Side Story : A Birth Record of a New Breed of Cat
Translator : PolterGlast
Late afternoon on a
holiday.
Nozomu had finished
cleaning his room in the dormitory which he had been doing since morning and
was heading to the commercial district for lunch.
The roadside is lined
with a wide variety of stalls, many of them selling food, of course.
Especially today, a
holiday. The merchants lined up in line were shouting more vigorously than
usual, taking advantage of the time when the purse strings were loosened during
the holidays.
As Nozomu walked
through the busy downtown area, he saw a girl in an Ecross uniform about 10
meters ahead of him.
"Eh?
Somia-chan?"
Her beautiful black
hair, trimmed to her shoulders, definitely belonged to a girl he knew well.
She scurried her eyes
around as if looking for something, and then disappeared toward a back alley.
"What is she
doing? There's no sign of Iris nearby..."
Seeing that there was
no Iris around, it seemed that Somia was alone.
Nozomu, while tilting
his head at her suspicious behavior, stepped into the back alley and followed
her for the time being.
The back alley was
quite dimly lit due to the disorderly rows of houses and stores around it, and
it was difficult to see.
The back alley was
like a maze, and if he were to lose his way for a moment, he would definitely
be lost in no time.
Nozomu looked down the
alley and saw Somia about 10 meters ahead of him.
"O~i,
Somia-cha~n!"
"Eh? Nozomu-san?
Is something wrong?"
After Nozomu called
out to Somia, she came running up towards Nozomu, while looking surprised.
Upon closer
inspection, she was carrying a handbag, which was quite large and bulging, as
if it had something in it.
"I was just out
walking to get some lunch somewhere ....... What are you doing in a place like
this, Somia-chan? And you're even wearing your Ecross uniform. I thought today
is your day off..."
"I ... I'm on my
way home after studying at school..."
Nozomu tilted his head
at Somia, who was mumbling something.
It was true that she
had been doing independent study at Ecross. Irisdina had told him that Somia
had been studying hard recently.
However, her house is
in the administrative district in the northern part of the city. Even if she
were to return home from Ecross, which is in the center of the city, she didn't
have to pass through the commercial district.
And even if she were
to take a detour, it would be suspicious to go to a back alley like this,
regardless of whether she went to a store or a stall.
“…………”
“…………”
Nozomu remained silent
and turned his skeptical gaze on Somia. Perhaps because she knew that her own
statement was unreasonable, she averted her gaze like a kitten whose mischief
had been discovered.
Somia, no longer able
to bear Nozomu's silent stare, slowly opened her mouth.
"U-, umm. Can you
please keep it a secret from my sister?"
"That depends on
the content..."
"Please, I beg
you!"
"O-, okay, I get
it. I won't tell Iris. Is that okay now?"
"I-, I'm glad...
Thank you, Nozomu-san!"
Somia was pleading so
desperately that Nozomu ended up promising not to tell Iris.
He wondered inwardly
if it was a good idea, but when he saw Somia smiling with relief, he couldn't
bring himself to tell Irisdina now.
"Well then,
Nozomu-san, please follow me. Please try to make as little noise as possible."
"O-,
okay..."
Nozomu nodded his head
and followed Somia to the back alley.
"Hey, Somia-chan.
What are you doing ..."
"Shhh~!
Nozomu-san, please be quiet."
"Y-, yes, I'm
terribly sorry ..."
Somia's strange
intimidation made Nozomu involuntarily become respectful.
She bent down and
moved quickly, as if she were a spy or a ninja, to the back of the alley,
hiding in the shadows of the crates and wagons left in the alley.
As for Nozomu, he felt
nothing but discomfort that such a young girl behaved in such a manner.
However, Somia's
intimidation reminded him of his late master, and he decided that it would be
impossible to stop her now. So, he silently followed her.
And when they came to
a turn in the alley, Somia suddenly pulled herself into the shadows of the
alley and called out to him.
"Nozomu-san, look
..."
"What's
that?"
Somia pointed ahead.
When Nozomu looked at the end of the alleyway, he could see a black cat walking
leisurely.
Nozomu felt a sense of
deja vu by the way the cat walked with a strange sense of self-esteem.
"That cat
is..."
"Yes, that's
Kuro-chan."
The cat that Somia
called Kuro was a female black cat that led to the encounter between Nozomu and
Somia.
She was a stray cat
that Somia had seen in Central Park and had given the masculine name
"Kuro" to the cat, even though it was a female.
Somia apparently
thought this name was cute.
"I had not seen
Kuro-chan around the Central Park area recently, so I was worried about it. But
today, on my way home from school, I saw Kuro-chan and chased after her several
times, but each time I lost sight of her..."
"And you were so
determined that you kept chasing after her."
