"Hitomi! Did you call your boyfriend to come pick you up?" Karura asked.
"I don't know what happened. He's not answering his phone—maybe he still hasn't gotten used to modern life," Hitomi replied uncertainly.
"Not used to it? Did your boyfriend live in the mountains or something?" Kozue asked.
"Something like that," Hitomi answered, clearly not wanting to explain further.
…
What do you do after returning to the modern era, after spending years living in the age of dinosaurs?
The correct answer is… sleep.
"How I missed beds. No more sleeping on straw or directly on the ground."
'I think Hitomi mentioned something about clothes, but I'm way too lazy right now,' I thought as I stretched out on the bed, ready to go back to sleep.
Just as I was about to drift off again, I heard the house phone ringing.
"Damn it! Who's calling this early?"
'Okay, it's already noon—but I don't care. If I say it's early, then it's early.'
When I picked up the phone to answer, I don't know if it was because I was irritated or because I misjudged my strength, but I ended up breaking it.
"Oops… well, whatever. I doubt it was anything important."
"It's not my fault. Blame the manufacturer for making phones so fragile. And the idiot who calls at this hour."
'None of this is my fault.'
"Well… better check what's in the fridge. I'm hungry. Hopefully Hitomi stocked up on food," I said, completely brushing off the incident.
…
"Classes are finally over," Hitomi said as she stretched her stiff arms.
"Hey! Since your boyfriend isn't coming, how about I walk you home?" Karura suggested.
"Well… sure. Kozue, are you coming?" Hitomi asked her other friend.
"I'd better head home. My mom will worry if I'm late," Kozue said, blushing as she remembered the photos she had seen earlier.
"Tsk… your loss," Karura replied.
…
As the duo walked toward Hitomi's place, Hitomi suddenly slowed down.
"Hey, Karura… I feel like someone's following us," she whispered.
"Huh? I don't sense anything," Karura said doubtfully.
"Remember—it's because of my abilities," Hitomi replied. As a pure-blood therianthrope, her senses far surpassed those of humans—and even other therianthropes. Even against well-trained humans like Karura, she still had the advantage.
"They must be the guards my family sent to protect me," Karura said after thinking for a moment. As the beloved great-granddaughter of the Patriarch, it was only natural.
"Alright then—follow me! Let's lose them!" Hitomi said with an excited grin.
The guards quickly noticed something was wrong. The two girls suddenly picked up speed and turned a corner. When the guards reached the spot, there was no sign of them.
…
"So they lost sight of my granddaughter, is that correct?" Kure Erioh asked in a flat tone, betraying neither anger nor pleasure.
"Y-Yes, Patriarch!" the two guards replied, kneeling before him.
Erioh glanced at them briefly—just one look was enough to make them tremble.
"You may leave," he said after a long silence.
"Y-Yes, Patriarch!" they answered quickly before retreating as fast as possible.
Once the guards were gone, the room fell silent until Yakusha spoke.
"Sigh… Karura-chan is becoming more rebellious by the day."
"There's nothing to be done. She's still young and wants to go out and have fun with her friends," Erioh said, doing his best to remain calm.
"At least we know she's with that friend of hers, Hitomi," Yakusha said. Knowing what their family did about therianthropes, being with Hitomi meant Karura was relatively safe.
"I doubt anything serious will happen. She'll get bored and come back," Yakusha added. "It's not like she'd go out and come back pregnant."
"Impossible!" Erioh snapped. "She would never go meet a man!"
"Yes, yes, you're right," Yakusha said quickly. "She probably just wants to enjoy herself somewhere with her friend, without us watching her."
…
Two young women stood in front of an apartment door.
"We finally made it," Karura said, still a little out of breath from all the running.
"Tsk… looks like you're still in good shape," Hitomi said teasingly, giving Karura a playful slap on the backside.
"Damn it!" Hitomi suddenly exclaimed.
"What is it?" Karura asked.
"I think I dropped my keys while we were running."
"That's unlucky. Just knock, then."
…
Knock. Knock.
The sound woke Derek, who was still asleep.
'Who's knocking at this hour?'
'Probably Hitomi. Maybe she forgot her keys.'
When I opened the door, it really was Hitomi—but she wasn't alone. Standing next to her was a woman I recognized immediately.
Kure Karura. From Kengan Ashura.
'…What's going on? Why is she looking at me like that?'
After a few seconds of confusion, I realized I was still naked.
'Aren't they supposed to scream or call me a pervert or something?'
'Then what's with that look?'
'It's like she's sizing me up.'
Just as my thoughts started spiraling, Karura spoke.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Kure Karura. I'm Hitomi's best friend."
Her words stunned both Hitomi and me into silence.
'What is wrong with this woman?'
'I'm definitely dealing with someone dangerous.'
// Two hours later //
Three people lay exhausted on a bed.
'I was completely overwhelmed.'
'She pushed everything forward with terrifying confidence.'
'I resisted as long as I could… but I lost in the end.'