"Eh, what a tiny little orange cat..."
Mahiru tilted her pretty face up, her eyes wide as she looked up into the tree. A palm-sized orange kitten came into view:
"There's no one else around. Why would a little kitten run up a tree?"
"It might be a stray cat's kitten," Sora pondered.
"Stray cats teach their offspring climbing skills. Perhaps some mischievous kids chased them, or for some other reason, the mother cat fled in a panic, leaving the kitten stranded in the tree."
As they spoke, a cold evening breeze howled past.
The branches and leaves rustled and shook. The little kitten shivered, nearly falling from the tree, meowing incessantly.
"The little orange cat is going to fall," Mahiru gasped softly, her tone worried.
"Sora-kun, let's rescue it, okay?"
Sora visually estimated the height: "We can't reach it."
"What about climbing the tree?"
"No, the branches are too thin, they can't bear our weight." Sora shook his head again. "The best way is to wait for it to fall, and then Mahiru activates Time Stop."
"Then let's wait a moment..."
Unfortunately, after waiting for several minutes, the little kitten still hadn't fallen; it just kept meowing incessantly.
"It's already 9:00 PM." Sora took out his phone, checked the time, and said softly, "It'll take time for us to ride our bikes back, and we have school tomorrow..."
"We can't just leave like this." Mahiru gently bit her lower lip with her pearly white teeth. After hesitating for two seconds, her gaze quickly became resolute. She turned to look at Sora, her pretty face flushed red.
"Actually... there is another way."
"What way?"
"One person can't reach, but two together definitely won't be a problem..." Mahiru's pretty face grew hot, and she averted her gaze.
"...If I sit on Sora-kun's shoulders, I should be able to reach it, right?"
Sora looked at Mahiru: "I feel like that shouldn't be a problem... Should we try?"
"Okay..."
Sora quickly crouched down halfway:
"Hop on, Mahiru."
"I'm sorry for causing you trouble, Sora-kun..."
Mahiru's pretty face flushed entirely red. She gently bit her lower lip, took a deep breath, and shyly sat on Sora's shoulders.
Angel-sama was wearing regular over-the-knee socks for her night run, their length just past the knee. Now, sitting on Sora's shoulders, the skin of her thighs naturally came into intimate contact with Sora's neck... In short, it was delicate, tender, and smooth.
"Mmm..."
Mahiru let out a soft hum, her pretty face burning hot.
In contrast, Angel-sama felt very ticklish.
(Sora-kun's hair... is poking me...)
(Steady, don't panic.)
(Just hold on a little longer, it'll be over soon...)
Mahiru took a deep breath, nervously wrapping her arms around Sora's neck, her voice shy:
"S-Sora-kun, I'm sitting securely."
"Then I'm standing up?"
"Okay... Sora-kun, do it slowly, not too fast."
"Understood."
With a response, Sora stood up steadily.
"Sora-kun, move a bit to the left."
"Mhm."
"A little further forward..."
Under Angel-sama's micromanagement, Sora quickly positioned himself directly below the little kitten.
"Sora-kun, hold steady, don't move..."
Mahiru held her breath, officially beginning the rescue operation.
To rescue the little kitten from the tree, one hand definitely wasn't enough. Mahiru had to hold her breath and reach out with both hands.
To steady her body when reaching out with both hands, Angel-sama's legs naturally clamped tightly around Sora's neck...
Hey, hey, I can't breathe!
At this very moment, only one phrase existed in Sora's mind:
The Death-Grip Scissors Kick.
If Mahiru suddenly twisted her body 360 degrees right now, my neck would be snapped directly, wouldn't it?
"I've got the little orange cat."
Mahiru's voice was full of pleasant surprise as she hugged the little kitty with both hands:
"Sora-kun, put me down."
"Okay."
Sora crouched down halfway to let Angel-sama off.
A gust of cold evening breeze howled past again, blowing up the girl's hair and skirt.
Angel-sama's hair happened to brush across the little orange cat's face. The little orange cat seemed startled; it let out a panicked yelp, leaped out of Mahiru's arms, and jumped directly onto Sora's face.
Sora only felt a sharp pain on his forehead. By the time he focused his eyes, the little kitten they had just rescued was already fleeing in a panic, disappearing into the night in a flash.
"I hope it can find its mom..." Mahiru softly offered her blessing, then tilted her face up to look at Sora. Her pretty face flushed burning hot.
"Thank you for your hard work just now, Sora-kun... Eh?!"
Mahiru quickly took a half-step forward and stood on her tiptoes:
"Sora-kun, how did your forehead get injured?"
"No wonder my forehead hurts so much." Sora took a light breath.
"That cat jumped on my face just now, it must have scratched me."
"You got scratched?" Mahiru bit her lower lip, her expression suddenly turning worried. "Let's go get a rabies vaccine."
As everyone knows, the host of the rabies virus is not just stray dogs; cats, foxes, wolves, bats, etc., are all reservoir hosts for the virus.
Sora hesitated: "I wouldn't be that unlucky, right?"
"Better safe than sorry." Mahiru tensed her pretty face, her expression grave.
"Sora-kun, you cannot leave things to chance. What if... No, there are no 'what ifs'. I definitely won't let anything happen to Sora-kun!"
"The vaccine seems to require several shots." Sora said softly.
"And the doctor will definitely advise getting plenty of rest and avoiding strenuous exercise. If we go get the vaccine, our training plan and the Sports Festival will both be ruined."
Mahiru bit her lower lip, her eyelashes fluttering gently:
"Actually... there is another way."
"..."
Sora didn't speak. He had already guessed what Angel-sama was going to say.
"As long as we rewind time, Sora-kun won't get hurt." Mahiru's pretty face flushed red. Her hands clenched into pink fists, her voice firm.
"Sora-kun got hurt because of me... So, I will take responsibility."
Naturally, Sora wouldn't say anything contrary to his heart. Being scratched by a stray cat was indeed very concerning:
"Then I'll leave it to you, Mahiru."
Mahiru's pretty face burned hot as she averted her gaze:
"There's a bench over there, shall we go sit down?"
"Okay."
The two quickly went over to the bench and sat down.
"Sora-kun..." In the cold evening breeze, Angel-sama's shy voice rang out. "Close your eyes."
Even though everyone knew perfectly well what was about to happen, Angel-sama still chose to deceive herself.
"Closed."
"Sora-kun is not allowed to open your eyes..."
"Yes, yes."
"Phew..."
Mahiru took a deep breath. With her left hand resting on the bench and her right hand pressed against her chest, silently listening to her rapid heartbeat, she leaned forward and shyly kissed the boy in front of her.
A searing, hot sensation quickly spread to the bottom of her heart.
Angel-sama's long eyelashes trembled gently. She hurriedly and shyly closed her eyes, attempting to activate the time-rewind ability.
Unfortunately, it didn't work.
Facts proved that merely touching lips with lips was not enough to rewind time.
To rewind time, she could only...
"T-There's no other way." Forcing down the overflowing sense of shame, Mahiru tightly closed her eyes and took the initiative, albeit shyly.
"To protect Sora-kun, I can't back down..."