Habit is truly a fascinating thing. No matter how difficult something is to accept, as long as one experiences it for a period of time, it gradually becomes familiar.
Yukino was experiencing this firsthand.
It had been half a month since she encountered that bizarre phenomenon—something akin to an urban legend.
During the first week, she took a leave of absence from school, learned the general details of the anomaly she had discovered in herself, figured out its pattern, and, after speaking with Chisato, mustered the courage to ask for his help.
Fortunately, he agreed.
Over the past week, they had been meeting mostly around ten o'clock each night—this was the most convenient time for Chisato, considering his daily schedule.
Unlike Yukino, who lived alone in her apartment, Chisato was never really alone.
Every day, either Utaha or Eriri would stay over at his place, sometimes even both at the same time.
Since he didn't want them to know that he was secretly meeting with Yukino, he avoided leaving his apartment in the morning when they were around.
If they found out, they would definitely demand an explanation.
But explaining the truth was inconvenient, and refusing to explain would only make them feel hurt and suspicious.
To prevent such a situation, Chisato avoided taking risks. He had already snuck out once before, and he didn't believe that Lady Luck would always be on his side.
As for their meeting place, it was naturally Yukino's home.
Every night when Chisato visited to "recharge" her, she would always prepare a cup of coffee for him, personally brewed.
Occasionally, she would also offer him homemade treats from her home economics class—crispy cookies sometimes, soft cakes at others.
Chisato was somewhat surprised when he learned that Yukino had made these treats herself.
In modern society, most girls don't cook. Utaha and Eriri were exceptions because they had brought back the knowledge and experience of being housewives from the simulation.
From that perspective, they were basically cheating.
To Chisato, girls like Kazusa and Hitori were much more representative of the norm.
However, on second thought, since Yukino lived alone, she naturally had to develop some basic survival skills. Otherwise, her family wouldn't have let her move out.
From that perspective, it all made perfect sense.
During this time, it wasn't just Chisato observing Yukino—she was also observing him.
When he first moved next door a few months ago, Yukino didn't think much of him.
In fact, when he knocked on her door some time later to deliver a housewarming gift and introduce himself, she found him quite polite.
Of course, that impression only lasted for a brief period.
Once she discovered that he was entangled with multiple girls at the same time, her opinion of him plummeted.
From both her personal perspective and the traditional values upheld by society, a man—regardless of the reason—should not maintain such ambiguous relationships with multiple women.
It was an unhealthy, socially unacceptable arrangement.
In some cases, it might even violate certain legal provisions—something akin to gathering for illicit activities.
For a time, she even suspected that Iroha's infatuation with him, as well as her own sister's uncharacteristic closeness to him, was the result of some underhanded method he had employed.
She didn't know the specifics—perhaps deception, perhaps manipulation—but whatever it was, it certainly wasn't something honorable.
In short, Yukino disliked her neighbor. In fact, she harbored a certain level of disgust toward him.
But when she had no choice but to rely on Chisato due to the strange phenomenon happening to her, her impression of him gradually began to change.
To be honest, their daily meetings only lasted about twenty minutes.
Through careful observation and testing, Yukino had determined that twenty minutes was the optimal duration.
As long as she saw him for twenty minutes a day, she wouldn't have to worry about suddenly turning back into a cat the next day.
This meant she could focus on her daily life and studies without anxiety.
Chisato, for his part, was very cooperative. Every night, before returning home, he made sure to stop by her place and quietly stay for the required duration.
At first, Yukino had been concerned that she was being too reckless.
After all, she was letting a boy surrounded by multiple girls into her home late at night.
Even if he didn't seem like a "scumbag" at the moment, he was still a high school boy at the peak of his… instincts.
Wouldn't this situation make him develop inappropriate thoughts about her—someone as beautiful and exceptional as herself?
This wasn't just idle speculation. Yukino was well aware of how attractive she was.
She could feel the gazes of the boys at school every day. As the top student of her grade, she wasn't oblivious to such things.
She had even prepared countermeasures in advance—ways to reject him if he ever made a move, ways to dissuade him from having any foolish ideas.
But in the end, her concerns proved unnecessary.
Her prepared rejection lines never came into play because Chisato never overstepped his bounds.
Every time he visited, he was polite and self-aware, always acting as a proper guest.
She could sense that the occasional contemptuous glances she once cast at him had grown less frequent, which meant her negative feelings toward him were gradually fading.
But even so, he never took advantage of this shift.
There were many areas in her apartment, but Chisato only stayed in the central part of the living room.
At most, he borrowed the restroom.
He never stepped into her bedroom, kitchen, or balcony where she dried her clothes—nor did he show any interest in doing so.
As time passed, their interactions remained largely unchanged from the beginning.
However, in ways unnoticed by anyone, something had begun to shift.
…
Friday, July 21.
With no school the next day, Yukino returned home and, as usual, tied up her hair before heading to the bathroom for a soak.
After her bath, she wrapped herself in a towel and sat on the edge of her bed.
Yesterday, she had deliberately skipped her meeting with Chisato.
According to the pattern she had established—and based on Chisato's metaphorical explanation—her "battery" was now running low.
In human terms, she was about to "shut down."
She sat on her bed, quietly scrolling through her phone, waiting to see how long she could resist the inevitable drowsiness.
Sure enough, after a while, an overwhelming wave of sleepiness swept over her.
Wanting to test her limits, she climbed into bed and struggled to stay awake.
But after half an hour, she could no longer fight it. The exhaustion overtook her, and she closed her eyes.
Not long after, she awoke—only to find that she had turned into Yukinoshita Yukineko once again.
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