"Yes……"
"So That's why
you want me to keep quiet about this. because it would be embarrassing if Iris
finds out."
Nozomu recalled that
Irisdina seemed to be in quite a good mood about her sister's recent efforts.
Perhaps it was because
she had some growth due to her age, but Somia also noticed her sister's happy
mood, so she didn't want to spoil her sister's expectations.
"Ugh, you're
right ....... Besides, if Mena finds out, she'll scold me and say, 'What you
are doing is inappropriate as the young lady of the Francilt Household!'."
"A young lady
tailing a stray cat ....... Well, it's a sight that makes one's head
spin."
While guessing Somia's
true feelings, Nozomu observed his target, a black cat.
Kuro didn't seem to
notice Nozomu and Somia, and headed towards the end of the alley energetically.
"I understand.
I'll keep quiet about this from Iris and Mena. Rather, I'm afraid we're going
to lose Kuro, so we'd better go after her as soon as possible.
"Wawa~! Let's go,
Nozomu-san."
Somia rushed out in a
panic.
Perhaps impatient at
having almost lost Kuro, Somia completely forgot all about her earlier
ninja-like behaviors and followed the black cat with a hasty pitter-patter.
"Somia-chan. Your
footsteps, footsteps."
"Ah~!"
When she noticed the
sound of her own footsteps, she hurriedly bent over her hips and acted like a
ninja.
Nozomu followed her
with a wry smile on his face.
Kuro, on the other
hand, was strolling down the alleyway with grace and elegance, oblivious to
Somia and Nozomu.
However, her manner
was free and unrestrained, just like a normal cat.
She dived under a cart
behind a store, walked on the roof, and passed through a hole in the wall.
Somia also boldly
chased after Kuro.
"Nozomu-san,
please hold that dolly!"
"Okay,
okay."
She used an assistant
named Nozomu to remove obstacles.
"Nozomu-san,
please run faster. We'll lose sight of her!"
"Well, are you
sure about the footsteps?"
They gave chase in a
hurry so as not to lose sight of the target who was walking on the roof.
"Nozomu-san,
please be a stepping stone. I'm going to jump!"
"Eh? Somia-chan,
are you really able to do that?"
"I'll be fine. If
Nozomu-san and I work together, I can do it!"
Using her assistant as
a springboard, she jumped over a nearly three-meter wall.
Moreover, she was
strangely agile.
Just as she was about
to jump over the wall, Nozomu put his hands together to become a springboard.
Somia put her feet on top of them and jumped up.
Of course, she landed
perfectly.
To put it bluntly,
before they knew it, it was starting to feel more like chasing a criminal than
tailing.
"Kuro-chan, we
won't let you get away this time!"
Correction, for Somia
it was completely a game of chase.
Forgetting all about
her hiding technique, the girl chased after the black cat with all her might.
If she kept chasing
after it with such loud footsteps, of course, Kuro will notice Somia following
her.
The black cat turned
around and glanced at Somia, who was chasing after her, but she didn't seem to
be bothered by it and went back up to the roof, walking leisurely.
"~, You seem to
have a lot of leeways! Alright then. I'll show you how to break that
composure!"
Kuro's behavior seemed
to have aroused Somia's rivalry even more, and her tension shot through the
roof.
Nozomu, while blinking
his eyes at this unexpected aspect of Somia, remembered that, at the age of
five, she had run away from home before.
"Nozomu-san,
please hurry up. Kuro-chan, she went to the roof! Maybe that's the place she's
headed for! We won't let her get away this time!"
"It's just, why
does every single statement you make sound so serious?"
No matter how one
looked at it, what she did was like a military police officer chasing a
criminal. No matter how stubborn she is, isn't that a little too much?
Of course, the cries
of Nozomu's heart would naturally not reach Somia, and with her tension maxed
out, she ran as fast as she could toward her target.
And where she was
going, there was a mountain of obstacles like never before.
Not just carts and
crates, but household pots, chairs, tables, and bookshelves. In addition, beds
and other large pieces of furniture were piled up as if they were castle walls,
completely blocking the alley.
"This much won't
stop me now!"
With a strangely cool
line, Somia boldly jumped onto that pile of obstacles.
She seemed to have
said her lines many times, but the cat she was chasing should be an ordinary
black cat.......
"Hop, hop,
hop~!"
"F-, fast!"
Somia leaps with her
feet on the back of an abandoned, overturned chair. She puts her hand on the
corner of the piled-up desk and pushed her body upward.
Then, once again
placing her feet on the corner of the desk, she leaps again, puts her hands on
the top of the mountain of obstacles, and climbs over it in the same manner as
a side roll.
Somia jumped with her
feet on the back of an abandoned, overturned chair. She placed her hands on the
corner of a table and pushed her body up.
