Hearing Jahy's words, Hiratsuka Shizuka burst out laughing.
"Hahaha—of course I'm treating you if I take you out to eat. Don't hold back when the time comes."
"Oh? I won't," Jahy replied without hesitation.
Lunch break wasn't very long to begin with. Once they finished eating, it was almost time for afternoon classes.
Tanaka Masao packed up and spoke to Jahy.
"All right, I'm heading back to class. You should go home too—don't wander around outside."
"Go back? I don't want to."
Jahy refused flatly. "I'll be bored by myself."
"Then what do you plan to do?"
"I'm going to class with you."
"No."
Tanaka rejected it instantly.
"If you come with me, you'll definitely disturb everyone else."
"Huh? How would I be disturbing anyone?"
Seeing the situation, Hiratsuka hurried to smooth things over.
"Alright, alright. Since Jahy wants to stay at school, let her. I don't have classes this afternoon anyway—I'll take her around the campus. Sound good?"
"Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you, Hiratsuka-sensei?"
"It's fine, it's fine. I'll just treat it as killing time."
At that, Tanaka stopped insisting that Jahy go home and asked her instead,
"What do you think?"
"Going with Shizuka? I don't mind."
Thinking back to how Hiratsuka had just rescued her from the 'demon's jaws,' Jahy figured having a bodyguard around wasn't a bad idea.
"Then whatever you do, don't cause trouble for Hiratsuka-sensei."
As he spoke, Tanaka leaned in close to Jahy's ear, lowering his voice so only she could hear.
"Hey—be careful. Absolutely do not let Hiratsuka-sensei or anyone else touch the magic stone on your neck. If something happens to someone, I won't let you off."
Tanaka didn't want Jahy to go home because he disliked her.
It was because of the magic stone she wore around her neck.
That thing brought curses to humans. If not for the protection of his Mark armor, he might already be lying in a hospital bed. Part of the reason he'd been watching the interaction between Yukinoshita and Jahy so closely was because of this.
"I know that without you telling me. Something that important—why would I ever let others touch it so easily?"
Only after hearing that did Tanaka finally feel a bit reassured.
Watching the two whispering to each other, Hiratsuka asked curiously,
"What are you two muttering about?"
"Nothing—just telling her to behave."
Tanaka straightened up and smiled at Hiratsuka.
"Well then, Hiratsuka-sensei, it's getting late. I'll head back to class. I'll leave Jahy in your care."
"Go on, go on. You can leave her to me."
Tanaka and Yukinoshita returned to their classroom, while Hiratsuka left with Jahy.
As they parted, Yukinoshita cast a deeply reluctant glance at Jahy.
[I still didn't get to touch the ears…]
…
On the way back, noticing Yukinoshita's silence and distracted look, Tanaka spoke up.
"What—thinking about Jahy?"
Yukinoshita glanced at him, said nothing, and simply nodded lightly.
Seeing that, Tanaka sighed helplessly.
"Don't be fooled by that brat's appearance. Her personality isn't nearly as cute as she looks."
Yukinoshita tilted her head, puzzled.
"It feels like you're a bit cold toward little Jahy."
"No."
Tanaka shook his head.
"I just know her true nature. You can't be too lenient with her, or she'll push her luck. And she's got a pretty strong mentality—this kind of treatment won't make her back down."
"You really do know her well. You two are pretty close, aren't you?"
Yukinoshita could tell: they bickered constantly, but clearly cared about each other.
She drifted off for a moment, murmuring softly,
"I wonder how the feel of that thing on her head compares to cat ears."
Her voice was quiet—but Tanaka still heard it, and replied without thinking.
"Oh, that? The feel's actually pretty nice."
Those casual words instantly chilled the surrounding air.
"…You've touched them?"
Tanaka didn't quite get why the mood changed, but he nodded anyway.
"Once. But she doesn't like people touching them—I barely touched them before she chased me off."
"I see."
Yukinoshita pinched her chin, as if pondering a century-defining problem.
"So she's more of a skittish type? No—more like an arrogant type. To deal with cats like that, you need…"
Watching Yukinoshita sink into her own world, seriously thinking, Tanaka couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Anything even remotely related to cats was fatal to Yukinoshita Yukino.
Suddenly, a bold idea popped into his head.
[If I cosplayed as a cat, could I capture Yukinoshita Yukino's heart?
Garfield might be a solid choice.]
[Petting cats, burying my face in cats… hehehe…]
…
Ignoring the perverted thoughts bouncing around Tanaka's head—
That afternoon, Yukinoshita was unusually unfocused in class.
Not that it mattered much to her. She'd already self-studied everything they were supposed to be learning at this stage.
Right now, she was thinking about how to take Jahy down.
If it were possible, Yukinoshita would even consider competing with Tanaka for custody.
cough—no, that's not it.
She wanted to get Jahy.
No—that still sounds wrong.
[Jahy seems to really like food. A foodie, then. I can start from there.
Once her affection level goes up, I can…]
…
Meanwhile, in the afternoon—
Under Hiratsuka Shizuka's guidance, Jahy not only learned more about the school, but also about the human world.
For example, she now fully understood what electronic devices were.
Smartphones. Computers.
A pile of unremarkable components plus incomprehensible strings of code—and out came something magical.
You could contact others, chat, listen to music, watch videos.
School wasn't the blood-soaked, violence-filled place she'd imagined.
It was full of youth and bright possibilities.
And those figurines in Tanaka Masao's room weren't sealed beautiful girls, either.
They were man-made sculptures.
After understanding all this, Jahy felt inexplicably relieved.
At least for now, she didn't have to worry about her safety.
But then—
Why were the girls in the videos on Tanaka Masao's computer, and in the books he read, always in those kinds of poses?
Were they doing it willingly?
Or had Tanaka Masao coerced them into filming?
Jahy couldn't figure it out.
So she decided she'd ask him herself.