When it saw her enter, it meowed and a flash of gratitude appeared in its green pupils.
'Was that just an illusion?'
She had a feeling that this kitten's intelligence was a little too high.
Yukinoshita shook her head, tossing those strange thoughts away, then found herself troubled.
Though the kitten's wound had received basic treatment, it would definitely need time to rest and regular bandage changes.
In this situation, there was no way she could let it continue wandering.
A kitten with an injured hind leg and difficulty moving simply didn't have the ability to survive in the city.
But if she were to adopt it, her mother would be a huge problem.
Although she had already moved out and lived alone, her sister and mother would occasionally drop by to visit.
If they discovered that she was secretly raising a pet
Just as she was lost in thought, she suddenly felt a wet sensation on her fingertips, making Yukinoshita instinctively lower her head.
Turns out the kitten lying on the bed had, at some point, struggled to move closer and was now sticking out its pink little tongue, licking her fingertips gently.
Such an affectionate and sensible kitten, to a cat lover, it was like an SSR-grade rare card.
Yukinoshita's gaze gradually became firm.
There are always some things that are hard to make up your mind about.
But once decided, it becomes very easy.
When she left the pet hospital, Yukinoshita had a big cat carrier in her hands.
The kitten was curled up inside. Perhaps it was the relaxation after the rush of survival, it was now sleeping deeply.
It was the first time the girl was raising a cat. Amidst her joy, she couldn't help buying a ton of pet supplies: a cat bed, a cat tree, cat toys, cat food, cat treats
She ended up buying so much that it was hard to carry it all alone, so she just left her address, the pet hospital would arrange a delivery later.
'Yukitan's wound is no big deal for now. Just needs a few more bandage changes and it'll be fine.'
'Mm Spaying should be planned soon too, but that can wait. Let's focus on recovery first.'
By the way, "Yukitan" was the name Yukinoshita had given the kitten.
Back at the hospital, she had already carefully checked. There were no little lychees hanging under Yukitan, so she was a little lady.
Looking at the small life sleeping soundly in the cat carrier, Yukinoshita's lips curled slightly, "From now on, let's get along well."
[T/N: Ahoy~ brothers and sisters, check out my latest novel, "One Piece: The Living Devil", an EVIL MC on the Grand Line with devil fruits, danger, and lust. If you're hooked, don't forget to drop a Powerstone and add it to your Collectionevery bit of support keeps the journey alive and the story blazing forward]
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Chapter 23: The Piano Sound in the Midnight Classroom
Yukino walked away in a hurry, her attitude especially resolute, clearly not intending to integrate into the class.
Kaito naturally wouldn't force her and was happy to take it easy.
This little episode was quickly tossed to the back of everyone's minds.
Kaito continued reading manga, while Bocchi kept squatting in the corner like a mushroom.
As for Miura Yumiko
The girl leaned on the sofa, still holding her phone and scrolling through forums, trying to find a truly paranormal event.
She didn't have much hope at first, but as she scrolled and scrolled, she actually found a post that seemed kind of real.
'A beautiful piano sound suddenly echoed from the empty music classroom late at night Eh? There's even an audio recording attached?', Yumiko was a bit curious. She wanted to click and listen immediately but was afraid she might break some kind of taboo.
After all, the trope of a cursed tape killing people is a classic plot in Japanese horror films.
She couldn't help but trot over to Kaito's side, presenting her phone screen like a treasure, "President, look at this post!"
Kaito glanced at it from the corner of his eye, not taking it seriously.
"If you're curious, it's fine to listen. No need to be so scared."
"Then I'll play it?"
Yumiko thought for a moment, then ran to the side and pulled Bocchi over too.
"Let's listen together, the three of us!"
Bocchi: o(ЇЇ)o
Bocchi: 'Thank you so much for always thinking of me. You're really so considerate!'
'This should count as a rare club activity too, right?', Yumiko rubbed her fists together, and with Kaito by her side, she didn't feel as nervous anymore.
Shuka Academy had many clubs, and each club had its own things to do.
