
After all, the time spent from meeting Busujima-senpai at the cafe, taking the call, going to the detention center, and dealing with the Special Grade Cursed Spirit hadn't taken long. Most of the delay actually came from waiting for the car and the ride back.
Even so, as the boy took the elevator upstairs and inserted the key into his apartment door, before he could even fully turn the lock, he heard urgent footsteps rushing towards the door from inside.
Just like the night before, the moment the door opened, a voluptuous, dark-clad figure burst out from within. Carrying the aroma of dinner from the living room, she immediately enveloped the boy outside in a massive hug, an impact that was both soft and forceful.
Whoa, foul play! She's definitely using her assets!
"That's really mean, Hana! Big sister waited for you all day at home! Why are you only coming back now? Didn't you say you didn't have to go out for 'work' today?"
Truly like a clingy cat eagerly awaiting its owner's return, Kuroka shamelessly clung onto Hanakain Fubuki with both arms and legs, completely disregarding her image. She kept nuzzling against him, sniffing intently everywhere, as if terrified of missing even the slightest clue.
"It's not that late, is it? It's less than ten minutes difference in total..." Hanakain replied, a note of resignation in his voice.
Feeling his clothes gradually starting to slip downwards under the weight of the cat girl clinging to him, he was forced to free a hand. He reached under the hem of her kimono and gave her rear a firm upward push.
"Mrow!"
The sensation was distinct. Kuroka, who had been diligently inspecting the boy's scent just a second ago, instantly snapped her head up, her body tensing. A faint tremor ran through her, shivering all the way to the tips of the cat ears atop her head.
The kimono-clad cat girl held her breath, lightly biting her lower lip.
A large, figurative question mark appeared above Hanakain Fubuki's head.
"What's wrong?"
"Th-That..."
Barely managing to relax her stiff body, Kuroka lowered her head slightly, revealing her flushed cheeks and shimmering eyes to the boy.
"...I'm... getting worked up."
Hanakain Fubuki: "..."
What did she mean, getting worked up just from a hug? Was he some kind of walking aphrodisiac?
That would be problematic.
Besides, he had plenty of physical contact with Rias and the others at school, and he hadn't seen any of them start blushing and panting just from his touch.
As for it being a Nekomata's heat cycle, that was even more absurd.
"H-How should I know!" Kuroka retorted, pouting with a red face, seemingly guessing his thoughts. "Anyway, I was perfectly fine when I was home alone during the day. But as soon as you touch me, Hana, I just can't help but... want..."
"Right, right~" Hanakain Fubuki responded noncommittally. At this point, whose fault it was didn't really matter anymore.
Because if he didn't take action soon, Kuroka was about to make the jacket he could have worn for another day require immediate washing.
At the very least... a faint dampness was already clinging to his fingertips.
With that thought, Hanakain Fubuki stepped into the entranceway, closing the door behind him. After changing his shoes, he dropped his backpack on the floor and, without further ado, carried the cat girl in his arms straight towards the bathroom.
Things having reached this point, a bath was the first order of business.
...
They were in the bathroom for over an hour.
Only when the freshly cooked dinner on the living room table had gone completely cold did the sounds from the bathroom gradually subside.
The view shifts to the bathtub, where two bath towels lay intertwined, soaking in the warm water.
Kuroka had now calmed down and returned to her normal state.
She stood drying herself in front of the sink, head lowered, letting the boy behind her use a hairdryer on her long hair. Her fair feet were turned slightly inward, her big toes fidgeting, brushing against each other. The vanity mirror above the sink reflected her still slightly flushed cheeks and her lips, which looked even more plush and inviting.
"Hana..."
"Hm?"
"Just now... in the bathtub... I think I smelled another girl on you..."
"Yeah."
"Whose?"
The first question was posed in a pitiful tone, the second held a hint of probing, but the third was delivered entirely in the tone of a suspicious girlfriend.
Hanakain Fubuki paused the hairdryer for a moment.
"Someone from the Jujutsu Association. You don't know her, Kuroka."
"Jujutsu Association... Oh, is it about that finger from yesterday?"
Kuroka was quite sharp; just hearing that allowed her to piece together the likely chain of events. After all, Hanakain Fubuki had explicitly said last night that the finger was something from the Jujutsu world. It figured the Jujutsu Association would send someone over regarding it.
"Yes." Hanakain Fubuki resumed drying her hair. "Then later, I got a call from the Jujutsu Association. Something about a Special Grade Cursed Spirit appearing somewhere in Tokyo, blah blah blah, so I helped out a bit."
"'Helped out a bit'?" Kuroka emphasized the last few words slightly. "Tell me more. How much help did you give? Did you go with that girl? Did you fight the Special Grade Cursed Spirit together?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"And did you perhaps save the girl's life while you were at it?" As if she knew this script by heart, the cat girl's tone had become quite sharp by this point.
"Saved her... not really. I just saw she was having a tough time, so I gave her a hand." Hanakain Fubuki felt her long hair, now becoming dry and smooth, and manually switched the hairdryer to the cool setting. "It didn't take long in total. Once it was sorted, I came straight back."
"Ohhh—" Kuroka dragged out the sound.
But it wasn't a tone of relief. Instead, it sounded more like the wind-up before a powerful attack.
Sure enough, the next second, with lightning speed, she executed a swift, cat-like turn, and her slender hands were already clamped around the boy's neck.
"Aahhh! Hana, you're going to be the death of me! Can't you just change this meddlesome habit of saving everyone you see?! It's over, it's totally over! That girl will definitely fall head over heels soon and willingly become your devoted love-slave, unable to ever leave your side!"
"What nonsense are you spouting? You make it sound like I put a hex on her or something. Besides, I don't even know any hexing techniques..." Hanakain Fubuki felt lines forming on his forehead.
"Yes, yes, you don't know how to hex anyone, but Hana, you're a walking hex yourself!" The cat girl looked utterly exasperated, almost gnashing her teeth.
But as she reached the last part of her sentence, her voice suddenly quieted, her gaze drifted to the side, and a faint blush crept back onto her cheeks. Her luscious lips trembled slightly.
"Never mind anyone else, don't I know perfectly well how I fell for it myself back then..."
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Greetings, my dear clients of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor! 👋
I have some updates for you! I noticed another translator is also working on this current fanfic, So idecide start bringing you a brand new translation project starting next week!
BUT don't you worry! I'm definitely NOT stopping this current translation. 😉 In fact, I plan to add something special right here – those spicy lemon scenes (18+) featuring some favorite characters that I felt were missing! They'll be added directly into this version as we go.
Want to be the very first to read the new translation? You can get early access by supporting me on Patreon! Your support there helps make all these translations possible. ❤️
patreon.com/Walnutchan
The exciting new project launching there (with early access for Patrons!) is:
✨ Frieren in Elden Ring ✨