The Kitten Hissed

"Were you looking for this?"

Xu Nuo turned around and lifted the beer can in his hand, gazing at Kamuro Masumi with a faint, knowing smile.

His voice wasn't loud, but it exploded in the girl's mind like a thunderclap. Her purplish-red pupils contracted instantly, and her body nearly froze stiff.

How?!

When did he...

Kamuro Masumi's first reaction was shock. Her second came when she saw his face, and she couldn't help but lose herself for a moment.

So... so handsome...

That face.

He looked just like the male lead of a shoujo manga, so beautiful he seemed almost unreal.

And yet.

That brief moment of dazzled admiration.

Was replaced by shame in the space of a tenth of a second.

She'd been caught.

Her theft had been discovered at the worst possible time and in the worst possible place, by a boy she didn't know who was devastatingly handsome.

In an instant.

Kamuro's face flushed bright red, but years of practice at hiding her feelings forced her to suppress them.

In their place came an impatient scowl.

"Huh?"

"What are you talking about? That's not mine. What a weirdo. If you're trying to hit on me, get lost."

"Gross!"

Kamuro Masumi folded her arms. Her voice was cold and hard, and her words were rude, as if she were trying to vent the panic she'd just felt.

She looked every bit like someone saying, "I'm not to be messed with, so leave me alone."

At that.

Xu Nuo kept smiling. He didn't back down in the face of her sharp tongue, instead sizing up the stubborn girl.

She had long, silky purplish-red hair, tied into a small ponytail on the right, and purplish-red eyes glaring at him. She was tall, her legs encased in black thigh-high socks, long and straight.

Her cool, impatient expression had a charm of its own.

However.

Xu Nuo noticed that every muscle in the girl before him was taut, as if she were ready to pounce or run at any moment. She clearly wasn't calm inside.

Without making Kamuro wait long.

The next moment.

Under the eyes of both girls, he began his performance.

The cold beer can rolled beneath his long, bony fingers, flipping around in his hand like a coin.

Like the ebb and flow of the tide.

The sequence of fluid movements was captivating to watch.

He made the beer can dance with the nimbleness of a coin, showing off like a master magician.

Kamuro Masumi found herself unable to look away.

She stared in amazement.

What...

What kind of trick was that?

While she was still dazed, Xu Nuo flicked his fingers. The beer can traced a graceful arc through the air, then vanished into thin air.

As if it had never been there at all.

"?!"

Kamuro Masumi blinked, her mind going blank.

"Your technique is far too crude."

Then.

Xu Nuo spoke, his tone as calm as ever.

Crude technique?

Did he mean the way I stole it?

You bastard!

At that.

Kamuro Masumi saw red. She didn't care how the beer can had vanished; anger erupted inside her.

"You...!"

She lowered her voice, forcing the words through clenched teeth. Every hair on her body seemed to stand on end as she let out a threatening growl.

"The kitten's hissing."

But seeing this.

Xu Nuo smiled. Not only wasn't he frightened, he found the girl's bared claws adorable.

"You're the kitten!"

Kamuro Masumi was furious.

She gritted her teeth, breathing faster as the fullness of her chest rose and fell.

A fine sight.

Xu Nuo discreetly looked away, coming to a conclusion.

By his estimate, she'd been assigned to Class D.

After a long while.

Kamuro finally calmed down. "What do you want?"

She wasn't pretending anymore!

Meanwhile, not far away.

Sakayanagi Arisu had witnessed everything that had just happened. She was amazed by Xu Nuo's godlike sleight of hand, but then she remembered that he was that guy.

Well, that made sense.

She tapped her cane lightly against the ground, her elegant smile growing more delighted.

"Hehehe..."

"Now, for the main event."

"Let's see what choice you'll make."

However.

"A true Phantom Thief never puts himself in danger," Xu Nuo said lightly, as if explaining the most obvious thing in the world.

"You didn't even make sure you'd checked your surroundings. That alone makes you unqualified."

With that.

He shook his head, looking as if he couldn't bear to see her so hopeless. He didn't spare the completely frozen girl another glance and simply turned to leave.

"??"

At that moment, the minds of the two girls left behind were both in a rare state of blankness.

Especially Sakayanagi Arisu.

The genius girl who was always manipulating others and delighting in looking down on everyone had, for the first time, a smile that seemed on the verge of freezing.

Her violet eyes held nothing but pure astonishment.

He... just left?

Sakayanagi Arisu was baffled. She'd rehearsed all sorts of possible developments in her mind and even prepared countermeasures.

For example.

If Xu Nuo chose to use this to threaten Kamuro Masumi.

Then.

Whatever he intended to do.

Sakayanagi would appear at once, take on the role of a savior, defeat the villain, rescue the lost lamb, and bring the poor girl under her wing.

But.

She'd never expected him to do this.

He'd approached her like a teacher, casually demonstrated his godlike sleight of hand, made a cryptic comment, and then...

And then that was it.

He hadn't asked for anything, threatened her, or even revealed where he stood.

What was that supposed to be?

It was as if he didn't care about anything and had just been showing off.

Sakayanagi Arisu frowned, thinking furiously about Xu Nuo's intentions until she felt like her brain was about to overheat.

Unable to figure it out.

"Oh, my~"

"He's truly impossible to read. Just as I'd expect from you."

A faint sense of defeat mingled with excitement, surging through Sakayanagi Arisu.

Interesting.

Absolutely fascinating.

This guy was impossible to predict by any ordinary logic!

On the other side.

Kamuro Masumi was in a far worse state. Her mouth hung slightly open, and the face that was usually full of impatience now held nothing but bewilderment.

That guy.

He just left?

He saw it. He definitely saw it, didn't he?

Why... didn't he report me to a teacher? Or blackmail me? I wouldn't even have minded if he'd just come over and yelled at me.

But.

He'd done nothing at all.

He'd merely judged my technique.

"Unqualified."

Those three words were like a curse.

They echoed endlessly in Kamuro Masumi's mind.

Bastard!

What do you know...

What gives you the right to judge me like that?

I'm not even a Phantom Thief!

Kamuro Masumi muttered to herself, her feelings tangled and complicated: shame, anger, fear, confusion...

And a trace of unease she hadn't even noticed herself.

Then.

As if she'd remembered something, Kamuro hurriedly turned around and saw that the beer can had somehow returned intact to the shelf. She let out a sigh of relief.

After all.

It was the evidence of her crime. If she bought the beer now, no one would find out...

Suddenly.

A devilish whisper rang out.

"Kamuro, I saw everything just now."