The Heroines Want to Confess.

Chapter 147: Hayasaka and the Cat

Sunday morning.

Hayasaka Ai discovered a dying cat in the garden.

"Nyan~" It was a white cat, very cute in appearance, but now on the brink of death, covered in wounds, with nothing left related to the word beautiful.

"It's dying." Ai-chan looked down at it.

"Wanna be saved?"

She had just finished discussing the idea of trimming the garden with the gardener when she spotted the cat near the inner courtyard—probably snuck in unnoticed.

Ai-chan hated cats.

When she was little, both she and Kaguya had been scratched by a cat, and ever since then, she hadn't dared touch the creature. Cats, typically regarded as adorable by most people, were anything but cute in Hayasaka Ai's eyes.

The white cat revealed a surprised expression full of human-like emotion.

Cat: ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)?

Cats don't talk! Does this girl have a screw loose? She even asked if I wanted to be saved? If I had known, I would've picked a different target from the start!

This white cat was in fact an Oddity named Sawarineko, whose usual hobby was playing dead and then possessing kind-hearted humans who took pity on it and buried it.

Once possession succeeded, it would use the Energy Drain ability of the Sawarineko species to absorb their life force. This particular Sawarineko was female, and quite intelligent. She understood the importance of sustainable development, so she never resorted to wiping out humans entirely.

In other words, she had never killed anyone.

Nyan~ stupid human.

/ᐠ ≖⩊≖マ

After the failed attempt at contact, the white cat continued to pretend to be severely injured and tried to crawl toward the mansion gate.

Seeing this, Hayasaka Ai stepped in front of it and blocked its path with her foot.

"The Shinomiya estate isn't a place you can just enter and leave as you wish, little kitty." Ai-chan smiled gently. This was the first time she had seen such a smart cat.

It even knew how to exploit human sympathy.

She'd found herself an interesting toy.

"Nyan!" The white cat was furious.

It charged straight at Ai-chan.

Even though Hayasaka Ai was afraid of cats, it wasn't to the point of trembling in fear. She agilely turned her body and, with a single move, dodged the sudden attack.

"Looks like you really like me, huh? Don't worry, I'll save you soon." Hayasaka Ai thought that raising such an interesting pet wouldn't be so bad. Besides, stray cats weren't expensive and were easy to keep.

Recently she had rented an apartment nearby—if she couldn't keep the cat here, she could bring it there.

She squatted down.

The white fur on the cat bristled—it was truly angry now.

"Hm? Did I guess wrong? You actually don't like me?" Ai-chan chuckled a few times, terribly amused.

Suddenly.

A "Nyan~" sound echoed.

The cat convulsed all over, then collapsed to the ground.

At first, Hayasaka Ai thought it was playing dead again, but unexpectedly, after a few minutes, it really stopped moving.

Ai-chan walked closer and saw that it might truly be dead.

'...Lame.'

Life really was fragile, but something about this was strange. Just a moment ago, it had been so full of life. Even with all those injuries, it should have had enough strength to hold out until she brought it to the vet.

She didn't dwell on it.

Hayasaka Ai had no real sense of attachment to stray cats, nor did she feel any pity, but she still found a spot and buried it.

————

The cat followed along Hayasaka Ai's hands as she buried it, slipping into Ai-chan's body—or more precisely, into the depths of her soul.

If all had gone well, it should have been able to possess Hayasaka Ai's body for a while, drain her life force until she was nearly empty, and then spare her life.

But unfortunately—

After this Sawarineko entered the target's psyche, it immediately lost all sensation and dissolved inside.

The mind of Hayasaka Ai, repressed for over ten years, the pressure of daily life, the guilt toward Shinomiya Kaguya—everything had caused her endless torment. She longed for a normal youth like other girls, but her role as a servant of the Shinomiya family made that impossible. Even dating her boyfriend had to be squeezed into what little time she had.

That massive pressure far exceeded normal human limits. After accumulating for over a decade, it had, under the influence of the Oddity, condensed into a destructive spiritual force—but instead of being released, it was stored up inside Hayasaka Ai's body.

Now, she had become extremely dangerous.

...

Outside.

Hayasaka Ai stood in front of Shinomiya Kaguya's room, resting a hand on her forehead, which was throbbing slightly.

