Something about this world was a little strange.
Yimi looked down at the Fish Soup simmering beside her, but unlike the Madoka world where things were outright miracle-born, she couldn't figure out what was off just by staring at it.
"It was just nighttime… cat loli?"
Same as before, the fierce-eyed boy stood in front of Yimi, staring at her in bewilderment.
"Stinky!" Yimi pointed at him.
That was the smell she'd caught while sleeping. Faint, but there.
"Suddenly getting told I smell bad by a little loli like I'm some middle-aged old man??" The boy recoiled, frantically sniffing himself. Nothing weird. He looked back down at Yimi. "By the way, you really do love making soup in the middle of the street, huh."
"Mm?"
Natsuki Subaru—that was the boy's name. From the modern tracksuit he wore, it wasn't hard to tell he was an isekai traveler.
But no hit-and-run driver was responsible. He'd just been walking home from the supermarket when the street around him became, well, another world's street entirely. He hadn't been especially satisfied with his life back home, so suddenly getting isekai'd wasn't that hard to accept.
What he couldn't wrap his head around was the situation right in front of him. He could've sworn it was nighttime just a moment ago—so why was he back on this street? He vaguely remembered running into a silver-haired girl, then getting attacked while helping her search for something stolen.
Subaru rubbed his stomach. No pain.
"Want some Fish Soup?" The little cat, now with an extra portion, generously ladled a bowl and held it out.
"Fish Soup?" Subaru blinked, then shook his head and snapped back to himself. "Thanks, little sis, but I've got stuff to do. Anyway, you should head home first—running around the streets like this, you might run into bad people."
Without another word, the boy took off running in a specific direction.
"Mm?"
Yimi reached out a hand toward his retreating figure, confused, then looked back down at the Fish Soup and thought for a moment.
She was curious about what was going on, but the fierce-eyed person had already run off. She couldn't smell him anymore.
It wasn't until the old man behind her placed an appa on top of her head that she snapped out of it.
"Don't just space out—hurry up and pack your things and go home."
Now Yimi had two portions of Fish Soup. But just like the slow-to-react Subaru, she didn't understand what had happened either. Well, more soup was a good thing regardless.
She stowed the second Fish Soup into her Storage Space and continued wandering the streets aimlessly. The people of this world weren't as nosy as those in the high-rise city world—at least when a child was walking alone without crying or making a fuss, nobody came up to bother her.
Sneaky, sneaky—
As she was about to round a corner, Yimi's ears perked up. Her steps grew careful, switching to tiptoeing.
"Looks like she noticed us early. Hetaro, you're useless."
"It's because onee-san laughed out loud before we even sprang the trap."
From behind the corner, the triplets she'd seen a few days ago squeezed out—though only two of them, apparently having spotted Yimi on the street and deciding to set up an ambush on the fly.
"Bad cats, just like Chen." Yimi pulled out her gohei and pointed it at them.
The one in front—"Mimi"—clenched her little fists. "How dare you call us bad cats! You're the worse one! That ink didn't wash off for two whole days, and Mimi got laughed at by milady for two whole days straight!"
But her tone sounded a bit stiff.
"You deserved it." Yimi crossed her arms.
Her ears suddenly perked up again—but it was already too late.
"This is our real trap!" A cheerful voice appeared from behind, and the real Mimi's shoe print successfully stamped onto the little cat's rear before she scampered away on her short legs.
"Ha ha ha, bet you didn't expect it—I'm the real Mimi! (>▽<)"
"But that kind of disguise doesn't actually mean anything to someone who can't tell us apart anyway…" Hetaro muttered quietly, fleeing in the opposite direction with Tivey.
"I'm gonna get you!" Yimi raised her gohei high and gave chase.
"Revenge complete—run, run!"
All of them had equally short legs, yet somehow Yimi couldn't keep up. Or rather, because their mistress was a Royal Selection candidate, they'd already memorized every inch of the capital's layout. They dove into the crowd, used the cover to cut into an alley, and just like that—shook her off.
She turned to a blue-haired girl slightly older than herself who was playing with a dog nearby. "Did you see a bad cat run through here?"
"A bad cat? Hmm…" The blue-haired girl thought for a moment, then shook her head.
Yimi shifted straight into cat form, tracking by scent. But in cat form, she became even more sensitive to a different kind of smell—that cigarette-like odor that made her uncomfortable.
She'd smelled it during her nap. First came the smell, then another pot of soup materialized, and then the smell forced her awake. There had to be a connection.
Yimi looked unhappily toward where Mimi had fled, then turned and ran toward the source of that smell instead.
"Ah, she turned into a cat and ran off." The blue-haired girl looked up, watching her go.
The distance was a fair bit. The direction led toward the slums of the Royal Capital. Even in the capital of the Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica, every country had places like this behind the shine.
Lots of people who'd given up on life. Ramshackle shelters thrown together from whatever scraps were available. Yimi hadn't ventured out here in the days since she'd arrived.
Since it was already getting late when she'd started cooking, by the time she tracked the scent the sun was beginning to set. She followed it all the way to a small shack—old and rundown, but at least sturdy enough to keep the rain out. At this range, she didn't need cat form's heightened sense of smell to pick up the general location in human form.
Yimi shifted back to human form and knocked on the door.
No answer.
"Mm…"
The door wasn't locked. She pushed it open and stepped inside. The air gradually filled with a coppery tang of blood that had been sealed within. The dim room made her cat-slit pupils dilate naturally to adjust, and she saw Natsuki Subaru lying in a pool of blood, staring at her with lifeless eyes.
Don't come closer…
Yimi didn't understand. She walked over, crouched down, and reached out to touch his wound.
Don't come closer!
"Oh my, what an adorable little kitty. I'll be gentle—probably."
The woman who'd been hiding behind the door, having heard Yimi's approach long ago, stepped out. The blade she drove without an ounce of humanity toward the young girl's neck became the last image Natsuki Subaru saw before death. At the same time, the smell on his body grew thicker.
…
"I don't know whose child you are, but if you have a home to go back to, you should head home early. From the way you pulled things out of thin air earlier, you don't seem to be in any hardship—it's better not to worry your family too much."
Those same words again. A third Fish Soup spawned at Yimi's feet.