-----
-----
"Me first!"
"No, I was first!"
"There are only two kinds of girls in this world. Childhood friends… and every other girl is a sneaky homewrecker!"
"I refuse to end up alone while some sneaky cat steals Blake away—no wayyyyy!"
"…"
With a sharp snap, Anna Yanami shut her "Loser Diary." Somehow, she produced a bag of crispy seaweed snacks from who-knows-where and started munching furiously, cheeks puffed out like a hamster that just got its seeds stolen.
"Mmm~ seaweed crisps really are the best."
As she kept eating, her eyes curved into happy crescents, and her anger bar dropped at a visible speed.
"Whether it's the Loser Diary or a Future Diary, as long as I can protect Blake, that's enough." She stuck out her pink tongue and licked the crumbs off her fingers. "But… the girl he ends up marrying is actually Shiina? That's so weird."
The diary only listed a name, no picture, but even so, Anna had already locked onto her target.
If she had to guess, it was probably that Shiina from their class.
The one everyone called "The Angel" because of her gentle, angelic smile that she showed equally to everyone.
But as a fellow girl, Anna could tell—despite that soft kindness, Shiina kept a subtle distance from everyone.
"Blake is so serious and hardworking. He never chats casually with girls at school… so how would he even end up getting involved with Shiina?"
Anna bit her lower lip, completely unable to figure it out.
"…Whatever, forget it." She quickly tossed the problem aside. Food lovers tended to have strong mental resilience. "No matter what happens today, I just need to keep an eye on Blake and make sure he doesn't interact with Shiina."
"As long as I block the homewrecker, I won't end up as the losing heroine!"
"…"
Before long, it was lunchtime.
Blake and Anna Yanami left the classroom together and headed to the emergency stairwell to eat their bento. The whole time, nothing unusual happened—no interruptions, no unexpected encounters.
"Ehehe~"
After happily swallowing the last little sausage, Anna hugged her empty lunchbox and trailed behind Blake in high spirits.
"You walked past the classroom," Blake said, glancing back at the blue-haired girl with mild exasperation. "Don't tell me you're planning to follow me into the bathroom?"
Anna clenched her right fist, speaking with complete conviction:
"It's dangerous for Blake to go alone. I'll go with you."
"…That's really not necessary."
He refused immediately.
"Aw, how cold. I even gave you my favorite shrimp ball earlier…"
Anna had no choice but to stop. Her eyes shifted, and she looked into the classroom.
By the window, a beautiful girl with radiant golden hair sat quietly reading, like an angel descended to earth.
"Ah, got it."
Anna slapped her forehead, then briskly walked into the classroom. She quickly leaned over a desk, lifted a textbook to cover her face, and began secretly observing Shiina Mahiru.
"Blake's a guy, so I can't stick to him all the time… so as long as I keep an eye on Shiina and stop her from getting close to him, that should work, right?"
"I, Yanami, really am a cute girl blessed with both brains and beauty. Anyone who sees me should hit like~"
"…"
Meanwhile, on the other side—
After leaving the restroom, Blake saw there were still over ten minutes before class. So he headed straight for the gym.
The first class in the afternoon was P.E., and it was being held there.
He walked into the gym, heading toward the boys' locker room to change. But as he passed the girls' locker room, the door suddenly swung open, and a petite girl with long black hair rushed out in a panic—only to slam straight into him.
Thud.
Blake, being a guy, only took half a step back from the sudden collision. Nothing dramatic.
The one who had it worse was the black-haired girl—she let out a startled cry and fell awkwardly to the floor.
"Sorry, are you okay—what the hell?!"
Before he could finish, Blake eyes widened instinctively.
When she fell, the girl had tried to control her body, so instead of landing on her butt, she twisted halfway and ended up kneeling face-down.
Her school skirt had flipped up in the process, revealing a glimpse of classic blue-and-white underwear, faintly outlining a soft, heart-shaped curve.
Of course…
That wasn't important.
What was important was—
What the hell was with that elegant black cat tail?!
Blake blinked in disbelief, wondering if he was hallucinating.
"Ah… that hurts…"
The black-haired girl pushed herself up with teary eyes. Then she noticed where Blake was looking. Her black tail trembled in panic as she hurriedly yanked her skirt down—but there was no way to hide it completely right away.
Hallucination my ass!
That was clearly a real tail!
"So catgirl tails grow from just above the tailbone, huh…"
Blake muttered internally.
Obviously, that was a real tail—not some weird costume prop.
"Huh? Someone fell over there."
"Let's go help."
Voices and footsteps approached. A few girls were hurrying over, probably on their way to P.E. class.
"Th-this is bad…"
The black-haired girl's face turned pale with panic. She braced one hand against the floor, trying to stand.
"Ugh…"
A soft groan slipped from her lips.
It seemed she'd hurt her knee in the fall. For the moment, she clearly couldn't move.
As the other girls got closer, panic flooded her pretty face. Behind her, her tail curled tightly, as if desperately trying to hide itself.
"If they find out about my tail… I'll lose my right to be human…"
"No!"
"The identity of the Black Cat of the Night must never be exposed!"
"…"
Just as she was at a complete loss, a low male voice sounded beside her:
"Need help?"
"Eh?"
The girl looked up nervously. Through her purple contacts, she finally got a clear look at the boy in front of her.
He was good-looking, but his expression was cold—giving off that distant, hard-to-approach vibe.
"…Crap. I've run into a goblin warrior."
Still sitting on the ground in a duck-like pose, she clutched her skirt tightly, growing even more anxious.
Blake spoke flatly:
"Those girls are coming. If your tail gets discovered, there's a good chance they'll spread it around."
"W-what tail?"
The little ahoge on top of her head twitched violently. She turned her face away, stammering guiltily:
"That's just… a cosplay prop…"
"You foolish mortal, you don't actually think it's real, do you?"
"Only a dumb high school boy would fantasize about running into a wild catgirl in the gym. How pathetic."
"…"
Don't even try that. When you fell, your skirt flipped up—I saw it clearly. That thing is growing out of you, not something you stuck on!
"…Fine. Let's say I was mistaken. See you."
Blake turned and walked away without expression.
Not only was she a chunibyo, she was also sharp-tongued. Suddenly, he had zero motivation to help.
But after just two steps, a small hand reached out and grabbed the corner of his shirt.
The black-haired girl looked up at him, eyes misty, her voice trembling with embarrassment and desperation:
"I-I'm sorry… please don't leave me here alone…"
"....."