Shota is surrounded by monsters!

Shota saw a head suddenly emerge from the well...

"don't want!!"

No! No! Yes! Yes! Yes...

"Bam—"

Shota, attacked by human sonic echoes, slipped and fell back to the bottom of the well.

Image: "White-haired boy", Location: "Images/170129-62087.jpg"

Chapter Seventeen. Sanka Rei

Image: "Sankarea", Location: "Images/171228-21443.jpg"

"Bam—"

"what……"

The girl lying on the edge of the well clearly hadn't expected there to be anything inside. After hearing the sound, she instinctively thought of some legends about demons and monsters, and took several steps back before she could calm herself down.

Shota climbed to the well's edge and sized up the newcomer. She had long black hair, adorned with a flower-shaped hair accessory, and wore a bright red coat. A look of terror still lingered on her beautiful face. She was a rare, beautiful girl, unlike the sickly aura that Senjougahara had exuded before. This girl radiated a noble and pure aura.

Although, her shout just now could be considered somewhat rude, right?

Could it be a female ghost?

Shota sniffed the air but couldn't detect any edible smell. The girl in front of him was just a simple human being. With her dry well and long, straight black hair, Shota had initially thought it was Sadako delivering a midnight snack, but it turned out she was just an ordinary person.

"Meow."

Taking advantage of the darkness so the other party couldn't see him clearly, Shota meowed like a cat to give them a signal, then jumped down from the well, stepped onto the soft ground, and prepared to leave.

"kitten?"

The girl seemed to have discovered something interesting, and she ran towards Shota.

"A golden kitten."

Oh no, I'm going to be arrested!

"Huh, I've never seen a kitten like this before. It has no whiskers, and its limbs and tail look strange. Is it a new breed of cat? It looks a bit like a dog, but also like other animals..."

Of course, I'm not a feline, so I don't need whiskers.

Shota turned his head away. Although he had just had a chance to escape, but...

It feels so good to have a pretty girl scratch your chin sometimes.

"Meow~"

Shota's eyes narrowed into slits as the girl's fingers tickled his chin and neck, making him feel much more comfortable.

"However, judging from the sound, it should be a cat, right? An unknown little kitten-chan."

The girl picked up Shota and brought him to her face. After tilting her head and looking him over, she smiled and said, "Hello."

"Meow."

Shota shifted his body slightly; the feeling of being hugged under his armpits wasn't particularly pleasant, and if he could, he'd like to change positions.

"not comfortable?"

The girl found a spot, dusted herself off, and sat down, placing Shota on her lap and stroking his soft fur.

"A lap pillow, huh?" Shota lazily stretched out his paw, relaxed his body, and curled up into a ball, nestled on the girl's lap. "This feels surprisingly good. Maybe I should have Mashiro try this when we get home?"

Let's forget about it; she'll probably do something weird.

"Does Kitten-chan live alone?"

The girl tucked her left side of her hair behind her ear with her finger and asked Shota as if talking to herself, "I've never seen you before... huh."

She suddenly noticed that there were two 500 yen coins stuck to one of Shota's paws. Judging from the appearance, it must have been stuck there by its owner. But why would you bring money to a cat?

Thinking of this, she wanted to tear off the transparent strip binding the money for Shota, but found that the strange little cat "resisted" a couple of times, not wanting anyone to touch its money.

"Meow~"

—I was just passing by. Also, that was genuine food money.

After making a sound, Shota yawned, put his paws under his head, and rubbed them a couple of times.

"I don't know where your owner is, or even your name. How about I call you Kin-chan from now on?" The girl looked at Shota, who was yawning, with a smile, and took it upon herself to give him a nickname, saying, "You ran here. Did you get ostracized by the other cats because you look weird?"

"Meow~"

—Think what you want.

Shota rolled over comfortably, feeling incredibly soothed as the girl's fingers traced patterns on his stomach. The faint, unidentified scent of her shampoo added to the comforting atmosphere.

"That's great." The girl looked at Shota's happy face and said with a hint of envy, "I also want to live alone. Oh right, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Rea, Sanka Rea. Hello, Kin-chan."

The girl who called herself Sanka Rea grasped Shota's small hand and squeezed it, then said, "We're friends now, right?"

"Meow~"

—I'm making friends pretty quickly lately.

"What a clever little Kin-chan!" Rea patted Shota's head happily after hearing his reaction, and said, "I really want to take you home and raise you... but..."

At this point, a hint of sadness flashed in Rea's eyes. Regardless of whether Shota understood or not, she muttered to herself, "I am the eldest daughter of the Sanka family. The Sanka family is an extremely powerful conglomerate. Many people envy me for being born into that family..."

"A rich young lady?" Upon hearing this, Shota seemed to have come up with a good idea. He raised his head, tried to make a cute expression, waved his little paws, and meowed.

—Looking for a sugar daddy/sugar baby!

"so cute."

Reiya cupped Shota's head in her fair hands, looked at him for a while, then sighed, her expression heartbroken, and said, "If I could, I really wouldn't want to be born into the Sanka family. I want to be an ordinary girl, able to go out and make friends like ordinary people, go to ordinary restaurants, and live an ordinary life. Like an ordinary person, I want to be able to take you home and raise you."

Is she a rebellious rich girl?

