After paying and leaving the cafe, the girls stepped back out into the street.
The sunlight had grown noticeably stronger. The plants along the roadside were vivid under the glare. Tokyo in May was not particularly hot, but the two idol girls were still wrapped up tight—sunglasses, hats, the works.
It was hard not to feel warm.
Things were no easier on Kiyono Inori's side. Elysia Cat had eaten a considerable amount of cake. Elysia Cat herself was thoroughly satisfied, but the weight Inori was carrying had increased significantly—
She was basically like a little pig now.
"Meow."
[My dear Elysia, you've gained weight.]
Following behind the two idol girls, Kiyono Inori communicated with Elysia Cat in cat language.
"Meow meow meow~~"
[Um, I don't know who Elysia is. I'm just a simple, cute little kitty who loves sweets.]
Elysia Cat obediently lay in the girl's arms.
Yawning.
After all, cats can sleep more than eighteen hours a day. Having eaten so many pastries, Elysia Cat was genuinely feeling sleepy.
"Meow mrr?"
[Oh my, how strange. Then how did you end up in my arms, little kitty~? Whose cat are you anyway?!]
"Meow~~"
[Inori-chan, you're so mean. I'm just a little cat—how would I know? I don't know anything at all, meow~!]
"Meow."
[Hmm~ Playing dumb won't help. I'm about to abduct you and take you home. Aren't you going to resist at all?]
"Meow meow, meow."
[Damn it! Bullying me—have you any idea you're bullying the most easily bullied strawberry shortcake within a hundred-mile radius?!]
"…"
Kiyono Inori fell silent.
Tch… this pink pig-cat was getting more and more skilled at being a cat. She was extremely good at exploiting a cat's cuteness, selling her charms so hard it nearly melted the girl's heart.
Elysia Cat: (☆_☆)
Whenever her beautiful owner was resting, she was diligently training herself in "How to Turn Your Owner into a Cat Servant," researching a large amount of relevant material.
In short—
The current Elysia Cat had upgraded on the base stat of "cute" by adding the skill "cat-style charm attack." Every little detail had been polished. She was not a cat to be underestimated!
"I really want to pin this cat down on a bed and kiss her, but there is no bed" — that perfectly summed up Kiyono's current inner state.
"By the way, Inori, do you have anywhere you're planning to go?"
Sumita Mana, walking in front, suddenly turned around and asked with curiosity.
"…Eh?" Kiyono Inori blinked. "No concrete plans, really. I was just thinking of continuing to walk around a bit."
The purpose of this outing was to take Elysia Cat out to play (scratch that).
It was to help Elysia Cat complete the sealing of "Fairy Magic." Though she had no idea what kind of Fairy Magic it was, Fairy Magic had one defining trait: it turned lived experiences into phenomena.
Hmm…
Seen that way, the experience of "being fed until full by three beautiful girls" was rather subtle. What kind of Fairy Magic would that even produce?
The girl could not guess.
All she could say was: Fairy Magic was just like that. After all, who would have guessed that the prerequisite for a Fairy Magic that "changes luck" was bathing Elysia Cat?
"Whoa, nothing you really want to see~~? Inori, are you interested in Sumimi? Want to come visit Sumimi or something!"
Misumi Uika enthusiastically made a suggestion.
"Uh…"
"I already checked with the agency," Sumita Mana cut in, predicting Inori's reaction. "It won't be a bother."
"Sumimi, huh…"
Kiyono Inori's expression turned complicated.
Ever since arriving in Tokyo, she had been deliberately avoiding "band girls." But this Sumimi was the genuine Uika plus the donut lady combo. The group's atmosphere was light and cheerful—surely she wouldn't get dragged into some strange black-hole gravity well, right?
Instinctively, she wanted to use the Emperor's Scepter to investigate—
But "allowing the Emperor's Scepter to access the local network" was a fairly uncontrollable action, so Kiyono Inori instead turned her attention to her Cat System.
Kiyono Inori:
[Are you there? Cat System!]
Cat System:
[I'm here… onegai, Host-sama, onegai, if I don't have mobile data permissions then watashi—!]
