"Could you stop playing with Rengar while I'm trying to write this self-reflection, Wu Yuan?" Hanyu Qingkong paused his writing and gazed wearily at the dark-complexioned girl before him, who was cradling his cat.
The cat's fur feels so soft—wait, no, her figure is quite developed. Hanyu Qingkong wasn't sure if his inability to concentrate stemmed from his childhood friend's noisy cat-playing, or something else entirely.
Indeed, Hanyu Qingkong was composing a self-reflection. The incident that necessitated it occurred during the opening ceremony, when his cat—Rengar—had broken free from his school bag. Despite its rotund physique, the feline displayed remarkable agility, swiftly locating Hanyu Qingkong and leaping onto his head.
This happened precisely while Hanyu Qingkong was delivering his address to the entire student assembly as the exemplary first-year student representative.
Recalling this made Hanyu Qingkong's head throb. "When I think about it, this rivals the bad luck of a certain spiky-haired protagonist. Only in some low-EQ protagonist's light novel would so many coincidences align like this."
The deadline was fast approaching. While procrastination was one of his habits, Hanyu Qingkong typically completed things ahead of schedule. This time proved different—he'd abruptly decided to alter the plot before submission. For this transitional piece, he wanted exceptional polish, so much so that following a sudden creative burst days ago, he'd completely overhauled an already-completed volume.
This resulted in Hanyu Qingkong going several consecutive days without adequate sleep. Finally, as August drew to a close, he completed the volume's revisions. The cost, however, was multiple days of insufficient rest, leaving him in a fog. Naturally, he'd overslept that morning. After hurriedly freshening up, he snatched his bag and headed for his bicycle.
In doing so, he'd forgotten that Rengar habitually slept inside his school bag, and he'd transported both bag and cat to school.
Given Hanyu Qingkong's usual attentiveness, even severely sleep-deprived, he shouldn't have overlooked such a large, corpulent cat stuffed in his bag.
Considering this, Hanyu Qingkong glanced at the "guilty party" across from him, currently stroking the cat—Takemoto Uruka, his classmate since middle school. When departing home that morning, he'd encountered this classmate who was also running late, and Hanyu Qingkong naturally offered her a ride, casually passing his school bag (master-edition) to Takemoto Uruka, who sat on his bicycle's rear seat.
To his frustration, Takemoto Uruka failed to detect the cat in the bag throughout the entire journey.
However, observing his cat's peaceful expression, with portions of its body already nestled against Takemoto Uruka's chest, Hanyu Qingkong could roughly deduce why his cat had remained undetected that morning.
"Besides, Wu Yuan frequently zones out, so she was probably doing that this morning as well." Watching Takemoto cheerfully entertaining the cat, Hanyu Qingkong mentally supplied this excuse for her. A girl playing with a cat always made for a soothing sight.
Nevertheless, the fact that another person who'd taken the school bag from Takemoto's hands also didn't notice greatly surprised Hanyu Qingkong, even making him suspect that person had deliberately sabotaged him.
Brushing his bangs aside, Hanyu Qingkong halted his wandering thoughts, checked his phone, and realized time was slipping away.
"Wu Yuan, didn't you mention you still have swim club practice? Shouldn't you be heading there now?" Seeing the girl opposite transform from a silly grin to a bewildered "I totally forgot about that" expression, Hanyu Qingkong couldn't suppress his amusement. "Go ahead. I'll finish this self-reflection shortly. After submitting it to the teacher, I'll head home."
He also cautioned Takemoto about catching cold, and Hanyu Qingkong watched the girl dash off in a panic.
Before he could look away, Hanyu Qingkong noticed another acquaintance passing by the doorway, arms laden with books. As if sensing his gaze, the short-haired girl turned her head while passing, and their eyes connected.
From her distance, observing the cat and the self-reflection on Hanyu Qingkong's desk, a subtle smile crossed the short-haired girl's typically impassive face. She pressed her lips together, signaling she still had deliveries to make. Then, her lips moved slightly, and through lip-reading, she conveyed her heartfelt condolences. After confirming Hanyu Qingkong understood, the short-haired girl departed with light footsteps.
The message of "Best of luck with your self-reflection" instantly soured Hanyu's expression.