Then, once again
placing her feet on the corner of the table, she jumped again, placed her hands
on the top of the mountain of obstacles, and climbed over it in the same way as
rolling sideways.
Then, with the
fluttering skirt of her school uniform billowing in the air, she made a clean
landing.
It was a glimpse of
Somia's talent, but it was a move that made it hard to tell which one was the
cat.
Nozomu also hurriedly
chased after Somia.
"Kuro-chan, I'm
going to catch you this time! Prepare yourself... Eh?"
Somia finally cornered
Kuro and was about to deliver a speech to make her surrender when suddenly her
speech was cut off.
Somehow, when Nozom
caught up and turned his gaze to the point where Somia's eyes gazed, there was
a vacant lot about the size of a house.
And there was .......
"A cat gathering
..."
More than a dozen cats
were gathered in the vacant lot.
The cats, which were
of various colors such as blotchy, tortoiseshell, and dark brown, were all
sitting, lying down, or playing with each other in their own way.
Among them, the one
that stood out the most was the one at the back of the vacant lot.
In the middle of the
space, where an abandoned rug had probably been spread out, the black cat in
question was gracefully lying down.
Upon closer
inspection, most of the cats in the vacant lot were gathered around Kuro. And
several of the cats that had gathered around the black cat were carefully
licking Kuro's body and grooming her fur.
This composition
clearly showed who the central cat of this gathering was.
"H-, harem ...
No, it's a female cat, so is it a reverse harem?"
"Kuro-chan, so
you're in a place like this..."
Somia casually
approached Kuro.
Then one of the white
cats, who was grooming Kuro, stood in front of Somia and began to intimidate
her.
The other cats also
intimidated Somia as they followed behind the white cat. This cat seemed to be
the leader of Kuro's bodyguards.
However, when Kuro
shouted a single "Nya~", the cats gave way to Somia. It seemed that
Kuro had a solid discipline for her subordinates.
"Thank you~! Oh,
this one is cute. Oh, this one too!"
With Kuro's
permission, Somia immediately tried to pet the cats around her.
However, the cats of
Kuro's bodyguards didn't take too kindly to the sudden intruder, and when Somia
tried to pet them, they immediately slipped through her hands and moved away
from her.
"They're quite a
strong bunch..."
Somia, perhaps
particularly curious about the white cat, tried to get his attention by
beckoning him a bit and twirling her finger in front of his eyes.
On the other hand,
Nozomu could not even approach the harem.
Whenever he tried to
approach, the bodyguards would block his way, just like Somia had experienced
earlier.
There was no choice
but to sit down. Nozomu imitated Somia and beckoned to them, but was suddenly
hit with a cat punch.
"W-, why
..."
He reluctantly
descended to the edge of the vacant lot and sat down, while stroking his
scratched hand.
Then, as if to comfort
him, a calico cat with a beaded pattern came to Nozomu's side.
It seemed that this
cat was not a member of the harem.
Nozomu decided to
watch over Somia while stroking the head of the calico cat.
The white cat was wary
of Somia at first but gradually closed the distance, perhaps because Kuro
allowed Somia, and began to sniff Somia's finger, which was stretched out to
him.
However, after that,
the white cat immediately turned and moved away from Somia.
"Hmm, if this is
not good enough, then ......."
Somia suddenly put her
hand into her bag and pulled out something.
A hair ornament
consisting of two black triangles connected together. Also a black rope-like
object.
"It's cat ears
and a tail! Now I'm one of the cats!"
She took out black cat
ears and tail. They were strangely well-tailored.
Somia put the cat ear
hair ornament on her head and attached the tail to her butt, tucking it into
the back of her skirt and smiling confidently.
"These cat ears
react to the user's mind when we channel magic power into them, and they move
just like real cat ears and tails. With these, I'm sure they will recognize me
as a cat!"
"No, it's
useless. No matter how good the cat ears and tails you put on, more than 90% of
your body is human!"
Despite Nozomu's
remark, Somia approached the white cat. The cat's cat ears and tail were moving
in an adorable manner. It seemed to be true that the cat's ears and tail can be
moved by channeling magic power.
However, there was no
way that the cat could understand Somia's cuteness, and on the contrary, the
white cat became more cautious of Somia, and even more so, she couldn't get
close to it.
"Hmm. Even though
these cat's ears and tail are specially made by Feo-san and Tom-san......
That's strange."
"What are those
guys doing by creating such things?"
What on earth were the
creators of these cat ears and tail thinking when they made such a thing?
Nozomu involuntarily
thought of the faces of his friends, a fox-eared troublemaker and a friend who
was likely to be caught by a Shotacon.
