Looking at the cat teaser wand in Luo Yu's hand—and the playful smile on his face—Yukino's cheeks grew even redder.
Yet, contrary to what Luo Yu had expected, she didn't refuse.
Instead, she shyly transformed.
As the cat ears and tail appeared, her entire aura shifted slightly, gaining a touch of lively softness.
And her gaze—
Was immediately drawn to the cat teaser wand.
Luo Yu chuckled and flicked the wand lightly.
Yukino's eyes instantly followed the movement.
"Focus," Luo Yu said casually. "Don't let your cat instincts control you. That wouldn't be good in a real fight."
At his words, Yukino's cat ears twitched.
She immediately forced herself to regain her composure, clenching her teeth as she struggled to suppress the overwhelming urge to pounce on the dangling feathers.
Watching her, Luo Yu nodded in approval.
Then he gently waved the feathered end of the wand in front of her again.
Although Yukino restrained her body, her eyes still couldn't help darting left and right as they tracked the moving feathers.
Fortunately, Luo Yu didn't push it any further.
After teasing her for a moment, he put the cat teaser wand away.
But when he returned it to his storage inventory, something else caught his eye.
"Huh… what's this?"
Taking it out, he stared at the item inside the semi-transparent packaging—a dark green lollipop.
After thinking for a moment, he finally remembered.
Wasn't this the catnip lollipop that had been given as a promotional item when he bought cat food at the convenience store?
Since the kitten at home was still too young, Luo Yu had put it away for later.
But when Yukino saw what he was holding, her eyes widened.
"That's—?!"
Before she could finish her sentence, Luo Yu tore open the wrapper and promptly popped the catnip lollipop into her mouth.
"Mmph!"
She was about to resist.
But the moment the unique flavor spread across her tongue, a wave of pleasant warmth filled her mind.
Yukino's eyes slowly closed as she instinctively accepted it.
Watching her relaxed expression, Luo Yu blinked in surprise.
"So it really works."
"After transforming, even your tastes have become closer to a cat's."
Although he vaguely felt a little guilty, his curiosity had simply been too strong.
Well… he'd tease her a little, then apologize later.
Just as he was thinking that, Yukino—still savoring the lollipop—looked up at him.
Then, to Luo Yu's surprise—
She leaned closer.
"Meow~"
Like a cat under the influence of catnip, Yukino suddenly lay down across his lap.
Facing upward, she stretched lazily, her entire body relaxed and content. All the resistance she had shown earlier had completely vanished.
Every cat reacted differently to catnip.
Some barely cared about it.
But Yukino's reaction…
Was a little too intense.
And—
She looked unbelievably cute.
Watching Yukino squirm lazily on his lap, Luo Yu couldn't help reaching out and placing his hand gently on her head, softly stroking the pair of black cat ears.
"Meow~~~"
Another soft, satisfied sound escaped her lips as she rubbed her head against his palm.
Luo Yu's heart began racing.
Almost instinctively, he pulled out his phone and snapped several photos of Yukino in her spoiled, affectionate state.
Only after taking the pictures did he finally take a deep breath, forcing down the increasingly dangerous thoughts forming in his mind.
Then he pulled the lollipop out of Yukino's mouth, a thin transparent strand trailing behind it.
"Meow!"
Seeing her treat disappear, Yukino opened her eyes immediately.
She looked at the lollipop in Luo Yu's hand with clear reluctance and reached out to grab it.
But Luo Yu quickly put it away.
At the same time, the hand resting on her head released a small flow of magic, helping her snap out of the hazy state.
"Meo—… Huh?"
Halfway through the soft catlike sound, Yukino finally regained her clarity.
And immediately realized—
She was lying on Luo Yu's lap.
Worse still, his bathrobe had loosened slightly during their earlier interaction, revealing firm muscles beneath.
Seeing Yukino frozen in place, Luo Yu coughed awkwardly.
"You're awake now?"
"Sorry… I may have gone a bit too far."
Yukino blinked.
The memories from a moment ago flooded back into her mind.
In an instant, her face turned bright red.
She shot upright and tried to flee.
But Luo Yu reacted quickly, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back onto the sofa.
"Where are you going?"
"You forgot you're still transformed."
Now sitting beside him again, Yukino glared at him with a completely flushed face.
"Is bullying me really that fun?"
Luo Yu shrugged lightly.
"I couldn't help it. Yukino is just too cute."
Then, as he spoke, he reached out and gently touched her cat ears again.
The sudden contact made Yukino shiver.
Combined with the lingering hint of catnip flavor still in her mouth, her thoughts briefly grew hazy again.
Fortunately, she was still conscious enough to protest.
"D-Don't touch them!"
She said that—
But made no effort to pull away.
Whether she actually meant it or not was impossible to tell.
Since the sensation was far too pleasant, Luo Yu ended up stroking the ears a few more times before finally withdrawing his hand.
Then his gaze drifted behind Yukino—
Toward her two gently swaying tails.
Noticing his line of sight, Yukino immediately turned around and covered them with both hands.
"Don't even think about it!"
Luo Yu raised his hands innocently.
"I was just looking."
"I didn't plan to do anything."
"I apologize."
"You can make a request. I'll compensate you."
Yukino puffed her cheeks slightly.
She was clearly annoyed about being teased with the cat teaser wand and forced to eat the catnip lollipop.
But what irritated her even more—
Was realizing that she felt far more embarrassed than angry.
She had never cared about romance before.
So why was she reacting like this now?
For a moment, Yukino fell silent.
Luo Yu simply watched her, unsure what was going through her mind.
At the very least, he could tell she wasn't truly angry.
Which meant…
If it happened once, it could probably happen again.
In the future, he could probably still touch Yukino's cat ears in her Nekomata form.
And honestly—
The feeling had been really good.
After a short silence, Yukino finally spoke quietly.
"You don't need to do anything."
"But in the future, don't use 'training' as an excuse to bully me again."
Luo Yu tilted his head slightly.
"So… if I want to bully you, does that mean I can just say it directly?"
"!!!"
Yukino stared at him in disbelief.
Luo Yu smiled.
"I can't help it."
"Nekomata-form Yukino is just too cute. It makes people want to tease you."
"I know I'm cute!"
"But that's not a reason for you to bully me!"
With that, Yukino immediately canceled her transformation and returned to her normal human appearance.
"And besides…"
"That was Nekomata form, not a catgirl form!"
"Close enough," Luo Yu replied casually.
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