"Tsk, today's entirely your fault, Rengar. When we're home, I'm making you watch 'The Life of a Bamboo Rat' on an empty stomach." Hanyu Qingkong adopted a stern facade while stroking his cat, issuing verbal threats, though his cat consistently regarded him with an idiotic stare.
The portly feline was incensed; its servant dared show defiance. It resolved—to sprawl across this servant's lap and crush him with its weight.
Several minutes later, having finally completed the self-reflection, Hanyu Qingkong gathered his belongings, picked up the rotund cat, and took the self-reflection to find his homeroom teacher, who'd also assigned the punishment.
"And it's the same person who took my school bag but didn't spot the cat." Hanyu Qingkong, standing at the door with diminished confidence, weakly added this thought.
Hanyu Qingkong, who'd held teachers in reverence since childhood, felt inexplicably anxious.
Rengar, previously lounging in Hanyu's arms, suddenly became alert for some reason. In a flash, it pushed off, sprang from Hanyu's embrace, and clung to the doorknob.
Rengar's mass successfully turned the handle, and its momentum carried both cat and door inward, effectively preventing Hanyu's hand, which had been about to knock.
The teacher seated behind the desk looked up at the commotion and witnessed a portly cat dangling from the doorknob, while Hanyu Qingkong stood in the doorway, palm covering his face.
Though Kirisu Mafuyu had never witnessed such a spectacle, she was, after all, a teacher. She cleared her throat. "Hanyu, why are you lingering at the door? Enter."
Hanyu Qingkong swiftly retrieved Rengar, who clung to the doorknob like a treasured artifact, and set it on the desk. When he turned to shut the door, he heard Teacher Kirisu emit a "Kya" sound.
Worried his cat had created more chaos, Hanyu Qingkong pivoted his head, only to discover the rotund cat had already bounded onto the teacher. And his teacher, following the initial shock, had transitioned to petting the feline.
Sensing Teacher Kirisu was showing signs of losing focus, Hanyu Qingkong promptly spoke, "Teacher, here's my self-reflection. I'm deeply sorry for the disturbance I caused everyone this morning, truly sorry."
Kirisu Mafuyu seemed to regain her composure, redirecting her attention from the cat, and responded somewhat awkwardly, "Hanyu, while you created quite a commotion at the opening ceremony, the school never actually intended to reprimand you." She paused, tucking a hair strand behind her ear, and having readjusted her bearing, Kirisu Mafuyu resumed her customary detached tone, "The self-reflection assignment was merely procedural, nothing you should worry about."
"In any case, this matter is now concluded. Going forward, take care not to bring pets to school. You're an outstanding student, and I trust you'll exercise more caution in the future." With that, the discussion ended. However, when Kirisu Mafuyu returned Rengar to Hanyu Qingkong, she appeared somewhat reluctant?
"Listen here, do you just throw yourself at every woman you encounter? Look at you, you're not even this affectionate with me. Surrender your cat food, you're definitely going hungry tonight and won't sleep." Hanyu Qingkong, exiting the school gate, hoisted the substantial cat and fiercely re-educated his cat with words, though his cat maintained that idiotic stare.
Kirisu Mafuyu, positioned by the window, observed Hanyu Qingkong's retreating figure from school, persistently contemplating one thing: "Why does this cat bear such resemblance to my neighbor's cat?"
Shaking her head, Kirisu Mafuyu lacked the mental energy to dwell on this question. Although a vague answer existed, it seemed too coincidental.
Massaging her temples, Kirisu Mafuyu sensed she'd reached her breaking point. She hadn't slept properly for days, and simply surviving today felt miraculous.
Kirisu Mafuyu, who'd nearly overslept that morning, had spotted Hanyu Qingkong, who was also running late. She'd taken his school bag from him and instructed him to proceed directly to prepare his speech. Unfortunately, her well-meaning gesture backfired; drowsy and inattentive, she'd failed to notice the cat in the bag, which subsequently escaped and disrupted her favorite student's address.
For this, Kirisu Mafuyu specifically approached her superior and assumed complete responsibility. "Come to think of it, listening to the administrator's lecture makes me want to sleep even more," mused the big-hearted, or perhaps naturally clumsy, Miss Kirisu.