Baby Kitten
Tialfi's slash erased everything in front of him.
From the clear blue sky all the way down to the mottled paving stones underfoot, the world was dyed in a blank void where nothing existed at all.
"Wh-wha?!"
Cheonghwa was among the things that had vanished.
For an instant my vision spun, and something warm seared through my mind.
"Tialfi..!"
The moment the words left my mouth toward the man who'd caused that devastation, an anomaly swept through the world.
A soft rustle.
Everything that had disappeared began overlaying itself back onto that empty void. Everything, that is, except the pitch-black flames.
The soot where the fire had eaten away still remained, but everything else had returned.
Cheonghwa too.
Her short black hair swaying, she staggered, then crumpled to the ground in a heap.
"Hey!"
I rushed to her and checked her breath with my fingertips.
She was breathing — faint, ragged little puffs of air from her nose.
Thank god. Thank god.
"How about that, friend? That slash just now was pretty surprising, right?"
Tialfi looked at me with a mischievous smile.
"How on earth did you do that?"
If his previous iai technique had been too fast to even see, this one I'd watched clearly — and still couldn't understand. What kind of power was packed into that slow, leisurely slash that it could erase the world at will and then restore it?
"Well... it's a bit hard to explain in words. If you cut an apple really fast and then put it back together, it sticks, right?"
What the hell was that supposed to mean.
I stared at him with a look of complete incomprehension. Tialfi let out a groan of a sigh and gestured for me to keep listening.
"So I applied that. You cut fast, stick back what needs sticking, erase what needs erasing. Something like that."
Even after hearing the whole thing, it was still a bunch of nonsense.
I looked down at Cheonghwa, breathing softly in her sleep. Gone was the Cheonghwa who'd been spewing flames with seven horns sprouting from her head like some kind of demon. In her place was a cute, slightly fierce-looking Cheonghwa, lying there unconscious as if she hadn't a care in the world.
"Thank you."
I had no idea what had just happened, but gratitude was the one thing I could be sure of.
"Sure, sure."
Tialfi waved it off with that same playful face, as if it were nothing.
"Well, I'll be taking off around here. Just being here costs me a pretty penny, you know. It was fun meeting you, friend."
Tialfi tapped the sword at his hip a couple of times, waved, and walked forward.
Then he vanished from sight without a trace.
"Hah."
I let out a hollow breath, wrapping my arms around Cheonghwa as she lay on the ground, and looked around.
The people on campus who should have been burned alive in those black flames were back, lying unconscious on the paving stones, perfectly alive. One wall of the school had been blown out, and black soot — traces of the fire — was smeared everywhere.
How the hell was I supposed to explain this.
I stared blankly at the sky, stroking Cheonghwa's soft black hair. A few scraps of cloud drifted lazily across the clear blue. So peaceful, so completely at odds with the chaos on the ground. I spoke to Angel.
"Angel."
"Yes, Player."
"What the hell was that."
My voice came out hollow, drained of all strength. In those five minutes, things had happened that were so absurd I couldn't even begin to touch them. A battle at a transcendent level far beyond my reach, and all I'd felt was powerlessness.
"Well...."
Angel stammered, dodging the question.
Yeah, I hadn't actually expected an answer. I'd only asked because there was no other way to vent this suffocating feeling.
"Ah, fuck it. I don't even know."
I flopped down onto the paving stones just like everyone else. Then I stared blankly at the sky and killed my thoughts.
"Player... um, about that..."
Angel flew around me, dripping with sweat, but I just kept staring at the sky.
A few minutes later, a commotion rose in the distance as people rushed in, ambulances appeared, and people were carried out. Through it all, I just stared at the sky and killed my thoughts.
I kept staring at the sky until Alice and the Chairman found me, grabbed me, and pulled me to my feet.
A warm sensation tickled my cheek, and my eyes opened on their own.
"Nnngh~!"
I stretched out my stiff body and sat up.
"You're awake, Player?"
Angel was rubbing her hands together, grinning as she tried to stay on my good side, peeling back my blanket.
"Yeah."
She was huffing and puffing away at it with that tiny body of hers, working so hard that snatching it from her would've felt wrong. I let her keep going.
Ever since yesterday, Angel had been acting strangely guilty and going out of her way to be nice to me. I was certain whatever happened hadn't been her fault, but watching her fuss around like that was cute enough that I just left her to it.
"Haaah~."
I yawned and dragged myself out of bed.
As always, with impeccable timing, my phone buzzed — a cute message from Alice telling me to come eat breakfast.
What am I doing today.
I washed my face and thought it over, looking at myself in the mirror.
School was off today. After something that big yesterday, with so many people caught up in it, keeping classes running would've been a mess.
"Haa."
I changed into casual clothes instead of my usual uniform and knocked on Alice's door.
"You're here?"
As if she'd been waiting, the front door opened and Alice's cute twin-tails poked out.
"Yeah."
I smiled and greeted her, but Alice looked at me with a strange expression, took my hand, and led me to the table.
As always, a breakfast made just for me — my favorite side dishes mixed in just the right proportions with healthy vegetables. I thanked her and dug in.
And Alice watched me eat with a look that had gone from strange to unmistakably sullen.
What's with her?
She always used to look so pleased when I ate like this.
After finishing the delicious meal and stacking the dishes in the sink, I sank onto the sofa.
I had plenty of time today.
I let my gaze go unfocused and slowly walked back through yesterday. Tialfi's slash. The notice that Cheonghwa wouldn't wake up for at least five days. The burned campus, and the people who'd come running so fast.
