I Became the Cat in the Academy.

Done.

I did it!

- Myaong.

"Just as expected of me."

While savoring the feeling of liberation from finally becoming free,

I was continuously grooming myself.

'Stupid Sia. She should have closed the zipper properly.'

I was startled when I woke up to find myself in that cramped bag,

But fortunately, I discovered the slightly open zipper and could slip through the gap.

The fact that Sia wasn't around at that moment could really be called divine luck.

If I had been caught, I would have been captured again.

- Myaa.

"Hehe."

I don't know what evil witch Sia was planning to do...

But I'm really glad I was able to prevent that plan beforehand.

'Good.'

I don't know what room this is,

But there wasn't a single sign of anyone around.

Which meant nobody was there.

Finally feeling relaxed, I stretched my stiff body with a long streeetch- and smiled happily.

I'm free now.

Sia, who kept me captive, isn't here.

This means everything is my world now.

The happiness welling up made me start humming.

- Myaa, myaoong- myaong myaa!

...So cats can hum too.

My knowledge has increased.

- Myaong?

"Oh?"

Looking around in high spirits,

I realized one interesting fact.

- Myaa, myaa myaa.

"This is Pudding Academy, isn't it?"

I thought the scenery through the window looked familiar.

It seems I had returned to Pudding Academy again.

'...Ah. So that's what it was.'

Now, the puzzle pieces fit together.

Sia is a professor at Pudding Academy.

And now, judging by the intense sunlight coming in from outside, it must be morning.

- Myaong!

"Sia went to work!"

And, obviously, she must have brought me here to keep an eye on me.

But for some reason, she had to leave me behind,

And I happened to wake up at just that timing.

'Perfect deduction.'

The nameplate reading 'Professor Sia - First Year Advisor' right in front of my eyes confirmed my suspicions.

'In that case...'

This place,

This faculty office is filled with complicated-looking papers and the latest computers,

Important documents must surely be piled up for Sia.

- ...Myaoong.

"...Sia, you made a mistake."

To leave me alone in such an important place.

I'll make you regret it.

I smiled an evil little devil's smile,

Then, I looked at Sia's nameplate.

It was so shiny, it must have been quite expensive.

That nameplate,

I just went tap,

And pushed it.

- Crash!

The poor nameplate, unable to resist my touch even once,

Instantly fell to the floor,

And shattered with a loud crash.

- Myaa.

"Oh."

Deep inside my heart,

A small spark flickered.

A ticklish feeling.

A strange feeling.

A gradually spreading thrill.

Wait.

I feel like something similar happened before.

...Well.

Doesn't matter.

- Myaong.

I,

Feeling this inexplicable déjà vu,

Closed my eyes.

- Myaa?

"Huh?"

And when I opened them,

As expected if expected,

The faculty office had become a complete mess.

Not just Sia's desk,

But all the desks of other unknown professors, too.

- Myaa.

"Oh."

Oh dear.

- Myaong...

"Hmm..."

Looking at the shredded paper pieces and

The computers with smoke rising from them,

I fell into deep, deep contemplation.

Now.

I have two choices.

Either go back into the bag and pretend to be sleeping quietly like a dead mouse,

Or slip through that slightly open office door and escape.

The former was a good option that would both irritate Sia and let me get away with it quietly.

After all,

There was no reason for Sia to bring me here in a bag.

If it was discovered that I was here, it would mean trouble for Sia herself.

However,

This method had a fatal flaw.

Going back into the bag.

Meaning,

Willingly putting myself back in Sia's grasp.

- Myaa.

"Hmm."

After finally finding freedom,

Going back into Sia's embrace?

- Myaoong-!

"Absolutely not!"

I dashed straight for the door.

Chii is free!

......

......

Meanwhile,

"Hiyaaah-!"

A girl,

To loosen her body stiffened from long hours of studying,

I was doing stretches on the playground early in the morning.

The pink hair reflected in the sunlight as she moved,

The pudding-shaped badge attached to that hair,

The nametag reading 'Haru' on her black and white uniform indicated her identity well.

"Haaah..."

Haru loved this time.

