Seeing Wakaba Mutsumi exposed to outsiders in her fully bestialized cat form, Fuuki felt an inexplicable surge of displeasure.
One of the necessary conditions for reaching 'Heaven' is 'trustworthy friends.' Fragmented memories of Enrico Pucci from another world repeatedly emphasized this point.
Fuuki knew that he could not complete this pilgrimage, fraught with thorns and filth, by himself.
He needed the guidance of 'angels' and the embrace of 'believers.'
And Mutsumi, the girl who could understand his loneliness, share his secrets, and even bear his burdens, was undoubtedly one of the most crucial cornerstones in his plan.
However, at this moment, the cornerstone had been shaken.
He had failed to protect his friend, allowing her to be exposed in such a 'vulnerable' and even 'ridiculous' state to an outsider.
This blatant mistake was like a silent slap, hitting him hard across the face.
A burning sense of shame, rarely felt, surged from the depths of his cool, indifferent heart, scorching his reason.
"People can die from shame."
"Feeling shame for one's own mistakes, becoming weak, and thus failing."
A deep, blurry voice, yet one with an unforgettable familiarity, echoed like a ghost in the depths of his mind.
"You don't need to tell me!"
Forcibly dispelling the noise in his head, Fuuki realized—the pale green kitten that had been squatting on his shoulder had now lightly leaped in front of Yuutenji Nyamu.
Two cats, one large and one small, one purple and one green, were communicating with each other in a cat language he completely could not understand, as if no one else was present.
============
"Meow, meow meow." Wakaba Mutsumi blinked her amber eyes, calmly looking at Nyamu.
She extended a small paw, with an undeniable force, gently tapping the back of Nyamu's hand, which was still instinctively reaching for Fuuki's ankle, stopping her movement, her voice flat and unruffled.
"Meow, meow—" Mutsumi's tone was flat, as if stating a pre-existing fact.
"Fuuki is allergic to cats."
"You don't need to."
"Huh?"
Nyamu's eyes suddenly widened, her cat ears perked up in surprise, then twitched twice in alertness.
She secretly glanced at the man next to her, shrouded in a black shadow, with an indifferent expression, seemingly named "Fuuki," confirming that there was no sign on his face that he understood cat language (though she couldn't see his face, she could feel it), before cautiously, with a hint of probing, she whispered in response:
"Meow, meow meow."
"But...aren't you also a cat?"
"..." The pale green kitten was silent for a few seconds, its small ears imperceptibly folded down slightly, a hint of loss flashing in its eyes.
"...Meow."
"...This is different."
The girl keenly caught the subtle emotional change in the other party. Her heart stirred, a glimmer of light brightened in her pink cat eyes, and she immediately puffed out her chest (though she was wearing a delivery uniform), "meowing" back with a more confident (or perhaps emboldened) tone:
"Meow—meow meow meow!"
"Oh, I see! But I'm also very capable! I can help too! Really!"
However, her "confidence" was met with the other party's scrutinizing gaze.
"Stare—"
Mutsumi's gaze unceremoniously passed over Nyamu and landed on the bright yellow delivery electric bike, which was emitting wisps of white smoke, completely broken down, and looked like a pile of scrap metal.
The meaning was self-evident: your 'mount,' your 'combat power,' has already proven your level of 'reliability.'
Nyamu's cheeks instantly flushed red, her cat ears awkwardly flattened backward.
"Mutsumi, no need to get entangled with her." Fuuki finally spoke, his deep voice breaking the strange "cat language conversation."
He called the pale green cat and turned to leave the dirty alley, which was filled with the smell of blood and gunpowder.
Yuutenji Nyamu's presence, at this moment, only meant trouble and variables.
"Meow—ugh..." Nyamu subconsciously wanted to meow loudly to try and make him stay, but then suddenly snapped awake, quickly covering her mouth, forcibly swallowing the cat meow, and switching back to human language mode.
"You just called her [Mutsumi], right!" She shouted at Fuuki's back, which was about to disappear at the alley entrance, "It sounds like a girl's name...Is she your family? Or a lover? Did she become like this because of this incident?"
Fuuki's footsteps paused.
He slowly turned around, the shadow under his hood obscuring his expression. His gaze did not fall on Nyamu, but on the pale green kitten quietly walking to his feet. His gaze was calm, focused, and carried an almost solemn meaning.
"Meow..." Mutsumi also looked up, her amber cat eyes quietly looking back at him.
"She is a close friend." Fuuki's voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable weight.
"A close friend?" Nyamu's eyes lit up, as if she had grasped something crucial.
"Then I think I can understand how you feel right now!" She leaned against the cold wall, standing up with some difficulty but firmly. Her bright yellow uniform was covered in dust and stains, but it couldn't hide the fire burning in her eyes.
"I also have important friends! Who are facing the same predicament as...Mutsumi-san!"
Her voice trembled slightly, but it was incredibly forceful.
In the girl's mind, Chihaya Anon's large pink ears, her wet, trusting dog-like eyes, her bouncing figure in the room, and the heartbreakingly peaceful sloth-like sleeping faces of Mr. and Mrs. Chihaya flashed instantly... A feeling mixed with worry, responsibility, and strong protectiveness surged in her chest.
"My desire to save her is utterly genuine!"
Nyamu almost screamed, her voice echoing in the dead silent alley, making her own cat ears buzz.
Fuuki half-turned, his deep black eyes piercing through the shadows covering his face, for the first time truly and intently falling on Yuutenji Nyamu's face.
He scrutinized her eyes, wet with excitement and trembling from shouting, as if analyzing a precious experimental sample.
He was savoring.
Savoring the desperate will to protect that burst from the depths of the girl's soul. Savoring the pure and fervent emotional torrent ignited by a loved one falling into crisis.
