Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

  They ended their phone call there.

  Natsuya stared blankly at her cell phone with complex emotions arising within her.

  "I'm sorry…" she muttered to her cell phone before putting it away.

  Although she said it for his own good, she knew that her words were likely to hurt him.

  She didn't dare to imagine what Seiji was currently feeling or thinking.

  There was a heavy feeling in her heart that felt a little painful… but she didn't regret what she'd just said.

  That was because she believed herself to be in the right. She should have done this the last time.

  Seiji had an incredibly quick growth rate. As long as he didn't force himself into something beyond his current level which might cause something to happen to him, he would definitely become incredibly strong in the future! There was no need for him to force himself to deal with a person like Akatsuki Mitarai right now.

  Natsuya was certain that what she had done was correct. However, she still felt pained at harming Seiji with her words and was unable to calm her emotions down.

  She forced herself to get busy working in an attempt to put this matter behind her.

  A while later, there was a knock on her room's door. Mai Houjou entered with some tea for her.

  "Haruta-san came over just now, and is currently in the underground practice field," the maid Mai reported to her.

  This caused Natsuya's heart to skip a beat upon hearing this.

  It was quite common for Seiji to come over to practice cultivation. However, with what just happened…


  "Did he… ask if I was here?"

  "No, he went down to the basement immediately after greeting me. His expression seemed rather grim."

  Natsuya revealed an anxious expression at this.

  Mai blinked as she observed her master.

  "Has something happened? Milady."

  "Nothing…"

  Natsuya reflexively wanted to deny it, but when faced with the gentle look from Mai who was like an older sister figure to her, she soon caved in.

  "Actually, something did happen… He wanted to do something foolish for my sake, and I told him he couldn't, and used some words that may have hurt him…"

  "I see… how sweet." Mai began smiling. "He wanted to do something foolish for Milady's sake, while Milady said something mean to him in order to stop him. Forgive my directness, but this feels like a lovers' quarrel."

  "L… lovers…" Natsuya's face flushed red at hearing this.

  "Only people really close to each other will have this type of problem. It would seem that unbeknownst to me, Milady and Haruta-san have already become more than just friends," Mai said with a big grin. "As a maid, I'm quite curious just how much you've developed your relationship with him. After all, depending on the circumstances, I may have to change how I address Haruta-san."

  "I haven't developed it at all!" Natsuya waved her hands indicating no in embarrassment. "We're just friends, there's nothing special between us…"

  Although she was saying so, she couldn't help but think about the intimate contact she had with him before, which caused her red face to only flush a deeper red.

  "Oh my…" Mai's smile became rather deep upon witnessing her master's reaction. "It would seem that some interrogation… whoops, I mean more questions will be necessary for me to fully understand what's going on."

  "Eh?" Natsuya didn't hear what Mai said clearly.

  "I was saying that Milady, your current appearance is quite cute~"

  "C… cute…"

  "Yep, really cute. Please allow me to take a few pictures."

  "No! Don't take pictures of me!"

  "Then, how about a video?"

  "No recordings, either!"

  The maid put away her cell phone regretfully as Natsuya was staring at her.

  "By the way, Milady, would you like to reconcile with Haruta-san?"

  "Yeah, of course."

  "Then simply go find him for a discussion," Mai told her gently. "Perhaps Haruta-san is a bit unhappy right now, but as long as Milady tells him your feelings, he'll definitely understand."

  "Yeah…" Natsuya nodded.

  "Actually, even if you don't go talk to him, I feel that he's the type who will calm down by himself after a while and understand Milady's heartfelt intentions. However, rather than waiting for this to happen, it's probably still better to go talk to him now, which will avoid leaving any negative feelings between you. It's also an excellent opportunity to develop your relationship!"

  Natsuya was rendered speechless.

  "As for how to develop your relationship, that's not something a mere maid like me is qualified of giving advice about. However, if Milady wishes, I'll be more than delighted to give my advice~" Mai's smile grew much warmer.

  The red-faced student council president was silent for several seconds in front of the older maid's sister-like smile before she finally responded, "No need, thank you very much."

  Seiji cast [Summoning].

  A faint green mist appeared before him and started gathering… however, it failed to form anything in the end as it dissipated.

  "I'm still doing something wrong."

  Seiji rubbed his chin and continued mulling over the correct way to utilize this spell.

  At this moment, someone tugged on his shirt.

  Seiji turned around to see the petite heterochromia cat-eared girl silently looking at him.

  "Good evening, Kirin-san."

  The cat girl's ears twitched upon hearing his greeting. Then, she held up a bag to him and opened it up.

  Seiji smelled something with a tantalizing aroma, and saw that the bag contained fish-shaped desserts—taiyaki!

  "Thank you." He took one and smiled as he thanked her.

  He recalled the time when he had brought taiyaki over to the hospital and had great fun playing video games together with Rana and Natsuya.

  Seiji took a bite of the taiyaki dessert, causing a sweet taste to spread in his mouth.

  Rana took one as well and started biting down with a joyous expression on her face.

  No matter how many times Seiji saw this expression of hers, he always felt that it was quite cute.

  Seiji thought that to himself as he smiled and observed Rana.

  The two of them faced each other and simply ate desserts in silence.

  "Have you grown slightly taller in comparison to when we first met?" Seiji noticed a slight difference in Rana's height.

  Rana nodded.

  "Continue growing properly. You'll surely become a great beauty in the future."

  Rana squinted her eyes.

  "Er… Did I say something wrong?" Seiji asked as he noticed that she seemed to be displeased.

  "Meow." The cat girl put her taiyaki that she had only half finished eating back into the bag and handed the bag to Seiji.

  Seiji was rather mystified by this, but took the taiyaki bag anyways. Then, he saw Rana taking a few steps away and then stopping and shutting her eyes.

  A dark red glow gradually enveloped the cat-eared girl's body. This glow gradually transformed into a thick mist that covered her all over.

  This mist caused Seiji to recall the way Rana appeared previously when dueling against Okubo Yoshiaki.

  'Is she angry to the point where she seriously wants to beat me up? Did I really say something that bad?'

  Just as he was thinking this, the mist became even thicker, and something white flashed inside, faintly giving off a tremendously imposing manner.

  "Meow… Meow!!"

  A sharp howl came from within the mist, and a strong light instantly dispelled the mist!

  Seiji was forced to squint his eyes due to the sudden strong light.

  When he recovered his vision and looked again, what he saw was…


  A beautiful cat woman with an excellent figure!

  "What…"

  Seiji's mouth was left wide agape as he stood there stunned, not daring to believe his eyes.

  This cat woman was much taller than Rana's typical middle schooler appearance and had an ample bosom, a slender waist, and a firm butt. Dark-red fur grew over certain parts of her body as if to intentionally hide only the private areas.

  Two cute cat ears were on her head, and Rana still retained her beautiful heterochromia eyes. Her fingernails were long and sharp, and she even had a furry tail behind her that was lightly wagging.

  "Meow~"

  The cat woman smiled seductively as she made a soft sound and retracted her fingernails… er, claws. Rana folded her arms and pushed her own chest upwards, creating an incredibly alluring scene.

  Seiji felt like his blood rapidly increased its circulation rate upon witnessing this scene!

  "Kirin-san, you…"