Okami Nana

After everyone finished their lunch with unnatural expressions, Homura spoke up, "I'm going to take Haru out to buy something. Do you guys want to come?"

Utaha and Eriri looked at each other, their eyes flashing with electric sparks. After a communication of thoughts that mortals couldn't understand, the two of them simultaneously lowered their heads and said, "No, we still have work to do."

Homura: "..."

What's going on? Just now, they seemed like they wanted to go out, but now they've changed their minds?

Homura couldn't read minds, and even if he had the skill, he had nowhere to learn it. He could only guess for himself, but how easy was it to guess a girl's thoughts?

"What about Megumi?" he turned to Megumi and asked, "Do you want to come?"

"Ah, no, Homura-kun. I still have to study," Megumi replied.

Out of Homura's sight, Megumi was being stared at fiercely by Eriri and Utaha, and even a "Saint" like her couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat on her forehead.

'I want to go, but I can't!' Megumi said inwardly.

Scratching his head, Homura was puzzled. What's going on with these girls today? They're all so strange!

"Okay!" Homura didn't want to delve too deeply, so he just turned to the little one rolling around on the ground and said, "Haru, let's go! Let's go buy something!"

Haru was having a great time playing, but when he heard Homura's words, she froze for a moment before running over happily. He came to a stop in front of Homura, still bouncing up and down, and anyone could see that the little one was in a particularly good mood!

This cute little appearance also caught the attention of the three girls, especially Eriri, who looked enviously with a face that screamed, "I want to go! I want to go! I want to go..."

Homura was speechless when looked at Eriri's expressions.

'Want to go or not?' But he still asked with a trial-and-error mentality, "Do you want to come?"

Eriri stiffly turned her head to the side, but her peripheral vision still looked at the little one. Unnaturally, she said tsundere-ly, "Ha! Didn't we say we wouldn't go!"

Then, afraid that she couldn't control herself, she quickly ran away!

Homura was puzzled and turned to look at Utaha. She seemed a little guilty being stared at and quickly said, "I'm going to work!" before disappearing, giving Homura a feeling of being abandoned.

His mouth twitched as he looked at their reactions. Homura understood that there must be something fishy going on that he had missed.

Finally, he turned to Megumi and asked, "What about you?"

"I'm studying too," Megumi replied without waiting for Homura to finish, then chased after the other two.

'So this is the kind of saint you are, Megumi!' Homura felt a mess in the wind and opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

After a moment, he shrugged and said helplessly, "Okay, let's go little one, it's just you and me."

He squatted down, picked up Haru, and put her on his shoulder. The little one wagged her tail happily and said, "Oh! Going out to play!"

He scratched her chin with his hand, and the little one happily closed her eyes, making Homura feel happy too.

The two of them left the house with a harmonious atmosphere.

===

On the weekend, there were many pedestrians on the street.

Homura and Haru, the man and the cat, indeed attracted many people's attention. Men would turn back to look at them as they passed by, while women would stop and gaze at the cute little creature with shining eyes.

Many times, people wanted to approach them but hesitated, taking a step forward and then retracting it, only to want to take another step...

Feeling uncomfortable from being stared at, the little cat curled up and kept arching toward Homura's neck.

Homura found it amusing and said to Haru, "You're so likeable! Look at how many people you've attracted."

"... Meow~? (Huh? Do they like me? I thought they wanted to bully me.)" Haru was puzzled when she heard Homura's words.

It's not surprising that she thought that way, considering how hard her life was as a stray cat before. She had to search for food every day while taking care of her siblings, and even though some kind people would give her food, there were still many who wanted to bully her.

She shouldn't have curled up like that, but since Homura took her in and took good care of her, Haru's fur became soft and shiny, and she could eat her fill every day. Her mood was almost always at its peak!

Plus, the little cat had grown several levels and looked even cuter, attracting the attention of the vast majority of people. Their fiery gaze was enough to make her feel scared!

Homura touched her head and explained, "They don't want to bully you. They think you're cute and want to get close to you."

"And you don't have to worry about anyone bullying you," Homura paused for a moment and said firmly, "I'll protect you, and I won't let anyone bully you!"

After a moment of silence, Haru turned her head and said, "Meow~ (Hmph... I should be the one protecting you. You're such a worrisome guy...)"

"Yes~ Yes~, you protect me," Homura rubbed her little head and felt like there was a hint of pride in her words. Was it just his imagination?

As Haru listened to Homura's somewhat perfunctory response, Haru rolled her eyes at him, but he didn't see it.

A few passers-by did see it, though, and they thought it was strange to see such an expressive and adorable little cat.

One little girl even exclaimed, "Wow! Such a cute kitty! I want to have a cute cat too!"

Homura was puzzled by the sudden change in people's behavior.

===

"Is this a pet store?" Homura looked up at the cute sign and felt uncertain.

"Wait a minute!" carefully looking at the store name "Sunny," Homura felt familiar and recalled memories from his past life. He exclaimed, "Isn't this the store of Okami Nana who adopted Haru's younger brother?!"

"What...?" Hearing Homura's exclamation, Haru froze. What did she hear? Her brother? Her brother was still alive? Was her brother in this store?

Excited, she suddenly jumped off Homura's shoulder and tore open his clothes with her sharp claws.

Looking at the little one who was frantically scratching at the glass door and the clerk Okami Nana who was attracted by Homura's exclamation and Haru's actions; he never expected that his careless words would have caused such a result.

He secretly blamed himself for being too careless, quickly walked up to Okami Nana, who had already opened the door and let the little one in, and said, "I'm really sorry. I didn't expect this to happen. I'm sorry to trouble you!"

"No, no!" Nana repeatedly waved her hands, indicating that Homura did not have to apologize. She then asked in confusion, "Excuse me, why did your cat behave like that?"

'Why? Because of me, of course! But I can't say that!'

Homura thought for a moment and explained, "Probably because she smelled her brother's scent."

"Huh? Excuse me, could you wait for a moment?" Nana was a bit surprised and suspicious. "Let's put aside the fact that my store has the scent of your cat's brother, the real question is, how did you know the exact reason?"

'Me and my fucking mouth!' Homura laughed awkwardly. "Haha... actually, I probably understand the thoughts of cats."

"Really?! That's amazing!" Nana was excited, and a look of envy flashed in her eyes.

Homura was at a loss. 'This young lady, aren't you suspicious of how miraculous and bullshit my statement is?'