Then, he caught it.
An extremely faint, yet incredibly clear fluctuation, emanating from Yuutenji Nyamu.
It was not the fluctuation of Stand energy, but something more fundamental, more mysterious—'Gravity'!
A kind of Gravity, originating from the same source as what he expected to be born among band members, yet slightly different!
It was more primitive, more personal, stemming from the obsession deep within a person's heart.
This unexpected discovery turned the scrutiny in Fuuki's eyes into astonishment, followed by intense interest.
Another individual capable of generating 'Gravity,' whose observational value instantly rose a notch.
However—
It was precisely this suddenly elevated value that instantly replaced the nascent interest in Fuuki's heart with a stronger possessiveness (or rather, a possessiveness towards the experimental sample).
Such a valuable observation subject must not be easily lost in this chaotic vortex; she must be immediately and safely sent away from this death zone.
His gaze subtly swept over Nyamu's neck, his fingertips slightly curled under his tactical gloves, the power of White Snake silently condensing.
The simplest and most efficient way was...just as Fuuki's cold will was about to turn into action—
Yuutenji Nyamu moved!
She abruptly turned, no longer looking at Fuuki, but with an almost tragic posture, rushed towards the pile of metal debris emitting white smoke deep in the alley—her little electric scooter!
"Perhaps to you, I am no more reliable than that cat lady, and acting with you would only be a burdensome drag."
She bent down, ignoring the scorching hot vehicle body and the pungent smell of burning, and with all her strength dragged the heavy little electric scooter out of a pile of construction waste and righted it.
The vehicle body was twisted, the front wheel slightly deformed, the outer casing shattered, and the motor part was still emitting its last wisps of white smoke, declaring its complete demise.
Nyamu took a deep breath and straddled the pile of metal that had been declared scrap.
She raised her hand, her gaze becoming extraordinarily focused, as if there was not air before her, but a floating operating interface that only she could see.
Her fingertips tapped and slid in the air, her eyes fixed on a certain point in the void, as if she was making a life-or-death decision.
"But..."
Her voice suddenly rose, carrying a sense of resolve, every word resounding powerfully:
"I also have the resolve of a 'Warrior'!"
The moment her voice fell—
Yuutenji Nyamu's finger, with an unhesitating heaviness, pressed down sharply into the void in front of her!
Buzz—!
A pale blue data stream, like flowing water, appeared out of thin air behind her without warning.
The light had the cold, futuristic texture of advanced technology, yet like living ribbons, it instantly surged towards the dilapidated little electric scooter!
The light completely enveloped the vehicle body, and the data stream, like the most precise nanobots, frantically poured into every crack, every damage, every burnt circuit node.
The grating sound of metal twisting, the humming of energy repair, and the subtle popping sounds of structural reshaping intertwined.
Under the gaze of Fuuki and Mutsumi, a miracle occurred.
The shattered outer casing rapidly mended as if time were reversing, the twisted frame was forcibly straightened and reinforced by an invisible immense force, burnt wires were replaced by brand new circuits, and deformed tires instantly regained their full, round shape. The charred marks faded, revealing a brand new, shiny bright yellow paint job underneath.
In just a few seconds.
The Teiai delivery electric bike, which a second ago lay on the ground like scrap metal, now looked brand new, its body as smooth as a mirror, its tires full, its dashboard flashing a healthy blue light, even more perfect than when it rolled off the factory floor. It was as if the desperate high-speed chase and fatal encirclement had never happened!
Yuutenji Nyamu sat upright on the brand-new "Little Hornet."
A solemn aura, completely different from her petite figure and disheveled appearance, forged by battle and truly belonging to a 'Warrior,' suddenly rose from her like invisible flames!
That aura was mixed with determination, sacrifice, and an indescribable sense of tragedy.
In her field of vision, a line of translucent blue text clearly appeared:
[Title: 'Working Warrior' (Equipped)]
['Working Warrior': Although working, I am also a warrior!]
[Title Effect: I Am A Warrior! / I Am Working! (Switchable)]
[Acquisition Condition: Complete three work tasks with a danger level no less than '★★★★' (4/3 completed, exceeding requirement).]
However, beneath this solemn warrior's aura, Nyamu's firm little face twitched slightly, hiding an immense heartache akin to cutting off flesh and draining blood.
In the corner of her vision, lines of alarming red text flashed wildly:
[Purchased: 'Intermediate Repair Kit']
[Cost: -190,000 yen]
[Total Wealth: 1,200 yen (1,200 yen is streamer income, temporarily unavailable for withdrawal)]
[Warning! Your wealth balance is insufficient! Emergency download and authorization have been provided for: 'Teiai Finance,' 'Togawa Pay Later,' 'Maki's IOU.']
[Current Total Debt: -180,000 yen (daily interest 3.5%, compound interest)]
Yuutenji Nyamu, gloriously in debt!
Yes, the manifestation of her Stand ability was not a simple information panel and quest log, but rather like moving an entire system from an online game into reality, even possessing a [Shop] module, with real-world money as the circulating currency!
Her hand, gripping the brand-new handlebars, trembled slightly.
It wasn't fear, but the heartache of instantly becoming a "debt-ridden woman."
But when she looked up, towards the Ikebukuro street outside the alley, which still resembled hell, in her pink cat eyes, only the warrior's resolve to rush to the battlefield remained.
"Please become my companion! I won't hold you back!"
"..."
After a few seconds of silence, a new notification bar popped up from the corner of the girl's vision.
[Notification: Enrico Pucci (Priest/???), Wakaba Mutsumi (Cat), have joined the party.]
"...Huh?"
Although they were just two ordinary names, and even labeled with professions like in an online game... the cat senses awakened after her beastialization kept reminding her... "Absolutely, do not reveal that you can know the other party's information."
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