"Oh, my dear Noko!" The muscular feline lifted Noko as if she were a feather, hugging her with a smile that contrasted with the intimidating look he had given us just seconds earlier.
I was still frozen in the doorway, processing what I was seeing. Zara, beside me, didn't say anything either; she just watched with that analytical expression she put on when she wanted to understand a situation before giving an opinion.
"Dad... you came to get me sooner than I expected-nya," Noko said, her voice muffled between laughter and purring.
The demi-human set her down carefully, but he didn't remove his huge hand from her shoulder. Now that I could see him up close, the contrast between his intimidating aura and the softness of his gesture toward Noko was... curious.
"I thought I made it clear," he growled, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. "When you disappear overnight and I hear you're living with a man... I'll come myself to see who he is."
A chill ran down my spine.
"Uh... well... this isn't exactly—"
"Are you Ren Mizuno?" he cut in, his deep voice slicing through the air like a blade.
"Y-Yes..."
Then he smiled, and I didn't like that smile at all.
"Perfect. Fight me."
"What?!" I stepped back. "Why would I...?"
"Because," he took a step toward me, "I want to know if you're worthy of being near my daughter."
Noko jumped in immediately, her ears perked up:
"Dad, don't be so pushy-nya. Ren-sama is very, very strong."
"I'll be the judge of that," he replied, never taking his eyes off me.
Zara crossed her arms, her expression making it clear she was entertained by all this.
"Could be interesting..."
"Whose side are you on?!" I looked at her, incredulous.
She just let out a little laugh at seeing me in this situation.
A movement in the hallway caught my attention. Maya appeared half-asleep, shuffling her feet and with her hair a mess.
"Why are you making so much noise...?" she muttered, then stared at the trio of felines at the entrance. "What...?"
"Hi, Maya!" Noko said like it was nothing. "This is my dad and he wants to fight Ren-sama."
"..."
Maya blinked several times and finally gave a crooked smile. "I say you should accept."
"I'm not go—!"
The demi-human took another step, and the shadow he cast covered the entire entrance.
"Well? What do you say, boy?"
My common sense was screaming at me that it wasn't a good idea to accept, but something told me that, whatever I did, there was no getting out of this.
"...Fine," I said, worried about what was coming.