"The reason I called you here today… is because of my own situation."
Placing a hand over her chest, she met Chisato's gaze and spoke slowly.
"Okay."
Chisato nodded, signaling for her to continue.
"What I'm about to say next may sound absurd and unreasonable to you, as if I'm playing a joke, but please believe me—I am neither lying nor trying to make fun of you."
"I understand. I won't take it lightly."
At this point, he had mentally prepared himself in advance.
Although Yukino was still somewhat uneasy, there was no other way now but to continue.
"Suzumiya-kun, do you know the story of the Frog Prince?"
"The Grimm fairy tale? The one where the prince is turned into a frog and needs the princess's help to regain his human form?"
"That's right. What I experienced yesterday, in a way, bears some resemblance to that story…"
"…Hold on a moment."
Just as Yukino was speaking, Chisato suddenly raised a hand, signaling her to pause.
She didn't know why, but she complied with his request and stopped talking.
The next moment, she saw a visibly shaken and flustered Chisato down the rest of his coffee in one gulp, coughing twice from drinking too quickly.
As he sat there, he exhibited a slight fidgeting motion that wasn't there before.
His hand instinctively lifted toward his mouth but quickly withdrew as he realized what he was doing.
After a brief silence between the two, each lost in their own thoughts, Chisato finally spoke again, allowing Yukino to continue.
After observing his reactions, Yukino seemed to be deep in thought, but she didn't question him at this moment. Instead, she followed his lead and resumed where she had left off.
"As unbelievable as it may sound, what happened to me is somewhat similar to that fairy tale.
However, my role in the story does not align with that of the princess. Instead, it is more appropriate to substitute myself as the prince."
"…What exactly are you trying to say?"
"In short, I turned into a cat."
"…"
That was indeed brief.
The moment Yukino uttered those words, Chisato widened his eyes in shock, completely caught off guard.
Contrary to her expectations, he didn't laugh it off in disbelief or assume she was joking.
Instead, he simply accepted it as a fact.
Even though she had given him a heads-up, shouldn't a normal person's reaction be to dismiss this as nonsense?
But Chisato… he believed her instantly without a shred of doubt.
Based on their conversation so far, he seemed quite capable of logical reasoning and self-reflection.
He didn't appear to be the type of fool who would be easily deceived.
This reaction was worth contemplating.
Yukino kept this in mind.
Even if Chisato wasn't aware of what had happened to her, that didn't necessarily mean he had no connection to it.
Chisato didn't remain surprised for long. After accepting this bizarre revelation without question, he leaned back slightly.
"Yukinoshita-san, you're saying you turned into a cat?"
"Yes."
"And by 'turned into a cat,' you mean it literally, not metaphorically?"
"Yes, literally."
She pointed at herself.
"As in, my human body transformed into a cute Ragdoll cat, indistinguishable from the cats we see in everyday life."
"…"
Chisato stared at her for a long time, furrowing his brows, deep in thought.
Eventually, he spoke, though his words made Yukino want to punch him.
"I've heard a lot about your personality from my sister. You say you turned into a cat…
I'm not saying I don't believe you, but I'd like to see it for myself. I mean, I've only ever encountered this kind of scenario in otaku anime."
His implication was clear—he wanted a demonstration.
Yukino's gaze turned icy. The moment she shot him that look, Chisato instantly felt the surrounding temperature drop by several degrees.
She was furious. That much was obvious. But even so, she held back her temper and patiently explained,
"I can't control it."
"You can't control it… meaning it happens randomly?"
"You could put it that way. While I can't determine when I turn into a cat, I've started to find clues regarding how I turn back.
That's precisely why I wanted to talk to you, Suzumiya-kun."
Recalling the Frog Prince story she had mentioned earlier, Chisato came to a realization.
"…Don't tell me this has something to do with me?"
"That's correct."
Yukino confirmed his suspicions.
"I'm not sure about the exact conditions yet, but there's no doubt that you are the key to me turning back. This has already been proven."
"Proven? But we haven't even met before… Oh—"
Chisato suddenly paused, as if recalling something.
"Looks like you remembered."
"…Was it yesterday when I knocked on your door to bring you medicine?"
Yukino nodded and added,
"And just now, when you knocked on my door again."
"Both times… After I knocked, you made me wait a moment."
"Yes. That was because I had just turned back into my human form. I was feeling dizzy and couldn't get up right away."
Yukino's cheeks flushed slightly. She didn't want Chisato to know that she was completely naked when she transformed back, so she glossed over that detail.
Fortunately, Chisato didn't dwell on it. His primary concern remained the fact that Yukino had turned into a cat.
"When did this first start happening?"
"Last Sunday. After lunch, I was reading a book when I suddenly felt drowsy.
The time was around one or two in the afternoon. Then, when I woke up around four, I had already turned into a cat."
"…"
Hearing this, Chisato fell into deep thought.
Sunday… If he remembered correctly…
Since it wasn't too long ago, he quickly recalled the events of that day.
And, given the timeframe Yukino provided, it didn't take long for him to pinpoint something suspicious.
Sunday afternoon, around one or two o'clock—at that time, he had been having lunch with Kazusa and her mother.
Midway through, Hitori had sent a message about winning the music festival. Then… the Pure Love System had suddenly displayed a completed mission.
Chisato's heartbeat sped up.
At that moment, the reward section of the system had glitched out, displaying a corrupted, unreadable mess like a frozen computer screen.
He had casually dismissed it as the system being unreliable as usual and had shut the interface when Kazusa started talking to him.
Thinking back now… wasn't he the cause of Yukino's transformation?
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead as he realized this.
"Judging from your reaction just now, it seems like you have some idea about what happened to me. I doubt that's just my imagination," Yukino suddenly said.
Her sharp insight hit the mark immediately.
"…Haha, maybe you're just overestimating my ability to process things."
Of course, he couldn't admit it. If he did, there'd be no way to explain himself.
As he responded, Chisato opened the Pure Love System again, hoping to find answers.
However, the system was still frozen on the same page as before, completely unresponsive. He had no idea if it was permanently broken or if it would recover after some time.
For now, all he could do was deal with this mess on his own.
"You're surprisingly accepting. I thought I'd have to put in a lot more effort to convince you," Yukino remarked.
"Well… Maybe it's because I read a lot of sci-fi and supernatural novels.
When you consume enough of that stuff, you start wondering if something fantastical might actually happen in real life."
At least that excuse somewhat rationalized his earlier behavior.
It might not fully convince Yukino, but at least it sounded reasonable.
Regardless, she had more pressing concerns.
"I know this is sudden, but I'd like to ask for your help with something…"
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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