The Darkness Claims Its Prey
Crack, crack-crack..!
"...Should I just smash everything?"
Her fingers popped ominously as she voiced something far more terrifying. She had roughly mapped the layout, but the persistent, prickling sensation of being watched told her the culprit was wary of her reaching the end. That meant she had been singled out as the greatest threat in this maddening place, and that whoever had lured her inside had no intention of letting her go—they were simply buying time by clinging to her ankles.
By now the scattered tails and their two leaders had been gathered along with the six civilians they had found, all tucked away in the largest room with the most doors. It sounded simple in hindsight, but the tangled mess of scents had forced her to waste countless attempts, exhausting herself just to herd everyone together.
Seven people were missing in total. If the field team outside had properly sealed the perimeter, only one remained. She had explored nearly every corner of the building, yet not a single trace of the last missing person had appeared. Either they were still healthy enough to keep moving and simply kept missing each other, or something capable of swallowing a person whole without leaving a trace was prowling about.
"There's a strange smell... but no presence at all."
So the most likely possibility was that the final missing person—and the one who had been staring at her with that unrelenting, sinister gaze—was hidden in the basement or on the rooftop, places she had never been able to reach no matter how many times she circled this pitch-black maze. Even after hundreds of laps and a decent grasp of the floor plan, the paths to the basement and rooftop remained elusive. Either they had been deliberately concealed or outright blocked. If they were blocked, there would be no reason to keep watching her, so concealment seemed far more probable.
"...I really don't get what they're trying to do. Don't tell me they plan to trap me here until I die of frustration?"
Her chest tightened with irritation. She approached the window hoping for a cool breeze, but none came. Only an indistinct darkness swayed beyond the glass, its distance impossible to judge, revealing nothing. The frustration only deepened, mixing with discomfort until nothing had improved. Before her patience ran out completely, she needed to think of something other than smashing the entire building.
"Haa..."
She had considered scaling the outer wall to reach the rooftop, but when she extended her limbs toward the window, her skin prickled with instinctive warning the moment it touched that unpleasant darkness. She decided against it. That left only one conclusion: smash everything.
Of course, she knew better. As field team leader, she had accumulated plenty of experience across all kinds of incidents. Charging straight ahead without information in a situation like this would never end well. There had to be another way.
"Maybe I should head back to the others for now..."
The tails staying with the civilians were starting to worry her, so she considered retracing her steps. But before that—
She pressed a clenched fist against the wall, then let out a long sigh and lowered her hand. Leaning her back against the wall beside the window, she slid down to sit. Her once snow-white hair returned to its original black, the pointed fox ears on her head vanished, the swaying tails behind her blurred and disappeared, and finally her intense crimson eyes faded back into their usual mysterious golden hue. Only then did the transformation stop.
"Haa... Let's rest for a bit."
She preferred using her body over her head, so this maze was nothing but irritating.
"...I want to go back and take a bath."
She had spent the entire night without sleep, running around until she managed to gather everyone in one place. That was the best she could do, yet she had continued searching the maze alone afterward, refusing to rest until she found an exit. Even as field team leader, she was starting to feel the strain—especially mentally.
Every time she passed through a doorway the location changed, so she never knew when or where an attack might come. She had to stay constantly on edge. She couldn't simply push forward either; she had to memorize the paths as she went. The unique suffocating and unpleasant atmosphere of this place combined to pile on enormous stress.
In the end, she stopped to catch her breath. The moment she did, the sinister pit that had lain still like a corpse opened its pitch-black maw to swallow the most exhausted prey.
Twitch..!
Her reaction was not slow. Yet the formless darkness pouring in from the window swallowed her just a fraction faster than she could launch herself toward the only door in the room.
*
"Why isn't she here yet...?"
Perched by the window with a clear view of the apartment complex entrance, a black cat flicked her tail while waiting for that eyesore of a red car to appear. She tapped the glass with a small paw pad and sighed for no reason. She was still bothered by how prickly she had been during their date a few days ago and the fact that she had yet to properly apologize or explain. Even the cause of the problem had been her own fault, so it was only natural.
"Ugh..."
After receiving enough energy from that annoying fox to nearly burst, she had been reluctant to return to her human form lately. Part of it was the thrill of watching her master struggle to ignore her seductive body. Another reason was the string of invaders and nuisances that kept appearing in their precious nest.
She wanted him to see her as a human and as a woman, so she didn't want to show him her cat form. At the very least, she refused to appear in any half-transformed state that might make him feel estranged. But maintaining a human appearance for more than half the day had gradually drained her stored energy. If she didn't return to cat form for at least half a day to recover, she would end up showing him her cat ears and tail again like last time.
"Should I go find that annoying fox again...?"
She lifted her paw from the glass she had been tapping and thought it over, then quickly shook her head. Back then she had been in a position to receive an apology, which was why it had been possible. Whether she liked it or not, that fox was a far superior monster. If she went asking for energy this time, even kneeling and begging with both hands wouldn't be enough.
"No... I'd rather die than do that."
It wasn't just the memory of being mercilessly beaten to a pulp or her pride. More than anything, it was because that fox was an unbearably beautiful female. She worked in the same place as her master, and last time she had even come here to drink with them. No matter how foul her personality seemed, she was currently the number-one threat to watch out for. Her pathetic master couldn't keep his wits about him whenever he saw large breasts, so the thought that the fox might snatch him away at any moment made her anxious to death.
"Still... the mood was pretty good last time, so if I just push a little more..."
Recalling her master's favorable reaction when she had shown him her underwear, she wore a silly smile—
"Jealous little cat, why are you laughing all by yourself?"
"Hik?!"
A voice suddenly spoke right beside her nape. All four paws reacted at once, sending her comically leaping straight up before she landed and whipped around. There stood a black-haired girl who had appeared behind her at some point.
"Wh-what...? When did you get back? Where's Master?"
"Hm...? If you're talking about Oppa, he didn't come back."
"...What? What do you mean?"
She felt a wave of anxiety at the girl's sudden appearance and cryptic words. Things were tolerable when she was with her master, but...
"..."
This girl was... far, far beyond even that fox.
"Don't be so wary. I didn't come to see the jealous little cat for no reason. I have something to confirm."
"...?"
The girl gazed at the jet-black cat with eyes like black pearls, her long hair draped calmly in the center of the living room. With an exceedingly bright expression, she asked,
"Last time I said I'd help you mate with Oppa, remember?"