Although it was only a 10-minute stretching time,

It was one of the few times she could forget about both daily stress and academic stress, and enjoy herself comfortably.

Feeling the warm sunlight and cool morning breeze,

Stroking the grass swaying as if showing off its presence in the empty playground,

Listening to the birds' cute chirping sounds.

She loved it all.

- Dong-! Dong-!

But good times always pass quickly.

Haru smiled bitterly as she looked at the chiming clock tower.

8:00 AM.

Though it wasn't school time yet,

It was time to go study for the morning.

Haru opened the main entrance door while trying hard to hold back her escaping yawns.

"Huh?"

But.

Haru's eyes, as she entered the main entrance,

- Myaong...

Caught sight of something struggling up the stairs.

A snow-white ball of fur occasionally making cute and pitiful myaoong... sounds.

'Oh my.'

Haru, recognizing what that ball of fur was, had to cover her mouth.

'A-a baby cat?! Oh no. It's so cute!'

A cat so small it could be mistaken for a cotton ball

Was struggling up the stairs one step at a time, each step bigger than its body.

Occasionally when it stepped on dust balls on the stairs,

It would slip right back down.

- Mya, myauu...

Trying to climb one step but sliding down two,

Trying to climb one step but sliding down three,

Each time, as if feeling very wronged,

Its tiny curled whiskers would tremble.

Something cute doing cute things.

Haru was overwhelmed with the urge to immediately comfort this poor creature.

But.

In that split second,

Haru managed to barely suppress her desire.

Because she remembered hearing on the news once

That lost baby cats shouldn't be touched by humans -

They become unrecognizable when mixed with human scent.

So Haru could only

Watch the poor cat's struggles.

'...Who was in charge of cleaning the main stairs yesterday?'

While thinking about the cleaning staff

Who could be blamed for making the cat keep slipping?

Whoever it was, making this cute cat suffer like this.

She could never forgive them.

Haru clenched her fists.

- Myaa, myaaa...

But.

Something seemed wrong with the cat.

Perhaps tired from endlessly climbing up and down the stairs,

It was making distressed sounds unlike before.

'What should I do...?'

Haru's mind became complicated.

Was it uncomfortable somewhere?

Was it in pain?

Was it sick?

But she shouldn't touch it.

After continuously agonizing, Haru finally made a decision.

To help the cat.

- Myaaak...

"I-it's oka-"

- Ptoo.

But.

The timing seemed a bit bad.

"...Oh."

Just as Haru reached out her hand to pick up the cat,

It spits out a soaking wet ball of fur onto it.

'So that's what it was.'

A hairball.

When cats groom themselves, fur builds up inside their bodies.

And the act of coughing up this fur is called a hairball.

'Thank goodness.'

Haru felt relieved.

Having experience raising cats before, Haru knew this was a completely natural behavior.

Since fur can't be digested,

Of course, it needs to be coughed up.

- Myaa?! Myaooong?!

But the cat itself didn't seem to know this.

Seemingly very flustered and sorry about throwing up on a stranger's hand,

It tightly held both hands...

No, held Haru's one hand tightly with its two soft paws,

And started shaking them up and down.

Somehow, it looked just like a company employee apologizing sincerely,

Haru had to desperately try to hold back her laughter.

'...How cute.'

Haru felt her patience reaching its limit.

She was going crazy with the desire to pat that milky, soft-looking fur right now.

Were cats always this cute?

The cat she had before certainly wasn't like this.

- Myaong...

The cat, perhaps anxious when no response came from Haru,

Pushed away the hairball it had coughed up far away and started carefully licking the spot clean.

Was this its way of showing sincerity?

'I can't hold back anymore.'

And that

Became the signal that made Haru's patience explode.

- Myaa?!

"Good kitty, good kitty."

Pat pat.

Pat pat.

Her unleashed desire showed no signs of subsiding.

Once Haru's hand started petting, it wouldn't stop.

"You're really too cute. Want to live with big sister? Ah, big sister's name is Haru. What's your name?"

- Myaoooong?!

The baby cat, its eyes spinning round and round, unable to understand this whole situation,

Chii could only

Let out meaningless cries

While being patted.