"Meow…"
Monday morning. 6:00 AM.
Yukino sat blankly in the center of her bed, her gaze vacant. Ever since she woke up and realized her current situation, she had maintained this posture for quite some time.
Her entire being… No, her entire feline form, if not for the subtle rise and fall of her body from breathing, would have looked like a lifelike, high-quality model.
That's right—she had turned back into a cat.
Having already experienced this once before, the second occurrence of such an absurd event was somewhat easier to accept.
She was no longer as shocked or so anxious that it bordered on fear.
However, no matter how much mental preparation she had, confusion remained confusion, and helplessness remained helplessness.
It was like dealing with an illness—only by identifying the symptoms could one prescribe the right medicine.
A certain high school detective, upon waking up and realizing his body had shrunk, was not too surprised.
That was because he knew he had ingested a drug codenamed APTX 4869. Though the drug's effects were scientifically questionable, at least he had a clear cause for his predicament.
But Yukino had no clue whatsoever as to why she had ended up in this state.
She had been at home all day yesterday and had not left even once.
Last night, before going to bed, she had even gone to the entryway and reviewed the surveillance footage from her door for the past several hours at double speed.
As she expected, apart from Chisato at night, no one had approached her doorstep, let alone snuck inside.
Intrusion through the window was unrealistic—she lived on the upper floors of an apartment building, not in a two- or three-story detached house.
The only way someone could have broken in through the window was if they had rappelled down from the rooftop like a special forces operative, which was an extremely difficult feat.
If someone had really done that, considering the lively traffic on the street outside, they would have been easily spotted by passersby or the building's management.
More importantly, Yukino couldn't think of anyone who would have a reason to do this to her.
She hadn't witnessed any secret transactions of a mysterious organization. She was just a student who minded her own business.
While some at school disliked her demeanor, the worst they had ever done was hide her shoes in the locker, waiting to see her embarrassed reaction.
And even that had only happened years ago in elementary school. Now, as a high schooler surrounded by more mature peers, no one would be so childish.
So… was this really some kind of supernatural incident?
Though she had already vaguely realized this, Yukino was reluctant to admit it. If that were truly the case, things would become very troublesome.
Faced with something completely beyond her understanding, she had no way of solving it. That sense of powerlessness and frustration weighed heavily on her mind.
Still, sitting here idly wouldn't help.
Yukino jumped off the bed. Even as a cat, she still maintained her habit of cleanliness.
She leaped onto the sink, but brushing her teeth the usual way was impossible, so she could only nudge the faucet and rinse her mouth as best she could.
The sink's faucet was designed to be lifted for water flow and pressed down to stop, so it was still manageable for her feline body.
However, the front door was another story. To unlock it, she would need to push the handle down and twist the small lock knob.
That was absolutely impossible for a cat.
In other words, she couldn't even leave her apartment.
Oh well, she had planned to take the day off from school anyway. If she couldn't go out, then so be it.
After finishing her rudimentary washing-up, Yukino gracefully padded back to her room.
She found that, compared to yesterday, she felt somewhat calmer. This was likely because she had suddenly returned to normal last night.
Knowing that she could change back, even if she didn't fully understand the pattern, gave her some reassurance. Her thoughts were no longer as clouded as before.
With great effort, she used her phone to request a leave of absence from her homeroom teacher.
Once she received confirmation, she put the phone aside and lay back down on the bed, staring blankly again.
Yesterday, she had been too panicked to properly process what it felt like to be a cat.
Now that she had the chance, she realized—so this is what it feels like to control a tail?
What a strange sensation.
Bored, Yukino played with her tail for a while, then, resisting the embarrassment, rolled around on the bed a few times. Inexplicably, she felt a little better.
She didn't want to waste too much time amusing herself, though. Soon, she hopped onto her desk and examined the notes she had written down last night.
She focused on recalling everything that had happened before she reverted to her human form, using her sharp mind to analyze any potential connections.
One possibility occurred to her—perhaps she would naturally revert to human form after a certain amount of time.
Yesterday, she had lost consciousness sometime around 12:50 PM.
When she woke up again at around 3:00 PM, she had already turned into a cat. Then, at around 10:30 PM, she suddenly changed back.
If she considered the time from when she had passed out, she had been a cat for approximately nine and a half hours.
If her hypothesis was correct, then she would change back at most nine and a half hours later.
It was now 6:30 AM, meaning she would have to wait until 4:00 PM to verify her theory.
Lacking crucial pieces of information, Yukino could only take the most methodical approach—eliminating each possibility one by one.
But nine hours was quite a long wait. There was nothing she could do but be patient.
She decided to read a book. That was something she could still do as a cat.
"Meow~"
She had meant to sigh, but instead, an unexpectedly cute sound escaped her.
Yukino returned to her room, casually grabbed a book from the shelf with her mouth, set it down on the desk, and used her paw to turn the pages.
Time passed slowly as she waited to test her theory.
Around 10:00 AM, Haruno messaged her, asking about her condition. Yukino replied with a brief, dismissive response.
At noon, she struggled to open the fridge and managed to grab some toast.
The palm-sized slice of toast was more than enough—she was full after eating just half.
Afterward, she continued reading, though she moved to the bed, propping the book against a pillow for a more comfortable angle.
And so, time slowly passed.
Finally, 4:00 PM arrived.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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