Trying to Get By on Cuteness

Ignoring the system's latest bout of madness, Wuma Xiu began his great undertaking of petting the cat.

He readily reached out to scratch the black cat under the chin.

The cat version of Night God shuddered all over, his eyes narrowing involuntarily. Another purr spilled from his throat, as though he had tried and tried to hold it back, only to fail in the end.

Wuma Xiu simply sat down cross-legged and scooped the pitch-black Night God Cat onto his lap, rubbing him from the base of his ears all the way to the tip of his tail.

Night God Cat's ears went limp under his touch, flattening backward as the whole cat sprawled flatter and flatter.

In the end, he actually rolled over.

Exposing a small patch of fluffy belly.

Fine down covered that patch of belly, rising and falling gently with each breath. Night God Cat turned his head and looked at him through half-lidded red eyes, his gaze open and utterly unguarded.

Wuma Xiu lowered his head and buried his entire face in Night God Cat's soft little belly.

Night God Cat let out a drawn-out "mew—"

But before the sound had faded, Night God Cat's body stiffened. The belly beneath his nose tensed for an instant, as though some switch had been flipped.

But it quickly forced itself to go limp again, though the tip of its tail was trembling slightly.

Wuma Xiu noticed, but he didn't lift his head. His lips slowly curved upward again where the other couldn't see them.

Just then, a dark shadow darted silently out of a nearby corner.

It was Shadow.

It crouched a few steps away, its head tilted.

Its two red eyes were wide and round as it watched its original body lying comfortably in Wuma Xiu's arms, belly exposed, even making a sound that it couldn't make itself.

Shadow slowly swept its tail across the ground.

Then swept it again.

Then it stepped forward without a sound and stopped beside Wuma Xiu's leg.

It raised its head and looked at Night God with an exceedingly complicated gaze—at the original body that had separated it from himself in the first place, and had now come to steal its exclusive spot.

The next second, Shadow sprang into the air and hovered there, reaching out a fluffy paw to pat the black cat solemnly on the head.

Once, then again.

Shadow: Original body, please make room. I want some too.

Night God Cat's pupils contracted sharply.

He quickly raised his eyes and glanced upward.

Wuma Xiu's chin rested against his belly, a hint of a smile on his face, one eyebrow slightly raised and a faint trace of laughter in his eyes.

—Moon, he knew all along.

"Boom—"

The shame he had struggled to suppress earlier erupted like a volcano.

Lava burned all the way from the tips of Night God's toes to the roots of his ears.

Night God Cat's fur bristled all over, his tail standing upright like a writing brush, his ears pressed so far back they were almost invisible.

—He wanted to run.

But Wuma Xiu's hand was still resting on his back.

"My dear friend, why are you running?"

There was a faint hint of laughter in Wuma Xiu's voice.

As though teasing him, yet also indulging him.

But to Night God Cat's ears, it sounded like the whisper of a devil.

Night God's head buzzed, and his mind turned completely to mush. All his composure, all his disguise, evaporated in that instant.

He opened his mouth.

But what slipped out was a soft, faint...

"Meow~"

The meow trailed off with a little quiver.

It carried a sense of heroic abandon, as though he had given up all pretense.

Night God Cat curled himself into a ball.

His ears drooped so low they were almost buried in his fur, leaving only a pair of red eyes visible as he looked pitifully at Wuma Xiu.

Night God: Dear friend, what are you talking about? I don't understand, and I'm trying to get by on cuteness.