'Those distant pasts, in the end, can never return.'
Kaito shook his head, tossing the chaotic thoughts to the back of his mind, and casually scratched the silver-haired girl's smooth chin.
He just subconsciously used the technique of petting cats at home, but it still made Raana involuntarily place her chin in his palm, then contentedly squint her eyes, letting out a comfortable "purr purr" sound.
One man, one "cat", this harmonious scene made Soyo's beautiful eyes darken.
But she quickly hid those deep emotions from the depths of her pupils and said with a smile, "Speaking of which… Mama has been mentioning Kaito-kun recently, hoping you could visit our home again."
A simple sentence, but it held many layers of meaning.
It shifted the topic, broke the harmonious atmosphere between the man and the cat, and also subtly expressed her longing under the guise of Mama. At the same time, it faintly pointed out, they've already met each other's parents.
This was Soyo's greatest confidence, and also the reason she believed she would never lose to these sneaky cats in front of her.
"Eh eh eh???"
Sure enough, Chihaya Anon was the first to get anxious.
'What's this about her mom mentioning him?'
'This Nagasaki Soyo girl… her relationship with Kaito-kun is already that close?'
She didn't have a god's-eye view after all, and she was also the last to arrive, severely lacking in intel. With Soyo's intentional steering, it was inevitable she'd make incorrect judgments.
Anon was a bit panicked.
'Already meeting the parents, won't the next step be marriage talks?'
'No way, Anon-chan's life… won't lose to others!'
'Meeting the parents? I… I can do that too!'
Compared to her nervousness, the quiet Mutsumi and the cat were much calmer.
The former was because… not only had Kaito met her mom, the two were currently living under the same roof. This little show-off trick from Soyo didn't stir any ripples in the girl's heart.
As for the latter, she hadn't even thought that much.
"Thanks to Miss Nagasaki for your concern," Kaito nodded slightly, and as if remembering something, pulled out two jade pendants from his pocket and handed them to Soyo, "Last time Miss Nagasaki helped me get a batch of good-quality jade. I made a few little trinkets from them, take these."
Actually, he should've given them to her back in Akihabara, but forgot then. Still, it wasn't too late now.
"Eh? Such beautiful koi!", Soyo was surprised and delighted, she hadn't expected a gift like this. The jealousy she'd been accumulating was instantly swept away.
She carefully received the jade pendants, held them in her palm and admired them for a long time. The affection in her beautiful eyes was completely undisguised.
Especially after seeing the envious expression of a certain pink-haired sneaky cat, the corners of her lips couldn't help but rise further.
'This is it! This is what I wanted to see! That jealous look of hers!'
The brown-haired girl's brows curved like crescents, and the look she gave Kaito was like a clear spring.
'Such a precious gift, not given to anyone else, only to me…'
'Sure enough, he cares about me!'
The two jade pendants Kaito gave out were both delicate koi designs, one child, one mother, in a swimming posture. Put together, they happened to form a circle.
Anon was indeed envious. Not even mentioning that it was a gift directly from Kaito-kun, just the shape of the pendants alone was already so likable.
But she didn't dare stretch her hand to ask for one. After all, no merit, no reward. The jade pendants looked expensive, and Anon was too embarrassed to freeload.
Catching Soyo's showing-off gaze, the girl softly snorted, 'Just let her be smug for a bit.'
'Sooner or later, I'll get something even better!'
———
In a blink, it was already evening.
As the sky darkened, Kaito didn't stay at RiNG any longer. After paying at the counter, he left with three girls and one cat…
That's right, Raana followed too.
The cat seemed to have settled on him. Wherever Kaito walked, she followed, looking like she'd found a long-term meal ticket.
What is this?
Picked up a cat, and now she wants to come home with me?
Anon and Soyo had to catch the train and already left earlier.
As for Mutsumi, the girl had always been quiet, neither fighting nor arguing. It wasn't realistic to count on her to deal with the cat, right?
Kaito sighed and had to step up himself, rubbing the short hair of the heterochromatic-eyed girl, "Raana, it's getting late. You should go home, or your family will worry. Understand?"
Raana tilted her head and looked at him, then honestly shook her head.
"…Forget it. Do you have any of your family's phone numbers?", Kaito gave up on communication and planned to take a roundabout route.
This time the cat didn't shake her head. She pulled out her phone from her pocket and handed it to him.
Clearly a young girl, yet her phone was surprisingly simple. Not only did it have no password, even the wallpaper was the default one.
Kaito opened the contacts list, there were pitifully few. As for family, only three were labeled: Dad, Mom, and Grandma.
He first tried calling the Dad and Mom contacts, but only got busy tones.
Then he called the one labeled 'Grandma.' This time, after a few rings, the call was finally answered, ["Raana, what's the matter?"]
On the other end was a steady elderly voice, none of the sluggishness typical of seniors. Instead, it carried a certain sharpness and decisiveness.
"You are…"
Kaito briefly explained the situation to Raana's grandma. Her name was Tsuzuki Shifune. She first expressed her apologies, sorry for the trouble her granddaughter caused Kaito, then sighed with a bit of a headache.
She herself was currently abroad, not in Japan. As for Raana's parents, they were rarely seen. Since the granddaughter didn't want to go home, there really wasn't anyone who could drag her back.
["Though it's presumptuous to ask this… could you let Raana stay at your place for one night? Of course, I'll also try to return to Tokyo as soon as possible."]
"That's not really a problem…", Kaito paused, "But, Miss Tsuzuki, aren't you worried I might be a bad guy?"
'Seriously, these parents seems to have nerves of steel…'
'Miss Nagasaki was like this, Mori Minami was like this, and now even this elder Tsuzuki is like this.'
They didn't seem worried at all that their daughters might run into danger.
["Not at all,"] Tsuzuki Shifune chuckled over the phone, ["Since you're someone Raana approaches on her own, then there's definitely no problem."]
That granddaughter of hers, while solitary like a cat, also had the alertness of one.
She seemed born with the ability to distinguish between good and bad people. When faced with ill-intentioned individuals, Raana could keenly detect the malice in their hearts and stay far away.
Someone she actively got close to… at least character-wise, there wouldn't be an issue.
If it weren't for this special ability, Tsuzuki Shifune wouldn't have been so at ease letting her granddaughter wander around outside every day.
[T/N: Just to clarify, Kaname Raana and Tsuzuki Shifune are anime characters and humans. Raana is implied as a cat because of her behaviour, just like Bocchi=Pink hair, Mutsumi= Cucumber(she likes it), etc.]
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