Academic clubs were busy studying, sports clubs were busy training, dance clubs were busy practicing. But the Supernatural Research Club, though it had been established for a while, hadn't had a single proper club activity.
The president even took the lead in slacking off. Either reading manga or playing on his phone. With immeasurable influence on the members.
"What kind of club activity is this?", Kaito was a bit speechless, "It's just listening to a recording."
"How is it not?", Yumiko argued confidently, "After all, the purpose of the Supernatural Research Club is to deal with these weird and mysterious things. Since this audio clip might be related to ghosts or something similar, it definitely counts as a club activity."
"Right, Bocchi-chan?"
Bocchi: o(ЇЇ)o 'No objections here.'
Seeing her react like that, Yumiko stuck out her tongue and didn't press further. She tapped the screen lightly and opened the audio file in the post.
The first sound that came was a soft, slow melody.
The music was touching, the tune pleasant, gradually rising. Even an outsider like Yumiko could tell the player's skill was extraordinary.
The only flaw was the audio included a bit of rapid breathing, like a drop of thick ink on white rice paper, ruining the atmosphere quite a bit.
It was probably the recorder's own breathing. Clearly, their emotions weren't calm while recording.
"This piece sounds, sounds like Beethoven's 'Fur Elise'?", As a music blogger with thirty thousand followers online, although Bocchi's best instrument was the guitar, she still had some understanding of this world-famous piece.
"Indeed," Kaito also nodded slightly, though his expression showed some confusion.
The piano piece did have a calming effect, but perhaps because it was coming through a screen, the effect was very faint.
Seems like they encountered something real.
The recording wasn't long, just a bit over ten seconds, and it ended quickly.
While flipping through the post, Yumiko said, "According to the original poster, she was so absorbed in drawing that day, and when she snapped out of it, it was already completely dark outside. Her art clubmates were all gone."
"She packed up her tools and was planning to leave when she heard piano music coming from the music room upstairs."
"She got curious, thinking someone else was also obsessed with practicing and forgot the time, so she went up to take a look."
"But she found the music classroom completely empty, and the piano was playing by itself."
"She got scared, quickly recorded a bit of audio, and ran away in a panic."
"No video?"
Speaking of this, Yumiko was a little helpless, "She said she was too scared at the time and was worried she'd see something she shouldn't on the camera, so she didn't dare to film."
This kind of thinking wasn't surprising.
Cameras often get tagged as "spirit-sensitive" equipment in horror games, movies, and even novels.
"President, judging by your expression, don't tell me this poster was telling the truth?", Yumiko looked a bit nervous.
After being tricked so many times before, she was suddenly faced with a real paranormal event. It was hard not to get excited.
But at the same time, she worried. After listening to this recording, would a ghost or evil spirit latch onto her
"It's definitely true," Kaito nodded. Seeing her instinctively hug her arms tightly, he chuckled, "Don't worry. There's no curse. In fact, after listening to this piano piece, your sleep quality tonight might even improve."
Just from the poster's experience, a completely ordinary female student was able to escape unharmed and even had time to record. It was obvious that the invisible pianist in the music room had no malicious intent.
If it had been a murderous evil spirit, there's no way it would've calmly played such a soothing tune.
"The poster's IP address is from Moon Forest!", Yumiko kept scrolling, her emerald-green eyes sparkling, "That's the famous ojou-sama school! I heard all the students there are super rich, and it's not even far from Shuka"
"President, President, should we go take a look?"
"Curiosity killed the cat."
Kaito didn't even look up, turning his attention back to the manga, his tone lazy, "Weren't you just being all cautious and scared? Now you're suddenly not afraid?"
"That's because you're here!"
Yumiko couldn't help tugging a corner of his shirt, dragging out her voice, "President~ President~ President~"
"What does Gotou-san think?"
Kaito ignored her whining and instead turned his gaze toward the pink-haired girl next to them.
'Eh? Me?', Always being invisible, only able to silently admire Miura-san's boldness in her heart, little Bocchi froze.
She was used to going with the flow, so suddenly being asked her opinion
Bocchi hesitated for a moment and softly said, "I-I'll go with whatever Kurumizaka-kun says"
Actually, she was also curious about the mysterious piano sounds in the music room, just too afraid to say it out loud.