"Hey, Jeong Jojun."
Alice's voice from beside me snapped me back.
"Y-yeah?"
"What's wrong with you."
Alice's round red eyes bored into me. There was strength in that look, and worry too. I gave a hollow little laugh and dodged the question.
"It's nothing."
"Hmph~"
She made a little nasal sound and kept staring at me.
I wanted to tell her, but what was I supposed to say? I didn't even understand the situation myself.
So Cheonghwa suddenly went dark, attacked me, everyone on campus burned to death, and then some guy named Tialfi showed up and poof, fixed everything?
Yeah. Better not say anything.
"Hey, Jojun."
Alice looked at me with a demure little pout.
"Mm?"
I answered, but Alice just stared at me like she wasn't satisfied, then went into her room.
What? What's with her? Did I piss her off somehow?
I was fidgeting, wondering what to do about Alice's sudden behavior, when her door burst open and a devastating sight was revealed.
"Guh?!"
Cat ears perched on her head, perfectly matching that demure expression. Three whiskers drawn on each cheek, just like the face painting from yesterday's festival. Twin-tails swaying, Alice wriggled her way toward me.
And the transformation wasn't just her face. Her outfit had changed too.
A naked apron.
The naked apron. A man's ultimate fantasy, right there in front of me.
"Hahk!"
I sucked in a breath at the ruinous sight of her. What kind of bewitching look was that?! She'd clearly taken off every piece of clothing herself and put the apron on, and yet here she was, tugging down the hem, desperately trying to cover herself with those fidgety little movements. That face, cheeks flushed pink, head ducked down! Every last bit of it hit me square in the chest.
"Th-this is the best..."
The words slipped out on their own. Alice, still squirming, saw the look on my face and spoke.
"Yeah. Smile like that. A guy going around all limp and droopy..."
Ah.
Her words made her real intention click into place.
Don't tell me she put that on to cheer me up?
Thinking back, I had been hanging limp since yesterday. Things way outside my common sense had happened, and some nameless powerlessness had come crashing down on me. That much was true.
But now, this moment, after seeing Alice like this — I was fully recovered.
No. Past recovered. I was more fired up than ever.
I sprang up. My other self rose from my pants, demanding to be let out immediately.
"Alice."
I strode over and took her by the shoulders.
She flinched. Her shoulders trembled under my hands. Because of the height difference, Alice had to tilt her flushed face up to look at me.
"Whyy..."
Three cat whiskers on each cheek. The thought of her standing in front of the mirror in her room, drawing them on by herself, was so earnest and so cute I could barely stand it.
"Heheheh!"
I let a wicked smile spread across my face, already thinking about how I was going to cook this baby kitten. Alice's shoulders kept twitching under my hands, but her red eyes looked up at me, strangely wet.
Alright. I can't hold back anymore.
I hooked my hands behind her knees and scooped her up.
"Kyaa!"
Alice's arms went around my neck on instinct, her body pressing against mine. Soft and warm, and that sweet scent of hers came flooding in. I strode to the bed and set her down on it.
Arms raised, pale underarms on full display, sprawled across the mattress — the sight of Alice like that was nothing short of spectacular.
"Hoo!"
Like saying a prayer before a delicious meal, I let out a clean, careful breath, then lifted Alice's apron.
"Hey! Hey!"
Alice pressed the skirt down, embarrassed, but I paid it no mind, pushed it all the way up, and looked at her pussy.
Her outer lips were pressed tightly together, and just like her red hair and red eyes, her neatly trimmed bright red pussy hair came into view.
Ah. This was it.
Tears welled up in my eyes.
That's right. I'd died yesterday and come back. As I was fading, I'd thought it without even meaning to — that my only regret was dying without having sex with the heroines I'd met in this game.
Looking at Alice's pussy now, that regret from yesterday melted right away.
Burying your face in it was only human nature.
I dove straight in and sucked.
"Hey, nngh?!"
Alice had been pressing down on my head, but the moment I started sucking her pussy, a moan spilled out of her and her hands went weak. Typical filthy Alice — a little stimulation and she was already going soft.
I rolled my tongue and kept sucking, and it wasn't long before clear wetness started flowing.
"Heheheh~ Alice, you like that, don't you~?"
I grinned wickedly and sucked even harder.
"Ahnk?! Hey!"
Her mouth said no and her hands kept pushing, but there wasn't a scrap of strength in those cute little hands. I was delighted. I stretched the tip of my tongue toward her weak spot — her clit.
I sucked on Alice's clit and swirled my tongue around it, and her back arched like a bow as her cute cries grew louder.
"Aaaaahn?!"
Cum for me, you baby kitten pussy!
I kept sucking without mercy, and Alice couldn't take it. Love juices came spurting out of her pussy as she climaxed.
I wiped my mouth in satisfaction and stood up, leaving the apron lifted. Her upper body was barely covered by the apron, the sides of her breasts spilling out in that outrageous outfit — perfect. Down below, with the skirt held up, that cute baby kitten pussy peeked out, pink flesh faintly visible, twitching open and shut.
Ah. This was happiness.
I smiled, thoroughly pleased, and dropped my pants. My cock was just as satisfied with the view — standing at full attention, thick and hard.
If Alice's pussy was a baby kitten's, then my cock was like a big cat's tail.
You ready, my tail?
I gave it a little twitch in answer to my own question.
"Alright. Prep complete."
I grinned and took hold of it.
Baby kitten pussy and cat tail — fusion time.