"No parfait."
The cat-like girl named Raana displayed an extraordinarily indifferent attitude toward the matcha parfait she once loved the most. She didn't even glance at it, only stared with those extremely rare blue-and-yellow heterochromatic eyes, sparkling as she looked at the boy in front of her, like a cat who had spotted her own catnip, as if she were going to pounce at any moment.
"Man, so fragrant!", Since birth, this was the first time she had ever smelled such a pleasant scent from a human. It was a hundred times more delicious than matcha parfait.
"Raana, don't say that to a guest," Ririko couldn't help but give her a firm forehead flick and corrected her, "That's too rude!"
Saying he's handsome, saying he's good-looking, she could understand that, and even agree deeply.
'But… 'so fragrant'? What kind of bizarre description is that?'
'Could it be that, in your eyes, he's something like a cat treat?'
"Hmm?", Raana tilted her head and looked at her innocently.
'But, it really does smell good.'
Ririko was defeated by her pure, innocent gaze and couldn't help but hold her forehead, inwardly reminiscing about a certain unnamed drum team member.
In the whole RiNG, only little Taki could get Raana to behave a little bit.
However, Taki seemed to have fallen ill recently and had asked for two days off. With this stabilizing force gone, Raana had instantly become hard to manage.
Ririko was about to try and properly educate her, but just then a few more customers walked in, and she simply didn't have the time.
Seeing her caught in a dilemma, Kaito went along with the flow and said, "Miss Manager, if you're in a hurry, it's perfectly fine to attend to the other guests first."
"Mm… I'm terribly sorry! Then I'll have to trouble you to watch over this child for a bit. I'll be right back!", Miss Ririko was nearly moved to tears, 'Not only is he handsome, but also so considerate and understanding!'
If not for fearing she'd be reported for sexual harassment, she'd really want to scoop the beautiful boy into her arms and smother him with affection.
Hmm… Thinking like that, she suddenly felt so jealous of Raana. Able to do whatever she wanted without a care. Even after acting like a facehugger for so long, she still hadn't been rejected.
'Perhaps this is the privilege of being a cute cat?'
After all, who could resist a well-behaved, luxurious cat flipping over to show its belly, acting spoiled and rolling around?
After Ririko the manager left, even the last supervisor was gone. Raana was like a prisoner who had broken free from her cage.
The girl shamelessly scooted up beside Kaito, her perky little nose twitching as she showed a satisfied expression.
It was like the faint scent of grass after being warmed by sunlight, warm and reassuring.
"Like!"
The pure cat voiced her honest feelings without hesitation.
'This girl… Isn't her aggression a little too high?'
From the moment she appeared, she had been throwing fastballs, leaving Anon dumbfounded on the sidelines.
And yet Raana wore a sincere, forthright expression, clearly meaning every word from the bottom of her heart.
'But… I'm not going to lose!'
Anon clenched her little fists, grayish-beautiful eyes burning with fierce determination.
'A chance encounter with a stray cat at a live house, I am all offense, no defense, strong like a monster, I'll give it my all and defeat her!'
"Let go of that boy and let me… no, no, anyway, let go of Kaito-kun first."
"?", The cat tilted her head in confusion, glancing at the girl next to her whose face practically screamed jealousy, like a pink-haired big dog whose bone had just been stolen.
She then very calmly ignored her existence and even tried to go a step further, reaching out with her two pale, tender arms like lotus roots, aiming to hug Kaito.
"Nope~", A gentle voice suddenly rang out from behind.
A brown-haired girl reached out and easily grabbed the cat's fate-bound scruff of the neck, making it impossible for her to take a single step forward no matter how hard she tried.
"Ugh…"
The girl's smile was radiant, and her voice was as soft as could be.
But for some reason, the cat-like girl seemed to see behind her a thick, almost tangible black mist…
She confirmed with her eyes, this was someone not to be messed with.
Raana decisively followed her instincts and ceased her struggles, carefully lowering her head, now looking like a white-haired kitten caught red-handed after pulling a prank.
Seeing her finally settle down, Nagasaki Soyo released her grip, still wearing a gentle and kind smile as she observed the girl before her.
Short silver-white hair, a slightly baby-fat yet exquisitely cute face, and heterochromatic blue-yellow eyes shining like gemstones. But, she looked quite young.
She didn't know Raana personally, but had heard rumors about her.
It was said that near RiNG, a certain self-willed silver-haired girl would occasionally appear. She would strum her guitar alone, eat parfaits alone, and never talk to anyone. Like a lone, proud stray cat.
But no matter how proud a stray cat may be, it could still be captured by a charm as dazzling as the sun.
"Raana-chan, I understand how you feel," Soyo reached out gently, tidying a stray lock of silver hair beside the girl's ear, and said with a smiling face, "But as a girl, you should still be a little more reserved, okay?"
Raana really wanted to ask, 'What does 'reserved' mean?'
But her feline instinct to avoid danger made her swallow that question and obediently nod her head.
Seeing the Soyo, who had just been driven away earlier in defeat, now effortlessly subduing the stray cat, Chihaya Anon looked a bit dazed.
'She only went to the restroom for a moment, how did things change this much?'
"Raana, do you really like Kaito-kun?", Following behind Soyo, Wakaba Mutsumi also tilted her head slightly, sounding a bit puzzled.
What puzzled her was, 'Kaito-kun doesn't seem to dislike Raana either?'
Kaito easily read her thoughts and smiled slightly, "That's right."
The reason he didn't dislike Raana wasn't because she looked cute.
It was because this girl possessed a rare heart of 'non-duality.'
Or to put it more plainly: she had no distractions. When hungry, she ate; when thirsty, she drank; when tired, she slept; when bored, she played guitar. She never burdened herself with unnecessary people or matters, nor wasted energy on them. She lived joyfully and without worries.
This was a very rare inborn trait, difficult to cultivate later in life.
People with this trait were often excellent cultivation prospects and were rarely disturbed by inner demons.
Back when Kaito was in Courting Death Sect, one of the Supreme Elder's disciples was like that. Though often mocked as scatterbrained, she never took it to heart and broke through to the peak of the Golden Core stage in just 200 years. In terms of seniority, she was even his junior martial sister, bold, straightforward, and well-liked.
However, whenever she saw him, she would act as if avoiding a deadly beast, always stuttering and running away red-faced after saying only a few words, as if a mortal enemy was chasing her.
At that time, Kaito was still cultivating the Path of Ruthlessness, and the cold aura around him could freeze people to death.
Seeing his junior sister so afraid of him, the only thing he could do was stay as far away from her as possible. Even when they met by chance, he would silently turn and leave to avoid startling her.
But what confused him was, even though he tried to avoid her, her eyes would inexplicably turn sorrowful.
Thankfully, his master later advised him, saying he had done the right thing, that he should keep his distance from all his junior sisters to avoid frightening them.
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