"(ノ _ <,, )

After a few seconds, the pained expression on Ai-chan's face was forcibly suppressed, replaced by the flawless demeanor of a maid.

She couldn't erase the pain, but she didn't want Shinomiya Kaguya to worry.

If she had to cry, she only wanted to cry in the arms of her mother and Sakurai Saki.

————

Night fell.

In Hayasaka Ai's room, the sound of steady breathing echoed.

Suddenly, a pair of white cat ears sprouted from the top of her head, and her shimmering golden hair with its European elegance was like it had been painted over with white paint. Very quickly, the golden hue was dyed into pure snow-white.

Ai-chan—no, she should now be called by a different name.

Nyan-saka? Hayasa-nyan? Shiro-saka? Kuro-saka?

A temporary name hadn't been decided yet.

But the origin must be made clear.

Inside Hayasaka Ai's body, the Sawarineko that had died that morning, under the effect of the spiritual energy, reassembled and transformed into a highly unusual Oddity.

Put simply — a second personality.

This was a second personality born from immense pressure, carrying all of Hayasaka Ai's memories — similar, yet different.

"Nyan?" 'Hayasaka Ai' licked her right hand. "Finally out~"

"It's been 1, 1, 1... anyway, a really long time."

As a second personality mutated from Sawarineko, Hayasaka Nyan didn't know how to count—she could only count up to 1. She couldn't understand sentences longer than three lines, and her innocence was in complete contrast to Hayasaka Ai, who treated lying as naturally as breathing. Hayasaka Nyan didn't know how to lie.

Hayasaka Nyan pressed her fingers to her forehead, changed clothes, put on a mask, and opened the window to slip outside. She was preparing to release the pressure for Hayasaka Ai—otherwise, this body would collapse.

She leapt out, each jump covering dozens of meters.

...

At night, in a narrow alleyway in Yoyogi, Shibuya.

A few thugs were blocking someone's way. In front of them stood a scantily clad woman, her face filled with fear as she took a few steps back.

These guys had agreed on a price, but suddenly changed the deal. When she refused, they tried to force her.

"Hey! 10,000 yen for a night, didn't we agree? Huh!!? You fucking bitch!"

The woman looked disgusted.

"You said 30,000, now it's 10,000? Forget it. And now all five of you want in at once? You think I have that many holes? Huh?! What the fuck kind of joke is this!"

Suddenly, a cold female voice rang out in the alley—

"Hey! You guys? What do you think you're doing?"

At the other end of the alley, a white-haired girl wearing a baseball cap stepped in. Her outfit was made of sharp contrasting colors. Even with a mask on, her outstanding beauty couldn't be hidden. Below were jeans, and under her jacket was a white short-sleeved T-shirt. Her figure under the neon lights was incredibly alluring.

Her outfit perfectly matched Shibuya's style.

"Babe, you thinking of joining us?" One of the thugs raised an eyebrow at Hayasaka Nyan.

He hadn't yet realized how serious this was.

"Take your fucking eyes off me. Don't look at things you shouldn't." Hayasaka Nyan noticed his eyes were glued to her face.

Her tone was extremely cold—perhaps only the Kaguya from a year ago could compare to her now.

She didn't see beings called [humans]—only trash.

Hayasaka Nyan inherited the memories of Hayasaka Ai, but the older ones left little impression. After all, she had been just a cat. Right now, she only cared about a few certain people.

Ten minutes later.

A new pile of trash had been added to the alley. They groaned and whimpered like a bunch of zombies howling in agony.

"Thank you, miss." The woman who had been about to be gang-raped bowed her head in gratitude.

Hayasaka Nyan didn't even glance at her and left the alley directly.

She hadn't touched those thugs directly—she had used the spiritual energy inside her body. Hayasaka Nyan didn't want to dirty her hands and was afraid that Sakurai Saki would think she was dirty.

"...So mysterious."

The woman pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of Hayasaka Nyan's back.

Long, snow-white hair billowing behind her, a baseball cap, a proud figure.

She opened Instagram, uploaded the photo, and captioned it: Mysterious Hero Appears in Shibuya.

As for Hayasaka Nyan, she had no idea this happened. She was just a cat. She didn't know how to use a phone, let alone any apps.

She was already on her way to the next "hunt."

Tonight, Hayasaka Nyan went hunting.