“My father is just too much. Whether I’m at school or not, I can feel his men watching me all the time. The cat I met when I was little never showed up again the next day, and I don’t know if it’s still alright. I finally made some new friends after I got into a good school, but he chased them all away, saying that he didn’t need such filthy ordinary people as friends… So I don’t dare bring you back, afraid that my father will do something cruel to you. I can only taste loneliness at home alone.”

"After all, the happiness I want will bring misfortune to others, including you, Kim-chan..."

“But I don’t dare to defy my father. Only at midnight every day can I sneak out of the house, and then I’ll say no to that well, say ‘I’ve had enough’ to vent my emotions. Like an idiot, you think so too, don’t you, Kin-chan?”

“I’m already a high school student, but I still don’t have the chance to make friends or go out on my own. When I want to go shopping, they always refuse with some excuse like I need to get clothes custom-made… Sometimes I really think this is going too far. I don’t want this kind of life anymore. I might as well just die. If I were to be reborn in the next life, I would definitely want to be an ordinary person.”

Although Rei didn't yell at the well like before, for her, even chatting with a cat that couldn't understand her was a luxury.

"Meow~"

Shota meowed softly, then patted Rea's palm with his two little paws. Although he didn't know the specifics, this kind of wealth that was restricted from his freedom...

He was quite content as long as he could eat and drink his fill.

However, he also knew that freedom was more important to the girl in front of him.

"Kin-chan, are you trying to comfort me?"

Seemingly sensing Shota's feelings, Rea put away her sad expression, stroked Shota's fur, and said, "Thank you, but I have to go back. Otherwise, my family will find out I sneaked out."

With that, she picked Shota up and put him back on the ground, then patted her clothes to make sure she wouldn't leave any marks before saying to him, "Bye-bye. If you're still here tomorrow, Kin-chan, that would be great. But... you'll be leaving soon, won't you?"

A touch of sadness crossed Rea's face as she crouched down, looking at Shota who was gazing at her, and said, "Try to live on."

After saying that, she turned around and ran a few steps. When she looked back and saw that Shota was still looking at her, she said, "If you're still here tomorrow, how about I bring you some food? There's not much to eat around here."

"Cats probably like to eat fish. You'd probably like caviar and gin, right?"

Shota swallowed hard and let out a meow.

"Meow."

"It's a deal then. Let's meet here again tomorrow night."

Although she didn't have much hope that Kin-chan would continue to appear here tomorrow, having a goal made Rea feel a little more hopeful for tomorrow—even though she knew that more possibilities would only lead to despair.

But... it's better than spending another day like a zombie, a mindless walking corpse.

Perhaps even zombies are happier than I am?

Thinking of this, Rei's face showed a poignant smile. Without looking back, she walked towards her home.

"She's such a pitiful girl, meow."

After the girl walked away, Shota said to himself, "To eat the legendary caviar, I'll come back again tomorrow, meow."

"However, I'd be willing to be kept by such a cute and gentle young lady, even if it meant I had to be her sugar daddy and spend all my time being cute—as long as I could be fed."

After muttering something, the gluttonous beast in its cat form grew slightly larger, becoming the size of a dog. It then stretched out its limbs and began to run towards home.

In less than thirty minutes, Shota ran back to his neighborhood, shrunk back to the size of a cat, and sneaked up to a vending machine.

Because the battle broke out so suddenly, Shota didn't even have time to take off his clothes before transforming, so he had to waste another piece of clothing by blowing it up. But even so, he still had to fulfill his promise to Mashiro.

Shota tore off a 500 yen coin with his paw, patted the vending machine to the coin slot, and then used his furry paw to slip another coin in. After it fell back to the ground, he hesitated again about what flavor of drink to buy for Mashiro.

Apple? Strawberry? Maybe I should try blueberry juice for her. I wonder what blueberry-flavored compressed biscuits are... Ugh, what am I thinking?

Shota shook his head, which was full of strange thoughts, and climbed up like Spider-Man. He pressed a few buttons, and soon, several bottles of blueberry juice fell into the delivery slot.

But... how do I take it back? It's a bit of a hassle.

"Do you need any help?"

"Eh..."

Hearing a somewhat familiar voice behind him, Shota shuddered, and then felt himself being lifted up by a pair of hands and held in front of a face.

Hitagi Senjougahara.

"Hmm? You smell like a girl, Taotie. Did you succumb to your animalistic desires in the middle of the night and attack a beautiful human girl? But, in this form no less... Taotie, your taste is rather strange. No, no, maybe it's just that I'm looking at it from a human perspective. How could I possibly understand the tastes of a monster?"

"I didn't attack any human girls. I just went out to find some food because I was hungry at night, meow."

"Is it a feast for the eyes? Well, I'll have to consider calling the police. After all, it's not safe to have such a dangerous pervert around. For the sake of social stability and harmony, I'll have to trouble you to stay in the zoo's cage, Taotie."

"What do you mean by 'a feast for the eyes'... Don't make it sound so perverted, okay? I may have a big appetite, but I still have principles! When I go out at night, I only eat monsters and evil spirits that have done bad things."

Shota waved his limbs angrily, trying to escape from Senjougahara's grasp.

"Just kidding. Who knew monsters would be so lacking in humor? I'm so disappointed."

Senjougahara Hitagi sighed as if regretting something, then hugged the cat Shota to her chest, picked up the drink Shota bought with her other hand and put it into her bag, saying, "If you don't want to run back naked, you'd better be my pet and let me take you home, Kousaka-kun."