For someone with social anxiety, refusing others' requests and making requests of others are both unforgivable sins.
Though Bocchi's tone was vague, her eyes showed anticipation. It was obvious she was interested too.
Kaito thought for a moment, 'The Supernatural Research Club has been idle for so long. It won't hurt to take this chance and have a proper club activity.'
"Then it's decided: the club's first group activityMidnight Exploration of Moon Forest."
"Yay!"
Yumiko was overjoyed, but also a bit sour.
'He completely ignored my flirting but paid so much attention to Bocchi-chan's opinion. Isn't the double standard way too obvious?'
But thinking about how Bocchi arrived before her and how her personality was like a pitiful little self-conscious kitten, she let it go.
'Hmph~ Just a little Bocchi, with a weak presence and even weaker guts, nothing to worry about!'
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Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining. You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
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Chapter 24: Leave the Ghost Alive
According to the poster's own account, the piano music that rings out in the middle of the night happens at exactly 10:30 PM.
Right now, it was only 5 in the afternoon, five and a half hours to go.
Naturally, Kaito wasn't foolish enough to wait around for that long.
Bringing Yumiko and Goto Hitori along, the three quickly got on a train and arrived at their destination: Tsukinomori Women's University.
This was a very famous aristocratic school in Tokyo. The students who studied here were either rich young ladies, top-tier talents who had won major competitions, or children of high-ranking officials.
Yumiko's family was merely middle class, while Bocchi's family was an average salaried household.
They hadn't thought much of it before arriving, but the moment they stood in front of the Tsukinomori gates, the two girls began to hesitate.
"This is the legendary ojou-sama school They must be really strict with outsiders, right? Can we really get in?"
Bocchi weakly pointed in a direction, "The security guard over there seems to be looking this way."
At this time of day, school was already over. The entrance was deserted, so Kaito and the others stood out like a sore thumb.
"What do we do, what do we do", Yumiko looked nervously at the approaching security guard, "Club Prez, Club Prez, hurry up and use your invincible Fire Dragon Bomb to think of something!"
"Stop shaking me!", Kaito smacked her lightly on the head in annoyance, but didn't make any other moves. The security guard who had looked like he was about to confront them suddenly froze mid-step, went blank for a moment, then calmly turned around and walked back to the security booth.
"What just happened?", Yumiko was dumbfounded.
"I temporarily influenced his thoughts and made him forget what he was about to do."
Kaito strode toward the school gate, "For the next two hours, he'll ignore our presence, so we can just walk right in."
"You can even do something like that?", Yumiko didn't know what she was imagining, but her face flushed bright red.
'Influencing thoughts? Isn't this basically that 'altering common sense' plot from anime?'
'If Kaito ever use that power on me'
'No! She can't keep thinking about it!'
Bocchi wasn't doing much better. Her head seemed to be steaming, and her eyes had turned into swirls.
Thunk!
"Ow!" x2
Ignoring the resentful looks from the two girls, Kaito calmly withdrew his fist.
'That'll teach you not to let your imaginations run wild!'
If he really wanted to do something, back in his previous life, he only had to crook his finger and plenty of female cultivators would've willingly joined him on the path to enlightenment.
The group quickly entered Tsukinomori.
As expected of a prestigious aristocratic academy, not only was the campus larger than Shuka's, but the facilities were also much more luxurious.
There was even a specially cultivated garden filled with all sorts of exotic flowers, along with a few pots of fresh, glistening cucumbers.
Though it was their first time here, with Kaito around, they didn't get lost.
Spreading out his divine sense, it didn't take long for him to locate a room in the large campus that clearly stood out from the rest.
Crossing the courtyard, the group arrived at a music classroom on the seventh floor of the academic building.
Coincidentally, even from a distance, a soft and pleasant piano melody drifted over.
'Looks like the poster wasn't lying.'
The music was enchanting. The moment it entered their ears, the tense and expectant emotions of the girls were magically soothed.
Their bodies and minds felt lighter, as if they had returned to the warm embrace of their mothers.
