Kyouka: Can i come over? Kichi-san sent me a message while I was lounging around at home. "Hmm? Kichi is coming, meow?" Miriam asked, after peeking at the smartphone. "That's what it says..." "Are you inviting them?" "Um, should I stay in my room?" Ruri, beeing way too considerate, started to get up. "No, it's okay. I'll just give her a quick call." I didn't understand Kichi's intentions, so I decided to give her a call since it's Saturday today. I called her, and it rang, but stopped immediatly. "Wa, wait a second." Hmm? "Kichi-san?" "Yes, but please wait a moment." Ah, it's Kyouka the Slayer. "I'll wait..." "Haaaa... Yamada-san, what's up?" She switched back to her cheery self. "Well, what's up with that message?" "Ah, yes... I wanted to talk to you about that demon incident... Today, Yuusei-kun and I went to the association, and they wanted us to report on the demon from our school.I thought we should discuss it with you first, Yamada-san. That's why i messaged you." Ahh... So that's what it was about. "Is Ichinose-kun with you?" "Yes, he's here too." "I don't care, but can we get inside somewhere already? It's getting cold today." Ah, it's Ichinose-kun. So she's with Ichinose-kun... That surprised me. I was curious what Kichi-san would talk about. "Should I come to the association?" "No, no. We will come to you." "Basically, Kyouka wants to touch the cat." Ichinose-kun says in a monotone. "Can you hold for a sec... So they are asking to come over. What should we do?" I ask Ruri and Miriam, while covering the smartphone with my hand. "I think it's fine." "Kichi will find any excuse to come over anyway, meow." Does she want to pet Miriam that badly? Well, I can't say I don't sympathize.

She is adorable after all, and her fur is amazing. "Hmmm oh well...... You can come over if you want. Do you the way?" I moved my hand and gave them the ok. "I do." Why do you know that? Did she ask Kirigaya-san? "Alright, see you soon." "Okay!" "Sorry for the bother!" I put down my smartphone after the call ended. "So yeah, we will get visitors." "We need to tidy up." Ruri started cleaning up the books that had fallen on the floor and the bag of chocolates on the kotatsu table. "Miriam, Kichi-san might have a hunch, but don't talk while they are here, okay?" "Yeah yeah, meow. I'll just snuggle with her and meow. That's my speciallity, meow." I kinda didn't want to hear that. "Thank you. I gotta get changed too." I wasn't planning to go out today, so I'm in my loungewear. I need to put on something more presentable. "I think it's fine, meow..." "I don't want people to think of me as an old man." "But you are an old man." "There's a difference between being an adult and being an old man." A bit like a dandy... "You really care about that stuff, huh..." "Of course. We're dealing with high school students, you know?" "Well, looking presentable is sensible i guess?" "Yeah, exactly." I stood up, went to my room, and changed into a suit. As soon as I got back to the living room, the doorbell rang. "What? So soon...?" Have they arrived already? "Seriously, meow... that girl... she means business..." Miriam said, retreating into her cardboard box. I left the living room and headed to the front door. When I opened it, Kichi-san and Ichinose-kun waited infront of me. Since it's saturday, both of them were in casual clothes today, not their school uniforms. It was refreshing to see them in casual attire for the first time. "Welcome. This was out of the blue from you two."

"Sorry about that. I thought it would be better to talk right away." "Yeah, something along those lines." Kichi-san looked apologetically, fidgeting while looking up at me, while Ichinose-kun looked uninteressted. They are a contrasting pair. "Well, come in and relax." "I'm sorry for the intrusion." "I'm sorry for the intrusion." I brought the two inside and led them to the living room. Ruri went to the kitchen and brought back tea and sweets. "Here you go." "Thank you." "Thanks." After they thanked her, Ruri went to her room. "She's so cute! Right?" "Yeah, and she doesn't look anything like Yamada-san. By the way, kidnapping is a big no-no, Yamada-san." So we really don't look alike, huh? I figured as much. "I think I was like that when I was a kid too." "I can't imagine..." Well, yeah. "Miriam-chan, are you in here?" Kichi-san peeks at the cardboard box in the corner of the room. We talked about Miriam liking the cardboard box in our message exchange, so she noticed her right away. "Meow!" "So cute! She seems smart!" "Meow!" Atleast show some restraint. "Come here!" Kichi-san thrust both hands into the cardboard box and picked up Miriam. She was lifted by her sides, and her body stretched like a mochi. "Meow!" "So cute!" Kichi-san carried Miriam over to the kotatsu table where Ichinose-kun and I were sitting. "She isn't running away?" "It's fine!" Kichi-san answered with a smile, but I'm not sure what she meant by that. "Such a well-behaved cat..." Ichinose-kun murmured as he looked at Miriam being held in Kichi-san's arms. "She's a smart girl, isn't she?" "Meow!" Miriam, could you act a bit more like a cat, please?