"I don't have a
choice. I have to use my trump card!"
Once again, Somia
thrust her hand into the bag again. Then, the cats present suddenly became very
energetic.
"Ta-daa~, Catnip!
With this, every cat will be swept away!"
What Somia pulled out
was, without a doubt, catnip. It was the ultimate weapon against cats.
She placed it on the
ground in front of her.
Sure enough, the white
cat came back, attracted by the catnip.
While the white cat
sniffed at the catnip on the ground, Somia reached out to touch it.
However, just before
her hand touched the white cat, Kuro, who came from behind, stole the catnip.
Kuro enjoyed the
catnip without regard to the white cat that she pushed away.
The white cat behind
her stretched his spine and waited for Kuro to finish enjoying the catnip.
Indeed, he is the
leader of the bodyguards. However, the white cat's tail is honest, and it
tapped the ground enviously.
"Muu~, Kuro-chan
has stolen it..."
Somia looked
disappointed because she couldn't catch her target.
Perhaps in response to
her feelings, the cat ears and tail she had attached also drooped and hung down
without force. It was a set of cat ears and tail with a high degree of
perfection in a strange place.
"I have no
choice! I'll use my second trump card!"
Somia had no choice
but to slap her skirt with her hand and get up from the spot, and then she put
her hand into her bag again. She took out two catnip sticks.
She held them in both
hands, passed Kuro who was enjoying the catnip, moved in front of the white cat,
and began to move them around a bit in front of the white cat's eyes.
Perhaps because of the
cat's animal instincts, the white cat's eyes also began to move. Finally, the
white cat jumped on the catnip.
"Hurray~, I got
the white cat... Fluffy~! Even the other cats!"
However, Somia's
behavior invited other cats as well.
An army of more than a
dozen cats pounced on Somia at once.
When she had slapped
her skirt earlier, the scent of catnip probably transferred to her clothes. All
the cats jumped on her and rubbed their noses and bodies against hers at once.
The space of only two
meters square was overcrowded with cats, and the girl was immediately covered
in fur balls. However, her face looked somewhat happy.
A comfortable feeling
of cat fur enveloped her whole body. The warmth of cats' body temperature,
which was higher than that of humans, reached the core of her body.
The cat ears and tail
attached to Somia also responded to the excitement she was feeling, and they
moved wildly.
At this moment, a
vacant lot in the commercial district became a space "by cats and for
cats". It had become an existence that could be called a cat space-time.
"Nyan~ Nyan~
Nyan~. Nyan~ Nyan~ Nyan~."
Somia, too, had been
caught up in the cat space-time, and even her speech had become cat-like. In
addition, the way she played was just like that of a cat.
She caught a cat that
was playing with her rake-like rounded hands and rolled it on her belly. She
was so cat-like as if she had grown real cat ears and tail.
On the other hand, Nozomu
was completely excluded along with one calico cat. The calico cat, which he was
petting before he knew it, was rolling by revealing its belly as if to say,
"Pet me!".
Nozomu was wondering
if it was okay to pet a stray cat, and while petting the calico cat's belly, he
looked at Somia, who was on the verge of turning into a cat.
"The birth of a
Somia cat?"
Such words
unintentionally leaked out of Nozomu's mouth at the sight of Somia, which could
be convincingly called a new species of cat.
Somia Cat.
Cute indeed. Her black
tail and ears matched her black hair, and the way she played with the other
cats with mischievous smiles on her face was just as adorable as a cat.
The school uniform she
wore was also a great complement. Uniforms that exuded a neat atmosphere and
cat costumes that evoked a sense of wildness would be received by people as if
they were God's decree for this world.
It may even become an
object of worship for a small number of people. Mainly Irisddina and Victor.
......
"Nyan~ Nyan~...
Oh, this cat is a girl. Oh, this one too... Nozomu-san, these cats are all
female."
"So, it's not a
reverse harem, but a yuri harem......"
No wonder Nozomu was
thrown out. In the first place, it was a space where the male species could
never exist.
What an unhealthy
harem. No, it was doubtful that the word "healthy" was appropriate
for a harem in the first place. ......
Unexpectedly, beside
Nozomu, who let out a sigh, the calico cat mentioned earlier was lying on its
back as if to say, "Pet me more!". No matter how he looked at it,
this was not the normal way to treat someone she had never met before.
"Don't you have
any wild instincts or pride?"
The magnificent navel.
Nozomu was surprised
to see that there was not a trace of wildness in the calico cat's behavior.
However, there was no
way that the calico cat could have understood his words, and without even
having lunch, Nozomu ended up turning into a fully automatic petting machine
dedicated to the calico cat until the cat was satisfied.
"... Oh, this one
is a male."
Turns out, the calico
cat is a male.