Kiyono Inori:
[Check Sumimi's agency. Mainly see if there's any local occult faction behind the scenes.]
She enabled the Data Network function for the Cat System. She had no idea how it worked, but once this was on, the Cat System could connect to the internet of the current world.
Cat System:
[I checked. Sumimi's agency is Win-Wing Production, a girl idol agency acquired by the Toyokawa financial group.]
Cat System:
[The agency has detected activity by magical girls, monster executives, Stand users, vampires, and Heroic Spirits… but they shouldn't pose any threat to the Host.]
Magical girls and monster executives, she understood. Stand users—she had met Customer Service Sakiko plus The World, so that barely counted as familiar.
But—
Vampires and Heroic Spirits? What the heck were those?!
Cat System:
[Vampires can't be traced to a clear prototype, but the Heroic Spirit is Zhuge Liang from Ya Boy Kongming!. Even though it's not from the Moon-type world, this should still count as a Heroic Spirit, right?]
"…"
The girl had no idea where to even start complaining.
"Inori, come on, come on~~! There's a place to rest! During the day we can tour backstage, and at night there's a concert. Wow, if you think about it like that, Inori is basically an unofficial Sumimi member already!"
The real Uika was already acting spoiled.
"Alright, alright, I'll go, okay!"
Kiyono sighed, then held up Elysia Cat as a shield. "The cat's getting sleepy—stop tugging already."
"Wow~ she really is yawning, so cute! Inori, after that day, did you take her home to raise her? What's her name?"
Uika's sparkling eyes were locked onto Elysia Cat.
From Uika's perspective, Elysia Cat was a case of "saved Kiyono Inori on a rainy sick day and then got adopted."
"Mm… just call her Ely."
Naming was not Kiyono Inori's strong suit. Naturally, she simply used the English version of Elysia.
"So cute."
After watching the cat for a few seconds, Uika turned to the donut lady. "Mana, Mana, I'm so lonely. I really want to raise a kitty too~!"
"Eh? Then you can just raise one, right?"
Mana said absentmindedly while staring at the cute cat. Half a second later, she realized something was wrong. "Wait—Uika, doesn't your apartment ban tenants from keeping pets? Are you planning to…"
"Keep it at the agency~!"
Uika beamed brightly. "Or, Inori could bring Ely-cat to our agency often too, you know (≥﹏≤)!"
"How much do you like this cat, seriously?"
Kiyono Inori weighed Elysia Cat in her arms and complained with a deadpan face. "She's really heavy."
"Ehehe~~ So Inori agrees?"
"Please allow me to refuse. I'm just an ordinary student, not an idol like you~ I still need to attend school properly. You can come visit the cat at my place though—my house is pretty close to our school."
Kiyono gently declined the blonde girl's request.
"Whoa, really? I can? Really really? If that's the case, I might actually work hard to come to class!"
"Find a better reason to attend class, idiot!"
To be honest, Kiyono Inori was not very good at dealing with Misumi Uika. This kid was just too lively and cheerful, while her own personality leaned much more toward quiet.
Meanwhile—
Sumita Mana had barely joined the conversation, because she had been observing the curled-up Elysia Cat the entire time.
As a top-tier regional magical girl—Pure White—
She was extremely sensitive to magical power. Stand users, monster executives, vampires—she had dealt with all of them before. In short, she was the type who understood the occult side fairly well.
Mana felt that this cat was not simple.
Yet the aura she gave off was clearly not that of a magical familiar. She had never seen anything like her before, and yet her appearance was extraordinarily cute.
Come to think of it—
Recently, her own magical familiar had gone missing.
In theory… losing a magical familiar was extremely dangerous. Without the information provided by a familiar, a magical girl could not arrive in time to stop monsters when they caused trouble.
But strangely enough… after her familiar went missing, those monster executives who used to cause trouble every day seemed to have vanished as well.
Normal schedule.
The dark circles that had once troubled the donut lady were gone. In short, it felt like she had finally gone on vacation.
[I hope the magical familiar and the monster executives stay lost a bit longer.]
Magical Girl—Pure White looked at Elysia Cat and prayed silently in her heart.
…
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Let me know if I got a name wrong. I know basically nothing about MyGO.